BURIED STARS

It's been a long time since I've played a game that was this up my alley.
A character-focused mystery that deals with the messed-up reality of social media and the entertainment industry? Yes, please.
Still, before I start with the praise, there is one major caveat that buyers should be aware of: The English translation for this game is not very good, to the point of making things difficult to understand at points. If, like me, you know enough Japanese or Korean to get by via the voiced dialogue, it won't be a big problem, but it is still bothersome at times.
That aside, though, the story is to the point, the characters are fascinating, the mystery is just enough of a challenge to be satisfying and the social commentary works well without getting soap box-y. The game play can be a bit trial and error in terms of raising and lowering affection, but the deduction sections all make sense.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence, Buried Stars is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be and achieves that very well, without unnecessarily limiting itself or getting overly ambitious.
Despite its rough edges, I would call this one of my favorite visual novels.

as many people have already pointed out in their reviews, the story is really good, but it's being actively dragged down by one of the most tedious, mind-numbing forms of gameplay that i have ever seen.
the voice acting and visuals are also really good in my opinion. it's REALLY just the gameplay.
it's up to you to think on whether or not you can endure that kind of gameplay for the 30 hours it takes to complete the game. on my first playthrough, i didn't mind, because i was discovering everything. i'm on A route right now and struggling to get through it because... of... the gameplay. i will still finish the game for sure, but i think anyone considering buying this game really has to be prepared for it!

Really good mystery, compelling characters, and on top of that a unique setting that goes into the intricacies and ethics of the Kpop industry

PLEASE LOOK UP A GUIDE TO PLAY TO THE TRUE END, among other endings/epilogues.
I think Buried Stars is excellent if you think too hard about it. You can appreciate it way more if you play it the way the game wants you to play: To investigate and understand people, and to reach truths, but otherwise it would be a fairly mid mystery visual novel if you just played it straight through trying to point out who is the primary suspect, if that makes any sense.
I don't know if most people played to the true end without issue, but I think a lot of the dialogue choices were very good in testing what you understand of the characters. The characters are written to be compelling and nuanced, as cliche or easy it is to discern their archetype (to some degree). Though, they will be more than that, and it's important to be aware of that throughout the game. Isn't that what mystery should be? The characters make up the mystery, so I'd say Buried Stars did it well!
If you expect something groundbreaking for the case of the mystery itself, I'd say Buried Stars did its best and still executed something exciting and shocking. Along the "final mystery", it gets VERY easy to guess who did what, but the MOTIVES behind it is still boggled me, and it would be very unsatisfying to just go "OK, I know who did what so why do I need to take anything seriously after", hence why I emphasize a lot on "understanding the characters". It was fun! I'll think about these people for a while.
Too lazy to explain, but the game definitely has flaws and I agree with a lot of negative reviews lol. I suppose this is for people who just gets attached to fictional people after excessively writing analysis notes about them. I hope you can forgive the TL, absurdly long segment in the middle that felt a bit useless, and etc. to get to a (second) ending at least :)
RAMBLE: It's incredibly funny how I was in an emotional rollercoaster about the least lovable chara in the party BEFORE I could even give the game the chance for a sob story. I want that freak in therapy BADLY! (spoilers): I'm a bit 50/50 on how they treated Hyesung til the end. I DO like that he doesn't change, because it can't be that easy for him and the game literally throws at you that has absolute resolve to keep himself afloat as someone without talent or sincere support from someone. BUT STILL, it's a bit crazy they never bothered to have a single route or epilogue to show how he can do things differently. I suppose he is just the antithesis to Inha, who is still aware there will be people who care for her and that she can attain her survival and dreams through other but still similar means. It's just very depressing to say goodbye to the game without any semblance of true happiness for him (I don't consider his Route B epilogues to end well for him. He will eventually fall without unconditional support, like what Seungyeon briefly did for him.

Amazing story and setting, Highly recommend if you like light novels and games with multiple endings.

gyu-hyuk lee. that is all
but to be serious, this is one of the most enjoyable visual novels i've played. there is so much i enjoyed about this game---the art, the atmosphere, the characters, and especially the voice actors, who did sosososo well. i have 100%-ed this game and i will definitely be replaying in the future.
like many have mentioned, there are some translation errors as the game is originally in korean. i did not find that these translations really impacted my gameplay experience, but is worth mentioning.
buried stars is a true visual novel, so those looking for something similar to danganronpa or zero escape will be disappointed. i am not saying that this is a flaw, but as something to be aware of because you will be reading a lot of dialogue, like most standard visual novels.
what i liked:
-characters: buried stars is very character-focused and the incredible character writing shines through. i loved how realistically each character reacted to situations in the game and how each character is unique, including the mc. this is especially a good thing as the cast is small, which allows ample time to learn about each character.
-voice acting: i think that the voice actors did phenomenal in their roles. i would highly recommend playing with the korean voice acting, though japanese voice acting is an option.
-atmosphere: as i mentioned before, i really like the atmosphere of buried stars. the writers are very good at crafting and maintaining a tense and anticipatory mood throughout the game. i found this very compelling---when things got intense or stressful, i felt similarly. some moments i couldn't stop playing because i was so invested in what was going to happen next.
-plot: so good. so good. i've seen some mention that they could figure out who the culprit was early on. i could not (though that could be a me thing, haha). but the ending made sense and could be explained, so the reveal was definitely an "oh!" moment for me. even if i had figured out who the culprit was, i still think the ending would've been rewarding.
-scenes(?): totally a me thing, but even though buried stars is a visual novel, i loved how they incorporated a 3d background with 2d character sprites. this allows for interesting scenes that really do reflect the environment everyone is in.
-soundtrack: i don't have a lot to say about this, but the soundtrack is very good!
other:
-replaying: you're definitely encouraged to replay the game to get different endings. while there is a newgame+ mode, i would recommend playing your first playthrough completely blind and using a guide on subsequent plays.
-skip button: the skip button skips all text, not just read text. i feel like it's kinda standard nowadays to only skip read text, but this didn't really bother me. skipping is quick, and if you follow a guide or save enough, i don't think you'd be skipping too much where it'd impact your gameplay experience.
in all, buried stars is a visual novel that i quickly fell in love with as i played with one of my favorite cast of characters. so underrated. <3
i'm not good at reviews so sorry if anything sounds awkward!! buried stars is very compelling so i just had to write a review. this game will be living in my head rent free ^_^

I finished the game and reached one of the possible endings, I just never bothered to play it again cause it kinda gets tiring (and slowly boring) to finish.
The momentum could've been better in my opinion so that it doesn't feel like I'm dreading on a bad ending,
I've seen the good endings too, they're alright tbh but your satisfaction just diminishes because its really going to prolong your patience.
If you want a game that is good with puzzles and have this prolonged sense of fear, I suggest to play.