First, I should say that this starts out like a first-class nakige in classic non-Key style (which means no loli heroines with weird speech patterns and less than six heroines total, lol).  I generally am fond of Applique for giving me Tasogare no Sinsemilla and the Arcology series, but when they screw up, it is usually in a way that should have been blatantly obvious as they were doing it.

The protagonist and his daughter (yes, his daughter) are a great combo, and their past is one of one bit of tragedy and despair after another.  The protagonist's personality is one I can definitely enjoy vicariously, and Millia (his daughter) strikes a perfect balance between 'genki' and 'emotionally scarred'.  The choice of an 'onsen town' as the main setting was excellent, and things were really looking hopeful...

...until the common route ended immediately after you dig into the protagonist's past.  Now, I'm all for tearful revelations and the like... but someone with the protagonist's past doesn't just come out and spill the beans only a few weeks after getting to know a bunch of people.  That was unrealistic based on his personal setting, to say the least.  Worse, the other characters' reaction to it was... weak.   Making it worse is that, while you've gotten to know Misaki (the supposed true heroine) a little bit when the split occurs, you've barely scratched the surface with the other heroines.  In other words... I went into my first path not caring one bit about the heroine I was supposedly going after. 

It was like seeing someone setting up a beautiful stained-glass mosaic... and then filling the last few pieces with concrete.  To be honest, the haste with which they progressed the last third of the common route is game-breaking for me precisely because the protagonist and his past are looming in the background.  Based on this alone, I can say this isn't going to beat Akeiro, though I thought it might compete for VN of the Month when I first started it. 

I might just update this post if I decide to drop this one...  I'm going to finish the path I'm on, and if I don't feel satisfied, I'm dropping it.

Edit: Based on my experiences in Honoka's path, I'm going to continue playing, but the problems with the common route and its pacing still apply.