itch.io

8/10

In my personal list, I gave this a 9/10 but I think that one extra point is just me really loving the game so I'll be a bit fairer here. This game is fantastic. Its been awhile since I've seen such good symbolism implemented. And I'm not sure if I'm just stupid, but it really did not take the path I was expecting it to take. It's very unique from other games in its genre, and takes a shockingly realistic approach to both its themes of Hanahaki and yandere. I don't know how you make a Wattpad trope from 2016 on par with Alexandria's Genesis actually seem realistic, but this dev has managed to do just that. Not only that, but it manages to draw its horror aspects from pure realism, which in my opinion is always the scariest form of horror. Not only that, but from a developers standpoint its very well made as well. Its purposely designed to be replayed and to encourage the player to replay, which despite most visual novels requiring replay for true endings, I never see features implemented to help with that. The ability to transfer data from a previous save into a new one is so so simple but such a good idea. 

review:

The characters and the writing are fantastic, and the story is so well laid out. They manage to somehow replicate the feeling of denial the mc is supposed to be feeling by limiting the info given to the player, as I found myself siding with the first sibling more on my first run. Just the way it unfolds the story and keeps the player guessing is fantastic. My only qualm is the jarring shock from the style of the main game to the CGs. But they were done by completely different artists so I understand fully. The voice acting at some points did make me not take it seriously but I will say the female VA defiantly did better than the male VA. Fantastic game with fantastic writing overall.

6/10

I'm going to be honest here, this game left me expecting more. Whether it be the hype around it or the fact that the file is a whole gigabyte for some reason, I expected... just more. The gameplay is fun once you get the hang of it, however easy and gets repetitive quickly. I will commend it on having unique gameplay though, as that is really rare and it is well put together for the most part. Does it make the most realistic sense? No maybe not. But its easy to ignore. I did feel like the game wants you to think its bigger than it is though, as there are many events and interactions that leave questions never to be answered. Exhibit A: Why can you enter the freezer? Its never used. Exhibit B: Why is there an option to look out the window? It does nothing. I just feel that Rachel defninatly has stronger games. The twist was pretty easy to see coming as well... not that it was much of a twist. You can't meaningfully kill off a character without the player even knowing they existed in the first place. Another note: Its buggy and confusing (to be expected) it took me a solid 5 attempts to get the 3rd ending before I realized that for some reason the office door unlocks after the last conversation. Final thoughts? Art is good, well made, unique, just doesn't quite have the story to back it up. If you want a good story, play Cold Front. If you want a darker game along the themes of  this one but better, play Zeno.

10/10.

first off, this game is not for the faint of heart. seriously. the warnings it gives dont even do it justice, this game is vile. second, this is one of the best damn horror games ive ever played oh my god. i am now fully prepared to write a review, as i have 13/13 endings and all possible game over screens + extra dialogue so.... yeah ive done it all

the pros: i can say, this is the damn darkest game ive played. i wasnt kidding when i said i thought its warnings were too tame. there were several endings where i was left in absolute disgust but thats what i love about this game. no matter what, it is NEVER predictable. you can always be certain you have no clue whats happening next, because you dont. and need i discuss the characters.... theyre so well written.... i love how not a single one of them is a good person at all. annnd! the moral isnt just "forgive youre friends bro" its "look dont kill people but i mean fuck that guy ur right hes an asshole". each ending so so different from the next which also is so amazing. not to mention, even the game over screens are developed enough that i count them as endings too. hell, several have their own cg aint no way it doesnt count as an ending. i can also say i am really happy with the true true true canon ending.... its a really good conclusion to the story (which is ending H by the way, if your aiming for it) anyways relapse maeno best character 10/10

the cons... well theyre not great but it gets easy to ignore after awhile. the english translation to this game is.... not great. hell theres several lines that didn't even get translated. does it ruin the tension sometimes? yeah. is it confusing sometimes? yeah. but it also gave the most golden line, "thats right!! me prepared a puzzle to promote your brain education!!" secondly, its very buggy. i suggest not playing above difficulty 0 because the way the tracker works is so broken. aka, random spawns, no despawns, no way to hide. my first run i did difficulty 1 and it took me ages to complete several levels because of dumb rng. another thing that was minor... damn the endings are tedious. i probably have the entirety of one like 7 minute unskippable cutscene memorized because i had to click through it for so many endings... regardless, play zeno. play it. do it. its so much fun if you like going on a rollercoaster of emotions

as of writing this bit, im 4/13 endings in. this game— just the normal route i was pleasantly surprised with but once i started exploring the true route… BRO THIS GAME IS INSANE. the plottwists. phenomenal. the characters. phenomenal. the HORROR. ugh so good. im not done yet so im not going to rate it but right now, its up there with binary star and cold front… this is phenomenal. the only issues are the bad translation and the constant bugs. but damn is the game good enough to ignore those

8/13 endings in update: this. game. is absolutely fucked up. like. holy shit. its repulsive. seriously. (i love it though #phycological horror) ive yet to play lisa the painful, but if i had to compare it to something thats as close as im getting.  also mr black hair getting thrown constantly like a damn tennis ball is hilarious

9/10

wanna be a sick sci-fi space pirate? of course you do. because this game is awesome. i have amazing words about the worldbuilding but ill spare you that rant. i think this is the closest you will get to our life levels of quality though. decently long game too, took a couple days to play through for me but im a slow reader so who knows. i would die for everyone on this cast

review:

i never put it on my played games list for some reason so i dont have a review of my thoughts right after playing but this game is still spectacular.

9/10

a masterpiece of pixel art first of all, lordy i cannot express how gorgeous this game is. its terrifying in an uncomfortable way. the only critique i have is that most of the artifacts are useless and you gain nothing from collecting them all, however i think the swimming pool scene makes up for every issue this game might have had. i do prefer the opening of the old version though, but other than that the new version doesnt change much.

review:

holy. im speechless. i dont. i. this game. is so packed. with symbolism. i want to understand it all so badly. i want to hyper analyze it. its terrifying and gorgeous and very gorey but... damn. damn. some of the descriptions are just... perfectly worded. like seriously i love how they described the staircase as leather. this game makes you feel so much. what feeling? i have no idea but damn was i feeling something. did i mention this game is a masterwork of pixel art? no? cause it is

8/10

(not to be confused with subway midnight, another phenomenal game about being trapped on a train) if you want a cute puzzle horror, this is the one. it gives me major corpse party vibes honestly, but thats a good thing. your trapped on a train with the stupidest himbo alive and shenanigans involving death ensue

review:

ive only played to the second chapter so far, so i cant say a lot but i can say that the soundtrack. oh the soundtrack. PUT IT ON SPOTIFY PLEASE ITS SO GOOD. anyways yeah i love the soundtrack. can boast i sat idle in rooms for several minutes just to listen. one of the best rpg maker adventures on here id say

9/10

worth the money, honestly. again bias cause of nomnomnami but i still love this game. its a super interesting take on visual novels as a whole, like, it functions so uniquely. and the music. THE MUSIC. words arent needed to explain how much i love the ending song and the ending in general

review:

tears. in my eyes. tears everywhere. i love this game to bits. praise our lord nomnomnami. bad end theater propaganda needs to be wide spread. i love the take on the cliche as well, it does manage to be a good bad end theater

7/10

overhyped. its a bit basic. but its the title! thats it. thats what happens. the world building is pretty good. the art is super pretty. safe to say, im not disappointed but im also not impressed. theres a lot of features that make zero sense though. like seriously, theres a drawing program and worlde built in to this game. why??????

review:

my expectations were in the dumpster when this came out because the other game by this creator i played was so hilariously bad (do not buy divine speaker its not worth it its awful). the art is stunning, ill give it that. otherwise? i mean i enjoyed it enough but i wouldn't play it again.

bonus review because i bought divine speaker:

if you want to play this together and like do like shots of those awful jellybeans every time something dumb happens i think thatd be genius. im not kidding when i say its bad. i genuinely could not bring myself to even finish it. and i have never not finished a game (even out of all this list, sofia is the only one i havent 100%ed). its that bad. i couldn't take it. the plot is swiss cheese, the characters are unbearable, and it had the most second-hand embarrassment inducing scene i have EVER seen in media.

7/10

the one tolerable melancholy marionette game. i dont want to spoil, but lets just say this game is good at what it does. dont read the review though cause i will talk about it. overall, the art is pretty, the story is good. the voice acting? i mean.... its eh? it gets... uncomfortable at some points. overall, play this game, and not any of this creators others. theyre all the same formula execpt the others are actually so bad

review:

so salty that this game was put on hiatus and certain (cough) others (cough) were prioritized. ok onto the spoiler discussion. im serious. go play tha game first becuase this'll ruin it. gonna be vauge, but the ddlc of this game worked so well. this and mushroom oasis are the two that pull this off phenomenally. 

4/10

lets just say, if you want to enjoy this game, dont play blooming panic. just dont. i dont reccomend prioritizing this over blooming panioc though. i really dont want to be super rude, but, blooming panic ruins this game. its so heavily inspired by blooming panic its painful and honestly, besides the ui system, theres nothing much else going for it in my opinion.

review:

i know i just bashed it but its decent enough. its just.... plain. expected, boring, its just mid. i personally dont think it deserves as high of a rating as it has

8/10

get some crackers this game is a lot longer than you would expect. but this game is actually so good. it is not joking about every character being an asshole in the highest degree but god thats what makes it amazing. i love the endings. i love this game, i cannot wait for more of this creators work to be translated to english

review:

this game was a looot longer than i thought itd be, i did end up liking the way it worked tho. the true ending code was clever, just wish i had more of a clue what orders the numbers went in lol. overall? bro the story was super captivating? all the endings told you something new about the story and ig thats why the true ending required them all. do i like the true ending? no it could have been done better, but the game is still very very good. good visual novel

10/10

dude this is a fully fledged game. like 10-15 hours of playtime. i would pay money for this. frankly, it deserves to be a paid game. actually no, this is better than most paid visual novels. you will not find anything close to this level of quality. anyways i love how gbpatch writes children, yatta yatta, i said that in the second games review but i need to say it again. this game was such a nice experience to play through, just a sweet little slice of life with lovable characters. i love it. who doesnt?

review:

i think it says something that this is still downloaded on my pc after a solid like 8 months. i love cove. hes so sweet. but his dad takes the cake for best character sorry. savor this. there are no other visual novels like it, trust me, ive tried looking.

11/10

this is the game i tell everyone is my favorite. and it is. this and binary star. on top. lord the SPRITE WORK. i dream to achieve that level of mastery. its a fantasic horror game, the characters are amazing, and the artistry. THE ARTISTRY. ugh. i would trade my life to play this for the first time again

review:

need i say again the art is phenomenal? not even just the visual art, the storytelling, symbolism, and writing. spectacular. it just had such a charm to it. and did i mention its gorgeous. i literally used this game as an example of my dreams for the future in mock interviews. i am so sorry to that poor man who had to listen to me geek out about cold front. anyways play cold front. do it.

8/10

let me introduce you to the god of visual novel world building. i mean everyone is a dragon thats sick as hell first of all, second the magic system is so cool and did i mention i love the world building? there is a demo remake coming out soon though so maybe wait for that to play it as it just came back from hiatus. i mean, it needed the remake the art and backgrounds weren't fantastic at times. (update: demo remake is out!!)

review:

i did quite like the characters generally, some have issues but its tolerable. mystery guy is good at being a mystery guy tho love him. the art does need work, the front panel is deceiving, but that work is getting done (and the world building makes up for it)

3/10

i dont like this game. i dont like it. not my cup of tea but oh well heres a description. weird little horror. thats it. all i remember are spoilers lol sorry

review:

i hate this game, but more importantly i hate fio and his stupid bulging bug eyes. the game is tolerable if you remove fio. unfortunately for me, fio exists.  theres lots of endings, but there so tedious i never actually ended up 100%ing this one. the way it does a time loop is good in the beginning, but it gets a bit overkill towards the end. mostly the last room. ok yeah the last room was hilarious. dont ask me who sofia is or the lore of this game, i still dont understand it after playing around 80%

10/10

dont tell anyone i said this but i actually like this one better than the first our life. i dont even need to mention how adorable the art is and how well put-together and amazing the game is made because its gbpatch but anyways.... yeah the art and ui and stuff? fantastic. i will never shut up about how well gbpatch writes children. decently long for a demo, of course the full version will be a whole 20 hour game like the last and im super excited for that. typical our life fluff and spectacular writing <3 live laugh gbpatch

review:

they gave our life SPICE!!! yes!! that is what it was missing. so good. anyways this game hit suspicously close to home, like to the dot. like seriously, this is my childhood down to the damn freckle. THEY EVEN HAVE THOSE CUTE LITTLE RAINBOW SQUARE CARPETS FROM ELEMENTARY. love. the quality of life improvements are amazing as well. amazing. love. 

8/10

discord server but make it a mystery ooooooo spooky. jokes aside, still love it. i do believe it derserves its rating. pretty decently long. very high quality. unfortunately. i do feel like it got a bit dated but im just going to look past that and ignore it. i love the character writing though, theyre all really funny

review:

some of the darker bits felt a little forced? idk i feel like it could have gone without them as they didnt really fit the rest of the tone of the story but overall i did love this game. its a very captivating mystery and i do like how the true ending is locked behind all other endings (im a sucker for that i know)

9/10

biased because i love nomnomnami but this game is such a nice feel-good. a good sized rpg maker, id say maybe one of the longest on this list. its a solid game id sell my soul for pretty much every character, and the sprite work and cgs are soooo cute. the final chapter should be coming out soon and then itll be behind a paywall so play while you can <3333 the cute lesbians are worth it

review:

super relaxing yet also engaging. i love treat. i love her so much. also i dont even need to mention how much i love the soundtrack. nomnomnami kills the music every time i love her

2/10

this game is funny bad (at points) but its also just plain bad at points. it would make a great drinking game though. basically you get addicted to ai and... yeah thats it. its so weird. its an uncohesive mess

review:

this took so much time that i cant get back in my life, 

this game is confusing and not very cohesive? i mean its good if it can get its plot together, but its just a mess rn. eh premise, bad execution.  wouldn't go taste tasting again

8/10

short rpg maker adventure, not a visual novel this time. one, its literaly made by temmie, toby fox, and fatbard it had the best possible team for success. this one speaks to my inner artist, its more of an experience than a game. i personally love it and think its a work of art.

review:

gorgeous visuals, super open-ending meaning, i mean whats there not to love? ive yet to play the second game yet but its on my list. theres so many beautiful subtilties that just set this game apart

5/10

first things first, in my opinion all of the characters are assholes and i hate that you cant point it out. ok second. the world is very interesting, the art is easy on the eyes, and its well made minus the characters that piss me off. pretty basic story premise, a curse and such and different ways to try and fix it

review:

i dont think its worth as high of a rating as it has, i mean its a good demo i guess. pretty art, good world building, but the characters are so... dull and cliche. its hard to like them ig when theyre all pricks and you can't say shit about it smh hoping for a better full-game, and maybe a non-romance lore route would be nice

11/10

this game made me want to write an essay on it for fun. thats an accomplishment. this right here, my favorite. if you play nothing else, play binary star. it is SUCH a refreshing take on classic superhero stories and the small subtle details and amazing character writing just set it above everything else. do prepared to sit down for awhile though, the 1.5 hours on the main page is a lie

review:

really REALLY surprisingly good. i cannot say i was expecting such a well thought out plot line... the twist on superhero au is actually refreshing... it has tense moments, funny moments, and surprisingly multiple routes with a pretty complex ending system!! very very big charlotte vibes from ray (not that i mind). and damn it double is written expertly, hes such a shit dude we know that but how on earth does he end up being the better option out of the two?????? at first glance the art style seems a bit funky but oh my god did it grow on me. it was perfect dude-- those endgame cgs were stunning and i love the mimicked comic book effect present throughout. this game is art. actual art.

9/10

this game... is honestly one of the best here quality-wise. you venture into a dark spooky underground market and just try and survive, but the worldbuilding. i could go on forever. this universe is SO interesting. annnnd... all the routes do end up connecting in subtle ways which is an amazing touch

update for full release!

(idk lol i havent finished)

review:

exceptionally refreshing storytelling, like seriously everything is so well thought out and put together its been awhile since ive seen this level of quality. the worldbuilding isnt in your face but you understand it well, the characters are all fairly deep and developed, and the general tone is very well preserved. all routes are so different from each other yet connect with each other cannot wait for chapter 2's update

9/10

ever wanted to go to a weird cursed shroom forest? no? well you should do it anyways because this games music and art are top tier. couldn't be more upset that its only a demo, but damn does this game have so much potential. i suspect that the next patch is coming out soon as well so theres that to look forward to. super cute art, amazing soundtrack, and a surprisingly interesting story. 

update for day 3s release!!

still such a cute game omg (even if the 4th end was stupid hard to figure out but that was because im stupid) im so excited to see where this goes, as it ended on a pretty decent note? idk im curious. i trust deersphere with my heart though so its going to be good

review:

oh my god this game is amazing. some of the best soundstracks ive heard in an itch indie so far, seriously theyre so relaxing. its so easy to forget this is a horror game and it does an amazing job of that. the art is actualy adorable too and everything is so mysterious. cannot express my disapointment when i realized it was only a demo, i want more so bad

7/10

creepy, kinda silly, cliche story about getting stuck in a snowstorm. the story is very... predictable but i still enjoyed the game. the voice acting is.... not great but otherwise i did really like the endings, they weren't actually that predictable 

review:

loved the setting and some of the basic worldbuilding and compared to others its a very good, polished game, but idk wasn't quite my cup of tea there was something off i didnt quite enjoy

8/10:

a well made, short, visual novel about wrongly being sent to hell. it has beautiful imagery, probably the best voice acting ive seen in a visual novel, and a nice deep plot that leaves a lot to question (in a good way). the symbolism goes so hard, defiantly recommend

review:

the world building for one is fantastic and i just want to see more stories set in these interpretations of the floors of hell. loved all the catholic art mentions, as i thought i would the style is right up my alley. the voice acting... gonna say... best voice acting ive come across in a visual novel yet. he suits dorion so well. i liked the endings enough but what really turned the tides for me was the final game completion mv. that.... that was beautiful symbolism and storytelling (plus the song was good too) i forgive it for having such an obscure secret ending just for that gorgeous monolouge. also can i say how much i am a simp for the title drop at the end? i read the verse beforehand but now i really understand why it was chosen, and damn was that clever. great game. absolutely great