Really great story with a nice message at the end. Good job!
Play game
Embers of Us (Prologue)'s itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Story | #16 | 4.125 | 4.125 |
| Music | #201 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
| Overall | #209 | 3.525 | 3.525 |
| Sound | #252 | 3.075 | 3.075 |
| Aesthetics | #296 | 3.475 | 3.475 |
| Fun | #418 | 2.875 | 2.875 |
| Theme | #454 | 2.850 | 2.850 |
| Mechanics | #508 | 2.500 | 2.500 |
Ranked from 40 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How many people worked on this game in total?
1
Did you use any existing assets? If so, list them below.
all assets used were images of myself and my wife put through an AI to turn into an anime art style. backgrounds were also photo inspired
Comments
Thank you so much!! Also I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects i and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Nice story! Hard to believe it's your first game and made in three days. Extremely impressive. Nice branching options and storytelling and characters. Also the little psyche out at the end with the tape got me. Excellent work, hope to see more from you in the future!
Submitted
Nightmare World Adventure Wagon DutyAww, thank you! while I have been studying lots of engines and languages, game logic, and things like that, this was my first! And on an engine I never used or learned before, as I never really play visual novels, so that measn alot to me! I also wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects I release. And I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Really nice work, glad I downloaded this. The visuals were absolutely beautiful and the story kept me engaged throughout. The twist at the end was unexpected and well executed. Good job
Submitted
Mini Golf CarnageI really like the art style. I haven’t had much experience with Visual Novels until now, but I read the whole thing. I was suspecting some kind of apocalypse at the end—and I wasn’t disappointed. Zombies! I enjoyed it. Congrats on a job well done. Everything is cohesive and visually pleasing.
Submitted
AnthillsHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
I just joined. If you’d like to as well, you’re welcome to join my Discord: https://discord.gg/CFkQz38ZAX
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's totally fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Very well done. Thanks for the game! I found one typo with the word "Prertty". And then the male character was off model in the stab scene. I think it's the eyes and the more angled cheeks/chin. Otherwise,
very well produced and you captured the emotional weight and feelings very well.
Submitted
Giant SkeletonHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Visual novels are great to tell the story you went for!! Writing also has a solid pacing! It's hard to make a short story and you nailed it! Good job! ✨
Submitted
Tiny Big QuestThe story was great, this types of game aren't exactly my cup of tea but I still found It fun, It's crazy you made all of this in python, with no game engine!
Great job!
Submitted
The MobileHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
That was a lovely story. I loved the AI art you used and how you made them a bit 'chubby' in the past and losing weight in the present. However in one scene Lauren does look different, especially her hair color, but yeah you could get off that by just saying she dyed it I guess x) My favorite part about the game is the highly polished UI. Nicely done!
Submitted
AmbitionHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Really solid game. There were a few places where Lauren popped up on top of herself, but it was a great story. I liked you could explore all the branches in one play. Nice interpretation of the theme as well. I didn't even think about using AI to make art, as that's technically free too. I do agree with other comments on the ethics of AI art, but it wasn't against the rules so I didn't penalize you for it.
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
what a great story i just played, i just didn't like the artstyle that much? but it was fine as long as i was enjoying the story, well done!
Submitted
Teeny RaidHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
I’m totally fine with AI-generated art, but a human eye is still essential for this kind of stuff. The character designs look good, though they feel a little inconsistent from location to location. If you’re going to use AI anyway, I’d suggest having ChatGPT (or whatever tool you’re using) generate multiple versions until you get a more consistent look throughout the game.
When it comes to making games, maybe the question isn’t “should AI be used?” but rather “how can we use AI in the smartest, most creative way?”
In that spirit, I ask chatgpt to write me a comment based on the comments below XD “Fantastic first visual novel — heartfelt, personal, and beautifully told. The AI-generated art fit the mood well, though I share some mixed feelings about the Ghibli-style use. Loved the little details like the main menu and save/load options, and the twist caught me by surprise in the best way. A few typos and the shoulder bite swap aside, it’s an impressive, emotional piece for a 3-day solo project. Would love to see this expanded someday!” ChatGPT
Submitted
Ramble & GambleI agree, i didn't have time sadly, only 3 days to learn a new engine, get the art assets needed, find some tracks that i was allowed to use and push it tegother with code language i hadnt used before haha so yeah 100T% if i had more time the art style and incopnsistancy was the first this i would have fixed!
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Great visual novel and unique take on the theme. Good job on your first submission!
Submitted
Little CureHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Nice visual novel! Especially knowing that you managed to do it in 3 days by yourself! Congratulations for your first finished project!
Submitted
The Last ReefHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
I really liked your take on the theme and bravery of telling such a personal story. not as in "full of personal details" but rather making a relationship and their personal memories the focus of a story.
I feel very conflicted about the AI generated art though. on the one hand it fits the vibe of the story very well and I think it is fair to say that you couldn't have drawn all these images even if you were a professional artist in time, so I totally get it. I mean I used generated art to create an ad campaign for my own game, so I get it.
But using that studio ghibli style when it is commonly known that its creator furiously hates the use of his lifes work for image generation.. it's tough. this shouldn't come across as a judgement, like I said: I get it from a developer's point of view. it's just something that I as a player have always in the back of my mind when I am playing and that prevents me from really diving into the story.
Submitted
It's 1234. Probably.No, I totally get it, while I never asked for it to resemble any art style other then "Anime", anime can have a very wide range from things like SAO or Fairy Tail to art styles of Attack on Titan or even Studio Ghibli! you hit it on the mark when it came to how i feel about using AI for art, i use it for characters in my dnd campaigns but again i never ask for another artists art style, and thats just for me and my freiends, if this was a full game i would try to find an artist before i went to AI for it, but thats just me, i feel like its great for those of us starting out, but the stigma behind it is so vast that its really hit or miss how the comunity will react, im glad everyone here is so nice about it but i still will do my best to keep myself for overusing it!
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Nice entry a solid visual novel. You can check this entry it also has a good story you didn't saw it already https://itch.io/jam/gamedevtv-jam-2025/rate/3590121
Submitted
Colorful BubblesHey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
Great idea to start with a visual novel. You're working alone and it's a lot you have to learn to create even the simplest of things. I also use AI for consulting on avaiable tools I can use when coding. I try to code everything on my own, but instead of consulting on documentation, which usually takes a while and I may miss something, AI will be spot on at what I need and I learn a lot from it. Still, sometimes AI fails hard, then I go to the documentation or ask online if it's really a dead end.
Your game is well written, you got a good grasp on dialog. It's an enjoyable chill out story, I'd say, with an interesting plot twist at the end. But the character shows the left shoulder when he was bit on the right, that could be worked around by flipping the image.
I liked that you implemented a main menu with options and a toggle for fullscreen. I didn't mess with the buttons at the bottom of the screen, but it seems they allowed for saving and loading and some more stuff, which is interesting for a first game.
All in all, you did great for a first entry, especially working solo. Just keep it up, it's a long road, but if we keep the pace we eventually get where we want to.
Submitted
Ant GuardianAhh, i know! i didn't have time to get it to give me the right arm, im surprised no one else caught that, to be honest! Ren'Py as a game engine had so much "already done for you" programmed in, and that's why I went the route I did to get this done. Thank you for your feedback! it means a lot to me, and I learn from it to better my projects going forward!
Hey! I wanted to send a "thank you" of sorts to everyone who left a comment and feedback! If you're interested, I’d love to invite you to my "Reunited Games" Discord! I’m building a small community of players, devs, and playtesters for future projects, and I hope to see you join! But if it's not your thing, it's fine! Still, thank you!! https://discord.gg/PRkXhNgX
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