Loved the story! Very eerie and had quite a few unexpected returns. I think the use of theme was really well executed, at some point I wasn't sure if I could trust any of the characters. The narrative twisting back on itself and resetting threw me for a loop! And I loved the way you used simple background changes and musical cues to completely change the atmosphere for different settings.
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ROSA's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #3 | 4.222 | 4.222 |
| Story | #9 | 3.778 | 3.778 |
| Audio | #10 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Enjoyment | #12 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Overall | #15 | 3.593 | 3.593 |
| Concept | #17 | 3.556 | 3.556 |
| Graphics | #33 | 2.667 | 2.667 |
Ranked from 9 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Did you use any optional theme? If so which one?
Pizza lover
Break the 4th wall
Under da sea
What game engine did you use?
Twine
Did you have fun? :D
Yes, eventually
Comments
This is definitely a 'more than meets the eye' kinda visual novel. A story with layers to peel back. Wouldn't have known to click on certain things but the implication that an answer is there is pretty intriguing!
Fav parts:
-change of setting and music between beginning story and the inyro to the main two characters
-unique underwater theme in the setting!
-the writing was very good. Verrry good. Like.. the concept was complicated, so for that to come thru... the writing was very good.
-FishChiesa | artist | Box of Mushrooms
Submitted
Shelly's ShipPlenty of twists and turns and unreliability in the story! Also some fun effects with Twine. I'll admit, I had to look at the spoiler content to complete it. Is there a feature in Twine to color different names? I got a little lost keeping track of the characters and I think that would help distinguish the two along with the void. It was a bit tough to place the setting, but I suppose that's the point :)
Graphics worked really well for the story! Had a nice sense of dread to it! Great work!
- Josh
Submitted
Tour of the DeepI got two bad endings and presumably missed the good one. Would you mind sharing how to achieve that ending?
Anyway, although I didn't understand the story, it was intriguing. At first I thought Rosa was daydreaming to escape a sense of hollowness, but then the void was introduced, and then the black sludge scene, and then the imprisonment of Rosa by Nellie? Quite obscure to me. If I may guess, does this story imagine a world where fictional characters reside in outside of their stories? A place where they can fabricate other fictional worlds but are burdened by the fact that nothing really exists?
The choice of graphics and music was appropriate. I was genuinely a bit frightened when the glitchy Rosa suddenly popped into view. Nice.
(Also, the response options weren't always highlighted in pink when I hovered over them.)
Submitted
The ReturnThe response options only change to pink when hovered over if they go to passages you've read before. Would've changed it so all links have the same colour when hovered over, but I couldn't figure out how to in time.
As for the rest, including how to get the True Ending:
SPOILERS
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When you get taken back to the beginning of the game (to the screen where it says "a game by DreamCartographer"), look closely at "DreamCartographer". The "Dream" part is in bold the first time you return to the beginning of the game, and looks clouded over after getting there from the second Bad End.
To reach the True Ending you have to click on "Dream" and type in the text box that appears (it doesn't matter what you type - you'll see why). This will enable you to escape the "Are you sure" scene and progress further. Just like before, you'll have to keep clicking "Escape". You will eventually unlock the way out. (If you do this after getting the second Bad End, you'll be taken straight to the scene in question.)
The fictional world where Rosa was with the hero is a place where Rosa and Nellie (the narrator for said world) lead fictional characters (the heroes) through an adventure tale so that the Void can feed on the heroes' despair when they get to the end of the adventure and discover everything was fake and they don't really exist. When Rosa and Nellie aren't doing this they live in the Void, which takes care of and feeds them.
(At least, that's what you're told is happening...)
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END SPOILERS
Thanks for playing my game. I'm glad you liked it, and hope this helps you understand the story better and reach the end!
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