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(2 edits) (+6)

Demon Kiss is a super great game! The writing is fun, the art is cute, and the atmosphere is interesting. It's not a long game but absolutely worth your time, especially given that it's free.

Quick answer: 9/10

  • Plot: 9/10

Fairly straightforward, though that's not a bad thing, the premise is simple but it's executed well. Don't expect R18 content, but if you like a cute story I found the plot to be a pretty good vehicle for the relationship and its development.  The writing itself is quite good, there are fun references and nods to popular works. I really wish there was more description to some of the scenes though, but for the most part the characters and their interactions keeps you intrested.

  • Art: 10/10

The art is great, the sprites are super crisp and was what initially drew me to the game. The character designs are pleasing to look at and feel unique. The colors are vibrant and interesting, plus the backgrounds are done well enough to give me a proper understanding of what the environment was like and the general mood of the world. There's really not much to say other than its an extremely attractive game. Given that this is a NaNoRenO title, it far exceeded my expectations in this category.

  • Characters: 9/10

Though there weren't many, the characters were enjoyable. Felix's design is cute and I can appreciate a good purple-haired character. His personality was somewhat likable, it felt somewhat jarring to have made some bolder responses to situations then the next scene have him act neurotic from something else. Trisetar was a very enjoyable character, he's the archetype I'm super into so I'm probably super biased here. He's pitched as a wrathful type character but he felt more petulant than anything else, though this doesn't detract from his character. I thought he was really cute and I felt like he was a good match to Felix. I liked his design (I mean demons/devils are great across the board haha) and you spend enough time to develop feelings towards him by the end of it all.

  • Sound: 8/10

The music choices are good, some of the tracks felt more modern and kinda like that Lofi study beats playlist that won't leave my Youtube recommendations alone. At first I leaned on not caring for it, but it felt reflective of Felix's personality and I grew to like it pretty quickly. He probably would listen to it if he were real haha. I do feel, however, that the music should've reflected some of the changes in locale, or even Felix's emotional state at times.
The SFX were great for the most part, they added a bit of life into the scenes much more than a typical game-y sounding effect meant to emulate things happening would've. The sound mixing for those effects were good, though not perfect. (I'm looking at you, obnoxiously loud party scene!)
I think this would've really benefited from voice acting, there were some scenes where we had music, SFX, and pretty art but then there was a lack of life in the characters themselves.

  • Design: 10/10

Not many visual novels run on the Unity engine, since it can be pretty buggy and quite finicky, but this game utilizes this engine very well. This comparatively looks cleaner than Ren'Py and has much more interesting transitions and effects at the cost of some minor glitches. Kudos to the dev on the UI and effects since they are quite pleasing to look at. Super minor, but I really liked the font for some reason too. Plus, the summoning circle/sigil-esque motif was a nice touch.

  • Gameplay: 9/10

Again, pretty straightforward. The options usually lean towards, trying to get with Trisetar or not. I saw some complaints saying that this was a bad thing but I disagree, I don't think a visual novel needs to be needlessly confusing to try and thwart the reader. I think most of the choices served their purpose. I, personally, do really enjoy some of the choices that seem to have no bearing on the relationship (or maybe it does, who knows haha) there's a scene where Felix is asked what he wants to drink and I think that helps build an identity for the character rather than a lifeless self-insert with a pretty bishounen face.

  • Overall Thoughts: 9/10

This is a really wonderful NaNoRenO title! It's actually amazing to see something like this made by such a small team in such a small amount of time. For the most part it's pretty polished, albeit a little buggy at times. But this did not at all detract from my experience! This by far is my favorite NaNoRenO2020 title so far, I mean if anything its the most visually appealing game in the lineup. I have a few more games to play, but I've no doubt that this will stay in its place as my favorite pick for this year's submissions. Thank you for your hard work and I hope to see more of your creations in the future!

(+2)

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a detailed review! I genuinely appreciate it. I'm so glad you liked the game!