Play visual novel
Break the Blues's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Sound/Music | #20 | 4.025 | 4.500 |
| Overall Fun | #32 | 4.025 | 4.500 |
| Controls / UI | #36 | 3.801 | 4.250 |
| Art / Graphics | #46 | 4.025 | 4.500 |
Ranked from 4 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Genre
Visual Novel
Rating
For 13+
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Comments
Here is my gameplay video if needed:
---Supposed to be longer, but I totally forgot to record my gameplay, and I just realised it like half into the game -_-
Anyhow. A fun one. Fluffy, good writing, and left me wanting to read more about their story. Sadly the story ended there... Sadly...
Hello! Welcome to Feedback Quest 8! My name's Hythrain, a co-host and one of the streamers for this event! This feedback is being written live as I stream your game! If you're interested in seeing my live reaction, let me know and I can send you a link to the VOD once it's posted to YouTube!
So my normal approach for any game in these events is simple: I get the game, make sure it's not a virus, then play it with as little information on how to play as possible. This way, I can judge how intuitively someone can figure out the game. Only if it's obvious that I need to read more will I do so. I note this so you can get a sense where some of these feedback comes from. In addition, I want to note that feedback and rating are different; don't use this feedback to gauge what I'll rate, nor should you view my rating as entirely indicative of my feedback.
This was such a cute game. I was so sad when it just suddenly ended. I'm not even into yaoi stuff but I was interested to see how this develops.
As a visual novel, it's really hard to give feedback as the primary element of any visual novel is its story. It takes a lot more before that sort of feedback can be given. So instead, I put my focus towards the script and trying to find any spelling or grammatical errors. There were a few here, so hopefully this list will help out.
1. "So. Can I ask how do you know this spot? It's the first time I get company here."
Change this to: "So, can I ask how you know this spot? It's the first time I've had company here."
This will make the sentence more casual and more grammatically correct.
2. "... but I thought you were either dating or really best friends."
Change the last part to either: "or really good friends" or " or best friends"
The reason why is you don't need to include "really" when describing best friends.
3. "You know what kind of questions comes next."
Remove the S at the end of comes. Since "questions" is a plural, you don't need the s for come. If it was singular, you would.
4. "I do pastries as a side hustle too sometimes."
Change to: "I do pastries as a side hustle, too."
Don't need the "sometimes" on there, and there should be a comma before the "too."
5. "Your remember the last conversation you've had with your mom."
Change to: "You remember the last conversation you had with your mom."
Not only was there a typo in the first word (your instead of you), but since this statement is in past tense (compared to the correction in #1, which is present tense) you don't need to include "have" in here, which you had contracted down to 've.
6. "Your sister and Alisa's mothers..." - This may not be a typo, I just want to confirm if "mothers" is supposed to be plural, aka Alisa had two mothers. If yes, ignore. If no, that S has gotta go.
This was all the stuff I caught. Hope this helps! Have a good one!
P.S. OLD MEN?! YOU CALL THESE TWO OLD MEN?! THEY'RE, WHAT, NOT EVEN 40 YEARS OLD! THAT'S NOT OLD!
Hiii, I momentarily escape the Spooktober Jam mines to respond here!
Honestly I’m shocked you played my game this early, I thought you wouldn’t have time to get to it before the end 😭 But I’m glad if you found the game cute, that’s sort of half the objective since I’m aiming for “cute, cozy melancholy”. And if you’re sad it ended early I’m extra happy 😈 Don’t worry though, as I said in my devlog the whole thing is outlined, it’s my little passion project and I don’t plan on giving it up!
Aaaand yeah, english isn’t my first language, I’m working alone on this, so this was to be expected though I’m really cringing at the “You/Your” mistake. 😭
Yes, Alisa had two mothers. When you said “I x your mom” she got to respond “Oh? Which one?” it was really funny. All of the mommy (and daddy) issues will be explored in the sequel (I didn’t stutter, no).
And lastly you make a nice point. In consequence, after Boris says “it’s been over twenty years” I’ve decided to add a tiny bit of narration to be more precise: “Closer to thirty, actually.” They are indeed somewhere in their 40s 🫢 the awkward spot where you’re not a boy but you’re not that old either. I feel a bit weird calling this story Boy’s Love and I just think the phrase Old Man Yaoi is super funny and stands out a bit more 😉
I wasn't sure I was going to either but after I decided to start doing two 5 hour streams a day if enough donations came in, a bunch of folks made sure I did just enough of them.
Also, my whole old man rant was because I'm 40. >_>
Hello! Tonic here. Thank you for sharing your game- I really enjoyed this slice of life story! The little things like the water drop noise when hovering over menu items, the blue custom cursor, and the clean title logo with the broken heart really helped create a serene, if slightly downcast atmosphere.
I thought the opening scene with the footsteps sfx was a very effective way to start the story, to evoke that sense of searching and being lost. The description of winding through the forest area, as well as the thoughtful emotional prose in general, was well done. I especially liked the moments in Boris's own thoughts where you can tell he's deeply sad, but kind of unfeeling at the same time. It's been long enough perhaps that the sadness has settled somewhat. But he's seeking to move forward somehow, even if he doesn't know the direction.
The characters seemed lovingly designed, and the blush/grin expressions were very endearing, haha. Overall, it's a sweet little intro to a budding relationship involving two people who are trying to heal from their problems in their own way- ya can't beat that! ☺️💕 If there's one thing I might give feedback on, it's that the music track is a bit short/repetitive, which I find more difficult when I'm reading a visual novel for an extended period of time. But still, it has a nice mood to it!
Thanks again for sharing!! It was really cute! 💙
Hello, I was at work in the Spooktober Jam mines and now that my script is done I’m taking a little break (hah) to respond here!
Thank you so much for your comment, it made me really happy! It’s kind of scary how you can notice all of those little details and put into words my own intentions better than myself lmao 🥹 But I’m glad and I have more in store for these two!
Taking notes about the music for this game (as well as the one I’m currently working on). Admittedly that’s the part I spent the least time on, as I was more busy leveling up my Ren’py skills in preparation for Spooktober.
Thanks again and I’ll make sure to check out your game before the deadline, it looks really interesting!