Oh god ok,listen Raus and everyone im saying this in advance i love this VN.Just putting that out there cause unfortunately i did not vibe with this update.
Firstly,congratulations on finishing the first route of the game! It was a long journey to get here and its awesome you made it this far! Also i hope you and your family and loved ones will stay safe i can't imagine the stress youre under.
.......So time to get into it.All in all i have like only two gripes with this update and they are as follows:
1. Burrys thoughts about how he is stronger than Luke and how there is no one to stop him and that Luke would be powerless and helpless to oppose Burry.Yeah i guess this may be me projecting my own tastes but idk Burry practically saying "I could rape Luke and nobody can stop me" while in the middle of having sex made me feel super uneasy and left me looking at burry in a less favourable light.Again its your story,you have the final say but I just feel like we could have gone without that and it sadly soured the experience of that scene for me.
2. I understand that not everything will be answered here but having the epilogue be a bullet point list is very underwhelming,I felt like so much was skimmed over.I get that its probably because more is to come so this wont be the final end but still as is right now it feels incomplete.
Im really sorry i was so negative in this one,but I cannot stress this enough I still love this VN and im sure the rest will be great.Hope you stay safe and have a good day Raus,bye.
Oh hi Raus,thanks for the reply.Im glad to see i didn't upset you with my comments.And yeah i have no doubts ill enjoy the rest of the VN,i loved the previous few updates so much and im sure it'll only get better the more story and answers we get.Thanks for being such a chill guy,hope you take care and have a nice day.
finally finished and I want to cry and laugh but it is great sadly its ending but it is great . Can't wait to see more andwould love to see more of Cooper
Damn, I think it started to rain, I finished the route and I liked it a lot. Burry is my favorite character and finishing his route was satisfying, thanks for this work of art. Is there any way to save the dogs after the attack? T-T
I've been waiting a while to ask this, but decided to wait until the end of the 1irst rout incase it was explained, and seeing as it wasn't... "n_n Is this world based in the same 1ne as the "INU" universe from the comic series on Furaffinity? :/ Monsters are similar, magick's identical, species list, all that good stuff is the same. Or perhaps did the concept for Shelter simply spring from that comic?
I could rant about how great Shelter is after the 1irst ending, but I'm not about to flood the comment section UwU Xou're best boy Raus! >_</ As a writer, an artist, the works! Shelter is arguably the BEST VN on itch.io! Much love! Awoo~!
Haha thanks mate! I had this magic/species system thought up a while back, and it was prepared with a generic fantasy world in mind. When I was making INU, I thought that maybe it was a good opportunity to try it in action there, so I could see how it works before get to use it in another project. I had to make some adjustments since INU was a videogame world, but it was super fun to use there :D
Its use in Shelter is much closer to its initial intended environment. Magic is real there, and it's a part of the World's natural laws, and that comes with so many fantastic consequences.
In short, the worlds of INU and Shelter may have shared elements, but they aren't based off each other.
Thankx for the clarification! I was a little worried that a buncha plays became stuck in the game through a virus that rendered them catatonic, got thier memories all mixed up, and that non of this was real "^_^ would have been a great twist, but with Burry's tragic backstory, I think all our hearts have taken enough of a beating, so I'm glad that beating came rather in the form of a knot~ :p
Btw, xou had another comic that was abandoned, "Sheep Theft", and after xou finally revealed Luke's face, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between Luke and Rick from the comic :3 I was sad to see that comic cut off before we got the knot, but after receiving Burry's... UwU #satisfied~
Thank xou for all xour hard work Raus <3 I seriously can't praise xour work enough, and am excited to see what xou have planned with Rune!
Cant believe im crying right now, i also have a lot of questions to what happened to the other dogs T_T also Rune's new Splash Art looks REALLY FUCKING CUTE OMFG
You'll find more answers as we keep completing the routes. It's an end of a path, but that's only a piece of the bigger picture. There is still so much more ahead of us! \o.o/ And you probably mean Burry's splash art? It was drawn by this wonderful creature: https://twitter.com/underguran We're already discussing Rune's, though :]
i meant the scene where Max and Rune came in XD, Rune looks so cute there, idk what it is called so i just called it splash art lmao, what is it called tho? uh model? anyway, played the update today again, cried AGAIN at the last Splash Art T_T
I hope you enjoy! It's pretty short, but an nice milestone of the project in general ^^ Check out the porny path, since it's the bulk of this update :P
Awoo! I just finished the new update, I loved it, from the very start at which I played the game (I think it was January of 2020 idk) and I'm so happy that Burry's route has resolved the night, But just because it's the end of his route doesn't mean it's the end of his story, I really hope to see more of this game I grew to love, but for now I think you can have a well deserve rest, It made me cry but every end is a new beginning and I'll be patiently awaiting the next update!
my favorite part was the credits haha, just kidding, it was the caught scene, even in disaster the quadria still stay the same and that's good to know.
and keep safe! things are tough throughout the world right now, so always remember to put your wellbeing first ^^
Hey, I just got done doing playing Burry's route as of now and oh my gosh, you did an amazing job with every character in making each distinct and different. I fell in love which everyone especially Alon, he's my favorite character so far! I love the plot and everything. Thank you sm for putting so much hard work into this. It rlly paid off imo :3
hmm do all the things that the barkest corner gives hints too ( not the things alon say) then you'll be able to. they give hints if you completed the game in a certain ways
This is a hornier than average game haha, but it's utterly hilarious with some very serious messages woven throughout. Really enjoying everything so far, V21 was most excellent 🧡
It's like setting the pin when you get a new phone. You set it to whatever 4 digit code you like (something less obvious is better, *wink wink*), but remember it cuz you may just need it later ;)
I wrote a rating for this and figured I'd share it in the comments as well.
First of all; Sorry for all the rambling. I'm mostly just writing down my thoughts and I know I'll end up repeating myself so I'll try to summarize somewhat at the end.
There's also a lot to say and most of it is tied in together so well with the other parts that it's difficult to sort it into segments.
That said, here we go.
As a side note, this rating is mostly written with Burry's route and character in mind.
I've played Shelter a few times, mostly passing it over as "Oh, it's well made and has good assets but it's not something extra ".
The part that stuck out to me most previously was the fact that it makes excellent use of the VN Media form to tell the story and present gameplay. There's a lot of choice and your decisions unlock further options in further playthroughs, even if it sometimes get a bit much to go hunting for unlocking different endings. It's a fresh breath breaking away from the semi-kinetic VN's I've grown used to, while still retaining most of the important bits. The only thing I missed in this was a clear way to see what route you're on, as it's tempting to mix and match and end up with one without realizing it the first time through.
Moving on, the excellent use of the VN media form was the one thing that stuck out to me until this update (V20) which tied everything together in a much better way for me. It balanced the scale, so to say.
Looking further, the reason that was the one thing that stuck out, rather than the story or setting is most likely due to the game feeling as "three games mashed into one", paired with some community prejudice.
With that, I'm trying to say that it's due to the fact that on the surface this game simply looks like it was made to get people off. Rather, it probably is. And yes, it does that well.
However, at the same time it's bunched in with a whole lot of comedy and some incredibly interesting world building and heartfelt stories. They're just behind the surface. With the different tone shifts, it becomes confusing at first.
If one goes in without real expectations and is met early on by the goofiness and horniness, it's easy to fall prey to prejudice and think that there's all that there is to the game. And that content is not bad, there's so much more to it in my opinion. This is where a few of my friends have gotten stuck and didn't really want to continue, despite the quality of the content. To me, that's unlucky, because somehow those moments also help build the entire world and story.
In every moment there's some kind of character or worldbuilding, mostly both at once. It's often in silly things, such as looking at Rune's balls 'to see if there's mana storied in them' introducing the idea of storing mana properly. There's the balls, which I find hilarious, but some of my friends just couldn't get past, while at the same time it makes your mind go 'Canine mana? Human mana? What's the difference? Are there more kinds? What do they do?' These little snippets of information makes the world feel more real and thought out.
Further, it's all quite grounded. It's not abstract concepts mostly, instead it's things that make sense, such as canine mana having canine properties. Pack mentality, improved smell and so on. It helps make the world more relatable, which is a big plus with how much there is of it.
Further on, every character seems to have an interesting backstory of their own, which ties in with all the worldbuilding and makes you ask questions such as 'who is in charge? where are they from? why are they at shelter?' It makes the characters feel more real, on top of helping introduce their goals and personalities, wishes and wants. The part that really makes it click for me is the fact that the world seems to have impacted every character. We're told this epic story, and the characters are actually a part of it.
The exception for me here would be Alon, I love the character and he has fun moments but for whatever reason he seems like bit of an afterthought. He's a little too opportune in that he seems to solve a few writing "problems" a little too often somehow. He sticks out just a tad too much, despite hinting at being a villain of sorts.
Moving on, it's the fact that the world building actually delivers which makes it a pleasure to play the game. What has me focusing on that so much is that there are more than a few (great) stories out there which have a lot of the same qualities when it comes to characters and worlds as Shelter does, but they never deliver. They have a great world and interesting characters, but they're never tied together. There's a world, and a story, and characters. And mostly two are tied together, but almost never all three. Shelter ties all three together, and it does it well. Shelter doesn't introduce Chekov's gun (bomb) and never have it go off. That's what truly makes it stand out.
Now, I previously said "It's well made but not something *extra*" and that somehow still holds true up until what I think of as the splitting point. The bath sequence.
Essentially, it shifts the tone from the "horny silly" and reaches a breaking point where it tills over to storytelling of the previously built world. It suddenly drops most of the goofy parts and forces you into the present, with the attack on shelter. In a way, it's a climax created by skipping the... climaxing we've had before.
All the hints and backstory we've gotten so far clicks, and Burry and Luke are all tied into it. We learn more about Skies ablaze, and what it all entails. Pack mentality and the differences between races is expanded on and further tied in with Luke, who as a human somehow is more relatable which really makes the reader fall into the role as Luke.
Now, focusing on Burry's route, it's a dark backstory filled with action scenes (which are excellently written and presented. These are one of the most difficult things to write in text or VN format, in my opinion).
For Burry's story there are no stops. It is a lore dump for all intents and purposes, but it's also a lore dump built on information we've been given before, so it doesn't really feel slow to read. Instead it's just a bunch of puzzle pieces falling together.
Somehow, I felt like I was missing a few pieces with how Burry felt within, rather than "at peace" while still being conflicted. It still tied together nicely, but with how good some other descriptions are it felt a little barren.
It was still heartfelt, as promised by the question in the bath, and it went through with a lot of different emotion. The parts that felt a little off was mostly actuated by the backgrounds and lack of sprites during it. Now, it's important to note that it is in no way below "good" VN standards, instead it sticks out with just how high quality and effort the rest of the assets are in the game. Somehow it turned into feeling more like reading a book than "watching a scene" at that point. I was missing a bit of interaction with Burry's brothers and despite it being such an important part of the story, we only got the tail (heh) end of it. It didn't hurt the story, but that's where I would have liked to have even more added in. Some interactions with his brothers, so there's not 11 names and 4 personalities, but rather some bonds.
Other than that, I loved the introduction of the wolfen rule and the contrast between Burry's backstory, the wolves, and how most common dogs probably live. It made my mind wander, which the fact that it felt more like a book at that point probably helped with.
Now, enough about Burry and on to Luke. Luke's definitely the best character in Shelter.
We get to follow Luke, and in the story somehow all the options the player gets to pick somehow feels like choices Luke would make. There's no "wrong" or weird choice. We still get to make them, and they make a difference in outcome, but they're all choices I can see Luke making.
Luke feels clumsy when relating himself to his friends, and relates it to being human and not canine. For a human however, he's not clumsy at all. Instead he's athletic and agile. But he still feels opposite, it leads into philosophical questions which the story touches on about if it's the environment he's in, or just birth, or if it's all bullshit and unlucky. I loved it, but it's a stark contrast to expectations going into the story with aforementioned goofy and horny actions.
It's one of many things we see Luke internalize as we play what I'd describe as the build up (before Skies Ablaze). We get to know how he feels, and then finally why. Eventually it all breaks down and he becomes more "human". He's right and wrong at the same time, he throws blame and he's angry. He's sad, he's jealous and confused. He's relatable.
All in all, a great character with flaws and strengths, with just a dash of perspective when we get to see how the other characters view him. The outburst at the bath is definitely my favourite part of the story.
For some final notes aside from the worldbuilding and story, the writing itself encompasses a lot of humour and references such as Chekov's gun/bomb, which managed to keep my attention. It also makes me think that this story has been in the authors head for much longer than it's been "on paper."
So, to finally try and summarize a little.
Shelter's strength lies in it's storytelling and world building, which ties into character building. It capitalizes well on the VN media form with flags and choices that matter.
There is however no denying the overall atmosphere of horniness and the fact that it is an adult game. This is as much a strength as it is detriment. The downside being that it can be off-putting to some people who would probably enjoy the game as much as I did, if they made it past that part.
While there are ways to avoid these segments, it's not always super clear and with how in your face it gets at times, it might be difficult to ever get past it. Still, I'd highly recommend anyone to try it even if they're not into that, as the other parts are top notch as well.
On the flip side, it might also be a detriment to those who want to focus on that, as they might skip past the story to get into the explicit content. While in reality, it's best viewed when enjoying both. It is weird, as the part that would be the easiest to "cut" or not enjoy is the horny part, but it's still a very base part. It's like softcore porn in a way, the hidden details are somehow more enticing than getting al the hardcore stuff.
I truly enjoy all the teasing and shafts and whatnot, and while I also enjoyed the explicit scenes, it splits the experience into two while keeping it together. Perhaps in the future, there'll be a mode where you can just get all the teasing and softcore enjoyment, letting you focus more on the world and story instead.
Finally, the above notes make it easy to miss how individual and enjoyable all the characters are. I only have great things to say about it. They're all individual and have wide personalities and backstories.
Either way, regardless if you're looking for NSFW content or a great fantasy story with good world building, you'll enjoy Shelter. Just don't get hung up on it being one or the other, because it's best enjoyed as both.
I have so many questions about this visual novel it's not even funny like who can you romance really and I hate that it's hard to advance throughout the story without knowing what to select in order to pick someone I'm really giving this 1 a chance I feel so awkward because I know you probably can't have rune as a selection yet or at all
I can't figure out how to find Mystery figure I was wondering about rune is because every time I it would get to the bath part he would end up kissing Max or b u r ry
The game is about halfway done and none of the romance routes are complete. There should be romance routes for Max, Rune, and Burry. There will likely be routes for Alan, Teak, and Thistle as well.
So far, the romance routes follow the general flow:
1) Intro (Complete)
2) early day/afternoon (Complete)
3) bath scene (In-progress)
4) Nighttime (In-progress for Burry only)
5) Ending (sex) (in-progress for Burry only)
Almost all the characters currently have some level of lewd content in the game. Though some can be harder to find.
The game also keeps track of what events have been completed or not. Completing an event can unlock additional content in other routes and/or past events in the game. If you can't see something, it may be because you haven't yet done something else in the game.
This tale has come such a long way from that argument about knots between Rune and old man Thistle UwU who'd have thunk that 1irst demo release would lead to such a grand and captivating tale that brings xou to the brink of tears? :') Xou're 1ne of the best writers & artists here on itch.io Raus~ ^^_ thank xou, to xou and xour pack, for all the hard work done to make this VN truly great! >_</ awoo~!
Does anyone have like a docs guide to the game? I get lost in the choices, and can't seem to get shot by a dog, get the bomb to burry, and use the bomb.
The update is VERY HEAVY, and we get to see more or burry's and Luke's past which is what I've been waiting for, also the new sfx and music pieces are BEAUTIFUL, and lastly, nice prank raus! very beautiful update for this month, cant wait for the next one! <3
Awoooooooo "IT WAS INCREDIBLE", i better finish my time machine cause i can't wait for the next update! Btw not cool to tease the burry sex scene like that, tsk tsk.
Also i sense a One Piece theme in the credit's artworks, am i wrong?
With all that out of the way, i have to say that this VN is amazing. The world building, the characters and their development, the artwork and everything else i haven't mentioned is just... wow, i hope there will be other works like this and/or in the same universe because i have a lot of questions. It'll be sad when this VN finishes, so in conclusion love your VN Raus and i hope that there will be more of your work in the future.
i remember the first public release of this vn and i thought it was cool, i kept following this and after every update it just became crazy better every time like seriously crazy. fucking. better. now it's totally out of mind totally love it crazy good story and character really, wow.
i just returned from a drinking with friend i was like half stunned and i just log on itch.io and see feed notification? "mmh lets see... Shelter!?!?!? wtf no way" so i was screaming like a lil hyped excited boy... at 5:00 am now, outside of causing me some problem, i just went and read it and again i was screaming i dont know its just too much of a good story. ah btw where can i hear the credit music? i kinda wanted to hear it before sleeping and reflect
edit: oh nevermind i found a way to hear it on my phone and fun fact i was so invested that i just continued to think about shelter
In the bath scene before Burry's speech Rune goes "we'll love it even if it's bad!" and Max says "Rune! Eh.. it's true though." verbatim to a moment from the show.
is there a way to save Baxter? I picked to hang out with burry and tried different routes but keeps ending the same with the monsters at the half open gate?
Are you talking about the save files? If so there's 6 save slots per page and after the 9th page just use the arrows (Green circles) to go to the next one over.
A few updates ago I changed something for new players. They unlock new save slots by exploring the Barkest Corners and other secrets, and they'll have some additional gimmicks related to that.
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Oh god ok,listen Raus and everyone im saying this in advance i love this VN.Just putting that out there cause unfortunately i did not vibe with this update.
Firstly,congratulations on finishing the first route of the game! It was a long journey to get here and its awesome you made it this far! Also i hope you and your family and loved ones will stay safe i can't imagine the stress youre under.
.......So time to get into it.All in all i have like only two gripes with this update and they are as follows:
1. Burrys thoughts about how he is stronger than Luke and how there is no one to stop him and that Luke would be powerless and helpless to oppose Burry.Yeah i guess this may be me projecting my own tastes but idk Burry practically saying "I could rape Luke and nobody can stop me" while in the middle of having sex made me feel super uneasy and left me looking at burry in a less favourable light.Again its your story,you have the final say but I just feel like we could have gone without that and it sadly soured the experience of that scene for me.
2. I understand that not everything will be answered here but having the epilogue be a bullet point list is very underwhelming,I felt like so much was skimmed over.I get that its probably because more is to come so this wont be the final end but still as is right now it feels incomplete.
Im really sorry i was so negative in this one,but I cannot stress this enough I still love this VN and im sure the rest will be great.Hope you stay safe and have a good day Raus,bye.
It's okay, you don't need to vibe with every single update. That would be an impossible expectation.
It's a work-in-progress project, and more is coming. I hope you'll be satisfied once we hit v1.0 and we have the whole picture :)
Oh hi Raus,thanks for the reply.Im glad to see i didn't upset you with my comments.And yeah i have no doubts ill enjoy the rest of the VN,i loved the previous few updates so much and im sure it'll only get better the more story and answers we get.Thanks for being such a chill guy,hope you take care and have a nice day.
Sorry for the shit you're going through man
finally finished and I want to cry and laugh but it is great sadly its ending but it is great . Can't wait to see more andwould love to see more of Cooper
I've been waiting a while to ask this, but decided to wait until the end of the 1irst rout incase it was explained, and seeing as it wasn't... "n_n Is this world based in the same 1ne as the "INU" universe from the comic series on Furaffinity? :/ Monsters are similar, magick's identical, species list, all that good stuff is the same. Or perhaps did the concept for Shelter simply spring from that comic?
I could rant about how great Shelter is after the 1irst ending, but I'm not about to flood the comment section UwU Xou're best boy Raus! >_</ As a writer, an artist, the works! Shelter is arguably the BEST VN on itch.io! Much love! Awoo~!
Haha thanks mate! I had this magic/species system thought up a while back, and it was prepared with a generic fantasy world in mind. When I was making INU, I thought that maybe it was a good opportunity to try it in action there, so I could see how it works before get to use it in another project. I had to make some adjustments since INU was a videogame world, but it was super fun to use there :D
Its use in Shelter is much closer to its initial intended environment. Magic is real there, and it's a part of the World's natural laws, and that comes with so many fantastic consequences.
In short, the worlds of INU and Shelter may have shared elements, but they aren't based off each other.
Thankx for the clarification! I was a little worried that a buncha plays became stuck in the game through a virus that rendered them catatonic, got thier memories all mixed up, and that non of this was real "^_^ would have been a great twist, but with Burry's tragic backstory, I think all our hearts have taken enough of a beating, so I'm glad that beating came rather in the form of a knot~ :p
Btw, xou had another comic that was abandoned, "Sheep Theft", and after xou finally revealed Luke's face, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between Luke and Rick from the comic :3 I was sad to see that comic cut off before we got the knot, but after receiving Burry's... UwU #satisfied~
Thank xou for all xour hard work Raus <3 I seriously can't praise xour work enough, and am excited to see what xou have planned with Rune!
Cant believe im crying right now, i also have a lot of questions to what happened to the other dogs T_T also Rune's new Splash Art looks REALLY FUCKING CUTE OMFG
You'll find more answers as we keep completing the routes. It's an end of a path, but that's only a piece of the bigger picture. There is still so much more ahead of us! \o.o/
And you probably mean Burry's splash art? It was drawn by this wonderful creature: https://twitter.com/underguran We're already discussing Rune's, though :]
Yeah that talk with alon is a pretty big hint for us who were all like "wtf it's over already? BUT QUESTIONS"
Guess we'll find out the rest by playing the other routes. Although i don't feel like playing teak's lol
i meant the scene where Max and Rune came in XD, Rune looks so cute there, idk what it is called so i just called it splash art lmao, what is it called tho? uh model? anyway, played the update today again, cried AGAIN at the last Splash Art T_T
Yooooooooos finally have time to play the new update >:3
I hope you enjoy! It's pretty short, but an nice milestone of the project in general ^^ Check out the porny path, since it's the bulk of this update :P
Awoo! I just finished the new update, I loved it, from the very start at which I played the game (I think it was January of 2020 idk) and I'm so happy that Burry's route has resolved the night, But just because it's the end of his route doesn't mean it's the end of his story, I really hope to see more of this game I grew to love, but for now I think you can have a well deserve rest, It made me cry but every end is a new beginning and I'll be patiently awaiting the next update!
my favorite part was the credits haha, just kidding, it was the caught scene, even in disaster the quadria still stay the same and that's good to know.
and keep safe! things are tough throughout the world right now, so always remember to put your wellbeing first ^^
signing off for now:
-Ace Ayasaki
Gotta know if alon is a datable character because i love him soo much he's so cute and cool
Hey, I just got done doing playing Burry's route as of now and oh my gosh, you did an amazing job with every character in making each distinct and different. I fell in love which everyone especially Alon, he's my favorite character so far! I love the plot and everything. Thank you sm for putting so much hard work into this. It rlly paid off imo :3
So if I may ask, when the v21 will be released to public?
Follow my Twitter for all release times :)
Here is one dog-lover satisfied. You guys really know what you are doing.
Question how do I find out the second mysterious figure the one on the coridor
Spit it out
use the barkest corner hints
Does anyone have an official or unofficial sprite or image of Luke?
if you focus on Burry you'll get an image of how Luke looks like
Luke is WAY more buff than I thought he was. Nice.
heya guys do any of you know how to win the fight against teak n the spar
Basically it's a game of thrones reference. The best way to play is not to at all.
Relax instead of continuing playing.
YES BURRY AND LUKE DOING THE DEED
on burrys route how do i get the option to use the bomb? i had it on my old save but now i cant get it?
uhh all you gotta do is the bomb later/ choose the other choice figure out another way
no the issue is i dont get the option to use it at all those options wont appear?
hmm do all the things that the barkest corner gives hints too ( not the things alon say) then you'll be able to. they give hints if you completed the game in a certain ways
Make a code that isn't easily guessed like the 6969 1234 1111 ect otherwise Rune will guess by button pushing and use it to open the door.
That saves the bomb for use at the top of the tower.
ooh thank you!! ^-^
How can I beta teak in the fight ?
This is a hornier than average game haha, but it's utterly hilarious with some very serious messages woven throughout. Really enjoying everything so far, V21 was most excellent 🧡
What's the bomb code ? I can't find it ;(
You input any code to secure it.
It's like setting the pin when you get a new phone. You set it to whatever 4 digit code you like (something less obvious is better, *wink wink*), but remember it cuz you may just need it later ;)
Thks!
I wrote a rating for this and figured I'd share it in the comments as well.
First of all; Sorry for all the rambling. I'm mostly just writing down my thoughts and I know I'll end up repeating myself so I'll try to summarize somewhat at the end.
There's also a lot to say and most of it is tied in together so well with the other parts that it's difficult to sort it into segments.
That said, here we go.
As a side note, this rating is mostly written with Burry's route and character in mind.
I've played Shelter a few times, mostly passing it over as "Oh, it's well made and has good assets but it's not something extra ".
The part that stuck out to me most previously was the fact that it makes excellent use of the VN Media form to tell the story and present gameplay. There's a lot of choice and your decisions unlock further options in further playthroughs, even if it sometimes get a bit much to go hunting for unlocking different endings. It's a fresh breath breaking away from the semi-kinetic VN's I've grown used to, while still retaining most of the important bits. The only thing I missed in this was a clear way to see what route you're on, as it's tempting to mix and match and end up with one without realizing it the first time through.
Moving on, the excellent use of the VN media form was the one thing that stuck out to me until this update (V20) which tied everything together in a much better way for me. It balanced the scale, so to say.
Looking further, the reason that was the one thing that stuck out, rather than the story or setting is most likely due to the game feeling as "three games mashed into one", paired with some community prejudice.
With that, I'm trying to say that it's due to the fact that on the surface this game simply looks like it was made to get people off. Rather, it probably is. And yes, it does that well.
However, at the same time it's bunched in with a whole lot of comedy and some incredibly interesting world building and heartfelt stories. They're just behind the surface. With the different tone shifts, it becomes confusing at first.
If one goes in without real expectations and is met early on by the goofiness and horniness, it's easy to fall prey to prejudice and think that there's all that there is to the game. And that content is not bad, there's so much more to it in my opinion. This is where a few of my friends have gotten stuck and didn't really want to continue, despite the quality of the content. To me, that's unlucky, because somehow those moments also help build the entire world and story.
In every moment there's some kind of character or worldbuilding, mostly both at once. It's often in silly things, such as looking at Rune's balls 'to see if there's mana storied in them' introducing the idea of storing mana properly. There's the balls, which I find hilarious, but some of my friends just couldn't get past, while at the same time it makes your mind go 'Canine mana? Human mana? What's the difference? Are there more kinds? What do they do?' These little snippets of information makes the world feel more real and thought out.
Further, it's all quite grounded. It's not abstract concepts mostly, instead it's things that make sense, such as canine mana having canine properties. Pack mentality, improved smell and so on. It helps make the world more relatable, which is a big plus with how much there is of it.
Further on, every character seems to have an interesting backstory of their own, which ties in with all the worldbuilding and makes you ask questions such as 'who is in charge? where are they from? why are they at shelter?' It makes the characters feel more real, on top of helping introduce their goals and personalities, wishes and wants. The part that really makes it click for me is the fact that the world seems to have impacted every character. We're told this epic story, and the characters are actually a part of it.
The exception for me here would be Alon, I love the character and he has fun moments but for whatever reason he seems like bit of an afterthought. He's a little too opportune in that he seems to solve a few writing "problems" a little too often somehow. He sticks out just a tad too much, despite hinting at being a villain of sorts.
Moving on, it's the fact that the world building actually delivers which makes it a pleasure to play the game. What has me focusing on that so much is that there are more than a few (great) stories out there which have a lot of the same qualities when it comes to characters and worlds as Shelter does, but they never deliver. They have a great world and interesting characters, but they're never tied together. There's a world, and a story, and characters. And mostly two are tied together, but almost never all three. Shelter ties all three together, and it does it well. Shelter doesn't introduce Chekov's gun (bomb) and never have it go off. That's what truly makes it stand out.
Now, I previously said "It's well made but not something *extra*" and that somehow still holds true up until what I think of as the splitting point. The bath sequence.
Essentially, it shifts the tone from the "horny silly" and reaches a breaking point where it tills over to storytelling of the previously built world. It suddenly drops most of the goofy parts and forces you into the present, with the attack on shelter. In a way, it's a climax created by skipping the... climaxing we've had before.
All the hints and backstory we've gotten so far clicks, and Burry and Luke are all tied into it. We learn more about Skies ablaze, and what it all entails. Pack mentality and the differences between races is expanded on and further tied in with Luke, who as a human somehow is more relatable which really makes the reader fall into the role as Luke.
Now, focusing on Burry's route, it's a dark backstory filled with action scenes (which are excellently written and presented. These are one of the most difficult things to write in text or VN format, in my opinion).
For Burry's story there are no stops. It is a lore dump for all intents and purposes, but it's also a lore dump built on information we've been given before, so it doesn't really feel slow to read. Instead it's just a bunch of puzzle pieces falling together.
Somehow, I felt like I was missing a few pieces with how Burry felt within, rather than "at peace" while still being conflicted. It still tied together nicely, but with how good some other descriptions are it felt a little barren.
It was still heartfelt, as promised by the question in the bath, and it went through with a lot of different emotion. The parts that felt a little off was mostly actuated by the backgrounds and lack of sprites during it. Now, it's important to note that it is in no way below "good" VN standards, instead it sticks out with just how high quality and effort the rest of the assets are in the game. Somehow it turned into feeling more like reading a book than "watching a scene" at that point. I was missing a bit of interaction with Burry's brothers and despite it being such an important part of the story, we only got the tail (heh) end of it. It didn't hurt the story, but that's where I would have liked to have even more added in. Some interactions with his brothers, so there's not 11 names and 4 personalities, but rather some bonds.
Other than that, I loved the introduction of the wolfen rule and the contrast between Burry's backstory, the wolves, and how most common dogs probably live. It made my mind wander, which the fact that it felt more like a book at that point probably helped with.
Now, enough about Burry and on to Luke. Luke's definitely the best character in Shelter.
We get to follow Luke, and in the story somehow all the options the player gets to pick somehow feels like choices Luke would make. There's no "wrong" or weird choice. We still get to make them, and they make a difference in outcome, but they're all choices I can see Luke making.
Luke feels clumsy when relating himself to his friends, and relates it to being human and not canine. For a human however, he's not clumsy at all. Instead he's athletic and agile. But he still feels opposite, it leads into philosophical questions which the story touches on about if it's the environment he's in, or just birth, or if it's all bullshit and unlucky. I loved it, but it's a stark contrast to expectations going into the story with aforementioned goofy and horny actions.
It's one of many things we see Luke internalize as we play what I'd describe as the build up (before Skies Ablaze). We get to know how he feels, and then finally why. Eventually it all breaks down and he becomes more "human". He's right and wrong at the same time, he throws blame and he's angry. He's sad, he's jealous and confused. He's relatable.
All in all, a great character with flaws and strengths, with just a dash of perspective when we get to see how the other characters view him. The outburst at the bath is definitely my favourite part of the story.
For some final notes aside from the worldbuilding and story, the writing itself encompasses a lot of humour and references such as Chekov's gun/bomb, which managed to keep my attention. It also makes me think that this story has been in the authors head for much longer than it's been "on paper."
So, to finally try and summarize a little.
Shelter's strength lies in it's storytelling and world building, which ties into character building. It capitalizes well on the VN media form with flags and choices that matter.
There is however no denying the overall atmosphere of horniness and the fact that it is an adult game. This is as much a strength as it is detriment. The downside being that it can be off-putting to some people who would probably enjoy the game as much as I did, if they made it past that part.
While there are ways to avoid these segments, it's not always super clear and with how in your face it gets at times, it might be difficult to ever get past it. Still, I'd highly recommend anyone to try it even if they're not into that, as the other parts are top notch as well.
On the flip side, it might also be a detriment to those who want to focus on that, as they might skip past the story to get into the explicit content. While in reality, it's best viewed when enjoying both. It is weird, as the part that would be the easiest to "cut" or not enjoy is the horny part, but it's still a very base part. It's like softcore porn in a way, the hidden details are somehow more enticing than getting al the hardcore stuff.
I truly enjoy all the teasing and shafts and whatnot, and while I also enjoyed the explicit scenes, it splits the experience into two while keeping it together. Perhaps in the future, there'll be a mode where you can just get all the teasing and softcore enjoyment, letting you focus more on the world and story instead.
Finally, the above notes make it easy to miss how individual and enjoyable all the characters are. I only have great things to say about it. They're all individual and have wide personalities and backstories.
Either way, regardless if you're looking for NSFW content or a great fantasy story with good world building, you'll enjoy Shelter. Just don't get hung up on it being one or the other, because it's best enjoyed as both.
planning to play all the routes AGAIN, I just love the lore that much especially now because of Burry's past.
I have so many questions about this visual novel it's not even funny like who can you romance really and I hate that it's hard to advance throughout the story without knowing what to select in order to pick someone I'm really giving this 1 a chance I feel so awkward because I know you probably can't have rune as a selection yet or at all
Rune is a route. He even has a cg. But i think burry's route goes further into the story currently
I can't figure out how to find Mystery figure I was wondering about rune is because every time I it would get to the bath part he would end up kissing Max or b u r ry
Something about not smacking him right at start of the game and looking at his balls lol
I did that and they still end up kissing Max or b u r r y LOL I even had Luke before going outside
The game is about halfway done and none of the romance routes are complete. There should be romance routes for Max, Rune, and Burry. There will likely be routes for Alan, Teak, and Thistle as well.
So far, the romance routes follow the general flow:
1) Intro (Complete)
2) early day/afternoon (Complete)
3) bath scene (In-progress)
4) Nighttime (In-progress for Burry only)
5) Ending (sex) (in-progress for Burry only)
Almost all the characters currently have some level of lewd content in the game. Though some can be harder to find.
The game also keeps track of what events have been completed or not. Completing an event can unlock additional content in other routes and/or past events in the game. If you can't see something, it may be because you haven't yet done something else in the game.
This tale has come such a long way from that argument about knots between Rune and old man Thistle UwU who'd have thunk that 1irst demo release would lead to such a grand and captivating tale that brings xou to the brink of tears? :') Xou're 1ne of the best writers & artists here on itch.io Raus~ ^^_ thank xou, to xou and xour pack, for all the hard work done to make this VN truly great! >_</ awoo~!
@Raus: Will there be a way 2 buy the game or a other way 2 throw money at you after you finish it? Or do I have 2 sup you on patreon 'now or never'?
You know that the end of Burrys Route is nothing Short than cruel? Bad boy to blueball me ;)
But its great that for the First Time we see lukes Face and full Body!
Thank you as allways
Does anyone have like a docs guide to the game? I get lost in the choices, and can't seem to get shot by a dog, get the bomb to burry, and use the bomb.
269 mb for android... nice
i feel happy but sad at the same time. is next update the last of burry route?
I didn't expect to see an update :D
will there be a guide for the game ? Just curious to know if I need to try every choices myself XD
taek has a route...right?
The update is VERY HEAVY, and we get to see more or burry's and Luke's past which is what I've been waiting for, also the new sfx and music pieces are BEAUTIFUL, and lastly, nice prank raus! very beautiful update for this month, cant wait for the next one! <3
Awoooooooo "IT WAS INCREDIBLE", i better finish my time machine cause i can't wait for the next update! Btw not cool to tease the burry sex scene like that, tsk tsk.
Also i sense a One Piece theme in the credit's artworks, am i wrong?
With all that out of the way, i have to say that this VN is amazing. The world building, the characters and their development, the artwork and everything else i haven't mentioned is just... wow, i hope there will be other works like this and/or in the same universe because i have a lot of questions. It'll be sad when this VN finishes, so in conclusion love your VN Raus and i hope that there will be more of your work in the future.
i remember the first public release of this vn and i thought it was cool, i kept following this and after every update it just became crazy better every time like seriously crazy. fucking. better. now it's totally out of mind totally love it crazy good story and character really, wow.
Haha I'm happy to hear that! I'll be posting the next public update tomorrow so I hope you'll like it too :)
i just returned from a drinking with friend i was like half stunned and i just log on itch.io and see feed notification? "mmh lets see... Shelter!?!?!? wtf no way" so i was screaming like a lil hyped excited boy... at 5:00 am now, outside of causing me some problem, i just went and read it and again i was screaming i dont know its just too much of a good story.
ah btw where can i hear the credit music? i kinda wanted to hear it before sleeping and reflect
edit: oh nevermind i found a way to hear it on my phone and fun fact i was so invested that i just continued to think about shelter
Hehe, I noticed that Steven Universe reference~~
What? Where??
In the bath scene before Burry's speech Rune goes "we'll love it even if it's bad!" and Max says "Rune! Eh.. it's true though." verbatim to a moment from the show.
Oh, I remembered it now! I did noticed it
It was from the extended intro~
It did caught me by surprise at the moment and I screamed internally for a sec XD
wow i notice it too, but couldn't remember where was it from lol
is there a way to save Baxter? I picked to hang out with burry and tried different routes but keeps ending the same with the monsters at the half open gate?
psst- get alon to join you guys.
oohhhh thank you
The song "For the first time in forever" Is the literal definition of what happens when you automate the Skies Ablaze, and I love it
When this VN first came out it was fenomenal....
Now it's even better <3
BUT EVERYTHING IS SOOOOO COMPLICATED 😭😭
Ps: why are there ONLY 5 save spots???
Are you talking about the save files? If so there's 6 save slots per page and after the 9th page just use the arrows (Green circles) to go to the next one over.
A few updates ago I changed something for new players. They unlock new save slots by exploring the Barkest Corners and other secrets, and they'll have some additional gimmicks related to that.
In short, just keep playing :)
Oh thank god... I kept reinstalling the android and pc versions thinking there was something wrong. XD