Post by vervainbee in Tomai comments

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(Hello, hope you're patient enough to read this because its gonna get long, but I swear its a nice read! [I hope lol])
So first things first I'd like to thank the gods for allowing me to come across this game, and thank the creator for having such an amazing idea! This is the first time I've had any contact with the work of DarkChibiShadow, and after playing this I went around following them in every social media and reading all of their other projects because everything is just so good and I feel so happy to have access to all of this for free!! Can't wait til I can actually support the creator overtime and give them all my money. No, seriously. Prepare your wallet, for I am coming.

Now onto the actual review, the game is simple, but very fun! The music is also so chill and positive, though I would have liked an extra track with a bit of a lower-sounding vibe to it for the private moments. The happy music when the characters are going at it doesnt exacly feel in-place lol (though I do admit this was only my first impression. All the music did end up growing on me overtime). Now, at first I wondered if the 15 days premise would end up getting repetitive, but I was very happy (and sad) to notice that nothing like that happened! In fact, I've come to love all of these characters so much that just the content in this game is simply not enough for my over-indulgent, obsessive brain! The story is pretty to the point, the setting feels comfy in an almost homey way, as if living your life in this village would have a vibe of "we dont got much, but we're still happy" and everyday feels like summer break.

The characters are lovely, the playable character Tomai is pretty well fleshed-out and even deep, even if the game doesn't give us enough time to discover everything about him (I've even thought up some silly little theories of my own), seeing him growing as a person throughout the different routes, no matter which path you chose, is very satisfying. Also I cant EVER lose the oportunity to comment on how beautiful I think Tomai is. Seriously, so many shots of him are social-media-icon worth, its simply crazy. Might as well be one of the prettiest 2D humans I've ever laid eyes upon.

His dad feels very close to what a real, "I want you to suceed but we're from different generations and not everything between us will always be clear" parental figure acts like, with his worry about if Tomai will actually manage to be responsible enough to take care of this village he loves so much. Their situation at first is quite frustrating to watch, but seeing them grow into a healthier relationship overtime was surely one of the most satisfying moments of this game.

The Lady scared me, at first, with everything about her being so misterious, but ends up that she's a very fun and friendly person! Her route was super satisfying, having a new friend join the group felt so nice and fun and the way the other boys warmed up to her quickly was also just as adorable. And speaking of them..

I've gotta say, Malik is probably my new 2D crush. He's tentacle-y, he's soft, he's cheeky, he's got hair over his eyes (favorite design trope), and voicing him while playing was the most fun part, because his little beak gives me the feeling that he'd have somewhat of a lisp when speaking, and honestly that's the cutest headcannon I've come up with for this cast (my apologies if speaking about headcannons may seem like I'm intruding or is disrespectful, I'm not sure of your opinion on these). Seeing the game through his lenses during those "extra stories" session felt sooo satisfying, with the way you could see more clearly how he's got a very no filter, risky personality, prefering to go for it before even being sure if he's actually reading the room right, but still cares enough to hesitate and quietly start questioning himself if he's doing the right thing when the boys dont seem too sure either of whats going on. He just cares so much for his friends and seeing all of their diferent dynamics is very heart-warming. At this point I've got pretty much all of his line memorized from how much I've played his route (and Burdoc's route just for the extra scenes of him, as sad as they make me feel).

Now last but hopefully not least, Burdoc is a cutie big ol' croc who's just a enormous pile of nerves, always so anxious and worried about messing up, but still so attached to his two favorite people in town. Even if sometimes he may feel like he cant keep up with them, it doesn't bring him down and he's always trying his best to stay positive! And obviously, its not like the boys would let him just isolate himself and get rid of them so easily lol. That backstory moment on the DLCs when he "came back hot" was hilarious and seeing the boys absolutely DYING over him was amazing and super cute. His moments in his safe-space of 'producing art to calm himself' was also a very big 'mood' moment and pretty realistic for a lot of people that face stuff like anxiety, which he seems to deal with himself. Boy just needs a hug. I loved seeing him acting a bit more free-y during the extra stories, on those tiny moments of him and Malik fighting for dumb reasons, and his bursts of courage when kissing the squid boy and yelling a certain truth out loud unexpectantly. Wish we'd have more to do with him during the first few days rather than just go around looking for a mango tbh, as cute as his happy face was when finally getting to eat it.

Overall, this is one of my favorite games, and even having heard of what happened behind the scenes, I still hold the hope that one day a sequel may come out, or anything that lets us experience this world one more time, with lots of fun and hot moments to see from these cute boyfriends. Working on something that doesn't give much back must be unmotivating, I cant say I know what that feels like, but even so, I hope that one day you'll be comfortable enough financially so that perhaps you'll be able to give it a thought with a little more room to breathe. This story is so passionate, that thinking about a bright future ahead for it really makes me smile the widest. Hope I can be one of the people to motivate you into continuing your amazing projects. Have a good day if you're reading this DCS, and the best of wishes for you and every person close!
(PS: btw I'm posting this after inpulse-buying everything available on this page at 1h40 in the morning and honestly this might as well be the happiest day of my year. If you're questioning wether you should buy all these books...don't even question it. Just go go go its super super worth it especially for the extra bits of information and new art you cant see outside of Patreon! [Which, btw, I totally still plan to pledge to. Can't wait for everything I'll find on that gold mine.]).

DarkChibiShadow2 years ago

Hi! Firstly, thanks a ton for your super thoughtful review, I really appreciate it! It was really nice to read your thoughts and always fun to have an in depth review like this featured on the page. ^u^9

Secondly, I hope you'll enjoy my other work just as much-- as I've always got new stuff coming and feel really happy with some of my current work. (If you feel like it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on other stories too, and see how they compare for you with Tomai.)

Lastly, yes, what happened with this game really stinks and I still don't think a sequel is viable for a lot of reasons-- despite me having a lot of ideas. The biggest one simply being that, I didn't write the bulk of Tomai. (Arcade Party did.) So, a sequel would fundamentally be a different tone and thusly, I think a huge disappointment for a lot of people. AP was a masterclass in keeping things subtle and drawing out the tension in a scene-- my work has a lot of emotion too, but it's starkly different. (Even you picked up on this by commenting on how some of the DLC felt "different"-- it's because I wrote most of the extra stories all by myself. You aren't the first to notice this!)
The other big issue is that I can never monetize this first game: so the second game would *have* to be something people pay for, and I do not feel great about about monetizing a story that someone else helped me develop so heavily where I cannot consult them. (AP has long since ghosted me. Haven't heard from them in years.) Something about it feels off and wrong.

I think Tomai as it is, is fun and something I'm proud of. For something we made in less than 3 months, I think it's done incredibly well for itself and is still an awesome starting point for folks to find more of my work, and for that, I'm VERY grateful. So, I think letting sleeping dogs lie on this one is okay, sometimes a story doesn't need more and what you come up with in your head is probably *way* more exciting than what I would have done with the story anyways.

Thanks again and have an awesome day!

-DCS

vervainbee2 years ago (2 edits)

Awow wow wow wow-- I was half expecting you to respond, but didn't think it'd be so quick! Don't know if flattery's of any use here, but I did always find it amazing how you seemed to always find time to respond to every comment and thank people for every piece of fanart. Seriously, do you even breath anymore?! There just seems to always be so much stuff you work on in a single week that I cant even imagine how fast your schedule must move through lol.

Now in regards to your response-- Again, you've probably heard this a million times before, but- Damn. Seeing you talking to other people about the problems Tomai as a future project would be was pretty sad, but hearing it directly from the source is way more of a shock. Even if trying to think of possible alternates, any way for you to share with us those ideas you've got, (Which I'm super super curious to hear about by the way!) its still a very big risk to just go in and try to do something like this without even being sure of how your public may react to it, if they'll even be dissapointed in the first place. I mean, they're here for your writing, the stuff you make, so even if the story would potentially end up being drastically different, it's not like it'd be much of a problem! Time passes, people change. We've got the basis of the story down, even without AP here, everyone can understand the general vibe of the characters and it wouldn't be too difficult to go on from there. The whole visual aspect of it also truly helps "blending in" the difference in writing styles. I wouldnt have realized the characters were acting different on the DLCs if I hadn't seen you comment about it. In a perfect world where everyone takes the story's shift super well, I'd be more than happy to buy a copy of that game and I'm sure a lot of people would too! (Or maybe keep up with something like a comic series!! Honestly just the thought of getting to see these characters in something of a similar layout to Solanaceae makes me drool-- the way you organize the pannels on your pages is my favorite thing about your comic style!!)

But regardless, even just knowing what you think of for these babes will make my day. Finding new art of them, or their names written on a silly instagram christmas post, or just that thumbnail with Malik's face on the Patreon March update post, are enough to make me smile so so so wide!! (Btw almost had a heart attack at that Malik icon, his face looks super adorable and that might've just beem the last push I needed to give a try at your secret club access pledge. Gotta look at all the Tomai art my eyes can take!). Just knowing you haven't forgotten about them and still think about them/consider them part of your body of work, even if more towards the back than more recent stuff? Just that's a pretty good feeling too.

And moving on from that- honestly I'd be happy to take you up on that offer of yours!! Speaking in-depth about projects I'm currently invested in is surely one of the things I do the easiest, fr, I've probably easily spent over 15 hours already speaking of nothing but Tomai for the past week. Its a deep passion. Don't know how much your schedule can take something like a chatting buddy, but if you're truly interested on my thoughts and analysis, and since I'm super duper interested in your own ideas as well- Honestly it'd be perfect if we were to talk more! A dream, even.

Thank you for your time and have a good day!!

DarkChibiShadow2 years ago

Aha! Thank you! Truth be told, I've been a little overwhelmed with just how many more comments I'm getting lately (this applies to comments that aren't on Itchio too) and I've had to exercise *not* replying to all of them since it can eat into my work time pretty significantly. But uh, it does help this stuff is my full time job and that I work way, way too much, oops.

Anyways, it is interesting to think people are here generally for *my* writing, but the truth is, if folks are fans of just Tomai, they're here for AP's writing. 💦 Because many people simply play Tomai and don't ever move on to other work I'm involved with (and that's fine) but to them, I'm just the "person who made Tomai" and nothing else, but uh, it's not exactly true, is it? I'm just one of two people who made it. The other, really important half is gone! But, I do think you bring up other good points that it being visual helps things blend in, etc etc. (Though, none of this addresses the potential legal problems of me selling a sequel to a game or comic where I don't have the rights from someone who originally worked on that thing and actually *made* one of the characters entirely. The Lady wasn't in my original idea for the story, that's all AP. That's the kind of creative stuff they added. So like, do I still use her? Can I *legally* even use her? It's all a mess.)

I really do feel for folks who want more Tomai (tbh I wish folks would consider making fanfic or other fan content, since they're free to) but yeah, it's just not as viable as it first may seem. I do plan on writing a pretty finalizing post about why there won't be any more Tomai (for the time being. If AP ever re-appeared and gave me their blessings, well uh, that'd be a totally different thing) but it'll only be shared on my Patreon at the $5 tier because I want to keep some of the ideas I had more private just in case, but also not to get people's hopes up.

The Secret Club has a whole section for Tomai which includes extra illustrations and doodles, and I have a small amount of merch as well-- there are some pretty die hard fans of it out there, and I try my best to support them while also focusing on stuff I'm super into at the moment. (Which is Solanaceae and Gummy and The Doctor)

Forgive me if I wasn't clear, I more so meant I'd love to see more reviews from you on the actual pages of each project because (as you may have noticed) most of my projects here are lacking in longer or more thoughtful/critical reviews, and having public reviews and more comments really does help and is also just really fun to read. Unfortunately, right now I don't really have time for any chatting buddies, PLUS, I tend to be rather grouchy in private right now since I'm experimenting with a few different medications. (AKA, I'm just kind of going through it mentally right now and am not always great to talk to atm.)

BUT, I'm always happy to respond to comments publicly (something about the nature of, "I can get back to this when I have time" helps a lot) and will read anything you post, even if I don't have the chance to reply. 🌷

vervainbee2 years ago

Tbh you do have a point, people who dont move onto your other stuff do feem like they're mostly here for someone else's stuff, and the legal side of things really isnt something to joke about. Can't say I know how that must feel, but I'll make sure to show just as much love to as many of your projects as I can here on itch.io!! I've already compulsively read and played everything Solanaceae (Battam is a real diva, everything about that smile of his brightens up my day) and Space School. Seeing your art develop through that last one was also super great!! Really motivates starting artists like me.

Since you've mentioned fan content, me and a friend of mine have beem going through this Tomai wave together, and we've been thinking of doing some fan stuff of it! (Actually its mostly them since Im really not much of a writer, but I'll still make lots of art!! The info on the Art Book surely helped with some ideas for world-building). He's talking about learning english just to be able to publish this, so hope you'll be able to read it when its done!

Really nice talking to you today Dc, you have no idea how much better you made my entire week with all this attention, I really cant stop smiling! You're very patient and gentle to everyone you talk to, so as a person and an artist, I'll be delighted to continue supporting you from now on and for as long as we both keep it going!! 💚💙💜

(Oh, last thing before I forget, I did go through your store looking for Tomai stuff a few days back, and realized the mini-print has a misplaced description. It's the same as the one on the One-eyed Lee mini-print, don't know if its supposed to be a placeholder or just a mistake, but I thought it'd be good to tell ya about it anyways just in case its the later, it could be confusing for people looking into getting that adorable print! (Aka me. I need it. It will be mine.) 🌸

DarkChibiShadow2 years ago

Yeah, the legal stuff is really where it gets like, "Do I really want to gamble so much for just the potential of something doing well?" Haha!

Thanks so much for checking out my other work! Solanaceae in particular is super close to my heart and the upcoming game for it is really shaping up to be something fun for fans, I think. (And, I think the way the story will ultimately end once the comic and big games is all done is going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it.)

I'd be SUPER happy to check out anything you make involving the Tomai boys, and more than happy to share it around socials and the like too. I adore fan work (especially fan fiction) and will absolutely check it out. It's so fun to hear both you and a friend are into Tomai together-- that really made my day to read!

Thank you for your kind words and thoughtfulness, it really does mean a lot to me and I really do hope you'll continue to enjoy my stuff, as I've always got something new lined up. And hey! Thanks for letting me know about the print, that was just a little mistake from how stuff works on the back end on my store, WHOOPSIE. It's fixed now!