(The following text may include spoilers)
Dear devs,
I’m really looking forward to this game! The demo was fun and interesting. After playing it several times, I’m still amazed at how professional it already is. Can’t believe the final game will have five routes and over 500.000 words! I think I’ve never played a VN with this length before. Most longer VN’s have about 100.000 words with all routes included. Here we have the same amount of words for 'each' route!
The characters, backgrounds, and cinematic graphics are simply amazing. I especially like the architecture of the capital. I am not an expert in this field, but the architectural style reminds me of a mix between the Gothic period with its pointed roofs and towers and the Baroque period with the round domes in between. Every aspect looks very detailed and atmospheric. You really feel like you’re part of the environment. This impression is reinforced by the fact that the game contains certain scenes in which the background camera moves. Those little moments give you the impression that Rave is really walking through the city or travelling through the forest as you read the text. The cold colors also go well with the rather cold, dark continent that the game takes place in. By the way, I like your idea of including the backgrounds in the gallery. In most VN’s you only have the CG’s contained. Since your backgrounds look very good, it was the right choice to add them.
I also like the music A LOT! The tunes are very memorable and beautiful and they fit perfectly to the historical fantasy setting. The tune that played when Rave travelled through the forest to leave his home town behind sounds very mystical and somewhat menacing. It reflects the emotions of the protagonist and his anxiety of the unknown very well. On the other hand, the melody that played during his arrival in the capital sounds more exciting and somewhat pompous - like the new big city that is so different from the little town which he came from. It’s like a whole new world, waiting to be explored. And the music reflects this aspect very well.
The characters are very interesting and different from each other. My favorite is Hyde at the moment. Of all the characters he seems to be most likable (although I suspect that he has another side of his personality that he just has not shown yet). But that’s what makes characters interesting, doesn’t it? It’s hard to say who the best character is, because everyone has such an eye-catching personality, even someone as unsympathetic as Renan, who I’m sure will turn out as a great romance option. My favorite scene in the demo was the conversation with Hyde in his room at night. He simply accepted Rave as his roommate without making fun of him or judging him. That was so pure and lovely. I hope for more intimate, emotional scenes like this.
I remember someone asked about the characters sexuality. My guess is Renan and Fenrir are bottoms, Ilyes and Kary are tops and Hyde is a switch. But I don’t know for certain. It’s just my gut feeling. lol
We don’t know much about the story yet, but it seems to get very interesting (and dark). I’m curious how being a student in the academy and the undead plague will work together in the further course on the game. I suspect that especially Ilyes and Fenrir will reveal a lot of background knowledge about the undead topic. Speaking of, I really love the idea of a journal in the game. It's good to have something to lookup, especially in games with a lot of background information, so you can always read about the world and its creatures/characters. I’m also glad the game has different scenes depending on your room mate choice instead of mini games. Mini games are often too easy in VN’s and don’t add anything interesting to the story. I'm curious how the scenes will differ depending on your room mate. It would be interesting to get him as your best friend (or rival), if he’s not your romance option. No matter what it is, I just hope we’ll have an interesting relationship with him too.
I don’t have much to criticize. Maybe two things:
1. The English translation still has a few errors (but those can be fixed easily).
2. The text size in the game is kinda small (except for the scenes with moving backgrounds. Those are fine). I understand that this will probably not change anymore. Nevertheless, I have to say that it is sometimes really exhausting for me to read the text, because I don’t have good eyesight.
But this is the only criticism I have.
I really - REALLY - hope this project gets funded. Please, everyone! When do we ever have the opportunity to play such a big and great yaoi game? I'm a bit worried because there’s not much progress at the moment, but fortunately there are still a few days left. So everything is still possible. Just out of curiosity: What will happen if the project doesn't get funded? I hope it will still be published. This could be one of the best VN's in the next years. I wish the developers all the best and hope for a great end result.
Please keep up your good work! : )