itch.io

Hello nico! I recognize you from your really supportive comments a long time ago, so it's nice to hear from you again! Thank you for playing and sharing your feedback, it's always welcome!

Actually, we've always wanted to properly address this. We've touched on it in a few places (Kickstarter and somewhat in Itch Dev Logs), but it's hard to reach our entire player base with this very important message. So, we're super glad you asked!

As the years have passed since our first demo, our vision has changed slowly but significantly. These changes came with changes in our own selves and tastes, and we know that with that, there will be a shift to parts of our original target audience inevitably.

We started this project not truly understanding what makes a visual novel a visual novel, and had the vaguest idea of our vision and story. We trusted in our mechanics and aesthetic over the story, not really being too versed in writing (we still aren't). I (alwayspolite) personally and naively believed we could surpass the entire medium of visual novels by relying on the freedom our game engine afforded us, and by making it as anime-like or comic-like as possible, using tons of little low-effort CGs (as if there weren't already games doing that!). Our initial mindset dunked on narration. And for a while, we stuck with it.

After several script drafts, we realized the story just wasn't working. So, we tried delving fully into the world of visual novels, consuming all sorts and genres — classic masterpieces, Japanese, English, indies with shoestring budgets, etc. and have come to understand what truly matters is, yep, the story aspect. Not only has doing that helped us with developing a proper story (as in, not just random events strung together), it made us, yeeees, come to love, and thus adopt that style of writing that more resembles a novel over a screenplay (sorry!) 

The dialogue tags are a side effect of my love for actual novels, so I also apologize for the redundancy that will spawn. I hope people can get used to it, but I understand the issue, for sure. Your comment is a good reminder to hold back on them when I can, so again, thank you! (they'll never be completely gone, though >:D)

So far, this probably sounds like a lot of negatives. Showing is a lot more popular than telling, which has negative connotations, and we get it — we've always loved shows and games that can tell their stories, character developments and the like through subtle quirks of expression and action. But, I've also come to appreciate the depths of emotion one can reach by having that window into a character's thoughts, the core of their being, without having only their actions to go by. There's no telling if we'll be effective at this; only time will tell...

All that said, we went in fully knowing the prologue would be completely different from the first demo, but also knowing that the full game would be sort of like a combination of both. Yes, it will be less about being B and more about learning about her, and the story structure has changed a lot, focusing more on the dark struggles and humanity of the characters and less on just relaxing with them (though we've tried to retain some of that). Rest assured, there are still remnants from the legacy demo, e.g., underlying stat mechanics, items, mini-games, etc, BUT they are far less center stage.

It's always been a concern that we're alienating players (especially any who weren't expecting to be doing so much reading!), and for that we'll always be sorry, but we can only hope that, while some are disappointed they aren't getting a straight extension of the legacy demo, that they will try and play through the game regardless. If not we can only try to be prepared for the backlash and take it with as much open-mindedness as possible.

Of course, we also want potential players to be fully aware of what they're getting into before they buy, which is why the first demo is now labeled Legacy. That might still be confusing, so I'll likely link to this explanation or paste it on the game's main pages... somehow.

Thank you again! We personally still feel we're making something unique, but just unique in a different way. Our vision has now solidified, which is good considering we're trying to release as soon as possible...! We completely understand if you end up opting out if the above sounds off-putting to you, but if you do give it a shot, I can only hope our vision will end up jiving with you to any extent after all!

edit: oof I could talk about this all day. if there are still any concerns to address, let us know! 

Also, so there's no confusion, the kickstarter has ended, so there's no need to worry about donating to it. But thank you so much for the kind thought 🥰