God this was beautiful!! 😭💕 I'm having a difficult time trying to word just how absolutely immaculate and ethereal it was. Like every single inch of it was doing something to add to that poignant fairy tale feeling, whether it was the GUI, the gorgeous paintings, the font, the page turning sounds, the music box-esque music, right down to the story itself and how magical and heartfelt and true it felt as it nestled its way straight into my heart. I think I said this on your Twt as well but I feel like this game is truly the quintessential fairy tale game. It literally embodies everything about this jam and just feels so magical and sweet SOB 🥺💕
WHERE DO I BEGIN??? Maybe the GUI because it was the first thing that I saw upon loading it up. It truly feels like opening up a virtual storybook right on your computer, I absolutely love it ahhhhh. From the subtle page textured BG, to the beautiful calligraphic font. And then the little page turning noises whenever the CG image changed!! I felt like I could have been all snuggled up with a bedtime story right in my bed. And along with that just the layout itself! How you used NVL mode without any borders or anything for the text so it really felt like it was right on the page. And how you used those pink borders for your images so they felt like old-fashioned storybook illustrations.
SPEAKING OF THE IMAGES GODDDDD THEY'RE SO BEAUTIFUL. Quite possibly my favorite part of the whole game and definitely a major highlight, as they're beyond gorgeous. Every single one of them looked like a hand-drawn painting, especially with the texture and the coloring and the watercolor gradients. I love how you chose which ones to include and how each one inspired a slightly new page layout, often kind of switching back and forth as the story itself switched back and forth between Henri and Annelise. And the subtle use of those soft floating lights was so magical!! I feel like you should really consider illustrating children's books HAHAHA they were so stunning. Heck, I'd be so intrigued to see what this story could look like if it were printed as a physical storybook 👀
The story was so sweet and touching. I loved how instead of only focusing on the "Cinderella" role character of Annelise we also see the prince's view -- and how you portrayed him practically broke my heart. To see him being crushed by the expectations of his family and peers, to never be seen as enough, to have all his interests and things that he loves mocked and looked down upon. But then only Annelise didn't care about any of that. Didn't care about who he was. Accepted him for who he was in that fleeting dance they shared. It was such a sweet and unique take on the Cinderella story and one where I felt like I could relate so much to both Henri and Annelise in different ways and how they constantly feel like they can't be loved for who they really are. I mentioned this a bit earlier but I really love the way you juxtaposed the two different POVs, going back and forth between them until they came together at the end on the same line -- and then juxtaposing the two final images along with the text. It was such a beautiful way to portray the story. And even though we don't see what happens after that, in my heart I feel like things will be better for both of them and they'll find each other again. (Also the little final sketch on the credits page was so cute lakdjfasld)
Sob sob sob just an absolutely wonderful and beautiful game. It was especially touching for me somehow as I've been having some rough days this last week and I found this to be incredibly comforting and calming to play. Thank you for sharing this game with the world (and for creating this jam in general!!! to have so many beautiful fairy tale games to experience). It was such a lovely experience and I'm definitely going to be replaying it more than once just to experience it all over again lkadfds