itch.io

Thank you. <3

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this, although given context clues you can probably put together why I am not on top of my shit rn lol.

Thank you. Genuinely. I wish you didn't have to spend a lot of time feeling that way. I'm so glad I came across your VNs on a random itch.io search and found you, you're an indescribably big inspiration as an artist, and just as a person I'm really glad to know you.

I definitely know how it feels to not have a reason to exist outside my creative work. That was what this game was for me for 3 years, so it was terrifying when it stopped being that and I suddenly didn't have anything tethering me here. I finally got an appointment with a therapist who hopefully won't ghost me this time, so fingers crossed I can figure my shit out and see any path forward where I can create and also survive, because I've historically avoided doing the things that make that a possibility (while refusing to reckon with the consequences) and it's driven me into a corner.

I am rooting for you every step of the way on your journey too. I admire you a lot as someone who has taken big risks I haven't and invested in your work in a way I always avoided doing, and I both really hope and believe it will pay off for you. Once I'm feeling more sane I actually want to ask you for advice on a lot of things, but first I need to take a breather and establish some sort of baseline stability and actually plan a more realistic long-term path forward this time.

Thank you again for your comment, it means a lot.

episode 2 working title: "the solea agenda"

My friend I have the hugest pom-poms out for you, I see you busting your ass in the final stretch of Winter Knight. Thank you so much. I am determined to inflict my bullshit on the world and I WILL find a way jfdsjflsdljkfds

YEEEEESSSSS LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO I AM SEATED. I AM SO SEATED

this was a masterpiece. absolute gaming cinema. best visual novel ever written. you know it's a visual novel because there's a choi(s)ce and there's a cat box

I really like the consideration you've put into making a demo that both shows off the kind of work you've been doing in the cave, and works well as a "get right into it" standalone experience. It's given me a lot to think about too re what a demo "is".

I'm a big fan of choices that just give you funny dialogue. The humor in the writing was one of my favorite parts of this game when I played the demo a couple years ago at MAGWest, and I thought it complemented the minigame really well!

Please stop revealing all of my secrets before the game is even out

It's so, so helpful to know so much of my own process already. Things like "I literally cannot write a point-and-click scene until after I have drawn the backgrounds for it" mean I know that is not an asset swap that I can do last minute, that is a fundamental building block to make ASAP. Or knowing I did a lot of brainstorming listening to Spellbound Mischief means I should start sketching out key Episode 2-centric BGM to get in the zone.

"gaming cinema, that was"

more like dying in *this* was gaming cinema. 10/10

[ FYI - for some reason I got stuck on a "now loading" screen before one of the fights? I had to restart, and the next time everything loaded fine, so idk. I recommend occasional saves just in case ]

10/10 no notes

A happy accident for the developer is an unhappy accident for the protagonist in this genre.

PERIL PARTY TIME!!

Incredibly random FYI, but if anyone wants to get this running on Steam Deck (kind of an ideal console for it TBH), it does work but you have to do some workarounds:

•  Download the zip using a browser in desktop mode, the itch.io app won't let you b/c it's technically windows
• Extract to wherever
• Add the game.exe file to Steam
• CRUCIAL: under properties -> compatibility, forced the use of proton 7. Proton 9 threw an error for me but proton 7 works.

And then it can launch and works great. I'll be back with an updated comment after exploring all that the game has to offer! Congrats on the huge update!

happy birthday to my worstie. i hate her 10/10

THE ONLY THING I WAS MISSING WHILE PLAYING WAS A TRAY WITH TEA AND COOKIES TBH that would have been the only thing to possibly make that experience better.

Thank YOU for hosting ads for indie projects, I am seriously thankful and appreciative for what you're doing for the indie scene. I am always glad to find someone else who blacks out when they see paper textured artwork. And VERY looking forward to your next project!!!!

I'm going to edit or reply to this review when I finish but I am already sold from 

- the style
- the character designs
- the presentation
- and the "I didn't know you were a switch" joke.

[EDIT - 4 hours later I have binged the whole thing.]

That was honestly phenomenal. I cried at the end. All of the smaller-scoped vignettes felt so personal and human and some of them had really strong personal impact just due to the timing of reading this, and because of how grounded the storytelling is. What a lovely and impactful story. I am going to be sitting with this one for a while. Thank you for sharing it.

I already knew from the first couple games I played from you that I loved your stuff, but it was when you posted that devlog on the music in Snow White Ashes that I was like "oh, THAT'S why literally everything they make fuckin HITS" because. 🤝🤝🤝

[Checks calendar] how did this come out a full month ago and it took me this long to actually play it. Time is fake.

This was a PHENOMENAL hook. I think you really successfully evoke the denial of grief and make the player feel just as strongly that no, there must be a way to see him again.

Things I particularly loved:

• The UI design. I thought it was so clever to have the UI evoke a phone screen since looking through the phone is such a core part of the narrative. That kind of cohesion just feels so satisfying. (I also am super impressed by the parallax effect.)
• Similarly.... having the OST be guitar-based felt SO RIGHT given that HusbandoKun ((sorry. you let me name him)) is a guitar player. And I LOVED the moment where we got an *electric* guitar for the wedding, it felt so climactic and dramatic.
• All of the art is so gorgeous. So soft and gentle. The descriptions paired with the art gave everything such a powerful warmth, I really felt that love and yearning come through.
• I was personally attacked by the subject matter, as someone who went to a science school to study science and was doing well and then still changed majors to music halfway through.

Super excellent work, this was a really powerful time loop hook and oh boy I am stoked to see what's in store for the rest! Amazing job!!!

Not to bump a 2-year-old comment BUT I have actually released the full game now! It took a long time but we got there...

ah, on re-reading, sorry if that came off as a bit "compare-y" I really just wanna emphasize that I think if you keep doing what you're doing it's going to pay off--and already has. But thank you too and enjoy the holidays!

I somehow missed this update completely when you posted it.

Fully on board with you taking the world's most needed break, and I'm really excited to play Winter Knight whenever it's ready!! Every new update makes it sound even more ambitious, detailed, and frankly mind-boggling that you've managed this entire project yourself, and however long it takes to release it will be so worth it. It's so clear from just the demo that you are making something truly special.

It's also really interesting to hear your perspective on what it's been like to divide your focus between different projects. I really think that's the smart and healthy way to do it. I've just been single-mindedly focusing on my Big Magnum Opus, and it's actually left me feeling like I've really missed out on chances to make other smaller-scoped games and improve on my skills/celebrate wins along the way. To me, what you've accomplished with your other projects (every single one of which is compelling, polished, unique, and just GOOD) is a huge feat, one I greatly admire. And the fact you have also been making consistent work on the One Big Thing is insane!

I will continue to look forward to everything you put out.

This is genuinely such a good post. I kinda knew from the start that I was sacrificing a lot of accessibility options by building my own jank system from scratch, but even just the reminder to make it clear in the store page what is and is not included/possible is something I should implement better, as well as a kind of checklist of things to consider for future releases. It's awesome how much Ren'Py has built in to make VN's accessible out of the box. What a good game engine.

I was thinking about how much time I spent making my stupid point-and-click system be 100% playable regardless of how fucked up my wrists are feeling on a particular day, which just really drives home your point that NO post on game accessibility will ever be exhaustive. Thank you for the resources. You are a champ

Oh my goodness, I wrote down the info for this game a year ago at MAGWest and didn't find it again until now. I think I played this (as part of a multiplayer setup?) and I remember it being super fun, and playing again has confirmed it is indeed. Definitely glad I found this again and will be checking out your other projects!

Oh man, I played this at MAGWest last year and wrote down the info to find it again before I promptly lost it until now. I'm so glad I found it again, this is such a cool project.

I am literally a year late here—I played this game at MAGWest last year and misplaced the business card with this URL on it until now. I still think this was a really fantastic concept and I loved the home-built machine it was used to play in person at the convention. If you put out any other projects I'm definitely excited to check them out!

WISHING YOU ALL THE LUCK!!!!!! THANK YOU AGAIN FOR LETTING ME WRITE DERANGED BANGERS FOR YOUR INSANE DETECTIVE TOXIC YURI

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE FINISH I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY THE FULL 1.0 BUT ALSO WHAT YOU RELEASED SLAPS SOOO HARD

I had an incredibly fun time scamming an old lady. The writing here is great and you do a lot with just a little. I LOVE how you did the text box, it's very simple but it looks so good. And title screen design rules too.

The handpainted assets are great, the expressions on that old lady are peak. Very fun 10/10

This is already SO good even with placeholders to meet the jam deadline, I can't wait to see what the complete 1.0 looks like when it drops.

Textures are delicious. Yuri is toxic. I want to strangle Hal but yes I did kiss her anyway. The presentation is so good ESPECIALLY given the game jam time limit, like wow. This was a pleasure to work on thank you for letting me just go nuts with logic loops <3

This was absolutely gorgeous. It's been a long time since I played the OG demo, so it's not like I'm comparing side-by-side, but I can just feel the strength of the direction the story has now. It's not just that what's here has so much more detail than before. I can also just see that you have done so much more writing of the full story that we haven't seen yet, the characters all feel so much more fleshed out and everything in the story is so grounded. This is really, really incredible work.

That's not to dismiss the original demo for a second, because it was already brilliant. The art, music, sound design, story, it was all phenomenal. You should always take pride in how that came out. But this is just so... refined in basically every aspect. I can FEEL that this story knows exactly where it is going. It's so exciting.

The music is gorgeous; I really loved the slightly more dissonant track that starts when you look into the mirror, and the soft choir layer that faded in during the chapel was gorgeous. The main theme really just makes you want to cry it's so beautiful.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY love the "frost around the screen disappears when you've clicked on everything" mechanic. That is a brilliant way to tell you when you've exhausted all the interactibles and it works great thematically. I remember a few times in the original demo feeling a little confused at some points and this version it felt very clearly communicated just about every step of the way. The tutorials at the start are just enough to tell you everything you need to know.

I love ghosts, and I love how you write ghosts, and I am so excited to play the full game when it's ready. For now though HUGE congratulations on this updated demo, this is outstanding work. And I laughed when mister main character was judging the hell out of the book on the floor in the first room.

you're welcome old gods. 10/10

I have to be so honest. I thought I was so hilarious and clever naming my werewolf character "Amadeus" and yet somebody else with a huge brain had already beaten me to the punch.

This is such a fun and silly concept - I am very bad at it but I thoroughly enjoyed playing. Only ate some of my chickens/10, would recommend to friends

I was looking up games tagged werewolf and came across this, I thought I would just do a runthrough or two but then I ended up playing through it until I'd gotten all of the endings and achievements. This was a lot of fun. All of the character writing is really fun, the "discomfort" counter is a really funny mechanic, and getting thrown out by Morgan for being a terrible liar was my favorite bad ending.

Had a lot of fun playing it, thank you for this!

It seriously was so fun, I also had a blast. Collaborations are the best. If you ever want cello on an OST again you know whose DMs to slide into--

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME ON THIS!!!! Playing cello for this was a joy and an honor.

I am so, so glad that I randomly searched VN's on itch like a year ago and found your work. I've always [well, in that year at least] admired your projects specifically because I feel you have strengths that I lack: your works are always beautifully polished, cohesive, focused, and immediately convincing. They are like poetry in VN form. I really loved being a part of this because I got to see how even with a group of different people working together you're able to maintain that consistent vision and direction. I honestly think I learned a lot about composing for VN's by being a part of this project.

But that is not to discount the amazing work of everyone else who worked on this too. The compositions and mixing are gorgeous and I got chills during the kiss scene even though I'd listened to these tracks a million times at this point recording parts. The styling of the sprites and backgrounds is so gorgeous and those CG's are incredible. Everyone who worked on this did a freaking bang-up job. You really assembled the Power Rangers here.

But the way it all comes together, the story and direction and programming and implementation, that is all you, and it is phenomenal.

This is a really special work and I'm really grateful to have been a part of it.

NOW GET SOME SLEEP!!!!!

Seconding the sentiment "Wheeee!"

wahg sorry I did not see this until now because I'm the best at keeping up with things but thank YOU so much, this means the world. :handshake:

throw some money at an artist making insane quality art and music and storytelling and UI design and implementation DONT MIND IF I DO!! i consistently look forward to your works and i hope you get a billion dollars to continue making them.

I totally missed until I saw this reply that you didn't do the sound this time! You guys make a really great team, the sound and visuals and story and everything were so cohesive. A++++ tier work from both of you.

[handshake emoji] terrible protagonists appreciation