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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

I finally had the time to sit down and play this. I know I always get absorbed in your games so I waited until I'd be able to give it full attention.

Honestly I think the biggest compliment I can possibly give is that I was trying to keep track of all the things I wanted to praise in it but I kept losing track of them because I would just get so absorbed in the story. You are so masterful at combining pieces to make an incredibly cohesive whole.

What I do remember wanting to mention, in particular:

* ohhhhh I am OBSESSED with how the soundtrack faded between a heavily filtered grammophone-y mix into a very full mix in that one scene, that was SO good
* I LOVE that the cursor is designed like a viewfinder! That's so clever. Only minor note is that at least on the WebGL build it seemed like the active part of the cursor was not actually the center of the viewfinder, but once I realized where the active part is it was no problem.
* I really love what you did with the UI in general. Using the photo frames as text boxes... It's so elegant.
* I mean, I just love ghosts, a lot, so it's no surprise I loved this. Every time you depict ghosts it resonates with me. I ALSO love works that explore how ghosts interact with changing times and new emerging technologies, so of course a work about ghosts and the invention of the camera is 10000% my shit.
* I REALLY loved the fucked up horror sound-based tracks for particularly gruesome moments.

Honestly it feels wrong to just talk about the pieces that I loved because what makes it so good is how they all come together and make a really powerful experience. I also love it when the protagonist is awful.

10000/10 a million stars I only got ending 2 so far but want to come back for the others soon

Thank you so much - I really can't overstate how much it means that some people have continued to follow this project, despite how much it's been pushed back while I navigate how much work it is to ship a game. It is COMING!!!

SWAG thank you for the reminder!! Just nabbed it. Good luck with your new game!!!

Thank you so much! I am too. Fingers are very crossed for November, but we'll have to see how the next couple months go.

Ohhhh what an awesome project! I definitely want to pick this up on my next paycheck. I really, really loved the art and design of Karambola so I know I would really enjoy this.

I definitely relate to the added difficulty/complexity of integrating point-and-click into a story. What you did in the demo was fantastic and fantastically effective, but it is indeed a ton of work!

It's really admirable how much you've managed to do between all of these projects and how your work is consistently extremely solid across them. It's been fun to see all of these projects slowly evolve, and I am so excited to see what The Last Winter Knight will be in its finished form. I've loved everything I've played from you, but that one has a special place in my heart. Something about it really really appeals to and resonates with me.

Congratulations on the halfway mark!

Thank you so much, it means a lot. Things do seem to be on the mend healthwise, and I also just got some very good news (announcement coming soonTM) that has really helped offset the disappointment from the feedback discussed in this devlog. Things have already really turned for the better somehow!

Ooooh I loved this! The art choice was so good. I really enjoyed playing through it with the luxury of being able to start over with new information if I didn't like a particular outcome (the joys of visual novels!) - that makes this an interesting medium for looking at a scene like this, unlike real life where you will never know the "what ifs" and will always live with uncertainty and have to just deal with what you chose.

It actually kind of made my first playthrough my favorite one because I had to just go with something when the full picture was unclear. But I definitely went back through to explore other options out of curiosity. Super cool project.

This series was fucking beautiful. It's so effective at doing so much with so little, the music and the art are both very minimal but perfect at establishing the exact mood that lets you focus completely and wholly on the words on the screen. How the prompts actually change and engage here, turning it into a conversation; this was a fantastic conclusion.

Really really excellent art and storytelling.

I loved this! I knew it would be good because the last short poem/game I played from you was good, but the imagery of this one in particular super resonates with me because I just love the ocean. This was so beautiful, amazing job. It's always so clear what you are supposed to interact with [and the directions "when in doubt go right"] so I never had to think about "how" to play I could just focus entirely on the experience. Fantastic work.

OMG, I don't think we had any idea Q/W also work. I don't know if we'll ever update the build [...yknow, game jam game] but this is a great find, thank you for pointing it out! I'll add it to the page description at least.

This glow-up is going to rule so hard I cannot wait

Thanks so much! Thanks for playing!

Thanks so much for playing! :D

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for playing! It was a blast to make :)

Oh, I just realized this is on the old prototype! If you're interested, there's a new demo out with a TON of changes and additions here: https://arcanaxix.itch.io/amadeus-ep1-waltz

(I made a new Itch page for it because I changed SO much that I wanted to preserve this original version as like, a sketch of sorts)

Regardless, thank you so much, again!

Thank you so much!! I'm really glad you appreciated the controls, I'm still working on a few things to make the pure-keyboard experience a little smoother but it's definitely a priority to make it feel good to play. I really appreciate it!

I finally had a moment to replay this now that you've updated it!

First off, playing it while knowing some things about it already [from when I played the original version] made it almost hurt more at the start because that Dramatic Irony hit so hard. The somber tone is just as effective as I remember it and your illustrations, melodies, and soundscapes are so beautiful.

The voicework you added really adds a finishing layer of polish to it all, too. What a fantastic collaboration, huge congrats to the voice cast for putting their all into this. The version you finished prior already felt like a whole and cohesive work of art, it was so chilling and effective, but I'm so glad you were able to really finish it. What an awesome game you made here. Massive, massive congratulations.

Definitely want to nab that artbook+OST bundle on my next paycheck!

WAAGGHH! Okay I just actually set aside the time to play this. You're killing me here.

My expectations going in: "well, it uses hand-painted animation cels, so my hipster sensibilities will be appeased, and it's gay, so that gives it points. beyond that we'll see"

What I got: the single most healing experience I've had in a long ass time. Playing this actually made me consider going to a convention this summer. It has been 4 years since the last time I went to a convention. I have never felt so seen by a game.

[Also the fact that the font + color makes it looks like old subtitles.... absolutely impeccable...]

The fluff was so cute it had me making scrunched Kermit face the whole time, but really I just keep coming back to how painfully relatable this all was. What a delightful story and a brilliant idea to literally use animation cels as your medium to tell it. This is straight up one of the best VN's I've played, obviously it's relatively short but it's like a short story as opposed to a novel—it's exactly as long as it needs to be to tell the story it needs to tell.

Absolutely fantastic shit, I'm inflicting this on every single other old tired gay ex-cosplayer I know [I know many of them]

extremely hyped for armatization mechanic, about to take on heldalf as grape-flavored hunter

YESSSSSS!!!!!! IT'S OUT!!!!!!! This is such a universe brain concept, I truly just LOVE the fact that you actually hand-painted animation cels to make the assets for this. I can't wait to check it out when I have the time HOPEFULLY VERY VERY SOON!!!! Congratulations!!

OK, the promised time has come. Just sat down to play this.

This is literally a masterpiece.

The beat slaps. The order I happened to unlock everything in built up so perfectly that I imagine you constructed it really well and any order just works. Was listening on my SUPER NICE HEADPHONES BTW so I could appreciate it fully.

I'm about to go link this to all of my werewolf-head friends and tell them "I know it's March and not October but play this anyway", but before I do that I just need to gush here on this page a bit.

The writing is hilarious, the music slaps hard, the art is endearing and the VR headset had me completely losing my shit. I truly appreciate you picking up the mantle left by Castlevania Symphony of the Night of "games that are campy halloweeny, hit you in the face with unexpected and hilarious nonsense, and yet also incredibly sexy." Symphony of the Night perhaps takes itself slightly more seriously but both games are 10/10 masterpieces.

Thank you for your contribution to werewolves

I keep starting these when I'm just about to clock out of work (yes I am habitually searching itch.io for werewolf games on the clock at the end of my shift) and it's always a bad idea because they slap so hard I need to keep playing but then it's time to leave. Literally just the first minute of this is an incredible hook. Funny but also the atmosphere genuinely slaps. That CRT filter at the start is effervescent. Will be giving this a full sit-down play later.

Congratulations on yet another Steam release!