Obsession is also on Steam now. It’s marked as an adult game there as well, so you have to enable adult content in your settings to view it, as adult content on Steam is opt-in only. (Although I hear there are some countries where it is banned and Steam won’t show any adult content there.)
If you live in a country where it is banned on both stores, send me an email and we can work out something through Paypal or Patreon.
I just want it on the public record that Brandon and the MC are no longer related for PLOT reasons that are relevant to the over-arching narrative of the multiple realities.
This was NOT a change that was made with the sole goal to ‘tone down’ the game or appeal to any specific or broader player base. It’s all significant to the narrative.
I have no issue with and make no apologies for incestual content in Obsession. :)
In Obsession, I had someone once request that I make the MC’s gender flexible, which is a common self-insert VN option. I said no specifically because of two reasons:
Primarily because #1 - It was relevant to the plot. Making MC male meant Brandon’s route had to be completely rewritten.
(Secondarily #2 - It was cost prohibitive due to art. Every CG and the MC’s sprite would need to be redone, and the budget for Obsession was very limited.)
It had absolutely nothing to do with politics or LGBT stances or anything like that. (If I had the finances, I still wouldn’t have done it because of Reason #1.)
The plot is my priority as the writer and creator.
I say all that to reinforce the following point:
In Obsession, Quinn accepted (Note: NOT embraced, accepted) any pronouns because of the plot. (And I stuck with ‘he’ to be consistent to avoid player confusion.)
Quinn was bisexual and gender-fluid in Obsession (and still is in Remembrance), but because of Quinn’s upbringing, he struggled with that part of himself and never really figured out what he specifically wanted.
That is no longer true in Remembrance because Quinn’s upbringing has changed. Quinn is now more secure in THEIR gender identity and has made a firm decision that they prefer neutral pronouns in this reality.
(Although not yet obvious why in the limited demo content…) This fact is relevant to the plot in Remembrance and the over-arching narrative about how these worlds are developing (in the same way MC’s female gender was relevant to Obsession).
So again, the answer is no. I will not be changing this (or any) aspect of a character that is relevant to the plot of the story. This was a decision that was made before this game began development.
And as I’ve said from the start of this series, there are many aspects of these games that are not to the tastes of all audiences, so if a player wishes to avoid the game, the series, or a particular route for any reason, that’s fine.
I will say I find it absolutely crazy that we live in an age where someone would avoid the route of a character they already like over such a tiny language change.
At they very least, I can point to the programming and writing effort it would be to keep track of the pronouns, develop the gui option, modify the script, and test an effort to even make this an option. I would rather - and I think my patreons would agree - spend those hours developing content for the game. That alone is enough of a reason.
https://arewar.itch.io/particles-of-reality/devlog/756688/is-there-any-hope
Sorry I didn’t respond earlier, I didn’t get a notification! Here’s an in–depth answer because I’m getting that question a lot (understandably so).
Remembrance was originally intended to be paid DLC for Obsession, not a free content patch. So no, no one will get Remembrance for free (except Patreon supporters who paid the game cost in membership fees prior to the release announcement).
Remembrance was changed from paid DLC to a full sequel because the scope of both games grew far beyond my original intentions. I initially thought Obsession would be half the length that it is and Remembrance would be like 25% of that length.
Now I expect Remembrance to be even longer than Obsession. Remembrance will likely (subject to change as always) include both a full route for Alexander and Victor on release. 6 routes instead of 4 with a significantly larger number of CGs, plus the voice acting and the other listed improvements on the store page.
I am including a (very short) abridged version of Obsession within Remembrance for any players who couldn’t stomach the extreme content of Obsession. So playing Obsession is optional. (This abridged version contains no variation endings, side content, etc. It’s a single short linear summary of the world and Ethereal situation.)
I’ll straight up say this for any future readers: If you are not a yandere AND horror fan, do not buy Obsession. This will not be a pleasant experience. The demo is a full representation of what you should expect from ALL OF THE CHARACTERS regardless of your initial impression.
NONE of the characters in this game are ‘treasured friends’. Not even the girls. They are all very bad, insane people. That is the full intention.
Julian is arguably one of the WORST, not the best. (I have since realized I should have ‘cracked’ the masks of Julian and Alexander a lot more early on in the game. My first game, lessons learned!) Julian’s mask is “I am a sane, normal man and my life depends on you believing that complete lie.”
The “safest” (and I say this with HEAVY sarcastic quotes) characters are going to be Quinn and Alexander’s DLC. And I define ‘safest’ as the ones who traumatize the MC the least.
Obsession is 80% horror and 20% romance for crazy yandere lovers. 0% healthy. 0% happy.
Remembrance will (probably, current estimation) be like 60%/40% of the same ratio.
Thanks for the feedback!
Good callout on the missing warning. I’ll add ‘mutilation’ to Sebastian’s warning list next time there’s an update.
The suggestion for a violent CG warning is a good idea, so I’ve added that option to Remembrance, the sequel currently under development.
But that’s be a pretty big update to Obsession, so I won’t be able to add that feature anytime soon.
I can’t seem to find a straight answer to this. Does a Patreon user automatically lose access to a linked game when their pledge expires?
Ex.
A person on Patreon subscribes on Jan 1st for 1 month. Links their account to the game that requires Patreon access. Gets a game key.
Feb 1st - A game update goes out, but they are not a Patreon member anymore. Can they still download the game / use the key to get access to the new version? Will Itch block them from downloading the new version?
To clarify to anyone reading this, I want to specifically lay out the content. I have tried to be as clear as possible regarding it and I have no intention of not disclosing anything.
There is 1 CG of 5 year old Brandon & Monika playing dolls together. (Nothing sexual happening here. It’s kids playing a game. I think it’s honestly cute.)
There is 1 CG of teenage Brandon lying over Monika without his shirt on (Monika is fully dressed). There is no nudity or sex act depicted.
I don’t personally see any issue with these images? But that is exactly what is in the game in regards to Brandon & Monika as children/together.
But this kind of discomfort is why the patch is separate from the game and fully skippable. You can delete it at any time.
There absolutely is a lot of sexual abuse and warped intimacy between the siblings before the age of 18 in text form, which is listed on his warnings panel.
If anyone feels a specific warning should be added to the screen that is absent, I fully welcome suggestions.
The patreon page with the patch links specifically states: “This route contains a significant amount of content around child abuse, child sexual abuse, and text-only sexual content with teenagers.”
Zero images of minors in questionable situations in any of the routes, no worries there!
If you get the latest version and still hit that error, try this: Go to the Settings screen and click the “Reset Nav” button, then try again.
If you still get an error after that, please send me a screenshot at ArewarGames@gmail.com and I’ll look into it! Thx!
Not sure what ‘yk’ means but let me know if this doesn’t answer the question.
The demo does include some of this, so if you aren’t sure if the game is for you, please do play the demo first! What you see in the demo is very reflective of the game.
The demo also displays all warnings for every character on their route trigger warning page.
For all routes except Brandon:
In terms of content with minors, throughout the entire game there are REFERENCES to the main character’s childhood, which contained some dubious consent / sexual abuse from her biological brother who is 1 year older than her. That began around the age of 14 for her.
In the same manner, one of Quinn’s route paths also includes some historical references of him and his much younger sibling also being sexually abused by their stepfather.
By ‘references’, I mean these topics are verbally discussed in a historical manner during present day conversations with limited detail.
There are no active present-day descriptive scenes or CGs related to any form of sexual abuse of any minors. Everything is historic events.
However, Brandon’s route is different.
Brandon’s route specifically is excluded from the base game because his route takes place during some of those events. There are some scenes regarding their abusive relationship described in text (no CGs).
Brandon’s route is completely 100% optional and not included in the base game for that exact reason. So if that kind of content isn’t for you, you can entirely skip it without missing anything important in the overarching narrative.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m also available in Discord or email if you want to discuss it further in depth.
Yes! Patreon members can play the content as it’s developed over at https://www.patreon.com/arewar
Currently, Alexander’s route for Obsession is under development. Once that is complete, development for the sequel Remembrance will begin.
Edit update - Added to the intro warning screen XD
If you got past the…
Somehow I doubt “this is more f’ed than you expect” would have stopped you. XD
To any player in all seriousness, I don’t want to upset people. That’s why the warnings exist and are presented from the very start of the game, and are also a part of the demo.
If anyone wants to suggest verbiage to add to the warning screens that would have prepared/informed them better or trigger warnings that may have been missed, I’m always happy to add them.
Suggestions/discussion welcomed to ArewarGames@gmail.com or Discord.
Note that the Patreon is on hiatus until November, I’m taking a celebratory break because it was 18 months of work! :) I’ll post an announcement when it reopens, so follow the game, twitter, tumblr or discord for news.
Those who join the Patreon get a free key if they pay the sale price in membership fees. They can also play content as its developed - typically there is 1 monthly release - along with other perks.
That patreon rule applies to all content related to Particles of Reality, DLC or sequels. It is cumulative for each key obtained this way.
The next world “Remembrance” is expected to be equivalent in length, content, and price when released, but that will be in 2025. Development will begin probably Feb/March 2024.
The DLC Alexander’s route will likely be charged as a DLC, but it will be a small price, like $5 USD or so depending on how long the route becomes. Both TBD. Development for Alexander starts in November.
Any content updates to Obsession (like a new side story or What If) beyond that would be from player requests in Discord/Patreon and would be free. Currently, there are no plans, but I’m always open to suggestions or requests.
Edit - There’s no need to downvote someone for simply making a request! I always welcome any and all feedback and requests of any kind, even if I choose not to fulfill them in the end. I don’t want anyone getting hate for expressing those opinions or hesitating to make them in the future.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say this is not a feature that will be coming to PoR for two big reasons:
A) Because it’s quite too late in development for that. It would be a ton of rework, not to mention the sprite and CG updates that would be a costly expense, and many adult scenes would need to be fully rewritten. The expense alone is a blocker as PoR hasn’t broken even in development costs yet.
B) Monika being a cis female is actually a very significant fact in Brandon’s route and a critical plot-point in her history and upbringing. I won’t elaborate for spoiler purposes, but essentially Brandon’s entire route would have to be rewritten.
In general, although it’s common for otome games, PoR isn’t intended to be a fully self-insert type of game. The MC is her own person who’s personality is very unique and specific to her situation. She does a lot of things that most people would not do!
I will keep this in mind in the future if I develop any new games though! Thanks for playing~
This was great to read, thanks for the in depth review! I love hearing people’s viewpoints.
To clarify a couple things on upcoming content:
Alexander will have a route in Obsession as DLC bonus content. It won’t add to the Particles overarching story plot. Coming early 2024.
V’s route is done for Obsession, there’s no more! You just get the introduction and snippets. He’ll be a huge focus in Remembrance with a full route.
Isabella will be a bigger character in the next world Remembrance as well.
In Remembrance, Monika will have an entirely new background. No more mafia & abuse. She will be a lot stronger and smarter of a person! I know it was a rough ride alongside her in Obsession for so long. I got tired of it too! :D
Remembrance is the sequel. It will start development in 2024 (after Alexander in Obsession is released) and likely complete in 2025. Patreon members can play as it’s developed. (Patreon will reopen in November, I’m on a hiatus currently!)
If you’re playing the demo, many options are locked that will be available on the full release. (Planned for this September.)
If you’re a Patreon playing the latest build, you need to complete some endings to unlock other content and choices. The full release will display all these requirements on the world menu. So no guessing will be required. :)
