itch.io

I literally understood nothing that happened and yet every time I think of my playthrough my stomach does that thing that you do right before someone kicks you.

I'm so confused and so distraught at the same time. This is the most horrifying not-horror game I've seen. Unless this is meant to be horror. 

I haven't checked any tags or anything, but I didn't get the idea that it was going to be horror before playing. But if you told me now that it was meant to be horror, I wouldn't doubt it.

Funnily enough, the "disturbing images" (calling them that so that I don't spoil anything) were really the least distressing or horrifying parts.

Asya is terrifying. I hope that the message was received.  

At least, I think that I do? I'm not sure I really know what that means.

Been low key obsessed with your games since Monster Sweethearts and I was devastated and a little worried when Cryptid Courting was seemingly wiped from the internet. I'm glad to see that you're working on something new, and the demo was insane! Very cool atmosphere and even from the little we get to see of the characters, the writing and characters are very intriguing. Can't wait to see how the full game pans out!

It's been a year since I last played this game but suddenly it popped into my memory and I've been thinking about it for two days. That's how long it took for me to need to scratch the itch again. Time to add to my existing 37 hours of play time...

Oh, it’s in the magic route when the character works in the magic shop. It only appeared after you’ve played the route once already. I kinda doubt you didn’t see it since it’s kinda impossible to complete the game without the magic route, but I can totally understand forgetting about it after a few games

The last level was one of the most painful gaming experiences I've ever had. 10/10, never playing again

yooo, really cool concept. My only critique is that sometimes I had the right connections but I'd gotten ahead of myself and only got the green string through accidentally deleting a red or by using the walkthrough. Still a fun experience and a compelling mystery!

Replay comments: Dude, the way it was so obvious from the beginning but at the same time easy to shrug off in the situations as just being weird descriptions... 

Upon my second playthrough, I am bawling

The way I stared at a wall with my mouth gaping for like five minutes at the end. Gonna have to replay it now, but wow is this an underrated master piece! 

lmao the way my heart stopped

Fr had my jaw dropped once the explanations started coming

My honest reaction:

1. Did believing you could play this only once impact how you made decisions?

Not really, the hardest decision for me in the whole game was probably deciding whether to bring up the tough conversation now or later. Everything else was either a no-brainer for me or just felt like the best option.

8. Any other things you want to mention?

Just got emotionally destroyed by Stay? and I can't wait to be emotionally destroyed by this.

Spoilers

"You help an old lady with her arthritis and she smiles at you. You remember caring about this, once, so you smile back." Crying, sobbing, throwing up.

Okay, I seriously think the summary for this game needs a bit of a re-work. 

I found this game randomly while desperately looking for something new to play and I honestly didn't think much of it after reading the description. I was going to exit back out to the Itch.io home page but decided to check the comments to see if any of them mentioned game length or if the game was even complete. Then I saw a comment talking about endings and I figured "If it's finished then I might as well give it a try."

Now, I've just spent the last three hours fully immersed in the story and completely determined to get a happy ending. I haven't even finished reaching an ending yet, and I am convinced that this is one of the best games - and if not, definitely one of the best FREE games - on Itch.io. Maybe even one of the most well-written interactive fiction games of all time. And I was about to pass up on it because I of the description!!

I'm not saying that the summary needs spoilers or anything, but maybe something to give it a bit more substance? This game is crazy good so far and I can only imagine how many people like me looked over the summary and said "meh, can't be that good" purely because the summary didn't give them a good enough idea of the game

Spoilers!!!

I'm only in my third loop where I'm about to help retake the city with Gemma and the like "If we get out of here. When we do..." being switched to "When we get out of here. If we do..." has already basically destroyed me. I did not expect to grow so attached to a character so fast and I already know that even if we both manage to survive retaking the city, I still don't have enough information to stop the comet!

Yeah they’re upset. So what? It’s an incomplete project that someone put blood sweat and tears into and they got to enjoy for free. I’m not saying they have to be encouraging, I’m saying that they’ve got a shitty way of appreciating the author of a story they enjoy. Being disappointed isn’t an excuse to be disrespectful. Children throw tantrums when they’re disappointed 

update: I did, in fact, cry a bit. That ending was foul, how could you leave it off there??

Despite that, can’t freaking wait for the next update!

haven’t even opened the game yet, but just from the premise I think I might cry. Be back with an update on if I cry or not

The atmosphere and themes go so hard. Can't wait for more!

Damn, y’all are actually ass at respecting art that you enjoy. Sorry to the author that had to put up with this

Okay, I have to ask.

Kinda spoilers ahead...

Was the story about the old horse and the unicorn a myth that already existed that you borrowed or did you write it yourself? That was genuinely one of the sweetest fables I've heard in a while. It's so simple and short, but it's so careful to pull at your heartstrings in the rawest way. All to have a happy ending about living for eternity that doesn't even bring up the thought that immortality could become torture. 

I think it's the most wholesome story I've ever heard that involves a wish-granting genie-type character. It definitely elicited the strongest reaction I've had to a fable. And again, all that in such a short little story! 

You know those mobile game ads? The ones that show you a brief, dramatic, somewhat interesting situation and then you have to make a "difficult" (usually ridiculous) decision? 

This game is like those but ACTUALLY compelling with ACTUALLY difficult decisions that genuinely feel like they carry consequences down the line. With the added bonus of not having the weird-looking, distorted visual "aids." If you've seen them you know what I'm talking about.

Dig at mobile game ads aside, I'm at the beginning of Ch 11 of the X route and I'm so blow away by pretty much everything about this game. 

From the technical angles like the grammar, story telling techniques, vocab, etc. to how enjoyable and engaging the story is. Even the moments that are intentionally written to be "dull" or taxing on the MC emotionally are not taxing to read while still allowing sympathy. I don't think a lot of people realize how hard it is to make "unenjoyable" scenes compelling.

Basically what I'm getting at is, this is a great freakin' game. 10/10. 

In the behind the scenes content it says that you can pet Spider but I still haven't figured out how T-

Spoilers

TW: Ironic use of the word rizz

So in the behind the scenes/development stuff you get after completing all the routes it's revealed that the secret love interest ,who I will not name because I know people who don't know will probably read this despite the spoiler warning, was actually supposed to have a crush on Jaylene no matter what route you're on but never gets to have her in any ending. But, since everyone loved her so damn much, the developer gave her her own route. 

So basically, she rizzed up the audience so hard "god" had to rewrite her life so she'd end up with her crush lol

Well it does seem like anyone who's important enough in this world can know about monsters as we see with both the sheriff and, of course, the other scientists. But hey, fixing minor plot holes or just tying unrelated things together are what fan theories are for!

Okay so this is probably just a crack pot theory but I’m just gonna put it out there. Spoiler warning!

Okay so I vaguely remember Lien saying that her like extra monstrous out of control form isn’t her actual genes but a scientist’s attempts to “fix” her.

I don’t know if she ever mentions where she was sent to who the scientist was specifically but the way I remember her talking about it, she phrased it as if the place she was sent to be “fixed” was not the same lab that Mrs Jackson is working for or at least not the lab we end up in at the end of her route.

Now baring that in mind, doesn’t her extra monstrous mouth thing form kinda remind you of the creatures Victoria’s dad made? I don’t know if it was intentional but to me they kinda look the same or at least similar, and both were mistakes made by a scientist while trying to achieve something else.

On top of all of that, I’m pretty sure Victoria mentions that it was her dad who introduced her to the monster world after she was put back together, which means that he at least knew of the monster world before then.

Even if I’m wrong about Lien being sent somewhere other than the evil underground lab, Victoria’s dad is a scientist living in Blackwood. It’s almost certain that he does/did work for the lab and/or worked with the doctor that Lien was sent to. That would explain why their works are so similar to have basically made the same mistakes.

Or maybe I’m looking too far into this lol

also while typing this I realized that Lien’s name is just alien without the a lol. I’m just imagining a line from Jaylene that goes something like, “so you’re an alien… named Lien,” had the creator kept the original alien idea

Close they're a football team. I actually thought all of the options were wrong but one's right... 

I'm still kinda processing and I'm kinda at a loss for words but the only thing I can decide to say is a shallow sounding awesome. Good job. I would say more if I could but my head is still going over the last few minuets if you know what I mean. I'm also having a hard time trying to imagine anything but the skateboard scene right now. Thank you for the game.

This game has an odd charm to it. I don't usually play or read things that don't have eye pleasing art styles because I just can't stand looking at something that makes me feel off while trying to convey a story, but this game kept me playing the entire way through until the end. It was also really relaxing to play and I quite enjoyed the sound design. Honestly comparing this to my favorite game of all time, that being a 8/10, I'd say this is around a 4 or five enjoyment wise. I look forward to seeing more of your work.