Had a lot of fun playing with this! I like how the writing was done and I enjoyed laughing a lot with Saru's misfortunes, personally my favorite would have to Hebi because of how sly he is but Hyou's energetic self and Fuzu's absent-mindedness are so close to me that it's almost criminal that I have to choose a favorite--
No wait I lied, the real MVP is Saru's shirt AHAHHAHA
Ahahaha this was such a fun game to play with! I adore Saru's shirt, split splat, and the comedic tones such as the fact that Saru is allergic to bananas despite being a somewhat monkey (are orangutans part of the monkey thing?) and I love how unique and different the 3 predators are, yet they're all so funny and entertaining. I think Saru's cowardly dynamic suits well with Hebi unrepetant slyness and the fact that he's all too willing to bully Saru, but I also like how Saru is kind of like the voice of reason to Fuzu's tendency to space out, and Saru and Hyou's energy are so high up because Saru is so damn nervous while I envision Hyou to have so much excitable energy.
Honestly it's so funny to me, I enjoyed playing it a lot and congrats in making it in 2 days! That must have shaved off a few years in your lifespan...
Dude, this was so cool oh my god. I laughed at how you wrote the stories with it being obviously satire, "cringe", and chocked full of references as well as the meta-ness of the entire story. The art really was wonderful and complimented the overall narrative because truly I find it appealing as well as the little scenes that play out.
My favorite stories has to be the princess, the author's journey, and the narrative structure. The way the princess was written is something I imagine someone who has gone through the same script over and over again would be thinking, not only that but the way you could palpably feel her anger, resentment, yet hollow acceptance over the fate she has to consistently live through is amazing and I can tell you actually put a lot of thought in her part since it's pretty detailed and visceral, there's a lot of inner depth to the princess' thoughts which is ironic because in reality, the princess herself has no depth as she explains, so to see her inner worth for all of its desecratedness is wonderful. The author's journey hit pretty close to home but also fun to see how someone who has a severe case of imposter syndrome would be feeling as they try to navigate through themselves and their skills. I love how you connected the different aspects of who the player could be and string them along to make a somewhat cohesive story (that and the art that went along with it is just *chefs kiss*). Not only that, but to see a rather cold, detached narrative who exists to remind us just what is the ACTUAL role of any of these characters and why they were such a popular formula to use is quite interesting, especially since it provides another layer of depth and complexity to the characters who we've consistently met in every iteration.
My favorite comedic stories is honestly the sword and the villain because honestly, the way the sword has no complete disregard for any grammatical rules or keeping a sense of coherence as it babbles away its "life" and just pokes fun with everything is just so funny to me (that and the visuals with the hero being fire kinda showing how brillaint and eye-searing he can be, the princess being the butterfly with how delicate, untouchable, yet short her life is, and the villain being the skull signifying the end of the poeple, his own life, and the story closing is just wonderful as it also shows how the sword itself has no disregard to people, only focusing on it role). The villain is honestly kinda sad in itself but the way he seems to cope by just finding humor despite knowing the inevitable end is just vibing his way through whatever short life he'll go through. The way you carelessly wrote his story but put a lot of comedic elements made me find that even though the villain's end will always end with them losing and the heavy morality implication of it, it's all hidden underneath the comedic over tone and diverts the reader from going any deeper.
And with my mixed feelings regarding the hero is something that you probably intended, maybe or maybe not. I like how it looked like you genuinely didn't care about the hero and left him to be not only one dimensional yet also empty and hollow, yet seeking to incite a reaction from the player for his actions. The hero in the story of himself showed to be so selfish and arrogant, because he is the hero and the world revolves around him and that is true, yet compared to the other stories his paled so much in comparison that you almost forget his own story. Guess it must not be that amazing to have the whole world at the tip of your fingers and revolve around you, leaving you choking with everything making you lash out. At least, that's what the hero is to me.
I genuinely love the way everything turned out, I adore how you wrote this story from the cliche bantering which was fun to me, to an insightful breakdown (in more ways than one) that left people vulnerable for all that they were worth and never settling for one thing. Truly an enjoyable experience!
Edit: Wait it just occured to me that seeing the actual thumbnail for this visual novel we see a person leaning against a desk with a lot of writing materials and the corkboard with red strings, meaning at the very start we started with the author before progressing to the prototype, and the one ending where we are the "writer" we see that very same corkboard. That's some inception nonesense or am I just looking far too deep lmao.
Goddamn I spent the entire early morning playing through this demo and my only real criticism is that it abruptly ends without warning that this was the end of the demo, however I did enjoy having learn a bit more about the world and both Viola and Vivere. I remember in the Sacrarium Gelos that I was asking if it was possible to explore more about the world that both Hemios and MC lived in and good lord did this demo give a beautiful world building exercise without overloading the player.
Not only that but learning about Viola and Vivere and being able to see the pieces that they wish to keep-- It's honestly conflicting in a moral stand point, but at the same time what they're doing could be classified as some sort of good action, and Viola himself shows to have suffered irreperable trauma. Honestly, just seeing how they interact with MC and each other is just fascinating, but not gonna lie when both Viola and Vivere interact, there is something so damn tender and gentle that it honestly feels wrong to intrude on them. I like how the poly route is conveyed because often it can be a bit difficult to write respectfully and without it being weird.
I kinda wanna learn more about MC, especially their mercenery background and the trauma they had to go through (imagine the amount of betrayals they had to go through throughout their years). That and I'm getting inspired just seeing this skittish MC learning to love from Viola and Vivere despite the two of them also having two loose screws, they at least know how to be comfortable to show their love while MC, I imagine, would be so restricted and hesitant with irrational thoughts. Just angsty thoughts HEHEHEHE
Anyway, looking forward to what comes next! Good luck with the development and take care!
Aaaaa this was so good! Granted I got one ending and that was the one where you fall fast AND HARD. Listen, listen it's a crime that Heimos is such a pretty dude (AND THE DUDE KNOWS HE'S PRETTY--) and his attitude is very entertaining because one moment he feels like a God who has sequestered himself away-- And next moment he's over here encouraging MC to commit arson against their enemies which is, mood.
HOW COULD I NOT FALL FOR HIM? And the fact that common decency is like the way to his Good Route is kinda like, sad? But then again there are legends/stories of "heroes" who do stupid stuff. Not me who upon seeing the "look around" option got my RPG senses tingling and only now I realize, "Yeah, that was a dick move, sorry Heimos".
But not only that, but I'm enamored by the story. The worldbuilding is insane and it is criminal how we couldn't delve further-- But in the same vein I also wanted more time to spend with Heimos so I'll choose pretty man over my thirst of knowledge regarding this new strange world. Wonderful work, I'll try to restrain myself to get the friendship ending or slow romance-- But I find myself literally struggling because HELLO?! HOW CAN I NOT FLIRT WITH HIM???
Damn, it really had that spooky vibe! I remember my time on Quotev where it was pretty common to share chainmail and just jokingly hope the "curse" wouldn't be passed on to us, Creepypasta was a big thing (at least on my time and my interest) so the chainmail really fit in. I feel real bad for Dave, dude didn't deserve it yet none of them did. I like how there was this build up where you form a sort of bond with Dave through Bob (classic Bob) and just get to see how everything goes from slightly creepy to Holy Shit Is Dave Okay????
It's a nice little work! Had some fun with it!
My god I absolutely adored this visual novel! I can tell you put in such a crazy amount of effort that I adored each of the little scenes. I love the little QnA since it helps you to focus on one particular LI and I absolutely adored just interacting with them all. I really enjoyed myself and this was one of the few times I was motivated to get all endings, even the bad ones! Tho my favorite bad ending has to be Prince, favorite character interaction has to be Carefree, and favorite design has to be Mysterious. But if I think about it, I vibe nicely with Carefree (getting to be my kind and excitive self) and Mysterious (CHAOS SUPREME) but my favorite has to be Prince hehehe~!
I also love the endings, the crack endings to be more specific especially with Carefree and Mysterious, they really were quite a treat and I love how easy it is to get an ending so it really isn't hard to just have kick back and have fun. It was such an easy way to distress so I'm handing out these candies to youuuuu~! You deserve it!! 🍪🍫🍬(I sadly couldn't find a candy corn :( )
I will be honest, this was a joy of a visual novel to experience! The art was simplistic, painterly, and lovely. I love how the music sounded and blended with the story and the plot itself was so heart warming and caring. Like the ghost was actually such a wholesome entity who just didn't know how to communicate with Drogo and Delilah was such a wonderful treat, absolutely love her!
Not only that, but I adore Drogo. God he's such a refreshing MC in a spooky visual novel who is not only just relatable and realistic, but also kind and caring. Even with all the crazy shit he went through, he had to keep a calm head and communicate as best as he can. I adore the work that was put in here, and the progression of Drogo's relationship with everyone including the house and himself. It's such a treat and a joy, especially with the ending where Drogo has found peace because THAT SMILE SHOULD BE ILLEGAL IT'S SO FUCKING CUTE I'M DYING AAAAAAA
Also Vivi is best ghosty, Delilah is best kitty cat, and Drogo is best hooman!
I am gonna die. I absolutely adore Nico. When he first popped up and started a convo my mind instantly grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me so close to it and whispered, "You better fucking cherish this boy or else you WILL have consequences" and that is what I did. I cherished the boy. I cherish Nico a lot and I absolutely adore and worry for him~! This is why I'm getting the obsession ending... I just... I just CAN'T NOT SPOIL HIM. (Nico is a mastermind, I'll happily be his pampering slave)
I also like how real Nico's issues and coping skills are. The blatant sexualization he goes through due to the past relationships he went through, the fact that he wasn't given a safe and healthy environment to process his feelings which results him to become erratic when he feels too many emotions, and the fact that even though MC cares for him (MY MC CARES FOR HIM, I DON'T WANT MY BOI TO SUFFER ANYMORE GODDAMMIT) he still has troubles accepting the reality of the situation because his reality and MC's reality are so different. But I adore how we still are able to reach a balance... somewhat, given the, well, premise of the story.
I also just wanna say that the visual novel really reminded me about Needy Streamer Overload! and because of that, I was dreading so much about the existence between MC, Nico's situation, and the entirety of things. I'm sure I'd uncover a lot of things if I explored the ending and maybe make it so that Nico won't be too obsessed with the MC... BUT NICO DESERVES NICE THINGS OKAY ;^; !!!
Aside from that, I did encounter some parts of the visual novel that did make it a bit difficult to continue on. Such as when transitioning to Day 2. Nico and the frame stays on the screen. It then fades quickly. It happens only once so I can see how you can ignore it. And then there's the text for the different options to do with Nico are very faint and blend in with the background. I actually had trouble navigating where they were on the first time, maybe putting a solid block of white could help differentiate it and maybe putting it closer to Nico since it was at the very far right. And here's just one nitpick I have, it's nothing that major but something I thought might be nice to rework? There are some moments where you can't click things and I know it suppose to tell the passage of time but it feels a bit disorrienting for nothing to happen. Maybe if there was some indication of movement during the waiting period or maybe some text stating "We ended up waiting X amount of time for X to come", just something to indicate that the story is still moving.
But aside from that, I genuinely enjoyed the visual novel! Adore how Nico looks and I just wanna scoop the cutie boi into my hands and cherish him~!
EDIT: After getting multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE Obsession Endings (seriously, wth) I finally got an ending that wasn't making me stare through the defeated eyes of the BAD END. But instead, I got the Epiphany Ending... Good Lord I gotta experiment more...
Spoilers to get the Pie Ending!
Damn, this was quite heart breaking... The grief that Trisha went through was so obvious meanwhile Dani had to hold it in together. I can't imagine the pain he had to go through... Not only that, but the actions Trisha did had no excuse. But then again, to grieve is truly an ugly and painful thing to do... I just have to say that the art is superb, I love the expressions that were shown and how visceral they all feel, and the fact that you can see the mental deterioration that Trisha is going through so clearly is quite disturbing.
It's a wonderful sad tale, at the very least in the Pie Ending, while MC couldn't get in their dream job Trisha was finally stable enough. I do hope we do see an epilogue about what happened to MC and Trisha and Dani since MC suffered a lot.
Also, to get the Pie Ending is here!!!
Basically, you just need to be agreeable to Trisha. You need to agree and do what she says so she becomes attached to you and genuinely cares for you, but it's twisted in her grief. The scores you see are the choices you made.
Here is a more detailed one:
> I think we can fix it.
> Yeah we can work on that now.
> Fine.
> If you say so.
And there you have it, the ending with Okay or No doesn't really matter when you have no choice there. Hope this helps and this was quite a lovely gut wrenching visual novel! Spooky that's for sure, god I was terrified of the expressions and sound effects.
Ohh that's great! I'm really looking forward to the more fixed version. It is impressive you were able to churn out 23 CG's but at the same time I wonder if it was a wise decisions given how you had to do everything yourself... But either way I'm looking forward to how you'll shape the VN now that it's passed the Game Jam edition ahahah
Goddamn, I did not expect to see how tense and terrifying everything is. Like Charles was just trying to swim in the ocean but then the weird host thing decided he wanted Charles as soon as possible. Not gonna lie, the ghosts themselves terrified me but I was more terrified about the Narrator. To Mike who voiced the Narrator, absolutely amazing job because of how deranged yet controlled you sounded. I just gotta say, I wanted to comment about how odd the Narrator was to how he was instantly enamored and obsessed with Charles. But I suppose in a weird way... Charles did look cute being all distressed and crying but that's just a weird observation!
And the multiple references with the Narrator being so attached to Charles all while demeaning and breaking him, that was just a horrific touch with the psychological aspect, and the door opening for the Narrator to finally get to Charles, I'm curious to know what he did to Charles... Poor Charles really had no escape from it....
Amazing horror VN, completely terrified me as I tried to interact with the environment. But my favorite ghost is the cat ghost, no questions asked.
The art style is beautiful but in some parts it felt a bit awkward. The plot itself was a nice little play on the imaginary friends and misunderstandings, but the progression was a bit abrupt and we never did learn the bonds that Dimitri and Quail went through that and the friendship between Caleb and Carson. The grammar was a bit awkward but not that bad. I think it would have been great if it wasn't so limited due to the jam and its restriction but I did enjoy playing through it and seeing the nice art!
Man this was a ride, especially with the dynamics between Haydn and the group. Gotta say, I like the callback to the trumpet cause of Haydn's appearance and the role of the trumpet itself. Still feel awful for Haydn and I can't believe I was bamboozled by Niccolo, but gotta say I'm with Team Haydn now. This was a fun little visual novel! Love the usage of teh background music and the direction of the story itself!
I am sobbing, why is this so cute???? I've never been on a date before but I've read and watched it happen, and I love how you portray those pre-date nerves where we panic, hate ourselves, yet do our best for the date. I love how the different outfits all have different endings, so far I've done one but I gotta say I adore the incentive to try things out. Not only that, goddamn I love how adorkable Taylor is, knowing MC isn't just the only nervous one here, and seeing how Taylor treats MC is so damn cute. I absolutely love the atmosphere the two of them have!
I absolutely loved the look of this IF. I like how mysterious MC's set up is, like the entire character set up? It was so cool and mystical, I wonder if the voices would respond differently with the type of soul you choose which would foreshadow to how that soul would handle the world of HorrorTale but I do have one thing to say, the font sizes were a bit too small for me. Especially with how vast the black textbox was. But other than that, I would have to say I'm curious hwo MC will continue forward since they're not technically a "human" by conventional standards, they're like a blank slate with no inherent humanity yet, curious how it'll proceed forwward~!
Looking forward to how things look in the future of development, good luck and take care of yourself!
No worries! I'm laughing imagining the real life counterparts of Randy and Dennis you've taken inspiration to but that's hella endearing. Lol, Dennis continuing to be the third wheeler, I feel like he'd enjoy his single life because he is tired of relationships because of how gooey both Flor and Randy are (what a total lie, he's really happy seeing both of them together but like man, GET A ROOM). It's totally like that meme song "That it's finally me and you and you and me, and your friend Steve" where Dennis is there couple's therapist who judges Randy every time they talk and wonder how Flor's braincells stay intact (they love each other equally, your honor).
That was so cute, so far I haven't finished the game yet but I just couldn't help but comment in haste! I adore the stories and how prickly yet caring our MC is. I'm looking forward to see the ending of the story yet I truly adore the stories that we read through and I love how you depict these heavy scenarios with a bit of mystery that leaves the player curious for more. The art is wonderful and I love how unique yet cohesive all of them are.
EDIT: I was bamboozled, god am I sobbing. I reached the ending of the game and am now in the process of collecting the epilogues but holy hell the resolution to both Cass and Astra's stories is heartbreaking. Vinegar's story makes sense now in the Spooky Soiree and am just glad that Periwinkle was able to get that happy ending he needed. Wonderful work!
This was seriously cool! I love the entire vibe of this, especially with the aesthetic style to it and how Haul is so expressive despite having limited lines and poses, his facial expressions are by far hilarious and how he pitches his sale are so cool. I'd honestly love to see more of his products but with the jam limitations I find it impressive how you work around it! As well as how extra everything else is, it's really immersive! Hope for the next chapter we get to help poor Haul in his business adventure (maybe be that technology advisor he needs to be a streamer, from customer to staff, hilarious journey)
But either way, really curious what other chapters there are and what the world fo Haul lives in looks like!
What the hellll, I'm crying so much in my soul as I read through this beautiful story. I love how pure and innocent the spider's love is towards the bride, and how he/it/they(?) were so humble and content in just watching the bride's happiness and joy as she discovered the gifts. Not only that but to see the insects you spare help you in return really just, oof, hit you in the feels! And when the bride finds out who gave her the gifts and gets her happy ending after so long of being trapped-- PLEASE I'M GONNA GO CRY THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND WELL-WRITTEN!
My god this was such an artistic piece! I love how Modesto/a don't look that much different in-between gender, they are such gender envy. Not only that but the characters that have sprites all look so cool and wonderful, MC themselves are pretty mysterious but I can guess they were a fallen noble and running away from debt collectors (assuming) that's why they don't have proper credentials and keeps their head low. Not only that but I adore the artistic aspect of not only the art but the way the story was being described, it felt like it had the style of old writing (thinking of like Dracula and whatnot, but more modern and shorter). Adore the mystery of it all, and the text for Ending 4 was quite intense in a good way!
SPOILERS! After I finish talking about the individual characters I then begin to show a guide on how to get these characters through the summoning ritual!!!
Honestly it was a lil nervewracking BECAUSE OF BEPHOMET. OF ALL THE DEMONS I SUMMONED I SUMMONED THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF ME ON THE FIRST TRY. Legit I was spamming that save/load function so much it deserves a good ass medal for putting up with my romantic panic ass. But it was really fun learning through the different combinations of them! And this visual novel actually gave me motivation and inspiration to finally doodle/draw after a long ass time of being burnt out! And I'm really proud of my lil MC's for each of these demons!
Bephomet: Since he was my first experience, I absolutely have mixed feelings for him since I was just getting used to the characters and how the dialogue affects them. So he was pretty intimidating but I somehow stumbled through the interactions and got him to date me! Amazing! I love his accent and his slang, I had to pull up google for help but I found it absolutely humorous, and I like how Bephomet's literally attracted to the more feral MC which my MC wasn't at first but dude was willing to have a date so he stumbled through it, hey, fake it till you make it. Bephomet better be charmed because I feel like my MC was constantly dying of second hand embarrassment from HIMSELF HAHAHA (but also that ending??? Kill me, my legs would give out if he SAID THAT TO ME, IMAGINE THE WIMPY MC OF MINE EXPLODING ON THE SPOT).
Pióg: Absolutely had a grand time with her ngl. When I saw how rebellious she was I was like "Yes, I can appeal to that" and then I imagined a new MC where she grew up in this catholic strict household and looks very put together but secretly she is FERAL, a closet pervert, and wants to rebel and will at the first chance. So now I'm imagining how hilarious it'd be, especially with the last option I chose where MC karate chops a crate with their forehead, if I wasn't charmed by that! And I also love how MC had to hype themselves up like yes bitch! You are THE feral, MOST UNHINGED, motherfucker there is!!! ALSO THAT ENDING SCENE? PLEASE I'M CRYING OF LAUGHTER!
Shoggoth: While I absolutely adore him, from his design and personality, I adore the MC here the most! It's like the poor dude had a severe case of "No Thoughts Head Empty". Like who wouldn't be attracted to that?? And the puns! While some will roll their eyes and groan, I was absolutely delighted by them especially with how earnest MC was in delivering them and thinking they were suave (please, this is so cute, I can understand how Shoggoth could stand this absolute dork). Not gonna lie, this MC gave me some trouble to think of a design but then I thought how hilarious it'd be if an emo dude had golden retriever personality and BAM! it clicked. Wonderful because now I'm absolutely enjoying how Shoggoth is looking at MC internally going like "One more stupid thing from this dude's mouth and we are fucking them up" (both ways can go *wink wonk*) their dynamic was so cute like wtfffff, I want what they have! THAT ENDING AS WELL?? HOW SMOOTH AHAHAHA "... other things" WHAT OTHER SHOGGOTH?? WHAT OTHER THINGS???
Chuvela: I will be honest, I actually struggled to find her combination quite a lot but I was really glad when I did! Also the art for it was really yummy and I should not have been thinking about that at literally 11:50pm. But I also like how she was a Chupacabra because I genuinely thought she was a Werewolf even though I've already heard about Chupacabras before. But I also like how contradictory she is, when we think of anything resembling a wolf we often think they're outgoing and active, but I like how despite her rough appearance she's actually a huge nerd! And I love talking to her about video games even though I'm not at all that knowledgeable, it's also hilarious how quickly I thought of an MC for her and I just enjoyed the scene where we just chilling and having fun. Like out of all the monsters, I genuinely feel like Chuvela wouldn't like threaten to off us as quickly as like Bephomet and Pióg while Shoggoth is like a loose cannon. But truly did enjoy how laidback her convo was!
Wrapping that all up, character wise I gotta go down with Bephomet, but my favorite Character and MC dynamic is with Shoggoth, and the one where I enjoy the conversation the most is with Chuvela (Pióg is there for when I'm ready to bounce off my gremlin energy ehehehe~!). Genuinely had so much fun with this visual novel! I adore the humorous and quick wit of it!!
NOW IT'S FOR THE SUMMONING RITUAL!!!
Bephomet: Goat, Chalk, Candle
Pióg: Knife, Pumpkin, Candle
Shoggoth: Quill, Blood Vial, Questionable Meat
Chuvela: Goat, Blood Vial, Knife
I'm not sure if there is a correct order or if you can do it randomly but either way these combination worked for me to summon the monsters! Hope you have fun and enjoy yourself and ALSO THANKS A LOT TO THE TEAM OF DEVELOPERS WHO WORKED HARD FOR THIS VISUAL NOVELLLL!
This is really cool! I love the way the plot turned out, especially with the cast of ghosts that we are shown. It looks really cool and I gotta say, I like Grandpa's house but I too feel like I would get lost in that place. Not only that, but I gotta say the tarot cards are my favorite characters so far. It's nice to see how chaotic all of the ghosts show themselves to be, and I'm pretty curious about how much we'll uncover about Drew's Grandpa and his relation to the ghosts within his house. And the reason behind the detoriating relationship between him and the mom. Goodluck with this one!
It's criminal how absolutely adorable Clove is! I didn't know I vibed well with kitsunes or any half animal half person because often it's just a person with just ears and tails so I felt disappointed at the lack of more animalistic appearance that separates them from normal people. But I really like how Clove looked like! Especially his claws, they look wicked sharp and cool! (Also why is his collarbone and shoulders so damn exposed??? So I can lovingly bite them??? The manipulator!)
I'm looking forward to see what comes next! Especially with how Clove develops as a Yandere!
Honestly so cute, I love the topics that were touched and given tehir respect as well as acknwoledging the different types of people er, demons I guess? Not only that but that was such a cute story and depending on the ending, great as well! I got the last two ones and I dunno about the first three but I don't wanna hurt our lil Ghosty!!
Wow that was eerie for sure, now, I gotta say I adore the voice actors efforts in voicing the characters! They all sounded natural and fun to listen through! I also love the foreshadowing of how Krampus was making his way to the family cabin, and I gotta say how I found that no matter what choice we pick, Holly would always choose the "naughty" option so she was clearly doomed from the start. As well as not only the art (it was really homey) but the lil game mechanics like sliding the VHS tape to the TV, I don't know why but it was really fun to do ahahaha~!
But I also gotta question, will there be more to it? Since this was only the first episode in the VHS series. As well as the fact it wasn't all that ineractive to the MC other than maybe mentioning some stuff regarding MC's situation (like when Mama talks about how not every family can spend time together, refering to how MC is currently camping out in their family cabin to avoid going back to their parents). Other than that, I really like the amount of effort and how well polished everything is!