itch.io

3/5

Hear me out… this is technically the best X.X Game Room shmup I’ve played thus far. Better graphics, heavier difficulty, crazier bullet patterns, etc. I found it was all just a little “too” much though. Too many slow downs, graphics are stretched a bit too wide, too many reused bullet patterns, you move too fast when tapping, and the game went on a level too long, imo. It’s still a very good game, and this is now my favorite indie shmup dev, it’s just not my favorite one to play. I'll be buying the new steam games by this dev very soon, you can guarantee it!

3.5/5

Very similar to Blue Wish in gameplay, but without ships and has little orbs that shoot extra bullets for you. I did notice a bit of stilted movement here and there but I find if you cool it down with the tap-shooting it helps immensely. Another solid shmup, and I can’t say much more than that.

4/5
Once again, this dev improves upon their previous effort in almost every way. I had no issues with fullscreen, the graphics are an overall improvement, the bullet patterns are even more varied than in the original game, and it was a bit harder overall (I used 2 continues on my first play). The problem is that the directional buttons stall here and there, so it made for an uneven experience, despite everything else working flawlessly.

4/5
This was definitely a full step up from Green Wind, the dev’s first shmup. On the easiest difficulty I managed to 1CC it, so it’s not the hardest game to get into for beginners. I was never bored either. 5 stages, some cool boss fights, and no bad slowdowns or jankiness to deal with. It plays like a Donpachi game, with regular or stream attacks + bombs that auto-explode if you get hit. Maybe not the most original game then, but absolutely great at what it does.

3/5

I believe this is a sort of predecessor to the Eden series? The game I actually pretty incredible for being such an old indie title. Very small window, so you have to mess with it a bit before starting. It plays very well, and the bullet patterns are amongst some of the most creative I’ve seen in the genre (especially the last boss). I highly recommend checking this one out to any shmup fans.

Thank you! The third one is completely written, I just need to have the art and music completed before we can release. As soon as I get CO2 released on consoles we should be good to start on those, as the sales  money we get from that goes directly to my team. As Ratalaika has been plugging away at their backlog for porting, I am hoping this will be soon.

So glad this series is continuing!

Congrats!

Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed it! I will look into trying to fix that for the next release. I do have a number of fixes I made for the console version that I still need to do for this one.

CO3 is quite a way off, unfortunately. I'll use the money from the console sales towards making resources for it, but likely won't begin to see any of it for another 5 or 6 months. A lot of things need to go right. The good thing is it will require the least amount of edits of the 3, so my parts should be pretty quick once I have all the art and music handed over. The only estimation I can give is 2 years, but always hoping for sooner.

So glad! More updates on the series coming soon!

Yep, tried all those too lol. But it's okay, we did well enough with consoles sales that I was able to finance the second game in full, will likely be the same for the next one. As long as I can make enough to keep the series going, I'll be happy. Profit would just be a nice little bonus :)

We have tried a few times, and unfortunately they let us know recently that we don't fall under their targeted audience. However, I'll continue trying every few months, as their standards change from time to time and they are very upfront about that.

Hello, while I would love to be able to do that again it will all depend on the sales. I am in a good position right now as a result of the console versions and wanted to give a boost to the PC versions, but all the money earned from these goes back into creating the sequels, so it will really depend on how well the game does as a whole. Hope that makes sense :)

https://crimeoperastudios.itch.io/crime-opera-ii-the-floodgate-effect

Contact Us: crimeoperastudios@gmail.com

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DEMO: Available at launch.

Details:

Play Styles: Kinetic or with Choices

Main Route: Over 94k words

The second novel in the Crime Opera series, The Floodgate Effect is a kinetic novel about a mafia family known as the Gallos. The story is told through the eyes of the young men and women of the Gallo family, who range from the ages of 11-24, as they begin to enter into a life of crime.

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WARNING: If you have yet to read the first novel in the series, “Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect", it is highly recommended you do so before reading the following spoilers!

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The story begins 9 years after The first Crime Opera tale. Xander Gallo is now bitter, alone, and out of control. He is causing problems for not only other families within the crime syndicate, but for the younger Gallo members as well. Those who remained behind to continue the family legacy are soon forced to take sides with or against Xander Gallo, while others who have seemingly moved on with their lives are pulled back in against their will.

Crime Opera is a tale of loyalty and deceit, murder and survival, and both the strength and frailty of familial bonds. This particular novel serves as the second part of a much longer saga, following the Gallos from childhood to old age as they are pitted against the outside forces of the mafia world, and eventually, each other as well. 

As with the previous novel, this installment is divided into four books (24 chapters total). Expect many unexpected twists and turns, questionable alliances, and false setups within.

PROTAGONISTS 

19 years old. Oldest son of Xander. Currently studying in University, unable to cope with the criminal lives of his family members.  

17 years old. Youngest son of Xander. Finishing high school, working for Xander.

15 years old. Youngest daughter of Xander. Has moved on from past traumas with the help of her best friend and boyfriend. 

24 years old. Xander’s nephew, and 2nd in command of the Gallo businesses. 

16 years old. Oldest niece of Xander, and subjected to most of his abuse.   

11 years old. Youngest niece of Xander. Dreams of a better life elsewhere.

SUPPORTING CAST Patriarch of the Gallo family. Bitter, alone, easily angered, and often violent.   

Cousin to Xander, works closely with Kevin on family business.

21 years old. Plays a minor role in this novel. 

And many more!

It really is :( and I'm not so keen on going through it all again with them (at least for now). But, at least we have our console releases. We'll be sending off the sequel and fandisks for porting in the next few weeks!

I somehow failed to convince them that no actual children were harmed in the making of this game :P

Congrats on completion!

The Caterpillar Candids is a short stories fandisk to Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect! This is the hit thriller visual novel from Crime Opera Studios that has sold over 5000 copies across PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox and Nintendo Switch platforms.

Crime Opera: The Caterpillar Candids

This fandisk contains three short stories that take place before, during, and after the events of the original visual novel. I made this as a way to tide fans over until the official sequel is launched later this Summer. 

Keep an eye out for Crime Opera II: The Floodgate Effect later this year!

I would love this as well. Been playing the first one and really liking it on kongregate! 

Awesome, thanks!

Hello there! At the first dungeon, can't seem to get past the spikes to fight the boss. Is that a bug or did I miss something?

Wow, this looks really well done!

Thank you so much, I am so happy you're enjoying it! The next two sequels are fully written, and I can promise it just gets better and better! We'll have a kickstarter campaign running later this Summer so we can finish the needed resources for CO2.

Hope your wrist is healing well, get better soon!

Thanks so much!

Haha yes, it's definitely dark. I have to take frequent breaks while writing as Burtie, as it disturbs me what comes out in the writing process. Glad it didn't scare ya away though!

As for the sequel, we'll be running a kickstarter campaign this Summer so we can finish the resources. I'll have it up as soon as we get the rest of the character sprites completed so we can do a trailer video. From there, I'm hoping to get everything else completed in 6 months. So hopefully early 2022, but it will depend on how quick my team can get their parts done.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Sorry all, just realized this one was set to "hide". I've unchecked it now so you should be able to download both versions.

Really appreciate you saying so!

Hey!

So weirdly, after a computer restart, it's suddenly working properly now. Sorry for the disruption, not sure how or why that worked.

Great product though, and I'm having a ton of fun with it!

It seems to be any time I try to edit the skin color only, everything else works perfectly. A workaround is starting with randomized characters until you find the skin tone you want, so it's not a huge issue.

Hey, can't seem to change skin color at all in version 1.73. Any news?

I will definitely be giving steam keys to all of you who have bought it here. Not exactly sure how that works on this site, I may have to just email the keys to you, but it is absolutely happening. 

Looks good, subbed!

Surprise!

We're so excited to finally be releasing the full length soundtrack for Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect (in both mp3 and ogg formats, along with some additional bonus tracks as well). As well, to celebrate the release, we're doing something no other VN dev has attempted before. We're releasing a special "Making Of" docu-visual novel fandisk along with it to give you that extra bit of bang for your buck!

Go behind the scenes on the series conception, game writing, team assembling, art creation, and music production. Yes, we also talk about the issues we had with the kickstarter, and the notorious steam ban that hampered our release strategy. As well, you'll be treated to some never before seen concept art, including character and background sketches, line art, and colorization tests!

All proceeds will go to Solo Acapello, as I was not able to pay him what I'd hoped in the making of this beautiful soundtrack and wanted to have the chance to eventually get there.

Get it here:

https://crimeoperastudios.itch.io/crime-opera-beyond-butterfly

After 3 and a half years, a failed kickstarter campaign, and a recent steam ban (https://kotaku.com/visual-novel-sets-out-to-buck-trends-by-being-less-sexu-1840002895) we are finally launching the first entry of our ambitious Crime Opera series!

Se  our itch.io page here:

https://crimeoperastudios.itch.io/crime-opera-the-butterfly-effect

Please know that all funds will go directly towards helping us create the sequel (which has already been completely written). It's bigger, longer, more intense, and takes place a full nine years later as our main cast reaches early adulthood!

Please do not let the steam ban scare you away, as we are still pegging this at 14+.