itch.io

writing crazy long post mortems, wooooo! I know you wrote a lot, but I always enjoy reading these. plus I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who struggled with the theme ;v; I didn't realize that the water color aesthetic was more than just aesthetic! I am disappointed to hear we're not getting the High Score Hyrax update, but I guess I'll live ;> Looking forward to what you cook up for the update, and what comes next for Solstice Eve! 

THAT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT! I hope everything is okay, and I hope you keep making. I'm excited to see what you guys do in the future with an opening as promising and ambitious as this!

marvel ending 😭 I should've added more quips and one liners... 

I did purposefully leave it all vague just because I didn't have faith in myself to really... flesh that out and still focus on the things I wanted to, without asking even more questions, but I get it. Sometimes hype and aura moments... aren't enough... 

and yeah my collaborators blew it out of the water with 30 tons of dynamite, they rock

THANK YOU!!!!!! truly you get the vision, thank you for playin the game, and thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it. If there's people staring at you from atop the skyscraper then it better because they're cheering you on 😌

"we're just playing!"

well I did want to set the bar lower 😌

thank you for your words and feedback purkka, I know you didn't get a lot of chances to read this year, so I'm glad that you still took the time to flay the flesh from my bones and string me up for the in text carrion animals to feast upon ;> that's one way to solve the food crisis. (also for the outside viewers purkka and I are friends and buddies that's why I'm joking with them). I do really appreciate the insight, but I can't respond toooooo much, because a lot of what I'd say will just end up in my post mortem that's coming out in like, a week! And yes! thank you for appreciating pink's banger sex music. I asked them to compose with the Vibe™ of Love Psalms from Silent Hill 2, by the Great AKIRA YAMAOKA!!!! So a pretty high ask and they still  nailed it. 

awww, thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. and Yeah I'm pretty proud of our accessibility features, especially in regards to the sounds and music. 

okay now go back and put the sex scene in high score hyrax

I'm gonna be real chief, I love the little anochronisms in the dialogue. Specifically "dude" makes me chuckle. It's hard to talk about this one without sounding generic because it's like "damn another banger by chmron, everything is good like you'd expect." It's nothing too twisted or complicated, though I like the little plot twist, it's well foreshadowed. I especially like the inclusion of werewolves and their representation in society. I think it's a pretty natural inclination of queer people to relate to fringe outside monsters, these villainous others. I mean I don't know if Berdie is a lesbian, or aromantic, but both she and Mitch who fall outside these strict roles imposed by their society, which just about as queer as it gets, so it makes sense that they're drawn to these forms of otherness that seem to come with an idealized version of freedom, and power. Even if it comes with costs. I also liked that we point out that Mitch running off into the wilderness would in fact reflect badly on the people he supposedly cares about. I also adore that they don't try and solve the patriarchy in the whole finale, that's a bit much for the game jam scope 😭

My one single critique is that I think abel's sprite looks a bit... strange? It's his eye. You've done side profiles and forward facing profiles both before, so I don't know if it's the sort of humanish wolfish design that leads to the weird look? The humans though all look great, very gruff and robust people that look like they have bad opinions about women and have to sustenance farm for life. And the painterly backgrounds and CGs? It's a lot of work! It may not be my favorite of your work, it's still a homerun and a half! As always I absolutely cannot wait to see what you do next!

I hope you're feeling better about your entry after some time has passed, and that you wanna come back and touch it up! Admittedly Solis is so far and away my favorite, so I'm happy as is. Obviously the scope creep of the jam caught up to you, so I want to hold off my full thoughts and feelings, but I can see the outline of what you want to do, and digging through the files I see a lot of the art is finished! ohhhh solis.... ohhhhh kiss him...

There's just a lot I love, despite the problems. the art is SO so good, which I mean I knew it would be, I played your novembuck, but augh I love all 4 of them. I wish we got more of our little lamb, because they are so gorgeous and soft, and I think they contrast great with our disastrous wolves.  Anyway I need to see all of them bouncing on it, great work, PLEASE keep making, and please be proud of just how much you've done, even if it didn't quite make it as far as you wanted in the timeframe! 

I'm saving my full response for when you finish this game. BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA COME BACK AND FINISH IT OFF RIGHT!

RIGHT!?!?

But I really liked it all the same, and I think you should be really proud of an INCREDIBLE first entry, especially as a solo dev! I'm really excited to see what else you cook up in the future. I hope you're proud of yourself, because you 100% should be!

Dark horse banger of an entry. First of all incredible choice on the music, love to see royalty freak out here. 

Really good and sweet game about loss and recovering from it, and the different ways people feel entitled to the memories of those we have lost. Getting it out of the way, I appreciate the twist on red riding hood, a really clever way to thread that folktale through the story. There's certainly a red riding hood, a wolf who "eats" grandma, a woodsman, etc etc. Don't worry my literary analysis is strong enough. I don't know that I'm strong enough for Bonet though, good heavens, I'm looking disrespectfully. I absolutely love the design and art style. It reminds me a lot of The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, as well as well as The Cruel King and the Great Hero. that sort of scribbly storybook style. It's gorgeous, and compliments the simple but effective background as well. 

There are a few minor hiccups, the about page crashes the game and has to be closed, and there's one line after Rosso's crashout that is still just fully portugese even when the language is set the english. 

anyway love the bisexual dilf, what a winner

This is a weird but engaging character study type game. I really enjoyed the story, but I feel like it needed a bit more time in the oven. The characters were really interesting, and the few visuals that were there were delightful! 

I joked like 5 seconds into the game that it was going to be the "It's so beautiful. I might have never known." comic by beetlemoses, but it really was huh. There's a lot unanswered, only implied, but I'm okay with that. I'm not at all familiar with basque culture, so it was cool to see some of that! I love the murky backgrounds, and the music, but the total and complete lack of visuals, especially since they were apparently in a videocall? The designs seem really good, and I see one of the CGs is on the itch page but not in the game itself. The UI was also a bit weird, I see lots of people have been struggling with it, but strangely rollback worked just fine for me so ??? idk coding is dark magic outside my realm of worldy knowledge. I don't have a lot to say beyond that I enjoyed it, and I really hope you come back to it after the jam is over to finish touching it up.

Thank you for the insight! I... feel like I actually understood Clam Story more than I initially thought I did! I really enjoyed this game, and I'm very excited for what you come up with next. If I could ask a question, is there a reason the m and the t are separate colors in Clam Story, and if so, why/what's the meaning behind that :0

Wow, 2011 was (for the most part) just like that huh. Except the problematic bit about Morenatsu, I feel like most people did not care at the time lol. 

Incredible work. This is a really specific type of piece, so I'm willing to bet it'll really hit with the people it hits with, and it might be a bit hard to parse for the people it doesn't. On one hand I feel like I can remember this type of MMO online group of friends drama 1 to 1 pretty much... though I was a lot younger than 25 during that, lol. I do really like the multi-faceted nature of the conflict, and the way it's resolved. Root is letting their friends down, and Mari is being unfair to them. I mean the "test" is especially bullshit. But I love that part of the resolution is asking yourself "does this really matter in the long run? or is it better to forgive it, and let it go. Do i care more about this friendship, or about being 'right?'" It's just a well put together story that flows well from plot beat to plot beat, with a healthy amount of character development and comedy throughout its runtime. 

I think it's really funny, my only real critique (besides how badly I think you guys ham stringed yourselves with this thumbnail) is that maybe we get a little bit too indulgent at the end. The fourth wall breaks, the anachronisms, etc, I think they all worked really well, and were quite funny. Mira walking in on the ERP is incredibly fucking hilarious, and I think throwing the "chula" in there as another in joke on top of the several other layers of jokes, just kinda pushed it a bit too far. Especially since Hugo has been a relatively cool and caring guy who is doing his best, so the sudden allusion to Leo Alvarez is... a bit of a bad mouth feel lol.

As a side note, not quite a critique, at the beginning of the game we have this sort of... therian/transgender thing going on with Root. I'm unsure if this is just part of their self loathing from depression, or genuine dysphoria, but I would've liked to see that explored a little bit more. 

Still, it's a really small peek into a time and place on the internet that may no longer exist literally, but still very much does spiritually. I think the thing that really sells it the most for me is the presentation. The very simple sprites, combined with eccentric choreography and flashy text gives me that feel of those old MMOs where actual character expression is extremely limited, but the people behind that still find ways to be creative. From the A-D-A-D strafing, to various uses of text size, color, and good ol emoticons. It reminds me of the time before fortnite shared emotes and ffxiv weddings, when the best you could do to show your support for someone across the ether cables was slightly clip your model into theirs. 

WOW! thank you Fuze! It's sometimes hard to tell if you grow at all... admittedly I was worried that I was going to make something worse than Cygnus Leapt, so I'm glad to hear it hit home with you! I'm really proud of my part, but I'm even more proud of the people I got to work with and how hard they went! Rikun really is the MVP, we brought him on to  do coding so no one else would have to worry about it, and instead he ended up taking the visual direction and aesthetic of the game to the next level.

Okay Fuze you always give us all really long and thorough reviews, full of your thoughts and constructive criticism, and so I'm gonna try to match your energy!

This is a hard one for me to rate, because, especially in the age of AI, the end result of art is worthy of praise and impressive, but so is the process. So that part of me is wowed by the existence of an entire conlang, even if it's heavily borrowed from and modified Japanese, in just a month, on top of all the writing and art you had to do beyond that. But it comes into direct conflict with the rest of me that played the game, that feels like it was mostly a detriment.This game is 25k words, technically a little over if you ask fvn.li, though I assume that's things like the thank you message, and perhaps some of the title select, I'm not trying to call any fouls there. But I wonder if the story wouldn't have benefited from more elsewhere. Sometimes it feels like words were cut out in sentences not because of typos, but because of a lack of space to use them anywhere. 

And that's really just my biggest problem with the game overall, the actual pen to paper writing, especially the prose. It's just so, so bland. I think there's maybe two similes in the entire vn, when Kameron compares the hot springs to eden, and when Eugene says that going through the portal back will be like a walk in the part. It's all "we did this, did this, and then did this." Straightforward, and often lacking in interiority. I want less one to one descriptions of the events, the food, the locale, the appearances of the other world (especially with how gorgeous the bgs are, they do 80% of the work already for you), and a bit more artistry in the prose. Sometimes Kameron does let us know how he's feeling, though it's often pretty straightforward "like" or "dislike," and I feel like a lot of the complexity of the character doesn't come through until towards the end, when it's revealed that Ryley thought he was summoning a demon to power him up. It's a lengthy entry, and that length is exasperated by the lack of variation to break up the writing. This one is a bit of a personal pet peeve, that there's almost always only one sentence per line, but I think that also lends to part of the monotony of the pace.

And the conlang is cool but... I think it's ultimately a hamper on the game. First of all, it drastically inflates the word count, but more importantly, I just... kinda start glazing over and mashing the space button when it comes up. And it's there for the whole vn! Kameron learns some words (and whenever he speaks only in Devah he immediately translates it in his thoughts afterwards) but for the most part whenever the characters are speaking to each other, it doesn't really add anything to have this conlang there. We get so many times where Ryley or someone else will say something, and it's completely illegible, and then Kameron will be like "I have no idea what he's saying" or "I'm just gonna assume this." Just write that! Don't bloat the space with the entire conversation that we the reader (and often the main character) can't understand and just kind of have to click through. I think you can still deliver the feeling of this character trying to learn the language, and slowly piecing it together, without needing the actual language always on display. Maybe if this were a much more longform vn, and we the reader would have the experience of slowly learning it alongside Kameron, but in a short jam game like this, I think that's ultimately too much work, for too little payoff, that took up space and effort that could've been better directed elsewhere. like a second sex scene More emotional connections after the big reveal of Ryley's attempt at cheating, to justify him following him through the portal (or the logistics on how a deva living in our world works, if he's gonna live extra long, or if time will pass him by extra fast, etc etc.). Just places that I really felt could've used more fleshing out that the many conversations that we didn't really need to see on screen, had been skipped and given time somewhere else. 

We get some plot threads that occasionally come up, but because Kameron lacks any real way to communicate with Ryley, they often don't really play out in any meaningful way. Kameron has several dreamless nights, and then when he finally has a dream, it's a nightmare about his experiences with homophobia, and getting injured due to a bad call (that was potentially made purposefully wrong to mess with him? I'm unsure), and while cuddling with a cumstained twunk probably isn't a bad way to shake those off, it's just one of the many character moments we can't really work around more because of the communication barrier. Occasionally they bring up the idea of "communicating without speaking" in the not quite sumo sport they play, but that isn't really utilized to justify the ending of Ryley giving up everything to follow him. Which I'm not complaining about, to be clear! I actually really like the overall progression of the story, I just want its delivery to be executed differently. Also Ryley tried to summon a demon and that's definitely what the murder whirlwind at the beginning was, right? ALSO IF KAMERON REALLY CARES ABOUT ALL THESE PEOPLE, HE COULD AT LEAST LEARN TO SAY THEIR NAMES RIGHT. I get that it's "ryley like Raijin and Eugene like Fujin, but after a certain point it's less "making the best with what he can" and just kind of disrespectful. Also looking at the origins of the name Eugene does have some really funny implications for a world that's a parallel dimension connected to japan. Another personal petpeeve, I wish we got more literal heart to heart moments. We get that one during the sex scene, and it's so good. I'm such a huge sucker for feeling someone else's heartbeat, especially as an intimate moment, so while it's brought up I think three times, i wanted more with them directly. You make my heart rumble, so rumble!!!

Okay that's a lot thank you for bearing with me. The presentation is fine, UI is nothing crazy but I quite like it as something beyond just the regular default renpy set up. The music is well curated, and none of the tracks ever felt tonally out of place for what was happening (beyond maybe the menu music being a rendition of pachelbel's canon, but I chalk that up more to me being overly familiar with composition), while still maintaining the general ambiance of the game. I see you branching out to other body types beyond the Signature Fuze Twink, and I respect and appreciate that. I am not immune to men, and boy are there some nice men to ogle in this game, triumph emoji triumph emoji. I  think sometimes some of the angles the characters are in they lose some of their identifying shapes as whatever their respective species are, though I do think you do the forward facing sprites for a character like a rhino pretty well. Sometimes when multiple characters are on the scene, the resused assets become a bit more obvious. There's one scene where Codie, Kameron, and Eugene are all hitting the exact same side smile smirk, and it really stands out. And the CGs... oogh. Y'know at first I was like "wow I know Fuze is a really prolific artist, i'm surprised there  haven't been too many CGs, considering the importance of a lot of these scenes" and then I got to the tournament. I'm sure the Media Literate recognize other Fuze characters making cameos, but ngl I got distracted by that final throw. Eugene? Ryley? I need to stick my media literacy in them iykwim. I know I joked about a second sex scene but insert the worf star trek "THIS IS SEX" gif here. Just let me fuck Eugene and I'll be normal I'll be fine. And worth stating again, I adore the BGs. Entirely original backgrounds is crazy, and I love the shaded painterly details in them. I think especially Ryley's apartment has a lot of life... for being so trashy bachelor pad lol. 

So yeah, this is really long, and I know it's a lot of complaining, which hopefully comes off as constructive. I have a huge respect for the amount of work you've done on this, and, as someone who is only vaguely familiar with some of your older work, and your previous maywolf, I think it's really exciting to see you branch out into stories that have another layer of depth to them beyond the porn. I really hope you keep at it, because you've got a lot of creative energy and I'll be reading the other things you put out. I wrote so much because there was a lot to talk about, and so I hope that comes through, and not just a massive downer of a review! 

Let's gooooo girl failures! I had a lot of fun with this entry, it's straightforward and does what it wants. I know that this isn't the most unheard of type of story ever, but I think being both from the viewpoint of a more modern generation, and being women instead, helps give it its own identity. I'm on that weird cusp of millenial and gen z, but much closer to the latter than the former, so it's nice seeing stories that speak more to our specific conditions. 

Honestly it's just a solid game, a really strong first showing and I look forward to what you do next!

heheh glad our boyfailure pulled through for you after all

I try so hard to eliminate all the typos but alas, I am not perfect... more for the post jam I guess ;v;

but thank you for the review and the lovely words! 

thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it... including the "sex jumpscare" 😭

out of sheer curiosity, what was the part you thought you were going to dislike :0

fucking RIP clive. Every line in this game is just throwing poor clive under the bus. Couldn't stand up for him getting exiled, and now just "wow never seen a man so wonderful." 

This game is like 1/3rd worldbuilding and the rest is fucking. Which. Fair. I just wish the ultimate adjective used to describe how attractive he is as "male." The sprites are fine, but I wish Solus looked a bit more like he does in the CGs. Anyway fine work, should've had Lucius bottom imo ;> 

Pyrena has everything. Line boil, animation, a hot older guy in a leather jacket, ACAB, and suicide ideation. 

To call the story of Pyrena bare bones would be doing it a disservice, because while it keeps itself tight at a respectable 6.5k words, it fits so much into its allotted run time. As a mentally ill queer person in small town america myself, like, I get it lmao. It's undoubtedly a setting that speaks immediately to me, but the rest of the people I played it with are all non-americans, so the feelings represented still translated well even without my personal predisposition. Everything about this game drips with the purposefulness imbued by the author, the camera angles, the dialogue and narration, the animation. Even the character designs, which are relatively simple, speak a lot to their respective nature. 

As an aside, I know some people may ding you on the implementation of theme category, but 1) anyone who has worked at a gas station, especially any sort of late shift, knows that that pretty much just is American Folklore, and 2) despite the late introduction of the actual folklore, I feel like its presence is pretty retroactively visible. I also don't mind the ambiguity of the later events. While I wish we got a little more post climax, I respect the decision to say what you have to, and then end it there. 

Either way, it's easy for me to say that Pyrena is one of my favorites of the jam, and another Aderie banger. Martin, if you're looking to settle down, please call me. 😌

I'm glad there's no gameplay, sorry 😭

I know it's kind of the Kemonito signature to shoot for the stars and come up a little short in the span of the month. As a fellow student, i get it, I'm not a solo dev, i would die. It would kill me dead. I love birds! and I love the inspiration taken from the filipino folklore, I think this is a fun way to adapt the story to fit the wolf requirements. Really it's hard to say much more than "I like what's there... but it's very barebones." the sprites are nice, but there's only one for each age. The CGs are great... when they're finished. The writing... its suffering a lot. Lots of tense errors and ESL-isms that make it a bit of a challenge to read. 

I'm looking forward to the finished version, but it needs not only the back half of the story, but lots of polish as well. Still, going off your previous work, I believe in you!

Admittedly I was hoping for another game in line with More Than Gold, because I thought it was fire, but I respect the return to form. I'm not the target audience, but it's well executed for what it is. Which is pretty much just porn. The pen is mightier than the sword, but the penis... is... sword? 

awww, congrats! well deserved! 

knowit I appreciate the concern but this isn't based off the lenape (false) myth OR the cherokee tale 😭 I understand if you wanna flame me for adapting indigenous culture into the vn, but at the risk of doxxing myself, it's based off one of the local nimiipuu stories the elders tell from the rez near where I attend college. I picked this one over the story where raven turns himself into a pine needle, gets swallowed, and then birthed, and then steals the flame, because. uh. well. that's a lot harder to incorporate narratively, and the other story is about beavers stealing fire from pine trees, which isn't exactly relevant. If I had known there was a misattributed colonized version of a different tribes story floating around out there, I probably wouldn't have included it at all, but I promise that I'm not just throwing in whatever without understanding or researching it.

I'm leaving my review short purposefully because I think otherwise I'd be here writing about it all night. It's very cerebral, it's right up my alley, I liked it quite a lot.... I also think it will kill most casual readers. I hope you make a post mortem talking about your influences and thoughts, because I'm very curious what inspired you, and what this work meant to you... besides running out into traffic. great work!

BIRD TO BIRD COMMUNICATION!!!

thank you rhettoe, glad you enjoyed >v<7

When I said I would love for you to revisit your previous jam games, this isn't really what I meant, but I suppose I'm not complaining either. Quite the opposite in fact, an incredible entry. An entry with completely original components from head to toe to horn, and with a solo dev to boot! It's impressive, just in the sheer work required within a month to make a bunch of soundtracks, sprite variations, backgrounds, a couple of CGs, and of course writing the whole thing. 

So much fun to read. Knowit tends to have straightforward writing, which can sometimes be a bit stiff to go through, but is never hard to read. Here the universe and the circumstances the characters find themselves in, keep us busy enough to never worry about dragging on or falling flat. Kali is an endearing and attractive protagonist, who works well with our wolf El. I adore the dynamic between the two, the way it remains consistent, the things about El that never change, and of course that all of them are named after angels. Shout out to his frankly MASSIVE bulge. insane. You cannot be swinging that thing about. 

There's some choices I wouldn't have made... but I can't really critique them because that's just it. I wouldn't have made them but I can't fault them either. There's only two CGs, one after Kali enters a despondent fugue lamenting the pointlessness of his life after losing one of his Els (in fact, being forced to put a zombified one from his original post apocalyptic universe, down) and spots one he decides not engage with. The other... is when he reveals he has hypnosis abilities and uses them to placate a passerby who doesn't even have a sprite. Once again the raw amount of og assets used means two CGs alone is impressive, but We know why that was a focused one. I wish there were  some sound effects, like the glass shattering mentioned several times, but I get that's hard to do. 

I do think the story peters out a bit towards the end. The ending just kinda happens, after Kali drops into, and then recovers from, his understandable depressive episode. I wasn't really expecting a solution, but I did want just a little more of an Ending. Though I'm also a sucker for a good "I love you" and sequence with all the Els is so sweet and endearing. Overall it's still just a really enjoyable and unique piece, with the exciting ideas and world building I've come to enjoy, combined with Knowit's excellent character design tendencies. He continues to get better and better and I'm always looking forward to what's next! 

clocky* my bad. But it just means that someone is visibly trans! I just like that they're not an androgynous twink but an older person with facial hair. 

I really love the use of implementation of the theme! How folklore changes between person to person, as well as colonization, is one of the most interesting things about studying it, and the dynamic of a modern student learning (and contrasting) from an elder is really endearing. Plus as someone who doesn't really enjoy gameplay in vns, it's nice to have one that has no fail state. 

The story otherwise was sweet and simple, I like the little tidbits about the two characters, and it would've been nice to get more of them, as I think they're both more interesting than the stories presented. Also thank you for Chayon. Having a clock nonbinary character just about KILLED the cis people in my reading group, so job well done! I just wish they were a little less obfuscated by the gameplay. 

A good first try. I think a lot of others have covered the problems, the strange switch back and forth in NVL, the lack of visuals, etc, so I won't rag on about them. I'm proud of you for getting something out, and I hope you keep making in the future!

I think this is a game with a lot of promise, that's held back by ambition perhaps too big for a jam game. It wears its STP inspirations on its sleeve, which I deeply respect, but it lacks the same expanse that is what made the many many combinations of STP so awe-inspiring. The art, especially the sense of design, is beautiful. But perhaps some CGs for some of the standout moments, like painting the stars back into the sky, would go a long way. I think it's a strong introduction, but without more, I find myself lacking investment in our trio. Frankly the moon does seem incredibly selfish, and his actions resulted in the death of his brother's spouse. I'd be upset too! Beyond "I love effeminate twinks" there's... just not a lot of compulsion to side with him. 

The voice acting is fine, it works well enough, but I don't know if, for me personally, it adds enough to justify the amount of work it entails, or that it makes the lines where it occasionally doesn't work, all the more jarring. It's one of those things that I believe is really, really hard to pull off at the weird in between place of layperson and professional that a lot of us in the fandom occupy. 

As for the folklore itself, I think that's my favorite part. I remember awhile back hearing about Sidapa and Bulan... and then finding out that the whole thing was fabricated, and that being a huge scandal. I know that a lot of Filipino culture was lost due to colonization, so sharing more of it, even reinterpreted, is a really noble choice. I do really hope you see this game through and finish it in its intended form.  

thank you! I'm so glad to see you engage so much with the work! Yeah i'm looking forward to digging into it after the rating period. Speaking of, good luck with your queue, I remember the feeling. And yes!!! Rikun! What a freakin legend. He cooked so hard. 

I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not realize it was the Dragon of Palma until we got to the actual dragon of Palma. 

I think this is something to be proud of, making a game in the course of a month, but ultimately it leaves me wanting. It seems like it's an ambitious goal for the amount of time you had. The writing is charming, but needs a second pass. The combination of dnd classes and the og folktale I think kind of robs either of their identity. The biggest place the game suffers is in the art, and the presentation. The designs are charming, and the choreography does it best to makeup for it, but each sprite only has... one sprite. they're locked in a single expression, which is just absolutely fatal. The visual aspect of visual novels is huge, and the lack of CGs and sprite variation really puts a hamper on things. It ends up feeling tired and monotonous, especially with all the backgrounds being relatively dull desert colors for most of the game, followed by more dull color interiors. The lack of visual diversity starts to wear after awhile, especially when combined with the presentation. I assume it's coding errors, I know nothing about coding, so I can't recommend fixes, or claim to have done better, but oh my god the walking sfx gets pretty old even when it's supposed to be playing... and then... it just keeps going... forever. 

It's not something to be ashamed of, this is only my second jam, and in both I've also definitely felt the "here's where the limitations are vs. the expectations I had," and it's been a learning experience both times. But in this case it's especially important to bear in mind what makes good visual novels good, and to make sure to prioritize incorporating them instead of shooting for the moon and going way off base. 

Kemonito my strongest media literacy warrior, thank youuuuuuuu 😭😭😭😭

I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! it means a lot to hear it!!! AND THANK YOU FOR GETTING MY FOLKLORE REFERENCES. When the postmortem hits I'll do a full "here's all the things I pulled from!" but i'm glad you caught those. And yes everyone else went SO HARD on their parts, I'm so lucky I got to work with them. thank you again ;v;7

Hm hm hmmm, I quite enjoyed this. Just at the front I know some people might be put off from the loosey goosey pronouns used for Ren, but I'm willing to take it as "oh he's a he/they type baddy" which considering their character... well I appreciate it. This pace is pretty fragmented and fast, but I think it works. The music choices are not what I would have made, but I think that they actually lend themselves well to helping with the sort of surreal nature of the game. 

I do have plenty of questions, how is Ren locating their targets, why the hell is a CEO walking to work, they're a compulsive liar and manipulator, so just how much of what they like in Lucan is the truth, etc.. I didn't "fall" for the trap with Ren, so when Tom appeared I wasn't too surprised, but I think that's more to the strength of the writing, giving the feeling of something being off, not just a manic pixie dream girl encounter, but something with an undercurrent of menace. Maybe because Lucan is so naive, or maybe because Ren has these small moments of menace that slip through the cracks, or their statement about lying. I'm curious where the story will go. Part of me hopes Ren's blackmail plan would fail simply because Lucan's family doesn't care enough now that he's served enough of his purpose, but that's my own little crack theory. Where this toxic yaoi goes next, I hope if you haven't started making part 2 already, you do now! I think it's a strong first showing, I absolutely love both the sprite art and the CGs, especially the close ups in the alley, and I can't wait for the rest! 

The art and presentation of this game is... insane. It's phenomenal, Landi's art lends itself so much to the story that it truly couldn't exist without it. I know this is obvious to say, a visual novel couldn't exist without visuals, but woof.  The music is gorgeous and well curated. There's more I want to talk about specifically the writing, Tula's possibly trans identity, their breakdowns, the real vs. the idealized, the nature of the soul vs. understanding how to breathe but...

Man what's up with the usage of the slur for romani in the year of our lord '26? I mean really I think Chmron's review says most of what I want to say about the game overall, but this is such a random sore spot that stands out that I feel it's worth reiterating. Not that I think the game is endorsing it, but it's still handled poorly and could use some touch up. I just don't think there's really a reason to ever use that word, at least certainly not in this story.

Edit: I've been informed one of the team members is roma, so I suppose that does strike a majority of my criticisms... though I do still think the point stands that it's jarring, and that the fortune teller's lack of existence, combined with the very idea of her being Tula's Zozobra, feels a bit... shallow. And I get it, because it's a sort of spiritualist practice (even though she seems to only deliver bad news), which goes against Tula's desperate need for the universe to make sense, for things to have logic and reason behind them, but I still think it gets muddied towards the end. Maybe, much like Tula, I need to get someone to talk things through with, because the ending leaves me a bit confused, the inner soliloquy about the king and queen dancing in the warmth that the firewood from the charred remains of the caravan. I really liked a lot of the work leading up to that... but I feel like it gets wobbly knees when trying to stick the landing. Tula very easily dismisses all the people in the story that aren't who they think the wolf is, but I don't think that means the narrative should as well. John's statement about the owl painting, Otto's comments about fate, even the wolf's argument about beauty and simplicity. I just want them pushed a little bit more. It feels poignant that Tula gets the same injury as their father, and finds his target, and fails to burn their first zozobra and instead burns the completely unfounded target of their ire as they sort of regress to this childish unhinged version of themself... but I'm lacking the thread to really pull all the twigs of this bundle together before tossing them into the flame. I feel like I just want every beat that comes up to be pushed just a little bit further. Gender, other people's perceptions of the world and of us, whether Tula is truly an antisocial narcissist or just poorly dealing with their own trauma, etc. It's not that I want a different ending, or better answers, I just want it to all be a bit more fleshed out so if and when Tula does just continue to make the wrong choices, it feels heavier, hits harder, and stands out on the level that the gorgeous art does. 

thank you very much, glad to hear it!

As with every Strawberry Noodles production, often the thing that I find myself wishing for the most is simply More. I want more time with this world, and these characters, and the interactions between them. Not to imply it's not enough, it gets the job done. I just want to indulge. I find the dynamics you construct between characters fascinating, and compelling, and despite an outwardly similar set up, they're always so unique. I love that Lazarus can't help but love, and forgive, even though it hurts. It's just in their nature to do so. I especially like that their relationship with Cyryl by the end has become a bit blurred. Like there's the start of something, maybe. Lazarus already loves him, after all they can't help but love him, but just in what way, hm? I adore their reason for hating themself, and the way that it's resolved. I love that Cyryl has this survivor's guilt burden, like a captain that didn't go down with his ship, and I love his little bit of cheekiness hidden under his ashen knight persona. His entire concept is frankly just cool as fuck, I always love seeing people twist and play with concepts. As someone who did something similar once with a dryad, it hits a soft spot for me. And as everyone knows, I love life, and dying, and symbolism, so someone quite literally burning out despite surviving the impossible, while helping to resurrect someone else, is sooooo tasty. There's just back to back to back moments like these that compel me with how cool they are! They're fresh and exciting, and inspiring! It's the type of worldbuilding and dynamics and plotbeats that make me want to write more.

The translation is the weakest link, unfortunately, but I do think that the writing style comes through better now compared to some of the rougher first translations of the older work. I'm especially fond of "Because love you can" though I think it would benefit from a comma, reading as "Because love, you can." I think the prose also works better with the format of a visual novel. It no longer feels like I'm getting redundant descriptions of actions or expressions, and instead they expand on the relatively few and simple expressions that the characters have, though I do think they go a long ways. Most impressively is just how deeply integrated the folklore is with the game itself. It's a respectable size, and yet so many sentences have these other bits and pieces of folklore stitched into them. Some things that I've got cursory knowledge of, like szeptucha, some stories with my interpretations like Cygnus (teehee), and some I've frankly got no idea, but they all strike my attention without feeling overwhelming. The scene with Butwiala has an especially intriguing line, where Lazarus notes that gods should always have faces, usually three, but she has none, which just goes to show how powerful she is. Is that made up? is that tradition? i don't know, but I sure want to.

The art is gorgeous. Butwiala is especially striking, though I'm also partial to Birdie and Kitty and the little cameo of old friends at the end ;> The music reminds me, unsurprisingly, of the blue hour, at least on the main menu. This is one of those games I can really feel the time constraints in, so I hope you'll give it some more polish (no pun intended) post jam, because I think it deserves it, since it's already so strong. I wish some of the sprites were used a little bit more, sometimes a character is mentioned emoting something like happiness or anger, which there exist sprites for, but they remain in their neutral expressions. Anyway I look forward to whatever comes next from this group. You can expect me to be in the front row seats every time!