Thanks a lot for the review, it’s very comprehensive!^^ It’s really interesting to read people’s thoughts about themes and all, especially with parts I didn’t consciously write that way. I guess it’s the kind of things that can happen when you write with a theme in mind. (As for the tone, I might like mixing up humor and somewhat serious stuff a bit too much…^^)
It almost makes me want to apologize for sliding puzzles…^^
This one is a bit weird. There are some strange scenes that don’t seem to add much to the story (meeting the cannibals, the burning village, the ending) and some very contemplative scenes (the beginning, the part with the goddess, or with the universe). There aren’t many parts that feel “normal”. It’s quite disorientating. Adding to the feeling, the VN doesn’t shy away from using terms without explaining them. Most of them can be inferred but it’s a bit hard to read. I guess this makes the VN itself feel like some folklore… The writing is mostly good, with some mistakes here and there. It’s a bit hard to really pinpoint the characters though, especially the MC as he changes a lot in the middle.
On the presentation side, it’s solid. Nice sprites and CGs, good UI, the music works well. There’s nothing really special, but it all looks good.
Overall, I mostly found it weird. Still, there are stuff to like. Good job!
This was a really cute and fun story! I especially liked the mysticism of Tyler and Aryaman meeting in the forest. It had a nice amount of humor as well. It all moved a bit fast but it wasn’t so bad. (although, the cooking took quite a bit of place, I feel^^) The writing was mostly good, a few errors but it was fine. (the English one at least, I can’t say a thing about the Sanskrit lines^^)
The presentation was nice. The sprites look good, and there are a number of really nice CGs. The regular backgrounds were fine too. And this has my favourite soundtrack of the jam, I really like the main motif!^^ The turning around of the sprites doesn’t look quite right most of the time though (I know the issue since I had some trouble making it look good for my submission^^)
The folklore theme is mostly linked to The Cloud Messenger poem, but looking about it, I don’t see much resemblance? There’s no wife or cloud in the VN…
Overall, this is a pretty simple VN, but I liked it a lot. A really fun read. Great job!
This really manages to read a lot like old christian stories. On the other hand, it reads a lot like old christian stories. I think it succeeds in doing what it set out to do, but I didn’t really vibe with the writing and subject matter. The folklore theme is quite apparent, first because the inspirations are mentionned in the credits, and second because the VN looks like folklore itself.
The NVL mode quite fit the story and was well implemented. I really liked the colored dialogue. The click-to-continue icon was maybe a bit too big and distracting. I liked how the present scenes are blurry to represent the MC’s declining vision. However, I fail to think of a reason for the guard in the past to only be a silhouette, oh well. The music and the background fit well.
Overall, it’s really well made and the problems I have with it are mostly very subjective. Great job!
This is mostly good, really, but is dragged down by a few issues. The writing is mostly competent with some mistakes here and there. Some scenes drag on a bit, notably in the first half and the endings a bit too. The main characters are well fleshed out and interesting, however it takes too long to really understand their quest: the threat posed by Coca remains vague for too long. I like the different endings, how you establish that Coca is very dangerous and deliver on it. The choice of leaving Valenti or not feels a bit hollow though, since you end up doing it a bit later anyway if you choose to help him.
On the presentation side, the new sprites are nice, but lacking in expression. Coca feels like he should be bigger based on descriptions. The backgrounds were well chosen. The visual effects accompanying the patron talking are cool, but the green text is a bit too hard to read. Also, the tentacles don’t always appear. The music is really good, and sound effects are used judiciously. Too bad about the neverending footsteps…
The folklore theme is mostly Drac de na Coca himself, with a smattering of other stuff with the patron and magic. Too bad the wikipedia article only exist in catalan.^^
Overall, I said a lot about the flaws but I did like reading this VN. Good job!
That’s a cute VN.^^ A simple story about grief and honoring the dead loved ones; it’s quite well made. The characters are all quite interesting and distinctive. The writing is alright, but there is a number of mistakes. Notably one sentence is missing an english translation. The folklore theme doesn’t really appear. I guess the granny’s recipes and the story we hear about them is supposed to be that, but I don’t think it really works.
The UI is a treat, and the sprites are all really nice. There’s a nice number of CGs to accompany the scenes that really get me in the story. I’m not a big fan of the way the backgrounds were rendered though; it works alright for some while others look… not great. Not a fan of the sprites just appearing or disappearing without transitions sometimes. The music fit the VN really well and is really nice to listen to.
Overall, it’s really solid. Good job!
First of all, having a character named “wee-wee” didn’t help me keep serious there.^^ Nevertheless, really good VN as always there. Using werewolves as a marginalized group is nothing new, but it’s still interesting. Although, being at the point where genocide is directly called for makes the story a bit awkward at points. Proposing a protest at that point does seem suicidal and the consequences relay that. (A protest during the day would have been better, I feel… Just my 2 cents).
Besides that, I find the story very engaging. The turmoil of the MC, and his relationships with Luis and his father kept me reading! The writing is quite good too. The folklore theme is pretty discreet though: just werewolves and the way they work, I believe.
The presentation has some really high highs: little animations done with CGs and stuff, punctuated with sound effects. Those moments really grip you. The rest is pretty classic. The sprites are nice, but lots of characters don’t have one, most notably Randolph. The music fits but some becomes a bit grating at times. Also, one of them is very short and has a long silence before looping, losing the energy of the scene quite a bit. The UI looks really nice, and I like it reflecting the form of the MC.
Overall, there are some flaws, but it’s a darn good VN. You always know how to make an impression. Great job!
Hey, you can’t end it there, I wanted more resolution! >_< Joking aside, I might have missed some of Anna’s development, her dialogue in the last scene surprised me (the dangers of experiencing a story through a stream, I suppose).
The premise is simple, but the execution is great. The story has great pacing (maybe the part before the coming out is slightly too long?), the characters are fleshed out very well, and the backdrop of the manor-museum is really cool. (Why are there wolf structures in the middle of a hallway, though?^^) The writing is really good as well, no problem there. The folklore is more in the background but has enough influence to be felt.
Presentation wise, the sprites look really nice and expressive, the CGs complement the flashbacks perfectly, and the backgrounds fit the place and atmosphere really well. Music wise, there are a few too many silent scenes, but the rest is good. The UI is nice as well.
Overall, this VN is great. I don’t have much else to say.^^ Great job!
This one is a bit weird. First of all, that D&D session is very different from other ways I’ve seen them depicted. Not necessarily bad, but it was more like a therapy session for the MC. The MC feels so outside of all this, with the narration and his speech not directly separated. Also despite being in his head, we’re just as much in the dark regarding his situation as the characters. And it doesn’t feel as deliberate.
The writing is a bit repetitive: several structures are reused multiple times. “Not A, not B, it’s C”, “In folklore, bla bla bla”, Sable telling no then saying what they should do… It would almost be funny if the atmosphere wasn’t so serious. By the way, Nico was a breath of fresh air. It’s a bit weird to say, but this kind of goes too far in the folklore. The characters constantly talk about it, how it works, how to survive it etc. It feels oversaturated.
The UI is really great! Looks clean and appropriate. The backgrounds are fine and the sprites are used competently. The music and audio was pretty good too.
Overall, I do have a lot of complaints, but there are some interesting stuff. The stuff about unfinished stories is cool. Didn’t quite get me, but it is fine work.
There are some cool stuff in there, but the whole was a bit awkward. What struck me the most about the writing was how it flipped flopped on whether to describe actions in the MMO as though they happened in real life or as they would in a game. It was quite distracting. The writing overall was a bit uneven, like there was a scene where Hugo suddenly said “man” every sentence (“About how she like, man. Y’know, man. Man…?” like wtf???) Relatedly, the way Mira talked started a bit funny but it made me not care much about the friendship drama in the middle, as she spent so much of the VN looking so obnoxious. Still, it was pretty nice to see them make up. The story of the game’s secret quest was pretty fun to follow. I’m not sure we needed all that epilogue, though.
On the presentation side of things, I am much more positive!^^ The sprites and backgrounds look really nice. The UI works well for the story. And the VN finds multiple occasions to delight us with fun animations. The music works well too. Really my only nitpick is that we spend too much time on a black screen at the beginning. Also, the buttons on the title screen only works when hovering the letters, a bit annoying.
The folklore theme is embodied by the titular Leveret Spirit, whose name I forgot oops! Can’t say how much of the folklore is adapted here. Additionally, the idea of secret stuff in game you can only find about by following weird steps detailed in a forum somewhere is also kind of folklore, in a way.^^
Overall, I enjoyed my read, but it didn’t do too much more for me. Still, good job!
Well, this is pretty great. I really enjoyed the story, it knows what it wants to say and does it really well. All the scenes are important and the pacing is just right. The characters are interesting and well written (I would have liked getting a bit more from Leda^^). I don’t think I have anything negative to say there. Or anywhere, actually.
This VN has a great visual style. The sprites are are really nice and go very well with all the beautiful backgrounds. Maybe their expressions are a bit too subtle? Anyway, there are some nice CGs as well! The music fit the scenes as well, and was just nice to listen to. A bit weird that the volume is so low by default, but whatever, it’s a setting.^^
As for the folklore theme, the VN is obviously based on werewolves, and the theme is also well explored in the story. Werewolves work differently here than in both irl and in-VN stories, which is pretty fun. The VN also explores how traditions shape people’s lives and the way they can suddenly change in response to what happens in the world, such as wars. Good stuff.
Overall, that’s another of my favourites here. Great job!
There are several cool things in this story, but mostly I feel confused. The endings were both quite abrupt and I didn’t really get much of them (mostly, about the plans and motives of Engil, and also how the curse/disease got cured (it it was?)). I think instead of having a choice, it would have been better to combine both paths in one, it would have have helped the pacing, flesh out some parts of the story and maybe lower the number of scenes without relevant visuals and sounds.
The writing is alright, but there is a lot of typos. The sprites and backgrounds are nice, too bad for the missing ones. A big part of the VN is completely missing in audio, which is a bit distracting. The folklore theme is quite present with the village’s flower based traditions and the story of Regen, both of which informs the actions of the characters (although some are unclear).
Overall, this VN has cool stuff in it, but it is undercooked. The story feels rushed at the end, which makes those parts hard to parse and the lack of relevant visuals in some crucial parts lower their impact. You can fix it, though, I’m sure!
This VN is very uneven. Notably, some parts have really beautiful writing, while others are full of faults (I guess some parts were edited and others couldn’t?). There are also great imagery and beautiful drawings, but most of the VN only takes place in a vague blue background. The main characters have some interesting conversations, but others don’t quite make sense (on the music one, the characters kind of seem to switch places) or are cut altogether (I definitely would have wanted to read the beginning of their call).
The characters talk a bit about folklore without going far. The game page mention this VN being inspired by basque stories, but I don’t know what at all, so I can’t really comment.
Overall, there is a lot to like, but most notably the writing takes a deep dive in quality at some points, which makes it difficult to really enjoy. Still, good job!
Really nice story there! The writing is good, the characters are engaging, there are a number of really nice scenes. Several folklore stories are used; I guess they were used pretty straightforwardly?
On the presentation side, those sprites are adorable and expressive. It’s lovely. The blur on the background, including drawn ones, is a bit weird I feel, but not really a problem. The music is used quite well.
Overall, I don’t have much to say. Nothing is exceptional, but it’s all really well done. Great job!
This didn’t quite do it for me. Stopping right before whet seems to be the core of the story certainly doesn’t help. This does a fine job introducing the characters, but the whole umbrella scene feels out of place. It’s a pretty long discussion before we even got to anything from the main plot. It might make more sense when it’s complete, though. There are some horror stuff happening played quite straight, and then the talking cat appears and is all very casual about the witch thing, it’s a bit goofy. In the end, I don’t really know what mood the VN was going for. (by the way, I vote on Seiji being the witch. The sensation they got from the book was like a manifestation of their latent power or something) The writing suffers a bit in multiple places from mistakes and weird phrasing.
The presentation is alright. The sprites are good but lack in expressions. The backgrounds work, but I’m not sure about the walking “animation” in the dark hallway where we don’t show any sprites. The music and sound effects are used pretty effectively.
The folklore theme isn’t really present besides magic and witches existing. I don’t think this mimics any particular urban legend?
Overall, this is hard to rate, as this is missing a huge part of the story. But I think this could become something good. Keep at it!
This is an interesting concept, but it wasn’t as explored as I feel it wanted to. The writing was fine, Beckett was interesting, while the other two characters didn’t have much time to shine. The theme is straightforwardly about real life folklore about ghosts and haunted houses being the main force in the story.
The sprites and backgrounds are all very nice. There are a few cool CGs as well (although the destroyed house one made it look like Rhett lives in the middle of nowhere, which is a bit weird^^) The music was pretty nice.
Overall, it’s a nice little VN, but I think it would have benefitted from slowing down a bit. Good job!
This feels like the pilot episode of a new fantasy series. We’ve got some worldbuilding, introduction of the main characters, having them meet each other and a simple story that establishes the status quo moving forward. And To Be Continued at the end of course.
The world and story feels a bit generic. The prince who flees to gain the freedom to choose his life is a pretty common trope. The rest of the plot works but didn’t woe me either. The characters though are well written and quite lovable. I really liked the interactions betwee Manfrey and Chris. Lots of scenes seemed to drag on a bit, though. I don’t think there was really anything for folklore.
The visuals is where My tainted Life shines most. The sprites look great and are pretty expressive. The backgrounds are gorgeous and there are numerous CGs that highlight the action really well. The only problem on that point was that monster fight taking place in that cheerful looking BG. Especially after an intense CG. The music is fine. Several moments mention big sounds that are not represented in the audio, and that was a bit weird. We don’t need an “ear-shattering” sound of course, but something would have been nice.
Overall, I had a nice time reading, but when I saw “To Be Continued”, I wasn’t really interested. Still, a good job!
This VN sure gives a good first impression, but it unfortunately goes downhill. A beautiful title screen, little animations on the art, nice little CGs, great backgrounds and sprites. The UI is very nice too. But then we meet all the wolves and they all have the same pose and faces. They’re still recognizable thanks to different color, clothes and sizes, but it makes them blend together. Other illustrations are also repeated for different wolves for the sex scenes near the end. Reusing assets is a valid technique, but the prioritization was all out of wack here.
Story wise, we have a pretty classic “main character meets a friend group and shenanigans ensue”. The story beats are fine but there’s nothing that really hook the reader. A folklore tale of howling stones is mentioned, and then nothing is done with them (we don’t even hear them howl). This all leads up to the characters having sex and then the VN ends. I don’t want to call this porn though, because it takes a while to get there, and there are some amusing situations.
The writing leaves a bit to be desired. There aren’t many errors at all. The problem lies more with the characters: having the same face probably exacerbates it, but still, the wolves talk very similarly and it’s hard to get attached to any one of them. Rex and Damien in particular I could not tell any difference between them. This all lead to the conclusion that this VN would be quite better if one or two of those wolves were cut from the script.
I don’t know what engine this VN was created in, but it’s very barebones. Quite annoying not to be able to go back, or at least have a history. No saves either. The VN doesn’t do anything special to justify using such an engine. Unless it’s a custom engine in early development, I guess?
Overall, this VN is beautiful and has some neat things, but the flaws are quite obvious. I’m sorry if I come off as overly negative.^^ Keep at it!
Some interesting stuff in there but I feel the story doesn’t quite emphasize the right beats. Most notably, the wolves attacking the villagers is mentionned in passing in a flashback that focuses on other things even though it ends up being crucial later and paint the protagonists in a pretty terrible light. If this is intentional, then it didn’t work with me. The resolution was a bit abrupt as well, and not super clear to me.
On the presentation side, the one sprite we have looks very weird alone like that. The backgrounds and music work fine. The nvl mode not being justified correctly is a bit annoying.
The folklore of the almighty foxes and the other tales that surround it is pretty interesting and makes for cool worldbuilding.
Overall, there are some interesting bits in this VN, but it didn’t really gel with me.
A pretty nice start. The VN isn’t finished, but we’ve got a nice intro, some intrigue and cool characters. The way it’s going, it’s hard to imagine this could have fit in a month, to be honest.^^ The relations between the wolf and the bird kingdoms makes for interesting worldbuilding (I’m a sucker for special relations between exactly two species, although the relations are not quite special enough yet…^^) The general universe seems a bit of basic fantasy but I don’t mind that. On the writing front, there are a number of weird sentences, but it doesn’t distract much. The way Roberto and Jacob talk speak to their closeness and friendship, which is really nice (“Hey buddy!”)
The intro cutscene has lots of sketches accompanying it, which solidifies the modd of the folklore, really nice. The sprites look good, and it’s nice to have child, teen and adult variations. Too bad about the lack of different emotions or such. The way you move the sprites sometimes look a bit goofy, like running by moving left and right quickly or Roberto flying up without his feet. The music and sound work fine, the backgrounds too. The few full CGs we have look really good, but it’s a bit of a shame that there is no illustrations on the title screen.
The folklore exists in the intro, plus some wolf history that might be not completely real(?). It doesn’t affect the story itself much yet, so hard to judge.
Overall, a nice first part, and I am quite curious of what Jacob thinks of Roberto. Good job!
I had some doubts for the first half or so; the game felt a bit like some disparate scenes from a bigger story. But I was caught up with it before the last battle. The three characters are really likable, and seeing their relations evolve was satisfying. It was pretty cool to have a nice and stable throuple to root for. The VN really laid those death flags thick, maybe a bit too much to subvert them at the end (I was always a believer, though^^) The writing is mostly good, but does have a noticeable number of typos and little errors.
The presentation is immaculate; the sprites and CGs look beautiful, the music worked great, the UI as well, with different textbox background for each character and the custom cursor. Some elements couldn’t be finished in time, but it doesn’t detract for the VN. The skull on the textbox sometimes felt inappropriate, I guess^^ Kudos on the numerous accessibility options by the way!
The characters like talking about various stories during the VN, all taken from real life folklore (as far as I can tell). It’s interesting that the tales about animals are transposed to be about anthros instead. Some of the tales are then nicely paralleled in the story.
Overall, a great VN that excells in many ways. Excellent job!
That was pretty intense in a way, seeing Colin disappear. The writing was really good at selling the expedition going worse and worse, Colin spiralling out and Kurt becoming more and more of an asshole. In the end, I was a bit disappointed that the whole thing was not really happening. It was more of a metaphor for Colin falling into depression, losing his will to live and going through with suicide after losing the support of his friends. It’s powerful stuff, but I guess I don’t do so well with big metaphors like that…^^
The presentation is incredible. The illustrations are moody (and slightly animated!), the music is oppressive; it really grounds you in the experience. A few moments lack an illustration (due to time constraints, certainly) but only the scene with Hunter really makes me miss it.
As for the folklore, Colin has become some sort of vampire, or something. It’s used as a metaphor for feeling like a monster because of something outside of our control, I think. The story isn’t much about folklore but it uses it alright. I’ve heard people talk about the Bermuda Triangle, but I never would have made the connection (despite now remembering you talk about it during May.^^)
Overall, it’s a great VN but not quite my type. Great job!
It’s a cryptid hunt! But, are we hunting the cryptid or is the cryptid hunting us? Crimson Creek is an intriguing story with a bit of investigation flair. The characters are well written and I really liked our main couple’s dynamic there.The ending is a bit abrupt though, and the second half of the VN doesn’t have scene examination or clue presentation, probably because of time constraints. Additionally, the sexy scenes feel a bit tacked on. (We never got to know what happened to poor Maria)
The presentation is really good, with great looking sprites and good audio landscape. The UI is great as well. Maybe the Jersey Devil was too clear on the dashcam camera..? The photographs work fine.
The folklore theme was obviously present as we were looking for it the whole way through. I had heard of the Jersey Devil before but didn’t know anything about it. So I don’t know how much this adaptation changes things. We definitely didn’t see any crimson creek.^^
Overall, I really liked it but was a bit disappointed by the gameplay elements mostly disappearing in the second half. Great job!
I was thinking there a lot of stories told by the characters; it makes sense now that I know they’re from the writer’s workplace!^^ The story is pretty basic but it’s a fine conduit for some humor. Although the VN is pretty mundane and that humor doesn’t shine through. That or I don’t really like those types of characters, sorry…
The sprites are pretty good and expressive, and the few CGs we have are really nice. The way they move on screen is very basic though. The most problematic though, is the complete lack of music or sounds; that really made the whole thing more boring than it could have been.
Overall, it’s a valiant first attempt but it’s missing some stuff, and the writing didn’t hook me in. Keep at it!
Wow, that was something! Expecting some thriller stuff and ending up with supernatural horror was a bit of a shock, but the story as a whole was really cool. (The homophobic dad saying “you’re a monster” and then he really becomes a monster is quite something). The first part about Bird’s life and depression was really engaging. In contrast, the ending feels a bit rushed. Still, it was really good!
The presentation is extremely cool. Actual animations and stuff! The whole thing really supported the narrative. The animations made the few times a character just disappears suddenly a bit jarring in comparison… Also, having some ambiant music or the like would have bettered some of the scenes. The color palette was really nice, and having Bird (and Harper’s beret) clash with it was a nice touch.
Folklore is mentionned in relation to the peach pit (the pyrena, apparently^^). And maybe a monster covered in antlers is from some folklore as well? Pretty simple, but it works.
Overall, a very good VN, that feels closer to a comic than a novel in a few ways.^^ Great job!
The first part was pretty intriguing and interesting, but the turn to supernatural horror stuff didn’t work for me. A bunch of stuff is thrown at us that didn’t really amount to anything; no correlation or link between them. I liked the relation between the characters though. The folklore theme is mentionned, but not much is done with it.
As for the presentation, the sprites, backgrounds and CGs all look really nice! However the music disappeared in the middle, lessening the impact of the horror scenes some more. Lots of sound effects mentionned in the text are absent as well (like the lightning, the rest of the gun shots and a few more). Also, I didn’t really like the moving textbox, it was distracting.
Overall, it feels rushed and unfinished.
A fun little sexy romp with a bit of a rom-com twist: dating your ex’s father!?^^ Seeing the plan becoming feelings was pretty nice, but a bit inconsistent too. The characters seemed to flip flop on stuff a bit too often. The friend group dynamic was a bit of disaster too in a funny way. (I don’t play ttrpgs but even I could tell that DMing was a bit weird and mean.^^) And finally, the smut was fun to read as well.
The presentation was pretty standard, the sprites were well used, the music fit well. It was a bit weird that the same photos were used for both Ezra’s and Harvey’s house. Also, what’s up with that textbox?
Overall, it was fun, but had some flaws. Good job!
It really is but a prologue to something bigger. Congrats on releasing a VN for the game jam! But of course, there isn’t much for a reader to get into.
That beginning feels a bit cliché but it really feels like the author has got a handle on their setting. So who knows how it might develop?^^
The writing has unfortunately lots of typos and grammatical errors. You should make sure to get someone to proofread the VN if you can.
The sprites are basic, but look pretty nice. Same for the couple illustrations!
Overall, it’s an alright start for your first VN. Keep at it!
A really fun take on the “transported to another world” formula. Most notably how it takes a while for the language barrier to be broken (although, realistically not that long. I guess demi-gods are just like that^^). Having so much speech in another language was interesting and makes the whole place that much more mysterious. That does mean we lose a bit of that near the end, but at some point we had to get more into the story, I guess. (By the way, it’s nice that there is a dictionary but a pronunciation guide would be nice too^^ I understand not making a whole grammar though)
The sprites are really expressive and quite nice. The background really sell the other world (those skies are gorgeous) and the wrestling illustrations were really fun! The UI is clean too, and the music is nice. Just great presentation.
The folklore theming is pretty thin. I guess we are in a world shaped by it? I don’t really get the relevance of the Fujin and Raijin story at the beginning either…
Overall, a pleasant read with a nice conlangy twist (I love conlanging…) And that ending surprised me^^ Great job!
Beautiful and emotional, but there’s a bit missing there. I see what this is going for and why many may like it, but this didn’t quite manage to make me care about those characters enough for it to really have the impact. The first half was shaping it really nicely though. The shortness of the story was both a strength and a weakness.
I like the left justified texbox, but it’s a bit weird that there’s never something in the bottom right corner (unless I missed it). The illustrations are gorgeous and fit the story very well. The music and sounds work well too.
Overall, it didn’t quite get there for me, but great job nonetheless!
A VN directly retelling a folklore story (as far as I can tell), we have seen strangely few of those. And as someone who was unfamiliar with the source material, I was intrigued.
The story was really nice. It flowed pretty well, the characters were interesting (Sidapa himself was maybe a bit underdevelopped?). Too bad the other routes couldn’t be finished in time; I’m interested in checking them out when they are. They might help bridge the two faces of the moon we see (hehe, faces, phases^^)
Having voice acting is always a treat. There were a few problems with it (a couple lines missing their voice, Sidapa being quieter than the other voices) but the acting was pretty good! I really liked the music too! It’s pretty varied and just nice. The sprites have really neat designs as well. The backgrounds are a bit uneven though, and the overall image is a bit static.
Overall, a really nice story. It makes me want to go see the stars… Great job!
This is the most “I don’t think it’s for me” VN of the jam yet.
About half of the time, I was thinking “can we move on already?” and that doesn’t feel great. A mix of scenes that seem superfluous and just slow pacing in general. People who like contemplative moods and weird tangents will love this, I’m sure. Maybe I would have liked this more if I read it alone; or maybe I would have just quit. I don’t know.
Besides that, the writing itself is very good, the story has some really good moments. The visual presentation is really distinctive and cool. A bit annoyed by the texbox not aligning with the text quite right… This being all CGs is a bold choice, but it causes quite big difference in quality: some of the CGs are too doodly.
Overall, it’s a solid package with just the right element to get me to not like it too much. Thankfully, the second half picks up a bit, so I still had an enjoyable experience in the end. Good job!
That story sucked.
No, not “It’s You Again and Again”, this one was great! It starts a bit slow, and when we met Gabriel, I was a bit anxious about how this would continue, but the story started really going from there. Both main characters are pretty great. The writing is mostly good, but there were a few grammatical errors, missing or repeated words etc. And of course, the premise itself is fun and interesting!
The folklore theme is pretty light, El mentions liking myths and legends and tells one early on (with great presentation and flair!) that gets called back on later. Speaking of, the presentation is pretty good. The sprites look really nice and have lots of variations. The backgrounds have a distinctive style that’s pretty fun. The music is pretty nice too.
Overall, I am smitten. I kind of want to see what else our huge planeswalker get up to.^^ Great job!
Finally got to read something from Blu, and the first impression really is: he do be yapping.^^ The second impression is that is really damn good. The third is that it’s crazy you’ve done all this in a month.
You’re brushing the word limit with no choices at all; so it’s quite a long story by jam standards, and you use it well. The narrative evolves nicely, and after a bit of an overwhelming opening, we get some nice characters to meet. There are a few moments that felt could have been cut down a bit (the butterfly moments, some of the DnD parts, the final scene) but they still felt really nice to read.
The presentation was pretty awesome. There aren’t any dull moments, always some fun animations or nice backgrounds/CGs to look at. A few moments are in the black but the amount of backgrounds already in the game is impressive already. And the gobelins are awesome. The music and sound effects are more standard but work well.
The folklore theme is represented by the DnD adventures being based on Arthurian legends, which is pretty fun. The real life stuff doesn’t have much folklore though, unless the butterfly effect counts..? Speaking of, I don’t really like the butterfly effect metaphor in this: the effects of Tyler’s actions are not really out of left field or particularly chaotic…
Overall, a pretty great VN! There are some flaws but the overall package is quite excellent. Although, you’re getting too much positive attention, so I’m afraid I have to remove 2 stars from all your ratings.
That was weird… It isn’t that the story is hard to follow, but that the settings and characters work in very foreign ways. And then there is the story in the middle that feels like it’s going to explain things but it doesn’t really. I liked it.
The characters are really charming. The folklore theme is not directly referenced (does this reference a real world folklore in some way? idk), but the whole thing felt like it’s folklore itself. Like a story of how the world came to be, except it’s after another ceased. Or something.^^
The graphical style is really distinctive, it works with the surreal vibes of the story (although, the wolf’s mouth being higher than its eyes was a bit too weird for me…). The ‘animations’ being pretty slow and choppy sometimes made me wonder if I should click to continue or wait, that was a bit annoying.
Overall, I really liked this, great job!
