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Under the False Sky | Blood:Covered Snow was just released as a demo for Winter Visual Novel Jam 2023! I'm a voice actor on the project, and I want to take a moment to encourage everyone who likes darker themed games to download it and give it a play! It would mean a lot to us!

Download it and read more about it!
https://elduator.itch.io/utfs-bloodcovered-snow

Summary



Screenshots

Disclaimer: I'm associated with the project, but this is my first time actually seeing all of the elements come together and actually getting to play it.

I had to write a review, even though I was there for this entire project.

If I had to summarize my experience in one line:
"A visual novel that will tear your heart apart even if you know what's going to happen."

GUI: FRESH. Honestly it's so clean, and Anna, you really knocked it out of the park. I love the amount of features you managed to bake into the final product as well.
Story: Absolutely heartbreaking, in many ways. I'd rather not spoil it. Even though I read this script twice over, it just felt so clean and well put together after seeing it come to life in a visual novel. The many twists and turns make for something that could easily end up being a lengthy series of associated visual novels. It was a good story.
Music: Easily considered Triple A videogame music. Beautifully crafted.
Sprites: I've said it once and I'll say it a million more times, Selene's sprites are so beautiful!
Voice Acting: Branden's directing skills were superior, and he really lead the voice actors to where they needed to be. The story was undoubtedly enriched and really came to life with voice acting.
SFX: Honestly, astounding that Anna was able to put as many special effects as she did in this visual novel. It's jam packed full of it! Backgrounds: What I had imagined while reading the script. Perfect for the visual novel.

Burning Red is a captivating game that builds a lot of tension. In a lot of ways, the protagonist is someone with innate & unmet human desires, seeking something more, but feeling self conscious about a rough past/present. Where does Alvarez come in? Exactly as you could imagine: standoffish, tough, typical military hard-ass who's haunted by his own past. The trope makes sense, and being ex-mil myself, I can understand his demeanor.

There's really no way to put this game demo into words without blowing the entire demo, so I'll focus on the game elements:

Writing
5/5 - Absolutely unhinged. I could 100% see this as a full game.

Visuals/Artwork
5/5 - Dark, cold, yet surprisingly reassuring at parts.

Extra Features
5/5 - I mean, NSFW on/off, what more can I say? That's awesome.

Voice Acting
5/5 - Killed it. Perfect for the character.

Music
4/5 -- Don't hate me, it was good about 85% of the time but there were some "eh" moments, it's not so much the quality of the music as it is my personal preference (But personal opinion aside it's a 5/5 for the setting)

Coding
5/5 - I mean, I wasn't exactly digging but I didn't have any issues or notice any bugs, and it ran flawlessly on Linux which is so rare for games these days.

The story is good, and to see a friend's work come to life in this way is incredibly satisfying.