itch.io

Azram is everything to me! Thank you for such a cute, cozy game!

1. It was really cute! I love a silly, cute, lighthearted otome and this checked off all those boxes. Very silly. 

2. **POTENTIAL SPOILERS** 

BENNY. What a sweetheart. He's perfect. No notes. Smiled literally the whole time he was in frame. I also quite liked Petey and thought he was very sweet. But I liked all of the characters! Ones like Chuck, Landon, and Seth were more tropey and silly. It was fun to not take their routes very seriously. Eugene was interesting, although arguably the least lighthearted of the routes. Definitely got some yandere vibes from him--and I typically avoid those kinds of characters-- but his route was innocent enough. 

3. I would love to see homecoming! And dates, too! Great job with this, it was fun. 

I wanted to leave an articulate comment worthy of this game and how completely amazing it is, but I don't even know where to start. I love this. I love the characters (I love how they're kind of updated versions of some classic tropes). I love the story. I love the puzzle aspect. I love the writing in general. The art is adorable. I just love it. I wish I could say more, but my brain is still buzzing. Even though I've completed every route, I'll definitely be coming back to this game in the future. So, so good!

I absolutely can wait to see how this project turns out, because as excited as I have been for it since the first demo drop, and as absolutely in love with your writing and art I am, it's more important that you're happy with your work and that you're able to enjoy yourself while you're doing it. 

I totally sympathize with feeling anxiety and pressure when you've shared something unfinished with people and suddenly there are expectations. If you're anything like me, that pressure can be absolutely debilitating-- so it's amazing that you're working through it. 

This is already--exactly as it is right now--one of my absolute favorite projects. You've created something great, so I hope you can feel proud of it. 

I just finished playing through all of the routes and thought I'd leave a comment. 

The game is more or less as advertised. You know what kind of art and story to expect from the first part of the demo, and while parts of the different routes feel rushed or unpolished, overall it feels mostly complete and satisfying to play. You get a clear idea of what the art and GUI looks like from the screenshots, and while it might not be to everyone's preference, it was consistent throughout and fit well with the story. 

I wish there had been more variation in the routes. I also felt like most of the choices were repetitive. Most of the time the choices weren't even necessary, you were basically just selecting which of the love interests you would see that day.

If you're (like me) interested in trope-heavy otome visual novels with distinct and varying love interests with a heavy dose of romance and fluff with a dash of angst, then give it a try.

SPOILERS COMING

My biggest disappointment with the game is the inability to become both a strong leader and a spouse. You can choose to either be a queen or a lover, there's no path where those two converge in a meaningful way. While you're technically queen in all of the good endings, you don't have any clear idea of what that entails.  I played the queen route just to complete the CG gallery and see what it would be like, but as someone who really isn't into royalty, those routes were not very satisfying to me as they were written. I would have liked to see Cameron implement some real change between the fae and human relations. Maybe shed some of her extravagance or show more of what the average citizen's life is like.  

Another plot feature I wasn't really all that excited about was when, towards the end of each route, Cameron has to choose between two suitors because she realizes she has feelings for both of them. This would be great if it featured in only one or two routes, or if it were an optional bit of drama to add to a route, but to force it on every one was a bit tedious and it didn't always make sense. Like, if Cameron spends the entire game only meeting with one suitor, showing extreme interest in that suitor, and it's clear that she's only pursuing him, only to have someone who showed up one time in the prologue confess his love for Cameron and for Cameron to suddenly have feelings for him, too? It feels forced and contrived and takes you out of the story a bit. 

I did also feel like maybe there wasn't enough variation in the choices and in what happened in each route. Obviously, all of the love interests are unique and each have their own reservations that they overcome with Cameron's help, but it became tedious when, with each play through, I would think "This is where someone interrupts our date, this is where Cameron kisses one of the other suitors and has to choose, this is where Cameron meets Linton and they drink, this is where Mia shows up." It would have been nice to have a little more variation.

As for the suitors themselves, I'd say they were mostly interesting. Of course I did like some routes more than others. I'm sure there are some players who would be intrigued by Shaun, especially since he's obviously the character Cameron has the most history and rapport with, but he was an absolute write off to me. At the risk of seeming dramatic, it was actually kind of painful for me to get through his route, and I just did it for the completionist in me. I played the characters in order that they appear in the list when you get to select the marriage interviews (which were by far my favorite part of the game, by the way). So I did Kane, Shaun, Jake, Mace, Ronan, and Harold. 

I liked Jake and Kane the best, Ronan and Mace a little less, Harold next, and Shaun, well... We covered Shaun. Let me be clear, though, that it wasn't bad writing that made me dislike any of the characters or routes, per se, but just a disinterest in the tropes/kinds of characters they were. 

So, in my excitement I bought the DLC here but totally forgot that all of my other DLCs are through Steam. When I realized my mistake, I switched over to Steam and bought it there, too. Is it possible to get a refund for the itch one? If not, I understand, it's only $2.69. But honestly, I don't really have an extra $2.69 to give right now haha. 

I wrote a really detailed comment when this first dropped about 6 months ago, but I just recently replayed for xyx's route and to see the changes and additions in the other routes, and this is still one of favorites (if not very favorite) renpy games. Xyx was always my favorite character, and it was amazing to get to have calls with him finally. 

One small thing I noticed while replaying Quest's route: I chose to play with they/them pronouns, and when societyboy is giving Quest a hard time, he keeps referring to the player with she/her pronouns. 

I JUST FINISHED XYX'S ROUTE OH MY GOD. When I first played this game I thought it was completely perfect. I only now realize that that can't be true because there was no xyx route. NOW it's perfect. I've just been screaming for like 3 hours. 

*Mild spoilers*

In each of the three Holiday Otome games (so far?), I've felt like one of the love interests is THE ONE for each of the MCs, and while I play all of the routes for completion's sake, there's always that one that just feels the most right. For Emma it was Erik, for Mira it was Daire, and for Maia it's definitely Mick.

Garret is a sweetheart and Liam is...tall? A good father? I don't know, I'm trying to be nice, but MICK!

They're IT gamer best friends and lovers and every single second of their story was perfect. Maia and Mick are OTP.

For fun: if Emma was the MC, I'd partner her with Garret, and if Mira was the MC, I'd partner her with Liam. 

A great addition to a fun series. I haven't done the secret route yet, so off to do that now. 

I know it's more work and I'm not sure if it would be worth it, but another option could be to have a toggle for the hearts in settings. So then the players could choose for each play through whether to have the flirt indicators on or off. 

Master of Murmurs my beloved <3

I will hype this game, I will donate, I will do whatever I need to do to get that man in Lydia's bedchambers. 

I loved everything about this demo. I considered playing in story mode, but I decided to try my hand at resource management, and I'm glad I did. It's super fun and well executed. 

I don't really have much to say beyond thank you for bringing Master of Murmurs into my life. 

Edit: One thing I did mean to mention. I love the beautiful portraits that appear when a character is speaking, and everything about the UI and general appearance of the game is breathtaking, but I did find myself missing full-sized sprites. Is there an aesthetic reason you opted for the portraits instead of "traditional" sprites, or is there another reason? 

This game is cute. I played Celestia and loved it, so when I saw this, I knew I had to give it a try. The premise, plot, and characters are very heavily tropified and formulaic, but it's still cute and fun, and the art and UI and the dress up aspect make the whole thing very refreshing.

I was pleasantly surprised by Gabriel's character. He had more depth than I expected. His route was my favorite, and I'm tempted to play it again right now. 

One thing that I just kind of passively noticed the first time, but after it came up 2 more times it became a little distracting: you use the phrase "peaks my interest" several times, but the phrase is actually "piques my interest." 

Overall a very good game, especially for free! The art alone feels like you should be charging for it!

I haven't even finished one playthrough yet, but I can't stop myself from commenting. This. Is. Phenomenal!?! 

I have been smiling for an hour straight. My cheeks hurt. This is the cutest game?!? The server is amazing, I love every single character and they are all my children. They all have such unique and consistent and realistic personalities and it's just. Amazing. This makes me so happy. Like, I think it's going to be my new go-to comfort game. I can't wait to finish it, but at the same time I don't want to finish it. I love the server setup! It's such a unique way to code a renpy game. I haven't had this much fun since miraclr (I only mention it because it had a chat feature, too. This game feels completely unique in every other aspect!) 

I gave this game 5 stars after the first 15 minutes of gameplay, but I'll come back with a proper review after I actually finish it haha. Great job, devs!

Edit: Someone please tell me why I just let a fictional man convince me to download FFXIV?? What am I doing??

Edit again: Okay, I finished all of the routes and. Wow. I love this game. I can't wait to see more from you guys. The extra epilogue you unlock at the end was so, so, so perfect. I have a crush. 

Before I started playing, I was most intrigued by Nightowl. And for the first 15 or so minutes, I was convinced he was going to be my favorite route. So I decided to play Quest's route first because I entirely expected it to be a "get it out of the way" type situation. But I loved it and him so much?!? By the time I played Nightowl's route, I was still just thinking about Quest. Then I played Toasty's route and just... poor Nightowl. I do love him as a character, and his route was fun and charming, but it admittedly felt unbalanced. Obviously Toasty's route is going to be the meatiest because it's the "true" route and you uncover the big mystery of the server, but Quest's route had a lot of satisfying extra bits that I felt like Nightowl's was lacking a little bit. Altogether, all three routes were great. If I had to rank them, it would go: 1. Toasty 2. Quest 3. Nightowl. 

But we all know the true hero of the game is xyx my beloved. 

BRB going back to do the friendship route for more FAYE. And I did manage to get the scene with Vivian, which was adorable and made me love him and Robin both even more. 

Thank you for such a fun, detailed response! I am now respectively looking at Stand By Me. And I'll stop clogging up the comment section.

1. Which character did you like best?

They're all so cute in their own ways! I prefer otome games where the MC has a preset personality and they seem rare these days, so Maya was a breath of fresh air. If I have to choose a love interest, it would be Vivian. I'm very excited to see more of him and play his route. It's impossible to say since only Robin's route is available right now, but I have a distinct feeling that my preference is going to go: 1. Vivian 2. Nico 3. Robin. With that said, Robin's route was adorable and comforting and very cute. 

2. Which was your favourite ending?

I only played through once and got Robin's best ending. I'm gonna go back and try to get the bad and friendship endings, but for now I can't really answer this question.

3. Did you manage to unlock the post-credits scene?

I did not. I don't think? Did I? Wait, was it the scene where Robin and Maya watch the commercial and decide to make a big ~move~? I can't remember if that was before or after the credits... I might have to go play again now. Edit: OH hAHaAHA I just went back and replayed to see what the extra scene was, but I randomly decided to do one thing differently this time and I got the post credit scene. It's adorable and I love it.

4. Anything else you'd like to ask or tell us!

Are people in the Coco fandom called Coconuts? 

This was very cute, and I especially loved the art, UI, and the humor in the writing. It's such a cozy game and I want to play more. 

Some random thoughts about the game in no particular order or clarity (**MINOR SPOILERS BELOW**)

-I love games where the MC has a best friend that isn't romanceable. Faye was wonderful. MORE FAYE. 

-It's kind of funny to me (and a bit strange, maybe?) that Miles has a sprite/description on the itch game page but Jun doesn't? Maybe Miles is going to feature more prominently in future routes (probably Nico's), but he was only in one quick scene in the route I played--whereas Jun had about as much "screen time" as Faye? I'm looking forward to seeing how Miles earned a featured spot haha

- WHO IS ALTAIR?? WHATEVER HAPPENED WITH THAT?? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW

- I honestly half expected Vivian's roommate to be Robin lol

Anyway, great game! I can't wait to play more~~

I just finished all three routes and this game is so cute! I love all the characters and Iluna is such a lovely MC. The concept is charming, the art is charming, the writing is lovely, and the characters are unique while still maintaining all of the wonderful recognizable qualities of their respective tropes. The UI is simple but pretty, and everything works so well together. 

When I started playing, I encountered some of the same issues that others have commented, namely regarding the missing dress assets in a few scenes in Sekheo's route. But I downloaded the updated version and quickly played through it to check for any issues, and it seems the problem has been resolved now. Other than a few typos in Solis' route, the game is very clean and polished and looks great! Thank you for sharing such a sweet story.

I'm about to get spoilery and probably rambling, so heads up to anyone who might see this. if you haven't played the game yet, please do and stop reading this comment now...

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I played Sekheo's route first because I was immediately drawn to his character and because Valle is ~my type~ and I wanted to save him for last. I was able to get Sekheo's perfect ending just choosing the options I liked the most, so that was rewarding. His story had a lot of angst and sadness, but it was beautiful, had a lot of depth, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like Sekheo's route was the one that focused the most on the love interest and didn't allow for Iluna's development enough--which was frustrating at times-- but Sekheo is so wonderful that I couldn't be too upset. 

I played Solis second and I'm still conflicted on that dude. He's gorgeous, so he has that going for him! I actually really liked him in Sekheo's route, so I was looking forward to playing him next. and I did enjoy his route, but I was only able to get the neutral end at first because whenever I had the chance to call him out on his crap, I did. I preferred the neutral end, I think, because I really liked having the option to effectively say "You're being a jerk right now and I remember when you were a jerk to my friend, too." There were times when he was flustered and sweet that my perpetual frowny face flipped around haha. Really, the most impressionable part of Solis's route were the scenes with Sekheo and Valle. Their budding friendship was adorable, especially in the checkers scene. 

Valle. Valle, Valle, Valle. You managed to combine the rogue character and the best friend character into one massively satisfying love interest. I loved his story the most, I think, because it allowed us to explore Iluna's character more. She seemed the most fully realized in Valle's route, and maybe definitely it's me projecting, but I feel like Iluna and Valle had the best chemistry with each other out of the three LIs. One thing I missed in Valle's route was him calling Iluna "Dove" all the time. As they got closer, he dropped the nickname, and I know and understand why that was a deliberate choice, but I admit I found myself missing it a little bit haha. I also felt his ending was more rushed than the other two, and I didn't feel quite as satisfied with the perfect ending as I had with Sekheo and Solis. I loved the scenes with Sekheo in Valle's route, especially all of the times he gave her really, really good advice. He's such a calming character. 

Anyway, that was a lot more than I intended to say when I started this, but here we are. This is such a cute project, and I will definitely be sharing it with my friends! 

I'm having the same problem (freezes after clicking confirm on the name screen) in the Steam version and came here to see if there was a solution. Going to try playing in full screen now, since it was windowed before. Thank you for the response, and hope it's an easy fix. 

My thoughts are basically incoherent right now having just finished the demo because you somehow took this game straight from my unspoken desires. I love everything about this. The characters are interesting and compelling, the story is sweet and cozy, both the sprites and backgrounds are breathtaking, and the UI is some of my favorite in any game. 

I love my MC like he's my own child, and Nim, Klafka, and Rufus have equal pieces of my heart. 

I know I have suggestions somewhere in the back of my mind, and I intended to write a cogent review, but right now I'm still basking. I just really, really enjoyed this. Can't wait to play the full game! Thank you for such an aesthetically pleasing experience. 

I just bought this today (through the bundle), so I've only had time to play through once (I started with the Nomad route, as it seemed the most interesting. The other two options seem a little too posh or my tastes, but I look forward to them just the same). 

I encountered a few dialogue issues, some menu hangups, and one full crash, but I will email you about those (I'm playing the 64bit PC version). Overall, the game has been really enjoyable and none of the issues I've encountered have really taken away from that too badly. 

I love the Nomad MCs sense of humor, and all of the character interactions have been interesting and natural. The characters are engaging, and I really get the sense that they're meant to take the forefront in the game (over plot). This feels different from WTNC (at least so far), which seemed to balance character-driven story and plot-driven story more carefully. I like both methods, so no complaints.

Raiden is my favorite character so far, though it's really difficult to choose just one. They're all really unique and interesting. I'm trying not to draw too many parallels between EK and WTNC, because I think each can and should stand on their own-- but I also don't think it's a coincidence that I am drawn to Raiden in this game and Alkar in WTNC. 

Anyway, I look forward to playing more! WTNC is one of my favorite games. I started playing it when it was free, then bought it to support you guys when it became paid, and then got it again with this bundle. I always look forward to updates from you guys. Thanks for your hard work.