itch.io

Thank you for trying out my VN! Though yes, the game sections are really jank, it's not a tiny bit, it is incomplete, and I might decide to remove or improve on a future update that I am sure to do but I'm just working on another project right now, I'm glad the style was appealing at least! Learning from my last jam I tried to do less gameplay, but it became a different kind of complicated gameplay, so the story did get some sacrifice still in the end. Also I thought "Place, Town" was like "Non-descript place joke" but it does look lazy in some ways. Someone also mentioned about being confused between the switching of viewpoints so I'll take note of that.

My only reason really for trying to include game sections in my VNs is so that I could practice being a game dev, having gameplay and story mix well, and I still have ways to go and I'm trying to still find a good balance. But I could try to also lean less into the game part and more story for the next VN possibly.

Took a while to respond, but thank you for trying out my VN, I guess I still have a lot to go in guiding people along to understand the game, even then maybe if I did have time I would have made it more clear, but that's the thing with the limited time frame, which I don't bother to think about much because I know it's incomplete, but the problem is that it's a "finished piece" for the span of Novembuck, so people take what they can get until an update comes, which in short I guess this is more like a editing, story tweaking, or game improving kind of thing that really should be done before a VN is out

I might be yapping, but I really should add a skip button, also I'm removing that volume minigame, I thought it would be a guide on how the later gameplay section is understood, but in this current version the powers don't even work, and thinking about it in a final build I don't think it's even necessary, the ending is supposed to somehow tell why they got into a game (I think it needs working still), but due to the jank yeah...

If I had more time to work on it, maybe it could have been better. I did what I could in a limited time packed with other things going on, but I will take that into consideration. As for the confusing speakers, even with the names of the characters in dialogue is it still confusing? Or on the parts with no character names. Could you specify where else I could have done better?

As for "little less ambitious" I'll see what my heart tells me.

Oh that was so good for a start, love me some SCP-inspired media I can't wait for the next update! :OOO

Ohhh the switch characters button is on the top left and right of the device, they're like the things you press on the corners of like a PSP, controller or a Switch, I don't exactly know what they're called, but something like L and R, or L1 or 2 and R1 or 2

When you pressed the switch character button did the border change color? If you're green you're Diere if you're red you're Lufo, you can't move while in action mode. Also the only way to proceed the level is if both players have went to the exit, which yes the exit has missing image assets when a player enters it which I did not know how it was not finding the images

I may be at fault that I did not also clarify that, but the other things I need some more detail as to why it may not be working

Yeah  there's jank in that volume part, but what about the platformer which part did you get stuck in?

Thanks! I'm glad it piqued your interest :D

Oh nyooooo, still I'm intruiged at what else may come!

Gosh that was such a good read, and I can't wait for what seems to be the last part soon, I don't know what else to say other than it was enjoyable

Idk how far the spoiler thing goes but

Also this feels very like a fanfic where "I was sold to a boy band" but for werewolves and politics somehow lmao, and I have a slight inkling that it might get closer to that based on the teaser XD

Oh wow that was amazing, the writing is done so well, the accompanying art style, the collage work makes it so uncanny yet the abstractness of it was adding to it, and that reveal omg.

Thank you for trying out my VN!

The jank in gameplay is due to how little time I had until the deadline, so I did the opposite of my May Wolf where instead of the gameplay having more work, I focused on trying to make the narrative part look and feel ok since the novelty would wear off when the narrative isn't at least written well enough. And yes Diere's ability doesn't work, I should have clarified that too, I still need to do better, I had a whole tutorial design idea so that the player was able to understand the mechanics on their own without the whole "Do this so you can do this!" even at least minimally, but again time constraints. And I sadly did fumble in the end (reading this it pains me at how rushed that ending feels actually and I didn't notice), the story on the gameplay part I had a struggle to write on what reason makes sense for that to have happened, I think Diere even mentioned how not great Lufo's reason was... Also the confession was something right at the later levels where Lufo wanted to confess to Diere by leaving him a note, but something else happened.

For the radio part I was thinking that maybe if I set a range of values that the answer could have been valid maybe the reader would have gotten it right somewhat, as I also didn't want to have it be annoying... But it was annoying anyway. Initially it was going to be a slider of sorts and maybe the wave on the side was going to change shape but constant data shifting might have been too jank and trying to transform an image needed a lot of adjusting to happen which was hard to make it right so I took the easier route instead. Also yeah Lufo's ability should have been a simple button press, but no, the jankiness keeps striking.

In short, great idea, execution fumbled, but I'm glad that it seems I'm getting better at least. And still continue on improving writing skills and such.

The sckrunkler! Congrats!

I've been reading this from time to time, and I've got to say it's one of my favorite VNs, it feels so raw and human and just good, the art is amazing, the writing is amazing, I keep going "AAAAAAAAAA" at everything, its a great time for my head
At this point I am so incredibly inspired by you that you may be my favorite artist, I just keep thinking how anybody can be an artist, yet an ARTIST is who you are, there is something in you that brings art to life and life to art and I am in awe

Edit:

I wonder if people don't want to read because of it containing AI images as BGs :( like it sucks because I think they're missing out on a good story

Holy moly I love everything about this, the art, the mystery, the characters
The story is so well crafted and the method for how it all works is done so well, along with the UI elements and the artstyle giving it all an amazing feel an
As for the characters holy their expressions are so good, along with their characterizations, they all work so well and are a bunch of intruiging individuals, and some I absolutely hate in particular because one is such a massive ass, and the other deserves hellfire even with attempts of mercy from the other guy
AND THE MC OMGGGGG, he's so grouchy and like "I just want to do my job" but I love how cheery he can get sometimes and his cute faces and how much he loves his husband like HUHU
And one can't forget the audio and sound design, just good all around

It's all just an amazing read, loved the art style, loved the theme, loved how sweet it all was, the characters are enjoyable and you can feel the chemistry between them, and the creativity with the assets omg T^T this entire aesthetic is just amazing

Gosh I want to know moreeeeee, this is a decent start so far and I hope it goes well!

Omg thank you very much! I hope I don't disappoint in future updates! But sorry, there are no plans for nsfw in this, there could be considerations, but don't expect anything

Oh is that so! Good luck on your studies!

Holy moly just the presentation alone is cool, I have high hopes this will deliver (LIKE THE MC-)

"You got this pookie" And you both got it fr, this was a cool look at the behind the scenes :oo good luck on the future of the VN I will definitely want to see how it goes!

Its out

I'm glad this interested you! And don't worry this actually has a story now it's way too far from April to be another fool XD

Oh my goodness this is a lot... Thank you very much 😭😭😭

That's the cool nature of Game jams, practice making stuff whether for practice or making actual stuff and getting better for the next time :D

I am so amazed by the complexity of this VN and the use of it's abstract world in combination with the puzzles and mazes, I also like those distortion effects with the ghost and the name of the roommate, the movement mechanics confused me somewhat at first but then I understood around the 2nd maze, I'm incredibly impressed with the room changes and changes in cardinal directions, and that puzzle where you have to move the rooms next omg the changing of the bg in real time, loved that a lot, also hold on I just noticed that the name of the Wolf love interest is "That's a spoiler"
"I sounded annoyed, you sounded annoyed." I liked this line
This conflict of the afterlife is not one I often see. Being in an in-between, deciding whether wanting to go back or pass on with puzzles and challenges trying to reform memories, actually I think that's a thing in media but this is a creative spin on it, I love the designs of each of the characters and the secret was a neat addition, I wonder if there is a true ending where you finish all the puzzles because I do not understand the one puzzle with "WWWSNWWS" I feel like I was at the end there but I can't run back and try again, or maybe I can. Also like the morally gray best friend, was about to antagonize him, but I was like "Ok, you make fair points, but also, no"
I enjoy that the final choice is not choice boxes rather, a text box, and I found options like staying there and possibly unionizing eternity or myself, believe in the power of the self, I wonder if there are more
Yooooo Adastra crossover whattt

Overall I quite liked this game a lot, the writing was good, the use of Renpy to make a sliding puzzle game is impressive and stands out from other entries, I maybe wish the movement buttons were a little bigger so I resorted to using arrow keys instead, a lot of good qualities!

If it's ok with you sure! Maybe have the list here instead because I dunno where else I'd maybe see the list

I'm not gonna think too much and just enjoy the read, or try to, so this review is more so an informal reaction
Oh my goodness that main menu image has knocked my head into a swivel-
Ok right out of the bat if it was not clear enough the VN is telling their intentions, and yet somehow I am still shocked at how blunt this all is
I don't know why but I can't help but laugh at the sudden cock choices, and do note at least I haven't tried Haruki's route and got to at least Day 30 I think of all routes, except Haruki's, I haven't seen his yet so I might not know what characterization he got
Wtf woah Shoichi ok language, DOGGY... Wait... NO WAIT WAITTTTT- SHIBUSSY LMAO, there was one section of this route that the dialouge was too long that I can't read it under the settings and stuff
I'm enjoying all these animal-fied of the original characters, very cute and a surprise to be sure
ONLY NOW YOU CARE ABOUT THAT AREA???
JUN LMAO NOOO I'M SORRY
Is it me or is Yuuichi skinnier, should I still ask why out of all of them one route has a "Are we boyfriends" question when Yuuichi already could have been banged twice
I forgot about the theme damn- I see the direction in the romance, it somehow went there in a not so great way. Now the main menu image makes more sense
As much as this is fanfiction that doesn't really discourage it from being well written and well, it was written to be horny and it got to be that way, but I feel meh at the supposedly budding relationship Haruki and Yuuichi had, the moments were cute but the romance felt not there much for me, the art was pretty neat though, also, sadge Amanuma the only decent one at least, then again I didn't think to have scenes with the other 2 but hey, fanfic, and also as someone else pointed out, did Jun's father get attracted to Yuu's abs when he was younger, I feel like my brain turned off did not notice that

That was a good read, the shifting between reality and fiction with the subtle vibe shifts was also neat with the underlying reality that yep, everything is gone haha :'DD, the writing was done well but some parts of me say that maybe it wanted more like a little expansion on the MC's radiology knowledge or like what happened before, and how they also found Ned, but I do find the ending quite nice, but if I have to dislike something it would be the dialouge box is does not work well at all
And to add also, the thumbnail intruiged me actually because I did not realize that the thumbnail can be done like that and I got curious what the story might entail. Overall, a good short story with visuals that are done good to accompany it

I do like your suggestions, and it all really boils down into how the writing is so so underbaked it's not that interesting, because I focused so much on the gameplay, I am curious where the grammar mistakes are if you are able to provide them so I can clean those up on an update, also I'm quite surprised that you're the only one with the opposite issue from Famine, everyone else had themselves in an encounter loop because they kept hitting the locust swarms and the infestation counter not going down.

I had a different idea for the item search, but thought it would take longer so I had to resort to using randomness with weights on certain items, difficult if the player doesn't know what to look for and if they are even thematic at all and some rooms having none of the items which in the stream I was on had to resort to me giving the locations which sucked a lot and took away some immersion, I'll take note of the current map location indicator too, right now I'm checking the reviews and seeing what I need to improve on the game or any bugs and issues that happen to pass by

I kind of noticed it in the stream, but I don't think anyone understood the flashlight mechanic or realized it exists, it's supposed to indicate which enemies are nearby, and yeah the story was underdeveloped compared to the rest of the game/VN, and I feel the battery counter is not updating .

I did not know there was another game named Afterparty oh no, would that be some kind of issue or nah
Yeah the writing took such a low priority, I wrote it all in a day and a half and after the gameplay was sort of set up already so all I did at least was clean up what I wrote that it's decent at least, and I focused too much on the gameplay section because that would probably where most of the "hook" of my game was going to be. Even so there were still issues present as I did not give it enough testing or polish, still I can't fault myself much cuz of time limits and such but at least I made something. It might be stupid but I think my theme is mostly the light in the dark section of the game, there's not a lot of narrative theming here. And when my game was streamed on the discord I realize that a lot of the buttons I chose were pretty bad too, I should have probably used the ones on the right side of the keyboard instead or better ones. I also thought that maybe the weirdness at the start some something to say "Huh something is wrong here but I can't tell" but maybe I made it too on the nose or not executed well? Majority here is not executed well tbh. And thanks for the review!

I should probably put spoiler warnings in my reviews,
My goodness this has to be one of my favorite VNs in this jam so far. There is so much quality, from the UI, the writing, and how this feels like an actual game. I love how the dialouge box and other UI elements and theme of the visuals change depending on the setting, whether it was a sort of dream/memory section, or the current time and how it looks like a screen kind of like the ones in the Fallout games. The music was damn amazing. I love how immersed I feel reading this, did I mention how I love the visuals, IT'S AMAZING, AND ALSO THE CHARACTERS, I love Darius' and Luc's dynamic, I love their chemistry and understanding of each other, I love how they also tease each other on things it's so cute. I love how there was a loading section simulating a loading bar in games trying to render assets LIKE URGH IT NAILS THE VIBE SO WELL. And I feel after the jam this will become like a fully fledged game based on the inventory, a sort of map button, navigating the ways around avoiding monsters and ensuring safety away from enemies. I hate to compare but it feels like my VN but cranked up in writing, visuals, audio, and mechanics if I had more time to work on it.  Also GET IT TO 100 REVIEWS YALL GIVE THIS MAN A HAPPY ENDING AAAA

And heres some thoughs while reading:
Presentation, amazing
I started the game and then went back to the menu and it changed and intruiged me even more
So much style oozes from this, and the pausing of text me likey
Heck yeah bread test, it's the yeast they could do, I love their chemistry so far wow
WAITTTTT, THE ANCHOR SYMBOL BEING DARIUS, AND THE LIGHTHOUSE BEING LUC
Wow he is one saucy guy
WHATTTT, TONAL SHIFT???
The bg in the section with Luc needing to go due to short staff look like closed eyes, kind of makes me think that Darius is thinking about it in his mind (Later it was in the end so far of the game so maybe not, but I really like the texturing)
GOSH I LOVEEE THEIR DYNAMICCCC
I knew Kinkade was somewhat familiar
I love that newspaper look
THEY'RE SO CUTE
A FLASHLIGHT MECHANIC TOO THAT'S SO FKIN COOLLLL, and a moving meter omg
"I fear what we've become" always spells peak
Noooo "enought"
NOOOOO THAT CLIFFHANGER THAT WAS SO GOOD

That was an interesting concept, I like the setup for the beginning of the story, and kind of wonder what will happen next, but alas it is incomplete for now. I really like how due to the lack of vision Connor instead has to use memory to guide himself, and has the potential in a "Visual" novel to use visual elements even with a visually impaired MC, I loved the mystery, horror and intruige that this gives me like what is happening, why is it happening, I WANT TO KNOW MOREEEEE
Also sayer is not defined, also interesting thematic use of "Light in the dark" potentially, and maybe a little bit of a mention of the wolf love interest?

Oh that was really really shorter than I expected, I kind of wish there was more but this being made in the Unity engine I dunno how hard that is to code, I've seen other VNs in the past use Unity but I don't know what to say about that, the romance was cute but making me want more some like buildup or yearning, felt it was too fast for me, and I didn't get to feel the sad desperation of the character much as a buildup like I jumped into the middle, something about those bugged me, I really like the art though the use of 3D models and 2D sprites are done pretty ok, but damn does it lag on my laptop

Some other thoughts while reading:
Beefnt stew, tobisco sauce
I wonder if in that early scene of the MC screaming in frustration the music could've cut off for more shift in feeling
Oh that's a woah ok, I maybe wish I had felt more of how the MC has been loving Herman maybe other than in words? Because I felt like I had intrude on them a lil, even if they are quite cute

I did not expect this VN to hit me as hard as it did, it screams to me, hit me right on my chest... Short, painful, but sweet all around.

Things I thought while reading:

Quite the number of descriptive imagery

Ooh the quick emotional shifts in between some dialouge

The screen transitions feel slow

Oof... This hit me right in the heart with the conversation with the mother, might be a bit personal, but it makes me think of things I would do at this age or things that might happen and how I would work around it, and I'm glad it's a hopeful sight on what might be for the future.

Man, a theme and title drop in separate instances, personally, I don't do that for the theme, but when it's the title, it feels quite exciting, so this is a subjective thing

Ridge was, HUHUHU LOVE HIM, SUPPORTIVE DILF, I WISH THEY'RE BOTH HAPPY FOR THE FUTURE

I just want to say thank you, and the music and audio just hits so well

This was a delightful read. I haven't read all the choices yet, but what I have read has been very good. I keep saying stories are short, but I forget about the word count limitation, so maybe I'm left wanting more, as this story has such a good future for the characters. The art supplementing it was also well done, and the movement of the sprites was also done very well. This entire VN feels complete in short, and it's very good! I also like the use of elemental aspects from various fantasy media, but some part of my brain was like, "Do all of them have to be used up at the same time?"

Some things I was thinking of while reading:
That small comeback to "read these books 5 times" hehehe, what is "It still smarts" from the imp, very on the nose injection of "light in the dark", hehe fly away with your gay ass wings, oh no such obscene spells ohhh nooo guess we all have to do it, loincloth? Those are boxers, while sketching damn??? Simulation or stimulation? Ejaculate from the altar hehe

ABSOLUTE CINEMA, but damn I wish there was more and alas had to be cut due to the deadline.
But my goodness, I liked what there was so far, and a creative take on a wolf as a love interest. The writing, it flows so well, and I never had the experience of school theater, only heard stories, but from what I know, it captures that environment so well. The art (my goodness, I love the art), the painterly strokes and brushes used for the characters and some of the environment, amazing. The presentation presents such good splits between the gorgeous scenery of the theater, juxtaposed with the school scenery. I love that one scene where the Demon and Princess are at a creek, and at the background there was a wall, and I thought at first it was some sort of like "Oh right, this is a stage that's a cool concept of reminding that even in a fictional setting they are at a play." And then some lines later and it reveals about the world, and I was intrigued by the story even more, a double immersion of sorts. I also love the interaction between the MC and the Ram, and their characters, and I love to see what the MC will do with their newfound exploration of personal identity, I will call them they until they figure out themself for now, yes they're gay but like, I don't know if they might be trans after the writing.

But hmm, I actually don't know where "Light in the dark" theme applies here though, maybe due to it not being finished is the reason, maybe the spotlight? Or maybe it's in my face and I don't really see it.

Then me personally I don't find that flavor text appealing, but the rest was pretty ok! Maybe I could be more immersed by the environment or culture where those work well enough in this VN.