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i struggle to put into words how this made me feel. the scene where they watch the movie for the last time together really made me feel sick to the stomach, excellent foreshadowing. thank you to the team for sharing this wonderful game.

REALLY INSANE I GOT TO WORK ON THIS. i cannot even begin to describe how good this was to read. your writing is genuinely amazing and being able to do art too really compliments it. the music done by rust also really really works together. having finally played this, i have so many thoughts! will try to keep my comment here spoiler free tho ^^;;

the heavy visual distinction between roroko and roro-chan despite the fact that hirosuke struggles to differentiate them is truly incredible. with how roro-chan looks like a galge heroine ripped straight from an early 2000's anime/game, the real roroko looks more "human" rather than the object she becomes as roro-chan throughout moon illusion. just from the visual tells you can infer how Terrible hirosuke is towards this random high school girl she one day meets at the local f*mily mart. it's a lesson in the dangers of prolonged solitude; and it's a lesson in the dangers of never properly self-reflecting. i love it! i thoroughly enjoyed this hostile experience, and i felt a lot of relief at the ending. i will continue to support you and your games! :)

thank u!! ^^ we will continue making games!!

thank you for the kind words ura!!!

im glad that their mutual shittiness towards each other was conveyed properly! i got the suggestion from kuruma to make this game with pov switching, so im also really glad on trying something new and having it be received well :3

i quite love hellscreen too, so i'm glad someone else enjoyed the references i made to it :)

the two of them share a similarly nihilistic worldview to a world that rejects them, and the both of them are dishonest towards each other and themselves. i'm glad you picked up that it's about self destruction!

and thank you so much for the kind words and reading!! :)

thank you!

its always nice to see another trans asian in online game dev spaces. i totally get it...especially the part about seeing white beauty on social media u_u

tysm for sharing!

thank u :)

beautiful game that really made use of decker's UI. with each message on the forum i felt more dread about res and what has/had happened to her. thank you for sharing :)

trust the reader!!!! some people might not get it, but there's a good chance most people will!!!!
thank YOU for sharing this amazing work!! :D

what a beautiful game! the discussion surrounding android ethics, capitalism, immortality/inhumanity of an android, as well as the parts where sofiya compared sonya to sonia were all delicately written. the monologue surrounding sonia's passing by sonya was also really touching. the slow, uncomfortable knowledge about how sofiya was sure to die very soon also really crawls on the skin, as from the pov of sonya, it's an inevitable thing that will happen, regardless of the blight. the trope of someone creating an android either in their own image or in a loved one's image is also a personal favourite, so i grinned a bit upon the reveal, especially as sofiya talked about how she kept feeling like sonia was still alive through sonya. also, stories set in russia/places with a lot of snow seem to hyperfocus on the weather, which is not a bad thing in any way, but it does surprise me as someone who lives somewhere that doesn't have any snow at all, lol. it sort of paints this oppressive, but beautiful scenery, as the snow brings with it a lot of death, i guess, and it's no different in hoarfrost wires. speaking of the death, [SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING] the part where sofiya and sonya visit sonia and alik's graves was a really fitting, melancholic ending. i thought it would be a bit more grim, with sofiya dying in sonya's arms, but this is much more fitting.

thank you for sharing your work!

really interestingly written. had to read through this twice to figure out what was going on. it also feels like i'm reading a headache /pos. there's a lot of world building here that happens in the background, which also integrates itself into its main 'plot' rather seamlessly. that said, rip to the protagonist, she's yearning for something that will never be.

an incredibly visually impressive game, with a lot of discussion regarding love and freedom. taking place in the future, "a dialect for two" seems to raise the questions, "what happens once humans are gone? will love still exist?"

rather than giving answers to either of these questions, it presents the player with various thought experiments, conducted through pola and tetra. masterfully put together. thank you for sharing!

this is a really interesting piece that facilitates nostalgia to anyone who grew up in the early 2000s, and/or has experience with being an otaku using windows xp/98 of that time. you both really nailed the aesthetics of that era. despite the game being set in the (sort of?) distant future, it has a lot of commentary regarding the time period it was released in (the 2020s). i laughed when the stuff regarding genAI came up. very topical lol. 

robot stories always like to touch on the subject of "what it means to be human", and terminal shell is no different. the way it handles this subject is nearly erotically unique, which had me grinning from ear to ear.

an all around enjoyable read, thank you very much for sharing :)

wow, what a future

great game!!

thank you! :)

thank you fisher! :)

thanks!

finished all of this with a friend, we were both blown away. we've been a fan of your works for a while now, so we both got really excited hearing you announce a visual novel. you're a massive inspiration to us, and everything about Z.A.T.O. was an enjoyable, and thoughtful experience. asya's philosophical worldview that is contradictory from the actual situations she finds herself in really sets the tone for the entire narrative: she's the perfect protagonist for this story. we really enjoyed the character interactions that made it seem like a slice of life despite the grimness of the reality in the setting. i was mostly smiling the entire time. the CGs are especially wonderful, and SPOILER the one at the end was particularly memorable. really, huge kudos! we will be supporting more of your work!

the last sequence gave me chills!!! great game :)

thank you! :)

thank you! ^_^

thank you! :)

thank you so much for the kind words! thank you for reading :)

thank you! :)

thank u so much for the kind words!! this comment really made our day ^_^

we plan on making more games in the future, so do stay tuned for that! :D

thank you! :)

thank you! :)

the amount of old school references i got while playing this surprised me... huge props. amazing overall, from the ost, programming, story, GUI, 3d models, and art direction. a very well polished game with a strong message. MAIDNIGHT!

thank you so much for the kind words! 

this is a visual novel so it's mostly reading by default, but in the future we'll consider scoping differently for more choices. thanks again :)

wow!! thank u for the kind words!! :D

(also dw, both devs behind this arent girls lol)

this was absolutely disgusting to read, in the best way possible. kudos <3

thank you for the kind words!!

there were more things planned, but we scoped down due to the time. thanks again! :)

thank you for the kind words!! we were planning on adding more choices, but we scoped down due to the time constraints lol

thanks again! cheers :3

thank u so much!! we're very happy to hear that it lined up nicely :3

really enjoyed raine's route! i plan to go through the others later c: