Well, that got unexpectedly dark, lol! Interesting story so far, and I like the choice of 'power' you get. And the different art styles work perfectly for each part of the story. Thanks for this demo!
One thing that tripped me up: at one point, the instructions say 'click right mouse button to escape'. For me, it was the left mouse button (I'm right-handed and use a regular mouse). Right-clicking just took me to the Save screen.
Thanks and congrats to the whole team! I agree with both the previous posters. The art is beautiful, and I loved the historical detail. I really enjoyed the nerve mechanic as well; it's so fitting for a gothic suspense. The writing is also nice, but I do agree the beginning is stronger and that the 'monster' reveal at the end didn't quite match the gothic tone set at the beginning. That said, I totally understand! I entered the jam myself, and I know how short once month can be! (And how rewarding it feels to have finished in time.) So amazing job for the one-month deadline, and if you keep working on this, I am absolutely going to check it out! :)
This is a cosy little VN! It's set in a lovely frozen land, so it gave me a bit of respite from the sweltering summer here. Thanks for that, lol! The story came together nicely, and the music, va and the art were good. I like how the memory-dreams were (mostly) working backward from her pivotal moment of decision. Nice work from the whole team!
I noticed a few potential issues, and I'm guessing some were due to the time constraints of the Jam, but I thought I'd point them out in case you're looking for feedback. Some are just my opinion, of course, so pay them no mind if you disagree. :) 1) Sophie says she's British, but her accent is clearly not. Honestly, I'd just change her background to American/Canadian, and change the line about her country being a monarchy. 2) There was a 'surprised' sfx when Sophie was in the forest and Ivon popped up. That sound continued through most of the next scene, and I don't think it was supposed to. 3) The ending I got (Richard's Good) felt a little rushed. Again, probably due to the deadline. 4) Some lines of dialogue were missing the voice. 5) I really appreciate the Accessability options--not every game has them. I tried changing the font to NotoSans and the size to large, but nothing seemed to change. The OpenDyslexic works fine, though! (in case you need the info, I ran this on Windows 11)
I will never look at a bracken in the same way ever again.
lolol This was hilarious, and the relationship with Mr B was so cute (played the SFW romance option--because the idea of romancing a bracken is just too deliciously ridiculous!--and got the good ending). I love parody games like this, another great one is RE4 Otome Edition. (Noticed a few typos, some instances of it's instead of its, for example, but the quality is amazing for being made in only 12 days.) Awesome work! You guys are great great assets!
*I originally posted this as a review, but wanted to move it here to add to the love. :)
Excellent! Very atmospheric and creepy, and I like the mix of choosing actions and key words. Everything is so well done, from the art to the writing and the music. I even enjoyed the voice acting (which I usually turn off in games, lol). Amazing work by the whole team!
Really enjoyed this! Interesting and immersive, with nice art and a great character to interact with. I'd like to see more games from this world, because I was left curious--in a good way. Nice work!
Probably due to game jam time constraints, but I picked out a few typos. I'd be happy to help you clean those up, if you like. :)
Nice work! Interesting story, great artwork, intriguing world. I'm looking forward to trying the exe version as the web version did run a bit slow for me. (due to my aged laptop or wifi, most likely). Did notice some typos as you predicted, lol, but it's amazing quality for being put together in just two weeks!
Nice effort put into this on all fronts: story and art. I think it's a good fit for your target audience. I noticed some typos, which can be hard to catch. :) I also ran into an error after the smoking incident, just after the kids yell Dragon!, and I couldn't progress any further.
Cute, silly and touching! Great art and writing, and I enjoyed the detail put into even the bad endings (instead of just a 'You died'). Not sure how many endings there are, but I had fun finding the bad ones, and got only the good one with Cass. Thanks for this! Looking forward to more from you!
Cute game, especially the art! For me, the web version worked fine until the two magicians and the choice Serve. Then...nothing. Not sure if others will have that issue (using Firefox and Windows). I'll have to download to finish, but not a problem. :) Anyway, nice job!
Typos are pesky! I can read over something I've typed five times or more and still miss things, sigh. Understandable you couldn't 'catch 'em all' on a timeframe.
And I absolutely understand about the language, dialect, etc. If I were suddenly dropped into mid 1500s Scotland, I likely wouldn't understand the majority of what was said. (I can't understand even some of today's dialects, lol, sorry Scots :D ) Like I said, the writing was quite good! 'Okay' in any historical use before the late 1800s is just a pet peeve of mine, and other people are perfectly okay with it. I know it's not easy to capture a casual historical feel. :)
Ah, that clears things up, lol. That's really cool that you used sfx to help tell the story instead of just augment it. Unfortunately, I could hear only the sfx for page turning, but I couldn't hear any music or the stab sfx. I was using Firefox, so not sure what the issue was. I'll try it again quickly to see if I can get it to work. Anyway, thanks for clarifying, and thanks for the interesting game!
EDIT: Ok, NOW the music and other sfx are working! Dang! It just mustn't have loaded properly when I played it the first time. (;-;)
Nice effort put into this! Art was good, and writing was gernerally tight. (There were a few typos, for example a random 4, deceipt instead of deceit, etc.) I really liked how you could choose who to follow throughout, and the different perspectives were unique!
I know little of this time period, so I can't speak to historical accuracy, but a list of sources used would be nice (for nerds like me who like to fact-check, lol). But I'm pretty sure no one said 'okay' or 'reality check'. For the most part, the writing gave a historical feel without all the olde (sic) spellings and grammar. But there were a few, like 'okay', that really stuck out as being more modern.
Spoiler, if history can be spoiled.
At the end, I was confused as to what was actually going on. When it started, I thought he'd been poisoned, and they were counting the seconds till he dropped, lol. Then, at one point, the word 'lash' is used, which made me think whpping, and made me even more confused. Maybe just a mention of a flash of a blade would make things perfectly clear. :)
Some of the writing here was hilarious! Even Pratchett-esque. I loved reading the side notes (the blue text). I've never cared much for potty humour, but besides that, the story was quirky and even surprising in some places. I think it could use another proofread, as I noticed some typos and missing/extra words, but other than that, it was an imaginative and fun read!
Thanks for this game! Lovely artwork and characters, and the game doesn't shy away from difficult subjects like AI and trafficking. It's a bit ironic that I found this game shortly after reading Educated, by Tara Westover, as it too deals with religious zealoutry. Adda and her daughter's experiences reminded me a bit of some of the experiences in that book.
Oh, yes! I was thinking that was Rita Hayworth, but wasn't sure-- I've seen only one film of hers, I think. And Michael Caine! Yes, he looked so familiar, but again, I've seen only one or two of his younger days films, so he was harder for me. Lol, thanks for the right answers. It was really fun guessing. Yep, I played and enjoyed the SFW version of Caught in Orbit. I also love Star Trek, so it was right up my alley.
I wrote a tiny Review for this game a couple years ago and finally realised no one could see it. So I'm posting here in case my recommendation will help someone else decide to play this gem. And the sequel. :)
There are, like, billions of stars in the galaxy, and itchio gives us only 5 to rate such an awesome game. Our Personal Space and Space to Grow (counted together) are in my top five visual novels. They combine my love of space with pioneering and a strong sense of family and community. (Because I just can't ever be mean to hubby. :D ) Both games are charming, thought-provoking, creative, well written and polished. (One thing I would have improved upon is the art, which they did in the sequel.) Thank you to everyone at Metasepia Games for these two amazing VNs!
... I was hoping to recommend these to other people, but while writing this and reminiscing, I've just convinced myself to play them again, lol!
Another gem! This is the fourth game of yours that I've enjoyed. (I think I've played all your SFW games now) Love the style, music and old movie inspiration. I have to know the characters though, if you don't mind. My guesses are below, in horizonal order of your The Cast picture.
Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Vivien Leigh/Susan Hayward???, ? (at first thought, Gary Cooper, but second thought, not), Lauren Becall, ?, James Cagney, ?, Vincent Price, Orson Welles
This is awesome! Such a cute, unique idea for a story. It was funny and sweet (and even a little scary), with cute sprites and endearing characters. I don't think I'll ever think of my PC the same way again, lol! Thanks so much for this! Hope you make another game!
This is the second of your games I've played (Max Power being the first), and this is just as unique and entertaining! The art is cute, mechanics fun and the story interesting. Thank you for another gem! I'm going to try The Widow and the Mirror next. :)
