itch.io

Is there any possibility AT ALL to have this paid version put up on Patreon or something similar, please? I can't use the card because of itch and I doubt it'll get updated any time soon. Pretty sure paypal is mostly gated to the states so a lot of audience are being excluded from this content.

Oh, exciting!

That sounds pretty hectic, given 4 different endings- would the plan then be for each subsequent chapter to have multiple endings which lead to more different stories, would they each be wholly unique, or just somewhat referential to the previous chapter?

Would the cast include the original two love interests?

Thanks!

Hello!

BEHOLD ALL THE SPOILERS

Definitely my favorite route overall, second would be Leopold's. 

I ADORE Iolanthe's agency in this route, how clever she is, how she uses her skills and uses the preconceived notions of what the princess should be to her benefit. I believe she is honestly at her best here, such, such fun.

Not only do I believe Iolanthe is at her best here, I think Guillaume shows the most opportunity for growth, and this is also the first time we can learn about Leopold without the lens of the devoted husband; it's quite a bit of different characterization that was interesting to see.

In part I totally understand why Leopold would avoid Iolanthe if they were previously lovers; because he knows she's smart; knows she has the capability of manipulating him; thus he won't give her the time of day, she's the enemy now, but GOSH it would have been so satisfying to work as allies alongside him with that romance in the backlog; wanting to be queen, even as he said; he'd make her queen; simply because she wants him to not get his revenge, perhaps in part thinking it's all consuming for him; in part because his thoughts of revenge have gotten in the way of considering how he'd actually be a good king, but I recognize, that's what fanfic is for! XD I did have moments though; where I was surprised Leopold didn't see through her, especially given how clever she can be at the early parties, before committed to his route. Is there a mechanic for this?

As per Guillaume, given the difference between his love route good ending of Iolanthe standing next to the throne and loveless with romancing Guillaume and good ending has them both with their own thrones, I do wonder if normal romance Guillaume will ever come around to the respect loveless Guillaume slowly can achieve. Indeed, I'd argue Guillaume has far crueler moments in his romanced route, because there he still believes he is acting with love; with care; it's not only cruel, but it's a lie. At least loveless Guillaume doesn't have those airs.

And in between all of this Iolanthe is staunch, she is clever, she does whatever she can.

Mathys' route is very satisfying, a believable not-so-slow-burn, especially with the interplay of Iolanthe potentially lying to him/manipulating him, I do wonder, with his pure romanced ending, how much long term power Iolanthe could have with him as her consort. She'd need to keep that military in place, she'd need to always keep control. Wouldn't the people demand she marry; have children, so on? Would she ever be able to actually marry him, would he ever want to be actually married to her; given what he'd be expected to do in that position? (Presumably as prince consort?)

I found Vesala's route a little less satisfying; while the manipulation of Ozol and following up on Leopold's backdrop was interesting, it felt in part that we were repeatedly seeing Vesala's faults, learning about her people, and less about who Vesala actually is. The romance itself; though not as romantic as Mathys', still felt very stilted, I think I saw Iolanthe pine for an off-screen Vesala a few times, there was the scene with the pastries, and then moving of the hair at one moment, and rescuing her, otherwise not much else. With Mathys, the interplay was 'is it manipulation, are you convincing him you care for the commonfolk, and do you care for him as well', and with Vesala it felt like 'look, Leopold's route from the other side, do you trust her, even though she's repeatedly shown to be naive and none of it seems to work, but she's a professional, don't worry!'

I think in part this is a little true for all the lesbian routes so far; Iolanthe is always rescuing them; Iolanthe is the politically savvy one, but their skills don't seem quite as equal in comparison to hers; or if they have skills of their own (Sofia), they don't really have a place in the game. 

Couple smaller thoughts:

SO SATISFYING TO GET TO ONE UP MOTHER DEAREST. Oh my gosh, so lovely.

Why is Frederique so helpful/supportive this time round, but not in the romanced Guillaume route?

Who was sending the false notes in the beginning of the route?

Your writing quality and the quality of the situation; the cleverness of Iolanthe's manipulations are on clear display, and have only gotten better with each subsequent route release; to the point I actually worry somewhat for the earlier routes; Bastien's route seems so tame and somewhat empty compared to this for example; different stakes, different situations, of course, perhaps Iolanthe can't always have her high drama.

Otherwise, thank you so much for such an amazing release, the Rose of Segunda is one of my favorite visual novels, and I do believe the Loveless route release has quality that competes with and occasionally exceeds the former.

Thank you for the amazing game!!!!!!

So hype!

I'm so excited for this game. It feels like a full game, with real responses to choices, not just set dressing for 'choose your partner'.

I wish there was a way I could DM you, lol, I don't often meet people who share my opinions on writing online, I feel like I come across too high and mighty, haha.

I'm Mimxism on discord if you'd like to chat more, got a girl with black hair in dark pink as my pfp.

In part, I think I would have been more okay with the bitter sweet endings if the pacing were different, or the like.

As it is, I'm honestly just...well, disappointed.

I...honestly kind of agree with you. 

I think the game is absolutely beautiful and clearly a lot of love has been put into  it, but I feel like the quality of the writing dipped a bit after the demo. The demo pacing is also a lot slower compared to the main game, and I didn't enjoy Anton's route half as much as I did Emile's route (especially where you don't call out Denham.)

Lillian immediately getting in with Anton also just...confuses me. XD

Just finished the entire game, all routes.

Spoilers ahead!

I played through Emile's route first, where Denham isn't called out to in the hotel- and the entire route felt the most complete to me; with the romance hints between Emile and Lillian, the tension; so on, and I think the route was also the longest. With no true 'happy ending' to that route, I went back to the choice to choose calling Denham out, and that ending was far less satisfying.

I played all the routes afterwards in one sitting; and while I very much enjoyed the entire game, I do think my first run was the most satisfying; after a bit it felt somewhat like Anton always popped out of nowhere; this all-knowing man capable of always getting in the way of things. I suppose that's how spies are.

To a degree, I feel like the initial route just had the most work put in; we see the most of the side characters, we see more hints of Emile's personality, and his tension with Lillian makes the most sense there- her inherent attraction to him in Anton's routes make less sense to me personally, and feels less organic. 

The heavier romance scenes being interrupted every time had me annoyed after a while XD but I guess I just wanted Lillian to get some.

Overall, I do think this game is phenomenal, the art is gorgeous, the writing is powerful, but I was expecting a more traditionally happy ending opportunity for the endings. When playing the first route, I thought with Emile (and not calling Denham out) the entire story would be the back and forth between Lillian and Emile; their warring personalities and inherent attraction, how he can't bite his tongue when needed, how she over analyses everything, and the writing really delivered that, but I feel like, to some mild extent, that the focus of the quality and length was reserved for that singular route; to be the 'true route' if anything.

When I finished all the routes, I wanted to see if a new secret route with a proper happy ending opened up, where Denham gets home, and Lillian has her beau. No such luck for me!

Still; a fabulous game, well worth the cost, thank you so much for all your effort, attention, and care. The music is wonderful, the art gorgeous, and focus put into the language was fantastic. 

Just bought it on steam!!! Aaaaa!

Musician here, but performer, not composer. This looked like so much effort! I loved what I heard in the demo, and I am so so SO hyped for release, thank you for all your hard work!!!

Big hype! I'm so excited! Danke danke dankeeee!

I still have Cyberbang downloaded and I play it every so often, some of the best writing I've seen in a VN. I'm so excited, yay!

Congrats on the release date, and I am super excited for the game!

Thank you so much! I bought it on Steam. :)

Aaah! So hype!

One question, I feel vaguely silly for asking- are Tom/Peter/Clark the only romantic routes and the other guys are platonic?

Thank youuuu!

(I might have this thought for no real reason, I do not know why)

Think you missed a vag in the censorying, fam. XD

SPOILERS BELOW (edited to hide things better with spoiler warning)

I got the best ending first run but failed the Triste thing (I think I was too suspicious). 

Otherwise, I must say- this is definitely my favourite route for this game so far.

I LOVE TROS so so much, and, honestly, I found myself a bit disappointed with how TTOW was going about. Each route felt very much like less focus on Iolanthe and her partner, and more like the drama they were swept up in- even though in TROS it was very much the drama Iolanthe was swept up in as well.

Perhaps this route felt different because the drama made *IS* Leopold and Iolanthe's drama, but there's more difference to it.

I found in the other routes it ended up so much more a point game and less opportunity for roleplay. It became moreso 'get the good ending' and that Iolanthe's partner always had seem reason to question her, to not want her. Even in the demo, it felt very much like each route was just going to be 'behold a new problem in the relationship, the honeymoon phase is decidedly over and people are miserable'.

While I understand this could definitely be true for some, and not all whirlwind relationships will be happily ever after, I kept feeling like this ended up being true for EVERY route, and I was honestly scared Leopold's would be the same.

I was very happily surprised that he remained true and loving to her, even if she voiced doubts or worries, as long as she remained honest and trusting. That they constantly worked as a team, and that her opinions had more influence, though it still felt like, to an extent, it was a 'find the true route or fail' story, rather than 'follow your love interest and find your unique way of handling things', as TROS was.

I'm still very pleased with how this route turned out, I enjoyed it much more than the others, and I'm looking forward to the next few as well.

Thank you for all your time and effort into this game, it is very much appreciated. <3 <3 <3

Thank you!

What timezone will the new release be dropped in? :3

Congrats Wudgey!

I'd like to see the promised DLC from how many years ago out first. :(

Is Guillaume still on track for this month?

Aaaah I hope Rheala will be a romance option she's so lovely. ;^;

Yeah my exact thoughts. I ordered it, but lost a lot of enthusiasm when the game title changed hands. New game, but dlc of old one isn't out yet and it's been over a year. Smh.

Ah, I'm struggling! Bad endings repeatedly, don't suppose there's a walkthrough anywhere? XD

*eager anticipation* :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Aaaa how excitiiing!

HYPE!

I finished two run throughs.

OH THE DRAMA.

Bastien...I will say he isn't my favorite- I love Leopold the most and I'm very excited for his route, but this was very good. ...and so sad. Pieto was so lovely, and I quite liked his route with Iolanthe, but now I'm wondering whether this narrative will continue in all the routes.

I presume not, given everyone has their own drama, but I can't help but worry it's all going to be a bit of relationship drama in this sort of sense. I hope this isn't the case, I want mayhem and hijinx and plotting as the most epic lovey-dovey murder couple ever with Iolanthe and Leopold, and this was so sad aaaaa

But so so good. 

THANK YOU!

BOUGHT! DOWNLOADING!

Thank you so so so so much for this game, I've been so hype, this is so awesome. :D

Eyyyyyyyy!!!

Aaaa still exciting yay yay! :D

Aaaaa I've been refreshing every ten minutes or so. XD

Yay, this is exciting! Glad you guys are posting updates on itch again. :3

Hi, I really thought this project was dead, and abandoned, so this is nice to see. I'd really like a monthly update here, if possible, that would be great.

Will we get a new demo?

Thanks

Do we have a date for the expansion release yet? It's been a while.

Do we have an ETA for Thorns of War? :D Thank you so much for making this amazing game!

Regarding the new romances- how will they work if MC is already in a relationship? And will MC be able to pursue a relationship if married to Guillaime but not in a romance with him?

I'm so hyped! This looks so so lovely and so cool, definitely going to follow this. :D Options for PC getting braces/having a gap tooth/ freckles + glasses?

Woooo!!!! :D Will we be getting a walkthrough as well?