> (and people telling me to off myself LOL)
KILLING THEM WITH HAMMERS this is horrible
I just want to say GREAT WORK and I especially love the title screen, it looks SO cool! Gidget is especially WOAHHHHHH with that sword (or is it a spear actually?) and determined expression (but honestly every single piece of art with them lately gives me the doki-dokis)
Genuinely surprised this is available for free. It's so good???
It looks great, the characters are SO expressive, the character designs are simple but powerful, THERE ARE ACTUAL ANIMATED MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATIONS???? (NOT ONE TRANSFORMATION. MULTIPLE. WHAT)
The story is very fun, and I think Tabby is genuinely the star of it. I love her character - I love the fact that she is far from the usual happy and kind magical girl protagonist but also that she is not _evil_ either. She is an angsty teen who is a little too stuck inside her head and is kind of self-centered (and honestly so are most teens imho), and that leads her to behaving like, well, a B⭐tch. But also the fact that her own flaws an actions get confronted,that her worldview gets challenged. And ALSO the fact that even when it's challenged and even when she does try to do better, it's still not ideal.
I also really like the more western-cartoony take on the magical girl genre; this vn feels like it sits in about the same niche as Powerpuff Girls and especially the more recent Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want to be a Magical Girl, both of which are amazing (and so is tmgiab). And that leads me to voice acting. I'm usually meh about voice acting - cool if it's there, as long as it's good, completely fine if it isn't - but I think here it adds a LOT and really helps embrace this cartoony vibe, like I am actually watching a show on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network and not reading an indie visual novel. And, obviously, the performance of VAs is sooo good.
All in all, I look forward to the following episodes and can't wait to find out what happens next!
Unfortunately it took a while for me to get to reading this vn, and now it's far from christmas... But even out of season, i enjoyed it! The idea of Santa Claus being a magical girl is Genius. The story was very sweet, and the scene direction and action was sooooo good. The battles especially looked amazing (also, and actual magical girl transformation sequence!!! omg!). The vfx were also great and did an amazing job bringing the atmosphere in.
And in regards to your devlog about writing a shoujo magical girl story in a post-Madoka era - I do genuinely appreciate that you chose this direction. Even though it feels a little weird to say this as someone who is working on an edgy shounen-y/seinen-y magical girl vn herself :"D As much as I loved Madoka, lots of titles that were inspired by it almost feel like they have a very cynical view of the genre and seem to look down on their more shoujo-leaning predecessors. Which is a great pity, because there is much to love about these classics, and much to learn from them too! So it's nice to see authors who embrace it instead. Oh, also, making the characters university students (and a university professor) isa nice touch too - I'm so starved for magical girl stories with a more adult cast!
I GREATLY enjoyed reading this vn, genuinely got so engaged I could barely stop myself reading. And even when I wasn't actively reading it I kept finding myself thinking about it and making theories about what's going on. Huge appreciation for the 2000s aesthetic! Adiaphoron is a great extra story too, especially because both Nina and Faust get to really shine, and it's heartwarming to see everyone starting to recover after all the hell from the main story.
I only didn't entirely get why everyone suddenly gained superpowers to the point of even being able to resurrect people. I thought that Mercy's bugs and inky branches were due to a mental condition, but it seems like not (or is everything happening past a certain point really all just a figment of her imagination?..)
All in all, I think it was an amazing dive into the topics of abuse and psychology of its characters, with mystery that kept me in an iron grip until the very end.
Thank you so much for this experience!!
Ah, finally got a chance to read it!
The demo was quite nice. I enjoyed the atmosphere lots, and the camera work was really neat too. The hand-drawn backgrounds are soooo charming! And I don't care what those stupid mermaids say - Ninon's mermaid form is cute as fuck!!!
Really curious where the story goes. Somehow that moment at the end of chapter 3, when Ninon thinks that humans are really nice after all, has me quite worried... But it might just be me.
Good luck with further development!
Oughhhh this was so fun and cute! I really enjoyed all the silliness and humor. Actually audibly cackled many times while I was reading this.
Appreciate the presence of Berek! Carrot Patch Games Epic Gay cinematic universe confirmed!!!!! And also, unlike OW characters, I don't know Berek that well yet, so it's nice to see more of him, and interacting with someone outside the wtdsr cast too. He is so funny! I love him so much. Can't wait to see him go through horrors and maybe commit them too in WtDSR!!
The Orlam fanservice in this....... oughhhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you for giving us both the handsome fancy and intimidating vampire version (being a vampire fits him so well holy shit (also his outfit and his hairstyle?? the loooooong rattail???? absolutely DIVINE)) and a cute marketable plushie bat version. I still wish that marketable plushie actually existed... MUST squeeze him... And his dynamic with Genzou is so funny here. Considering that Orlam was the one to turn him, perhaps that implies that Genzou was the one to fall first in this universe?.. I'd be curious to find out.
Btw all the puppy coding on Genzou is amazing. Being a pup fits him so well!!! His style of flirting seems to be somewhat different in this game. Perhaps because he took some rizz lessons from Orlam... But alas, Iggy's natural adorkableness (that he is oblivious of) is too powerful. Iggy is as cute as ever, btw! Him going on a 2 hour ff12 rant (especially visibly vibrating before he is about to do it) was precious. And whatever he was cooking sounds delicious, I gotta try making it too some time. He mentions "his jams about cannibalism and neurological disorders" at one point. That seems oddly specific... Is this a reference to something?
Oh, and coming back to the marketable bat plushies, Genzous bat form is so squishable too. More squishable than Orlam's, in fact... You know, I think I actually need all of their hypothetical plushies (including giant bun Iggy plushie).
I wonder if Hunar and Bucks will show up too... And would they be vampires as well? Or perhaps just normal humans? Bucks seems like the perfect werewolf gal to me, but idk if werewolves exist in this universe...
But, to wrap this up, once again, really enjoyed this vn, and I look forward to the future episodes! As always, thank you for the lovely reading experience!
Ohhhhh, Hibiki, I truly do relate to your painful experience of stanning a crazy murder blorbo in a fandom where most of the people prefer a soft vanilla blorbo... I truly do.
This was really cute and sweet! I liked the visuals a lot too (the movement of the train cabin is such a nice touch), and it was also neat to read the notes on the creation of this vn in the extra section.
>if you are able to charm Genzou enough he will change his mind and start falling for Iggy, too. If not, Iggy will get bloodsucked.
Oh noooo!! Iggy getting bloodsucked by Genzou! The horror! Would be TERRIBLE if I got that ending!!! 😨😨😨 /j
I am so so so excited, and the silliness only makes me look forward to it more. And please hand in there!
Ayyy, a magical girl vn!!
We have had magical girl stories with helpful and cute familiars/mascots, we have had magical girl stories with sinister and evil familiars/mascots. But this is the first time I see a story that not only features a familiar that's lowkey kinda both, but also even told from their perspective. I really like the use of second person POV here. There is something really warm yet bittersweet in watching Hope slowly grow attached to Rose, yet not really being able to do too much to go against her own programming and knowing full well where her fate as a magical girl is going to lead her.
Really appreciate the extra section with all the concepts, it's cool to take a peak at behind the scenes. There are more magical girl designs - was there supposed to/going to be more to this story? (Also, big fan of Hope's and Rose's designs especially)
i really wanted to play our cinderella first, but then i looked at this game and saw the screenshots and kinda just. blacked out. and now i am here.
the atmosphere is so bittersweet and heavy and so so good. and there are a lot of tiny visual things that i like. the start screen animations (the way there is no music anymore and just bloodied genzo standing there after you get ending 2?????) and the approach to showing the textbox, the dancing, the text animation, Orlam's sprites, also Orlam's sprites, also did I mention Orlam's sprites? also the AHHHHHHH when he has a breakdown in first ending. The second ending is particularly heartbreaking, and also feels like the "true" one (Genzou crying while stabbing Orlam to death... i am going to suffocate....)
Really effective work around the strict limitations of the original jam! Also did I mention I very much like Orlam sprites? I very much like Orlam's sprites. God do I love Orlam's sprites. Only a normal amount though, please trust me.
Ahhhh, I'm really happy! Thank you so much for taking your time to write a response - I can imagine that it's very overwhelming to respond to everyone, so I really value it. I'm very glad my screaming could give you some inspiration and encouragement, and I hope even more people can discover OW and your other games and connect with them 🫶
> I'd say Our Cinderella answers this to an extent LOLOL (on both of their sides)
Oh that's great to hear! I am extremely excited/afraid and am now looking forward to playing it even more!
Once again, thank you so much and I wish you lots of strength and luck!
A while back I 've played the demo for Where the Day Springs Red and really enjoyed it! That, in combination with some of your art, inspired me to check out Our Wonderland too.
Here is a thing about me: I often struggle to get into longer visual novels if they are not available on Android. Mostly because if I am reading something, I prefer to do so from the comfort of my couch/bed, or read it during travel, etc. Although I understand why many VNs are not available for mobile, sitting behind the desk for a long time jut doesn't put me in a reading mood... So I often end up getting distracted and abandoning PC vns for a long time, even if I genuinely enjoyed them. I was worried that the same would happen with OW.
Things is, my worries were completely pointless. I got really hooked by the story, and REALLY quickly. I got so hooked that I kept thinking about it outside of my reading sessions and alway felt tempted to go back behind my desk and read just a little more, just a little further. It was so hard to put down. And even though after that WtDSR demo I expected something good, I didn't expect that I would get into it THIS much.
OW was such a journey... I whole roller coaster of emotions. There were many moments that made me tear up, but the ending especially - I was right there crying together with the kids. I almost regret not commenting after every arc since I always had so many thoughts, but that would probably be a bit too much :"D I think that just like with WtDSR I am so amazed at how real and alive these characters feel. The fact that they are all in some or other way terrible people too, and yet they are terrible in such human and understandable way. Not as in, it justifies the things they did, but rather I understand how they ended up there. Incredible characterization. The psychological aspect is so strong too! Iggy's struggles with understanding himself and what he wants and who he is feel so personal. I related to a lot and even went on to do some introspection about myself. And coming briefly back to the "terrible people" point, I really enjoy the LGBTQ cast, and love the fact that you are not afraid to give them some very serious flaws. A lot of authors err on the side of caution (even though I understand why), but you don't pull any punches. And it made me realize just how starved I was for a story like this.
Genzou was my immediate romance pick, mostly because I was already biased with your art. But also because he is a cutie, almost everything that comes out of his mouth is poetry, and his moments with Iggy are the so impactful and have the most romantic vibes. What I didn't expect, however, is how much I ended up liking Orlam?! I see that he is (unsurprisingly to me now) a fan-favorite, so I apologize for being yet another one of those :"D But again, I didn't expect that at first! He gave me such a creepy, almost incel-y vibe in the beginning. But by the arc 3 I was completely smitten! I do, admittedly, have a history of liking horny and fruity cannibals, so I guess it was fate... Thus, I ended up doing a quick 2nd run to see his ending too (as painful as it was to reject Gen time and time again). Ah, speaking of Genzou and Orlam - that Orlam part in arc 5 made me so insane I had to stop reading for a couple of days just so I could calm down and process it. Just.... everything about it. The music, the cutscenes, Orlam's sprite work (HOO BOY, HIS SPRITEWORK), the whole thing about his heart, Genzou being unable to say what he hates about Orlam because it never was about hating Orlam, it was about hating himself, and the fucking HUG, and Orlam's breakdown after it, ohmygodddddd. I went FERAL. It is my hope that after this Genzou has at the very least dialed down the mean comments towards him somewhat and their relationship is at least a little better... I can hope, right?... hahahaha....
But my most-most favorite character is Collector-chan, of course! (Collector's part is just... mwah. After all the "obvious" dangers and horror, the calm boat ride and the more subtle, psychological horror of it... oooooh I LOVED it).
I want to say more, but it's so so much, and this comment is already getting rather long, so I try to keep it at that. But I just want to say that after experiencing OW I am VERY excited for WtDSR continuation (saying this while trying my best to not make it feel like extra pressure on you lmao), and I also look forward to diving into the rest of the OW related games!!!
It's so rare for me to have this much fun (or whatever you call the whole palette of emotions OW made me go through) with stories, especially in the current over-saturated media landscape. So I just want to thank you for this wonderful experience. Definitely one of my most favorite VNs. It hate that it got deindexed, because it's such a good story with a very important message, and I hope it gets re-indexed soon. In the mean time I'm just trying to spread the word and recommend it to my friends. Can't wait to reread it once the remake is out!
I came here after reading 4 arcs of Our Wonderland and reaching the recommendation to read this spin-off first before proceeding! Despite how much I wished to keep reading (I have been really, REALLY enjoying OW so far, but would love to elaborate on my feelings in a separate review once I finish the full story), I decided to follow the advice and check it out. Just unlocked all the endings, and I have 0 regrets!
After all the suffering, pain, death and severed limbs, it was a breath of fresh air to see these characters engage in some much needed slice-of-life shenanigans and just enjoy a fun little DnD session with a light-hearted atmosphere - is what I wanted to say, until I reached the ending. Gah?! I'm not entirely sure I understood it correctly, but if I did, then all of this was just another, somehow DnDified loop after all! We are back to hell and suffering!!! And maybe we never even left!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!
I love-love-love how this looks! The little animations sprinkled in, making everything feel alive and dynamic, and especially the ending: the music syncing with the visual sequence as Iggy awakens in Jerry's castle, the nose-booping (my favorite!), the actual ending itself! It truly feels like a big, climactic moment! One can trace your evolution here from a somewhat animated but largely static OW, to the bursting with movement WDSR. Oh, and the irl interruptions are really creative! I also love the outfits every character gets! Iggy's sprites are particularly adorable, but Orlam looks dashing as an imp rogue too!
The story was so fun! As I already mentioned, it's nice to get a small slice-of-life break, even if it ends up not being a break at all (not that I mind the suffering - I absolutely love it - it's just that I have come to love these characters so much I can't help but want to see them goof around together for a bit). There was plenty to laugh about, but one of the highlights for me, as someone who is a little bit into programming, was the eye creature's javascript riddles :DD It's nice to see Iggy and Ghent embrace their shounen rivals dynamic. Characters disappearing one by one, Iggy ending up all alone, and even the player's avatars being empty and glitching out was so creepy!.. Once again, the whole ending sequence! I am so happy for Jerry! For once he gets some spotlight! Can't wait for him to suddenly become the most relevant character and the main antagonist in Arc 5!
To summarize, I had great fun and 0 regrets pausing the main novel for this spin-off. Now that I got to take a small breather, I'm ready (or maybe not?..) to delve further into OW and complete the journey that it is. Can't wait!!!
Oh this was so delightful!
The cinematic aspect to this... I think it really shows off the potential of visual novels as an artform that can combine animation and comics and sound all together into something very unique. I LOVE it! It must have taken so much work - making all these animations AND making sure they all work just right!..
The characters are so fun and loveable, their dynamics are just top notch. You didn't lie with the gay tension... There is a lot of it, ooooohhhh there is a LOT. I can't help but want to ship everyone together. I think this is also the moment where I want to highlight how much I enjoy the expressiveness of your art style. There is so much movement and emotion in every sprite and cg! It really sells the charm and the relationship between the cast. (also appreciate all the biting between the characters - truly the highest form of affection)
Because I am so in love with these doofuses already, I am very afraid of what comes next... But also super excited! So far there is little indication for what the actual horror aspect will be like, but considering that this has been made within the limits of a game jam, it's understandable. And the characters + animation is already a huge selling point. I am really looking forward to the continuation! Thank you for this fun experience :D
A while back I played the prequel, really enjoyed it and left a full review in which in admired the work. I also noted that I felt a little sad that the protagonist ends up suffering no matter what and wondered if there is perhaps more to her story in this sequel.
Well, I finally got around to reading it! And honestly, in the beginning I genuinely thought I will be once again writing out an expanded review and outline all my thoughts from the work, but now, right after I finished reading, all I can actually say is AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHH HELL YEAH LETS GOOOOOOO OUGHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YESSSSS YES YES YES YES LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMG OMG OMG BDJFJFJDJDJJXJCJFJDJCJJCKXJDJDKXKSKSKOCJDBEUDUEHHEUFBSJAPQPEIJEJDIXJSJSKXNDJCJDJKEJXJD HNNNNNNNGH YESSS YES YES YES YES YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WOOOOOO YESHHHHHHHHHH NSJDJDJDJDJISJDJFJDJDJ OOOOOOO I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE THIS OOOOOOOOOOUHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NSJDJJDJFJEKAOQPWOJEJEJDIFIDISJKSKSKS HNNNNNNNGH HNNNNHGHGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYEJSJSKA YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH LET'S FRIGGING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thank you once again for the lovely read, and I can't wait to check out more of your novels!
I just finished playing, and woah!! The level of production is absolutely impressive. Just the art alone looks so-so good, both characters and backgrounds (and other things such as special fx and ui!). And there is voice acting too?! My mind is blown.
Unironically love the over the top pink-sparkly-rainbow aesthetic. In general, the whole novel feels very nostalgic, like I am back to my childhood watching my favorite magical girl shows. As a big fan of the genre, I am happy :D It's also cool to see how diverse the cast is. Really makes the team feel unique and memorable, and I just in general appreciate seeing a more inclusive approach to characters!
It seems like a really ambitious and cool project. I can't believe I got to play so many hours of it already just for free! So I wish you lots of luck and strength with further development and look forward to the continuation!
I have seen this vn come up in my feeds several times and for the longest time was curious to play through it. It piqued my interest with the promise of WLW romance and cannibalism, so of course I had to check it out sooner or later. Finally gave it a read, and I wasn't disappointed!
The art is absolutely gorgeous. Every character looks cute and pretty. The GUI is so creative! By leaving a small window for the characters and backgrounds, it really makes me feel as if I am reading through a fairy-tale book with illustrations. Despite being photographs, the backgrounds never look out of place and blend perfectly with the rest of the visuals. The music is beautiful, haunting. Especially the mermaid's song - it's enchanting on its own, but the voice becoming slightly muffled when the protagonist is getting carried into the depths of the ocean was an extra wonderful touch.
And of course, the writing. The prose is really charming, and I found myself getting hypnotized by it, wanting to keep reading and reading. Second person is a rare find and can be a bit of a gamble, but it works in this novel. I liked the narrator being her own character and even showing up in the end. Once again, it feels like I am reading a fairy-tale, but with a WLW twist as a cherry on top.
I can't help but feel very sad for the protagonist though. She isn't a bad person, and her life is very unfortunate. Her wish to find companionship wasn't a terrible one. So it's really a pity that in the end it leads her to more suffering, no matter what she does. I would be curious to read the sequel and see if perhaps there is more to her fate.
It's amazing that you were able to make this during the limited time frame of a game jam. Thank you for the lovely reading experience!
