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Thank you for finishing it and for the feedback! I agree that the beginning is unfortunately tough to get through. 😥Maybe one of those "I swear, give it 5 episodes" kind of stories. It's one reason the Bonus Scenes were separated from the main story; I really wanted to write them and I think they add to the lore, but they would've slowed down the story even more. Thanks for letting me know that there are good moments in later parts. 🥰

The green heart is actually the dislike meter. 😅 I think Eidan is the easiest to accidentally annoy, but I remember I wanted Victor to be overly sensitive in some of his choices, so that checks out. The Dislike meter exists because I originally wanted to make a Hate route for everybody, but the game was getting too long, and worse so it was already buggy. 😵

If you're curious about which choice it was, the Advice toggle usually says which choices cause Dislike points. But admittedly, the only changes across in multiple playthroughs are just different character responses. Unless anyone's invested in more dialogue, there isn't a lot of reason to go back. 😓 But just in case, there's a whole guide here: https://papersak.com/zenocelproject/guide

It's really sweet! I liked the soft muted palette in all the graphics/artwork, the music was cute, and the gameplay was straightforward. I was nervous about making mistakes, but I like that there was enough wiggle room to get the good ending.🥰

You mentioned in the notes that both characters were based on yourself, and I think that's what made them more relatable. I liked helping Trip redeem himself by paying more attention to Nabi and how Nabi gives him a chance after seeing his struggle up close. I liked that even though Tripp envies Nabi's job, he realizes that even a stable job can be a draining struggle. That felt too relatable. 😓

And of course, the whole thing circling back to game dev hitting home for anyone who wants their work to be seen. 😅 I'm happy they worked together in the end. Great job.

Ooo neat thank you! After turning it on and some more tries, I managed to finish the tutorial level. 😆
I think the colors do help for the custom levels (although I'm still a ways away from passing the Normal song that's included 😅but it makes more sense than before)

I would sell all my possessions for Mengmeng. 🥺💕

I loved the art style! I like watching relationships build from the beginning, and the girls were lovely together.

Hoooooooooly crap this game is hard. 😵Like... too hard to even finish the tutorial song.

I'm used to rhythm games where the notes are in lanes, positions correlating to where they physically are. But I imagine this takes inspiration from Project Diva. I swear I've played that, too, albeit never at the hardest level, and the colors/shapes of the notes help distinguish which buttons to push. I think my main critique/ask here is: please make the tutorial use fewer keys. Maybe only the one line of keys for someone just starting out? Or maybe something like, color the keys to which line they are (red is qwerty, green is asdf, etc) so they're easier to tell apart?

I think there's potential to entice players who want a really difficult game! And I did click on this because "the entire keyboard" is such a wild, interesting idea. But I also think the first level could be less um... demoralizing. 😅It's completely understandable if this all gets ignored 'cause playtesters have already figured this game out; have a nice day.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thank you so much for this first, lovely comment. 🥹

The art has been such a roadblock in finishing the game. 😆 I've had to cut CGs down, since I really want to get to the ending. I think making a few images good will be better than making a lot of images poorly. 😅 But the main sprites already went through a massive overhaul since I started.

I've heard of Coffee Talk, but I never found time to play it. I'm kind of flattered it makes someone think of a big game like that. 🥰 I think Nekopara ~Catboys Paradise~ was largrly what prompted the character designs and the otome-friendship, slice of life spirit. I definitely want to credit Pokemon Masters (Trainer Lodge) and Persona for a lot of the inspiration, too.

At least, for the gameplay. For the story, I wanted to tell something similar to how my friends got me out of my comfort zone, and how I never could've imagined the amazing experiences I would later have after the lowest points in my life. 😅 Meeting someone with a tail wouldn't even surprise me anymore.

I'm glad you liked the characters! I think I know somebody better when they describe their favorite characters (which is why this is the correct choice in Ravi's route 😆). I'm glad they all seem unique. Celia was someone I struggled writing because she's intentionally not like me, and I'm happy that there are people who appreciate how friendly she is. Victor was one of the first character designs, and he went through a big redesign so more of his character traits would be reflected.

It would not hurt my feelings if the player muted the music. 😆 I think, as a developer, I've heard these songs too many times from testing, and I do worry that I should gather a few more songs. Music is where I have to leave it up to people with years of experience, because I have none. 😵 But I'm testing the ending, and once I'm able to update, I promise that that song in the last scene will be worth unmuting. It's another (currently unused) Keys of Moon song that makes me emotional even without the art. 🥲

Thanks for playing!! I hope you have time to try it again once the game is finished. Either way, I'm happy you already found so much to say about it. 🥰 It makes me hopeful that somebody else will like it.

I love how you used Ren'Py here! All the moving sprites and dynamic chat bubbles gave the story a lot of pizazz. I actually like that it was a linear story with a canon ending. I think if I had to make choices here, I would've gone bonkers trying to get the other endings or felt conflicted about the true ending.

I think the characters were fun. Trevor was my favorite. He just seemed to end up in the wackiest situations from the bully to the cat allergy, and he handled them all in true nerd fashion. The length of the story was perfect for my preference (I think it was close to an hour).

I liked Cynthia's struggle with her childlike fantasy and trying to push it into her past, but her dream ended up being useful after all. Personal preference, but I wish the big fight had been a 3-person effort, because I wanted to see some of Rose and Trevor's dynamic. Overall, it was a wholesome, nicely written story that displays a lot of creativity with the Ren'Py engine.

I appreciate how straightforward the story is. I only managed to get 2 endings, but I think I got a feel for Aya's character from that. The story is purely what it sets out to be: a girl working up the courage to overcome her insecurities. And her design is cute; can't have too much pink.

My main criticism is the minigame portion. I knew the colors were flashing depending on the answer, but I couldn't make sense out of why x was green or why y was blue etc, nor did I figure out what color corresponded to what ending until getting said ending. I thought I was stuck in a loop for a minute. 😥 My strategy was to keep picking the same color as many times as I could find it, whatever that color was.

Part of me would've preferred a single choice (per random section) that went straight to the next part. 😅 Or maybe finite/linear choices that are added up at the end.

Kaito seems like a cool dude. I'm happy for Aya in the end. 😊

(the same comment as Reddit, but for anyone browsing on itch.io)

That was a lovely, meaningful story. I absolutely love the real-life inspiration. You wrote it in such a way that anyone moving to a new country could relate to the struggles.

The music and art are lovely. Always glad to read there was no generative AI. The sprite assets were sweet and wholesome, and so is the music. I think you made the music, and the sound effects were free sourced? Anybody who can make music amazes me; that has been my biggest struggle in my VN. 😂 I think the song with the "woosh" sound at the beginning sounds unusual when it loops, but that would be my only criticism. I liked where the music transitioned, I think it suited the scenes beautifully.

-- SPOILERS --

I like how the multiple endings were done. From a player perspective, you made the endings very accessible (as opposed to some stories where the branches are difficult to figure out). I think there are two endings? Given the number of choices, I would've been interested in a third ending. Maybe a neutral ending where the protagonist struggles to fit in because they're always wishing for more (if you answer all the questions in favor of Limeria except for the main choice). Or maybe an even happier ending where the protagonist finds the track to being a designer again, if you answer all the questions in favor of your new life. I think the ending only changes based on one decision, but a different ending that utilizes all the choices would've been interesting. Maybe there is a third ending, and I didn't find it. 😅

I read another comment that said they wished Limeria was explained more, but I disagree. I think, given the good pacing of the story, I was satisfied with the explanation. I loved how you tied together Alicia's story after the foreshadowing. It raised more questions, but they're the kind of questions I like going unanswered. I do wonder how it started and maybe if there's some way to reverse the disappearances, but I think answering those questions would've made the story too long. If the you really wanted to revisit this concept, I think you set up the base for a great sequel.

But at its core, I feel like you wanted to tell a story about migrating to a new place, starting from nothing, and overcoming the pain, loneliness, etc that comes with it. And you did that wonderfully. Thank you for sharing your story.

And I really appreciate how you fit it all into about an hour. I didn't have to worry about being too busy to play it, and I felt like it was complete.

I stream Wednesday nights (US Central) on Twitch at https://twitch.tv/papersak ! It's usually art, so I think a relaxing little gecko would suit it. 🥰

Omg I love this gecko art and animation so much 🥺💕 the way the little tongue follows the mouse is too precious

It did freeze once on the gecko eating a fly. I think I had it on for an hour or two, and it happened while I wasn't paying much attention. I was still able to exit without force closing it, but the game just wouldn't progress at all. I've had it on for another hour or two today, and it's still running fine. Not sure if there's a crash log that would still be around for debugging, but it wasn't detrimental to me or anything. I'm playing the Windows version.

This is so cute, though; I wanna put this on the corner on stream or something 🥰

Question because I couldn't find the credits: where was AI used in the game? I figured out the art was AI based on your other work, but was generative AI used in any of the writing? I just want to give feedback on the human-made element(s).

I finally had time to play 2/4 routes! I was really excited not just from the designs, but because you sounded so passionate about the characters and giving them depth on Reddit and stuff. 🥰 The CGs are precious and extra special. I'm excited for more of them!

I really like Rosea! Her design is beautiful. I wanna protect her from all these nasty magic surprises. 🥺 I hope we get more of her backstory! I imagine there's a lot to unpack, and I like the pace at which the stories reveal the past.

(vague/fun spoilers)

and you CAN'T just

give me a strong man with nice abs and a pet bird (the cutest bird)

and say he's "actually sensitive" and give him a hug CG

and not expect me to be powerless. 😭💕 that's so many oddly specific boxes to check rofl

Clematis is the best (unless we count Poppy. I would commit crimes for Poppy). I swore I'd try one Faith route even though the Kaffirans come across as so gosh darn mean, but I settled on Glady. He's sweet as a batch of cupcakes. I imagine he's getting a hug CG in the future, right? 🥺 I'm rooting for their redemption arcs. But Zinnia did *not* like me in my first playthrough lol I sassed his Bloom scale into the negative 😆

Dude your Pixabay search went waaaaaay nicer than mine did months ago, what did you type in? 😆 I had to immediately open up the credits and see where the menu music came from.

It was a really sweet story. I like the simple but crucial attention to the background, made it loads more immersive. 🥰 It's just characters sharing their feelings and I eat that stuff up.

I imagine I got a neutral ending and I want the others. Or at least the best one. 🥺 I wonder how many tries it'll take...

Thank you for sharing on Reddit! It's amazing how you managed to make a complete story in such short text, with plenty of heart to make me feel for the characters. The music is lovely. 🥺💕