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A relatively simple story told with great sophistication through its animations. The story and even the atmosphere felt very reminiscent of Night in the Woods, so this automatically earns points for that in my eyes ;3c

The characters are simple but well developed so the reader really gets to know them in this VN's short runtime. It's also surprisingly thematically rich, not only offering a perspective on being depressed and queer in a small town, but also reflecting on the modern stagnancy of small town America. 

And of course, the animations are top notch. They show what needs to be shown while also filling in the gaps in the writing. And of course, I'm all for stories that hide horrors behind cute art styles. Major kudos on the presentation. I will say, though, I'd probably add some color variations for the character names, because I admit I had a hard time remembering who was who at first. "Fucking Bastard" did make me laugh, though.

If I had to make one major critique, it's that this VN doesn't offer much in the way of sound design. The deep pulsing bar music is used quite a bit for tension, but it gets kinda old quickly. I would recommend adding some more music tracks, even if it was just ambient radio music for the gas station scenes. 

There's also not much for folklore here. I guess there is the legend about the peach pit, and other folkloric elements that are more implied if anything. I'm not really complaining about that, though.

Overall, very well made VN, with a strong story and even stronger presentation. I do love me some depressed small town horror stories :D

Okay?? Bye then 👋

THERES A RAVEEEEEN  *\ (0v0)/*

I honestly don't have very many notes, this is great. Pretty much any complaints could be boiled down to personal preference, so I'll spare that bs lol. This is fundamentally a fantastic VN. Great work from the entire team.

And this gets bonus points for having a raven protag :)

THERE'S A RHETT I FEEL SEEEEEEEN  \; v ;/

This is cute! Even if it's very short, it fleshes out the characters and their relationships very well. The relatively simple art style is very effective, and there's always something eye-catching going on visually. The use of music is also superb, between the common route music and each ending having their own designated song. I was honestly surprised to see that the music came from a stock site; I thought it was original. But, that just shows that you made good selections!

Blue pointed this out in their own review, but I do like how we get the typical dead spouse story of grief and acceptance, this time from the ghost's POV. It opens up interesting possibilities that this VN eagerly explores. And of course, the themes work extremely well here; I actually got a little emotional, so kudos for that! I want to hug everyone. Especially Rhett. >:3

Overall, this is a very clean experience that, despite its short word count, tenderly explores its themes and is more than satisfactory.

...And this is your first VN too?! Congrats! I look forward to seeing what you do in the future!

No problem, thank you for your in-depth review, and I’m glad you liked it! I definitely did go too ambitious for this jam 😭 I’ll plan on coming back to it sometime and expand the story to even out the pacing. 

It's basically porn. Haha.

Now look, I do enjoy an occasional porn with no plot. However, this feels more like smut with a haphazard plot. There's not really any tension and the characters are shallow. I'm basically echoing what Pink has said, so I won't lay on this too thick.

It's obvious that the most effort went into the presentation, and I commend that. The animations are simple but effective. That being said, the four wolves look and act very similar. There's not really much to distinguish them aside from fur color, size, and occasional personalized facial expressions. The sex is hot, though, and I love a good internal shot (even if the same one was just used four times).

My biggest issue, however, is the fact that this doesn't have any functionality of any other visual novel. There's no saving or skipping or even pausing. The game forced fullscreen for me too without any way to switch to my preferred window mode. The reader is essentially forced to read the whole thing in one sitting, and the only way to get out is to Alt-F4 the application. Now, I'm not going to sit here and dictate what engine people should use, but this major hurdle could easily be avoided if this was made in Ren'Py.  Thankfully it is a short game, but if it was longer? Oh boy.

I know the author was simply going for "hot men, hot sex", and that's exactly what we get. I did find it arousing, haha. But the barebones functionality really brings it down.

I don't have a whole lot to say on this one, mainly because it felt like an incomplete experience overall.

What attracted me to this VN was its framing as an urban legend. I've said it in another jam review, but I am a fan of urban legends, so I appreciate that this went that route for the folklore theme.

That being said, the story is filled with plot points that don't go anywhere. Why did the coroners look at the body of a completely unrelated victim in a separate room? Why is there an envelope with money? Why did the Lieutenant lose his ring? The characters also react pretty nonchalantly despite the supernatural situations happening around them. And then the story just sort of ends. The development of Jorge going from suspicious to religious due to the events is interesting, though I would recommend spending more time exploring the night's events on his psychology with more than just passing comments.

Probably the biggest thing standing out about this VN is the textbox moving to indicate who is speaking. It's unique in concept, but it becomes distracting when the text is going at the same time. To expand on presentation: the sprites are static throughout the story. I found scared sprites for each character in the game's files, so why weren't those used? The CGs rule, though, I'll give them that.

There's also a noticeable lack of audio throughout the VN. There will be long stretches of complete silence only broken up by occasional sound effects. To me, this doesn't really cause any tension. At the very least include some kind of deep droning track or a consistent heavy rain sound effect to establish the dreadful atmosphere this VN is going for. 

Overall, I do find the concept interesting, but I think this needed some more time in the oven. I understand it's a Jam VN, and I applaud the creators for their efforts. I'm just saying, this was <5k words. There's plenty more room for story. Add some audio to establish tension and more sprite variations, and that will enhance this as a horror experience.

This has some interesting ideas, though I do admittedly have a few qualms with it.

(Some spoilers ahead)

I'll start off by saying that I'm an absolute sucker for urban legends, so I'm glad that at least one VN in this jam used that as the implementation of the jam theme. Urban legends are folklore! The fact that this is based on an actual American myth also gives this a real sense of time and place, further grounded by the background photos of what I'm assuming is the real New Jersey Pine Barrens. I always love it when stories are set in a specific place and capture the essence of that area. This was no exception.

My main gripes come in with the story. This tries to balance slice-of-life romance and mystery horror, though it kind of loses the latter as it goes on. I'd say the inciting incident of the boyfriends seeing the Jersey Devil and capturing it on video has the strongest horror elements. After that, the tension for the Devil storyline just kind of fizzles out. The plot then pivots its focus to the relationship between Terry and Shane. 

I was the most satisfied with Shane's storyline. Between him hiding his disbelief from Terry and his mysterious past, Shane felt like the most fleshed out character. I will admit, I didn't see the reveal of him encountering the Jersey Devil as a child or the reveal of him being the only known survivor coming, though I probably should have. Shane's arc even has a Chekhov's switchblade that I couldn't help but smile at when I noticed. Although I do question the potential logic hole of Shane having a close encounter with the Devil as a child (even attacking it), only to not believe in the supernatural as an adult.

The other characters, however, didn't really work for me. I feel like Terry didn't really evolve at all. Sure, his whole purpose for being a ghost hunter is because he wants to validate Shane's past encounter. That's all well and good, and there's a real love in their dynamic. But, that's just kind of...it for Terry. Even when Shane's story is validated by the end, it doesn't really feel like Terry learns anything from this.

Finally, the supporting cast of characters. They're basically just setup with no payoff. We have like one or two scenes with the side characters before they're basically forgotten. What happened to Maria? What's Abigail's deal? What about the abandoned village? They're only used as plot devices to help us learn more about the Devil, and even Shane and Terry before being dropped completely.

All of this builds up to a conclusion that I found underwhelming. The final encounter with the Jersey Devil just kind of...happens. There's some buildup as Terry finds the abandoned house (which I assume is separate from the abandoned village), then the tension is broken when Shane finds him and tries to get him back to the cabin, and then the Devil is just behind them. Sure, the encounter technically closes out Shane's character arc, but he's not the only person in this story.

I've ranted a lot about the story, so I'll move on to technical aspects now. I enjoyed the investigation segments, though they did feel a little barebones. I know the author said they were new to coding, so I won't lambast this too much. The pacing felt a little uneven; we'll have long scenes of conversations between characters, but then the finale just kind of happens. The writing is good enough, though I did notice a few typos and missing punctuation. There's also a few parts throughout where the narration randomly switches from its usual past tense to present tense. I don't know how much experience the creator has with writing, though I will give a tip: keep the tense consistent throughout; only change it if there's a reason to, such as flashbacks. There's also not really much in the way of horror; it's kind of weird to have a tense moment with jolly romantic music playing. I will say, though, Terry is hot, and BIG BOTTOM REPRESENTATION.

I know I said a lot here, but it's not all bad! Everything I've said could be fixed by writing additional scenes to flesh out the characters more and have them more involved in the plot. I did enjoy Terry and Shane's dynamic, and I felt like they were the best part about this.

Overall, I'd say that Crimson Creek is a collection of interesting ideas only held together by weak connective tissue.

"- Referencing the 1693 witch trials instead of 1697 felt like a missed FVN solidarity opportunity."

I see you there.

One way or anotha, I'm gonna find ya / I'm gonna get ya get ya get ya get ya

Sorry. I had to. Mean Girls was a staple of my teen years.

Speaking of Mean Girls, this VN gives off the feeling of a mid-2000s comedy film. Which means it could either be terrible or hilarious, and I'm glad to say that this falls on the latter. This VN is genuinely funny, unhinged and ridiculous, and it got good laughs out of me. The plot is pure nonsense but honestly, who cares? There's a surprising amount of characterization here, which I appreciated. The hand-drawn sprites are also quite nice. 

And yet, despite being a very ridiculous twisty VN, it also brings forth an interesting perspective about being aro/ace in a society so focused on sex and romance. I really appreciated that. I may be a gay dude who's terminally horny, but I think we need more aro/ace representation. 

I could fix Fleetwood

Overall, very entertaining VN. Pure comedy fiction normally doesn't really work for me, but this does. I laughed. I had a good time. 

Absolute cinema!!

I do love me a good comedy horror/silly slasher, and I ate this up like I do a large popcorn every time I see a movie.

Cheers!

Listen, as a fan of horror movies--whether they're dead serious, silly, or somewhere between--and as someone who wants to make them someday, I appreciate this. This VN is goofy as hell and I'm all here for it.

This VN is simultaneously a slasher and a parody of the slasher genre. As such, it has all the things you could wish for: characters with the intelligence of a wooden crate, a cool killer, stupidly funny lines, and effective suspense. The story also sort of twists the "final girl" trope into a "final gay" scenario (can we get more of that please). This also gets bonus points for a twist that I genuinely didn't predict, though I guess I just had my brain off while reading and enjoying the VN lol.

Beyond the story, the music is cool, and I do love a good soundtrack (speaking of which, justice for queen Joy). The sprites are well done, though I would have wished for a few more expressions. I get that it's a jam game though and there's a time limit--Lord knows I do. The UI is unique and I liked that, although there was one particular line where the text got so long that it went behind the quick menu and I had to open the history menu to read it. 

Overall, this VN set out to be a silly slasher with some silly gays and that's exactly what it did. And I ate it up like I do a large popcorn every time I go see a movie.

Cheers!

Oof, this one was rough...

My main problem is that this takes itself too seriously. With a premise like this, I think it could work well as an absurd/surreal comedy. And at times, the VN seems like it wants to lean in to the humor that can be derived from this wacky premise. Yet for most of the game, it seems like it wants the reader to actually take this idea seriously. It does use the overall premise of a nudist society to deliver a message about one's place in society, which I can appreciate, but I just wish it was executed better. I would suggest leaning into the absurdity of the premise. It can be hard to use a silly idea like this to give a thoughtful message, but it can hit hard if done right (an example that comes to my mind is Oz Perkins's The Monkey).

Other than that, I guess the use of the visuals is fun. This VN did what it could using only pre-made assets, which I can kind of admire. The music choices were surprisingly fun, though I would not suggest using an epic battle song for an argument. The prose was clean for the most part; there were a few sentences that baffled me (e.g. "the hour is getting late", "it's time for me to think about getting a good night's sleep").

Overall, I'm afraid I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy this. I love good surreal humor and I thought I was going to get it from this, but this VN seemed more interested in taking its silly premise seriously. As a result, it just fell flat for me, even with the playful visuals and clearly delivered message.

Came for the man ass, stayed for the feels. 

This is a nice Western story with a satisfying end. That title theme was awesome and I liked the animated cutscenes. I will say though, I do wish the VN did a bit more to explore Javi and Nate's relationship. I get that this is a jam game and it's going to be short, but I feel like a few more scenes between the two that show their developing relationship would be beneficial.

Although the presentation is solid, I would recommend darkening the text box more. There were times were the text felt a little hard to read.

Congrats on releasing your first VN! That is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. I look forward to seeing what you do in the future.

Damn, this one was cool! The art was awesome (as per usual with Jimmy lol), and the presentation is fantastic, even with the default Ren'Py UI. Between the tense atmospheric buildup, the intelligent prose, the themes and the way the narrative connects everything, I would consider this a worthy entry to the Gothic horror genre of FVNs. Great work!

Good game! I appreciated the atmosphere and character moments. The art slaps, like holy heck. The musical elements did a great job of immersing me into the world of this game. The writing could use some polish (there were a few sentences that admittedly didn't make much sense to me, and I'm afraid I'm one of *those* people). But overall, good jam game. Nice work, Fantom Fandisk.

So those segments use the NVL mode. It sounds like the window shows up for you but the text doesn’t? I’ll look into that. 

+If any other Android users are reading this please tell me if you get the same problem. 

Edit: okay, I updated the game. Hopefully it's fixed by now.

Interesting. This actually wasn’t inspired by Fear Street, though I can definitely see where you’re coming from (I need to watch those lol).

It is indeed ^^

Source?

Horrifying in every way. Incredible art and writing, and a tense abrasive score that worked together to create an atmosphere that made me feel uneasy the entire time. The jumpscares in this VN were the first to ever make me scream, and I applaud the creators for that. Later in the VN, I even found myself looking away when I had to advance to the next line for fear that a horrific image would pop on screen. I made the mistake of reading this in the middle of the night and I ended up losing sleep because of this (I call it a mistake but really I don't regret it lol). And even long after I had finished, I found myself shaking, looking at every dark corner to make sure I was truly alone. No piece of horror media had ever made me feel that way, and this is coming from a jaded horror fan.

"All Under Control" is terrifying, unrelenting, and hauntingly beautiful. I say without a shred of doubt that this is the scariest visual novel I have ever read.

11/10, would love to see more from Jimmy.

Thank you for your advice. I have just added an Android build.