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the worst best game or the best worst game? we go live to the world's most renowned philosophers to resolve this debate.

It might just be one of those things you need to experience to understand lol

We really appreciate you taking the time to leave your feedback and review! I haven't done the best job of promoting the game if people are only discovering it via random image searches lol, but I'm glad for your happy accident! It took four years to really put the game together, but knowing it kept you on your toes makes the struggle worthwhile. I'll check out your review when I have some time, but thanks for pushing more people to play it! Be sure to leave a rating if you have a minute! 

Thank you so much for the kind words! We're really happy to know you're having a great time! Glad you enjoyed our little shout-out to RE4 VR lol. Pace out your funny bone, because you're only around Episode 10 of 42 and I dare say it gets better as it goes. We didn't spend four years on this game not to throw in some surprises! ;) 

Since user 774 was kind enough to leave this review, and itch weirdly does not display reviews, I'm posting it on their behalf. Appreciate your kind feedback, 774! 

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Note: fast and loose review, I apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors! This game is insane. It truly takes the cake out of the various fangames I've played as a product of labor and love. 

It is basically a play-by-play of the original game from Ashley's perspective which is simultaneously trying to explain all the "videogame-isms" of the plot, witticisms every textbox, sympathy for Ashley's position and an actual look at her inner character (since the game itself never let you see much of her internal voice), references galore (resident evil and videogames in general), and of course major thirsting. There's a joke almost every line, to the point that for every 1 that doesn't land 5 more do. In terms of branching content, there is enough to justify 2 full-ish playthroughs (second one can skip to the first branching point). The convenient episode select system allows you to skip to Luis' and the solo endings quite easily so I would recommend playing Leon's route first. 

I still can't quite believe the level of work it would have taken to make the game feel practically like you're playing the original game. It's clear it would only have been possible with the engine chosen - the amount of video/gif backgrounds, audio files, models extracted, rigged, edited, and photoshopped is overwhelming. There is also plenty of original art assets made for the game as well. Unfortunately this does mean that the game occasionally chugs a little attempting to load such large assets, but as long as you're patient and don't try to click too fast through it, it's not a major issue. The UI can also be a little clunky, but it doesn't ruin the experience.

Favorite moments: Meeting Leon and his barrel blast addiction; Ashley's "meditations" and dreams; meeting Luis and Ashley's "Violent Reaction"; all of Ashley's alter egos but special shout outs to Trashley, Slashley, and Smashley; Ashley Graham Ace Attorney, Ashley trying to mind manipulate Leon to let her do something to him (I laughed for like 10 minutes over it), everytime heavy metal played in the background, Saddleon, and various moments in the last few episodes I do not want to spoil because they are utterly glorious.  TL;DR: 100% worth playing. Obviously, you'll get a lot more out of it if you've played the original Re4 (or at least know the plot) or resident evil games in general; but I think this game would be fun for pretty much anyone who enjoys videogames or otome games. It's that good.

hey spudomie! thanks for stopping by with those very kind words! we're flattered to know the game still holds up once you've got some resident evil games under your belt lol. glad to also know that you managed to get the bonus scenes, 'cause i still worry that i made the puzzle too obtuse. now, of course, i feel bad that i never finished that extended ace attorney bonus scene lol (i got about 50% done and then moved on to other things) - maybe i'll slip that into another update when the remake comes out.

we're also excited to see how the remake updates ashley's character - and really, the only direction to go is up - but it makes us secretly happy to know you'll be critiquing capcom's rendition against our own. ;) 

<3 trashley/cashley. did you happen to take the other path to see the other alter egos? 

be sure to leave an itch review if you have a minute! (the game page was redone earlier in the year, so any prior reviews were reset). thanks again for playing and supporting otome edition! as ashley would say, "dios bless". :)

we're glad you had a good time! thanks for your rating!

Thanks for asking! Sorry that the Mega download isn't working for you, but I would think the Mirror (hosted on OneDrive) should work. I double-checked and see now that the public link had expired. I've updated it so give that a try and let me know if it works!

lol not a problem. if there's any stuff that you'd like as a memento, hit us up on discord or our email (developer[at]shimmersoft[dot]com) and we'll set you up.

Your happiness is our happiness, bestie lol. Glad to know you were able to be mind-blown in the company of friends. Thank you for the kind words and well wishes (we're trying to enjoy life, but it's tough!), and for giving ashley a chance to be loved! Be sure to leave a review if you get a chance - and have a little gift, for posterity. :)

Awesome, glad that everything worked! Hope you enjoyed the bonus scenes, too (I know one of them is technically not finished, I may put out another update one of these days to resolve that lol). Be sure to leave a review and tell your friends!

Hey! Thank you for playing the game and the kind words! We're thrilled to know you're enjoying it! :)

About the unlocks, don't worry! If anything, it sounds like I need to go back and make that a little clearer lol. No, the unlock is immediate and you don't need to continue playing. But when it says something like "3 unlocks", that means there are three separate conditions to meet to unlock the full picture. The flashing pictures are supposed to give a vague clue about which episodes the unlocks happen in, but I'll add a little color:

#5: There are two items you can fill the hole with, or avoid filling it at all.

#6: The first two are just choices to let Leon "handle things"; for the third, what happens if you just let Leon attack things like he loves to do? :D

#7: The "gifts" are the three gondola items that Leon offers. The bass is obvious, but what if you have one of those other items when facing the regenerator or Saddleon?

#8: This one's really just about that split path in the woods. You can basically jump to the different versions of episodes 13/14 and 25/26 to unlock whatever you're missing here.

#9: In the 9th episode of each chapter, there's always pain if you're looking closely for it (there's something to click on a specific background image, usually only for 1-2 frames; sometimes flashing). ;)

Let me know if that helps you finish!

Thank you so much for the kind words! We appreciate you giving our rendition of Ashley a chance to be loved. :) Now we can all enjoy knowing that Ashley is having a rich inner life while we're stupidly breaking barrels lol. Be sure to leave a rating and tell your friends! (assuming they won't look at you funny)

I assume you tried the alternative OneDrive download link?

Glad to hear you're enjoying Ashley's version of events, silly as they might be! (and bound to get sillier, ha.) Hope you'll see it through to the end! :)

You've got the right attitude!

hey anywynn! yes, indeed, time needs to chill the hell out lol. at least leon is immune to these damn temporal forces!

From one maker of RE visual novels to another, congrats on the update!

fortunately, the game's plot has about the same depth as leon's hair part and otome edition gives enough detail that you'll know basically what's going on. good luck scoring that himbo! :)

Awesome! Hope you have fun with the rest of the game! And don't worry, this is a judgment-free space. ;)

Hey! Sorry you ran into that trouble! I just added an alternative download option for the Windows version - give that a shot and let me know if it works (granted, I am concerned you'll encounter the same issue as Mega due to your Internet resisting the large download). If it doesn't work, I may have to try something else, like breaking the game into chunks and letting you reassemble them. Let me know!

We're really happy to hear you had a good time! Whose ending(s) did you get? Any particular episode that got the most chuckles or surprise out of you? :)

To be fair, you couldn't have really completed the puzzle because I just discovered some broken elements lol. I've quietly spent the day correcting issues and I think I've got everything covered. If you want a go at it, you should try installing the patch file I just added to Itch, or you can also just download a fresh copy, which has all the changes included (anything you've unlocked so far will be preserved, don't worry). 

I tried to avoid making the puzzle clues too obtuse, but I'll be happy to give you any extra hints! Otherwise, if you just want to see the bonus content without all the struggle, you can reach out to me via email, Discord, or Twitter and I'll send you a cheat code. ;)

Really appreciate you giving the game a chance! Hope you'll tell your friends and consider our other games!

I'm pretty sure I'm legally obligated to tell you to go play RE4, so Capcom doesn't think I'm trying to deprive them of sales on a 15-year-old game lol. 

But we're glad you like seeing things from Ashley's perspective! We also felt it was important for her to regain some agency, since the game itself treats her so poorly. 

Of course, since we're following the game's original plot, most of the "romance" is, well, in Ashley's brain lol. But some of your decisions are improving your chances  of getting a guy's ending, so stay diligent!

Thank you, glad you've enjoyed it! Hopefully everything made sufficient sense, even with only a cursory memory of RE4. Did you manage to romance anybody? Or maybe everybody?

Awesome! Yeah, I'd recommend the Windows version unless you just have good Internet speed or just really want to play it on a tablet/phone in bed (which is viable). Hope you enjoy!

it seems like you've found the world's longest love letter masquerading as a shitpost, lol. or maybe it's the other way around. you can tell us after you play it. ;)

Content-wise, I'd say it's largely PG13. Some upper body male nudity, cursing, snippets of RE4's inherent violence. 

But would I want to explain the premise to a coworker who happened to walk by? Hell no lol. 

Hope that helps!

Heartlines is a fantasy romance visual novel that blends synthwave and naturalistic aesthetics to create a compelling roadtrip story between two characters: Lazze (female), a lone wolf courier with a reputation for unsavory assignments; and Viri (male), a flirty and enigmatic fae who needs transport for unknown reasons. It's in early development, but we're working on a demo and hope to release in 2022. Please follow along for updates if you're interested!

If the publisher doesn't DMCA you at least once, are you even a parody otome game? *cries internally*