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nomaxart · 4 months

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Happy Birthday, Conway!

Happy 1st Birthday to Conway!

Yep! It is the 1 year anniversary of the release of version 0.01 (or whatever the versions were called back then) Let's have a talk, shall we? February 8th is when I uploaded and released it on itch. Why February 8th you may ask? Well, I had only planned January as an experimental month for myself, with the oil painting and the VN test. So I'd release it on february 1st... And then it, naturally, took longer. But I guess it works out so that we don't have the anniversary right on update release days.

The past

And yeah, what a year it's been! Thank you to all of you first of all for making this possible. Quite simply it wouldn't be possible without the support of all you generous peeps here. As it turns out, developing a game is a fuckton of work, and if I would need to pay the bills through commission work or what have you there would be no way I'd find the time and energy to work on Conway on the side. And I've mentioned it before in a few places, but for a while around May, June-ish it did look really dicey. The first half of the year I was bleeding about 500-700 bucks a month of my savings. The game didn't really pick up and a good amount of my walks were spent contemplating just when I'd have to see a sign before pulling the plug. End of June? Maybe it's worth to stretch it to July? At the lowest point, we were about a month away from pulling the plug on Conway. But right around that time, the trend in people subbing here started to pick up. While it's only in the past month or two that I've reached the point where I'm not actively bleeding money each month, the trend was the bit I needed to see that maybe people are interested after all!

The present

I've attached the itch stats of the past year. So those of you who would like to have a peek can do so. As you can see, Update 10 was a massive success at least in terms of numbers for the game. Update 9 was already the first one to break the record for downloads that the release day set, but Update 10 got picked up by the algorithms and sat in the most popular furry games for a while. Soooo, yeah, quite chuffed with that spike! We'll see what the long-term effects are, but for now I just enjoy the aesthetic of -BIG SPIKE-. And yeah, the game as a whole is just sitting in a good spot. We've had about 12k downloads in total, around 80k page visits, and a rating of 4.8/5 with 127 ratings (which btw, easy way to help, is to leave a juicy 5* rating on itch. Does wonders for the placement of the game in the different categories on the site, plus it gives me a fuzzy feeling in my tum tum.) It's also been such a joy to see that all characters end up having their share of fans judging by comments and that nobody is left in the dry. Of course, some of them have a bit of an easier time, like Samuel and Julian being the more sociable lot they are, and just the screen time they've had so far. While others like Raj or Arthur are slower burns and even they get some mentions as the favorites of some people, and that just makes me chuffed. Naturally, they're designed to cover different interests and preferences, but I'm always nervous if the characters are good, resonate with people and hope that they can be fun to be around. So any time someone mentions a character it just makes me so goddamn giddy. Some of them will be difficult to handle with grace, and I'm not perfect, so I'm sure for at least one of the main cast what I've planned will fall flat, or I mess it up in some fashion. But fuck it, I'll try. Not everything has been peaches and roses recently though, so I have to admit Updates 10 and 11 have been/are a bit of a struggle. I just messed up planning for my support writers, and it's been more or less just me handling everything for both updates 10 and 11. That's why art has been a bit sparse... Because most of my time is just taken up doing writing duty, and I'm not the fastest writer, unfortunately. Like, at this point, with the game having all the branches and 125k in total word count, the story for the characters and how they've interacted on the two initial days. It makes it a bit more difficult to actually get people on board in a timely manner. I can't just go and say, "Hey, write me a scene where this character and that character are involved, and they do that." Since a new writer knows absolutely zero about all the stuff that's been there before, all the stuff that's planned for the characters and all that jazz. So if one support writer is busy or just has writing block or whatever, it may be, my solution so far has just been going, "Well, shit." :') Not the fault of my writing buddies, of course. They've been absolutely invaluable and I can't offer nearly enough to expect to be the highest priority for them. I'm just happy they want to help out AT ALL for what I can pay them in return. I should have planned contingencies but didn't. Simple as that. So, I've made the decision to bring on another writer in Televassi, and also want to hopefully integrate Robert Baird more again going forward. With more of them willing to help out I will be able to assign things to people as they're available. Which hopefully will avoid me having to do whole updates on my own and take the pressure off of wonderful peeps like Rubric. So yeah, I learned my lesson there, but since it just takes time for people to get familiar with the Conway world and characters, it ended up with me being a bit swamped with EVERYTHING for Updates 10 and 11.

The future

Speaking of what's planned, then? Update 10 closes out day 2, and Update 11 starts after our first time skip. I don't know if you've ever looked at how slow these ships were, but if we ever want to make it to Cape Town, then we'll need those time skips. Not only that, but it also allows for characters to just develop in the meantime, and also their relationship towards the player character. While Characters like Nomax and Julian ended up having some raunchy scenes right away, it wouldn't exactly fit to have others throw themselves at you on day 2. So skipping ahead just keeps things moving, keeps things interesting because we can focus on specific parts more, and just show the development of characters at a more natural pace.

So the next sections are this first post-time skip section that subbed patrons already get a taste of in the WIP update, and then next up on the itinerary will be Morocco. Both sections I'm really stoked about! And I hope you are too. :)

Stretch goals? Patreon did away with them a while back, but we'll just make our own stretch goals, with blackjack and hookers. Just instead of blackjack and hookers, how about we talk Animations?! Hell yeah! I'm no animator, and it's not really a discipline I particularly enjoy either from the times I tried. So, since Patreon is currently about break-even, we can start thinking ahead a little, and I think the first point I want to tackle is some simple animations. Stuff like moving tails, ears, and eyes. Stuff like that.

So how about that, we're currently floating at around 1250 USD a month, and if we're crossing the 1500 USD mark, I'll be holding out my feelers to get these small animations into the game. If you like to contribute to making animations possible, consider supporting the Patreon over here: https://www.patreon.com/Nomax

Possibly animations, an exciting new section of the story, some more v2 character art, some more maritime menagerie characters. Sounds good for a year 2 plan?

I certainly hope so and hope that you all will be along for the ride, as it's been an absolute blast, and I can't thank you enough for making it possible. I just want this thing to be the best it can be for all of you. :)

#conway #visual novel #indie dev

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essencering · 11 months

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↳ summary: Tail wrapped around your leg, Leviathan rubs his face against your neck. It's still so odd, how you can smell like nothing, but smell like everything important to him all at once.

↳ Tags: Gender Neutral Reader, Leviathan (Obey Me!), Finds Comfort In Your Scent, Then Levi Dozes Off, Nightbringer Setting.

writer's blurp: mr. levi time!!! with mammon and beel having a short for this scenting/nesting stuff i'm writing so i really, really wanted to write one for levi!

Your chatelaine seems to have something new added to it every day. From the things that you need for working day to day, to little things that one wouldn't think to carry. Leviathan could ask for it, or find it easily on your chatelaine.

One chain stood out more than the others. On it are silly little trinkets that you wouldn't need. Little things that are from Solomon, Luke, and Simeon dangle off that chain, cute little things all radiating some form of protection.

A sweet gesture, speaking levels of care, but to see such a thing-- really makes him envious of them. He could also give you something, but then his brothers would follow suit, and the envy he would feel if they gave you something better would be... destructive.

So he ignores how envy burns inside him, smooshed his face as close to your stomach as possible, trying to avoid pushing his horns into you. After some time he eventually just ends up laying on you, all while you run your fingers through his hair.

It's funny, how easy it is to feel comfortable around you. How easy it is to feel like Leviathan is just... him. That he can be comfortable as a demon, that despite everything he isn't wearing another skin, he's still himself, just changed to adapt to the world he is in now.

Adapt. A very human description. One that he doesn't hate, despite how he grumbles, how he hides his face away while you smile and stay by his side.

It's funny how comfortable, and safe he feels around you. Warm, comforting, and above all his first friend in the Devildom. His Henry.

Looking out for him in small ways makes his heart weak towards you. His face burns, and he becomes a mess. An adorable and sweet mess you would say to him, and make him even more flustered.

Tail wrapped around your leg, Leviathan rubs his face against your neck. It's still so odd, how you can smell like nothing, but smell like everything important to him all at once. Home, safety, warmth-- everything he associates with his brothers, yet you were not a part of their Fall.

You stand before all of them wrapped up in a tight little bow, then given a title asking to watch over them. Angels were told never to trust a snake, but with how gently you treat him and his brothers it feels right, and before he noticed it he was less afraid of the snake taking him away from his family and wanting it to stay.

Having you here, felt right. The Leviathan's tail coils around your leg even tighter, tighter, and ever tighter... as if with its tail alone it could keep you here, in this little safe space for the two of you.

Leviathan wakes up, startled not realizing that he had fallen asleep, and realizes that you lay asleep beneath him, arms wrapped around him and-- his scent entwined so well with your own that Leviathan finds himself flustered.

Leviathan couldn't will himself to move away from you, so he simply listened to the peaceful beating of your heart, while his own heart went wild.

Nuzzling into your neck again, dozing off once more Leviathan wonders if this is how the love interest felt in his VNs? Happy, warm and so, so horribly in love with someone who they would never tell?

Just this one, Leviathan would allow himself a moment. He felt happy and at peace and he laughed for just a moment his envy could be ignored.

#obey me! memories #gender neutral reader #reader is gender neutral #sfw #obey me! x reader #reader insert #gn reader #leviathan x gender neutral reader #leviathan x reader #tbh i ALSO wanted to add levi sending a picture of just laying with the reader to his brothers #but where i stopped felt nice and right for this sweet dude #fun little music bit i was listening to if i cry from KnK while writing!!

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annbourbon · 6 months

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🖤 ✨ 🖤 ✨ Rika ✨ 🖤 ✨ 🖤

Let's start with Rika...

⚠️possible spoilers ahead, be warned⚠️

I can't believe I actually didn't realize that. I mean, I did it. Like 7 years ago, but I had no clue on how to explain it.

Besides it needs from Mystic Messenger Timeline *which I'm still working on, and trying to finish* to actually make sense.

Disclaimer: Please take into account that whatever I say here, it's only my opinion after playing the game so many years. I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or therapist of any kind. I'm just a writer, who loves to spend time analysing characters and stories.

I did asked to my mom to help me with this and the other characters because of how difficult the task ahead of me was. My mom, who is an actual therapist, did her best to help me, but I did most of the analysis here, since I'm the one who knows the in's and outs of this game. Besides, I did my research and I'll make sure to quote it! So give it a chance and keep reading even if you disagree with me. And then, I'd love to read your thoughts on the topic 💕

Narcissus. Also known as daffodil.

Should I talk to you about the dark side of the flowers and tie it to MM characters?? Anyways, Rika is a narcissistic. But also has a profound trauma. One doesn't exclude the other. Here's a quote from Mayo Clinic:

«Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.»

Causes: The cause is likely complex. Narcissistic personality disorder may be linked to:

Environment — parent-child relationships with either too much adoration or too much criticism that don't match the child's actual experiences and achievements.

There are other two, that are genetic, and neurobiology causes, but I'll be focusing more on the environment, which let's be honest, it's what is displayed on the game. If you're interested on reading more about it, there's a link before the quote and, on References, I'll also be leaving every single link.

So let's go back to Rika and please read the next three images while remembering how's her relationship with V, and Saeran. Sometimes even with MC, and Mika.

As you can see...

Attention:

* Creates the RFA. Receives attention.

* Creates Mint Eye. Receives attention.

* Says V is her Sun.

* As soon as she gets tired, says V's killing her and wants to leave

* Wants to mix RFA and Mint Eye. I assume is because despite everything, she feels like she's losing attention on everything she created. And MC is the reason of that too.

They don't choose losers:

V is a millionaire

Jumin is a millionaire

Zen is super sexy and hot

Jaehee and the twins are really smart

Do I need to keep going? Even Elizabeth the 3rd is one of the most beautiful cats ever seen.

Grooming:

Here's the part that keeps bothering me because I realized about it before I could actually explain what it was going on. Seven years ago I decided to play the game, and I finished feeling a bit too weird on how everyone was so infatuated with Rika... it wasn't any other person that just dies and then the group dies too. It was still active two years after losing her (?) Even though they have only know each other for... 4 to 6 years?

Some even less. Like Jaehee. Which randomly brings me to: She's an ENFJ so she does focus on details like Jaehee (Jaehee might be ISFJ, ISTJ or even ESFJ considering how well she manages around people too. But that's another story.) Her enneagram is probably 1.

I can understand Yoosung, but... you know what I mean. It was weird. And once I reached the first VN novel about V and Rika I felt even more weirded out by these two.

I don't think I can pinpoint it but I felt like Rika was manipulating V so I was surprised when I realized some members were tying these two as lovers and a beautiful couple. Do you guys remember V being surprised by Rika quoting "The Sun is the mother of all"?? Yeah... Even back then, for me it was a highlight of how messed up their relationship was. But again, I couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Until, now.

After Cheritz released Another Story, and Rika DLC, many of my theories came true. But still in a disorganized way. Which is why I created The Mystic Messenger Timeline.

I did confirmed one thing:

Rika is a narcissist and V is a people pleaser (that doesn't make him any less villainous of what he is, but I'll explain once we'll reach his profile. I promise.) at least at the very beginning of this story.

She probably has psychopatic tendencies

She definitely has sadistic and abusive tendencies: I have a hard time putting through her whole behavior during Saeran's Route and especially during his AE. But she takes pleasure in hurting others. V, Saeran, MC, Mint Eye associates, etc.

A bit of One on the Enneagram:

It is called The Reformer.

Because Ones have a “sense of mission” that leads them to want to improve the world in various ways, using whatever degree of influence they have. They strive to overcome adversity—particularly moral adversity—so that the human spirit can shine through and make a difference. They strive after “higher values,” even at the cost of great personal sacrifice.

If you think I'm too far off, then please check the levels of healthy and unhealthy Ones can have. They sure ring a bit too much for me on Rika's behavior. From Level 1 to 9, we can see her evolution during the game. But here you have a couple of her worse traits.

Unhealthy Levels

Level 7: Can be highly dogmatic, self-righteous, intolerant, and inflexible. Begin dealing in absolutes: they alone know "The Truth." Everyone else is wrong: very severe in judgments, while rationalizing own actions.

Level 8: Become obsessive about imperfection and the wrongdoing of others, although they may fall into contradictory actions, hypocritically doing the opposite of what they preach.

Level 9: Become condemnatory toward others, punitive and cruel to rid themselves of wrongdoers. Severe depressions, nervous breakdowns, and suicide attempts are likely. Generally corresponds to the Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive personality disorders

If you want to know more about this, check this.

So, why do you (player) like Rika as character?

Because it's okay, I know people who actually like Rika. I don't, but I definitely don't hate her either...

You don't need to be worried about it as long as you know what she did was wrong. That's it. Now, why do you like her/identify with her?

Things that might, or not, ring a bell:

* Trauma: Rika has a traumatic past. And you might feel like it's a mirror of your past. Hence identifying with it might not be something difficult. Of course this doesn't mean you are leader of some religious cult.

* Her willingness to fight despite having everything at odds. Let's not forget that before she goes nuts and starts brainwashing people, she did a lot of great deeds. Tried to stay positive and all that.

* Her kindness (we can discuss over certain things, but as much as she did terrible things, she also did amazing things, like creating the RFA to help people. Wether she did it with a certain master plan in mind or not, she did helped as much as she hurt and that's the important part.)

* She's just a great villain! It might be hard to understand for some people but you actually just look at her character as what it is, a character, and you're impressed by how many discussions and hot debates she brings onto the table. Understandable!

* Her flower means forgiveness♡

Do you have any other ideas for why you might like Rika? I'd be happy to read them. 💕

Also, this might be one of my last post about her. Might not be the last but I do need to finish with the Mystic Messenger Timeline, and I will but I don't think I have a lot more material to write about. So thank you for sticking with me all this time! I'm linking the main post on MysMe theories I have, I still need to finish tying up all nicely. But we're coming to the end. I'm definitely talking about trauma, coping mechanisms, parenthood, childhood and societal pressures but it'll be in other posts, possibly not even linking them to this one. Who knows? Stay tuned~!

References:

Mayo Clinic - Narcissistic Disorder Personality

Between Narcissistic & People pleaser

Medium - Beware a narcissist with a hero complex

Paired Life - Hero & Narcissist

Enneagram Institute - One

#rika mm #mystic messenger theory #mystic messenger #mysme #mystic messenger analysis #character analysis #psychology #character psychology #mystic messenger spoilers #mystic messenger theories

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chemicalbrew · 6 months

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2023 game list, part 1: I love complaining!

Once again continuing what has become an honorable tradition thanks to @smash-64 💜

I tried to promise myself I'd be more organized this year, trying to take notes after I beat things, making lists and gifs and everything, as it has become a consistent yearly undertaking. In truth, what happened is that I felt more overwhelmed by this than I did the last three years. The best explanation I can give is a combination of two facts: this year, while not particularly worse than what came before, still saw my confidence in myself tank a bit (i.e. What does this matter when few people read it and I don't bring much things of value to the table?)...

And the fact that I played very few games that really stuck with me, that I enjoyed enough to see through to the end and feel like that had merit, for a lot of the year. When that wasn't the case, it was more than likely I'd been on my nth playthrough of Katana ZERO of the year (more on that in a later post, hopefully).

I probably need help, don't I?..

games I played, but don't have much to say about at the moment without being prompted, aside from 'I kinda liked them, I guess', ordered best to worst:

Purrfect Apawcalypse trilogy (2019-2021) - series of VNs that's genuinely just good fun as you find yourself attached to the characters before you know it. You'll know if this one is for you at a glance. Also, this is how I found out about Panel Royale! LOL

The Witch's House MV (2018) - good old RPG Maker horror with a few decent twists. The remake has good QOL changes.

Gunbrella (2023) - the plot might be forgettable, but you get a gun that's an umbrella! What's not to enjoy?

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) - I played this game, but only in the most technical sense. Literally cheated the fun out of it - either that, or this platformer style is not for me.

Coffee Talk: Episode 2 - Hibiscus & Butterfly (2023) - the most upsetting entry on the list. The writer behind the original game has passed away, and his absence is felt keenly even if you're not aware of the fact - because this sequel lacks charm.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (2021) - yet another of those cheap and short indie 2D Zelda clones. The definition of the word meh.

Irisu Syndrome (2008) - a unique free puzzle timewaster. Tries to have a story and fails.

dishonorable mentions (the part with the most complaining)

2064: Read Only Memories (PC, 2014) [♪ Home (Not) Sweet Home]

Starts off decent enough, doing the bare minimum to string you along the mystery (which, for most people with standards, wouldn't even be good enough, but I was willing to stick with it for the sake of the neat audiovisual presentation).

As soon as the murder scene is revealed, however, the main plot starts to fall apart, and the longer you spend with the game's writing (which seems to go on and on forever) and characters (about as flat as a pancake fresh off the pan), the more bleak and yawn-inducing they seem (including Turing, who just took longer than everyone else to annoy me).

Do yourself a favor, play VA-11 Hall-A (which this game gratuitously references) instead. You'll get all the benefits of cute pixel art and upbeat soundtrack, but with an actually good story\character cast to match. I swear it says something about 2064 that one of its most exciting moments was seeing throwaway lines from a VA-11 character!

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (PC, 2015) [♪ Climbing the Ginso Tree]

This is a game that won awards back when it came out almost a decade ago. Unfortunately, it feels like it was made to win awards and little more. While the credits scrolling up the screen tried to convince otherwise - with the usual special thanks given to families and pets of the developers - I sat there, unsure of what I was supposed to take from this experience (once again, the less words you try to use to tell your story, the more it usually suffers!).

The heart of any platformer is its movement systems - and, while eventually Ori's tools open up just enough to make you feel at least a little free and alive in its world, they also never go beyond what is almost painfully typical. Double jump, wall climb, ground pound, glide, charged projectile? None of that is going to wow anyone. The way it comes together is not too pleasant, either - Ori's too floaty and the obstacles before him, while painted with a talented stroke, are too unclear in their presentation to make for truly fun traversal. The exception to this is the escape sequences - sure, a lot of the time they're not much less frustrating than the rest of the game, but they're definitely more memorable, to the point where the accompaniment to one was the only part of the soundtrack I could think to showcase.

I don't regret the time I spent on this, per se, but what I can tell you is that it probably didn't deserve the awards. Also, the way the wall jump worked was annoying! Pushing towards the wall to do it feels very counter-intuitive, and with this I found that I much prefer when games have you face away from the wall to register wall jumps, or do not require you to press a direction at all.

Celeste (PC, 2018) [♪ Checking In] + Celeste Classic (2015, played as part of full game) :)

I was in high school when this made waves. I pointedly feigned disinterest as it splashed all over the internet, while making sure to download the soundtrack quickly and listen to it - more than occasionally - over the next three or so years. Lena Raine's work carried me through my school years and empowered me, and all the while I hadn't a clue what playing the game is actually like.

Those were the better days.

Now, the things about this game that seem to appeal the most to a lot of people are how refreshingly simple Madeline's moveset is and how much the game respects your time with death transitions and reloading, and the story it tells through heartfelt cutscenes and gameplay working in sync. To which I boldly say... none of those things are good enough.

Having to climb and manage your stamina adds another layer to navigating the rooms, sure, but to my simple ass, that's one layer too many. To the game's credit, there's a setting to make climbing toggleable instead of requiring you to hold down the trigger, and using that was the only reason I managed to push past the hotel and Oshiro (call me a scrub, it was genuinely overwhelming otherwise), but it still did nothing to change how I feel about this mechanic fundamentally.

I get it, it adds precision and verticality to your movement, and, seeing as you're literally supposed to be scaling a mountain, it's more than a natural inclusion... but its existence did nothing but add pressure for me, somehow. I would frequently forget it's an option at all before realizing the room in question expects me to utilize it. Instead of feeling like climbing expands my options, I felt constricted and awkward.

My second issue is much simpler. I'm a spoiled brat, and Celeste's respawning process involving that annoying whoosh sound effect and a transition that, yes, takes only about a second, but is still not quite instant, was not good enough. I recognize that having it be truly instant would not be ideal, either, but I can't help but wish that was the case.

As for the story... It underwhelmed me even back when I was doing surface level research at the time of release, and it's not impressing me now. It's okay, and I recognize why it would resonate with people - the themes of self-acceptance and resolve are plain to see (and just as plain to mull over). But in my time with the game, Madeline never began feeling less like an avatar for my failures and more like an actual character, never changed into someone I would truly like.

By the time I reached the Mirror Temple, I was certain that this game, in most respects, is just not what I would ever want. I pushed towards the summit anyway, and left it feeling profoundly... nothing.

However... Celeste Classic did not have any of those things! That little prototype gem of a game wastes zero time trying to set the stage and make you feel things with ~a story~, doesn't give you any opportunity to climb whatsoever, and neither does it waste your time having the screen fade to black when you die! And these three things, I reckon, are key to why this smaller version, that's supposed to just be treated as an Easter egg now, a relic of the past, and to be forgotten in favor of the project it grew into... resonated with me so much more! I beat it twice! It's lovely! It's what I actually needed Celeste to be!

IT'S COMPLICATED

AI: The Somnium Files (PC, 2019) [♪ MonzAI] + AI:TSF - Nirvana Initiative (PC, 2022) [♪ Nefarious Institute 1]

You know how they say not to judge the book by its cover? This is a story of me learning (once again) to judge a game neither by its reception nor by the credentials behind it. When I plowed through this duology, I came to understand that sometimes, lightning might strike just the once.

Of course, most of my bitter feelings about it stem from just how miraculous of a fuck-up Nirvana Initiative ended up being as a sequel (it's impressive how much it had to twist everything its predecessor stood for to even have a chance at making a mediocre point!), but a lot of the disappointment came from the way the first game carries itself in general, and maybe even from the presence this game has among fans. 'Oh, if you want more of the magic and mystery that you so enjoyed in Zero Escape, you have to try this! It'll be just as good!'

I should have had my doubts from the start, given how little I had enjoyed the ZE series after 999. AI1 flounders in many things, like its obtuse, deeply unfun gameplay loop - most of which is pressing random buttons until you see the most ridiculous shit present itself. There's also the overt reliance on stale and perverse jokes, and a story that can barely do much except trudge to the finish line and attempt to convince you the journey was worth it with a trite dance number, of all things.

But the thing is… even with all that, the first entry was somewhat compelling during its runtime, though most of that comes from its bold novelty. The idea of taking advantage of the surreality of dreams to find deeply concealed truths is fun to occasionally ponder, and there's just enough fluff to the places you visit and things you do to string you along for the ride (though having to check the same spots for flavor text on each revisit to very little results is a deep annoyance I have with both entries). The characters actually got a chance to grow (if not by much… this series' urge to be immature at every turn is nothing short of ruinous, sometimes), and their designs strike a wonderful line between outstanding and cringeworthy that makes them just… stick out in your brain, you know?

So while I thought the song and dance (both the literal and the metaphorical) were ultimately not worth much, I was still convinced, fooled by the magic just enough to see things come to an end; and the resolution itself was satisfying and believable, if nothing else. And with how exhausted I felt reaching this point, I figured that'd be enough.

To me, AI1 is all about finding shards of diamonds in the rough, and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that its fandom runs away with what little they have to try and improve on it (and often succeed). As such, you'd expect its sequel to take advantage of how much room there is to grow, capitalize on this chance to refine things, and use the few strong themes the original presented (value of bonds and family made both by blood and by choice, finding those you can rely on to carry what you have done forward, etc)... right?

Um, yeah, turns out it twists over itself even more than I'd already thought possible in order to make sense (not to mention seemingly forsaking most of that mess right at the true end in order to approach the established universe from a contrived meta angle). If AI1 can be described as having extremely unrefined gameplay coupled with a decently intriguing story, NI is just about the opposite of that.

While I'm glad they bothered to make exploring the dream worlds enjoyable this go around, there's no way in hell that makes it worthwhile to bear witness to the innumerable ways in which this mess of a sequel sullied the already weak foundations laid down by its predecessor. When I had finished that game, I wrote, on impulse, that 'I haven't been this confounded by a sequel's existence since Chrono Cross'. It just… did not need to happen, like, at all.

Nirvana Initiative posed to me one of the worst questions you can have while playing a game, which is…

'Why am I doing this, again?'

Let's be real, it was mostly for the soundtrack. Unlike AI1, this game had passable music! Though having to watch ANOTHER dance number (like half a dozen times, actually! and no, there's no skip button!) just about had me gagging.

That's not even the worst part about that sequence, no - that would have to be the way it almost actively ruins and undermines what's probably the only passable character arc in NI (and even then, you have to squint hard for it to pass your judgement, given how it starts... gotta hand it to this game for managing to have multiple relationships with genuinely questionable setups involving uncomfortable age gaps).

I wanted to feel touched by the new, somewhat expanded narratives, I wanted to see the world grow a little, despite all the grievances I was certain I would have... But not even halfway through the plot, I realized that my true wish was to just move on. I think that's what I'll do here, as well, as even reminiscing on this chaos is quite dreadful.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Switch, 2022) [♪ Agnus Colony]

Don't become prey and victim to your own expectations - or to bad advertising.

Xenoblade is a special series, full of wonder and power. Words fail me this year, as they did the year before, when it comes to describing how much of an impact these games - the second entry most of all, a game I think about now and then with a bittersweetness on my heart that I oddly never can get enough of - had had on my mental well-being last year. They might as well have saved me back then, and while getting to experience them was something I'd been planning to do for a while, the specific circumstances it all had happened under were just so special, so exceptional, so wild, that it's hard to think of those days as anything but a gift.

And yet, there are plenty of things in this particular journey I still have to reconcile with. I never settled on what my impression of 1 is, in the end (or, some might say, I never properly played it); I could use a fresher look at 2, and… I never, ever, will finish Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It's a game I once had hopes for, but nowadays don't ever want to think about.

I thought it a privilege, of sorts - the fact that I was there to witness (and acquire) a brand-new release in a series that became dearly important to me. I ended up hearing many things - the trailers, the rumors, the leaks. They all spoke of a definitive resolution to the series, of levels of refinement never seen before, of intrigue so big you can barely take it, of key character appearances we were all dying to see.

Turns out most of what we were so eagerly expecting came with an extra price tag.

The base game of Xenoblade 3 is a mirage, a mere shade of what came before it. The environments are open and vast, but they look more drab than ever - and with the new autowalk feature, it takes even less time to get sick of it. The music takes you on a journey, but you forget what it sounds like far sooner than you'd prefer. The battle system promises lots of options and a nice learning curve, but it only overextends, overwhelms and forces you to grind. The cutscenes look every bit the part of a Xenoblade story, but meander and stretch things out to the point of boredom, which means none of the characters get enough time to grow on the player, either… Though a lot of them would probably go nowhere even given all the time in the world.

And the setting as a whole? Well, it's a simulation, so who cares about it feeling unique or fun? That's the point, the game says, you're supposed to empathize with these characters breaking out of their bonds, out of this miserable existence! Well, I say that things can be made appealing even in decay. You don't have to actively worsen things to make a point.

Future Redeemed is an impressive demonstration of how things could have been. It fixes practically every point where the base game falters - and it is in this part of the game where all those promises that once seemed hollow finally come true. Sort of. The exploration process is smooth as butter in the way none of the games before were, characters are at last back to having defined roles in battle, and all that teasing becomes a thing of the past as 3 acknowledges its own roots and past in full, and you think to yourself… 'If only we'd got this in the base game all along!'

But we didn't. And the credits on Future Redeemed roll far too soon to truly be satisfied. Is this how you wanted the saga to end?

honorable mentions

Butterfly Soup 2 (PC, 2022) [♪ Night Tourist] *I hope you'll forgive me for not finding a GIF for a mostly static VN...

It's so funny. For me it has been two years; for the creator, it'd been five. But I guess time doesn't matter when it comes to maturity, as I feel like both myself and this game have done plenty of growth. And for that, I love it all the more, just as I am now thankful to be able to call Butterfly Soup a short series.

Compared to the first game, the art is more refined, the tone is more consistent, and treatment of serious topics is more grounded - in more ways than one, this sequel is like a fond, yet melancholic look at what you once had, what changed since then, and what you hope to make of things. But between all that, it stays sincere and silly in the best of ways - the ones that make you feel cozy on the darkest of nights, the ones that endear you for a good while yet. Truly, this game was a ray of light in a sea of mediocrity this year.

Road 96 (PC, 2021) [♪ Hit the Road]

Yeah, I know. The fact that I have played a goddamn walking simulator at the behest of a good pal (who might or might not be reading this, hi on the off chance that you are!) is nothing short of a miracle. Not to mention the fact that I ended up having a good time with it!

I'll put it plain: the vibes of this game are almost impeccable. It wastes little time setting things up - it's the turn of the century, and a massively corrupt government is practically folding in on itself as it closes its borders. It's up to you, as you're literally put into a blank-slate teenager's shoes, to go on a desperate journey and see whether or not you make your way out.

Over the course of Road 96, you do this six times, and the people you meet on the way and choices you make with them may or may not shape not just your own future, but that of the whole country. There's nothing for it, then, but hit the road and see what awaits you, as you sit in a car that's probably stolen, blaring music from your carefully curated tapes… or are dropped off on the wayside with nothing but a paltry backpack to speak of… or find yourself biding your time near a gas station… or… whatever it is the game throws at you, as you hope that the strangers you run into actually deign to help.

Yes, the biggest way this game attempts to stand out is with our good old friend, RNG. Even reading blurbs about it, you cannot escape the all-too-typical claims of 'your own personal journey', 'a thousand unique paths waiting for you' and all that… months later, I find myself unable to decide whether this helped the game or harmed it more, as it's definitely smaller than it makes itself out to be.

As a story hook, this setup is clever and delightful, as I tried to illustrate a moment earlier, but the moment you begin to overthink it, you realize that the randomness aspect clashes hard against the continuity the game tries to establish. You, as the player, indeed learn more about the world and colorful characters in it each time you venture forth, but the avatar you control is supposed to be clueless as ever, setting out on a path that is, in fact, not quite their own any more. It's a weird gripe to have, and I found it an easy one to ignore, but I wish something could be done about it anyway.

As for the rest of the plot, let's just say it's... surprisingly binary, and the supporting cast small and not always compelling in turn. The game sacrifices some of the personal intimacy and uniqueness it has built up to make a sweeping, painfully boring statement of 'freedom good, suppression bad' before credits roll, but as damaging as that is to the overall experience, I feel like one can't deny the fundamental appeal of just being asked to go on a journey with sweeping stakes and truly, truly banging music. Seriously, it was meant to be put on speakers and blasted as the world passes you by!

In a word, Road 96 is ambitious, and in a sentence, it is ambitious, yet falling short of itself. Nonetheless, I was impressed by how it managed to worm its way into my heart for a while.

A Space for the Unbound (PC, 2023) [♪ Don't Have Much Choice]

Wouldn't you know it? I had actually played two games involving entering people's subconsciousness to solve their problems this year!

Truth be told, I'd been looking forward to this game for about a year, given that it was published by the people behind Coffee Talk (which, if you recall, I had quite enjoyed). The warm and inviting screenshots on the back-then almost empty store page, showing off awesome art and promising a sweet little journey with slice-of-life tropes and a mystery waiting to be solved… well, to say all of that was alluring is to say nothing, really. I just about jumped when I received a notification for this game releasing at last at the beginning of the year, and wasted little time trying to dive in.

The sad thing is, what you see is not always what you get. The cozy, comfortable, sensible vibes of the early game - running around the city, doing chores at your school, naming every stray cat you come across, watching the protagonist's diary fill up as he crosses all the little goals he had set in life off his precious list… Yeah, those things won't last - definitely not long enough to get you attached to characters living in this world.

As the plot begins to unfold, it fumbles over itself trying to introduce various cliches and supernatural elements, to the point where you recognize the whole experience as a tedious drag as you see exactly where it's heading, and think to yourself that you have heard all this before. It's yet another heartfelt story about self-actualization, and as the game hammers it in harder than ever before, you sigh and wish you could go back to the times of bottle cap collecting and cat petting. Sometimes, simpler is better.

Unfortunately, that's not exactly true when it comes to actually playing A Space for the Unbound. The gameplay is as simple as can be - basically all you do is walk around (quite slowly) and interact with things. I can appreciate how linear the game is, for the most part, but I wish it let us accomplish our goals without wasting too much time! Not to mention, if you try to see everything there is, you have to be prepared to deal with quite a few mind-numbingly repetitive mini-games for far longer than you have to. Don't do that. It'll just sully your impression of the game.

If you're somehow still interested in this after reading this messy opinion of mine, don't be too discouraged - you'll see plenty of beautiful sights, hear some cute music, and, maybe, be affected by the story far more than I was. (Besides, for a cat lover, it's always nice to see others appreciate them!) Just... try not to waste too much time with the game's superficial sidequests.

Tales of the Abyss (3DS, 2011 port of a 2006 release) [♪ The Distribution Base]

There's something ironic in how playing (most of) this game has been one of the best things I have done with my lovely 2DS since I homebrewed it earlier this year... and yet I quite regret not checking how (ahem) easily available the PS2 version is, instead. They may be functionally identical, but the hardware is not - you have no idea how hard some of the goddamn Mieu Fire puzzles become when your character is taking up a mere four or so pixels of an already tiny screen. Man, that was trying my patience at its finest.

These horrors aside, though, what kind of game are we even dealing with here? Well, it’s a Tales game first and foremost. I can’t deny claims that Abyss has a few strengths of its own (most notably, of course, actually bothering to have coherent character development arcs), but it’s not quite enough to obscure the ever-prevalent issues this series has:

exploration and side-questing is still annoyingly obtuse, not to mention traversal is painfully slow in the first half of the game,

some characters (in this case, Anise more so than others, but I'd argue Mieu's whole existence is part of this too) are obligated to suffer because Tales has to meet its unhealthy anime tropes\wackiness quota per game,

the skit system has not, unfortunately, evolved one bit (the amount of times I would skip a skit on accident, because any input halts its playback entirely…),

while I’m inclined to say the battle system is, for the most part, an improvement (the Field of Fonons mechanic is quite a nice change given the foundations of Tales gameplay, I have to admit), any goodwill you might want to give it gets shattered when you realize Free Run breaks bosses in half. And aside from that, it’s just your usual button-mashy fare.

So why did I push on with this game as far as I did, pulling the classic move of quitting right at the final boss instead of, well, any earlier? A lot of that is because I was just in the mood to mash some buttons in bed until I realized I was slightly underleveled for the finale and caught myself groaning at the mere thought of trying to even cheese it. A shame, that, because the ending of this game is pretty wonderful for what it set out to do, and it was the only bit I did not see on my own. It's like my experience with Final Fantasy VI all over again…

That's not all there is to it, though. Abyss has some of what's probably the most involved and curious worldbuilding (once you get past all the awkward made up jargon it loves to throw at you) of any Tales game I know! Not that this says much, because that's a low bar, and I'm not too familiar with the series at large, but it was enough to keep me engaged for a long while. And, as mentioned earlier, it puts in greater efforts than I expected to endear you to the cast as they slowly band together and uncover their own talents, purposes and aims in life - Luke in particular.

I liked him almost immediately - because I'm not too hard to please when it comes to this series, and his design is, I feel, particularly sweet and striking (especially given how nicely the game used the Important Haircut trope with him, and of course, the contrast between him and Asch). But that alone doesn't a good protagonist make - it's the fact that the story allows Luke to make mistakes (from small ones to straight-up catastrophes), get his comeuppance and grow from them organically, at his own pace, that makes him stand out in my mind.

As Luke sheds his sheltered ways of thought and accepts his responsibilities, those that were traveling with him, either out of obligation or by chance, begin to support him more and stand by him in earnest. It all comes together gradually and at a satisfying pace, and is definitely a highlight of the experience to me.

Growth and connection are probably among the biggest themes of the game, so it's nice to see that it applies pretty much equally to both protagonists and antagonists. Sure, it's the job of a Tales' Big Bad faction to be goofy and up to nefarious activities, but beyond that, the group has solid enough chemistry both among themselves and with the party that I actually ended up looking forward to most encounters with them, even if ultimately it felt a little predictable. As an aside, for a game this old, the voice acting was really good and plentiful (though there is none for skits, which sucks), and further piqued my interest in the story along the way.

To conclude, I'd like to say that the biggest thing I learned while playing this game is that I'm a sucker for grounded tales of (ha) self-actualization even this many years later. And also that once you play one Tales game, you truly, to some extent, know them all.

SANABI (PC, 2023) [♪ Warm Hospitality]

Do you want to know why I ended up playing this one? Of course you do, that wasn't really a question. I only bring this up because the answer can be revealed with a single screenshot:

...yep, the inspiration is that blatantly on display. I was expecting it, of course - the Katana ZERO community is the only reason I know of SANABI in the first place, and even as you read people's thoughts on it, the extreme similarity is practically all they ever bring up, be it in a positive or negative light. It pleased me and warmed my heart, while also making me feel wary - it's one thing to be inspired by something, and another to actually carve an identity of your own.

That said, KZ is far from the worst thing to try to replicate, particularly when it comes to visuals - SANABI has some awesome scenery that makes me feel right at home. And while the story at times feels so much like an amateurish copy that it leaves me confused more than anything (I'm sure the awkward English translation sadly does not help matters, not to mention the fact that I'd played this game in an unfinished state - you might expect me to write about it again next year!), the gameplay is anything but.

I'm sure there are quite a few platformers out there that have you use what's essentially a grappling hook to swing through the stages, but SANABI is my first experience with something like this, and in this regard the game absolutely manages to shine on its own. Movement is lightning-fast and responsive, enemy targeting is extremely generous - almost to the point of being handholdy (and, of course, they all die in one satisfying hit - as do you, if you set the game to the highest difficulty. It's nice to be given an opportunity to learn the ropes before engaging with the game earnestly!), and there's something to be said about how the level design has that extreme kind of clarity to it that I always appreciate and favors speed over precision, with how spacious everything is.

My only big issues with how the game plays are how it doesn't seem to be designed with a controller in mind (it is an option, but I found myself moving much more precisely with KBM! Me! Someone who never plays games with that!), and, once again, the just-a-bit-too-long death animation\transition. Being able to skip it helps, but I just yearn for no time to be wasted...

#celeste #aitsf #xbc3 #tales #abyss #zero.txt #yearly game list #flashing gif #.gif

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dreamtydraw · 4 days

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Hi!

Where do you get ideas for your vn and characters?

What is your favorite and least favorite part of working on a vn?

Well that a complex questions simply because I don't have one specific example. Clem used to be an old mc for the game black tarot who got canceled ( same for Aurore that I used both as a black tarot AND roadkill mc ). It's just that Sometimes I like my mc so much I develop them a lot and they end up having enough contents to have their own focused story.

Why did Clem and Aurore got a game out of all the other characters is due to the fact that currently all my games revolve around one main story ( the paranormal club ) and Clem was a liked side character.

This is a bit similar to Achik who is a main character of the Paranormal club story. It just happens that I saw that there would be a queer vampire jam soon and I was like "Hey queer vampire, I could use that as an excuse to give Achik a little focus".

Before being visual novel characters they are my oc but that not the case with the apple bag trio or Alioth ( who's game is coming out soon ).

Tulipe and 21 questions are an adaptation of an oc story in the form of a visual novel. Sleeping under spells and apple bags are Visual novels from the start, I created this stories for visual novels and everything is created with the optic of the stories being made for a public. The characters are made for you the player, not me the creator.

Now on how I create those characters, I start with design and general ideas of what I want to happens to them + their personality. The first character I created in Apple bag was Aissata and her design + story is a result of hearing from fem black player / creators of romance about the lack of romanceable black girls in general but also the fact that dark skinned poc are facing an issue of always being seen as more masculine just because of their skin color.

Second created was Rowan and I had to rework small design choices on her that meant a lot for the narrative ( without spoiling why, the designs change was about her eyes and hair ). Character wise I wanted her to be the opposite of Aissata to offer two very diferent options of love interest since the two of them are the more involved in the mystery part of the storie + are fem presenting.

Leila ? Their design is currently being reworked simply because they lack of character in my opinion, their character design is a bit too bland and I'm changing that. First intention was to offer an afab non binary love interest since I have seen very little of those on all the majority of games I played and by doing so decided to offer a portrayal of non binary that leads in being comfortable in neutrality.

Alioth ? Literally doodled him one night and went "hey I like his design It would be cool to make a game about him" and then boom decided to make a game about him.... That it.

NOW-

This asks is getting long sorry about that but about my favorite and least favorite part of making visual novels :

-Designing and drawing the characters. If you open the files of my games you'll see that for one outfit change the character usualy have like... 60 expressions ? That because I really like having a lot of nuanced expressions and since i'm the artist suffering for it I can allow it to happens.

-Adding cats in my code... If it's a game of mine you'll find cats in the code.

Writting... You would say that kind of unfortunate since that one of the main point of a visual NOVEL- Thing is, I'm not a good writer and I struggle heavily in putting words in what I want to express which I find extremely infuriating. You guys needs to give more credit to the editors as they are the ones who are the reason the text don't sound like dog shit. I have ( not confirmed medically but heavily suggested by professionals ) dyslexia which also results in a LOT of typos in my text and i'll admit I try my best when I write text but I always feel very shameful when typos are found, even worse when I repeat them a lot.

coding Ui.... or coding anything complex. I have a very basic understanding of Renpy and anytime I have to work on something complex I usually end up struggling for a long time and crying on discord to more competent devs ( aka my amazing friends Naarel and Miyuly )

Thank you for the ask and for reading all of that, Hope you'll have a good day.

#dreamty's ramble #ask answer #anon ask #my games #apple bag

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wolfieworld · 1 year

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4/6 Diary: Dead Projects

it's hard to acknowledge why something isn't working when you're in the middle of it, sometimes it's hard to even know why. There's a few plots that have been in my brain for years that I've rewritten and rewritten and rewritten with little success. I think a big part of failed projects is actually over-estimating ones own capabilities, for example I plan out mechanics that I don't have the experience to achieve, or characterization too far from my own experience that its not fun to write. I often plan out stories that require a lot of research and I feel like I can't write until I know everything-therefore most writing doesn't get done and what does is full of holes. It's kind of embarrassing to look back at stuff and just think "I didn't know what I was talking about at all."

Sometimes shit just doesn't work out. In the words of Pretty Boy Detective Club giving up on a dream can be more beautiful than achieving the dream itself.

Probably 90% of everything I try doesn't work out and it's been on my mind lately that that's a good thing. Of course in an ideal world we learn from finished works bc there are things from those you can only learn by sharing with others and by wrapping up a story and by saying goodbye to your characters but there isn't such a thing as an ideal world and everything we do we learn from whether other people see it or not. There is something special you learn from unfinished projects, the types you choose to put down forever, which is you are forced to acknowledge precisely why it could not get done.

These are all images from 2 retired vn/comic projects.

These projects are prisons for some of my best and worst writing, full of ideas with no through-line or real objective, and no real thorough understanding of these characters who I loved just collections of feelings and images and facts I thought were cool.

What is improvement? I'm not a person who looks at my old art and feels like I've gotten better at drawing, and when I look back at old writing I only really get the sense that I've become less cringe but not become a better writer. I think improvement is more esoteric than becoming better at the skills you use to express, maybe it's just knowing yourself better and playing to your strengths, and crystalizing what you want to say (or finding it in the first place). Aesthetics form naturally from writing and drawings that plainly express what they need too and they are drawn like blood from stone from work that is trying its hardest to be clever.

Personally I find these digital pages from 2020(21?) to be better drawings than anything I've done in the last two years in a technical way but it doesn't matter, I couldn't finish it, and I didn't know the characters. It's just portfolio work, it took me months to do five of them. They're just "cool shots" even though I didn't know it at the time.

As I get further into working on Youth Who Was Killed I'm noticing that cutting corners produces better results, there's more emotion in sketches so why finish a drawing, why design a logo which I'm not good at when I can use a font, why color grade the images myself when limiting the palette to one or two or three colors provides an unmuddied result? This is the kind of laziness you would think would harm 'improvement' but I've found that too much brute force is a highway to burn out, and then you're not learning anything at all.

Making art is a war against human nature I think, cavemen definitely weren't built too instinctually develop a five year plan every new years. However it becomes like less of a war when you work with your nature rather than against it. Maybe. I don't know. I really hope I don't make a blog post two years from now about why I couldn't finish YWWK. If that happens blame ren'py.

i drew my ocs in funny t shirts for the first time in my life so maybe all that stuff i said about improvement being that you become less cringe is untrue, maybe you get more cringe. thats ok with me i guess.

#meow meow meow #youth who was killed #that feels like kind of a scary tag and maybe i should use the acronym i will decide later

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cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga · 11 months

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Can't think of a better person to tell this to lol

Recently I had a dream about a romance visual novel set in a preforming arts school where each girl in the harem dorm was in an artist in a big project.

A purple haired Oujo-sama type was a painter and digital illustrator.

A redheaded twintail Tomboy was a writer.

A white haired girl was short, petite (like me! short girls rise up!), and was a costume designer.

And a blue haired girl had ponytailed rapunzel hair, was super shy and was a singer-songwriter.

The protagonist was forced to attend to get his parents off his back about his "gift for the arts" and had planned to flunk on purpose to make them shut up. But after seeing the dorm and how badly the project was going, his creative instincts kicked in. Turns out he is a talent for directing.

Now that I'm thinking about it does this actually sound like a good VN idea? Would you play this?

Sounds like a great vn!!!!

I would absolutely read through this...the lack of a ponytail is disturbing however gonna need a brunette sensei with one that's playfully prods the MC to try and get him to fully utilize his potential!!!!

#idk why i was the perfect person for this #im neither writer or artist #just an avid vn reader #ask

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burning-academia-if · 7 months

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Hello! I love the premise of your IF, and your writing is spectacular (Rook's backstory has me in SHAMBLES you don't understand) and I'm super excited for the next update, whenever that will be! On that note, I've got a question about making and promoting your own IF. I have my an idea that I've been working on, and I want to one day release my own IF with it, but I'm not sure how I would go about promoting it - I don't have a lot of time for writing, so I'm worried that I won't really be able to get it out there because I just don't post very often. How did you promote Burning Academia when you first got started? Do you have any tips for beginners like myself?

Thanks in advance!

Firstly, thanks for playing! Secondly, I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask about marketing since tumblr/the IF community ultimately did 99% of the work lol. With that being said though, here's some general advice!

Take time on your intro post. This is everyone's first introduction to your IF, and it's what net me most of my followers in the beginning. While there's a general layout to IF intros, I personally still went back and looked through all the IFs I follow to see what bits and bobs I wanted to add and what I didn't.

Be honest. If making an IF is a hobby or you don't have time, you can add a disclaimer if you want. Honestly, I think it's less about frequency and more about consistency. Pick a day where you have some time and answer asks, and don't feel pressured to answer every ask, especially if you're busy.

Also, be clear about the kinds of asks you will and won't answer. This is less a marketing thing and more for your own sake kind of thing lol. If you don't have a lot time to write the IF, then you certainly don't have the time to write prompts/scenarios.

Anyway, if you are worried about frequency of posting, set up a queue! Fill it with art/quotes/photos and tag them as inspo/aesthetic/characters/etc. This way the blog is still 'active' without you needing to be present all the time.

Circling back to the intro post: tag it properly. I jam packed mine with every tag I could think of, and I think that's part of why it got around so quickly (as well as the major IF blogs reblogging it as well).

While I'm not sure what you're thinking of using (Twine/Choicescript/Ink/etc), you'll have different options on how to market. For example, choicescript has their own forums where you can post a thread for your WIP or Itch.io has devlogs. Use them. While I don't update frequently on my itch, I do like to cross post certain things (the 1k follower short stories, for example, I put on itch. Updates are an obvious one). I pretty much copy and paste from tumblr to itch, just so people who don't follow my tumblr are informed to what's going on. I personally only use tumblr for BA, so if you wanted to try other social media then obviously do some research. I personally wouldn't use more then 2 socials max though, because it can get pretty overwhelming.

Finally, be part of the community! I know I'm personally not the best at this due to my own online anxieties lol, but just reblogging things your interested in and supporting others is always appreciated! I know this sounds obvious but after lurking in the IF community for years and being in the VN world, you'd be surprised by how many people just...don't?? Anyway, I personally love when other writers show excitement for other IFs, so I like to express that, too. It's also just giving back to the community you're a part of.

#em answers #em advice #off topic #sorry if this is a rant/nonsense/obvious lmfaO #I know some people go hard on marketing but I'm personally just here and chilling and enjoying myself afdskalfj #hopefully there was something useful in there! I know different things work for different people as well!

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cinnabuncollective · 4 months

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Some bunny... wants to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day filled with friendship, love and sweet treats! We have our own sugary sweet game releases to share with you too!

Stay tuned to the end of the blog for a bonus treat :)

Riddle Me Sweets! is a dark comedy riddle-based baking VN. It's based off a few fairy-tales and prides itself in being a fun retelling of said tales!

In this game you'll get to converse with new and well loved characters, ponder riddles and craft recipes.

If you end up with a toothache from the vibrant visual feast this game delivers - well, you can't say we didn't warn you.

Ready to play on itch.io here : Riddle Me Sweets! on itch.io

Craving something a bit more romantic? How about a love so intense it created it's own binary star system?

For this special. blog, we interviewed lead writer and concept creator Ashe as well as lead character artist crying who are both working on Hearts in Orbit: When Stars Align for more details.

Q: Hey Ashe, thanks for joining us on the blog today. Can you tell us a little bit about you???

A: Hey! I hope you're doing well! I'm Ashe Lucia (she/they), I'm a writer who focuses primarly on fantasy-romance stories. I have a love of otome games, enemies-to-lovers, and queer-romance. I'm also learning art so I can make even better visual novels in the future.

Q: What is Hearts in Orbit??

A: Hearts in Orbit is a fantasy-romance visual novel that follows two stars who have reincarnated as humans in hopes they can finally embrace. It's story of friendship, self-discovery, overcoming fears, and taking risks.

Q: How did you originally come up with the story??

A: Hahaha, so Hearts In Orbit was originally a dream I had. The dream was really short, I heard this voice telling me the story of these two starts that feel in love. They loved eachother so much they pulled themselves into a shared orbit, creating a binary star system, but because of their nature they could never touch. Their own gravity would simultaneously pull them towards eachother and then push them away from eachother.

That was the entire dream. I was so sad by the time I woke up I needed to give it a happy ending!! And that's what Hears in Orbit is! The happy ending!!

Q: Tell us more about the romance between Aurelia and Caelum??

A: Aurelia and Caelum have an interesting relationship. Since being reincarnated as humans, they don't have any memories of their past life. They don't remember being stars, the don't remember being in love, they don't even remember each other.

Throughout Hearts in Orbit we see them slowly getting glimpses of their memories but we also see their naturally inclination to push the other person a way. Just like when they were stars, Aurelia and Caelum pull each other into their orbits only to run away shortly after out of fear.

Q: When is the game releasing??

A: A brand new demo is coming for June's NextFest event on steam! The full game will be released later this year (2024).

Q: How can players get connected while they wait for the game??

A: By visiting our itch.io page (https://ashelucia.itch.io/heartsinorbit) and following me. We will be sharing dev logs and updates in the future. xD

crying shared that to design characters, they trialed various styles and elements and had the team vote on the best designs. As our special valentine's treat, we're sharing those designs here on the blog!

Checkout these and other games on our games page and Cinnabun Collective on itch.io

#vn #visualnovel #visual novel #games #valentines day #valentines aesthetic #indie games #indie #cinnabuncollective

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lovelyminako · 2 months

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A giant rant/critique about redeemable Villain LIs in otomes/dating VNs

Before I get into the rant, let me say a few disclaimers/notes. Tropes are tools. Just because a dating game or VN has a redeemable villain LI doesn't automatically mean it makes it bad. It does not and I will argue against that if you think that's the case (likewise if you think a game having a redeemable Villain LI automatically makes it good). There have been cases of certain tropes that work well in a certain story because of the execution and how it goes. Tropes very much rely on how you use them which impacts the story. This is just discussing times when it has been used badly and turns a VN that could've been great or memorable into something that's just okay.

With that out of the way, let's get onto the rant.

For those who don't know me, I play Genius Inc otome games. Their games aren't really consistent in quality, some are better or worse because they hire different writers for different stories. So for context, a lot of my criticism is aimed at them but can still apply to other VNs and otomes as well.

(Also, I know there are the female LI games from Genius Inc, I know they exist, never played them so idk if they follow this rule and it's only the men-likers that follow this.)

I was just reading Amon's side story from Lullaby of Demonia and it really just reminded me of why I have a love-hate relationship with Genius Inc and their games. They have a crippling amount of villain LIs that don't tend to be written well which can boil down to 2 main problems.

They make the MCs stupidly empathic for no reason.

Empathy can be a strength of one's character sometimes. A big example I can name is Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket and I find her to be actually good. But man, I find myself just shouting at the screen for the MC endangering themselves by trying to touch the villain LI's heart when their instincts should be to run or fight back. A lot of the poor examples of a villain LI romance have the MC just risk their own safety and ignore any sense of self-preservation for no reason other than the possibility of trying to redeem the villain LI and even more infuriating if the villain LI is a genocidal maniac and/or desperately wishes the MC to suffer or die.

I get that there's the ideal of "there's good in everyone" but sometimes, you need to draw the line or get me to care about why they care. Suppose you have this villain LI who has killed thousands of people and committed war crimes but has emotional trauma. In that case, I'm more likely to pity them but still hold them accountable for their actions because a sad story doesn't justify doing bad things. I don't support the MC trying to redeem them of all the horrible shit they did because as far as I'm concerned, they're a complete monster.

And a lot of the time with these monstrous types of villain LIs, the MC has no reason to care to redeem villain LIs, they just simply do because of their wildly empathetic heart and don't care what they have done to others or themselves which seems less empathetic and more childishly naive. If these VNs just gave the MC a reason to care for the villain LI strongly and want them to be a better person aside from them just being hot and let me see why they want to, I could still at least understand them. But they just don't. A lot of the time, these villain LIs are strangers and I just can't see why they'd get so worked up over them, especially since there tend to be other guys they can get but choose this one for no apparent reason.

Like imagine a scenario where there's a villain LI who has done horrible stuff and the MC wants them to be redeemed and be a good person. But the twist is they used to be friends or something more, hell maybe the MC even played a part in the reason why the villain LI is the way they are. The MC desperately wants them to be the person they used to know and wishes to share those moments of joy and fun again and keeps endangering themselves for that small hope they can touch their old friend's heart again and regain the person they loved.

Or perhaps the MC was in the exact same shoes as the villain LI and they used to be a villain as well. They laid waste to many villages and cities, killing dozens because of their own trauma/grief/backstory reasons. But there was someone who decided to lend out a hand to them and try to heal them and convince them that they could be a better person. And it succeeded. They let go of their villainy and atone for their mistakes, fixing up the villages they destroyed, providing support for the loved ones of those they killed, etc. Years later, they're now the hero of the story and are finally confronted with a villain who also has been burnt and is lashing against the world for it. And all they can see is themselves. So they try to use kind words and thoughtful gestures to help guide them onto the path they are now on and show them the light in an attempt to give them the chance they had, even as others discourage them and say they should just imprison or kill the villain.

Now I might not exactly agree with their actions in each scenario but I would understand them and that's all I need. "If your protagonist wants something no one else cares about, you gotta give us some emotional explanation as to why, otherwise, it just seems random." - There Will Be Fudd

2. The villain has a weak reason to be sympathetic.

Too many times, I've seen villains have such a weak reason for them to be considered redeemable or in other words, their actions far outweigh their reasons.

A prime example I can name is Sakuya from Soul of Yokai. While in the first season, it had always been implied he had a sad story behind him. However, a beauty about the implications and small pieces that told you he had a sympathetic backstory behind him without getting into the nitty gritty details was that the audience could fill in the blank. The audience could see he was a genocidal maniac who wishes all humans would die (for context, he's not a human), see small bits of pieces of "One day, Sakuya suddenly changed from being a loving person to a ruthless murderer," "This gift [an injured eye] was from a human, just like you," "You're not fooling anyone with that nice human act," and "You sound like her... before..." and immediately understand that a human girl met him (without anyone else knowing), he fell in love with her before she betrayed him and the act was so vile that he decided the rest of humanity should burn down alongside with her. That's all we needed to know and knowing exactly what happened would only just cheapen the entire thing because the audience could imagine for themselves what was so horrible that it completely changed Sakuya and he wouldn't dare speak about it because it was that horrific. Then we get to Season 2 just to discover that what happened was that the girl in question just cheated on him and suddenly what turned from a beautiful and alluring mystery to suddenly wondering why Sakuya simply just hated only the girl or just abandoned his love for humans without killing them. Sure, a lot of people cheat on their lovers but that's not an action that deserves death.

While this is a very specific case, my point is that because of Sakuya's actions of attempting genocide, simply not telling what happened to him was more effective than knowing he got cheated on because of the "Noodle Incident"-esque nature of Sakuya's backstory simply revealed that a horrific event happened to Sakuya which left him traumatised in which humans were the cause of the event which made him become a genocidal murderer. With actions as severe as his, you're expecting an equally severe incident that would justify or explain what he's doing. And in a case where your villain (LI) is committing literal war crimes, it's possible you can't even come up with a reason that explains what he's doing and you're better off just leaving hints at a sad story without fully knowing what that sad story is. Even if Sakuya's backstory ended up being something stronger, it wouldn't have worked as much because it's likely that whatever the writer made wasn't going to be as horrific as the audience imagined.

And to bring it to a more general level, a villain LI needs a reason that is equal to their villainy to convince you that they're redeemable. If your supposed redeemable villain has done evil but nothing horrific, then they can get a milder sympathetic story to equal to what they have done because it's equal although you can do something more extreme and it wouldn't bring down their redeemability. Have a more monstrous villain LI, you'll need a stronger reason for why they are the way they are or doing a Sakuya and keeping the backstory vague, depending on which angle works best for your story.

If your villain has an insufficient reason for being sympathetic, I find that worse than them just being evil for no reason because I can at least get behind that. Attempting to make them sympathetic just makes me roll my eyes that you're trying to make them feel for them rather than committing to them just being evil. And trying to make them sympathetic solely to date them just makes it feel forced and unnatural which is one of the types of writing you should never strive for.

#otome games #otome game #otome #visual novel #dating sim #vn #genius inc

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