I was a bit confused by the story at first, but then I slowly understood, it’s an intriguing story. Also cute sprites btw! Jesper is a cutie 💚

Gotta say the whole solar punk theme and premise are thought-provoking, but I genuinely think that the story is floating in the work-of-literature realm rather than that of a game, especially a visual novel.

Don't get me wrong though, the visuals in ParaBEN are great. I'd argue the sprites and the main menu are some of the best art among all the entries. They communicate the vibe very well and it's present throughout the gameplay. 

It's just that I'll probably enjoy the story better if it's packaged in a written, sci-fi novel. I couldn't connect to the characters on an emotional level. Perhaps it's because there stakes are not high enough. Perhaps it's because I found the... concept (?), idea (?), I don't know how to say it, but I found that part more interesting than the actual characters. Maybe it's a mix of everything.

Regardless of all that, ParaBEN is an enjoyable read and it's probably one of the boldest entry on this jam.

The structure of the story is working, but I feel like it's not enough to make it as good as it could have been : we are too far from the events narrated by the patient so we can't form an emotional bond with him. Maybe you could have made him relieved some of his memories ?

The dialogues are realistic and the plot is very interesting, you found a good piece of story for the theme. I liked it, I'll read your next one

The concept is pretty bold and a very difficult one to pull off in shortform – as a result of the therapy session being quite one-sided in its focus on a guy who basically doesn't exist, there are so, so many gaps you have to fill yourself to get invested in the present-day characters and their situation. It's also just a challenge to write therapy that feels specific, especially if it revolves around characters the reader has no prior familiarity with. A lot of the dialogue here feels general and interchangeable, like something any therapist could say to any patient dealing with vaguely similar problems.

I have to admit that it didn't really work for me on an emotional level; the ending just lacked context and finality to provoke a reaction other than "huh, I guess that's what happened". It also feels like the Itch page lays out the premise in much clearer terms than the story itself, and there might be a risk of confusion if you don't read it too closely.

On the art side, the character designs are fantastic, some of the best I've seen in the jam. They manage to both feel cohesive within the fictional world sketched by the story and purposeful in regard to the individuals wearing them, and all the details are just lovely to look at. While I wasn't able to engage with the transformation & journey of Jesper on a narrative level, the two outfits are so good they almost sold the development by themselves. Excellent work there.

How the game is put together feels less polished. I appreciate being able to see the entire designs, but the use of full sprites feels pretty weird, and the UI is both somewhat underdetailed and kind of messily made in general, showing pixel artifacts near the borders. The buttons are also often in danger of disappearing against the background. On the web side, it feels puzzling that the Itch page doesn't have any styling, since the game has a pretty well-defined aesthetic and a clear signature color scheme.

I respect ParaBEN as an experiment and am thankful for its excellent character designs, but unfortunately, the VN just didn't really grab me.

I hadn't read the description on the itch page before playing this VN, so I was pretty confused throughout most of my playthrough... however, this in no way makes it any less enjoyable! The writing between these two characters is incredibly solid, the feeling of it being a therapy session always persists, and the changing backgrounds to show a change in thought process is a subtle, yet very nice touch. This has been one of the standout VNs for me in the Jam, and I would love to see more full-fledged work by this team. Congrats on a great VN! ♡

This was touching to me, as I have loved ones who are in therapy who are seeing real improvement and appreciate media that promotes trying it out. I think the summary gives away a little too much, in contrast to how the game tries to hide information with “???” names and unseen sketches. I liked the feeling of realization I got after the session. I went back and re-read in slight disbelief. Perhaps it was out of scope, but I would also like to see what the sketches would look like in the future. It would be fun to have visual hints that are faded/hidden away due to repeated erasing trying to get it to look just right.

I loved the music direction and the sprites!  It was a unique Mashup for sure, but I loved how the color pallot made the photo backgrounds match the sprites.  The only one that felt out of place was the office at the beginning; given the other aesthetics, I would have pictured something more open with greens and browns and artificial plants, though it may have been intentional to start with a more clinical scene.

I read this one through twice; the first time, I had some difficulty putting everything together, but the second time became much clearer.  The themes in this one hit home for me.

I recently lost both parents within a couple months if each other to terminal cancer, and specifically have struggled with some of the ideas explored, such as feeling that I'm not able to live up to their expectations, and not letting my life be controlled by someone who isn't even around anymore.  Therapy has been quite helpful, and frankly I wish I had looked into it years ago.

The portion mentioning the sketches left me wanting to see what they looked like, rather than just reading a description, hence the 'visual' part of visual novel.  I do realize all of us were on a tight schedule, and didn't necessarily get to implement everything we wanted.  I would just suggest adding that in after the game jam.

I don’t know exactly how I feel about this one. It works but I can’t help but feel its a little wooden, like it doesn’t really hit the emotional beats it’s going for. Also the blocking is real odd. If you ever wondered why VN will zoom in their sprites rather than show their full-bodies, here’s the answer. That said, it’s enjoyable enough and the twists and turns work pretty well.

Spoilers to follow:

Theme: Expand your mind is my default guess?

Story: Hmm.... This feels like it would have been better as a story sans visuals, than one with. When we have visuals, I want to see these moments of anxiety. Therapy is very much telling, and I'm staring at people who at most approach or retreat from each other (and occasionally the scenery changes). We don't even get a visual of the sketch.

I feel like it was attempting to hide the twist, but the twist is what guides the convo. I don't even know if he was even a therapist at the end, or if he just knew everything his partner had been through from years of being a partner as was instead some sort of other scientist instead to be chosen to work on this. I think more overt acknowledgements of the framing, even if they point to the twist, would have done more to carry the story along rather than just getting what felt pretty impersonal therapy session barring the overt hints that our "present" character knew the past one.

When one of the characters knows exactly everything about the other one, it kind of lessens the impact of the conversation (because what change will happen for this illusion?), even more so when the other is just like, an accurate capture of the personality at the time. There was no change, in the narrative. It was just a lens to look at to say "I regret not being able to be there for you", which is the real story. It tries to hint at it within, but then it kind of just amounts to a more-interactive vignette of looking at like an old vhs tape or photo or something like that, for me.

It felt pretty intuitive that they were in some relationship at some point, although I couldn't tell what the purpose of this was, in a way that kind of reflected what you said in-universe was a use case-- to connect with someone gone or if this was something else entirely.

Presentation: Nice custom sprites, the music was apt, it was nice how the scenery was changing to reflect the story, but we didn't see the sketch, we didn't see anything that actually happened to our patient. We just had a sorta one-room show. While I liked the Solarpunk seeming inspiration in the aesthetic, the sterile office room felt at odds--I would have expected something outdoors, or at least, more hybrid in space. I think to the Robot & Monk books, where the titular "Monk" does "therapy" via tea ceremonies, which are often outdoors.

Creativity: I enjoyed the premise of a realistic simulation based on lots of data that could be engaged with in a sentient manner (ostensibly for the purpose of therapy).

Overall thoughts:  The execution felt off, for me. Because I didn't see any of these items (and sure, that can happen in these sorts of narratives, but we were in a space where there wasn't even a leadup to the disclosure, it's where they were expected to be shared in that manner), the emotionality behind them didn't quite carry as much. It felt a bit constructed (ha). For all that the narrative admits that "it won't take a (global? or whatever word was used as a prefix here) second", I think we could have had difficulty going into details with the therapist and then we see him at the "next" session (which would support the illusion of the life of the patient), having had another attack and thereby being a bit more receptive to talking about the situation. For someone that was forced into therapy by their mother, he was immediately ready to disclose (which I could say would be attributed to the subconscious similarities between the past and present wolves he crushed on, except the past wolf wasn't even properly in the picture yet).

I think the framing has potential, but where the focus was presented lost me, especially when I've read other visual works (manga/manhua) oriented around therapy/psychology/psychiatry. The weight of doing the therapy session (with someone who won't be able to be receptive to it, given they're a memory ghost) and the "twist" that it was the past husband were at odds with what felt like the agenda of the narrative, to me.

I do however, appreciate the supportive focus of the work, and the attempt to perhaps help those who may not recognize these signs in their own lives.

The pacing here is very good, the story moves in a methodical way and delivers some excellent implied world building as it goes. It's very impressive how strong an impression the setting makes and how many elements the reader can infer considering the short length, especially as this is largely accomplished without awkward stretches of exposition. The interface and overall presentation are solid, and of course it's always fantastic to see a sci-fi setting where the fashion and look isn't limited to present day European/North American with minor changes. The VN also does a great job foreshadowing the true nature of the experiment without giving away the reveal at the end.

Setting aside the question of whether you can really call a VN where the only wolf character is the protagonist a My Wolf story, this is an enjoyable experience that explores interesting concepts in a satisfying way.

This is the first time I read a VN about some kind of psychological therapy (which puzzles me a bit since I can't tell whether Ben is a psychologist or more like a coach given how he sometimes gives commands to the bear). The concept of a futuristic, sustainably-fueled society sounds appealing (reminding me of some solarpunk furry vn I saw a while back on itch.io). You can tell it's a vn with fairly polished visuals given how little time they give you to make a May Wolf vn (an aspect that the vn shares with other entries like One More Light).

That's my thoughts of this vn so far. Thanks for the experience!

It's slow, but it knows why it's slow.

I liked this one. There's nothing particularly outrageous here, but I did enjoy it for its meditative quality. The dialogue is good. The writing is good. The music choices are good, and the sprites are well-done. I was beginning to think it was dragging a little nearing the end, but then it picked back up and caught stupid ol' me by surprise. Also the concept is a cool thing to fantasize about. 

Unagi may or may not crucify this because it is an I WOLF, but overall this was really enjoyable.