Wow, this typo list is extremely helpful! Thank you so much, I'll get this stuff implemented
The guide is accurate.
You've been here since my Tower of Gloom/TSMGO phase? That's crazy to me. It's awesome. I'm glad I can give you better stuff with each release. And I'm also happy you stuck with me and tried out my new stuff, even with the genre change.
I'm glad the humor and characterizations land.
>love your take of the harem setting to make it something more believeable
Ah, it's interesting that you noticed that. Pretty early on, I was thinking about how to make a harem realistic without its usual trappings. I decided the best way to go about it was to put things in a messy obfuscated stasis. Reflecting on it, I think it was a pretty smart way to go about it, because it naturally creates conflict, which drives plot and character development.
I personally like the concept of a character finding themselves as a member of a harem, and seeing what they do in response. Some of the girls distance themselves emotionally, others see it as a competition, others still haven't come to terms with their feelings about love. It's the fun sort of drama that can bubble below the surface. It lets the girls continue to be strong characters and take stances, rather than just being lobotimized bimbos.
>new characters have variable screentime
This is true. I have no excuse for writing like, seven Maria scenes and giving Aia only two. Her cuteness overwhelmed me, I couldn't think straight.
Real talk though, I do feel like Aia and Scarle and Meloco are strong, fun characters. I wish I had time to implement all that I wanted, but there'snever enough time in the world, and the ideas came too late.
See it as an introduction. Just like Ninisanni 1 was an introduction for the main cast. In that one, Elira got like, four scenes, if you don't count the flashback sequence. One was an introduction, two of them her end and the other was a missable collab.
>mallwalk and shops
Yeah, I could see how that wouldn't appeal to everyone. I like the system, but in retrospect I think the mall is just a tad too big, which makes finding the girls a bit of a pain sometimes. I'm still playing around with structural stuff like this. My next VN will have a completely different system, but I plan on eventually figuring out where the sweet spot is when it comes to player engagability and repetitiveness.
>I'm really curious to see where you're going to go from here.
I'm definitely going to take a long break. A year at least of not writing anything.
I'd like to say I'm doing it to mentally refresh and catch up on my video game/book/visual novel backlog, but really I'm just buying time to practice drawing and piano. I want to be able to make wonderful VNs with my own assets in the future!
I've got some great ideas, but I can't rely on borrowed assets forever.
As for more Niji? Probably not. The logical part of me says "fuck no, I'm done". But the artistic, completionist side keeps telling me "they're character arcs aren't finished yet" "the story's not finished" "add some Maria dress up options too" "give this girl a little more airtime" and "some of those deleted scenes were pretty good~". But I have to say no to that. I believe I have to move on to bigger and better things, just like the girls, their fans, and everybody else.
I've got a few great ideas kicking around, so I'm going to come back to drop them. I just need a break.
Aside from all that, I'm really glad you enjoyed it and noticed the little things I put a lot of work into. It makes it all worth it :)