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GlassFrog1 year ago

Wow, this was quite the VN! I really enjoyed it, I could see you all worked hard on it. I haven't played the previous instalment, but I guess I'll have to check it out soon!

I was really surprised by the dialogues! The characters speak very naturally, like actual real-life friends would, and their personalities are well represented in their speech patterns.

The story is really moving. I don't know if any of you guys had similar experiences, but it sure feels like it, because I was really impressed by how genuine both Reisen and Youmu sounded when talking about their feelings. You absolutely nailed the LGBTQA+ aspect in more than one way.

I also appreciated that you went deep into the characters' backstories, which can be handy to people who are not familiar with them. The first sequence narrating Reisen's story was especially well made: I really liked the final transition, when the background turned black.

You are one of the few developers I've seen that added a bit of "gaminess" to their VN. Granted, it simply consists in choosing options, but it goes a long way in making the game feel less heavy. However, for some reason the game went on without me being able to ask Mokou the first question in the category "Love", maybe I should have selected it first? I have this thing where I tend not to go "from first to last in order" when choosing dialogue options. It's not that big of an issue, I just thought I'd let you know.

I really appreciated the Yakuza references, it's one of my favourite videogame series! From the name of the game, to the logo, to the choice of music for the final credits! The last one in particular really surprised me! My mind went "wait, I know this one..." and I soon got Yakuza 0 flashbacks! It was an unexpected easter egg.

The drawings are all wonderful! All the characters ooze personality. The soundtrack was very well made, too! And I found all the sound effects very fitting (the rain was really pleasant).

My only gripe is that I found a few spelling mistakes, but it's not a big deal. Props to the team!

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HokaBento Studio1 year ago(+1)

Hey, thank you for the feedback! While a lot in Houou ga Gotoku came from my experience (as the writer), Tsuki ga Gotoku did not. I'm a lesbian, sure, but what Tsuki ga Gotoku deals with I did not have to. I did my best to try and understand what it's like, did my homework, ran the story by some people. I'm glad it worked out in the end and I did my homework correctly. 

I also believe that the VN genre can be so much and more, if you just think a little bit outside the box.

The reason Mokou cuts you off and progresses towards resolving the story, is because there are hidden triggers in some of the dialogue options. I believe if you read everything outside the love dialogue, Mokou cuts you off. That is intentional. Houou ga Gotoku had a similar system, where certain dialogue options made Mokou drink, and the more drunk she got the more open she got about certain topics. To progress to the ending of Houou ga Gotoku, you needed to hit a certain dialogue option that got unlocked by getting drunk. A lot of people complained about this, because it was kind of unintuitive and sort of "forced" the players to read everything in order to progress. This time around, I made it so Mokou cut you off and progresses straight into the ending.  It's still not a perfect solution, but it works much better I think. Next time around, I might make it so that you get cut off, but have the option to loop back around (unlocking the dialogue option to progress to the ending in the process).

Yakuza, as weird as that sounds, was a huge inspiration for me while working on this as well as Houou ga Gotoku. These are obviously very different from Yakuza in terms of gameplay and story structure, but... well... Yakuza is a crime drama series. It's about tough guys doing tough guy things. But at the same time, these games manage to capture the rich inner world of these characters, their emotions and their feelings towards one another. I wanted Houou ga Gotoku, and now Tsuki ga Gotoku to capture a similar sort of vibe. You have these characters that are definitely strong and tough, they definitely haven't gone through their lives without doing some morally questionable things. However, they are still people at the end of the day, with thoughts and feelings, wants and emotions. I hope I captured some of that.

...and well, spelling mistakes are to be expected when you spend like 1 1/2 weeks drafting a story and then 1/2 week crunching down to get the words on paper lol. Sadly I did not have the time to get someone to proofread. I'll try to patch these out when I get the chance.

Anyways, I’ll pass on your praise to my fellow teammates. Thank you for playing!

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GlassFrog1 year ago

In retrospect, it makes sense that the game doesn't necessarily expect you to read everything. I was so focussed on trying to get to know all about the characters that I didn't take into account that it would just be natural for Mokou to behave a certain way (i.e. go on with the story) after asking certain questions. Also, the mechanics you used for your previous game sound interesting, they make me want to check it out even more!

I can definitely see how Yakuza may have been an inspiration for you! Even though it's a crime series, it mostly revolves around the drama surrounding the characters. Some dialogue sections definitely gave me Yakuza vibes, in this sense.

Thank you for taking the time to reply!

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