itch.io

I totally missed until I saw this reply that you didn't do the sound this time! You guys make a really great team, the sound and visuals and story and everything were so cohesive. A++++ tier work from both of you.

[handshake emoji] terrible protagonists appreciation

I finally had the time to sit down and play this. I know I always get absorbed in your games so I waited until I'd be able to give it full attention.

Honestly I think the biggest compliment I can possibly give is that I was trying to keep track of all the things I wanted to praise in it but I kept losing track of them because I would just get so absorbed in the story. You are so masterful at combining pieces to make an incredibly cohesive whole.

What I do remember wanting to mention, in particular:

* ohhhhh I am OBSESSED with how the soundtrack faded between a heavily filtered grammophone-y mix into a very full mix in that one scene, that was SO good
* I LOVE that the cursor is designed like a viewfinder! That's so clever. Only minor note is that at least on the WebGL build it seemed like the active part of the cursor was not actually the center of the viewfinder, but once I realized where the active part is it was no problem.
* I really love what you did with the UI in general. Using the photo frames as text boxes... It's so elegant.
* I mean, I just love ghosts, a lot, so it's no surprise I loved this. Every time you depict ghosts it resonates with me. I ALSO love works that explore how ghosts interact with changing times and new emerging technologies, so of course a work about ghosts and the invention of the camera is 10000% my shit.
* I REALLY loved the fucked up horror sound-based tracks for particularly gruesome moments.

Honestly it feels wrong to just talk about the pieces that I loved because what makes it so good is how they all come together and make a really powerful experience. I also love it when the protagonist is awful.

10000/10 a million stars I only got ending 2 so far but want to come back for the others soon

Thank you so much - I really can't overstate how much it means that some people have continued to follow this project, despite how much it's been pushed back while I navigate how much work it is to ship a game. It is COMING!!!

SWAG thank you for the reminder!! Just nabbed it. Good luck with your new game!!!

Thank you so much! I am too. Fingers are very crossed for November, but we'll have to see how the next couple months go.

Ohhhh what an awesome project! I definitely want to pick this up on my next paycheck. I really, really loved the art and design of Karambola so I know I would really enjoy this.

Congratulations and so deserved!! So excited to see what you've been cooking.

I definitely relate to the added difficulty/complexity of integrating point-and-click into a story. What you did in the demo was fantastic and fantastically effective, but it is indeed a ton of work!

It's really admirable how much you've managed to do between all of these projects and how your work is consistently extremely solid across them. It's been fun to see all of these projects slowly evolve, and I am so excited to see what The Last Winter Knight will be in its finished form. I've loved everything I've played from you, but that one has a special place in my heart. Something about it really really appeals to and resonates with me.

Congratulations on the halfway mark!

Thank you so much, it means a lot. Things do seem to be on the mend healthwise, and I also just got some very good news (announcement coming soonTM) that has really helped offset the disappointment from the feedback discussed in this devlog. Things have already really turned for the better somehow!

Ooooh I loved this! The art choice was so good. I really enjoyed playing through it with the luxury of being able to start over with new information if I didn't like a particular outcome (the joys of visual novels!) - that makes this an interesting medium for looking at a scene like this, unlike real life where you will never know the "what ifs" and will always live with uncertainty and have to just deal with what you chose.

It actually kind of made my first playthrough my favorite one because I had to just go with something when the full picture was unclear. But I definitely went back through to explore other options out of curiosity. Super cool project.

This series was fucking beautiful. It's so effective at doing so much with so little, the music and the art are both very minimal but perfect at establishing the exact mood that lets you focus completely and wholly on the words on the screen. How the prompts actually change and engage here, turning it into a conversation; this was a fantastic conclusion.

Really really excellent art and storytelling.

I loved this! I knew it would be good because the last short poem/game I played from you was good, but the imagery of this one in particular super resonates with me because I just love the ocean. This was so beautiful, amazing job. It's always so clear what you are supposed to interact with [and the directions "when in doubt go right"] so I never had to think about "how" to play I could just focus entirely on the experience. Fantastic work.

OMG, I don't think we had any idea Q/W also work. I don't know if we'll ever update the build [...yknow, game jam game] but this is a great find, thank you for pointing it out! I'll add it to the page description at least.

This glow-up is going to rule so hard I cannot wait

Thanks so much! Thanks for playing!

Thanks so much for playing! :D

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for playing! It was a blast to make :)

Oh, I just realized this is on the old prototype! If you're interested, there's a new demo out with a TON of changes and additions here: https://arcanaxix.itch.io/amadeus-ep1-waltz

(I made a new Itch page for it because I changed SO much that I wanted to preserve this original version as like, a sketch of sorts)

Regardless, thank you so much, again!

Thank you so much!! I'm really glad you appreciated the controls, I'm still working on a few things to make the pure-keyboard experience a little smoother but it's definitely a priority to make it feel good to play. I really appreciate it!

I finally had a moment to replay this now that you've updated it!

First off, playing it while knowing some things about it already [from when I played the original version] made it almost hurt more at the start because that Dramatic Irony hit so hard. The somber tone is just as effective as I remember it and your illustrations, melodies, and soundscapes are so beautiful.

The voicework you added really adds a finishing layer of polish to it all, too. What a fantastic collaboration, huge congrats to the voice cast for putting their all into this. The version you finished prior already felt like a whole and cohesive work of art, it was so chilling and effective, but I'm so glad you were able to really finish it. What an awesome game you made here. Massive, massive congratulations.

Definitely want to nab that artbook+OST bundle on my next paycheck!

WAAGGHH! Okay I just actually set aside the time to play this. You're killing me here.

My expectations going in: "well, it uses hand-painted animation cels, so my hipster sensibilities will be appeased, and it's gay, so that gives it points. beyond that we'll see"

What I got: the single most healing experience I've had in a long ass time. Playing this actually made me consider going to a convention this summer. It has been 4 years since the last time I went to a convention. I have never felt so seen by a game.

[Also the fact that the font + color makes it looks like old subtitles.... absolutely impeccable...]

The fluff was so cute it had me making scrunched Kermit face the whole time, but really I just keep coming back to how painfully relatable this all was. What a delightful story and a brilliant idea to literally use animation cels as your medium to tell it. This is straight up one of the best VN's I've played, obviously it's relatively short but it's like a short story as opposed to a novel—it's exactly as long as it needs to be to tell the story it needs to tell.

Absolutely fantastic shit, I'm inflicting this on every single other old tired gay ex-cosplayer I know [I know many of them]

extremely hyped for armatization mechanic, about to take on heldalf as grape-flavored hunter

YESSSSSS!!!!!! IT'S OUT!!!!!!! This is such a universe brain concept, I truly just LOVE the fact that you actually hand-painted animation cels to make the assets for this. I can't wait to check it out when I have the time HOPEFULLY VERY VERY SOON!!!! Congratulations!!

So unbelievably excited about what you guys are doing!

OK, the promised time has come. Just sat down to play this.

This is literally a masterpiece.

The beat slaps. The order I happened to unlock everything in built up so perfectly that I imagine you constructed it really well and any order just works. Was listening on my SUPER NICE HEADPHONES BTW so I could appreciate it fully.

I'm about to go link this to all of my werewolf-head friends and tell them "I know it's March and not October but play this anyway", but before I do that I just need to gush here on this page a bit.

The writing is hilarious, the music slaps hard, the art is endearing and the VR headset had me completely losing my shit. I truly appreciate you picking up the mantle left by Castlevania Symphony of the Night of "games that are campy halloweeny, hit you in the face with unexpected and hilarious nonsense, and yet also incredibly sexy." Symphony of the Night perhaps takes itself slightly more seriously but both games are 10/10 masterpieces.

Thank you for your contribution to werewolves

I keep starting these when I'm just about to clock out of work (yes I am habitually searching itch.io for werewolf games on the clock at the end of my shift) and it's always a bad idea because they slap so hard I need to keep playing but then it's time to leave. Literally just the first minute of this is an incredible hook. Funny but also the atmosphere genuinely slaps. That CRT filter at the start is effervescent. Will be giving this a full sit-down play later.

Congratulations on yet another Steam release!

Thank you so much for giving it a play!

And thank you for the suggestion—that had been floating around in my head as a "hmm I might add this," but hearing someone else say they'd like to see that implemented is gonna bump it up to "will probably add." Appreciate it!

Thank you SO much! I'm so excited to write the rest of it, I hope it lives up to expectations!

I hope you enjoy it!!! Please let me know what you think... it should be VASTLY improved since the version Cozy played :D

VERY exciting stuff in this update I can't wait to play more. I honestly really dig that you can dive right into the chaos of Impossible mode...

This was an incredible demo. Absolutely loved it. Going to write an essay of bullet points here, don't mind me.

Mechanics stuff:
- Thank you, SO MUCH, for the point-and-enter alternate controls. I have wrist issues and point-and-clicks are really hard for me to play even though I love them dearly. It makes a massive difference having an alternate control scheme and it's a big reason I was able to play the whole thing in one sitting.
- There were just a few points (mostly when navigating hallways) where the glow to indicate movement was not completely obvious - in cases where an object or some such is highlighted it was really clear, but in a few cases where there is just a light glow on the side of a dark screen, it might benefit from having something else there to highlight to make it more obvious. However, if you don't get this feedback from anyone else, you can likely disregard and it might just be a matter of the glare hitting weird on my screen when I played.

Visuals:
- Your art is always incredible. I REALLY loved how most of the game is completely muted and grey-scale, and there are just touches of blue here and there that really make it feel COLD. The very sparse use of red was very impactful because of how little it was used, and it was not lost on me that Lin's portrait contains both colors
- The textures are wonderful
- I LOVE THE CURSOR AND TEXT BOX DESIGNS SO MUCH!

Music:
- The extra layer that kicks in when you enter the room with the candles was magical. Really effective having it grow there.
- Having most of the soundtrack solely piano-based makes it really feel lonely and isolated. The compositions and performances are both gorgeous.
- LOVE the starkly different track that plays in the cellar darkness, that was REALLY effective

Sound:
- THE ARMOR FOLEY IS *chefs kiss*
- Atmospheric layers to the sound, whether they're a separate track or mixed in with the music, are phenomenal. It sounds as cold and abandoned as it looks, through and through.

Narrative:
- I really like your depiction of what being a ghost is like. A spirit consisting of more or less raw regrets and feelings, but no body or physical sensations. How not having a voice to shout or ears to cover makes it impossible to drown out the undesired. It's really interesting and described in a way that makes the reader really feel it, too
- I feel like I learned more about armor parts in the past hour than in the entire rest of my life leading up to it. I love that you credited an armor consultant, it 100% comes through in the writing because you can tell the spirit haunting the armor is deeply familiar with it
- The "real" ending is a fantastic hook - I cannot wait to experience the rest of the story!

I've loved just about everything I've played from you, so I expected to love this, but it was definitely really fun playing something that also had these interactive point-and-click elements. Because your artwork is so strong it REALLY compels the player to click on stuff and experience the narrative that way, so this just really works in a lot of ways. Amazing work and huge congratulations on the demo release!

OK! I had the time this evening to sit down and go through all the options and find all the interactible objects to view all of the memories. I really loved it. The art is stunning, I really enjoy the "voice" of the transformed wolf and how it responds to stress and instinct, the soundtrack was incredibly effective, and it was overall a really cohesive and strong experience. The click-and-drag controls were a little hard on my wrists but it was worth it especially since it wasn't too long. I'm really glad I found this, amazing work!

I only had the time to check out the very start of this so far, but I'm REALLY loving it. The art is incredible and that concept of a werewolf transformation is horrifying and fascinating. I'm really excited to check out more when I have the time (...and I might try to play through the French version as well sometime, just as language practice)

I always really love to see unique depictions of werewolves. Really excited about this. Awesome stuff, can't wait to fully experience it!

This is one of the funniest oddly specific concepts I've seen in a while. I desperately want to wrangle a group of people together to give this a whirl sometime

(also to clarify i didn't mean YOU have to update this i meant i had to update my comment to reflect the fact i played more of the game and it ruled)

based and thank you

okay have to update this because the power of exposition was literally hysterical. this is the greatest game ever made thank you

I am going to have to revisit this when I have more time because what I played so far has been great. 10/10 werewolf stuff but it makes you a dipshit THAT is what I am talking about. OP, your brain is huge.