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I keep breaking things XD. I did end up going back and solving the puzzle in the correct order but I figured it'd be worth warning you about this glitch.

(Manor house puzzle spoilers)

Okay so apparently if you are in mini ghost form, it is possible to fly through the window in the Cthulhu room BEFORE actually opening the window in the Cthulhu room? I was zooming around exploring every room as a little ghost to see if I could find any crannies or holes to fly through, plus it made it easier to find hint coins. I flew at the spot on the wall and suddenly found myself in another room, with the last hand I needed! Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to get back out again, with or without the hand. I solved the optional painting puzzle on the wall, which put me in a meta frame of mind, so I decided to drop the hand on the floor, log out, and see if the hand showed up in the lost items chest. Which it did! 

I put all the hands on the altar (apparently... accidentally in the correct order first try, which was a whole 'nother thing). I'm not sure if the wall opened at that moment, I heard the puzzle solved ding sound but honestly didn't expect anything to happen, I hadn't been TRYING to solve it yet, so I wasn't looking super close. I went back to the lobby and got a hint telling me what to do next and it told me to go to the pyramid room and that was how I realized I broke the sequence of events. ^^;;;; 

(...And then got another hint to find out what to do after I finished solving the pyramid room properly and it told me that it had nothing left to tell me and THAT was when I realized I solved the hand altar puzzle completely by chance. When I went downstairs I saw the tunnel; dunno if that was open before or if it didn't unlock until the pyramid room was correctly solved)

Good news! I did a systematic sweep of the whole house checking every blue item spot (finding several missed hint coins in the process, hooray!) and finally located the rock! It had respawned in one of the safes, possibly the safe where I had originally gotten it from, which I am fairly sure is not where I left it (as I said, I had put it in front of a gargoyle to try to solve that puzzle). It seems a little hinky whether certain items spawn in the chest or not? The scissors have been showing up in there pretty reliably, but the kitchen puzzle pieces ALL showed up in the chest one time and then never again on any subsequent login, staying on the table where I left them. Anyway, I located the rock and also some paper at long last, so that puzzle is finally checked off! 

(manor house puzzle spoilers)

I was solving manor house puzzles and had to quit for a while. When I came back, most of my items were in the lost items chest (including items I didn't really need any more; the puzzle pieces from the kitchen/red diamond door room were all in there and I already solved that puzzle.) 

But! The rock was not. 

I had placed a rock I'd found (I think in one of the safes?) and a pair of scissors on the gargoyles' plates in the cellar, and was still looking for paper (so many pieces of paper but I hadn't found one I could carry with me yet). Scissors popped into the chest while I was out, but rock has not! Where is my rock? Did Charlie Brown come trick or treating at the door and someone gave it to him?! I'm worried I might be stuck without it.

After downloading it for free to try out, I decided it was definitely worth paying money for because this is a delightful concept and me and my long distance gaming buddies have been having a great time with it. It's a nice low pressure way to introduce epistolary RPGs, since it doesn't require your recipient to mail anything back (it's so hard to get other people to mail you back T_T), and it's delightful that the process of putting the card through the mail is actually an integral game mechanic, and it's just a fantastic excuse to draw SO MANY MONSTERS.

Played through to what I think is the Good Ending (Success Kid) and loved it a lot, but sad that I apparently can't replay it without deleting all achievement progress. Also kinda regretting getting it first, because I see there's two other endings, and I strongly suspect at least one of them would be less happy. Generally, I like to cap off a playthrough of a visual novel by playing my favourite ending one last time so I'm leaving a game on a high note. 

I know that the way the game is designed makes things a bit tricky, with the looping structure. But a way around it potentially could be an ending gallery? It's a feature I've seen in some other VNs. Basically, once you've finished a particular ending, it unlocks that ending in the gallery, so you can open it and reread it again at your leisure. Any chance that could work?

In the meantime I might do a reset now and rip the bandaid off, then try to work my way through all the other CGs and achievements from scratch while trying to leave Success Kid for last this time. ^^;;

YAY

Ah, okay! Hope you get it sorted out soon! And I'll be waiting for it when you do! *lip wibbling but being so very brave about it*

My apologies for this being the first topic, but I don't seem able to buy or download the game here on itch yet? I'm really looking forward to this game, and I'd like to get it on itch if possible. Currently there's no "buy now" button, and no list of download files. Is something wrong at my end, or was there a toggle that didn't get toggled? Will I be able to fling money at you soon? 😅

Finished playing the game yesterday, and it's been running through my brain since. This was fun, funny, charming, and a delightful romp through superhero and heist tropes. The joke about the rampant face blindness never got old (while still being frustrating DANGIT PENNY) and the true ending was wonderfully satisfying. Almost too satisfying, honestly. This is one of those rare games I'm actually hesitant to replay, because it feels like my original playthrough was so real and impactful that revisiting it would break something. Certain kinds of metafiction do that to me, I think (I felt the same way about OneShot). I hope I can get over it in this case, though, because there's still stuff I haven't seen and want to revisit. I want to know how the dialogue changes when I do certain capers for Doctor Mayhem instead of Overmistress! I want to figure out how to get five stars on every caper!

Also the soundtrack was a banger and I had it playing on spotify today while I was at work. 

Another excellent game from you guys. I hope there'll be many many more, because I WILL keep playing them.

Just installed this on a new windows 11 laptop (love pixel fireplace, want it on every computer from now on) and I'm finding it's not quite working right. The menu options on the opening screen besides "fireplace" (options, help, credits, quit) are all missing. This means there's no way to quit except to alt-tab out and close the window. Anything to be done?

I’m also psyched for this! This pumpkin festival has become one of my favourite parts of the season 🧡🎃🧡

Okay, I have finally, officially, played every route and seen every ending and won every prize, and can now offer up my final verdict. 

This game, like its predecessor, made me so happy. This one possibly even more so than the first, which is saying a LOT. The characters are just a tiny bit deeper, a little richer. I laughed myself absolutely sick, I got misty, I got thirsty, I d'awwed. This is both a feel good game and a feel EVERYTHING game. 

The aesthetics are gorgeous, I once again adore the art style for the sprites and the 80s neon vibe for the UI. The voice acting is excellent across the board.

I just finished my last route (Locksley, during which I did most of the laughing myself sick part. Dear god, that DATE. That LAST CG!) twenty minutes ago, and I'm already feeling sad that I've finished with this world and these characters once again. I may play Domino's route a third time just so I can delay being done for just a little longer. 

Thank you so much for these games. They EXACTLY hit my precise tastes and needs in a romance game. I look forward to whatever comes next from you. 

oh HECK yes, old school shoujo art style, Glass Mask and Rose of Versailles vibes, PUT IT IN MY VEINS and also in my hard drive, downloading now

OKAY I think I've got it working though I'm not sure exactly which step made the difference. I ended up doing an entirely new download and install of Arcade Spirits 1 via the itch app, loading up one of my old saves that was near the ending (because I DID transfer all the old saves into the new RenPy directory on the new C drive) and re-exporting at the end of the credits when prompted. THIS time, when I loaded up New Challengers again and started a new run, Iris asked me if I wanted to import. So hopefully I'm good to go! YAY!

Hmm. I think I've copied everything over from the old C drive to the new C drive, but it doesn't seem to be making a difference when I launch New Challengers or start a new run. I did play three playthroughs (Rhapsody, Domino, and Zapper, all excellent, by the way) BEFORE I decided to try to figure this out, could that be messing things up somehow? Or could it be that New Challengers is installed through the itch app, whereas back when I played Arcade Spirits classic I did it as a separate download and standalone install?

If it did work, what would I be seeing differently?

For the record, this is a minor thing if we can't get it working, I'm still having a great time. I'm just seeing some folks on tumblr mentioning moments with the tie ins to game one and now I'm belatedly curious about what those are like. ^^;

Question, where would the necessary save data for the original Arcade Spirits have been, and where would it need to be, in order to have New Challengers detect and import it? I got some upgrades and a new hard drive in between playing the first game and the second one, and my old installation and save files are on the old drive. Not a huge deal, I'm still having fun, but it'd be neat to see what happens when my old save carries over.

*sigh* Okay, look, I have the reflexes of a slug. My hand and eye have never coordinated in their lives and they aren't about to start now. I know this, and I normally avoid any games with an action or platforming component if I possibly can because it will only end in tears. But... I got CrossCode as part of the Ukraine bundle, the story seemed interesting, the art was pretty, and crucially, I read that it had accessibility options and customizable difficulty. So I thought, I already own it, it won't hurt to try. 

And, I really enjoyed it in the early stages. I've played about 35 hours, and I struggled sometimes, but I managed to stay afloat. Until now. I'm hitting my skill ceiling in the second dungeon. Trying to aim and time my jumps correctly on slippery ice while hurrying to do it before the ice melts is kicking my ass and I'm worried that this is where I have to quit, give up, and watch the rest of the game on a youtube let's play while sulking. 

It's... disheartening, that I've already got the game on the easiest possible setting, and I'm STILL not able to cut the mustard. And I'm in deep enough now that I want to see how this ENDS, dang it.

Is there any setting or variable or cheat or mod or anything I can use to bring the puzzle speed down even further? Honestly, even that might turn out not to help. But if I can slow down and be able to focus soley on making my fingers hit the buttons accurately without having to also worry about hitting them quickly, maybe I could finally do this. 

Please, no cries of "git gud." I know, guys. I KNOW. But I am not going to git any guder. This is as gud as it gits.

Just did my first playthrough. Thank you for this. I jumped on the Wallflower route immediately because... well, I've been in a long distance friendship/flirtation with a gaming buddy for years, and I think it's permanently impacted my idea of romance. Late nights swapping in game items and instant messages in an MMO is an achingly familiar dynamic. We were supposed to finally meet in person last year but ahahaha WELP.

Fantasizing about a world where I could have been lucky enough to find out we lived in the same building is a bittersweet little bit of wish fulfillment that was nice to indulge in. 

(... that same RL online other is right now messaging me to gently remind me that I'm up too late, a service we provide each other across time zones. XD I'll pass on the link before we say goodnight. Thank you for keeping me up playing this.)

Oh good. And yes, it's fair to want to have a simplified system that's features forward for the demo. Thanks for explaining. Again, super looking forward to this. The writing in Arcade Spirits 1 was one of the things that got me through the rough patches in the 2020 hell year. 

I am EXCIIIIITED!!~ 

One question I did have, though. In the original game, when you start playing, there was the option to hide the icons showing which choice is associated with which stat. I chose that for my first playthrough, as it allowed me to focus on the content of the choices for my first time, rather than thinking about what stats they'd boost. For later playthroughs where I already had a clearer idea of which choices did what, and when I was more focused on getting specific outcomes, I turned the icons back on and it was helpful for that. It looks like the stat icons are on by default in the demo at least. and I kinda missed being able to hide them for my first run. Did I just miss seeing a choice or a button? Or is that option removed? 

Regardless, I am VERY much looking forward to this!

AAAH. AAAAAAAAAH. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. 

Holy heck I've been trying to expand my horizons and explore more of the world of horror media this Halloween month and this unnerved and frightened me more than the Hitchcock MUCH KUDOS

Just finished doing every route (and may go back to do every route again with Flirty First Impressions turned on. I'm a timid soul! I decided to go slow burn on my first playthrough! But Flirty seemed like the way to go with Teo, whom I saved for last, and DANG.)  

This game was delightful. Both as a fun witty workplace romance, and as a call to stop coasting and try to live for something more than survival. Which... sounds like a lot to read into a romantic comedy. But the protagonist's depression lethargy and desperate need for a kick in the pants towards something better... hit uncomfortably close to home at the moment. 

ASIDE FROM A TIMELY LIFE MESSAGE, the character designs are gorgeous, the UI aesthetic is delightful, and I loved how much you could customize your experience. Not only in terms of the MC's appearance and pronouns, but also in things like the aforementioned Flirty First Impressions toggle. I can play through the game breathlessly ogling and flirting, or play it cool slow burn, or play it pure platonic! I love that I can tailor it to my comfort levels this way (or play it every which way to see all the different ways dialogue can play out). 

I got this in the bundle, like so many others, but I am one hundred percent ready to pay full price for the sequel when it comes out. Quarter up!

Same thing here, and I would also like to know. A friend gifted me a bundle that I'd already purchased. I want to know if I can return it to them so they can give it to someone else, or if I can pass it on to someone else myself. I emailed itch support but haven't heard back yet. 

Dear GOD this game gave me so many feels I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO CATCH FEELS FROM THE WEREPOMERANIAN GAME. 

This had me ADHD hyperfixating and infodumping to my very tolerant long distance boyfriend throughout my playthrough. "NO BUT SEE BEING A POMERANIAN IS A METAPHOR but also literal he very much is an actual pomeranian BUT ITS ALSO LIKE SYMBOLIC???" I shrieked through my typing fingers. "AND NOW HE'S CHASING SQUIRRELS!!!" Thank god the man finds special interest rants endearing. 

This was so sweet and tragic and tender and nnnngh, so GOOD. Thank you. 

Thank you so much! I'm so glad I got the laughs with this weird little thing. XD