itch.io

Magnificent, in both senses of the word. I don't particularly find guro arousing (more of a blunt force gal myself), I pay immense respect to how you wrote these scenes. When the thing (not going to spoil) happened to Anhedonia I almost cried. The clericants were hateable and terrifying at the same time. The ending did really hurt, but there really was no other way the story could conclude. The thing that struck me the most was how both characters were able to push through their pain. It sounds unimaginable, but somehow they succeeded. I'm glad they did.

This is actually peak protagonist. The rest of the story is incredible, but Lea Kim is what absolutely sells it for me. Her oscillating between apathetic nihilism, self-hatred, and begging for something mercy is suuuuch interesting character writing. It's heartbreaking, it's funny, it's brutal, and dear god is it clever. Super excited and simultaneously dreading to see what you come up with next. Fuuuuuuuck Kai.

This work was not made for me. I thought it was something different, and it turned out to not be that. I am not, however, calling this misleading or bad because it does not work for me.

Even if it not what I wished for, I understand that your courage and artistic method. It is clearly something that deserves praise, due to the people who have resonated with this work for the same reasons I am unable to understand it. I may not be able to comprehend this prose, and the way everyone treats Angel makes me feel very angry, but I understand that this is not an unintentional flaw, it is the point.

However, the one thing that I was able to understand was the moment when Angel starts laughing. That, I believe, is the only scene where I felt at peace. When Angel laughs and begs for more, that is when Angel is powerful. It was very cathartic.

I write this not to center my opinion on your work as important, but to express how your art works on someone who is unable to understand. I thought it might be interesting for you. It would be for me, at least. I apologize if this review comes off as self-centered.

This is exemplary work, even if I am unable to conceptualize it.

-Calcarina

"Angel is not stupid..."

I loved this game a lot. Kristine's plight really got to me, and while I'd love to see a conclusion, I understand why that isn't really possible. "so it goes". While I personally am not super into a lot of your discography (no shade obviously it's great just not personally my thing) I absolutely adore "Date Out" (listed in the files as "grunge song"). At around :30 where the synth starts playing is perfection. Also my jaw dropped when Kristine said she was from Orange County bc I'm there too! Never thought I'd hear someone say that in a visual novel. Excellent.

Genuinely introspective in a way I haven't seen before, in a way that's difficult to describe. I've been personally struggling with the existential dread of being a person in a world surrounded by the banal horror of global politics, but what I love about this piece is that despite our Main Lesbian being an overwhelming ray of sunshine, she can't actually solve any of these problems; there's nothing she can do. The thesis statement at the very end, that "everything is horrible but there's still wives to kiss" (horrifically paraphrased by me) is one that resonates with me on a level that no other explanation for the hell that we inhabit, and I find it difficult to explain why. So I won't. Thank you for proving again that short-form queer literature is the best ever. Excellent work. <3

- Calcarina

Absolutely magnificent! Em is very relatable to an uncomfortable degree. Maybe I should get that checked out? Either way, this feels like the essence of capturing lightning in a bottle; a spark of some emotion I've never seen before, but I really, really want to experience for myself someday.

Thank you so much! I mean it, I love seeing people comment on my work. Also about the windows build. I just uploaded it so it should work now. I wanted to hold off until I finished version 1.1 but my game is basically unplayable in that state, so I needed to rectify that immediately.

The updated version won't have anything meaningful changed, it just gives an updated title screen and  a couple minor dialogue changes to make it flow better. After that, I'm done.

I'm already mapping out a sequel, but I don't want to get too bogged down in making continuations so that will likely end up being the last you'll hear from Marcia and Lilia. 

Once again, thank for your input!

Love this so so much. The class dynamics are really interesting and both of the leads are very likable. Very interested in seeing what you'll do next.