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(writer here) thank you! Dorohedoro is just a big influence on me in general; I really love the way it explores how 'Kaiman' was created, and how the back half of the story tries to untangle whether or not he got what his younger self wished for, and if the price he and the people around him paid was worth it.

There's a sequence I'm working on now for later in Drac, unrelated to Cez, that also takes a lot of inspo from Drhdr... so, definitely keep an eye out when the full game is available, because the influence should be visible in all sorts of places!

https://kitsubasa.itch.io/inverness-nights

It's still something we want to do but we ran into some production-stopping problems we haven't been able to solve yet.

We got about 1/3 of the way through production on it, then our programmer had to drop out. So far we haven't been able to find a replacement, but we haven't given up, and though it's slow going there's still a chance it might happen.

For the moment I think it's best to say it's on indefinite hiatus! If any of the solutions we've been looking into work out we'll announce it here as soon as we can.

sorry I didn't respond to this sooner! lots happening lately, oops.

I'm glad you enjoyed is so much, and that you got a lot of out multiple runs! it's not obvious unless you're trying to fill the gallery, but the 'true' ending actually has two completely different versions from the point that Astor arrives at the shop, depending whether you've been mean to Alas or not -- so there might even be a little more variation you haven't seen. When I was writing I tried to make sure there was some satisfying nuance to how the relationship dynamics work and what the different gestures mean long-term, and that (aside from doing all the background art when I'm didn't have any art training) took the bulk of dev time to implement, so it's nice knowing those details are noticeable.

(yes! I wrote and lead on both; CataPri is a comedy because I spent three years on IN and really wanted to write some jokes after how serious it was, ahaha)

it's mostly a break-up game! instead of starting a new relationship, you're trying to figure out how to end an old one that isn't working anymore.

thank you so much for the beautiful comment!

Alas was always meant to be the more relatable character of the two, for sure. Even though he's being awful and reckless at the start of the game, he's much more capable of self-reflection and growth than Tris is, and his change of heart in both versions of the true end are meant to be an indicator that with a bit of a hand he's got this capacity to learn and adapt that Tris doesn't. The reason I think them making nice isn't an ideal solution is that, while they could have a /better/ relationship than what they've got, that doesn't make it their /best/ option overall -- that end was meant to satisfy the urge to see it happen, while also showing it's an imperfect solution. Alas is used to denying himself the life he wants because he's afraid of being alone, and him being given a push to go on some adventures and find a community he can really belong in should be healthier long-term. So the true end is basically meant to be a (slightly grouchier, romantic) version of this.

I'm glad that's what you got! I think that, generally, there are times where you want to pretend there isn't a fight happening, and there are times you want reassurance it's a fight you'll win. IN is intended for folks who need the latter.

Also re: a need for queer history VNs, my next big project is early 20th c, which is a bit outside the period you mentioned but maybe still of interest! It's another fight-you'll-win story, about a man with a hard-won sense of self-worth trying to find love and stability in a world that keeps trying to dehumanise him... sometimes literally. Title TBA, but we'll hopefully have some details public soon :V

thank you!!

one of the big weird things about this game, in retrospect, has been how much I relied on the true end to really tie it together -- I've had a couple of people say to me that they quit before then and it's like, I can't begrudge them because the early stages can be pretty frustrating but I did try to make the payoff for those worth it... ah well, it is what it is!

I appreciate that you stuck it out and I'm glad that you enjoyed it in the end.

Thank you!! The game took about three years of dev time and a good chunk of that was just me reading up on pointless, cool facts about 18th century language and living, then dumping a lot of them into Astor's scenes and dialogue, since they're meant to be the kind of awful person who'd know every single trendy insult for a Scotsman. Of every fact I picked up my favourite is still that prior to the invention of matches (which was way later than I assumed?) the fastest way of lighting a fire was to shove some tinder in a detached pistol mechanism and hope the gunpowder did the trick -- I rewrote a whole chunk of the end sequence to fit that in because of how excited I was about it. There are a lot of choices like that that make it a messy game in retrospect but hopefully the passion of them makes the messiness excusable, ahaha.

Hope you enjoy Catacomb Prince, too! It's not as thoroughly-researched because it's an otherworld setting, but it's got some odds and ends, mostly re: Renaissance art. The trade-off is that it has a boxing match with the fantasy Pope. Who can say which is better...?

(I've added your details to my artist list, and I'll let you know if there's anything relevant! I clicked through your profiles and I love the attention to detail on the clothes/backgrounds/etc -- cool stuff!)

hey! thanks for asking -- the spoiler-free version is that it's mostly text, but there's one ending with an illustration of someone's face covered in blood (no visible wound)

as for what's in the text (spoilers; use rot13 to decode)

BODY HORROR: gurer vf n tubfg punenpgre jub'f noyr gb cbffrff qrnq obqvrf, naq fbzr qrfpevcgvbaf bs jung vg srryf yvxr gb bpphcl gurz.

GORE: crbcyr ner fgnoorq ba frireny bppnfvbaf, naq fbzrbar unf npvq guebja va gurve snpr.

I'd like to add this to the bundle!

https://kitsubasa.itch.io/inverness-nights

hey! sorry I didn't reply previously, I had a lot of stuff happening last month.

Thank you for the compliments on the writing, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Re: the music choices and the lack of an obvious flag for the true end; I agree that accessing the endgame isn't super obvious and some of the tracks aren't terribly fitting, but unless something major happens I'm likely to leave it as-is. Because I released it three years ago, there's a lot of stuff I'd change now if I were to start working on an update, and I think that getting too deep into that sort of thing would be self-defeating -- for one, I think it's more worthwhile to apply what I've learnt from past projects to new projects than revising the same thing for years after the fact, and also, if I mess too much with it it's not the same game anymore. If it outright breaks and there's something technically wrong I'll fix that ASAP, but for creative fumbles, I think I have to be content with what it is or I'll be here forever.

I'm totally happy for you to do a Let's Play, and I'd be keen to see it if you're comfortable putting the link here! :) Thanks again for your comments and I appreciate you wanting to show this to others. It's very kind, and it's heartwarming to know people are still finding this now so long after release.

I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far, and I hope you have a good time with the rest of the endings! Vi's my favourite of the cast to write for, mostly because of how he digs himself deeper whenever he makes a mistake -- like the public proposal option in Ravi's route or the liver witch option in Amoret's route, if you've seen them.

We're working on DLC for later in the year which adds a new murderer + new LI and goes into some additional stuff about the setting (like that war Leandra was involved in...), so if you'd like to read more about the world, it's coming. Our plan is for the DLC to cost money (price TBA) while the base game remains free, so people who enjoy it have the opportunity to keep playing while also compensating us for our work :)

Thank you! The editing and the fact it's private are both a symptom of me making it in a bit of a rush; I meant to make a YouTube account for the team to reupload it publically  but didn't get around to it and, uh, plain forgot. So I'll add that back to our to-do list!

Hope you enjoy the game proper :)

Walkthrough now available :D

I'll try and get one written! :)

ahhh!! I'm so flattered, I'm glad you decided to give the other routes a try, and that you felt like the setting was well-realised. We tried to take enough from Renaissance Italy to make it feel real, without leaning so hard on it that there was no room for the fantasy elements. Thanks for your comment! :)

thank you!! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and that the murder structure's keeping you entertained.

There was a murder mystery VN I played a while back where you had to catch the killer every playthrough and hit the romance flags to get a good end, but because the investigation was always the same, when you replayed to see the different love interests the murder scenes were a bit of a chore. I really liked the rest of that game so it was a shame the investigation let the other aspects down. I wanted to avoid that issue with CataPri, which is how the idea for our murder structure came about :D it's wonderful to hear it worked!