When I first saw the release announcement for this game, I gave it a 5-star rating before playing it because I already knew it was going to be a banger, considering the quality of all of the prior works of Gaybreast—and wouldn't you know it, I was right~
This is a tremendously fun, cute, and sexy little game~ If you like robot girls and sci-fi with a peanut-butter-and-jelly-lookin'-ass color palette, then this game is definitely for you!
Keep up the great work~
What a wonderfully charming little VN! I greatly enjoyed getting to see the casual, day-to-day interactions of Sepia and Aseroe, and watching them grow closer in the aftermath of Nettle's arrival~
I was also very excited by the glimpse we get of Aseroe's backstory with the Reapers! My malevolence, even just that short segment of it made me light up like a Christmas tree, so fascinating as it was, heheheh~
Great work! I'll be eagerly awaiting the next installment~
First things first: Absolutely marvelous VN! From the art to the writing to the characters to the music and everything in between, I enjoyed it quite thoroughly from start to finish! Your work well and truly never disappoints, heheheh~
Secondly, oh my GOD I fucking HATE Artemis so fucking MUCH RRRRRGH THROW THAT BITCH INTO A GODDAMN TRASH COMPACTORRRRRRRR!!! Or better yet, drop her sorry ass into a vat of molten iron, Terminator 2 style~
Orion deserved so, so much better...
This is quite the dark character study you've put together here, an unflinching portrait of the deeper recesses of human desire and depravity.
In the end, how different are we from her? Do we have the right to judge her, when she herself has caused no harm?
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...
A very mysterious yet compelling VN, this one. Even as the line separating reality from delusion grows fuzzier, the anguish still burns through brightly, somehow clearer than ever even as everything else melds together in an indistinguishable blur...
That aside, I was endlessly charmed by the character portraits! The subtle animation to the sprites together with the paper-craft styling for the facial expressions (with a distinct style for each character, no less!) was such a treat for the eyes, heheheh~ I also greatly enjoyed the soundtrack; it worked quite well to help tie the experience together.
Great job on this one!
There can be no denying that Mia has more than a few screws loose in her head—and I'm all for it, heheheh~ I never quite knew where this VN's story was going to go next, with both the isekai angle and the twists at the end alike catching me off guard; but that just made it all the more interesting of a read! I'll take a story that keeps me guessing over a predictable one any day of the week.
The great deal of care and effort you put into making the story as historically accurate as possible also shines through~ I was NOT expecting this VN to turn into something of a time travel period piece, but once again, I'm all for it, especially with how well you executed it~ I'm still over here wondering if "weaving" was in fact a euphemism in Tudor times...
On top of that, the visual presentation (especially in v1.3.2) is really quite nice! That CG of Sybil teaching Mia how to use the loom was gorgeous—and similarly, the CGs of Mia near the end were gore-geous, heh heh heh~
Great job on this one!
Poor Kieran. It's difficult enough to find moments to rest and relax as a new parent even under the best of circumstances; add a healthy dollop of trauma and intrusive thoughts into the mix, and you've got a recipe for one stressful situation indeed, heh.
It warmed my heart to see Jason be so patient, caring, and supportive of him throughout it all, if nothing else~ As it turns out, having intrusive thoughts does not, in fact, make you an awful person, nor is there any shame in relying on others to help you process and work through them~
Also, have you ever considered learning to play the piano in a more structured way? You've clearly got a good sense of tone, if the soundtrack for this game is any indication, heheh~
This VN does an excellent job of putting the reader in Tomila's shoes: I felt her frustration and confusion about her friends' strange behavior and refusal to communicate (either with her or with each other) like it was my own, heheh.
For that matter, I've also struggled with dissociative amnesia quite a bit, so I felt even worse for Tomila: There's nothing quite so alienating as seeing everyone except you remember some event or otherwise be on the same page about something that you just can't for the life of you remember, no matter how hard you try...
I'd also like to take a moment to appreciate the character art! It's always such a delight when every character has their own distinct design, all the way down to their makeup and sense of fashion, heheheh~ The portraits having different poses as well as facial expressions for the different emotes is also pretty great, I must say.
All of that is to say, this is a very nice VN~
I felt so bad for poor Sue! I just want to give her a hug, even if I'd end up getting slimed as a result, heheheh. I also couldn't help but pity Juniper as well; for all of her desire to sow chaos and destruction across the world, and all of the hurt she's caused the other people in her life in the past, it shows through very clearly that she's in quite a lot of pain herself...
I'm looking forward to the updated version! I want to see what becomes of this unlikely duo, heheh~
The character writing in this VN is spectacular~ Eve obviously stands out in this regard, with her steady development from a cold and standoffish beauty to a loving yet deeply troubled widow (of a sort)—but Leben sees just as much character growth, with her seemingly harmless earnestness and do-first-think-later attitude leading her down a terribly rocky and unhealthy but unfortunately realistic road. The writing for them both is very believable and humanizing, and it does an excellent job of getting you immersed and invested in the story; I even teared up a little at the end, heheheh~
The art is also quite something! In addition to the adorable character portraits, all of the paper-craft work with the backgrounds was delightfully creative, and really helped those more intense scenes where it's used to maximum effect to hit that much harder~
I also very much appreciate how the good ending helps you view the bad ending through a completely different lens, and suggests that, although an undeniably tragic outcome, it might not be all that bad after all, heheh~
Fantastic work, well and truly!
More than anything, I was deeply impressed by the artistic direction of this VN. The use of color especially, both to provide a visual indicator for the character route and in response to the events of the plot, was very strong~ I also absolutely adored the character portraits: In addition to the art itself being very charming, having the rectangular cut-outs rather than just full portraits—and moreover having the characters move around in the cut-outs for each of their expressions—wins a ton of style points in my book, heheheh~
Learning about each of the characters and watching their situation fall apart time and time again even as the particulars were changed was fascinating. Can anything be done to save them? Could this outcome have been avoided?
Whatever the case may end up being, I'm really looking forward to the full release, heheh~
Poor Es. As someone who's struggled at length in the past with intrusive thoughts, I was very moved watching him fight so desperately against them (as well as against the guilt and shame that so very often go hand-in-hand with them). I wanted very badly to reach through the screen and grab him by the shoulders, saying, "YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS!!!"
And that's something I feel this VN communicates very well: It doesn't matter how insistent or gruesome your intrusive thoughts may be; they do not define you or make you who you are, nor does having them automatically mean you're some kind of dangerous monster.
Take that together with all of the other strong points here—the visual presentation, the atmosphere, the simple yet effective world-building and character development—and you end up with quite the powerful VN~
Stellar work (pun intended)!
The visual presentation of this VN is airtight~ All of the photograph backgrounds for the different scenes are very stylish, and, when taken together with the references to real artists and music producers, work well to ground the story in the real world—which only serves to underscore how unfortunately realistic the developments with Sable and her work situation are...
Overall, it's a compelling exploration of gender and anime-related subcultures~ Great work, heheh.
P.S.: Thank malevolence that tobacco companies here in the States haven't figured out gijinka yet. If they started selling cigarettes branded with cute anime girls here, all of the public health progress on that front would be undone overnight...
This VN has so much style! All of the portrait sprites have so much character to them, and I love the amount of care and detail put into all of the background art~ Having the art for the endings visible on the walls of the restaurant was a really nice touch, heheh.
I also very much enjoyed the music! From the feverish theme for the nightmares to the laid-back workplace music, it all worked quite well to establish the varied atmospheres of the difference scenes~
I was heartbroken to discover that there was not, in fact, an ending where you end up getting together with your super-cute roommate... but nevertheless, very good work on this one~
As someone who's been an office worker at a huge corporation for over seven years, and who just within this past month finally decided to quit after years of steadily deteriorating working conditions, this VN hit very close to home for me, heh. I ended up reading the entire thing in one sitting, staying up until after 2 AM to finish it~
While I didn't make the sort of sacrifice our anonymous protagonist did to get this job, just like her I stayed far longer than I should've, because just like her I felt like it'd be unreasonable of me to quit: "It's a good job at a good company that I busted my ass to get; I know things are going to shit more and more with each passing quarter, and they've given me pay 'raises' that were well below inflation two years in a row now, but if I just buckle down and work a little bit harder...!" So it goes.
My personal bullshit aside, I think you've got an excellent draft here~ I'd be truly delighted to see you return to this story and finish it someday, heheheh~
P.S.: Someone needs to tell Protagonist-chan about sending follow-up emails to create a paper trail for all managerial and administrative decisions, discussions, and approvals, ESPECIALLY in a toxic environment like this one~
This right here is an absolutely magnificent VN~ More than anything else, the art is dazzling: The immediately hooking opening sequence; the wide variety of character designs, with a plethora of different body shapes, hairstyles, facial structures, you name it; all of the CGs (some even with visual callbacks!)—just everything about it, really~
And the writing! Hot damn, that opening monologue from Selene was both badass and heartwrenching! Seeing all of the care put into developing even the one-off side characters still makes me smile, heheheh~ For that matter, I'm a sucker for good worldbuilding, so you already know I greatly enjoyed getting glimpses into the the politics between the different classes of devils and their relationship to the rest of the world~ And I must say, you write some damn good action sequences, heheh.
But don't let me forget about the sound design: Not only was all of the music on point, but I loved how deftly you interwove sound effects for all of the smaller character actions into the scenes as well. They help quite a lot to make the whole experience that much more immersive, heheheh~
Truly marvelous work! I'm very much hoping to see more work by you in the future~
P.S.: I absolutely love Liliana's design, heh
First and foremost, a huge shoutout to this VN for featuring characters with body shapes that aren't all just "perfectly shaped conventionally attractive anime girl"—and for having a variety of expressive poses for them, at that! I'd also like to take a moment to appreciate the CGs, especially the gorgeously rendered one of Grace at the bar~
Second, I respect the choice to use a stream of consciousness writing style. It's a difficult technique to execute well, not least because it's easy for it to boil over and inundate the reader with extraneous chatter, but I'd say you're doing a good job so far~ In particular, the transitions between following each of the different characters was quite fluid, and felt very natural.
Great work so far! I'm looking forward to the upcoming acts, heheh~
I can't get over how great the art is! So much care, attention, and detail was put into the backgrounds and character portraits alike, and the VN really shines for it~ I also appreciate not only the careful use of color and fuzzy lining to make everything feel visually soft and comforting (or not, when the story called for such), but also the clever use of lighting and distortion on the backgrounds to add more visual dynamism to the scenes, heheh~
The sound design was quite good, too! On top of the music itself, which was all very pleasing and matches the scenes well, the text printing sound effect had a very satisfying aural weight to it, if that makes any sense, heh.
Also, the twist at the end regarding the true cause of Orchid's transformation was well-executed~ If only Orchid had managed to pull her head out of her ass a bit sooner, and just communicated properly with Lune from the start... though, if she were capable of that, I suppose none of the events of this story would've happened in the first place, now would they? Heheheh~
Very nice work! I hope to see more from you in the future~
This is an absolutely fascinating VN. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect going in, especially when looking at the unorthodox visual direction without context; but I was blown away by the poignant and heartfelt story, not to mention very impressed by how meaningful the disjointed imagery turned out to be~
Indeed, I think the visual style captures the profound alienation of I Am perfectly, just as much as her peculiar speech does: The other people in her life, caricatures though they may appear to be, are nevertheless all "real" people living in the "real" world, a "reality" into which I Am does not fit and in which she has no place. Even among her closest friends, among those who make an active effort to understand her and meet her at her level, that feeling of not truly belonging persists.
Similarly, no matter how earnestly she tries to communicate with others, her meaning never quite reaches them—and yet more painfully, even when she clearly states exactly what she means, more often than not it STILL falls on deaf ears and is brushed aside.
In a way, the VN as a whole can be viewed through the same lens: Will you dismiss it as pretentious gibberish, as most of the story's "sensible" characters do with I Am's cryptic words; or will you look deeper, seeking out the true meaning and underlying feelings of it all like The Carpenter does?
Excellent work, well and truly~
The art in this VN is so charming! In particular, I was quite taken with the sprites for Essie and Sol; all of the subtle changes in their expressions not only add another layer of depth to their characterization, but speak to the amount of care and attention to detail put into this game~ I also got quite a kick out of the goofy "totally normal human" masks that Mim and Mulf wear, heheheh.
I have to say, I'm burning with curiosity to learn more: About what happened to the Earth, about why it's so important to keep hidden the events of the cataclysm, about Sol's past and the significance of the dahlias—and about what will become of Essie, too, of course, heheh.
I'll be keeping an eye out for any updates and/or sequels to this one~
I absolutely loved the visual presentation of this VN~ All of the little details (e.g. the animation on the head's scribbles, the different colors and "faces" for the alters, etc.) add so much, and give the VN quite a lot of character, heheh~ And the plurality is so well-written! This is genuinely some of the best plural representation I've seen.
There really is something magical about going back and revisiting your old work~ Not only is it often a goldmine for ideas and inspiration—reclaiming concepts previously left unexplored or underdeveloped, and resurrecting long-neglected scenarios and characters with a fresh coat of paint—but it's also an excellent way to see just how much you've progressed as a writer and an artist. I ought to revisit some of my older work sometime soon, too, heheheh~
Also, I'd be remiss not to comment on the sound design! The use of soft static for ambiance throughout large stretches of the VN really helps both the music AND the sudden cuts to silence really pop~
Superb work across the board! I hope to see more stories from you in the future, whether finished or unfinished, heheheh~
Firstly, I want you to know that you should be very proud of the progress you've made in your fight against your depression, Abelle~ To go from being completely bed-bound to making and releasing a VN in the span of a year is HUGE progress, irrespective of whether it's the VN you were originally hoping to make.
Secondly, you're being much too harsh on and unfair to yourself—which, of course, is part and parcel of living with depression, but it's important to reflect on it and push back against it, lest it spiral out of control.
To use an example from the work, you mention how you don't know how to draw, and how your lack of technical skill discourages you from drawing any more than once a month for an hour or so. As you know, however, the only real way to improve at drawing is to draw regularly, with even the sloppiest and messiest sketches being important stepping stones in developing the necessary muscle control and grasp of the fundamentals to be a skilled artist.
Shutting yourself down from drawing because you don't like how your art looks, then, is ultimately an act of self-sabotage, one that perpetuates the problem rather than helping you to improve at all. That goes doubly so considering how an hour is scarcely enough time to warm up for a single drawing session, much less when trying to shake off the rust after not having drawn in a month!
That is to say, all of your art is doubtlessly better than you're imagining it to be, and you're capable of far more than you think~ All you need to do is give yourself enough time and space to create at your own pace, without letting any comparisons to others' works or destructive thought patterns stop you before you've even given yourself a chance to succeed. It doesn't matter if your work isn't quite as polished as you'd like it to be at first; that's all a part of the process of learning, growing, and improving as an artist~
I hope to see more work from you in the future!
This is a very cute VN! You should be proud of yourselves, especially considering that this is the first game you've seen through to completion~ (which is an accomplishment in its own right!)
More than anything, I adored the portrait sprites for the characters; the rendering on them is such a treat for the eyes, and they're so delightfully expressive! The background art as well has a lot of charm to it, heheh.
Here's hoping that Nin and Kyp can find happiness together long into the future, despite the brain worms and being very "no thoughts, head empty", respectively, heheheh~
It's as if the whole world is conspiring to keep Angel and Addison from being happy together...
I enjoyed this sad and mysterious little VN~ The minimalist art style pared with the NVL-style text presentation worked quite well, and the music was simply delightful, heheheh.
I hope we get to see more of this story someday; I'm terribly curious to learn more about Angel and what we see of her eventual fate~
My malevolence, the art in this VN! I was completely blown away by the sheer number, variety, and quality of the CGs and backgrounds—to say nothing of that wonderful animated sequence!
The story, too, was very well paced, and kept me engaged all the way throughout: I quite enjoyed the colorful cast of characters, and learning more about them through their complicated relationships with the dying world and the dead ringleader, heheheh~
Marvelous work, well and truly~ I'm very curious to see where Hopeless Divine goes from here!
This VN is simply marvelous from start to finish~ The well-structured and well-paced story, the thoughtful character writing, the lovingly detailed visuals, the use of silence and music alike in the sound design as the events of the VN called for each—absolutely excellent across the board, heheheh~
I'm truly very impressed with this VN! I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for your future work~
The atmosphere in this VN is absolutely masterful~ Everything from the music to the background art to the character interactions come together into a splendidly surreal experience, heheh.
I especially appreciated the variety in the music, as well as all of the subtle background animations paired with each scene~ I also got a kick out of how Danika didn't so much as bat an eye at Cherith being a sphinx, but instead was totally into it from the get-go, lol
Good work on this one~
What an interesting VN this was~ The juxtaposition of the fantastical, vaguely post-apocalyptic setting against the starkly realistic depiction of the day-to-day struggles of living with serious mental illness was very much to my liking, I must say, heheheh~
The atmosphere was also quite strong: In particular, I thought the use of ambient soundscapes in the place of background music worked very well for immersion and setting the story's tone, and it likewise contributed greatly to helping everything feel more grounded and realistic.
Great work on this one~
P.S.: I have a soft spot for the gas mask guards, heheh
I quite enjoyed this one! More than anything else, I absolutely loved the slow-paced, underspoken slice of life energy that this VN has, heheh~ It was a lot of fun to follow Rictus and Icasia as they ventured along, gradually warming up to one another along the way—though, I will say, Rictus has the patience of a saint, being willing to put up with so much of Icasia's shit and yet still be so accommodating for her, lol.
I'm very curious to see where the story goes from here, and to learn more about the nature and history both of our main girls and the world they're exploring~
You really have a knack for drawing backgrounds~ I was quite impressed by the amount of detail you put into them all, not to mention you opting to draw them all in the first place (vs. using stock photos or the like) despite this being your first VN! Having the character sprites all change color to match the current background was a nice touch; it helped everything to feel visually cohesive, heheh.
As for the story, talk about a cliffhanger of an ending~ I hope we get to see what becomes of Deca, her dreamy alter-ego, and her mysterious stalker (as well as her date, of course) someday!
(also, I'm craving pasta now, heheheh)
Heheh, I love pretty much everything this VN has to offer! The character art is so charming and expressive, and it communicates so much about the characters themselves; the style of the UI and background art is really slick; and the story is endlessly amusing while also hitting close to home, not to mention how it kept me guessing about what was to come throughout~
Excellent work, well and truly! I'll be looking forward to your future work, heheheh~
I quite enjoyed this short, sweet, and sexy little VN~ I loved the art (especially those gorgeous character portraits!), and the smooth background music / sound design worked well to help tie everything together, heheheh. I do hope Theo manages to get out of their head, and perhaps spend more time with their roommates instead~
That is to say, great work!
This VN makes for an intriguing character study! You did a very good job of showcasing all of the various sides and shades of Lucia's personality through her manic ramblings, not to mention the glimpses into her family dynamics—and the wide variety in background music and background art alike do quite a bit to breathe even more life into the experience, heheh.
Very nice work~
This is certainly an ambitious VN! It's remarkable that you were able to put together a detailed story of this length in such a short span of time.
I was impressed by the CGs, especially the sequences with animated visual effects; they really helped those intense moments to stand out strikingly! I also thought that the sound design was well done—particularly the use of sound effects, though the background music also gave the VN quite a bit of character, heheh.
Meanwhile, at the risk of understatement, the story was staggeringly dark, and made for a very sobering read. Watching Violet's unbecoming progress as it did, ceaselessly, ruthlessly, bit by bit and step by step until nothing was left of her was... difficult, to say the least. In all honesty, I found myself feeling rather uncomfortable at certain points, which is a rarity for me.
And that goes doubly so in light of the story's conclusion: Seeing Arachne, for all of the literal crimes and other abhorrent things she did, not only completely evade any consequences for her actions but actively prosper in the pursuit of her schemes... well, it's a conclusion that's unfortunately more true to reality than I might care to admit, I'll say that much, heh.
You've made quite the memorable VN here~
Yo, listen up, here's the story
About a little girl that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything she sees is just blue
Like her, inside and outside~
(except for Sawyer, of course, heheheh)
Thus far, I've only read Act One, but already I'm invested in the story~ I want to see what becomes of Diana and Sawyer, especially after that cliffhanger of an ending! I also adored both the music and the art—the portraits in particular had a ton of charm and character to them, and I thought your use of silhouettes at certain points added quite a lot, heheh~
I'll be sure to check out Act Two and leave another comment later on!
I have to admit, I felt a little bit nostalgic reading this: It reminds me a lot of some of the experimental short stories and flash fiction I've written in the past, heheheh~
I very much enjoyed the realistic stream-of-consciousness writing style! It's a technique that's tricky to execute—it's always so tempting to want to clean it up, to make it neater and more structured, often ruining the intended effect in the process—but I think you did it quite well here.
In a way, this VN feels almost like a painted portrait (or perhaps a photograph): A brief, static glimpse at this character and their thoughts and feelings at this moment in time.
Nice work on this one~
