itch.io

Oh boy, can't wait to transmigrate into an otome game as Villager A and marry an NPC to escape the plot but everyone is a silhouette

I love Garret I love Garret I love Garret I love Garret I love Garret so much it hurts AaAAAaAAAaaaAAAaaaaaAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAeeeeeeeEEeeeiiiiiiii

10/10, super great art, super great writing, super great LIs. Favorite game in the series so far. Can't wait for the future installments of Holiday Otome!!!

100/10 tyler is cute af

anton kiss cg where, batensan

you can't deprive me forever +_+

But in all seriousness, this was an amazing game. The storyline was perfectly paced and I loved every single part of it - none of it felt forced or rushed or anything. Amazing work - I'll be sure to check out your other games! :)

Thank you so much for your detailed response! Ah, so much stuff makes sense to me now.

Again, thank you for this game, Pinlin! I had a blast playing it and I eagerly await more content from you in the future, whether it be Dark Nights related or not! In the meantime, I'll be making more memes and fanart in the Discord. (*w*)

It should be in bandcamp or soundcloud (I don't remember which one specifically). If you search for the creator's name and then either bandcamp or soundcloud, it should come up! (Sorry for the late reply lolol)

Hi Pinlin, I just wanted to say that I finished playing all routes and endings of the game today and holy crap, I LOVED IT ALL SO MUCH. Your art is absolutely AMAZING, and the storyline was so engaging. Usually, after getting into a new game or fandom or whatever, I have a lot of things to say, so sorry if this comment drags on forever xD

[SPOILER WARNING to those who are reading this comment who haven’t finished all endings of the game!]

First things… questions I still have regarding some of the deeper lore/plot.

1. RASUMI: I’m not sure if you deliberately decided not to reveal all of Rasumi’s motives and backstory, but it kind of feels that way because I was left slightly unsatisfied by the things that didn’t get revealed. After finishing Kurato and Junoru’s routes, which I expected to reveal more about Rasumi, I felt as though there was almost nothing new, apart from the impact Rasumi had on the two romance-able characters’ backstories. There’s also the thing about her being oddly kind and helpful in Zeikun’s romance ending, but really horrible in Zeikun’s normal ending (this double faced nature of her is so fitting for her being a Gemini, though that of course is a stereotype for the sign…). I also want to know if Kaichi ever managed to get Rasumi to break the curse on him! This just makes me go crazy on making my own theories on who she is; and for right now, I’m assuming that she is some sort of fallen angel or corrupted angel that now works for herself rather than any higher power. I’m curious to hear your thoughts about her and who she may be, and how you developed her as a semi-villain character!
2. CHAIN: Okay, I have no idea why on Earth I like him so much. He’s cold and ruthless and clearly doesn’t care a lot for others apart from Kurato (somewhat) and maybe even MC in some routes… but I still feel like there’s something more to him than just a supernatural creature hunter. But besides me hoping dearly for a route for him (whether it be from MC’s perspective or Ikuya’s, since I read in an AMA about how you considered making Ikuya the POV for a sequel… personally, I would really like to see Ikuya x Chain because that is the most ridiculous but weirdly wholesome pairing ever), I have a couple thoughts about him. That part in Junoru’s backstory chapter where this hunter woman(?) shows up, the same CG of Chain’s eyes was used, and in the Extra Scenes part unlocked after all endings are reached, Roya seemed to suggest that he recognized(?) him “even after all these years“ (or something along those lines)… That part really got me thinking about who Chain really is. First of all, is that hunter woman from the past one of his mentors? One of my theories is that there are a generation of supernatural hunters that either are or aren’t related by family relations. It’s possible that the very first hunter held a grudge against supernaturals, and then someone who also had a grudge went to him/her and asked him/her to train them. Another theory is a bit more far-fetched, but it’s that maybe Chain isn’t really human after all? Maybe his soul lives on through the generations, taking the form of different bodies in order to disguise his true identity. Of course you don’t have to tell me his backstory if you’re planning on keeping it a secret for now, but I just wonder about him… ;^)
3. ROYA: I don’t know if this is a plot hole or something, but in Kurato’s flashback chapter, it’s shown that Roya murders his teacher for sending death threats to the Kenriji family. However, at this point Roya shouldn’t even have his supernatural powers yet, and I really wonder how on Earth a young child like him managed to kill an adult… Maybe there’s an explanation for this? Also, I think it’s implied that Roya is the one who killed the school ghost boy (I forget his name), but I’m not really sure. It makes sense (sort of) that someone like Roya wasn’t the best person even as a child, but I find it a bit odd how no one ever suspected him or called him out for his actions (except Junoru for that one time). And I also wonder why he has extreme bullying tendencies anyway. Does he to some degree have mental or emotional issues? Does he simply look down on others that much? I don’t know, some parts of his backstory just doesn’t really make that much sense to me, and I was hoping that you could clear some things up, if you wanted to share!
4. JACE/BLACE: I think a lot of their backstory was already revealed, but I just have one question: how do they determine which clients to accept and such? I don’t really understand why they would ever work for sketchy people like the dudes who murdered the Kenrijis. Since the reason why the twins appeared in Kurato and Junoru’s routes is because Kurato and Junoru are the source of the issues going on in the village (except they’re also caused by Roya and Rasumi), and they need to return balance to the human world, it’s odd that they would randomly accept the jobs of random people who are acting out of spite and cold blood. Is there something that I’m forgetting about their backstory that explains this, or did you just never reveal it?

Okay, now that all of my questions are out of the way… I’m going to say a few thoughts about the existing routes!

Routes ranked from 4th to 1st place:

#4: Kurato. Although he’s an awesome character, he’s just the personality type that I feel least interested in. That’s not to say this route was bad in any way! I really enjoyed playing through his route! I only felt like the romance came a little too soon compared to the other routes, and I’m just not super interested in his personality.

#3: Zeikun. I love his personality and character design, and there’s really nothing wrong with his route at all. However, I just prefer other routes a bit more than his.

#2: Junoru. This boy is too precious. I really love soft personalities in otome games, especially in a game with such a complex and dark plot. It complements the story well! I also loved the flower symbolism in his route; even though it was sad, I adore his normal ending CG. He looks so peaceful, resting over the flowers. I feel bad that he had to go to hell rather than heaven, though. Oh, on that note… CAN I JUST SAY THAT SENDING HIS MOTHER AND FATHER TO SEPARATE AFTERLIFE REALMS IS LITERALLY THE MEANEST AND CRUELEST THING EVER.

#1: Sachiro. Okay. I did NOT expect myself to like his route as much as I did. I’m not really into the shota types, so I was very hesitant about playing his route. But once I got into the 2nd-3rd chapter? Wow. I absolutely adore the plot line of his route. It has a somewhat Spirited Away kind of vibe, except it’s a spirit going into the human world. And can I just say that non-cursed/adult Sachiro’s design is my favorite thing ever. The moment I saw him, and got then to know his true personality? I knew he was best boy. Also, I really dig swordfighters in fantasy games. The CG you drew where he is about to kill all the evil spirits in the spirit realm was too amazing. I love the transition of his normal fighting self to the darker version where he looks much more ominous. Also, might I mention that one of my most treasured OCs in a medieval fantasy story I’m making is a swordfighter, is a Cancer, and has a dark/corrupted side that ends up overwhelming him at one point? I guess I just really like that type of character. xD

Lastly, I would like to conclude with this:

Pinlin. You are an amazing person. Your art is so good. Even though I’ve never liked anime art styles completely, your style is so captivating and beautiful on so many levels. The color schemes you use seriously soothe my heart. I’m a hobbyist artist myself (and am currently making a visual novel of my own, but it’s only a personal project for my friends for now), and the kind of stuff you do is what I aspire to be in the future. I loved every aspect of this game, and I really hope to see more games from you in the future, if you’re considering it. I’d be totally down for a sequel of Dark Nights featuring the side characters! Since you said that you would do a route for some side characters if you had enough requests for it: if you want to, I would love to see routes for Chain, Kaichi, Roya, Jace, Blace, Lioji… oh wait… that’s literally all of the male side characters. xD But in all seriousness, I think I would be most interested in seeing (as mentioned above) Ikuya featured as the POV, getting to know the side characters. Ikuya deserves more love and screen time! (That bit about her fighting Rasumi off with Zeikun? Spectacular.) But… you are your own person, and as a creator, you should do whatever you want, and I don’t want to be a demanding fan of any sort. Do what makes you most happy!

Phew! That was a lot of typing. I hope you’ll find the time to read this through and tell me your thoughts. Thank you so much for making this game. It’s been a pleasure playing through it. ^v^

-Nocte

This comment contains spoilers, which are marked with strikethroughs.

I absolutely ADORE this VN. I've never read a visual novel that is so packed with character development, depth, and a really compelling storyline. Favorite routes are Karma's and Fritz's. I didn't initially read the recommended sequence of routes, so I did Fritz's route last, but I think that that was the right choice on my part, because Fritz's route was a heck of an emotional rollercoaster, so much that I even pretty much consider it the "true ending" (maybe also because it ends with magic being gone forever, which creates a lot of bittersweetness to it that I really enjoy in the endings of stories). This is also the reason why Varg is my second favorite character, and his unrequited love for Lucette kind of killed me inside (even though technically Varg and Fritz are the same person). Karma, or Klaude, is definitely my absolute favorite. His route had the most depth and twists and turns, and I was definitely not expecting him to turn into a beast. But this is what is amazing about this visual novel, in that it takes classic fairy tales that you've known your entire life, and changing it into something unique.

Now more on the elements outside of story and routes. The art is AMAZING. There are so many unique sprites and CGs for almost anything you can and can't expect in the story. The GUI design is phenomenal. The animations and effects are superbly done. From the moment I first opened the game, I was instantly stunned by how beautiful everything was. I was definitely drawn in by all of that, and I think most readers were and will be.

Lastly, I'd like to say that because each and every character has so much backstory to all of them, I forged a really strong connection with almost all of them. Mark my words, I am not the type of person to really bond with fictional characters (I prefer just getting absorbed into the story), but I really did for this game. Which is why, again, Fritz's route was so intense for me. So many characters I had grown to love in the other routes ended up dying, and just the ending itself was very bittersweet. The only negative thing I can say is that I feel like Waltz's route was a tiny bit of a disappointment, in that it could have been expanded further. I still have a lot of questions about everything. If Waltz's family was killed by Hildyr, then where did Myth come from? Things like that. And I also feel that in Fritz's route, it still didn't really make sense why he loves Lucette, since her struggle wasn’t really apparent in the beginning of the game. But I guess that he is her personal knight after all, and he knows more than we did when we first started playing. (Did I mention that he knows a lot of stuff about Lucette? So much that it’s sort of creepy? xD) But I think that the whole Varg thing made up for that. I sort of wish that Varg and Fritz would be combined back into one person, instead of Varg being completely erased, because I just adore Varg a lot… probably because after so many routes of me wondering who on Earth he is, I finally get some clarification about him, and I get to know more about him and why he did the stuff he did.

Anyway, this review stretched way longer than I thought it would. Thank you all so much for making this amazing VN, and I’m really really looking forward if y’all are ever thinking of making another one! Awesome work. I rate this 10/10, and I would 100% play again.

Yay, that's great! :D Thanks so much.

I absolutely loved this game. The artwork and music/soundtrack is phenomenal, and the plot is super intriguing and creepy. 100% would recommend for anyone (that can work well with eerie content). The atmosphere was amazing, and I can't even begin to describe the art for this game. It was super unique, and I can't say I've ever seen a game put together with hand-drawn art (apart from OFF, but it was still somewhat digitalized), and I loved the interactive aspect of it, such as painting the doll and such. I was only a tiny bit disappointed that (mild spoiler warning) there wasn't an exact happy or romantic ending, but that is okay, haha. Overall, I was very satisfied. Lovely work, and I'd be ecstatic to see more work from you guys in the future! :)

PS. I downloaded the soundtrack because I adore it so much. It's hauntingly beautiful, with just the right amount of airiness to it.

Hello hello! I haven't downloaded or played the game yet, but I was just going to ask if there will be a version for Mac as well in the final release. The game looks super cool and I would totally get it if only I had a Windows computer ;v;

Alright, I have finished almost all the routes and Lu's route. My favorite character is still the Guide, but I think that Lu's route definitely contains the happiest options for Kikka and is best for her, even if I still ship Kikka and the Guide, deep down... >v> I'm going to assume that the (SPOILER ALERT!) fate of the relationship between the "certain race" and the other "certain race" is left to our own imagination, so I hope that everything goes well in the end. The Guide (and his route) was a little bit of a letdown in terms of romance, but I still like him a lot because he tries his best to do what is right in his opinion, and he's super intriguing as a character overall. His half-exasperated and half-emotionless personality is really funny to follow at times.

Anyhow, this was truly an amazing game, I loved it so much! It's one of the best visual novels I've played in a really long time. I really look forward to seeing more games in the future if that is what you have in mind! Thanks so much for "Lake of Voices" and everything it has to offer. :D

I love this game so much!! Favorite character is Emilio. I also got all the endings and CGs! I am super in love with the art, soundtrack and storyline.

My favorite character so far is the Guide - I really don't know why, but he always seemed really interesting to me.

I'm not completely done with all the endings and CGs in the game yet, but I just wanted to ask - is there an ending with the Guide that does not end (spoiler alert) in the two of them dying?