itch.io

Hellou! I happened to play this too late but I need to say a few things. 

First, I love the little changes in dialog in every loop. They made me smile.

Second, oh my god, the good ending is so good! I can't believe I almost missed out on finding out there's a good ending in the first place! (I started with the defiant answers so, when I went through all three options, I thought that was it! Now it turns out I would have gotten the ending if I had done the answers in a different order?! Uh... I kind of want to warn others some way.) By the way, the way Liam acts when he just up and figures it all out. Too funny. Kind of adorable, the whole back and forth.

Third, as an ex philosophy student, I gotta say I really enjoyed the debate. It was whimsical as well as insightful, bringing up both's perspectives well. Way to drive home the point with the whole pizza debacle, that was lovely. (Plus, again, that ending lol!)

I also kind of want to bring attention to the character's personality and dialog; voice acting too, they did a great job bringing them to life. You have successfully sold me on playing your other project, NonPlatonic.

A little note: The browser version seems to be broken? At least I didn't manage to make it work for me in any of my attempts.

Great job, people!

Sorry but, someone should have told me choosing the most boring option would be this entertaining... I almost skipped on those beautiful ad bits.

Lovely game. Music is impressive, visuals are simple but effective - characters are very expressive and I really like the designs, the little renpy animations sells the whole thing. I like that there's a little lore, and that it's charmingly adorable throughout. The cat interactions are my favorite... though [SPOILERS]making friends or joining the gang works for me too[/SPOILERS].

I think I encountered a bug (playing in the browser version) because it froze when I got the tv screen ending. 

All in all, a lovely experience.

Back to report a bug. I got the true ending the first run, and then I tried to replay to check the other alternatives dialog/choice options.  Jessie's sprite wouldn't show the first scene, and then it skipped immediately to the accusations. I played through the browser so it might be only an upload issue of the browser version. 

...Or it might be related to the fact that the true end was already found, and it was by design? It did make it faster to check the other ending options. (Speaking of, it also felt like the Gus accusation ended very abruptly too.)
But yeah, I couldn't find out what happened if I looked at the floor or if I started accusing people for the giggles lol...

Best of luck!

I only started playing. but I wanted to say...

...I suspect the narrator

lol

Nevermind, got it! And I also got a bit more of that lore, which is nice~
Oh I love that the menu image changes~ Nice touch! 

I liked the concept of this. It hints at a deeper lore. And I liked the CGs especially. I never could get all the endings. I got all alive, all dead and a mix, but I couldn't get ending 3 - and thus couldn't do the others. Is there a trick to them?

I thought I'd be able to find it... Or the organization'd post it on the description... then I thought maybe they'd update the description with the discord, and the theme, when the jam started... but... So far it's not there, and I can't find it 😂 I'm sorry, I'm slow

I have been wanting to play this ever since I found it. I'm sorry I didn't get to finish to review this before the end of the jam. But here goes:

I wanted to say, I really like the art. Particularly the CGs. They sell the story a lot! The sprite art is also pretty cool, but I wished they looked a tad bit more androgynous, like the CGs version. They still read as the same characters, though. Much like how it would be a manga version from the anime version.

I'd have to say my only qualm with the CGs is that they are too dark. Even if I know that was the intention it reads as unclear. 

As for everything else, this obviously is in dire need of music. Not only because generally you need it for certain scenes, but this is literally a music-themed story. In this case, it's kind of a big deal. Plus, it's not just the music - it's the sound design in general. You need a static sound every time there's static for sure.

The concept of the story I do like a lot. The reason I was really looking forwards to this was especially because of the summary. Now the game writing itself, I do think it could use with a few tweaks. The twist becomes way too obvious way too fast. And the fact that the protagonist isn't aware that the friend is being a total ahole to him reads as unlikely because the guy isn't even trying to be subtle. Maybe you were anxious about making it to the scary part for the jam and felt you needed to rush things and that's why?

But before this reads wrongly, I think this is a solid 8/10. I don't mean to discourage you at all, I think think has a lot of potential. It just need a bit of tweaking, that's all

I'm a real fan of this entry. The sprite art especially was a highlight. But also, I really like the personalities of these characters, and I have to give major kudos to the team for finishing the whole story - all four chapters of it. It might be simple and straight to the point, but you have no less than 6 love interests! Which means you had some branching paths and extra scenes with each of them. That's a crazy lot! Besides, it's not so simple than it doesn't have their fair share of depth. At least for me, I really felt for Priscilla. So I wanted to come by and mention that this is a A-tier entry and thoroughly enjoyable. I hope to see more of your work in the future!
- Signed, a rival and a fan XD

Interesting. I guess we could consider that, if the programmers are up to it~

Awww Thanks, Purechito!! So nice to see you here, and I'm so glad the Silent Hill-ness was appreciated~ XD I'm also very glad about the sound design, I was really hoping for that. Yeah, you're completely right there's an issue with the rendered animations, we are already working on that too. Thank you for your kind words in general, dudette! Estelle (Ru's VA) will also be very flattered for sure!

And you're also completely right about our entries being similar but different. I just cannot help appreciating the fact you also went for [SPOILERISH] train travel + looking through the eyes of somebody who struggles with... serious health issues. And, ngl, your theme choice... was beautiful. Honestly, the only reason I mentioned the similarities was because, yeah... Maybe I'm susceptible because I'm playing all these horror games but, goddamn, the many similarities scared me a bit... like what kind of black magic is this?! O_o

Jajaja te voy a tomar la invitacion~ Uno de estos dias quizas XD

That's crazy! Silent Hill was my main inspiration for this particular project! Do you know the SilentHill-inspired game Post Trauma? It looks so promising, and it starts inside a subway, which is similar to a train somehow...? Maybe that's how we both got here, if you watched/played that. I don't know, I'm trying to find an explanation because I am not lying when I say the similarities give me the chills. Not related but, I'm also a fan of Yume Nikki (particularly the twist end, even if Madoka Magica does it better).Anyway, pleased to meet you.

Hey there, I'm the main creator of Labyrinth is a Straight Line. I just wanted to drop by because I just finished your entry for Spooktober and... not gonna lie, I got chills from all the accidental similarities from both our entries. Not just from the train setting but also the struggles with mental illness (and inspiration from Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk), or how BG-centric the story was - and I loved your BGs by the way. ...Also the plotwist with the empty train and the oddity with the doors (just where the heck we got both our inspirations from?! It just can't be so similar, goddamn...) 

So yeah. It kind of made me feel it's a shame we didn't work together (and a bit scared)... In any case, great entry. I'm a Spanish native speaker too. Btw, you did it all yourself? Crazy load of work for one person, mujer. Major kudos.

lol so there's no good choice, is there?

OK, I'm going to be the fan theorist and just make a guess, you devs don't need to answer if you want to leave it to the imagination. I'm guessing the monster is either depression or addiction, and the cave is our mind in our darkest hour. 

At first I thought the monster was us, as if our subconscious, or how we may perceive ourselves. But then it drops the line about me loving it even though I have not learned to love myself. And there's a suggestion of self-harm so both depression and addiction tracks. But then again, the "hate" ending left me wondering... 

Anyway. If any other player feels like it, share your own interpretations down here, I'd like to know what everybody else got from this.

Said "Thank god" I didn't chainmail them, they immediately chainmailed me XD

Thank you very much! :D

Jaja mierda que la asusté a la pobre chica. El final ya fue terrible XD
Muy bueno, gente. Muy lindo todo, y la ambientación 'tá re bien

Aw, I only got 40%! I think I did put the right answers... I suggested cognitive behavior therapy, lavender essential oil, touch therapy and... ok, for the baby I kind of wrote "fever-reducing medication, liquids, saline nose drops and humidifier" XD I didn't know which one was the right answer.

There's the obvious error in gameplay: Oreo's already receiving oxygen therapy so there's no point to sign off that treatment there (?). But that and most of the issues I had were already addressed in other comments.... and now I'm reading them, it seems the mother is a hardcover anti-vaxx promotor XD If the symptoms are getting worse, how is telling her to "rest" is a good answer? That kid is so going to die. Like, seriously, if you don't treat a high fever, you can die - more so if you're an infant. And the other things are just common sense - liquids especially.

Now speaking seriously, there are a few issues medically that one might address. You don't treat a concussion without rest, and you would be sued for malpractice if you tried to treat congestive heart failure without ACE inhibitors and diuretics... Actually, if the idea is that this was supposed to be an only-holistic clinic, and if you really are just a nurse... you can't give a treatment at all - oxygen therapy included. So... it's a bit troubling, that's all. Cute, but troubling XD

wait, Oreo is already receiving oxygen theraphy. Weren't we supposed to suggest touch therapy? 

lol

Oh this is a beatiful game. Short and sweet, with a lot to tell and an interesting gameplay. And I like the art a lot too. Incredible work for an only 3-day-long jam! Congratulations

Qué bello juego! Todo, desde el argumento, a los divertidos puzzles y minigames, hasta los diseños visuales. Los sprites se mueven con una soltura que casi no me doy cuenta que es una aventura gráfica, y los pequeños detalles como que el ojo se mueve siguiendo el movimiento del mouse me lo vendió todo. A parte, amo los diseños tipo hora de aventura; hermosos.

Me sorprendió la cantidad de minigames, y la verdad que me hice re fan de la del delivery, incluído el humor negro de la situación. Lo que me lleva al guión, que la verdad se siente super relatable y completo, con todas sus pequeñas narraciones visuales, como el tema de la red social. Ya vi varios juegos referidos a la ansiedad, pero nunca lo sentí tan cercano a mi situación (como esto de tener una madre que tiene toda la buena voluntad del mundo pero la presión que te mete a veces es mucho). Y reitero lo del humor! La verdad, la versión en español se me hizo tan familiar que casi pensé que el juego fue hecho en Argentina. 

La verdad, felicitaciones, se lo voy a recomendar a medio mundo. Espero que lo puedan terminar! Desde ya, un exitazo. Muchos saludos desde sudamérica!

ah lpm, me hicieron emocionar y llorar...

Dude, now that you mention it, I was going to try 1973! It's the date mentioned in the talk with Lizzie, isn't it? Since it was the only four digit number I saw all playthrough, I wrote it down to try it later. But then I thought it made no sense that an inner joke between the main characters would have any bearings in the choice of numeric code for the whole apartment building... I wound up scrapping that choice and just guessed there was no way to get through the door.

Well, in any case, thanks for relieving me of that uncertainty. It was killing me XD

It's been over three months since Spooktober, so, pardon the wait, I just got to your entry - there were over 150 so... *dies* I just wanted to come by and congratulate you on the finished game, it has a lot of things worth mentioning. Many people already praised the art extensively but I'll still comment on the three (four?) students' designs as well, because I loved them. The detective too, his eyes are very expressive even in his stoicism. This is the kind of drawing style I really enjoy, the general facial details work for me a lot. 

There's quite the flourish in the writing that some times caught me off guard, and I couldn't help but notice that, for as many options as there are, only the last few seem to matter... but, no matter, because I really liked the narration. I especially loved the characterization of every character, their way of speaking telling a lot about who they are. And also, I really liked how our actions, both as the professor as well as the detective, frame the way the story advances. However, and btw I got all four endings but, I gotta say, I'm a bit confused by how much the end result sways from ending to ending. Is the Evil End supposed to work in a different universe than the Good End? They don't seem to work together, that's my only qualm. Well, that and I'd love to have seen more about the side characters and how their stories ended...

Sound-wise, I'd have liked to have partial voice acting here. And at least one variation in the gameplay music, especially in the climax. The ambience music is quite good though, considering it's playing throughout all of the playthrough, it doesn't grow old fast, and that's a lot.

And I think that's all I wanted to say. Congratulations on finishing the game again. I feel this could easily be expanded into a bigger game with more content. But even as is, it's quite the quaint pleasant experience. Thank you for giving us that, and good luck on future endeavours!

I'm not the developer but allow me to answer. Take out the FAST option whenever there's a choice to avoid skipping over important text. Also, getting the different endings relies heavily on getting the butterfly mug from Emma. And getting that is tied to your very first interaction (push her only slightly to talk about how she feels about her dad's new girlfriend, comfort her, that sort of stuff).

Not sure if equally important but, also, choose Lizzy over dad, flirt heavily and choose telling the truth whenever the choice is available to you. There are two different endings that depend on whether you use the cup in the final act or you don't.

Happy endings hunt!

I just got one question... what is and where do I find the code to enter the damn apartment?! X'D

SPOILERS: I'm proud to say I got the butterfly cup in my very first playthrough. I choose to take that to mean I'd make a decent school therapist.
I didn't get the true end straight off the bat, though. Because I didn't want to break Emma's gift. So. Decent school therapist, damn poor survivalist.

thank you XD

The Jam page's description said there wasn't going to be a theme. It doesn't even have to be a complete game. You decide everything :) 

What I want to know is how do I access the discord XD The host mentioned a way to talk among ourselves, but itchio sent me here... Probably the wrong place lol

The flashback is not a bad idea at all... It's very nice in fact. Since it's a Visual Novel, I forget I can use tools like that, lol. Thank you! I'll totally try that next~

Yeah, I can see how the game might leave one wanting more, romance-wise... heh. Another thing to consider...

Wow, that's some praise, you'll make me blush! I'm glad the suspense and ambience had this positive impression, and that the game stuck at least a little, I couldn't ask for more. Thanks again for the support, it does prompts one to create <3

Oh damn. I forgot to talk about the GUI! It was my main focus and favorite part of the whole game, actually... right until the scene with the death and the chorus start playing. Then the music took the numer one spot. But the GUI still comes out as the strong second. Good ideas all around!

It took me time to get to this entry (Spooktober is long done, lol) but I finally got to it on my list, and oh boy. Sincerely, I already had the impression I was going to find myself in a story much more serious than with other entries, and I fully support that. Horror is a genre brimming with cheap gimmicks and it's always welcomed when it's played as an honest interpellation.

Not to mention, the theme is absolutely on point. It's pretty obvious with the covid pandemic, a story like this would hit differently. More over, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how intelligent this choice of story is. You really got me thinking. You kind of reminded me of how much just went on - is still going on, in a way. The people who have gone through that didn't really have it "go away", as today's commonfolk would have themselves think.

Hell, even if I think I was more conscious than the standard when it came to the pandemic, I think it just dawned on me, just how cruel is that we are denying their experience when it hasn't even been three years - when the virus is still taking people. I mean, I have to give you people prompts at the game's content. You really brought up and offered a needed reflection, and that's the best experience you can give a player, and that's the highest praise I can think of.

I went on a tangent there and couldn't even address everything else the game has to offer, lol. I wanted to make mention specially of the music, backgrounds and sprites. It's such a strong combination of powerful feelings in sound (and I mean holysh--), expressive characters (would have liked a few differences in poses, but ultimatedly they really work) and an ambience that feel emersive and it's honestly striking in its detail (seriously, those backgrounds... the market has to be my favorite, btw.)

I could add to this the voice acting (howdy, Rachel, Meg!) making some of the scenes feel honest and painfully endeering. Having watched the death scene twice, I can tell hearing her final breaths is one of the most powerful moments of the game, which was only enhanced by an even more powerful soundtrack.

All working in service of a story that is heart wrenchingly beautiful and it's horror in so much as it reminds people of their own vulnerability. Just amazing. Good work, all of you.

A few things I think you should know - SPOILERS AHEAD:

First. Right about the time the mother is bedridden, there seems to be a mix up of scenes. It's not only the fact that the death + funeral plays twice, but also it feels like the sequence is incorrect. For example:
-I can tell from context Minerva's visit should come in between the funeral and the onset of Nonie's illness, giving them no time so they could flee to New York.
-The part about not having enough food should come after.
-The doctor shows up after the description of Magda having been taking care of her mother for days, but the scene plays out as if it's the same morning the mother fainted.

-At some point it mentions "Wiley's letter" but there was no mention of that before XD
...etc

On the same note, there are some issues with the writing. Nothing big, and nothing that can't be easily corrected by skimming through the text and polishing things. I strongly recommend adding comas lol. Other than punctuation, there are a few lines that did confuse me (sadly I can't remember where exactly, but it was around the part of the mother falling ill, or at least before Nonie falls too).
Btw, I'm gonna guess the writer (like me) isn't an English speaker. I used three beta readers for my text in our game, and they caught most if not all of my mistakes. So, I recommend that approach always.

Long story short, I think you need to go over the text and do some fixes to the writing, correct grammar if grammar needs correcting, and move the scenes to their correct order (especially this part) lol.

Also, a small thing but, in the page description where you put the voiceacting cast-- see the part where you mention Tabetha McNeal? You put her name as if she was the character and the character as if it was the actress (link included). Minor thing but I thought you might want to correct that^^

A suggestion, if I may: I'd scrap the "Paranoia Whisper" thing. In the description you mention it's supposed to make the sick paranoid but you don't do much with it. I don't know if it was an idea that was scraped, or if you were thinking of expanding the game with more content to include that, but, also, it's probably not needed (or advised, since it takes away from the reality of it all). Besides, the names comes up way too late in the story, and by that time it makes little sense to add new information. Maybe if it was a comment about how people in denial named it like that because they refused to think the sickness was real... a bit of social commentary, if you will. That I could get behind.

And another small suggestion: the CGs and menu art could be touched up a little so they look a bit more like the rest of the art of the story. I'm talking about palette, blurr and thinner lines. Whoever did those (backgrounds and sprites) maybe could try to unify the art style? I think it would improve the appeal greatly.

I'll leave it at that since I already cluttered too much space but, here's to a game well made and with loads of potential in the future too. Plus I'm still listening to the OST. Man it is crazy good...

I'm very sorry you guys encountered this problem. We thought we had it fixed since last few updates -__- If you can give us any details about how it's not working so we can fix it, we will truly appreciate it. We will go back to the drawing board

To answer both your questions: Yes, it's the arrows in the keyboard. You press the arrow keys in the right order. "Right order" being the arrow keys pattern associated to the image of the hands in front of you (and using the smaller images on the left as reference).

When you do it successfully, you finish a spinning <movement>, and then it switches to a new movement (that is, the bigger image changes into another, which has its own instructions / arrow key pattern).

You finish a third image (arrow key pattern) to complete a <sequence>. After getting 10 correct sequences (3 images each) under 45 seconds, you win!

...It sounds a bit more intimidating than it actually is, I promise.

If you get the game to work for you, and want to give it a second chance, my suggestion is: don't overthink it, just try to follow what you see.

Sure, it helps to memorize what each image means in key-pressing, though not required. If you don't get nervous, you should have plenty of time to spare. (And if you do get nervous, don't worry, I'm sure you will be an expert by the third or fourth time you play it :) It's the learning curve. It's by design: it's supposed to take a few tries.)

Btw, the mini-game was my idea (I'm the writer), I wanted it to be somewhat challenging. But if it's giving people such a hard time, we will see about adding an option to skip the mini-game.

Thanks for both your inputs, and for the support. Also, sorry it took me this long to answer. I never got a notification about the last four or so comments on my mail O_o Very sorry about that. If you want to give us any more of your thoughts, you are more than welcomed. We will look forwards to that!

Hey, neellenium! Wow, thanks for your considerate review!

I'm very glad you think their chemistry works, and I'm humbled by your praise of the writing, thank you ^//^  And I'm sure Hessai will be very happy her Rumpel's non-monster design (we call him Rumpeldarling or Rumpelbishie hehe) gets some very deserved love too~.

As for plans for the future, again, thank you for showing this much interest ^//^  Yeah, the music and some CGs and an opening sequence are going to get added... eventually. *sweatdrop* I'm thinking maybe, when we get this in proper shape, I'll put a new comment under here to let you know in case you want to revisit the miller's daughter's story :)

I guess I need to make a new entry about that, don't I? I'll do that so I don't clutter this response box -__- Btw, just out of curiosity, what did you have in mind? Something like deepest lore?

Also, sorry it took me so long to answer. I never got a notification about the last four or so comments on my mail O_o 'S so weird. Very sorry about that. Have a great week!

Well... [SPOILERS]

In the good route, she literally asks him, when they are alone (at the reconciliation scene, after their fight). There he says his name is Rupert. You have the choice to betray him by choosing that name (and then you get the "Betrayal" BAD END).

And even after that, when he decides to sacrifice himself to set her free, by "drunkenly" revealing his name in a song, you have the choice to use that name and Rupert. Both get you the Betrayal BAD END.

BUT! If you don't use either name, instead choosing "...", what happens is that you are refusing to betray him. Instead, you/the miller's daughter makes up a name for him. It's a name that mixes up everything she knows about him: that he's a rump (=rumpel aka an "ass"), that he uses stilts, and that he has soft skin...

Rumpel-stilt-skin. 

She's not calling him by his name: she's calling him *a* name. It's a inner joke between the two after everything they have lived together :)

I'm glad you mention this to me. Now I realize that part of the story can be made a bit clearer. I'll see about adding this explanation in the next update. Thanks

And thank you for the thoughtful review. It's nice to hear at least there's somebody that could play the mini-game without issue X'D

Very cool game! And it very much deserves the praise. I guess what I appreciate the most are the CGs - there are so many of them! Even for filling a water glass XD That's impressive! And the fact that it was made by one person really makes it stand out (lol, it's also kind of fitting)

Also, cool dynamics visuals with the GUI! (I want to press click on the spam XDDD) I also dig Petra's design. She's different, for sure.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I won't say I got scared because, not really that easy to disturb. But I did get a rush from the final jumpscare. Great idea with the waiting dots on the final message. That's the right way to do a jumpscare. Kudos. 

Besides, even if the rest of the story didn't get me jumpy, this has some good gimmicks and the right feel. I especially liked all the dialogues with the grandma.

Not sure about the 3D monster (or title screen). It feels tacky more than uncanny. That would be my one feedback: switching to 2D only.

I got the bad end, of course. I started giving friend requests only to the people I thought likeable first. By the time I realized where this was going, I started giving requests to everyone I didn't like XD (The fedora dude needs to die...)

Also, I can't help thinking Chelsea... she was in a party... so Petra did just condemn her to die...

I'm just going to leave that to sink in...

SPOILERS

So. The 3 endings, are they:

1. Cinder escaping (/friend)

2. Cinder virus (/steal identity)

3. Cinder 'killed' (the destroyed CG?)

?

I want to see if I got them all.

Oh thanks! I kept trying to fit 3 words together in the spaces XD like, no-evil-vot... I know the spelling is wrong but I guessed the game might be trying to be whimsical lol

Hello there! First, I gotta say I have been wanting to play this game since I saw the thumbnail. I don't know why, but it gives me the right vibres. I thought it was a detective game, admitedly. But the setting does not disappoint. I love the sprite art, I love the CGs (seriously love) and I love the quirkness of the characters. (And I can see why a few comments here were thinking this was going to be a shonen-ai, those two have such a fun dynamic.)

Great job with the programming too. I'm baffled how to made this. I'm guessing it's a fake menu all the other times?

Not gonna lie, I did need the guide to figure out what I needed to do. For one, it took me a while to figure out how to look around (I kept pressing the arrow buttons, not realizing the view of the bottom of the elevator door was the 3D map XD Which also felt like a weird CG to have there, from my POV...)

In another opportunity, I was messing up with the computer in the meat-wall and I added any letter to see if I would get a bad ending from that (I didn't). But then I couldn't seem to be able to erase those letters to be able to put the actual code (courtesy of the hole)... until I thought about using X. Really, a lot of brainfarting on my part. I don't know why I find the button setting so confusing lol.

So yeah, this is a well-deserved pick for second place for the spooktober contest. Congratulations to the team =)