itch.io

I just finished playing and!! This was very cute and fun!! I especially enjoyed the section in the demo where you need to deduce who (insert spoiler here). Compared to Locked Room on Rails, I will say that the art and general game direction have improved quite a ton!! I can tell how much effort you put into each background piece, and that effort just made the game more engaging. Although there is a setup for multiple characters and their relationships with Desirée, I found my attention the most engaged when she was interacting with Irina. I really like the Detective too, as well as Maximillian (his interactions with the Detective add some fun comedic value since it's satisfying to see him get shut up).

I think my only major criticism I have (it floated in my head a lot while I was playing) was that some scenes felt like they were missing music? It could definitely just be a stylistic choice, but one example that comes to mind is when Desirée first bumps into Irina. Her introduction on stage was very nice with the accompanying music of the ballet, and the glamorous visual of her up close, so I thought Desirée actually meeting her face-to-face would carry that same sort of wonder and enchantment! However, the lack of music just made it feel awkward and not really anything else. The times there were music, I loved it!! I wanted to hear more, especially for such an important character (I assume). I'd love if Irina had a theme that accompanied her to contrast with Forget Me Not's upbeat, jazzy, playful melodies.

Overall, this is an effective (and very endearing) demo!!! I can't wait to see more from you!!

Oh my god. The storytelling here is so beautiful. I felt like I couldn't tear my eyes away from the story that was unfolding before me. The way you've gotten me attached to every single character here in such a short amount of time has made my eyes tear up, and the twist is very well-done, too. Not everything is told to the player and I find that an amazing choice. I think just the music alone made me emotional, too. Fantastic job!!

I played the demo and it was very endearing!! I already really love all the character designs, as well as the writing so far. Kryzz and Eli have my favorite designs at the moment. I don't think I realized how chronically online Kryzz was until they exclaimed "WHAT THE SIGMA?!" and then every part of me slowly died inside. I love it. I also like how you don't give much exposition to the world of the game and instead just sprinkle bits and pieces of world-building into the character interactions.

Also the style of the game's page is really cool and fun to look at.

I really, really enjoyed this. I'm also absolutely impressed to see that you also composed the score for this VN because I really liked the music!!! The format of the game is especially really nice because it feels so closed in and claustrophobic, which I think matches how Maven feels throughout the story. The combination of the game's look and music somehow perfectly captures how it's like to think about deep things late at night. Great job!!!

I missed that! Thank you for letting me know.

I won’t go into full detail in case someone who wants to play reads this, but I think my favorite part was the “tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.” part. The way it was structured, I actually did press the space bar in time with each “Tick. Tock.” instead of casually clicking through the text. It made the gameplay very engaging!

Oh my goodness, where do I even start? This game, if I could describe it in one sentence, is like going through a melancholic artbook. Each and every scene looks like it could be someone's desktop wallpaper. It's beautiful, and the texture is so well done that I didn't even realize it was 3D at first! I initially thought it was 2D art that was rigged to be animated. When I realized this was all 3D, a big smile came across my face because it was totally unexpected. The choice to have the text move along with the artistic style of the game rather than being in its own textbox is also wonderful. I especially enjoy how the text is distorted to match the angle of a window or wall, or changed to add to the also changed tone of a scene. 

Speaking of the tone, it really matches what the characters are talking about. There's only two characters in this demo, but they draw me in and keep me very engaged. This game is very good narrative wise because it feeds you information through the dialogue of the characters and their internal thoughts rather than just straight-up telling things to you bluntly. The descriptions, the metaphors and similes and imagery, are fantastic. They feel so guttural, depressing, yet beautiful at the same time. Despite this being a kinetic novel, the usage of the spacebar makes the player still feel like they're "playing" the game. For instance, the spacebar being tapped a certain amount of times to turn on the lights in a store. 

You also get attached to the characters pretty fast. Yes, they do talk about some rather existential and depressing stuff, but it's interesting to hear about their opposing viewpoints, and sometimes the things they agree on. The sudden cut from Michelle to Alex's perspective is very well-done, by the way. Jarring in the best way possible! It actually put me on edge and made me preeetttyyy unnerved. But I love it. The change in art style perfectly accompanies this. I know this isn't a horror game, but I was still waiting for a jumpscare to happen because of how creepy it was. 

Overall, I don't have any negative critiques I can think of at the moment! One of them was initially that some transitions might work better if they were smooth instead of just hard-cutting to the next scene. But the more I played, the more I realized that the hard-cut transitions actually fit in my opinion! The characters' perspective on their lives is as if their lives are labor, or like they really don't exist in their bodies. The sudden cuts make sense to me because it's like the passage of time really can't be comprehended in their minds. 

Awesome and alluring demo!!! I can't wait to see more.

Edit: I actually do have one criticism!! And that there not really the ability to save or load a game. At least when I played it? There was no lower menu that I could select from that I could see. I'm not sure if that's a me problem because I saw that the menu was available in the screenshots, but not when I played it.

I absolutely love this!! It's so short and sweet and the execution is just right. I think the added detail of the player's eyes moving when their mouse does makes the experience more engaging. The music choice was also very good because, naturally, the player would play this game over and over again. The song feels so unnerving yet familiar every time they start a new game. 

(I got a bad ending on my first playthrough because I really didn't like her lol!!! After getting the other endings I still don't like her but I'd love to give her a hug regardless). Awesome job!!!

I have no idea what the two comments below me are going on about. Chapter 1 was fantastic! I think the character designs were super pleasing to the eye, as well as the highly-theatrical GUI. The art within the game needs to properly be appreciated for its painterly style and fun character sprites. My favorite is still when (spoiler) turns around to realize that (spoiler) has been locked inside the theater. The wide, shocked eyes are very well done. 

The mechanics of this game are also very nice! I panicked when a time limit was revealed lol And I was very invested in the mystery, even if the chapter itself wasn't super long. William's character design is a favorite because of how whimsical he appears, as well as Manea because of the big sleeves, cotton candy colors, and giant ribbons that fly about when she does that happy sprite. 

I can't wait to play Chapter 2! You guys did a wonderful job on this game!