coming back to revisit this game and i just realised i didnt drop a comment when i first played it! the game is so amazing, the twists are so unexpected, the characters are incredibly charming, and i was absolutely hooked the whole time. i do have to say though, i wish there was more of the architect character! im a huge fan of yanderes, and even more so of 4th wall breaking yanderes. anyways, wrapping up this comment by telling you to keep up the good work! you definitely stand out among devs with your passion and talent for writing enchanting plots and characters.
Sorry it’s taken me ages to see this and reply >.< I’ve not been in a great headspace lately so I’ve been avoiding my PC altogether since the start of October. Seeing this made me smile though! I can’t believe you decided to replay it x3 That just shocks me cos it’s still one that gets hardly any downloads in general, haha.
I also wish there was more of the architect character x3 Not just here, but in my other projects too! Sadly though, the VA playing the character is someone who has disappeared from my life :( I wish that weren’t the case, but he’s just moved on to bigger and better things. More power to him cos he’s such a talented person and deserves success :3 But it, unfortunately for me, means he doesn’t have the time to dedicate to someone who can’t afford to pay him much when others can properly compensate him for his time and talents >.<
I can’t lie, I’ve agonised over what to do about it because I would still really love to have a consistent figure that appears across various projects. My main concern is finding a VA who I can rely on to record for the character over the course of several years, and that’s a big ask for anyone x3
Thank you anyhow for taking the time to come back to the game and to leave such a sweet comment! You’ve always been so supportive and I appreciate it more than I have the words to describe <3 I hope that you’re well and that the end of the year has been going smoothly for you!
sooo intriguing!!! i swear i enjoy every single one of your games lol, the plots are all well-written and whenever the fourth wall is broken i get shocked all over again,,, hope theres more anathema references in your future games;;
playing your stuff is actually inspiring me to start making my own visual novel, so thank you sm!!
Aww, well, I’m super glad to hear it :D Thanks so much for checking out this one too <3
I do love writing fourth-wall-breaking stuff, hehe x3 I haven’t done it in every single one of my games, but it’s in a few of em! I think the only ones with Anathema references are this one, SR, and very vaguely in Limbo Line.
I plan to include more Anathema stuff in the future though :3 It’s just it might not involve the exact same character speaking to Anathema because that character is on hiatus and will potentially be replaced with a relative x3
That’s so cool! I hope you do end up making your own visual novel :D It’s sooo much fun! The only thing is, you might end up addicted to it like me xD
Omgg I thought I knew what the twist was like in the middle of my first playthrough, but I was wrong. And then I was wrong again! The game kept me on my toes, amazing story.
So glad you had fun with it!! It always means a heck of a lot when anyone says they’ve enjoyed this project cos it doesn’t get many downloads x3 So yeah, I really appreciate you checking it out, and thank you so much again for the kofi too!! <3
I was a bit curious, after doing Doyles story a few times, the characters on my load screen changed, did I get all the endings or is it because I had just gotten the ending Letting Go (B) (also the letting go endings made me cry :(
First of all, I just wanna say a big thank you for playing the game because, for some reason, this one gets hardly any downloads, so I’m always really happy to see that someone has actually played it :3
It’s been quite a long time since I made this, so I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I think that I probably made it so that the characters on the screen change when you reach that specific ending that you got to rather than for completing all endings. I’m gonna go have a look at the files though just to check!
Okay, so, I had a quick peek, and yeah, from what I can see, I think it probably changes with that ending. I think I must have done that because I considered it to be one of the happier of all the endings, even though none of them are particularly happy in the typical sense x3
Doyle’s side has a total of 9 endings - Out In The Cold, Our New Home, My Angel, Lingering Love, After Life (A), After Life (B), All Fall Down, Letting Go (A), Letting Go (B).
I don’t know if you’ve maybe already seen this, but I made a walkthrough for the whole game, so if you’re missing any of the endings, you will probably notice which ones by having a look through that :3
I’m sorry those endings made you cry :( hopefully, it was at least in a good way x3 The game is pretty bleak though to be fair >.< maybe that’s why people seem to avoid it, haha. It's definitely a dark otome rather than a fluffy one >.<
Thank you again for taking the time to check it out <3
Ok, I have a bone to pick with you. This game has been plaguing me. I'll be headed to bed then suddently I'm thinking about this game. I think about how sad and amazing the two releasing the ashes endings were, I think about just how great the game was in general. Why, why won't it leave my head! I lay in bed thinking of this game, what did you do to me.
Sorry about that x3 that’s amazing that it’s stayed with you though! Well, as long as you can still sleep anyways, haha.
I’m hoping that later in the year, I might be able to put this and some of my other completed projects on Steam. It’s just I’ll need to make some tweaks first and export new builds which will be a pain in the butt >.<
What system are you playing on, and in what resolution? :o It was designed to be played 1920x1080 16:9, so, unfortunately, if played in anything else, some of the UI can get a bit screwy :( Sadly, it rarely seems to scale properly to accommodate other resolutions, which is why I decided to lock it to 16:9 only in my most recent release and have black bars for others instead. Annoyingly, it still doesn't help with square resolutions entirely >.<
No worries x3 Chances are, if weird things are happening like text leaving the area it's supposed to be in, then it's probably a different resolution to what I made it in and tested it on x3 It's something I find endlessly frustrating that the UI can't just adapt to different resolutions T_T I'm not a particularly techy person myself! The UI does have built-in scaling that works to some extent, but sometimes it just doesn't >.< haha.
As Doyle and oh my gosh, I didn't have the heart to try and kill him and did the other option, the ending actually made me cry. I honestly want to learn more about this guy and how their future progresses. Him actually admitting what he did and being sorry was 👌
Hehe, adding that extra route almost killed me during the jam cos I wasn't sure I'd make the deadline by doing it x3 but I really, really wanted to try and show things from a different perspective! To be honest, I kind of forgot how dark this project was since it's been a while since I worked on it >.< I hope it wasn't too horrific anyways! I think I may actually have cried myself while testing it once the voice acting was in. It's always the voice acting that gives me a gut punch, haha. It happened again just the other day actually while I was working on my Yandere Jam project for this year! I was testing and I heard some of the lines voiced for the first time alongside the music and everything, and I just sat there like someone had slapped me in the face, then a few tears emerged x3 Really wasn't expecting it when I already know what's going to happen, but it's just the delivery of the lines from the VA was so strong that it properly got me, haha.
If there had been more time during the jam, I would've liked to have added some extra scenes like after-story stuff & possibly pre-story stuff too, but I used all the time there was up making the version that's here. I suppose I could have come back to it after to update it with more content! I did kinda feel like I needed to move on from that world though once the jam was over just because it was beginning to feel like I lived in that apartment with those guys x3 It wasn't the worst feeling in the world, but it did make me kinda disconnect from reality >.< Sadly, this is also one of my least-played games :(
I really appreciate you giving it a chance and checking it out though :3
I'm guessing you're probably referring to Anathema, it's pretty difficult to catch it when it's only spoken and the voice is quite heavy with the effects x3 especially if you don't already know about the character.
Yeah, it's basically a sort of adaptation of an episode from an anthology show that I'm a big fan of, so it's got the whole story of that episode in it + my own original tweaks and additions to the story to turn it into an otome with choices, story branches, and different endings :3
As for Solipsism Reigns, it was my first-ever game, which you can find here :3 In that game, there are a lot more references to Anathema. The inclusion of the character known as the Architect addressing Anathema in this project was supposed to be a sort of easter egg for people who had played Solipsism already :3 It probably just comes across as quite confusing though to anyone who hasn't played Solipsism first >.< haha. But Anathema is basically the player :3
Well, that's awesome! Glad to hear it and thanks for playing it ^-^
Hope you feel better soon! I got a cold too just before Christmas, and I'm only just starting to feel better now >.< so I hope yours gets better quickly :3
So glad you enjoyed it ^-^ especially since this is one of my least-played projects! It's always nice to see it get some love <3 Thanks so much for checking it out :3
Hi Melancholy Marionette! For some reason, none of the screen size options fit my Mac screen. About an inch on the right side of the screen is always cut off. Do you know if there is a way to adjust the screen size in game to fit the size of the device used? Thank you!
Hey hey! That sucks >.< Sorry it's like that for you on Mac :( The problem is that I don't have a Mac myself, and I don't know anyone who does, so I've got no way of testing things on them and no idea how they even work T_T However, the problem with it not fitting on your screen I might be able to help with.
I remember that during the jam, one of my teammates said about locking the resolution/screen size for this game so that we didn't have to spend too much time messing around with UI elements and design to fit different sized screens. So yeah, I think we did lock it to 1920x1080 resolution in the end through the settings in Unity, which should mean that it's not properly resizable for players.
If that is the case, I could try re-exporting the game without that lock on for you :3 That way, you should be free to change the size of stuff in the settings of the game. But, there's no guarantee everything will fit particularly well on the screen still >.< I can switch on the scaling UI option in Unity and hope for the best, but quite often, it still doesn't scale properly and you get bits of the UI here and there that still hang off of the screen and stuff >.< Everything always looks perfect for me when I'm testing, and then I'll end up seeing someone else play and the text box is like 2 inches away from where it should be and stuff >.< haha.
I'm away from home today, but I can try exporting the game again tomorrow afternoon sometime and let you know when it's done :3 Thanks so much for your interest in the game and taking the time to mention the problem rather than just deciding to leave it ^-^
Awe, that is so sweet and generous of you. I know I'm over one year late to the party, but I appreciate that you're still taking the time to help make adjustments for new players. That's awesome. <3
I'll always try to do what I can to help cos at the end of the day, it's an honour to have anyone play my games, and if someone actually wants to play one but it won't work for them for whatever reason, that really sucks for me as a dev since I put so much hard work and time into making them. If one of my projects captures someone's interest, only for me to discover they can't access it, I'm just like ---> T_T noooo! Haha.
I didn't manage to get the build uploaded when I said I would though because it takes ages for Unity to generate the build, and ages for my slow internet to get it uploaded to the page, plus I was away from my PC on Monday trying to help my dad find new trainers xD But I just managed to upload it now! I named it 'A9Mac4Marquis' so you should be able to find it easily enough in the downloads :3
With any luck, having unlocked the option to allow different resolutions and resizable windows will have helped, but as I said, it may not improve anything still >.< I also tweaked the UI scaling options to better fit different screen sizes, but again, from what I can see in testing mode, it still isn't ideal on certain resolutions. On one, it fits the whole text box on screen rather than cutting the end off, which is great, but it won't move the accompanying avatar sprite, so it's like the avatar is in the bottom corner where it should be, and the text box is floating in the middle of the screen >.>
I'll cross my fingers anyhow! If it's still no better for you, I might be able to adapt the UI for your computer specifically if you let me know your screen size/resolution. Again though, it's still just a might cos when it comes to Mac, I can't even test the builds to see how they've come out >.< haha.
But yeah, *fingers crossed* x3
PS. You might have to delete any saves you previously made directly from the saves folder if you did make any in the first version you downloaded. Hopefully not since I renamed the file cos then it should sorta register as a new game and make a new folder for saves and such!
Oh my goodness, you're so kind. I'm sorry I'm a few days late, but your update worked perfectly! I can't believe you edited and uploaded a new build just for me. I feel like that might have been the nicest thing anyone has done for me?? :'-)
I hope your dad likes his new trainers, and I wish you so much happiness and success with your future projects. I just added Darling Duality to my "Games to Play" collection, and I look forward to it! I'm going to find you on Patreon, too!
(Most...) Indie devs are so amazing, but you're certainly in the top tier. If you ever need someone to test Mac "stuff," let me know! I'm an interactive fiction writer rather than a VN developer (although that's my (unattainable) dream), so I'm not sure I really know how I can help, but I will if I can!
You're more than welcome :3 I'm just glad it actually worked cos with how things always seem to go wrong for me on Mac, I was kinda prepared to hear that it didn't make a difference x3 haha. Maybe I should actually switch that build to the main Mac build in case it helps others, or at least point to it on the opening on Mac guide!
Unfortunately, he never did find any trainers still x3 Everything was either out of stock in his size, a bad fit, or too expensive >.<
That's so kind of you to become a patron, thank you so much ^-^ I don't know if you already have DD for download, but I'll get you a key sent over on Patreon after I send this!
Aww, thanks x3 Well, it's probably a good job you caught me in August because if it had been September, I still would've gotten a new build exported and uploaded, but I would likely have been so up against it with the Spooktober Jam deadline that I would've had to say I can't do it until September is over x3
I mean, it sure would be helpful to have a few Mac testers because I don't really know how many folks who play my stuff are actually playing on Mac! I don't know if it would help me be able to fix weird gameplay bugs, but I'd at least know if things like UI were hanging off the screen and I might be able to fix that, haha.
And hey, it's not unattainable to be a VN dev at all :3 If I can do it, anyone can x3 If you're already writing interactive fiction, that's one of the most important components of making a VN, so you've already go that covered! That was literally all I was able to do myself when I started making VNs. I had no idea how to code (and still don't, for the most part >.<). I couldn't draw to save my life (and again, that's still the case xD). I'll never be one of those super talented devs that can somehow write and draw all the assets for their projects T_T but, over time, I've learned to sort of compensate for my lack of skill, haha. I purchase cheap art asset packs, and then edit them myself to make them more unique. I've gradually started making my own BGM tracks using commercial use/royalty-free loops and samples from the very generous people online who put them out there for others to use, and having software like Tyranobuilder and Naninovel for Unity has meant I haven't ever had to actually learn to code properly (which is probably a bad thing really >.< but crazy helpful for someone like me who gets headaches thinking about code and just wants to get on with making a story!) So yeah, you can definitely do it :D Heck, I can point you to resources and stuff if you want :3
The art is not my usual taste at first and I didn't like the MC at first. Therefore, I kind of struggled to get through the story in the beginning. I am glad I give it a try and hang in there tho. The game makes me sympathize with MC more after a twist and the voice actings are nice.
I'm really glad you decided to stick with it :3 And I'm even more glad that you ended up playing through it despite your initial feelings about the art and MC! Thanks so much for taking the time to play the game and leave a comment ^-^
That's generally how I go into everything myself xD It certainly leads to lots of pleasant surprises, haha.
I'm so glad you ended up enjoying playing though :3 And it makes me super happy to hear that all the hard work and love that went into the project shines through ^-^ And yeah, everyone who worked with me on this project for the jam worked suuuuper hard, haha. So I hope they see your comment too!
It also makes me overjoyed to hear your thoughts on the soundtrack because this was my first attempt at making an original soundtrack for one of my projects, and while I had an absolute blast with it, I have no training or knowledge when it comes to music xD so I had no real way of knowing if it fit beyond my own feelings on it, haha.
Thanks so much for playing + taking the time to write such a lovely comment <3
I swear the the milk my dad didn't bring back in 1987 i had a heart attack when hearing the ??? voice again. SR flashbacks. The countless times i have speedrunned that game for the secret route. I know that voice to damn well from each and every single bad ending.
Hehe x3 Well, ??? just wanted to remind everyone that they're still out there. Ya never know when that sneaky bugger is gonna pop up and cause some trouble >.<
*High five* for having watched Inside No 9 :D I'm glad you had fun with it :3 Honestly, one of my biggest fears with trying to make an otome adaptation of it was that by tweaking things and adding to the original story, I might wind up butchering it in the process >.< haha. Cos it's a great story as it is and certainly didn't need me messing with it x3 I'm happy to hear you didn't think my version sucked or anything though :3
I had so much fun making it and I love Inside No 9 so much that I decided to do a similar thing with my most recent team jam project for Spooktober VN Jam, Limbo Line. Once again, I hopefully managed to do the original tale from that episode justice with my whacky version, haha. Thanks so much for playing and taking the time to comment :3
I had a really great time playing this game! I did not expect the story to turn out that way, so I was shook at the reveal. It definitely tugged at my heartstrings and made me tear up by the end! The voice acting was great and I really appreciate it because I feel it adds a lot to the experience and immersion of the game. I ended up really loving Leah, Doyle, and Akuji. Great job and looking forward to playing your other games!
I've got a question though, so for this and Soloplism you have GxB and BxG versions. Would you consider making in the future BxB, GxG, NBxB and NBxG versions? These games are fantastic but I really wish that I didn't have to choose between being a boy or dating boys
For A9, the GxG version is still planned but I'm not sure when for because Leah's VA is very busy and currently unavailable to record the necessary lines that would need to be tweaked for that version. For any other versions though, it's probably not going to be possible just because it's too much work for me to handle, sadly >.< If I were an artist, I'd consider taking the time to draw all the different sorta sprites required, but when I'm either reliant on assets that don't always fit the bill, or on the kindness of artists contributing to projects for no compensation, it makes it pretty difficult to be flexible with options like that :(
With SR, the BxG version is still in the works, but as a side project so it's very slow going on that front. I've had to give up on the idea of making any other versions for it though because the game is just too big for me to be able to do it. Making one version is already so much work, and I find that it gets really tough once I start working on second versions because I've already spent so much time staring at the same stuff. I end up just w anting to move on to something completely different.
What I'm probably going to do though is continue to make games from now on where the protagonist's gender is unspecified, like with Impostor, Darling Duality, and Limbo Line :3 I feel like that's the easiest way to be more inclusive without it being an overwhelming amount of work.
For Limbo Line, we decided to go with a sprite for the protagonist as well after much debate on inclusivity and such, but mainly I think I'll be keeping MCs spriteless and genderless!
Thank you so much for playing my stuff and commenting by the way :3
Hey hey! Sorry I'm so late to reply >.< for some reason, I didn't get an itch notification for your comments or I somehow missed them.
Thanks for the video links and for playing through the game :3
I'm not sure if you're aware since you posted on both versions of the game and the thumbnail has the GxB version, but both videos you linked take you to the same video of the BxG version.
Did you play through the unlockable Doyle/Perry pov route as well? :o I couldn't find it in the video (I didn't have time to watch through all of it though) because the unlockable route contains additional endings :3
Soooo, I've just finished the game (all endings) and i'm asking myself :
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!
In the all fall down ending, who was the voice in the weird background? Cause it was like; "Of course you remember me! And I was there like: ???Nop, dude. Who the f*** are you ???¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Is it related to some game you will create in the future or already created? Or was it Doyle ?Or even... Akuji !?(Btw this is the first of your games that I ever played ,and I really liked it! I must say I wasn't expecting Akuji to be... Well... to end in the background, if you know what I mean... I don't even know if this is an english expression.😅)I'm to lazy to search everywhere to find an answer. It sure is easier to just directly ask.
And finally, I want to sincerely apologize for all the probable monstrous grammar mistakes I did, that will very probably make your eyes bleed.<( _ _ )>
Hey hey! Thanks for playing through the game :3 I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
If that is an English expression, I haven't heard it before, but I still get what you mean :3 that's actually a pretty cool way of putting it, haha. And you don't need to apologise at all x3 My eyes aren't bleeding, haha.
To answer your question, I guess I should put it under a spoiler.
SPOILER
Okay, so, that voice is a character from my very first game, Solipsism Reigns, but the character has his own story which will slowly unfold across some of the games that I release over time :3 You get to hear much more from him in Solipsism Reigns. His appearance in Apartment No.9 is pretty brief in comparison. While he technically doesn't have a name yet, I always referred to him as 'The Architect' when writing scripts, and some people have affectionately given him the nickname, Archie :3
Hi! I'm having trouble with the game crashing down during Doyle's story. When I pick certain choices, like let him stay or when I choose at the end, in the bathroom, my game crashes. I can't finish Doyle's story because of this :(
Hey hey! Thanks for checking out the game :3 I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with crashing :(
I've not had any crash reports before and didn't experience any myself while testing, so I'm not sure what could be causing that to happen >.< Since it's occurring when you make certain choices, it could be that your system is somehow struggling to load the next scene. Is it an older or slower computer? Also, which system are you playing on?
Does it happen each time you pick certain choices if you save and try multiple times? Or is it more random?
You could try deleting your save data and starting over in case something is corrupted, but I'm not sure if that would help at all. You'd have to start again from the beginning but you could use the force skip option to skip all text and get back to the point you were at fairly quickly. I don't know exactly where your save folder would be located in order to properly delete all the data, but on my windows PC it's located under C: > Users > MyUsername > AppData > LocalLow > Melancholy Marionette You then delete the save data from the Apartment No.9 Folder. (AppData folder might be hidden by default, so to access it, you need to enable hidden folders to be viewed by going to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalisation > Folder/File Explorer Options > Click the 'view' tab > Tick the box 'Show hidden files, folders and drives' > Click apply and ok. You probably don't want this on all the time, so once you've located and deleted the save data, it's probably best to go back into those options and untick the box to hide the hidden folders again.)
The only way for sure I'd be able to find out what's causing the crashing though is if I were to send you a development build, for you to play that to the point where the crashing happens, and for you to send me your player/error logs so I can see what sort of errors it's throwing up as it crashes. We can do that if you want to, but there's still no guarantee I'd be able to fix it for you even if I could identify the cause >.< Let me know if you want me to send you a development build though, and where to send it, and I'll get it to you and tell you how to generate report logs :3
Sorry you've had such trouble with it :( It would be great if wiping the save data and starting over happened to fix it, but it might not >.< Good luck though! And thanks again for playing the game :3
This game was an incredible experience in "nani the fuck?" - my eyebrows kept going higher and higher as I read on.
I felt as if I probably should've expected something, but I was already so creeped out by Doyle's focus and behavior (and by the claustrophobic way that Leah interacted with all of the characters) that I was entirely willing to believe the "initial" twist. Which, of course, left me open to the real twist - which was the point.
After that, although there were some issues with the UI, once I managed to get onto "Doyle's path" proper it really felt like a fitting way to resolve the story I'd already gotten invested in, so I'm very glad you included the extra endings there as well. Everyone in this story is so complicated that it'll definitely take me some time to think through it, but I really enjoyed the way they were written!
Thanks so much for playing and taking the time to comment! It all means a lot to me :3 Especially so coming from you cos I've been a lurker on the otome dev discord for a while (anxiety is too bad to join in most of the time, haha), and whenever yourself and the others talk about your projects and post art stuff I always just sit and think how talented you all are! Plus you blew me away with Yrsa Major! As I think I said in the comment I left, I didn't ever think I'd care all that much for an older love interest, but your story melted my heart :D
Were the UI issues just to do with starting Doyle's route? Or was it something else as well as that? >.< If it's something else, I can try to fix it, but if it's to do with getting the buttons working normally for starting his route + accessing the extras section, I still don't understand Nani and Unity well enough to know the correct way of doing it T_T haha. I did ask in support and someone answered, but their answer didn't make much sense to me because I don't really get much in the way of coding x3 hence why I got Nani in the first place really. And I didn't wanna ask for further explanation cos I was too embarrassed >.<
I'm really glad you enjoyed it overall though :3 And I'm happy Doyle's route had the desired effect because, as I said in a few other comments, I was kinda worried it might seem a bit boring or something to go through the same story again just to get different outcomes, even if it is from a different pov. I just really wanted to have a sort of new game+ type feature and I didn't know how else to implement something like that within the jam's timeframe.
Thanks again for all your kind words and best of luck with your projects ^-^
Really enjoyed the game. I'd already seen inside no 9 when it came out (the ep this is based on was my favourite one) so I knew what to expect. I loved how you made it differ from the show even when playing Leah. However, my favourite playthroughs was when getting Doyles perspective.
*spoiler *
I was screaming when Doyle called me out for choosing to kill him again xD
I was in love with Akuji. I like to think in another life him and Leah get a happy ending together (T-T)
That's awesome that you'd already seen Inside No.9 beforehand! I haven't come across anyone else who has seen it yet, haha. And I don't know without going back through all of them again if that one is my absolute favourite episode, but it's definitely up there in my top 5! It's been a while since I watched the old episodes.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the differences because I wanted to stay true to the original plot of the episode but also change things here and there + add my own stuff and, of course, with it being for otome jam, attempt to make it romantic in some way. I was really worried about ruining the original story though since it's a fantastic story as it is and doesn't need any of the stuff I added xD
It makes me happy to hear you enjoyed Doyle's perspective too :3 That was another one of my worries, that it might end up seeming a little boring going through the story again with a different pov, but I really wanted to add a new game+ type deal with additional endings. That was the only way I could do that within the jam timeframe.
SPOILERS
Yeah, I like to think Aku and Leah get their happy ending together too :3 If there had been more time in the jam, I wanted to do like a prequel story that was just basically a fluffy scene from when Aku was alive, but there wasn't time in the end >.<
The sprites was what got me to click on the game. Love the artstyle-- realistic with underlying uncanniness to it.
When it's labeled as Dark Otome it convinced me to play the game right away. I expected twists and turns when it's labeled on my very type genre, but I didn't expected it will give me the whole spring (and red herring, my golly goo-goo, that first ending twist to unlock Doyle's story mode made me spin myself.)
Doyle's story is such a treat, and by that I mean it gave me the pieces of the cake that proven my suspicions that is all about him. From the very beginning, he was already sussy to me. I didn't actually expect him to be indeed a Yandere and reading his entire POV made my skin crawl. He felt real and disturbing--to the point I jumped out of my skin when the meta part pops out doing the deed twice. As someone who had finished Doki Doki Literature Club, it sent war flashbacks XD. The transition from game-like to meta-like was so on point it I almost went Alt-Tab out of the game. The unknown entity was a welcoming touch though, I read that it came from your other game and you intend to make that entity appear throughout other of your games and I think that's quite a nice meta-lore to add in to your games.
Although I personally don't like Doyle, I love his characterization and how the voice actor did the lines in such a polarizing way that he made Doyle truly frightening at his worst, but at the same time sympathetic at his best and when he was being remorseful over what he'd done for/to Leah. What bugs me a bit is that there's little to no backstory for him, like, how did he became homeless or chose to be homeless? Just curious.
Ah, and speaking of crazy antics, Akuji's VA had also done an amazing job in creating a convincing character who is, well, alive and not alive either. It was so weird of him to be too chill and relax and being sunny as Leah going through a tough time (missing most of the days and acting as if everything that's happening to Leah is sort of a normal day by day thing to him whenever he comes back to "check" on her). Alternatively, Yandere Akuji also caught me off guard., I cannot believe that the voice I'm hearing is the same Akuji, hallucination or not.
And, OMAGHERED, Leah's voice acting is so great that I never saw the first ending coming. VA's choice to make her sound like a normal, average woman was pure genius.
Last but not the least, the soundtracks. I wasn't aware they were originals until I checked the information again. Your compositions are all wonderful, my favorite being Apartment No.9 with vocals that I just discovered from your extras. It added to the haunting vibe I'm getting with the music: the dissonant-ish harmony that sounded as if the voices are the duality of her subconscious.
Evidently, I'm actually not fond of Yandere characters, especially in an Otome or Otome-ish setting, but this one is an exception where I enjoyed a whole lot. The plot twist is truly a plot twist and you delivered the endings with various payoffs.
My favorite ending has got to be the Letting Go (B), because I was rooting for Leah's individual happiness at that point and it's relieving that Doyle's retreating (for the meantime, seemingly) this is the best bittersweet payoff in imo. The second would be the Afterlife with Doyle's below anger levels ending because I love redemption arcs to a fault XD. On that note, I may have also liked the Letting Go (A), where Leah and Doyle get together in a wholesome-ish version of effed up couple XD, and also because Doyle's also acting remorseful there and the whole scene is like a fresher air good toxicity XD. Root orange-and-blue-morality!
The experience I had in this game would definitely mark me in some way in my life, and because it's almost 1AM, it will prolly haunt me in my sleep, so thank you help me. I will play your other games in the future I'm a masochist :D
Yeah, I love me some dark stuff, haha. Don't get me wrong, I also love healthy doses of fluffiness too! But the dark stuff is my main passion x3
And I'm happy to hear you enjoyed playing through Doyle's version of events. It was something I was very unsure about by the time I finished it because I couldn't for the life of me tell if it was dull or not >.< and there wasn't time to get feedback on it before the jam deadline was up. I just really wanted to include some form of new game+ content where you could see new and extended endings, but a PoV route was the only way I could envision managing to do that within the jam's timeframe since it wouldn't mean rewriting every single thing from scratch. Plus it's something I've always wanted to try my hand at (writing from the perspective of the yandere, that is.)
I was sort of worried that I may have made Doyle too unlikeable in the end, considering he's technically supposed to be an LI, haha. But he is what he is I suppose. You saying he felt real is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for because I wanted these characters to come across more sorta human/realistic/flawed in nature than the ones in my other VNs. One darn day I will actually get my ass round to playing DDLC!
And yeah, that's correct about the unknown entity :3 It's sort of an ongoing experiment situation that I have various future plans for, haha.
The cast did a truly fantastic job of bringing the characters to life, and I simply can't thank them enough for lending their epic talents to the project :3 It sure wouldn't be the same without them, so I'm glad you enjoyed their performances!
I would love to be able to answer your question regarding Doyle's backstory and how he became homeless (and you're totally right in saying 'chose to be homeless' there because it was absolutely his decision, though, one born of various unfortunate circumstances) but my brain is too full of fog right now to give a proper cohesive answer and I don't want to end up rambling on and making little sense >.< I'm going through a pretty nasty depressive episode right now, so I'm finding it difficult to properly concentrate on anything (which is also why my reply to your amazing comment is also somewhat slower than I usually would be to respond >.<) I'll try to remember to come back and add it when my head (hopefully) clears though!
It also means a hell of a lot that you enjoyed the soundtrack because I spent heck knows how many hours trying to make it, haha. I just figured that since it was a longer jam than what I'm used to making stuff for, I would attempt it and see what happened! It was all one giant experiment and I had a lot of fun, but at the same time, it kept getting to the point where I was concerned I'd have a soundtrack and no game because I kept getting far too carried away trying to make new tracks xD And then I got it in my head that Doyle should have a separate soundtrack to Leah so that they each had a distinguishing sorta sound, which was just crazy when there was so little time left in the jam, but I couldn't get the darn idea outta my head so I just tried my best >.<
I'd love to try and make another original soundtrack for Spooktober VN jam, but with it being only a month-long jam, I don't think it would be doable on top of writing and putting everything together. And if I don't manage to snap out of this depression patch, I won't be able to do anything at all :(
Oh, and I'm genuinely amazed that you liked the vocal version of Apartment No.9! But that's brilliant that you did :3 You have Aku's voice actor, rongvoice, to thank for that because I was fully ready to give up on the idea of having a version with vocals and scrap my vocals because I hated them. He gave me a lot of encouragement with that, enough to push me past embarrassment and just go for it, haha.
I think I have to agree with you that Letting Go version where Doyle actually respects her wishes to be left alone is probably the ending above all others that I would personally like to have seen be the 'true' ending for Leah in the sense that it's likely to be the best one for her health overall. I'm glad you enjoyed that version of the After Life ending as well because I really felt as though poor Doyle deserved some form of redemption ending after everything he'd put Leah through x3 I didn't want him to come across as a completely twisted monster, haha. And you've taught me something new today because I had to Google orange and blue morality :D That was an interesting read!
I hope it didn't end up haunting you in your sleep anyhow x3 and thank you so much for taking the time to play through it all and then come here to write up such a lovely review! Reading your thoughts was fun and certainly managed to put a smile on my face despite being in the grip of stupid depression :3 I hope you end up enjoying my other stuff whenever you get round to it! I feel like A9 is probably my most polished project so far with it being the most recent one, but with any luck, you'll find the others entertaining too! Thank you again and have an awesome week ^-^
I'm glad you thought so! I've been following all your otome jam game reviews while playing through them myself :3 Only the text versions so far, but I intend to watch the videos too when I get a chance because it's just awesome to see an analysis on all of the games when I haven't really seen all that much coverage of the jam as a whole in general. I kinda wish there was something like this available to watch/read at the end of every game jam :D Maybe there is and I just don't know it >.< haha. Some of the jams I've participated in in the past have just gone dead after the end though x3
EDIT: I squeezed in the video just now! I agree with you that A9 isn't suuuper otome in nature, haha. That was one of my concerns about the project because what I wanted to do was turn a story that I love which isn't even remotely romantic in nature, into a love story instead, as a fun sort of challenge x3 So I tried to keep as close to the original story as possible, while adding plenty of my own tweaks and add ons along the way.
I know that mental health is a tough subject to tackle in anything, and being a sufferer of poor mental health myself, I enjoyed expanding on the way the protagonist acts in the original script that inspired this game. I tried to write her as closely as possible in personality to the male protagonist of the script I was inspired by, while also adding some of my own experiences with depression.
And I totally get what you mean about the transitioning of art styles being somewhat jarring. That was unavoidable within the jam timeframe and all the artists involved worked their asses off to get the project completed in time :3 The CG artists were actually a very late addition to the team when the existing team realised that there wouldn't be enough time to complete both sprites and CGs. So the CG artists had an extra difficult job of creating the CGs with less than half of the jam's time remaining, haha. Without them stepping in to help, the game likely would have ended up without any CGs at all. I'm just super grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such talented artists on the project anyhow ^-^ I can't draw to save my life, unfortunately >.<
Thanks so much for taking the time to go through all of the games from the jam! It's much appreciated :D You beat me because I still have a handful left to play myself!
Hehe, aww :3 That made me smile! And now I am imagining Aku reenacting the commercial and Leah telling him to stop being silly x3 I wish my drawing skills weren't so terrible, otherwise, I would totally sketch that and put it right here! Or the reverse version, where Leah falls, and as soon as she says the line, Aku just yoinks her up for kisses and cuddles ^-^
I finished your two games (and i'm hope you don't mind i review a little Solipsism Reigns here ^^') and honestly i guess is one on the best psychology otome game i play.
Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers, fly you fools ! (and i'm hope i'm doing my references right ;__; )
Doyle really creep me out o___o, in genre realistic way. I can imagine guy like him so yeah, creep me out hahaha T___T
(and i LIKE games with realistic characters so i write it a lot in my reviews when I see one haha) buuut i is a good character writing. Really smart this guy. And Leah, poor girl, i feel for her. It's surprising me for Akuji and Leah, to say he's been dead all this time, it's ingenious, never really noticed anything ^^, I just imagine Doyle like this 0___0 the fuck...? when he watch Leah doing the kissing with... nothing. In seriouness, it's so sad. Really. Ahhh, you writing so good, i can really imagine a movie out of this ! :D (and i know it's inspired of a episode of a series? :))
And i can imagine Fleur in one in the bad ending, the fuck wrong here? When she see Doyle in his bath of blood. Leah, i leave you one week and this is happening?
And, Doyle i sure 'the blood bath good for skin' it's false don't do this :/
But in all seriouness, I don't remember well, how long has it been since Aku died and Leah, how long has she been like this, in depression I mean? Sorry, my memory love going in journey when she want ;_; I don't remember ><
And, the fact we can doing the doyle pov it's so good, his thoughts are so well done! :o and scary for Leah, especially the parts where he makes her drink, so fuck up, but, when i see how Leah is mentally, especially the part where she kills Doyle under Aku's influence, i'm think, they are a good fuck up couple. It's good to see not healthy couple in otome or romanced visual novel ^^ I don't condome this in real life ofc, but in otome i love this, so many possibilites, and nobody got hurt. Plus, Yandere characters, my inner teenager weakness haha
They need therapie, both of them ofc, but just to see (as I said before) a couple trying to pick up the pieces to try to be happy while not being well mentally with such good writing, it's good. In good endings.
Because, in bad ending, oh boy, damn, Doyle go away of Leah ! >:( please, poor girl. And ahh so frustrating the doctor who can't see anything, and can't see anything in real life because, he doesn't have Doyle's history and there's nothing to suggest that a relationship that's starting to be abusive, it's "just" a boyfriend who brought his girlfriend who just tried to commit suicide, but I can imagine so much of Leah's terror at seeing Doyle being all cute in front of the doctor, terrifying !
AND my favorite part...
Breaking the fourth wall! Ahh, when i see Doyle being "...", i'm saying to myself ohhh...? He will do it, won't he? He knows I'm here, hahahahaha (help) he SO angry, like boy i'm just doing the VN, leave me by ;_; But, well, i can imagine me being not so pleased to see a random person trying to break my couple because i'm not exist, sooo!
And, when i hearing a unknown voice talk to me and I had not done the other game at that time, so i'm like??? hello? yes? why you say i'm belong to you? no? allo? but in reality i'm being so happy lol like the voice acting it's so good, and so... idk real, so yeah talk to me, yandere-like character ! :D (i guess? he is quite possessive, isn't he?) i undersand half of it, because English is not my mother tongue and it had no subtitles (and it's not a critique, so don't worry! :)) , so I'm lost, help!
Annnnd when i finished Solipsism Reigns true ending, -good game btw, Kuro <3 good idea with the same protag who repeat herself off again and again in differents universes with the same love interest and the fact that her life is just an excuse to help the real one. same with the love interest who have just depression to not being protect for real his love <3- (i'm think when i doing other of your new games i'm replay the ending of all your games for a better listen of the mysterious guy^^) I meet the unknown guy.
So, if i'm undersand right, his a guy who know his not real? and we real, you and the others players. And he knows that we are behind the screen, and he love us...? Yandere-Like i guess, and he say we wait for him....? I don't remember right, and it's all i remember of his talks for now haha <_< OH! and he REALLY angry when we likes the good cute ending with Kuro in the desert, but it's just that he loves to piss us off, right? cause maybe he can't having a good ending or just an ending with us? And you, he hate you or no? :o 'Cause i thnik i remember when you say to don't listen to him and he cut you off, so ? :o
Anyway, i like this bitch-ass guy, so i'm undersand right (of the others reviews) he is a character that will come a lot? *_* And love to have a game with just him,
but it must be complicated, just for the design of the character and the answers of the player because nobody plays the same so idk... maybe? :o
Anyway (again) i really like your two games, the VA is AMAZING, i like the voices of the characters (all of them) I have the feeling i talking to real humains being, (sorry Doyle your not <_<) so yeah good job for them! :D
And ofc i loved your other game (Solip)! :D I did a little review of it, but the level of love it have in it ! Good, good, good. Oh, and also the mystery man appears in Impostor and DD or not? :o
I’m shy to publish review so i’m was really not sure if i’m want to doing a review here, but i’m really like your games and i have listen your interview in Solip and your like sympathetic so… voilà, i’m here haha <_< I’m hope i’m not being too weird, like i’m doing this for good points, or idk, i’m don’t remember this expression in english cause my quota of write in english going to expire ;_ ; i’m writing slowly and with weird sentences so i cut myself off before we can read what i’m am saying with ??? face haha
Can’t wait to write another review of one of your new game <3 ! Thank you for creating this !
Aww, thank you so much for taking the time to play through both of them and to write such a detailed review :3 I appreciate it a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed them both :D
Hehe, that reference made me smile :3 I guess I better continue under spoilers also!
SPOILERS
I'm glad the characters came across that way in A9 because I was really hoping they would. And Rae, Leah's voice actor, even said in her interview that she wanted Leah to come across as just a regular person, so rather than putting on a sort of character voice, she acted with her natural voice. But yeah, it must have been pretty strange for Doyle to watch Leah doing all that stuff with the air when she thought it was Aku x3
Yeah, I can link the episode on Wikipedia if you want to look it up :3 The episode is called Tom & Gerri, from the British TV series, Inside No.9. The episode isn't a romance story at all, so I thought it would be fun to try and turn it into one for otome jam, haha. In the episode, the protagonist is male, and the homeless person is male. And the protagonist's girlfriend is dead all along like Akuji is in the game. I had to change a lot of things and add a lot of things to make it into a romance story, but I still tried to keep the original episode plot intact at the same time.
Fleur certainly has a tough job trying to look after Leah x3 It must have been pretty horrifying for her to see that things had gone so wrong >.<
Honestly, I can't remember how long it was supposed to be since Aku died either, haha. I think it was quite a while though, like over a year. And Doyle had been watching/noticed Leah long before Leah noticed him.
Yeah, I knew when I reached the end of writing Leah's route that I wanted to have some sort of new game+ type feature, but I wasn't sure how to make it interesting + create something within the timeframe of the jam that would feel finished. I figured if I made a Doyle PoV route with extra endings, it makes it worth playing through, gives us more insight into Doyle's thoughts, but because it's going over the same story again, didn't require heaps of additional writing so I was able to get it done in time for the end of the jam :3 I was really regretting it at one point though cos I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it all done, haha. I'm glad you still enjoyed his PoV because I was a little worried that it might come across as a bit boring playing through the story again.
You're right, it certainly wouldn't be a healthy relationship in reality, but it is fun to explore that sort of thing in fiction :3 And as you can probably guess, I'm a huge fan of characters with yandere vibes myself, haha. They both need therapy indeed!
That was a lot of fun to write the fourth break part :D And even more fun getting to hear Lars give Doyle such an emotionally charged performance! When I heard it, my face just went O.O He did such an awesome job as Doyle.
And ahaha, yes, that bit afterwards with the mysterious character is likely to be quite confusing if you've not played SR first, which is why I gave the player the option to say that no, they don't remember him, haha. Not that that helps much because he doesn't really explain anything x3 He is absolutely the possessive type, yeah! Sorry about the lack of subtitles >.< I only do it like that because it's part of his nature as a rule-breaking character, but it must be quite frustrating without the subtitles there. If you want, I can email you what he's saying in both the scene in A9 and in the scene at the end of SR. It sounds like you managed to get most of it though anyway :3
Yeah, you're pretty much right there about him! He's a sentient character that knows he's essentially haunting my games, and he wants to keep the players of my games all to himself. He loves the player deeply, but he's also pretty messed up, and one of his favourite things is to watch the player suffer. He finds that fun. He doesn't like it so much when things work out happily because it bores him, and he despises being bored. He hates me because I get in the way of him having fun with the player x3 He just wants to spend time with the player because, in his mind, the player belongs to him. So yeah, he is pretty yandere-like x3
And you're correct that he will be a recurring character throughout my projects :3 I'm hoping to sort of slowly tell his story over time. And you're right again that it's a bit complicated because I don't have any way of knowing which of my games a player might have played already; if any. Hopefully, I will be able to make it all tie in in a way that's not too confusing, haha.
I'm glad you think it shows that I put all my love into SR :3 I certainly poured my heart into it and I hope to remake it someday in the new engine I'm using. I would like to rewrite some of the routes (especially the student one) redo the sprites and stuff, and also add some new content such as new routes.
Currently, the mysterious character isn't in Impostor, but the voice actor who played him also plays the purple-haired male character in Impostor :3 And he's not in DD (yet) because DD is still in development and I only managed to release one character episode in time for the jam at Christmas, so there's lots more content still to come for DD :D
Well, I'm glad you took the time to write everything that you did :3 I love hearing what people think of my projects, so I appreciate the feedback. And you don't need to apologise at all. Don't worry, I understood what you meant throughout :D I don't think you came across as weird at all :3 I'm just happy that you enjoyed the games enough to want to write about them ^-^
Thank you again for playing and for all your kind words :3 I hope you have an awesome weekend!
Oh, and sorry again for mistakes and weird sentences ! ^^'
Spoilers (again, i guess x))
Well, she did it well! Leah like so much like a real human being! :)
Ohhhh, thank you for the link! I save this series in my loooooong list of... series haha. Sound so great! <3 Thank you for the discovery ! It will help my with my writing, i like scenario like this ^^ And it's for that i like your VN :)
Yes! I can't imagine to see a friend (?) going though so much and end up like this ! I imagine myself feel like a failure to not be able to save him/her in time! :/
Wow! And she like this for a year? Damn. Doyle feel like so much a hunter with his prey :O And... if he loved her all that time, he must have felt so lonely and reinforced his Yandere-attitude in plus ! :o To see her, doing that with the air and all, like he said in the VN! And if i'm remind well he know Aku no? Not knowing, knowing him but see him alive and all, no? :o
I see, good thinking of your part! And it wasn't boring at all! On the contrary haha ! :D I like differents POV of characters! You see thing of a new light! Of new dark light for Doyle ! (I'm the queen of humor uwu)
Yep. You can write fuck up characters and explore you can't doing in reality cos' it's forbidden for good reasons haha !
And i see that for yandere characters, haha! And i like who you write them !
Yes, totally! The voice acting doing makes it all anxiety-provoking! In "good way". Like, if he jump in my screen, i will not being surprised at all! haha
I said yes cos' i'm was panicking XD ! Ohhh, i was guess right! I like possessive-type character haha! Honeslty i'm can undersand for not subtitles, it's fit for the ??? part of wtf and breaking fourth wall ! :D
Oh, i have understood well ? Ah, good for my not good hearing haha
Buuuut, if you can send me what he saying, i'm will being grateful! But, your sure? i'm not want to put another charge of work on you ! :o
And, i'm not familiar with itch so... who you can email me? :o I'm such a old grannie sommetimes with technology ;_;
Hm, i see! And he not a monogamous character haha
More seriously, it is a single entity or multiple ? Like plenty of
alternative him for all players ?
Awww, he love me! And he want me to suffer... :D help
More your write about him, the more i'm curious! :p He his already such a interesting character! I like character like him, haaaa ! <3
I'm want to know why he so obessed with us! Like who he know us? Who he know how to breaking the fourth wall? does he still have a physical form or has he lost it and is wandering in the webcam? (horrible fate if it is the case o_o) He is in my webcam ? XD And i'm happy you you confirm he a yandere ^^ yes and h.e.l.p haha
And be careful with him ! x)
YES! Ahhhh, i'm want to see your new projects, your new characters and him, haaaa *_* And i'm wish you good luck with all that ! Break a leg!
Oh! A remake? If you do, i'm will take it! Oh and for the sprites and all (i'm talk about Solip), i was a little reluctant at first and I'm VERY picky about drawing while my proper draws are... um.... <_< buuut honestly I thought with the quality of writing it would pass! And I was right! And afterwards the sprites made me nostalgic of old manga so it's was ok! And i liked the sprite of Shiro :3 And... new routes ? +_+ Yes!
Ohhh ~ You said to me such interesting things here +___+ ! I will pay for DD and Impostor one day, maybe i wait for a new games or uptades for taking them in pack ! :D
And, you're welcome! :DDD I was taken away with passion for writing this review so i'm was pretty impressed of me lol And thanks! i'm happy i'm not being too weird or weird at all, i'm glad haha And i'm happy your happy with my feedback haha XD
Yeah, I think the whole cast did a fantastic job of bringing all the characters to life :3
It's probably one of my favourite series! I would like to make some games inspired by some of the other episodes at some point too. With each episode being completely different, there are so many cool ideas in there :3
You're right there, it was exactly like Doyle was a hunter just stalking his prey all that time x3 But yeah, he would have been able to see Aku back when he was alive, waaaay before Leah even noticed Doyle existed. So he was watching them as a couple and was jealous of Aku. I think I only very briefly referenced it rather than went into detail, but Doyle would have noticed one day that Aku was gone, and he would have seen in the local newspapers what happened since Aku was an actor. They probably would've covered the story of the tragic accident. Instead of being sad, Doyle would have just thought that maybe he finally had a chance with Leah >.<
I'm glad you thought the PoV stuff worked well :3
It's no trouble for me to send what the guy is saying in that scene in A9 because I still have the script that I sent to my friend who played the character :3 So I can just take the dialogue out of that to send to you. Don't worry, I'm not great either when it comes to figuring stuff like that out x3 I'll just leave my email here, and you can just send me a blank message to that address or something so that I have your email address to send the dialogue to. So mine is: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
I might be able to find the old scripts for what he says in SR too, but I'm not 100% sure where the files are because my SR stuff is all over the place >.< haha.
Yeah, in a way, you're right with what you said in that he's technically just one being, but because he's digital, he can make as many copies of himself as he needs, so that there is one version of him for every single player :3 So when he's talking, he's talking specifically to you rather than all the players at once. To be honest though, even I don't know everything about him yet because I still have a lot to figure out x3 All I know is that I want to tell his story over time. But yeah, being stuck in a webcam would be a really horrific fate >.<
Thank you for the luck :3 I will certainly need it x3
Yeah, the sprites are one of the things that bother me the most about SR. Since I needed so many with all the world-hopping going on, there was only one set of sprite generators that I own that was going to work, and even then, it wasn't enough because I had to use a different set from a different artist for all the friend characters. So it bothers me that Mc and Kuro are in one art style, and then all the other characters are in a different style >.< And it also bothers me that most of the Kuro sprites are made from female sprite generators just because there aren't enough resources around for male sprites, haha. I'm glad you decided to check the game out regardless :3 Cos I think the sprites probably put a lot of people off from even trying it >.<
Hopefully, I will have a new free game out at the end of September for Spooktober VN jam if I can manage it :3 And I should, hopefully, be able to get another update out or two for DD by the end of the year!
Your passion definitely shows :3 I'm so glad you decided to take the time to type everything up and share your thoughts! And you just seem awesome to me :D Weird is great too anyhow, haha. I'm definitely a weirdo x3
This entire review of review of review of review it's just spoilers!
So... Spoilers :D
Oh...! Seriously ? I'm hyped haha *_*
Okayyy! Damn, i imagine Doyle staring into space all the time. And i know Doyle said that no one but Leah had noticed him, but Aku is blind to ever having noticed Doyle stare at his apartment window. I mean, i guess i have noticied some dude who was looking at the window where my girlfriend was working, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And yeah, with the thoughts that can have Doyle i undersand he like: yeah, drama queen asshole just die, it's my chance ! :D And thank you for clarifying for me ! :)
I'm see, i'm see! :) One of your friend played it? :O It's great to have someone who you can work with in your job that you know! Thank you for that! You're very nice ! :D Don't worry if you can't to find the script SR ! Offering to send it to me is already really sweet :)! And we can creating a club for not techno advancing gramma haha x)
Oh, great! I had understood well! It's a great capacity and not totally horrifying when you know about his personnality haha <_< He can't get killed if we destroy the one we speak to us individually, because he can create many him as he please humm 🤔
Buuuut, it's great we can have a one for yourself <3
It's great this detail, that he speak to only me! Good thinking ^^! And they all the same personnality? :o
Again, good luck for creating his story and beware of him! x)
Yeah, totally, just imagine this, being stuck and all... We can undersand your mind slipt. Like him... hahaha <_<
You're welcome, haha ! ~
I can undersand this can bit frustrating ! :/ But, it's work for me in the end anyway ! :) And, yeah, i guess if i'm not be playing A9 and all, and not to have been intrigued by the mystery guy and to have liked the writing, I wouldn't have tried the game to be honest. (Sorry if it's brutal way of saying that ><) But, lucky me i'm a glad i played A9 and discorverying your universe! I will thinking a little more before judging a work of art by details that put me off now :D!
Ohhh *_* You interest me haha :D I will definitely give it a try if it comes out or I'll wait for DD updates ^^ ! :D And try to not to faint because of the work ! :( Be careful!
Haha, thank you :D ! And... awww my heart! Thank you so much for your kinds work, i'm touched <3 :) ! My heart is swollen with emotions haha ;w; ! You're adorable! And like i said in one on my review, you're seen a good person a well ! :D Haha, weirdo assemble!
Thank's ! You too (again haha XD) ! And i'm sorry (again, as well) if i can a little weird with my way of saying things cos' i have a blood test tomorrow and i HATE stings and i'm a scaredy-cat so ;__; ! So this is why if my sentences are more bizarre and all cos i'm stressed, like really stressed and I can't manage to to write in english or think haha <_<
Oh, and i'm hope it's okay i'm have responding here, because i don't know whether I should write all this in the email or not ^^' !
Anddd, that's all! In my way of sleeping ! (Who i'm am kidding, hahahaha <_<)
Just letting you know that I've read all of your message, but I'll be heading to bed soon so I'll reply to everything here in an email sometime tomorrow instead :3
Just wanted to wish you good luck with your blood test! I have to have them quite frequently so I'm used to them, thankfully. Just remember that it'll only take a second, and then you should make sure to treat yourself to something nice afterwards :D That's what I do whenever I have to go do something I really don't wanna do and it makes me stressed. I usually get an extra tasty coffee or something afterwards so I have something to look forward to, haha. I hope it goes well for you anyhow :3
Again what a great game you gifted us >.<! It was a very interesting concept and an even greater experience, I had my brain explode in certain moments!
Everything looks really good in the game and I really liked the ost too. The bonus and the interviews are always such a nice touch, it's very interesting to hear everyone's experience, the voice acting was perfect.
You did an awesome job with the game, wish you all the best with your next projects, I'm always excited to hear news from you :3
Haha, brain explosions for the win! x3 Though, also kinda messy >.<
I'm so glad you liked the OST as well because that took me hours upon hours to make :D I probably spent as long on that as I did on the writing! Maybe even longer. It was lots of fun to make though, even if I did go a bit crazy with the number of tracks in the end xD
I certainly owe everyone a lot who helped out with the game, without their contributions, it just wouldn't be the same :3
I'm glad you think so anyhow! And your support means so much <3
Finish the game! I played one of you're other games before ^^ it took me till the end to recognize tho lol. Doyle's scared me half to death poppin up on the screen like that XD I was almost was asleep before that happened. Also that surprised vist was shocking! Makes me wonder if all the games are connected some how? Sadly I'm missing like one CGI on the bottom left :( anyways sorry for the bad grammar its 4am rn and I'm out of it hahah. Cant wait for new games from you. ♡
Woo! That's awesome :D Thank you very much for playing and dropping by to comment :3 Sorry about Doyle >.< haha.
Some of the games are definitely somewhat connected, but there's a lot more to come about that in the future :3
Ahh, I think the CG you're missing is probably the one that's the most difficult to get because you can't get it in the same playthrough as the one before it. I made a walkthrough if you need a hand :3 It's a bit confusing though >.<
I know that 4am feeling cos I was up past 4am most nights trying to get this game finished in time for the end of the jam xD I'll probably do one more jam this year :3 Thank you for the kind words and support ^-^
I'm glad you think so :3 This was my first time getting to team up with artists for a jam! I loved it so much :D I can't draw to save my life, so I'm usually stuck using stock sprites or character generators. It was wonderful to get to work with such talented artists. I hope it's not a disappointment when you come to play it, haha.
I loved what I played of Aria at the Funeraria so far :3 It's such an interesting setting for a story and I'll definitely be back to see what happens with all the choices I didn't pick the first time around when I have more time! I need to check out your other games too when I get a chance because they all look fantastic. I just don't seem to get much time to play stuff these days because when I try to, my brain moans at me >.< telling me I should be working not playing!
We played your game, amazing story fantastic characters and music. We really love it. My friend and I really would like to translate your game into Turkish. If you are interested, contact me via this email address: meliksahcivitt@gmail.com
Thanks so much for playing :3 And also for taking the time to drop by and leave some kind words! I really appreciate that + your offer of translation :D I would absolutely love to be able to get some of my games translated to other languages! I think that would be super cool :3 However, I'm pretty busy at the moment so I probably wouldn't have the time to spend on adding all the new translated text to the game in an update any time soon if you guys were to provide a translation >.< and I certainly wouldn't want all your hard work going to waste.
If I do end up getting a period of time where I can revisit some of these games though, I will definitely drop you an email because it would be very awesome to work with you guys on a Turkish translation :3
Hi Melancholy Marionette, I can tell great care has gone into each and every aspect of this game Apartment No 9. You've gone from strength to strength, and it really shows here. I was lucky enough to beta read your initial writing. Being on your team discord, you led the project so professionally and treated everyone with respect and kindness. The fruits of yours and everyone's labour is this amazing game. I've only played Doyle's good end so far, but I can't wait to try the rest.
Likewise for Sinless! It absolutely plays as though it was made with lots of love :3
I didn't get to see you and the Sinless team in action, but I imagine you were all working your asses off, and the end result is brilliant! You should all be very proud of your work ^-^
Being part of a team this time around was so much fun that I'm not sure I ever want to go solo for a jam again, haha.
Thanks for all your kind words and support throughout! It means a lot <3
Hi mate, I downloaded your game as soon as I received the notification XD I knew I would not be disappointed because I enjoyed every game you wrote. But this one was... awesome, certainly one of your best creations. The writing is perfect, the pacing, the mystery, the multiple points of view... everything works wonderfully well and makes this work remarkable.
I like the heroine and the mixture of strength and weakness that makes her up. Her flaws are very human, which makes her a believable and endearing character. Her issues are depicted in a very realistic way and I feel for her.
I didn't manage to care for Aki though (I'm sorry). I understand why Leah cares for him but... I couldn't.
I really prefer Doyle despite his faults and his issues. Maybe because those flaws make him very human and credible.
!!!!!SPOILERS BELOW!!!!
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Maybe because I can understand why a person starving for attention and love would act the way he acts.
The two relationships are toxic for Leah:
- her relationship with Aki is toxic because she is sinking into her disillusionment and mental illness, refusing to face the painfull truth,
- her relationship with Doyle is toxic for obvious reasons. But I like dysfonctionnal relationships in fiction, especially when the LI is caring/protective but has some yandere vibes XD
I havn't reach all the endings yet (but I unlocked the point of view of Doyle and enjoyed it a lot^^).
Thanks for this beautiful work. See you soon sweetie!
Hey hey! Aww, that's awesome :D I'm so glad you ended up liking this one too! Thanks for playing through it and taking the time to let me know your thoughts on this one. I really poured everything I had into it this past month or so trying to get it all finished in time for the end of the jam, haha. It was certainly pretty exhausting with all the super late nights, but I had heaps of fun working on it + it was my first jam where I got to team up with artists :3
I mean, I can't take 100% credit for the general story idea because, as I mentioned, it is based on an Inside No.9 episode script. It's one of my favourite episodes, and I was so worried that I would wind up ruining the story that inspired me by creating my own version when I've changed so many things here and there + added stuff to it >.< So I'm happy to hear that I didn't. The script that inspired me is brilliant as it is, but it's certainly not even remotely otome, haha.
I had a lot of fun rewriting stuff from Doyle's point of view, haha. That's something I've not really done much of before and wanted to experiment with :3 I was a little concerned players might find it dull to go through the story again, even if it is from another character's viewpoint. I really wanted to have a new game+ type thing though where the endings could be expanded upon, and that was the only way I could think of doing it that would work within the jam timeframe.
That's incredibly interesting that you wound up preferring Doyle! I honestly imagined that most people would kinda hate him x3 In fact, I was afraid that with it being an otome game, people may dislike him so much that they wouldn't want to pursue a romance with him, haha. He sure does have a lot of flaws, but I tried not to make him a complete monster :3
SPOILERS
I'm really glad that you were able to understand Doyle's motives. That's something that always worries me in the back of my mind when I'm writing yandere-esque characters because I don't want them to be monsters >.< I like there to be some sort of justification for their behaviour, and the opportunity to potentially redeem themselves, haha.
Yeah, it's kind of a shame for Leah really that both relationships are toxic for her >.< But yeah, dysfunctional relationships in fiction are fun, haha. As you no doubt already know, I have a gigantic soft spot for characters who are a little messed up x3
I'm just about to post up a walkthrough, so if you happen to end up requiring help to get all of the endings, that should cover everything :3
Thank you again for your kind words and your time :D Much appreciated ^-^
I loved the game, but a walkthrough would be very useful to get all the endings.
Aku was such a sweeatheart and the game know how to punch you in the guts if he (like me) is your favorite, but that's probably what made me appreciate him even more.
Spoiler*
I didn't get all endings but I do hope in one of them we turn yandere on the yandere :3
And yes Doyle you look like a Kyle <3
And how can we win the words game against Doyle? Bc I'm stuck (like when is the answer not "cat"? The answer is always cat T.T )
I'm so glad you loved it :3 It was certainly a labour of love making it, haha. Thank you so much for playing + taking the time to comment <3 It's much appreciated. I'm just about to head off to bed now because it's super late (technically early as it's almost 5am xD) where I am, but I will definitely be sure to create a walkthrough sometime tomorrow when I get a chance! I should be able to get one posted up by the end of the day.
Aku certainly is a sweetie :3 Doyle, not so much, haha. Well, I guess Doyle can be, but still not as sweet as Aku x3
Spoilers
Hehe, you could make Doyle change his name to Kyle by deed poll, then he'd be stuck as a Kyle for life! As for the word game, cat would certainly be a cuter answer for beating him :D Technically there are two words that would be correct, but I only included one of them: 'checkmate'. Just because I wanted Leah's victory to be extra sweet by winning with a word like that, haha.
Ohh I have so many questions, but first I could never get all the endings without the walkthrough so thanks. <3
All in all I feel like her happy ending should be alone - Not sure if there's a "original" or "official" ending, but it will always be the happier ending for me. My opinion on the game didn't change tho, would play again 10/10 (^.^
Sort of spoilery I was stuck for some time to get the "Letting go" endings bc I couldn't NOT chose to kill him again after his demands and load back to chose "end it all" and get the last 2 endings, but it always goes to the "After life" ending so it took me some time to know that I had to chose to kill him and right after when Doyle forces the game to go back is when I was meant to chose "end it all" to get the last endings.
Now my VERY spoilery questions
I tought that we were playing as Leah 'till when Doyle breaks the fourth wall demanding his happy ending to the player, wich was interesting and made sense for us not to get to change Leah in appearence or name because of that, but it opened new possibilities that didn't have any explanation in game like: Does Doyle knows he's in a game? How does he knows of our presence? what are we in the game? Puppeteers (after all Doyle accuses us of manipulating and controlling Leah)
And the most important question of all: Am I overthinking this? (~.~
Is this game linked to another older or future project of yours? Bc after killing Doyle (not sure if in the first or second time) a voice talks to the player (perhaps?) asks if we remember them (yep, had to chose "no" for the creepy) and that they are watching us, warning us not to bore them (not sure if they called us Anthea, Anatema or something else( didn't had my headphone so could only guess) but it made me question that if they really were talking to the player why would they call us that?)
And if it was indeed linked to another game I have to say that you sold it well bc I crave answers now hah
I'm glad you still liked the game after getting all of the endings :D It would have been fun to have even more endings in there, but I figured I better not go toooo crazy or I'd never finish in time for the end of the jam x3 I guess I should put everything else under spoilers, haha.
SPOILERS
In regards to an original or official ending. In the episode of the show that inspired me to make this game, the ending of the episode is at the same point where I ended it in Leah's story. So the colleague finds the homeless person dead in the bathtub and it cuts to credits. That's it. Story over. And it works fantastically in the episode, which is why I wanted to end it there in Leah's story as a tribute to the episode :3 But it wouldn't be a very happy ending for an otome game if that was the only ending x3 So I wanted to expand on it some more afterwards using Doyle's story to get his PoV + explore alternate endings.
In the episode, there is no romance going on between the protagonist and the homeless person at all because they are both heterosexual male characters. The story is more about how the homeless person is slowly taking over the protagonist's life and they are switching places as the homeless person becomes more and more like the protagonist while the protagonist becomes more and more like the homeless person over time.
I would say that any of the game's endings could be taken as the true ending since it's up to the player to decide, but I personally would say that either one of the 'Letting Go' endings are the 'true' endings :3 It just depends whether the player would prefer Leah leave Doyle and move on from Aku alone, or whether she should pursue a romance with Doyle.
I agree with you though that the happiest ending for Leah would be her moving on alone :3 Just because I don't think the relationship she has with Doyle is particularly healthy, even if he does apologise and stuff, haha.
Yeah, it's a little bit confusing to get those other endings just because the 'Kill Doyle' and 'End it all' choices look exactly the same both times. The second lot are quite awkward to get back to unless you have a save in the exact right place because it means going through the first 'Kill Doyle' option all over again and past the 'Lingering Love' ending. Maybe I should have put recommended save points in the walkthrough actually! I will update it in a minute.
You're not overthinking it at all :3 You're absolutely right that that particular ending with Doyle breaking the fourth wall and what comes afterwards with the voice talking to the player is related to another project of mine. Well, it's linked to an older project, and to future projects because the voice that you hear is a recurring character that I have plans for throughout the various games that I make.
Ordinarily, Doyle would not have been able to break the fourth wall on his own, so to answer your questions, the only reason that he started acting that way all of a sudden, is because he was being influenced/given power by the voice.
One of the voice's lines says:
'Aww, don't pull such a boring face, Anathema. I made that last bit just for you! Didn't you love it as much as I did?'
Anathema is the name that the voice refers to the player as (it means 'offering/sacrifice'.) It makes a little bit more sense if you've already seen the character's introduction within my first game, Solipsism Reigns, but I hoped it would still come across as mysterious/intriguing to anyone who didn't already know the character as well :3 You hear more from him in Solipsism, but it still only serves as a brief intro. I won't spoil anything in case you plan to play it at some point because then you'll meet him for yourself, haha, but it's quite a long game to play through.
He doesn't have an official name yet but there is a bit of a hint in Solipsism at one point, and he's already gained himself an affectionate nickname (Archie, haha.) My plan was to include some kind of appearance from him in everything I make, but I didn't have the time to with previous jam games. I definitely have much more planned for him in the future though :3
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coming back to revisit this game and i just realised i didnt drop a comment when i first played it! the game is so amazing, the twists are so unexpected, the characters are incredibly charming, and i was absolutely hooked the whole time. i do have to say though, i wish there was more of the architect character! im a huge fan of yanderes, and even more so of 4th wall breaking yanderes. anyways, wrapping up this comment by telling you to keep up the good work! you definitely stand out among devs with your passion and talent for writing enchanting plots and characters.
Sorry it’s taken me ages to see this and reply >.< I’ve not been in a great headspace lately so I’ve been avoiding my PC altogether since the start of October. Seeing this made me smile though! I can’t believe you decided to replay it x3 That just shocks me cos it’s still one that gets hardly any downloads in general, haha.
I also wish there was more of the architect character x3 Not just here, but in my other projects too! Sadly though, the VA playing the character is someone who has disappeared from my life :( I wish that weren’t the case, but he’s just moved on to bigger and better things. More power to him cos he’s such a talented person and deserves success :3 But it, unfortunately for me, means he doesn’t have the time to dedicate to someone who can’t afford to pay him much when others can properly compensate him for his time and talents >.<
I can’t lie, I’ve agonised over what to do about it because I would still really love to have a consistent figure that appears across various projects. My main concern is finding a VA who I can rely on to record for the character over the course of several years, and that’s a big ask for anyone x3
Thank you anyhow for taking the time to come back to the game and to leave such a sweet comment! You’ve always been so supportive and I appreciate it more than I have the words to describe <3 I hope that you’re well and that the end of the year has been going smoothly for you!
sooo intriguing!!! i swear i enjoy every single one of your games lol, the plots are all well-written and whenever the fourth wall is broken i get shocked all over again,,, hope theres more anathema references in your future games;;
playing your stuff is actually inspiring me to start making my own visual novel, so thank you sm!!
Aww, well, I’m super glad to hear it :D Thanks so much for checking out this one too <3
I do love writing fourth-wall-breaking stuff, hehe x3 I haven’t done it in every single one of my games, but it’s in a few of em! I think the only ones with Anathema references are this one, SR, and very vaguely in Limbo Line.
I plan to include more Anathema stuff in the future though :3 It’s just it might not involve the exact same character speaking to Anathema because that character is on hiatus and will potentially be replaced with a relative x3
That’s so cool! I hope you do end up making your own visual novel :D It’s sooo much fun! The only thing is, you might end up addicted to it like me xD
Omgg I thought I knew what the twist was like in the middle of my first playthrough, but I was wrong. And then I was wrong again! The game kept me on my toes, amazing story.
So glad you had fun with it!! It always means a heck of a lot when anyone says they’ve enjoyed this project cos it doesn’t get many downloads x3 So yeah, I really appreciate you checking it out, and thank you so much again for the kofi too!! <3
Hope your week is going great!
I was a bit curious, after doing Doyles story a few times, the characters on my load screen changed, did I get all the endings or is it because I had just gotten the ending Letting Go (B) (also the letting go endings made me cry :(
First of all, I just wanna say a big thank you for playing the game because, for some reason, this one gets hardly any downloads, so I’m always really happy to see that someone has actually played it :3
It’s been quite a long time since I made this, so I can’t say with 100% certainty, but I think that I probably made it so that the characters on the screen change when you reach that specific ending that you got to rather than for completing all endings. I’m gonna go have a look at the files though just to check!
Okay, so, I had a quick peek, and yeah, from what I can see, I think it probably changes with that ending. I think I must have done that because I considered it to be one of the happier of all the endings, even though none of them are particularly happy in the typical sense x3
Doyle’s side has a total of 9 endings - Out In The Cold, Our New Home, My Angel, Lingering Love, After Life (A), After Life (B), All Fall Down, Letting Go (A), Letting Go (B).
I don’t know if you’ve maybe already seen this, but I made a walkthrough for the whole game, so if you’re missing any of the endings, you will probably notice which ones by having a look through that :3
I’m sorry those endings made you cry :( hopefully, it was at least in a good way x3 The game is pretty bleak though to be fair >.< maybe that’s why people seem to avoid it, haha. It's definitely a dark otome rather than a fluffy one >.<
Thank you again for taking the time to check it out <3
Ok, I have a bone to pick with you. This game has been plaguing me. I'll be headed to bed then suddently I'm thinking about this game. I think about how sad and amazing the two releasing the ashes endings were, I think about just how great the game was in general. Why, why won't it leave my head! I lay in bed thinking of this game, what did you do to me.
Sorry about that x3 that’s amazing that it’s stayed with you though! Well, as long as you can still sleep anyways, haha.
I’m hoping that later in the year, I might be able to put this and some of my other completed projects on Steam. It’s just I’ll need to make some tweaks first and export new builds which will be a pain in the butt >.<
Just wanted to say that the text is going out of the screen.
What system are you playing on, and in what resolution? :o It was designed to be played 1920x1080 16:9, so, unfortunately, if played in anything else, some of the UI can get a bit screwy :( Sadly, it rarely seems to scale properly to accommodate other resolutions, which is why I decided to lock it to 16:9 only in my most recent release and have black bars for others instead. Annoyingly, it still doesn't help with square resolutions entirely >.<
Damn i have no idea in what resolution XD
Sorry i don't know much about this kind of stuff
No worries x3 Chances are, if weird things are happening like text leaving the area it's supposed to be in, then it's probably a different resolution to what I made it in and tested it on x3 It's something I find endlessly frustrating that the UI can't just adapt to different resolutions T_T I'm not a particularly techy person myself! The UI does have built-in scaling that works to some extent, but sometimes it just doesn't >.< haha.
I see 0-0
Well, wasn't expecting that twist.
Edit: Oh gosh i played it again but- Spoilers
As Doyle and oh my gosh, I didn't have the heart to try and kill him and did the other option, the ending actually made me cry. I honestly want to learn more about this guy and how their future progresses. Him actually admitting what he did and being sorry was 👌
Aww, cute bunny! ^-^ I approve!
Hehe, adding that extra route almost killed me during the jam cos I wasn't sure I'd make the deadline by doing it x3 but I really, really wanted to try and show things from a different perspective! To be honest, I kind of forgot how dark this project was since it's been a while since I worked on it >.< I hope it wasn't too horrific anyways! I think I may actually have cried myself while testing it once the voice acting was in. It's always the voice acting that gives me a gut punch, haha. It happened again just the other day actually while I was working on my Yandere Jam project for this year! I was testing and I heard some of the lines voiced for the first time alongside the music and everything, and I just sat there like someone had slapped me in the face, then a few tears emerged x3 Really wasn't expecting it when I already know what's going to happen, but it's just the delivery of the lines from the VA was so strong that it properly got me, haha.
If there had been more time during the jam, I would've liked to have added some extra scenes like after-story stuff & possibly pre-story stuff too, but I used all the time there was up making the version that's here. I suppose I could have come back to it after to update it with more content! I did kinda feel like I needed to move on from that world though once the jam was over just because it was beginning to feel like I lived in that apartment with those guys x3 It wasn't the worst feeling in the world, but it did make me kinda disconnect from reality >.< Sadly, this is also one of my least-played games :(
I really appreciate you giving it a chance and checking it out though :3
I'm guessing you're probably referring to Anathema, it's pretty difficult to catch it when it's only spoken and the voice is quite heavy with the effects x3 especially if you don't already know about the character. Yeah, it's basically a sort of adaptation of an episode from an anthology show that I'm a big fan of, so it's got the whole story of that episode in it + my own original tweaks and additions to the story to turn it into an otome with choices, story branches, and different endings :3
As for Solipsism Reigns, it was my first-ever game, which you can find here :3 In that game, there are a lot more references to Anathema. The inclusion of the character known as the Architect addressing Anathema in this project was supposed to be a sort of easter egg for people who had played Solipsism already :3 It probably just comes across as quite confusing though to anyone who hasn't played Solipsism first >.< haha. But Anathema is basically the player :3
🤍LOVE THIS GAME!🖤
<3
Well, that's awesome! Glad to hear it and thanks for playing it ^-^
Hope you feel better soon! I got a cold too just before Christmas, and I'm only just starting to feel better now >.< so I hope yours gets better quickly :3
Omg Thank you. btw... fight me! ( just kidding) the ending was crazy!! I loved it
🤍WOW! GREAT GAME!🖤
Thanks so much for playing it <3 Tbh, I kinda forgot that ending even existed x3 my memory is so awful T_T
I love everything about the game. I love the way you click the 9 to proceed to Doyle's POV, I love the story and
So glad you enjoyed it ^-^ especially since this is one of my least-played projects! It's always nice to see it get some love <3 Thanks so much for checking it out :3
Hi Melancholy Marionette! For some reason, none of the screen size options fit my Mac screen. About an inch on the right side of the screen is always cut off. Do you know if there is a way to adjust the screen size in game to fit the size of the device used? Thank you!
Hey hey! That sucks >.< Sorry it's like that for you on Mac :( The problem is that I don't have a Mac myself, and I don't know anyone who does, so I've got no way of testing things on them and no idea how they even work T_T However, the problem with it not fitting on your screen I might be able to help with.
I remember that during the jam, one of my teammates said about locking the resolution/screen size for this game so that we didn't have to spend too much time messing around with UI elements and design to fit different sized screens. So yeah, I think we did lock it to 1920x1080 resolution in the end through the settings in Unity, which should mean that it's not properly resizable for players.
If that is the case, I could try re-exporting the game without that lock on for you :3 That way, you should be free to change the size of stuff in the settings of the game. But, there's no guarantee everything will fit particularly well on the screen still >.< I can switch on the scaling UI option in Unity and hope for the best, but quite often, it still doesn't scale properly and you get bits of the UI here and there that still hang off of the screen and stuff >.< Everything always looks perfect for me when I'm testing, and then I'll end up seeing someone else play and the text box is like 2 inches away from where it should be and stuff >.< haha.
I'm away from home today, but I can try exporting the game again tomorrow afternoon sometime and let you know when it's done :3 Thanks so much for your interest in the game and taking the time to mention the problem rather than just deciding to leave it ^-^
Awe, that is so sweet and generous of you. I know I'm over one year late to the party, but I appreciate that you're still taking the time to help make adjustments for new players. That's awesome. <3
I'll always try to do what I can to help cos at the end of the day, it's an honour to have anyone play my games, and if someone actually wants to play one but it won't work for them for whatever reason, that really sucks for me as a dev since I put so much hard work and time into making them. If one of my projects captures someone's interest, only for me to discover they can't access it, I'm just like ---> T_T noooo! Haha.
I didn't manage to get the build uploaded when I said I would though because it takes ages for Unity to generate the build, and ages for my slow internet to get it uploaded to the page, plus I was away from my PC on Monday trying to help my dad find new trainers xD But I just managed to upload it now! I named it 'A9Mac4Marquis' so you should be able to find it easily enough in the downloads :3
With any luck, having unlocked the option to allow different resolutions and resizable windows will have helped, but as I said, it may not improve anything still >.< I also tweaked the UI scaling options to better fit different screen sizes, but again, from what I can see in testing mode, it still isn't ideal on certain resolutions. On one, it fits the whole text box on screen rather than cutting the end off, which is great, but it won't move the accompanying avatar sprite, so it's like the avatar is in the bottom corner where it should be, and the text box is floating in the middle of the screen >.>
I'll cross my fingers anyhow! If it's still no better for you, I might be able to adapt the UI for your computer specifically if you let me know your screen size/resolution. Again though, it's still just a might cos when it comes to Mac, I can't even test the builds to see how they've come out >.< haha.
But yeah, *fingers crossed* x3
PS. You might have to delete any saves you previously made directly from the saves folder if you did make any in the first version you downloaded. Hopefully not since I renamed the file cos then it should sorta register as a new game and make a new folder for saves and such!
Oh my goodness, you're so kind. I'm sorry I'm a few days late, but your update worked perfectly! I can't believe you edited and uploaded a new build just for me. I feel like that might have been the nicest thing anyone has done for me?? :'-)
I hope your dad likes his new trainers, and I wish you so much happiness and success with your future projects. I just added Darling Duality to my "Games to Play" collection, and I look forward to it! I'm going to find you on Patreon, too!
(Most...) Indie devs are so amazing, but you're certainly in the top tier. If you ever need someone to test Mac "stuff," let me know! I'm an interactive fiction writer rather than a VN developer (although that's my (unattainable) dream), so I'm not sure I really know how I can help, but I will if I can!
Thanks again, Marionette. >_>^^<_<
You're more than welcome :3 I'm just glad it actually worked cos with how things always seem to go wrong for me on Mac, I was kinda prepared to hear that it didn't make a difference x3 haha. Maybe I should actually switch that build to the main Mac build in case it helps others, or at least point to it on the opening on Mac guide!
Unfortunately, he never did find any trainers still x3 Everything was either out of stock in his size, a bad fit, or too expensive >.<
That's so kind of you to become a patron, thank you so much ^-^ I don't know if you already have DD for download, but I'll get you a key sent over on Patreon after I send this!
Aww, thanks x3 Well, it's probably a good job you caught me in August because if it had been September, I still would've gotten a new build exported and uploaded, but I would likely have been so up against it with the Spooktober Jam deadline that I would've had to say I can't do it until September is over x3
I mean, it sure would be helpful to have a few Mac testers because I don't really know how many folks who play my stuff are actually playing on Mac! I don't know if it would help me be able to fix weird gameplay bugs, but I'd at least know if things like UI were hanging off the screen and I might be able to fix that, haha.
And hey, it's not unattainable to be a VN dev at all :3 If I can do it, anyone can x3 If you're already writing interactive fiction, that's one of the most important components of making a VN, so you've already go that covered! That was literally all I was able to do myself when I started making VNs. I had no idea how to code (and still don't, for the most part >.<). I couldn't draw to save my life (and again, that's still the case xD). I'll never be one of those super talented devs that can somehow write and draw all the assets for their projects T_T but, over time, I've learned to sort of compensate for my lack of skill, haha. I purchase cheap art asset packs, and then edit them myself to make them more unique. I've gradually started making my own BGM tracks using commercial use/royalty-free loops and samples from the very generous people online who put them out there for others to use, and having software like Tyranobuilder and Naninovel for Unity has meant I haven't ever had to actually learn to code properly (which is probably a bad thing really >.< but crazy helpful for someone like me who gets headaches thinking about code and just wants to get on with making a story!) So yeah, you can definitely do it :D Heck, I can point you to resources and stuff if you want :3
The art is not my usual taste at first and I didn't like the MC at first. Therefore, I kind of struggled to get through the story in the beginning. I am glad I give it a try and hang in there tho. The game makes me sympathize with MC more after a twist and the voice actings are nice.
I'm really glad you decided to stick with it :3 And I'm even more glad that you ended up playing through it despite your initial feelings about the art and MC! Thanks so much for taking the time to play the game and leave a comment ^-^
That's generally how I go into everything myself xD It certainly leads to lots of pleasant surprises, haha.
I'm so glad you ended up enjoying playing though :3 And it makes me super happy to hear that all the hard work and love that went into the project shines through ^-^ And yeah, everyone who worked with me on this project for the jam worked suuuuper hard, haha. So I hope they see your comment too!
It also makes me overjoyed to hear your thoughts on the soundtrack because this was my first attempt at making an original soundtrack for one of my projects, and while I had an absolute blast with it, I have no training or knowledge when it comes to music xD so I had no real way of knowing if it fit beyond my own feelings on it, haha.
Thanks so much for playing + taking the time to write such a lovely comment <3
I swear the the milk my dad didn't bring back in 1987 i had a heart attack when hearing the ??? voice again. SR flashbacks. The countless times i have speedrunned that game for the secret route. I know that voice to damn well from each and every single bad ending.
Hehe x3 Well, ??? just wanted to remind everyone that they're still out there. Ya never know when that sneaky bugger is gonna pop up and cause some trouble >.<
Is unknown voice from solipsism in this game ?
Yeah :3 The voice does make a small-ish appearance when specific choices are picked within Doyle's route of the game :3
is there any other game that has the unknown voice?
Sorry for my super slow reply >.< I haven't been very active online in recent months due to personal reasons, but I'm back now!
Currently, SR and A9 are the only games of mine that feature this character, but there are certainly plans to expand on that in the future :3
it's okay
This was really fun to play, ironically I watched inside no 9 a week before playing this, so I knew how the story went, but your take is fantastic!!
*High five* for having watched Inside No 9 :D I'm glad you had fun with it :3 Honestly, one of my biggest fears with trying to make an otome adaptation of it was that by tweaking things and adding to the original story, I might wind up butchering it in the process >.< haha. Cos it's a great story as it is and certainly didn't need me messing with it x3 I'm happy to hear you didn't think my version sucked or anything though :3
I had so much fun making it and I love Inside No 9 so much that I decided to do a similar thing with my most recent team jam project for Spooktober VN Jam, Limbo Line. Once again, I hopefully managed to do the original tale from that episode justice with my whacky version, haha. Thanks so much for playing and taking the time to comment :3
I'm glad you appreciate my comment! Keep up the good work!!
I had a really great time playing this game! I did not expect the story to turn out that way, so I was shook at the reveal. It definitely tugged at my heartstrings and made me tear up by the end! The voice acting was great and I really appreciate it because I feel it adds a lot to the experience and immersion of the game. I ended up really loving Leah, Doyle, and Akuji. Great job and looking forward to playing your other games!
Thanks so much for playing through it and taking the time to drop a comment as well :3 Much appreciated :D I'm glad you enjoyed it <3
I had a lot of fun making the game! It was a brilliant jam to be a part of in general ^-^
ANATHEMA???? HERE???? AHHH
I've got a question though, so for this and Soloplism you have GxB and BxG versions. Would you consider making in the future BxB, GxG, NBxB and NBxG versions? These games are fantastic but I really wish that I didn't have to choose between being a boy or dating boys
For A9, the GxG version is still planned but I'm not sure when for because Leah's VA is very busy and currently unavailable to record the necessary lines that would need to be tweaked for that version. For any other versions though, it's probably not going to be possible just because it's too much work for me to handle, sadly >.< If I were an artist, I'd consider taking the time to draw all the different sorta sprites required, but when I'm either reliant on assets that don't always fit the bill, or on the kindness of artists contributing to projects for no compensation, it makes it pretty difficult to be flexible with options like that :(
With SR, the BxG version is still in the works, but as a side project so it's very slow going on that front. I've had to give up on the idea of making any other versions for it though because the game is just too big for me to be able to do it. Making one version is already so much work, and I find that it gets really tough once I start working on second versions because I've already spent so much time staring at the same stuff. I end up just w anting to move on to something completely different.
What I'm probably going to do though is continue to make games from now on where the protagonist's gender is unspecified, like with Impostor, Darling Duality, and Limbo Line :3 I feel like that's the easiest way to be more inclusive without it being an overwhelming amount of work.
For Limbo Line, we decided to go with a sprite for the protagonist as well after much debate on inclusivity and such, but mainly I think I'll be keeping MCs spriteless and genderless!
Thank you so much for playing my stuff and commenting by the way :3
Hehe, yeah x3
Show post...
The video is a BxG version, not a GxB Version
GREAT VN GAME
Hey hey! Sorry I'm so late to reply >.< for some reason, I didn't get an itch notification for your comments or I somehow missed them.
Thanks for the video links and for playing through the game :3
I'm not sure if you're aware since you posted on both versions of the game and the thumbnail has the GxB version, but both videos you linked take you to the same video of the BxG version.
Did you play through the unlockable Doyle/Perry pov route as well? :o I couldn't find it in the video (I didn't have time to watch through all of it though) because the unlockable route contains additional endings :3
Show post...
This is a BxG version, sorry, I didn't notice
No worries! I just thought I'd point it out in case you didn't realise was all. Hope you have a great weekend :3
Soooo, I've just finished the game (all endings) and i'm asking myself :
SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!
In the all fall down ending, who was the voice in the weird background? Cause it was like; "Of course you remember me! And I was there like: ???Nop, dude. Who the f*** are you ???¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Is it related to some game you will create in the future or already created? Or was it Doyle ?Or even... Akuji !?(Btw this is the first of your games that I ever played ,and I really liked it! I must say I wasn't expecting Akuji to be... Well... to end in the background, if you know what I mean... I don't even know if this is an english expression.😅)I'm to lazy to search everywhere to find an answer. It sure is easier to just directly ask.
And finally, I want to sincerely apologize for all the probable monstrous grammar mistakes I did, that will very probably make your eyes bleed.<( _ _ )>
Hey hey! Thanks for playing through the game :3 I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
If that is an English expression, I haven't heard it before, but I still get what you mean :3 that's actually a pretty cool way of putting it, haha. And you don't need to apologise at all x3 My eyes aren't bleeding, haha.
To answer your question, I guess I should put it under a spoiler.
SPOILER
Okay, so, that voice is a character from my very first game, Solipsism Reigns, but the character has his own story which will slowly unfold across some of the games that I release over time :3 You get to hear much more from him in Solipsism Reigns. His appearance in Apartment No.9 is pretty brief in comparison. While he technically doesn't have a name yet, I always referred to him as 'The Architect' when writing scripts, and some people have affectionately given him the nickname, Archie :3
Hi! I'm having trouble with the game crashing down during Doyle's story. When I pick certain choices, like let him stay or when I choose at the end, in the bathroom, my game crashes. I can't finish Doyle's story because of this :(
Hey hey! Thanks for checking out the game :3 I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with crashing :(
I've not had any crash reports before and didn't experience any myself while testing, so I'm not sure what could be causing that to happen >.< Since it's occurring when you make certain choices, it could be that your system is somehow struggling to load the next scene. Is it an older or slower computer? Also, which system are you playing on?
Does it happen each time you pick certain choices if you save and try multiple times? Or is it more random?
You could try deleting your save data and starting over in case something is corrupted, but I'm not sure if that would help at all. You'd have to start again from the beginning but you could use the force skip option to skip all text and get back to the point you were at fairly quickly. I don't know exactly where your save folder would be located in order to properly delete all the data, but on my windows PC it's located under
C: > Users > MyUsername > AppData > LocalLow > Melancholy Marionette
You then delete the save data from the Apartment No.9 Folder.
(AppData folder might be hidden by default, so to access it, you need to enable hidden folders to be viewed by going to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalisation > Folder/File Explorer Options > Click the 'view' tab > Tick the box 'Show hidden files, folders and drives' > Click apply and ok. You probably don't want this on all the time, so once you've located and deleted the save data, it's probably best to go back into those options and untick the box to hide the hidden folders again.)
The only way for sure I'd be able to find out what's causing the crashing though is if I were to send you a development build, for you to play that to the point where the crashing happens, and for you to send me your player/error logs so I can see what sort of errors it's throwing up as it crashes. We can do that if you want to, but there's still no guarantee I'd be able to fix it for you even if I could identify the cause >.< Let me know if you want me to send you a development build though, and where to send it, and I'll get it to you and tell you how to generate report logs :3
Sorry you've had such trouble with it :( It would be great if wiping the save data and starting over happened to fix it, but it might not >.< Good luck though! And thanks again for playing the game :3
This game was an incredible experience in "nani the fuck?" - my eyebrows kept going higher and higher as I read on.
I felt as if I probably should've expected something, but I was already so creeped out by Doyle's focus and behavior (and by the claustrophobic way that Leah interacted with all of the characters) that I was entirely willing to believe the "initial" twist. Which, of course, left me open to the real twist - which was the point.
After that, although there were some issues with the UI, once I managed to get onto "Doyle's path" proper it really felt like a fitting way to resolve the story I'd already gotten invested in, so I'm very glad you included the extra endings there as well. Everyone in this story is so complicated that it'll definitely take me some time to think through it, but I really enjoyed the way they were written!
Thanks so much for playing and taking the time to comment! It all means a lot to me :3 Especially so coming from you cos I've been a lurker on the otome dev discord for a while (anxiety is too bad to join in most of the time, haha), and whenever yourself and the others talk about your projects and post art stuff I always just sit and think how talented you all are! Plus you blew me away with Yrsa Major! As I think I said in the comment I left, I didn't ever think I'd care all that much for an older love interest, but your story melted my heart :D
Were the UI issues just to do with starting Doyle's route? Or was it something else as well as that? >.< If it's something else, I can try to fix it, but if it's to do with getting the buttons working normally for starting his route + accessing the extras section, I still don't understand Nani and Unity well enough to know the correct way of doing it T_T haha. I did ask in support and someone answered, but their answer didn't make much sense to me because I don't really get much in the way of coding x3 hence why I got Nani in the first place really. And I didn't wanna ask for further explanation cos I was too embarrassed >.<
I'm really glad you enjoyed it overall though :3 And I'm happy Doyle's route had the desired effect because, as I said in a few other comments, I was kinda worried it might seem a bit boring or something to go through the same story again just to get different outcomes, even if it is from a different pov. I just really wanted to have a sort of new game+ type feature and I didn't know how else to implement something like that within the jam's timeframe.
Thanks again for all your kind words and best of luck with your projects ^-^
Really enjoyed the game. I'd already seen inside no 9 when it came out (the ep this is based on was my favourite one) so I knew what to expect. I loved how you made it differ from the show even when playing Leah. However, my favourite playthroughs was when getting Doyles perspective.
*spoiler *
I was screaming when Doyle called me out for choosing to kill him again xD
I was in love with Akuji. I like to think in another life him and Leah get a happy ending together (T-T)
That's awesome that you'd already seen Inside No.9 beforehand! I haven't come across anyone else who has seen it yet, haha. And I don't know without going back through all of them again if that one is my absolute favourite episode, but it's definitely up there in my top 5! It's been a while since I watched the old episodes.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the differences because I wanted to stay true to the original plot of the episode but also change things here and there + add my own stuff and, of course, with it being for otome jam, attempt to make it romantic in some way. I was really worried about ruining the original story though since it's a fantastic story as it is and doesn't need any of the stuff I added xD
It makes me happy to hear you enjoyed Doyle's perspective too :3 That was another one of my worries, that it might end up seeming a little boring going through the story again with a different pov, but I really wanted to add a new game+ type deal with additional endings. That was the only way I could do that within the jam timeframe.
SPOILERS
Yeah, I like to think Aku and Leah get their happy ending together too :3 If there had been more time in the jam, I wanted to do like a prequel story that was just basically a fluffy scene from when Aku was alive, but there wasn't time in the end >.<
This game is a rollercoaster.
The sprites was what got me to click on the game. Love the artstyle-- realistic with underlying uncanniness to it.
When it's labeled as Dark Otome it convinced me to play the game right away. I expected twists and turns when it's labeled on my very type genre, but I didn't expected it will give me the whole spring (and red herring, my golly goo-goo, that first ending twist to unlock Doyle's story mode made me spin myself.)
Doyle's story is such a treat, and by that I mean it gave me the pieces of the cake that proven my suspicions that is all about him. From the very beginning, he was already sussy to me. I didn't actually expect him to be indeed a Yandere and reading his entire POV made my skin crawl. He felt real and disturbing--to the point I jumped out of my skin when the meta part pops out doing the deed twice. As someone who had finished Doki Doki Literature Club, it sent war flashbacks XD. The transition from game-like to meta-like was so on point it I almost went Alt-Tab out of the game. The unknown entity was a welcoming touch though, I read that it came from your other game and you intend to make that entity appear throughout other of your games and I think that's quite a nice meta-lore to add in to your games.
Although I personally don't like Doyle, I love his characterization and how the voice actor did the lines in such a polarizing way that he made Doyle truly frightening at his worst, but at the same time sympathetic at his best and when he was being remorseful over what he'd done for/to Leah. What bugs me a bit is that there's little to no backstory for him, like, how did he became homeless or chose to be homeless? Just curious.
Ah, and speaking of crazy antics, Akuji's VA had also done an amazing job in creating a convincing character who is, well, alive and not alive either. It was so weird of him to be too chill and relax and being sunny as Leah going through a tough time (missing most of the days and acting as if everything that's happening to Leah is sort of a normal day by day thing to him whenever he comes back to "check" on her). Alternatively, Yandere Akuji also caught me off guard., I cannot believe that the voice I'm hearing is the same Akuji, hallucination or not.
And, OMAGHERED, Leah's voice acting is so great that I never saw the first ending coming. VA's choice to make her sound like a normal, average woman was pure genius.
Last but not the least, the soundtracks. I wasn't aware they were originals until I checked the information again. Your compositions are all wonderful, my favorite being Apartment No.9 with vocals that I just discovered from your extras. It added to the haunting vibe I'm getting with the music: the dissonant-ish harmony that sounded as if the voices are the duality of her subconscious.
Evidently, I'm actually not fond of Yandere characters, especially in an Otome or Otome-ish setting, but this one is an exception where I enjoyed a whole lot. The plot twist is truly a plot twist and you delivered the endings with various payoffs.
My favorite ending has got to be the Letting Go (B), because I was rooting for Leah's individual happiness at that point and it's relieving that Doyle's retreating (for the meantime, seemingly) this is the best bittersweet payoff in imo. The second would be the Afterlife with Doyle's below anger levels ending because I love redemption arcs to a fault XD. On that note, I may have also liked the Letting Go (A), where Leah and Doyle get together in a wholesome-ish version of effed up couple XD, and also because Doyle's also acting remorseful there and the whole scene is like a fresher air good toxicity XD. Root orange-and-blue-morality!
The experience I had in this game would definitely mark me in some way in my life, and because it's almost 1AM, it will prolly haunt me in my sleep, so thank you
help me. I will play your other games in the futureI'm a masochist:DI'm so glad you think so :3
Yeah, I love me some dark stuff, haha. Don't get me wrong, I also love healthy doses of fluffiness too! But the dark stuff is my main passion x3
And I'm happy to hear you enjoyed playing through Doyle's version of events. It was something I was very unsure about by the time I finished it because I couldn't for the life of me tell if it was dull or not >.< and there wasn't time to get feedback on it before the jam deadline was up. I just really wanted to include some form of new game+ content where you could see new and extended endings, but a PoV route was the only way I could envision managing to do that within the jam's timeframe since it wouldn't mean rewriting every single thing from scratch. Plus it's something I've always wanted to try my hand at (writing from the perspective of the yandere, that is.)
I was sort of worried that I may have made Doyle too unlikeable in the end, considering he's technically supposed to be an LI, haha. But he is what he is I suppose. You saying he felt real is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for because I wanted these characters to come across more sorta human/realistic/flawed in nature than the ones in my other VNs. One darn day I will actually get my ass round to playing DDLC!
And yeah, that's correct about the unknown entity :3 It's sort of an ongoing experiment situation that I have various future plans for, haha.
The cast did a truly fantastic job of bringing the characters to life, and I simply can't thank them enough for lending their epic talents to the project :3 It sure wouldn't be the same without them, so I'm glad you enjoyed their performances!
I would love to be able to answer your question regarding Doyle's backstory and how he became homeless (and you're totally right in saying 'chose to be homeless' there because it was absolutely his decision, though, one born of various unfortunate circumstances) but my brain is too full of fog right now to give a proper cohesive answer and I don't want to end up rambling on and making little sense >.< I'm going through a pretty nasty depressive episode right now, so I'm finding it difficult to properly concentrate on anything (which is also why my reply to your amazing comment is also somewhat slower than I usually would be to respond >.<) I'll try to remember to come back and add it when my head (hopefully) clears though!
It also means a hell of a lot that you enjoyed the soundtrack because I spent heck knows how many hours trying to make it, haha. I just figured that since it was a longer jam than what I'm used to making stuff for, I would attempt it and see what happened! It was all one giant experiment and I had a lot of fun, but at the same time, it kept getting to the point where I was concerned I'd have a soundtrack and no game because I kept getting far too carried away trying to make new tracks xD And then I got it in my head that Doyle should have a separate soundtrack to Leah so that they each had a distinguishing sorta sound, which was just crazy when there was so little time left in the jam, but I couldn't get the darn idea outta my head so I just tried my best >.<
I'd love to try and make another original soundtrack for Spooktober VN jam, but with it being only a month-long jam, I don't think it would be doable on top of writing and putting everything together. And if I don't manage to snap out of this depression patch, I won't be able to do anything at all :(
Oh, and I'm genuinely amazed that you liked the vocal version of Apartment No.9! But that's brilliant that you did :3 You have Aku's voice actor, rongvoice, to thank for that because I was fully ready to give up on the idea of having a version with vocals and scrap my vocals because I hated them. He gave me a lot of encouragement with that, enough to push me past embarrassment and just go for it, haha.
I think I have to agree with you that Letting Go version where Doyle actually respects her wishes to be left alone is probably the ending above all others that I would personally like to have seen be the 'true' ending for Leah in the sense that it's likely to be the best one for her health overall. I'm glad you enjoyed that version of the After Life ending as well because I really felt as though poor Doyle deserved some form of redemption ending after everything he'd put Leah through x3 I didn't want him to come across as a completely twisted monster, haha. And you've taught me something new today because I had to Google orange and blue morality :D That was an interesting read!
I hope it didn't end up haunting you in your sleep anyhow x3 and thank you so much for taking the time to play through it all and then come here to write up such a lovely review! Reading your thoughts was fun and certainly managed to put a smile on my face despite being in the grip of stupid depression :3 I hope you end up enjoying my other stuff whenever you get round to it! I feel like A9 is probably my most polished project so far with it being the most recent one, but with any luck, you'll find the others entertaining too! Thank you again and have an awesome week ^-^
A very interesting psychological horror! I reviewed this in Part 4 of my Otome Jam videos! Starts at 2.:23.
I'm glad you thought so! I've been following all your otome jam game reviews while playing through them myself :3 Only the text versions so far, but I intend to watch the videos too when I get a chance because it's just awesome to see an analysis on all of the games when I haven't really seen all that much coverage of the jam as a whole in general. I kinda wish there was something like this available to watch/read at the end of every game jam :D Maybe there is and I just don't know it >.< haha. Some of the jams I've participated in in the past have just gone dead after the end though x3
EDIT: I squeezed in the video just now! I agree with you that A9 isn't suuuper otome in nature, haha. That was one of my concerns about the project because what I wanted to do was turn a story that I love which isn't even remotely romantic in nature, into a love story instead, as a fun sort of challenge x3 So I tried to keep as close to the original story as possible, while adding plenty of my own tweaks and add ons along the way.
I know that mental health is a tough subject to tackle in anything, and being a sufferer of poor mental health myself, I enjoyed expanding on the way the protagonist acts in the original script that inspired this game. I tried to write her as closely as possible in personality to the male protagonist of the script I was inspired by, while also adding some of my own experiences with depression.
And I totally get what you mean about the transitioning of art styles being somewhat jarring. That was unavoidable within the jam timeframe and all the artists involved worked their asses off to get the project completed in time :3 The CG artists were actually a very late addition to the team when the existing team realised that there wouldn't be enough time to complete both sprites and CGs. So the CG artists had an extra difficult job of creating the CGs with less than half of the jam's time remaining, haha. Without them stepping in to help, the game likely would have ended up without any CGs at all. I'm just super grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such talented artists on the project anyhow ^-^ I can't draw to save my life, unfortunately >.<
Thanks so much for taking the time to go through all of the games from the jam! It's much appreciated :D You beat me because I still have a handful left to play myself!
Thanks for the long reply! Understood about the CG artists & mental health. Good luck with playing all of the Otome Jam games! :3
Help I've fallen in love with Akuji and I can't get up TT
Hehe, aww :3 That made me smile! And now I am imagining Aku reenacting the commercial and Leah telling him to stop being silly x3
I wish my drawing skills weren't so terrible, otherwise, I would totally sketch that and put it right here! Or the reverse version, where Leah falls, and as soon as she says the line, Aku just yoinks her up for kisses and cuddles ^-^
Thanks so much for playing :3
I finished your two games (and i'm hope you don't mind i review a little Solipsism Reigns here ^^') and honestly i guess is one on the best psychology otome game i play.
Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers, fly you fools ! (and i'm hope i'm doing my references right ;__; )
Doyle really creep me out o___o, in genre realistic way. I can imagine guy like him so yeah, creep me out hahaha T___T
(and i LIKE games with realistic characters so i write it a lot in my reviews when I see one haha) buuut i is a good character writing. Really smart this guy. And Leah, poor girl, i feel for her. It's surprising me for Akuji and Leah, to say he's been dead all this time, it's ingenious, never really noticed anything ^^, I just imagine Doyle like this 0___0 the fuck...? when he watch Leah doing the kissing with... nothing. In seriouness, it's so sad. Really. Ahhh, you writing so good, i can really imagine a movie out of this ! :D (and i know it's inspired of a episode of a series? :))
And i can imagine Fleur in one in the bad ending, the fuck wrong here? When she see Doyle in his bath of blood. Leah, i leave you one week and this is happening?
And, Doyle i sure 'the blood bath good for skin' it's false don't do this :/
But in all seriouness, I don't remember well, how long has it been since Aku died and Leah, how long has she been like this, in depression I mean? Sorry, my memory love going in journey when she want ;_; I don't remember ><
And, the fact we can doing the doyle pov it's so good, his thoughts are so well done! :o and scary for Leah, especially the parts where he makes her drink, so fuck up, but, when i see how Leah is mentally, especially the part where she kills Doyle under Aku's influence, i'm think, they are a good fuck up couple. It's good to see not healthy couple in otome or romanced visual novel ^^ I don't condome this in real life ofc, but in otome i love this, so many possibilites, and nobody got hurt. Plus, Yandere characters, my inner teenager weakness haha
They need therapie, both of them ofc, but just to see (as I said before) a couple trying to pick up the pieces to try to be happy while not being well mentally with such good writing, it's good. In good endings.
Because, in bad ending, oh boy, damn, Doyle go away of Leah ! >:( please, poor girl. And ahh so frustrating the doctor who can't see anything, and can't see anything in real life because, he doesn't have Doyle's history and there's nothing to suggest that a relationship that's starting to be abusive, it's "just" a boyfriend who brought his girlfriend who just tried to commit suicide, but I can imagine so much of Leah's terror at seeing Doyle being all cute in front of the doctor, terrifying !
AND my favorite part...
Breaking the fourth wall! Ahh, when i see Doyle being "...", i'm saying to myself ohhh...? He will do it, won't he? He knows I'm here, hahahahaha (help) he SO angry, like boy i'm just doing the VN, leave me by ;_; But, well, i can imagine me being not so pleased to see a random person trying to break my couple because i'm not exist, sooo!
And, when i hearing a unknown voice talk to me and I had not done the other game at that time, so i'm like??? hello? yes? why you say i'm belong to you? no? allo? but in reality i'm being so happy lol like the voice acting it's so good, and so... idk real, so yeah talk to me, yandere-like character ! :D (i guess? he is quite possessive, isn't he?) i undersand half of it, because English is not my mother tongue and it had no subtitles (and it's not a critique, so don't worry! :)) , so I'm lost, help!
Annnnd when i finished Solipsism Reigns true ending, -good game btw, Kuro <3 good idea with the same protag who repeat herself off again and again in differents universes with the same love interest and the fact that her life is just an excuse to help the real one. same with the love interest who have just depression to not being protect for real his love <3- (i'm think when i doing other of your new games i'm replay the ending of all your games for a better listen of the mysterious guy^^) I meet the unknown guy.
So, if i'm undersand right, his a guy who know his not real? and we real, you and the others players. And he knows that we are behind the screen, and he love us...? Yandere-Like i guess, and he say we wait for him....? I don't remember right, and it's all i remember of his talks for now haha <_< OH! and he REALLY angry when we likes the good cute ending with Kuro in the desert, but it's just that he loves to piss us off, right? cause maybe he can't having a good ending or just an ending with us? And you, he hate you or no? :o 'Cause i thnik i remember when you say to don't listen to him and he cut you off, so ? :o
Anyway, i like this bitch-ass guy, so i'm undersand right (of the others reviews) he is a character that will come a lot? *_* And love to have a game with just him,
but it must be complicated, just for the design of the character and the answers of the player because nobody plays the same so idk... maybe? :o
Anyway (again) i really like your two games, the VA is AMAZING, i like the voices of the characters (all of them) I have the feeling i talking to real humains being, (sorry Doyle your not <_<) so yeah good job for them! :D
And ofc i loved your other game (Solip)! :D I did a little review of it, but the level of love it have in it ! Good, good, good. Oh, and also the mystery man appears in Impostor and DD or not? :o
I’m shy to publish review so i’m was really not sure if i’m want to doing a review here, but i’m really like your games and i have listen your interview in Solip and your like sympathetic so… voilà, i’m here haha <_< I’m hope i’m not being too weird, like i’m doing this for good points, or idk, i’m don’t remember this expression in english cause my quota of write in english going to expire ;_ ; i’m writing slowly and with weird sentences so i cut myself off before we can read what i’m am saying with ??? face haha
Can’t wait to write another review of one of your new game <3 ! Thank you for creating this !
(Sorry for the mistakes)
Aww, thank you so much for taking the time to play through both of them and to write such a detailed review :3 I appreciate it a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed them both :D
Hehe, that reference made me smile :3 I guess I better continue under spoilers also!
SPOILERS
I'm glad the characters came across that way in A9 because I was really hoping they would. And Rae, Leah's voice actor, even said in her interview that she wanted Leah to come across as just a regular person, so rather than putting on a sort of character voice, she acted with her natural voice. But yeah, it must have been pretty strange for Doyle to watch Leah doing all that stuff with the air when she thought it was Aku x3
Yeah, I can link the episode on Wikipedia if you want to look it up :3 The episode is called Tom & Gerri, from the British TV series, Inside No.9. The episode isn't a romance story at all, so I thought it would be fun to try and turn it into one for otome jam, haha. In the episode, the protagonist is male, and the homeless person is male. And the protagonist's girlfriend is dead all along like Akuji is in the game. I had to change a lot of things and add a lot of things to make it into a romance story, but I still tried to keep the original episode plot intact at the same time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_%26_Gerri
Fleur certainly has a tough job trying to look after Leah x3 It must have been pretty horrifying for her to see that things had gone so wrong >.<
Honestly, I can't remember how long it was supposed to be since Aku died either, haha. I think it was quite a while though, like over a year. And Doyle had been watching/noticed Leah long before Leah noticed him.
Yeah, I knew when I reached the end of writing Leah's route that I wanted to have some sort of new game+ type feature, but I wasn't sure how to make it interesting + create something within the timeframe of the jam that would feel finished. I figured if I made a Doyle PoV route with extra endings, it makes it worth playing through, gives us more insight into Doyle's thoughts, but because it's going over the same story again, didn't require heaps of additional writing so I was able to get it done in time for the end of the jam :3 I was really regretting it at one point though cos I was worried I wouldn't be able to get it all done, haha. I'm glad you still enjoyed his PoV because I was a little worried that it might come across as a bit boring playing through the story again.
You're right, it certainly wouldn't be a healthy relationship in reality, but it is fun to explore that sort of thing in fiction :3 And as you can probably guess, I'm a huge fan of characters with yandere vibes myself, haha. They both need therapy indeed!
That was a lot of fun to write the fourth break part :D And even more fun getting to hear Lars give Doyle such an emotionally charged performance! When I heard it, my face just went O.O He did such an awesome job as Doyle.
And ahaha, yes, that bit afterwards with the mysterious character is likely to be quite confusing if you've not played SR first, which is why I gave the player the option to say that no, they don't remember him, haha. Not that that helps much because he doesn't really explain anything x3 He is absolutely the possessive type, yeah! Sorry about the lack of subtitles >.< I only do it like that because it's part of his nature as a rule-breaking character, but it must be quite frustrating without the subtitles there. If you want, I can email you what he's saying in both the scene in A9 and in the scene at the end of SR. It sounds like you managed to get most of it though anyway :3
Yeah, you're pretty much right there about him! He's a sentient character that knows he's essentially haunting my games, and he wants to keep the players of my games all to himself. He loves the player deeply, but he's also pretty messed up, and one of his favourite things is to watch the player suffer. He finds that fun. He doesn't like it so much when things work out happily because it bores him, and he despises being bored. He hates me because I get in the way of him having fun with the player x3 He just wants to spend time with the player because, in his mind, the player belongs to him. So yeah, he is pretty yandere-like x3
And you're correct that he will be a recurring character throughout my projects :3 I'm hoping to sort of slowly tell his story over time. And you're right again that it's a bit complicated because I don't have any way of knowing which of my games a player might have played already; if any. Hopefully, I will be able to make it all tie in in a way that's not too confusing, haha.
I'm glad you think it shows that I put all my love into SR :3 I certainly poured my heart into it and I hope to remake it someday in the new engine I'm using. I would like to rewrite some of the routes (especially the student one) redo the sprites and stuff, and also add some new content such as new routes.
Currently, the mysterious character isn't in Impostor, but the voice actor who played him also plays the purple-haired male character in Impostor :3 And he's not in DD (yet) because DD is still in development and I only managed to release one character episode in time for the jam at Christmas, so there's lots more content still to come for DD :D
Well, I'm glad you took the time to write everything that you did :3 I love hearing what people think of my projects, so I appreciate the feedback. And you don't need to apologise at all. Don't worry, I understood what you meant throughout :D I don't think you came across as weird at all :3 I'm just happy that you enjoyed the games enough to want to write about them ^-^
Thank you again for playing and for all your kind words :3 I hope you have an awesome weekend!
Hehe, you're welcome! :)
Oh, and sorry again for mistakes and weird sentences ! ^^'
Spoilers (again, i guess x))
Well, she did it well! Leah like so much like a real human being! :)
Ohhhh, thank you for the link! I save this series in my loooooong list of... series haha. Sound so great! <3 Thank you for the discovery ! It will help my with my writing, i like scenario like this ^^ And it's for that i like your VN :)
Yes! I can't imagine to see a friend (?) going though so much and end up like this ! I imagine myself feel like a failure to not be able to save him/her in time! :/
Wow! And she like this for a year? Damn. Doyle feel like so much a hunter with his prey :O And... if he loved her all that time, he must have felt so lonely and reinforced his Yandere-attitude in plus ! :o To see her, doing that with the air and all, like he said in the VN! And if i'm remind well he know Aku no? Not knowing, knowing him but see him alive and all, no? :o
I see, good thinking of your part! And it wasn't boring at all! On the contrary haha ! :D I like differents POV of characters! You see thing of a new light! Of new dark light for Doyle ! (I'm the queen of humor uwu)
Yep. You can write fuck up characters and explore you can't doing in reality cos' it's forbidden for good reasons haha !
And i see that for yandere characters, haha! And i like who you write them !
Yes, totally! The voice acting doing makes it all anxiety-provoking! In "good way". Like, if he jump in my screen, i will not being surprised at all! haha
I said yes cos' i'm was panicking XD ! Ohhh, i was guess right! I like possessive-type character haha! Honeslty i'm can undersand for not subtitles, it's fit for the ??? part of wtf and breaking fourth wall ! :D
Oh, i have understood well ? Ah, good for my not good hearing haha
Buuuut, if you can send me what he saying, i'm will being grateful! But, your sure? i'm not want to put another charge of work on you ! :o
And, i'm not familiar with itch so... who you can email me? :o I'm such a old grannie sommetimes with technology ;_;
Hm, i see! And he not a monogamous character haha
More seriously, it is a single entity or multiple ? Like plenty of
alternative him for all players ?
Awww, he love me! And he want me to suffer... :D help
More your write about him, the more i'm curious! :p He his already such a interesting character! I like character like him, haaaa ! <3
I'm want to know why he so obessed with us! Like who he know us? Who he know how to breaking the fourth wall? does he still have a physical form or has he lost it and is wandering in the webcam? (horrible fate if it is the case o_o) He is in my webcam ? XD And i'm happy you you confirm he a yandere ^^ yes and h.e.l.p haha
And be careful with him ! x)
YES! Ahhhh, i'm want to see your new projects, your new characters and him, haaaa *_* And i'm wish you good luck with all that ! Break a leg!
Oh! A remake? If you do, i'm will take it! Oh and for the sprites and all (i'm talk about Solip), i was a little reluctant at first and I'm VERY picky about drawing while my proper draws are... um.... <_< buuut honestly I thought with the quality of writing it would pass! And I was right! And afterwards the sprites made me nostalgic of old manga so it's was ok! And i liked the sprite of Shiro :3 And... new routes ? +_+ Yes!
Ohhh ~ You said to me such interesting things here +___+ ! I will pay for DD and Impostor one day, maybe i wait for a new games or uptades for taking them in pack ! :D
And, you're welcome! :DDD I was taken away with passion for writing this review so i'm was pretty impressed of me lol And thanks! i'm happy i'm not being too weird or weird at all, i'm glad haha And i'm happy your happy with my feedback haha XD
And you too! Have a wonderful weekend ! ;D
You don't need to apologise :3
Alrighty, spoiler time it is, haha.
SPOILERS
Yeah, I think the whole cast did a fantastic job of bringing all the characters to life :3
It's probably one of my favourite series! I would like to make some games inspired by some of the other episodes at some point too. With each episode being completely different, there are so many cool ideas in there :3
You're right there, it was exactly like Doyle was a hunter just stalking his prey all that time x3 But yeah, he would have been able to see Aku back when he was alive, waaaay before Leah even noticed Doyle existed. So he was watching them as a couple and was jealous of Aku. I think I only very briefly referenced it rather than went into detail, but Doyle would have noticed one day that Aku was gone, and he would have seen in the local newspapers what happened since Aku was an actor. They probably would've covered the story of the tragic accident. Instead of being sad, Doyle would have just thought that maybe he finally had a chance with Leah >.<
I'm glad you thought the PoV stuff worked well :3
It's no trouble for me to send what the guy is saying in that scene in A9 because I still have the script that I sent to my friend who played the character :3 So I can just take the dialogue out of that to send to you. Don't worry, I'm not great either when it comes to figuring stuff like that out x3 I'll just leave my email here, and you can just send me a blank message to that address or something so that I have your email address to send the dialogue to. So mine is: melancholicmarionette@gmail.com
I might be able to find the old scripts for what he says in SR too, but I'm not 100% sure where the files are because my SR stuff is all over the place >.< haha.
Yeah, in a way, you're right with what you said in that he's technically just one being, but because he's digital, he can make as many copies of himself as he needs, so that there is one version of him for every single player :3 So when he's talking, he's talking specifically to you rather than all the players at once. To be honest though, even I don't know everything about him yet because I still have a lot to figure out x3 All I know is that I want to tell his story over time. But yeah, being stuck in a webcam would be a really horrific fate >.<
Thank you for the luck :3 I will certainly need it x3
Yeah, the sprites are one of the things that bother me the most about SR. Since I needed so many with all the world-hopping going on, there was only one set of sprite generators that I own that was going to work, and even then, it wasn't enough because I had to use a different set from a different artist for all the friend characters. So it bothers me that Mc and Kuro are in one art style, and then all the other characters are in a different style >.< And it also bothers me that most of the Kuro sprites are made from female sprite generators just because there aren't enough resources around for male sprites, haha. I'm glad you decided to check the game out regardless :3 Cos I think the sprites probably put a lot of people off from even trying it >.<
Hopefully, I will have a new free game out at the end of September for Spooktober VN jam if I can manage it :3 And I should, hopefully, be able to get another update out or two for DD by the end of the year!
Your passion definitely shows :3 I'm so glad you decided to take the time to type everything up and share your thoughts! And you just seem awesome to me :D Weird is great too anyhow, haha. I'm definitely a weirdo x3
I hope you have a super week ahead :3
This entire review of review of review of review it's just spoilers!
So... Spoilers :D
Oh...! Seriously ? I'm hyped haha *_*
Okayyy! Damn, i imagine Doyle staring into space all the time. And i know Doyle said that no one but Leah had noticed him, but Aku is blind to ever having noticed Doyle stare at his apartment window. I mean, i guess i have noticied some dude who was looking at the window where my girlfriend was working, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And yeah, with the thoughts that can have Doyle i undersand he like: yeah, drama queen asshole just die, it's my chance ! :D And thank you for clarifying for me ! :)
I'm see, i'm see! :) One of your friend played it? :O It's great to have someone who you can work with in your job that you know! Thank you for that! You're very nice ! :D Don't worry if you can't to find the script SR ! Offering to send it to me is already really sweet :)! And we can creating a club for not techno advancing gramma haha x)
Oh, great! I had understood well! It's a great capacity and not totally horrifying when you know about his personnality haha <_< He can't get killed if we destroy the one we speak to us individually, because he can create many him as he please humm 🤔
Buuuut, it's great we can have a one for yourself <3
It's great this detail, that he speak to only me! Good thinking ^^! And they all the same personnality? :o
Again, good luck for creating his story and beware of him! x)
Yeah, totally, just imagine this, being stuck and all... We can undersand your mind slipt. Like him... hahaha <_<
You're welcome, haha ! ~
I can undersand this can bit frustrating ! :/ But, it's work for me in the end anyway ! :) And, yeah, i guess if i'm not be playing A9 and all, and not to have been intrigued by the mystery guy and to have liked the writing, I wouldn't have tried the game to be honest. (Sorry if it's brutal way of saying that ><) But, lucky me i'm a glad i played A9 and discorverying your universe! I will thinking a little more before judging a work of art by details that put me off now :D!
Ohhh *_* You interest me haha :D I will definitely give it a try if it comes out or I'll wait for DD updates ^^ ! :D And try to not to faint because of the work ! :( Be careful!
Haha, thank you :D ! And... awww my heart! Thank you so much for your kinds work, i'm touched <3 :) ! My heart is swollen with emotions haha ;w; ! You're adorable! And like i said in one on my review, you're seen a good person a well ! :D Haha, weirdo assemble!
Thank's ! You too (again haha XD) ! And i'm sorry (again, as well) if i can a little weird with my way of saying things cos' i have a blood test tomorrow and i HATE stings and i'm a scaredy-cat so ;__; ! So this is why if my sentences are more bizarre and all cos i'm stressed, like really stressed and I can't manage to to write in english or think haha <_<
Oh, and i'm hope it's okay i'm have responding here, because i don't know whether I should write all this in the email or not ^^' !
Anddd, that's all! In my way of sleeping ! (Who i'm am kidding, hahahaha <_<)
Just letting you know that I've read all of your message, but I'll be heading to bed soon so I'll reply to everything here in an email sometime tomorrow instead :3
Just wanted to wish you good luck with your blood test! I have to have them quite frequently so I'm used to them, thankfully. Just remember that it'll only take a second, and then you should make sure to treat yourself to something nice afterwards :D That's what I do whenever I have to go do something I really don't wanna do and it makes me stressed. I usually get an extra tasty coffee or something afterwards so I have something to look forward to, haha. I hope it goes well for you anyhow :3
Again what a great game you gifted us >.<! It was a very interesting concept and an even greater experience, I had my brain explode in certain moments!
Everything looks really good in the game and I really liked the ost too. The bonus and the interviews are always such a nice touch, it's very interesting to hear everyone's experience, the voice acting was perfect.
You did an awesome job with the game, wish you all the best with your next projects, I'm always excited to hear news from you :3
Haha, brain explosions for the win! x3 Though, also kinda messy >.<
I'm so glad you liked the OST as well because that took me hours upon hours to make :D I probably spent as long on that as I did on the writing! Maybe even longer. It was lots of fun to make though, even if I did go a bit crazy with the number of tracks in the end xD
I certainly owe everyone a lot who helped out with the game, without their contributions, it just wouldn't be the same :3
I'm glad you think so anyhow! And your support means so much <3
Finish the game! I played one of you're other games before ^^ it took me till the end to recognize tho lol. Doyle's scared me half to death poppin up on the screen like that XD I was almost was asleep before that happened. Also that surprised vist was shocking! Makes me wonder if all the games are connected some how? Sadly I'm missing like one CGI on the bottom left :( anyways sorry for the bad grammar its 4am rn and I'm out of it hahah. Cant wait for new games from you. ♡
Woo! That's awesome :D Thank you very much for playing and dropping by to comment :3 Sorry about Doyle >.< haha.
Some of the games are definitely somewhat connected, but there's a lot more to come about that in the future :3
Ahh, I think the CG you're missing is probably the one that's the most difficult to get because you can't get it in the same playthrough as the one before it. I made a walkthrough if you need a hand :3 It's a bit confusing though >.<
I know that 4am feeling cos I was up past 4am most nights trying to get this game finished in time for the end of the jam xD I'll probably do one more jam this year :3 Thank you for the kind words and support ^-^
TYSM <3
Wow, I love the art style of the game so much, plus the premise is super intriguing! Looking forward to playing this when I get the time!
I'm glad you think so :3 This was my first time getting to team up with artists for a jam! I loved it so much :D I can't draw to save my life, so I'm usually stuck using stock sprites or character generators. It was wonderful to get to work with such talented artists. I hope it's not a disappointment when you come to play it, haha.
I loved what I played of Aria at the Funeraria so far :3 It's such an interesting setting for a story and I'll definitely be back to see what happens with all the choices I didn't pick the first time around when I have more time! I need to check out your other games too when I get a chance because they all look fantastic. I just don't seem to get much time to play stuff these days because when I try to, my brain moans at me >.< telling me I should be working not playing!
We played your game, amazing story fantastic characters and music. We really love it. My friend and I really would like to translate your game into Turkish. If you are interested, contact me via this email address: meliksahcivitt@gmail.com
-Melikşah(King_Potato3)&Utku
https://king-potato3.itch.io
Thanks so much for playing :3 And also for taking the time to drop by and leave some kind words! I really appreciate that + your offer of translation :D I would absolutely love to be able to get some of my games translated to other languages! I think that would be super cool :3 However, I'm pretty busy at the moment so I probably wouldn't have the time to spend on adding all the new translated text to the game in an update any time soon if you guys were to provide a translation >.< and I certainly wouldn't want all your hard work going to waste.
If I do end up getting a period of time where I can revisit some of these games though, I will definitely drop you an email because it would be very awesome to work with you guys on a Turkish translation :3
Thank you so much again for everything!
We'll be waiting for your offers. I hope we can work together in the future. Thanks, have a good day.
Hi Melancholy Marionette, I can tell great care has gone into each and every aspect of this game Apartment No 9. You've gone from strength to strength, and it really shows here. I was lucky enough to beta read your initial writing. Being on your team discord, you led the project so professionally and treated everyone with respect and kindness. The fruits of yours and everyone's labour is this amazing game. I've only played Doyle's good end so far, but I can't wait to try the rest.
Likewise for Sinless! It absolutely plays as though it was made with lots of love :3
I didn't get to see you and the Sinless team in action, but I imagine you were all working your asses off, and the end result is brilliant! You should all be very proud of your work ^-^
Being part of a team this time around was so much fun that I'm not sure I ever want to go solo for a jam again, haha.
Thanks for all your kind words and support throughout! It means a lot <3
Hi mate, I downloaded your game as soon as I received the notification XD I knew I would not be disappointed because I enjoyed every game you wrote. But this one was... awesome, certainly one of your best creations. The writing is perfect, the pacing, the mystery, the multiple points of view... everything works wonderfully well and makes this work remarkable.
I like the heroine and the mixture of strength and weakness that makes her up. Her flaws are very human, which makes her a believable and endearing character. Her issues are depicted in a very realistic way and I feel for her.
I didn't manage to care for Aki though (I'm sorry). I understand why Leah cares for him but... I couldn't.
I really prefer Doyle despite his faults and his issues. Maybe because those flaws make him very human and credible.
!!!!!SPOILERS BELOW!!!!
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Maybe because I can understand why a person starving for attention and love would act the way he acts.
The two relationships are toxic for Leah:
- her relationship with Aki is toxic because she is sinking into her disillusionment and mental illness, refusing to face the painfull truth,
- her relationship with Doyle is toxic for obvious reasons. But I like dysfonctionnal relationships in fiction, especially when the LI is caring/protective but has some yandere vibes XD
I havn't reach all the endings yet (but I unlocked the point of view of Doyle and enjoyed it a lot^^).
Thanks for this beautiful work. See you soon sweetie!
Hey hey! Aww, that's awesome :D I'm so glad you ended up liking this one too! Thanks for playing through it and taking the time to let me know your thoughts on this one. I really poured everything I had into it this past month or so trying to get it all finished in time for the end of the jam, haha. It was certainly pretty exhausting with all the super late nights, but I had heaps of fun working on it + it was my first jam where I got to team up with artists :3
I mean, I can't take 100% credit for the general story idea because, as I mentioned, it is based on an Inside No.9 episode script. It's one of my favourite episodes, and I was so worried that I would wind up ruining the story that inspired me by creating my own version when I've changed so many things here and there + added stuff to it >.< So I'm happy to hear that I didn't. The script that inspired me is brilliant as it is, but it's certainly not even remotely otome, haha.
I had a lot of fun rewriting stuff from Doyle's point of view, haha. That's something I've not really done much of before and wanted to experiment with :3 I was a little concerned players might find it dull to go through the story again, even if it is from another character's viewpoint. I really wanted to have a new game+ type thing though where the endings could be expanded upon, and that was the only way I could think of doing it that would work within the jam timeframe.
That's incredibly interesting that you wound up preferring Doyle! I honestly imagined that most people would kinda hate him x3 In fact, I was afraid that with it being an otome game, people may dislike him so much that they wouldn't want to pursue a romance with him, haha. He sure does have a lot of flaws, but I tried not to make him a complete monster :3
SPOILERS
I'm really glad that you were able to understand Doyle's motives. That's something that always worries me in the back of my mind when I'm writing yandere-esque characters because I don't want them to be monsters >.< I like there to be some sort of justification for their behaviour, and the opportunity to potentially redeem themselves, haha.
Yeah, it's kind of a shame for Leah really that both relationships are toxic for her >.< But yeah, dysfunctional relationships in fiction are fun, haha. As you no doubt already know, I have a gigantic soft spot for characters who are a little messed up x3
I'm just about to post up a walkthrough, so if you happen to end up requiring help to get all of the endings, that should cover everything :3
Thank you again for your kind words and your time :D Much appreciated ^-^
I loved the game, but a walkthrough would be very useful to get all the endings.
Aku was such a sweeatheart and the game know how to punch you in the guts if he (like me) is your favorite, but that's probably what made me appreciate him even more.
Spoiler*
I didn't get all endings but I do hope in one of them we turn yandere on the yandere :3
And yes Doyle you look like a Kyle <3
And how can we win the words game against Doyle? Bc I'm stuck (like when is the answer not "cat"? The answer is always cat T.T )
I'm so glad you loved it :3 It was certainly a labour of love making it, haha. Thank you so much for playing + taking the time to comment <3 It's much appreciated. I'm just about to head off to bed now because it's super late (technically early as it's almost 5am xD) where I am, but I will definitely be sure to create a walkthrough sometime tomorrow when I get a chance! I should be able to get one posted up by the end of the day.
Aku certainly is a sweetie :3 Doyle, not so much, haha. Well, I guess Doyle can be, but still not as sweet as Aku x3
Spoilers
Hehe, you could make Doyle change his name to Kyle by deed poll, then he'd be stuck as a Kyle for life! As for the word game, cat would certainly be a cuter answer for beating him :D Technically there are two words that would be correct, but I only included one of them: 'checkmate'. Just because I wanted Leah's victory to be extra sweet by winning with a word like that, haha.
Just letting you know that I managed to get the walkthrough up :3 You can find it here.
Ohh I have so many questions, but first I could never get all the endings without the walkthrough so thanks. <3
All in all I feel like her happy ending should be alone - Not sure if there's a "original" or "official" ending, but it will always be the happier ending for me.
My opinion on the game didn't change tho, would play again 10/10 (^.^
Sort of spoilery
I was stuck for some time to get the "Letting go" endings bc I couldn't NOT chose to kill him again after his demands and load back to chose "end it all" and get the last 2 endings, but it always goes to the "After life" ending so it took me some time to know that I had to chose to kill him and right after when Doyle forces the game to go back is when I was meant to chose "end it all" to get the last endings.
Now my VERY spoilery questions
I tought that we were playing as Leah 'till when Doyle breaks the fourth wall demanding his happy ending to the player, wich was interesting and made sense for us not to get to change Leah in appearence or name because of that, but it opened new possibilities that didn't have any explanation in game like:
Does Doyle knows he's in a game? How does he knows of our presence? what are we in the game? Puppeteers (after all Doyle accuses us of manipulating and controlling Leah)
And the most important question of all:
Am I overthinking this? (~.~
Is this game linked to another older or future project of yours? Bc after killing Doyle (not sure if in the first or second time) a voice talks to the player (perhaps?) asks if we remember them (yep, had to chose "no" for the creepy) and that they are watching us, warning us not to bore them (not sure if they called us Anthea, Anatema or something else( didn't had my headphone so could only guess) but it made me question that if they really were talking to the player why would they call us that?)
And if it was indeed linked to another game I have to say that you sold it well bc I crave answers now hah
I shall do my best to try and answer them :3
I'm glad you still liked the game after getting all of the endings :D It would have been fun to have even more endings in there, but I figured I better not go toooo crazy or I'd never finish in time for the end of the jam x3 I guess I should put everything else under spoilers, haha.
SPOILERS
In regards to an original or official ending. In the episode of the show that inspired me to make this game, the ending of the episode is at the same point where I ended it in Leah's story. So the colleague finds the homeless person dead in the bathtub and it cuts to credits. That's it. Story over. And it works fantastically in the episode, which is why I wanted to end it there in Leah's story as a tribute to the episode :3 But it wouldn't be a very happy ending for an otome game if that was the only ending x3 So I wanted to expand on it some more afterwards using Doyle's story to get his PoV + explore alternate endings.
In the episode, there is no romance going on between the protagonist and the homeless person at all because they are both heterosexual male characters. The story is more about how the homeless person is slowly taking over the protagonist's life and they are switching places as the homeless person becomes more and more like the protagonist while the protagonist becomes more and more like the homeless person over time.
I would say that any of the game's endings could be taken as the true ending since it's up to the player to decide, but I personally would say that either one of the 'Letting Go' endings are the 'true' endings :3 It just depends whether the player would prefer Leah leave Doyle and move on from Aku alone, or whether she should pursue a romance with Doyle.
I agree with you though that the happiest ending for Leah would be her moving on alone :3 Just because I don't think the relationship she has with Doyle is particularly healthy, even if he does apologise and stuff, haha.
Yeah, it's a little bit confusing to get those other endings just because the 'Kill Doyle' and 'End it all' choices look exactly the same both times. The second lot are quite awkward to get back to unless you have a save in the exact right place because it means going through the first 'Kill Doyle' option all over again and past the 'Lingering Love' ending. Maybe I should have put recommended save points in the walkthrough actually! I will update it in a minute.
You're not overthinking it at all :3 You're absolutely right that that particular ending with Doyle breaking the fourth wall and what comes afterwards with the voice talking to the player is related to another project of mine. Well, it's linked to an older project, and to future projects because the voice that you hear is a recurring character that I have plans for throughout the various games that I make.
Ordinarily, Doyle would not have been able to break the fourth wall on his own, so to answer your questions, the only reason that he started acting that way all of a sudden, is because he was being influenced/given power by the voice.
One of the voice's lines says:
'Aww, don't pull such a boring face, Anathema. I made that last bit just for you! Didn't you love it as much as I did?'
Anathema is the name that the voice refers to the player as (it means 'offering/sacrifice'.) It makes a little bit more sense if you've already seen the character's introduction within my first game, Solipsism Reigns, but I hoped it would still come across as mysterious/intriguing to anyone who didn't already know the character as well :3 You hear more from him in Solipsism, but it still only serves as a brief intro. I won't spoil anything in case you plan to play it at some point because then you'll meet him for yourself, haha, but it's quite a long game to play through.
He doesn't have an official name yet but there is a bit of a hint in Solipsism at one point, and he's already gained himself an affectionate nickname (Archie, haha.) My plan was to include some kind of appearance from him in everything I make, but I didn't have the time to with previous jam games. I definitely have much more planned for him in the future though :3