"Do you have any idea what it's like to be so deprived of love that you literally starve?"

Erys does, and he's hunting for a heart that will satisfy his hunger...

Could yours be the salvation he seeks, or are you merely another sheep stumbling blindly to slaughter?

PROJECT SALVATION

As a volunteer for Limbo's pioneering 'Project Salvation' program, you have been assigned a struggling soul to supervise & steer towards a suitable plane of existence.

Loni Yaretzi (renameable + pick your pronouns), a lonely human lost in Limbo, has failed to achieve enlightenment alone, but with your souls synchronised, you can explore all possible outcomes together.

Will you guide Loni to the light or lead you both down a darker path? 

There are no wrong answers. Exploration is within the spirit of the exercise, and the administrators will be monitoring your progress...

WELCOME TO ARCADIA

Step into the neon-soaked streets of Arcadia, a dystopian district of Limbo home to the notorious escort service, Deadly Desires.

Like many in Limbo, Loni is a regular client of the service, though has only ever hired performers for the sake of company. Fake friends are better than being alone, after all.

But when Loni's favourite escort is unavailable, a snap decision to book a surprise package leaves Loni with much more than she bargained for.

DEMO FEATURES

- Around 17k Words -

(roughly 2 hours of playtime to experience all demo content)

- Various Choices & 7 Different Endings -

(6 'bad' ends & 1 'good' end)

- Beautiful Original Sprite, Background & CG Art -

(including gallery with 6 CGs (+1 bonus  CG sketch to unlock)

- A Full Original Soundtrack -

(with 18 tracks including 1 vocal track)

- Full English Voice Acting -

- Pick the Protagonist's Name & Pronouns -

(she/her & they/them available)

- Choose A Narration Style -

(Self-Insert: Alone in your apartment, you sigh at the thought of the week ahead of you.)

OR

(Detached Observer: Alone in [pronoun choice] apartment, [name choice] sighs at the thought of the week ahead of [pronoun choice].)

- An Unlockable Extras Section -

(with music player, & more to come)

FULL GAME FEATURES

• Roughly 55k words
• More choices & 31 endings
• More beautiful background, sprite, and CG art
• An expanded OST (5 more instrumental tracks + 3 more vocal tracks)
• An expanded extras section (with bloopers & more)
• Additional customisation of Loni & Erys (pick a masculine or feminine version of both)

Please note that this is a horror romance game containing the following:

ASSAULT

BAD LANGUAGE

BLOOD & INJURY

BRIGHT LIGHTS

DISTURBING BEHAVIOUR

DEATH

DUBIOUS CONSENT

FLASHING / SHAKING IMAGES

MINOR GORE

SOME SUGGESTIVE (but visually SFW) SCENES

PLEASE NOTE: There is 1 scene in the demo which features sexually suggestive content. However, it is represented in written word & audio only, genitalia are not referenced, and specifics are left to each individual's imagination, so how you experience the scene will depend on you. For more information on this scene (containing spoilers) + how to avoid it, please download the Warnings/Triggers document from the game page or view the walkthrough guide here.

More info

I wouldn't personally say it's an R18 scene due to the vagueness of how it's worded and lack of visuals, but the last thing I want is for anyone to be harmed by what I create, so while the nature of the scene in question is debatable, I realise it could be considered disturbing by some. The scene can be avoided entirely by selecting choices that decline its initiation or can be ended prematurely with further choices. However, there is a point of no return where things will escalate if prompted. See the walkthrough or download the Triggers & Warnings document for a more detailed description of what occurs.

For more specific triggers, click the content warning below, but please be aware that some of the things mentioned contain spoilers!

CONTENT WARNING (contains spoilers)

ADDICTION [mentioned briefly]

ANXIETY [mentioned briefly]

ASPHYXIA/STRANGULATION/SUFFOCATION [by Erys to MC (consensual & non-consensual) in various scenes]

BLACKMAIL [by Erys to MC]

BLOOD [visual]

BODY HORROR [Erys has tendrils/tentacles]

CANNIBALISM [by Erys to MC in 1 bad end]

CAPTIVITY & CONFINEMENT [by Erys to MC]

DEATH [of MC in various endings]

DEPRESSION [mentioned briefly]

DRUGGING [Erys can pump paralytics into MC using tendrils - (consensual & non-consensual)]

DUBIOUS CONSENT [by Erys & MC to each other in various scenes]

EMOTIONAL ABUSE [by Erys to MC]

GORE [visual (of a heart being punctured)]

HALLUCINATIONS [audio & mentioned in 1 bad ending]

HOME INVASION [by Erys to MC in 1 ending]

HOSTAGE SITUATION [by Erys to MC]

IMPRISONMENT & INCARCERATION [by Erys to MC]

KNIFE VIOLENCE [by MC to Erys in 1 ending]

LOSS OF AUTONOMY [Erys inflicts on MC (consensual & non-consensual) in various scenes]

LOSS OF VISION [mentioned (wearing a blindfold)]

MASSACRES & MASS MURDER [mentioned in news reports]

MURDER & ATTEMPTED MURDER [by Erys & MC to each other in various scenes]

MUTILATION [by Erys & MC to each other in various scenes]

PARALYSIS [by Erys to MC]

PHYSICAL ASSAULT [by Erys & MC to each other in various scenes]

PHYSICAL INJURIES [mentioned & depicted by Erys & MC to each other in various scenes]

POISONING [Erys can pump chemicals into people using tendrils]

RAPE [by Erys to MC in 1 scene if a particular path is pursued via multiple choices (AVOIDABLE & NON-VISUAL)]

SEXUAL ASSAULT [by Erys to MC in 1 scene if a particular path is pursued via multiple choices (AVOIDABLE & NON-VISUAL)]

SEX WORK [Erys briefly discusses working as an escort]

STALKING [by Erys to MC]

TORTURE [by Erys to MC (AVOIDABLE & NON-VISUAL]

Need a walkthrough guide for the demo to help you find all the endings/unlock all the CGs? Head here :D

If you happen to come across any bugs, feel free to post about them here, and I will do my best to fix them if possible :3 

There are a few small things I'm already aware of, such as minor text errors and a randomly occurring issue with displaying an incorrect background when loading a save (this is a weird bug with Naninovel's save/load system, but is easily fixed by simply rewinding 1 line of text or by reloading the save again!)

[TEAM]

Writing + OST + Sound Design + Testing + Directing + Created by
Melancholy Marionette
YouTube - X - Tumblr

Sprite + CG + Background + Logo Art by
Lazy Polar Bear
Website - X - Tumblr 

[CAST]

- Loni -

Dawnglyph

- Erys -

Luca Nathan

- Administrator Epsilon - 

(feminine voice)

Maganda Marie

(masculine voice)

Max Lefferts

- Nico - 

AsteriskVTuber

- Calysta - 

Raymond Comeros
Twitter/X

- Thallo - 

Vanessa Benoit

- Amaya & PSC - 

Ki Garland

- Additional Voices -

Dominic Devlin - YouTube

Emilie Brewer - Twitter/X

Krystal Martinez

(For a more detailed version of the credits, please download the text document from the downloads section of this game page.)

- Opening the game on Mac -

I personally don't own a Mac, so I can't even test my Mac builds (or Linux ones, for that matter!) but over the years, various Mac users have helped me compile a list of suggestions on how to get itch.io games for Mac working :3 You can find that list in a downloadable text document on this page.

The most common solution seems to be to download the itch.io app and launch all itch games via that :3

- Video Version & Non-Video Version for Windows - 

There are 2 versions of the demo uploaded for Windows systems. The first one is a version that contains video backgrounds for the title screens. The non-video version is named as such and is exactly the same besides the fact that it doesn't contain any video files at all. The different title screens still feature, but they are static PNG backgrounds rather than video backgrounds.

It doesn't really matter which version you download cos it's just personal preference :3 The video backgrounds look funky, but they are of lower image quality than the still PNG backgrounds.

Technically, you should be able to download one version, and if you want to check out the other, still be able to use your save data! (but I haven't tested that, so don't quote me on it x3)

The Mac & Linux versions only have still PNG backgrounds (sorry >.<) This is because the video backgrounds are MP4 files, and I read that those systems don't deal well with MP4 files in games. Heck, some Windows systems even have a problem playing them, which is why I made a separate version for Windows without those video files.

- Controls -

Advance Text - Left mouse click, mouse scroll wheel down, spacebar 

Rewind Text - Mouse scroll wheel up, left arrow key

(text cannot be rewound after making a choice, so please save the game if you want to pick a different choice faster - rewinding text can also sometimes cause errors)

Skip Mode (fast) - Right arrow key, right control

Skip Mode (toggle) - Down arrow key

Auto Mode - Up arrow key

Open Backlog - L key 

Toggle/Hide UI - H key

Open/Close Command Console - Tab Key (to find out how to use the command console, head here)

- Other - 

If you had fun with LOVESTARVED, feel free to check out Limbo Line if you haven't already! It's set in the same universe following events at SSL that are set around the same time as Loni & Erys' adventures in Arcadia :D

If you need help with anything, enjoyed the game and want to talk about it, or just want to tell me something in general, please either use the comments section (and don't forget to rate 5 stars too if you had fun because it helps a lot :3) or feel free to message me here:

melancholicmarionette@gmail.com

Thanks for checking out the game! <3