(Edit: For anyone reading this who thinks they wouldn't be able play this because of the sibling incest, I would say give it a try anyway. If you've seen Game of Thrones and were able to watch Cersei and Jamie together without getting overwhelmed with disgust and shutting off the TV, it's a similar kind of thing with this game. The MC is incredibly well defined with a super specific backstory and life, so it's literally impossible to self-insert with her. So, it's essentially just like watching Cersei and Jamie Lannister on GoT, something totally outside yourself with a life of its own, and you are just kind of along for the ride on the sidelines.)
I have been playing the Patreon version and I have a lot of thoughts on this game, so I figured this would be a good place to put them.
I want to preface this by saying that I only have so many points of constructive criticism because I see huge potential in this game, and because I really like it and want it to succeed!
First things first, I like the framing device of the other-wordly beings outside of space and time, and how they occasionally have commentary. I feel like you could do a lot more with this concept, I actually wish they had a bit more to say! For example, the moment where one of them says something like "oh , did you see that shadow in the window?" that would have been a great moment to actually put a subtle shadow there. (I actually rewound the game to see if I missed one but there was nothing haha.)
So, I understand that you need everyone in this universe to be very threatening and scary and basically unstoppable, for story reasons, but after the 30th time of someone saying "we can't call the police/ask anyone for help, it's pointless", it starts to feel a little silly. These start to feel more like supervillains in a comic book than actual human beings after a while, especially when you start to actually think these things out from a logical perspective and brainstorm ways you could actually solve MC's problems (go to the news, record everything on your phone, etc etc,). I have a few ideas for how this could be solved:
1. Make this a period piece. You could set this in the 70s or 80s to a time when the mafia was an actual, legitimate threat, where no one had a cell phone, where there were no security cameras on every street corner, where the police really *were* useless (particularly when it came to taking things like stalking and harassment seriously) or
2. You could keep the modern setting, but since this is an alternate universe, just make it so there is no police force, perhaps it's some sort of anarchical society ruled by crime with a splash of vigilante justice.
Either one of these would be an improvement, because as it stands now I get extremely distracted by how nonsensical the behavior and actions of the MC are (like, lady, the FBI designed the witness protection program *specifically* with the mafia in mind. Go to your nearest FBI field office and call it a day lol).
Another thing is that it would be nice if there were at least a few happy endings? Granted, I haven't gotten them all, so maybe there is like... one among the 20 or so bad ones, but the shock of the bad endings wears off after like the 4th or 5th one and you just become kinda numb to it, as a player. I think the game would benefit from more of a variety of good vs bad endings to keep things fresh (that being said, I understand if, thematically, you want to keep this theme of "no, it's all bad, life sucks" cus life sure does! haha)
This last thing is more of a minor nitpick, but whoever drew the nude scenes of MC doesn't seem to understand how dark skin works as they gave her like bright pastel pink nipples, despite her being dark-skinned lol. As a POC this really stood out and kinda took me out of the story because I was so flabbergasted when seeing it. Pigmentation on melanin doesn't work like that :) You/the artist can study the figures of dark skinned bodies to see how it normally works for us, if you genuinely didn't know!
Again, I want to emphasize that I think you have a really nice game here, and with some tweaks, my opinion of it would be through the roof. I also love the sprites, it's not often you see sprites in an indie otome game that are actually attractive and pleasing to look at! (Quinn's is my favorite!)
Thanks for the feedback, especially of the sprite. I will have that adjusted and give some thought into the others. :)
Due to the overarching plot, there won’t be happy endings in the main story, but there are some in the What If side content, so make sure to check that out if you haven’t yet.
The police are currently useless for stalking. At least here in England, and I expect in America I'd just get publically executed for having criminal amounts of melanin instead of the stalking being handled; neither is very effective for solving the actual problem. lol
Edit to add: Good shout on the skin colour thing. I find lip and nipple colours usually match (not always) in folks, so I'd probably use that as a colour-matching guide. I'm always sad when brown characters have brown palms, for similar reasons lol.
I'm in America, and while it's true that stalking cases often aren't handled the way they should, we've come leaps and bounds since the 70s and 80s in regards to the police taking stalking seriously. In fact, the Stalking Awareness nonprofit organization SPARC recommends contacting police as one of the first things you should do. And certain states have extremely robust stalking laws, like California.
I don't know if you like anime but Baccano has a lot of ethnicities in it and one of the guys is black and chinese mix and he has pale hands but dark skin. Small details but they mean sooo much :)
RE stalking and police: That's good to know. I'm glad there have been improvements and you feel safe going to the police. In the US you can have self-defence too, we can't have any here, not even pepper spray...
TW for stalking
|||||Over here it's terrible, I had severe stalking (he could pick locks and was the landlords son so could and would enter my house both when I was in and when I was out). I told the police and they said they couldn't do much and it would be more traumatic to try to go legal with it when it wouldn't amount to much. They said to just vary my routine so stalkers would have a harder time predicting my routine and to keep a record of everything in case something 'more' happened... And this is after he tried to enter my room at 3am when he thought I was asleep (I knew because the police gave me little alarms to put on the bedroom door). I dunno what much more you can get at that point lol ||||
I think this is 1 of only 2 VNs that has held my attention this thoroughly, but it is nothing short of infuriating when I get to those points where there's 2 choices but I'm only able to click 1 of them (& it's not always the 1 I want to click). It's so frustrating to not be able to actually choose at those points. I realize it's a demo, but man! I never ever subscribe to anyone or anything on Patreon, since I honestly can't afford it, but it's killing me not being able to see the other versions of this story. Honestly most of the free stuff on this site has been crap so far, & this is the first 1 I'm this truly invested in. If only...
edit-ok, i had only done sebastian's & julian's demo routes when i posted this, & both of them had 1 choice i vehemently disagreed with, but was forced into, & then it got even worse in quinn's route, when the inability to actually choose what you wanted to choose made the main character into the most idiotic bitch/hypocrite ever... not cool... i literally ended up hating my own character in quinn's demo route, just because i wasn't actually able to choose what i actually wanted to choose
also, might wanna mention that there's no sex in the demo other than just a tiny bit of dream-nudity, most of the warnings on this page don't really apply to the demo at all, honestly
Hehe! Sorry you were frustrated! Part of the goal of the demo is so you’re interested enough to play on release. :)
Also, many of the paths in the demo tend to err to the darker side, which coincidentally also happened to be the first paths programmed and made available publicly very early in game development.
The darker paths being in the demo specifically was intentional, because I do want the demo to reflect that portion of the game so people know what they’re getting into before they buy it. Don’t want anyone to feel like it was a bait & switch.
As for the warnings, 100% correct. The warnings apply to the full, completed route of each character. I did not modify the game GUI or warnings for the demo. That’s another element of making sure the player knows what the full game will include.
Thanks for the feedback on the main character. I’ll keep that in mind as I’m polishing the game for release. I don’t want any specific choice making the player hate their own character, so there could be room for improvement there. :)
It will be paid. Probably $25-30 USD. Patreon members (past or present) who have paid that much in membership fees will receive a key for free upon release.
Brandon’s route will be a free external patch on release. I will make a post on release with instructions here, discord, and my twitter @arewar. (edit - and tumblr @arewar)
It will be a simple process. You’ll have to download a very small file <1MB and insert it into the game folder manually.
It cannot be a DLC via the stores because the content violates store policies.
I've been on a little indie yandere VN kick recently, but this one in particular convinced me that I had to make an account to leave a comment about how much I loved it. The summary is not lying! This game is darker than most of the other yandere VNs I've played, which is perfect for me, because I'm very into that.
First of all, the art is really nice. The character sprites all look attractive, and they all have multiple expressions which enhance the story and are just fun to look at overall. My favorites have to be Sebastian's childishly happy and smug expressions, and Brandon's evil smirk. Not so coincidentally, Sebastian and Brandon happen to be my favorite characters.
I find the amount of content and playtime available in the demo extremely impressive. The routes were longer than I'm used to for most indie otome VNs I've played, but I really enjoyed that fact! The choices lead to drastically different situations and consequences, which makes me feel like they have impact and provide fresh, new content. After that, there are the other characters, plus plenty of endings, PLUS side-stories - so that totals even MORE content (not even including the different worlds that are planned). I really want to stress the amount of time, work and love that I can tell has been put into this game, just from seeing the sheer size and breadth of it. I spent a good day playing (but not finishing!) the demo, and it was a day well spent. Just because it's large doesn't mean it shirks on quality, though! I always felt entertained and was never bored by the routes and choices I experienced. The writing, music and sfx all worked together fantastically. I will definitely be replaying to unlock more scenes, and I'll be checking back for updates too!
If my friends were into the same things I am, I would definitely recommend this game to them! I'd love for more people to find it. In fact, I find it borderline CRIMINAL that this VN hasn't received the amount attention I think it deserves!
out of pure curiosity, when do you think the base game will be done? (sorry if this is a stupid question). thanks for your time :) i love the game btw !
Hoping around Feb 2023 for ‘Obsession’ to be complete, but not set in stone. When the steam store page is available, I’ll announce it in a devlog.
Due to content restrictions, Brandon’s route will not be available in the base game on any store, but will be a free external patch after release. Until then, the remainder of Brandon’s route will be exclusive to Patreon.
Yes, Brandon is a blood-related brother in the 1st and current world ‘Obsession’.
There are content warnings on the Warning Tab for each route, so please review them all! If incest is a no-thanks for you, do not play Brandon’s route.
Other routes have references to Brandon’s past abuse of his sister, and there may be a rare scene where he flirts with her as well. These are brief scenes with limited detail that exist for story advancement.
The next world “Remembrance” will be free of incest, which starts development in 2023.
Incest is not really my thing, but tbh Brandon is so well written that he is actually my favorite character! I am really looking forward to supporting you guys on Patreon and playing his route. When do you think the updated sprite art will be out for him?
The sprite will probably be completed within the next two weeks, and be a part of the next September official release.
There’s a small work-in-progress preview on Discord now in the public channel. Once it’s complete, the full sprite preview will be posted on the Patreon for Early Alliance+ members.
Depending on when the artist finishes it, it may also be a part of the next early-access/beta build on Patreon too.
I expect Quinn’s sprite (and maybe Monika’s too) to be a part of the October build.
Yay! I just want to say that I really appreciate this game. There are far too few male yanderes, and your writing really helps you grow attached to the characters. I hope you keep making good progress! Take care of yourself <3
EDIT: yep, as i thought, this game is worth it! It is well-written & i am looking forward to more. And the soundtrack is really good too, i hope there will be the option to buy the soundtrack one day:´)
well it´s fine, i was really looking forward to it. joining patreon for more content was worth my money but i am disappointed at the turn of events lol. I am pretty disappointed that sebastian just...drops the player because of a certain thing. I was just as flabberghasted as alexander tbh wow lol what an awful way to get to know the characters lmao! I got unlucky and aced all dead ends in his route. Anyway, i am very disappointed in the character but the writing is good and the characters make sense so even though i am not really satisfied with the content, i do recommend you to give it a try
a little bit spoilers?
wow sebastian, you´re really hung-up on that stupid "pure girl" concept???? I thought u were better than this XD....his love can´t be that strong, then XD wow XD!
I am so excited for this game!! I have never joined a Patreon before, but I may have to for this one; it has all the elements I want, and I don't want the devs to give up on such a promising game :')
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is brandon an RO in this demo
Not in the demo. Brandon will be an optional free content patch in the full release (due to store content restrictions).
Is it possible to romance Alexander as well?)
Not on initial release, but I’ve received multiple requests for Alexander, so I’m considering it as a post-release content update or future DLC.
I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones so I can't wait to play the full game)
Thank you for making this game so steamy)
I don't know if it's just me, but it comes out when I start:
"While running game code:
ScriptError: could not find label 'w1_r1_m1'. "
And I don't know what to do??
Update - to anyone who hits an error that looks like this!
Go to Settings and click the “Reset Nav” button, then try again. If that doesn’t work, email me for support, I’m happy to help.
(Edit: For anyone reading this who thinks they wouldn't be able play this because of the sibling incest, I would say give it a try anyway. If you've seen Game of Thrones and were able to watch Cersei and Jamie together without getting overwhelmed with disgust and shutting off the TV, it's a similar kind of thing with this game. The MC is incredibly well defined with a super specific backstory and life, so it's literally impossible to self-insert with her. So, it's essentially just like watching Cersei and Jamie Lannister on GoT, something totally outside yourself with a life of its own, and you are just kind of along for the ride on the sidelines.)
I have been playing the Patreon version and I have a lot of thoughts on this game, so I figured this would be a good place to put them.
I want to preface this by saying that I only have so many points of constructive criticism because I see huge potential in this game, and because I really like it and want it to succeed!
First things first, I like the framing device of the other-wordly beings outside of space and time, and how they occasionally have commentary. I feel like you could do a lot more with this concept, I actually wish they had a bit more to say! For example, the moment where one of them says something like "oh , did you see that shadow in the window?" that would have been a great moment to actually put a subtle shadow there. (I actually rewound the game to see if I missed one but there was nothing haha.)
So, I understand that you need everyone in this universe to be very threatening and scary and basically unstoppable, for story reasons, but after the 30th time of someone saying "we can't call the police/ask anyone for help, it's pointless", it starts to feel a little silly. These start to feel more like supervillains in a comic book than actual human beings after a while, especially when you start to actually think these things out from a logical perspective and brainstorm ways you could actually solve MC's problems (go to the news, record everything on your phone, etc etc,). I have a few ideas for how this could be solved:
1. Make this a period piece. You could set this in the 70s or 80s to a time when the mafia was an actual, legitimate threat, where no one had a cell phone, where there were no security cameras on every street corner, where the police really *were* useless (particularly when it came to taking things like stalking and harassment seriously) or
2. You could keep the modern setting, but since this is an alternate universe, just make it so there is no police force, perhaps it's some sort of anarchical society ruled by crime with a splash of vigilante justice.
Either one of these would be an improvement, because as it stands now I get extremely distracted by how nonsensical the behavior and actions of the MC are (like, lady, the FBI designed the witness protection program *specifically* with the mafia in mind. Go to your nearest FBI field office and call it a day lol).
Another thing is that it would be nice if there were at least a few happy endings? Granted, I haven't gotten them all, so maybe there is like... one among the 20 or so bad ones, but the shock of the bad endings wears off after like the 4th or 5th one and you just become kinda numb to it, as a player. I think the game would benefit from more of a variety of good vs bad endings to keep things fresh (that being said, I understand if, thematically, you want to keep this theme of "no, it's all bad, life sucks" cus life sure does! haha)
This last thing is more of a minor nitpick, but whoever drew the nude scenes of MC doesn't seem to understand how dark skin works as they gave her like bright pastel pink nipples, despite her being dark-skinned lol. As a POC this really stood out and kinda took me out of the story because I was so flabbergasted when seeing it. Pigmentation on melanin doesn't work like that :) You/the artist can study the figures of dark skinned bodies to see how it normally works for us, if you genuinely didn't know!
Again, I want to emphasize that I think you have a really nice game here, and with some tweaks, my opinion of it would be through the roof. I also love the sprites, it's not often you see sprites in an indie otome game that are actually attractive and pleasing to look at! (Quinn's is my favorite!)
Nice work :)
Thanks for the feedback, especially of the sprite. I will have that adjusted and give some thought into the others. :)
Due to the overarching plot, there won’t be happy endings in the main story, but there are some in the What If side content, so make sure to check that out if you haven’t yet.
The police are currently useless for stalking. At least here in England, and I expect in America I'd just get publically executed for having criminal amounts of melanin instead of the stalking being handled; neither is very effective for solving the actual problem. lol
Edit to add: Good shout on the skin colour thing. I find lip and nipple colours usually match (not always) in folks, so I'd probably use that as a colour-matching guide. I'm always sad when brown characters have brown palms, for similar reasons lol.
I'm in America, and while it's true that stalking cases often aren't handled the way they should, we've come leaps and bounds since the 70s and 80s in regards to the police taking stalking seriously. In fact, the Stalking Awareness nonprofit organization SPARC recommends contacting police as one of the first things you should do. And certain states have extremely robust stalking laws, like California.
Ah yea, that bothers me too!
I don't know if you like anime but Baccano has a lot of ethnicities in it and one of the guys is black and chinese mix and he has pale hands but dark skin. Small details but they mean sooo much :)
RE stalking and police: That's good to know. I'm glad there have been improvements and you feel safe going to the police. In the US you can have self-defence too, we can't have any here, not even pepper spray...
TW for stalking
|||||Over here it's terrible, I had severe stalking (he could pick locks and was the landlords son so could and would enter my house both when I was in and when I was out). I told the police and they said they couldn't do much and it would be more traumatic to try to go legal with it when it wouldn't amount to much. They said to just vary my routine so stalkers would have a harder time predicting my routine and to keep a record of everything in case something 'more' happened... And this is after he tried to enter my room at 3am when he thought I was asleep (I knew because the police gave me little alarms to put on the bedroom door). I dunno what much more you can get at that point lol ||||
I think this is 1 of only 2 VNs that has held my attention this thoroughly, but it is nothing short of infuriating when I get to those points where there's 2 choices but I'm only able to click 1 of them (& it's not always the 1 I want to click). It's so frustrating to not be able to actually choose at those points. I realize it's a demo, but man! I never ever subscribe to anyone or anything on Patreon, since I honestly can't afford it, but it's killing me not being able to see the other versions of this story. Honestly most of the free stuff on this site has been crap so far, & this is the first 1 I'm this truly invested in. If only...
edit-ok, i had only done sebastian's & julian's demo routes when i posted this, & both of them had 1 choice i vehemently disagreed with, but was forced into, & then it got even worse in quinn's route, when the inability to actually choose what you wanted to choose made the main character into the most idiotic bitch/hypocrite ever... not cool... i literally ended up hating my own character in quinn's demo route, just because i wasn't actually able to choose what i actually wanted to choose
also, might wanna mention that there's no sex in the demo other than just a tiny bit of dream-nudity, most of the warnings on this page don't really apply to the demo at all, honestly
Hehe! Sorry you were frustrated! Part of the goal of the demo is so you’re interested enough to play on release. :)
Also, many of the paths in the demo tend to err to the darker side, which coincidentally also happened to be the first paths programmed and made available publicly very early in game development.
The darker paths being in the demo specifically was intentional, because I do want the demo to reflect that portion of the game so people know what they’re getting into before they buy it. Don’t want anyone to feel like it was a bait & switch.
As for the warnings, 100% correct. The warnings apply to the full, completed route of each character. I did not modify the game GUI or warnings for the demo. That’s another element of making sure the player knows what the full game will include.
Thanks for the feedback on the main character. I’ll keep that in mind as I’m polishing the game for release. I don’t want any specific choice making the player hate their own character, so there could be room for improvement there. :)
Quick question, will the full game be free or will we have to pay?
It will be paid. Probably $25-30 USD. Patreon members (past or present) who have paid that much in membership fees will receive a key for free upon release.
Oh I love this game, the deepness of characters and their background, the writing, the art, - and I'm impatiently waiting for full release!
P.S. Will the Brandon's route be released as a DLC? I'm very much interested in this one
Brandon’s route will be a free external patch on release. I will make a post on release with instructions here, discord, and my twitter @arewar. (edit - and tumblr @arewar)
It will be a simple process. You’ll have to download a very small file <1MB and insert it into the game folder manually.
It cannot be a DLC via the stores because the content violates store policies.
Wishing you good luck on release!
I love Quinn so much, I can't wait to play the rest of his route, I want to see him happy 🥺💘
I finished 1.5 routes and feeling pretty vindicated for my very strong dislike of cats lol
I really love this game and even joined patreon for more content. You're doing amazing! Thank you for making this game!!
I've been on a little indie yandere VN kick recently, but this one in particular convinced me that I had to make an account to leave a comment about how much I loved it. The summary is not lying! This game is darker than most of the other yandere VNs I've played, which is perfect for me, because I'm very into that.
First of all, the art is really nice. The character sprites all look attractive, and they all have multiple expressions which enhance the story and are just fun to look at overall. My favorites have to be Sebastian's childishly happy and smug expressions, and Brandon's evil smirk. Not so coincidentally, Sebastian and Brandon happen to be my favorite characters.
I find the amount of content and playtime available in the demo extremely impressive. The routes were longer than I'm used to for most indie otome VNs I've played, but I really enjoyed that fact! The choices lead to drastically different situations and consequences, which makes me feel like they have impact and provide fresh, new content. After that, there are the other characters, plus plenty of endings, PLUS side-stories - so that totals even MORE content (not even including the different worlds that are planned). I really want to stress the amount of time, work and love that I can tell has been put into this game, just from seeing the sheer size and breadth of it. I spent a good day playing (but not finishing!) the demo, and it was a day well spent. Just because it's large doesn't mean it shirks on quality, though! I always felt entertained and was never bored by the routes and choices I experienced. The writing, music and sfx all worked together fantastically. I will definitely be replaying to unlock more scenes, and I'll be checking back for updates too!
If my friends were into the same things I am, I would definitely recommend this game to them! I'd love for more people to find it. In fact, I find it borderline CRIMINAL that this VN hasn't received the amount attention I think it deserves!
This game got me shook more than Boyfriend to Death lol!
the way I was praying for the brother to help but NoOOooOOOOoOoOOOOOo the way I switched to Team Sebastian for that one ending.
Love the game and can't wait for the next update
out of pure curiosity, when do you think the base game will be done? (sorry if this is a stupid question). thanks for your time :) i love the game btw !
Update: March-April
Hoping around Feb 2023 for ‘Obsession’ to be complete, but not set in stone. When the steam store page is available, I’ll announce it in a devlog.
Due to content restrictions, Brandon’s route will not be available in the base game on any store, but will be a free external patch after release. Until then, the remainder of Brandon’s route will be exclusive to Patreon.
You can read the public posts below for details. https://www.patreon.com/posts/long-term-plans-70155523 https://www.patreon.com/posts/long-term-plans-70155523
*squints* Blood related brother or..
Yes, Brandon is a blood-related brother in the 1st and current world ‘Obsession’.
There are content warnings on the Warning Tab for each route, so please review them all! If incest is a no-thanks for you, do not play Brandon’s route.
Other routes have references to Brandon’s past abuse of his sister, and there may be a rare scene where he flirts with her as well. These are brief scenes with limited detail that exist for story advancement.
The next world “Remembrance” will be free of incest, which starts development in 2023.
Thanks for the info.
Incest is not really my thing, but tbh Brandon is so well written that he is actually my favorite character! I am really looking forward to supporting you guys on Patreon and playing his route. When do you think the updated sprite art will be out for him?
The sprite will probably be completed within the next two weeks, and be a part of the next September official release.
There’s a small work-in-progress preview on Discord now in the public channel. Once it’s complete, the full sprite preview will be posted on the Patreon for Early Alliance+ members.
Depending on when the artist finishes it, it may also be a part of the next early-access/beta build on Patreon too.
I expect Quinn’s sprite (and maybe Monika’s too) to be a part of the October build.
Yay! I just want to say that I really appreciate this game. There are far too few male yanderes, and your writing really helps you grow attached to the characters. I hope you keep making good progress! Take care of yourself <3
Will be on steam?
Eventually I hope to put it up there, but it’s going to be awhile!
Update: We are now on Steam!
THX for your answer :)
EDIT: yep, as i thought, this game is worth it! It is well-written & i am looking forward to more. And the soundtrack is really good too, i hope there will be the option to buy the soundtrack one day:´)
well it´s fine, i was really looking forward to it.
joining patreon for more content was worth my money but i am disappointed at the turn of events lol. I am pretty disappointed that sebastian just...drops the player because of a certain thing. I was just as flabberghasted as alexander tbh wow lol what an awful way to get to know the characters lmao! I got unlucky and aced all dead ends in his route. Anyway, i am very disappointed in the character but the writing is good and the characters make sense so even though i am not really satisfied with the content, i do recommend you to give it a try
a little bit spoilers?
wow sebastian, you´re really hung-up on that stupid "pure girl" concept???? I thought u were better than this XD....his love can´t be that strong, then XD wow XD!
I am so excited for this game!! I have never joined a Patreon before, but I may have to for this one; it has all the elements I want, and I don't want the devs to give up on such a promising game :')
owo cant wait for new update
I haven't played this but Quinn is a hottie mcthottie for real like hiiiiiii baby <3 will be keeping an eye on this!