If you've read any of the new entries in the link, please leave all thoughts here in this thread. I've read a handful so far and wanted to dive in in the comments. Keep in mind the comments may have spoilers.
To make a spoilers tag, replace the slashes with brackets: /spoiler here/(#spoiler)
If the game isn't below, start a comment thread. Try to keep to that mini thread to avoid accident spoilers maybe?
Another Isekai, it's hard to tell if this will be good or not. There is nothing wrong with what is there, there is just not enough there for me to tell if it's going to be good. Very short demo, less than 20 minutes, that gives you a sense of the art and partial voice acting. I found the built in definitions to be a bit too in one's face, I think they should be removed or put somewhere else.
MC transmigrates into an RPG Otome where the main plot is surrounded by tragedy and countless deaths. Since she's a side character, she figures the safest bet would be to romance and marry one of the NPCs that are guaranteed to survive until the end. Except she and everyone else that are an NPC are just a silhouette, so she doesn't know what the two guy options even look like. The concept of falling in love with a silhouette was creative once I realized there really was art for the guys and it wasn't just a way to save on sprite costs. It was short, like an hour per route. I really liked Derrick. I was grinning the whole time.
I really enjoyed this too! It's nice to play these complete games among all the demos put out during otome jam. I liked derrick too, but I really liked the voice actor for Jack.
It's a Dungeons and Dragons inspired (I think the characters are basically living in a dnd world), romcom featuring a cartoon art style very similar to Total Drama Island. It's heavy on the comedy. If you're a fan of tabletop RPG's I'd definitely recommend checking this one out. If you've never played dungeons and dragons though, you'll likely miss a lot of the jokes. It's fully voiced, and has a good bit of MC customization options.
I am here for the this premise. You're a talented alchemist running a potions shop. When your lying bastard of an ex-boyfriend shows up in your shop a year after you've broken up, to "apologize", you quickly grab what you thought was a calming potion so that you can deal with him. Unfortunately, it wasn't a calming potion, it's a love potion! and the only known cure for a love potion is to fall in love for realsys. The two routes will be either your best friend or your ex himself. The potential for drama and angst is just "chef's kiss" top notch.
This demo has the misfortune of coming out at the same time as another otome set in the 1920's, Speakeasy, and honestly it's not as good. I love the premise; the MC, Gilda, is a recent divorcee on good terms with her ex, who likes to have a good time and has a large alimony. This makes her a very attractive partner to the many pretty men she encounters. My problem with the game is in the execution; there are just a bunch of details that don't quite add up.
The text makes it sound like they're near New York City (I think it's set in New Jersey like the Great Gatsby is), but the background art and the accents of some of the voice actors scream that they're in New Orleans. The showgirl, Elsie, especially has a sort of southern girl doing a Transatlantic accent, which is exactly what I'd expect a showgirl in New Orleans at the time to have, but it's be pretty odd for someone in New York.
The character sprite for Gilda makes her look like she's in her 40's but apparently she's 24? Someone else brought this up in the comments of the game's page and the dev said that for the full game they'll be changing all of the character sprites because the artist who did them for the jam isn't available going forward. I think they should just run with it. Make Gilda be canonically 40 and her suitors be in their 30's. It's already implied that that the men pursuing may be gold diggers, this can just add to that. It'd be really nice to see an MC who's not in her 20's.
As for things I like. I really like the UI design and the music slaps. I think this game has a lot of potential, but it's currently a little bit disappointing.
MC get's isekaied into a candy themed gacha game. The art style is very cute, or should I say sweet. This is a decent length demo, the plot is fairly basic but I'm still looking forward to the full game because of the unique art style.
A Romantic Murder: Demo A murder mystery set in a mansion in the 1930's, but with romance. It's heavily inspired by Agatha Christie novels with a bit of ace attorney and daganronpa. I really enjoyed the demo. The Dev is also doing a really in-depth Jam retrospective which I found quite an interesting read.
Pearlglow cafe: Sweet Crumb Kisses: It's a complete Otome game that runs around 2-3 hours to complete everything. I really liked it. The world is an effortless light fantasy, where the main character being a witch is remarkable but not too out of the ordinary. Plus, the food that the MC makes for her cafe sounds delicious.
I think it's originally a different language because the english writing is awkward in that sort of way. I was amused to realize the english voice acting stayed true to the grammatical errors to boot.
3 LIs, all guys, and all mentally insane. I think one is a loving yandere who looks undead and another a violent yandere and the 3rd, Enox, was the only one that I was actually interested in but he's weird too. Possibly they are all supposed to be some version of yandere. The protagonist is a hot chick detective with the skills of a small child playing at detective. I can't tell for sure, this is just a theory, but I think her semi adoptive father has sold her to a weird town that possibly has a cult that wants her for some sort of sex dungeon cult thing. If it ever gets finished, I may read the reviews and see what people say. But as of right now, I'm going to forget about this NSFW craziness.
I personally don't think flashbacks ever go well in a visual novel. I'll take a couple of lines during a "didn't you see I was the villain all along? " Or detective wrapping things up. Everywhere else, come on. Change the story to make it work present time.
Oh this was so sweet. Just under two hours, voice acting is solid. I related to the frequent alarm the main character, an ex medical student, had about activities in a post apocalyptic world. The artwork for laying side by side and the non spicy affection was appreciated and Gabe was downright gorgeous. Demisexual representation was lovely. I also liked that there was more to the bad ends then just, "yer dead."
Duskbound
A complete VN about 45mins in length. Features a Yandere vampire and a girl who are trapped in a city that's forever at dusk. The story starts with her realizing developing a crush on him because he's the only real feeling person in their city. I had fun. You play through 5 endings, some are good and some are bad, and then you unlock the true ending, which is the most satisfying one.
This was great. Sometimes intrigue of the court feels tedious but the author hit the right balance and made MC's intelligence shine through with every choice. I like the art and even the background music is pleasant.
The guardsman seems easy to manipulate but the advisor gives me "watch out" vibes. I wonder if there is going to be a loveless political marriage to the king option where you're with no one technically, or if there may even be a poly option XD. Or we get to have a man on the side to our political marriage.
Add comment