So a few months back In I believe mid may, I did an interview with an indie visual novel developer named Soft Poison Studio on their game demo Scarlet Hunt.
Naturally I had a great time doing the interview and learning about the game and its creation, it was after that the struggle came...
You see my stupid ass took weeks preparing for the interview only to make 1 huge mistake.... I forgot to separate the audio tracks on OBS when setting up the discord browser source
You're probably thinking okay no biggie, and maybe it wasn't but the goal in what I do is to help creators. I'm a creator with little to no visible community so the fact that anyone even gives me the time of day let alone set aside time for me is huge.
That being said throwing a video in an editor and making a trim with little to no additional edits and calling it done felt wrong. Realistically It probably isn't wrong, its probably the normal way of doing things but logic is beside me and I always feel as is isn't good enough and like I need to do more.
Thus began my 3 month long audio editing journey .....
The low storage alert I got before I even started editing should have been a sign that this would not be a simple journey lol
Low storage is truly the ultimate enemy of all mankind!
My logic at the start was that I just needed to go in and separate the audio lines into two separate tracks.
Track 1: My Dialogue
Track 2 Discord guest Dialogue
A tedious chore sure but completely doable. The most difficult part was supposed to be recording an intro that kept the viewers attention and didn't make viewers immediately click off the video upon hearing my voice.
No...that became the second hardest thing.
My viewer stats...are honestly kind of pathetic and I can only assume it has something to do with my audio therefore I came to the conclusion that I needed to give my audio more attention cause I'm obviously not doing something right.
This meant any unnatural mouth sounds in dialogue were non negotiable to get rid of, and since I unfortunately have dry mouth I tend to make a lot of those....
That being said this naturally meant that it would be necessary to go in and edit out any pops, clicks, bzzz's, and microphone knocks and since I knew little to nothing about audio editing I figured the only way was to zoom into the timeline and manipulate the dots and remove the mouth sounds manually... One... By... One
That time around when the interview happened when I said I'd have the video on YouTube by the end of the week,
....Yeah that wasn't happening.
This...was the true beginning of the past 3 months.
Isolated mouth noises were pretty straight forward in how to get rid of them. You just trim the small section and delete it or make it silent. Its when they're mixed in to words that things become tricky.
I thought that while time consuming and tedious the solution was simply to go in and trim out the sounds and use the dots to smooth vocals out. Smooth waves mean smooth voices right?
WRONG!
But I didn't realize that until AFTER I went through the entire thing. By that point I didn't remember what I even changed and had no idea how to un-change it so in the end after trying a couple things that just made it worse, I couldn't figure out a solution so I just started over from the beginning....
~~~
De-esser, Normalize, EQ, Noise Reduction, Compression, Frequency
I didn't understand any of these terms aside from compression in which I understood the idea but not how it worked or when you're supposed to use it nor the effects the intensity level could have on certain vocal levels compared to other spoken vocal levels. I learned this lesson especially hard when I later first tried to use EQ as a solve all solution and then once more even later when I thought Dialogue Leveler could actually be used as a solve all solution.
Based on this it sounded like it should have but it didn't. They fed me a lie!
Okay maybe not exactly but you know, hopes dreams shattered, all that jazz.
As far as I'm currently aware there is no solve all solution just a 'Solve Some' solution with additional steps.
Round 2
So as we found out earlier, moving the dots has consequences.
Cutting an audio clip in the wrong place can also have consequences.
PAUSE!!!
Completely unrelated but I literally just found out that Ctrl + Z undoes your last action here in tumblr just like it does in Audacity and Davinci Resolve!!! I accidently deleted some text and I literally did it on instinct!!!
Anyway back to the blog!~
I kind of understood decibels since OBS uses them to show the audio levels but that was about the usable piece of knowledge I had and understood going into this.
In order to smooth out the audio I eventually figured out I would probably need to use audio filters.
The controls on the audio filters adjusted based on frequency, while I knew what it was I had no idea how frequency worked.
Honestly I straight up didn't understand how voices worked (still don't completely understand them) but as we found out dots were not the ultimate answer and that left me with the conclusion that it was time to experiment with audio filters and make a massive amount of google searches.
Our voices are different so this means we would each need different things, the real question became "What do each of us need" and "How do I use it"
Oh and of course "What does (insert word) mean?"
While manipulating the dots does help in some situations, it doesn't help in all situations.
A frustrating lesson, but a lesson none the less and a valuable learning experience.
I'll spare you the step by step experience but I ended up experimenting in my video editor with Noise Reduction, De-esser, Compression, Dialogue Processor, Vocal Channel, Frequency Analyzer, Normalization, Dialogue Leveler, Equalization, and Dynamics.
While I can't say I understand enough to give you a technical detailed explanation I certainly know a hell of a lot more than when I began.
I'm a bit more confident in my understanding of the general idea in how these things are used and in what situation I should use them for but there's still a lot I don't understand.
EQ was the thing my experiments focused on the most since it was the solution to a majority of what I was looking to smooth out.
The biggest factor in how I learned to use this even remotely effectively lays in these images.
A lot of trial and error during all this but still an incredibly useful tool, even more so if you actually know how to use it.
The biggest game changer came when I fucked up the audio because I used EQ individually on a bunch of separate clips but when I played back as a whole ended up sounding unnatural and uneven.
I learned the one thing that if known before could have allowed me to get this done in one month....
YOU CAN EXPORT THE AUDIO ON ITS OWN!!! And it doesn't take forever to export or take up Gigabytes of storage like exporting a video does.
Once I learned this I was able to throw the audio tracks into Audacity and clean them up in a dedicated audio editor.
I did accidently export a track with an unatural amount of compression in one area that I forgot about and didn't know how to remove anyway so that area I ended up redoing the cleaning work in audacity a second time which was frustrating.
But it was during that second time I had to clean that piece of audio that I made my second biggest game changing discovery!
Introducing my lord and savior, the spectrogram!
I'm a visual learner you see so if I can see it I can understand it so much better than if it were given to me in a worded explaination.
(The bed ended up being a surprisingly productive place to work)
Mouth click have a certain look and the spectrogram editing makes it easier to identify and remove them. Once I learned of its existence and how to use it I got more done in a week then I did in multiple months of audio editing experimentation!
While mouth clicks have a particular look to them some of them are more difficult to find and get rid of than others plus there are still other sounds in the audio that I didn't understand how to identify so it wasn't all blue skyies and smooth seas, I still had to learn how to remove and experiment with these other sounds.
It was here that the third and biggest game changer was discovered.
The Audacity declicker pugin! 👼🏽✨
If using the spectrogram got me more done in a week than in a few months then the declicker plugin allowed me to achieve more in two days than I did in multiple months!
If I had known what I know now I might have actually been able to get the video done in a week like I originally said, if not that then at least in a month.
Once again its not a solve all solution but it was a solution to the thing I was struggling with the most and the most self conscious about. Of course the audio still needed some filters, compression and EQ applied to it which took some time and more experimentation but the overall editing time was dramatically cut!
The video is still in no way perfect and probably still has some flaws but the undesirable sounds that I believe to be the main cause of my low viewer rating are I believe for the most part gone and that in itself is a massive achievement and thing to be worth celebrating.
I do have slight fear that I listened to the audio so much that it affected my judgement on how the audio actually sounds when I watched it before exporting it.
Oh man...new fear unlocked!😰😩
While exhausting and time consuming I know more now than I did before and that in itself made it worth the struggle.
I have hope now for improved quality in future editing projects and the idea of editing audio feels much less intimidating than it did before.
I feel like I might actually have a chance now at getting things done faster and not feeling like I let someone down!
That feeling, that hope, is worth everything!!
Anyway if you want to check out the interview video you can find it in the link below! If you haven't checked the game demo out you should! You can find it on Steam and Itch.io
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Otome Games Celebration Review: Your Crown is Mine by Lyyycaena
During the Otome Games Celebration we played six games. On the second day of the celebration we played Your Crown is Mine by Lyyycaena
Once again if you don't know the Otome Games Celebration is a 3rd party Steam Festival that ran in May of 2026. From my understanding it runs yearly and is hosted by Crystal Game Works.
The Dev:
Lyyycaena is a Solo Developer based in the UK making visual novels part time. As a solo dev that means all the art, writing, coding, and all the other stuff that goes into making a visual novel are done by them.
Every time I encounter a solo dev I'm always so impressed, I can't even imagine how time intensive making a game would be, let alone the time it would take to even learn the skills required to make your game a reality should the person by chance not already have them.
I respect the dedication 😌💜
From what I can see it seems in addition to this game they have one other currently available that looks to be a psychological horror involving mermaids. This game of theirs looks to still be in its demo phase but it does look interesting.
The Game:
As for the game itself, it takes place in a fictional 19th century European kingdom named Iriyn that is in simple terms, not doing so well. Turns out our kingdom is in a national debt and neighbors two other kingdoms named Atissia and Lystaria that we don't have the best relations with.
The game starts with our character Lucena deciding to run in the election for the crown and finds herself facing a strong opponent who happens to be our Ex.
This world's story is inspired by the Otome Villainess Isekai genre that you can find in Manhwas and it recently had a full game release as of May 4th!
Personally this genre in which the game was inspired by is one of my favorite types of Manhwa to read! Therefore naturally when this game crossed my path I knew I absolutely HAD to play it!
This particular game combines the aspects you would find in one of those Manhwas and adds a Stat Raising Simulation feature where throughout your gameplay you must keep your stats above a certain number or else you face a game over. The game consists of 3 Acts with the first of them being the election.
In the first Act throughout the days before the election you must gain reputation points with the people, make alliances that could either boost your reputation or make them worse, and naturally of course raise your stats in a way you think would be most advantageous by doing daily activities and improving your relationship with characters.
The game is fun but challenging in the sense that you must maintain a balancing act between so many kinds of different stats. As the game progresses more stats will be added such as International Relations and National Budget. You will have to make choices that lead you to betray someone you know or start a war.
As you can see in this game choices actually do matter. Every choice can have a consequence. It's difficult to keep everyone happy so sometimes you will be forced to choose between the kingdom and your relationships and other times in order to maintain peace you might have to make a choice you don't necessarily agree with.
You can play the game with the intentions of the common peoples best interests in mind. Or you could take it on in a more serious manner and use your critical thinking skills to forge the best path forward for the kingdom as a whole. I haven't tried it but I'm sure tyranny is also possible if you balance it out well enough.
I who tend to be of a slightly more serious nature have been going at it from an angle in which I use my current information to try to predict how my choice would affect the kingdom and if (insert character) might turn against me because of those actions.
Although I don't support the idea of weighing your friendships based on how useful they can be, in this game it unfortunately becomes somewhat necessary.
Each of the characters we will find ourselves coming into contact with have influence in one way or another so making one of them your enemy could easily cost you more than just your friendship.
It's a weird feeling making some of these choices where I know my stats will drop to a dangerous level but where the other option is something I just don't agree with.
If being in a position of power holds responsibilities and choices anywhere similar to this then I'm perfectly fine where I am, someone else can have that job lol.
I think I have discovered that this girl (me) is apparently too trusting and easily hurt to survive in this kind of environment. So far I've fallen for people lies multiple times and almost cried when the character I am aiming to romance sided with my enemy.
After playing this I think I understand why after a year in office you see a lot of presidents hair turn white.
The main difference here is that it's a game so unless you want to you don't HAVE to take it that seriously or with that level of responsibility.
Me running an actual kingdom, making well intentioned choices that end in disaster:
While playing the game it actually is quite interesting to see social issues from the perspective of a ruler who has to balance and prioritize.
Example: Our budget is low. Do we shake hands with the company the people despise in order to build up the money needed to solve that one issue and in doing so lose favor ability and friendship, or do we listen to the people and keep the friendship and favor ability but make no progress to solving issues or in making allies in the event of war.
Like in real life things may not always be as black and white as they appear nor have as simple a solution as you would like to think.
There's been a few times where I thought "Can't I just choose both", or "Gah why can't I add a placation to this response!" The lack of such options no matter the game can be frustrating but once I thought about it further I realized that here their absence is there in order for the player to make those decisive choices that a ruler must make, which would make sense.
....That or maybe the dev just thought that would make confrontations too easy to prevent.
Characters:
So before I introduce the characters let me first briefly explain to anyone unfamiliar with the Otome Isekai story genre that there are a list of character types and societal positions you will often see in those types of stories.
If you are already familiar with this genre feel free to skip this part.
As mentioned earlier these stories often take place in a fictional European society spanning from the 17th Century to the 19th Century. The main character in these Otome Isekai stories are females who more often then not were born into the aristocracy or transmigrated into the body of a daughter belonging to a noble family who is to be married off, betrayed, or executed in the near future.
In the Villainess Otome Isekai genre the main character has either made choices that led to a horrible death and they've been given to opportunity to go back in time or the main character is a person from our world that read a piece of fiction then died and was transmigrated into the body of the story's female antagonist. The original villainess likely had her fate coming due to her actions but in some stories the original villainess was simply misunderstood and wrongly accused.
That is often the base of these stories but of course the author can build upon this however they like. While the stories vary there is always a selection of character types you will find belonging to that world.
While this game doesn't take directly off of the genre's base construction it does hold certain elements you would find in such a story which is why I am taking the time to explain all this.
Character Types:
In many of the Isekai otome villainess type manhwas you have a few different types of character roles.
1. The Heroine who either came from another world or was born into a family of common origins. She could be exactly what her title says she is, or could be playing the role in name only but actually be the true villainess. In the event she is not a secret villainess she is often a very sweet girl who just wants to make someone happy.
2. The Villainess who could actually be the main character but they were reincarnated, went back in time, or are simply being misunderstood. The Villainess could also be exactly who it says she is just with a morally grey lining or on a revenge mission.
3. The Duke of the North who usually lives in a cold climate, governs an area that is not well off and has to deal with frequent attacks from humans or monsters. These guys tend to have a cold exterior, a great body from all the fighting and likely have white or black hair. They are usually either the male lead or the sad third wheel who never gained the love of the female lead.🥲
4. The Prince who is usually the male lead. A generic role but a common one. Outwardly they are the perfect man but inwardly they are an unloved child with trust issues and a messy family situation. When not the male lead you will often find these characters to be complete scumbags.
5. The Magician who is a powerful magic user who is probably the head of a Mages Tower. You can sometimes see them as the male lead or secondary love interest.
6. The Trusted Maid who will stay be the main characters side and be her biggest supporter.
7. The Princess who can hold the position of the story's Main Character, Friend, or Love Rival.
8. The Parents or In Laws who can range from abusive to adoring the main character. In some situations they will begin with the reader seeing them as a horrible person but eventually develop into a parent who has their own set of circumstances.
As of my current knowledge 4 - 8 are irrelevant to this game.
But yes in case you have never read a manhwa of this genre before, these are the types of characters usually seen in those types of stories and in which you will find the characters from this game taken inspiration from.
If you skipped the Otome Isekai Genre explanation part this is where you come back.
In this game we have three of those eight types as our optional love interests. Although to be honest I still don't know what category my boy Helius falls under as Male Lead holds too wide a range of possibilities to get a grasp on his character by just his title.
...Whatever he's my Male Lead❤️and my Hero. No really, do you even know how many times having his affection has saved my ass when my reputation points were in danger of dropping!
Anyway in this game we have the option to pursue both male and female love interests so we got some variety to choose from.
1. Rosalie The Heroine: A sweet girl from common origins that everyone loves. The people call her the Saintess because of how pure her soul is and yet she ends up engaged to our former fiance. Like I mentioned earlier her character type could either mean she is a sweet girl or a wolf in sheep's clothing.
2. Edgar the Duke of the North who has the classic cold exterior and is your political opponent for the throne and former fiance. He comes off as a piece of crap but I will admit there was a moment where I might have seen something else?
3. Aeriselle the Villainess: A beauty who can either be your bestie with morally grey ideas or your enemy whom likely won't hesitate to smile at you like a friend while stabbing you in the back. Girl also has powerful backing.
Wait..🤔Actually the all kind of do.
...Well Fuck! No one's safe.
😨That includes the one I consider safe who now that I think about it could easily be a neighboring kingdoms prince instead of a wealthy business mans son and actually be using me for political control!🫨
Fuuuck!!!😭
😣I-I need a moment my world just fell apart in real time.
4. Lastly my potential heartbreak Helius The Male Lead. He is the head of a news empire and should you win his favor can be a huge help in turning your image around.
Now why would you need to turn your image around you say?
That would be because you, the main character play as a woman named Lucena who holds the classic "Villainess" title in society. Lucena was originally supposed to marry Duke Edgar, that is until he did the classic
"The engagement is off!"
In front of literally everyone and proceeded to make the Heroine his fiance.
💢😄Love it when that happens. Certainly not the best first impression as a love interest.
Update! If you don't want to see my thoughts on what I've played so far then you can find the game here and discover any spoilery content I reveal next for yourself. If you don't care about that then I gladly invite you to keep reading.
Take the throne and fix the corrupt kingdom... or worsen it! A villainess life sim where you balance stats, manage a country, and romance 4
The Update!
It is now a week or so after I first starting writing this post and I've just made it to Act 3 on Day 57.
Having written a lot of the content seen previously after finishing Act 1 and now being on Act 3 let me give my current opinion on our characters.
Edgar:
Edgar starts out as mentioned with the whole public canceling of our engagement and immediate announcement of his engagement to Rosalie with the purpose of securing the peoples trust by marrying the most adored woman in the country.
Looking back now was that even necessary? We didn't join candidacy until AFTER he canceled the engagement and it wasn't like he had any other strong competition. I guess because we held a villainess title in the eyes of the people and it wouldn't be a good look to marry that.
Still who was his competition! Now him and Rosalie are about to enter into a loveless marriage for each owns benefit.
Gonna be honest I haven't really interacted with him much except for the parts in which the story makes us. I have a reason for this though. So, this dude had the audacity to kick the ladder we were on, activating one of those classic scenes where the girl falls on top of the guy.
He then lies to our face and says he saw Rosalie do it..... YOU MAY NOT LOVE HER BUT SHE'S STILL YOUR FREAKIN FIANCE!! He says he sucks at scheming and dislikes us for apparently being a schemer but come on that was pretty damn schemey not to mention we were at the top of the ladder, we could have been seriously injured!
...So yeah I haven't willingly talked to him since that event. That was a scummy move and not very sportsmanship like.
Like I said I'd make a horrible politician, anyway I'm holding a bit of a grudge.
All I can say from what I know is that he seems to at least genuinely cares about his people so I guess that's something.
Rosalie:
Ah Rosalie my little simp lol. No really throughout act one she acts very simpish which eventually we get a reason for but until then its like "Is this girl trying to play me or does she actually genuinely admire me?"
Rosalie is a sweet girl who loves her kingdom and advocates for the common people which I love, but she has one major flaw that honestly kind of annoys me.
She is of the belief that the kingdom should listen to the people, and to an extent it should... but the people are not privy to every single piece of knowledge so the common peoples desire to start a war against a neighboring country when they're not currently a threat isn't reasonable.
She is a good girl with a good heart so it frustrates me that she has no thoughts of her own.
Girl is about to marry someone she doesn't love not because she has to, no she is making the active choice to do so in order to gain the position of Duchess. In its own way its admirable that she is willing to do this so she can have the power to help rebuild her hometown, but don't try to make me feel bad for her about her fate when it is something she is choosing for herself and then convince me to step up and give her my money so she doesn't have to marry him.
Look I get the idea behind it especially if she is your chosen route as that choice is likely a major deciding factor in convincing her to be yours, but since that wasn't my goal the combination of the crying expression in the scene and the knowledge that this is something she choose and isn't being forced to do ticked me a bit off.
As long as you aren't supporting Candentia Energy her character is fairly easy to win affection points from.
I do want to say that I did like that if you choose military as your daily task you will see her on the training grounds with the desire to put in the effort to learn and practice these skills out of her admiration for when you saved her. I did respect that, although it does have me worried that if we ever went to war she might end up on the battlefield.
(Insert image)
Aeriselle:
Ah Aeriselle... I have so many mixed feelings about her. On one hand a part of me feels like she does actually like us, yet another part thinks I might just be naive. She will show us the part of her that makes it sound like she doesn't want to be just her family name making me think "maybe she does actually just want to be my friend" (or more if you choose) but then later trick us into believing something that is untrue and then when found out tell us she was scheming for our benefit.
The worst part is it actually does benefit us greatly... until someone uncovers the truth and suddenly I'm standing in the middle of a shitstorm.
What I'm about to tell you feels SUPER spoilery but if you fail to win the election she will offer up a plan to make the people distrust Edgar and demand that you take up the position of ruler instead.
She will reveal that the Candentia Energy which her family owns and is currently trying to establish itself as a new source of sustainable power to use in our kingdom has alternative uses.
First off one of the main complaints from the common folk that you will hear throughout the game is about their distrust toward Candentia Energy. It seems they feel this way not just because its something new but because it comes from the neighboring kingdom of Atissia which seems to be gaining an industrial hold within our kingdom.
(check on accuracy of wording above)
To me this both seems silly in that from a surface level it sounds like the equivalent of an American complaining about how a lot of our products are made in China.
On the other hand I can see where they are worried as our relationship with Atissia is not on the best of terms and in the market 3 of the 6 major companies in our kingdom are Atissian born. With what I am about to reveal this could actually become something very worrisome.
(check on accuracy of wording above)
So Aeriselle who is convinced we will agree with her plan reveals a secret, and that is that Candentia Energy has capabilities beyond just energy or weaponry. It has the ability to brainwash people.
That's a pretty big secret so in this bad ending if your morality is such that this choice feels wrong it is kind of implied that you die.
Knowing this if you weren't already wary of Aeriselle this revelation makes her to be all the more potentially dangerous if she were to become your enemy.
I love the idea of her as my ally and friend but I hate all the morally grey planning she does behind my back even if it is done for my benefit, as well as how dangerous she has the potential to be should she become my enemy.
All in all she makes me nervous but I absolutely love her character design.
Helius:
In the midst of an Ex-Fiance, an overly people pleasing Saintess, and a Pretty Flower with poisonous nectar my moments with Helius are my emotional sanctuary... and yet I've found that not even he is completely trustworthy.
Like the others he claims he went along with the plan because they told him it would help me secure my current position, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was knowledgeable about a plan that could have started a war!
It doesn't help that he has ties with Aeriselle as they both come from Atissia and seem to have previously known each other back there. This knowledge continues to make me feel paranoid in our developing relationship.
The fear that I am a pawn being used by a pawn is absolutely heart wrenching!
I just want this man as my consort and to become a stay a home spouse where he won't have any more worries about his family's business and can plant as many flowers as his heart desires in a fancy greenhouse that I built especially for him! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK!
On the other hand if he does I will dearly miss how useful he was as the head of a news empire. I mentioned it earlier but this man has saved my life multiple times by manipulating news in my favor and helping me change how he public sees me. During all these times at least one of my stats or my reputation percentage were in danger of reaching uncomfortably low levels but with his help I'm able to regain an acceptable footing.
In this political journey out of any of the characters he is the one you want on your side the most.
(MC) Lucena:
In the beginning while labeled as a Villainess I see us as just ambitious, don't hate on us for that. Naturally since you are the player you help mold her character based on your choices.
Like I said earlier I have been playing from an angle in which I am picking my answers seriously in hopes of making the country prosper.
I like to think that my Lucena is doing well so far but I do have plenty of flaws. Its somewhat shameful but I have been lied to I think a minimum of 3 times for my apparent benefit by various people and most recently intentionally made my first decision that was an abuse of power.
I didn't have the heart to put my sister in jail despite comitting a crime against the kingdom.
Sis is scheming, but apparently what she did was all being done with my benefit in mind and in secret so I don't have to get my hands dirty.
The thing is that sis also holds a position on the counsel so pitting 2 other council members against each other hoping one takes the fall would also be to her benefit.
*Sigh* Look I appreciate the "help" but this time sis incited a terroist attack on our own kingdom! I forget if anyone died or not, but either way morally I know I should have put her in jail but In the end I couldn't... Besides I REALLY needed that one Budget point.
The country is poor! We were about to go into the RED I didn't have a choice! T_T I mean I did but.....
Oh what do we have here?
Well this is interesting. Okay so when I write these I am often simultaneously playing the game or going back around for screen shots and to edit things, and I just found myself in a very interesting place.
So like what is this another feature of that Candenia Energy thing? Is it possible that if I made choices to eliminate the use of this energy in my kingdom that I would no longer have the option to restart? How do you gain these opportunities anyway? It says I have 1 so did I gain one somewhere along the way or did I a free one from the start?
As you see I overspent my energy so I lost the game. In exchange for going back in time it apparently seems we must make the choice to reset whatever stat was the cause of our game over.
What I found especially interesting was that I died on Day 32 but since I already played this before it seems I have the options of not just starting off in a place before I died but skipping out into the future as well.
My save file with my furthest progress in the game is on day 57 but I did play a bit further without saving so I'm not sure if that is why the game has the option of skipping to Day 58 or if something big is suppose to happen on Day 58.
Anyway that's my journey and thoughts about the characters so far. I'm still in the middle of playing but I personally have been enjoying it. I like when I have the opportunity to use some critical thought in a game.
As for the art style and the music I thought the characters were all very pretty especially Aeriselle. I think that is why her high possibility of betrayal hurts so much.
The music I found had a very nice sound so it was enjoyable to listen to throughout the game.
As you can see this is in a sense a strategy type game so it may not be for everyone but if you want a change of pace from just a regular visual novel then a game such as this might be what you are looking for.
As with any stat type building game there will naturally be a certain amount of repetition which is unavoidable.
Regardless I've been having fun seeing where my choices lead me. I still don't know if I'll be able to make Helius my consort or if his ties to his Atissian Heritage and Aeriselle will force me to choose between love and my position. It's still a fate yet to be determined.
Whichever way you would decide to play I would say this game is worth giving a shot even if this isn't your usual genre.
(I might think about coming back to this post again to update on any new thoughts or revelations once I finish the game.)
Slowly I am trying to be more active on Tumblr. At the current moment I am working on blogs about the games I streamed during the Otome Games Celebration. As of yesterday I have already finished and posted the first one.
While I am unfamiliar with how to write this type of blog, should anyone have any advice I am fully open to this and would even favor it.
Even after I finish these six blogs I would like to continue doing this type of thing with other games
2. Next I would like to get back into doing Indie Visual Novel Q and A's with developers. In the past I have done a few and do plan on posting the ones that I already have here. Previously I think I made it too confusing for myself on how to deliver it in written format so I will allow myself to keep it simple even if keeping it simple personally feels too low effort. I've realized the only way I will ever publicly post them outside of Twitch VODs is if I do this.
If by chance you do want to watch the existing Twitch VODs gameplay and Q & A Interview you can find them in this playlist. As mentioned these were done a while ago so some information may be out of date.
If by chance you are interested in doing a Interview with me yourself, just want me to play your game, or even want to do a collab you can contact me through my socials which will be listed at the bottom of the blog or through my email below
About 2 years ago I did a few interviews with indie developers. Some happened and but never got posted in video format while others were don
3. I am also working more on YouTube videos so I may occasionally post a YouTube video announcement on Tumblr. You can find my YouTube Channel here.
Hey there welcome to the BoxCat channel! If you like voiced playthroughs of Otome Games and Indie Visual Novels you might enjoy listening to
Right now on YouTube I'm working on Let's Plays of Touchstarved, and Crimson Waves on Emerald Sea Amaranthine Moon as well as editing some older videos I hope to edit and tidy up.
My biggest trial regarding video editing is cleaning up my audio and making sure any audio cuts I make don't sound or look abnormal if paired with a webcam.
I make mouth noises and tend to slur words which then require editing out and voicing over in time with the existing video or rerecording the gameplay and layering the newly timed gameplay over the old one cutting out a space for the webcam located on the lower layer and timing everything so it looks and sounds natural.
4. I am still streaming on twitch but maybe not as regularly due to my current focus on this site and YouTube. Should you want to catch me on Twitch this is my channel.
I mainly read and voice Visual Novel type games as well as Mobile games such as Twisted Wonderland and Love and Deepspace.
At the current moment the focus is catching up in Twisted Wonderland, Finishing the Virche Evermore Epic Lycoris Fandisk, and Streaming an Indie game or two depending on what I feel myself capable of that week.
Otome Games Celebration Review: Of the Lilies by Startris Studio
The Otome Games Celebration is officially over!
It was an honor to participate as a streamer in this festival. If you are unaware of what I am talking about, The Otome Games Celebration is a 3rd party Steam Festival that ran in May of 2026 and was hosted by Crystal Game Works who is another indie VN developer. This festival as the name states was centered around Otome games and featured 130+ games from around 100+ developers and publishers.
As a creator whose content centers mostly around otome games there were quite a few names I had seen around before as well as new ones in which I am now adding to my backlog. I swear that thing multiplies before I can even finish covering a single game lol.
During this festival I scheduled in six streams covering various otome games from a few of the indie developers who reached out to me.
The first game I played during this festival was a game called Of The Lilies by Startris Studio. Technically I already knew what the game was about since I had the honor of being one of their play testers a while back. Regardless of the fact that I was aware of the games contents I knew I had to share this great game with my viewers and see for myself if there were any new little details added from when I originally played!
To start with let me tell you a bit about the game. Of the Lilies is narrative focused romance adventure story with a 2D Pixel side scroller type gameplay and an arrow key + timing meter combat system. The game takes place in a fictional colonial world that I've been told is southeast asian inspired. I'm unfamiliar with most of the history from that part of the world but this game really makes me wish I did as I know it would hit different. This demo does hold some sensitive themes such as Colonialism and Oppression so do be aware of that.
On the less serious side here's a little piece of fun information! It turns out that one of the inspirations for this game was the show Avatar The Last Airbender. I've no doubt that the cabbages seen here in this scene are a reference to that show.
...Although they could just be cabbages lol
While the game is currently only in its demo phase with part 1 of the prologue available for play its description points us to a future in which our character will have to sacrifice one of her love interests for the sake of saving the empire. Honestly it was the knowledge of this future event that made me feel like "Oh yeah I'm invested, I need to see how this plays out so I can feel all that emotional damage for myself!"
... don't judge me. I like my stories a bit dark.
From here on I will be going through the demo giving a bit of an overview and showing you some CGs from the game so just be aware.
I'm not very familiar with how to write one of these and what to do or not to do so feel free to give feedback.
Let's start with the title screen music! I love listening to the title screen music in games and this one didn't disappoint. It delivered a feel of an epic adventure on the horizon! The sound was quite pleasant.
The game starts out with you and your father who is the tribal leader recounting history and the importance of the role you will soon be stepping into.
Your family in particular was blessed by God with the ability to use magic and the responsibility to use that blessing to protect the land of Tayabac from curses.
First off, look when I first played I was NOT expecting to be immediately slapped in the face with a gorgeous CG, but I was and I could not be happier about that. Seriously I could gush over this image for hours.
Even if I don't fully understand the historical significance behind the inspiration I really do love the fact that there is a historical aspect to the games world. I seriously think that's so cool!
Anyway back to where I was before. Today you have come of age. It seems that every child at the age of 14 participates in a ritual that is done to protect the lands and today is our day so a celebration is being held. In addition to our coming of age our father has also chosen us to be the next chieftain.
Usually you would imagine that the position of leader would go to the oldest and we do have an older brother (who's actually quite a cutie) but for whatever reason I guess he wasn't chosen for the role and so as the second eldest sibling belonging to a family of six it fell to us. At least that's how I see it.
To be fully honest I suspect he just didn't want the responsibility. He strikes me as the type of guy who more of a free spirit.
Dad is quite the looker himself, but that's besides the point.
I won't lie, personally I think 14 is a bit young for that level of responsibility but I guess you know cultures n stuff.
I fully understand that as the next chieftain we have to develop good relations with our people by being helpful but come on we're 14 and it's our birthday cut us some slack. Do we really have to run around doing a bunch of tasks and have to humor uncle Daniw in inspecting his rod.
....Yeah no matter how many times I say it the delivery of that line is kind of sus lol! A fishing rod, a fishing rod not, well you know.
Turns out uncle Daniw is a simple man with a nice face who makes great fish but is otherwise quite clumsy and almost...himbo-ish?
With how often he breaks his fishing rod, this man reminds me of Namjoon back in the day and his clumsy habit of breaking things.
My poor baby.
Honestly even if it was the other kind of rod we are 14 for gods sake, we in no way have the capabilities to fix someone's broken "rod", do we look like a doctor?
After you walk around and do some tasks its time to go meet our father up on the cliff for the ritual but of course things never can go according to plan.
I love how this scene pans from a beautiful scenic view down to complete chaos.
But seriously.... Uncle no name.... I was gone like 5 minutes how the hell did the village end up in this state this fast!
Also how did my dad get down there when he was apparently up here? Did he scale the freaking cliff down?
Actually that reminds me of the time my dad actually DID scale down a cliff and I was right behind lol. It wasn't exactly a cliff but ya we were hiking and it was getting late so dad was like "lets take shortcut down, this doesn't look too steep."
It easily could have been worse but slowly scaling down a mountain on your butt trying not to slip on all the loose rocks and avoiding the various brush..... wouldn't do it again.
So yeah the village is burning, people are screaming, and our father is facing off against our potential fiance. Should we all make it out of this I really don't see our father giving his blessing to this dude. If he were to marry in omg I can only imagine how hostile holidays would be.
Now that the Seiyslan empire has conquered our lands, it really should be no surprise if I tell you that we end up in chains are paraded pixel style down the riverbank. From here the family is torn apart, our siblings are getting roughed up and this one piece of scum is eyeing up our little sister! "OI she's like 9!"
...Remember how we briefly touched on the subject of broken rods earlier? Well I think this guy needs his broken!
I am well aware of what those implications mean and I am ready to throw hands!
~~~~~~
By this point in the writing, you can probably guess that this is a dream and you would be correct. It turns out that 10 years have since passed and that all of what we played was actually a memory.
Quite traumatic but hey its okay because now we have a very attractive man leaning over our bed looking worried.
I am perfectly okay with this. If having a traumatic nightmare means I get to wake up to this glorious sight then totally worth it!
MMM those arms make me want to scream!
You know actually I just realized something. Near the beginning as we are chatting with our family in the hut our older brother was all like "Good luck at the ceremony, your gonna need it." and our younger siblings were having an argument with each other and one was like "stop beating up sir....snuggle muffin...." I forget what they called him. And they other was like "But He's the bad guy!" And the girl was like "No he's a prince."
I think I just realized that was both foreshadowing and a peek at our subconscious slipping in and inserting itself into our dreams?
There is an update being worked on for the second half of the demo that I think is supposed to be released some time this year, but for now this is where the game comes to an end.
So I have a theory. I am going to guess that each love interest is somehow going to be connected to a lost family member of ours and that we are going to reunite with either all or one of them based on which route we pick.
I guess we will have to wait and see if I'm right or wrong but overall I found the demo enjoyable in both the story and its art. I found the character designs are very attractive and I'm excited to meet the remaining love interests and get to know more about Seiji and that Myo guy (they're both really cute!).
Now that we have woken up from our dream I am also curious to see what the worlds current circumstances are like.
As for any improvements, the only things I could see being improved are adding a return button to the settings menu instead of having to rely on the esc button and maybe a sound volume adjustment and/or mute option as I personally thought that the text sound was a little heavy. Just some basic game GUI stuff.
If you would like go check out the game trailer that was released during the celebration you can go watch it here!
Game Trailer: https://youtu.be/pecmdSI7eWs?si=GB5tV5Ajs2G-C7KO
If you have played the demo and would like to support it I heard there is going to be a Kickstarter in future. If you are interested in supporting them and their game you can click the button on the page so you will notified when the Kickstarter launches.
A romantic adventure game where you have to kill your love interest to save the world.
If you are interested in playing the game demo itself you can download it over on steam.
You're invited to the first Otome Games Celebration Showcase on May 4th 12PM CDT, where you'll get to see trailers & new looks at upcoming otome games from around the world!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I somehow ended up writing a thesis on this otome game but first a review?
Today I will be talking about what could easily be my favorite otome game, Virche Evermore Error Salvation. Virche Evermore or Shuuen no Virche is a dark fantasy otome that takes place on what I believe to be a fictional french island with a small population of 3000.
Was that last bit of info necessary? No, but it was part of what I collected in the information gathering stage and it would be a shame to not include it, besides while it's not relevant it's also not irrelevant information.
In this game you play as an 18 year old girl who unless changed is named Ceres. You live on an island called Arpechele surrounded by fields of black lycoris and rough waters that prevent people from coming in or out of the country meaning the country is more or less isolated…until it isn’t, which I'm still looking for an explanation for, but that’s not important now.
Speaking of which, I should mention that after the relevant game information is given this blog will become INCREDIBLY SPOILERY considering the whole point of my research centers around a topic in which the entirety of the story couldn’t exist without.
Actually rather it WAS going to be but I decided to make that its own separate blog post so no need to worry about anything super spoilery in this blog.
Anyway for now let us continue with an explanation of the game for those uninformed on what this game is about.
In this lsland nation called Arpechele those born to the land live under the Curse of Death which limits its people's life expectancy to the age of 23. Sucks right? By the age of 23 the people of this country have already developed lung and breathing issues among other things, this is all considering they even make it to the age of 23. This fate was a fact of life until a certain man created something called Relivers.
I could explain what a Reliver is and how it works but that's a whole thing in itself so for now I’ll simplify it by saying that the people of this country have the option to get cloned with their original 23 years worth of memories and personality in tact and live another 23 years and then repeat that process every 23 years. Age honestly doesn’t mean much here. The down side to this choice in becoming a Reliver is you lose the emotion of love and begin to take the idea of life itself for granted.
In case you were wondering, all of this information I am mentioning is pretty basic and revealed early on in the game so none of this is information that would be considered spoilery.
Anyway on top of this unfortunate reality that is the norm for the people of this land, our girl Ceres has another layer of misfortune in that she seems to be cursed because everyone she gets close to seems to die, naturally the people of the country fear and shun her so life isn’t easy…. Which brings us to the Opening, where we see Ceres about to unalive herself.
Yeah there’s a lot of death in the game so not exactly a game aimed toward younger audiences or anyone who is sensitive to the topic of death or has high levels of depression. Knowing this if you still decide to play just proceed knowing that this game isn’t rainbows and sunshine. Characters WILL die in some routes. In this game there is no dependency on plot armour which I personally love.
The game centers heavily around the topics of Life, Humanity, Despair,(and Science?) with the game literally having “Despair Endings” in which you actually have to play before you are allowed to play the "Salvation Endings”.
So yes, while I think this game is amazing and massively enjoyed the stimulation of piecing things together, for those wanting to play but are sensitive to stories on the darker side just proceed with caution and take breaks when needed.
I’m… unique in that I may be a tiny bit of an Emotional Masochist when it comes to stories. ….Yeah so with that having been revealed, I absolutely ate this shit up!
So there's a bit about the story and what you’ll be in for if you decide to play it, assuming you haven’t already. Next lets take a quick look at the characters.
I’ll do a quick introduction to the characters before I give any thoughts on the game or get to the main point of the blog.
So you have Ceres the female lead. Next the Four male leads, Mathis the shy bookworm, Lucas the teacher that has beauty on a level that could actually make a woman jealous (or turn a man gay), Scien the Genuis Scientist with in my opinion a rightful god complex that my unreligious ass actually would worship, Yves the sweet one with looks that reminds me of Dainsleif from Genshin Impact, Adolphe the protective Foster Brother, and Ankou who technically isn’t a love interest but plays a very important role as you will see upon continued reading.
We also have a few side characters, Salome the sister who runs the orphanage, Jean the butler, Dahut the young scientist, Hugo Yves co-worker, Nadia Lucas sister, Capucine who works at the hospital, and Bourreau the local serial killer…. Yeah you heard me right.
I can’t tell you how many times I've cried playing this game. I’ve cried because of an unnamed alcoholic, I’ve cried because of an unnamed prostitute, I’ve angry cried over a child, and naturally I’ve despair cried over our main characters but I’ve also happy cried because of them too. After so much heartache it's quite natural to end up crying when everything finally gets resolved.
Access to tissues is highly recommended when playing this game. Aside from the storyline and quality voice acting (Like Woah that guy held that anguished scream for a LONG time) one of the things I love most about this game is the sound of their OSTs. The timing for emotional impact using said OST’s is pretty well done too.
If the moment in the story didn’t have you crying already you will once the OST hits and combines with the voice acting.
Since I'm touching upon the subject of game features let's appreciate some of the glorious things this game has to offer.
One of my absolute favorite game mechanics is the skip feature! Just tap the right joystick on the switch to the right and *bam* all you ever wanted.... fuck, now I have the backstreet boys 'I want you back' running through my head!
Anyway this feature is a god sent and makes life so much easier especially if you are a completionist and want to collect all ends, click all the options, and just fill in every single ????? In the game.
The game like many other Visual Novel games has a CG gallery and Glossary along with a Music and Movie gallery.
There's also a scene list if you want to skip to a particular part of the story or check the list to ensure you've collected all possible scenes in the route.
The flowchart is also a beautiful thing making it easy to skip from one scene to another from both the title screen and the in game menu. Also useful if you have the random inkling to play the story endings or have somehow found yourself writing a thesis on the game and need quick and easy access to scenes to gather information from.
I find it really cool how the character images shown in the hexagons inform you of what characters are in that particular scene, if it weren't for this little feature collecting information on the scenes that Ankou is in would have been ABSOLUTE HELL!
Praise Scien our lord and Savior. 😂
Okay so this is kind of irrelevant but here's a tiny bit about me. While I’m pretty sure I’m no good at it, when I stream on twitch I love trying to do the voices. I can’t accurately judge my quality of performance but regardless I get a sense of satisfaction TRYING to deliver the emotion in the story and this game in particular with all its intensity and emotional moments is like a freaking playground for my little voice acting fantasies! Emotional scenes are the most fun for me.
Speaking of intensity, you know how in some Otome Visual Novels they hold your hand easing you into the story with some scenes of daily life, basic info and maybe a cute animal mascot before they get into anything too serious.
WELL this game doesn't waste any time, and there's no cute animal mascot or easing into the story you're just very bluntly thrown into the memory of MC’s trauma, told that they live in a land that is cursed, and given a recount of the tragedies in this girls life that leads you to a “Oh wow her life sucks, I am so happy I'm not her.” After that the story then proceeds to unceremoniously dump you into a scene with a mood level that just might make Shakespeare proud followed by a bit of confusion because how is she the main character if she's dead? Is it a dream? A premonition? What the heck is going on?
Like I said, no time was wasted in giving you a taste of what kind of story this will be, which is in its own way nice but also can be like “Woah children dying and self exit all within the first 10 minutes, that's kind of intense”. In exchange for that we are given the stimulation to the mystery of a How and a Who to toss around in our brain.
Mystery person: “I didn’t make it on time” I won’t accept this ending”
Me: Who are you! What do you mean by “on time”? Why does it feel like you’re implying something? Is this even real or is it a dream?
Anyway I can feel myself begin to get distracted so let’s get back on track.
If you like world building like I do, you will be very happy with this game. Like how do you think I ended up here in the first place if the story's world was bland. A good story has different perspectives in which to view the world or in which the world is viewed, this game is one in which the game will occasionally switch you from MC POV to Love Interest POV to sometimes mystery character POV for that added story element.
Character POVs reveal information that the MC is unaware of and I like my puzzles so I want ALL the information I can gather. That being said I also like info dumps.
I know some people hate when a story goes heavy on the info dumping but for me info dumps make me excited and give me the necessary material to better understand the world, make sense of things, and use my imagination to put pieces together and create theories, even if said theories sometimes sound absolutely outrageous. This might be an unpopular opinion but I might even value the aspect of piecing a world together in VNs like this more than I do the actual romance lol.
Speaking of the romance element in this game, you’ll find it leans more on the moody and emotional side rather than the colorful happy side. I kind of referenced this before but I feel like if Shakespeare had a favorite otome game, this one might be it. With the type of theme this game has I would personally say the character romance level of the game would be considered on the lower side.
That being said, when romance does come into play as a scene’s focus it can be oh so beautifully emotional while sometimes also being tragic. One of my favorite lines that always make my eyes swell up are “Even if the world doesn’t forgive you. I will.” There are other lines but this one in particular is one from my favorite character’s route.
While I've mentioned the game is heavier than others on its moodiness level, and has many ends resulting in death including its various romantic tragedy endings, I don’t exactly want to lead you to believe that the game doesn’t have its share of sweet, comedic and light hearted moments.
I love my carbohydrate king.
Once you finish the game I believe it to be worth a replay so you can use the knowledge you gained throughout your first playthrough and apply it to your second playthrough to give you a broader perspective and understanding of the game's story while giving you those oh so satisfying “OOOHH!” moments of understanding when you pick up on something you previously viewed as irrelevant information.
Anyway while this game may not be for everyone, for me personally it holds everything my moody little ass could ever want.
Maybe it's because I'm like this that I find the happy endings all the more satisfying after having gone through all the heartache, anger and tears.
While some ends are more satisfying than others, whatever satisfaction you fail to receive in the main game you’ll likely find in the fandisk, when I say this I’m thinking of one route in particular.
It's been recommended by other players that you start with baby boy Mathis then move on to Lucas, then Scien. After you finish those three routes Yves route will unlock and you can play his story, then after you are finished with Yves you will finally be allowed to play the last route and acquire valuable information relevant to the story's world building. This final route is considered Act 3 La Salute, after you complete La Salute you will finally receive the right to play your long awaited Salvation Ends.
As you can see this game straight up forces you to save the happy endings for last, you can not experience the happiness without first having experienced the despair. I know some people aren’t fond of that game mechanic and I can respect that, not everyone is a fan of romantic tragedies and prefer their otome game stories to focus on romance, positivity and cute moments with the most tragic thing possibly being a misunderstanding between love interests.
Should you have only played such games until now, go into this game with an open mind, emotional endurance, and at your own pace.
The mindset you should have going into this reminds me of a BTS song (Which is not an uncommon thing to have happen in my brain as you have already seen.)
In the English Translation of the lyrics from the song ON…
“Hey na na na Can’t hold me down cause you know im a fighter”
“Carried myself into this beautiful prison”
“Find me and I’m gonna live with you”
“Eh-oh Bring it on, bring the pain on”
“Eh-oh Come on up bring the pain oh yeah”
“Rain keep pouring, sky keeps fallin everyday”
“Na na na”
“Eh-oh Bring it, bring the pain on oh yeah”
Relevant Translation from my Personal Perspective:
You brought yourself here to play this otome game and yeah it hurts and you might cry in each route but this shits is good and kind of addicting so you're gonna keep fighting through this emotional rollercoaster until you finish the damn game because you are no quitter and the reward may just be worth all the heartache you experienced along the way.
Too intense? ...Yeah sorry
….Why is my brain so cringy? lol.
Sorry about that... regardless to those out there who plan to play this game and don't want any spoilers, I leave you with these words…
For everything that is holy in this world! Don’t walk into any dark alleyways!!
Now…for those who have played or just don’t care about spoilers and are interested in seeing what I have put together click the Read More Dropdown thing and I will remove the filter and be free to speak about the game without worry of ruining anyone's game experience.
Or at least that is what I would like to say but considering I already reached the 10 images limit I will have to save the main bit of what I've been working on and post it in a separate blog post which once finished and posted I will come back and edit in a link to it down below.
[Link here]
I can't say when this next bit will be posted but I hope you look forward to it and Please... Please... someone read it. At the moment of this post I've been working on it for a month and it still has a bit more to go...
Anyway in hopes this this hypes someone out there up to read it...
Timelines and organization... Ankou... Comparisons... Dagger hilts... History... Story Deaths... 6000+ years....
Fandisk............ I have an inkling I failed in my desired impact delivery.
Geez how did it come to this? I only only ever planned on playing a alternate despair ending before stream, not spend a month writing what might or might not be the equivalent of a thesis!
One last thing. I'm not exactly well versed in writing or technical terms so... would this be considered a review and whether it is or isn't one, is this any good and at all entertaining?
Indie Visual Novel Game Walkthrough/Theory Blog for The Hostage
If you came here via the link in the relating blog or if you found your way here through other avenues I welcome you back.
[insert welcome back screenshot from game]
If you just found your way here The Hostage is an indie game I played about a month or so back created by developer Melancholy Marionette. There's the game jam version and the directors cut, we played the directors cut.
As the game title gives away you play as a hostage tied up and with no memory. For more information visit the related blog here.
[insert link once blog has been published]
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Blog Post/Review on the Indie game The Hostage · About a month ago (Yes it's taken me that long to finish this) we streamed
Now I'm going to warn you here and now that this blog is going to get very spoilery so if you want to avoid that feel free to read something else or save this to revisit at a later date.
To start this blog post off let me simplify the walkthrough of the game for anyone just wanting to get straight to the point while also avoiding any spoilery quoted lines of text and explanation.
Here is a step by step of what you will do and how things will play out.
Click Start
Choose and Confirm Voice
~ Round 1 Begins
Read Text
The Game will move you to the Title Screen but with limited options to click on. From this point onwards until you reach an ending, every time you are brought to the title screen you will only be able to click on either Credits or Extras.
Click on Credits or Extras
~ Round 1 Continues ~
Read Text
Title Screen
Click on Credits or Extras
~ Round 2 Begins
Read Text
Choose “I Do” or “Eww”
Eww:
Click the heart 3 times without missing -> Mutual Destruction Ending
Failed to stab the heart 3 times in a row ->Title Screen -> Click Credits or Extras -> Title Screen -> Click Credits or Extras -> Hide and Seek Ending
I Do:
Click the heart 4 times without missing -> Mutual Destruction Ending
Don’t click the heart at all -> “May I Suggest sweet symbiosis?”
If you don't click the heart at all you will get new lines of text ending him them saying
“May I suggest sweet Symbiosis?”
You can choose to Decline or Accept.
Decline:
Click the heart 3 times without missing -> Mutual Destruction Ending
Failed to stab the heart 3 times in a row ->Title Screen -> Click Credits or Extras -> Title Screen -> Click Credits or Extras -> Hide and Seek Ending
Accept:
Receive the Metamorphosis Ending (No CG)
Return to title screen to see a distorted face and no options, Wait a few seconds then receive two new options
Popcorn -> One or two lines of additional text correcting you -> The Safe Word is Banana Ending
Banana -> The Safe Word is Banana Ending
Hopefully this version of the walkthrough was simple and straight forward enough of a guide to easily follow.
Now on to the second LONGER version of the walkthrough. If you don’t mind a bit of wordiness and want further explanation and thoughts then feel free to read on and hopefully I can live up to your expectations.
The Hostage Walkthrough Version 2
Upon entering the game you will see a Title Screen with a creepy face on it, before you press Start go to Options and adjust any settings that you need to because spoiler you won't be able to once you start the game. This version of the walkthrough is going to riddled with spoiler like info so beware.
Once you are ready to begin the game go ahead and click the start button.
Upon entering the game you will be met with some text followed by the option to choose a male or female voice for your captor. Once you have confirmed your desired choice of voice the game will start.
I like to refer to these as rounds so I will be referring to this following section as Round 1
If you want a walkthrough that is less wordy and more to the point I will have that at the very bottom so feel free to skip down to it.
In Round 1 you wake up in pitch black, unable to move and with no memory. For the record neither you nor your captor have a name so no nametag will be displayed in the textbox area.
Almost immediately you will begin to question your connection to this person, personally this is my favorite part of a game, theorizing even if the theory itself is absolutely ridiculous.
We start our interactions with our captor by being “Welcomed backed”
After some back and forth and some yanderesque lines of text, we get an interaction between us and the captor with lines that go like this.
Captor: “Our fates may be intertwined but make no mistake, I’m the one in control.
You can’t survive without me.”
Us: “Nonsense.”
Captor: “Need proof?”
From this point we get thrown back to the title screen except we are now denied the ability to use the Start, Load, Options, or Quit Buttons. This is why I said earlier to adjust your settings in the Options menu beforehand if you deem them necessary..
At this time you can only click on either the Credits or the Extras, I don’t think it makes much of a difference which one you click but either one will do.
Once you have clicked one of the two you will get thrown back into the perspective of the hostage and round 1 will continue. We are once again welcomed back and It seems that somehow, some way whatever just happened physically affected our character which is very mysterious.
Do you see why I thought we might be a robot!?
We interact with our captor a bit more until we ask them if we can at least see their face.
Us: “If you’re going to keep me captive”
Us: “Can I at least see your face?”
Captor: “Concentrate.”
Captor: “I know that deep down my image is ingrained in your mind, just as yours is in mine.”
We are now revealed as to what our captor looks like based on our chosen voice.
In this continuation of Round 1 what was once Yanderesque lines of text slowly become more sinister.
Captor: “I can’t promise I won’t butcher you if I grow bored. But I’ll savor every tiny crack that forms in that defiant spirit of yours until the day you inevitably shatter.”
Eventually our captor gets tired of our back talk and puts us “Back to Sleep”
I keep telling you, there was a reason I thought we were a soul within a program!!!
After being put back to sleep we are brought back to the title screen where once again we only have Credits or Bonus available to us to click on.
After selecting which one you want to click, Round 2 will begin.
In round 2 we start off once again by getting welcomed back.
In this round thing things are officially sounding less and less like a yandere love interest and more and more like a Sadistic Psychopath with moments that could easily be confused with the words of a yandere.
After more interaction and more mystery with our captor we are encountered with this line of text.
“ I didn't realize being stuck here with me would be so traumatic for you. I suppose a small part of me hoped you might like it… “
Following said line of text we are given two options of how to respond.
“I Do”
“Eww”
The two options give you different lines of text but both lines of text reconnect upon the sound of a heart beating. This whole following bit reminded me of Davy Jones from the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie.
If you choose “Eww” you will get another chance to stab the heart 3 times in a row and if you fail you get thrown on the route leading to the Hide and Seek Ending but if you succeed you will get the mutual destruction ending.
When receiving the Hide and Seek Ending you will get sent to the title screen and once again need to click either Credits or Extras. After choosing one or the other the game will resume by opening up to your captor telling you
“Its still too soon. I’m surprised you haven’t learned your lesson. How many times have we been here? You are my demon. My Sacred Shadow in the dark. We won’t be so easily severed. I can’t let you leave until I find you a suitable new body. For now I’m afraid mine will have to suffice. I’m going to send you back to sleep and when you wake you will have your freedom. I sincerely hope you will use it to slaughter me. That is if you can find me first.”
After the captor exchanges these words with you you will be brought back to the title screen where you will need to click Extras or Credits. Once more upon choosing an option to click on you will receive a CG of you in a church looking at your hands and holding a note from the captor saying “I’ll be waiting”, you will also notice that the music has now changed to match the ending. After you receive the ending the game will redirect you to the title screen with the newly acquired CG as the Background and where you once again have access to all the controls.
I don’t know about you but I’m still trying to figure out what those things are on the church pews. My theory is that they are either Daleks or Trash Cans LOL. Damn that priest hates his church goers if he sees them as trash cans LMAO!!
When receiving the Mutual Destruction Ending you will stab the heart 3 times in a row and the captor will tell you “Well Played” then the screen will go dark and transition to a CG of blood spattered on a cross followed by a flash of light and the screen fading to black giving you the ending title. After you are done reading the ending title click on the screen and you will be brought back to the title screen which now shows a full body image of the captor and you now have full control over the options on the title screen.
Anyway those are two of the four more easily obtainable endings.
If instead of Ew you choose “I Do” you will be given 4 chances to stab the heart, if you miss even just 1 of the 4 you will be sent onto the route leading toward the Hide and Seek Ending.
If you decide not to click the heart at all during any of the 4 opportunities you will be led to two additional options.
Accept
Decline
If you click Decline you will be given another opportunity to stab the heart 3 times in a row and receive the Mutual Destruction Ending, like before if you miss even one of them you will be rerouted to the Hide and Seek Ending.
Tip: When aiming to kill I recommend just spam clicking the heart.
If you decide to click Accept you will be led toward the Metamorphosis Ending.
After you receive the Metamorphosis End you won’t get a CG but the title screen will now have a distorted face and you will find that there are no title screen options. After a bit of clicking around or waiting, 2 random options will appear.
Popcorn or Banana (It really doesn’t matter which one you choose although if you pick popcorn you will get an additional line of text correcting you.)
The screen will change and now you will see a regular text box and hear a voice that sounds much more normal and conversation that is not at all in character with what you have come to know so far.
“Banana!”
“Giving in already? That’s not like you. I honestly thought you could handle more.”
“Oh I can, I was just getting a bit bored”
“Bored!? I’m working my ass off here. Am I not sexy enough for you or something?”
“I mean, sure but are you even gonna touch me, or were you just planning to keep monologuing at me like some kinda cringy villain?”
Hilariously enough In this ending it turns out that this was all actually just a couple doing a kinky psychological Captor and Hostage bedroom role play LOL.
After some cute bantering and a plan to watch netflix with some yummy snacks we receive another end title.
The Safe Word Is ‘Banana’
With what could be considered either the “True” ending or the “Troll” ending as the Dev called it, you will have now unlocked the extras section where you can find Bloopers, Music, and a few audio takes from the creator talking about the game along with a new CG and music track to act as the background for the title screen menu!
With that I believe I have covered everything.
Anyway I hope this helped, if not thank you for reading anyway.
But yeah I enjoyed this game and if you haven’t I would recommend going and giving it a try yourself.
Also feel free to check out the previous post I made which was also about this game.
Game Page Link: https://melancholy-marionette.itch.io/the-hostage
Now that you have further insight on the game and the mysteries it holds lets do a bit of theorizing and break the information down to create a plausible theory, or at least a fun one.
What we know:
We are both part of the same person.
In the Troll end Liu (the captor) complains about his partner's distaste for their roleplay by saying that touching them would make no sense since technically we (The Hostage) are inside them. This belief is further proven upon the ending where stabbing the heart kills us both, with further evidence being that when we asked them to reveal themselves they told us that was impossible which if we are inside them than it literally would be.
“I didn't realize being stuck here with me would be so traumatic for you.”
This line, depending on whether you accept the theory of us being inside them as fact and not false, and instead believing it just means being stuck in the same room together, it could also be considered a further piece of evidence to prove the theory alongside revealing an additional piece of information pertaining to this mystery. When I read this to me the line implies that we haven’t always been there with him and that he is the one responsible for putting us there, so if that is true then how did we get there?
“Alas, your condition requires observation. I almost lost you once. I won’t let that happen again. You're going to stay right here, nice and snug and safe with me.”
Let's use this as a starting point.
Working off this alongside our previous pieces of information it is apparent that something life threatening had happened in the past somehow resulting in us fusing into him. Naturally two entities taking residence in one body is not normal and complications are bound to arise which could be an explanation for why he said our condition requires observation.
Seeing as how he is the original host of the body it would make sense for him to have a stronger presence and more control over the body which could be an explanation for why he has the ability to put us to sleep at the end of each round and why he has control of what we can and cannot do in the title screen. As to how a person can have control over a title screen I still don’t have a solid explanation for it but depending on how the pieces connect I might have a theory, but we will store this topic away for later.
While all this could be an explanation as to why we are inside him it still isn’t an explanation for HOW we got inside him, what events could have led to this and what exactly is our relationship to each other?
RELATIONSHIP
“I don’t care for your body. It’s your mind that captivates me.
“You are my demon. My sacred shadow in the dark. We won’t be so easily severed.
I can’t let you leave until I find you a suitable new body. For now, I’m afraid mine will have to suffice.”
“There’s nothing I desire more than to die by your hand. To be destroyed by the one I fought so fiercely, such salvation it would bring. But remember; the void that remains will be unbearable.”
“We made an oath to obliterate each other, friend. Do your worst.”
“Every inch of me aches to be even closer to you. Our deadly dance has always been a fatal one. A neverending cycle of pleasure and pain; driven by our desire to conquer and be conquered.”
“For you, I would scorch the entire earth until only we two remain.”
“Did you honestly think I’d be satisfied with someone else slaying you? We’ve bathed in each other’s blood, broken each other’s bones, scarred each other’s skin. I adore you just as much as I despise you. Without you, life would be meaningless.”
“I’ll admit after everything we’ve been through…
I suppose a small part of me hoped you might like it…”
“You’re still far too weak to fight me. If you can’t kill me… I can’t promise I won’t butcher you if I grow bored. But I’ll savor every tiny crack that forms in that defiant spirit of yours until the day you inevitably shatter.”
“Our struggle is our sustenance, our solace. Without it we would be empty. Mere echoes of who we once were.”
“Whether you remember our vow or not… I could never turn my back on you. Nor could I ever let anyone steal you away from me.”
To start it would seem that our mental being takes priority over our physical being but he has every intention to eventually restore us into a physical body so our hostage situation actually isn’t planned to be a permanent thing and was likely a last resort in order to save our life.
While it is not too surprising to find he is capable of “disposing” people it is interesting that apparently so are we, or at least we used to be. It sounds like that before all this happened we used to be very similar to each other in terms of our nature.
Apparently life has not been easy for either of them if being in a place of struggle has become second nature and is now what is most familiar. To me it seems like we might be kindred souls with a violent rivalry in which their connection borders on dependance. I’m not sure if I would call their relationship a violent type of friendship but at the very least they have seemed to have made a promise to each other that the only one allowed to kill the other is them.
He mentions that we are still too weak to fight him which if their relationship centered around strength and fighting then such an outcome along with our apparent lack of memories must be somewhat infuriating and part of the reason why he desires to find a body for us so we can go back to how we used to be and if that ends up being impossible then he will just end up destroying this new weakened version of us that he likely wouldn’t even consider to be us, at least not the us he knew when we were alive in a flesh and blood body.
It might just be because I recently watched Moriarty the Patriot but the implied past relationship between us and him kinda reminds me a tiny bit about the relationship between Moriarty and Sherlock.
Honestly the piece I’m having the most difficulty finding a place for is the fact that he is a priest although I suppose that could just be a disguise.
EVENTS THAT LED UP TO THE FUSION
“What became of those who ambushed me?”
“I disposed of them. Don’t worry I was careful not to get caught, unlike you my clumsy companion.
When I found you face down in the dirt they intended to eradicate you.
Had I not intervened, their filthy fingers would have been all over you. Vile vultures, striking when you were at your weakest.
Honestly, had you not been distracted by our little dance, I’m sure you’d have destroyed them yourself.”
“Do you want to know what the most pleasing part was? They could barely believe my betrayal. If only you’d remained conscious long enough to see the expressions of anguish on their faces, it was delicious.”
Throughout the game we are given pieces of information with a little more being added each round. Throughout the whole game these are the lines I found that most sound like they refer to whatever happened before the fusion and perhaps even give us more insight into the type of lifestyle we had. Using these collected lines of text lets see what we can string together.
“Don’t worry I was careful not to get caught, unlike you my clumsy companion. They could barely believe my betrayal.”
From what I can gather it would seem that either
Either one or both of us were undercover having infiltrated some type of dangerous organization and our characters' cover got blown. If he was already with the organization then we might have convinced him to betray the organization. Possible but very romanticized.
We killed someone and got caught by the police and he in turn eliminated
(there was a third but somewhere in the copy n paste and multiple months spend away it got lost)
The group that attacked us must have been small enough that he was somehow able to cover up their deaths, hmm I wonder if that would mean that he is still with them
“Honestly, had you not been distracted by our little dance, I’m sure you’d have destroyed them yourself.”
Seeing as to their apparent surprise in his betrayal he must have been pretty trusted in the organization. He is dressed as a priest so perhaps this was some type of religious organization.
Our relation was in no way sexual but more along the lines of Moriarty and Sherlock. Now I could just be relating it to this because I recently watched Moriarty the Patriot but I think the similarities to our relationship might be pretty similar seeing that it was neither antagonistic
AFTER EFFECTS OF THE FUSION
There was going to be more but I forgot to finish this draft and link it to the first blog post and its now been 4 months, I've spent too much time away from this and lost the motivation.
I've concluded with no one having been interested in the original relating blog post and with so much time having gone by and by now having developed a new hyper fixation that I would just post what I had in the draft and link it to the original post as planned.
In the future if any interest is shown maybe I'll come back and complete it.
For now this will be it. I am currently working an a blog post for another otome game so I hope anyone reading this will look forward to that. By the time you are reading this the review bit of it will be up.
About a month ago (Yes it's taken me that long to finish this) we streamed three short games one of which was the game the Hostage by Melancholy Marionette.
The Hostage is a short psychological horror created for the 2023 O2A2 Jam and the 2023 Major Jam 6:Life
I thought this game was so cool. At first I was like alright, a short little game with a horror factor just right to stream for Halloween. I'll play this one along with those other two then after the stream I'll jump on the couch and enjoy some candy. A short night.
Spoiler. It was not a short night.
I was so invested in my theorizing and trying to find all the ends that what should have been less than 30 minutes turned into nearly two hours.
My theorizing kinda went crazy. I went from thinking we were captured, tied and blindfolded by a yandere ex-boyfriend to thinking we were a soul put into a robot by our yandere ex-boyfriend to thinking maybe he's not a yandere but instead a psychotic scientist to oh “hey is this Disney Pixar's Inside Out?”
Yeah it was a lot.
But it was fun.
I still laugh at myself, I mean I love it, but I also feel absolutely ridiculous for thinking maybe we were a soul stuck inside one of those Uber Eats delivery machines.
Somehow my brain translated the lines
"I don’t care for your body."
"It’s your mind that captivates me."
"When I found you face down in the dirt they intended to eradicate you."
"Vile vultures, striking when you were at your weakest"
"I couldn’t allow that."
and gave it THIS visual while simultaneously having this song I used to have on my IPod Touch back in high school that had lyrics going "Face down in the dirt, she said this doesn't hurt, something something somethhinnng~" Yeah where that memory of a song I haven't listened to in ten years came from is anyone's guess. Honestly I blame a majority of that crazy theory on the TikTok video I saw earlier that day of the Uber Eats delivery robot face down on the sidewalk.
I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything while also giving my thoughts but to anyone wanting to play the game I highly recommend going to options and adjusting any necessary settings BEFORE starting the game.
Before starting the game, you get the option to choose the gender of the voice for your Captor which was actually a pretty neat feature. The game allows you to test and confirm your desired voice type. I did my playthrough using the male voice, I still need to explore and go through the game with the female voice for full completion.
Another one of the things I found pretty cool was actually located in the options menu. Before this I don't think I've seen a lot of VNs that give you a text example that changes as you change the text speed. At the very least I can't remember any off the top of my head but that's also not saying much lol.
I’m a big fan of visual examples so I actually really appreciated this feature. I also found it cool that the text example was in latin, I went down a whole rabbit hole looking up if the text example translated to anything.
Did you know that apparently Web Developers, Graphic Designers and Publishers use an old scrambled latin passage as a placeholder for readable text so they can focus on the visual layout of their project.
While I may not fully understand the usage behind this concept, it is very interesting and while I can’t say if it works or not, if it does I could see it being useful for someone who is visually sensitive or easily distracted. By the way if I'm completely wrong about any of this feel free to let me know.
During this random rabbit hole of a search I learned that the pieces of text that are used are actually derived from sections of a jumbled version of Cicero’s 1st century BC work “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum”. When this title is translated to English it is named “The Extremes of Good and Evil”, I believe I read that this was a book on the Theory of Ethics.
It seems that the first piece of example text “Lorem ipsum” originally came from a passage that in its entirety translates to “There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain”.
Now to me this sounds like it means “There is no one who desires pain for the injury it brings but rather than for the sense of feeling it brings.” or something along those lines. Maybe it’s just an old timey passage on attempting to explain why a Masochist is the way they are, I don’t know.
Anyway I had no idea of any of that, so that was interesting to learn.
Anyway that random little bit of information aside, the game has 4 endings with 3 being on the psychological side and 1 on the more light hearted humorous side which could easily be considered the "True" Ending but the developer regarded it as the "Troll" Ending with the True ending being the Hide and Seek one, but you decide for yourself which one the "True" Ending is.
I’m honestly surprised that I haven't heard this name around before because personally the game exceeded my expectations and I had a ton of fun playing it!
If the game has piqued your interest and you want to give the game a whirl you can find the game on itch.io. I'll attach a link to the game page below.
Blinded & bound, can you free yourself from your captor? Would you even want to?
If you want a walkthrough on how to get all the ends, I have that written out as well and will be posting it by itself in the following post after this one. In that one I will also include my extremely spoilery breakdown and theories.
I'll likely come back and edit this post and add a link down below to that blog post so if its there YAY Its finished! If not then it will be...eventually lol, no just kidding its mostly done its just structuring it all in a satisfactory format.
[link to be inserted below when blog is complete]
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 0 · Indie Visual Novel Game Walkthrough/Theory Blog for The Hostage · If you came here via the link in the relating blog or if
Well I hope this was acceptable as a game review type post, I honestly don't know how to write something like this so I am really just cruising along borderline blind hoping for the best lol. Serious question does what I wrote count as a review or would it just be labeled thoughts?
Well If you are interested in watching a recording of the stream you can watch it here on my YouTube in the link below.
Anyway until next time this is your friendly but slightly awkward neighborhood Boxcat signing out.
So before I even start talking I'm going to let you know right now.... I"M SLOW AS HELL!
Much to my dismay I'm not known for getting stuff done quickly so the speed of and consistency of how and when I do things varies, sometimes it ends up that there's been a brain or ability blockage somewhere along the line and I just need to find out how to get over it or that I've bitten off more than i can chew and know I'm going to have to unwillingly give up on it entirely (which is an idea I seriously hate) or am going to have to settle for something that doesn't nearly match up to my original vision.
Yeah sometimes I get ideas and I don't always plan them out all the way.....I need to fix that.
Anyway the point is in order to not make promises I can't keep and inevitably let someone down these things listed here are "IDEAS" of what I want to post on my tumblr account.
-Posting old interview Q&As I did with indie devs a year or so back. While at this point some information may be out of date which is unfortunate I do still want to release these further out there. I will likely try to take the time to update any outdated information but one way or another I do plan on bringing those over here even if just for the selfish peace of mind and feeling that I didn't completely fail. I still hate the idea of just copying and pasting pieces of the word document but I know I'm no journalist and if these are ever going to find their way outside of the twitch vod I'm gonna have to suck it up and accept that that's just the way it is.
- Posts with thoughts on a game and a link to the YouTube Let's play or Twitch VOD if one of those had been done along with game page link. I can't promise my entertainment value or voice acting abilities will be up to standard but I do hope someone out there finds it as time worth spent watching or reading.
-I've entertained the idea of posting my jewelry and baking projects on here but give me your thoughts on that one.
-Maybe a BTS concert storytime, pictures of my cats or even just my photography in general? Would anyone want to see either of those or would this one and the previous idea be too far removed from the whole gaming thing? Like I said consistency is not my strong suit lol.
Anyway yeah those are some ideas. Give me your thoughts, what would people want to see from me? I can say that at the very least that I have one game blog prepared and just about ready to be posted so keep an eye out for that.
Issue 47 Release of the Amare Fortnightly Bulletin (Oct 1 - Oct 15)
Hello everyone!
Issue #47 of the Amare Bulletin is out now! 🎉
As the seasons shift—autumn in the north and spring in the south—the Amare world is buzzing with fresh releases, hauntingly romantic demos, and creative energy from all corners of the indie scene. This fortnight brings a mix of the spooky, the sweet, and the sincerely heartfelt—perfect for cozy nights (or bright mornings) spent discovering something new.
Inside, you’ll find:
Full game releases and demos across gothic, fantasy, and sci-fi worlds
New chapters and updates for interactive fiction titles filled with mystery and magic
Crowdfunding highlights featuring everything from solarpunk yuri to tragic love stories
Recent game jam roundups, including entries from Josei After Dark, Omegaverse Jam, and Spooktober
So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let’s explore what’s new in the world of Amare!
~ The Amare Bulletin Team
Hello everyone! Issue #47 of the Amare Bulletin is out now! 🎉 As the seasons shift—autumn in the north and spring in the south—the Amare wor
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I've been working on a list of Indie Visual Novels with dark themes that I thought might be suitable for the Halloween season. These games on the list are all games I have played on stream and enjoyed.
Lets start with the first one called Touchstarved.
Touchstarved is a Visual Novel created by Red Spring Studio set for a release in 2026. At the moment this game is still only available as a demo, and is one of the games I'm really quite excited for.
In this game you play as a person who was born with cursed hands that drive anyone to madness whom they touch. In this game you have been traveling the lands looking for a cure and you now find yourself traveling to the city of Eridia.
After an unfortunate event you find yourself inside the city and one by one you begin your fated encounters with the 5 love interests.
In this demo you will meet Kuras the Angelic looking Doctor, Ais the intimidating and incredibly attractive demon (he's my fav), Mhin the moody hunter, Vere the beautiful fox spirit, and Leander the rebellious mage.
This game is aimed at an older audience due to drug reference suggestive language, violence and a few others.
If you enjoy darker themes in your dating sim then this one might be worth a go.
Find a cure for your curse by entrusting your fate to 5 monstrous love interests
Next up is a game called Dicentra by saffeine
Dicentra is a Gothic Horror visual novel about a boy named Basil who takes shelter from the weather in a seemingly abandoned mansion. Obviously you can guess that isn't the case.
The story in this one was SO good and the art style impressive and hauntingly beautiful. I had so much fun making theories and fitting all the pieces together as I played through the story.
This one would certainly is a suitable game for the Halloween Season.
Who twisted the lock on this bird cage?
Next up is Death is a Guest by Hunny Bunny
This one actually takes place at a Halloween party so naturally it had to be on the list. In this game you are invited to a Halloween party where everything is fun and games until someone ends up dead, now you must solve the mystery but with no idea who the killer is you don't know who you can trust. This game IS also an otome game so you have a selection of love interests to choose from as you try to solve the mystery of the murder.
I've yet to get to the last part of the story that was released so I plan to just replay it but I do remember enjoying what I had played the first time around.
What the hell happened to Mr. Host? Solve the mystery and maybe find love along the way.
My next selection for the list is a game called Twisted Carnival by Terra.Essence.Dreams which was originally made for one of the Spooktober Jams.
While there is no particular Halloween theme it does have a horror element that hides among the colors and lights of the Carnival.
In this game there is a carnival that is said to mysteriously appear every 5 years (not sus at all). Our character Catalina has always wanted to check out this mysterious carnival and one day is given the opportunity to do so. During the time Catalina is exploring the carnival she attracts the attention of four of the performers, for better or worse.
My favorite character in this game is a ... questionable choice seeing as he both scared me yet also intrigued me. Don't underestimate this game just because of all the fun carnival visuals.
Pain & Beauty, Love & Lust. Explore the Elusive Carnival of Curiosities and find Love, Death, or Worse.
Next on the list is a game called Karamu by Chattercap
Karamu is a story about a girl named Nelli who recently broke up with her boyfriend and is now avoiding him. Raku, the ex, has questions for her and isn't ready to let go.
Let me tell you this story will give you a surprise. I remember playing this and spouting out theories and thinking my stupid little web of random ridiculous theories would never lead anywhere until they actually did except I wasn't prepared for how right yet wrong I actually was.
Karamu is actually the first in a trilogy of related games and the second indie game I ever streamed on Twitch. When it comes to games made by this creator I always know I'm gonna have a good experience.
You broke up with your (yandere) boyfriend; it might have been a mistake.
Last up on the list I have a game called Duskbound by nefferinthia
In this game you are a girl living in a city cursed by an endless night. Feeling like there is no life within the city she lives searching for a hint of life. One day she finds that hint of light she has been looking for in a mysterious man and she falls in love at first sight, except she failed to notice the mysterious mans fangs.
This was originally a game created for the Otome/Josei Jams and while it holds this genre title this one also has a gothic horror type of feel to it. Not too spooky but it still holds the necessary feeling to qualify for the list.
Gothic horror otome with a yandere vampire LI
There are many more games I've played with story elements on the darker side but I had to minimize the list to a few or else I'd be here for another couple of days.
A few honorable mentions:
-A Spooktober 2023 submission I played a while back called Foul Repercussion by Chaiya
(Foul Repercussion centered around kids staying overnight at school only to find themselves in a horror movie scenario.)
-Help I Tried to Summon the Perfect Boyfriend and Messed Up so I summoned a demon instead!? by junekazoo
(In this conversation style VN just as the title says you accidently summon a demon instead of a boyfriend, now you choose how to proceed)
-It Paints Me by Endysis (The storyline and Art style made this short VN game a high contender for the list.)
Honestly If I had more time I'd add these 3 to the official list.
Anyway I hope that through this blog post you will find a new indie VN to enjoy and rave about. Go give these game titles a try, I think that if you do you will be pleasantly surprised with what you discover.
I'm brand new to writing blog posts so I hope this list and format was acceptable and comprehensive especially since I was on a time crunch.
With that all said I wish everyone a Happy Halloween and a pleasant time enjoying your Visual Novels.
Near the beginning of when I started streaming Indie Games on Twitch we played the newly released demo of the Visual Novel Touchstarved by Red Spring Studio.
Now about 2 years later I was feeling nostalgic and decided to record a Let's Play of that same game. It felt fitting considering the season and honestly that was mainly the excuse I gave myself to play the game again.
So here we are with the first part up just in time for the Halloween Season. Unfortunately I HIGHLY doubt the next part will be up before Halloween (considering that is today!).
For now if you want to check out the first part you can find it here on my YouTube.
Last year we streamed the Twisted Wonderland Event called Playful Land's Miraculous Marionette on my Twitch Channel.
Earlier this month I finally finished editing and uploading all parts of this Twitch VOD series. It was quite the long journey considering I only knew basic editing when I started and throughout the editing process kept running into frustrating mouth sounds and slip ups that I felt like needed to be edited out followed by the threading together of sound and images in order to look and sound as naturally as possible.
In addition I made the whole process even longer on myself because I just NEEDED to keep adding in ridiculous edits which required me to use a completely different program.
To create these I needed to screenshot character poses from the game then cut out and erase the background of the photo, layer on other transparent photo pieces that had been cut out in the same manner, arrange everything in the desired manner for the intended purpose, and lastly add the newly created photo into the video editor and add camera motions and text.
Needless to say even though the creation of these additions were humorous, it took way too much time and effort and left me with a long backlog of other Twitch VODs I planned on editing and doing things with.
All this having been said the completion of the series is very satisfying and very much a relief.
Honestly I'm still learning as I go with everything but I'm now able to move onto editing some of the Indie game VODs and have also started to record YT exclusive Lets Plays which is pretty exciting.
Anyway if you are interested in checking out the Twisted Wonderland Playful Land series you can check the series out here on YouTube.
Shortened and Edited videos of the Twisted Wonderland Playful Land Event which was originally streamed on Twitch. You can actually still fin
Hello this is my first tumbler post so sorry if its all everywhere and nowhere. Most people will know me by the name BoxCat since that is what I go by on my socials but my real name is Maria and I am a 30 something year old that loves Cats, Visual Novel Games, Anime, Music, Reading Webtoons, Voice Acting, Photography, Making Jewelry, and making the Occasional Baking Project.
I think I let this sit too long because I am now completely at a loss of what to write. Sorry everywhere and nowhere right. Many apologies I unfortunately have difficulties socializing and forming words.
Anyway you can find me on my Various Socials such as Twitch where I read Visual Novels aloud and do my best attempt at Voice Acting, TikTok where I post various content and occasionally create small videos where I lean heavily on meme like editing, YouTube where I post Let's Plays, and BlueSky/Skylight where I post my Twitch Schedules, TikTok Reposts, and the occasional thought.
Twitch: box_cat920
TikTok: box_cat8
YouTube: Box_Cat920
BlueSky/Skylight: boxcat920.bsky.social
I do have other social medias but these are the ones that I'm most active on.
