#juniper's knot

Dischan Media Re-Releases Juniper’s Knot on Steam

Developer: Dischan Media Publishers: Dischan Media Release Date: August 29, 2017 Platforms: Windows, Mac, & Linux Age Rating: All-Ages Price: Free

Recently, Juniper’s Knot was re-released on Steam. Developed by Dischan Media, Juniper’s Knot is a short kinetic novel that was originally created for the NaNoRenO 2012 game jam.

Like its previous release, Juniper’s Knot can be played for free on Steam. The Steam release includes a free copy of the game’s original soundtrack.

Relevant Links:

Where to Download (Digital): Steam

Features, via Dischan Media:

An engaging story that won't take up much of your time!

A soundtrack of 9 unique songs from CombatPlayer!

An unlockable gallery of 30+ illustration, concepts, and guest art!

Synopsis:

jan 7 2024 edit: a link to the game (it's free)

Juniper's Knot on Steam (steampowered.com)

felt bad and decided to finish some vns in my backlog and ended up reading juniper's knot. iirc i usually see this recommended for being short(<1h), free, and not-so-terribly-anime, and generally hear it's of a certain good quality. i'm extremely impressed by the writing on this

the writing feels somewhere between prose and poetry sometimes, delicious. and the "dialects" the two characters have, the moments where one clarifies what the other meant are not too terribly confusing (which i would conceptually expect them to be). music, art, sounds are great

this vn is great and the emotional beats do not miss, i think. i feel like the pacing was pretty nice, not perfect but nice enough that i don't have any immediate criticisms (also i don't usually have criticisms but uh). and i think it's a really great story for what it is

somewhat spoilers but i should just make a tumblr blog for these considering twitter doesn't let us write anything

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stories related to loneliness, regret, and time are extremely appealing to me, personally. i did not expect to like this as much as i did.

the fiend is a cute

oh i love this line by the end, "i'm really glad you're a fool." or smth paraphrased can't be bothered to open it up. the fiend reminds me somewhat of my darling, or my darling as i perceived them as sometimes. as someone i view with many more interactions with the world, fond of cracking jokes despite having a cynical viewpoint ("Comedy"), and generally being a bit playful and teasing of the boy. oh right, she hates her existence too ("the biggest joke of all." or similar)

i can sympathize with the fiend too, why, why wouldn't you want to kill everyone and everyone adjacent to everyone who has ever wronged you? though mass genocide obvs isn't the answer, it's definitely a sentiment. my, to punish you for simply for existing, it's more than enough to stir up that sort of rage.

i like the boy's character fairly well enough too, and i think he serves his purpose as a simple man who's kind enough to help. in times of need, i'd like a person like that. and i'd like to be that kind of person when one needs it, too. not to say he doesn't necessarily have his own character, but i resonate with it less than the fiend's.

           What can I say about this game? There’s not a lot to review since this was very short. I’ll just get started though.

           This is a visual novel by Dischan.

           The summary is going to be unbelievably short since it’s a nice short plot. The story starts with a fiend stuck in one spot in which she could never leave. If she tries to leave she’ll get scorched all the way to where her bones would be gone. She’s been alone for more than she remembers. She wants company in which it happens because there is a little boy that got lost. He had been looking for chestnuts when he stumbled on the place while looking for his way home. The boy is reluctant to even speak to her since he was told never to trust fiends, since they will eat souls. She wants to hear a story from the boy, but he was still reluctant, yet he starts telling one anyways. These two exchange stories while she’s still torn from being happy and wanting to take his soul, but each time she has the chance when he gets close she doesn’t. He counts on her to cook his chestnuts that he had gathered, since he was hungry. He becomes calmer around her, and asks her if there’s a way for her to leave the circle. She tells him and he goes out to search for something to replace her. These two leave the area in which she had been stuck at for centuries, to find the boys home.

           The two characters are the female fiend and the boy and that’s it. There are no other characters within this. These two are strong enough to hold this on their own. The female fiend goes through so much anguish while the boy tries to be understanding. They both have issues of trust for one another while the boy’s reason is simple enough, but the female fiend’s goes a little deeper. They grow trust through the bond they had started within the area that the story began.

           I found the story intriguing, that once I stopped I came back to it to finish it. I loved watching these to grow trust to one another, even though the boy heard stories, but being near her and listening to her talk made him want to be nicer and actually help her in the end. These two were helping each other throughout. They even continued to do so in the end. The thing is even though it’s a visual novel there are no choices needed to be done because it had a story already in place which the creator wanted to tell. A visual novel doesn’t need to be a romance or anything; it can be like this as well, an interactive story that you can read. It was interesting to see it in comic format at times. It has the beginning of a bubble then cuts off so it can be read at the bottom. I was shocked when I saw it like this, but dismissed it once I had gotten over it. I hadn’t seen once done like that before until this. The music in the game fits the situation and helps you imagine what kind of world they are living in. I found the art style wonderful for what they were going for. I found the female fiend’s design interesting.

           In the bonus, there are images, guest art, and a music box so you can listen to the music. That’s it.

           I found this interesting, and I’m glad I read it. I recommend this.