It’s You: A Breakup Story
I started playing this thinking “I’ll be that guy that listens to EVERYTHING and gets through everything” but honestly? 30 minutes in and Josh is just. so. damn. annoying. He’s just… so easy to hate. And hate with passion. I love it. You really can answer yeah/okay/same/hmm so many times in a row before you just simply… cannot.
The browser has a tab for music and honestly? Great idea, same with Tweeter, and especially with Tractor Dad: Civil War. They definitely help pass the time when you’re just trying to hear the guy out… and he talks so much… too much even. To the point where that “block” button just looks too good to be true. An hour in I pressed that button with joy, satisfaction.
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Indie Games.
DUDE, SHUT UP ABOUT HEALTHVETICA. IT’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS YOURSELF.
I’VE HUNG UP ON YOU SO MANY TIMES, AND YOU KEEP CALLING ME. STOP.
This such a great depiction of a toxic relationship. At first, Josh doesn’t seem so bad. He’s had a bad day, he’s venting. We’ve all been there. Then comes the small insults, controlling behavior, and showing he doesn’t even care about you.
Some of the dialog tree doesn’t quite match up, and if you keep going long enough, you end up in a loop of “I don’t want to talk about X anymore, let’s talk about Y.” Then on to Z, and back to X.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Superstorm Melon Date
Andi does it again and teleports us into yet another parallel universe of his wild imagination. Superstorm Melon Date takes place in a world that feels like a glimpse of the far future where struggles of the 21st century reverberate. Take a gander at the dating scene during a violent global storm with a gene-spliced melon race. You’ll feel a little odd but strangely familiar too as you break the ice and get to know your melon-date. If you like authentic characters, crazy worlds and visual novels this game is a perfect match for you! An expertly written and paced game that is short and sweet and lets you off the hook with a craving for more.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Dystopian Games.
Superstorm Melon Date definitely delivers on the levels of bizarre suggested in it’s title. In this dystopian visual novel you date Mel, a non-binary half-human/half-watermelon hybrid. For the most part I found Mel obnoxious, but they have their moments of thoughtfulness and sincerity. One of the strongest aspects of the game is the setting. Opposed to the typical dystopian world where everyone is collared by an authoritarian regime, Superstorm Melon Date shows a world where the environment is seemingly the biggest oppressor. While this is occurring, there are growing tensions between humans and their melon counterparts. I want to see more of this world.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Dear Althea
About this game
This visual novel, full of decisions and repercussions, is a fun reinterpretation of the novel “Dear Faustina” (1897) by British author Rhoda Broughton. Each chapter is filled with beautiful, high quality artwork that illustrates all the situations and moments you will experience alongside the charismatic characters. The art that you will be able to see has been made with special care in the representation of the British Victorian era as well as taking into account the class difference that is present at all times. The entire video game has 51 chapters that you will only be able to see if you play all the routes and enjoy the nine endings of the video game.
Story
In Dear Althea, you play as Althea Vane; a young upper class British woman whose life is turned upside down after the death of her father which causes her family to fall apart along with her future. She will be forced to choose a new future, a place to call home and a group to belong to. To get there she will have to face all sorts of situations in Victorian London, but love and romance will fortunately abound and make her quest more enjoyable.
Choices matter
You will find that the choices you make will change the story from the very first chapter, even if they change there will be many of them that will affect the story in the long run. In Dear Althea, your choices can affect not only your fate, but also the fate of other people. They can also change your relationship with other characters and open up new routes of dialogue that will change the dynamics of relationships.
Diverse relationships
You don’t have to fall in love with anyone or enter into any kind of romantic or sexual relationship in the game, but depending on your choices you can enter into a relationship with up to four characters that fall within the LGBT spectrum, however you don’t have to choose just one relationship; you can enter into a variety of polyamorous relationships.
Consent
In this video game, consent is discussed and encouraged in all aspects of relationships between characters. In romantic relationships there is no obligation to have sex, and refusing to have sex has no negative repercussions.
Characters
There is a great diversity of charismatic characters in “Dear Althea” but there is a clear division between upper class and working class characters. As a protagonist you can decide from the first chapter and throughout the story which group you are more sympathetic to. Defending characters from one class or the other can have repercussions.
Puzzles
If puzzles are not your thing you can skip them without missing any important plot points; however, there has been a lot of effort in the creation of the puzzles to make them all diverse. They have been integrated in the best possible way into the storyline as well as being completely set in the era in which the story takes place.
Typography
The typography has been created to help people with dyslexia to identify letters more easily. It is based on the typeface that appears in the original 1897 book.
Endings
There are a total of nine completely different final chapters, many of which are the result of decisions that took place several chapters earlier.Due to the branching of the story, finishing a single route can cause you to miss even twenty whole chapters that belong to the other routes, so the title invites replayability. Also, as a final surprise, there are some small post-credits scenes that will change depending on the decisions made throughout the story.
Duration and text
Counting all possible decisions, the game has 112408 words and (although it is not finished yet) I estimate that approximately and depending on the decisions chosen, the game can last about 5 hours.
Read More: Best Choices Matter Puzzle Games.
All is Fair in Dust and Air
All is Fair in Dust and Air is in my opinion a must buy for any fans of graphic novels/choose your own adventure style games. I have a plethora of extremely fond memories regarding this style and it being set in the Guns of Icarus world which is already an incredibly unique setting definitely gives this title a step ahead of the rest. All in all I was pleasantly surprised with this product and upon booting up the game for the first time I was met with a beautiful soundtrack and enchanting art style. Other than that the dev team has to be one of the most passionate and friendly bunch I have ever seen with updates and content being added over time unlike some of the more sketchy early access titles. What else can I say? Get this game!!!
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
I giggled when I played this visual novel, it reminds me somebody I know for some reasons lol and it also reminds me of Harvest Moon, my childhood game. The game atmosphere makes me forget about the reality world for a while, I wish I could ride on William’s airship!
– Real player with 8.6 hrs in game
Left on Read
Left on Read is a simple and interactive indie game that for those who have played ‘Emily is Away’, will feel as if they’re experiencing déjà vu in some parts. However, with this game, you’ll feel more fulfilled with the ending (if you know, you know).
A great way to kill an hour; you can’t go wrong with this one.
I wish you good luck and patience if you’re looking to complete realistic mode because surprise surprise, it’s realistic.
– Real player with 2.3 hrs in game
reminded me of the time when i was talking to this special someone and how things were going, with all its complexity. the game is definitely worth giving it a try. and, if you are looking for a sign to text the person that’s on your mind, just do it. life is too short to worry about whether you will be left on read or not.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Life is Strange Remastered
Pre-Order Life is Strange Remastered Collection and receive the ‘Zombie Crypt’ Outfit for Chloe. ‘Zombie Crypt’ Outfit is only available for use in Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered. The Life is Strange Remastered Collection includes ‘Life is Strange Remastered’ and ‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered’.
Experience the BAFTA award-winning story of Life is Strange now beautifully remastered with enhanced visuals and vastly improved animation using mocap technology.
Play as Max Caulfield, a photography senior who discovers she can rewind time while saving her best friend Chloe Price from a violent altercation.
The pair soon find themselves investigating the mysterious disappearance of fellow student Rachel Amber, uncovering a dark side to life in Arcadia Bay. Meanwhile, Max must quickly learn that changing the past can sometimes lead to a devastating future.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered
Pre-Order Life is Strange Remastered Collection and receive the ‘Zombie Crypt’ Outfit for Chloe. ‘Zombie Crypt’ Outfit is only available for use in Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered. The Life is Strange Remastered Collection includes ‘Life is Strange Remastered’ and ‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered’.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm returns with remastered visuals across characters & environments.
Set three years before ‘Life is Strange’, you play as sixteen-year old Chloe Price who forms an unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber, a beautiful and popular girl destined for success.
When Rachel learns a secret about her family that threatens to destroy her world, it is her newfound friendship with Chloe that gives her the strength to carry on.
No longer alone the girls must confront each other’s demons and together, find a way to overcome them.
Sweet F. Cake
A visual novel that pays a great homage to an impactful Russian game Everlasting Summer, featuring unique, “warm-lamp” atmosphere; distinct, well-developed characters; a solid choice of music, which greatly enhances the immersion; and last, but not the least, the great art by Texic, the author of series of comics bearing the same name.
Not much can be said about the game without spoiling the plot etc, so I’ll just say I had my good time with it. It truly feels like a labour of love kind of game, the devs' dedication to this is something else. While the initial release was a bit bumpy, with grammatical and logical errors as well as some bugs along the way, an update has arrived quickly and fixed all shenanigans known to date. Also, the devs seem to treat their players well, it is possible to reach out to them with questions, suggestions, bug reports and the like. So all in all, I encourage you to give the game a shot, especially since they don’t charge a lot to begin with.
– Real player with 23.4 hrs in game
Overall this was a pretty decent VN. Not the best out there but decent. There were some moments that I didn’t enjoy like minigames (when doing different roots its getting annoying).
What I enjoyed:
-
Story was good enough. It had some eastern eggs & plot twists but it could be deeper
-
Art was absolutely brilliant. You can’t deny it
-
Music was pleasant. Did enjoy it as well
-
Characters. Since I’ve been following original comics for some time then now I understand and know some of the characters better
– Real player with 23.0 hrs in game
TOKYO LOVE +
A very short VN with some rpg maker-like map that was founded on Kickstarter. I am one of the backers but I simply cannot recommend it.
The story, or rather ‘story’, is an incoherent mess. No character development or any development whatsoever, no explanations, no dialogues, and total nonsense. It’s just a series of choices which come out of nowhere, with no build up at all. Few events that just happen because. No continuity here. I have yet to see something less coherent than this. Sorry, this is worse than kindergarten level of writing. My guess it is a translation from japanese since english sucks badly and often makes little to no sense.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
I love this Harem style visual novel. I played the demo on itch.io, I advise you to do the same if you are not sure you want to buy it.
The story is very romantic, there are several choices that allow you to discover new things.
In addition, the hero can turn on his computer in his bedroom and play very funny sexy video games.
Exploring the city from above is great.
I would like a sequel!
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
In Blood
After a night of drinking Eleadora takes a shortcut home through the woods. She’s angry, frustrated, and sad. At the crossroads she trips and cuts her hand on some broken glass. While looking over her wounds she mutters a wish out loud that calls upon an ancient and forgotten force that changes her life forever.
She wakes up in an unknown room, in an unknown house, on an unknown plane of existence. Surrounded by horrors and death she must attempt to find an ally among the other occupants of the house. It’s clear they don’t have her best interests in mind, and trusting them could be deadly.
Survive and try to maintain your humanity.
Escape, if you still want to.
Escape, if they’ll let you.
Features:
-
4 romance options (3 guys, 1 woman)
-
Multiple endings
-
4 routes
-
5 CGs in demo (More planned in final game)
-
English voice acting in the demo (More planned for final game)
Characters:
Romance Options:
Credits
Writer, Developer, Programmer: Jaime Scribbles
Production Manager, Editor, Voice Director: PMscenarios
Character Artist: Illuminate001
GUI Artist: Sitraxis
BG Artist: Saleha Chowdhury
Illustrator: Meagan Trott and Scherville
Additional Artist: Jen Bird
Audio Director and Sound Designer: Tim Reichert
Music: Antriksh Bali and Kyle Mesce
Voice Actors
Brenton: Kevin K. Gomez
Karon: Kieran Flitton
Tristin: C. W. “Seedub” Brown
Seta: Abigail Turner
Nyarbalte: Bradley Gareth
Eris: Wes Haas