"Penny Larceny is warm. It overflows with love, empathy, and hope. It won me over right away with the genuine affection and trust Penny has for The Voice and Gibson, even when things go wrong; they’re such a perfect team! Same goes for all of the relationship interests; despite the fast progression, their friendships or romances with Penny all felt right, and their depth and character growth meant I soon grew to care for them, too.
Not that it’s all fluff and sugar; there’s plenty of adventure, too! There may not be any real challenge here, nor any wrong choices. But there were still several moments when I felt concerned about Penny’s fate, and even more when I was impressed at her badassery. And when she couldn’t solve something on her own … well, let’s just say that I got to do some badassery of my own, too!
Like all Fiction Factory games, Penny Larceny does not pretend it is not political. The world Penny moves through is full of unfairness, discrimination, and exploitation, clearly mirroring the issues present in this reality. However, the story never feels heavy or overwhelming, since all that truth is balanced with plenty of hope for the future and just as much excellent humour. Oh, and being able to steal from all the bad guys and make a positive difference helps, too!"
I finally started on #SteinsGate0 Some folks I follow mentioned that this game can be pretty brutal compared to Steins;Gate... and going by the opening I agree.
Still it is very nice to revisit this world, with this gorgeous art style, great soundtrack and perfect voice acting.
If someone asked me if games are art and used Steins;Gate as part of the question I'd say "Yes, games are art. And they are beautiful."
Maybe it wasn’t a very good idea to play a game about death right after playing a game about death. However, death is constantly looming, either slowly in the background or right before our eyes. It can be but a little diluted concept in the back of our minds, or it can be announced on a visit to the doctor. It can be a gamble because of our lifestyle, or it can be a gamble because of a diagnosis. It can come due to old age or earlier due to unforeseen circumstances. When people say that we should cherish the moments we have with each other it can come as a big cliche, and indeed it is. You can find the most beautiful words to describe the inevitable but, in the end, it’s very much our nature and the nature of all things living.
Try to imagine a world without death. I’ve tried it many times. It’s the realm of the impossible but we can make the exercise. How many would we be? Would we be constant for all eternity, or would more people be born? How could someone come into existence in a world where there’s eternal permanence? Would there be conflict and consequence like punishment for all eternity, without means to alleviate pain and suffering? Would there be eternal happiness in the arms of a loved one guaranteed to live forever? Would we jump into another relationship after those failed 500 years of marriage? Would there be years and the concept of time even? Would we become of another nature to adapt to a nature without renewal? Why would someone want this? There’s someone who wants this.
It’s very easy to spoil a game like Slay the Princess (StP) or any visual novel for that matter. Even games from other genres are a little difficult to write about if we don’t decide to include spoilers. Hold your thoughts about death because they will be a constant while you navigate StP. Not everything is about death, there’s more to the game and its nature, there’s loops and loops, of constant coming and going, and in the process, we witness love, violence, despair and our own reflected image in the mirror. All of it happens inside a cabin, or in another cabin in another time. The memories remain, but the path is another, although the same. StP felt more like a roguelike visual novel than a visual novel with many routes. It is in fact a visual novel with many routes and sub-routes and sub-sub-routes, but I liked to entertain the idea of a roguelike game where I was constantly dying and could come back to where I started now armed with valuable knowledge only to be surprised that nothing was how it was before.
You have to slay the princess; you just have to. And if you don’t, the world is going to end. What will you do? Look, I did everything or so I thought. I played the game for about 6 hours, and I got about three endings. If you decide to play the game the achievement bar is a good indicator of your progress. I’m at 37% therefore I haven’t seen half of the outcomes in the game. The princess is inside a cabin chained inside a basement. Your task is very straightforward, but which cabin you end up in or which princess will you find depends on your choices. It doesn’t matter if you live or die for the princess will always be communicating something. However, how do we know we have to kill the princess? We have a voice – the Narrator – that tells us to do so. But, since we go back and forth (or only forth) in this loop, how many are they?
The game is not only a quest about slaying the princess and preventing the end of the world. It’s also about the player and their journey to find their own identity. After all, we have to find a clue about why we have to kill a princess in the first place, and where to find some answers as to how to proceed towards the conclusion of our quest. It seems more complicated than it is. Even though it doesn’t look like it at first, the game has a start and an ending, and each route doesn’t take long to complete. The help of a guide for the completionists should come in handy.
Slay the Princess was created by Black Tabby Games and released in 2023 for PC. It has great art and extremely good voice acting. It was one of the indie games I looked forward to playing upon release, in 2023, but I only managed to play it now.
This is the only zine covering text-heavy, choice-heavy, narrative games from around the world! No one else is talking about the stuff like we are, so don't sleep on it.
Please, for the love of everything, help us spread the word!
Night Cascades, a mystery romance set in a New Age infused version of the 1980s, by @hanakogames
Seers Isle, an interactive graphic novel by @novabox in a fantasy medieval northern Europe setting. Themes include individual survival, and the clash between monotheism & polytheism
I started coding the main ending scene (with gameplay) for Silke's path. Each girl has one scene in which:
A) you can both die
B) you can survive but she dies
C) no one dies
obviously, A = game over, B=sad/alone ending, C=happy ending #visualnovels#adventuregames#indiedev
I started playing Misericorde (a visual novel mystery set in a medieval nunnery) last night. Only meant to play for an hour, but ended up playing all evening and I'm clearing out today's schedule so I can hopefully finish it tonight...
Refraining from sharing too many thoughts until I finish, but it's been a long time since a story has gripped me this hard. It's an exciting feeling, to read something this thoughtful.
Finished Misericorde! Very reminisent of Umineko in the second half...
Anyway, here's some lighter moments from this murder mystery novel. Wanted to highlight some dialog that isn't already plastered everywhere but honestly, the "how many ducks could you fight" and "let's draw cats" scenes are just too good to not include. #indiegames#visualnovels#misericorde
Uff, I'm getting too old for this achievements thing. I mean, there is something better I could be doing with my time.... maybe not. There was a secret battle that took me 1h and was hard, at least to me. Thanks Eruruu for your precious heals! Unlocked all OST, CGs, items, events, you name it. #Utawarerumono#Steam#videogames#pcgaming#VisualNovels#jrpg#strategy
Ugh, Valve is now allowing AI content in the games. Now Steam will be flooded by crappy games but with beautiful art 😂#visualnovels in particular will be affected, since it's one of the easiest kind of games to do, IF you have art/music ready.
Dunno, I feel like this year will be yet another major turning point after Greenlight. Probably things will get much worse, I hope to be wrong.
I'll keep using handmade art in my games as long as it will be commercially viable! #indiedev#gamedev
If you enjoy visual novels, nuns and swords (who doesn't?) I warmly recommend Misericorde: Volume One. Developed by XEECEE it tells the story of an Anchoress called Hedwig, forced to break her lifelong vows to investigate a crime at Linbarrow Abbey. The novel is straightforward, reads like a book, no branches. The art is gorgeous b&w over pictures of a convent. The writing and story flow is where it shines. #IndieGames#VisualNovels#Videogames#PCgaming https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708110/Misericorde_Volume_One/
I've been enjoying my share of #VisualNovels on #NintendoSwitch I started by playing #SaintMaker which is a yuri religious horror story with great voice acting and narrative. Easy to 100%, about 5h. I loved every bit of it. Then #PerfectGold a mini yuri novel, 2 hours max, only focused on romance. I started #TheLetter this weekend and it's easily the best of the lot. It branches a lot and everything is so well sewn together. We play an horror story from the perspective of 7 characters.
I've now beaten Yu-No: The Girl Who Chants Love at the Bounds of the World. Without any spoilers, I really liked it. I can see why it was so influential on VNs that followed like Steins;Gate and Clannad. If you like sci-fi, mystery, and aren't adverse to sexual content, then I would highly recommend it. #YuNo#visualnovels#visualnovel
I'm not the best at #introduction (s) but here goes nothin :002blush:
hoi, I'm mana, also known as momo. I'm an FC leader in #ffxiv and I play on Primal DC. I'm shy, but one of those people who won't shut up once you get to know me. I have a tendency to be introspective/keep to myself when I'm really depressed. I have #cptsd and am #neurodivergent. Also, I'm disabled from #rheumatoidarthritis and #ehlersdanlossyndrome and #fibromyalgia. Most days are good days, but the bad ones are pretty bad :blobcat_notlikethiscry:
I like modding/coding games so I've been learning #blender and #json to facilitate that. idk what else to say butt hi everyone, thanks for reading this if you did! let's be friends?:sbahri_question:
I'm struggling to find any advice on making VNs online which is not mostly concerned with technical details. I want to read about how to design good sprites, how to use the soundtrack to best effect, etc... not how to organise project files or use renpy
Me (super horny): Let's download this sexy Visual Novel for the adult fun times 😏
Visual Novel: Meet Mr. Evil bastard, who defrauded your parents and threw your entire family into poverty, bwahahahahah! Oh and enjoy him beating the shit out of you in a scene. How's that adrenaline going? 😈
Sure, there's quite a few sex scenes here and there, but the plot is super-interesting and very well executed.
Basically there's this teenage girl with a contagious disease that is being chased by the police, and your job is to capture her and deliver her to a biotech corp so they can test their experimental cure on her and sell a generalized cure later. But the competitors are fierce, and they won't stop to get what they want.
Gameplay highlights: Unlike other adult visual novels, besides the sexy scenes catalog, this one includes a Glossary and a list of contacts for you to keep your intel organized.
in some scenes there's a special "possible clue" hint that tells you you must click on a suspicious area of the screen, like a detective. I only noticed until later (damn).
I hadn't seen this level of detail in a Visual Novel since Phoenix Wright.
Let's hope I can keep playing at least another 2 hours before I reach the end of this release.
Trying to convince other people to join m/otomegames
Me whenever I start a Yandere's route
What visual novel are you currently reading?
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