Announcements

I have an extra announcement I wasn't expecting to have, and it isn't a good one.

I recently learned that my grandfather passed away. So that may mess with productivity for a little while. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Yumi-chan's Wonderful Cake Shop artwork is progressing nicely, and I'm also working on a collaboration with a relative/artist, which I will formally announce once we have more of the details hashed out.

I don't feel a whole lot right now. Just wanted to keep you guys informed. Thanks.

Circus Reviews - Strawberry Vinegar

Having fixed the previously mentioned, mildly frustrating debit card issues, I immediately went to Steam and bought this game. As you may recall, I don't generally do excessively cute games, but every now and then one manages to draw me in and I make an exception, Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet being the last time this happened. I've been watching for this game's release for a little while now, and was quite excited to dive into a game that, at first glance, appears to have quite a lot of cuteness and food porn. Which is always fun.

Strawberry Vinegar stars nine-year-old Rie Sakuraba, a girl who is both more intelligent and more cynical than most others her age. She leads a relatively solitary existence, preferring not to bother herself with other people. Her world gets thrown out of balance when she walks into her kitchen one day and finds a young demon girl eating a tray of freshly baked cookies. The demon girl, Licia, threatens Rie, saying that if she isn't fed at least one delicious thing every day, Rie's soul will be forfeit.

Our protagonist, Rie, is an odd one among visual novel characters. She actively pushes people away, isn't afraid to tear down her father's occasional emotional outbursts, and looks to such works as The Communist Manifesto to explain the actions of others. She kind of grows on you, though. And she serves as a great contrast to Licia, who is silly and ditzy and loudmouthed but ultimately innocent and well-meaning. It's a far better pair than Rie's parents, Kazuki and Yukine, who have a rather disturbing relationship that, quite frankly, worries me. Kazuki cooks and cleans and takes the majority of responsibility for Rie's care, and Yukine cheerfully abuses him every chance she gets. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be cute or what, but it throws up a ton of red flags for me. Granted, it does get better; there's a scene with Yukine later wherein she elaborates on how she and Kazuki met and fell in love, and it gives Yukine some humanization that she desperately needed earlier in the story.

The writing is quite good. Perhaps sometimes a bit too wordy for a nine-year-old, but then again, it is repeatedly established that Rie is smarter than the average nine-year-old, so it's not completely out of place. The artwork really shines here, particularly in the CGs. SillySelly has done work on a few of ebi-hime's visual novels now, but I feel her best work is here. There are lots of CGs of food and few CGs of people, and more food porn abounds here than in the Game of Thrones books. And it's pretty sweet.

There are six endings, ranging from you screwing things up royally to you and Licia becoming best friends forever (or maybe something more...?). There are some light yuri elements, but it remains age appropriate for the very young main characters involved.

All in all, it's a good addition to ebi-hime's portfolio, with a sweet story and a charming lead couple. My only major issue, as mentioned before, is Yukine's character and her treatment of Kazuki, but that does end up being addressed (if only in one path). Even so, it's a strong VN, and very possibly the one with the most food porn. Which, again, is always fun.

Strawberry Vinegar is available on Steam or itch.io.

Final verdict: A troubling mother character aside, Strawberry Vinegar is just as sticky sweet as it looks, and a bunch of charming moments with the two leads combined with a genuinely heartfelt story make this worth a read.

Strawberry Vinegar is developed by ebi-hime and published by Sekai Project. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Circus Reviews - Pangs (you are hungry.)

Thanks to my debit card expiring and the bank taking its time getting me a new one, I am unable to purchase games for the time being. In my bored search for new games to play in the meantime, I stumbled upon this one, which looked black and white and dark enough to satisfy the current black and white and dark mood I'm in.

You start off alone in an alley with no memory of who you are or how you got there, but preoccupied with the thought that you're very hungry. Who are you? How did you get there?

I know that my above description of the plot is extremely lacking. But I'm loathe to spoil the game for anyone. It starts you off with little information and then gradually reveals what's going on in a way that really got to me. There are multiple plot twists within and they all took me off guard, in a way that hasn't happened in a while. Maybe it's obvious to you what will happen, but I'm not going to ruin it either way.

Unlike most visual novels, this game has no sprites; it relies on its background art and its story to move things along, putting it slightly closer to traditional interactive fiction games. The art has the look of glitchy photography and fits the atmosphere quite well. While there are plenty of sound effects, the background music is almost non-existent. It's an unusual choice, but it didn't detract from my experience; it almost made things...creepier.

This isn't a long game; there are five different endings and you can probably get through them all in about half an hour. There are a few flaws to be found: some of the decision points have typos, and the sound effects when moving your cursor over a button can be distracting. But overall, this has been put together very well. This is the studio's first game, and I'm interested to see what else they come up with.

I feel like I haven't said as much as I normally would, but that's out of my desire to give you the same experience I had: one untainted by knowledge. I had no idea what to expect going in, and I had a good experience for it. The game is short enough, it won't take you long to play, and it's enjoyable and intriguing. I guess that I can't really say much more than "give it a shot."

Pangs (you are hungry.) is available on itch.io.

Final verdict: A few minor flaws here and there, but nothing that takes away from an atmospheric game with a story full of plot twists that will take you by surprise.

Pangs (you are hungry.) is developed by stardust★soda. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet - Questions and Answers

Blogger's comment system confuses me and there are things I need to answer but I can't tell if I've answered them or not. SO YAH.

To the commenter asking about the "worst" end: I did in fact mix up the "frozen" end and the "worst" end when answering previously, and I apologize. Another commenter pointed out that the "worst" end actually requires being nice to Gumdrop and mean to everyone else. Thanks, Anonymous commenter, whoever you are, for correcting my mistake.

To the commenter asking about a Pastille end: There is a Pastille end. I don't feel comfortable giving out the exact choices here, since I got my walkthrough from the developer's guidebook, which wasn't free. But it exists!

Sorry that I had to make a separate post for this. I made an incorrect comment and now I can't seem to view it on the blog for some reason, so I figured this was the quickest way to address things. I do think I've figured out what the issue is, though. Yay.

Thanks!

Circustale

Squeaking in one last post before the year ends.

2015 was the year I left the crappy job I'd worked at for over three years and ended up in a much better job that I can actually feel happy with. Mere days before I left that crappy job, I also made the decision to begin developing games. I've gotten a ways in with that...I've released three games, have a couple more in the works, and I plan to keep pushing forward.

Plus, you know, I have swag business cards.

However...that's not what this post is really about.

Despite being a writer, I have a hard time telling people some things. Or maybe, I worry that I'm not getting my point across and thus stress too much. But I am a sincere person, so I generally go with just saying how I feel and hoping that gets it across.

I am honored to have Naomi Norbez as a Patron and a fan. I want to share with you all some of what she made me for Christmas.

I don't think I could ever really put into words how happy this makes me. Just...thank you. Thank you so much.

https://www.patreon.com/Norbez?ty=h
https://twitter.com/NaomiNorbez
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTi1ZD1yxRIrsF2EKfWgssg

Thank you to everyone who follows me, and I'll see you with some more stuff in 2016!

Circus Reviews - Asphyxia

I've been meaning to play this game for a while now, but didn't get around to buying it until very recently. I fully intended to review it Christmas day, but then the whole Steam nonsense happened, and here we are a couple days later.

Asphyxia follows Samantha "Sam" Coleridge, a seventeen-year-old boarding school attendee in London whose lifelong depression has recently worsened thanks to a falling out with her best friend/idol, Lillian Wordsworth (and also a separate falling out with her decidedly-not-best friend, Tabitha De Quincy). Despite Roberta Southey's attempts to comfort her, Sam is despondent. Will a school field trip give Sam the chance to set things right...or is there no hope left for her and Lillian?

The characters are apparently all based off British Romantic poets, and the game provides literature files about the poet each girl is based on. I personally did not play through with this information (and reading it all prior to playing may spoil some plot events), but it can give you a lot of insight into the characters' actions and why things happen the way they do. It's an interesting choice, although it seems to have caused some people confusion about why the game itself isn't actually set in the time when these poets lived. The writing is also meant to evoke the time period, and it serves its purpose well even if it's a bit flowery at times.

Samantha herself is a spot-on portrayal of a depressed teenager, and I identified with her quite strongly. Other than how Sam feels about each of them respectively, Lillian and Roberta are extremely similar: they've done their best to take care of Sam but find it overwhelming to the point of draining their patience at times, and they're flawed but ultimately want what's best for their friend. De Quincey (I don't know why her teenage schoolmates only refer to her by her last name, it's a bit odd) is a creepy and obsessive stalker, and while I won't spoil the event that caused her and Sam to stop speaking, let's just say it ends up making her look very bad, and if the game wanted me to feel sympathy for her it failed miserably on that point. Georgia and Percy are mostly background characters; although Georgia gets a bit more limelight in one of the endings, Percy feels tacked on. Miss Alexandra Pope is a concerningly sadistic teacher, and while it's commented that she looks young for her age, her sprite takes that too far; she looks roughly the same age as her students, and it's distracting.

There are four endings you can get, and while all of them are well-written, none feels complete without the others. Each path has information vital to who Sam is, information that you don't get on other paths. It feels like this was meant to be one full novel with everything presented together rather than spread out across different paths. I did like all the paths, though, and was quite eager to finish them and get the big picture.

The art is gorgeous, and the soundtrack is pleasant. I enjoyed the story despite the above-listed issues. I suspect that Samantha might be hard to relate to for a player who hasn't dealt with clinical depression, but I found her quite relatable myself. I still find myself thinking that a more concise novel focusing on Samantha, Roberta, and Lillian that included all relevant events might have been more enjoyable. Regardless, there were enough positive notes to keep me engaged throughout my entire play through, and I'm glad I finally picked this up.

Asphyxia is available on Steam and itch.io.

Final verdict: While the side characters don't feel as developed as the mains and the branching paths feel like they need connecting, Asphyxia has a wonderful main character and a bittersweet but compelling story.

Asphyxia is developed by ebi-hime and published by Sekai Project. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Steam Winter Sale Visual Novel Recommendations

God, what a mouthful of a title.

Just a quick write up of my recommendations for this year's Steam Winter Sale, since I'm sure that you all have plenty of money left over from Christmas shopping. Disclaimer: this game obviously can't include games I haven't played, since that wouldn't be much of a recommendation.

Sound of Drop - fall into poison -

Length: 3 to 5 hours

Genre: Horror

Discount: 30% off ($12.99 to $9.09)

My thoughts: Great characters, great story, great soundtrack. Some of the endings and choices feel rather contrived. Full review here.

Hatoful Boyfriend and Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star

Length: 4 to 6 hours for each game

Genre: Dating sim, parody

Discount: 75% off for Hatoful Boyfriend ($9.99 to $2.49), 15% off for Holiday Star ($9.99 to $8.49), 50% for the bundle of both games' deluxe editions ($24.99 to $12.49)

My thoughts: Well-known, very hilarious games. Hatoful Boyfriend is regularly discounted to this price, so you'll probably get another chance to pick it up soon. Holiday Star's discount is a bit smaller since it came out like last week, so that I'd recommend getting while it has a discount.

Cinders

Length: 3 to 5 hours

Genre: Fractured fairy tale

Discount: 60% off (from $19.99 to $7.99)

My thoughts: Much more than just a Cinderella retelling. Plenty of replay value, although getting all the variations of the endings gets tedious. Great characterization. Full review here.

The Royal Trap

Length: 5 to 8 hours

Genre: Adventure, romance

Discount: 40% off ($19.99 to $11.99)

My thoughts: An intriguing story and nice artwork, but its biggest strength is in its amazing, heartwarming characters. This game is actually on sale directly from the Hanako Games website for a bigger discount, but regional pricing may vary.

eden*

Length: 5 to 8 hours

Genre: Romance, apocalypse

Discount: 60% off ($19.99 to $7.99)

My thoughts: Touching romance, gorgeous visuals, high production quality very apparent. Full review here.

-

And with that, happy spending! I personally am going to sit in a corner and be sad that I can't afford Clannad.

Year End - Heading Into 2016

Hello, folks. This is a condensed version of my Patreon post regarding the year's end and what plans for 2016 are.

I intended to have Yumi-chan's Wonderful Cake Shop done by now, but unexpected delays ended up making that impossible. Currently progress is being made and I am projecting release for spring 2016. I will keep you guys posted on how that goes.

I am working on other projects, and have decided the visual novel I'm going to be focusing on. I want to have my second visual novel out in 2016 as well, but I'm not sure how financially feasible that is. We'll have to see.

In closing, I thought that my first roughly-a-year of video game production went as swimmingly as it could for a newbie such as myself. I released three games, small though they were, and am actively working on others. I feel like I've gotten somewhere.

Thank you to all my followers. I appreciate your support.

Oh, and one last thing...

Yumi-chan's completed sprite! :)