Locked-In [mystery, drama] - English, Dutch, German

[inhalance]

This game was thoroughly entertaining. ^^ In my first two playthroughs, I managed to get "blackmailer" and "boss". I loved the music, effects, and art in this game. Everything looked very professional and smooth. I have to admit, the protagonist came across to me as somewhat selfish and harsh, but it definitely added to the depth of the game (if that makes any sense to you ;__; ).

I really had fun with this! Thanks for such a great game!

[DreamDragonHatchling]

great game!

[saguaro]

Thanks for playing, everyone, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

My favorite ending was Lucky, though Dead was great, too. So creepy.

I thought Dead would generate a bit of interest, but I don't think it's been mentioned often. I'm glad you found it effective.

[Lire]

It was interesting plot.
I was eager to get all the plot and got it.
People only know the best for them when they are weak.
*just mumbling by myself.
Keep up the good work.

[AngelicBlood]

Unlocked my bragging rights!
And it took me awhile to realize that

Sasha was the only person I could actually trust. I trusted Delilah once..bad idea.

[bippers]

Weee bragging rights!
The atmosphere of the game was just amazing.

Jacqueline was my favorite, mostly because the few times I could make choices that I thought would suit her (not trusting her wife, flippin' Sasha the bird just because she could in 7, refusing to wiggle her fingers at the end of 8 ) were strangely satisfying. Though I felt oddly sorry for Delilah, even when I unlocked Prisoner. Jac's kind of... hard.

I love the bird!nurses and the vulture!lawyer

I trusted Sasha first (and only her) so my first ending was Blackmailer, family til the end! But Boss takes the cake as the best ending in my head for Jac!
BOSS. JACQUELINE BROWN. hell yeah she is

[Ada Sheep]

For being so minimal, this is a very beautiful game. I liked

Prisoner, as unfortunate a situation it is. It amused me though, and there's still some hope to it!

[saguaro]

Thank you for playing, everyone. It's always nice to see new unlocked banners in this thread!

Jacqueline was my favorite, mostly because the few times I could make choices that I thought would suit her (not trusting her wife, flippin' Sasha the bird just because she could in 7, refusing to wiggle her fingers at the end of 8 ) were strangely satisfying. Though I felt oddly sorry for Delilah, even when I unlocked Prisoner. Jac's kind of... hard.

I have a lot of sympathy for Delilah. She wasn't always like this; she has changed in response to the ways Jac has changed. Jac tends to assume everyone wants power (control, money, etc.) because that's what she wants, but I think Delilah wants to feel like she's important and part of something, and at this point the marriage has deteriorated so much she's looking elsewhere to fill that need.

I trusted Sasha first (and only her) so my first ending was Blackmailer, family til the end! But Boss takes the cake as the best ending in my head for Jac!
BOSS. JACQUELINE BROWN. hell yeah she is

I like that one too. Jac's got her problems, but when she's good at something, she's very good at it.

[immo_love]

I played your game already but yesterday I played it once again.
So here I am on the forum so I can tell you how much I liked it:)
The thing I liked the most is that the main character was not another innocent and boring maiden. The plot was intriguing.
A very creative way of using the art and animations:D I tried to copy some of the animations but failed
Hope to see more games from you in future!

ps. sorry If my english is not so good^^

[arachni42]

I finally got around to playing this... and I enjoyed it. Loved the animations, and I liked the use of color with the silhouettes.

Incidentally, I also remember seeing Jac's "wallpaper" and wondering what kind of old-fashioned character would choose that. But it seems she is just "not most people." It was an interesting aesthetic.

I got the lucky ending first, but I went through again until I got all of them. I wasn't expecting the interaction between the people you decide to trust, but I thought that was very cool.

[saguaro]

I played your game already but yesterday I played it once again.
So here I am on the forum so I can tell you how much I liked it:)
The thing I liked the most is that the main character was not another innocent and boring maiden. The plot was intriguing.
A very creative way of using the art and animations:D I tried to copy some of the animations but failed
Hope to see more games from you in future!

ps. sorry If my english is not so good^^

Hey, thank you for playing and the kind words. If you're still interested in ATL, there's a tutorial that uses stuff from Locked-In as examples:
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 51&t=16604

Feel free to post questions there, but honestly I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore.

I finally got around to playing this... and I enjoyed it. Loved the animations, and I liked the use of color with the silhouettes.

I got the lucky ending first, but I went through again until I got all of them. I wasn't expecting the interaction between the people you decide to trust, but I thought that was very cool.

Thanks for CATCHIN' 'EM ALL, it warms my cold, black heart. Every time someone unlocks all the endings my power grows.

[Ota]

Oa. Now I'll tell the Internet this game is awesome. I'll play it again. Thanks for making this game

[saguaro]

Thank you, I appreciate your support.

[trooper6]

Someone mentioned this game in another thread so I thought I'd download it and play it.

So here's my review:

Overall, the game gets an A/A-. It is a very good game. Very, very good.

Art: The art and art direction is amazing. Everything is wonderful. I especially love that you went with a non-cliché style, that everything fits well with the themes of the game. The art is so good!
UI: I love your fonts, the wonderful UI. Everything is so cohesive and it all works well to complement the story.
Animations: You animations are insanely awesome. They are so professional and the attention to detail is superb. For example, I love that the clouds are not at full opacity so when they pass by each other, you get this wonderful darker gray at their overlap. Or the wonderful ice cube animations...or the birds attacking the killer animations. So good!

Gameplay: This for me is the one place that I'm a bit ... hm.... about. I love the unlocking of each chapter as you progress. So...how do I put this? The game does a thing. It worked for my first play through...but I wasn't as excited by it for my subsequent playthroughs. Your final ending comes down to three choices and once you've played through once it becomes obvious that that is true. And those choices are binary flags. So, then you just go through all the different permutations of those flag combinations until you get them all. It didn't really have immersion in play through 4+. It felt like I was ticking off the options in a game sort of way, rather than living in the story. I tend to prefer the elements that go into the ending to be a bit less obvious, or nested or something to preserve my immersion. However, play through #1 was full of the best immersion and tension and mystery, and the ending gameplay mechanic still held immersion for me for endings 1-4. It isn't bad and it works for this game. I hope for less easily manipulable ending paths in future projects.

Writing: The writing is great. I loved, loved, loved it. I know VNs Now critiqued the realism of some of the legal and medical detailing, but I read this, especially because of the art, as being very related to a 1980s night-time soap a la Dynasty...but with lesbians. Those soaps exist in a world of heightened reality...and so did this VN for me. So I had no nitpicks with any of that. I just thought it was great. I loved that this easily passed the Bechdel test. I loved all the endings. My True Ending...i.e. the one I got first, was Boss. And I loved that. But all the endings are great. I loved the twists and turns. I LOVE Sasha. She's the best ever.

Characters: Jacqueline is such an unpleasant protagonist! Love it! I am excited to see a game where the protagonist is just not very nice and I have to deal with that as a player. I would have rooted for her downfall...but most of the other people around her were less nice (except for Charles)...and I felt her redeemed a bit through her experiences...maybe.
Sound: So well done. So well done. Really. So well done. Hats off to you for this.

Misc: This game has got lesbians (and not male-gaze phony lesbians), it has got soapy goodness, it has got an unlikeable protagonist, it has got mystery, twists and turns, it has got amazing sound, art, and animations. It is doing something new and innovative in the world of Ren'py games. It is smart. Smart, smart, smart. It makes me think and want to write an academic article about it. I figure I could put this together with FaceTime and Katawa Shoujo write about disability in VNs no problem.

I put this game in a trio with FaceTime and Cave Cave Deus Videt as game doing really interesting experimental things with graphics.

So Good.

[saguaro]

Thanks for playing and all your comments, I really appreciate it. It's good to hear people are still discovering and enjoying it.

I agree with you about the endings. Having a game with a bunch of endings was on my dev bucket list, and by about the fifth one I was like UGH WHY but I stuck with the plan and did it anyway. Haha. But I'll never do one like that again.

I hope for less easily manipulable ending paths in future projects.

Yeah, that is a goal I have for myself.