Li'l Red [NaNoRenO 2013]

[Fenrir34]

Though very short I really liked the story of this game. The writing was done well and the art had a mysterious feature that I enjoyed.

I loved how the ending could have been the world of the human. I did however, like the wolf's story more. It was really sad that his daughter was sacrificed like that but at least she's part of Red in a way. The human story was sad to since the father wouldn't see his daughter again

Anyway, good job with this game. It was really cool to play

[Donmai]

The writing was done well and the art had a mysterious feature that I enjoyed.

Thank you. Arachni and pwisaguacate did a very wonderful job when editing and proofreading the text. They also made great suggestions on one of the endings.

[Ran08]

Finally, finally. After so LONG, I finally managed to download this game! Haha, I'm so happy Donmai, after all, I loved Toire no Hanako SO much. Hahaha. ) Anyway, awesome story! I really loved it. I didn't expect the other ending at all too. That was so unpredictable. Hahaha. You better make lots more, okay? Thanks again for this!

[Donmai]

Hi, Ran. Hey, thank you for the kind review!
Seriously though, being called "master of amazing plot lines" makes me blush !

[trooper6]

A review from me!

I am biased (pro): I like feminist re-imaginings of fairy tales. I am positively disposed towards VNs that don't use the big-eyed/small-mouthed anime style. I liked Donmai's The One in Love
I am biased (con): No con biases going into this.

Another game I really enjoyed quite a lot. This makes two for two for Donmai.
So a bit of background about me. I have been hanging out here on Ren'py (and therefore part of the VN community) since 2011. However, I did not come to VN's through Japanese VNs. I've never played a Japanese VN and I do not come to this place through otome games. Rather, I found my way here through the "art game" scene. The first three art games I played, in quick succession, were Digital: A Love Story, Every Day the Same Dream, and The Path. This means that a feminist re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood is part of my VN/art game DNA. So it was great to come upon Lil' Red and have a different version of that to enjoy.

Writing: I thought was great. It was a neat and original take on the story giving me lots to think about. So yeah!
Artwork: I loved the watercolor artwork style. I also really loved how it looked like these were CGs--because the figures and backgrounds were so well integrated and cohesive and detailed, and then Red shifts to the left when trying to avoid the soldier, and *boom* these are sprites! How excellent that the foreground and background are so well co-ordinated that it looks like a painting rather than a sprite doll in front of a disconnected background.
Camera Work/Programming: Again, the camerawork was excellent in this game. I think Donmai's camera work is one of the best things about her work. And something that is very inspiring to me. I love the way you pan and zoom. The opening bit when there is a slow zoom out from the moon? Beautiful and really well done! I especially loved how you could scroll forward with the text while the image kept zooming. I need to make sure I figure out how to do that and integrate that into my own work. I loved the running, I loved the sort of transparent swirly overlay (?) that happened when the Priestess was talking to Red. I have to figure out how you did that.
Choices: There were two choices, and I really loved them. They helped define character and I really liked being able have Lil Red walk right up to the wolf (or be afraid of the wolf). Those are exactly the sorts of choices I like and felt artistically significant.
Sound: The music and sound are top notch....mostly. A loved the ambient forest sounds that are subtly in the background underneath the foregrounded music. It is that sort of attention to detail that makes Donmai's works so very good.

My only critiques:
-Regarding sound effects. The game uses the punch sound effect in the scene with the soldier...and I didn't like it. It was a bit generic and cartoony and not in keeping with the customized sophistication of the rest of the game. But one sound effect in a whole game? Not a thing to really worry about.
-This is a real nitpick. In this game, if you scroll forward, it forward the game past the last place you read rather than stopping at the last screen you read. That was not my favorite thing. I'm used to being able to scroll backwards to check something I missed, and then scrolling forward to the last place I left off. With this game I'd scroll forward expecting to stop where I left off...and end up in the future! But this is such a minuscule critique.

Last note: This game is really professionally done and evidences real thoughtfulness and imagination and attention to detail. It is really great! And it was done in only 20 days!!!! How is that possible!

Anyway. Top marks! 9/10

[Donmai]

Thank you for another helpful review.

[Naru_san]

That was really pleasant and sentimental game!
I was nicely surprised when found out that story was told by two sides.
Thank for good playing time)

[Donmai]

Nice to know you liked it, Naru_san. Thank you very much for commenting.

[OokamiKasumi]

My apologies for waiting so long to play this.
-- The graphics were very pretty and the effects very well done. The music was well chosen and worked very well with your effects and your story. As for the story, I particularly liked the double-twist in the end. For such a short game, it was quite impressive.

Thank you for creating it!

[Donmai]

Wow! Thank you.
(Doesn't it make you smile when you hear kind words from someone you admire?)

[Donmai]

Li'l Red Version 1.10 (May 09, 2015)
Brazilian Portuguese Version included. Some UI tweakings.

Lil_Red-1.10-all.zip

(63.37 MiB) Downloaded 401 times

Thanks to my good friend Vera, who helped me to put my commas, full stops and accents where they should belong.
Portuguese is a poetic and romantic language when we speak, but it's full of little traps when we try to put it on paper (or on screen, in this case ).