Time's Tear

[lordcloudx]

lordcloudx >> that story is like fan fiction.

Climax Scene From Time's Tear II (inside my head with a shoujo-anime twist. )
also: my version of teenage Alicia.

Alicia: Daijobu Kazuhiko... even if... even if we were to lose all our memories of Calleighmore - of "us." Even if time itself stands against us... you will... remember me... won't you?

Kazuhiko... I... will never forget you. My heart will never forget you; your form, your warmth, your kindness. So...so... let's stay together. Even when we can no longer remember each other, our hearts will know. As long as we are together, I know that we will definitely fall in love again.

Ne? Kazuhiko?

Kazuhiko: But even as Alicia said this, the Time's Tear phenomenon had already begun to wipe our memories of each other's existence. When it was all over, I would find myself standing face to face with a vaguely familiar golden-haired beauty. Her face was so close, that I could actually hear her breathing. It was slow and even... it was... calming...

[Mr. E]

After a few complications, I finally get some time to reviw this great game. Ok, here goes:
First, I'd like to say that I had no idea Time's Tear was designed for children when I first played it. I did notice that all the characters were young, the scenario was a bit "farytale" and the puzzles were very forgiving but for some reason the category "Children's story" didn't hit me... Maybe it's because I tend to associate "children's story" with those horrible little stories that are all love and peace and friendship and trite moralistic messages and cuteness and zero originality... Urgh. The list goes on. Time's tear is, as all other posts revealed without a shadow of doubt, a story that can be read by adults and children alike. It had charm, a pretty old premise but worked this time with many different twists and things that mark it as an ATP game.
The good parts of the story are many, so I'll mention only the parts that come to me now. The first thing I liked is the beginning, showing the difficulties of the two orphans in a very realistic way. There were no soppyness, no "evil stepmother", just pure and plain difficulty, not overwhelming, but you could still feel that the lives of these two weren't easy. Actually, creating a supposedly children's story without any manicheisim is something EXTREMELY praisable! No Evil Dark Lord... No Evil Empire... Not even a Stupid And Mean Villan! The closest things to that are the guards and the king, and you can hardly blame them for doing their job... I also liked the adventure part at the end. I was literally holding my breaht as I went through all these different puzzles and read the chase scene... Extremely well-constructed scene. The flashbacks in between the chase scenes explaining the plan worked fantastically well.
The whole fantasy setting had many qualities that set it apart from both farytales and fantasy adventures. The history class... The "marrying or dying" law (reminded me a bit of The Lady and the Tiger) and the ball scene were brilliant. The real world seemed very different, yet equally harsh and equally charming, which made it a very unique experience.
The characters were also quite intreresting, despite some having little space to develop in the whole adventure. Kazuhiko and Hideo are very resourceful and mature for their ages, being remarkably likeable. Alicia is also very different from your average princess... Which make things intresting. I only regret a little that her friend had very little time onscreen and couldn't really assert her personality a lot... The reason she saved Hideo and everything... But maybe hers is another story. In the end I'm not calling this a defect or anything. The story works fine the way it is.
The gameplay is definetly another great hit, from the waiting bell part that drew the tension out (I lost the bell count in the middle of the speech I was lucky to get it right first time) to the various "inventory" puzzles, it just added to both the story and the game, which is what really well-designed gameply is about. The puzzles weren't thrown in the middle, floatin aimlessly and unconnected, they were central to the plot.
The graphics were also very nice, with a stunning quantity of CGs! The coloring was also very good. They had quite a distinctive style. The music worked well to, especially the chase scene one.
Buuut (you know what's coiming right? ) I have to put a nitpick in here. I simply must. Ok then. My only real problem was with the ending of the story. It was going very well, up untill the part where the teacher explains everything. Don't take me wrong, the explanation itself is ok, but the WAY it was explained was not. After that very climatic chase scene, the disappointment of the "artifact" and the few moments when Alicia and Kazuhiko are together... The pace suddenly disappears completely and the teacher explains, basically, that "everything will be fine, happy ending". I think the scene lost a lot of its potential impact in the way it was told. No tension, no great happyness, no confrontation... Nothing. The explanation was good and the plot twist at the end (so characteristic of ATP ) did surprise me, but it didn't move me. Well no one mentioned this except me, so maybe it's just my biased perception. Take all I said with a huge lump of salt. Oh, and one more thing. I REALLY liked Mr. Fukuhashi's final love twist. Although it was a part of the same ending that I just criticized, for me it was incredible. I had been thinking for sometime "Why the hell did they have a graphic sprite for that maid, but not for any other lowly servant?" And when I saw the Secondary-character-Fukuhashi with the even-more-secondary-maid, that alone made the whole ending for me worthwhile. It showed that even insignificant characters may have depth and a ife that you do not suspect the first time you see them. The poem completed at the end was also effective. Don't get me wrong. I jsut think the explanation could have been more inside the plot, rather than attached at the end of it.
*sigh* Now you know why I was hesitant of reviwing this game... Well, when I like a game, sometimes these monstruous reviews show up, so I guess there's nothing that can be done. Congratulations to all the Time's Tear team. The game was very different and exciting!

EDIT- Let there be spoiler tags!

[monele]

I had no idea Time's Tear was designed for children when I first played it.

It was *not* ^^;... mikey made this point numerous times ^^;

Oh, btw, there's at least a few things you could put in spoiler tags ^^

[mikey]

Thanks for that thorough review!! Some chaotic answes follow ^_^.

I'm glad that this no-evil-to-defeat approach is working, and especially that action is also possible without life-threatening danger - really I'm so happy. I repeat this so many times like stupid I know, but I'm so happy it worked. I've had so much faith in this, I really believed this can be done - but as you mentioned the graphics, it woud have been impossible to make it without lordcloudx's contribution.

Yes, officially I call it "children's adventure", for me it means it's an adventure with children as main protagonists. Maybe it's a bit Engrish.

Marry or die - indeed, but of course for the purpose of this game it was marry or go to prison No deaths.

I wanted to insert a mini story about how Sophie and Alicia became friends, it wasn't realized in the end. Same for the endings you poined out - there were actually several planned, but in the end, I didn't want to make it multiend - and I chose the explanatory one to cut it off from the adventure feeling - true it is quite abrupt, but I suppose that's what I like - maybe you remember Gakuen Redux, it also had this sharp cut... and indeed the ending isn't supposed to be the point, it's not supposed to be the "aaah" moment, because the true memories from this game I wanted to be the time Kazuhiko spent with Alicia and the kingdom and how they had this adventure.

Nevertheless, it's flattering to hear something is "characteristic" of ATP games - I'm really happy if people can feel this.

The bell, I put in an emergency hint - the penultimate time it sounds (6th time), Kazuhiko asks himself "Is it time already?", and the next time it's really time.

Oh, btw, there's at least a few things you could put in spoiler tags ^^

Well, maybe it will be simpler to just write a spoiler warning at the beginning.

Anyway, I won't lie, everyone likes positive comments, so... you've made my Sunday afternoon Thanks for playing!

[F.I.A]

Finally able to get some time to play this game. I have to say I enjoyed the game.

The character art is good. It fits with the innocence shown in this game.

In fact, it is a nice plus that most adult character sprites are cropped to emulate the viewer being a 10 years old.

The choices included reminds me of playing any of those Lucasart games, where there will never be a bad ending, and the game will keep rewinding till you get the right option. And yes, I find it fun fooling around with those gadgets(I got a backpack by my side).

The story, while it is about time-traveling, is made so that it sounds logical compared to those titles I know of. In fact, I have to agree with DrakeNavarone that I doubt that I can write such innocent story.

And yes, the colour of the dress. A simple, yet, attractive feature included in this game.

And for what gripes me...

Perhaps it is just me, but I find those blackouts when they are planning to be a little too disorienting. If you want to show time passed, I would have suggested going with "---" or similar, only to blackout to change the background.

The story, while nicely written, seems a little summarized. There are times when I want to read more about the characters(For example, Alicia talking all about Sophie) to learn deeper about their characteristics, and also their discussion(As written above).

And for Shingui Akira, at first I thought she is a cameo of Phaedra(In fact, the moment I see the Artifact, I have kind of expected that she is Alicia's mother) with reddish hair, but later on, she appears with yellowish hair. Either that is intentional, or you leave me bewildered.

Thanks for the game.

[mikey]

Thanks for the comments!

In fact, it is a nice plus that most adult character sprites are cropped to emulate the viewer being a 10 years old.

To tell you the truth, this was chosen to enable the the young characters to have the standard height (for immersion) - since you would encounter younger characters for most of the time - it kind of IS the view of a 10-year old, since he will have his peers in his line of sight directly - so it is the same thing, but I was thinking about it as an immersion problem (also, had the characters been smaller, they it would have left a considerable gap in the upper half of the game window), rather than a problem of the child's view (which, admittedly, would be an even better way ^_^)

Blackouts... well, this was precisely because I didn't want the time passing ellipses, not in this scene. I used it only in this scene as far as I remember, other scenes usually had the passing time the standard way. But oh well, I can't expect everyone likes it, so point taken.

And sorry about the ministory about Alicia and Sophie not being there, I decided more or less because I wanted to focus on the main story.

About the last thing....

The answer to Akira (apart from the fact that Akira is not a cameo of Phaedra - the only references in the game were the anime called "Sash of Hikari" and the scene where Alicia says she is the princess of fire. No visual cameos, or otherwise... well, except if lordcloudx inserted something without me knowing ^_^.) is that Akira stops dying her hair red - she has yellow hair normally - like Alicia. And she wears contacts - but I agree, this is completely not explained in the game, I just wanted people to notice that Akira is different - happier, since she has her family back and that she changed her looks to show this.

Thanks for playing!

[lordcloudx]

About the last thing....

The answer to Akira (apart from the fact that Akira is not a cameo of Phaedra - the only references in the game were the anime called "Sash of Hikari" and the scene where Alicia says she is the princess of fire. No visual cameos, or otherwise... well, except if lordcloudx inserted something without me knowing ^_^.) is that Akira stops dying her hair red - she has yellow hair normally - like Alicia. And she wears contacts - but I agree, this is completely not explained in the game, I just wanted people to notice that Akira is different - happier, since she has her family back and that she changed her looks to show this.

Thanks for playing!

I didn't put any hidden cameos here, but y'know, I asked mikey the very same question about Akira's appearance at the end of the game when I played the pre-release version. He's the one who created that blonde-haired Akira sprite from the original psd that I sent him.

[mikey]

I simply like to insert, from time to time, things that are not explained in much detail, or sometimes not explained at all. I really like this - for instance, Yumiko from Embraced by Green had a bandage on her shoulder. I wanted to have it... just so. There is no explanation, nothing in the game. She simply wears a bandage... so she probably cut herself or something. Similarly,

Akira. She changes her look - there isn't anything too complicated about that. People can change their looks, it's not that spectacular, I think.

[Ayato Vu]

Hi everyone,

I'm very happy to be able to give you our game Time's Tear.

As a game, it's different to our previous release, mostly in that it is a "children's adventure".
There is a lot I'd like to say about it, but maybe that's for later.

Most importantly, my team - Kathryn, Renesis, PyTom, and lordcloudx - thank you, all.

You can get Time's Tear from its homepage:
http://atp.manga.sk/games/tst/tst.htm

The download has 120 MB.

Currently only the Windows version is made. More versions will follow later.

See you.

I leave my home for a while, and come back to this...
GOD AM I HAPPY! WOOT!
Gonna play right away, even if its 2:30 in the morn!!!

[mikey]

I leave my home for a while, and come back to this...

Well, reminds me of when I went away for two weeks and 5 or 6 new games appeared. It was NaNoRenO, but still...

Enjoy the game, and as I wrote in there, it's quite different to our usual ones.

[Ayato Vu]

I leave my home for a while, and come back to this...

Well, reminds me of when I went away for two weeks and 5 or 6 new games appeared. It was NaNoRenO, but still...

Enjoy the game, and as I wrote in there, it's quite different to our usual ones.

Wow... As with all other ATP games, it really was worth the wait! I got the true ending (I think.) the first time I played it. I plan on getting them all, but wow... that was a good storyline. The music, especially near the end, really forces the mood. (Renisis + Evo are awesome!!! Do you know them personally? )

I loved how the teacher, forgive me I forgot the name, was actually the queen and mother of alicia. And Mr. Fuyabashi fell in love with sophie's mother. (I hope i understood that right.)

All in all, don't stop with the games!!! They're awesome, and worth reading and waiting for!

PS
monele, I remember seeing your icon ever since I starting coming here, and finding out about visual novels. I really just want to say...

ITS SOO CUTE!!!! X3

[monele]

*mascot?* Eheh, thank you ^_^

But I come with possible sad news : I remember seeing Time's Tear has only one ending ^^;...

[mikey]

Thanks for playing the game! Glad you liked it, especially since you've been liking our previous games as well. I'm happy it worked out.

I got the true ending (I think.) the first time I played it. I plan on getting them all,

There is actually just one ending - the choices / problems are there to be solved and will advance the game. There are just two things that can change -

If you choose the negative answers to Alicia, she will not kiss you at the banquet. The other thing is that depending on the colors you choose, Alicia will have a dress in that color.

The music, especially near the end, really forces the mood. (Renisis + Evo are awesome!!! Do you know them personally?)

It's one person - the names differ according to the music style produced (this is not uncommon for music circles) - so it's Renesis, base, Evo, and several more. And sure I know him, he is my brother. We started making music together in the old days and when I moved out, he got himself new programs and equipment and improved the sound quality a lot. I focused more on writing at that time and so creatively we went our ways. But then it came together when I started making games, I asked him for help - although we live in different countries now I can still work best with him, since I know his style and the communication is of course very easy.

I loved how the teacher, forgive me I forgot the name, was actually the queen and mother of alicia. And Mr. Fuyabashi fell in love with sophie's mother. (I hope i understood that right.)

Well, actually the servant girl who Mr. Furuhashi fell in love with wasn't Sophie's mom - it was a simple servant. The teacher's (Alicia's mom / queen's) name was Akira Shingui.

In any case, thanks again for playing!

[Ayato Vu]

It's one person - the names differ according to the music style produced (this is not uncommon for music circles) - so it's Renesis, base, Evo, and several more. And sure I know him, he is my brother. We started making music together in the old days and when I moved out, he got himself new programs and equipment and improved the sound quality a lot. I focused more on writing at that time and so creatively we went our ways. But then it came together when I started making games, I asked him for help - although we live in different countries now I can still work best with him, since I know his style and the communication is of course very easy.

Woah... Sick! Er... really off topic, but does he have any C.d.s? I remember one of the songs he had on his website was awesome. ^^;;

Well, actually the servant girl who Mr. Furuhashi fell in love with wasn't Sophie's mom - it was a simple servant. The teacher's (Alicia's mom / queen's) name was Akira Shingui.

[/spoiler]

Ah, thanks... It was kinda confused over that. ^^ (Also, thanks for the heads up guys, I would have played it till death trying to get another ending ^^;;)

Overall, I really do enjoy ATP's games. They are one of the most original and best stories I've read anywhere. Please keep with the magic

[mikey]

Thanks for the encouragement!

music >> During Christmas, Renesis wants to collect all the music he did (some of the old things are on cassettes ^_^, and make a compilation, and I'm sure he'll make some things available).