Taarradhin [GxB, GxG] [NaNoRenO 2014]

[Cafechan]

Wow, I played through the first few routes and was very confused. I definitely felt that, "this isn't quite right" vibe, and when I at last achieved the true ending, I was so relieved!

The way all three characters developed natural friendships with each other was so sweet. I was happy to learn more of their backgrounds, and the ending with the rain interrupting the ceremony was so beautiful!!

It was really a treat to play. As a side note, I loved the characters' designs, and the illustrations were a treat to unlock.

[Auro-Cyanide]

@Mini_Moshi Thank you I was hoping the final route would have some impact when viewed after the other ones! Thank you for playing!

@Lora Oh my goodness, thank you so much for the kind comments!

I was hoping that the first routes would feel off because I wanted to make sure people played through the endings as the game is really meant to be seen as a whole rather than individual routes. I'm also happy that you liked the friendships in the game. I love my romances, but it's also nice to acknowledge other relationship types and for romance to not be the thing that fulfils the characters at the end of the day. I'm glad you liked Neqtia I liked flawed characters, especially main characters, because it gives the player something to think about and creates a bit of a conflict between them and the story. Then again, I'm also not much of a fan of self-insert type characters and I like more fully fleshed ones, so it might be my bias speaking there haha. Ah, it's cool you liked the ending! I know it can come off as a deus ex machina, but while I love torturing my characters I also like giving them happy endings. I find I need that bit of hope at the end in my stories. Thank you so much for playing!

@Nay Thank you for playing!

Ah, I'm glad you like that aspect. We generally have nothing against games that are just about romance or cuteness, I think they are great! But I think it's also good to comment on it and provide alternatives that contrast with them. Especially things like the prevalence of romance in ALL media, not just visual novels. It's basically playing a game of 'what if?' XD What if romance was secondary to friendship? What if your romance choices lead to a bad outcome for others? I think variety is the spice of life and it's great to think about the media we create and consume

@Broodelin Thank you for playing and for your kind comments! I'm glad you enjoyed my efforts

@Uncomplicated, Aww, thank you so much for playing! I definitely like to try and design my work to fit the setting, it's really half the fun! It makes me so happy that you liked Neqtia! I didn't want her to be perfect, in fact I wanted her to be confronting in her thoughts to begin with. But she is a good girl deep down, she just needed to have her eyes opened to the world around her

@Cafechan Thank you for playing, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! It really makes it worth while to hear that people liked the way I wanted the relationships to be seen. Also good to hear that you enjoyed the final ending, I'm such a sucker for those types! I'm infinitely happy you liked the character designs! i was pretty happy making them ^_^

[Cera L. Hendry]

Finally got a chance to tell you how beautiful I thought this game was! Lovely work, on everything. The story, characters and of course the artwork! I love how the main character was somewhat terribly sheltered and innocent in how she viewed the world. The persian-inspired setting was also highly refreshing.

The whole 'sacrifice' thing in my first play-through Neqtia just sort of looked upon as 'well this is what happens', and that came as a bit of a shock considering how upbeat the story was feeling at that point. A good one, mind you. (And that illustration of Jyrik before he gets sacrificed, ugh, his expression was so well-illustrated and heart-wrenching!)

I'm yet to get the true ending though, so indeed I will be revisiting it. Thank you for your wonderful work on this!

[Laniessa]

I always don't know what I need to spoiler, so I'm just going to spoiler everything haha ._.;;;;

Let me put this first: thank you so much for making it about friendship. I love love love friendship stories - the especially trios of pure friendship goodness. (We don't get friendship enough - but it seems to be a trend in VNs, what with Autumn's Journey as well? I am so glad.) Gorgeous CGs, music was perfect, and ow my heart hurts from the true ending. So sweet.

So, um, major props to the world building! I loved the culture and the world itself! The fashion to the economies to the religions. Loved it all.

Second - those expressions were perfect. I loved how it wasn't 'cute anime crying' but actual crying, or the indignation on Araerda's face, or the surprise on Neqtia's face when it started raining - just spot on.

[Akitsuki]

I'm always wondering how creative Cyanide Tea can be for their games.
Anyways, I'm downloading this now. Will post a comment later. Good work on finishing the game!

[qirien]

Beautiful characters and backgrounds - the details in the scenes and characters tell volumes just in themselves. And I love how the GUI is so simple, but fits the setting so well. I liked how it was a sort of Egypt-style world without being exactly Egypt. The writing was very tight, giving us just enough details to convey the story, with nothing extra - like poetry.

About the endings:

I really loved the theme of true love being the willingness to sacrifice for others, as well as seeing others not as objects or trophies, but as real people who see things differently from you. A refreshing change from VNs where the "good ending" requires you to minimax or manipulate other characters, etc.
I thought you did a good job of foreshadowing the True Ending, as when I played through making some of the same choices, a few things would be different each time.

Thought I'd let you know I mentioned your VN on a gaming blog I write for:
http://thepretentiousgamer.blogspot.com ... ovels.html

[SheerGlade]

I know I can always expect something unique and interesting from Cyanide-Tea, so I've wanted to play Taarradhin since it came out. And I was so not disappointed :3

I really loved how tangible the 'ugh this is so wrong' atmosphere was in the nontrue routes, because it made me anticipate the true ending that much more. And ggghhh the true ending ;u; It was so satisfying to see all the flickers of character in the nontrue routes expanded on, and I love how much room you left for that. I wanted so badly to see who Jyrik and Araerda were, and watching Neqtia's character unravel and develop alongside theirs was so touching and just...WARM. Weird adjective, yes, but I don't know how else to describe the way their friendship made me feel. I know others have complained about Neqtia's hasty change of heart, but I didn't find it unreasonable considering 1) how strongly witnessing Jyrik's and Araerda's distress affected her in the true route; 2) I found her kindness and potential evident in the untrue routes, and 3) given the story's length and brief writing style, I expected some fast-paced change.

Either way, I immensely enjoyed the art, characters, character DESIGNS (hnnnngggg), and yet again, you guys have designed and created just...a frickin' beautiful GUI. Loved the game and the sweet ending ;-; so so much. Thanks for sharing. <3