Lads in Distress [GxB][Otome|Fairy Tale][NaNoRenO '16]

[PuffBun]

1. Did you enjoy the game? Any thoughts/comments?
I enjoyed it! Such an interesting twist on the gender roles.
2. Who is your favorite character after playing the game?
Wah! I really liked Prince Zel, Prince Snow,the dragon, and Nicholl!
3. Who did you pursue first, and who is your favorite love interest?
I did Prince Zel's route first! My favorite love interests so far are Prince Zel and Prince Snow.
4. What ending did you get first? The good ending~
5. Is there anything in particular you would like to see in the expansion?
I really wanted Nicholl to have his own route, but alas he did not... I'd love to see Nicholl get his own route, and for the dragon to get his own route! I don't mean anything weird, but I figured in the world the story takes place maybe he could e turned into a human?
6. Other questions or points of critique?
I loved everything about your game from the amazing art, characters (expressions, personalities, backstories, art), plot, and lovely music.

[CSV]

1. Did you enjoy the game? Any thoughts/comments?
I loved it. I think Zel's route felt a little rushed, but otherwise it was pretty good!

2. Who is your favorite character after playing the game?
Either Zel or Charming.

3. Who did you pursue first, and who is your favorite love interest?
I usually start with who I imagine will be my least favorite and then make my way to play the one I like the best, so I the order was Snow-Mer-Zel for me. My initial impression was right too, because Zel is my favorite.

4. What ending did you get first?
Snow's Ending #2.

5. Is there anything in particular you would like to see in the expansion?
Wait, there will be an expansion!? Well, I guess I would want to see Zel's backstory, more cute moments between characters and maybe more CGs.

6. Other questions or points of critique?
I have actually been reviewing otome games, and wrote a review for this one here. I hope you don't mind. Also, if tl;dr: I liked it a lot.

[ark99k]

1. Did you enjoy the game? Any thoughts/comments?
YOU LIED TO ME! IT SAID THERE WEREN'T ANY BAD ENDINGS!

WHY COULDN'T I GET TWO HAPPY ENDINGS WITH MER AS WELL? Okay, I understand that there wasn't any other happy way to end it. It was sort of strange because I felt like each guy had a kingdom ending and a romance ending. One where you focus on the kingdom and the other you focus on your true love. Mer had a kingdom ending and a crazy ending, and it was kind of saddening.

The game was really cute and I liked reading it a lot. The wedding/ball gown was gorgeous! And I really liked Snow... and Zel... and Mer... and Nitcholl... and Charming... and the dragon... and the parents... All of the characters were great!

2. Who is your favorite character after playing the game?
Snow! I really loved the scene at the festival and how nice he was!

3. Who did you pursue first, and who is your favorite love interest?
I went after Mer first because I love the little mermaid story! Mer is my favorite love interest, but I liked his route the least. It was a good route, but I had so many unanswered questions. Then again, I really like Snow as well. And Zel was so sweet!

4. What ending did you get first?
Mer's good ending! Then I looked up a walk though to get the second ending.

5. Is there anything in particular you would like to see in the expansion?
Maybe expanding on the backstories a bit?

We didn't learn a lot about Zel's witch. From the way he reacting when he first saw Charming, I was expecting her to show up any minute. Also, why did the guards in Mer's story see some unicorns and instantly decide to kill them? Especially if they were meant to be guarding a seven year old prince.
Another thing if possible, maybe another cg for each character? Each had some really cute scenes. Like Charming reading to Zel until he feel asleep. Charming and Snow's village dance. Mer and Charming's beach race or Mer lifting the child as a ghost dude.

Maybe a Nitcholl route?

6. Other questions or points of critique?
A quick question about Snow's ending.

In the ending where Snow didn't marry Charming, I still felt like he liked her. I was disappointed when I saw them parting ways, until I saw the ball at the end. Then, the ending gave me the idea that they both had romantic feelings for each other, but that would come some time in the future. Is this right or am I shipping them a little too much? Keep in mind I was still recovering from Mer's bad ending.

[Windchimes]

@PuffBun:
Thank you for the compliments! <3 Glad to hear you enjoyed the game.
Nicholl originally was going to have a secret 4th route, but we ran out of time, so he'll be getting a route in the expansion! However, we must apologize but the dragon won't be getting a route. Even if he has a human form, the human form of dragon would probably be... very young, because as you can tell from his mannerisms, he's basically a young child. And Kumiho and I both aren't comfortable with writing a route like that, so unfortunately, despite the requests, dragon will not be getting a romantic route or his own route.
Thank you for playing our game <3

@CSV:
Hi! Thank you for playing our game Happy to hear that you liked it. Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review for the game too! ^^ It was a pleasant surprise, and we're really honored. We'll be taking the feedback into consideration when working on the full game, of course.
Haha Zel's route was originally meant to have a lot more plot and backstory, but we just couldn't fit it in because it ends up making Zel's romance feel rushed and unrealistic. Don't worry, that will be addressed in the full game and you'll learn his full history and stuff. There will also be more CGs, thanks to our amazing, hard-working CG artist! We should be posting a WIP thread soon with more info, so check that out if you're interested ^^
Thank you again for the comment and for playing LiD!

@ark99k:
Thank you for playing our game and taking the time to leave a comment!
For the remarks regarding Mer, I'll leave it to Kumiho to answer them, since she wrote that route so she'd be clearer about it.
Glad to hear you liked Snow ^^ I had a lot of fun writing him, and I'm excited about writing his route soon.
Nicholl route will indeed happen! He was meant to be a secret fourth route originally, but we ran out of time, so we'll give him his own route in the expansion instead.
As for the backstories, they were deliberately not explained because we wanted to give the players incentive to replay Mer/Snow/Zel's routes in the expansion, so we can't answer all the questions yet. Leaving their full history to the expansion also allows us to handle it better without infodumping because we'd have more scenes to work with and more time to write.
There will also be more CGs for each character, thanks to our amazing, hard-working CG artist! We should be posting a WIP thread soon with more info, so check that out if you're interested ^^
Haha, about Snow's ending, it's actually intended to be open-ended. You can interpret it as they still have romantic feelings for each other and will end up together after things settle down, or that Charming only has platonic feelings for him and Snow has also moved on. What is certain, though, is that Charming decided she wasn't ready to marry and settle down at that point, so she ended up turning him down, and Snow loves her enough to let her go since that's what's best for her. As for the rest, and what the future holds for them, it's entirely up to you to interpret ^^
Thank you again for the comments! <3

[Kumiho]

Thanks so much for your comments! ♥♥

I'm sorry you felt that way about Mer's endings! While his second ending is certainly darker than the rest, we never thought of it as a "bad" ending, haha. This was because "bad endings" imply endings that exist to punish the reader, often without any relevance to the plot or the themes of the story itself. However, while Mer's second ending is quite dark and problematic, it is as "true" and significant as the other endings in the story. (In fact, the length of Mer's second ending was almost three times as long as his first! x'D) Furthermore, this was fairly barren in the NaNo version and will be expounded on in the expansion, but the darker ending was meant to carry themes regarding Prince Mer's identity that were meant to be overlooked by readers and Princess Charming alike in the first ending. It seems our definitions of "bad" endings varied, and I apologize for the misunderstanding. :'(

As for the missing details in Mer's story (particularly regarding the unicorn), they couldn't be included due to time / word count constraints ;( Please note that many of the routes are very closely intertwined; the answers to questions left open in certain routes will may instead be answered in a completely different route! ;D

Thanks again for playing the VN! Hope you decide to pick up the expansion as well! <3

[Windchimes]

Sorry for yet another post from us, but just a quick note that we're now recruiting for a chibi CG artist to join the team for the full version of Lads in Distress!

For more information, please look at our thread here: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=36503
Please send me or Kumiho a PM if interested!

^_^ Thank you!

[someone45678]

ABOUT THE EXPANSION
could there be a route for nicholl?

[Windchimes]

@someone45678:
Hi~ Thanks for the comment! Yes, there will be a route for Nicholl, along with 3 new routes, in the expansion. We'll have the WIP thread up eventually after more is done to show more information about the new routes.


Side note:
Last day for anyone who's interested to apply for the position of chibi CG artist! For more information, check here: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=36503
Thanks everyone <3

[sakurakimuchi]

Alright, I just finished the game and I have so many things to say that I honestly don't even know where to start.

First off, I just wanna say that I enjoyed the game. I'm a sucker for fairytale stuff, so the moment I heard about the game I knew I HAD to play it. And the whole idea of reversed roles is truly amazing, congratulations! I enjoyed all the routes, really, but I have to get into details a bit more for each of them.
So, the first route I played was Mer, and I decided to go after him because I love The Little Mermaid, and because his story intrigued me, but I was suspicious of him the whole time! And because of that I couldn't enjoy his route as much as I did with the others, because with him I was always thinking ''Okay, there is something awfully suspicious about this guy, he WILL do something, but when?''. Also, I remember when I checked the guide page on tumblr, it says that none of the endings are bad, but one of Mer's ending really, REALLY surprised me.

Because I didn't know Charming could be so wicked! Come on, she's stubborn, has quite the temper and everything, but I didn't know she was such a psycho. I guess Mer's plan to kill her really pissed her off and that's why she turned out to be so crazy. That was probably my least favorite ending because honestly, Charming's psycho/wicked nature kinda scared me off, but anyways, it was a good ending because it was different, not the typical rainbows and sunshine, lovey dovey- ''everything is forgiven'' ending.

Hard to say which route was my favorite. Probably Snow's but that might be because it was the last one I played, even if one of his endings are too bittersweet, but while I was playing I kinda saw that coming, but I wanted all the CGs, so I had to get it. I really, really loved Zel's route and unlike the other guys, the two endings were actually really good and that's probably what I liked the most. Plus, the Dragon is adorable! Seriously, he's such a great character, I really like him! He's probably my favorite in the game lol.

My favorite ending is the one where Charming and Zel go seek adventures with the Dragon, just because that's my dream. Travel the world on the back of a Dragon, I mean, who needs airplanes for that, right?

TL;DR I loved the game and I can't wait to play the full version! Good luck with it~

[Mooneon]

Such beautiful art and interface! Imma try this game.

[PuffBun]

@ Windchimes

I see! I'm looking forward to the new routes in the expanded version ~! I understand!, However I was picturing the dragon as an adult with a childish personality

[Windchimes]

@sakurakimuchi:
Thanks so much for your comments, particularly regarding Mer! [The below is a reply from my writing partner who wrote Mer's route regarding your remarks about him]

Sorry to hear you didn't like Mer's endings! :'( We didn't think Mer's endings were bad, necessarily, but it was certainly dark, and we understand why you wouldn't have liked it. Haha, there was definitely a reason you had to get select all the corresponding choices! The choices made helped snowball Charming's descent. Thanks again! We'll take your comments into account for the expansion!

Glad to hear you enjoyed the game overall! Haha, yep, dragon seems to be a favorite among players! xD You guys will be seeing a lot more of dragon in the full game for sure.

Haha I'm happy to hear you liked the second ending for Zel, especially because a lot of players have mentioned they disliked that ending xD The ending will actually go through a bit of changes in the full version, but the general gist of traveling the world with Zel on the back of a dragon is the same, so I hope you'll still like it in the end!

Once again, thank you very much for playing our game and for leaving a comment!

@Mooneon:
Thank you! We got very lucky indeed, recruiting such talented artists. Hope you enjoyed the game (if you've played it by now)

@PuffBun:
Thank you again for commenting and for your input! <3 Haha, yes, you're free to picture the dragon as an adult with a childish personality, of course! It's up to the readers/players to decide what the dragon is like in human form, but for us, we had always imagined him as a little child with a parent/child teacher/student relationship with Charming so we won't be making a romantic route for him because we aren't comfortable with that. We are super sorry if you're disappointed! ;_; At least we can promise that you will see the dragon a lot more in the full game!

[AsHLeX]

This looks so good!!! Bookmarking for when I have time to play next!

[PuffBun]

@Windchimes

Just an idea!, think nothing of it! I was just curious! After hearing the idea behind him I understand! Didn't mean it in a weird way!

[nickynoton]

1. Did you enjoy the game? Any thoughts/comments?
I really enjoyed it! Loved the interesting twists to the fairy tale stereotypes.
2. Who is your favorite character after playing the game?
Princess Charming. She's such a refreshing character to play as.
3. Who did you pursue first, and who is your favorite love interest?
I pursued Prince Snow first and he ended up being my favourite love interest too.
4. What ending did you get first?
I got Snow's second ending.
5. Is there anything in particular you would like to see in the expansion?
Just more interaction I suppose with the Princes, and with the dragon. He was very cute.
I also would've liked to have seen more of the villains and had some sort of final confrontation with them.
6. Other questions or points of critique?
Nothing that hasn't already been addressed, I think. Anyways, it was great game! Good job!