Once Upon a Hallow's Eve [GxB] [Romance]

[Ran08]

That's awesome! Haha. That's definitely the kind of exhausted that I like. (Right now I can't write reviews yet-- as I have no time for playing games at the moment, huhuhu. You know I like to be quite thorough with my reviews. Hahaha. But I'll get back to reviews as soon as I can... which is in less than a month! Hooray!) And is that a trick question?! You know I'd like to see any drawing from you. Hahaha.

*blushes throughout this whole paragraph*

Thank you so much!

[45am]

Hi there! I decided to play another random game off the LemmaSoft forums as I like to do every once in a while, and I'm glad I did.
This game was fun and entertaining. I definitely like the direction it went

with its reveal - somewhat like a much more positive version of The Others (though this game and that film are VERY different)

I had no special feelings towards any of the guys at the start, so I decided to take the first playthrough in whatever direction. Getting the bad ends along the way is pretty amusing. Eventually I decided I absolutely didn't want to romance Vonn first - then I accidentally ended up with him anyway. He turned out to be my favourite! The only endings I haven't gotten yet are the normal endings, if there are any (I might have gotten at least one, not sure anymore).

Viktor's "good" ending in which Lee accepts living in the mansion forever as a ghost seemed the most like a normal ending!

Feedback:
I like that the main character matters in the story.

Lee entering the house and her subsequent actions are what help or hinder the brothers' ability to overcome their fear and hesitance to take the risk of 'coming back'... The fear is especially apparent in how protective Viktor is of his brothers, and even Vonn trying to help Viktor protect Vern. Both Viktor and Vonn have made decisions than can roughly be described as 'taking a risk', and their actions have had very clear consequences. On that note, Lee's first decision is whether or not to "take the risk!" and that decision really reflects the game and its thematic point. Nothing happens (she ends up at the mansion again or eventually gets caught by the flames) until she chooses to take the risk. The fact that she decides to do it (right away or otherwise) is what immediately sets her apart from the brothers, who woke up already at the mansion and have been too afraid to take anymore risks because of their fear of obscurity and the unknown. The brothers definitely act as a support for Lee as well, but she has a bigger influence on them in that they actually follow after her and wake up (I'm going to assume all three of them wake up in all of the good ends where she wakes up....or...I'll hope so...it makes sense thematically)

After getting several different endings, I feel like the most effort went into writing Vonn and his route. It seemed like there was more development in the characters and in their relationship while playing his route. That plays a part in why Vonn is my favourite, but it's also because I genuinely grew fond of him as a character, too.
Viktor's route was the weakest to me

(possibly in part because if there is a way to start his route earlier than walking back from the forest with him and helping him clean, I haven't found it yet).

The time that is spent with him is nice; I just wish there was more of it.

Vonn and Vern both had significant, personal conversations about their own dreams and insecurities, but I don't feel like Viktor had as much of an opportunity for that. I feel like you get to spend much more time with Vonn than with any other guy.

I enjoy the details put into the game! A few examples:

Not only are they in middle of a mountain, but the mansion is huge and only emphasizes the feeling of loneliness and seclusion. The constant rain makes you feel only more trapped and lost, especially within the flow of time. When the brothers talk about the voices of their loved ones eventually fading away, it was sad to think about how long they must have been in the hospital for friends and family to stop visiting them...or worse, if the family completely lost hope in their recovery. It's more obvious in other endings, but in one of the endings Lee wakes up from a coma and the nurses apologize for taking so long to get to the room, mentioning something about another patient flatlining....... : )
Lee can't bleed from a cut in the kitchen but her leg is probably healing because she's in the hospital and time is passing. The magically infinite food supply is probably just the four of them receiving nutrients in the hospital as well. I love how unsettling the mysterious occurrences are to the characters (and by extension, the player); the voices are familiar, but it's still something unknown, and it's scary to feel so lost, confused and helpless for so long.

I know it's a small thing, but having the sprites blink is something I really appreciate! Sprites always feel more alive when they have blinking animations, and it adds more immersion.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention how nice it is to play an MC who doesn't have the personality of a doormat. I don't know what it is with commercial Japanese otome games, but they seem to have this recurring problem.

That's all the feedback I can think of at the moment. Other than that, I'm glad I experienced this game and my heartfelt thanks and appreciation goes out to everyone for their hard work put into this project!

Now I have to make my roommate play the game. >:)

[Ran08]

@45AM

Hello! Aaaaah, you don't know how nice it was to read your whole post!

First of all, I want to say thank you so, so, so much for taking the time to write your whole feedback. It means a lot to me, I swear.

Second, I got a lot of insight, haha, and I'm also super happy that I got to see a reader's POV of the story. Tbh, I was really worried that the story would just confuse the heck out of people, so I'm glad to see that you almost got the exact same message I was trying to convey! Of course, the whole story is up for interpretation, haha, so I found it really interesting to see your view on it, too.

Now, let me reply to your specific points. Hahaha. I'll put the rest of my reply in a spoiler tag, because I might accidentally spoil something for future readers, hahaha.

Characters: you're right, I think I kinda focused too much on the other two. Tbh, this is the reason why Viktor is not as easy to get as his younger siblings! He's sort of the 'middle' path, like, you have to be careful not to go to extremes (e.g. not be too brave, not be too scared) in order to reach his route. And yep, I know some people like MCs who are like blank slates....... but I personally am offed by them, so I do my best to add a little personality to my MCs. I'm glad that you noticed my little effort! Hahaha.

Story: oh my gosh I am so happy that you and I have the same interpretation of the story! Are you me? You explained it exactly as I had meant it to be. HAHAHA. So cool. You gave me hope that I'm not as awful a writer as I thought I was while I was making this game! I don't wanna burden you with my 'woe-is-me' thoughts haha, but I seriously thought I sucked while making this, because for a time, the plot seemed incoherent and confusing, even to me. I did my best to improve it, but I still wasn't sure. Thank you so much.

Oh, just a question, how many endings did you get? There are 9 in all: 3 good ends, 3 neutral ends, and 3 bad ends. I made it so that you can only find out the whole story if you got all. Hahaha. Though actually, the bad ends reveal more of the story than the other endings.

Extras: Hahaha, believe it or not, I am so proud of those blinking sprites. (Is it alright to admit that? HAHA) I personally like seeing blinking sprites, which is why I decided to experiment with them for this game. If only I can, I'll put blinking animations in every game I'll make from now on! Again, thank you so much for noticing!

Hahaha, okay, so... I still feel really happy after reading and replying to all that... haha. You definitely made my day. <3 Thank you so much, and may you have more fun playing visual novels!

[txqina]

Thanks for your enjoyable game.

Perhaps I got lucky, but I got Viktor's (my first preference) happy ending after a couple of tries and then Vern's (my second preference) after another couple of tries. Sorry Vonn, not gonna happen for you.

Feedback:
I am a male who doesn't usually play GxB games, but I had no trouble get absorbed in this one. Having the mysterious environment as well as the romance was a good combo.

I was a bit worried about Vern's route when they were initially playing games a lot. But I guess with him being shy, there needed to be a chance to build familiarity without pressure. Certainly by the end I was happy with how the plot developed.

There were occasional typos etc, not a lot. Sprites were easy on the eye and background art was suitable and attractive.

Well done!

[Onigirice]

I've already finished ur game in Nov 1st though, so forgive me if my memory messed up XD
aaaaand it's a cute one
I actually get bad ending in my first playthrough XD

*don't want 2 enter mansion XD*

And I also get bad ending in my second playthrough when I go out coz I get mad at Vonn XD

Despite all the bad end I get from pursuing Vonn, I really like Vonn's route though XD coz they overcome their problem together and it's cute. All I can say is that's a healthy realationship *maybe XD

*off topic*

U r also the one who write summer paradise right? I really like that game XD Back when I'm in my junior high, it was one of the very first game I played and ur story engaged me a lot for playing more and more Otome Games :3 So, Thanks X333

*ahem* #back to the topic
aaaand actually...

I don't see any resolve of Vern's problem or maybe I forgot? I'll check it again :/
And also, who is the woman in the upstair (is that a right place?) when Vern and heroine play Hide and Seek? Who is that? She says it's a sillhouete of a woman? Is that sillhoute of her mom?

I really like cooking with Viktor XD, I think it's cute, but it's really sad coz there's no cooking cg
And Viktor's neutral ending is really sad or is that a bad ending? *I forgot* :')

I like the character art and game design too, it's cute!

I usually be a silent downloader for 5 years so, I dunno when or where I must put spoiler code :/

[Ran08]

@txqina

Aaaah, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's my first time to write something like this haha, so I'm very happy to know that I didn't mess it up too much. :")

(Whew, and I'm relieved Vern pulled through! Hahaha.)

Just curious though, why don't you like Vonn? Ahahaha. (Perhaps this means I need to improve the characters in my next game... haha, unless Vonn is simply not your type!)

Again, thank you!

@Onigirice

Awww, thank you! And that's okay, I'm really happy that you bothered to give some feedback.

Yay, that's another point for Vonn, haha. As for Vern... hmm, which ending did you get? And which problem are you referring to? Haha. Regarding the silhouette, honestly, you're free to make what you want of it. But yeah, that silhouette symbolized someone who visited him while he was in a coma.

I'm not sure... but all the bad ends result in them dying, so... if they died... perhaps it was a bad end that you got? Except if it was MC's choice to stay in the spirit world. That one is Vik's neutral end.

And yeah, haha, Summer Paradise is also a work of mine. Awww, really? That's so cute, haha, I'm glad to hear that!! That was actually my first game, haha. Thank you so much for playing it!

Don't worry, you put the spoiler tags at the right places! Thank you so much again!

[txqina]

Hi Ran,

Don't worry about changing Vonn, I'm sure he's fine in his own way. It's normal for me to be selective about which characters I chase in a VN, I'm not the type who 'must' get every ending.

It was probably that I could identify with Viktor as I am an elder brother and with Vern because I am shy. Well, I also get grumpy sometimes too, but it's something I try to work on and it's not my main mode of dealing with people. When I play a girl in a VN I guess I am really playing myself, but a bit less shy and a bit more diplomatic.

Some of the classical romance novels have a theme of girl meets unpleasant man but wins him over and in doing so makes him reveal his better side. I suspected that was the Vonn route, and the idea doesn't really suit me; might be either due to my personality or the stereotypes I have picked up from my gender.

But thanks for asking for feedback. I wish you well in whatever you are doing next.

[Godline]

On Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =826085121

On Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... 8.vn&hl=en

Yay!

[Virelai]

I downloaded this game a while back, probably when it first released. But I only got a chance to start it until now.

First thoughts, then I will update after I finish playing.
- The music is absolutely adorable. I like the eerie startup music, as well as how it continues until the intro, I Was literally expecting a jump scare, but it became more lighthearted right after.

- The sound effects are really nice, and the way you introduce the blue flame is very cool. I'm not sure if you created the background itself, but the art schematics/theme is really nice. It's really bright and colorful, and it's also very smooth and professional--in fact a lot cleaner than other paid games.

That's it so far! I'll update later > > > > >

[Ran08]

@txqina: Oh, I see what you mean. When I play as a guy in VNs, I also like pursuing the girl that I can relate to the most. It makes everything more enjoyable for me. Hahaha. It's not weird, is it? And yeah, you're right about that! Vonn's route actually follows that plot. Anyway, thank you so much again for the reply! I really appreciate it.

@Virelai: Thank you for checking out our game! No, the backgrounds aren't original, but they're paid background packs from dlsite. They can be used for both free and commercial works, so I guess that's why the quality is pretty good.

Thanks for the links, Godline!

[AsHLeX]

How have I not seen this before? It looks so good!! Bookmarking this for now and definitely going to play it as soon as I get the chance.