Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

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Googaboga
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Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#1 Post by Googaboga »

Download the full game for free from Itch.io and Steam!

Itch.io Page - Steam Page


Anyone can be saved, but not everyone can be.



Lake of Voices is a free-to-play Visual Novel developed by GB Patch Games. It’s a story that forces you to accept that there’s no perfect way to handle dire times and asks you to decide what, and who, is going to be sacrificed.

• 88,000 words
• Decide who you will protect and who will be left behind in the dark
• Timed choices. Make split second actions or determine that simply standing by is for the best
• The option to develop a closer relationship with anyone in your traveling party
• Full voice acting
• August 28th, 2018 release
• Windows, Mac, Linux, Steam, and Android builds

Cast List-
Kikka: Elissa Park
https://www.facebook.com/Adoxographist/

Bemelle: Michael Potok
https://twitter.com/MichaelPotokVA

Margret: Elsie Lovelock
https://twitter.com/sweetpoffin

The Guide: Brendan Blaber
https://www.youtube.com/user/JelloApocalypse

Lu: Phil Avalos
https://www.youtube.com/user/philsterman10


Story-
Kikka the Steadfast is a sensitive and empathetic woman who uses a mask of stoicism to protect herself from the harsh world she lives in. Much of everything she’s done has been an attempt to find some semblance of security, including the career path she chose to pursue. Kikka works as an official guard for one of the many tiny villages in the region. Her most recent assignment is to travel with fellow guard Bemelle to an allied town that’s been under siege by raiders.

With an ever-present sense of urgency, the two find themselves on the shore of Sinnlos, a cursed lake of black water that is home to the Nixi. They are twisted creatures who take joy in drowning humans. The two need the assistance of the nameless guide to even attempt to cross the maze of bridges spanning the dark waters. But they are not the only ones seeking passage that night. The guide agrees to lead them all, whilst also giving a warning that a group this large has no chance of making it across whole. Someone will be lost along the way. None of them volunteer to stay behind, regardless. And so the ill-fated journey over the lake of voices begins.
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Kikka-
Kikka is the main character of Lake of Voices. Her name isn't changeable. She has spent her life searching for a sense of safety. However, being seen as weak has become less acceptable than backing down from something actually dangerous. She hopes that if she acts as though she does not care strongly enough that one day it will eventually become true. Kikka would rather feel nothing than risk being sad or afraid. Kikka's goal on the journey across Sinnlos is to protect everyone. If the time comes where she must choose between one person's well-being and another's, Kikka isn't sure how she'd respond.

Bemelle-
Bemelle is the other guard being sent on the mission with Kikka. He truly has nothing he wants to keep to himself. His openness can be refreshing, though sometimes it makes things more difficult than they needed to be. Bemelle is also brash and willing to use force a bit quicker than is probably necessary. He appreciates having someone as level-headed as Kikka around. He often leaves the major decisions up to her. Even though he's dealt with the unfairness of life in the past, he wants to believe there’s a way to make everything work out. Bemelle is willing to risk himself for that end.

Margret-
Margret meets the two guards on the shore of Sinnlos. Initially Margret seems uninterested in getting involved with Kikka and Bemelle. That doesn't last, however. Margret enjoys chances to show off what she knows and it can make her come across as snobby. She doesn’t mind that. She’d rather be known as intelligent rather than simply as ‘nice’. Margret starts the trip with a great deal of confidence. She had hoped to look out only for herself, though quickly finds it difficult to turn a blind eye to others. She can bit a bit contrary overall.

The Guide-
A stoic and pragmatic man whose job is to lead people across the bridges of Sinnlos. He has no family, no interests, and no ambition. Crossing back and forth between the two shores is all The Guide knows. He has every intention to continue the process until the day inevitably comes when he dies in the black waters of Sinnlos. The Guide has seen countless people drown over the years thanks to his position. It seems to have no effect on him now. Not much of anything does. Take care of yourself alone and hope everyone around has enough sense to do the same is his approach.

Lu-
Lu is quite a curious young man. He's the last to join the traveling party. He isn't prepared physically with supplies or really with mental fortitude for the nightmarish journey, but he's here. Lu comes across as exceedingly indecisive. He'll waffle between options until there's only one possible outcome left. It tends not to be a good conclusion. Lu has a sardonic and self-depreciating sense of humor. As usual, he doesn’t fully commit to the concept and it can make him seem a little pitiful. How much concern he has for those around him is unclear.

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In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life
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A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices

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parttimestorier
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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#2 Post by parttimestorier »

I just finished reading this one and I really enjoyed it! It has such a spooky and unique concept. My favourite character was definitely The Guide - he was so grumpy and mysterious. Who did the art for it? It all looked great, especially all the dark, foggy backgrounds.
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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#3 Post by Googaboga »

@parttimestorier

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and it's not-so-helpful guide, haha. The artists chose to be credited by these names;
Character Sprites & CGs by rgbvscb
Backgrounds by Ines Toczyska

They both did fantastic work!
In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life
Released:
A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#4 Post by meowworkstm »

Hey, wow, so I usually just ghost forums on here but Lake of Voices was so good I had to drop in. I'm surprised more people haven't commented but anyway, I absolutely did not expect the quality of the game to be so good?? Like given that it's a short non-commercial game I went it with few expectations but the voice acting was legit better than most video games or other larger group projects I've seen.

Second, the characters were just so alive, by the end of the game I was sad that I couldn't follow Kikka and Bemelle (if he didn't die that is lol) to Hemer or whatever mission they had to accomplish next, it really did hit me that this was just a small journey in the rest of their lives. They felt very human, with fears, flaws and ideals that are usually never brought to the light in visual novels. Not kidding when I say some characters are just walking stereotypes in other games but this was such a breath of fresh air.
The same goes for Lu's ending if you decide to stick with the Nixi! Like what a cliff-hanger, I would love to know if the nixi and humans ever got along but I think that's too much to ask.

My favorite part however is probably the way you set up the choices that decide the endings. Even after distinguishing what choices affected the ending, the game still didn't feel linear. I was going through playthrough after playthrough trying to get Bemelle's true ending, and each time I thought I did everything right thinking "for sure, this has to be the true ending!!" but then IT WASN'T. (You better bet it made the actual true end all the more gratifying, though) This is one of the few games that made me really backtrack and consider previous choices since they would change how certain characters would react to Kikka's other choices in the future. Or if Kikka even had other choices, which is cool. It made the game feel unpredictable and very non-linear (as opposed to being almost like a god where the mc is the sole determinate of what happens to all the characters),
it REALLY surprised me that sometimes the choices didn't actually matter and the other characters made a decision on their own. Or stuff that deviated from the expected outcome based on previous choices like when you could either help or watch the Guide in Lu's hidden route but when the timer runs out Lu would interject with something of his own. I lost my shit, because it ran out on accident!! And that's how I got the hidden endings on accident lol

Overall, Lake of Voices was a very unique experience for me, and I would love to see more of its world. Although there were some points where it was hard to follow what was going on in the story, that's my only complaint. Well, that and I wish the story was longer because I got too attached to the characters.

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#5 Post by Googaboga »

I'm just making a small announcement here to say that the files for Lake of Voices have been updated! A bug was reported where the game wouldn't progress as it should if you let the timer run out on a certain choice. That's all fixed up now. If you find any issues with the game, please do let us know!

@meowworkstm
Oh wow, thank you so much for all of that! I'm sorry this is incredibly late. I hadn't realized anyone else had posted in this thread. I really appreciate that you took the time to share your experience. It made my day!
In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life
Released:
A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#6 Post by narutochats »

Just finished this game and I can't believe it doesn't get more recognition on here! I would love to see more of your work, it's rare to find games like this that break the norm. I will agree with someone that I got confused in certain moments. One particular route was not fleshed out,
It was on Lu's good path. It took me rereads to understand that both him and The Guide were another race. The characters never stated it, just sputtered about it "So you're..." I didn't quite understand, it's hard to explain but I didn't get the context of their conversation at all. I think more detail needed to be explained through the dialogue.
I don't need everything spelled out in a story but that part one part felt confusing and not fleshed out. It would also help in the future to create a more fleshed out guide, the guide on the steam page for a certain route wasn't correct so it would be nice to have an official one!

I loved this game a lot and hope you do more creative narrative ideas!
I've been at this too long...

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#7 Post by Chaloddi »

I must say I don't usually write comments, but this time I just had to. This game is the best I've played in a long time because it has it all: romance, actually scary atmospheric horror, an intriguing story, and unique characters. It also looks really pretty. I'd recommend playing it around midnight, but I won't because it's gonna leave you sleep-deprived the next day. ;)

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#8 Post by Googaboga »

@narutochats
Thank you very much for the kind words :D! I'm really happy you enjoyed LoV overall. I'm sorry you were confused there, though I admit, I'm not entirely sure what you mean.
In Lu's good route he; has white blood just like Nixi do, reveals Nixi secrets to Kikka, speaks the Nixi language, shapeshifts his human hand into a prowler hand, cuts off his own foot and walks it off like that's nothing. All before the confrontation with the guide. And if you know Lu's a Nix then the guide being one as well is clear, since they're the same thing. I'm afraid I truly don't understand how them being Nixi isn't established ^^;.

@Chaloddi
Aw, thank you so much ^^! It's great to hear you had such a good time with it and that it was effectively spooky, haha.
In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life
Released:
A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#9 Post by PeterKmiecik »

Hey, Its free to play so how do one monetize in this game ? or are there adverts ? are they skippable ?

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#10 Post by Googaboga »

@PeterKmiecik
There aren't ads or any monetizeation. It's a short, entirely non-commercial game!
In-Progress:
Floret Bond, XOXO Blood Droplets, Our Life
Released:
A Foretold Affair, My Magical Divorce Bureau, XOXO Droplets, Lake of Voices

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Re: Lake of Voices [Free][Horror, Tragedy, Dark Fantasy][GxB/G]

#11 Post by Goblin Market »

Great job on a cool VN! The strong atmosphere and original setting really drew me in. I’ve been obsessively trying to go through all the various story permutations for a few days now. Top notch production values all around. Everyone who worked on this has a lot to be proud of.

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