Memo [1.03]

[Doomfest]

Screenshots:

Synopsis:
Memo is a slice of life story set in an unnamed Japanese city that's neither large nor small. Over the course of a few days, one will experience the life of a male transfer student named Seji who has moved several times a year for most of his life. Compelling experiences spur the youth forward as he reconnects with a childhood town.

Memo is a short VN with 25K words and 3 routes, with an all-ages rating.

Credits:
Doomfest - Art, Writer, Scenario, Director
Serithnal - Writer, Editor

Special Thanks:
Blue123
moekki
weee
renpytom

Music+SFX:
TAM music factory
http://www.tam-music.com/
OSA
http://osabisi.sakura.ne.jp/m2/
Web Wave Lib
http://www.s-t-t.com/wwl/

Beta Testers:
VCR
jck
+above


Download:
Latest version: 1.03

http://storage.bishojo.tk/other/memo_v.1.03-all.zip
http://www.mediafire.com/?bgmzh2vgtqy
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NIWIZZM7
http://www.doomfest.com/memo/memo_v.1.03-all.zip

Thanks to drakey for the mirror!

Older version: 1.02
http://www.mediafire.com/?zmftioyzyuj
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3RO5HB0Z
http://doomfest.com/memo/memo_v.1.02-all.zip

Known Bugs:

Click-to-Continue indicator doesn't show up if character-by-character display is interrupted- this is a Ren'py error. Pytom is looking into for the future and probably will not be fixed.

[mugenjohncel]

- CONTENT NO LONGER RELEVANT -

[LVUER]

Aaaah... yes, how I miss that art. Doomfest art ^_^ where were you all this time? I miss you, ya know?

Well, I talked to him in DA several days ago, but this is the first time (after a long time) in LSF.

[sake-bento]

Beautiful customization, nice art, and good writing. This is a very nicely polished piece. The plot doesn't really seem to stand out too much, though. For the most part, it feels like it's been done before, and there weren't many surprises. I've only gotten 4/6 and 6/6, so I'm probably missing some of the story, but now that I've "won" one of the girls, I don't feel too compelled to go back and learn any more. I'll probably dive back in because I want to know more about Kazumi, but overall it seems like the writing and artistic talents could be applied to something greater. Kudos for completing such a lovely piece, though. I look forward to more from everyone involved.

[Victoria]

I played it through, and I actually got all the endings, but even though I tried almost every option, I can't seem to unlock one event CG in the Gallery... Why is that?

[Doomfest]

Victoria: That shouldn't happen. Which one is it?

EDIT: Just saw it now. I'll patch it into 1.03 in a few days to see if there are any more bugs.

[duanemoody]

We approach the area in font of our houses.

I believe you meant "front"

[number473]

Very pretty game! The interface and graphics are very nice. Only had a chance to get one ending so far but looking forward to playing the rest. Good length, too. Satisfyingly long, but I could still fit it in the time I had.

[JinzouTamashii]

Oh my God, the protagonist (the brown-haired girl below your logo) is cute, I would play this game just for that and pay for it!

Damn, I wish I had the time... but I can't afford a middle-of-the-week vacation because of PIXAR and ATLUX deadlines...

[Ren]

Playing it now.

You have a "Peace. I relax alittle" in the scene in the train on the second day.

(playing it in a place when no one even knows what VNs are, and being mostly surrounded by people playing Street Fighter 4, Bayonetta and who knows what else in the office is kind of fun in itself. :P )

[mysterialize]

I just thought I should mention that I played through this, and got two endings (5 and 6). Normally I would give more detailed critique, but it doesn't seem like there's much to say that hasn't already been said. The game is very pretty and well written, but the story itself leaves something to be desired. It all just felt a little too familiar.

As sake-bento pretty much said, it's very clear that you're talented, and I look forward to seeing something perhaps a little more unique in the future. It's quite obvious that you're capable.

[CaesMRaenes]

I've played through this thoroughly and achieved five out of the six endings. I think the only ending I haven't achieved was 3/6. But otherwise, I really enjoyed how this vn was put together. The interface and artwork is soft and visually appealing and the little loading icon used for the dialogue made me giggle. (Darn Youtube and its glitching loading icon....)

I do agree that the story has left me desiring more, but it was well-written, despite a few mistakes here and there, and charming as far as character interactions and the flow of the story.

In some way, I wanted more for Kazumi (Obviously, I like her as a character and wouldn't mind getting closer in a relationship with her.) but that's just me and I can see that it wouldn't make any sense since this story is about the main character and Liz.

Great work all together. <3

[gekiganwing]

Like some of the other people who've replied, I was certainly impressed with the art in Memo.

Now as for the story, I enjoyed its pacing, but I have some criticism:

Stories in which the main character reunites with someone he met years ago are common. Maybe a little too common in renai games. I like this story concept, but I'm currently interested in different takes on the concept. Something a little more fresh, like, I dunno, "boy reunites with girl, but now he's a yuri fanboy, and she's a yaoi fangirl."

I think I preferred Kazumi as a character to Liz. Here's why:

Liz has strong opinions and a sense of self worth... but she's awfully violent. There's several scenes in which she beats up Seji and his friend, sometimes for good reasons... but she doesn't seem to know when to stop.

I'm a veteran of series like Ranma 1/2 and City Hunter, in which romantic comedy and cartoonish violence go hand in hand. But I don't remember any indication that Seji is impervious to damage, or that Liz is not seriously hurting people.

I managed to get about five endings. Thankfully, none of them were anything like "NICE BOAT," if you know what I mean...

Here's what I thouht about Kazumi:

She is a polite, thoughtful girl. She is in a position of authority in school, and doesn't abuse it. She seems to be uneasy around her mother, but she's easy to like.

Even though Seji didn't know her before the story began, I don't think that should prevent a good Kazumi ending. In a linear media form, only one ending is possible, but visual novels allow for multiple endings. So in other words, I was hoping for a Seji/Kazumi pairing, but unfortunately I don't think there will be one. I know that it's a longstanding trope for the hero's canonical love interest to be the first available person he/she meets whose sexuality is compatible. And IIRC, Seji meets Liz (for the second time) a few minutes before he meets Kazumi.

CaesMRaenes said, "In some way, I wanted more for Kazumi (Obviously, I like her as a character and wouldn't mind getting closer in a relationship with her.) but that's just me and I can see that it wouldn't make any sense since this story is about the main character and Liz."

Yes, it's pretty clear that Seji and Liz will get together. They have the most conflict. And in several places, Kazumi is trying to pair them up. That leads me into some speculation...

Kazumi is very affectionable with her friend Liz, and hugs her at least once. So one of the following is probably true:

- Kazumi is a lesbian who has an I Want My Beloved to be Happy crush on Liz.
- Kazumi is heterosexual and really just friends with Liz... but isn't interested in either of the boys.
- Her sexuality was left ambiguous on purpose.

One last thing I thought about:

Liz's real name is Elizabeth. Is she multiracial, or not of Japanese origins? Did she grow up in Japan? I don't remember if this is made clear.

[Wintermoon]

Played through once; got ending 4/6.

The story uses a lot of clichés, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment for me. I really like the artwork.

One thing that bothers me is how incredibly thick Seji is. I mean,

I was already sure that Liz was a childhood friend from the moment I first encountered her in the story, and everything she did afterwards just confirmed what I already knew. Why did it take Seji the whole story to catch on?

I also thought that the ending was fairly weak, but that's probably just because I got the wrong ending. I'll replay to see if I can get a better ending.

[chensterrain]

Not much else to say that hasn't already been said, but god, the customisation in this is beautiful! I especially liked the main menu and gallery, wow (though the flips from nvl to textbox at the beginning even when no sprites were being displayed seemed a little random... blatant nitpicking, though, don't mind me). But yeah, the story was pretty generic -

I can't say I'm really a fan of tsundere characters (am I using that right? :B) and Liz came across as pretty violent and unlikeable through the whole thing, but eh, personal preference I guess.

Also, I've got to agree with Wintermoon on the whole Seji thing:

'Oh, hey, back when I lived here I had a friend called Liz, was that you?' 'Uh, no. It's a common name.' Really? In Japan? It seemed kind of random to have the main heroine be at least half-Japanese and still use the whole 'forgotten childhood friend' plotline - not that you can't forget a foreigner, obviously, but how many Japanese-speaking white(?) girls called Liz are you likely to meet in one town? :B

I didn't really get Kazumi, either, tbh:

She seems to enjoy the thought of you groping and perving on her BFF way more than any girl should, imo. I assumed Liz had already told her that she knew Seji beforehand and she was happy with him being a creepy perv in an 'oh ho, you guys are totally gonna get together' kind of way, but apparently she didn't know about the whole childhood friend thing, so yeah.

Still, really liked the game, and actually played through to get all the endings (I think?) which I never usually do (it'd be nice to have some way of keeping track of unlocked endings, actually). And it helped that the artwork was immense, hur. More, please!