AOPII [Short / Slice of Life / Mental Health] [RELEASED]

[Mikomi]

A seemingly nice little story about a girl befriending the new kid at school, AOPII actually focuses on mental issues and how people cope with them mixed with real life situations like divorce and the pressures of school. There is a overlying motif of stars and space, as shown in some of the art and the character's names, which is later explained in the game.

☆ Download it here! ☆

☆ Characters ☆

Nova Cassiopeia

Orion Zenith

Aurine

☆ Screenshots ☆

The story, art, and programming is done completely by me, MikomiKisomi. The music is done by Sinakhai (Farekh Ahl Vanat).

☆ Questions ☆

☆ What comes to mind when you hear a VN (or any game) focuses on mental health?
☆ What do you expect to see or want to see from this type of game?
☆ Are you more deterred from playing short games/very linear games?

[Mikomi]

The image galleries are finally finished! I'm thinking of adding one more page to the Promo Art section, but for now they're done.

[Alcor]

Hello! This caught my attention because the art is so very colorful and cute. I'm a sucker for games/characters/anything with a star motif (as you might guess from my name ).

☆ What comes to mind when you hear a VN (or any game) focuses on mental health?
I think it's an interesting (and perhaps difficult) topic to explore. I feel that games might have some trouble when dealing with mental health issues because some mental illnesses, such as depression, tend to go back-and-forth while games usually include some sort of measurable progress or another (I'm pretty sure I read about that somewhere, but I really can't remember where, sorry!) I'm not very learned in this area, so please take these words with a grain of salt. Regardless, I'm curious how you intend to approach this topic!

☆ What do you expect to see or want to see from this type of game?
Hmmm, I expect that the reader will be in the main character(s)'s head a lot. I don't necessarily expect to see a full resolution for the problems the characters are dealing with, but I would like to see them feel at least a little better!

☆ Are you more deterred from playing short games/very linear games?
Not really. I play different games in different situations, I guess? I like to save long, complex, multi-route games for some late night when I'm not busy, but short games I enjoy as a sort of treat when taking a break.

Best of luck with your project~

[Mikomi]

Hello! This caught my attention because the art is so very colorful and cute. I'm a sucker for games/characters/anything with a star motif (as you might guess from my name ).

☆ What comes to mind when you hear a VN (or any game) focuses on mental health?
I think it's an interesting (and perhaps difficult) topic to explore. I feel that games might have some trouble when dealing with mental health issues because some mental illnesses, such as depression, tend to go back-and-forth while games usually include some sort of measurable progress or another (I'm pretty sure I read about that somewhere, but I really can't remember where, sorry!) I'm not very learned in this area, so please take these words with a grain of salt. Regardless, I'm curious how you intend to approach this topic!

☆ What do you expect to see or want to see from this type of game?
Hmmm, I expect that the reader will be in the main character(s)'s head a lot. I don't necessarily expect to see a full resolution for the problems the characters are dealing with, but I would like to see them feel at least a little better!

☆ Are you more deterred from playing short games/very linear games?
Not really. I play different games in different situations, I guess? I like to save long, complex, multi-route games for some late night when I'm not busy, but short games I enjoy as a sort of treat when taking a break.

Best of luck with your project~

Thank you so much! I hope this game lives up to your expectations ^ o ^

[Mikomi]

Last-minute sprite edit! Nova now has two more sprites, two "despair" sprites!

[Mikomi]

AOPII is looking for beta testers! Click here for more info! ♥

[Mikomi]

The preview image for it on AOPII is finished! This (should) be the last art for AOPII (that isn't extra character art).

[Mikomi]

The beta has been updated with extra scenes and edited wording issues! Here's a screenshot of one of the new scenes ♥

[Mikomi]

The beta has updated once more! I'd really love feedback on it currently so I can release it either tonight or in a couple of days!

Beta Link

[Mikomi]

AOPII is now released on Itch.io- can someone move this thread to the completed games forum?

[Mikomi]

AOPII is on Itch.io for free now!

Would really love it if a mod could see this and move my thread to the Completed forum! ♥

[Mikomi]

AOPII recently had a contest for drawing the characters, and these were the winning guest artists!

http://mymymellow.deviantart.com/art/No ... -612376603
http://violora.deviantart.com/art/AOPII ... -589420926
http://cluhdryxity.deviantart.com/art/N ... -606793002

And with that, AOPII has come to an end. As my first full-length visual novel (albeit being so short), I hope I can look back on it in the future and see tons of things I could had improved on and make better games then.