Kokorogawari [GxB Drama] [CHAP 1+2 DEMO] [STEAM GREENLIGHT]
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2016 3:25 am
Thank you all so much for helping us take Kokorogawari to even greater heights! =)
We hope to receive your support and spread Kokorogawari to a wider audience!
Hello, everyone!
My name is Laramie Castiel, and I'm a member of Precatio. Precatio is the name of the indie visual novel development team that was formed in late 2015 by our glorious lord and master, Jyuuguchi. I'm here to
Kokorogawari is an otome [GxB romance] human drama (with some slice of life elements) visual novel set in a grounded and realistic portrayal of modern-day Japan. It focuses on art, family, the depth of emotions and interpersonal relationships.
PLEASE NOTE: To conserve space, I've made most images into thumbnails that you can click on to enlarge!
The Story: What Is Kokorogawari About?
"Kokorogawari" is Japanese for "Change of Heart". An otome visual novel set in modern-day Japan, its story is told through the eyes of cynical 22-year-old Matsubayashi Asami, our protagonist of the game. Asami is a tertiary student attending (the fictional) Touzaka University. Between her time undertaking the final year of her literature degree and participating in the university's art club, Asami also interns at Edo Publishing in its editorial department. Naturally, this is a critical period of her life and she wants to graduate without any hassles- all in the name of getting a good job to support her hard-working single mother, Matsubayashi Ryouko.
However, through her interactions with the three love interests of the game- classmate and art clubmate Koga Shinichi, fellow Edo Publishing intern Takahara Yuuya and the Touzaka University Art Club's temporary teacher-advisor Guillam Matisse- she is forced to confront many of her long-standing, highly cynical and negative views on love and forgiveness. Given how the three men come from vastly different walks of life, each of them will find their own way of scaling the walls that surround Asami's heart.
But when he inevitably reaches the other side, what will the wounded Asami do?
Will she fight him off for self-preservation?
Or has she finally found the right person and will allow him to stay?
As the title implies, the main "theme" of Kokorogawari is the changes our minds and souls undergo as we progress through life- touched and shaped by the people we meet, the sights we see and the challenges we face. More specifically, you'll be watching the changes and decision-making our main characters undergo as they all navigate their way through important stages of their lives.
Meet the Main Characters!
...And the Supporting Characters, Too!
Gameplay and Screenshots
As development continues, more screenshots will be added! The optimal resolution of the game is 1024 x 768 pixels.
Kokorogawari has a simplistic "choose your own adventure" gameplay style, as our focus is to deliver its compelling story. Our current estimate of the game's length is now 24~28 hours (depending on individual reading speeds), which makes Kokorogawari a medium length visual novel according to the Visual Novel Database. However, this approximation may change again after further checks as development progresses.Kokorogawari will also have an "Extras" section. In it, there's a CG Gallery, Music Room, Dictionary, Ending List, a way to check Game Completion and assorted post-playthrough bonuses to look forward to! Aim for 100% completion!
~Routes and Endings~
As you can see in the "extremely high-tech" flow chart above, Kokorogawari follows the time-tested "Common route → Individual route → Ending" story progression. The currently planned amount of endings are six- two per character; one good and bad ending each. The individual route you enter will depend upon the choices you make in the common route stage of the game and the endings are significantly determined by your choice-making in the individual routes.~The Choices~
While we are aiming to make you think about the choices you make, we're also working hard to make sure they will not become cryptic. We think choices should matter and would like you to think over them! However, we also think it's important to acknowledge the players that just want to read the story and are not interested in spending much time with choice-making.To settle this, we've come up with an affection point status screen called "Love Stats". Under Love Stats, players will be able to check on their relationship progress with each character. However, the Love Stats function is completely optional and unintrusive- using it at any stage is entirely up to you. So if you prefer to go in blind... You didn't see anything here...
~In-game Dictionary~
Many of our team members have experienced varying aspects of what Japan has to offer- living, working, travelling, experiencing the culture and speaking its language there.This is why we're doing our best to deliver a realistic portrayal of life in Japan. The "downside" of this resulted in certain Japanese words- like food or location names- being kept in order to avoid awkward translations... So we've decided to implement a dictionary system! Any coloured Japanese word in-game can be clicked on to quickly check what it means. You can revisit the definition of any word at any time by clicking on the "Dictionary" in the game's menu.
Trial Kokorogawari!
We have decided to create two demos of our game- one containing both chapters and another containing just Chapter 2 for those who have already read Chapter 1. Both chapters cover the first two chapters of the game's common route.Here's what you can expect:
An introduction to two of the three love interests, Koga Shinichi, Guillam Matisse (briefly in Chapter 1, more extensively in Chapter 2) and Takahara Yuuya (Chapter 2).
An insight into our protagonist's (Matsubayashi Asami) feelings towards love and relationships in general. It'll also explore how she shows a different side to different people.
A golden opportunity to get a feel for the interface, as well as seeing our Dictionary function in action!
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the trial files now exceeding 100mb (they're now approximately 200mb depending on the operating system they're built for), we're no longer able to host any of them here on Lemma Soft. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience caused!
Useful Links: Stay in Touch with Us and the Game!
Follow the development progress on our Blog at https://www.precatio.wordpress.com/
...And our Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/Precatio_VN
...Or our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Kokorogawari-523813674491846/
...And our Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/Precatio_VN
...Or our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Kokorogawari-523813674491846/
Feel free to contact us here or through the above sites if you have any comments or questions!
~Read More About Kokorogawari!~
Here, you're free to check out the growing collection of sites Kokorogawari has been featured on. They're ordered from newest to oldest, top to bottom.
Partial Chapter 1 review by Softpedia
English Visual Novels Tumblr coverage
Itch.io's Tweet
Otome Games Reddit
English Visual Novels Tumblr coverage
Itch.io's Tweet
Otome Games Reddit
Team Precatio
The team is mainly composed of otome game fans that have come together in a desire to create an otome game that anybody can enjoy. Even if you may not fit the description of the target demographic of an otome game, we sincerely hope that everyone can enjoy what Kokorogawari has to offer! Some of us haven't worked on a visual novel before, so we've been finding this experience challenging, but fun and rewarding. We hope our hard work pays off and Kokorogawari becomes a proud addition to your visual novel collection!Director and Main Writer: Jyuuguchi
Editor and Co-writer: Laramie Castiel
Character and CG Artwork: Shirou Yuki
Background and Interface Artwork: Sechiru
BGM Composition: Array and Ryan Camus
OP Music & Lyrics: Jyuuguchi
Programmers: Haru & Rin
Editor and Co-writer: Laramie Castiel
Character and CG Artwork: Shirou Yuki
Background and Interface Artwork: Sechiru
BGM Composition: Array and Ryan Camus
OP Music & Lyrics: Jyuuguchi
Programmers: Haru & Rin
Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave feedback or ask us any questions you may have! =)