Ruri Fukuyama is an average Japanese high school girl; good grades, some capability in sports, a passing interest in pop culture... and also constantly surrounded by a harem of stereotypical guys that want to get in her pants. Her problem? She’s a lesbian and in love with her best friend, but just so happens to be the protagonist of an otome game. As she struggles against her contradictory fate, she finds herself constantly dealing with the whims of a universe that just doesn’t want her to be gay.
What the Heart Wants is a subversive take on both the otome and yuri genres that asks a simple question; what if the protagonist of a stereotypical high school reverse-harem romance game was a lesbian? In running with this concept, the game explores common tropes to both genres, melding the two together to create a unique experience. Will this poor girl ever escape her otome hell, or is the yuri life out of her reach?
Characters
Screenshots
Hello! I'm posting this on the behalf of newly formed indie visual novel production team PJ Productions. I'll be updating this thread periodically, but for quicker news you can follow us on twitter for updates about the game's progress.
We've been working on this game for about five months now, and have since then completed the script for the demo (and then some--our writer is still at it). This will be crowdfunded via kickstarter, and though neither the demo nor the kickstarter have launched yet, the demo will come as soon as the rest of the assets are done and coded into the game.
The demo is about 16,000 words long, and features, notably, full voice acting and four CGs. As of now our progress looks something like this:
Script: 100%
Art: 60%
Music: 100%
GUI: 70%
Credits
Writer: Christian Simon (Twitter)
Programmer: Joey Ryanna (Twitter) (that's me!)
Character Artist: Xenvita (Twitter)
Composer: Dan Halley (Twitter)
Background Artist/UI Designer: Jessica Halley (Twitter)
Questions
1. Does the concept of this game interest you? Are you interested in a more meta look at these genres?
2. Is the usage of the term "otome" acceptable here? Is there any other term you think would fit better?
3. What do you think of the characters so far? Do you have a particular favorite? Do their looks, poses, and expressions give you a good impression of what they're like?
4. Would you back this on Kickstarter? If so, are there any particular stretch goals or pledge rewards you would like to see? If not, why?
Thank you for reading!