[KICKSTARTER] Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin

[Duchess]

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KICKSTARTER LIVE: https://bit.ly/3KaQ7Kq

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STEAM: https://bit.ly/3CVf5v1

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LINK TREE: https://t.co/fuYMmwmmzi

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Synopsis

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin is a narrative-driven otome game where choices matter. Play as an assassin navigating a world of danger, adventure, and romance, and a meddlesome fairy godmother. Will you play with evil intentions or will you forge genuine alliances?

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PLAY DEMO

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https://foxdrift-studios.itch.io/garden-of-seif

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A story-rich visual novel filled with romance, assassins, a badass female protagonist, and an anti-fairy godmother.

I love the Game of Thrones/Shall We Date? mashup feel, vibrantly detailed character design--especially the awesome cloaks/hair design, and the tense narrative with opposing guilds" - Andy Mack

Further Details

Journal system with world lore
MC is an assassin
Villain love interests
An anti-fairy godmother
Over 10 characters
14 CGS + a ton of item CGs and pop-ups
Animated cutscenes
100k + words
POV scenes for each love interest
Multiple endings
Choices that affect gameplay
SFX for a fully immersive experience


Content Warnings: Flashing images, alcohol and tobacco use, sexual references, strong language, mentions of death/murder/war, cartoon blood splatter, flashing imagery, and mild depictions of violence.

Credits

Writer and Lead Developer: Aeriel G.C
Programmer: Aeriel G.C
Editor & Plot Development: Neptune
Logo Design: Moonsprinkles; Re.Alice https://realiceworks.weebly.com/
Sprite Artist & CGs: Remnantation https://www.remnantation.com/
Item Art: cutecumber https://twitter.com/Cutecumber_art
Backgrounds: Prokoshev Danil https://foxeleos.artstation.com/resume; Karen Joy R. Manansala; Aeriel G.C
GUI: Donut Duchess https://duchessmotiondesign.weebly.com/
Soundtrack: Soundstripe artists (a detailed list will be shown in credits)
Trailers & Animation: Donut Duchess https://duchessmotiondesign.weebly.com/

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Questions:

What do you think is going to happen after the demo?
What do you want to happen?
Who are your favorite characters?
What are your general thoughts?
Do you have any questions about the game?

[akrasia]

What do you think about the premise, do you look forward to the demo?
The premise sounds interesting and I'm definitely going to follow this thread to keep up to date. I look forward to the demo.

How do you feel about the characters?
They all sound fantastic! The MC doesn't appear to be air-headed and as long as she doesn't get pulled around by the other characters with no will of her own, I'm happy. I'm intrigued by Ace, curious to find out more! I'm assuming that Seth is the love interest, and he's the type of character that I love to hate, but hate to love.

The setting is a little different, (Arabian-inspired fantasy world) is that interesting to you?
Yes! Nearly being thirty I'm really looking forward to VN's that don't revolve around school. While I still enjoy those it's refreshing to move away from it.

Do you mind not having choices?
I do mind, normally I don't look at kinetic novels because it ends up frustrating me that I don't have choices. However, the plot and art interests me enough that I'll look anyway.

If so, would you like to see updates of different versions of the story later on?
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this question. Sequel versions? Different stories in the same world? Or eventually an interactive novel instead of a kinetic?

In conclusion, I am actually excited by the prospect of this game being fully released. I've already mentioned I don't normally read kinetic novels but a plot that is different, a MC with actual motive and personality, as well as vast lore and decent character backgrounds? Sign me up. Depending on how much lore and background information there will be a journal is a fantastic idea too. Also, the end of the trailer the wording feels like it implies that the player will have some control over her getting revenge or giving in to the Empire.

I wish you all the best of luck! I really look forward to seeing it in action.

[Duchess]

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm happy to hear that someone is interested!

As far as my last question, referring to different versions of the story, I was thinking to have some sort of "unlockable" chapters, once the readers finish the first playthrough. This is just an idea, but it'd basically be different versions of the story. I was thinking this would give it similar vibes to "choice" novels and delivering more replay value.

[Duchess]

Hello! This thread has been updated with sleek and clean character cards, social media links, as well as the expected release for the demo!

Here is a sneak peak of one of the GoS backgrounds:

[Duchess]

Seth Salazar the "double agent"

Bumping with a sneak peek of the gameplay! Programming is underway and the demo will be released very soon!

[Duchess]

Bumping with a new sneak peek video showcasing our 3D camera!! Progress!

We are hastily trying to pump this demo out ASAP, but life is really slowly down our initial goal of an October release. Regardless, we plan on pushing through and promise to keep everyone updated. This visual novel is going to happen.

Thank you!

[gekiganwing]

For a moment, I thought the title of this story was "Garden of Self." Oops.

Iris Lapis, an undercover assassin, seeks to exterminate a hitlist of Imperials that have darkened her past. Enter Seth Salazar, a cunning Imperial man that promises to help her on her quest for revenge, but at what cost?

If you sell this story, you could use these two sentences as your elevator pitch. That said... if this will be a commercial product, then think about writing a few alternate pitches. You might benefit by writing a single sentence in order to promote your story. Likewise, you might benefit by not mentioning the characters' names.

2. How do you feel about the characters?

Positive. I appreciate stories in which major characters have social lives, professions, goals, and skills. As far as I can tell, your characters have all four.

3. The setting is a little different, (Arabian-inspired fantasy world) is that interesting to you?

It's interesting. I think it's good when a fictional setting seems fully realized. (I try to discourage people from writing caricatures of real places, as well as "Tolkien hand-me-down" standard fantasy settings.)

4. Do you mind not having choices?

If you believe that your story will be better without choices or alternate endings, then don't include them.

[Duchess]

For a moment, I thought the title of this story was "Garden of Self." Oops.

Iris Lapis, an undercover assassin, seeks to exterminate a hitlist of Imperials that have darkened her past. Enter Seth Salazar, a cunning Imperial man that promises to help her on her quest for revenge, but at what cost?

If you sell this story, you could use these two sentences as your elevator pitch. That said... if this will be a commercial product, then think about writing a few alternate pitches. You might benefit by writing a single sentence in order to promote your story. Likewise, you might benefit by not mentioning the characters' names.

2. How do you feel about the characters?

Positive. I appreciate stories in which major characters have social lives, professions, goals, and skills. As far as I can tell, your characters have all four.

3. The setting is a little different, (Arabian-inspired fantasy world) is that interesting to you?

It's interesting. I think it's good when a fictional setting seems fully realized. (I try to discourage people from writing caricatures of real places, as well as "Tolkien hand-me-down" standard fantasy settings.)

4. Do you mind not having choices?

If you believe that your story will be better without choices or alternate endings, then don't include them.

Whoops. I actually worry the name is deterring people from reading about the novel. Everyone I show it to asks me how to pronounce it But I mean... I struggle to say dangonronpa... And people played that, so I feel like I'm in the clear.

Anywho, thank you so much for your feedback, especially regarding the pitch. I spent so long trying to figure out how to pitch this massive story into two sentences without getting any real feedback on it. I really appreciate that you've given me your expertise. I think it would definitely be beneficial to cut to the chase and leave out the character names. I can also see how the first sentence of my current logline can provide enough information to the readers. I also feel like keeping both sentences juxtaposed captures the-I suppose the irony?-of the situation: an Imperial-hater working with an Imperial.

[Duchess]

Major update! ~ We are pleased to announce that we have an immediate release of the demo in the forecast this week! Keep us on your radar. Friday 4/3, our demo will be available on itch.io! Circumstances have allowed us more time to push forward and deliver our novel, and we are looking forward to finally seeing what the world thinks of it!

[Duchess]

In other news of the demo's release for tomorrow, I also want to announce our plan to have multiple endings for GoS. Originally, we had planned to have only one true ending, making this a novel kinetic. But we have decided that pursuing the course of different endings would help expand our universe and characters better. However, there will still be one ending that is the "True Ending."

[Duchess]

The demo has been released! Please let us know what you think, and see the full devlog on itch for more info! Thank you! https://foxdrift-studios.itch.io/garden ... emo-launch

[Macros]

Well, that's certainly a pretty exciting project. The art is great, the setting is definitely enticing, and as the cherry on top, the MC definitely seems interesting (which isn't all that too common among VN protagonists, unfortunately). The only point I might have been a little less fond of is the kinetic novel part, and even that seems to have changed a little - though I must confess that if as I suspect the True Ending involve a romance with Seth, I might happily settle for one of the others since right now, I feel like the MC would rather happily slit his throat, and I'd be inclined to agree with the sentiment.

For the demo itself, it's a pretty good entry into the sort of world you're going for. All in all, I liked it, though it was frustratingly short (greed truly is a dreadful thing) and as mentioned above, it didn't particularly endear me to Seth, which I imagine was kind of the point at this stage of the game (though I suspect he'd be a hard sell for me no matter what, given his apparent archetype).

Anyway, great work so far, and I'll watch how the project go with interest!

[Duchess]

Updated with a new teaser and cleaned up the details! Follow us on Twitter/our website blog for upcoming announcements! We're excited to announce that we will be participating in the 2021 Winter VN Jam and releasing a side story of GoS, called Curse of Gravehollow Peaks! Two assassins embark on a journey to wipe out their marks, but they wind up lost in the snowy Gravehollow Peaks. Some say there's a beast hidden within the cave of the tallest peak, a beast that curses the mountains with eternal snow. Will they ever find a way out? Find out what happens this December!

[Duchess]

Hi everyone! Development has been ramping up for Garden of Seif. Not only did we release a side story called Curse of Gravehollow Peaks, https://foxdrift-studios.itch.io/cursed but we also polished the first chapter of Garden of Seif.

Garden of Seif: Chronicles of an Assassin now has polished UI and animations. The extended demo will be coming soon and will feature chapters 2 & 3, followed by a Steam Page and a Kickstarter where you can soon support the development. Be sure to follow us on socials, linked above, for frequent updates and releases.

You can read more about the recent update on our devlog: https://foxdrift-studios.itch.io/garden ... polish-v14

[Duchess]

The extended demo has been added to itch.io! You can read about it here https://foxdrift-studios.itch.io/garden ... ve-ch-2-3-

This is the final demo as we gear up for Steam and a Kickstarter. It contains 10k words and has a lot to offer as far as insight to the rest of the plot, art, and animation.
You can support the development by following our Kickstarter's Coming Soon page https://t.co/AQnsNZ6DV7

Please let me know your thoughts! So much has been improved since the original 2020 demo release, which only covered chapter 1.