Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

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gekiganwing
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Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#1 Post by gekiganwing »

This visual novel was originally called Salty Tears, and was added to the EVN Developer list some time ago. It has been in the conceptual phase since spring 2012, updating now and then. However, I don't think it has a thread here on Lemma Soft just yet. So... why am I mentioning it now? Because a new demo has just been released, and has been added to the official site. If you prefer torrents, then use the links in the group's relevant Twitter post.

As the group's website clearly states, this is a community college story about a guy who's struggling through academia. I looked through their blog for a couple minutes in order to find more plot details, and didn't have much success. One post from two years ago stated that the main character Oliver "...finds himself in the middle of a tug-of-war between two girls and their attempts to recruit him for their on-campus clubs," but that's the most concise statement that I could find. It seems to be a boy x girl romance story, but I could be wrong.

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Re: Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#2 Post by Anna »

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As I thought, it's a pretty fun demo (although I still want to give Oliver a piece of my mind). The menu buttons and overall look make me jealous~

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Re: Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#3 Post by Ben Ayoo »

I still haven't gone through the whole demo yet. I like the beginning. The menu buttons and GUI kinda reminds me of Katawa Shoujo.

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Re: Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#4 Post by Donmai »

Well, that "work in progress" has finally got a title: it's now called Twofold. There's no new demo released, unfortunately.
Ben Ayoo wrote:The menu buttons and GUI kinda reminds me of Katawa Shoujo.
Looking at the credits page it's easy to understand why. There are some known names there, under "special thanks to". Also, see this thread on KS forum: http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9744
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Re: Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#5 Post by lath »

Went through the demo today. It has good art and texty dialogue. If it ever gets finished, it will be a visual delight.

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Re: Work in Progress (Salty Salty Studios)

#6 Post by jkiln »

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! I've played through "First Snow", a "prequel spinoff" to "Twofold"! (Even though, technically, a "prequel" or "spinoff" is something that's released after a work, not before?)

And since it's Christmas, I thought I'd share my review of "First Snow"! Thank you for reading!

==========

Review of "First Snow"
by J. Kiln

"First Snow" is a yuri Kinetic Novel, created by Salty Salty Studios, and published by Bellhouse (a publishing wing of Studio Élan).

Released on August 19, 2020, to very positive responses from reviewers and players alike, "First Snow" is the first visual novel project by Salty Salty Studios, unveiled ahead of their main project, "Twofold", which as of this writing, is still being developed.

The story of "First Snow" takes place before "Twofold", and is set primarily in the same college, while focusing on two particular characters from Twofold's cast: the shy and timid Allison, and the sardonic and brusque Eileen.

The writer of "First Snow", Suriko, was also a lead developer and writer for "Katawa Shoujo", and dedicated fans might spot and recognise some rather pleasant similarities between the two visual novels, and most likely enjoy the familiar romantic tone Suriko has painted for both.

As a Kinetic Novel (a visual novel without any choices for the player to make), "First Snow" features a yuri romance ("yuri" being a Japanese term for lesbian love), with explicit depictions of nudity and sexual themes, and is definitely not for anyone under the age of 18 -- and while the version of the game as released on Steam covers up the nudity and has the sex scenes removed, players can still download a patch from Salty Salty Studios's website to restore the sexual depictions if they so choose.

"First Snow" centres on Allison, following her story throughout the winter months of November and December as she struggles to find herself, while also coping and adapting to being a college freshman.

Allison is a rather shy young woman, and having been brought up in a warm, loving household, full of the antics of her three older brothers, and a cat that misbehaves without her around, Allison is feeling more than a little homesick as the game begins: with her looking out onto an unfamiliar skyline from the balcony, thinking about her faraway family as the first snow falls under a grey sky.

In fact, Allison is more than a little shy, as she seems unable to socialise easily, and is almost frightened even, to meet fresh faces and make new friends. And while she always puts the feelings of others above herself, constantly going out of her way to avoid offending someone even in the slightest, whether be it bending to her wilful (and only) friend, Caprice, or literally angling around a chatting group of friends blocking a hallway, Allison has inadvertently isolated herself on campus, adding to the loneliness of moving away from home.

But with Caprice around, things won't stay as they are for Allison, for when her energetic, diminutive friend unabashedly drags Allison into forming a new art club to explore their amateur creativity, they end up in company with Eileen, a brusque but skilled artist who speaks her mind. Like Allison, Eileen too is somewhat of a loner, albeit for the opposite reasons, which ends up attracting Allison, and inspiring her to develop confidence. So, through spending time with Caprice and Eileen in their little art club, Allison tries to grow into a braver person, and along the way, discovers her own feelings.

"First Snow" is a wonderfully-made visual novel: everything in the game has a delightful spark of creativity, from the animated menu buttons, to the paper-cutout look of the sprites that flip and move around, to the gentle, relaxing music that soothes you and puts your mind at ease, "First Snow" is a pleasant, artistic joy to experience.

With a user interface developed beyond the standard menus provided by Ren'Py (the game's engine), "First Snow" has a customised presentation that would rival more famous visual novels made by paid professionals in actual companies, so you might find it rather impressive that "First Snow" was created instead by a team of passionate visual novel enthusiasts.

Along with its unique style, "First Snow" also has an "Extras" section, where players can browse through an index of the game's scenes, or view the CGs outside of gameplay (CGs meaning "computer graphics"; Japanese term for special fullscreen art in visual novels). In addition to a "Jukebox" for the game's songs, the Extras section also hosts a Guest Art gallery, featuring artworks by associates of Salty Salty Studios. -- There are also basic options for accessibility that enable visual cues, indicating when music or sound effects are being played.

While the game makes use of a number of CGs, their quality is not entirely consistent, and only some of them approach professional levels of execution -- which isn't to say that they were made carelessly, as the earnest touch of the artist is unmistakable in each artwork, and the CGs serve their purpose in the game's narrative well enough.

There are also plenty of ambience tracks and sound effects used to enhance immersion, and the music is overall calming, and does well in establishing the moods of each scene, using the typical variety of tunes found in visual novel music, and through a fusion of chamber jazz and synth-pop.

You might at first think that the more mature genre of jazz would prove dissonant with the relatively innocent sound of synth-pop, but only one or two of the game's music can be described as discordant, before the conflicting tones eventually resolve and harmonise into a lovely duet, perfectly symbolising the story as it does.

And that may be the heart of "First Snow", a story about learning to love another, to grow beyond what we're comfortable with, and finding harmony and happiness in this unfamiliar, if not sometimes frightening, strange world we are all drawn together in.

https://firstsnow.salty-salty-studios.com/

If you're in the mood for a calm, lovely little romance story in winter, and one that's about a first-time artist, her first steps into the real world, and her first love... then "First Snow" would make for a good first choice. -- It's free, after all.
Hello there! Come check out my self-published ebook: It's a modern fantasy set in the 90s, with lots of action and mystery! Plus, it has a short text game as its prequel!

https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=60294

They're all free, but if you like, you can support me by buying my ebook, at any price that you think is right!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/724533

Thank you!

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