Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo out!

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AERenoir
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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#31 Post by AERenoir »

I really like the idea. Especially about the MC's condition and how her growing up with it matters. A lot of the otome games popping up lately ignores the MC's background and focuses more on the love interest's background. Despite having a specific character and backstory, the MC usually glazes over it or ignores it, and only brings up so-and-so traits or backstory when the plot calls for it. I'm definitely all for an MC whose background actually matters to the story and her character.

I'm definitely interested in seeing how she handles suddenly having the ability to walk around, even if limited.

The Chinese-Japanese mix is a bit uncomfortable to me, though. The title is in Japanese, but the designs look more Chinese than Japanese. We have Chinese gods, and the houses and clothes all look more like Chinese-style, but the foxes are "kitsune" with Japanese names, and the name Nara sounds Japanese too, so I start wondering how did this kind of universe happen, like did China conquer Japan, etc etc etc. I hope there's a particular in-story explanation for it and they weren't just shoved in for the sake of "familiarity", because the Japanese names/terms/title just felt strange and out-of-place to me. The Chinese does have their own equivalent of kitsune, after all.

Where will this be put up on sale? Steam? Google PLay?

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#32 Post by Camille »

@yuuyacchi: We've successfully added in the font selection option so it will be available in the demo, as well.

It will be a closed beta with sign-ups, which we'll have at some point after the demo is released. There will be some more details later! :3

@AERenoir: I'm glad that you like what we're doing with Nara. We were also frustrated with games where the heroine merely served as a vehicle to develop the male characters, so her backstory and personal growth are very important—at least as much as theirs.

The world of Spirit Parade draws from Asian mythology as a whole, borrowing bits and pieces from everywhere. (the main character’s default name is actually Korean!) Chinese, Japanese, and Korean mythologies all have roots in Buddhism and Taoism so there are a lot of commonalities; the world we’re building is sort of a melting pot of Asian cultures. It's not supposed to reflect the real world or be an actual place in the real world.

Think of the Spirit Parade universe as a fantasy land that is simply Asian-based rather than European. We think the world has enough European fantasy stories at this point, so we wanted to try something different and since both Rins and I are Asian, Asian mythology has a lot of allure and personal significance for us. We were also very much inspired by the Tsui Hark film “A Chinese Ghost Story”, as well as the concept of the Hyakki Yagyou from Japanese folklore. We didn’t want to focus on just one particular Asian culture, so we decided to just put everything together and be diverse in our character and world-building.

So yes there’s a hodgepodge of different cultures, names, and ideas throughout. It might be a little strange at first, but hopefully it’s still an enjoyable experience! Also, the Japanese in the logo is more flavor text than anything. The game is called Spirit Parade, as you can see.

We're going to be selling the game on itch.io, and the demo/pre-orders will be done through that site, too. Of course, if we make it onto Steam that would be great but we can't guarantee it at this point. We would like to make mobile versions available in the future but PC/Mac/Linux is our first priority.

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#33 Post by The Monkey Ninja »

Keeping an eye on this! =D The game looks very promising and I'm excited to see how it turns out! I think using Asian folklore as a whole instead of seperating it (eg: Japanese only, Korean only, etc) is a wonderful idea! Looking forward to the demo release. =3
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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#34 Post by ebi-hime »

Ooh this looks so pretty o: The art is really gorgeous, and I love the charcter designs.
And I love how fluffy Shuye's hair is. Like a big, floofy cloud, hehe~
Actually, there are a lot of characters with really nice, fluffy-looking hair, haha XD

I look forward to trying out the beta when it comes out >w<
I have a lot of free & commercial VNs available on Steam and itchio.io if you want to check them out! ☆

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#35 Post by AERenoir »

@Camille: Oo, I see. Heheh, I know about the Buddhism and Taoism roots. I thought the mix was weird precisely because I am Asian myself and familiar with Asian folklore. Like, I have no issues with European fantasy being a hodgepodge of stuff because I don't know much about those, but Asian fantasy that mixes different cultures together makes me skid into a halt and go "Wait, what?" Because I'm too used to seeing them as separate XD

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome] [Asian fantasy] [Commercial]

#36 Post by Camille »

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and support! ;-; I'm happy to announce that the Spirit Parade demo has been released and pre-orders are now open at a discounted price of $10! You can download the demo and/or pre-order the game here on itch.io!

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#37 Post by Erikka »

So I've tried the demo and I have to say that I absolutely loved it!!! I loved the colors you've used, the music, the atmosphere of the game, the dialogues(it's good that they weren't too long with useless blablabla), the CGs(oh my, they were gorgeous)! The game turned out to be much better than I expected. I thought the game would be good but I honestly didn't expect to like it THAT much.
I like that the heroine isn't modest shy girl. She's confident of herself and sometimes very cynical. And this is great!
So I've preordered the game and I can't wait to play the full version! :D
The only thing I didn't understand: who is the third bachelor?? I very much hope that it's HAIYUE because he was mentioned in the demo(and because I like his design and description the most :mrgreen: )). But after playing the demo it's still not obvious to me. And it's a bit sad that there was no introduction of the third bachelor in the demo.
Last edited by Erikka on Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:09 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#38 Post by Mad Harlequin »

I just downloaded the demo. I hope to play through it and offer some feedback later today!
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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#39 Post by Camille »

Image

We updated our development blog last night with an important announcement about the game:

Hi everyone! It’s been about 48 hours since the Spirit Parade demo was released. We’ve really been humbled by the amount of support we’ve received from you all! Thank you so much for taking the time to check the game out and a very special thank you to those who’ve already preordered. You are putting food on some poor devs’ tables. ♥
—————
We’ve got a special announcement to make today about the love interests for the game. Originally, we said that the game would have 3 love interests, but that the 3rd would not appear in the demo. That 3rd love interest is Haiyue. The reason he did not appear in the demo is because in order to unlock his route, you have to first finish Shuye’s. So the second time running through the game after completing Shuye’s route, Haiyue will appear alongside him. A few people have commented on the fact that Shuye’s introduction CG “felt like it was missing something”. In fact, it’s missing Haiyue!

Image

So good catch! Haiyue is the third main love interest for the game and gets his own full route just like Shuye and Hayato.

However, this leaves Mikio and Diaochan, whom very many of you like. As do we! While planning this game out, the two of us got very attached to them and felt that we wanted to give them their own routes, as well. However, we weren’t sure if that would be feasible or if they’d garner enough interest. We decided secretly to add them in later, perhaps as DLC, if the game did well. We are happy to report that after seeing all of the support the game has gotten and after seeing how well Lettuce Waltz works as a team, we are going to go ahead and add their routes into the game for the full release. So instead of having only 3 love interest routes, Spirit Parade will have 5 love interest routes at no extra cost to you all. To celebrate this, Rins has drawn a set of gravure images of Mikio, Diaochan, and Haiyue! C: We hope you all enjoy~~ [PLEASE READ THE ACTUAL BLOG POST TO SEE THE FULL IMAGES]

Please note, however, that Mikio and Diaochan’s routes will be slightly shorter than the main routes. This is due to the fact that they piggyback off of the other guys’ routes, structure-wise. For example, once you are on Hayato’s route, three days later you will get the chance to get onto Mikio’s route instead. Diaochan’s is the same except it branches off of Haiyue’s route. So Mikio and Diaochan do not appear in the common route and their routes are a bit shorter as a result.

We hope that this pleases everyone and we’re very excited to continue work on the game! If possible, please continue giving us feedback on the demo and pre-order the game or spread the word if you liked it!
—————
Finally, many of you have also been asking about a release date for the full game. While we do not have an exact release date in mind yet, we are 100% certain that the game will be released in late spring of 2015. When we get further along with the game and are more sure of the exact date, we will be sure to make an announcement. We are also hammering out details for a limited edition version of the game (both digital and physical) and will roll out more information on that once we have everything figured out.

Once again, thank so much for all of your support and kindness so far. If you haven’t given Spirit Parade a try yet, please check out the website and demo. We hope you all have a wonderful week!

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#40 Post by Mad Harlequin »

Ooh, more content! That's generally a plus.

I Skyped my feedback to you. I hope that's all right. I have so much to say that I wasn't sure I could fit it into a single forum post (it's not bad, so don't worry!).
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#41 Post by Camille »

Mad Harlequin wrote: Skyped my feedback to you. I hope that's all right. I have so much to say that I wasn't sure I could fit it into a single forum post (it's not bad, so don't worry!).
Ahhhh I had my Skype set to only accept messages from contacts until just now so would you mind terribly resending your feedback so I can see it? ;-;

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#42 Post by Mad Harlequin »

Camille wrote:
Mad Harlequin wrote: Skyped my feedback to you. I hope that's all right. I have so much to say that I wasn't sure I could fit it into a single forum post (it's not bad, so don't worry!).
Ahhhh I had my Skype set to only accept messages from contacts until just now so would you mind terribly resending your feedback so I can see it? ;-;
Oops! Sorry! I'll do that right now! Please don't hesitate to tell me if you have any problems receiving it!
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#43 Post by Camille »

Mad Harlequin wrote:Oops! Sorry! I'll do that right now! Please don't hesitate to tell me if you have any problems receiving it!
Hmm, I'm still not getting it. //kicks Skype

If it's easier, perhaps you could email it to us? It's romaine@lettucewaltz.org! Or just add me as a Skype contact, haha.

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#44 Post by Erikka »

The third love interest is Haiyue??????????!!!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
I'm so happy!!! I couldn't ask for more!!! Can't wait for the release! :D :D :D
p.s. it's also cool that Mikio will be romanceable too!
Last edited by Erikka on Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Spirit Parade [Otome/Asian fantasy] [Commercial] Demo ou

#45 Post by Mad Harlequin »

Camille wrote:If it's easier, perhaps you could email it to us? It's romaine@lettucewaltz.org! Or just add me as a Skype contact, haha.
E-mail sent! I don't want to be a pest, so I went that route instead. :)
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."
— Mark Twain

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