Kosmos Connections [Dual VN][Romantic][Mystery][Demo]

[JaredKHAce]

Concept Demo available now! https://thetaugames.itch.io/kosmos-connections


"In this story, the choices you make only matter as much as you want them to.

Your perception of these events will determine your outlook on what transpires.

'There is no such thing as a subjective truth…

only interpretations of an incomplete picture.'”

Welcome home!

It's been so long since I've last seen you, (Adelfos). Eight years, right? Let's make up for the time we missed out on. This isn't all about me though, as there are others who deserve your time, too:

Jennavieve, the stoic and proud boss of Cafe de Luna, and sister-tier friend of mine in your leave;

Runia, your dear little sister who wishes to reconnect with you on this vacation;

And finally, Tau, your childhood friend (but you knew that already).


Let's make the most of your winter vacation and make this week unforgettable! I also have a surprise for you to play while you're here. That's right, I have been making a visual novel! Tada!

I would love to hear your thoughts on my pet project, but what's more important is that you have a good time during this week before heading back to college, hehe~.

You can play a concept demo that showcases both Kosmos Connections and Uplink Alethia right now! I would really appreciate it if you gave it a shot, as well as your feedback. Thanks for your time! The concept demo was made during the early stages of the game, so Tau is the only girl present, but a more complete demo of the final game featuring all the characters and a prologue for Uplink Alethia will be released in the next 2-3 months.

Gameplay Screenshots

Feel free to ask all questions down below!

[Lil Ace]

I played through this demo today and feel pretty conflicted about it.

One the good side, it looks wonderful and I love the visual style, the starry background for the text windows is lovely. I also like how the characters have a different look between the real life and the visual novel, it sells the idea that this is a game Tau made herself.

A special mention msut go to the voice actor playing Tau. She sounds so natural. As an actor myself I know how hard this can really be so I think she blew it out of the water.

On the bad side though I feel as though the demo doesn't really 'demonstrate' a lot. So Tau is making a visual novel that will probably take a horror turn and she has a special message for the main character, and that's it. Nothing about the demo really gets me excited to continue playing. The hook of the game (as I see it) of playing a game-within-a-game doesn't have a payoff in this demo, so I'm left feeling apathetic towards the experience. Perhaps this could be fixed by extending this demo a little more so you can put the two together. You meet with Tau and she asks the MC what he thinks of it.

And really, the character whose eyes you can't see ends up being the creepy girl? That's kinda obvious and cliche (whether that's intentional on Tau's part or not I don't know). Also, what kind of scientist would leave during a new and potentially dangerous experiment? Although if he had the ulterior motive of trying to fail the experiement, that would be interesting. Finally, the VN characters throw around the term "SU" a lot but I didn't know what it means.

I think in general the VN part of the game confused me, because I wasn't fully aware of what the experiment was or what was happening. I assume it was sending someone into a cyberspace like area, but I never felt like I 100% knew what was going on. I think some more exposition would be useful here. Also the switch from Nona was jarring for me (instead of "You put down the baby", I'd recommend going third person here, "Nona put down the baby").

I'm glad to hear a new demo is on the way. There's just not enough here to really hook me into playing more, so I'm curious if the new demo will fix that. Hopefully this post will give you some ideas on how to improve your game.

[philip]

@JaredKHAce-

Just downloaded and played through the demo. Even though it is relatively short, I enjoyed it. The artwork is quite attractive. I'll bookmark this thread and look forward to future updates.

philip

[rainarium]

Played through the demo in about 20-30 minutes.

Title screen UI is nice and simple. Further impressions of UI will be nitpicky so I'll refrain, but overall solid stuff. I think inserting the time/date in one of the top corners or when you enter the settings (kinda like if you were to check your phone) would help with keeping track of where you are in the story.


The bgm is alright. It fits well with the scenes/situation. I don't usually listen to English voice acting so I'm not sure how well Tau's voice fits. At least, I think the quality being more clear would help. I had to turn down the music to get a proper listen.


Artwork and visuals are on the dot. Props to Tau's designer, because she's a cutie! The backgrounds are also well done and are consistent in quality with the sprites. I appreciate how the base VN and in-game VN have distinct art styles.


Personally, for the feeling of the game and writing style, it felt too direct for me and set up expectations in weird places. It's difficult to explain, but talking with Tau felt like I was talking with myself? I think more pauses and environmental exposition/setup could help the flow of the script. I wanted to know what motivations or events led to MC's return to Kosmos. He seemed really confident and a bit nonchalant in returning even though it's been a while since he's been gone (though understandably, we know he's on vacation). I guess I didn't get a sense of MC's goal and wanted that as a hook. It seems that the hook is Tau wanting to tell you something after you complete her game, which is fine, but there's no sense of urgency other than me wanting to know, that she's my best friend, or for the expectation of romance. I didn't feel like I had to/wanted to play her game since I just met her 10 minutes ago ("she's cute though so why not" was my motivation lol). You have the meat, but there's not enough flavor.


That being said, I'm interested in what you have for the more complete demo, especially the prologue. Keep at it!

[JaredKHAce]

I played through this demo today and feel pretty conflicted about it.

One the good side, it looks wonderful and I love the visual style, the starry background for the text windows is lovely. I also like how the characters have a different look between the real life and the visual novel, it sells the idea that this is a game Tau made herself.

A special mention msut go to the voice actor playing Tau. She sounds so natural. As an actor myself I know how hard this can really be so I think she blew it out of the water.

On the bad side though I feel as though the demo doesn't really 'demonstrate' a lot. So Tau is making a visual novel that will probably take a horror turn and she has a special message for the main character, and that's it. Nothing about the demo really gets me excited to continue playing. The hook of the game (as I see it) of playing a game-within-a-game doesn't have a payoff in this demo, so I'm left feeling apathetic towards the experience. Perhaps this could be fixed by extending this demo a little more so you can put the two together. You meet with Tau and she asks the MC what he thinks of it.

And really, the character whose eyes you can't see ends up being the creepy girl? That's kinda obvious and cliche (whether that's intentional on Tau's part or not I don't know). Also, what kind of scientist would leave during a new and potentially dangerous experiment? Although if he had the ulterior motive of trying to fail the experiement, that would be interesting. Finally, the VN characters throw around the term "SU" a lot but I didn't know what it means.

I think in general the VN part of the game confused me, because I wasn't fully aware of what the experiment was or what was happening. I assume it was sending someone into a cyberspace like area, but I never felt like I 100% knew what was going on. I think some more exposition would be useful here. Also the switch from Nona was jarring for me (instead of "You put down the baby", I'd recommend going third person here, "Nona put down the baby").

I'm glad to hear a new demo is on the way. There's just not enough here to really hook me into playing more, so I'm curious if the new demo will fix that. Hopefully this post will give you some ideas on how to improve your game.

Thank you for all the feedback! You'd actually be surprised how much of your concerns are fixed in this future demo. I hope to better the experience across the board and make it the best game it can possibly be!

[JaredKHAce]

Played through the demo in about 20-30 minutes.

Title screen UI is nice and simple. Further impressions of UI will be nitpicky so I'll refrain, but overall solid stuff. I think inserting the time/date in one of the top corners or when you enter the settings (kinda like if you were to check your phone) would help with keeping track of where you are in the story.


The bgm is alright. It fits well with the scenes/situation. I don't usually listen to English voice acting so I'm not sure how well Tau's voice fits. At least, I think the quality being more clear would help. I had to turn down the music to get a proper listen.


Artwork and visuals are on the dot. Props to Tau's designer, because she's a cutie! The backgrounds are also well done and are consistent in quality with the sprites. I appreciate how the base VN and in-game VN have distinct art styles.


Personally, for the feeling of the game and writing style, it felt too direct for me and set up expectations in weird places. It's difficult to explain, but talking with Tau felt like I was talking with myself? I think more pauses and environmental exposition/setup could help the flow of the script. I wanted to know what motivations or events led to MC's return to Kosmos. He seemed really confident and a bit nonchalant in returning even though it's been a while since he's been gone (though understandably, we know he's on vacation). I guess I didn't get a sense of MC's goal and wanted that as a hook. It seems that the hook is Tau wanting to tell you something after you complete her game, which is fine, but there's no sense of urgency other than me wanting to know, that she's my best friend, or for the expectation of romance. I didn't feel like I had to/wanted to play her game since I just met her 10 minutes ago ("she's cute though so why not" was my motivation lol). You have the meat, but there's not enough flavor.


That being said, I'm interested in what you have for the more complete demo, especially the prologue. Keep at it!

Thank you, rain! This concept demo is really more to showcase the world of the game, so I understand why some would think the motivation isn't there. With the prologue, I hope to flesh out more of the characters at the start before jumping into anything Uplink Alethia related. I will continue to add to the full game and polish it to the best of my abilities. As for the VAs, this game was made with English VAs in mind (since it takes place in America), and I chose the best possible voice actors for the role. I really to do hope you will give them a chance (and don't worry, I will be balancing out the audio in the future). Thank you for the feedback!