[dischan] Juniper's Knot (2012)

[MaiMai]

Another novel finished!

Absolutely beautiful and touching story with equally strong graphics. I hope to see more from your group.

[CheeryMoya]

Okay, finally kicked myself to play JK since I plan to drop by the dischan booth at AX. I was expecting something really grand that would make me cry hard, but I was... well, I didn't feel much :C

Story wasn't something entirely predictable, yet it wasn't surprising? I felt like the pacing was too fast and the events jumped from A to B too randomly. I found it interesting that the demon or the boy were never named, and that was a plus for me.

A negative was the whole "the girl I liked was raped" thing; it was tossed into the story rather casually, at least to me. It was kinda just... there. Not emphasized or taken lightly. I don't want to say it was pointless though, but something else could have been used?
If it helps, one thing I especially liked was the planting of the olive tree, as pointed out before it was a sort of olive branch. The boy let him trust the fiend despite all he knew prior about them, and that ended up well for the both of them. Somewhere along the way I wanted it not to end up well, but that's just me.

The art is obviously what puts this VN up at the top, it's gorgeous and breathtaking. The amount of variation that the sprites have and the expressions are just great. Not to mention those CGs, GUI, effects... The polish on the visual aspects is beautiful ;-;

Music was a bit too dramatic for my tastes but there's no denying that it's of good quality. It helped tie together the mood and atmosphere.

And well, I feel really bad that I can't give a completely positive review. I see all the polish and hard work that went into making this game, but the writing was the weakest link for me. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, but it could have been better. I know NaNo's time restraints could have compromised a few things, but with a little more time to refine things, this game would have gone onto my favorites. Despite this I'd still recommend this game to anyone new to the VN scene.

[natsumijam~]

Hello Swifdemon!
I just finished playing it earlier...

And it was awesome!
I love the story and the graphics are Superb!!!
Looking forward to play more VNs from you in the future^^

[dreamingdaze]

Very well done. The art and the music made for a dark and intriguing atmosphere. The writing was strong and I admire the fact it took the challenge of both a difficult language style and a darker story to tell.

Excellent--I can't wait for your next work now. Easily one of the better visual novels I've had the pleasure of reading on this forum.

[kukiko-tan]

I hope you don't mind me sharing my love for this game too ; 7 ; )
I love absolutely everything <3 The story , the art , and how this game was made ( talking about the coding )
Now that I try to code stuff with ren'py , I appreciate more the pain the programmer goes through and the work put in the game .
I'm usually not very bright when it comes to kinetic novels since I'm used to having to choose and stuff ;;
But I love this one a lot and it became one of my favourite visual--- uhmm.. kinetic ..XD novels ? But I don't want to put it like that, since I played only 1 KN in my whole life lmaoo - ( and with this one, 2 )
In any case, I enjoyed playing this a lot .
Oh!~ Also . I wonder , how were the soundtracks/music made? ; w ; ) I loved them a lot, especially Bleeding . ( I'll probably listen it for days haha . )

[heavyblade]

I just finished playing this game. What can I say?
I'm quite speechless as to how professional it all looks.
Usually, most games would have something similar to the default Renpy layout. But this was extraordinary.
I loved everything about it! The art especially, plus the transitions. Everything was so artistic!
And the characters! You made them lovable and so full of life .

This'll definitely inspire a lot of VN aspirants. I've never seen anything like this before.
Thanks for the read! I really enjoyed it.

[kkffoo]

I loved everything about the visuals of this novel, including the very polished website for the download.
This has been made with a very sophisticated eye for visual detail.
I couldn't get into the story.

[Iarumas]

I downloaded this for the computer and finished it quickly. I liked it so much, I downloaded the iPod version and finished it as well. Now I have a mobile version and the OST to boot. I'm looking foward to future releases by dischan.

[ngareci]

Juniper's know is a very awesome VN!!
It's packed so professional, the story, the art, everything feels so nice!
I love the ending! It makes me cry..
Thank you for making such a wonderful piece!

[michi 18]

Is this a KN or a vN?

[AxemRed]

both

[michi 18]

oh...=) thank you will be playing it ! GxB or BxG or BxB /GxG?

[Anna]

oh...=) thank you will be playing it ! GxB or BxG or BxB /GxG?

Neither of those really, just a story.

[Boomsickle]

The story was brilliant, If id have to say it would be Girl x Boy since it kinda hints that she has strong feelings for him while he is still a child so he might not feel as strongly as she.

[Zootower]

It's an excellent story. I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as a "game", because I think a game implies interactivity past mouse-clicking (choice, et cetera). But, in the same vein, I think that's the piece's strongest suit -- it's so compelling, mouse-clicking is all I really felt like doing. It worked like a good film -- utterly immersive. It's probably one of the stronger examples of the "Kinetic Novel" within the medium. After awhile, I forgot that I was hitting the mouse altogether. Visually, it sits at a perfect resolution, and the amount of detail in the sprites and background art was gorgeous.

It played out wonderfully on my 27inch iMac. Having something OSX compatible is a huge plus in my book.

If I was to categorize by alluding to cinematic techniques -- it felt like a short film composed of several long takes. Like an early French New Wave Film, each of those long takes is held together by short and colorful bits of dialogue. There's a great amount of care in those compositions, and it's economical with dialogue and exposition. If I could match the same quality in any of its elements -- I'd be thrilled. Stellar Job, Dischan. Really awesome work.