NaNoRenO 2009: Daemonophilia

[DaFool]

It seems many people have trouble with the Achievement

Going to Hell 3 Different Ways

Basically you need to get Bad Ending 1 in the beginning of the story, the middle of the story, and the end of the story.

Beginning of the Story -- easy; that's usually the first ending people hit.

Middle of the Story -- You need to be perverted, but not that much, so you get to the part where you start chatting with Simone about the best approach to sex. There's still a chance she will have sex with you and you go straight to hell (but not together). This is different from when you first summoned her.

End of the Story -- the hardest to get. I'm not sure if there's any other way to get this except this sequence (I omitted the non-crucial choices):

Leek Slap, Straightforward Sexy Approach, Go to Town (bench scene), I need Hug, Defy Lucifer

Then you'll get the bonus track and a change in the Jukebox CG.

Hope that helps!

[Hime]

I just finally unlocked all the CGs and achievements (without noticing the post above D:). It's a really nice game, both amusing and emotional - I went awww several times playing it. I also have to say DaFool's art has improved a lot and Simone was really cute both as a character and in the graphics. ^^ The obese Macguffin was indeed a nice addition, and

it made the later plot turn of him being an exorcist a lot less predictable.

To sum it up, a very enjoyable game, you two have done a really good job with this! Kind of inspires me to work on some of my own demon-themed projects too...

[Taleweaver]

Overall, I liked Daemonophilia. A few spoiler-filled things I thought about...

Franklin says he's not depressed, just someone who's given up. I felt his actions and thoughts showed that he suffered from depression. Especially since he says he doesn't have *friends.* What do you think? Should he be considered an unreliable narrator?

Pretty much. Many people who suffer from depression fail to realize they're depressed, or even dismiss the mere thought of being depressed. Depression is what happens to other people, not yourself. Franklin is that sort of guy, and it's supposed to show in the story.

Even though there are sex scenes in this story, they're glossed over, and offscreen. I'm curious why this is so. Did you feel that on-screen sex would ruin your VN's theme or its pacing?

Sex scenes, especially good sex scenes, ruin comedy, and comedy ruins good sex scenes. I could have written funny sex scenes within the context of Daemonophilia, but I felt the game would improve if I left the physical things between Simone and Franklin to the players' imagination.

I can imagine this VN could be expanded into a small harem story, featuring two or three girls. For instance, let's imagine some ideas about Franklin. Why is he alone? Maybe... there's some yandere or some stalker-type girl who has been making sure every other girl stays away from him. And maybe... there's some angel who is quite concerned about an isolated individual who's troubled enough to summon demonspawn. The angel takes on the form of a human girl, and... (But these are all just ideas.)

That's ONE of my ideas for Daemonophilia 2: Redemption... ^_^

Not a criticism:

Also, I was surprised to learn that Franklin and Simone had one thing in common -- namely, that they felt like failures. That was the moment when I felt Daemonophilia went from being a odd, dark comedy to a sweet story.

No one expected a true ren'ai story from Taleweaver. I'm known for moody, philosophical plots and dark mysteries. That's why I made a classic love story this time, even if it took a while for the plot to develop into it.

[ashogo]

grin
that's the first thing I can think about this game.

The game had unique style- the sitcom-like laugh track, the zooming in/out for characters, the art style, and a well written script. I laughed quite a few times Also, I found the lore about Lucifer and God etc to be very interesting, maybe since I have next to no knowledge about religious things. I liked how Lucifer came off as more of a sleazy businessman than a 'pure evil' guy, and the twist with macguffin was pretty nice.

Also, even though it's a comedy I noticed there were no completely happy endings (one way or another he either loses Simone or eventually goes to hell).

Overall it was a very professional and fun game; looking forward to the sequel!

[Watercolorheart]

Oh, it was a bit hair-raising to see my animation in there! I didn't know this was the one. Glad I could help. I chuckled quite a bit throughout it. I also increased the humor slightly by naming my character Asshole. XD The art is pretty OK so far.

The laugh track gets on my nerves after a while ... ummm, I'm not sure what to make of the story. It's very ... simple. The succubus was cute, I like the whistles she got on entering. I like the fact she's a little plain and not a generic bombshell like Morgan.

Hmm..... an interesting choice. Yeah, gimme the bad end. Oh, come on, it was like a close-up of a pencil or something ... bah ... that was kind of an unsatisfying end, all I got was musical lyrics.

Okay, reload and .... revenge! LOL, she failed. That's priceless ... man, I hate how people shrink when they leave though, why can't you use hide simone at right with a move function or something? It looks really silly. Okay, so she went to go sleep on the couch and ... hey, look, softcore! Lulz, to get to the heat, you have to not aim for it. His penis says ! Haha...

Man, that's weird, I just downloaded like 4 gigs of PDFs and was looking through the Grimoire of Heptameron earlier today that covered stuff vaguely like that, but that sort of thing wouldn't be counted as fiction, but historical or cultural, something in its own occult/religious section ...

Since dodging the obvious answers landed me a CG last time, I'm going to try romance this time ... ohhh, she's so moe in a hat and a coat! LOL! Anyway, that logic doesn't work because a man creates new sperm in his testicles every 3 days or so, so she'd actually be rendering him infertile, not "taking all his semen away." They're not ovums, they're not all created before birth like with women...

That mountain view of the ocean background is easily your best yet. LOL, the long set-up for Luke, I am your father..... yay, another CG! Very tender. Aw, that's a nice evil but sweet ending. I might play some more later, but I'm pretty tired for now, after all the last-minute work on mine. It was a fun ride aside from some idiosyncracies, would definitely play some more again.

Personally, I think you should voice it. It'd really make it come alive.

[Taleweaver]

Personally, I think you should voice it. It'd really make it come alive.

Give me four good voice actors and we have a deal.

[usul]

Very entertaining. It would have been nice to have more sprites for the main characters but hey, I guess you could say that about any game.

The sprites were a little pixelated around the edges, but that was a minor detail. I think the growing/shrinking looks good but should have only been used when summoning the succubus. Over-using that effect takes away the impact it had.

It was nice to have shots of the characters together. There was a nice variety of moods throughout the story too. Overall I think this VN was fun to play and replay.

[Taleweaver]

Also, even though it's a comedy I noticed there were no completely happy endings (one way or another he either loses Simone or eventually goes to hell).

Actually, the true good ending IS in the sequel... which probably won't happen until 2010 when DaFool is free again. Until then, I already have other plans...

[Jo'ogn]

The whole thing with the artificial laughing is a bit exaggerated, but as the whole demon-spawn situation is slightly comical it's acceptable. You should have used more different VFX for it though.

[Watercolorheart]

Well, there's me, if you can stand my voice ...

[usul]

I actually started enjoying the laugh track after a bit. It gives it that sitcom feel to it which suits it so well. It's a light-hearted comedy, so why not have a laugh track?

[Taleweaver]

I actually started enjoying the laugh track after a bit. It gives it that sitcom feel to it which suits it so well. It's a light-hearted comedy, so why not have a laugh track?

That's the spirit! Anybody who doesn't like it can simply turn it down; the only thing they'll be missing is the

Metal Gear Solid "What's that?!" bit that appears when Simone starts reaching for Franklin's privates...

[mikey]

[a cheerful review follows]

I'm one happy mikey! The first nanoreno game I completed, and got the good ending as well, on the first try.
Perfect. In fact, I won't even replay it now, useless. Perhaps in a year or so. I'm not the unlock guy anyway. So I suppose I still can't read the spoilers.

Phew! I really congratulate myself to steering this story to a successful hollywood ending. I'm glad I read somewhere that this was supposed to be an easy-going half-past-six TV-sitcom atmosphere, and understanding it like that really helped. I would suggest however to also put this on the official page, something along the lines of "TV-sitcom style" or similar. Proper mindset is crucial and I could have easily be disappointed if I hadn't known what to expect (especially from Taleweaver, given the previous record - on the other hand, why not try something new). At the very least, it would take me longer to get what the feel is supposed to be - the laugh track helps, but only if you're willing to accept it really quickly.

My favorite part of the game... the menu, of course. Maybe even a bit unfitting, given the content that follows, since there was no really sensual sexual content... but I liked it. This also goes to the name, Daemonophilia, it sounds just a bit too sinister for what the story turns out to be. Sounds excellent - but much like the menu, it would be more appropriate in a darker game than this. So that's criticism you see - I love it, but it shouldn't be there. Get the logic?

The story, I guess there is more than what I got (probably even a LOT more), but I'm not really in the mood to find out - the writing of that story was such that I in most cases guessed correctly the emphasis and voice tone, which is often important in comedies - it worked quite nicely. Also, I suppose this was one of the goals, too, the situations were never going into any extreme, not even near it, so what the game ended up with was something that can be enjoyed by practically anyone who is accustomed to Western humor and TV moments.

Speaking of which, most sitcoms would use warmer colors... the environments feel cold and probably well suited for something called Daemonophilia... but the route to my ending, #5 was more like a TV experience (well, alright, after 10 p.m. perhaps, but still... not really dark), so there was this tiny bit of me who was waiting for something dark to happen (actually fearing it, since i really wanted the awww kind of ending with happy claps!), and luckily that darkness didn't come. But it created quite a bit of tension, if the effect was intentional - I was never quite sure whether I could really hope for a "stereotypical" ending like that. And it happened! So anyway, if this was the intention, I have to say, well done.

[Taleweaver]

Glad you liked it too - if it's coming from you, then I know I've succeeded in creating something enjoyable.

In fact, without revealing anything, I meant the good Daemonophilia ending to be much more easily accessible than all possible bad endings. In fact, the good ending alone doesn't unlock anything; finding all paths to the bad ending, however, unlocks the missing bonus music from the Jukebox.

The title and the menu are intentionally misleading - I didn't want to give people what they might have been expecting from me but a completely different, enjoyable experience. I never did sitcom like that before (there are a few sarcastic comedies in my usual prose, but none of it as accessible as in this game), so the real challenge was keeping the spirit while at the same time making sure the player still had some influence on the outcome of the story.

The laugh track is probably a love/hate thing - personally, I can't really imagine the game without it, though quite a few people have told me they find it disturbing. I believe Daemonophilia would profit immensely from a full voiceover (so that the laughs are more on-spot with the actual jokes), however I lack the equipment to do that properly. That's why this is a free NaNoRenO game and not something I'd expect anybody to pay money for.

I hope you'll pick up the game again and go for the unlockables - I really believe you'll like what you see.

[Taleweaver]

Short update: We're now also available here:
http://download.cnet.com/Daemonophilia/ ... 12585.html

MetBlues got over 9,000 downloads there; let's see how Daemonophilia fares.