what a crazy excellent game!!! so unbelievably well crafted in a way that made me really, really, really love visual novels, you use every tool so exactingly. i really admire when games use sound + music thoughtfully, and daaaaaaaaaamn. it's such a precise and enveloping feeling. my favorite was the sort of tick that happens when it's quiet in the car--i really love that you didn't shy away from "unpleasant" sounds. i am sort of speechless right now... thank you for making and sharing this!
I really enjoyed how Dahlia's facial blindness means the lack of sprites puts us more directly in her perspective, and how that subjects us to the same power imbalance and manipulation that she experiences with Ivy. I think back on all the times Ivy tells us she's smiling and my skin crawls a little wondering if she ever really was, or if there was something behind the smile we never got the chance to see. Pretty much everything Ivy says is wonderfully vile in retrospect, actually.
And I love the juxtaposition of Brad and Ivy with how both take advantage of Dahlia- Brad treating her as a woman with force and aggression, but Ivy treating her as a man with lies and manipulation. Brad's abuse is much more direct and obvious, but that's exactly what makes Dahlia's so much more horrifying. And it just breaks my heart to see Dahlia wanting to connect through music and kindness but consistently objectified by the people around her.
As I continued reading, the pit in my stomach did nothing but grow deeper and deeper, like a kitchen knife being driven ever further into my stomach, widening the gash with the ultimate goal of letting more of its own stagnant quagmire floods in. My heart beat in a steady rhythm, in what felt like in sync with Dahlia at times.
The story beats occurring in the negative space of the narrative reverberate into an all-too-familiar song of fuck I know where this is going and then it swerves onto a desolate road and finds twists in such elegant ways that I was left with an anxiety and uncertainty with every new line that I have rarely felt. Ivy's and Dahlia's relationship benefits heavily from your style of narration and this work could be folded in on itself four times over and I'd still find new nuances.
Your choice of spriteless real-image only visual language also heavily supports the overall tone of the story and really helps draw the reader in. The amusia reveal was done so fucking well and was one of those creative yet super fucking organic twists that you just do not see coming but makes it all feel all to real.
really nice ambience and atmosphere, i love the sound effects and the music. the photos are really nice too, i think filtered photo bgs work really well with serious/grounded stories like this and it adds a nice sombre atmosphere to everything.
hmm is ivy called ivy because she has a smothering/claustrophobic presence and she forces herself on dahlia? i imagine her name has some thematic weight just like dahlia's
thanks so much for playing!! funny enough, I did not filter those photos at all since they're just stills taken from a video my wife and I recorded so they're just naturally blurry hahaha
and yes! you got why ivy is ivy, I'm a sucker for flower and plant theming!
oooh ic! i presumed they were filtered photos cause they have this kind of dreamy/ethereal sort of look to them, but it makes sense they'd be blury if they were taken from video footage when your car was in motion that's really cool, i think bit of a blurriness of the bgs adds a lot to the atmosphere
i also saw in the about that you recorded most of the sfx too, which is also very cool! i liked the rumbling of the car on the road and the cicadas, the use of audio is very immersive!
This is a fantastic VN: Creative and compelling storytelling, well-paced and efficient writing, clever and resourceful use of assets, you name it~ I loved all of the music and night drive photos, and I was particularly struck by how the motifs of Dahlia's music and face blindness alike came full-circle thematically with what we end up learning about Ivy, heheheh~ Not to mention what ELSE we learn about Ivy and her interest in Dahlia...
Marvelous work~ Color me very impressed—doubly so considering that this is the first game you've ever made!
Amazing work, the face blindness was such a fascinating perspective to experience. Incredibly tense storytelling. Ivy surprised me so many times in the best ways, she’s scary. This is seriously so impressive as a first game too.
This was such a well executed concept, the changing but repeating backgrounds made me feel the tension of the drive, claustrophobic in the moving metal box... I really enjoyed getting to "catch up" on what might've happened in the time outside of the car with their conversations, and I really really liked that the world stopped when no one was inside. I felt like a fly on the wall, or maybe just a cassette in the radio, and i really liked it for it.
it takes real skill to convey emotions that the reader might not personally relate to, and i really admired how this vn managed to do that. now i’m just left with the lingering curiosity of what comes next, but that really just proves how compelling this was despite the length :)
this was amazinggggggggg, so so poignant if that makes any sense... i relate a lot to this, being inside of a speedy car at night, and, well, cis women yeah, as a trans woman, i'm scared of being near them, for many reasons, and it all comes down to that insecurity, that feeling of inadequacy... you nailed a lot of that down to a T!
the writing was also immaculate honestly, i loved it, even if it's a short experience i was left caring about these characters, their story, their lives, especially Dahlia... poor girl, she deserves so much better ;( I won't lie I was caught very much off guard, even if the writing was right there on the wall since the beginning... Also, fuck that guy Brad!!!!!!
Additionally, pls tell ur wife that her music is great! I know she doesnt wanna be credited but like if you two could consider uploading the music somewhere... I (and I believe others here as well) would be grateful bc its so gooooodddddddd!! I hope you win a gazillion toxic yuri dollars!!!!
i was enjoying this so much that only halfway did i remember this was toxic yuri and ouuughh my heart... i love the little details of the characters even though we don't see them, like the face blindness, for example. or the little mentions of articles of clothing that help paint a picture. also love the idea that we are the dashcam, i think that's so creative. i know your wife doesn't want to be credited but i really enjoyed the music and i'd love to know the inspiration behind the sound :3 awesome stuff~
thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!! she says her inspiration was definitely boards of canada and com truise, I pointed her at twin peaks and signalis for the general mood!
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God damn! Devastating as hell, beautifully made. Playing this made me feel like my insides were getting scooped out. I loved it.
what a crazy excellent game!!! so unbelievably well crafted in a way that made me really, really, really love visual novels, you use every tool so exactingly. i really admire when games use sound + music thoughtfully, and daaaaaaaaaamn. it's such a precise and enveloping feeling. my favorite was the sort of tick that happens when it's quiet in the car--i really love that you didn't shy away from "unpleasant" sounds. i am sort of speechless right now... thank you for making and sharing this!
Oh this was a delightful knife to the gut!
I really enjoyed how Dahlia's facial blindness means the lack of sprites puts us more directly in her perspective, and how that subjects us to the same power imbalance and manipulation that she experiences with Ivy. I think back on all the times Ivy tells us she's smiling and my skin crawls a little wondering if she ever really was, or if there was something behind the smile we never got the chance to see. Pretty much everything Ivy says is wonderfully vile in retrospect, actually.
And I love the juxtaposition of Brad and Ivy with how both take advantage of Dahlia- Brad treating her as a woman with force and aggression, but Ivy treating her as a man with lies and manipulation. Brad's abuse is much more direct and obvious, but that's exactly what makes Dahlia's so much more horrifying. And it just breaks my heart to see Dahlia wanting to connect through music and kindness but consistently objectified by the people around her.
Great job, and congrats on the win!
As I continued reading, the pit in my stomach did nothing but grow deeper and deeper, like a kitchen knife being driven ever further into my stomach, widening the gash with the ultimate goal of letting more of its own stagnant quagmire floods in. My heart beat in a steady rhythm, in what felt like in sync with Dahlia at times.
The story beats occurring in the negative space of the narrative reverberate into an all-too-familiar song of fuck I know where this is going and then it swerves onto a desolate road and finds twists in such elegant ways that I was left with an anxiety and uncertainty with every new line that I have rarely felt. Ivy's and Dahlia's relationship benefits heavily from your style of narration and this work could be folded in on itself four times over and I'd still find new nuances.
Your choice of spriteless real-image only visual language also heavily supports the overall tone of the story and really helps draw the reader in. The amusia reveal was done so fucking well and was one of those creative yet super fucking organic twists that you just do not see coming but makes it all feel all to real.
Congrats on the Manipulatonium, you deserve it :3
really nice ambience and atmosphere, i love the sound effects and the music. the photos are really nice too, i think filtered photo bgs work really well with serious/grounded stories like this and it adds a nice sombre atmosphere to everything.
hmm is ivy called ivy because she has a smothering/claustrophobic presence and she forces herself on dahlia? i imagine her name has some thematic weight just like dahlia's
thanks so much for playing!! funny enough, I did not filter those photos at all since they're just stills taken from a video my wife and I recorded so they're just naturally blurry hahaha
and yes! you got why ivy is ivy, I'm a sucker for flower and plant theming!
oooh ic! i presumed they were filtered photos cause they have this kind of dreamy/ethereal sort of look to them, but it makes sense they'd be blury if they were taken from video footage when your car was in motion
that's really cool, i think bit of a blurriness of the bgs adds a lot to the atmosphere
i also saw in the about that you recorded most of the sfx too, which is also very cool! i liked the rumbling of the car on the road and the cicadas, the use of audio is very immersive!
This is a fantastic VN: Creative and compelling storytelling, well-paced and efficient writing, clever and resourceful use of assets, you name it~ I loved all of the music and night drive photos, and I was particularly struck by how the motifs of Dahlia's music and face blindness alike came full-circle thematically with what we end up learning about Ivy, heheheh~ Not to mention what ELSE we learn about Ivy and her interest in Dahlia...
Marvelous work~ Color me very impressed—doubly so considering that this is the first game you've ever made!
I absolutely loved the atmosphere you've built with music, sounds, backgrounds and your writing, this was a great experience!
Amazing work, the face blindness was such a fascinating perspective to experience. Incredibly tense storytelling. Ivy surprised me so many times in the best ways, she’s scary. This is seriously so impressive as a first game too.
I will be playing this live tomorrow 7/19 Around 4PM EST =).
⚠️⚠️chaser alert!⚠️⚠️
really like this. awesome creative use of assets
This was such a well executed concept, the changing but repeating backgrounds made me feel the tension of the drive, claustrophobic in the moving metal box... I really enjoyed getting to "catch up" on what might've happened in the time outside of the car with their conversations, and I really really liked that the world stopped when no one was inside. I felt like a fly on the wall, or maybe just a cassette in the radio, and i really liked it for it.
it takes real skill to convey emotions that the reader might not personally relate to, and i really admired how this vn managed to do that. now i’m just left with the lingering curiosity of what comes next, but that really just proves how compelling this was despite the length :)
i enjoyed this, really nice read.
thank you!!!!!!!!
this was amazinggggggggg, so so poignant if that makes any sense... i relate a lot to this, being inside of a speedy car at night, and, well, cis women yeah, as a trans woman, i'm scared of being near them, for many reasons, and it all comes down to that insecurity, that feeling of inadequacy... you nailed a lot of that down to a T!
the writing was also immaculate honestly, i loved it, even if it's a short experience i was left caring about these characters, their story, their lives, especially Dahlia... poor girl, she deserves so much better ;( I won't lie I was caught very much off guard, even if the writing was right there on the wall since the beginning... Also, fuck that guy Brad!!!!!!
Additionally, pls tell ur wife that her music is great! I know she doesnt wanna be credited but like if you two could consider uploading the music somewhere... I (and I believe others here as well) would be grateful bc its so gooooodddddddd!! I hope you win a gazillion toxic yuri dollars!!!!
thank you so so much for the exceedingly kind words, I don't even know how to respond honestly but thank you!! I actually did just upload the OST!
YAAAYYY THANK YOU IM GOIG TO PUT THE SONGS IN MY PLAYLIST
OK WAIT ITS THE LITERAL SONG FILES THAT WORKS TOO! <3
i was enjoying this so much that only halfway did i remember this was toxic yuri and ouuughh my heart... i love the little details of the characters even though we don't see them, like the face blindness, for example. or the little mentions of articles of clothing that help paint a picture. also love the idea that we are the dashcam, i think that's so creative. i know your wife doesn't want to be credited but i really enjoyed the music and i'd love to know the inspiration behind the sound :3 awesome stuff~
thank you so much, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!! she says her inspiration was definitely boards of canada and com truise, I pointed her at twin peaks and signalis for the general mood!
YESSS I WAS TOTALLY GETTING TWIN PEAKS VIBES, amazing work from both of you :)
thank you!!!!! we decided to throw up the OST if you'd like it as well!
The whole face thing with lack of sprites and soundtrack makes me feel like I'm getting Dahlia's POV. This was an interesting experience
thank you, I hope a ride in my poor girl's shoes was fun!
WOW. Tremendously enjoyable.
thank you!!