Embraced by Autumn
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Marcel is the illegitimate son of the famous actor Georges de Saint-Rémy, a celebrated virtuoso on the stage, and a notorious rake with a penchant for sleeping with other men’s wives. Owing to his father’s seedy reputation and his own meek, socially awkward mannerisms, Marcel is bullied relentlessly by the other boys at his Parisian school, who seem determined to make his life miserable.
At the beginning of autumn in 1896, Marcel’s brigand of a father becomes embroiled in a particularly salacious scandal, which is widely circulated in tabloids across Paris and beyond.
Fearful for her son’s welfare, and desperate for him to have a respite from their family’s continued drama, Marcel’s long-suffering mother pulls Marcel from his school, and instead chooses to send him to her older sister’s school in Myennes, deep in the French countryside. There is a catch in this seemingly innocuous plan, however. Marcel’s formidable aunt, Albertine, owns an all-girls’ establishment, which has never before admitted any male students. To attend his aunt’s school, Marcel is bidden to dress and act like a girl – which he does, albeit, begrudgingly.
Marcel never much fit in with his male classmates at his Parisian school, but he’s similarly fearful that his female classmates in Myenes will also shun him. Uneasy and afraid, Marcel expects only the worst when he arrives at his aunt’s school…
Which is why he finds it so very surprising when, rather than being treated with scorn, his new classmates instead seem rather fond of him.
During his stay in the countryside, Marcel meets four girls who express an interest in him: the quiet, inscrutable Luce; the fiery troublemaker, Claudine; the elegant pianist, Celine; and the class dunce, Mirabel.
As the autumn months pass, Marcel grows closer to these four girls – but which one will he develop the strongest bond with? That is up for the reader to decide.
- 200,000 words of text (approx 8-12 hours of reading)
- Four love interests with unique routes
- Detailed character artwork
- An original soundtrack
- A crossdressing protagonist
- Scenic descriptions of the French countryside
- Happy endings!
Writing: ebi-hime
Character art: Drulle11
Background art: Background TK
Music: CrysetBase
GUI: ds.sans
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
Rating | Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars (11 total ratings) |
Author | ebi-hime |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Tags | Anime, Cozy, Cute, Historical, Male protagonist, Meaningful Choices, moe, Multiple Endings, Romance, Slice Of Life |
Average session | Days or more |
Languages | English |
Links | Steam |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $18.99 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Android build addedDec 27, 2023
Comments
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I really liked this VN. I don't usually play all routes when there are more than 2, but I read all 4 routes and I am glad I did.
The music is really good and the art is too. I feel they fit the tone of the game really well.
The descriptions of rural France are really evocative. And as always it's fun to read the authors notes section after completing!
Aw that's so sweet of you! Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
The routes in this are all pretty short TBH so it's probably easier to read them all than it would be in a Japanese VN.
Thank you once again! <3
I like your game as well as the music. I was wondering is there any place to listen to the soundtrack outside of the game?
Super late reply, but I don't think the composer has uploaded the OST anywhere... I can ask them, though!
Hi there! I'm willing to translate this game into Spanish, if you'd like :)
The story is very long (it's over 200,000 words) so I feel like that would be quite the large undertaking haha
I'm not sure if that's something you'd actually want to commit to!
No worries! It's my job anyways ;) Obviously, I will not finish it overnight but I am willing to do so!
This visual novel is filled with a cozy autumn charm. The character art is adorable and the landscapes are lovely. The protagonist, Marcel, is a very cute character. So are the four romanceable girls. Each route is unique and tells its own story. I especially liked Mirabel's route, her character development was amazing.
This was a lovely little project, i normally dont get invested in these types of games but im surprised just how much i enjoyed your character writing, so much so i wanted to leave a comment about it! well done!
Thank you very much! I'm glad that you enjoyed it!
i wish u could interact with the people more
I'm not really sure what you mean by that, sorry!
when ur talking to the other people in the story i wish you added more options to reply to them with if you understand
Ah. I don't tend to write VNs with a lot of choices and branching paths because I don't personally enjoy reading VNs like that myself; I tend to like kinetic VNs more. If you're specifically looking for VNs with a lot of choices you might be better off looking elsewhere.
oh well ok but you have a really good game, but it is what it is keep it up
is romance mandatory? any platonic routes?
There aren't any platonic routes: there are romantic elements present in every route.
It was lovely. I like all the routes. The art is also good
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! ❤
I guess this was yours just from the title and front page image, which shows what an immediately recognisable style you've managed to develop, which is really swish considering the genres you cross!
> I guess this was yours just from the title
Because I'm bad at thinking of titles lol ;;
haha no 'Rituals in the Dark' is a pretty great title - and obviously any references to Sparks or Cardiacs tracks! :P
'All Ashes and Illusions' must be one of the better titles I've concocted, then!
Just finished all of the routes last night. Absolutely loved every moment of the story. Hoping it sells well enough that you can justify adding in a Noemié route! :)
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!
It's looking very unlikely that I'll add extra content, but who knows; maybe sales will pick up in the future.
I've only finished one route, Celine's and while I enjoyed the writing of this route, I was left wanting more because of that ending.BIG SPOILERS INCOMING
Wish there were spoiler tags but I'm pretty sure there aren't any here. But I feel I have to state this because it's been really bugging me since I finished the route. The ending was depressing imo, doesn't even feel like a happy ending like what your features here stated. All that work only for a meh maybe or maybe not they'll get together in the future. Like there's no certainty at all with these two, even that final CG doesn't feel earned because Celine said it herself, she doesn't feel that way right now. That ending really took the wind out of my sails, I was planning to jump into other routes right after finishing this route because of how much I was enjoying it but yeah that ending really took it out of me. A epilogue would have likely helped, I was really hoping there was one like your other games but sadly nothing came. But yeah these were just my thoughts that I just had to get off my chest. Good writing and route but the ending was heartbreaking imo, too much uncertainty. Felt like I wasn't rewarded at all with a romance even after all that relationship progression. Like yes one solution is that I could make my own headcanon that they'll get together but it doesn't help because no story would ever need an ending if we could just headcanon whatever. That's all I wanted to say, thank you. I might need a break before I even get my hopes up on the other routes and hope they're more satisfying with the relationship ending than this one was. I don't want to sound mean but I really felt I needed to jot these thoughts down. I did enjoy most of my time with the common route and this route but I guess I came in wanting some fulfilling romances haha.
Hello, I just finished reading through this VN. For the benefit of anyone reading this: No story spoilers in this comment, but I do talk about the author's note some and a few themes which could be considered light spoilers.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Otoboku listed as one of the two main inspirations in the author's note, since it's where my mind usually wanders to when I think about this type of setup (I also read the VN and could see the similarities in vibes). I'm unfamiliar with the Claudine series, but it was interesting to read about what you pulled from it as well.
I really enjoyed Embraced by Autumn a lot. Having read through some of your earlier VNs semi-recently, it was interesting to see how your style has changed and improved (and also generally appreciating the sheer variety of stories you take on). You do a great job setting the vibes, and this has been my first time in a long while just diving into a VN without knowing much about what to expect. I really enjoyed Marcel as a protagonist and the themes of identity (not even just limited to Marcel, now that I think about it).
The author's note has a mention of a hypothetical Noémie route. When first reading through the common route/prologue, I had no idea who the four love interests mentioned in the description were and wondered if Noémie was one or not (in hindsight I think paying more attention to the screenshots on this page would have clued me in, whoops). I did enjoy her role in the story, but if you ever do decide to return to the world of Embraced by Autumn, I would love to see what her route would be like. Of course, if you have any other ideas for the setting, I'd be interested in those too. I understand you have other projects so maybe you won't be able to return to it, which is perfectly understandable. I wish you the best of luck no matter what.
Thank you for this VN, and thank you to everyone who made it possible. I have put the shortcut to it next to Otoboku's on my desktop, because it only felt fitting to me to see them side by side.
I have just finished the Claudine route and find the story interesting. That’s a good VN that I do recommend.
The Characters are interesting.
However, the ending was quite “brutal”.... Even no time to have a reaction from the friend…
About your comment in notes, I would rather like an epilog rather than another route but another route can be nice :-).
Price is a little high but I like your previous work, so keep the good work :-).
Thank you for your feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it!
As for epilogues, I don't have any plans to write them. I'd rather leave my stories off at interesting points, that leave people thinking 'I wonder what happens next?' (after all the main conflicts have been resolved, of course), rather than drag things on too long and risk losing the reader's interest. I'll try to balance this better for future stories, though.
Why it's so much more expensive than your other novels? :(
Because it's longer than the last few VNs I've written, and has about double the amount of sprited characters, backgrounds, and CGs.
I can't really justify pricing it as the same as my other VNs when it was more expensive and time-consuming to put together.
Congrats on the release. I'm wondering if this game will be bundled on Steam. I noticed it isn't currently available in the ebi-hime bundle.
Oh, you're right. It must have slipped my mind; sorry.
I added Autumn to the bundle on Steam just now. Thanks for reminding me!
Chances of an android port?
I've no plans for that, sorry.