I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories, - they have managed to play out the yandere theme in an interesting way, with some rather creative solutions (a pleasant surprise on the second playthrough!).
The fairy-tale-like shoujo aesthetic with dark themes simply captivated me! I immediately felt the urge to create fan art-
I have seen this vn come up in my feeds several times and for the longest time was curious to play through it. It piqued my interest with the promise of WLW romance and cannibalism, so of course I had to check it out sooner or later. Finally gave it a read, and I wasn't disappointed!
The art is absolutely gorgeous. Every character looks cute and pretty. The GUI is so creative! By leaving a small window for the characters and backgrounds, it really makes me feel as if I am reading through a fairy-tale book with illustrations. Despite being photographs, the backgrounds never look out of place and blend perfectly with the rest of the visuals. The music is beautiful, haunting. Especially the mermaid's song - it's enchanting on its own, but the voice becoming slightly muffled when the protagonist is getting carried into the depths of the ocean was an extra wonderful touch.
And of course, the writing. The prose is really charming, and I found myself getting hypnotized by it, wanting to keep reading and reading. Second person is a rare find and can be a bit of a gamble, but it works in this novel. I liked the narrator being her own character and even showing up in the end. Once again, it feels like I am reading a fairy-tale, but with a WLW twist as a cherry on top.
I can't help but feel very sad for the protagonist though. She isn't a bad person, and her life is very unfortunate. Her wish to find companionship wasn't a terrible one. So it's really a pity that in the end it leads her to more suffering, no matter what she does. I would be curious to read the sequel and see if perhaps there is more to her fate.
It's amazing that you were able to make this during the limited time frame of a game jam. Thank you for the lovely reading experience!
gosh i love this game sm i just had to come back here after a while and say this! Tragic, horrifying, beautiful, and wlw. What more could ya want? I was left in SHAMBLES after going to the shore first and meeting the mermaid, her whole route had me falling so in love, then i got to the ending. Still NEVER recovering from thatTMT. And it never ends, honestly i always just go with fighting against my fates and going with the witch ending.
i loved this game, the story, characthers, music, art style, atmosphere all are really good , really love the gravedigger even tho she suddenly buried me alive (i did the village first) but all good !!! we all have our reasons am i right
a great story. short and concise, no dragging but also no problem that the characters seem flat and hastily written. The atmosphere of the mermaid story captured my soul. The way the backgrounds are depicted, the image of the house on the cliff and the night sky, dark but with the morning light peeking through in combination with the sound of the waves swaying in the cold wind when Rosalina first meets the mermaid is one of the most magical scenes in vns for me. the only problem I had was with the author's notes. After the second playthrough, the page with notes changes its text and you can't go back to the previous one, which is a pity because there were a lot of references to works that I would really like to read. Where can I find these notes outside of the game? Thank you very much in advance for your answer
I wish there was a happy ending ): maybe this game is just not meant for me and I really missed the point but the princess one (which was the one that I played first) really fucked me up idk maybe I'm just soft but it genuinely made me feel such despair that I found it extremely difficult to enjoy the rest o the game like their love was so pure and perfect that when it was ripped away so suddenly it kind of broke me and maybe as I said I'm not the target audience and just don't understand the point
Unfortunately I can only play on my phone, but I'll check out if there's anything interesting from the same developer. Although, as for me, statistics are also important... Well, the main thing is that the game is top
now THIS is toxic yuri at its finest. like holy shit i know calling it toxic yuri waters it down a lot but idk how else to describe how suffocating all these 'love interests' are in their own right. this was worth the ~3 hours off my lifespan, yurilicious indeed
I finished this game today and wow... I love it! I don't have experience playing yandere vns since they don't appeal to me but my friend recommended this to me and I'm not disappointed. I love the use of 2nd person, and the unreliable(?) narrator with her sass and snarky remarks made this super entertaining to read. I wonder how much of the narration is the protagonist's true feelings and how much is the biases bleeding through. My favourite route so far is the gravedigger, I feel so much for her, which makes the twist so heartbreaking.
Minor spoilery detail: I love the subtle detail that all the love interests call the protag "Dear one". It's easy to gloss over but once you notice, you can put the pieces together.
The language and story progression is wonderful, the art is beautiful and suits the grim fairytale vibe really well. The music is GORGEOUS!!! I love how most of the tracks are rearrangements of the same/similar melody and motifs, which really hammers in the repetition of the cyclical storyline.
overall 8.5/10 because i felt the mermaid storyline was less developed and didn't really gel cohesively with the other two, which I thought were much stronger. the mermaid would've benefited from more depth and dialogue.
I've had this game on my "play later" list for many months now and holyyy i wish i played it sooner.
**SPOILERS**
Not many yandere games capture the true essence of fear in them as 99% of them is just "hot man/woman obsessed with you but spoils you and treats you like a princess". This was a total 180 of that as not only did they BETRAY you in the end but also treat you like an absolute toy for their twisted pleasures. Once establishing in the first chosen path that Rosette got brutally murdered by someone she trusted dearly, it makes the player have this gut wrenching discovery that she will MOST LIKELY die in the next two stories in the same manner and it just makes you feel so helpless. You also feel as the game's title "lonely". Predicting what's about to come and knowing there's nothing to change her fate or there's no other living person who can save her, it honestly just makes you pity roselle, especially for all she's been through. This might also be random and not intended to be this way by the creator, but i absolutely love how to free roselle from her curse you have to replay the game (or in my case skip) until you can get her a different ending (die 6 times), at first i really thought that being with the witch was the true ending, but out of stubbornness and denial for roselle's poor life, i replayed it not knowing i still had the option to keep going, until eventually she managed to stand up for herself. It feels as if the real choice of roselles life is in the players hands, and those who did not care that much for her will click away thinking the game is finished while those who wished to fight for her got to set her free, which just makes me wonder how many people missed the good ending. And how sort of ...beautiful? is that. Anyways that's my overly long analyzing. 5/5 game!
I loved it. Forever in love with the Gravedigger, she absolutely...
****Spoiler*****
broke my heart. The way she acted towards the main character and everything made me actually feel brokenhearted. I loved her and I wanted her to be happy with Rosette 😭😭😭😭
The notes at the end of the game mention taking inspiration from Slay the Princess, but they state specifically "Slay the Princess by Abby Howard," which is certainly quite odd considering Tony Howard-Arias is credited in the developers' AMA as Slay the Princess's lead writer and game designer. It would be significantly more appropriate to say "Slay the Princess by Black Tabby Games," since that is the name of the development team.
The game itself is lovely. It is quite disturbing, but I believe that is, to some degree, its purpose. Every step of every route gives a sense of disquietude, knowing very well that something dreadful will soon transpire...
I don't remember why I credited Abby Howard specifically, but Lonely was released before the full version of StP was released, so presumably I was going off the credits which were listed in the demo, or because I originally found the demo fo StP from Abby's Twitter/social media specifically.
In any case, Lonely has been translated into multiple languages at this point, and if I were to edit the author's notes in English I would also need to get the notes re-translated about 7 different times, which isn't feasible.
The story is genuinely well-written — I found myself really enjoying the journey from start to finish. The true ending, in particular, stood out to me. It wrapped everything up in a way that was satisfying in which I always appreciate in a visual novel. I also loved the narrator’s sarcasm sprinkled throughout the game — it added such a unique flavor to the storytelling and gave the game its own personality. Kudos to the writing team, seriously. You did an amazing job at blending humor and depth all in one experience.
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I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories, - they have managed to play out the yandere theme in an interesting way, with some rather creative solutions (a pleasant surprise on the second playthrough!).
The fairy-tale-like shoujo aesthetic with dark themes simply captivated me! I immediately felt the urge to create fan art-
Thank you for your work! <3
THIS GAME LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL OH MY GOD
I have seen this vn come up in my feeds several times and for the longest time was curious to play through it. It piqued my interest with the promise of WLW romance and cannibalism, so of course I had to check it out sooner or later. Finally gave it a read, and I wasn't disappointed!
The art is absolutely gorgeous. Every character looks cute and pretty. The GUI is so creative! By leaving a small window for the characters and backgrounds, it really makes me feel as if I am reading through a fairy-tale book with illustrations. Despite being photographs, the backgrounds never look out of place and blend perfectly with the rest of the visuals. The music is beautiful, haunting. Especially the mermaid's song - it's enchanting on its own, but the voice becoming slightly muffled when the protagonist is getting carried into the depths of the ocean was an extra wonderful touch.
And of course, the writing. The prose is really charming, and I found myself getting hypnotized by it, wanting to keep reading and reading. Second person is a rare find and can be a bit of a gamble, but it works in this novel. I liked the narrator being her own character and even showing up in the end. Once again, it feels like I am reading a fairy-tale, but with a WLW twist as a cherry on top.
I can't help but feel very sad for the protagonist though. She isn't a bad person, and her life is very unfortunate. Her wish to find companionship wasn't a terrible one. So it's really a pity that in the end it leads her to more suffering, no matter what she does. I would be curious to read the sequel and see if perhaps there is more to her fate.
It's amazing that you were able to make this during the limited time frame of a game jam. Thank you for the lovely reading experience!
gosh i love this game sm i just had to come back here after a while and say this! Tragic, horrifying, beautiful, and wlw. What more could ya want? I was left in SHAMBLES after going to the shore first and meeting the mermaid, her whole route had me falling so in love, then i got to the ending. Still NEVER recovering from thatTMT. And it never ends, honestly i always just go with fighting against my fates and going with the witch ending.
just finished the game, and it's so good I don't even know how to express myself. PEAK WLW MASTERPIECE, definitely one of my favourite vn's so far
also the OST is so good I'm listening to it rn while I type this, went to my playlist 💗
Absolute Cinema.
i loved this game, the story, characthers, music, art style, atmosphere all are really good , really love the gravedigger even tho she suddenly buried me alive (i did the village first) but all good !!! we all have our reasons am i right
peak doomed yuri 9/10
Mi opinión de este juego: OBRA MAESTRA :D
a great story. short and concise, no dragging but also no problem that the characters seem flat and hastily written. The atmosphere of the mermaid story captured my soul. The way the backgrounds are depicted, the image of the house on the cliff and the night sky, dark but with the morning light peeking through in combination with the sound of the waves swaying in the cold wind when Rosalina first meets the mermaid is one of the most magical scenes in vns for me. the only problem I had was with the author's notes. After the second playthrough, the page with notes changes its text and you can't go back to the previous one, which is a pity because there were a lot of references to works that I would really like to read. Where can I find these notes outside of the game? Thank you very much in advance for your answer
absolute cinema
太好了我喜欢你作者！！！(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
I wish there was a happy ending ): maybe this game is just not meant for me and I really missed the point but the princess one (which was the one that I played first) really fucked me up idk maybe I'm just soft but it genuinely made me feel such despair that I found it extremely difficult to enjoy the rest o the game like their love was so pure and perfect that when it was ripped away so suddenly it kind of broke me and maybe as I said I'm not the target audience and just don't understand the point
i love doomed AND toxic yuri such peak
I came from steam just to help here on itch.io too! What a beautiful amazing game!
How can I give money? This is the first time I've seen such a good game completely free 🤔
Well, at least I'll spread the game a little. That's also help, so to speak. 😁
I've released dozens of commercial VNs, so if you want to support me you can buy one of those. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Unfortunately I can only play on my phone, but I'll check out if there's anything interesting from the same developer. Although, as for me, statistics are also important... Well, the main thing is that the game is top
Oh, there's e steam. Then I'll probably choose something there.
I didn't expect Ukrainian language in itch io. Apparently this is the first game that I will not play for free 😅
now THIS is toxic yuri at its finest.
like holy shit
i know calling it toxic yuri waters it down a lot but idk how else to describe how suffocating all these 'love interests' are in their own right.
this was worth the ~3 hours off my lifespan, yurilicious indeed
原来我根本没走出森林，这些“爱”都是女巫给我的。话说，我也太可怜了吧
I finished this game today and wow... I love it! I don't have experience playing yandere vns since they don't appeal to me but my friend recommended this to me and I'm not disappointed. I love the use of 2nd person, and the unreliable(?) narrator with her sass and snarky remarks made this super entertaining to read. I wonder how much of the narration is the protagonist's true feelings and how much is the biases bleeding through. My favourite route so far is the gravedigger, I feel so much for her, which makes the twist so heartbreaking.
Minor spoilery detail: I love the subtle detail that all the love interests call the protag "Dear one". It's easy to gloss over but once you notice, you can put the pieces together.
The language and story progression is wonderful, the art is beautiful and suits the grim fairytale vibe really well. The music is GORGEOUS!!! I love how most of the tracks are rearrangements of the same/similar melody and motifs, which really hammers in the repetition of the cyclical storyline.
overall 8.5/10 because i felt the mermaid storyline was less developed and didn't really gel cohesively with the other two, which I thought were much stronger. the mermaid would've benefited from more depth and dialogue.
peak yandere vn 10/10 one the most beautiful games i haver played the music is heavenly the art is pretty everything about this game is great
I just played and finished in 2 days. But holy cow this story is good, even drops some tears in the gameplay.
I've had this game on my "play later" list for many months now and holyyy i wish i played it sooner.
**SPOILERS**
Not many yandere games capture the true essence of fear in them as 99% of them is just "hot man/woman obsessed with you but spoils you and treats you like a princess".
This was a total 180 of that as not only did they BETRAY you in the end but also treat you like an absolute toy for their twisted pleasures. Once establishing in the first chosen path that Rosette got brutally murdered by someone she trusted dearly, it makes the player have this gut wrenching discovery that she will MOST LIKELY die in the next two stories in the same manner and it just makes you feel so helpless.
You also feel as the game's title "lonely". Predicting what's about to come and knowing there's nothing to change her fate or there's no other living person who can save her, it honestly just makes you pity roselle, especially for all she's been through.
This might also be random and not intended to be this way by the creator, but i absolutely love how to free roselle from her curse you have to replay the game (or in my case skip) until you can get her a different ending (die 6 times), at first i really thought that being with the witch was the true ending, but out of stubbornness and denial for roselle's poor life, i replayed it not knowing i still had the option to keep going, until eventually she managed to stand up for herself.
It feels as if the real choice of roselles life is in the players hands, and those who did not care that much for her will click away thinking the game is finished while those who wished to fight for her got to set her free, which just makes me wonder how many people missed the good ending. And how sort of ...beautiful? is that. Anyways that's my overly long analyzing. 5/5 game!
I loved it. Forever in love with the Gravedigger, she absolutely...
****Spoiler*****
broke my heart. The way she acted towards the main character and everything made me actually feel brokenhearted. I loved her and I wanted her to be happy with Rosette 😭😭😭😭
The notes at the end of the game mention taking inspiration from Slay the Princess, but they state specifically "Slay the Princess by Abby Howard," which is certainly quite odd considering Tony Howard-Arias is credited in the developers' AMA as Slay the Princess's lead writer and game designer. It would be significantly more appropriate to say "Slay the Princess by Black Tabby Games," since that is the name of the development team.
The game itself is lovely. It is quite disturbing, but I believe that is, to some degree, its purpose. Every step of every route gives a sense of disquietude, knowing very well that something dreadful will soon transpire...
I don't remember why I credited Abby Howard specifically, but Lonely was released before the full version of StP was released, so presumably I was going off the credits which were listed in the demo, or because I originally found the demo fo StP from Abby's Twitter/social media specifically.
In any case, Lonely has been translated into multiple languages at this point, and if I were to edit the author's notes in English I would also need to get the notes re-translated about 7 different times, which isn't feasible.
Oh, I see! Thank you for explaining.
cried so much playing this game im so soft too
The story is genuinely well-written — I found myself really enjoying the journey from start to finish. The true ending, in particular, stood out to me. It wrapped everything up in a way that was satisfying in which I always appreciate in a visual novel. I also loved the narrator’s sarcasm sprinkled throughout the game — it added such a unique flavor to the storytelling and gave the game its own personality. Kudos to the writing team, seriously. You did an amazing job at blending humor and depth all in one experience.