I will start my review of "Our home" with flaws and only after that will mention what the game did right.
The first flaw. The game railroads a player in some scenes. For example, if you decide that Maria should NOT take part in the intervention the game forces you to include her.
The second flaw. Maybe I was missing some hints because I was focused on the family so much, but it was complete surprise to me when in the ending I discoverd that the heroine has romantic feeling toward her friend.
The third flaw. Missed opportunity to show how the family would react to Emily confessing that she's a lesbian.
Now, what this game did right. 1.At the least my choices were such and such that I didn't even feel railroaded. The key choices that the game wanted just arose naturally on my the very first playthrough from my free will. And because it was my very first playthrough I even had illusion of freedom, that ALL events of the game unfolded as consequences of my free choices and I was very impressed by it. It almost looked like real life. My the only mistake was to play the game more than once because additional playthroughs allowed to explore mechanics of choices and destroyed the illusion of freedom.
2.The game tempted me to play it only once. It's good thing considering that further playthrough destroy its illusion of freedom. I was tempted because I got second best ending. Again, the ending too looked like it was from real life. In the real life we don't achieve perfectly good outcomes, there is always some bittersweet taste left. In my case it was lost chance for Emily to get married to person whom she loves. Besides, the characters became too alive, attempts to get different ending looked like sociopathic manipulation of a time-traveler (Like "What if I go back in time and will respond differently? How will this person react then?").
3.It's slice of life, without any supernatural or fantastic elements. You managed to make the game interesting without resorting to fantastic elements.
4.The characters behave more-or-less realistically. The only one who behaves strangely is Elizabeth, but she's probably just mentally ill.
5.Although there is element of romance, the game doesn't focus on it too much (although probably it gone little overboard with defocusing on romance here because, as I already mentioned, it was really a surprise for me to discover that it even existed) because what this story definitely don't need is Yet Another Cheesy Romance.
6.The story is very specific and as story unfolds you learn more about the characters. It makes it much easier to feel connected to the characters.
It is criminal that is only $0.00 and there's not even a "Name your own price" option. This was an incredible effort for only a month's work (and helps I got the Super Good End on the first run). I'll be "buying" My Girlfriend is a Demon for extra to make up for this.
I got most of the endings, but I'm missing 5 and 10.
Thank you so much for the support! We had donations on by accident, and turned them off because it was a volunteer project. We donated the $101 we got from it to charity. Thanks for donating, it's extremely helpful to us. I'm glad you liked the game too!
Now this is a story, captivating as it is realistic. Bitter and sweet and all the emotions in between. This is a story of morals and "what ifs". This is what a book looks like in a Visual Novel format. Superb job.
Really long game,captivating story (although needed some backstory,but it's okay since it is a jam game),well written code and well... Great well made game,thanks
I recently played this and I have to say, it was fantastic! The art could definitely be a lot better, frankly, but the voice acting and the writing were very superb! I'm going to write a full review of it when I get more time, hopefully soon (which I'm going to link here, hehe). Thank you so much for this game! :")
Thank you so much for the review! We're working on replacing a lot of the art (dear god the BGs, they were SUPER rushed), and making sure it is a bit more polished for Steam release. We'll have a whole new spriteset and the ability to choose between the two as well.
It has only one sigle small defect. The graphic style. Well... It's not as good as it should be... But it's only a little detail. And it's easy get used to it.
Music and sounds are good. Voices are very well done. And I really like that you putted them in game.
But the best part of this game is plot. And dialogues. It's real masterpiece. Seroiusly one of the best (and maybe even the best) of the plots I've seen in game. It's very serious and deep. A bit sad but also gives the player a chance to reach the happiest and best ending for all the bad things that happened in our protagonist's life. And I'm proud of myself I've got the heppiest plausible ending :D .
Characters are very great. All of them have their own, different personalities, roles in plot.
And it's very long like for visual novel and indie game
Thank you for the input! We're going to be releasing it with updated graphics on Steam sometime later this year. We only had a month to develop the entire game from scratch, so we had to cut a lot of corners. Again, thank you so much for your kind words!
Hello Watercress! It's been 56 days since I last made a video on this.
I apologize! You guys have worked really hard on this game and, I can't believe time went by so fast before I picked this up again! This is the second part but, there is plenty more for me to record in this. It's so emotional already and, I know I have just scratched the surface of this! I know you told me a month ago you were updating things. Hope progress has been going well!
Just wanted to ask, you can make choices that affect the game right? Because I recently bought a visual novel which for some reason had no choices to make, and was just a straight story set in stone, with no interactions for the player to make. Just wanted to make sure I'm not making the same mistake again. Thanks.
Sorry for the late response! This game has 11 different endings, and the choices you make very much impact the ending you get. Some choices are 'fluff' choices, but most of them are weighted.
Thank you for doing a play-through of the first fifteen minutes! It's always nice to see youtubers play our games. It also helps us catch some of our mistakes (and for a month long jam game, there are plenty of them). Expect a fully edited and improved script in the future! Thanks again.
Hello Watercress no problem on the play through! I will be doing more than 15 minutes of this game but, for now the first 15 was a blast! Thank you for developing this game!
It's our pleasure! We'll be sure to send you a Steam key once we put it on Steam (for free, but you'll be able to play it early, with all the updated art and scripting). I look forward to more playthroughs by you, no matter the game!
I'm flattered you would watch even if not your projects! It really means alot! You really have a great game probably the first i've seen with so much voice acting. Each character plays their role so well! Excited for the updated scripting keep in touch with me for that! Thank you once again Watercress!
I should have been asleep 4 hours ago, but I had to keep playing this. I don't even have words for how much I enjoyed this game - this story. This was an experience; a well-written, believable, and relatable one. The characters and the world feel real in every way. I became easily invested and found myself nearly in tears several times. I only finished two of the endings and look forward to exploring to find more. I am very impressed with this project! I cannot believe it was made in a month's time. It has so much heart. Thank you for sharing!
We're very, very happy that you like it so much! Feel free to join us in our discord (https://discord.gg/DmxMKHY) to discuss it with us there! We'd love to hear about your experience, and which endings you've gotten so far! Thanks again for playing our game :D
Sorry for the late reply! It is only GxG with only one RO. The focus of the story is on the MC and her struggles; the romance isn't the main focus. Hope that helps :)
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I will start my review of "Our home" with flaws and only after that will mention what the game did right.
The first flaw. The game railroads a player in some scenes. For example, if you decide that Maria should NOT take part in the intervention the game forces you to include her.
The second flaw. Maybe I was missing some hints because I was focused on the family so much, but it was complete surprise to me when in the ending I discoverd that the heroine has romantic feeling toward her friend.
The third flaw. Missed opportunity to show how the family would react to Emily confessing that she's a lesbian.
Now, what this game did right.
1.At the least my choices were such and such that I didn't even feel railroaded. The key choices that the game wanted just arose naturally on my the very first playthrough from my free will. And because it was my very first playthrough I even had illusion of freedom, that ALL events of the game unfolded as consequences of my free choices and I was very impressed by it. It almost looked like real life. My the only mistake was to play the game more than once because additional playthroughs allowed to explore mechanics of choices and destroyed the illusion of freedom.
2.The game tempted me to play it only once. It's good thing considering that further playthrough destroy its illusion of freedom. I was tempted because I got second best ending. Again, the ending too looked like it was from real life. In the real life we don't achieve perfectly good outcomes, there is always some bittersweet taste left. In my case it was lost chance for Emily to get married to person whom she loves. Besides, the characters became too alive, attempts to get different ending looked like sociopathic manipulation of a time-traveler (Like "What if I go back in time and will respond differently? How will this person react then?").
3.It's slice of life, without any supernatural or fantastic elements. You managed to make the game interesting without resorting to fantastic elements.
4.The characters behave more-or-less realistically. The only one who behaves strangely is Elizabeth, but she's probably just mentally ill.
5.Although there is element of romance, the game doesn't focus on it too much (although probably it gone little overboard with defocusing on romance here because, as I already mentioned, it was really a surprise for me to discover that it even existed) because what this story definitely don't need is Yet Another Cheesy Romance.
6.The story is very specific and as story unfolds you learn more about the characters. It makes it much easier to feel connected to the characters.
I agree I didn't expect the romance either
It is criminal that is only $0.00 and there's not even a "Name your own price" option. This was an incredible effort for only a month's work (and helps I got the Super Good End on the first run). I'll be "buying" My Girlfriend is a Demon for extra to make up for this.
I got most of the endings, but I'm missing 5 and 10.
Thank you so much for the support! We had donations on by accident, and turned them off because it was a volunteer project. We donated the $101 we got from it to charity. Thanks for donating, it's extremely helpful to us. I'm glad you liked the game too!
~Wolf, Watercress Studio Director
Now this is a story, captivating as it is realistic. Bitter and sweet and all the emotions in between. This is a story of morals and "what ifs". This is what a book looks like in a Visual Novel format. Superb job.
Thank you so much! It definitely hit close to home for a lot of us, and is a story I personally really wanted to tell. Thanks for playing it!
~Wolf, Watercress Studio Director
Really long game,captivating story (although needed some backstory,but it's okay since it is a jam game),well written code and well... Great well made game,thanks
Thank you so much for your support! Glad to hear you enjoyed it :D
~Wolf, Studio Director
I recently played this and I have to say, it was fantastic! The art could definitely be a lot better, frankly, but the voice acting and the writing were very superb! I'm going to write a full review of it when I get more time, hopefully soon (which I'm going to link here, hehe). Thank you so much for this game! :")
Thank you so much for the review! We're working on replacing a lot of the art (dear god the BGs, they were SUPER rushed), and making sure it is a bit more polished for Steam release. We'll have a whole new spriteset and the ability to choose between the two as well.
Thanks for the feedback, it means a lot to us!
~Wolf, Studio Director
Well... I really like this game.
It has only one sigle small defect. The graphic style. Well... It's not as good as it should be... But it's only a little detail. And it's easy get used to it.
Music and sounds are good. Voices are very well done. And I really like that you putted them in game.
But the best part of this game is plot. And dialogues. It's real masterpiece. Seroiusly one of the best (and maybe even the best) of the plots I've seen in game. It's very serious and deep. A bit sad but also gives the player a chance to reach the happiest and best ending for all the bad things that happened in our protagonist's life. And I'm proud of myself I've got the heppiest plausible ending :D .
Characters are very great. All of them have their own, different personalities, roles in plot.
And it's very long like for visual novel and indie game
Thank you for the input! We're going to be releasing it with updated graphics on Steam sometime later this year. We only had a month to develop the entire game from scratch, so we had to cut a lot of corners. Again, thank you so much for your kind words!
~Wolf, Studio Director
It keeps getting deeper as I continue this let's play series. Emily envisioning her brother as a good, guy in reality he....
This game is amazing! I went through it in one go, the story is quite sad but I got a satisfying ending :)) i love this game
Thank you for playing it! I love our bad ends too :)
~Wolf, Studio Director
dus dees got sum yuri en et
ye, but not the focus fam
~Wolf, Studio Director
I may or may not have stayed up until 2 AM playing this and I cried so much. Thanks for moving me.. :')
Thank you! I'm glad we stayed up to 2 AM to get the game out on time :P I hope you enjoyed it!
~Wolf, Studio Director
I have no words to describe how this game is great.
No words are needed :)
~Wolf, Studio Director
Hello Watercress! It's been 56 days since I last made a video on this.
I apologize! You guys have worked really hard on this game and, I can't believe time went by so fast before I picked this up again! This is the second part but, there is plenty more for me to record in this. It's so emotional already and, I know I have just scratched the surface of this! I know you told me a month ago you were updating things. Hope progress has been going well!
All's good, take your time :D
Yeah, we're still working on it. We'll let you know when we're done :P
Thank you for playing it!!
~Wolf, Studio Director
Wow, this is truly a great game, definitely one of the best VNs I've ever read!
Thank you!!! It'll be better once it hits Steam :)
~Wolf, Studio Director
This game was really good!!!!! Honestly one of the best visual novels I've played in a while!
Thank you so much :)
~Wolf, Studio Director
Just wanted to ask, you can make choices that affect the game right? Because I recently bought a visual novel which for some reason had no choices to make, and was just a straight story set in stone, with no interactions for the player to make. Just wanted to make sure I'm not making the same mistake again. Thanks.
Sorry for the late response! This game has 11 different endings, and the choices you make very much impact the ending you get. Some choices are 'fluff' choices, but most of them are weighted.
~Wolf, Studio Director
Thank you so much!
~Wolf, Studio Director
Great Voice Acting in an original novel. Well done!
Thank you for doing a play-through of the first fifteen minutes! It's always nice to see youtubers play our games. It also helps us catch some of our mistakes (and for a month long jam game, there are plenty of them). Expect a fully edited and improved script in the future! Thanks again.
~Wolf, Studio Director
Hello Watercress no problem on the play through! I will be doing more than 15 minutes of this game but, for now the first 15 was a blast! Thank you for developing this game!
It's our pleasure! We'll be sure to send you a Steam key once we put it on Steam (for free, but you'll be able to play it early, with all the updated art and scripting). I look forward to more playthroughs by you, no matter the game!
Wolf, Studio Director
I'm flattered you would watch even if not your projects! It really means alot! You really have a great game probably the first i've seen with so much voice acting. Each character plays their role so well! Excited for the updated scripting keep in touch with me for that! Thank you once again Watercress!
Your welcome! See you then :)
Thank you for taking the time to play our game! I'm glad it resonated with you so well, it means we accomplished our goal :)
~Wolf, Studio Director
I should have been asleep 4 hours ago, but I had to keep playing this. I don't even have words for how much I enjoyed this game - this story. This was an experience; a well-written, believable, and relatable one. The characters and the world feel real in every way. I became easily invested and found myself nearly in tears several times. I only finished two of the endings and look forward to exploring to find more. I am very impressed with this project! I cannot believe it was made in a month's time. It has so much heart. Thank you for sharing!
We're very, very happy that you like it so much! Feel free to join us in our discord (https://discord.gg/DmxMKHY) to discuss it with us there! We'd love to hear about your experience, and which endings you've gotten so far! Thanks again for playing our game :D
~Wolf, Studio Director
so this is only GxG and there is only one RO?
Sorry for the late reply! It is only GxG with only one RO. The focus of the story is on the MC and her struggles; the romance isn't the main focus. Hope that helps :)
~Wolf, Studio Director