Alaris

Fun story, beautiful art, and a UI better than those ASMR meditation channels on YT. It is 100% a vibe. Can't wait to see the finished product.

this game is so cute !! i just finished my first route, Etza, and i can tell how much love was put into this game! the music, backgrounds, CGs, and multiple voiced lines were lovely. while some sprites may look a little outdated (personal opinion) or some haven't been uploaded yet since this is only EA, i can assure you that the high quality of literally everything will "make up for it." i also love that we get to see how everyone interacts (even if they're not SUPER fleshed out) in the route, beyond just your romantic interest. it was fun to see everyone's banter! it's worth sticking around for. TRUST. the story itself is pretty intriguing, and i can't wait to learn more about the world and our main character specifically! as for the interface, at the beginning waiting for all the text to load (or clicking too soon) would cause me to miss some text. you know how in most games/VNs you can double click to show the entire text box without waiting? at the beginning at least, though i don't know if it was resolved or i simply got used to it, the text would just whiz by without me getting to read it. luckily, there's a log button. i DO wish there were a codex we could reference (rather than needing to wait for a highlighted word with the definition to come up), and i also wish we could access our texts/messages throughout the story. sometimes i didn't get to read everyone's texts because i would accidentally respond to the story-progressing texts too soon. i also found it confusing to navigate the text interface at first (here's how: you need to click on names to open their messages, click the screen to progress it, and sometimes choose a response), i think a more obvious "next" button / arrow or something that let us know to click the names to switch between texts/group chats would have been useful. i think the "q" function was cool ! :) overall, i can say that a lot of love was put into this game! i can't give a full review as i've only played 1 route and i'm reviewing while it's still in early access, but i'd say this is a relatively relaxing game. DO BE AWARE OF THE CONTENT WARNINGS!! it's not super dark, but it can have parallels to uncomfortable real life situations that you may have experienced. i found that they handled it pretty well in Etza's route where they calm you down after you were stalked/almost kidnapped and attacked. the MC doesn't magically heal or forget about the experience either. their trauma comes up multiple times as they come to ask others for help, develop a sense of unease and aversion to walking around at night, and even act slightly more hostile to the assailant when they come back. it's not really a spoiler, but don't worry-- everything is handled with taste, and it's not meaninglessly put there for the sake of plot / damsel in distress moments. i hope this encourages you to get into the game! it's genuinely beautiful and i'm excited to play more. <3

This game is literally the best like I wanted to leave a review after I was done but it's going to be a WHILE because WOW there's so much content!!! but every part of this game is gorgeous, all of the art from the CGs and the sprites and the GUI and the music and the characters!! the writing is so good, I have so much fun playing, I love the messaging/chat-sim element it's really cute!! but more than that the setting and the world and the lore and it's all so well thought out. It's such a labour of love and you can really see it. I've been following for years and I'm SO satisfied!! everyone should get this game!! it's really excellent, I can't recommend it enough and there's so much content and so much to do you won't be disappointed!!

não tenho o hábito de escrever análises aqui na steam, mas quis compartilhar porque esse jogo merece ser descoberto por mais pessoas. comprei alaris recentemente, finalizei minha primeira rota, a do druk, e preciso dizer: a experiência foi maravilhosa! minha relação com o estúdio começou há pouco tempo, quando joguei intertwine e fiquei completamente encantada. a sensibilidade da narrativa, a trilha sonora marcante e o cuidado com os detalhes me fizeram procurar outros trabalhos da desenvolvedora. foi então que encontrei a demo de alaris. quando soube que a versão em acesso antecipado seria lançada em breve, decidi esperar. agora, jogando a versão completa, posso afirmar sem dúvidas: a espera valeu cada segundo. a primeira coisa que chama atenção é a arte. cada personagem, cada cenário e até os mínimos detalhes foram feitos com um cuidado impressionante, resultando em um visual de tirar o fôlego. a trilha sonora não apenas acompanha a jornada, mas a enriquece, trazendo emoção e atmosfera em cada cena. a dublagem também merece destaque, dá vida e profundidade aos personagens de uma forma que me surpreendeu muito (e me deixou boba). a narrativa é outro ponto forte. a imersão é imediata: o universo criado é mágico, envolvente e cheio de nuances que vão surgindo a cada escolha. gostei especialmente da mecânica que molda a personalidade do protagonista de acordo com as decisões do jogador, além da forma como podemos escolher os encontros com os interesses românticos. isso deixa a experiência ainda mais personalizada. o tempo de rota também me pareceu bem equilibrado, mantendo o interesse sem se tornar cansativo (releve meu tempo de jogo, costumo deixar aberto). e claro, não dá para deixar de falar dos personagens. cada um tem seu próprio carisma (ainda com respeito à diversidade de gênero), o que os torna não só cativantes, mas também instigantes. essa variedade desperta a vontade de explorar todas as rotas, conhecer cada detalhe de suas histórias e ver como tudo se conecta. no fim das contas, alaris é um jogo encantador, que une arte, música, narrativa e mecânicas de um jeito harmonioso e apaixonante. fiquei muito feliz por ter jogado e com certeza vou acompanhar de perto tanto as futuras atualizações quanto os próximos projetos da crescence studio. se intertwine já tinha me conquistado, alaris só confirmou que esse estúdio tem um talento incrível!

Jogo INCRÍVEL. Ano passado joguei sua demo, e o quanto essa história é boa me cativou muito! O desenvolvimento dos personagens e também do personagem principal é tão BOA. Amei principalmente o desenvolvimento do Fenir, ele é tao fofo que eu poderia apertar ele. Enfim, eu recomendo muito esse jogo para quem gosta de magia e mistério, e de romance também ehehhw OBRIGADO POR CRIAREM ESSA OBRA DE ARTE AMO SEUS JOGOS

This game make me I’m shipping everyone with everyone! DruKuna, DruKay, KayFe, SenAi, AiKu, FeEt… help, I’m losing it! After finishing all four Central routes, I can’t help but feel that Kayn was treated unfairly. His route alone feels half-baked, like it wasn’t fully developed. While the other routes might not explain every single detail of the story, they at least give proper closure to the two biggest issues: the LI’s backstory and the root cause of Kunaa’s pursuit of Alaris. But in Kayn’s route, both of these threads are left hanging. Kayn’s backstory had so much potential, his mindset of “better to be alone than in bad company” could’ve been such a strong emotional core. Yet it’s only mentioned in passing and then completely dropped. Seriously, was Kayn the devs’ forgotten child or what? Kayn deserves a much better route than the one he got! [spoiler]Besides that, I couldn’t shake off this strange feeling about Kayn during Druk’s route. Sometimes, it genuinely felt like he remembered his own route. (I played the routes in order from left to right on the selection screen: Kayn → Druk → Fenir → Etza.) For example—when Kayn mentioned using Energy to attack, Alaris immediately understood, even though in Kayn’s route it took quite a while for them to learn that skill, and Druk never taught them anything like it. When Druk asked about it, Alaris be like, “Maybe Kayn mentioned it at some point,” they didn’t seem to know how they was able to do that. And that bittersweet smile Kayn gave when he looked at Druk and Alaris—what was that supposed to mean? When Druk commented that Kayn had suddenly become diligent and stopped slacking off so that Druk could spend more time with Alaris, and Alaris replied that “Kayn really likes you,” I found myself quietly hoping that was true. Because honestly, I’m not a fan of those stories where the MC forgets everything and falls in love with everyone, while only the LIs seem to remember what once was.[/spoiler] The more I play, the more I want to punch Kunaa. For someone who came asking for help, his attitude is downright insufferable. And honestly, the entire Dusk Court is the same. They exploit Alaris’s labor for free and still talk down to them like they’re above it all. No wonder humans made them the villains in stories—serves them right for their attitude. Meanwhile, the Dawn Court might have sharp tongues, but they’ve got good hearts and treat Alaris much better. And Aisa—oh, I adore Aisa. The more I play, the more I fall for them. I’m really looking forward to their route. Just praying Aisa doesn’t end up with the “amazing-in-everyone’s-route-except-their-own” syndrome. The story of this game reminds me of Cinderella Phenomenon, while its storytelling style brings to mind Silver Blue—except Alaris handles it a bit more smoothly. It doesn’t rely entirely on “???” for unknown characters; you can still tell who’s speaking, unlike in Silver Blue. It’s honestly surprising that these two games weren’t listed among the dev’s inspirations. Although the sprite quality still lags behind other visual elements, those who’ve followed the game since its early days can clearly see how much effort the dev has put into improving it within their limits. I really can’t ask for more. The most recent adjustment—to make the sprite colors match better with the overall visuals—was a nice touch and left me quite satisfied. That’s all for now. I’ll update my review once the remaining two routes are released.

I first found this game last year when it released in early access and completed all 4 of the routes that were available at the time and have now completed the final 2 routes. I can say with confidence that I highly recommend this game if you’re looking for a romance VN with a compelling story. Pros: -All of the routes have unique stories with minimal overlap (besides the intro common route prior to route selection) which means that you get a ton of great interactions with your LI of choice AND you get different pieces of the plot revealed in each route. -I loved all 6 routes, initially I went in planning to only do the characters that interested me the most but the plot was so good I wanted to see every piece. That being said I absolutely think you could also just pick your favorite as well and get a really compelling play through out of it. -The MC’s personality system is really fun and very unique. All four of the traits are very endearing and I liked to try out different combinations with each of the LIs. -Choices (besides a couple of critical ones that are very obvious) mostly exist in order to add flavor to the type of character you’re playing or the scene. This is my personal preference for VNs, and while it may not be everyone’s, I personally love that I don’t feel pressured to use a guide (i.e. most choices don’t have a right or wrong answer instead I can feel free to pick the choice that interests me). For the future, I would absolutely love if there was an option to purchase any kind of DLC or add-ons for the game as I’d love more content about the characters (which is crazy considering just how much content is in the game already!). But for now I can say that if you’re on the fence, and you’re a fan of romance VNs, it’s definitely worth trying and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I've been waiting for this game to reach 1.0 as I had the most interest in Aisa one of the Fae character routes and I wanted to wait til the game released fully to experience it as my first run and I gotta say Aisa is such a wonderful character once you get to know them, managed to get the beautiful good Aisa ending my first try at about the 10 hours mark and I had such a smile on my face! The UI in this game is the most beautiful I've seen in a visual novel, the backgrounds are so great too and I'm a big fan of the art and characters. It seems the voiced dialogue refers to the player as they/them pronouns for voicelines so if inconsistencies in dialogue bug you I'd suggest creating a player character that matches. Each route has a ton of scenes and story that are specific to the routes. I've got a Kayn or Etza route next in my future which I'm excited for! All in all, I'd strongly recommend Alaris to anyone looking for a new romance/story VN

The only issue i have with this game is that it has such a small fanbase. I only played through a bit of druks route and im already in love, really im excited for the master of rage baitings ( kuna'as) route but i love the game, great mc, well devolved personality with strengths and weaknesses, and all the li's have good personality's and their own quirks, strengths and weaknesses. deff recommend, only real issue i find is lack of updates on steam on development, the creator updates on patron but that's a paywall. aside from all that, the game has amazing world building, wonderfull art and graphics, and good voiceacting for voiced parts. i do find it odd how the voice acting can cut off on the middle of a scene or line though. or random humms and huffs are used in place of a voice acting. there are a few things that i dont like but game overall is great.

I mean I'm not done with my first ending but i love this game already!