Looking at the trailer I thought it was going to be a whimsical fantasy game about a writer and some existentialism, turned out to be a body horror game with unusually high amount of animal violence... you sure got me. Hey, cats are like angels walking on earth to bring us joy, not even in fiction, shame on you.
The game is only 20 minutes per ending, granted there are 3 relevant routes that completely change the narrative (closer to 60 minutes in total), and even those 3 choices have a few relevant narrative forks within them, sometimes ending with death, or more unique endings with multiple art panels. I enjoyed the aesthetic overall, it looks unique enough that it stands out among other visual novels. There were not that many backgrounds, only a couple per route, but once you pick a path, the game does not recycle the images that much, you will get something new in every scenario. Each main ending also has multiple art panels associated with it, usually several gruesome images either for the character or her cat.
I am not sure exactly who the character is, I guess she is just an obsessed scientist/occult enthusiast. The set up for the game is that she is about to finish her research on some unusual artifact, but as a player, we get to pick from 3 different objects to determine what she was researching, which is how you get one of 3 different paths near the start of the game.
There are only 2 relevant characters, I guess I am not counting the demon thing. The cat does not talk, more of a moral support for the main character, or in some situations, a tool to advance the experiments. Even though the game is slightly edgy with the animal suffering, I did enjoy the writing and I thought her madness kinda sold the experience, it was somewhat original, although I suppose there were some classic examples with similar themes (just more vanilla versions of the same concepts).
[h1]Pros: [/h1]
(+) Even though the game is short, there are 3 routes that are completely different, so about 20 minutes x 3. Those 3 choices also have some smaller choices within them, sometimes with more than 1 ending each.
(+) I thought the panels were pretty and I enjoyed the details, the game is still very small, but at least you did enough art to make each ending look unique.
(+) Curious idea for the game and the writing, slightly edgy, but not too many games like it out there, with some unusual outcomes for the characters.
[h1]Feedback: [/h1]
I didn't have any issues with the game or the writing in general, it's just a little short, and could use maybe more background changes
[b]Overall Thoughts: 6.5/10 [/b]
I like that you made each route completely unique, most of the small visual novel games I play have cosmetic choices, but here you actually get some nice art feedback on them like different deaths for both characters. It's short and cheap, but slightly curious game with a neat idea for the narrative, I like that it's at least doing its own thing. Slightly gruesome, violence on cat trigger.
[code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]
