Jill O' Lantern: Final Cut

Linear story in which you solve a mystery with the help of a demon. The story revolves around Vivian, a girl who has her birthday on Halloween. Her buddy invites her to a party in the woods, but Vivian's birthday gift is her life, as she is the only survivor of a murderer on a murdering spree. She is now being interrogated about what actually happened. The most important part is that she managed to survive by reading a chant from a spell book. Jill, a muscular lady with a pumpkin head, wants the book because she has a contract with the witch. However, the chant shields Vivian because the killer is unable to take the book from her by force. She has to offer it to her voluntarily, therefore Jill must now behave nicely. After another spell from the book, Vivian and Jill are sent back in time to before the murders occurred. It is also revealed that Jill did not commit the murder because everyone was already died. They now have to investigate multiple crime scenes to uncover the true perpetrator. Disclaimer: Because most adult visual novels, or visual novels in general, use the same engine, I won't go into detail about the technical aspects. All you need to know is that it comes with the ability to save the game at any moment and skip every bit of text right from the start. Of course, using this feature for your first playthrough is not recommended because it defeats the entire purpose of visual novels. The entire presentation is quite cool. While character portraits are 2D images, stages are created using low-poly models and action figure-like characters. This also features crime scenes, which you investigate for clues. Finding them is simple because the scenes include obvious hotspots. Voices are present, but they merely say one word every line or make a sound of rage, surprise, and so on. Choices are key in visual novels since they can lead to several endings. This game contains options, but the majority of them are simply small changes in text that continue the plot in the same way or add more to the story. Some choices result in a bad ending, but this will not ruin your game because you can immediately reverse your decision and try again. In case you miss something, you can always go back with a roll-back feature.

I've played the previous version on itchio and have just finished the current built. I really enjoyed my time with this visual novel. There's a lot of queer representation and is an overall fun experience. SPOILER AHEAD: The main character may take a bit to get used to, especially when they keep gassing Joy up, but they are likable as are the other characters. There's a few game over options but they aren't a huge issue because the game let's you instantly reload them. My play time was about 8 hours but it could be less if you aren't reading everything aloud or game overing like I was...

It's quite an engaging mystery story, with strong characters, a good plotline, and a really cute romance subplot. It's difficult to come up with any shortcomings, really. All in all, a pretty great visual novel I'd recommend to anyone.

[h3]最后的女孩与超自然杀人魔联手探案的恐怖喜剧[/h3] 无中文，流程10小时左右，包括阅读所有可选选项内容。 序章是很套路的恐怖片故事，湖边林地、大学生、尸体、杀人狂、魔法.......然而序章最后出现戏剧性的反转，唯一幸存的女孩与恶魔联手揭开着恐怖之夜的真相，就像电影《最后的女孩》一样，游戏故事充满笑料和对B级恐怖片套路的戏谑，推荐喜欢喜剧恐怖类型电影的人来玩。 游戏开场是Vivian在事件后作为幸存者接受采访。通过她的讲述，逐步回溯那漫长的一夜。画面采用了低多边形建模还原事件现场，极大降低了血腥和恐怖程度，只有角色立绘与少数CG采用绘画表现，值得一提，开头还有制作组联合抵制AI生成的声明，很赞。 出场角色有少数配音，集中在标志性的台词，尤其喜欢南瓜头恶魔Jill，声音很有魅力，“HUMAN“的配音反复听了几次www。 随着游玩过程，印象颠倒，初登场有极大压迫感的恶魔Jill其实是完全没有法律意识、被人类钻了漏洞的可怜实习生，表情也很生动可爱。主角Vivian则是位谱系人，不受双亲喜爱，自卑渴求被认可，游戏也是一个讲述接纳自己，切断有毒关系的故事。 在一同经历了几次死里逃生后，Vivian与Jill的关系逐渐亲近，互相影响彼此。游戏内有暧昧调情的对话，但到结局也没确立关系，注意的是，Vivian和Jill对另一位重要的非二元性别角色互相有好感，很有三人幸终的走向:3 可能有些人会在意： Vivian是 she/her，Jillian出场时自我认同是she/her，背景有个资料写过她被教授收养早期是自我认同为he/him的，不过恶魔的性别本来就是流动的吧~ 游戏有隐藏支线，背景会藏眼睛，找到会解锁资料，成就有提醒藏在哪个章节，共26个全部找到会开启一段教授的隐藏剧情补充世界观。 总之个人非常推荐，兼具悬疑和搞笑，Queer友好，谱系人接纳自己的描写也很感动。 [i] "You are not damaged. You are a screwdriver in a society that judges everything like a hammer."[/i]

It is a great and really funny Ren'Py game with a lot of choices and well-written characters

Pleasant surprise to play on a Halloween night.

If you're in the mood for a non-horror game that still gives those sweet Halloween vibes, [i]Jill O' Lantern: Final Cut[/i] is definitely worth a look. It's got a fun art style that mixes normal hand-drawn character sprites with low-poly 3D models, allowing it to show off gruesome murder scenes without things getting too upsetting to view; it even pulls off playing some of them for laughs. The writing is really the star of the show, though, with charming, well-written characters and dialogue that sensitively deals with subjects like coming to terms with neurodivergence. Some character aspects seem like they may have been left on the cutting room floor compared to what was in promotional material, but rest assured the cast is still quirky, queer, and a whole lot of fun to get invested in. When my main wish is that there were more branching paths to explore so I could spend more time in the game, I think it's safe to say that [i]Jill O' Lantern: Final Cut[/i] is a real treat. Full review [url=https://olivigarden.ca/2024/11/29/jill-o-lantern-final-cut-review/]here[/url]

A very well told and thought out story from beginning-to-end. Everyone is handled with care and dignity. The multiple different art forms work very well together

I have since then finished the story, and I thought I had a good part of it figured it out... Well let's say I had some more surprises along the way! A strong recommandation for me. ----------------------------------------------------------- Haven't finished the story yet, and not usually a VN player but decided to give this one a go and it's a lot of fun! The writing is good, the story is fun to follow and full of surprises! The characters also often have more depth than what you might imagine upon first stumbling onto them, which is a good point. Basically, the game is the main character Vivian telling the story of what went down at a Halloween/Birthday party to what I assume is a police officer. And you'll follow the story along, making a few choices here and there and trying to solve what quickly turns into multiple crime scenes and magical shenanigans! I like how the presentation switches between classical 2D drawn artworks of the characters talking and mini 3D scenes (the police officer actually explains they like using action figure to recreate whatever went down, which is kinda cute and explains the "crafty" and handmade look of these scenes), and the music is fun too, with someone probably a big fan of the Halloween movie and its iconic piano! All in all, you play a game like that for the story and it's nicely written and fun to follow, with some nice jokes in it. So if you want to follow Vivian in her halloween slasher story, you are in for a good time with this game!

Pretty neat little gay story. Definitely keeps you interested with its numerous twists and turns. Some characters might be a tad exaggerated but the character development (for most of them) makes up for it. Technically refreshing and very cool for the point & click elements is the usage of 3D scenes. Being rewarded with extra content for going through all the dialog options is a nice touch and well worth it. The density of woke topics seems a bit forced however.