Lucid9: Inciting Incident

For how good this VN is, to see that it's free is crazy. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of it even though technically the story is unfinished. Sure, it may not look as pretty as all the big and popular VNs but this does not make the story less interesting in any way. It does have this homebrew(indie) vibe to it but overall i think this is a very solid murder mystery with psych elements to it. Characters are interesting, dialogue is witty, and it DOES NOT go too heavy on inner monologue all the time - a pitfall many big titles fall into, so, no complaints here~ I was also happy to see that the making of full version was not abandoned and there are updates on game's Kickstarter page. Keep it up guys, you're doing great and i wish that the full version sees the light of day :>

If you are used to read books or good short stories, the writing will put you off.

Lucid9 is a masterpiece and the most interesting visual novel that i've ever read. this game resonated with me so much, not because it was relatable but because it was so beautifully written. so much detail was put into creating a past for the characters and giving them distinguishable personalities. i can't believe that this game is free. i was able to play this game offline while on a 10+ hour flight, and it's honestly made its place in my heart as a great memory of a game i played while traveling. i will seriously never forget this story. the main character yama ishimoto seems like a normal guy with a normal life but the way he thinks about things is unusual and this is prominent when you learn that an event in his childhood altered the way he processes his memories. he got into an accident when he was a kid where he lost his sister and got a severe brain injury, this caused him to get memory lapses. as soon as it starts to seem like a slice of life type of visual novel, you get hit with a plot twist that completely redirects the story in a new direction. people start dying, and yama is approached by a detective named shigure. after a bunch of riddles, he becomes shigure's assistant. yama runs into questionable people while helping shigure, and more students start dying at the academy. he gets paranoid and starts to think that one of his own friends could be the murderer that he's trying to catch. he even starts to think that he could be the murderer himself after he suffers from multiple memory lapses. i knew the murderer would be someone unexpected, but i wasn't at all ready for who it actually was. i could've never guessed it, because i was sure that it had to be natsuki. the plot twist was actually insane. i saved my game right before the final decision that determines the ending, and i got to play through both the good and bad endings. WHY IS THERE SUCH A HUGE CLIFFHANGER </3. i know that the sequel to this game is in development as of right now, and i can’t wait to find out what happens next. i was so shocked with the endings, even the “good” ending is bad (huge cliffhanger), [and i couldn’t believe that after everything they went through, yui had to die. :(]

its really interesting

cinema

Старый дом бабушки Эльзы пах пылью, воском и тайнами. После ее кончины Мартин приехал разобрать вещи. В подвале, в сундуке, обтянутом потертой кожей, он нашел странный предмет: черный дисковый телефон с медным диском и шестью отверстиями. Шнур был оборван. Это был лишь курьез, пока той же ночью телефон не зазвонил. Пронзительный, дребезжащий звонок разорвал тишину. Мартин сорвался с кровати. Аппарат стоял на тумбочке, мертвый и безжизненный. Он списал это на нервы. Но на следующую ночь звонок повторился. И на следующую. Он перестал спать. Звонок звучал только для него; полиция, которую он вызвал, лишь пожимала плечами. Одержимость начала пускать корни. Он пытался выбросить телефон, но на следующий день находил его снова на тумбочке, покрытый землей, будто его выкопали из мусора. Однажды ночью, в припадке отчаяния, он схватил трубку. Тишина в трубке была тяжелой, густой. Потом послышался слабый, как ветер в трубах, шепот. «Мартин…» Это был голос бабушки Эльзы. «Почему ты бросил меня, Мартин? — шептала она. — Почему не приезжал? Мне было так одиноко…» Он бросил трубку, но голос не умолк. Он звучал теперь в его голове, тихий и укоризненный. Он рассказывал ему все его тайны. Каждую ложь, каждый мелкий грех, каждый момент слабости. Через неделю соседи вызвали полицию из-за вони. Дверь пришлось выламывать. Мартин сидел в гостиной на полу, обняв колени. Телефон лежал у него на коленях. Он улыбался пустой, детской улыбкой. «Она простила меня, — бормотал он, глядя в пустоту. — Она сказала, что я могу остаться. Навсегда». Он не сопротивлялся, когда его вели. Он лишь обернулся на пороге и крикнул в пустой дом: «Я скоро, бабуля! Не вешай трубку!» А в гостиной, на тумбочке, черный телефон вдруг тихо прозвонил один раз. И снова воцарилась тишина. ____________________________________________________________ Grandma Elsa's old house smelled of dust, wax, and secrets. After her passing, Martin came to sort through her belongings. In the basement, inside a trunk covered in worn-out leather, he found a strange object: a black rotary phone with a brass dial and six holes. The cord was torn. It was just a curiosity until the phone rang that same night. A piercing, jangling ringtone tore through the silence. Martin jolted out of bed. The device sat on the nightstand, dead and lifeless. He blamed it on his nerves. But the next night, the ring repeated. And the next. He stopped sleeping. The ring sounded only for him; the police he called just shrugged. An obsession began to take root. He tried to throw the phone away, but the next day he would find it back on the nightstand, covered in dirt, as if dug out from the trash. One night, in a fit of desperation, he picked up the receiver. The silence on the line was heavy, thick. Then, a faint, wind-in-the-chimney whisper. "Martin…" It was Grandma Elsa's voice. "Why did you abandon me, Martin?" she whispered. "Why didn't you visit? I was so lonely…" He slammed the receiver down, but the voice didn't stop. It sounded in his head now, quiet and accusing. It recounted all his secrets. Every lie, every minor sin, every moment of weakness. A week later, the neighbors called the police because of the smell. The door had to be broken down. Martin was sitting on the living room floor, hugging his knees. The phone lay in his lap. He was smiling a vacant, childlike smile. "She forgave me," he muttered, staring into emptiness. "She said I could stay. Forever." He didn't resist when they led him away. He only turned at the threshold and shouted into the empty house: "I'll be right back, Grandma! Don't hang up!" And in the living room, on the nightstand, the black phone softly rang once. Then silence fell again.

nice