Lurkers

[h1]The Nemesis of Neglect[/h1] Honestly, [b][i]Lurkers[/i][/b] is a solid little story, but whether you’d be able to appreciate it will depend on what you expect from this visual novel. Since this is marked as [b]boys' love/yaoi[/b] and also takes place during the [i]Jack the Ripper[/i] murders, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking this could be in the vein of some Sherlock/Jack fanfiction. I mean, that’s the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it announced months ago. (Just me? Ehem, never mind.) But if you expect some Will Graham / Hannibal Lecter cat and mouse play, bursting with homoerotic subtext (or text), you’ll be disappointed. Yaoi is subtle here and more like a backdrop or a side dish; it’s not even between 'Jack' and whatever detective is chasing him. And since this tries to stick to historical facts (for the most part) that’s for the better. Considering all the palpable and visceral (literally) misogyny and real victims, romanticising and trivializing the brutality of these crimes would've left a bad aftertaste. Instead, the VN takes a look at them and addresses several issues that plagued the Victorian era, while developing a bit of boys' love on the side. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2389027980 [u][b]Main character[/b][/u], [b][i]Eddy Nichols[/i][/b], is actually the son of the Ripper's first canonical victim, [i]Polly Nichols[/i]. His love interests are a private investigator, [b][i]William Burns[/i][/b], known as the American Sherlock Holmes, and [b][i]Chris Forrester[/i][/b], a young journalist at [i]The Illustrated Police News[/i]. Everybody mentioned is based on real people except for Chris who is the only completely fictional character (not the tabloid sadly). As the eldest son, Eddy is eager to catch the killer of his mother and we find him at the start of the novel trying to lead his own investigation. He joins forces with the American detective who came to London to try his hand at solving these outrageous crimes that shook England and earn a bit of fame for himself. Chris, on the other hand, seems haunted by visions, drenched in occult and suspiciously connected to the crimes (a psychic or multiple personality disorder?) [u][b]Side characters[/b][/u] are also based on real people, in name at least, but maybe also in type: an unscrupulous, [i]sleazy editor[/i] of aforementioned tabloid, I mean 'police news'; a self-important quack of a [i]psychiatrist[/i] who likes the sound of his own voice too much; and a nasty, misogynistic [i]obstetrician and surgeon[/i] who does autopsies as a hobby. As noted in the store page description, there are 3 suspects. But seriously, from the moment he shows up, it's pretty obvious who this VN marked as Jack the Ripper. Trust me, when you see him (and read his dialogue), you'll know. I guess, of all the Jack the Ripper theories, the most popular is chosen for this game. So there's not much of a mystery and excitement in a story that focuses on investigation, but the VN makes up for it by capturing the atmosphere and spirit of the times. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2387992642 Painting a pretty good picture of fog shrouded [u][b]London in 1888.[/b][/u] and enriching it with many historical references is something I enjoyed the most about this VN. And as I said, several issues are touched upon. They may be Victorian, but many still resonate today. Misogyny is obviously emphasized, but not just as an extreme form of Ripper murders, but as a casual everyday occurrence: the way people talk about and look with disgust at not just prostitutes, but any poor woman; the phenomenon of women with drinking problems leaving their homes and going to streets (first cracks in traditional family). Tabloids and sensationalism especially resonate today, all with exploitation of morbid curiosity for profit and disrespect for victims. Jack the Ripper was truly the first modern serial killer in more ways than one. Then we have comments on spiritualism, Victorian asylums, quack doctors hungry for fame, poor treatment of mental health patients, general homophobia, xenophobia and antisemitism (the famous graffito that tried to accuse Jews of the murders was featured). This was to me the strongest aspect of the game. But what about [u][b]boys' love[/b][/u]? Frankly, I found this part kind of underwhelming. There are only two short scenes with each LI and they come somewhere in the middle of the game after the first set of choices that let you embark directly on their routes. Scenes themselves are sweet, especially with Chris, a bit more sensual with William. But, I think they could've been tied more smoothly with the rest of the story. In that sense, Chris' scene fares better as I felt more of a connection between him and Eddy than William and Eddy. There were all those little snippets that show Eddy's concern for him, reassurance through touch, even skinship. With William, on the other hand, Eddy was supposed to have slightly antagonistic chemistry, clashing of opposites with lots of bickering. But, what should've been romantic tension kind of fell flat. His romantic scene was alright, I just wish it came more organically from their interactions. I should also mention that Chris appears to be asexual which is rare in VNs and a welcome change. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2388980204 I'm sure if the VN had been longer all this would've had more room to breathe and be properly developed and not compressed. The game is very short and still manages to have [u][b]4 endings[/b][/u] - Chris', William's, friendship and several versions of the bad end. You will solve the Ripper murders and have a happy ending with a romantic partner you've chosen (or not). But, a chill ran down my spine when the realization hit me that the bad end is actually our timeline (poor Mary Kelly). [u][b]Visually[/b][/u], plain, dark washed up colours dominate (brown, violet, black) especially in the backgrounds. I loved the eerie scenes of Whitechapel at night, submerged in fog during the chase after Ripper. There's no gore depicted, but rather the crime scenes are represented by drawings (like those in Illustrated Police News). There are only 2 sets of CGs (with variations) for each romantic scene and they have these strong, vibrant colours making a big contrast to the rest of the game. Although I like the look of characters in sprites a lot more and I'm not a fan of how their likeness is poorly translated to CGs. Whereas the whole presentation is rather plain and simple (there's no gallery for example), [u][b]the music[/b][/u] is truly evocative and effective in bringing the atmosphere to life. Like I said, it's a solid little historical BL that would've benefited greatly from a longer running time. That way, even the things I enjoyed would've been really delved into and not just touched. It's a good thing I'm fascinated by Jack the Ripper case and this time period so I was able to appreciate it. BL fans, though, will have to adjust their expectations going in. [b]Recommended with some reservation[/b]. [h3][quote][b]Reviewed by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40848670/]Drugoja In The Dreaming[/url][/b][/quote][/h3] [b]Curator copy via [i]Otome Sekai[/i][/b]

[b]Game Content Warning[/b]: [spoiler]mild homophobic remarks, minor antisemitism, misogyny, discrimination against sex workers, descriptions of gore, social stigma against the mentally ill, references to alcoholism, non-consensual drug use, references to abusive/neglectful parents, references to religious abuse, lots of murder[/spoiler] Loosely based on people who actually existed, this is a fictional, gay spin on the story of investigators who worked on the gruesome murder cases of Jack the Ripper. Thankfully, none of it is graphic, so if you’re not a fan of gore, this VN is actually fairly safe. The story begins with the protagonist Eddy, looking for clues about his mother’s murder. Lacking resources and authority to gather information, he reluctantly accepts help from an overconfident American investigator named William. However, he finds an even more unlikely ally in Chris – a man who has visions of the murders before they happen. [u]Minor Complaints[/u] • No CG gallery. • Choices given in a list that were already selected don’t disappear like in most VNs. • Way too short. I want more! More, I say! • Lack of racial diversity. Everyone is white. [u]Good Stuff[/u] • The romance scenes were super, duper precious/adorable/sweet. • Ace representation? It’s a bit ambiguous, but one of the romanceable characters seems to be homoromantic/asexual. • Points of view switch from Eddy to William and back for interesting story-telling. • The other suspects are interesting, because even if they’re not guilty of murder, they’ve still done a lot of shady, unethical things. • Subtle critiques of religious scammers. • Critiques of asylum institutions of that time (FYI: They were incredibly abusive to patients.) • A variety of endings, good and bad. It’s certainly not a setting I’d imagine for a BL story, but it works. I wish it had been longer, with more romance options, but I still enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it to BL fans who particularly enjoy sweet romances. [quote] Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

[code]Curator page here-->[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37670120/] DaRevieweD #198 [/url]<-- [i]New review every Weekend[/i][/code] [h1]"WITH A CHRIS-TAL CLEAR CONSCIENCE, I DO DECLARE-!?"[/h1] [u] Here's The Thing:[/u] In this rather historically accurate retelling of the Whitechapel Murderer, you step into the life of Eddy Nichols. Your mother, Polly, has landed herself in hot water not just for her debauched profession but also in making the headlines as the first victim of a gruesome murder. Even with tensions flared and fears swirled, it didn’t stop fame-hogging, money-grubbing opportunists and others from capitalizing on the disorder~ [h1][+] PROS;[/h1] [b]:) ANY AYE-DEAS~[/b] A pseudo semi-linear VN that harkens back to the acutely involving [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1156990/]Return to Shironagasu Island,[/url] every bit as absorbing in writing. In fact, it also goes quite well with[url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/DeadeGuard98/recommended/1918550/] London Ripper[/url], in spite of palpable genre leaps and subjected horror, as both are chilling reinterpretations of the string of killings unsolved to this day. A great deal of passivity in the first quarter as you are bombarded with more queries than answers. But eventually choices get presented to you in the line of questioning you decide to stick to, which perp to interrogate, and with whom within your trio you’d like to be a personal pillar of support for. My pursuit of Jack The Ripper closed in at 2 hours, which then became 2.4 hours since I was most insistent on uncovering both outcomes that split off into 4 endings overall. Rest assured, the BL/homosexual content is very audience friendly and sweet, if not tender compared to the developer’s usual portfolio… which might explain why it did not go down as successfully~ [b]:) A PERIOD COME LONDONE![/b] The thick foggy atmosphere, ever present in every exterior shot, is not only a literal depiction of conditions in 19th Century London, but also a foreshadowing of the unseen moral panic to come. AND- …ok, ‘tis typically the part where I embellish a game’s visuals, but I find that challenging to accomplish because of the various realistic drawings and maps fashioned after (if not literally) actual ones which existed and are stored in an archive somewhere. Just for that extra mile and big “middle finger” to death attitude alone, I have to give the team a standing ovation! The score follows a similar stance, not at all modernized with the bells and whistles you’d hear nowadays. Instead, it’s in-keeping with that period in terms of orchestral instruments and expresses all sorts of moods. Starting with the characteristically sleepy and peaceful, to another knee-deep in leads and feeling as if you’re donning Sherlock Holmes’ cap, then one that could only be described as “hearing red” for when tragedy strikes and slices, along with a few others I’m sure I missed… https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2875929124 [b]:) NO. MERE. GAY-ME.[/b] I truly and with every fiber of my being stand by the approach taken by [b]Lurkers[/b] in expounding this dreadful story, it should serve as a blueprint for future filmmakers and developers who wish to make adaptations of real-life serial killers. More often than not, they tend to glamorize and create idolizations of them, but not here! In that vein, it’s exactly like how 2022’s [b]Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story[/b] was executed, up to a point that is… As a teen, I had a phase of my own where I was fixated on Jack The Ripper, and so I was already quite familiar with what to expect. That said, this version succeeds in further enriching my knowledge of the events in question through including true persons associated with the case. All while fleshing out the oppressive fear of that period and even adding some changes that I was skeptical about from the get go. For instance, the insertion of the BL topic which was still a significant taboo back then, or the premonitions of the killer. Both were reasonably worked in and contributed to the already frail security within society! Of course, the characters (most of whom, again, were based off of real people) have to be given their time in the limelight! Instead of talking about how cute-as-a-button and strapping- I would much rather point out how they were diverse in personality, fascinating and able to hold their own. The empathetic protagonist Eddy is not just strongminded and empathetic but his stakes on the matter come from a deepened loss. Then there’s William Burns, the at first cold but brilliant American private eye is every Londoner’s sense of justice personified. Chris Forrester, the blank-faced journalist who dreams of blood but is otherwise harmless, so on and so forth~ [b]:) ON-LURKERS OF DEATH?[/b] While much of the vivid descriptions and graphic horror are contained in the words themselves and thus left to the imagination. Yet there’s something irrevocably off-putting about it all, I mean, besides the fact that the actual perpetrator was never caught. The thing Lurkers captures that was so on point is the divisive responses to an elusive threat and that when under desperation, just about any theory can sound plausible! Who knows, maybe the verdict reached by the cast was wrong too! It puts the ugliness of reality on full display in that whereas fear can be crippling for some; it can be motivating for others, which can be either good or bad. However, as can be seen, it’s predominantly the latter with a slew of fake taunting notes to claim credit if not notoriety, evidence tampering to redirect hate and blame, and with some even profiteering through newsworthy but shady headlines. It really does make you wonder how much truth and degree of sensationalism there is to the information plastered out there… Additionally, I think I just solved the mystery behind the name and what “lurkers”, or should I say [i]who[/i] they’re referring to. There is a profound statement to be made in paralleling the condemnation of homosexuality with the contempt in weeding out and hunting a bloodthirsty killer; even though they aren’t, not in the slightest, on par with one another. Being gay was indeed viewed as reprehensible, and strange to the time as it was for the characters, which I thought was represented with sensitivity. But it does exhibit the two-faced and hypocritical nature of society, that even in the midst of a serial killer, some lines just can’t be crossed. In light of everything we know today, has anything really changed much since then~ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2875930446 [h1][-] CONS;[/h1] [b]:( GIVE ME A POLLY-GRAPH TEST, I DARE YA…![/b] I’ve no bad blood with it, but the broken record of a dialogue system had me testy! Already exhausted choices still popped up, whereas those untouched (ones you were dying to caress), ended up who knows where!? It didn’t help that the further Lurkers got, it became more and more in bed with English errors; typos, grammatical, tenses not in agreement and just the whole nine yards! It tarnishes the unblemished reputation it set out with… just a smidge, but still~ [h1]BUGS:[/h1] x Skipping through the text will cause delays in the timing of sound effects. [h1]NITPICKS:[/h1] ~ English is smooth like butter early on and up until the midpoint, but gets progressively more careless! [h1]"WE ALL EDDY TO GO~"[/h1] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2875931201 [u]Last Words?[/u] BL VN’s rendition of Jack The Ripper not only is respectful, tasteful and true to the spirit. It arouses the highly unsafe, up-in-the-air state of unrest with elaborate details & roles to top it off~ [h1]9.4 / 10[/h1] [quote]Shoutout to [code][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116/]Indie Gems,[/url][/code] for GEMME-ing a key! Follow them here right now for more well, y’know~[/quote]

[h1][i][b]A boys' love murder mystery set in late ’80s London referencing Jack the Ripper’s cases and real life people involved at the time.[/b][/i][/h1] [h1]The Frying Pan:[/h1] [i][b]It’s another foggy day in Whitechapel, a truly chilling location in many senses – as it is the core of recently occurred murders. Eddy Nichols is currently performing solo investigations regarding the first victim of the ongoing femicide, none less than his mother, Polly Nichols, who was recently murdered. The latest location she is confirmed to have been spotted at is a local pub called The Frying Pan. Eddy is there to get some useful information regarding the case and decides to approach a prostitute ring who were strict acquaintances of his mother, a former prostitute. One of the women recounts of having met Eddy’s mother during wee hours of morning, mentioning she was seeking for one more client in order to pay her overnight stay at someplace. After a while the prostitutes begin to mock our main character by using flirty tones, and it is exactly there that a tall man approaches you in order to take off from the scene at hand. He presents himself as William J. Burns, an American investigator who did personally travel to London in order to put an end to the gruesome case of Jack the Ripper and uncover the culprit. William does offer you a chance to work together in order to join your forces and complete the investigation quicker. He does have many perks such as official permits that will let him retort information hidden to the public, a huge advantage that Eddy doesn’t happen to have.[/b][/i] [h1]A questionable teamwork:[/h1] [i][b]The first step William decides to take is to put some inquiry into The Illustrated Police News Studio; a famous local newspaper offering dreadful notices with crude image combinations. Basically, they publish gruesome notices that may cause an uproar and combine them with in-depth gory details and graphic pictures – just what the locals may be craving for – or so is stated. Once at their destination, William and Eddy do meet up with George Purkiss, also known as Mr. Purkiss, the head of The Illustrated Police News in person. Surely a suspicious individual, yet, honest enough to answer some of the placed questions properly, while dodging some others… After few inquiries, the detective duo does come to get information coming to the journalist in charge of publishing articles regarding the Whitechapel murders. A gloomy man going by the name of Chris Forrester is the stated writer who took a day off due to an illness. Be it an excuse or not, the detectives approach him directly at his home. The place is very very eerie and our journalist didn’t share as much information as you expected. After putting together the few of the gathered notices and tailing Chris, you come to discover something unusual concerning his psyche. He appears to be a sleepwalker of some sort with hallucinatory episodes involving the crimes at hand, he is currently supervised by Dr. Forbes-Winslow, a well-known psychiatrist. Alarmed, Eddy decides to not leave Chris alone in his state and stays in both to keep an eye at him and monitor his health when possible. However, William’s concerns at hand are quite different here as he doesn’t feel like putting any trust at all into Chris, in fact he is one of the possible suspects coming to Jack the Ripper’s crimes. Will the victims be avenged and the murderer put to justice? What if Chris is involved – would a mentally ill person be still considered a murderer if he were to perform a crime in an unconscious state?[/b][/i] [h1]Featurings:[/h1] Lurkers is a boys' love choice-based Visual Novel developed and published by Ertal Games. The plot does feature graphic content mainly coming to written details (violence, gore, blood, death) and few horror-esque illustrations from [i]The Illustated Police News[/i] newspaper. We do get offered a story displaying different points of view, as in, we may begin to play as Eddy, then proceed with William’s steps and eventually immerse ourselves into Chris’s perspective. It is always interesting to dive into different characters’ minds, I find it appealing. The idea of featuring real life references from the past, such as [i]Jack the Ripper[/i], the involved people, and blending the altogether into a short-length murder mystery Visual Novel is pretty neat itself. We do also have a screen at the end of game featuring the details coming to the mentioned figures. It is also stated that Chris Forrester’s character is the only fictional one among the featured in-game personages; he was blent in so well among the existent people, that never would have I thought he’d be the only one unattached to the events from past. The story is sectioned in different outcomes based on the choices you take. Some may result quite different among each, while other branching paths may be presenting a shared outcome coming to the faced finale. We do have the choice of getting close to two personages in particular; William and Chris, which given the tense premise won’t present any lovey-dovey settings such as private date CGs et similia, yet will still offer the public to view some privately shared moments among the characters. There is no adult content in this game coming to the stated paths. In fact, the brief romantic scenes in this title are quite touching honestly. Both of possible outcomes do guide us through a moment of need where either the Main Character or the dateable individual does happen to be genuinely taken care of. The story is accompanied by fitting BGMs based on the location and scene at hand – for example a heavily uneasy BGM will be played once we happen to be in Whitechapel. The intro of the mentioned track somehow reminded me of [i]Summer Overture[/i] by [i]Clint Mansell[/i] given the chilling atmosphere brought in by the offered track. That was personally my favourite BGM and scene setting combo offered through the game. However, there will also be some slightly playful and curiosity-inducing BGM fitting the detective setting, as well as, slight comic moments offered during dialogues and the story-pacing won’t result plain nor dull. A bonus coming to the atmosphere is also additional animation coming to some of the locations. For example there will be some foggy alleys presenting fog movement as animation on background art, which will be adding more to the uneasiness the reader may experience. The character sprite art is clean and presents well the characters, there will also be some CGs that are fitting to the scenes. While the CG art style was not up to my taste, I still appreciate the colouring and the work put into portraying the in-game scenes. Occasional zoom on CG parts contributed towards making the scenes more enjoyable and somewhat interactive. Particularly appreciated the displayed magazine and newspaper pages, such as [i]The Illustrated Police News[/i] studio’s eerie art – an unusual little feature, as well as, alluring art to explore. Another interesting part the game does offer us is a map! While we cannot interact with the map per se, it still will show us the journey’s routes our personages will be taking while exploring the mystery behind [i]Jack the Ripper[/i]‘s identity. [h1]Overall:[/h1] I may have expected this game to be longer, but the altogether is well-thought and smoothly displayed. Recommended if looking for a murder mystery title referencing real life events and featuring tender boys’ love moments. [quote]Discover interesting visual novels, indie games and more on my Curator Page! 　　　　　　　　　　　　　🪴 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46144642/][b]Gyepi Nook[/b][/url] 🪴[/quote]

Lurkers [b]#recommended for people who lurk, sorry I had to insert bad jokes here[/b], is a BL Visual Novel where it sets in Victorian England when the Jack The Ripper's cases took place. As Eddy Nichols, avenge your mother's death [b]#if your Main Character is a ♥♥♥♥♥'s son, sounds promising[/b] while seeking for your love. [b]#what a smart boy, never losing a chance[/b]. [olist][b]PROS:[/b] [*]A variety of white, classical, and thriller music [b]#really puts you on the shoes, not on the socks[/b]. [*]Added depth in the story, even they based almost all characters from real-life [b] it doesn't give you the creeps, huh?[/b], And it sums the excitement of catching the killer behind all this. [b]#who doesn't want to give someone... a dose of what they deserve? ;) [/b]. [*]Characters are given a proper personality, a well-detailed backstory [b]#but the main character, figured their job just at the end of the novel.[/b] [*]A minor detail: how they put efforts into the murder's drawings ( don't know if they are either drawn by Ertal or they were actually real) [b]#sorry if I sound a little bit ignorant there [/b]. Either way, they brush realness over the game. [*]It's well-written, but on formal Modern English for [b]#easier follow-up on the story without any Victorian ancient words.[/b] [/olist] [olist] [b]CONS:[/b] [*]A really short game [b]#around 2-3 hours.[/b] [*]May give a feeling of futile development of the [b]#♥♥♥♥-rela #fallen in love in days #no effort in getting the potential dates[/b] [*]Endings are not self-explained, but they need you to get all endings. [b]#but who ain't got time for that[/b] [*]No NSFW :/ [b]#ain't we looking for that in yaoi, or is it just me?[/b] [/olist] [quote]A game that focuses more on the story's development rather than the MC's love life [b]#not good in life, I guess[/b]. Recommended if you're into historical VNs, but in BL... there are more options [b]#7/10[/b][/quote]

[I] Lurkers [/i] is a historical detective BL visual novel. The story has all the tags I absolutely adore buut...I'm afraid it's gonna be a neutral review. I'm a bit hesitant if I should recommend this game, so let me leave it to your own decision. Again :D Why I choose the thumb up for my neutral opinion: +BL VN. This reason is enough XD More. Please, create more similar content! \o/ So much appreciated. You can't even imagine how grateful I am. (☆_☆) +I was always fond of history. At first as school subject, then reading historical novels. My history teacher was kind to invite me to her house and share her books with me. Historical films, novels... Anything related to factual events is immensely captivating, immediately changing the story to smth so much more impressive. You realize it's not just author's imagination. It actually HAPPENED. Or at least partially. It doesn't matter. It still makes the whole experience so much more immersive. In this case it's British criminal history. (♥ω♥*) I guess everyone heard about Jack the Ripper, infamous for his gory deeds, never caught and as a result so alluring. I was enthusiastic to read a BL about THAT! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2834388579 +Visually the game is quite attractive. The backgrounds with moving dark misty fog were so atmospheric. +Achievements for every ending is always a great feature, that feeling of being rewarded for the outcome you've got is amazing. I wish all visual novels had that. Profile Features Limited though. What hindered me from being typically excited playing my fav genre of games: --I didn't like how the game was presented from the technical point of view. I wish things were organized differently. I rarely finish games in one go, I quit and launch again and again. And to have to choose the language at the very start all the time was annoying. There was no gallery in the menu. I realize there're not that many CGs but I believe the number is enough to arrange them in the gallery. And the font for the text wasn't to my liking at all. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2833882918 --In my opinion, characters differ too much in CGs and in their sprites. MC is so handsome in CGs, I was literally ready to drool looking at him but then during the whole story, his face... Sorry, not my type. And that contrast didn't help with immersion. --It's police investigation. So occasionally that special warning whistle can be heard. Not once, not for a couple of sentences. For a LONG time. It grated on my very core, I shuddered all the time and had to turn off the sound completely. I can still hear it in my head while typing it. I'm afraid it's with me forever now XD --The game is short. Seriously, I didn't get enough of anything—investigation or romance part. --As for romance, it's not here, I'm afraid. There're 2 possible love options or you may get a friendship ending. One guy (the most handsome and interesting, in my opinion) turned out to be asexual. Yeah, I get it, writers aim for diversity nowadays and I respect that. But let me be egoistic here and whine that it was such a loss for me personally XD. It was my first playthrough, by the way. So I thought, welp, I have a cute detective next. But nah, nothing explicit there too. Text-wise or visually. 15+ rating, as it turned out. Ok, stories not focused on sexual relationships are also fascinating, don't get me wrong. But in this case why the store page claims it's yaoi?! The definition for this word says it 'features sexual romance between men'. It's not here, sadly. --Detective side of the story left me a bit disappointed too. I guess it's kinda my own fault. I was engrossed by the Ripper's case, so perhaps I raised the bar too high. But the culprit presented in the story wasn't that remarkable. He was too obvious from the very beginning. There were too many evident hints. All that felt a bit underwhelming. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2833996456 --At the end of the story real people connected to the factual investigation are shown. But while I was marveling at their faces, the picture suddenly disappeared, I didn't even start reading. That made me furious, honestly. All the time devs present some information, for example, at the start of the game, why, why do they do it for a short time?! Let me click and decide when I had enough of it. Maybe I am a slow reader, maybe I was distracted at that moment. So, I had to load my latest save and skip carefully to that moment AGAIN. And you know, maybe I'm in the wrong here but it felt a bit inappropriate to use real names and make some kind of villains out of those doctors. If some writer used my grandpa's name for a foul character I'd feel offended, like their honor is blemished. Facts, history are wonderful things but for villains I'd prefer fake images. --Typos, mistakes. As one our celebrity once said--“Fans' expectations are fans' problems” XD The story doesn't have to meet my expectations. Perhaps it's only my fault anticipating different game content. Welp, anyway it was a nice enough read. [table] [tr] [th]More thoughts about the game in a [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/readingnook/discussions/0/3419937528174527702/] Reading Nook [/url][/th] [/tr] [/table]

I love Ertal Games stories, and this is no different. This is a little more innocent than the others I've read, but I enjoyed it all the same. Getting the love interest of your choice is pretty straight forward. Finding the culprit is mostly straight forward as well, so a walk through isn't really needed (for those who rely on them like myself). I definitely recommend this game as a good read for a quick break with a cute love story.

It is a bit on the short side, but I enjoyed playing it. The setting, the backgrouds, the characters, all is interesting, as are the romance options. Not much to say. A fine little adventure, I had fun playing it. :)

Eh, it's fine, kinda mid in both the mystery and boylove department, which doesn't leave much appeal. I will say the author should try writing a story starring a character like William though, he rules, def the best part of the experience.

Lurkers is a cute, fictional story (using some real world names & events) regarding investigating Jack the Ripper. The romantic elements are PG, and quite sweet. One character might be asexual, or maybe he's just not interested due to being traumatized - it isn't clear, but it is a welcome addition. The setting is pretty bleak, and that makes the romantic bits all the more wholesome. The story contains many unpleasant elements (misogyny, homophobia, anti-semitism, etc), but it feels appropriate given the historical setting. I noticed a couple of minor typos and English mistakes, but nothing serious. The character art seems inconsistent between the characters appearance during the story versus during the romantic scenes. It is also a bit short - I got all 10 achievements in 2.5 hours. I don't mean these complains to be harsh. I enjoyed it and offer my recommendation. I only wish I could have spent more time with the characters because I liked them a lot.