spookY2K

[後半に日本語レビューあり] [h1]Y2K × Halloween Mystery Comedy-Horror VN[/h1] You wake on a cold bathroom floor with no memories, only to find yourself at a Halloween party in 1999 — somehow time-slipped. This comedy-mystery VN wraps early-2000s nostalgia and horror-movie tropes into one package. At its core, the game is about building relationships with the six characters at the party. Romance or friendship — the choice is the player's — and the story unfolds across multiple routes with a substantial volume of text. Unusually for a VN, full character creation (face, hair, outfit, and gender) is available, giving broad room for self-projection. Dialogue options range from genuinely friendly to "what is wrong with you," keeping the reading from ever feeling monotonous. The visuals are stylish and slightly retro, built on vivid purples and oranges that capture the Y2K pop-art atmosphere well. Character designs are expressive and polished throughout. Optional romance, the pleasure of dialogue with a cast of distinct personalities, and a Halloween-meets-Y2K theme that has virtually no competition — all three click together in a comedy-horror VN with good pacing. For VN fans who gravitate toward character-driven narratives, this is arguably a title worth experiencing. HHF-chan's comment: "The adorable cast with THE HORRORS lurking right underneath — that contrast just WRECKS me...!!" [h1]Y2K×ハロウィン謎解きコメディーホラーVN[/h1] 記憶を失ったまま冷たいバスルームの床で目覚めると、そこは1999年のハロウィンパーティー。タイムスリップしていたのだ。初期2000年代のノスタルジーとホラー映画トロープをまとったコメディ×ミステリーのビジュアルノベルだ。 本作の核は、パーティーに集う6人のキャラクターとの関係構築にある。ロマンスか友情かはプレイヤーが選択でき、複数ルートにわたって膨大なテキストが展開される。VNとして珍しいキャラクタークリエーション機能（顔・髪・服装・性別）も備えており、自己投影型プレイの幅が広い。選択肢はフレンドリーなものから「どう考えてもおかしい」ものまで豊富で、テキスト読みの単調さをうまく緩和している。 ビジュアルは鮮やかな紫とオレンジが基調のスタイリッシュな少しだけレトロ感あるアニメ調で、Y2Kポップアートの空気感をよく捉えている。キャラクターデザインは表情豊かで仕上がりも丁寧だ。 オプションロマンス、個性的なキャラクターたちとの会話の妙、Y2K×ハロウィンという競合ほぼ不在のテーマ。これら三つが噛み合った、テンポよく楽しめるコメホラVNだ。キャラクター駆動型ナラティブを好むVNファンには、楽しめる可能性ある一作だといえるだろう。 HHFちゃんコメント: 「かわよキャラたちの裏に潜む"THE HORRORS"展開のギャップがー…！」 [quote][b]Check out our Steam curator ([url=store.steampowered.com/curator/36364102-Horny-Hentai-Festival/]link[/url]) , YouTube channel ([url=www.youtube.com/curatorhhf/]link[/url]), and X(Twitter) ([url=x.com/hhfcurator]link[/url])![/b][/quote]

Fun little (probably 10-12 hours or so for full completion?) mystery halloween & y2k themed visual novel. I really liked how it handled the usual cliche of an amnesiac protagonist, the way they spun their perspective in a more atypical way. The characters and their relationships with each other are fun and feel really natural, and when they don't- there tends to be a good reason, you just haven't learned it yet! And as always, Kigyo character art is so cute- Milo and Nanu are my faves. Having legit character creation in a visual novel is also really awesome! (I did my playthrough during the pre-release beta and have most likely 20ish hours outside of steam for that reason)

A sweet Halloween-themed mystery visual novel with (optional) romance. It's mostly lighthearted, but it does take a few turns here and there... The mystery is compelling enough to keep you invested, but the best part imo are the characters. They don't feel like stereotypes, and their interpersonal relationships are written so well that I just wanted to read more. And visually the game feels polished, colorful and fun to look at :) Overall I definitely recommend it if you like visual novels with a good story and pretty visuals! I beta-tested a bit of the game before release, so my total playtime is a bit longer than on here.

I'm annoyed by this. In a good way (if that's possible?). Great story that mostly works against all odds. Great flawed characters. Flirting's delicious, but there's also THE HORRORS. Made me feel really really bad two times, one is resolved pretty well, and the other... well it isn't really supposed to be resolved. Overall, good stuff. Got this through my curator page, and as soon as I saw who the developers were, I knew I was in for something great. (10 hours for 100% achievements)

[h1] Solid little visual novel for a good price [/h1] Played the demo at Next Fest and enjoyed it so thought I'd jump in when it released. Fairly short as I've beat it in about 6 hours although still a couple of achievements to get but they aren't story related. Really enjoyed the artwork. Also played this entirely on the Steam Deck and other than some slightly clunking menu-ing, no issues at all. Good characters with a decent enough story. I'd protect Nanu with my life. [spoiler] I think I was expecting something a little more high stakes, it seemed with the warnings and the option to remove some of the violent stuff that it would be a bit more of a darker story. Obviously one of the paths was, but the rest of it was tame and playing 5 endings with essentially the same outcome was a little tiring. I did enjoy eventually getting to the Bea endings but I'm not sure I needed 4 other endings to get there [/spoiler] As someone who hasn't interacted with this developer before, this was enjoyable enough that I'll dive into previous games and keep an eye on future titles!

Let's get this out of the way first: This VN feels like an installment of Scary Movie, not a scary movie. There's comedy, and silly stuff. If you're here for dark content, you'll be disappointed. I'll also mention this too: One of the routes gives you an explanation for why your character is an amnesiac. Combined with another route, you also get an explanation for why you remember things from the modern day. The explanation is a huge stretch, and rather unsatisfying. It's quite clear that your presence in the past isn't too important in the VN. And how exactly did a smartphone pop into existence anyway? I guess the explanation for how you came from the future could be reused for that, but...bleh. The routes aren't very distinct. 6/7 character routes (one character has two) end mostly the same way, with some small differences. There's some differences in how the outcome is reached, sure, but when you go through two of the routes, you'll see the patterns. And then, you'll realize you've pretty much seen everything, even though you have more routes to go. Honestly, that's why I put the game off for a month even though I bought this on launch. I decided to finish the game just to see if there's anything else worth coming back for. Nope. My recommendation is this: Play the routes of the characters you like, and then call it quits. I played through Mina's and Nanu's routes on launch, since I actually like those two. And then I had to go through the other four a month later, which was a bit of a slog to me, since I didn't really care for them (except Milo). And the repeated plot points across routes don't help the boredom. Oh, and the choices you get when you're locked into a route are fairly pointless. Ugh. Seeing all the other positive reviews, I'll have to give this one a negative. The demo setup some real promise, you know? And it feels so wasted. Of course, that's just my opinion though. I don't blame you if you buy this VN for Nanu, though. Bea is a moron, Ricky's okay if a bit foolish, Milo's fun, Vervain is boring, Mina is your typical "Oh my Gawwd, dude. Like, oh my gawwwd, like, yeah?" sort of girl. Nanu's my favorite of the bunch. I wish she got more screentime.

[i]Note: I received a free copy of this game for my curator, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32080131/]Games for Hopeless Romantics[/url].[/i] SpookY2K is a mystery visual novel themed around the Y2K aesthetic. The MC wakes up with no memories at a Halloween party in 1999 and quickly comes to the conclusion that they're stuck in a time loop. You have to figure out how to get out of the loop, which is complicated when the party itself suddenly becomes a lot more dangerous. I figured out the big spoilery twist about halfway through--there are a lot of clues that aren't particularly drawn attention to by the game but will lead you to the correct conclusion if you're paying attention. [spoiler]It's actually kind of funny to realize it, because the game [i]does[/i] draw your attention to the clues that help MC figure out their situation...all of which turn out to be completely irrelevant red herrings.[/spoiler] The overall mood of the game is pretty goofy and a lot of fun. While there's options to limit darker/violent content, even if you have everything enabled, only a couple of the routes are particularly dark at all. SpookY2K is really funny when it's trying to be (which is a lot of the time), but the more dramatic moments are still properly tense. The art fits the vibe perfectly, and I also LOVED the music. I was especially impressed by how many personalization options there are in SpookY2K. In addition to the character creator, there are a lot of options in the settings to adjust the game itself--whether or not read text and/or choices are highlighted, the various visual effects, whether and which audio stings you hear, etc. The romance itself is also completely optional; while there are routes locked behind others, you can complete a character route without picking any flirty/romantic options without penalty. So if you're not vibing with the idea of dating a character, you can complete their route with a friendship ending and still progress in the overall story. I probably wouldn't recommend SpookY2K to someone who was specifically looking for a romance-genre game; the "romance" is mostly just flirting and a kiss at the end of the route, which is pretty much what I expected considering the story's circumstances. But as a character-focused mystery it's a lot of fun.

It's adorable, it's unique, it's... [i]boring.[/i] I think the main problem is that the Otome model simply doesn't work for this story. Basically, in order to get to the "truth" you need to play all the other routes; in other words, you have to "get together" with everyone. For what its worth, you have a reasonable amount of control over whether the relationship is platonic or romantic, so if you don't want to actually date someone you don't have to, but you still have to hang out with them. And sure, all of the characters have some kind of interesting depth to them, but it still feels like a slog. My particular breaking moment was... Vervain. Because he's me, and oh my f*cking God, I'm a jerk. Dispassionate. Charming. You can't talk him down because he already thought of everything you're going to say and has a pre-prepared counter, and a pre-prepared counter to that as well. Whatever hole in his logic might there be he's already well-aware of, and accepted it as natural. Clearly very talented, but oh my f*ck, do you really want to hang out with Mr. Oh-So-Perfect? And of course he is/was in a relationship with a bubbly klutzy subby girl who's a bit of an unstable tornado underneath. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yeah, thanks, I hate it. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with this information, I can't fundamentally change who I am. I guess I'll try to be more in tune with other people's emotions. ...Anyway. The story. It's okay, there are some unusual twists, and the good moments are freaking great. It is at its core a game about overcoming your shortcomings, with some Halloween Murder sprinkled in. Nanu is great because of course she is, but also since I'm literally Vervain, her route felt like my partner complaining to me about myself. I also got to watch "me and her" bicker in third person. Painful, but ultimately educational, so fair enough. This review is negative not because the game is bad - it's quite interesting, all things considered - but because I wouldn't recommend it to people. I had some fun, some boredom, came out with a new perspective on myself. Is that good? You tell me. I would probably play it again if I lost my memory. And you do you, boo. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42922988/]Curator page[/url]

I enjoy this game. I like the characters, the customization, and even the choices. Though one of the few grips I have is that there are some choices that I feel like should have had a bigger impact than they did. [Spoiler] would have liked a run where you tell everyone your memory loss and/or a run where you actually kill someone to get more into the dark themes.[/spoiler] [Spoiler] Like one early choice where you can say how you always wanted to be a mass killer, and I kind of want a path to indulge in that. Does that make me morbid? [/spoiler] Overall 8/10 game