#Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder

[fey-ax]

What to play while we're waiting for touchstarved Recommendations:

1. Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder If you are going to pick just one game to play from this list, let it be Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder. This title deserves so much more attention. The game is a mystery in which you are trying to uncover the story of two magi trapped in a tower after a failed ritual.

It is a more challenging read than I am used to from visual novels. On my first playthrough, I was scrambling to understand anything, and quite intentionally so. The MC has amnesia and is just as confused as the player is. Each round reveals new pieces of the story and after a few times, I was starting to connect the dots. It is a very satisfying experience with elements of detective games. The visuals and soundtrack give it also a very unique atmosphere: beautiful and haunting at the same time.

2.A date with death But like I said, Chronicles of Tal'Dun is a bit more demanding. If you are like me and have precious little brain cells to spare, you might want to play "a date with death" instead. A date with Death is a chat simulator in which you tease the Grim Reaper until he falls in love with you. Guys, this game is so much fun! And genuinely funny, too. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was playing.

The writers give off the vibes of being very online, so you people should feel right at home. And some of the dialogue choices are downright deranged.

3.Noblesse Oblige

Noblesse Oblige is an interactive Gothic romance novella. Unlike the other titles, there are no visuals or any soundtrack. The MC has been hired as a conversation partner for a lonely aristocrat and thus has to move into a crumbling mansion.

If you are not used to interactive fiction the lack of visuals and the overall presentation might be a bit off-putting, but if you can get past it it is very well worth it.

[k8uh8]

commission

[the-remainder]

Hey everyone, update time! I finished one of the new artworks for the Expanded Edition. I hope you like it. ^^

Aaaand, if you missed our Kickstarter you can still make a late pledge using Backerkit.

[blood-choke]

awesome game really like it (specially that you can only be lesbian, it’s like a cherry on a cake) but I was wondering if you have any recommendations for some great IFs (Angst is always a plus)

i really don't keep up with IFs like i used to, to be honest; there's only a handful of games i actively follow (and full transparency most of them are my friends hahaha) but if you're looking for "angsty":

project hadea

virtue's end

chronicles of tal'dun: the remainder (completed tho it is getting an expanded edition soon) / chronicles of tal'dun: the longing (in progress)

greenwarden

lost birds

[velvet-cupcake-games]

Made Marion Development Log, Dec. 2022

Happy Holidays, everyone!  Here's what we've been up to:

Animations Begin

We ran a search for a 2D FX artist in November, and are happy to announce that we have an artist for at least our combat animations, maybe more!  Ze is half of the team that made Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder, which you should absolutely check out if you haven't. It's gorgeous, mysterious, and atmospheric. He's completed his first test animation for us and they're going to make our combat scenes look cool and dynamic!

Art Teasers

The waterwheel is attached to Meissa's cottage, and you can probably guess who owns the hand with the glowly purple hair behind it. The bared chest, however... you don't know him. And you won't until the game comes out.

Social Media Notes:

If you've been following us on Twitter, please be aware that I'm largely withdrawing from the site, for reasons I'm sure you can guess. I recommend following our Tumblr for the most content! For instance, I posted an official company statement about AI art the other day, and tomorrow I'll be posting an excerpt from a Winter Solstice lore story (to appear in the Made Marion Mega-Guide) starring Marion two years before the game begins. We also have a Mastodon account, which mostly posts my daily thoughts around developing the game and other game-related things (I'm on a server for game devs). 

That's what we have this month! In the next couple months we'll be completing Robin's script and should be able to show a bit of Ze's work in action! Plus more sprite art, background art, and the continuing development of our animated lore intro.

[lucyofasgard]

Chronicles of Tal'dun: Remainder character, Ilar (aka my waifu) knocking on Vyn's door. Finished the game some days ago, absolutely epic....The feels, the vibe and that fantasy/religious theme! I especially love the Buddhism references and philosophy which makes the overall feels of the game so peaceful, even though it's ultimately a sad story. Unlike most other visual novels where each playthroughs are separate, every different ending and death in CoTR is a part of the game play and every intermission scene is ingeniously written. OMG I don't know how to write a proper review but if you enjoy visual novels and fantasy settings, plz go play CoTR plz

[dreamtydraw]

hiya!!

you asked for game recommendations, and I think I might have a game you would like!

it's called Chronicles of Tal'dun: the remainder !!

it's such a well written and emotional game. I found it just a couple of days ago and couldn't stop playing until I found the true ending.

The game is about the Mc, waking up without their memories, in a tower. with them is another person who is trying to make them gather ritual components to get rid of the threat looming over both of them, while the mc is trying to figure out what happened to them.

I don't want to spoil too much, but this game has me in such a chokehold at the moment, and it's so emotional and made me cry multiple times. You should really check it out! there is also a guide provided by the maker because you might get stuck sometimes. The story is very confusing at the beginning.

if you play it, please tell me how you like it!

~🌿

Gave a look and it does seems really nice

Thanks you for your loooooong propaganda friend :}

[jennaflare]

games i have not played but want to play that I feel like will fall into the category of game I recommend in this post: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Kentucky Route Zero, Norco, Unforseen Incidents, Barotrauma, Control, World of Horror, Book of Hours, Space Wreck, Black Book, FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, Pacific Drive, El Paso Elsewhere, Scarlet Hollow, Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder, Misericorde: Volume One, Dave the Diver, Birth, Robotherapy, Octopath Traveler, Lorelai and the Laser Eyes, Your Turn to Die, Cave Crawler, Home Safety Hotline, Who's Lila?

So Disco Elysium is the only game you've ever really liked

I get it! It's a phenomenal game with superb art and writing, and its themes are consistent and deeply explored. It sets a high bar for video games. But there are other really, really fantastic games out there. This is a list that is 100% my own taste of things that aren't necessarily similar, other than the fact that they're really fucking good. (A lot of these are on sale for the Steam Summer Sale until July 11 2024!)

In Stars and Time

In Stars and Time is a time loop game where you play as Siffrin, the rogue of a party at the end of their quest to save the day by defeating the King, who is freezing everybody in time! But something is wrong: every time you die, you loop back to the day before you fight the King. You're the only one who remembers the loops, so it's up to you to figure out why it's happening, and how to break out.

In Stars and Time is a heart-wrenching dive into mental health, friendship, and love. It's about feeling alone, and how awful it is when the people who love you don't notice (and how awful it is when they do). It's about falling deeper and deeper into your worst self and your worst tendencies, and how to come back from it.

The creator also did one of my favorite Disco Elysium comics ever, which is only tangentially relevant but worth mentioning.

Roadwarden

In Roadwarden, you play as the titular Roadwarden for an undeveloped and "wild" part of the kingdom. Monsters roam the forests and roads, and it's your job to keep people safe. On paper, anyway. Your real mission is to find out what is of value in the area, and how to take it from its people. How well you perform this task is up to you. It's an oldschool text-based RPG, and I take a lot of notes by hand when I play.

Roadwarden explores exploitation and industrialization by making you look in the face of your potential victims. You can only learn what your bosses want you to report on by getting close to the residents, after all. There are mysteries to be solved, secrets to be gathered, and hearts to win.

The Longing

The Longing is an adventure-idle game where you play as the solitary servant of a sleeping king. Your task is to wait for him, for four hundred days. Time in the game passes in realtime (for the most part). There are caves to explore, books to be read, and drawings to make.

The Longing is about loneliness and depression. It's about whether or not you decide to stay in that hole, and if you do, what you do with yourself while you're there. Maybe you'll wander. Maybe you'll stare at a wall. Maybe you'll just sleep until it's all over.

Papers, Please

Papers, Please casts you as a newly hired customs officer in a country that is rapidly tightening its borders as its fascist government tightens its fist. This game is stressful. Sometimes you intend to help out the revolutionaries when they asked, but then you got so stressed out trying to make your quota so you can feed your family and pay your bills that you didn't notice the name of the person they were hoping to contact while going through their papers. Sometimes someone puts a bomb in front of you and expects you to defuse it. Sometimes someone suggests you steal people's passports so you can get your family out, and with the horror you see daily, the idea tempts you more than you'd like.

Papers, Please is all about hard choices and testing your moral fortitude. Everything you do has consequences. Being a good person in this game is hardly ever rewarded, but not in a way that feels overly cynical. Papers, Please asks you what kind of person you want to be and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there.

The Return of the Obra Dinn

From the creator of Papers, Please, The Return of the Obra Dinn is a game where you play as an insurance investigator for the East India Trading Company. The ship the Obra Dinn has just floated back into port, its entire crew missing or dead. It's your job to figure out what happened aboard the vessel. For insurance reasons.

I don't know how to go into the themes of this too deeply without giving away too much, but the mechanics of the game itself make the game worth playing. You have a magic stopwatch that allows you to go back to the moment of a person's death, allowing you to try and figure out who (or what) killed them, and how. And the soundtrack is extremely good.

Outer Wilds

In Outer Wilds you play as an unnamed alien, and it's your first day going to space! Your planet's space program is pretty new still, so there's still lots to explore and discover on the planets within your system. There are ancient ruins from a mysterious race that once lived in your system, long before your species began to record history. Why were they here? Where did they go? How are they connected to the weird thing that keeps happening to you?

The fun of Outer Wilds is in the discovery and answering your own questions. The game never tells you where to go, and it never outright tells you anything. There are clues scattered through the system, and it's up to you to put them together and figure out your next steps. It's about the way that life always goes on, no matter what, even when it seems like the end of everything, forever. I'd recommend NOT reading anything else about this game. Just go play it. Seriously, the less you know, the more fun this is.

If on a Winter's Night, Four Travelers

In If on a Winter's Night, Four Travelers, you explore the circumstances of the deaths of four individuals.

This is a short one that took me about two and a half hours to play. If for no other reason, play it for the stunning pixel art. The game explores sexism, racism, and homophobia in the Victorian era and leans heavily into horror themes. Best of all: it's completely free!

Pentiment

Pentiment takes you to the 16th century, where you take the role of Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist working on his masterwork in the scriptorium of an abbey. When someone is murdered, Andreas takes responsibility for finding the culprit.

The game is set over 20~ years and you get to watch how Andreas' actions affect the village in various ways (who's alive the next time you come by, have people gotten married and had children...). It's an exploration of how the past affects the future, and what parts of that past we choose to keep or discard. It has beautiful art, and fans of both Disco and Pentiment often compare them.

Other games you might wanna check out

Night in the Woods, Dredge, Oxenfree, A House of Many Doors, Inscryption, Slay the Princess, Citizen Sleeper, Chants of Sennar, Loop Hero, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, The Pale Beyond, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Elsinore, Her Story, Before Your Eyes, Pathologic (not delved into above because the venn diagram of Pathologic fans and Disco fans is basically a circle)

[floweramongstthecold]

OC Name Meanings

Hoi yes henlo again! @sasslett has once again tagged me in a gaammmeee! This MIGHT be long... I have.. a lot of OCs soo I'm gonna just put this under a read more, k?

Am I gonna do all of them? Yes? Do I need to? No. Do I want to anyway? Yes. XD

Rules: Google and post the meaning of your OC’s name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

Main OCs (a.k.a the ones I'm obsessed with and using the most right now in this fandom.):

Ilar Talomere - Honestly? I didn't expect him to have a meaning to his name. But it makes sense I think. *nod nods* It apparently means Cheerful in Welsh and comes from the name Hilary?

I kinna stole this name from a character in a visual novel that I FUCKING adore called Chronicles of Tal'dun: The Remainder because I fell so head over heels in love with him? But, he died... so I decided to make my own Ilar. *nod nods* He has been living in my head... rent free for so many months now...

I feel like the meaning of his last name doesn't count because it's not spelled the same way as the real word but it's close? Talomere can be Telomeres which is a apparently a structure of DNA. Besides that Talomere's kinna just... made up. XS

~~~

Hachiko Taisho - Okay so here's the deal with Hachi's name. There are apparently like two meanings but the behind the name source says it means Eighth child. She's not... she only has a big brother and little sister so yeah.

The other meaning I LEARNED meant like, Puppy? I heard it from NANA when I watched it. And then I heard that name for that dog that like, waited for it's owner to come home and died? That Japanese story about Hachi? I think?

Taisho apparently means the top commander of an army. I honestly stole it from Inuyasha. XD Cause Hachiko is also my self-insert there but her name was Tsukiko until she made a wish and turned herself into a demon to be with Sesshomaru longer.

~~~~

Secondary OCs (a.k.a the ocs I talk about but never ever use ever in this fandom or game. XD):

Sophia Ferndale - Sophia means wisdom in greek apparently. I dunno if it fits her... but I liked it so I took it. XS It's the middle name of my online name so I used that cause I didn't like the Lalafell names to be honest.

Wellll shoot, I didn't expect ferndale to actually have a meaning at all... I THOUGHT I made it up to be honest. It apparently means something that sunk into the sea but is attached to something so it can float. *thinks* I mean... her last name kinna works with how her story is I think.

~~~

Artemis Ferndale - Ahhh yess Artemis. The Greek goddess of the hunt. *nod nods* It suits her brother's name perfectly since he's a Viera who was a master hunter in his clan before he left and joined the Night's Blessed.

~~~

Saechen Dotharl - Yeah I... can't find the meaning of her name? Which is strange cause I swear there was some list that had her name on it... so I'm not sure what it means. ._. I got it from the fantasynamegenerator site for ff14 though cause I couldn't figure out a name for my Xaela and added the A because Sechen was taken already.

~~~

Monkhbat Dotharl - But her BROTHER has a meaning for HIS name though! Okay world. XD But his name means Eternal Strength. I got it from the generator site too cause I couldn't figure out what to name him.

Dotharl for both obviously is their clan name, I'm not sure it actually has a real life meaning? *think*

~~~

Yayashi Yashi - I don't think Yaya has a meaning for her name guys. XS I got it from the name site too but it was from the Raen Au Ra names because I didn't like the Lala names and I couldn't remember what I had named her before. XS

~~~

Alag Yid Haragin - She doesn't have a meaning for her names either so I guess it's made up or something? I grabbed it from the name generator too. ~~~

I think that's ALLL of them? *Thinks* So I'm gone tag whoever wants to do this. ^_^

[seerdeer]

While I'm so happy to see Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder get their expanded edition AND MORE being one of the UHM. Highest. Tiers

It does mean the second the money left my bank account my bank had to call me for suspicious activity.

No no. That was me. I did that... Sorry....

[sariannearies]

!SPOILERS for Chronicles of Tal'Dun!

This set is more closely tied to the main story and its characters, Ilar and Vyn. Their path is heart-breaking one... but worth every second of it. And they can find their peace...<3

Thank you again to Chronicles of Tal'Dun for beautiful story and stunning art.

[yandere-daze]

Was really excited to start reading a new visual novel and everything was really cool and super pretty but then suddenly the saving and loading system stopped working and I have zero idea how to fix it😭 I already uninstalled it on steam and tried deleting my saves but when I reinstalled the game they were back again and it still wouldn't load.

I'm so sad because I was really excited and now I don't know what to do because you can't expect me to just lose all my progress every time I close this around 50 hour long visual novel 😭 Someone please send help

[interact-if]

Final Day of our Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Featured Author Interviews, continuing with Ze Hai Lu!

Ze Hai Lu, one of authors of Chronicles of Tal’Dun: The Remainder

(VN)

This is a story of two magi, Vyn and Ilar, who find themselves trapped in a collapsing tower with their only hope for salvation being a difficult ritual. Or at least that is what Ilar tells you. The thing is - you don’t remember anything, and Ilar’s story makes less and less sense the closer you are to the ritual. Are they hiding things to protect you from the bitter truth, or are they deceiving you for some more nefarious reason?

Guide Vyn’s actions to death and beyond and uncover Ilar’s truth. Are they your colleague, lover or something completely different? Read between the lines of what they are telling you, explore your surroundings for clues and use hands-on deduction to break the viscious circle and set them free.

Read more about Chronicles of Tal’Dun: The Remainder here. Play the Game on Steam or Itch. Tags: Fantasy, Mystery.

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1. Hello! Could you tell us a little bit about to yourself and your project?

Chronicles of Tal'dun: The Remainder is a dark fantasy mystery game. I made it because I really wished that more games existed that focused on story, characters, mystery and surprises. My partner and I made it together, we learned how to write, produce music, script, and design in the process of making this game

I was a game artist for several years before this. I've always played casually with building stories and worlds, but never made a complete project until now.

I used to feel like I wasn't ready to create a compelling story, and was waiting until I became ready to start creating one, but making the Remainder has taught me that I'm ready when I decide I am.

Q2. What inspired your current project?

Games: Dark Souls, Hades, Dragon Age

Writers: Lois McMaster Bujold, Joe Abercrombie, Robert Anton Wilson

Film: Miyazaki

Q3. Do you pull from your own identity for inspiration? How has that been reflected in your work?

I've moved every few years for most of my life, from several provinces in China, to Canada, to Germany, to America, to Croatia. I shifted through many worldviews, atheism, agnosticism, buddhism, christianity, agnosticism, sufism, liberalism, conservatism, anarchism, and more. I played with changing my body and my mind, and I never settled on one thing and said 'I am this'. I guess you could say I had a fluid identity. I think that's why the Remainder's story has a lot to do with change, and its characters are very diverse and weird. They're non-binary, they're non human, they anything but normal. Normal is a concept, an illusion. 

I've also dabbled in a few different spiritual practices and philosophies, and had a number of mind-altering experiences. A near-death experience, heroic doses of psychedelics, ayahuasca ceremonies, and deep meditative states. I borrow liberally from these to enrich the world and the story. The most inspiring one to me is Buddhism and its marks are all over the world and culture.

Q4. What are you most excited about your project?

I really enjoy the fact that since only two people work on the game, and we have no obligations to investors or publishers, we're free to experiment on many unconventional mechanics, subjedt matters, and storytelling techniques. We ended up with a story unlike any other I've read.

Q5. What has your experience writing an IF and with the IF community been like?

We didn’t know what to expect at first, but we're positively surprised at how helpful and friendly people have been. 

Q6. What changes in the IF community would you like to see?

We're relatively new to the community but we either got very lucky or the community is just very supportive and nice. We have no complaints at all.

Q7. What piece of advice would you give to fellow creators?

I've heard a few people express a desire to write a story but struggle with some sort of inhibitions that stop them from doing so. I hope they will give it a shot in spite of these fears. Even if it doesn't turn out perfectly at first, improvements will come. So long as you put down one word after another, you'll get better. There is no perfect, but all you need is good enough.

Not everyone will like your work, not everyone will care, but that's OK, the world is so big and filled with so many people that you will find those who will love it, and they will make it worthwhile. 

[the-remainder]

Our Kickstarter is FUNDED!

Ze and I are blown away with everyone’s support, and so, so grateful.

Together with the stretch goals we will be able to add new dialogues, new endings, add the immersive ambient sounds, fix some arworks and even add some new ones.

The next goal we want to reach is a side story we have in our heads for a really long time, something lighthearted and unexpected. A party of heros will enter the scene, looking to bring evil magi to justice, and Vyn and Ilar will have to drop what they are doing and try to convince them that everything was completely fine and not at all suspicious.

I already sketched out the sprites for these characters - adapted them from Our Winding Road - our amare jam entry from a few months ago.

(Jori - Rowan - Kova)

[azzandra]

This week I have been obsessively playing  Chronicles of Tal'Dun: The Remainder, which is one of the most fantastic visual novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

The art is striking, the fantasy setting feels unique and atmospheric, and the story requires you to solve a mystery that unravels bit by bit each time you discover a new branch. The characters are vivid, though the cast is very tight. The MC has suffered memory loss, and they wake up stuck in a tower with Ilar, a mysterious character they know nothing about, but on whom they must rely in order to escape approaching danger.

I kept changing how I thought about Ilar the more I learned about them, and this was true all the way to the true end. The romance with them is heartwrenching in places, but the ultimate conclusion feels satisfying and earned after everything you go through. You spend a lot of time dying or running into false endings in this game, but each time you have the chance to glean some new piece of information about the characters, the world, the magic, that will help you seek new branching paths.

And this is the kind of game where you have to ponder the philosophical underpinnings to figure out how to get new puzzle pieces. You have to read the text and draw conclusions and try new things to get the whole picture.

It’s hard to describe just how compelling this game is unless you try to play it yourself, and I do wholeheartedly recommend it.

[doyouknowthisgame]