#i'm redoing all my reviews because i like the format better

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: 😈🤯🌈🐱‍👤💔😭🩸

Read: June 2021

SPOILERS

OOOOF! The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 was the beginning was really slow. It picked up, though!

Kanej? I am trash for. Nina/Matthias? I am trash for. Wesper? I am trash for. The whole story was so good. I genuinely never knew what Kaz was up to, and whenever I THOUGHT I did, there was a plot twist. I loved not being able to predict what would happen; those are the best books. I’m glad everyone got the ending they wanted (except for Nina and Matthias 😭. I know someone had to die, but like... why). Nina, by far, has the coolest power now. It’s fucked up, but it suits her.

FUCK JAN VAN ECK. I hate him so much. He’s like the Dolores Umbridge of Grishaverse. I’m glad Wylan could return to his regular face (and I’m sure Jesper is, too). Super cool that they brought characters back! I missed my boy Nikolai.

[windchimesgames]

End of Year Recap + Plans for 2024

Hey everyone!

Belated Happy New Year to everyone! I know this is a very late end of year recap 😂Unfortunately, the past week ended up much busier for me than expected, so I could only get around to doing this now that things have calmed down a little.

This is a crosspost of a public post I made on Patreon a few days ago, so if you prefer the formatting there, you can read the post at this link:

PS: I do free monthly devlogs / posts there on Patreon, so consider joining the free tier of the Patreon even if you aren't interested in the paid tiers!

For those who'd rather read the post here, I'll leave the extraordinarily long ramble in a Read More cut below!

Let's start with a quick recap of the highlights / achievements accomplished in 2023!

Okay, this one may be slightly cheating. While Emberfate only launched on Steam in Jan 2023 so the 92 positive reviews came in in the year of 2023, it was up on Itch.io since mid 2022, so not all 383 Itch.io ratings came in in 2023.

Still, I'm pretty proud of these stats! Perhaps the numbers are nothing compared to some other amazing games' out there, but it's still something I'm proud of. It makes me happy that my silly experimental nostalgic little game struck a chord in so many players — much more than I expected given how niche the topic was!

Now, unfortunately, I could not get Emberfate's DLC for Potato's route out by end of 2023 like I had hoped. Porting the game to mobile also ended up much more difficult than I expected because of just how much of the UI I'm going to have to redesign — and hence, programming to be redone — if I wanted to make the game fit a small mobile screen. So both plans are going to have to be postponed to 2024.

The other notable highlight of 2023 is that both Lyrissa's and Kierdan's routes for Reanimation Scheme were released for beta access! That put the game at 3/5 routes complete, with a total of 431,786 words for the script.

I recruited a handful of beta testers to test the three completed routes a few months ago, and so far, the feedback has been positive overall. That's been a huge relief and lifted a massive weight off my chest — due to the controversial reception of the demo, I've been extremely anxious that the game would be hated by the players, and I've done so many rounds of editing and honestly perhaps somewhat unnecessary and obsessive rewriting of the script, but none of it felt good enough 😂 So hearing the positive comments has been a huge motivation / morale booster. Perhaps I should have done beta testing sooner… LOL

There are two more achievements unrelated to a specific game project that I'd like to mention:

2023 is the year that I became more interested in and better at Ren'Py programming! Most of it is thanks to my amazing programmer friend and Ren'Py wizard, Feniks (whom you may know as the programmer for Our Life series), who sparked my interest in programming and helped teach me a LOT. While I'm by no means a professional now at coding, I feel much more comfortable navigating around Ren'Py code and setting up what I need to in the backend of the games I'm developing, which opens up new doors for me for future projects in terms of what kind of features (big or small) that I may be able to include! Though the side effect of that is I looked back at the code I did for Reanimation Scheme from previous years and was immediately horrified by how ugly and inefficient it was. 😂I did redo the backend code of the Gallery and Achievements system a bit, but the rest will just have to stay for now.

I made quite a few new connections within the indie VN dev sphere in 2023! I made a shocking discovery that there's enough number of indie VN developers from Hong Kong to fill half a minibus, and I was lucky enough to connect with them and share our experiences and learn from each other! Due to new project commissions I took on for $$$ (real life financial needs suck), as well as a couple of small game jam projects I joined as programmer to buff up my programming portfolio, I also made some new VN dev friends unexpectedly. It's been really nice, because honestly, solo dev can be a really lonely and isolating endeavor sometimes. I'm super grateful for the new connections I found myself making in 2023!

Looking Ahead: 2024

Okay, that was a lot of rambling for the recap. More than I thought I would write. Now let's move forward to what the future will look like for this studio in 2024 and what goals I'm setting for myself this year!

Priority #1: Finishing Reanimation Scheme

Of course it's Reanimation Scheme. As mentioned above, we're currently at 3 out of 5 routes completed (sans partial voice acting). So the biggest goal for 2024 will be to get the game done. and out. Finally.

I won't be giving a concrete release date until we're like, literally in beta phase for all 5 routes, just so I won't have to announce a delay and let people down. But given the current progress and pace of work, I'd say probably around mid-year — maybe Q3 latest.

I'll be keeping up with the episodic updates of Reanimation Scheme's beta build on Patreon (and Kickstarter) from this month onwards, beginning with Jori's route and then followed by Sebastien's.

The remaining Kickstarter rewards may take a little longer — but ideally, all of them (artbook / lorebook / short stories collections, etc.) will be done by end of the year as well.

Priority #2: Potato's Route DLC for Emberfate

Potato, poor Potato. His DLC had to be put on the sidelines until Reanimation Scheme is done.

Half of the art has already been commissioned and completed by the amazing Remnantation — we're just missing his selfie CG & his MMO character sprite! So the next step would be the script and then the voice acting for the calls part. I won't be able to start on the script until mid-2024 earliest, but given the fact that his route won't be that long if it's parallel in length compared to the existing three routes, it probably won't take too long to do. Perhaps 2-3 months for the development process of the DLC?

I'll likely be releasing his DLC early on Patreon, potentially also episodically as it's completed, like I did with Emberfate. So if you're interested, keep an eye out for it when the time comes!

Something Secretly Brewing in the Shadows?

If you're pledged to this Patreon on $10 tier or above, you'll probably already know what I'm alluding to.

I won't be announcing or talking much about this for now, since I don't know when I'll be able to start working on this project properly (i.e. I need to meet my above two goals first). For all I know, it might end up being not a 2024 thing but a 2025 thing. So I'll only tease it slightly for now here.

Bonus Goal: Market, for the Love of God

If you follow Wind Chimes Games on either Twitter or Tumblr, you'll probably have noticed the sorry state of my social media. I… really do not like marketing or posting on social media. I never know what to post or say. I'm too unfunny and uncreative to meme or write humorous captions that get engagement. 😂It kind of feels like I'm shouting into the void, and nobody really cares about what I have to say on my projects when there's so many cooler and more interesting things out there. So I always try for a brief period of time, and then I give up 😭

This year though, I really really need to take marketing more seriously. With two releases planned for 2024, marketing is going to be important if I want the games to sell more than like 20 copies LOL

So I guess, uh, hold me to it and call me out if I don't start posting regularly after all 🥹

Conclusion

If you've made it this far on this post, thank you so much for listening to me ramble. 🥹 2024 is going to be a very busy year, but hopefully, a productive one that will end with me meeting all of the above listed goals.

Thank you so much for joining me on the wild and bumpy journey that was 2023, and I hope you'll stick around for the exciting things to come this year too! Here's to a great year ahead of all of us!

[overthinkingkdrama]

Exit Review: Hotel De Luna

I'm trying to find a new, quick, neat review format that I can use when I don't really have enough to say to give you the whole review. But let's face it. This blog hasn't really been about reviews for a while now. A lot of that comes down to a shifting of my priorities these days. But I definitely am not ready to shut this blog down or stop doing what I've been doing for the past years, which is giving you my completely selfish commentary on Kdramas and how they make me feel.

That said, he's a review for a drama that ended back in September:

Synopsis

Hotel Del Luna  is the 12th full length drama written by the Hong Sisters, and like many of their other works is built around ghosts, folklore, and the sisters' particular brand of adapting previously existing stories into the classic Kdrama romcom format.

The drama tells the story of Jang Man Wol (Lee Ji Eun, aka IU), a materialistic, bad-tempered immortal woman who is the caretaker to The Inn of the Moon (rebranded Hotel Del Luna to keep up with the times) the last pit stop for the sprits of the dead before they pass on to the afterlife. She competently undertakes this task as a way to pay off some heavy duty bad karma from her tragic and bloody past. After centuries spent like this, world-weary Man Wol strikes a bargain to bring hardworking, scaredy-cat and Harvard grad, Goo Chan Seong (Yeo Jin Goo) to work as her hotel manager...very much against his will.

Whether he likes it or not, Chan Seong ends up acting as the human liaison for this luxurious ghost hotel, unlocking the secrets of its CEO and her mysterious past, as well as finding out what his connection is to this magical world.

Review

Story: Hotel Del Luna is essentially a gender swapped Beauty and the Beast set up, but with gods and ghosts. Which, is absolutely my cup of tea. And there's some pretty on the nose symbolism alluding to familiar Beauty and the Beast motifs (like enchanted undying flowers, lonely compelling monsters in high towers, well meaning peasant [boys] indentured to said monsters against their will, fancy staircases...)

But after the first couple of episodes the familiar set up recedes more into the background, and the format becomes a straightforward monster of the week, unlikely partners kind of drama. We've seen this before from the Hong Sisters. Hwayugi does it and Master's Sun does too, to a greater or lesser degree of success. This is clearly the Hongs' comfort zone, and they're good at it. I even noticed a couple story lines that had been taken and tweaked from previous dramas (specifically the spirit marriage plot line which is reused from Master's Sun) and it felt like they wanted to redo some old ideas with a bigger budget and a more experience. For the most part it works.

However, the drama suffers from some serious issues with pacing and tone. While the tone issues even out over time, there is a fair bit of one off slapstick humor which feels disconnected and rather corny in the context of the grander narrative. (Think My Girlfriend is a Gumiho's running fart gag, but classed up slightly.) But by far the pacing is the biggest problem Hotel Del Luna struggles with for the entirety of the run. It feels like the episodes are about a quarter filler. An issue that I feel could have been completely sidestepped had the Hong Sisters had only 1 hour to fill per episodes, rather than tvN's monstrous feeling hour and fifteen minute episodes which only grow longer as the run goes on.

Acting: IU owns this drama. This is Man Wol's world and we're all just living it in, ladies and gentleman. It's not just the fact that IU is consistently the most visually enticing thing in any given scene, she gives the drama vibrancy and life and you feel the lack whenever she's not on screen.

It's not that Yeo Jin Goo isn't a solid young actor, or even that he does a bad job in the drama. He doesn't do a bad job at all. It's just that Chan Seong isn't nearly as complex or dynamic as Man Wol. He's very much playing the uptight straight man to Man Wol's capricious and charismatic anti-heroine, and as such he seems to rather shrink beside her. If you want to see Yeo Jin Goo in a role that stretches him and lets him show of his dynamism, The Crowned Clown was his break out moment of the year. In HDL he is more or less another pretty accessory to hang from IU's arm.

Because the Hongs have been around forever they've also worked with everyone, this drama is a wealth of cheeky cameos and familiar faces and the extended cast makes the world feel full and lived in. There were a number of minor characters I felt invested in and enjoyed watching their plot lines play out.

But let's be real, IU is the single best reason to watch this drama.

Production: HDL is gorgeous to look at. The sets and costumes (especially Man Wol's outfits, which she changes at least 5 times an episodes) are downright luscious. We've come a long way from the distractingly chintzy makeup and costume design of Master's Sun. Hell, it even feels like we're lightyears ahead of Hwayugi, which was just two years ago. The style and motifs of HDL feel like they have a real identity, that they all come from the same place. Real love and thought went into the way the hotel looks and feels, as well as the way the characters dress and the supernatural world they live in.

Feels: The biggest thing about HDL that I felt let down by was the romance. It's not that it was bad, or in some way offensive. Quite the opposite really. The romance in HDL was just okay, just middle of the road. They had an excellent template (Beauty and the mofuckin' Beast y'all) to draw from, and two attractive, talented young people to helm the show and it just...didn't ignite for me. I've seen people praising the chemistry between the leads, and I'm sorry to say I just don't see it. It's okay, it's not leaping out of the screen for me. It's...functional. That's it, that's the big hairy gripe I've got with this show (besides the filler and typical tvN bloat).

What I loved about this drama was the heroine. I loved Man Wol and all of the joy and fun and sentiment and sorrow IU poured into her performance. I felt like IU was establishing herself in this role as a Park Min Young-type force in the drama world, who can carry entire productions on her shoulders. Man Wol in HDL isn't Ji An from My Mister--she can't be; she shouldn't be--but like Ji An she is allowed to be flawed, she allowed to be cruel and miserable and petty and sometimes even wicked. And I love that, because we don't get enough female characters like that, who are allowed to be wrong and yet redeemed, who are allowed to be shallow and bitter and do the selfish thing, and yet still learn from their mistakes and do better.

I like that Man Wol's gray morality isn't abandoned half way through the drama, and her arc isn't dropped or subordinated to Chan Seong's. She is the main character, the driver of the story, and that never changes throughout the run. The "happy ending" of the story is about her, not about the male lead. There's really nothing that annoys me more than a drama that builds up its lead as having a dark side, a checkered past, a hair trigger or a penchant for violence, and then refuses to show that side of the character to the audience for fear of making them unlikable. Female characters especially get this sort of treatment all the time. Man Wol is allowed to be an ambiguous character, she is allowed to fuck up and be forgiven, and ultimately be rewarded. And I think that's fabulous.

Would I recommend Hotel Del Luna? For fantasy fans, IU fans, and misguided Hong sisters completionists (that's mainly just me, I think) I would absolutely recommend HDL. It's definitely one of the better Hong Sisters offerings, stronger on its own merits than Hwayugi, and the closest yet in my opinion to reclaiming the glory of Master's Sun in terms of fantasy romance fun.  8.5/10

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: 😲😈🤯

Read: June 2021

SPOILERS

In a series, I always write my review after reading each book, not after reading the whole series, so some of the questions I ask are answered later.

I LOVED this book. I love all of the characters, the interactions, and everything. I like the perspective in this book, with each chapter told from a different character. I am Kanej trash, 10000%. Also, Nina and Matthias? I am 10000% trash for them too. I honestly don’t know if I have a favorite character. They’re all fantastic (It’s Jesper, everyone knows it’s Jesper)

I thought the heist was extraordinary and intricate. NINA?! Love that for her (even though it was badass, I still didn’t want her to have an addiction to it) Wylan is a little shit, but I love him. My heart breaks for Kaz (I am surprised that he left Rollins alive, but I’m sure he will serve his purpose soon)

The cliffhanger?!

[bigheartedbibliophile]

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Summary: 😲💔☠👮🏻‍♂️🕵🏻‍♀️

Read: July 2021

SPOILERS

WOW, I loved this book, honestly. I gave it 4.5 out of 5 because I thought the beginning was a little slow, but everything took off!

There are different POVs throughout the story, which I love.

It occurred right at the beginning of the COVID lockdown in Ireland and moves back and forth between the past and the present. 

These two strangers move in together once COVID-19 starts, because they want to continue seeing each other, but they each have their secret motives. One of them ends up dead. One is running from their past, and the other is trying to get explanations.

If you like a good mystery, definitely read this book! 

Throughout the book, I was trying to figure out who died and what happened in the past, and it definitely took me by surprise!

Will definitely be looking into more of her books!

July 2021 Book of the Month

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: ☀✋🏻😈✨👀

Read: May 2021

☀ In a series, I always write my review after reading each book, not after reading the whole series, so some of the questions I ask get answered later on.

☀ SPOILERS

☀ This book was interesting. I enjoyed Alina Starkov as a character and am excited to see more of her in the next two books. Her and Genya’s friendship? I am obsessed. I know Genya seems to be some sort of “traitor,” but I really didn’t see it that way. I liked how the author portrayed the Darkling, and I definitely understand his thought process - the power of the Fold to keep the peace. I also really liked Mal in this first book, although he was kind of a dick when he was with his guy friends. I understand why he was so angry with Alina when she wore black, the Darkling’s color. He just lost two of his friends for essentially no reason, and the one person he thought he still had seemed to be over him. To be fair, Alina thought he was getting her letters and choosing not to respond to her, so she had every right to be angry.

☀ What I didn’t like about this book was how rushed everything seemed to me. And poor Alexei! He was there for like 2 pages, and then, poof! Gone. I wanted to see more darklina, too. Everyone was hyping them up, and I can see why for the show (cough cough Ben Barnes), but I didn’t get much of that in the book. And I honestly think if the darkling had shared his intentions with the fold from the start with Alina, she would have done it willingly. I got glimpses from her that she understood his thought process of having peace forever with the power of the Fold. I’m intrigued to start the next book, though!

[bigheartedbibliophile]

How Lucky by Will Leitch

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: 👨🏻‍🦽😂😲

Read: May 2021

I enjoyed this book! I love that the author really knows about the disease he’s writing about because of his personal experience. You know how when an author is writing about something they didn’t do any research on? Not with this story.

This is about realizing how lucky you are to be alive at any second and not taking anything for granted.

It’s also about using the skills you have to potentially solve a missing person’s case!

This story made me laugh so many different times, and I loved seeing the friendship between Dan and Travis

I also thought the plot itself was super cool and was not expecting the ending!

May 2021 Book of the Month

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Small Angels by Lauren Owen

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Summary: 💔💘🤯🕵🏻‍♀️☠

Read: Nov. 2022

SPOILERS

It was pretty slow to start, but the last 100-150 pages were so exciting and captivating! I wish the beginning was more interesting. I’m sure many people gave up on this book because it is long.

I enjoyed the different perspectives throughout the story, and how Harry's complete mystery isn’t explained immediately.

The whole thing about a wedding is odd, but I guess it makes sense why they are back in Sam’s hometown.

The woods of Mockbeggar are magical but can be dangerous if you aren’t careful...

This story has love, sisterhood, haunting, wedding, death, lgbtq+, and much more.

I recommend this story because it has an interesting plot and mystery and is worth reading through the beginning.

[bigheartedbibliophile]

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: 💔💘👮🏻‍♂️🤯🕵🏻‍♀️

Read: Nov/Dec 2022

SPOILERS

I love this book. It made me laugh, cry, and explode with emotions.

It is written from different perspectives, and you really get to know the characters.

I love that every time you think you know what’s going to happen, something happens to blow your mind.

I loved this story because it’s about how seemingly random things are connected and that you are never truly alone in your experiences.

The story is about a bank robbery that turns into a hostage situation, but it is so much more than that. It was really easy to relate to the characters, and fully appreciate what they were going through. I loved the ending, I didn’t expect it!

10/10 would recommend!