#robot murder mystery game

[tk-sketches]

nah you should totally do that interview. no way they won't turn it into a thumbnail with a big red arrow and something circled--

[springsketches]

I say this with little exaggeration, I am more excited for this game than I am for silksong & the pristine cut. Please go follow the development of this game being made by @tk-sketches! They made one of my favorite comics color space, which is also on tumblr/webtoon, so go give them some love! (I was inspired by ace attorney for this pose)

[bao-dur]

action rpg with low poly customizable character, with whom i can play dress up throughout the game, save me

[salemoleander]

Yknow I've heard a lot of (generally very valid) complaints about the writing of Fallout games, but man. Why did no one tell me that Fallout 4 kinda fucks

I just dove into the memories of the man who killed my husband, who I killed in turn, and discovered in another life I could've been him, made the same choices, because of the same grief and fear and lack of agency. And all of that was experienced inside the synthetic brain of a man who considers himself the mechanical ghost of a long-dead detective, who volunteered without hesitation to help because he considers himself profoundly expendable.

I think some pieces of the story and world can feel rushed, or reward blunt violence too much, or lean a bit trite- but there's a LOT of pieces that are shockingly compelling, and (for all its faults!) make me want to make something even a tenth as good

[salty-dracon]

the brainrot for an obscure but really good game hit again last night oh no i think i might watch a whole stream vod series of it for a third time

[demonlordcosnime]

lets play the murder of sonic the hedgehog part 1

[sage-nebula]

Neat Lore Bits from 'The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog'

I just wanted to make a little list of everything I come across as I play through this little April Fool's Day game, because it's super cute and so much fun.

— Tails always carries Sparkle Gelatin as a snack whenever he travels. It's "a sparkly jelly that can melt any jaded heart."

— Sonic is world renowned, but not necessarily recognizable by the average person, even if the average person knows who he is and what he did.

— Amy is a huge fan of true crime podcasts.

— Once when Tails was at the grocery store, he slipped on some spilled juice because there wasn't a wet floor sign. Sonic caught him . . . but then also slipped on the juice because he was running too fast, and they both crashed into an elderly shopper's cart.

— Not lore per se, but both the detective and the journalist can't be the murderer or victim of the murder mystery, and got to hang out together for the hour before the game starts. Amy picked Tails to be the detective to her journalist, meaning she wanted to spend that time with him. Awww, Sunset Squad 4 Life 💖🧡

— Blaze prefers the birthday cake in Sonic's dimension to the cake in her own.

— Amy has multiple Piko Piko Hammers for different uses. She carries a lighter one when she thinks she won't need one for the day.

— Shadow is familiar with Super Monkey Ball, but can't get a very high score on it. Also, he signs high score boards as ULTIM (for Ultimate Life Form)

— Knuckles is not used to receiving compliments; they make him blush.

— Knuckles is a sore loser and breaks game cabinets when he can't get the highest score.

— Omochao is wanted for medical malpractice.

— Eggman has written a combined autobiography and recipe book.

— Tails claims to have never played in casinos and to not know how to play card games despite stating that he is banned from casinos for counting cards in Sonic Heroes. Either Sega has decided to retcon Tails' gambling habits, or Tails doesn't like to share his gambling habits with strangers.

— Amy's favorite band is Hot Honey, and Hot Honey band member Jeremy Bee is her current favorite musician.

— Shadow is not good with computers.

— Espio is fluent in 17 languages.

— Espio once speed-read a book just to spoil the ending for Knuckles.

— Sonic believes in the "salt over the shoulder" superstition.

— Sage the A.I. likes to play with robots.

— Shadow likes chocolate cake.

— Sage the A.I. and Metal Sonic have "let's go dad" t-shirts.

— Eggman has rubber ducks that look like himself and Sonic; they are the angry rubber duck and the happy rubber duck respectively.

[phantomspiderr]

roleplay w/ ghostface!rio vidal x reader x agatha harkness

kinktober '24 ~ no 5

a/n: little bit of warning, it's rio so there's knife play involved. I would also mark this as dubcon/noncon so if that's not for you please don't read. I wrote this with the thought of this being a prior conversation and rules and safe words being in place etc in mind

You jump out of your skin as your phone rings out loudly in the kitchen, your heart thumps in your chest and your body tingles all over. It rings once, then twice before you pick it up to answer. “Hello?” You receive no response but there’s a quiet electric hum coming through the speaker so you repeat yourself. Just as you consider hanging up a voice sounds, a hello followed by your name. The voice is unrecognisable, it’s croaky and robotic and it only adds to the drumming in your chest. “Um, hello. Who is this?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” You roll your eyes, sitting yourself in one of the dining chairs.

“Well, you know my name so I think it’s only fair I know yours.” You counter, tilting your head to the side as if the mystery caller could see you.

“What’s not fair is a pretty girl like you being home all alone.” Your heart drops at those words, eyes instantly darting around to the back door to your yard and then to the kitchen window above the sink. A maniacal chuckle comes through the speaker and you can feel your body tremble. “Did you think I would just knock?” You don’t even get a chance to respond because suddenly, there’s a blaring sound coming from the living room. You drop the phone on the table, hands coming up to cover your ears and you run toward the deafening noise. The tv plays some old news clip about a group of teenagers who were mysteriously found murdered. You fumble around throwing pillows and blankets off of the couch until you find the remote, shutting off the television immediately. You let out a deep breath, feeling disoriented by the loud noise and fast-moving.

“Very funny Rio. The plan wasn’t to burst my eardrums.” You call out into the room then you hear your phone ring loudly again and your whole body jumps and the remote goes clattering to the floor. With quick steps you move back to the kitchen, grab the device and answer.

“Do you like scary movies?”

“No. Now, who is this?” You continue to play along with Rio’s little game. A silly idea she’d proposed to you after a spooky movie night. A night that you spent curled into her side jumping at every little scare.

“Oh, why not? Are you scared?”

“No.”

A door slams and a short scream escapes you. It’s just the wind you tell yourself as your heart continues to race. The voice on the phone laughs again and you think for a second that you hear the laugh coming from upstairs.

“I thought you weren’t scared.”

“Why are you doing this?” You’re met with silence and then the line goes dead. You look at your phone confirming that the call is no more and then there it is, the sound of slow deliberate footsteps coming from directly above you. Everything in you tells you to run but your feet seem to have a mind of their own as your body moves toward the stairs. You stand at the bottom peering up into the darkness and that’s when you hear a slow call of your name but you can’t tell where it’s coming from. It seems to bounce around the house, not revealing the place of origin. A sound almost like nails on a chalkboard pierces your ears sending ripples down your spine. Then suddenly, there’s a pounding coming from your front door and a muffled raised voice slips through the cracks. Perplexed, you rush to the door and swing it open to reveal your neighbour, Agatha. Her face splattered with what looked like blood and a tinge of fear washes over you. She shoves you aside and slams the door shut, bolting it and leaning her head against the wood while she huffs and pants.

“Agatha?! What happened to you? Is that blood? Are you okay?” Your chest feels like it’s going to explode from the thumping of your heart.

“She’s gone crazy. She tried to kill me so I had to…” Agatha turns to you, a crazed look in her eyes, “You’ve got to believe me. It was self-defence!”

“A-Agatha, what happened?” Agatha’s movements are frantic, her hands smearing blood across her face. Fear washes over you and before Agatha can utter another word you both hear a door creak, it’s the familiar creak of your back door and your head immediately snaps around to the source of the sound. But you can’t see the door and suddenly there's a hand over your mouth, muffling a surprised yelp.

“Uh oh, looks like I didn’t finish the job.” Agatha whispers in your ear, sending a shiver down your spine, “Better run and hide bunny.” Her hand drops from your mouth and slowly you turn to face her, a sinister smile etched on her face. You’re moving before you can even register, had Rio brought Agatha in on her little game to really sell it? Haphazardly you climb the stairs, tripping on a couple of steps in the process. You can’t hear any movement behind you but you don’t stop moving. Your mind races trying to think of a good hiding place but your feet carry you to the one place you feel the safest, your bedroom. Your eyes search for a place to hide and you pick the only reasonable option even if it is the obvious one. You rip open the closet doors and practically throw yourself into the corner, you’re hugging your knees and trying your best to calm your racing heart and mind. There’s a tiny crack where the doors meet and you can just make out the bedroom door. The only sound you can hear is the blood pumping in your ears, no footsteps or doors opening. The wait is agonizing, it feels like you’ve been there too long for nothing to have happened by now so you pluck up the courage to get up. Maybe Rio wanted more of a chase? You try to be quiet, opening the closet just slightly and peeking into the bedroom. Nothing, it’s empty. So, you emerge from the closet and slowly you take steps toward the bedroom door. Your hand just rests on the doorknob but you’re jolted away from it when two hands are suddenly grabbing you. You scream as you're dragged backwards before a hand is slapped over your mouth to muffle the noise. The unknown strength uncaringly throws you onto the bed like a rag doll and your eyes go wide when you see the dark cloaked figure with that ghost white mask. Then they’re on you before you can get away but you struggle against their iron grip, wriggling as the masked figure pins your hands above your head. You cry out, not stopping until you feel cold metal press against your neck and you finally stare into the black eyes of the mask. Their head tilts as if they’re scanning your face, watching your expression as the knife presses harder and causes a searing hot pain to develop on your skin. Your eyes shut tightly and sting with tears, and then the blade is suddenly gone and your eyes shoot open to see the knife raised in the air and without warning it begins coming toward you. There’s a genuine fear coursing through your veins as you expect a sharp pain but instead, the knife is buried in the pillow right by your head. You flinch, your head turning to see a familiar green dimpled handle.

“That wasn’t funny Rio.” Your eyes are watery and you move your body in an effort to push her off but she doesn’t budge. “How did you get in here without me seeing you?” Your head tilts a fraction but still you get no audible reply. “Did you cheat? We said no magic.” Your chest still rises and falls quickly and the lack of response is startling you. The black voids of the mask stare back at you, your eyes move to watch as their free hand reveals a small bundle of rope. You don’t resist it when the cloaked figure loops the rope around your wrists, pulling tightly on purpose to ensure there will be marks tomorrow. You wince as they pull and tug at your limbs until they’re wound together and secured to the headboard.

“Oh no, please don’t kill me.” You whine, hoping that playing along with Rio’s fantasy will elicit a response. It’s not the response you hoped for but you watch as she wraps her gloved fingers around the blade once again. Your eyes flutter closed when she places the tip on your cheek and you feel it graze down your skin, nipping at the collar of your shirt and trailing down further. Once it reaches your waist she pauses and your eyes open to see why. In an instant, the knife expertly slips under your pants and you take in a sharp breath as the blade slices through the material like butter. Your eyes flicker between the cut in the fabric and the mask. It’s almost like you can feel the grin that burns through the mask. The knife is suddenly thrust back into the pillow by your head and you flinch again, letting out a shaky breath. Her hands are back on you; first starting by cupping your face, their head tilting to study you. Then her hands move down, trailing along your neck and slowing to brush over your breasts which you instinctively push up into. She momentarily halts her movements when you do that, then her hands press harder making sure her fingers fan across your covered nipples. Your mouth falls open with a sharp inhale and your hips buck upward. Her hands fall away from your breasts and move down your stomach, this time her fingers dig into your flesh until she reaches the tear in your pants. She makes sure to ghost a finger down the newly exposed skin where the fabric falls away. Then she’s tearing at the material, wanting to expose more of you. It doesn’t take long for there to be nothing but tatters left on your legs. Your skin is left red and sore from the yanking and rubbing of the fabric. You squirm as you try to reposition yourself into a more comfortable position and use it as a way to hide your now bare pussy but it’s impossible as your cloaked figure kneels between your legs forcing them open. You keep pushing against their grip but when one of their hands disappears under their cloak you grow curious. She pulls her cloak up to expose a thick purple strap secured tightly around her waist and you swear you begin to drool at the sight. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea if it meant Rio bought you such a nice new toy to play with. You seem to back down and become relaxed as her grip on your thigh grows, her nails digging in to add a sharp sting. Your breathing picks up when slowly she towers over you again, your eyes locking back onto the mask. She hovers above you, one hand now at the side of your head to hold her up and the other moves the tip of her strap through your folds. Your body shudders at the touch and you fight to keep your eyes open. Then with no further warning, she pushes into you and a scream escapes you as the stretch stings and your hands tug against your confides repeatedly. Your eyes prickle with tears but it only seems to spur her on. She straightens up so she can thrust rapidly until your screams turn into gasps and moans that seem to build more when her covered thumb presses down on your clit. The jilting of your bodies causes enough friction that she doesn’t even need to move the digit. Your eyes seem to roll back as she continues on her rough pursuit, her palm pushing down on the bulge she creates while driving her cock into your abused hole over and over until you're on the edge of cumming. 

“Well one of us is going to have to change.” Your eyes shoot open at the sound of your girlfriend's voice, it sounds further away than you think it should be and you’re confused by the sentence. But the pounding continues and you’re still panting when you see Rio standing by the bedroom door dressed in a black cloak and holding an identical white ghost mask. You’re completely disoriented at this point, if Rio is standing there then who is towering above you still thrusting their cock into you as your girlfriend watches.

“You couldn’t have let the sweet girl cum before you interrupted?” A muffled voice grunts from under the mask, then their hand raises to pull off the mask. “Hi sugar,” that sweet neighbourly voice rings in your ears as she grins down at you.

“A-Agatha?” Your question draws out as a string of moans tumbles out of your mouth. Your eyes flutter shut again as wave after wave of pleasure washes over you. Both of Agatha’s hands had shifted to your hips, aggressively tugging them to meet her thrusts as she watched your orgasm overtake your body. Your back is arched and your toes curled as she forced her strap into you again and again until you were over-sensitive and crying out. Her thrusts eventually come to a stop, her cock still buried deep inside you as you clench and squirm. You flinch when a gentle hand touches your face, your eyes open to see Rio standing by the bed now. She smiles down at you, a hint of pride in her expression.

“Angel,” the sweet pet name rolls off her tongue like honey but then she’s squeezing your face between her fingers and a dark look washes over her face, “you can’t be making all that noise.” You blink up at her, still keenly aware of Agatha’s presence between your thighs. “What if the neighbours complain?” A wicked grin breaks out on Rio’s face as she looks up at Agatha who mirrors her expression. “We’ll just have to find a way to keep you quiet huh?”

“I can think of one.” Agatha remarks quickly and Rio’s fingers release their grip on your face. Rio hums as if in thought, trying to play off like they haven’t already orchestrated this whole thing to go a certain way.

“I like your thinking, Aggie. Why don’t I sit on that pretty little face while you have your way with her again and again until she just can’t take it.” You seem at a loss for words as you just watch your beautiful girlfriend climb onto the bed. She kneels beside you for a moment to share in an exchange with Agatha, the pair holding one another’s face for just a brief moment before Rio moves again. She straddles your chest and you wriggle slightly, momentarily forgetting that Agatha’s strap is still stretching your sensitive hole. A whine falls from your lips and Rio tuts. “You’re such a pretty girl, it’s a shame you just can’t keep quiet.” Her condescending tone floats through the air as she hikes up the black fabric that drapes her body to reveal her bare pussy just inches from your face. She slips a hand into your hair as she pulls herself forward. She tugs your head up and sinks her wet folds down onto your face, your mouth instinctively opens and your tongue gathers her familiar taste. Immediately she begins rocking her hips back and forth and your eyes fall closed as she uses you for her own pleasure. A sharp moan vibrates against her core as Agatha begins to move inside of you again and Rio’s grip on your hair tightens. “Do that again.” You’re not sure if she’s growling at you or Agatha at that point but you both seem to respond as Agatha fluidly starts thrusting into you again and a flurry of moans vibrates against Rio’s clit. “Fuck!” She cries out, now arguably she is becoming louder than you were but no one is sitting on her face. Your tongue continues to lick and prod at her, trying your hardest to make her cum. Your eyes open to see her head thrown back as her hips move in time with Agatha’s and you’re not sure whether it’s the lack of oxygen or the second orgasm washing over you that prickles your vision. You look up at Rio’s blissed-out face, seeing black spots as your hips thrash around while Agatha relentlessly continues to hammer into you. Wave after wave of pleasure hits you again and again until your mind is completely gone.

“Oh now you’ve gone and killed the poor sweet thing.” Agatha’s echoey voice whirls around your head.

“Don’t worry, she’ll come around.” You can feel a soft hand holding your face and an arm secured around your shoulders. “Look there she is,” Rio’s voice seems to pull you back as your eyes slowly blink open, “hi sweetheart.” A weak smile stretches out on your face as you curl your tired body inward, snuggling closer into Rio’s arms.

Your hands had somehow been freed and now you were curled up in the bed with Rio next to you and another presence close by.

“What-what happened?” Your weak, croaky voice comes out and your throat feels dry.

“Don’t worry angel. Why don’t we just get you cleaned up and in bed huh?” Your mind is fuzzy and your entire body aches but you feel a buzz running through your veins.

“Did I do a good job?” Your question comes out small and you hear a duet of giggles before Agatha closes in to press a kiss to your temple and she softly speaks.

“A good job? Baby, you’re gonna be in the sequel.”

[manonamora-if]

honestly u have too many games... i dont know where to start... can u like... do a 5-word blurb for each of them?

Ah well... I can certainly try! 😅

Note: I'm including the experimental stuff too, because lol.

Try hard (or don't) for love? (Slice-of-life, choice, short-ish, multiple endings, completed)

Amnesiac peep becomes a noble (Court Intrigue, choice, long, WIP)

Privileged writer can't write (Slice-of-life, input/choice, mid, WIP -currently in re-writes)

Monotonous space-life actually a conspiracy (Sci-Fi, choice, short-ish, multiple endings, completed)

Friends(?) investigate an occult mystery (Lovecraftian horror, choice, mid, multiple endings, WIP)

Kid finds out grandma's special (spoopy, choice, short, multiple endings, completed)

Meme car chase with a twist (unreality, QTE choice, short, multiple endings, completed)

Space trucker on special delivery (Sci-fi, choice, short, multiple endings, WIP)

How devoted are you? (???, micro, completed - FRENCH ONLY)

Antique computer with a weird installed program (Sci-fi, choice/puzzle, mid, two endings, completed)

Cliché detective investigates "murder" (Mystery, choice, WIP)

Single choice to define a life (Sci-fi-ish, input, short, multiple endings, completed)

Hhmmm unresolved trauma? (Autobiographical, choice, short, completed)

The Best Proposals are kookies (Slice-of-life, input, short-ish, multiple endings, completed)

On course for Collisions (???, choice, micro, completed)

The signs were all there (Slice-of-life, choice, micro, completed)

Internal fight against pride and prejudices (Slice-of-life, choice-ish, micro, completed)

When the yummy hurts your tummy (??? surreal?, choice-ish, micro, completed-ish)

Kill or be killed (Survival, choice, short, completed-ish)

Surreal dreams be weird (Surreal, keyboard, short, completed)

Nightmare deviation and horrid road-maze (Slice-of-life, choice, micro, completed, FRENCH ONLY)

Couple tries some kinky stuff (juuuust a hint of NSFW) (Slice-of-life, choice, short, completed)

Depressed person eats a real meal (Slice-of-life, input, short, completed)

Surreal dream bites depressed horn-ish-dog (Surreal, choice, mid, multiple endings, completed)

Dramatic Lesbian writes love letters (Epistolary, choice, mid, multiple endings, completed)

Repair robot fixes broken things (???, input, micro, completed-ish)

Girl-bossing your way out of the maze (Mythological, input, short-ish, completed)

Not really a game, just if you're curious about programs

I SWEAR I AM WRITING (autobiographical, keyboard, short, completed)

Bad maze on purpose (bad game, input, short-ish?, completed)

Bad "VN" I'm fixing soon (mystery?, keyboard, short, WIP)

And that's all there is :P

[medakakurokami]

I finished over 100 visual novels, here’s a long post with some recommendations

Last month I hit 100 Finished VN’s over on the VNDB and I thought I’d shoot out some recommendations while the Steam Summer Sale is going on (even though some of these aren’t going to be on Steam)

I already have finished up some stragglers and caught some shorter titles so it’s up to 104 Finished, but all the better. I have been reading some VN’s since 2015, but it really became a hobby and a genre I was invested in during Covid lockdown in 2020. I had trouble getting into some of the popular titles, but a couple of games that were lesser known at that time really blew me away that year and I started digging more into the medium. I still have a lot to try out and other classics I’m still interested in trying, but here’s a top 10 I’m confident in recommending to most people, at least the kinda people that would follow this blog. A few of these recommendations are actually multi-part series, but hopefully accessible all around.

Planetarian ($10 on Steam and Switch, ~$5 on sale)

This is a very late entry onto this list but I think it’s an easy recommendation. This is a very short 2-4 hour visual novel that got a well received 2 hour movie adaptation in 2016, but it was strong enough that even while knowing the plot everything still hit hard. It is a story set 30 years after an apocalyptic event destroys most of the world, as a human junk-trader comes across a planetarium with a somehow-still-functional robot named Hoshino still performing her daily duties after 30 years without customers or coworkers. It can come across as a bit saccharine, but it is a quick, well made, and effective tearjerker.

Narcissu 1st & 2nd (Free on Steam)

Narcissu’s first two parts are pretty compelling stories to do with suicidal ideation within the scope of the terminally ill. Which is to say they’re also real tear jerkers, and pretty open about some harsh self-reflective emotions. They both have stellar endings, and can be quite immersive despite the very limited artwork (if the screencap looks weird, the game’s art exists within a narrow strip on the screen, with a sentence or two reading out the story underneath it). Maybe the least accessible on this list, but a $0 price tag makes it easier in some sense to get into.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni / When The Seagulls Cry (~$50 on Steam, $30 on sale)

Umineko you’ve probably already heard of, and here’s me recommending it. Umineko comes in two parts, on Steam referred to as the Questions Arc and the Answers Arc. Despite the split, the overall story follows the events of a certain day on Rokkenjima Island in 1986 as a family meets to discuss their inheritance and their family’s mysteries. Unbeknownst to them they are soon haunted, over and over again, by the revenant of the Golden Witch said to live in the woods of their family’s island.

I’m in the minority of preferring the Questions Arc, where well written and deeply human characters find themselves in deeply inhumane and nonsensical scenarios. The Answers Arc back seats some of that to start delving into an esoteric explosion of clues and backstories, and was still very entertaining even if I was more invested in the episodic stories than the overarching mystery. This may also be seen as inaccessible, $30-50 for a slightly older title and over 140 hours long on average playthroughs, but it is deeply absorbing.

Witch on the Holy Night a.k.a. Mahoyo ($40 on PS4 and Switch)

Mahoyo is me and Nasu’s marriage counselor, it really made me see the good in him. It follows a young witch co-habitating with her magic colleague and the puppy-like boy that unwittingly steps into their world at risk to his own life, just as unexplained apparent murders are witnessed in their town.

This could possibly be a higher level recommendation, though it was apparently intended to have sequels and you can somewhat feel that in the isolated feeling of its main conflict. Despite this, the game is definitely worth experiencing for its classy charm and extremely well made action sequences that at times make you forget you’re not watching a full anime film. It’s also a showcase of Nasu’s strengths in writing character interactions and comedy, and he finally lets Show take over and stops Telling you piles of mage society worldbuilding quite so often. It is also has some of the highest quality production value I’ve ever seen, second maybe to...

Marco and the Galaxy Dragon ($20 on Steam/Switch, less than $10 on sale)

Marco and the Galaxy Dragon is an explosive opera of art, energy, color, and of course music. It follows the orphaned Marco and her dragon compatriot Arco as they hunt for treasure across the cosmos, finding their way to Earth on the hunt for Marco’s mother.

If Umineko’s 140 hours seems steep, Marco has you covered with a quick 6 hour rundown of a rebellious orphan fighting back against her space alien menace to find her own sense of place and identity in the universe, along with ALL the friends she made along the way. If Mahoyo feels like an anime film sometimes, Marco actually just has fully animated FMV cutscenes that are fun as hell and have their own unique artstyle to the VN itself. Thousands of pieces of artwork and a 52-track OST fill the game’s short runtime with no cut corners and and overflow of passion from the devs. Honestly even if you don’t want to read it go buy it, it’s cheap and they earned it.

White Album 2 (You’ll have to be creative to find this one)

This is the only recommendation that’s currently only available in an adults only 18+ Rating for the English translation. That being said, it’s one of the few erotic VN’s that felt justified in its pornographic scenes. The story is split into two releases: Opening Chapter and Closing Chapter.

Opening is a short and powerfully delivered love triangle narrative following Haruki, Setsuna, and Touma as their hastily formed 3-man light music band falls into itself with feelings. It’s charming but gut wrenching and sweeps you into its drama very effectively before kicking you on your ass in the end.

Closing Chapter is a long and drawn out disassembling of their lives as they fail to heal from the wounds of the relationships seen in Opening. It, to great effect, takes the readers own experience with how fun and passionate the Opening Chapter was, and shows how trying to cling to halcyon days can make us so dispassionate about our present lives. Painful stuff! Good music, too.

The Princess, The Stray Cat, and Matters of the Heart 1 & 2

a.k.a. Noratoto ($40 on Steam for both, ~$15 for both on sale)

This is a very personal recommendation, and maybe one more easy to make on this blog where many of my followers might be receptive to sincere but slapstick ecchi comedy as art. Every route is highly different however and to me, some are pretty average for galge, while others stand out as amazing. The comedy writing as well feels like it was written by someone with actual comic writing experience, and not just regurgitating the usual ecchi manga jokes.

The general premise of Noratoto is the protagonist Nora, being transformed into a cat by Patricia the princess of the Netherworld, and he must reverse this curse via a kiss before it becomes permanent. A benign fairy tale premise, but one that somehow gives way to underlying stories about existence and finding purpose in families and where that leaves those without families or with abusive or divided families (it is from the same developers as Marco and the Galaxy Dragon, and the themes of finding identity without family match up very closely). Uniquely it is a visual novel written somewhat in 3rd person, narrated by a motherly voice as if the VN was being read to you as a bedtime story.

Like I said, it is dependent on route and some come across as your usual ecchi gal-game schtick, but some stick out, and if every route was as high quality as Nobuchina’s in the 2nd game, it would probably be my favorite visual novel.

The Original Ace Attorney Trilogy ($30 on most platforms, $10 on sale)

You’ve almost certainly heard of Ace Attorney already and have most likely played it. This is me telling any Ace Attorney fans reading that the original trilogy still reigns supreme (regardless of Turnabout Big Top). This is also me telling anyone who has held out on trying Ace Attorney to try it, and to start with the original trilogy.

Obviously this trilogy follows the Meme Man Himself, Phoenix Wright, as he defends the innocent and brings the guilty to justice acting as both lawyer and his own main investigator. While each case presents a unique mystery, the original trilogy has an underlying arc that reaches from beginning to end with a massive conspiracy that Phoenix has to breach to bring justice to the perpetrators and resolve the memory and regrets of his beloved mentor.

These games have some speedbumps as you may be banging your head against the wall trying to find the right evidence, but the experience that breaks through does so with gusto, succeeding on what it sets out to be: games that make you feel like you’ve brought justice to the world.

Utawarerumono Trilogy ($40/60 each on Steam, trilogy bundle $62 on sale)

Utawarerumono was my first proper visual novel, and it set the standards pretty high. I’ve posted about it several times in the last few years, and it remains one of my favorites. It is a labor of love on the part of the developers (the same developers as White Album 2), who developed the latter two games over the course of several years and have made this the spearhead of their company for the time being. Which makes sense, since it is about war.

The first game follows a masked man who is given the name Hakuoro waking up in a rural village with amnesia, confused about the strange population of beast-men living there. Despite not understanding his situation, his ingenuity brings the village prosperity. When the local lords try to put the village under their thumb, Hakuoro and the villagers are able to turn the tides against them. Their village grows into a kingdom as Hakuoro seeks the mysteries of himself and the world around him.

The latter two games pick up some twenty years after the conclusion of the first, and follow a man who is given the name Haku, waking up in the woods with amnesia confused about the... you get it. He is met by Kuon, a young girl on her way traveling to the capital of their nation of Yamato. Haku graciously accepts her help getting out of the cold woods, and decides to join her to the capital. As events play out, Haku finds himself under the direct command of the nation’s leader the Mikado, and carries out missions on his behalf as the nation continues to drag itself into war and conflict and Haku also seeks the truth of his identity.

These games are expansive in scope while still putting a large focus on the day-to-day lives of its characters. Around 100 hours across all three games it is impressive how much story it manages to fit in, but the pacing does bounce around between sweeping conflict and sleepy conversations. It is also in part, a strategy RPG game with the battles in the war being controlled by the player. These are decently made, especially well in the third game, but don’t ask too much of the player and the story remains the main focus and biggest portion of the runtime.

The House In Fata Morgana a.k.a. Fatamoru

($40 complete version on PS4/Switch, ~$40 main game + expansion on Steam)

I’ve gushed about this enough on this tumblr, I’ll keep it brief.

You are a formless soul who is led by the hand of a mysterious maid through the doors of a mansion on an unknown plane of existence. Through each door lies a story of the house in a different era, all following people bound together in ways that leave them cruelly and violently undone by the end of their stories. The connection between these stories, the mystery of the house and the supposed witch that resides within, and the mystery of You the wandering soul all slowly unravel in a bloody show of catharsis and soul. The game is dripping with traumatic poetic text, grating beautiful music, and all of its atmosphere geared toward being oppressive yet enticing. One of the best things I’ve read.

Honorable mentions:

Va-11 Hall-A and Endless Mondays get shout outs as some of the best Original English Language VN’s I’ve read, with cool artstyles and a mature cast they manage to be fun and relatable. Va-11 Hall-A delivers a great arc for its protagonist and Endless Mondays has great dialogue on the threat of automation of creative industries.

Grisaia Trilogy and Hatsumira are both absolutely raucous trilogies that are a lot of fun. Not wholly recommendable to all, Grisaia has some strong moments and a hilarious unique cast but is a mess overall (but we love Michiru). Hatsumira is a bit more consistent, a more stable and fantasy-oriented Grisaia.

A.I. The Somnium Files duology are detective games with highly divisive endings, but great comedy and characters that make them very easy to get through and enjoy the whole way to the end. It’s just a toss-up whether you’ll like that ending.

Sakura Wars games are finally being translated, and they are a great showing for anyone who wants to try some classic dating sim stuff but with some pizazz thrown in with the setting and mecha combat.

The Tears to Tiara duology by the same developers of Utawarerumono and White Album is also one to keep an eye out for. The first game's definitive version isn't available in English and the second game is stuck on the PS3 and no longer available digitally, but if they ever come out on Steam they are worth your time.

Nanairo Reincarnation and Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche are also two solid ecchi comedy galge. Both have surprisingly deep and genuinely heartbreaking underlying mysteries and conclusions.

I still have a lot I wanna read, Planetarian is the only Key novel I’ve read. On the docket are Labyrinth of Galleria, Little Busters, the 9 -nine- series, and Kara no Shoujo and White Album 1 releasing on Steam this year. Some classics I didn’t mention are Fate/Stay Night, Muv Luv, Steins Gate. Muv Luv I read Extra and enjoyed it, but never pulled the trigger on reading the rest, I may at some point on a whim. Steins;Gate I played through half of on PS3 and now my PS3 is in the closet, the VN is really good and has a unique atmosphere to the anime, buuuuuuut knowing the plot has made it hard to want to restart on PC or another console. Steins;Gate is good, if anyone is reading this far and hasn’t seen the anime or read the VN, do it.

[decamarks]

I kept forgetting to post this... But! Here's some of the stuff I've made for my game so far! It's called CLIENT: Automatic Investigator, and it's a goofy mystery visual novel. (Essentially: Ace Attorney but with robots and gods.)

You play as CLIENT, a computerized detective from ≈ 2002 CE. Its plasticine shell survived billions of years worth of apocalyptic events — until, in the year 2.00291732614102e+23, it finally wakes up from sleep mode. CLIENT is one of the few remaining non-sentient robots in the world. For investigative purposes, CLIENT is equipped with lie detectors, psyche sensors, and the ability to record anything said to it. Since it lacks vocal synthesizers, CLIENT must use hard evidence alone in its investigations. It communicates through what it collects — and through carefully selected audio recordings. (When given a microphone and silence, it turns out most people have a LOT to say.) In 2.00291732614102e+23, Earth's population is all sentient machines and undying deities. Since murder isn't possible (and the world is mostly utopian), CLIENT is left to solve inconsequential cases of counterfeiting, copyright infringement, and the occasional act of arson.

Everyone here is part of the game's first case (OPERATION: AMBROSIA). There will be four cases total, each released individually. Everything is still really early in development, but I'm excited! It's a super silly game & lots of fun to work on.

[tk-sketches]

Sharing some footage from my little robot murder mystery game - there’s been a MURDER and YOU gotta solve it!! Gather clues! Compare witnesses! Yell at people!! That’s right - we’ve got it all! 

(gonna try to get a demo out when i can!)

[weirdozjunkary]

Thinking about how TMOSTH would fit into MVA, and I just thought that Amy would book some sort of murder mystery weekend cruise for her birthday, and it gets hijacked by Eggman or something.

Bary tags along, using their vacation days to have some fun. Unfortunately, they get mistaken for staff and are forced to do work.

The cast is mostly the same apart from some changes; Knuckles as a bartender, Shadow as a photographer (he doesn’t know how to operate a camera), Sonic as a lifeguard. The biggest change is that Espio and Vector aren’t there. Instead, Omega is there as the (optimistically violent) Deck server.

Despite Sonic’s size, he wanted to join in. A life guard was the best option for him as he couldn’t exactly leave the deck. He still had fun, and he’s still the one to “die”

The antagonist would be similar to the actual game. Though instead of it being the boat itself, it would be a robot who can control the boat itself. Dunno if it would be made by Eggman or not though.

[puhpandas]

Do you have any analysis or notes on how different both dr rabbit and Gregory’s personality is like? I can’t read the book of ggy but I’d like to know how different these two are just like Vanny and Vanessa.

OH DO I. u just opened a can of worms anon. pausing tower of hell for this

thisll all just be off the top of my head but I hope itll help anyway :)

from reading ggy and analyzing the shit out of dr rabbits behavior and doing the same with Gregorys SB personality along with ruin, there are immediately 2 key differences

dr rabbit is a character that puts on a front and a show for everything. hes portrayed as a genius who never does something without it being calculated and valuable for whatever hes trying to achieve

in GGYs case, one of Rabs goals was for some reason to play a part so tony and ellis would like him by playing into each of their interests. this was probably to appear more inconspicuous and seem less guilty since no teacher would pick out a kid from their class as someone to be worried about if he has good grades and has friends and seems plenty happy

he would joke around with ellis and play games with him and hang out with him, and with tony, he would say a couple deep sounding sentences to play into Tony's interest in the meanings of life and its mysteries and stuff. he did it just enough to the point where tony would notice it and prefer him over Ellis because of it but he also wouldnt pay him any mind when he wasn't actively doing that stuff

so basically rab always acts knowing exactly what he wants to come out of every interaction and it usually works. most of his personality is fronts he puts on for whatever goal hes trying to achieve

but with Gregory, none of his personality shown in sb/ruin is meant to put any sort of front or mask on. he doesnt even try to put on a brave face most of the time. he usually isn't that scared of things and can push through it, but he also has no problem expressing fear if he actually is scared of something (shown in the lines "its pretty dark in there" and "what was that??" in response to his watch beeping)

a lot of his interactions with people and just his outward personality are really genuine. that doesnt mean hes always nice or kind, but he just does or says what he actually feels. a lot of the time in sb he happens to be in a bad mood (for a. very good reason) and snappish towards anyone interacting with him. none of the 'quips' he says are meant to be funny, it's just him complaining and it happens to sound humorous just because of his personality

so that's immediately one line drawn between the two of them. tldr rab puts on fronts and nothing of what he does is genuine but everything Gregory does is genuine just in the way that it's true to himself his personality and what he is feeling in the moment

another thing is obviously their moral code. i dont rlly wanna focus much on this because its kinda obvious. rab will obviously do whatever it takes to stay in operation and was probably created to keep vanny in check, even if it includes murdering tons of people and glitchtrap abusing vanny through him. but Gregory holds a very specific moral code that I can boil down best to "I wont help anyone who doesnt deserve it, but if they do deserve it I'll truly try my best to save them, even if it means risking my life"

the way that Gregory decides which people are worth saving is pretty basic. people like vanny obviously don't deserve to be saved because shes evil and kills people. but vanessa was forced to be mind controlled by her and puppeted around to do it so Gregory believed she deserved to be saved

and the glamrocks werent because they were killer robots trying to rip him apart for seemingly no reason. gregory had no idea about any viruses or probably that they were sentient until Freddy became sentient but that was already by the end of the game. he decommissioned them with the knowledge that they were trying to hurt him, they're robots and can be fixed, and that they probably will by tomorrow because in a few hours the place will open

rab is also patient 46 so any little quirks in those tapes also apply to him. things like disliking flowers and liking the dark and liking to watch sports are all him, but theres no telling how much he could have picked up from Gregory by being created off of him

as for just like. dialogue things and how they talk, rab is a lot more literal and blunt with the things he talks about. gregory also says what he means and takes it literal, but he talks with "uh... like... I guess.... umm" things like that. rab doesn't stutter and he has a bigger vocabulary, while Gregory calls the security badge stations "badge head things" and stuff he doesnt know what to call "things"

rab is also very good at reading people and obviously a really good liar to the point where he can get anyone to believe what he wants. but Gregory is a very very shit liar LMAO. he literally just said "I'd rather not say" to Freddy about Monty and just told the truth but changed a little with the others

with vanessa and vanny they for sure changed Vanessa's personality in SB compared to the trailers so she turned from afraid and worried to snappish and annoyed. I honestly think that now vanessa is never vanessa at all during SB but shes always vanny, just in and out of costume. this way, Vanessa's like the opposite of vanny with how shes more timid from all the trauma and naturally afraid

so with Gregory and rab it could be the same but with different things. vanessa and Vannys personalities are black and white, but Gregory and rab dont talk or act very differently outwardly so it's more of a mental change

I've analyzed the crapp out of these 2 so I hope this helped a little bit =)

[diivinidad]

" not if we don't have a reason to. but you're lucky for two reasons: one, we need as many people as we can to figure out who the murderers are. two... well, you're not a drone. killing you would have no purpose to us. "

"...these robot things aren't gonna try to dissect me, right?"

[lookslikethatsallthetimewehave]

In your opinion, what's the darkest thing in Poptropica?

Oh... wow. You know, some people might be surprised at some of the dark stuff that's happened/implied throughout the franchise. And from such an innocent looking world too :)

I guess I'll make a list of some stuff that stands out to me:

24 Carrot Island 

The 4 children were kidnapped and brainwashed by Dr. Hare probably for months.

Astro-Knights Island 

Mordred almost died in a crash, and had to replace half of his body with robotics. 

Mordred kidnapped the princess because he wanted to marry her. And her parents most likely thought they were never going to see her again, since they had no way of going after her.

Counterfeit Island 

It's implied that Black Widow was gonna torture the player in order to get answers. 

Reality TV Island/Wild Safari Island 

Villains allowed to be on reality tv… and being treated as celebrities... WHAT.

Skullduggery Island 

Captain Crawfish probably killed a lot of people. Cause… pirate.

Steamworks Island 

The entire backstory of this island: the people were doing experiments on plants, when the plants mutated and tried to kill them. The only way they could survive is by freezing themselves.

Captain Ziggs sacrificed himself to hold off the Plant Monsters. Mayor Crumb must be feeling pretty depressed now that she's free and forced to live without him.

Red Dragon Island  

The Shogun being a pretty terrifying tyrant. 

Shrink Ray Island  

POV: you're an elementary school student and your teacher's star pupil. You trust him, because he's a nice teacher. And then he goes crazy and kidnaps you.

Mr. Silva threatens to shrink CJ and the player to the point where they can't be seen by anyone, which is kinda dark honestly. 

Blimp Adventure 

Dr. Cumulo Nimbus sets fire to the rain to all the islands. 

Game Show Island  

Robots take over and enslave humanity. 

Ghost Story Island  

A really depressing murder mystery/ weird love triangle story that involves several character's deaths.

S.O.S Island  

The ship sinks and everyone inside almost dies. Also a child.

Vampire's Curse Island  

Count Bram outlives his wife, and goes crazy. And he kidnaps a child due to insanity. 

Cactus von Garlic has killed many vampires. But not all vampires in Poptropica are evil (if Haunted House is any indication). 

Twisted Thicket Island  

The forest creatures turning into stone. I'm not 100% sure if they're still alive in there or not...

Poptropolis Games Island

The island sinks back into the ocean, with people still on it. Some of the ancient islanders are waterlogged (but still alive, for some reason).

Lunar Colony Island (Book)

The PASE workers are oddly sociopathic to Glen John's situation, only caring about Glen helping them. Glen is 13 btw.

Super Villain Island  

Zeus almost winning. He blew up the world for no reason. Also, there's something really scary about the way he blew up his own island.

Zomberry Island  

Zombie apocalypse. 

Virus Hunter Island  

A pandemic almost happened. 

Monster Carnival Island 

Ringmaster Raven's backstory: Pretty messed up. 

Edgar is an orphan who ran away and joined the carnival. He put a lot of trust in the Ringmaster and seemed pretty happy… and then the Ringmaster hypnotizes him and uses him for his scheme. Pretty messed up. 

Survival Island 

Myron Van Buren. Enough said.

Mission Atlantis Island 

The alien was trapped underwater for years and died.

PoptropiCon Island  

Omegon taking over the convention center, and turning the people into Hench-Bots.

Arabian Nights Island 

Scheherazade attempted to steal the player's soul… what the heck.

Graphic Novels

The kids almost died… several times. (A Saber tooth tiger and polar bear almost maul them, they almost fall to their deaths, they almost freeze to death, they are almost stabbed to death by Lieutenant Rogers, they almost got erased from history on the Ancient Egypt Island, they almost burned alive in a volcano eruption, etc)

The ancient Egyptians are erased from one timeline, and a bunch of people on earth died... and it's unknown if they were brought back, or what.

When Spencer Albright is murdered, Jonas is so overcome with grief that he completely loses it and becomes murderous like Octavian. Jonas is 18-20 btw.

The backstories for the main characters (Octavian is forced to let Paulla die, Mya's mom abruptly dies and she goes through depression, Oliver’s dad walks out on the family).

Octavian's fate at the end is this: he accidentally jumped through the portal before the universe he wanted to go to fully formed. Because of this, he jumped into the in-between point of universes, and was split into an infinite amount of versions of himself. Sounds complicated, but is incredibly messed up.

Mya was seriously considering leaving her own timeline, even though she would be leaving her family and friends behind. Whether or not she knew this is unknown, but if she did... kinda messed up.

And… that's it. No more dark things that stick out to me after that. Probably because after this, they fired the writer who was responsible for most of the dark undertones in the franchise. OOPS!!! >:(

I think the darkest stuff comes from Monster Carnival, Survival, and the graphic novels.