The short post-mortem of EVN Chronicles + new content on Fuwanovel

EVN Chronicles is in many ways a huge source of pride for me – a project that I was able to keep running for more than two years, producing an impressive library of content. I've learned a lot about VNs and about writing while working on it, trading the early passion for talking about the medium I've then recently fell in love with for decent amounts of knowledge and somewhat-justified confidence in my work. While my burnout effectively put a stop to me using that in any meaningful way for many months, I never doubted that my hiatus for writing won't be permanent, even if the hiatus of the blog itself is.

So, this is enough rambling, I'll get to the point. Staying in this weird position of ex-blogger that doesn't do anything useful wasn't exactly inspiring or comfortable, so I want to close this chapter officially. EVN Chronicles as a project is over. I will continue the Steam Curator, as it is something I just organically do while reading VNs on Steam, but other than that, the blog won't receive any new updates.

That doesn't mean I gave up on writing. From now on, any projects and reviews that I find interesting enough to work on will find their way to the Fuwanovel frontpage. The newest piece of content I've published there is an interview with one of my favourite upstart VN devs, PunishedHag, but I hope to throw game jam coverage and an occasional review to the mix. It won't be very frequent, but I want every post I put there to feel worthwhile. Fuwa is a very dear place to me and at this point, I feel it's way more meaningful to apply myself there than to struggle to keep this personal project alive. I'll post about everything I post there on Twitter, so if you want to know about my future projects, please consider following me there. 

Once more, thank you all for following this blog and, hopefully, see you on Fuwanovel!

EVN Developer Spotlight: ds-sans (interview)

This interview was originally published on Fuwanovel Forums on May 4th 2018.

In March I've brought you two interviews with notable yuri and otome OELVN developers, talking with Nami and Reine Works' founder, Jackie M. Today, however, we're venturing into the world of very, very traditional romance (with equally high levels of cuteness), as my guest is ds-sans, the author of a lovely freeware VN Sounds of Her Love (be sure to check my review of that game) and the upcoming commercial title Chemically Bonded. I encourage you to join us as we discuss the place of all-ages romance in the VN scene, the role of voice acting in OELVNs and more.

Plk_Lesiak: Welcome and thank you for accepting my invitation! While many people in the VN community might recognize your nick, they probably don’t know much beyond that. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

 

ds-sans: I wouldn't really say that I'm that interesting. I'm currently an undergraduate student at university in the UK studying geography, with an interest in anime and related media in my spare time. (Although, that's died down in recent years.) If I were to describe my current background, it'd be fairly cliché, just like the stories of my VNs. I started developing VNs in 2015, while I was 16, but really showed an interest in January 2014. I didn't make it that far though and only really came back to it to prove that I could do something if I tried.

 

PL: Sooo... Where did the "ds-sans" label come from?

 

ds: In all honesty, I don't think the name really means anything. From what I remember, I think I honestly scrambled a few letters together from a car's registration plate, but this was a good 4 years ago. To clarify though, it has nothing to do with Japanese honorifics at least. I'd only started getting into anime a few months prior and still had no clue as to their usage.

The story itself isn't that special, but the name stuck and at this point, I feel that it's too late to change it.

 

PL: You create rather tame, cute romances in a market that seem to reward ecchi and h-content over anything else. Why this formula?

 

ds: Pure romance novels have always been very diverse in the EVN industry, in my opinion. From what I've personally seen, many of the tamer romance titles are either a lot more Western in style or are low-scale non-commercial in nature and target a different audience. As far as I'm aware, there are relatively few commercial B x G titles with no 18+ content which take significant influence from Japanese VNs.
 

Reading Clannad was really influential in my decision to focus on cute romance stories as I wanted to emphasize emotional connections between people over physical. If I were to add scenes like that into the stories, they'd need to supplement that motive as opposed to attracting more sales or getting people off. Katawa Shoujo is a good example of a VN which does h-scenes in this way. It's the formula which my inspiration is driven from, but it's not as if I'm not open to expanding into different genres for different audiences in the future.

Lost Impressions

 

PL: Your first VN, Lost Impressions, used some pretty heavy themes and drastic plot developments. What inspired that project and what do you think about it today? 

 

ds: Lost Impressions is definitely the 'black sheep' of my VNs, but I feel that's because it was the first. At that point, I didn't really have much of an idea as to what I was doing and a lot of the inspiration came from the early animes I was watching. A fusion between the cutesy romance shows and series such as Higurashi and Mirai Nikki. I just wanted to get something out there.
 

I can't say whether I hate it or love it, really, it just sticks there in my past as an obscure title. There are definitely parts of it I think could be better conveyed, looking back. It's something I'd like to do one day. 36,000 words wasn't nearly enough for what I was trying to convey, especially when it's split between three routes. The development process too is just as confusing as the plot itself. Most of the resources that were original to the game were sourced through work/art trades or volunteer work. A lot of that depended on just sticking with what was done, which is why there's about 5 different art styles. Still, I'd never say that I regret making it.

 

PL: You consistently use Japan as the setting for your VNs. Why set a Western-made game – and a one with English voice acting on top of that – in Japan?

 

ds: One of the main reasons I take Japan as the setting for the stories comes down to the freeware nature of my first two VNs. Finding backgrounds for the games which would fit into a global range of scenarios was a challenging task at the time, with many having Japanese itself somewhere visible in the image. It's not something I minded, since at the time it aligned with my anime interests, but now that I'm starting out in the commercial market, getting custom assets is a lot easier. Even though everything in Chemically Bonded is unique, I still felt that setting the story in Japan would be appropriate to get the interest of my target audience. Writing stories set there accurately is the biggest problem about it though, which is why with Sounds of Her Love I took the approach of setting the story in an international school to avoid cultural discrepancies.
 

With the voice acting, it really comes down to my reasoning behind having it in the games in the first place.

 

PL: Staying on that topic then, you're one of the relatively few OELVN developers who seem to consistently rely on voice acting. What's your rationale behind including VA in your projects?

 

ds: Hiring voice actors is honestly one of the most ignored gems of making a visual novel, at least for projects with an emphasis on the story. Having an idea of how a character might sound or react in your head is one thing, but guaranteeing that each reader will think the same is another. It's one thing to add a s-s-stutter to the dialogue, but hearing the nervousness and embarrassment in a VAs voice really sells the emotions and feelings of a character and adds to the situation.
 

It's also easier to add personality to the characters too. In Chemically Bonded, Kiyoko is a lot more upbeat and cute whereas Naomi is blunt and insulting. Writing the lines for that is easy enough, but connecting a voice to them that suits the characters I feel allows readers to really grasp their personalities quicker than with just plain text. With voice acting, selling the scene is a lot easier and really helps to convey the story to the reader. You also get to work with really great people too, which is always wonderful to be able to do as it not just builds a community of players around the VN but a community of different people working on the project (in a way, a temporary studio of freelancers?).
 

I don't think Sounds of Her Love or Chemically Bonded would have done as well as they might without the use of voice acting in them.

Chemically Bonded

 

PL: How would you describe your experience with implementing VA in a larger project such as Chemically Bonded? Have you struggled with any aspect of it?

 

ds: There haven't really been any major problems in having VA in Chemically Bonded so far. You have to account for the rate of people's work and your own ability to describe clearly how each character should sound. Most of the struggles just come from implementing that many lines into the game, especially when there's an increased focus on the conversation between the characters. Ensuring that each line is clear too is another minor thing. It's not something that usually happens, but it's always something you have to consider when having VA in a project. So far, working with the voice actresses in the project has been a wonderful experience.

 

PL: Sounds of Her Love, your second freeware game, had pretty high production quality and gathered quite a lot of attention. Did you make it with the switch to commercial VN projects in mind?

 

ds: Sounds of Her Love was really intended to be my last project at the time of starting development. After releasing Lost Impressions, I felt the need to produce something of a higher quality before really giving up on producing VNs. I never really intended to go commercial until after SoHL was released, since I didn't expect it to get that much attention.

The budget for the entire project was around $300, allowing me some leeway with hiring artists with the style I was after (the sprite artist for SoHL now working with us on Chemically Bonded as both the sprite and CG artist). The real reason I decided upon producing a commercial VN was after working for DEVGRU-P on their game Stay Stay DPRK and using the funds from their payment to invest into a Kickstarter campaign.

 

PL: Speaking of DEVGRU-P, they act as a publisher for both SoHL and Chemically Bonded and you seem to have a close relationship with them – in the era where self-publishing on Steam and other platforms is an easily accessible option for VN creators, do you think there's any major benefit to such cooperation?

 

ds: Publishing is probably one of the harder aspects of developing a commercial title. I wouldn't call our relationship that 'close', since I've really have had complete independence in creating and managing my projects, but it really is 'ideal' for a developer-publisher relationship. They're really great to work with and have picked up a few other EVN groups which I believe them to help out considerably more with certain aspects.
 

The only real downside to having a publisher are some limitations with managing the sales and figures of the title. I have considered self-publishing, but right now having the support of a larger entity is a real benefit and I would recommend it for people starting out with commercial game development. I can't speak for all publishers, but working with a group with an ability to provide support and additional marketing truly helps.

 

PL: Coming back to Chemically Bonded. Even though you reached the first stretch goal, your Kickstarter was a pretty close call, being funded less than 48 hours before the deadline – did it teach you anything about crowdfunding and would you do anything differently when attempting another campaign?

 

ds: Social media and the importance of reaching out and spreading awareness was definitely something I took out of running Chemically Bonded's Kickstarter campaign. The work doesn't end after you launch, a lot of effort had to be put into marketing the campaign, you can't just rely on the hope that people will come across it through Kickstarter itself. Twitter was one of our biggest platforms for spreading awareness, but it reached a point where it stopped being useful in gathering interest. Contacting game/anime/VN journalism outlets was a key help in getting us past the funding goal. 
 

One real regret is not releasing a demo for the project to go alongside the campaign. At that point, there weren't enough assets to really create one and even then I was against the idea, but having gone through most of the latter half of the campaign with the assumption that it'd fail to meet the goal, I changed my mind about the idea. I think it'd definitely help when crowdfunding another title.

Sounds of Her Love

 

PL: For those who know your style of storytelling from SoHL, should they expect a very similar experience from your new game or is there something that might surprise them?

 

ds: People can hope to expect something similar in execution, but with Chemically Bonded a lot of the key parts have been done differently, which should hopefully surprise people and prove to be more enjoyable than what SoHL was. Looking back on it, there were plenty of issues with the story and the way it was written. I wanted to address these within Chemically Bonded as I didn't feel that they'd work out in a longer VN whereas they seemed to work given SoHL's short nature. Having two love interests too really changes the way the story has to be written, at least to include both girls into the main story without keeping their routes entirely separate.
 

Chemically Bonded is a lot more grounded in reality, I've tried to make the events that happen a lot more likely than what occurred in SoHL and Lost Impressions. There are no car accidents or tragic backstories, the romance isn't cliched as hell and the characters are a lot deeper than my previous works. The choices are a more vague too, rather than being predictable, so the routes and endings achieved should hopefully reflect the reader's instincts. I could go into a lot more detail, but to summarise I'd say people can expect a rather captivating romantic story like SoHL had, but will give people a chance to connect with more fledged characters and themes. That and the production quality is a lot better now we have the funding to do it, so, all in all, I think people who liked SoHL will appreciate Chemically Bonded much more. The story doesn't just end after a confession either, so I think people will appreciate that too.

 

PL: Assuming that Chemically Bonded meets your expectations when it goes to sales and general reception, do you have any specific plans for future VN projects?

 

ds: If it does, I'd like to continue making VNs at some point. I don't have any specific plans yet, and I feel like I'd need the time to really recoup interest in developing another project. I've always had on and off ideas for future VNs throughout developing all three, but when it comes down to creating something new I usually come up with a fresh idea and discard the old.
 

For a while, I promised a full sequel to Sounds of Her Love, and I did create plans for it, but I don't feel the need to rush into it after Chemically Bonded releases. I'd hope to branch out into different story genres, but even then I'd find it hard to escape producing romantic stories since that's what I've really become accustomed to at this point. Who knows? I might try developing two at once and see how that goes, or I might leave it at Chemically Bonded. I know for a fact that I won't be producing a sequel to it though. At the moment I stick to what I like to work on, which I think is what people should really follow when making any kind of creative project, not what the market expects.

 

PL: Thank you for your time!

 

 

I hope you all enjoyed the interview – it was definitely the most detail-heavy one so far and I've had some great time working on it. As always, all feedback will be highly appreciated. What more would you want to know about the devs I invite here? Are there any specific ones whose thoughts on certain topics you would like to hear? Let me know what you think and, once again, have a great weekend!

EVN Developer Spotlight: Reine Works (interview)

This interview was originally published on Fuwanovel Forums on March 16th 2018.

 

For the last few months, I’ve published reviews and top lists, presenting worthwhile or interesting OELVNs that usually have little presence on Fuwa and don’t get discussed as much as they deserve. From the very beginning, however, my goal was to focus not only on the games themselves, but also the people behind them – the independent creators and small studios that make the core of the Western VN market. Today, I present you with the first “Developer Spotlight” post, where I’ll be talking to Jackie M., the founder of Reine Works, authors of multiple yuri and otome VNs and the studio behind the recently-published otome title Seven Districts of Sin: The Tail The Makes the Fox, about the game’s somewhat-turbulent release and the realities of today’s OELVN market. Be sure to check out my review of the game first, where I also touch on its unusual appearance on Steam.

 

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Plk Lesiak: Hello and thank you for agreeing to this interview! Let’s start with your latest VN. It’s pretty rare for me to be the first person to rate a game on VNDB, especially four months after its release. What happened to The Tail Makes the Fox that it went so much below the radar of the VN community?

 

Jackie M.: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there are nearly as many users on VNDB who rate otome games, as compared to anything that could be construed as aimed at men. I took a quick look at some other developers' titles out of curiosity, and it seems that female-aimed titles in general tend to have very few votes. Funnily enough, I can confirm that we do get sales referrals from VNDB. We've had a few of them.

 

PL: For a few months, your VN was only available on Itch.io, a platform usually associated with free games. Regardless of other plans, what was your experience of trying to sell your title there?

 

JM: Itch.io isn't really a storefront where a developer can make a profit unless the game in question is very low budget, nor should they particularly expect to, what with the smaller userbase. From when pre-orders opened before release till today, itch.io sales have only amounted to roughly 1/4 of the game's development cost.
 

That said, we do like it, because it isn't subject to a lot of the restrictions that similar shops are, and transferring earned funds out is also much quicker than anywhere else that I'm aware of. We just wouldn't recommend that anyone only ever sell their games there.

Blossoms Bloom Brightest

 

PL:  Steam, to which your game made it only recently, is a pretty inclusive platform nowadays. Why the 4-month gap between The Tail Makes the Fox showing up on Itch.io and its Steam release?

 

JM: I could do a huge write-up on this, but to keep things short, we didn't previously have a publishing deal for Steam beforehand. Such agreements do take some time to sort out.
 

In fact, we never actually heard back from the first publisher that we contacted, even though they said they'd review the game and get back to us, all the way back in October. We waited for them for a while and then reviewed our other options and decided to contact another publisher, rather than wait any longer for them.

 

PL: What’s your experience with Steam as a marketplace for VN? Even within the OELVN niche, it feels pretty saturated lately.

 

JM: If you're asking for my general opinion on releases by anyone/everyone, then yes, I agree. In February alone, I noticed that around 5? Other new otome games popped up within days of The Tail Makes the Fox releasing.
 

Since this is only our first full commercial title on Steam, I unfortunately can't comment on general sales trends. We've been told by other developers that all game sales have decreased dramatically from when there was Greenlight, though.

 

PL: Let’s talk about the game itself. One of the ways in which it stands out from most OELVNs is the voice acting. Few western studios decide to risk such an investment – what was your rationale behind including full voiceover and how much it affected the development process when compared to your “silent” titles?

 

JM: Honestly, we're a small studio, and we like to make games we personally enjoy. Voice acting is just one of those things for us. It's that extra something that brings stories to life. In the past, we'd experimented with partial voicing (to mixed reception), and we knew we definitely wanted to try full voicing at least once, too.
 

As for how it affected development – it made it longer overall in an annoying way [laughter]. I do a lot of the development footwork myself, so I was also the one who had to cut the hours-worth of voice reels into individual clips, master them, and then edit them if necessary. I didn't get much sleep in the weeks leading up to release. There was also the trouble of having to recast one role literal days before release.
 

I don't think I'd recommend it to the faint of heart. And if/when we do it again, it'll only be for short titles.

The Seven Districts of Sin: The Tail Makes the Fox

 

PL: Still, one thing that was clear from your posts about the continuation of The Tail Makes the Fox is that it will be significantly larger in scale. Will it follow the same formula, when it goes to voice-acting and the variety of art assets?

 

JM: For the most part, yes. We actually had the artwork for Episode 1 finished well before release, so we don't expect that to be an issue this time, either. As I've mentioned elsewhere, however, we're considering releasing an unvoiced edition first to ensure that we can get everything done in time.

 

PL: Have you ever considered cancelling the further episodes, considering the rather slow momentum of the first game?

 

JM: No. If I may be so blunt, that would be a dick move on our part. It seems to happen a lot with OELVN developers, I've noticed, but we don't plan to end up in that group. Heck, we've had Episode 2 in development since November.

 

PL: About the general ideas behind your work. While otomege are a huge part of the OELVN market, they are also pretty distinct from their Japanese sources, ex. in how they present female characters. What are your thoughts on JP otome VNs and you would name any of them as inspiration for your own projects?

 

JM: Yes, definitely. I personally enjoy JP otome games a lot. As long as the translation isn't Engrish, I'll buy it, even if the premise isn't my cup of tea. They aren't exactly the kinds of games you go into expecting strong female leads or anything, but I do generally find their ways of storytelling very interesting.
 

We actually didn't have a specific inspiration for The Tail Makes the Fox. Gaki, one of the characters in the game, is the embodiment of Ashe’s (the game's writer) and my hatred for the "flirt" archetype of love interest in Japanese otome games, though. We shoved all that hatred into him and decided to... Majorly play up those traits, as anyone who's played the game or demo will have noticed.
 

Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~ and The Wilting Amaranth are both based on Western fairy tales, and Blossoms Bloom Brightest is loosely based on a more Star Trek-like idea I had for a larger title. Our upcoming larger otome title, Mizari Loves Company, is sort of meant to be a Western take on JP-style otome games, but it's not actually based on anything specific. It actually started as a parody idea, similar to The Tail Makes the Fox.

 

PL: On your Itch.io profile, you write that you create games “aimed at women of all orientations” – yuri games, and otome with a high number of yuri routes are pretty commonly enjoyed by men. Do you know what kind of audience your games usually reach?

 

JM: If you mean our general audience, then it's pretty even in terms of gender, based on the information available to us. The games with male love interests always have more sales from women than men, though.

Reflections ~Dream and Reality~

 

PL: Do you think there’re any fundamental differences between Japanese yuri romances, targeted towards a male audience and the games you make for the Yuri Game Jam or yuri routes in your otome titles?

 

JM: For sure. The big one seems to be that Japanese yuri titles are very focused on the girls being young and overly pure and such (ex., SonoHana and even Kindred Spirits to an extent), as well as the popular titles almost strictly using moe-style artwork. This also applies to yuri-themed manga and anime, in my experience, so it seems to be a very cultural thing, perhaps similar to how JP otome game protagonists are often very submissive.
 

As a Western WLW myself, I can honestly say that those sorts of yuri titles don't appeal to me. I'd like to see actual adults with adult relationships interact, all depicted in a more mature bishoujo style. Even better if they're formatted similar to otome and bishoujo games, with proper character routes. Perfect if they're set anywhere that isn't a school.
 

So, yeah, we're just trying to make games that appeal to our own sensibilities as Westerners. I personally think that's a pretty huge difference in itself.
 

Relevant tangent: Funnily enough, though, I've been accused of both being a man and pandering to dudes because we generally don't write our female characters as chaste or innocent.

 

PL: Can you say which titles these comments were connected to? Your games seem very tame in comparison to ecchi OELVNs popular on the western market, or even some Yuri Game Jam entries.

 

JM: The comments I mentioned were all referencing Blossoms Bloom Brightest and yes, the game itself is very tame and contains no sexual content or nudity. And it's always men who make these assumptions. I'm not really sure what that says about men's views of real life WLW, but there you go.

 

PL: Thank you for your time!

 

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I hope you've enjoyed the review! Please feel encouraged to check out Reine Works' page on Itch.io. Also, all feedback on the interview itself or the kind of questions you would like to see in the future will be hugely appreciated. Have a great week everyone!

NewWestGames's Visual Novels, Part 2 + Developer Interview

A while ago I’ve made a Shovelware Adventures episode about NewWestGames, a one-person studio from Canada creating primarily erotic yuri titles. For the first time since I’ve started doing my semi-serious (and borderline mockery) short reviews, I was actually approached by the developer and had an opportunity to discuss my criticism of their games, in a respectful and constructive manner, that was probably way more forgiving than the tone of my original post would warrant. After a brief exchange, I proposed to take this discussion public, giving Katie, the person behind the NewWestGames label, a chance to respond to my commentary on her work and talk a bit about the general ideas behind her VNs. I also decided it was a good moment to take a look at the NWG titles I haven’t reviewed before, completing my coverage of the studio’s catalogue and giving Katie the ability to comment on it in full. So, without further ado, I hope you’ll all enjoy my reviews and the conversation that comes after them!

Frequent Flyer: A Long Distance Love Story

Frequent Flyer, released on Steam in March 2018, went unnoticed by most EVN readers and received mixed reviews, mostly due to its simplistic visuals and a relatively brief, linear storyline. It is, however, arguably one of the most interesting NewWestGames titles, telling a story about a toxic relationship between two girls with some apparently autobiographical elements. The protagonist, Emi, is an average-looking girl, living in a large American city and working as a freelance journalist. Rejected by her family due to her sexual orientation, depressed because of her failed ambitions of becoming a writer and recovering from another failed relationship, she decides to go for a trip to Scotland, hoping that a change of scenery and an opportunity to meet a close online friend can invigorate her. There, while watching an evening stand-up comedy show at a local bar, she meets Isobel, a gorgeous and charismatic young Scotswoman. The two quickly forms a connection, leading to an affair that first restores Emi’s happiness and then crushes it in the most disturbing ways.

            Those that experienced a toxic relationship with a mentally-unstable person themselves or know stories of such couples, will find many elements in Frequent Flyer familiar – all the lies, manipulation and emotional blackmail involved, along with Emi’s reactions to more and more obvious betrayal from the person she loves, are portrayed in a believable and properly heart-wrenching manner. The minimalistic & inconsistent presentation might take away from the overall impact of the story, and many of the events are pretty easy to predict, at times making the whole experience feel a bit like a PSA, rather than a “proper” piece of fiction. Still, it is a game with an important story to tell and an underlying message that is worth hearing out, and despite all the gripes I had with its execution, I couldn’t help but appreciate it.

Final Score: Recommended

Short Series: Catgirl Highschool & Santa’s Bedroom

The only two “monthly games” created for NewWestGames’ Patreon supporters, these VNs are both short yuri nukige, with only a bare minimum of context attached to the h-scenes. Catgirl Highschool involves an attractive math teacher motivating her student (both are, obviously, catgirls, although not for any specific reason) in a highly unprofessional manner during individual tutoring. What most likely sets it apart from most other creepy teacher-romance fantasies, is that her advances are actually a didactic method of sorts, even if the constant stripping, teasing and promises of sexual rewards could only be successful in the game’s fictional universe – or at least, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to focus on any math problem while being sexually harassed by my tutor.

            Santa’s Bedroom, on the other hand, features a slightly less disturbing scenario, in which two of the Santa’s elves have a little get-together in their employer’s bed. It gets to the point much quicker than the previous title and spices things up with the power of friendship futa. Regardless of the plot details, both games are ultimately extremely brief and, sadly enough, not particularly pretty – just like the NWG’s older nukige Densha Girl, there’s really little reason to choose them over many high-quality nukige available in English nowadays, quite often dirt cheap.

Final Score: Not Recommended

Main Character Simulation

While the Main Character Simulator’s title kept me confused since I’ve first heard about it (I mean, that’s just another way of saying “a game”, isn’t it?), I was mostly expecting it to be some kind of meta-game with a lot of fourth-wall-breaking humour. What I’ve found, however, was a rather standard, het eroge VN (notably, the first one of this kind in NewWestGames’ catalogue), spiced up mostly by some “witty” inner monologues and comments from the protagonist. For the most part, stays focused on a brief, silly storyline about three teenagers finding a piece of alien technology and being chased around by its extraterrestrial owners, while also delivering a decent amount of very vanilla, nicely-drawn hentai scenes. Somewhat disappointingly, it’s even highly linear, up until very late into the game, when it split into three different romance endings (with two h-scenes for each of them). Thankfully it never gets tedious thanks to its relatively short length and the focus on reasonably funny gags.

            If I have to point to something interesting about Main Character Simulator, it’d probably be unusual body types of some of the heroines – from my perspective, the slightly overweight Kiyoko and muscular Erodani were highly-welcomed pieces of visual variety in the usually very stale world of erotic EVNs. The game also includes some amusing pieces of partial voice acting, including a major character voiced by the VN-focused YouTuber Bosskwar – a person I’ve spent watching more than any other VN let’s player and I have to admit it was highly amusing to hear him in this role. Other than that, the game was simply… Fine, never surprising me the way I hoped it to do, but also not being a bad experience in any major way. And for the low price of $5, it should be a relatively safe buy for any eroge fan ut theere (and especially so when on sale). 

Final Score: Recommended

Starship XO

Starship XO is a game I covered briefly in my Yuri Game Jam 2018 overview and which I still consider as one of the strongest entries in last year’s event. While this story of a team of misfits being assigned a wreck-of-a-warship and sent to their deaths on the frontlines of a galactic war suffers from serious pacing issues, it’s genuinely fun to read and ultimately satisfying. Above everything else, this is the case because of the rather unique, appealing character art and the colourful personalities of the vast.

            The game advances its plot at a neck-breaking speed, leading the 5-person team (including the protagonist and three romanceable heroines) from one near-hopeless battle to another and concluding after 2-3 hours (in a slightly overly-optimistic manner). The backstories of the crew and interactions between them are interesting and despite the short script, all of the girls end up having a lot of personality and charm, while also being believably flawed and troubled by their hopeless position. The plot explores LGBT+ issues a lot, both in the brief romantic arcs and the overarching plot, but also makes very decent use of its space-war setting and shows the crew banding together to win despite the overwhelming odds. While it could be easy to criticise for its narrative shortcuts and over-the-top victories of the crew, as a free game, it’s really just pleasant enough to justify its existance. The minor technical issues, like the distracting UI animations and occasional slow-downs, are slightly irritating at first, but can’t ever nullify the overall enjoyment factor of Starship XO – if you’re not afraid of queer characters and VNs explicitly discussing minority issues (without overdoing it), this one is really worth checking out.

Final Score: Recommended

And this concludes my coverage, for the time being, with literally every currently available NewWestGames title included. Approaching the latest games under the NWG label was quite an interesting experience, different from reading through and writing about the earlier ones, as most of these recent projects were to some extent experimental, escaping the formula of typical yuri eroge. They offered interesting ideas and often included important messages, even if their production quality was still inconsistent. While to be perfectly honest, after first encountering Katie’s work in the form of Sweet Volley High I was completely put off by it, now I’m genuinely interested in what the future VN’s of hers will look like. And as we’ve got all this out of the way, I encourage you to check the interview I’ve done with Katie, talking about her games, inspirations and the future of the NewWestGames label.

Plk_Lesiak: Welcome and thank you for agreeing to this interview! Before we get to our main topic, would you like to say hello to our readers and tell a bit about yourself?

Katie: Hello, I'm Katie. I'm 33, live in Canada and I'm the owner of NewWestGames. Definitely a Jill of all trades, master of none sort of woman, I've done little bits of everything on the games I've produced, to varying degrees and varying results!

PL: You saw both the Shovelware Adventures episode and my coverage of your more-recent games. Are there things in my articles that you would like to address directly?

K: I did indeed read your articles, and I enjoyed your in-depth looks. Though I'm not sure there's anything specific to respond to in the articles (without writing 10,000 words) I'd like to state that my journey in game development has been one of learning.

Sometimes, in games like Sweet Volley High, for example, hindsight has shown that although I was on the right track with the concept, some of the characterization, the overall shock value and plotlines, the execution fell short in many ways, as you quite rightfully pointed out. I just hope people can still enjoy these stories, despite the flaws.

PL: Before, before we talk about specific projects of yours, let’s tackle VNs in general. What motivated you to work on creating your own visual novel?

K: I think I wanted to create more specific experiences. The human race is a diverse group, and I wanted to make experiences that were more relatable to people, where they could really see themselves in the characters, or get into relationships with the sort of people they are attracted to. It's an ongoing journey, and I plan for even more inclusion in the future.

PL: Are there any yuri titles or creators you’d consider major inspiration for your games?

K: As far as inspiration goes, I've played VNs for years, from the old classics like Season of Sakura, to more modern titles. Though I love Kindred Spirits on the Roof, Saya no Uta, the Grisaia games, and more, one of my biggest influences is actually Love Plus on the DS. More a dating sim than a VN in the first half, it really gets you connected to your date of choice, going not just through the introductory flirting, but through the real relationship part too. It was that part I really connected with.

A Wild Catgirl Appears!

PL: Are you reading many VNs nowadays? Are they more often Japanese titles, or EVNs?

K: I try and read when I have time. It's probably a fair share of both JVN and EVN, just to keep a good mix of things. I'm currently reading Cursed Sight by InvertMouse and I'm enjoying it so far!

PL: And to the main topic! Your debut title, A Wild Catgirl Appears, was a rather controversial one. What kind of feedback did you receive when it first came out and what do you think about that project today?

K: AWCA was originally designed as a side project to a game I was developing at the time, Impulse!. The game was a nightmare at launch, making the front page of Steam, but ultimately being horrible. It was a huge lesson for me. I ended up remaking the game entirely, and even have plans to completely remaster it, alongside some other exciting stuff. For all of its faults, of which there are many, people still really connect with some of the characters, and that gives me a lot of hope for the future.

PL: AWCA was also your first Yuri Game Jam entry. Were you aiming for the event from the beginning and what motivated you to participate in the Jam in later years? 

K: Yes, it was definitely planned as a Yuri Jam game. Though Impulse! was in development, it was an exciting event (in its first year, if I remember rightly) and I was really happy to make something for it! I did take time off from participating after that, but Starship XO was my way of showing improvement to the community and providing a fun story for people to read through for free, while highlighting the wonderful artists who'd helped work on it. I think the jam is a great way for creators to get noticed, and I know others have seen a lot of success from participating.

PL: As you've mentioned Impulse! twice already, while I was trying to complete your catalogue before this interview, I’ve noticed that this particular title became pretty much impossible to find, despite originally being a freeware release. What happened?

K: Impulse!, now there's a game. Originally released on Steam for $15, it was a 4-ish hour VN featuring full voice acting, a boatload of CGs, animated character sprites and more. It was a murder mystery surrounding an indie rock band, who had to find their own justice and work out why their friends were dying. Sounds great, right?

 

There were huge issues, however, from extremely inconsistent voice acting, a buggy engine (which plagued Catgirl, too), to poor plot pacing, bad writing and foreshadowing, some inconsistency with art – just real structural issues. I eventually took the step of withdrawing the game from sale. I do plan to re-use some of the characters one day, as I still really love the designs.

Impulse!

PL: After this project came games such as Sweet Volley High and probably your most highest rated VN, Ecchi Sketch, but it’s pretty safe to say most of them received mixed receptions. Is there a project of yours that you are especially fond of, or one you’d clearly consider your best work so far?

K: Mixed receptions is a good way to put it. Both games had their flaws, but many positives as well. Though some pacing issues existed in Sweet Volley High, I really liked the overall story, but I could've perhaps done a better job with how I marketed the game, where the plot twists left a bitter taste for some who were maybe expecting a happier adventure. But Ecchi Sketch is something I'm proud of. Again, not perfect, but it's nice to see that people really did enjoy the game. Definitely the most proud of that one.

PL: You focused exclusively on yuri in the past, but lately made a shot at creating het eroge with Main Character Simulator. What was your experience when working on this title and are you planning on approaching other genres in the future?

K: I wondered whether it would be worth trying a light-hearted, more nukige-aligned title for straight people, but giving them an option in terms of dateable characters. Kiyoko, in particular, was designed to feature the sort of women that aren't typically seen in VNs, and she received good feedback overall. Though I think the end product turned out okay, I felt my passion for the project wane throughout development. It ended up being a rather different story from what was imagined (which was actually inspired by a viewer of Bosskwar and the Weebathon in one of his Twitch streams, who eventually lent his voice to the game).

I certainly will be sticking to what I know in the future – games aimed at a female market.

PL: When you say "games aimed at female market", what does that mean to you? After all, yuri VNs, especially erotic ones, are also commonly enjoyed by men. 

K: So, if men can get something out of my games, awesome, I'm glad. When I say aimed at a female market, I mean relying less on the tropes that most yuri games seem to rely on – unrealistic depictions of sex between women, schoolgirls, cliched romance - and instead adopt things I know women are looking for in their stories, namely more contemporary settings, more realistic and adult characters, and sex scenes that line up with their expectations.

I could talk about this particular topic all day, but I know there's an audience out there for this type of content. When I get the formula and the experience right, I know I'll find success there. Until then, I'll continue improving my craft.

Queerly Just Friends

PL: In my initial review of Sweet Volley High, I made a wrong assumption that the story was written by a guy and attributed much of the protagonist’s characterisation to that fact. I’ve later seen similar opinions from female reviewers, notably in Lady Storyteller’s review of AWCA. Do you think there’s something in your writing style that could prompt these kinds of reactions?

K: I think my writing on AWCA was rather inexperienced – it was my first time writing a game after all. I've had no formal writing training, my training has been writing scripts for games. I think I often struggled with conveying the voice of my characters, which may have made them come across differently than intended. I think as time has gone on, this aspect of my writing has improved dramatically, through practice and training.

PL: You’re now working on Queerly Just Friends, which seems like one of your most ambitious projects to date. Can you tell us a bit about it?

K: I sure can! Queerly Just Friends is a story very loosely based on some real-life experiences of my self and others. It's about the blurred lines that can occur when you consider a sort of 'friends with benefits' relationship, and what happens when one of the people involved catches feelings. It also explores what happens with relationship dynamics in a close-knit social group. The game will be featuring animated characters, full voice-overs, gorgeous hand-drawn art and some interactive, online connected elements too. I'm taking my time with it, and it won't be released until it's perfect, even if it takes me another year!

PL: Is there anything you would like to tell our readers before we wrap up?

K: To those who have played my games, thank you. You enabled me to do what I love. Through your feedback, you've encouraged me to improve. To people who haven't played them, I recommend either Sweet Volley High or Ecchi Sketch as a way to jump in. I'm still really proud of those games. And, thanks of course to you for inviting me to this little discussion, and encouraging me to improve as well!

PL: Thank you for your time!

Interview with ebi-hime (EVN Developer Spotlight)

For the last month, we were going through the impressive catalogue of free VNs by ebi-hime, one of the most celebrated creators within the Western VN scene. As a conclusion to this series, it’s my great pleasure to bring you a short interview with none other than ebi herself. During our conversation, I’ve focused on the dominating themes in ebi’s works and topics directly connected to the freeware titles I was reviewing lately – if you want a more general overview of her inspirations and questions connected to her other work, consider reading the interviews done in the past by The Yuri Nation and Sekai Project. Also, if you’re not familiar with ebi’s free VNs, check out my previous posts about them (Part 1; Part 2) – they should give you the context necessary to understand what we’re talking about in the more context-specific questions. So, here it comes – hope you’ll all enjoy it!

Plk_Lesiak: Thank you for accepting my invitation! I don't think there are many Western VN fans who wouldn't be familiar with your work, but can you share something about the person behind the ebi-hime label?

 

ebi-hime: I’m ebi and I like cute things, maids, and magical girl anime... And that’s about it! Honestly, I’m not very interesting.

 

PL: As you talked about your inspirations and interests in other interviews, I would like to focus on the dominant themes in your games. You're one of the few EVN authors that frequently set their stories in the West. Do you have a favourite setting to write about?

 

ebi: I think England is probably my favourite setting to write about, because it’s the country I live in and I’m reasonably familiar with it (though I don’t know everything about England, of course). It’s easier to place my characters in a setting I know relatively well, as I don’t have to do as much research, and the end result feels more ‘authentic’.

 

I also like setting stories in Japan because I got into VNs through reading a lot of Japanese VNs which were (what a surprise!) set in Japan. I also watch a lot of anime, and I went through a period where I exclusively read Japanese crime fiction, so I’m fond of Japanese settings! If I don’t feel like setting my stories in England or Japan, I’ll usually pick a European country I’m somewhat familiar with, like France or Italy.

 

PL: Much of your work is yuri-themed, including some unusual setups for f/f romance. How did Samuel Taylor Coleridge become a woman?

 

ebi: I love Romantic poets (especially Coleridge) a lot, and I really, really, really wanted to write a VN featuring him as a character, but dropping a real, historical figure into a fictional story felt kind of weird. Changing him into a cute girl made him feel distant enough from the real person that I could write about him without feeling too awkward.

 

Turning male historical figures into cute girls is also pretty popular in VNs, so I thought I might as well! Girls are cute! Although I think the real Coleridge you can see in his personal letters/diary entries is cuter than Samantha…

 

PL: Girls are cute indeed, but especially in Asphyxia, you ended up creating a really “heavy” story with a very cute exterior. Was this contrast something deliberate?

 

ebi: I wanted a very soft, almost doll-like art style for Asphyxia because I thought it would complement the mannered, flowery writing style. The character designs themselves are quite cute, but I think they’re drawn in a style that’s enough of a departure from a more traditional ‘anime’ style that most people would realise Asphyxia is not a ‘moe’ VN based on the screenshots?

 

I wasn’t trying to use the art to trick anybody, or make the story seem cuter than it is. I chose the art because I thought it enhanced the story’s gloomy atmosphere. 

Asphyxia
 

PL: Still, Yuri romance is also pretty commonly associated with something light-hearted and a bit saccharine, like Kiss for the Petals series for example. Were you worried about the reception of your early yuri titles, considering how much they deviated from this formula?

 

ebi: The first yuri story I ever read was the manga Gunjo, which is very grim and dark and lots of horrible things happen to all the characters, so maybe that’s where I drew some of my initial inspiration from.

 

Initially, I wasn’t worried about the reception Asphyxia might have because I didn’t intend to release it. I wrote it solely for myself, and I made the prose as pretentious and the content as depressing as I wanted because I figured nobody else would have to suffer through it. Then, I stumbled across SillySelly’s art, and I thought it would be so perfect for Asphyxia I decided to commission her. I still thought about keeping the story solely to myself, but I thought her art was so gorgeous it would be a shame not to release it and share it with people. My reasoning was, even if people hated the writing and the story, they would probably still like the art!

 

PL: Even beyond Dejection and Asphyxia, many of your protagonists are writers or poets. Do they reflect your personal passion for writing, or is there something else that draws you towards this archetype? Have you done much writing beyond visual novels?

 

ebi: The characters in Dejection and Asphyxia write poetry because they’re all based on poets. I’m pretty terrible at writing poetry myself, and I don’t like doing it. Moreover, my interest in the Romantic poets mostly stems, not from their actual poetry, but from their lives and their personalities, since they were all very melodramatic (apart from maybe Wordsworth) and they did a lot of ridiculous things.

 

I’ve written a few original characters who are authors (Blake from Where the Sun Always Shines and Eiji from Six Days of Snow are the best examples) because I like writing, so it’s a hobby I can understand and talk about somewhat credibly. Still, I try not to make all my protagonists writers, or even interested in literature, because I’m afraid it might get boring.

I used to write my own ‘original stories’ in my notebooks when I was about six or seven, and I wrote a lot of fanfiction between the ages of 12-18, so I did a bunch of writing before I got into VNs. Unfortunately, most of my old writing is awful, so I’m not going to share it!

 

PL: Another prevalent theme in your work seems to be depression and mental illness, with a culmination of sorts in Lynne and its gruesome portrayal of teenager's anxiety. What makes this topic attractive to you as a writer?

 

ebi: They’re interesting themes to write about, and I imagine a lot of people have experience with these issues, but perhaps don’t always feel comfortable talking about them? I’d like it if some people could read my stories and relate to some of the characters, and maybe feel a little bit less alone with their worries.

The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns
 

PL: And one more notable trope – ghosts and afterlife, including lovers, doomed in life, being reunited after death. It seems that most of the romances you write can only ever work out "on the other side", if at all…

 

ebi: I don’t think I agree with this. I’ve written a lot of sad/depressing stories, but I’ve also written several cheerful stories, too! Strawberry Vinegar and Blackberry Honey have happy endings! I also don’t view my romance stories where people die and reunite as ghosts as particularly ‘tragic’. Emmeline Burns and Windswept Night were both intended to have uplifting, optimistic endings, even if the characters suffer a bit to get there.

 

I know people can’t really come back from the dead to reunite with their loved ones, but that’s why writing scenes like that in stories is so satisfying. It’s nice giving couples in stories closure even after they’re dead, especially because it’s not possible in reality.

 

PL: Visual Novels are often a medium of escapism and wish fulfilment, quite akin to the trashy romance novels you sometimes ridicule in your writing. Yours... Rarely so. Do you ever feel like you should spoil your reader's a bit more, giving them more control and a chance for happier endings?

 

ebi: Well, I don’t know if the first statement about VNs is entirely true. There are lots of really, really good VNs there that aren’t all about escapism and wish fulfilment. The first VN introduced me to the medium was Umineko, which is pretty… not like that. And there are VNs which have fanservice and sex scenes that still tell interesting stories, like the Kara no Shoujo series. I don’t really think the stories I write are all that different from many existing JVNs, with the exception that I set a higher percentage of mine in Europe.

 

Though some of my characters poke fun at ‘trashy romance stories’, I have no real problems with them myself. Generally, I think people should be free to like whatever fictional media they like. I know there’s a scene in Empty Horizons where Lyon makes fun of Mireille for reading Totally-Not-Twilight-But-It’s-Actually-Twilight, but the scene concludes by saying there’s nothing inherently wrong with wish fulfilment stories if they’re not harming anybody and they make people happy.

 

Anyway, with a lot of my kinetic stories, I have a very clear idea of what I want to happen in the story and how I want the characters to act. If giving the reader choices gets in the way of the story I want to tell or the message I want to explore then I won’t include any.
 

Conversely, if experiencing multiple possible outcomes is the ‘point’ of the story, then I’m fine writing that too (like The Way We All Go). Really, it depends on what I think is best for the story I’m writing. Sometimes I think a story benefits from having multiple routes and different endings, and sometimes I don’t. And sometimes I think a story benefits from happy endings, and sometimes I don’t.

 

PL: One of your VNs I've personally enjoyed greatly, and which surprised me a lot was Lucky Me, Lucky You. Are we going to see other queer stories in a modern setting from you, or was it more of a one-time experiment?

 

ebi: Oh, I’m glad you liked it! I really enjoyed writing Nanami’s character – she was a lot of fun. Her ‘voice’ is also really different than most of my other main characters, since she’s more abrasive and assertive (but still kind of a sweetheart deep down).

 

Lately, I’ve been pretty fond of writing historical stories because I feel like I can get away with being more exaggerated and melodramatic with my vocabulary, but I want to write more modern stuff too! It’s fun to experiment with different styles.

Sweetest Monster
 

PL: In other interviews, you mentioned that you have many ideas for light-hearted, cute stories. Still, very few of them turned into actual games. Will there be more of those in the future?

 

ebi: Well, hopefully! I’m sitting on a bunch of scripts in various states of being finished right now, and some of these are very light-hearted and goofy. I’d love to make them all into VNs at some point (especially my very cute magical dog girl story, which is a full 26 episodes long!), but I don’t have enough time or money to develop too many things at once...

 

PL: A few months ago you wrote on Twitter that you'll most likely stop making freeware games, as they drain too much of your time and resources. If that really happens, should we hope for more frequent commercial releases from you?

 

ebi: I hope so, but I doubt it. Like I said, I’m sitting on a lot of scripts for unreleased projects in various states of completion. I’d like to release these more quickly, since I’m very fond of some of these stories and want to share them with people, but it’s not always possible. I’m not the only person involved in making my stories, and the production can sometimes get slowed down by various factors beyond my control.

 

It also doesn’t help that some of the scripts I’ve finished are quite long, have a lot of characters, and I haven’t started looking for artists or composers for these stories yet. I’d really like to release 3 commercial stories a year, but I doubt it will be possible this year. I’ll do my best, though! >_<

 

PL: Is there anything you would like to share about your current plans and the projects you're working on? Will we learn more about the yuri with bunnies in near future? ;)

ebi: Well, my latest VN, A Winter’s Daydream, will be releasing soon! It’s quite a light-hearted slice of life/comedy story set in Japan, that features an elderly grandmother being magically transformed into a cute girl. 

 

I was inspired to write this story after stumbling across the ‘grandmother x grandson incest’ tag on VNDB. I was surprised this tag existed, and I thought it was funny such a niche fetish featured in enough VNs to warrant a content tag in the first place. After looking through some of these VNs, I saw that the grandmother love interests looked rather young and good-looking for grandmothers, and I thought, ‘what if I wrote a story where a more traditional-looking grandmother transforms into one of these impossibly cute “anime” grandmothers overnight? How would her grandson react to that?!’ Some of my ideas are kind of weird, I guess. :I

 

In the end, A Winter’s Daydream ended up being a little more serious in tone than I originally intended, though it still has some goofy moments. I’m quite fond of it, and I hope other people enjoy it, too! (Sadly, while the grandmother character is the main heroine of the story, in the sense that she’s the female lead, she’s not a love interest. I hope this doesn’t disappoint anybody haha…)

 

As for the ‘yuri story with bunnies’ I mentioned on twitter a while back… I actually finished writing the first draft, but I’m not sure when/if I’ll release it. It’s quite a cute, fluffy story (I suppose it’s similar to Strawberry Vinegar in tone), but I have other scripts I’d rather work on before I get around to polishing this.

 

PL: Thank you for your time!

 

And this concludes my series on ebi-hime, for the time being. I want to give my utmost thanks to ebi herself, for putting up with the somewhat-prolonged process of preparing this interview and some of my purposefully-annoying questions. It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with her on this and I'm extremely happy that I can share her insights with all of you through this article. Obviously, this is not the last time her VNs are present on my blog - in two weeks, you'll see the first part of my Yuri Game Jam retrospective, which couldn't possibly be complete without mentioning Ebi's work. Also, I'll definitely work on covering more of her commercial titles in the future, both the old and the newly released ones. 
 

So, I hope you've enjoyed this content and will join me again in my adventures through the world of EVNs. Until the next Friday! :)