As someone lucky enough to have known of Taliyah from before the release of Ice Breaker, I have greatly enjoyed getting to know them in this new context! The flow of the story and the dialogue felt very natural, while still taking the topic of metal health and the effects it may have very seriously. I am a very big fan of the banter, and all the interactions between characters are really elevated by the design’s expressiveness. And i do love the art for its softness and for how pleasing to the eye it is. The aesthetic of the game is lovely and it fits Taliyah very well! Also, being able to bond with Taliyah through Miku is everything i’ve ever wanted, and i loved all the references (visual or vocal) to everybody’s favorite vocaloid<3
congratulations on making a demo for your first game! i thought the art was super charming and i adore your use of lighting in the cgs! the paper and coloured pencil aesthetic made everything feel really unique, like a storybook! the UI was also very cute
i found taliyah very charming. i loved their sense of humour, love of hatsune miku, and how honest they are about their mental illness.
i think the story was slightly weakened by anastasia's treatment, though. i kinda agree with her that it IS unfair that she's spent a week helping with rehearsals for a competition she's not even in. her one scene doesnt really establish that shes a bitch like everyone says she is, so everyone's treatment of her feels unwarranted?
anyways, i'm cheering for you and looking forward to where the game goes in the future! thank you for submitting this game to the jam!
First of all!! Thank you I actually tend to get very insecure about my art so this is so appreciated!! Second of all, I’m glad! I’ve been playing a lot interactive fiction game and VNs these past months and have found myself preferring games that give me more choices, especially to built the MC personality. Some choices will come back to the story (ex; how you started figure skating) and though it will get messy, I do enjoy giving these choices because it leads to loads of interesting text flavour and it will impact how the relationship with Taliyah will untangle in the story.
Such an interessing premise and love interest ! I’m gonna repeat what Zephyrean said but it’s such a refreshing take to have a dark skinned enby love interest described and loved with such gentleness ! Bravo on your first game !!!
My, my, I thouroughly enjoyed this demo. It touches upon a lot of very personal topics for me and it hit really close to home. Taliyah is a really unique character, and I adore the narrated descriptions about them. The deliberate choice to describe a fem-presenting nby black person with angelic, soft, gentle and warm vocabulary is a wonderful touch. Taliyah is an amazing LI that will easily stand out among the rest. 10/10.
Hi and oh my gosh thank you! I’m extremely happy to hear this because I really wanted to show that part of their personality through their description! Taliyah is a warm and gentle person so a lot of their descriptor came to me naturally as well. It’ll be shown in more detail later in the game how softly they love. Taliyah to me is the embodiment of those descriptors and it was a choice I handle with care as I still want to show the human part of them that won’t always be this way, mostly due of their depression.
Comments
As someone lucky enough to have known of Taliyah from before the release of Ice Breaker, I have greatly enjoyed getting to know them in this new context! The flow of the story and the dialogue felt very natural, while still taking the topic of metal health and the effects it may have very seriously. I am a very big fan of the banter, and all the interactions between characters are really elevated by the design’s expressiveness. And i do love the art for its softness and for how pleasing to the eye it is. The aesthetic of the game is lovely and it fits Taliyah very well! Also, being able to bond with Taliyah through Miku is everything i’ve ever wanted, and i loved all the references (visual or vocal) to everybody’s favorite vocaloid<3
congratulations on making a demo for your first game! i thought the art was super charming and i adore your use of lighting in the cgs! the paper and coloured pencil aesthetic made everything feel really unique, like a storybook! the UI was also very cute
i found taliyah very charming. i loved their sense of humour, love of hatsune miku, and how honest they are about their mental illness.
i think the story was slightly weakened by anastasia's treatment, though. i kinda agree with her that it IS unfair that she's spent a week helping with rehearsals for a competition she's not even in. her one scene doesnt really establish that shes a bitch like everyone says she is, so everyone's treatment of her feels unwarranted?
anyways, i'm cheering for you and looking forward to where the game goes in the future! thank you for submitting this game to the jam!
That. was. so. greaattt !!!! Thank you so much for making this.
I loved how many choices we had, even if it might not impact the story, I think it adds a lot of dynamism.
And your art is amazing !!!
First of all!! Thank you I actually tend to get very insecure about my art so this is so appreciated!! Second of all, I’m glad! I’ve been playing a lot interactive fiction game and VNs these past months and have found myself preferring games that give me more choices, especially to built the MC personality. Some choices will come back to the story (ex; how you started figure skating) and though it will get messy, I do enjoy giving these choices because it leads to loads of interesting text flavour and it will impact how the relationship with Taliyah will untangle in the story.
Such an interessing premise and love interest ! I’m gonna repeat what Zephyrean said but it’s such a refreshing take to have a dark skinned enby love interest described and loved with such gentleness ! Bravo on your first game !!!
My, my, I thouroughly enjoyed this demo. It touches upon a lot of very personal topics for me and it hit really close to home. Taliyah is a really unique character, and I adore the narrated descriptions about them. The deliberate choice to describe a fem-presenting nby black person with angelic, soft, gentle and warm vocabulary is a wonderful touch. Taliyah is an amazing LI that will easily stand out among the rest. 10/10.
Hi and oh my gosh thank you! I’m extremely happy to hear this because I really wanted to show that part of their personality through their description! Taliyah is a warm and gentle person so a lot of their descriptor came to me naturally as well. It’ll be shown in more detail later in the game how softly they love. Taliyah to me is the embodiment of those descriptors and it was a choice I handle with care as I still want to show the human part of them that won’t always be this way, mostly due of their depression.