Fine work! There could've been more worldbuilding, but hey. The fucking was hot. You wanted to make sure of this, and it was this. Lucius should've known better than to top, fucking id- no, I'm kidding. But Solus just comes off as a wet paper towel, and up until that point I really thought... ah, maybe next time. Before that though, we have to go to the moon!

Hope you come back for another jam!

Fantastic, great original story with a  sexy wolf. Not much to criticize....I'll leave that to others, I enjoyed the story. 

fucking RIP clive. Every line in this game is just throwing poor clive under the bus. Couldn't stand up for him getting exiled, and now just "wow never seen a man so wonderful." 

This game is like 1/3rd worldbuilding and the rest is fucking. Which. Fair. I just wish the ultimate adjective used to describe how attractive he is as "male." The sprites are fine, but I wish Solus looked a bit more like he does in the CGs. Anyway fine work, should've had Lucius bottom imo ;> 

Being totally honest, I didn't particularly like this one. The art is really good and it definitely fits the theme of the jam, but overall it feels a little generic. The prose is okay, but it's very exposition heavy and the overall structure of the plot falls very flat.  Cardigan and Armoredpossum said everything I think already so I'm just seconding those statements. The sex feels out of nowhere and not sufficiently built up even for a game that is just porn. it's also not very well written and a lot of Solus's thoughts and dialogue take me out of the experience. The references to how male Lucius is don't really work. 

That was so fkin hot.

It was a nice read, can't stop thinking about how arousing it all was tbh. But for other matters, the implementation of the theme was done well enough, simply "What I knew was a lie all along!" which I think is there for more flavor on the plot, but not in a bad way.

Story is good as well, ngl I kind of thought this was going to be some kind of werewolf story lol. But I got quite intrigued by the world, like a less technologically advanced Earth while the more advanced ones are on the moon because of something bad on the planet, apparently. Would be interesting to know, but probably unnecessary. Poor Clive, though, he got cucked by some stranger from the moon, and the only guy who probably cared about him is going up there, now he's even more alone outside. Also really? A held shirt just flies away? Also, when you say no pants, apparently even the sprite shows no shirt.  The writing needs some spelling checks, though.

The art was very nice, me likey, a lot more novel than visual, but the visual parts look very nice. (Did I mention Lucius is very hot. And made me kind of compare him to Silver from RTF, but more bulky. I just like Silver. But Solus was cute too.) 3, 4, 4, 3, 2.

P.S. Lucius is so hot like wtf, idk how this got me blushing.

This one is half fascinating world-building and half hot wolf sex. The homophobia plotline, while not the most original, is well done and leads to a satisfying conclusion. Both Solus and Lucius are likeable and endearing characters, and their chemistry is quite lovely. The art's also well done, looking both polished and expressive. I'd say this is definitely Ventkazemaru's best work so far. There are even blinking and talking animations, as well as talking sound effects, which help make the experience more interactive. I will say, having the sex scene happen right after Lucius gives an emotional and tearful speech to Solus was definitely a choice. It is apparent that the point of the VN is hot wolf sex, but honestly, the folklore and worldbuilding were a lot more interesting to me, though this is a personal thing, as I'm not a fan of twink-y or twunk-y guys (INB4 someone gets mad at me for calling Lucius a twunk lol). I'm going to try to avoid spoilers, but I think the situation that Lucius and Solus are in is quite fascinating and lets the reader give a lot of interpretations on what's going on, which I fuck with. The people I was reading had a lot of questions, but in a good way. I would love to learn more about the setting. Overall, I would recommend reading this, with the caveat that you can skim through the sex scene if you don't find either of the main leads attractive.

A fun, cute, and sexy romp. This VN starts off strong with an interesting premise, though I have to admit I think I misunderstood it at the start. When the MC mentions other able-bodied men and how he isn't one, I thought it'd be a story revolving around disability. It's never explained what makes the MC (and Clive) different, but I can only assume it's because they're furries. Speaking of Clive, it's tragic what happened to him, but even more tragic that the MC betrayed him by choosing to stay home with the village that hates him. When the MC sees a hot wolf, he is *unbelievably* thirsty, which almost feels out of place, but he's likely very repressed at home so it makes sense. The "folklore" aspect of this VN is minimal, but interesting nonetheless. It isn't based on a real piece of folklore on Earth, but the MC does believe that Paradise is on the Moon. Well, he's proven wrong right away, of course, but this allowed him to expand his worldview (and get down and dirty gay with the hot wolf, of course). The porn is obviously quite good, but I quite enjoy how it was framed as something of a cultural exchange. It serves a narrative purpose, showing the MC that life can be good outside the village after all. This allows him to get over his fear of leaving, as established since the start. For such a short VN, there's a lot of interesting elements to think about, and I enjoyed it. Only thing is, I wish we had gotten some closure over the MC betraying Clive. He's basically never mentioned again, which is a shame.

A quick and simple My Wolf story with a very good grasp on VN presentation - I especially enjoyed the little sounds the characters made as they spoke and the speaking / blinking animations they had. I don't have too much to say about the plot other than that it knows what it wants, and it executes it well - the little bit of the worldbuilding that we do get seems quite interesting, and barring a few spelling and formatting mistakes here and there, the writing is very solid.

I do think that the story dumps a bit too much exposition on the reader at times - it especially stands out in the beginning, where the MC's backstory is exposited to us in NVL format rather than letting us stew in the uncertainty and discover it as the story goes on (which feels somewhat odd given that the MC does wind up explaining it to Lucius later down the line - which winds up feeling like a repeat of what we already know, rather than being a compelling scene in which we discover the MC's backstory alongside Lucius).

In general, I think the story could have benefited slightly from an increased length for the sake of letting the characters breathe for a bit before the smut arrived in full force - so that we could know them better and feel more connected to them before the MC makes his decision to go live on the moon - but I think it still makes for a very enjoyable read thanks to the fun worldbuilding, the beautiful art, and the VN's great presentation.

'Encounters in the Moonlight' is a meet-cute into sexy-times scene, with a bit of a familiar 'overcoming homophobia' character arc. It's one more of those entry point stories about being gay, getting ostracized by your family and community, only to be rescued by a big hot wolfman who immediately finds you attractive and you have hot intercourse under the moonlight. The story does some interesting world-development for a scene, as it alludes to a significant technological and culture difference between Solus and Lucius, the two characters.

The way the story goes is that Solus is on Earth during an era of tribalism, goes out into the forest, gets attacked by a beast and is rescued by Lucian, who's from the moon, is alluded to have been a highly scientific space colony from when the Earth had undergone some kind of Armageddon and now they're coming back to see if the world is hospitable again. It's a fun dynamic, which gives a bit of 'Star Trek' first contact vibes, plus bringing in a lot of modern cultural advancements to contrast with the more primitive culture of shunning homosexuality. There's some revelations given to Solus, who gets to fully embrace his inner feelings, and get to go visit the moon with Lucius who is really interested in him. It's a satisfying wish-fulfillment kind of story.

The presentation is really nice. The color aesthetic is consistent throughout, the art sprites are emotive and fun, there's drawn backgrounds and cgs, and can't forget about the custom cg sex scene which is the big wow-factor of the whole visual novel. There's also a lot of detail that goes into making the sprites blink and even have mouth movements for the speaking parts (that takes quite a bit of effort and knowhow). Overall it's a really impressive visual package that is probably some of the highest quality I've seen in this game jam. The writing is adequate for getting the two characters to meet 'n fuck. I'm not gonna lie and say that this is the most original set up or plot-line, the one detail of the Earth culture and Moon culture was the aspect that gave it something to stand out, otherwise, it's very much a classic gay coming out/angst story. You get a couple of weird incongruent story elements like how his first lover gets exiled, but he doesn't because special treatment just cause he's the important family's son. He begs to stay and feels a sense of loyalty to his tribe despite how badly they treat him and openly say how much they want him gone. It feels like while the story is a feel good framework, it doesn't do much other than to give a reason for the really good art and sex scene to exist. It's not a bad thing, and it's probably going to be someone's first experience with this kind of storyline (I've done plenty). It could make stronger choices in how it plays out to help it distinguish itself from other stories exactly like this, but I also imagine that as it's only this scene, the scope was limited to not further explore other details. We're told how the village treats Solus through a novel style monologue from him, and we're told about what the moon is like through Lucius explaining to Solus what it is. The plot device of the wolf beast is just so Lucius can save Solus, and the beast is never explained further. It might be stronger to show the scene happening where Solus is caught the first time to give a more viseral experience to connect with him better. While, Solus is the POV, you could always change view points to Lucius as he saves Solus and get a sense of Lucius in that way. Just as some suggestions/examples.

The folklore element of the visual novel I believe is the in-story folklore of the moon-god and how Solus believes Lucian to be of the moon come to take him to paradise. It's a cute way to tie in a religious element into the plot. As it's only one or two scenes, there's not much opportunity to explore that element further or how Solus's beliefs are completely shaken by finding out that his folklore/religion might be just stories and not fact (that might've been an interesting theme to explore). Creativity wise, there's some interesting seeds of ideas here. What's present however is kind of stock gay-angst wish-fulfillment which I will always welcome more of that into the world. The sex scene, while hot, also still is a sex scene.

From what I can see, this is a first timer entry, and for that, big props for completing it and giving it a really good polish. It's very pretty and it's a treat for the eyes. The writing gets the job done, and if it gives you the confidence to try to push yourself further next time, then I'll be happy. I'd say read a bunch of the VNs from these game jams to expand your reference pool for furry stories, see what elements you can pick up from them and see how you can incorporate those bits into your works in the future.

"That one other space VN, but this time they asked first!" An easy joke to make, of course, but it would be hard not to notice the connection. For starters, the art is insane and we all know it, but it's hard not to mention when it's such an important element.

Now, porn without plot never did a lot for me, but the setup was good enough in the... well, the intro to the smut, that I was pretty invested (in the protagonist more so than the wolf). There are a lot of small touches in the dialogue that imply a lot of things about the current state of society on Earth, and I really liked the element of what essentially was homophobia being implied.

To me, this would be a much, much more effective story, even if more cliché, if the sex was a payoff for a longer narrative, which is obviously not going to happen within the scope of the jam, but still. In any case, great art, great porn, and a single shirt packed alongside lube for space missions!

Amazing art, clean/effective animations, and interesting world building. A little cumbrained, but I had a great time.

The concept itself is quite interesting. The world building here is great, but I find that a majority of it gets overshadowed by the smut. That's fine, of course, but it feels like the two contrast each other a bit too much to make it a cohesive experience.

What's here is good, but I wish you leaned a bit more into one thing or another. Either the lore or the smut. It would make it feel smoother.

In terms of presentation, this game is impressive! Especially for a first game. With some ironing out, I think this concept could go far!

Fairly interesting concept and lore, but it does edge into a bit of the lore feeling a bit like everything exists primarily to make the sex make sense. It's interesting lore, but it is what it is, and it's good and interesting stuff overall.

Out of all the entries I've read so far for May Wolf this year, this is easily the one that feels the most like it was typed one-handed. There's nothing inherently wrong with having a horny story, but in this particular case I feel like the horny overshadowed everything else and left the project feeling a bit shallow.

Let's break it down further:

Implementation of Theme:

Yeah, I think you covered the bases here. It's a bit thin, like pretty much everything else in the VN, but you created a legend/belief for Solus' tribe and successfully integrated that into the narrative. Solus prays to the moon for help, the moon provides help in an unexpected way, and it's not through death like he originally believed, but he does get to go to the moon to experience paradise, with "paradise" here meaning getting to nut on dudes in peace. Neat. Good enough to meet the "folklore" requirement for me.

Presentation:

This was easily the VN's strongest area, but it did have a few hiccups as well. The artist absolutely killed it with the sprites and CGs here; I thought the art style was really appealing, and the sprites were solidly expressive. There were some additional details, like the blinking eyes, that aren't necessarily common for jam entries, so that was great to see.

However, there were a few places where I felt the sprites weren't used as effectively as they could have been. You have such a good expression for Solus looking scared during his first interaction with Lucius, but you barely use this at all when he's being stalked by a predator in the ominous woods. It really feels like the terror should have been used for the direwolf and the sort of tense, cautious stare should have been used for waking up with Lucius. You already have the art, it's just a matter of deploying it in the right places.

Same goes for SFX - when we start the encounter with the direwolf, Solus comments, "I'm not sure what kind of animal could make that sound." It's literally just a howl though. It doesn't even really sound threatening. But then you have really animalistic, almost distorted snarl you use later, and that seems much more fitting for the line and would build the tension better.

There were also quite a few proofreading issues here (perhaps related to the "one-handed" comment above) though nothing really inhibited my understanding, and there was a mistake with Solus' sprite leading into the sex scene. The text describes Lucius reaching into Solus' shirt, but his sprite already had his shirt off for some time. I'm wondering if when going through the script you read the line about the shirt blowing away in the wind and confused the shirt covering his legs with the one he was actually wearing when you went in and added the sprites. 

Last note here, there's also an error that displays at one point, "Image 'bg black' not found". Presumably this was meant to be a black screen, and there was a black screen anyway, so it didn't impact much, but I just wanted to flag that.

Story/Writing/Creativity:

Yeah I'm just kinda mashing all these together here because they're pretty related for this entry.

To be blunt, this is about as basic as it gets for a May Wolf entry. Guy is sad and alone; guy is rescued by sexy male wolf; guy immediately falls for sexy male wolf; luckily sexy male wolf is gay and also immediately attracted to guy; they bone; happily ever after.

Look, I'm not judging your fantasy here. If all you're looking for is a steamy sex scene where you get swept off your feet by the hot, yoked, foreign guy, more power to you. However, I would contend that the sex may be even hotter if we had some characters to dig into.

Right now, the actual character development, or even definition, for Solus and Lucius is practically nonexistent. Solus is meek and gay, Lucius is charming and gay. That's really it. Like, the one bit of backstory we get for Solus is turning his back on Clive, a pretty uncool act which he never really has to answer for or contend with.

Actually, let's spare a thought for Clive for a second. You go through your own gay awakening, you fool around with the other gay guy in town, and you get caught. You're getting exiled, but hey, it's alright, maybe your lover will come wi- oh, no, he sold you out, guess you're on your own. And then the guy that screwed you over gets to hook up with the hot wolf guy, immediately thinks about how much better the wolf's dick is than yours the whole time, and gets to go to gay furry heaven while you get eaten by a grue in the woods or whatever.

#JusticeForClive

There's a comment below that argues that you spend too much time fleshing out the setting, but I actually disagree. If anything, I feel like the worldbuilding is pretty half-baked here. Like... we hear that the village needs able-bodied men for a war, but this is literally never mentioned again. The village sends Solus out on his own, but this makes no sense. Even if they don't care if he dies, why would you not send someone with him to report back if he does? Otherwise what's the point of scouting in the first place? Why do the moon folks want to come back to the planet? How'd they get to the moon in the first place? If they have space travel, how do they not have probes or drones that they could use to determine the extent of sapient life on the planet? If the moon people had never been to the planet before, how are they communicating? I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.

There are ways that you could tinker with the story to fix a lot of its issues. Instead of opening with a NVL mode exposition dump, have Solus investigate the forest with another soldier from the village. Convey attitudes, emotions, and background through the conversation they have with each other. They can encounter the dire wolf, at which point the other soldier flees back to the village and leaves Solus to die as a distraction. Solus feels betrayed by this, breaking his last bond with home and making going to the moon a much easier decision later. Lucius, who is on the planet to silently scout, sees what happened and breaks mission parameters to save Solus, showing he has a strong moral compass that can surpass his sense of duty. When you do have Lucius and Solus interact, let that conversation breathe. Let them actually get to know each other and find common ground, build chemistry before you get into boners and abs. 

Those are just suggestions, but the point is that there are ways you can elevate your story beyond just revolving around a steamy sex scene, and should you choose to keep writing, your VNs will be better for it.

On that note, this looks like it may have been your first project, and I want to emphasize that this wasn't terrible or anything, and you shouldn't take all the feedback personally. I do this for everyone. This VN was fairly basic and generic, but I think it does give you a good foundation to build on, and I do hope you stick with it to see how you develop.

Final score of, eh, I don't know, 6 Clives out of 9 Cusslers.

⭐⭐

Encounters in the Moonlight is a story a little too enamoured with its setting at the cost of every other aspect to offer a cohesive experience. 

I had my concerns when the story opened on somewhat lengthy exposition, but it was only about halfway through that I realised those dumps were never gonna end. In the place of characterization, a lot of time here is spent on long lore diatribes only broken off by a brief action scene (that did manage to have some gravitas) and its erotic scene. The way I see it, the priorities here are all wrong. Readers learn more of the politics of two locations they'll never see than either of the characters they spent time with.

I have encountered before works where worldbuilding were the main attraction over character arcs and story structure, but those have had the benefit of being longer, which allowed them to include those elements at some level. At 7.5k words, this VN doesn't have the space for them, leaving characters flat and their dialogue closer to encyclopedia entries. 

As for the writing itself, it is far from spectacular, with unmemorable prose, a lack of sentence variety and a clinical approach to conveying information that makes reading this project a bit of a chore. Aside from some well made sprites and CGs, sadly, I don't believe Encounters in the Moonlight offers much in other areas either. Some creative blocking and transitions are employed, but they exist to serve such a flat narrative I just think the whole experience comes off as bland.

Unless there's someone absolutely in love with the premise and/or the art by themselves, I don't think I would recommend this one.

You meet a wolf in space and then he wants to take you home! Jokes aside, it was a nice read. Those sprites look really good, are really expressive, and the blinking and talking frames does make them look more alive. Quite great! The backgrounds are nice in setting the tone, the music is really good as well.

As for the story, it is a bit generic but well executed. The characters are really likable and pretty well-written. The scene of Lucius and Solus getting to know each other maybe lags a bit. The sex made me horny, so I guess that’s a plus.^^

The folklore theme relates to Solus’ people’s stories about the moon and how they don’t really relate to reality. I liked how Lucius treated the matter.

Overall, a pretty simple story that’s really nicely made. Good job! (Also, justice for Clive! He should go to the moon too!)