Demos to Keep an Eye On #3

Hello Friends! Today I have brought you some more game demos to get a pick at the games that are upcoming this year(and maybe next)! Some of these games are a little mature, but I'll keep my commentary PG-13. Without further ago, let's get to it!

1.Blood for the Blood God(In development)

Source: Screen Capture from Demo

Blood for the Blood God is a visual novel, dating simulator game in development by Crimson-Chains. You are a servant created by the Blood God for the purpose of hunting down and killing 3 of his former servants. If you choose to accept your task, you are sent into the world to find them. However, in order to kill each of them, you may need to take the time to befriend—perhaps romance?—each of them, so that they will drop their guard and give you the opening that you need to stab them in the back, or wherever you can get to.

The 3 servants are Asstaroth, Beelzebabe and Lucifine. They are all so attractive, and the art style is wonderful. Each of them has a very different personality, different story, and I really wanted to play more after the demo ended. I’m looking forward to the full release of the game, which is estimated to be in December of 2017. You can download the demo to try for yourself *here*. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

2. Lethe(In development)

Source: Screen Capture from Game

Lethe is, from what I can tell, a romance mystery visual novel written by Pacermist with the efforts of Red-Baby, Shortycake, Alteredgingerr, and Akka. You play as a character who has retrograde amnesia after an incident that involved falling off a roof with another student. The other student seems to have died. With no idea what has happened these last 3 weeks of your life, you must now try to piece it back together with, hopefully, the help of Jaden and Cameron. You remember Jaden, he is your friend, but Cameron is a stranger to you… or is he?

I enjoyed this demo quite a bit. At times it can seem unrefined(some of the CG images), but I find the story interesting and our MC(main character) is relatable. I think some sound effects (doors, footsteps when a character runs, etc.) may have been nice to have as well. There is a lot of mystery, and I am eager to solve it! Hopefully there will be plans for a full game release soon. If you want to try the demo for yourself, you can download it from Itch.io *here*.

3. Sentimental Trickster(In development)

Source: Itch.io Page

Sentimental Trickster is an 18+ only visual novel style romance game created by Lazuli. It’s BL/yaoi, so be warned. There is nothing 18+ in the demo, but you get to meet the characters and get a bit of story. Haru is moving out of his parent’s home and going to live in a boarding house where he can learn to be independent, and also attend art school.  He’s living with 3 other gentlemen with varying personalities, who we get to refer to as: the mean one, the hot one and the gently old guy.

I thought the demo was well written, had beautiful art, and wonderful music/SFX. The demo is very high quality so I am certainly looking forward to seeing more of the game as it is released. If you want to try the demo for yourself, you can download it from Itch.io *here*.

4. BestLuck (In development)

Source: Itch.io Page

BestLuck is a bit of an enigma. The game is in development by Jae Hyun Yoo, and is a puzzle adventure game. The demo is agonizingly short, and involves only 2 puzzles, but give you a decent idea of the mechanics behind the game. You have to open doors, and what you see when you look through the door frames may be different than what you see outside. I think it’s a creative way to do puzzles.

The demo is yet unrefined. There needs to be camera controls, and the character movement can seem off. Otherwise, this game has a relaxing atmosphere about it, which I love, and puzzles, which I also love. The game is set to be released around March 2017 right now, so hopefully I can do a full review soon. You can download the demo to try for yourself *here*.

As always, be sure to leave your comments of encouragement, or helpful criticism, to help the developers improve their skills and craft. 

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

Demos to Keep an Eye On #1

Some games, while still in heavy production, release demos to give potential buyers a taste of what the game will hold in the future. Demos should make you want more of the game, enough to either pledge money to the production, or buy the game at its release. Itch.io and Steam hold many demos available to play, and I’ve gathered some of them together to share with you. Please check them out for yourself, and support them with words of encouragement, or by pledging if you’re able to do that.

1. Dr. Frank’s Build-A-Boyfriend (In development)

Source: Itch.io Page

I’ll be upfront, this is a yaoi visual novel, meaning that is boy on boy love isn’t your thing, you may want to pass. I found the demo to be downright hilarious, my sides actually hurt from laughing! The general premise is this—your boyfriend has stolen your research on resurrection, and is going to present them at the prestigious Hindenberg University Conference! So, you decide the best way to deal with it, is to make your own boyfriend who is even better than that jerk! We could even gather the prime specimens… That way you can make him jealous and prove your research principles at the same time!

You get to actually pick the look of the boyfriend (however you don’t get to SEE the boyfriend because the demo ends after that) but I love the ideas presented. The music is good, the dialogue is laugh out loud funny, and the art is nice as well. It’s a win all around for me! You can try to demo for yourself for free on Itch.io *here*.

2. Fox in the Hollyhocks (In development)

Source: Itch.io Page

First thing is first here, Fox in the Hollyhocks is another yaoi game, so if you got problems with boy on boy love you can just skip over this game too. The demo is short, but we get to meet our main character, Hunter, and the guy who seems familiar, but Hunter isn’t sure why—Renard. Your choices do make a difference here, so be mindful of how you answer. Not much comes about from the demo, but I like that it leaves a lot of mystery. I did fill out a survey and offer to help test the game release, so I’m kind of hoping for it. If not, I’ll still be excited to play the full release!

The music is beautiful piano music, and the art style is just lovely. I think Hunter and Renard both are drawn very well. Anyway, you can try the demo for yourself by downloading it from Itch.io *here*.

3. Inspirited (In Development)

Source: Itch.io Page

Inspirited is an adventure RPG, reminiscent of Dragon Quest, or the older Final Fantasy games. I also want to mention that this game was made for Yuri Jam 2016(the demo anyhow) so if girl on girl isn’t your thing, then pass. Created by picoburger, this delightful RPG follows Mica, a wanderer who has found herself in the Kingdom of Crusia—a kingdom with no spirits. Spirits were believed to just be fairy tales until a mysterious young lady by the name of Cyrille comes to show them how wrong they are. Cyrille wants to bring man and spirit back together again to restore balance to the good and evil or the world. Mica decided to help on this quest and together they get to work, opening the spirit gates.

I did really enjoy this demo. The art is attractive, the music and delightful, and the dialog, while nothing special, works. There were some issues with this demo, including text and character names overlapping in dialogue boxes, and white lines would sometime appear next to sprites(like a break in the image). However the reason I was unable to finish this demo, despite really wanting to, is because the item that is supposed to be used to revive your character if they die doesn’t work. I did comment to let the developers know, so hopefully the full release will run smooth and without issues. Despite the issues, I still enjoyed the demo and I plan to get the full release when it is finished, which it may be by the time this is scheduled to be posted to my blog. If that is the case there will probably be a full blog entry about it sometime. Anyhow, you can try the demo for yourself by downloading it for free from Itch.io *here*. Just take care not to die!

EDIT: I did let the developer know about the issue so hopefully it will be remedied soon! :)

4. Heartthrob Café: A Close Up (In development)

Source: Itch.io Page

Heartthrob Café is an adorable looking tech demo involving a diverse array of humanoid animals. Since this isn’t a play demo, I don’t want to comment on plot or anything, since this may be a completely unrelated thing—like a filler episode in an anime, it can be nice but completely unrelated to the actual plot.

So instead I’ll comment that the art is adorable. I mean really. I’m not into furries, but these humanoid animals are cute. There isn’t any music either. I like the dialogue though. Conversation has a good flow and it mimics how people really talk, so it doesn’t seem stiff or out of place. I even got a few chuckles.

Although I can’t say much, I’m looking forward to the full release of this game(if they haven’t already released by the time this blog is scheduled to post.) I’ll be sure to keep updated so I can let everyone know when it happens for any of the demos listed so that you’ll have the opportunity to try them for yourself as well, *here*.

As always, be sure that if you play the game, you leave some encouragement, or even some helpful criticism if needed, to help the creators further develop the game.

Happy Gaming, Friends!

Bell

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