Hi! Thanks for playing. The sparkles will appear in the center of the screen, but only if the choice affects the route you’re currently on. There are no sparkles in the intro because you won’t have chosen a route yet.
really enjoyed this visual novel. And, goodness gracious the soundtrack! It blows my mind that you guys created it, it's so whack! (in a good way haha). I'm not very comfortable with, uh, intimate stuff but I'd be lying if I said that the story wasn't good. A great balance between comedy, romance, and all that good chiz. For what it's worth, I give you two thumbs up! (or two happy dudes?) ٩(๑･ิᴗ･ิ)۶٩(･ิᴗ･ิ๑)۶
aaaah i stumbled across this this afternoon and i'm in looooove. thank you so much for this, it was amazing!! and thank you for the many different customisation options for Ash! i'm gonna let my first playthrough settle and then i'll be straight back in there trying a different route <3 <3
- also love the voice acting!! so i'm def looking forward to re-playing it when all the voice acting is done :D
omg i've ignored all of my chores to play this game literally all night! my husband is not pleased lol
I've only done rafael's two endings but I'm excited to play more! how many pieces of content can be unlocked? I see that on the main menu there is a little rafael icon that has lit up, but there are still 4 out of 6 scenes locked when I click on it.
I LOVE BRAUMS AND PARIS I LOVVE THEM FOREVER OTP
Thank you so much for this game! Are you planning on any future works? <33
This was so fun to play! I liked that we can customize Ash's gender and pronouns too. All of the characters were lovable but Rafael was such a sweetheart. I got all of the endings except number 3 because I can't seem to figure out how to get it. The art was also really pretty and it's great that we can customize the main menu background too. This is a pretty solid game and it helped me get through a tough time. So thank you for this, can't wait for more! I'll be sure to check out your other games too because I'm sure they'll be as great. Lots of love! <333
hello! 3 is I believe a good ending with Braums as a shika, and 8 is unlocked after viewing all the extra scenes (unlocked by getting the “best” ending with Rafael as a shika)
That was amazing! I've had this game on my "want to play" list for a while now, and I'm so glad I finally got to playing it.
I decided to give the voiced version a shot. I was kind of surprised by the many voice options for Ash, and the plan was to try all of them out with different races but I just completely fell in love with Ash's 2nd voice option (Christian O'Boyle did an amazing job with it, I'd love to hear him voice more of the game in the future!). The customization element was super fun, and I liked the details that changed along with different backstories.
Ash was an amazing protagonist. The interactions with all of the love interests were just pure gold. It's hard to even choose a fave to be honest lol And the romantic scenes too... The writing was really good! I couldn't help myself from smiling while going through it. I think Reaver Ash might've been my fave, but I may be bias because that's the first one I went with lol Also I just have to mention this.... Rafael spanking Paris absolutely cracked me up. xD
The only real issue I noticed was the different voice volumes? Paris and Rafael especially were hard to hear sometimes (even tho I had all of them at the same volume, and turned down my music volume), which is a pity because they also had really interesting voices :(
Overall I had lots of fun getting all the endings and cgs! I wish I played this sooner, purely because of how fun it was lol I think I might replay it once more voiced chapters come out for Ash #2.... lmao Totally recommend!
Please help I'm stupid. When I go to choose a route, I can't choose Paris' route for some reason. It's dark, while Rafael and Braums' are lit up. I was wondering if I chose something that made me unable to do his route. Could you please explain what I did wrong? Q~Q
I'm a shika cisgender girl, I've tried saying both 'yes' and 'no' to cheating on the boat, I gave him melon bread, called Rafael 'Fai', didn't snoop through Braums' private information and didn't get mad at Braums for forgetting my name.
Oh, great game, by the way. Love the character customization!
You get specific routes based on what race you choose ,for example shika lets you play in rafael and braums route but not paris,if you choose cubi you will get rafael and paris but not braums and ect.
hmm idk if it's just me, but the voices haven't shown up at all?? i just downloaded this game a couple days ago, so i'm not entirely sure if the files have been fixed yet. if not, then feel free to ignore this comment :))
Hello! Double check which file you downloaded, and know that only the first 2 chapters plus the intro are voiced. If you still have an issue please email me at aferalcircus@gmail.com
I'm so sorry I don't understand so you are not finished with the game correct? is the reason being just the voicing or you are not actually done with the routes and such ? sorry I just get so confused :0
Wow, you guys made quite a job! I mean, it's excellent. The VN was great itself, but I'm absolutely in love with the new remastered voiced version. It's perfectly gorgeous! Look forward to play the entirely voiced VN. The voice acting is 10/10. So talented. Thank you for your efforts.
I really liked the VN and yet I saw that you were doing a voice acting. Right the moment I saw that I watched the trailer and OH MY GOD the voices fitt so PERFECT! I LOVE it!!! Much thanks from my side I totally enjoyed playing the game so far and I will look out for more updates. Keep the good work up! :)
I really love this vn so far!! I love the art style and all the characters are amazing. I think my one complaint is that Ash's pronouns don't remain consistent with what you've chosen; IE if you make a character with a "female" body but with he/him pronouns, your character will still be called a girl, which is sort of uncomfortable. I do appreciate all the customization you can put into your protagonist though, and I honestly think I'll be playing this through multiple times!
Hello! Thanks so much for playing, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! That definitely shouldn’t happen, can you please shoot me an email (aferalcircus@gmail.com) with a screenshot or a note of the spot where that happened?
Thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the game!
I have finished getting all eight endings, have played each route with both the same race and then the alternative race, as well as redone certain routes twice out of love. I have to say, the game is well paced, the soundtrack amazing and the characters are likable. I played the unvoiced version since I wanted to read with my own interpretation of their voices first as well as wait for the voice acting is finished hehe.
tl;dr version of this: I love this game so much I wrote fanfiction
-The changes in inner monologues and dialogue as well as certain moments based on each race of the mc is a nice attention to the backstory that each race has. My personal favourite would have to be Shika Ash because of the fact I can romance my two favourites, plus it also allows me to access some of the minor world building details about Shika. Reaver Ash is a close second due to the personality as well as the emotional drive with the restaurant. Sadly, Cubi Ash isn't a favourite of mine but is still a good one seeing as Cubi Ash has a lot of development for the romance with Paris (due to the many references to Ash's crush on Paris).
-The little mentioned details on the world itself gives it a solid feel, well done! I liked how the small references to history don't feel hamfisted and Paris cursing out the king feels quite natural. I also enjoyed the reference to religion such as Rafael explaining the Shika world creation story, or the mention of Savaran vs Shika religion is like. Shika Ash mentioning Talia instead of the Saints as well as recognizing Rinka's statue is pretty cool.
-The romances have me swooning for days! Rafael is my favourite by FAR! He's so sweet and caring, especially when he smiled and made a little joke (Plus when he actually says 'cheep, cheep'! I love it!) Rafael has me smiling and having him leave in his neutral ending only to come back had me crying and grinning at the same time. I love how Rafael is both honest while being deceptive. It's a hard balance but you've done it well. The ship moment with him and the rats really make you think about what he's gone through once you know his backstory. And when he started saying the smoothest lines, my heart is his, no question about it.
Braums is my second favourite because of how shy he is as his walls fall from the arrogant noble to the shy person behind it. (Which I think is due to the strictness of his father) I was blushing and covering my face from how downright adorable he is as well as how innocent. Though I do wish we could have had a bit more mention on his opinion on his father, considering this isn't a very long game, that's understandable. I played his route first since I played Reaver Ash and I loved every second of it. My favourite part was how you did the emotional 'forced to say bad stuff' moment. It's so emotional and hurt, I was mumbling apologies.
Paris is my last, sorry Pear but you're route was built on childhood bestfriend stuff but I didn't have much to build it on besides 'childhood flirty bestfriend that Ash has a crush on'. I prefer Reaver Ash with him though, it added another flavor to that story especially when the whole Rain scene happened. The CGs and the moments though did make me fond of him and I laughed a lot at their banter.
-Over all story: The story is rather linear and after playing through it for around twelve times, I basically slogged through it since I memorized what would happen next. It's to be expected but I would have preferred if each route provided a different take on the story after the prologue but that's just me being picky about things. Otherwise, the twists and the endings had me gasping and pausing when I first experienced it. Especially when the guild does a play and the sudden tone switch was like watching Mulan and going from 'Girl Worth Fighting For' to the ruined village. Well done!
On the technical stuff, I love the soundtrack! Rafael's theme is a bop and Braums theme had me smiling and Paris' theme really did remind me of rabbits. Though there are times the music glitched out for a moment before going back to normal (when I go from the menu to save then returning back to the current game for instance) it only happened a handful of times. However, I do have ONE problem and that would be when Shika Ash is romancing Braums
At the end of watching the Theatre in Riddel all the way to Chapter 5, Shika Ash says 'Saints' instead of Talia and it may be minor but it kinda frustrated me because 'Ash are you so in love you forgot you're a Shika'? It really pulls you out of the moment, but besides that, nothing else.
Besides that, I really have nothing much to comment on.
The art is also great! It's so fun and memorable, and the CGs are glorious!
Also! The fact Ash is customizable, *chef's kiss* Thank you and I love you. The fact some of the dialogue makes references to Ash's appearance as well as how it makes the CGs look pleases me very, very much.
All in all, good job! Story is well paced, music is wonderful, art pleases the eye, romance has me swooning (Rafael, call me) and it's pretty good! I'd say 8/10
*Btw, I've fallen in love with this so much I am writing fanfiction for it, if you want to read it then look for my ao3 'ClearAutumnVibes' the title of the fanfiction is 'Liar, Liar' I'm not taking the fanfiction too seriously lol since it's mainly self-indulgent.
omg!!!! i finished seven endings and can't seem to get the second ending for some reason. like i've done the "bad" and "good" endings for each route and played with all the different races, so i'm not sure what i'm missing :(( do you think you could help me out?
Sure! Three of the endings should be Braums with Good End 1 being Reaver Ash and Braums, Good End 2 is Shika Ash and Braums, Bad end is for both races, then there would be Fai's Good and Bad end, then Paris' Good and Bad end. The endings do not vary even with a race variation, the only thing that changes is dialogue. The eight one should be Braums and Paris bonus ending which can be accessed via the bonus content. Hopefully this helps!
Ngl, wasn't expecting a lot from this game, but boy am I glad I'm wrong. This game actually made me laugh a lot. Plus, the characters became endearing through the play time which I was def surprised at when I ended up really liking B-boy because he is not something I would normally pick to play. Paris was actually my favorite? Normally I do like characters like him but idk I loved him more than I was expecting.
The plot wasn't something I have seen before and it had a lot of cute moments. The customization was a touch I really liked. Having the character become more how you want them to be is great for everyone, I personally don't care for when the character has no pronouns or gender at all and I really liked how you could choose what to be and that it actually affected the story.
I do wish someone had made a walkthrough because boy was it hard for me to figure out some of the good choices for the good endings. And the little snipits you get after getting the good endings I liked. I was not expecting spoiler-> that Paris and B-boy were going to actually get together, and I am very surprised to admit I liked that addition as it was never something I had ever fancied or tried to read before. Though I will admit I def was a little jealous over Paris for that haha
Overall, read the game. I'm usually afraid of free games but this one is worth your time and the MC is super cute and has a good personality that's pretty relatable with a lot of her reactions :)
I love this game and it's characters!! Rafael was definitely my favorite, from beginning 'till end. I played his route first (against better judgement) because I knew I was gunna love that man, and I do, he's so precious!! Thank you so much for making this game and I honestly look forward to whatever you produce in the future!
My one thing is that I have no idea how to get ending 8, I've tried most levels of right and wrong answers, I've played through all possible race combinations, I'm not sure what I'm missing :( If you could give me a clue I'd be forever grateful! Thank you!
EDIT:
Oh! I forgot to say I really liked the character customization and how it actually impacted the story and CGs in a real way, kudos for doing that! I'm sure it took a while. It really helped up the replay value, I'm a completionist so I try for every ending, but the different dialogue helped keep me in the story! Really good job.
I loved it, Ashe is such a nice character, the difference in her behavior was easily seen depending on her/his background, that was definetly great. Also the other characters were just hilarious, I didnt want the story to end, I just wanted to watch them interact with each other! I was laughing alongside Ashe the whole time.
My favourite, must have been Paris, ive been so sad, because he had just 2 routes (though its still great), he was so nice, i liked the chemistry between him and Ashe, you could see that they really know each other since they were little( and the pining!!!<3)
But the ending was kind of dissapointing..? After all this getting to know the characters I expected more... And the severed friendship really stung, I really wanted to keep them together as the Pretenders Guild forever! The ending seemed rushed, when comparing to the rest of the story, it seemed as if someone had to write it really fast, without caring, but the touch with a kid was nice.
Also the Rafael route was nice. I have the same nearly the same opinion as the Paris routes. (the ending ;( ) But other than that he was really entertaining and cute, idk where you found him though, so innocent at some points and yet so oriented and smart!
Braums didnt really suit my tastes (sounds pretty stupid xd), but you know to each their own. I still found him adorable, but I'd keep him definetly as a friend, he struck me as a child of the group, while the rest seemed more like irresponsible parents.
I kind of expected the Rafael plot twist and it seemed sad to me, I mean, they just said that they were his friends, and now they are going to betray him? Even if they kind of agree with him? I didnt like that, to me they seemed like a family, and you dont go betraying your family!
Overall it was a very nice game, I enjoyed it immensely. The interaction between the characters, differences beteen them and the magnificent job that voice actors did was truly awesome, and obviously the possibility to change the main character to my tastes ... *chefs kiss*
So id like to say thank you for your hard work and wonderful game that brought me a lot of entertainment
Fluttering heart palpitations, that was good! >_< Definitely fell in love with a flirty Paris; he's my guy, especially that voice acting, but everyone else was so fun, as well. It was like I was a part of the gang. Besides Dragon Age, this was the first otome I played where there are different background options for your character which really kept me enganged and I spent waaaay too much time on the custimization. Keep up the good work and I can't wait for any future projects you guys have in store. I know it will be just as great or even more so as this one <3
it was really good, but i do have one critique... I know visual novels that offer different romance routes often have this thing where they make you go through a lot the same story until you get to the specific route. it can be really annoying at times but i think usually people get used it since once you get to that route it really gives a different light to the overall story. However in this game in all honesty , although it was very cute, i have to admit, i felt like the different routes didn't bring much to the overall story... so yea that is really all, and honestly this critique isn't even really that big of a critique since the length of the story is quite short. I am sure i had more funds and more time etc you could make a very engaging lengthy story with routes that can really add a different feel to the overall story.
Some games that did that quite nicely were for one the nitro+chiral games(but they have the funding for that so is a bit unfair), requiescence did it well too(however their like overall romance development was so lazy and forced, you did a MUUCH better job when it come to developing a good romance, felt more natural. I felt their mistake was keeping the whole story in one setting.) and lastly Pigeon Blood, like omg Pigeon Blood different routes REALLLY changed story quite dramatically depending on the route, i think it was the first yaoi visual novel that I ever seen that done so well.
So yea really great job on this game, it was really cute and enjoyable, and I can't wait to see more and more projects from you, I hope eventually you get a ton of funding so you can just make some amazing stories that will make animators want to turn them into a show xD. I am serious because your writing is very good probably the best out of any game I played, it felt so real and natural but not cringy, like the main character was by far never annoying or off-putting in anyway.(annoying main character example see Signed and Sealed with a Kiss... that game's writing was just trying to hard to be real and ended up being a cringe fest a lot of times... still was nice to play though...)
oh I also want to say the music was AMAZING, i loooooooooved it so much. Probably because I do folk dancing so the music really made me want to dance hahaha. Once again thanks a lot and I will try to donate to your patreon as soon as I can really afford to do so. I will try to let others know about your amazing writing style.
I just made an account so I could comment here. This game...I've only played about half an hour of it, and I will probably add a more in depth review when I've finished it, but I just have to say....the characterizations are so engaging. And funny. I've lol'ed 3 times already. Excellent job with the writing. (Though, in future projects, consider using a slightly more bold font, it can get a little hard on the eyes!)
thanks, I found it! and I finished Paris' route - I can't believe you did all of the writing, art, and music, this is AMAZING. kudos, I'm so impressed! (and looking forward to seeing future projects from you!)
So happy you liked it! I hope you enjoy future projects just as much ^^ I'll be adding in the rest of the voices over the course of the next few months, and chapter 1 should have full voice by the end of January, so keep an eye out if you'd like that update! Paris' VA does an excellent job!
why i can't play rafael rout .......... i mean it's unable to choose him and i want to play HIS ROUTE please somone tell me haw can i get the access to rafael route please ??
I absolutely love this game and I just started playing! I do have one question though: I finished one version of Paris and Rafael but I seem to be unable to choose Braums, how do you access his route?
You can play Braums' route as a Shika, or a Reaver! Thanks so much for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed. Hopefully you'll like Braums' route just as much!
i've had an account on itch for quite a while (at least two years?) and yet this is the first time i've commented on a game.
i played through the whole thing (all endings and all possible species, though not all genders) in two days, and i enjoyed almost every minute of it. the pacing was just right, the tension, ash's inner monologue... the only things i regret are the order in which i played the routes, and that i didn't do my usual visual novel practice of aiming for the bad endings first, and those are both my own fault. the latter is a testament to how much i was enjoying it, though - i didn't want the bad endings. but, alas, i am a completionist.
i also had waaaay to much fun with the customization options. i don't know how other people play, but i had a distinctly different appearance for each "ash" - my first "ash" was a shika with the medium skintone, black hair, and brown eyes; cubi!ash had the darker skintone, pink hair, and blue eyes; and reaver!ash had the pale skintone, silver hair, and red eyes. part of it for me, i think, is that i have brainweird and having that stark of a visible difference between them helps me remember which "ash" i'm playing as. but i'm also just a sucker for character customizers.
i played paris's route last. (i should have just played them in top-to-bottom order from the selection screen! dangit, past me!) but my first playthrough was shika!ash, so paris wasn't an option then and i have so many regreeeets. i loved that there were different endings for braums's route depending on what species you chose (and i love that reaver!ash is a snobby little shit sometimes), and that there are little interactions with everyone that change depending on which "ash" you're playing. i'm definitely a detail person, and stopping my skip-throughs as a different species to see how the dialogue had changed was always fun.
my personal favorite route was rafael's. it was the first route i played, so naturally it'll have that special place, but i think it'd still be my favorite regardless. i found it interesting how ash interacted with a love interest of their own species versus one of a different species, as well - for example, i liked rafael's route better overall when playing as shika!ash (i found the shared cultural moments really touching, because it was something neither of them had ever really had someone to share it with), but i really liked playing paris's with reaver!ash (perhaps because reaver!ash comes with considerably more snark - not that ash is ever lacking in the snark department).
overall - i dunno, it was okay, i guess. pfff, i sure hope you can tell i loved it. i might even wipe my save and replay it sometime. need to wait for the emotional scars from my last run to heal first, though. god and in the good end! you know! [spoiler] wouldn't have [spoiler]ed ash! so that [spoiler] wasn't even necessary!!! why'd you have to do that to me that hurted.
This really made my day! Thanks so much for leaving such an in depth comment, so glad you enjoyed. Snobby reaver!ash is definitely one of my favorite Ash iterations xD
Rafael has two endings, his "best" ending, and a more neutral ending. The neutral end is the end where he comes back a few years later. To get his best end, you have to have %80 with him by the end of chapter 4!
I created this account to specifically ask if there was a list of sorts that said the endings and what they were(good,neutral,bad) and if there were any walkthroughs to get each ending. (i like to 100% complete all games XD)
I've started playing and I'm not very far yet, but I'm having A LOT of trouble navigating the game. I can't click choices at all, I have to use the arrow keys to move from option to option, and it always goes down to the mini menu instead of the third option, so I can never choose it. It made character creation a problem, as well. No one else seems to be having this problem though? I'm going to try downloading it again and see if I just got a bugged version or something.
I'm really sorry about that! I haven't heard of this error before. Please let me know if redownloading doesn't help! In the meantime, I'll see if I can find any issues on my end. Are you playing on windows, linux, or mac?
Thanks for responding so fast! Redownloading didn't help, but my saves were still there so maybe I should try again with a more thorough uninstall... anyway, I'm using the unvoiced linux version.
I didn't know there was an app lol. But it's fine, I recently had to reinstall Linux and now it seems to be working just fine! So I guess it was a problem with my distro and not the game!
Hello! Glad you’re enjoying, and thanks so much for your support! I’m not sure what’s wrong with the link! I’ll check that out. In the meantime, you can use this one: https://www.patreon.com/harlevin
hello! i literally just made an account to tell you how amazing this game is!
first of all,the soundtrack is awesome,i usually turn off the music in games but i loved this one so so much!
also,i adore all of the characters,but my favorites definitely have to be Paris and Rafael! my favorite Ash is the male Shika,i would have loved to romance Paris as a Shika just to see how Paris would have reacted to Ash' hands being so sensible,but then again he probably already knew,i'm sure he slept with a Shika before lmao. may i ask if the routes that we weren't able to play now will be playable in the future ? (like Braum's route as a Cubi etc)
my favorite endings are ending 4 and 5,i know that number 4 is Rafael's "bad" ending but i really liked it anyway,i think it's kinda romantic that they still haven't forgotten about each other,idk.
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hi! the description mentions 96k words, is that only for the current chapters(1+2) or will that be the count with all chapters combined?
hi! The game is currently complete, that is the total word count. ^^
It’s just that only the first two chapters are voiced. Thanks for your interest!
Just played Paris and Raphael's route, love it. Raphael is best boy and I will ship Ash and him together until I die
Hi I may not understand something but for some reason when I get to choose a route I can't choose Raphael.
Hello, only cubi and shika ash can romance Rafael. If you choose reaver in the beginning, his route is locked.
Oh, thanks for help
Hi I really love the game but I got a quick question. Where do the sparkles to show I have made a good choice appear
Hi! Thanks for playing. The sparkles will appear in the center of the screen, but only if the choice affects the route you’re currently on. There are no sparkles in the intro because you won’t have chosen a route yet.
really enjoyed this visual novel. And, goodness gracious the soundtrack! It blows my mind that you guys created it, it's so whack! (in a good way haha). I'm not very comfortable with, uh, intimate stuff but I'd be lying if I said that the story wasn't good. A great balance between comedy, romance, and all that good chiz. For what it's worth, I give you two thumbs up! (or two happy dudes?) ٩(๑･ิᴗ･ิ)۶٩(･ิᴗ･ิ๑)۶
aaaah i stumbled across this this afternoon and i'm in looooove. thank you so much for this, it was amazing!! and thank you for the many different customisation options for Ash! i'm gonna let my first playthrough settle and then i'll be straight back in there trying a different route <3 <3
- also love the voice acting!! so i'm def looking forward to re-playing it when all the voice acting is done :D
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! I hope to bring more voiced chapters soon!
omg i've ignored all of my chores to play this game literally all night! my husband is not pleased lol
I've only done rafael's two endings but I'm excited to play more! how many pieces of content can be unlocked? I see that on the main menu there is a little rafael icon that has lit up, but there are still 4 out of 6 scenes locked when I click on it.
I LOVE BRAUMS AND PARIS I LOVVE THEM FOREVER OTP
Thank you so much for this game! Are you planning on any future works? <33
thank YOU for playing! Am I planning future works! Always! There are those six scenes, some early sketches, and a special letter you can unlock. ^^
I always look forward to the voiced chapters, one of my fav dating sims ever. qvq <3
I-think-i-may-die-from-laughing-too-much//myspacebarisnotworkingso...
amazing game but it would be nice if we could rewatch the tutorial or at least something to remember what each symbols for the choices mean
Hello, the tutorial is the first CG in the gallery of the voiced version! I thought it was in the unvoiced as well but I will double check on that.
This was so fun to play! I liked that we can customize Ash's gender and pronouns too. All of the characters were lovable but Rafael was such a sweetheart. I got all of the endings except number 3 because I can't seem to figure out how to get it. The art was also really pretty and it's great that we can customize the main menu background too. This is a pretty solid game and it helped me get through a tough time. So thank you for this, can't wait for more! I'll be sure to check out your other games too because I'm sure they'll be as great. Lots of love! <333
This game plays like a DnD session where all of the players love puns and references. And I love it. I am HERE for it.
Edit: I can't figure out how to get two of the endings??? 3 and 8 are out of my reach. Help???
hello! 3 is I believe a good ending with Braums as a shika, and 8 is unlocked after viewing all the extra scenes (unlocked by getting the “best” ending with Rafael as a shika)
Sorry for the late response!
Ah, thank you!
That was amazing! I've had this game on my "want to play" list for a while now, and I'm so glad I finally got to playing it.
I decided to give the voiced version a shot. I was kind of surprised by the many voice options for Ash, and the plan was to try all of them out with different races but I just completely fell in love with Ash's 2nd voice option (Christian O'Boyle did an amazing job with it, I'd love to hear him voice more of the game in the future!). The customization element was super fun, and I liked the details that changed along with different backstories.
Ash was an amazing protagonist. The interactions with all of the love interests were just pure gold. It's hard to even choose a fave to be honest lol And the romantic scenes too... The writing was really good! I couldn't help myself from smiling while going through it. I think Reaver Ash might've been my fave, but I may be bias because that's the first one I went with lol Also I just have to mention this.... Rafael spanking Paris absolutely cracked me up. xD
The only real issue I noticed was the different voice volumes? Paris and Rafael especially were hard to hear sometimes (even tho I had all of them at the same volume, and turned down my music volume), which is a pity because they also had really interesting voices :(
Overall I had lots of fun getting all the endings and cgs! I wish I played this sooner, purely because of how fun it was lol I think I might replay it once more voiced chapters come out for Ash #2.... lmao Totally recommend!
Please help I'm stupid. When I go to choose a route, I can't choose Paris' route for some reason. It's dark, while Rafael and Braums' are lit up. I was wondering if I chose something that made me unable to do his route. Could you please explain what I did wrong? Q~Q
I'm a shika cisgender girl, I've tried saying both 'yes' and 'no' to cheating on the boat, I gave him melon bread, called Rafael 'Fai', didn't snoop through Braums' private information and didn't get mad at Braums for forgetting my name.
Oh, great game, by the way. Love the character customization!
You get specific routes based on what race you choose ,for example shika lets you play in rafael and braums route but not paris,if you choose cubi you will get rafael and paris but not braums and ect.
Oh, ok, I get it now! Thanks!
no problem
hmm idk if it's just me, but the voices haven't shown up at all?? i just downloaded this game a couple days ago, so i'm not entirely sure if the files have been fixed yet. if not, then feel free to ignore this comment :))
Hello! Double check which file you downloaded, and know that only the first 2 chapters plus the intro are voiced. If you still have an issue please email me at aferalcircus@gmail.com
Hey! Idk if i missed it, but is there a guide anywhere?
No guide, sorry! But there are in game hints available. But if you're curious how to get a certain ending I'd be happy to help!
I think i figured it out, but thank you for responding so quickly! Love the game! Might leave a review soon <3
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for playing ^^
I'm so sorry I don't understand so you are not finished with the game correct? is the reason being just the voicing or you are not actually done with the routes and such ? sorry I just get so confused :0
The game is complete! It's just the voice acting that's not fully implemented. It's done up to ch 1, ch 2 full voice will come soon!
ok thank you!
Wow, you guys made quite a job! I mean, it's excellent. The VN was great itself, but I'm absolutely in love with the new remastered voiced version. It's perfectly gorgeous! Look forward to play the entirely voiced VN. The voice acting is 10/10. So talented. Thank you for your efforts.
Thanks so much, so glad you like the voice acting! More voice acted chapters will be going up soon!
I really liked the VN and yet I saw that you were doing a voice acting. Right the moment I saw that I watched the trailer and OH MY GOD the voices fitt so PERFECT! I LOVE it!!! Much thanks from my side I totally enjoyed playing the game so far and I will look out for more updates. Keep the good work up! :)
I'm glad you like the voices!! More chapters will voice acting will be coming soon!
I really love this vn so far!! I love the art style and all the characters are amazing. I think my one complaint is that Ash's pronouns don't remain consistent with what you've chosen; IE if you make a character with a "female" body but with he/him pronouns, your character will still be called a girl, which is sort of uncomfortable. I do appreciate all the customization you can put into your protagonist though, and I honestly think I'll be playing this through multiple times!
Hello! Thanks so much for playing, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! That definitely shouldn’t happen, can you please shoot me an email (aferalcircus@gmail.com) with a screenshot or a note of the spot where that happened?
Thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the game!
I have finished getting all eight endings, have played each route with both the same race and then the alternative race, as well as redone certain routes twice out of love. I have to say, the game is well paced, the soundtrack amazing and the characters are likable. I played the unvoiced version since I wanted to read with my own interpretation of their voices first as well as wait for the voice acting is finished hehe.
tl;dr version of this: I love this game so much I wrote fanfiction
-The changes in inner monologues and dialogue as well as certain moments based on each race of the mc is a nice attention to the backstory that each race has. My personal favourite would have to be Shika Ash because of the fact I can romance my two favourites, plus it also allows me to access some of the minor world building details about Shika. Reaver Ash is a close second due to the personality as well as the emotional drive with the restaurant. Sadly, Cubi Ash isn't a favourite of mine but is still a good one seeing as Cubi Ash has a lot of development for the romance with Paris (due to the many references to Ash's crush on Paris).
-The little mentioned details on the world itself gives it a solid feel, well done! I liked how the small references to history don't feel hamfisted and Paris cursing out the king feels quite natural. I also enjoyed the reference to religion such as Rafael explaining the Shika world creation story, or the mention of Savaran vs Shika religion is like. Shika Ash mentioning Talia instead of the Saints as well as recognizing Rinka's statue is pretty cool.
-The romances have me swooning for days! Rafael is my favourite by FAR! He's so sweet and caring, especially when he smiled and made a little joke (Plus when he actually says 'cheep, cheep'! I love it!) Rafael has me smiling and having him leave in his neutral ending only to come back had me crying and grinning at the same time. I love how Rafael is both honest while being deceptive. It's a hard balance but you've done it well. The ship moment with him and the rats really make you think about what he's gone through once you know his backstory. And when he started saying the smoothest lines, my heart is his, no question about it.
Braums is my second favourite because of how shy he is as his walls fall from the arrogant noble to the shy person behind it. (Which I think is due to the strictness of his father) I was blushing and covering my face from how downright adorable he is as well as how innocent. Though I do wish we could have had a bit more mention on his opinion on his father, considering this isn't a very long game, that's understandable. I played his route first since I played Reaver Ash and I loved every second of it. My favourite part was how you did the emotional 'forced to say bad stuff' moment. It's so emotional and hurt, I was mumbling apologies.
Paris is my last, sorry Pear but you're route was built on childhood bestfriend stuff but I didn't have much to build it on besides 'childhood flirty bestfriend that Ash has a crush on'. I prefer Reaver Ash with him though, it added another flavor to that story especially when the whole Rain scene happened. The CGs and the moments though did make me fond of him and I laughed a lot at their banter.
-Over all story: The story is rather linear and after playing through it for around twelve times, I basically slogged through it since I memorized what would happen next. It's to be expected but I would have preferred if each route provided a different take on the story after the prologue but that's just me being picky about things. Otherwise, the twists and the endings had me gasping and pausing when I first experienced it. Especially when the guild does a play and the sudden tone switch was like watching Mulan and going from 'Girl Worth Fighting For' to the ruined village. Well done!
On the technical stuff, I love the soundtrack! Rafael's theme is a bop and Braums theme had me smiling and Paris' theme really did remind me of rabbits. Though there are times the music glitched out for a moment before going back to normal (when I go from the menu to save then returning back to the current game for instance) it only happened a handful of times. However, I do have ONE problem and that would be when Shika Ash is romancing Braums
At the end of watching the Theatre in Riddel all the way to Chapter 5, Shika Ash says 'Saints' instead of Talia and it may be minor but it kinda frustrated me because 'Ash are you so in love you forgot you're a Shika'? It really pulls you out of the moment, but besides that, nothing else.
Besides that, I really have nothing much to comment on.
The art is also great! It's so fun and memorable, and the CGs are glorious!
Also! The fact Ash is customizable, *chef's kiss* Thank you and I love you. The fact some of the dialogue makes references to Ash's appearance as well as how it makes the CGs look pleases me very, very much.
All in all, good job! Story is well paced, music is wonderful, art pleases the eye, romance has me swooning (Rafael, call me) and it's pretty good! I'd say 8/10
*Btw, I've fallen in love with this so much I am writing fanfiction for it, if you want to read it then look for my ao3 'ClearAutumnVibes' the title of the fanfiction is 'Liar, Liar' I'm not taking the fanfiction too seriously lol since it's mainly self-indulgent.
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the game! Yes, TPG is pretty linear, I hope to do VNs with more variety in the routes in the future!
I found your fic and I'm really enjoying it so far! I'm looking forward to the continuing adventures of Suzaku!
*Screaming* While I did put it up, I never expected it to actually be read ahahah I'm so happy you enjoy it!
omg!!!! i finished seven endings and can't seem to get the second ending for some reason. like i've done the "bad" and "good" endings for each route and played with all the different races, so i'm not sure what i'm missing :(( do you think you could help me out?
Sure! Three of the endings should be Braums with Good End 1 being Reaver Ash and Braums, Good End 2 is Shika Ash and Braums, Bad end is for both races, then there would be Fai's Good and Bad end, then Paris' Good and Bad end. The endings do not vary even with a race variation, the only thing that changes is dialogue. The eight one should be Braums and Paris bonus ending which can be accessed via the bonus content. Hopefully this helps!
thank you so much!! finally, i can have the satisfaction of having all the endings ahaha!!
Ngl, wasn't expecting a lot from this game, but boy am I glad I'm wrong. This game actually made me laugh a lot. Plus, the characters became endearing through the play time which I was def surprised at when I ended up really liking B-boy because he is not something I would normally pick to play. Paris was actually my favorite? Normally I do like characters like him but idk I loved him more than I was expecting.
The plot wasn't something I have seen before and it had a lot of cute moments. The customization was a touch I really liked. Having the character become more how you want them to be is great for everyone, I personally don't care for when the character has no pronouns or gender at all and I really liked how you could choose what to be and that it actually affected the story.
I do wish someone had made a walkthrough because boy was it hard for me to figure out some of the good choices for the good endings. And the little snipits you get after getting the good endings I liked. I was not expecting spoiler-> that Paris and B-boy were going to actually get together, and I am very surprised to admit I liked that addition as it was never something I had ever fancied or tried to read before. Though I will admit I def was a little jealous over Paris for that haha
Overall, read the game. I'm usually afraid of free games but this one is worth your time and the MC is super cute and has a good personality that's pretty relatable with a lot of her reactions :)
I love this game and it's characters!! Rafael was definitely my favorite, from beginning 'till end. I played his route first (against better judgement) because I knew I was gunna love that man, and I do, he's so precious!! Thank you so much for making this game and I honestly look forward to whatever you produce in the future!
My one thing is that I have no idea how to get ending 8, I've tried most levels of right and wrong answers, I've played through all possible race combinations, I'm not sure what I'm missing :( If you could give me a clue I'd be forever grateful! Thank you!
EDIT:
Oh! I forgot to say I really liked the character customization and how it actually impacted the story and CGs in a real way, kudos for doing that! I'm sure it took a while. It really helped up the replay value, I'm a completionist so I try for every ending, but the different dialogue helped keep me in the story! Really good job.
I loved it, Ashe is such a nice character, the difference in her behavior was easily seen depending on her/his background, that was definetly great. Also the other characters were just hilarious, I didnt want the story to end, I just wanted to watch them interact with each other! I was laughing alongside Ashe the whole time.
My favourite, must have been Paris, ive been so sad, because he had just 2 routes (though its still great), he was so nice, i liked the chemistry between him and Ashe, you could see that they really know each other since they were little( and the pining!!!<3)
But the ending was kind of dissapointing..? After all this getting to know the characters I expected more... And the severed friendship really stung, I really wanted to keep them together as the Pretenders Guild forever! The ending seemed rushed, when comparing to the rest of the story, it seemed as if someone had to write it really fast, without caring, but the touch with a kid was nice.
Also the Rafael route was nice. I have the same nearly the same opinion as the Paris routes. (the ending ;( ) But other than that he was really entertaining and cute, idk where you found him though, so innocent at some points and yet so oriented and smart!
Braums didnt really suit my tastes (sounds pretty stupid xd), but you know to each their own. I still found him adorable, but I'd keep him definetly as a friend, he struck me as a child of the group, while the rest seemed more like irresponsible parents.
I kind of expected the Rafael plot twist and it seemed sad to me, I mean, they just said that they were his friends, and now they are going to betray him? Even if they kind of agree with him? I didnt like that, to me they seemed like a family, and you dont go betraying your family!
Overall it was a very nice game, I enjoyed it immensely. The interaction between the characters, differences beteen them and the magnificent job that voice actors did was truly awesome, and obviously the possibility to change the main character to my tastes ... *chefs kiss*
So id like to say thank you for your hard work and wonderful game that brought me a lot of entertainment
Fluttering heart palpitations, that was good! >_< Definitely fell in love with a flirty Paris; he's my guy, especially that voice acting, but everyone else was so fun, as well. It was like I was a part of the gang. Besides Dragon Age, this was the first otome I played where there are different background options for your character which really kept me enganged and I spent waaaay too much time on the custimization. Keep up the good work and I can't wait for any future projects you guys have in store. I know it will be just as great or even more so as this one <3
Thanks so much for playing! I'm really glad you enjoyed Paris and his excellent voice actor. I hope you enjoy future games as well!
it was really good, but i do have one critique... I know visual novels that offer different romance routes often have this thing where they make you go through a lot the same story until you get to the specific route. it can be really annoying at times but i think usually people get used it since once you get to that route it really gives a different light to the overall story. However in this game in all honesty , although it was very cute, i have to admit, i felt like the different routes didn't bring much to the overall story... so yea that is really all, and honestly this critique isn't even really that big of a critique since the length of the story is quite short. I am sure i had more funds and more time etc you could make a very engaging lengthy story with routes that can really add a different feel to the overall story.
Some games that did that quite nicely were for one the nitro+chiral games(but they have the funding for that so is a bit unfair), requiescence did it well too(however their like overall romance development was so lazy and forced, you did a MUUCH better job when it come to developing a good romance, felt more natural. I felt their mistake was keeping the whole story in one setting.) and lastly Pigeon Blood, like omg Pigeon Blood different routes REALLLY changed story quite dramatically depending on the route, i think it was the first yaoi visual novel that I ever seen that done so well.
So yea really great job on this game, it was really cute and enjoyable, and I can't wait to see more and more projects from you, I hope eventually you get a ton of funding so you can just make some amazing stories that will make animators want to turn them into a show xD. I am serious because your writing is very good probably the best out of any game I played, it felt so real and natural but not cringy, like the main character was by far never annoying or off-putting in anyway.(annoying main character example see Signed and Sealed with a Kiss... that game's writing was just trying to hard to be real and ended up being a cringe fest a lot of times... still was nice to play though...)
oh I also want to say the music was AMAZING, i loooooooooved it so much. Probably because I do folk dancing so the music really made me want to dance hahaha. Once again thanks a lot and I will try to donate to your patreon as soon as I can really afford to do so. I will try to let others know about your amazing writing style.
Amazing game! I had so much fun playing through all of the routes and loved the whole story <3
Thanks for playing! Paris' theme makes me smile too. I'm so glad you enjoyed!
I just made an account so I could comment here. This game...I've only played about half an hour of it, and I will probably add a more in depth review when I've finished it, but I just have to say....the characterizations are so engaging. And funny. I've lol'ed 3 times already. Excellent job with the writing. (Though, in future projects, consider using a slightly more bold font, it can get a little hard on the eyes!)
thank you so much for your comments! I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far. You can change the font from the main menu ^^
thanks, I found it! and I finished Paris' route - I can't believe you did all of the writing, art, and music, this is AMAZING. kudos, I'm so impressed! (and looking forward to seeing future projects from you!)
So happy you liked it! I hope you enjoy future projects just as much ^^ I'll be adding in the rest of the voices over the course of the next few months, and chapter 1 should have full voice by the end of January, so keep an eye out if you'd like that update! Paris' VA does an excellent job!
why i can't play rafael rout .......... i mean it's unable to choose him and i want to play HIS ROUTE please somone tell me haw can i get the access to rafael route please ??
You can play Rafael’s route if you’re a cubi or a shika, he’s not romanceable as a reaver. Let me know if you have any problems!
yes thank you so match
AAAAAAAH tkank you your A LIFESEVER LOOVE U
The best things in life are mushroom-free ;) <3 <3 <3
I absolutely love this game and I just started playing! I do have one question though: I finished one version of Paris and Rafael but I seem to be unable to choose Braums, how do you access his route?
You can play Braums' route as a Shika, or a Reaver! Thanks so much for playing and I'm glad you enjoyed. Hopefully you'll like Braums' route just as much!
That might be why! Thank you!
Got it working! I think Braum's is my favourite. He is just so shy. <3
He’s my favorite too! Such a cutie. I’m glad it worked!
i want to donate so that i can get the art book but it wont let me.
Hello! There is currently no art book for The Pretenders Guild. I've thought about making one but decided to move on to other projects.
i've had an account on itch for quite a while (at least two years?) and yet this is the first time i've commented on a game.
i played through the whole thing (all endings and all possible species, though not all genders) in two days, and i enjoyed
almostevery minute of it. the pacing was just right, the tension, ash's inner monologue... the only things i regret are the order in which i played the routes, and that i didn't do my usual visual novel practice of aiming for the bad endings first, and those are both my own fault. the latter is a testament to how much i was enjoying it, though - i didn't want the bad endings.but, alas, i am a completionist.i also had waaaay to much fun with the customization options. i don't know how other people play, but i had a distinctly different appearance for each "ash" - my first "ash" was a shika with the medium skintone, black hair, and brown eyes; cubi!ash had the darker skintone, pink hair, and blue eyes; and reaver!ash had the pale skintone, silver hair, and red eyes. part of it for me, i think, is that i have brainweird and having that stark of a visible difference between them helps me remember which "ash" i'm playing as. but i'm also just a sucker for character customizers.
i played paris's route last. (i should have just played them in top-to-bottom order from the selection screen! dangit, past me!) but my first playthrough was shika!ash, so paris wasn't an option then and i have so many regreeeets. i loved that there were different endings for braums's route depending on what species you chose
(and i love that reaver!ash is a snobby little shit sometimes), and that there are little interactions with everyone that change depending on which "ash" you're playing. i'm definitely a detail person, and stopping my skip-throughs as a different species to see how the dialogue had changed was always fun.my personal favorite route was rafael's. it was the first route i played, so naturally it'll have that special place, but i think it'd still be my favorite regardless. i found it interesting how ash interacted with a love interest of their own species versus one of a different species, as well - for example, i liked rafael's route better overall when playing as shika!ash (i found the shared cultural moments really touching, because it was something neither of them had ever really had someone to share it with), but i really liked playing paris's with reaver!ash (perhaps because reaver!ash comes with considerably more snark - not that ash is ever lacking in the snark department).
overall - i dunno, it was okay, i guess.
pfff, i sure hope you can tell i loved it.i might even wipe my save and replay it sometime. need to wait for the emotional scars from my last run to heal first, though.god and in the good end! you know! [spoiler] wouldn't have [spoiler]ed ash! so that [spoiler] wasn't even necessary!!! why'd you have to do that to me that hurted.This really made my day! Thanks so much for leaving such an in depth comment, so glad you enjoyed. Snobby reaver!ash is definitely one of my favorite Ash iterations xD
Thanks for playing!
So question, whats the neutral ending for Rafael, because i only had 5% with him at the end and i got the same thing i did before.
Rafael has two endings, his "best" ending, and a more neutral ending. The neutral end is the end where he comes back a few years later. To get his best end, you have to have %80 with him by the end of chapter 4!
ooooohhhhhhh ok. Thank you!!!!
I created this account to specifically ask if there was a list of sorts that said the endings and what they were(good,neutral,bad) and if there were any walkthroughs to get each ending. (i like to 100% complete all games XD)
I've started playing and I'm not very far yet, but I'm having A LOT of trouble navigating the game. I can't click choices at all, I have to use the arrow keys to move from option to option, and it always goes down to the mini menu instead of the third option, so I can never choose it. It made character creation a problem, as well. No one else seems to be having this problem though? I'm going to try downloading it again and see if I just got a bugged version or something.
I'm really sorry about that! I haven't heard of this error before. Please let me know if redownloading doesn't help! In the meantime, I'll see if I can find any issues on my end. Are you playing on windows, linux, or mac?
Thanks for responding so fast! Redownloading didn't help, but my saves were still there so maybe I should try again with a more thorough uninstall... anyway, I'm using the unvoiced linux version.
Hello! I just wanted to ask if you're still having issues. Have you tried launching the game through the itch.io app?
I didn't know there was an app lol. But it's fine, I recently had to reinstall Linux and now it seems to be working just fine! So I guess it was a problem with my distro and not the game!
Hello! Glad you’re enjoying, and thanks so much for your support! I’m not sure what’s wrong with the link! I’ll check that out. In the meantime, you can use this one: https://www.patreon.com/harlevin
hello! i literally just made an account to tell you how amazing this game is!
first of all,the soundtrack is awesome,i usually turn off the music in games but i loved this one so so much!
also,i adore all of the characters,but my favorites definitely have to be Paris and Rafael! my favorite Ash is the male Shika,i would have loved to romance Paris as a Shika just to see how Paris would have reacted to Ash' hands being so sensible,but then again he probably already knew,i'm sure he slept with a Shika before lmao. may i ask if the routes that we weren't able to play now will be playable in the future ? (like Braum's route as a Cubi etc)
my favorite endings are ending 4 and 5,i know that number 4 is Rafael's "bad" ending but i really liked it anyway,i think it's kinda romantic that they still haven't forgotten about each other,idk.
anyway yeah,i love your game!
Thanks so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed! You're too kind ;u;b
I think Rafael's "bad" end is my favorite of his ends as well!
Unfortunately, I don't have plans to make those routes playable as of now.
Same I would love Ash Shika with Paris <3