Nuitépine [Demo]

Story type is just up my ally, I was really impressed with this demo you did an amazing job on it!

Ooh consider me officially intrigued! Looking forward to playing the full game whenever it comes out. <3

I love dark fantasy settings and this game is very dark.

I enjoyed the rough and medieval setting and grim atmosphere.

I can't want to find out about the LI.

Since this game is said to be an Otome this is the only thing I'm missing.

Congrats on such a beautiful and engaging demo! <3 

The dark fairytale vibes pulled me right in, I love the concept of an evil enchanted forest. This was such a great set up to so many mysteries, I am so pumped to see the progression of Perrin's story and her adventures through Nuitepine! 

All of the art - CG's, spites and background were so beautiful and really evocative. Also the action sequence in the forest was incredible and had me so tense. The bad ends set such a tone of unease in the best way, and really heightened the stakes of Perrin's choices! 

On the note of Perrin - I LOVE HER. She has definitely been dealt an unfair hand in life but has withstood with strength, and I am so curious to see what lies for her in the future. Her design is GORGEOUS also, can i just say. > can't wait for her father and creepy siblings to get their some karmic justice too lmao <

10/10 <3 <3 <3 

Besides a failed attempt at finishing an otome game that a friend generously let me borrow a couple of years ago - I have no experience with visual novel games. That being said, the story and aesthetic of Nuitepine instantly pulled me in as an avid lover of fantasy, romance, and Gothic themes. I can see that the devs put much care into the creation of Perrin and their world just from playing this demo. 

It was a lot of fun getting to play/replay the different routes. I became quite familiar with the forest chase scene by the time I called upon divine intervention and reached the end of the demo, haha. The backgrounds were stunning and the illustration of Perrin in the armor made me swoon like a blushing maiden. I am very excited to see where Perrin's adventure takes us next and who we will meet (crossing my fingers, it's a fae prince wink wink)...

Some nitpicky things I've noticed are a difference in the visual quality of the brothers' sprites compared to the other characters and some errant pen marks, especially around Ivan. This could also just be my laptop messing it up as it's not the best, but still worth noting. If this is different in the full game, I'll eat my words - but I think Liz's introduction and fate would be more impactful if we met her in the beginning - rather than having her be a quick thought that is wrapped up before we truly get to know her. 

I'm excited about the future of this game and can't wait to play the full deal! The world of Nuitepine is one I'd love to become wrapped up in again! :)

Oh yeah - and I wish Ivan would choke on that apple. :P

Ohhhhhh the vibes for this were absolutely fantastic! It felt like stepping into a dark fantasy storybook, from the style of the art to the writing and tone, to even the amazing GUI. I had a ton of fun playing through this (and dying many times LKDJALSKDF) and it makes me really intrigued as to the direction of the story and what will come next 👀💕

The BGs are absolutely beautiful?? I'm in love with the dark painterly style and how you use such wonderful contrast to create really immersive yet isolating scenes. The forest in particular was breathtaking, and I love how you did the effects when Perrin is running through and being chased, from the flashes of red, to the use of the slanted blur, etc. It made that whole section feel so intense and terrifying. My heart was beating so fast kjkadfa

Also the sprites and CGs!! What a beautiful style, and so fitting for this type of dark fairy tale?? Every character felt so detailed and alive (even if sometimes in a horrible way that made me want to punch them LMAO). And the CGs were gorgeous and so beautifully shaded!! The one of the mom in particular is going to haunt me GODDDD.

The cinematography/effects were wonderfully done and incredibly immersive. I already mentioned the forest chase scene -- it really filled me with such terror and dread, how you handled all the effects and just the whole urgency of the situation. But also throughout the entire game, I always felt this wonderful sense of immersion, from the way you shifted between day and night in scenes, to the use of music and sound effects, to the presentation of the characters and scenes. It was all so incredibly well done, which helped me become even more engrossed in the story.

And the story, too, of course!! I'm already so invested. I felt my heart clench multiple times because of Perrin's situation, both in regard to the throne and their brothers making instilling in me this guttural sense of injustice and anger, to their gender, which came as a surprise to me and I found myself instantly empathetic to them even more (SOB), and also to their sick mother. Also the mysterious horror of Nuitépine itself has me both intrigued yet terrified. You did such a great job of setting up the sheer ominosity radiating from this terrifying place, then culminating in actually experiencing it and its surreal horror for the first time.

Because I'm a bit of a dork, I forgot to save at all during my first playthrough and died during the chase scene LOL. So then when I played back through and tried playing around with some different choices and found entirely new scenes that I hadn't seen the first time!! Which was really neat. It expanded the story even further for me and makes it feel like there's even more depth and lore just sizzling beneath the surface lakfjda I enjoyed trying out all the various options (some leading to further death LOL) to see little things I might have missed. And for some reason I refused to check the walkthrough so I replayed that final chase part like 15 times until I finally got the right combo hahaha. Which then just made me feel even more accomplished when I finally got it (AND WITNESSED THAT MONSTROSITY????). Though then cue my disappointment when that was the end of the demo 🤣

SOB SOB AT ANY RATE. This was absolutely wonderful, and I'm excited already to see where it will head next and what more I can experience in the story. Especially as in the description apparently I haven't even met any of the LIs yet, so I just feel like there must be so so much more up ahead! Very exciting!! Congrats on a fantastic demo and looking forward to more!! 💕

The game is good. But I'm confused as to why this game is labeled as an Otome game even though it feels Yaoi/BL. The protagonist looks and acts like a man; there are no female features at all, and they are referred to as Prince too.

Hey! I got to play the demo and I enjoyed it a lot!

First of all, the art, let it be the backgrounds, the sprites or the CGs, was absolutely beautiful! I particularly appreciated the expression work, both on sprites and CGs, it was excellent!

I also enjoyed Perrin a lot as a protagonist, and I LOVED how twisted their relationship with their brother is. I do love to see evil step-brothers, and welcome it as an interesting genderbent version of the evil step-sisters trope (which is even more interesting considering... well, Perrin).

I got interested in the politics of this story! Perrin's plan is a credible one to me, and it really contributed to grounding the story into something more tangible!

The mysterious Nuitépine, of course, is an interesting mystery I'm looking forward to explore! By the way, I love the name, it fits a dark forest very well (and the mention of thorns in the name suggests interesting things, whether about the dangers lying in this forest or about the more general motifs of the game).

It really was a great demo, and I'm looking forward to seeing more! Congrats on Sudachys!!