A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux


    I had finally finished a long week of stressful final exams.  Drinking coffee and eating brownies, I browsed games on itch.io, trying to unwind.  I stumbled across some indie visual novel called “Soul Union”.  There wasn’t anything in particular that stood out to me, but it was free, so I decided to give it a try.

    The premise was simple enough. You play as some know-it-all elf who is stuck in some kind of ritual dream with a random stranger.  For you know...reasons.  You make choices and get characters blushing at each other.  Hopefully you don’t die from making some randomly wrong choice.  Typical visual novel stuff.

    The last thing I remember was falling asleep sometime in the middle of the epilogue.  And then waking up…

    All around me is the landscape of a low effort paint and sketch filter.  Oh.  I am savvy enough with anime related fandoms.  When I run out of visual novels to play, I read light novels.  I must have been isekai’ed into the game that I had just wasted my entire night reading.  At least I didn’t die getting hit by Truck-kun?  By the looks of this huge rack and impossibly long purple hair,  I am in the role of supreme villainess, Noctisse. 

Omnipotent voice of system Forgive me player.  I realize that I didn’t flesh out the villainess enough in my first game.  Please guide the protagonist and the companion to meet in the ascension ritual.  Then you can go back to your own world.  Provided that you don’t go too OCC or you’ll have to do this over and over again in a loop of eternal hell until I’m happy with the result.  Don’t worry though, this is fun power fantasy, I promise!  This is nothing like kidnapping and exploitation of free labour, so don’t report me okay <3?  I’m gonna disappear now, so that you’re completely on your own.  Because of...reasons!  Thanks again very much and don’t forget to give me a 5 star rating and follow me @coffeedripstudios!!!

    So the author was really vague and lazy with writing this character and now I’m tasked with giving her the motivation to enact the entire main plot of the game?  Problem is, I have no idea how to use her powers or what she was trying to achieve!  Most of the world building details are fuzzy to me.  I’m a skimmer, so sue me!  I just wanted to see awkward anime blushing!  

      How am I supposed to progress the story and get back to my delicious brownies!?



Noctisse:  The ageless, all knowing, all powerful and sinister Shadow Weaver that tricks the main protagonist in order to...um...research nefarious things?  Really in need of a modern day bra.


Ilyon: The main protagonist of the original game that all companions inexplicably fall into Stockholm syndrome style love with and proof that angst is not just for teens.


Mikail: The loyal and quippy companion thief.  Because who better to trust through thick and thin than a low IQ career criminal?


Keska:  Bird lady bard.  Who sings.  Surprise, surprise.  Don’t think too hard about how the feathers on her head actually work.

Simion: Think marlboro man as a half-ass anime style furry.  Who is still missing from the main game.  Hello, author, any day now??


Grei:  Same as the mercenary but a priestess.  And actually not anything like the mercenary except that she’s also missing from the main game so who really knows what she’s like!  She’s probably nice?


Current Version 0.4 (Beta) Day 4: See Dev Notes 3/5/22

Development started March 2021

Created (Writing, Art and Programming) by Jen Lee Quick : wulfmune@gmail.com

Built using Ren'Py :  https://www.renpy.org/

Music is Royalty Free Music from https://www.purple-planet.com

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ITSV-0.4-win.zip 351 MB
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ITSV-0.4-mac.zip 350 MB
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ITSV-0.4-linux.tar.bz2 329 MB

Development log

Comments

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(2 edits) (+3)

I know the game hasn't been updated in over a year but heres some stuff I found:


I got an error at error 6 day 1 when I clicked on

'wait for someone to go through the door' in the front room.


---

Edit: Found a typo.

"Could'nt you have drawn me something sweet looking instead of psychotic??"

the could'nt should be couldn't

(+1)

Thank you Tiny for reporting this bug! At the moment, I had planned on reworking this game to be more organized and less confusing for the player but it ended up being a complete rehaul and is in a state of unplayability at the moment. I appreciate you trying out this attempt and I am sorry for the issue you experienced!

(+1)

I completely understand if this game is in hiatus or cancelled. Boy do I have MUCH smaller projects I gave up on for being hard and/or time-consuming. While the RNG aspect of the game is a bit punishing, it is such a cool idea executed with hilarious satire of both the otome isekai genre and suvival-like gameplay. 

You're very talented to even have come this far! I will keep an eye on future projects. Although I will have a soft spot for "I've Transmigrated as the Supreme Villainess... but I have no idea wtf I'm supposed to do!"

(+1)

i love you- this is amazing

<3 you too! Thanks for trying out my games ^^

(1 edit) (+1)

I've found the way to meet Mikail in day 3 without getting killed:
- Go to the study, choose "Browse the books" (save before you choose), make sure you are reading a book mentioned about thread (this is very random so I have to save/ load a lot)

- Then go to the training grounds, choose "try to do magic" to complete the mission about improving threads.

- After that, just go to the forest and choose "use vision thread". This time  Noctisee can dodge the knife and survive.
However, I'm stucked at the reading in day 4. Although I have visited all the places, I can't complete the reading mission

P/s: For the thread mission in day 4, make the same steps in day 3

 

The reading can you finish in Ilyons room. Search his things, when you find a romance book is it the right thing. The thread mission kills me.

Thanks, now I can finish the reading mission. And yeah, I have to repeat the thread mission many times then complete it by accident, too. The game really make us depend on RNG. 

I love the idea of this game. But how do I not get killed by Mikail? I was thinking maybe something with the incense? Please I really want to not die.

Hello, go every day on the training ground and make stretch exercise. The vision thing, i think its mediation on the training ground is important too. Go on Day 3 to the ground before you go to Mikael. Have fun.

thanks I'll try it!

hiiii ı just started to play the game yesterday and... ıts been a while but ım stuck on day 3 ... no matter what ı do ı get killed by mikail every time when ı go to forest and stay there ı really like game so far and ı also liked the chaarcters but ıdk how to pass and I kinda feel clueless :') can you please help me little ?

(+1)

Hello, I know what you mean. You must every Day on the Training Ground stretch exercise make. On day 3 too before you go to Mikael. The vision thing is important too. Good luck.

ooohh thank you so muuch ! ı can finally pass the day 3 :') 

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(1 edit) (+1)

This game is so funny to play! I want more:-) Do you have a date for Day 4 for us, please:-))

Day 4 is very tricky! The reading skill and magic skill are very hard.

Hi Sayuri,

This game is such a mess I wasn't really sure it was worth revisiting in it's current state. Since you have asked though,  I will see if I can work through the disorganized code and update it in the near future. Thanks for feedback!

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(+2)

Hi there! Thanks so much for trying out both the original SU and this parody game. I tried to make npcs remember choices but honestly it's getting a bit out of control, so I need to organize it better in the future lol. But it is important to me for the characters to behave as appropriately as I can manage. I am excited to read your comments and inquiries as I'd love to get into a deeper discussion about the world building. To answer some of your questions, there might be spoiler stuff ahead:





SPOILERS:

Two factors keep Ilyon from understanding what/who "Noctisse" is in the parody.

 1. One of the things that Ilyon discovers in the "void" in chapter 4 of SU is that although there are an infinite variety of variations of realities, 'threads' or the essence/composition of existence remain constant across all realities. The question becomes how much can realities differ within these parameter and are these differences ultimately meaningful? Technically 'Noctisse' on a 'thread' composition level is the same as she's always been.

2. Ilyon has always had a game of cat and mouse with Noctisse. He wouldn't normally dare 'analyze' her threads, as she would normally be able to detect this and find it intrusive.  It's only after he's suspicious enough of her that he dares "probe" her to discover that she's let down her guard/awareness and something has truly changed. This is when he begins to approach her in her dreams, since her thoughts are more transparent in her subconscious.

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(+2)

When Noctisse said, "where's the walkthrough when you need it?" I felt that.

The character art was gorgeous. Your work with eyes is so well done!!! The concept of the game is quite original in this medium too, so it was very interesting to come accross!

I love the concept of the game, but I get super stuck on Day 2 missions. They don't seem to be... possible? I'm sure they are, but the game gives very little guidance for the missions so you are left kinda just clicking everything in the hopes it will work. The odds of success in the chance options are so low that I end up questioning whether it's an option or not. For example, I don't know if you are supposed to be able to match any of the keys in the pantry? I found a silk hanky, but I tested it out by just doing it repeatedly for two days and it just didn't find anything else. 

I don't really know how we are supposed to eat? I found an apple at one point belonging to Ilyon that I ate but didn't find anything after. The game just ends up feeling grindy and I cannot get my magic level high enough to get past Mikhail assassinating me (which I'm not sure if that's purposeful? I thought the line "just you wait till I reload my save file might have been a hint) and me dying.

I hope this doesn't come off as an entirely negative review, because the only real issues I have are lack of ?? knowing what to do?? and the odds of finding things. Like I said, the art and concept are so lovely and I really enjoyed the parts I did get to play, it might just be a bit more fun if the odds for finding things was put up, maybe. Also maybe hints or something on how to proceed. I look forward to playing the game in its entirety, but maybe at a later date when some of the mechanics are more player friendly!

(1 edit)

Hi there,

Thank you very much for taking the time to try out this game and share your thoughts.  I'm glad you liked the art and premise. I apologize for the rough mechanics. The long term design of the game is not meant to be locked by maximizing daily tasks. (ex. although it's possible to get Mikail to join on the third day, it's not necessary. Though there is some RNG involved that I would definitely be open to increasing odds of success, there are different ways of accomplishing these that may become easier as days and opportunities continue.) It's entirely my fault for not unlocking more days, as I wanted the "max" speed route available for those who manage to  maximize their resource management but it does make it very difficult to complete within the current parameters. If there's interest, I'll consider revisiting this project and making it more organized. I really need to improve the programming end of things to make it easier to update ^^;; Thank you again for your valuable feedback! I hope you will give my future projects/updates a try~

(9 edits) (+1)

Hey !

I cramed the "day 1". Here is my bug review :

- Got a crash snooping at Noctisse's writing desk at the end of the day : "journal_day is not defined line 154 in noctisse_bed.py" (also "ignore" make me pick the drawer's key I already had in my inventory :<).

...The reste is frankly silly details i found you might want to ignore :
- Got hungy in my day (quest), then got back to bed, tried lay doing nothing and got her saying "what if i get hungry ?" : well I am, I've even the quest to show for it !
- I dressed, got back to my room, undressed. Ilyon arrives. Me "I can't say that I was just too lazy to get dressed" : well I dressed twice !
- When going around the potty searching for stuff to do, it ends with "Ngh - I'm done !" but the quest "bowel" doesn't update (I assume it's normal but the sentence is a bit misleading there).
- I waited at the door of the house at 11h. Illyon surprises me. Weird, I was waiting for him. But funnier, after we talk, I still wait for someone at the door 2h more before surrending my wait !
- I ate my tuber (or tea), gone back to the kitchen. Saw the option "I already have something to eat". Well I have eaten already so !

Too much nitpicking maybe ? ^^'
If you want only more crucial stuff just say so, I can refrain the extreme "let's make weird moves see what doesn't work perfectly". Also mail is prefered or is okay here ?


(Also I wonder what will happen to my hot tea in my inventory on day2 since I couldn't consume both meal and drink ~ - Weeell. It's still here.)


On day2 :
- First thing in the morning I get into Ilyon room, get thrown off and last sentence is "(It's early. There's a high chance he's still in his room or close by.)" Dah, jut got thrown out !
- I guess the favorability quest with ilyon can't be achieved with ilyon yet

...Not much to report about day2, didn't saw anything to nitpick x)
There is a hudge number of variable, I think it's gonna be funny to see how much miscalenous object one can finish the game with :o

(+1)

Ah thank you again for all of the feedback notes!  Don't worry about being nitpicky, I really appreciate the level of detail of what you have found.  I can't promise that I will fix everything perfectly, but I would rather consider as many places for improvement as possible.  It's rare for me to get this kind of bug testing!  I will definitely see what I can do to address these issues for the next update!  Also I don't mind you posting here or emailing me.  which ever is easier for you! <3 Thanks again so much!

(10 edits) (+1)

I almost forgot ! Thanks for the food, I'll always be here to gob some more !

I may not be productive but I sure gob a lot of stories and I always wanted to be of use to one of them authors I like~ (but most seem too preocupied looking serious and professional - or they maaay have other things to do - anyway it's not that easy to give a hand if it's not monetary :<). 

I'm the one thanking you, you are one of the kind ^^

(+1)

I went ahead and made the script changes based on your suggestions and it only took me 20 minutes.  I believe these small changes will help the flow of text in the places that you pointed out and hopefully contribute to a more immersive experience overall.  I get too stuck in my own head when I creating this stuff so I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.  I'm doing this to connect with others through my characters and stories so even if my replies can be slow at times, I am always super appreciative of anyone who gives me a bit of their time.  There's lots to do on the internet, so that you chose to spend some time here means a lot to me *^_^*

(+2)

I love, love, LOVE isekai. I sympathize with the MC... those poor unfinished brownies xD Can't wait for the finished product <3

Awesome!  To tell the truth, I have only recently come to understand how glorious isekai can be.  I hope you can give me some feedback and suggestions as to where I can make improvements in the future~.

(+1)

ooh this bout to hit different. excited for it!!

Thanks for showing interest!  I hope you will enjoy the game as it develops.  I will try to give the player many meaningful choices in the future~

(+2)

This is a really interesting concept, I'm super excited to see what you do with this!! 

(+1)

Thank you so much for checking this out!  It is pretty early in development, but I hope you will enjoy the game as it progresses.  Next update should be before the end of the month.

(+2)

This looks like fun! I can't wait to go OOC though

(+1)

I hope it's fun! I plan on having options to pursue the other characters so that's pretty OOC from the original game!  Thanks for commenting!