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InsomniacWeasel O Sleepless Mustelid from Petah Tikvah, Israel Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
O Sleepless Mustelid
#1: Jan 7th 2018 at 10:28:26 AM

It looks like after 6 years of Troubled Production, Somnova Studios finally put out a (20 minute or so...) demo for Missing Stars, their arguably controversial Katawa Shoujo inspired work about teenagers with mental illness. I've been following the project almost since its inception and personally, disappointed as I am that this is all we got after all this time or that we probably aren't going to see another OELVN Cinderella story like Katawa Shoujo, I still think it's got some good parts. In terms of depicting mental illness, if nothing else, my opinion (as someone who has some intimate familiarity with the issue) it does manage to remain thoroughly respectful and remarkably accurate, so at least the naysayers thinking it was going to be an insulting trainwreck were proven wrong.

General thread for discussing the new demo, Missing Stars, and related subjects (A link to the demo download has been placed on the trope page)

edited 7th Jan '18 10:30:44 AM by InsomniacWeasel

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."
unexplainedEnemy from hell pit Since: Jun, 2016 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#2: Jan 19th 2018 at 12:09:39 AM

So, having just played through the demo, here are some thoughts.

  • I love Fran so much? (Though, of course, they handle cis people interrogating them about their gender a lot better than I would. Good gravy.)
  • I'm not really sure how this qualifies as a "20 minute" demo, it took me significantly longer to get through it than 20 minutes, although I guess I wasn't keeping track of exactly how long.
  • I get that the Google Image painterly backgrounds are something picked up from Katawa Shoujo, but in a lot of cases they just look...weird. Most notably, when there are a lot of real people in the background in comparison to the anime-style sprites. Or when there are no people there and there really should be (like when Erik first enters the classroom and talks about all the people he sees, while we see a room completely devoid of life).
  • But honestly, for a demo made for free, this is really good, and I'm enjoying how the treatment of mental illness is handled. Also, I like most of the characters a lot.
  • I particularly like the ways in which Erik contrasts Hisao as a character—his early-game behavior feels a lot more understandable and less "ugh now i have to go to school with these freaks and weirdos", and the fact that his family plays a pretty big role in the demo helps to flesh Erik out a lot.
  • I...didn't get the cheese joke. Was that, in and of itself, the joke?

they're gonna find intelligent life up there on the moon/and the canterbury tales will shoot up to the top of the best-seller list
InsomniacWeasel O Sleepless Mustelid from Petah Tikvah, Israel Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
O Sleepless Mustelid
#3: Jan 19th 2018 at 9:02:56 AM

Halloumi is a type of cheese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloumi

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."
Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#4: Mar 31st 2018 at 8:21:37 AM

I've been following this game since the announcement. I don't mind it taking so long, though. It is freeware after all. Katawa Shoujo took years too.

I admit, I haven't actually been following the very recent stuff, so I didn't know that Sofiya wasn't a student anymore. Or that the twins' designs changed so radically. I prefer their new looks, honestly.

edited 1st Apr '18 10:17:46 AM by Pichu-kun

InsomniacWeasel O Sleepless Mustelid from Petah Tikvah, Israel Since: Mar, 2010 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
O Sleepless Mustelid
#5: Mar 31st 2018 at 2:15:13 PM

Natalya is still a student, it's her sister who got changed into a new character who no longer seems to be. I hope she's at least a romance option, maybe like Misha in Katawa Shoujo but without an attached bad end.

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."
Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#6: Apr 1st 2018 at 10:17:29 AM

[up] I meant Sofiya. I keep forgetting their names.

Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#7: Sep 23rd 2019 at 3:08:51 PM

Missing Stars still isn't complete, but the first Act is almost done. Apparently it's over 120k words long, which explains why it's taking so long to write. This is just the first Act, FYI.

Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#8: Jan 23rd 2020 at 5:09:50 PM

Act 1 has been released, BTW.

Mykyta Since: Jan, 2020
#9: Jan 28th 2020 at 8:07:05 AM
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