Purple Prose for Purple Hearts: **** the Witch
A downloadable game
Meet Lucia. You're probably wondering how she
okay, okay - you're probably not wondering that. She certainly is though; she tends to do it far too much. Today, she's had a funny idea: it includes, among other things, capturing a person in a pretty consensual, laidback, entirely safe manner to have a drawn out conversation about, like...God, the moral bankruptcy of 1900s psychological studies...anime maybe?
If that sounds trite on its face, well, perhaps it is. What ensues though is an event unheard of on the Last World, the world located most closely to the end of the universe and the last one we are ever likely to get in this lifetime. It is a leisurely trip through a maze with jagged edges. It becomes a commentary upon commentary as commentators gather to gawk and speculate about a series of events no one can really firmly understand.
And what the hey: you stick around after the end, we got romance, thrills, chills, and things it would be impolitic to talk about as a lead-in to an adventure through comforting environs with a witch and her agenda.
cw: sexual assault / rape (of monkeys), analogies about child torture, solitary confinement, animal abuse, prisons, clinical trials/animal experimentation, religious delusions/fixation/obsession. apologies for these and any missed triggers leading up to this game's release; it was not written with anything but the best of intentions by every subject covered herein.
VN clocks in at around 55k words
CREDITS:
Sprites and designs by: Naomi Norbez (call me Bez), Lotus Moon Start, mellowbile, and Breezy
Lucia's original design by: Clover
A certain killer CG by: cherubiyo
Non-royalty free music by: mellowbile and Astar
GUI by: Swanchime
Writing, backgrounds, most coding, whatever other tawdry things were necessary: Me
Download
Install instructions
No special instructions. It's just a standard Ren'py game.
Comments
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This VN makes for an intriguing character study! You did a very good job of showcasing all of the various sides and shades of Lucia's personality through her manic ramblings, not to mention the glimpses into her family dynamics—and the wide variety in background music and background art alike do quite a bit to breathe even more life into the experience, heheh.
Very nice work~
Thank you so much! I appreciate the kind words and I'm really glad you felt both that Lucia was showcased well and that I was able to provide a texturally varied experience in spite of it being so much centered on her and what she had to say. Those were two of my primary hopes when I set out to write this and it makes me happier than I can properly express that this so far appears to have shown through. ^^
you did an incredible job with ur first game, delivering a brave truth about mania in the form of what really did end up feeling like a very long uber ride where a witch spoke to you at length about the mysterious and magical inner works of her mind. it's a behemoth in word count, but what a feat to accomplish so much in such a small jam window! it was a really ambitious project, but you succeeded! i hope people continue to treat you kindly.
tysm! i did end up trying for a lot and i'm glad you feel i accomplished it! ^^ i wanted to really talk about mania in a way i didn't feel i'd seen it discussed in other stories (although i will admit i consider that to be because of my lens being too small). it went on real long; i'm real proud of it and i'm glad it feels pretty much like i expected it to feel. you are very kind and gracious
So. I was wrong once again. It turns out that, as of THIS comment, the cool CG - specifically, the coolest one - works, as well as some sprites I missed with my final passthrough and one song because I am an artist and professional in full command of my craft.
Small whoopsie I'm recording for posterity: in the initial launch (that is, before this comment), the uhhhhhh cool CG I have alluded to in the credits did not work. It was an error. Big mistake on my part.
It does now though!
Glad to see my friend putting their game out ^_^ I'll check it out sometime hopefully soon.
tysm! you're so kind! i appreciate it and i couldn't have done it without you ^^