When I worked at Nix Hydra on The Arcana, our CEO was emphatic that absolutely anyone was welcome to contribute in any way they wished. I asked him if I could potentially write a romantic visual novel I had in my head. He told me that he would greenlight IF I could get approval by every writer. After I did, he retracted this statement. Through that broken promise, this game never came to be. But here it is now…
Here is: The Emerald Night, a romantic cosmic horror.
As you can see above, the premise is that you were a journalist whose artist friend has been having weird dreams. Investigating those dreams leads you to look into a corporation that is mastering dark magics to their own benefit. In my story, they would be subtly implanting magic runes into digital media, corroding the collective psyche of the world. You choose one ally to help look into things, with the implicit understanding that said ally would fall in love with you.
A major angle this (as a product) was to try and take Lovecraftian tropes and replace the racism from “fearing the other” into sort of the fearing the bottomless immorality and greed of corporations. Dark magic, you see, isn’t “too far” when it can make you rich beyond imagination…
The three love interests would be:
- A tragic cultist man who is wracked with cult at what his family has done (and he’s allowed)
- An amoral mad scientist lady who wants the world to see her full potential.
- A shadow-tendril royal from a wicked origin who finds little about this world to cherish… but you can prove them wrong.
Of these three, only the scientist had a name (Isabelle), which even then was a placeholder.
Like I said, the CEO told me that I could make it and then went back on his word. I avoided talking about while Nix Hydra was still around, because most of the non-leadership employees are wonders worth their weight in gold.
The new update for Beyond The Mist: Recognition is live! And omg, I really enjoyed writing this one 😍
The difference between the poly route and the solo route is especially pronounced this time. Each scene asks a different emotional question, exploring two deeply charged dynamics. 👀
Where does the MC fit as part of three? How do they show up for their family? How can love and identity exist side by side without dissolving into one another?
My muse really came alive while exploring these questions 😩🤌Wanna see for yourselves?
Get access to the demo on Patreon or Ko-Fi, the 7€ tier!
Cheers! ✨
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"I could have this over and done with in seconds if you'd just—they deserve it, Zach. They deserve to suffer, to beg, to writhe in agony for what they've done to you!"
From the game box's summary: "Navigate a world of organized crime. Three mafia families fight for control of Burlone City, and Lili discovers she is in the center of their deadly turf wars. Her encounters lead to danger and distraction. Drawn into this shadowy world, she realizes there is no going back..."
Piofiore: Fated Memories is an Otomate game from Idea Factory, localized by Aksys Games for the Nintendo Switch.
Overall Score: 8/10. I really liked the game in general--romanticized mafia is super fun! I loved the mafia premise and the thrill of illicit activities, haha. The love interests and side characters were excellent, too. The voice acting is fabulous! Two of my favorite VAs voice love interests: Showtaro Morikubo as Gilbert Redford (also voices Souji Okita in Hakuoki and Impey Barbicane in Code Realize) and Ryohei Kimura as Nicola Francesca (voices Kageyuki Shiriashi from Collar x Malice). Even fell in love with the voice acting of a new guy--Nobuhiko Okamoto as Yang (also does a side character's voice in Collar x Malice).
What I was not expecting was the somewhat heavy emphasis on Christianity and religion. That makes it sound a little more intense than I mean, but considering I wasn't expecting it at all...well. It wasn't the way one might expect, but it was enough that it was completely out of left field when I was expecting, you know, mafia. Honestly, had I known it wasn't just straight mafia, I might not have bought the game, but it was easy enough for me to ignore most of the time. There were some very--I mean very--minor translation issues, mainly typos, but it was good overall.
Heroine: 6/10. To start with, my opinion of the Heroine varied depending on the route. She was my favorite in Gilbert's route, and I liked her enough in Yang's, but she was kind of pitiful in the other three (not including the Finale/Henri endings; admittedly, I didn't read the Finale). Frankly, I found myself annoyed at her most of the time. It's annoying when a character that's meant to represent the reader (as a general rule) does, says, and thinks things that I never would. She has decent points at least once in most of the routes, but especially in the beginning of each route, she's so naive it makes me want to throw up. There are in-game reasons for why this is, so I understand it, but I still dislike it.
By the end of each route, she comes to terms with the fact that she's fallen in love with an incredibly dangerous man and gets over the fact that she's inadvertently complicit in organized crime, but the road to this acceptance is long and annoying. At the end of it all, she's still a bleeding heart. Not that I really thought that would change, but still. Progress.
I'm just bored to death of many otome MCs' main (and often only) strength being strength of will and/or character. Mental and emotional toughness are good, but could the MC also be useful and have more interesting qualities? Just once, I'd love to play a badass MC, who's a bit hardened, not a bleeding heart, and isn't shocked by the sight of blood... Yeesh...
Narrative: As is typical of these console games, the plot varies slightly from route to route, though there is an overarching plot. Without giving too much away, MC is Special™, and that comes out/is relevant in only 3/6 routes. All of the routes were well written, though I didn't find all of them that interesting. The overarching plot bored me to tears. I just wasn't into it. In a world of what I assumed was just your standard period mafia piece, there was a lot of weird mysticism and Christian mythology. There's not magic or anything like that, but there are sacred relics that can only be retrieved from their super secret locations with specific "ingredients," if you will. MC has one of those ingredients, and in a game where it really advertises the mafia (that's literal the entire pitch of the game, there's no mention of anything else on the game case), it feels very out of place.
I can tell they were trying to do something different with the mafia premise, and I commend the writers for that, but I think it fell a little flat. I found myself enjoying the routes where there was more of those organized crime attributes--smuggling, drug and arms dealing, counterfeiting, etc.--most, while the routes that heavily focused on MC's specialness were a slog to get through. Of course, this is my own personal opinion, so others may feel very differently. Despite that, I truly enjoyed the game and can't wait to play the sequel (fandisc)!
Love Interests: I adore these characters, period. They're all very unique and interesting, even if a few weren't my type. There are technically six love interests: Nicola Francesca, Dante Falzone, Yang, Gilbert Redford, Orlok, and Henri. Gilbert is locked until you completed Nicola, Yang, Dante, and Orlok's routes, and the Finale/Henri is locked until you complete Gil's. You don't get a feel for who Henri is at all until you play the Finale route, so I personally didn't care for him. I had no vested interest in him, so full disclosure, I mostly skipped his route...
The other characters were wonderfully varied, so I think there's a personality type to suit nearly everyone. I can honestly say that, although not all of them are for me, I can pick out a quality I like in all of them. Dante is the kuudere of the guys; Gilbert is gallant and chivalrous; Yang is selfish and craves violence (in the best way, though); Nicola is a flirt; and Orlok is the quiet, shy one. Henri is mysterious, though not in an interesting way for me, personally.
OKAY so The Arcana is another visual romance novel that many people already know about. (I KNOW I'M EXTRA LATE) And I've been putting it off and putting it off...and putting it off, but I FINAAALLLYY started it up. And damnit, I have no regrets.
So far it's absolutely beautiful, and I wanna eat Julian. 🙃
Young Bs - Guides on Dating a Youner Guy
Fashion Bs - 30 Scents to Grab His Heart
Sweet Bs - Your Guy's First Love Story
Crazy Bs - How to Tell What He's Into
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[Marked by King Bs]
IOS : goo.gl/JRZzQy
Android : goo.gl/nSEKf8
[Loved by King Bs]
IOS : goo.gl/C5EBnH
Android : goo.gl/cTPWCs
When I worked on The Arcana at Nix Hydra, the game I DIDN’T pitch was the one heavily inspired by Welcome to Night Vale.
One of the romance options as “A recurring dream about a red phone”. When you slept, you’d have a long lucid dream involving a red phone. The voice on the other end was a deep, masculine one that called you “kitten” and gave you orders… but they also cared and wanted you to be safe and your best self. So they were a mentor and protector who sometimes verbally walked you through how to… take care of yourself… during your more lurid dreams.
Importantly, they had a full continuous personality they would be recurring. There’d be themes of longing and distance, as well as trying to be connected while being at two totally separate points in your life. I mean… you’d be a newcomer to town who’s just starting to find a career, and he’s been a waking dream about a red telephone for over two decades now. He already has a 401k.
When I got the chance to pitch a game to Nix Hydra’s CEO… I waited on this one. It felt a little too hard to explain my strongly held belief that our target audience would want to date a mental image of a red rotary phone.
But I still think this could happen.
(Just a reminder that I was a community manager, and this was my attempt to break into writing)
