I can't believe all these VNs mentioned here nd which I have gobbled up eyes ago from desperation are still stuck up in the same hell hole of unending development progress, I also share the sentiment abt andromeda six and lunaris games, they were boring for me at least.
this entire talk of kick-starts is making me think of touchstarved since I follow them on Tumblr. I saw many negative and apprehensive opinions of the first chapter feeling lacking nd luck luster in retrospect of what was promised to them concerning the romance routes and the mc since everything felt rushed nd underdeveloped.
tbh, the only VNs I have actually have played years ago nd finished nd found mildly entertaining and that much impacting are Reverie ebon light nd perfumare.
No bc literally same!! I absolutely ate that sh!t up back then, hook line and sinker lmao. I was way too naive thinking all these overly ambitious VN were ever gonna get finished and assuming they had more substance to them than the devs wanting people to obsess over and talk about their OCs lol. It took a while, but I've certainly learned my lesson with all these unfinished VNs and WIPs and am now much more selective with what games I follow and support lol, can't believe I wasted all that energy supporting projects that were basically dead on arrival.
Granted a lot of those did die but yes it's wild hearing that some of them are still in development hell, Twin Coves especially was crazy to me. Like for example Andromeda Six also takes ages for its updates but at least the game is gonna get finished (just did a quick check and it seems like it's near the end?). Idk how long it's been since that first time I ever stumbled upon the Twin Coves tumblr in the early days but it feels like aaaages ago omg
I honestly thought it had died and been forgotten with the rest of these VNs I mentioned in my previous post, but I looked it up and apparently they had a kickstarer and stuff?? And like omg, apparently there is still only a demo and yet there is a bunch of DLCs planned from what I am seeing in the kickstarter stretch goals??
Like girl..... finish the damn game first
And yeah the game clearly seems to be in dev hell. Cool concept and could have been interesting but like with so many of these projects, the devs bit off way more than they can chew. Like it's just ridiculous when you think about it because if the creators had more sense and were more realistic with their scope, by this point they could have had a finished game, hell they could have had 2 finished games even or at the very least a second game in progress. But instead their game is basically stuck in purgatory lmao.
I feel like in a lot of these cases the project starts out as a genuine product of passion, then it gradually turns into an unintentional grift with all these patreons and Kickstarters, then the devs see how much they can milk this cash cow and the grifting becomes intentional lol. Also just sth I noticed just now when looking them up but it's funny how all these games (Twin Coves, A6, Lunaris's Games) have their itchio comments disabled lmao, probably to reduce the amount of people criticising them or at least inquiring about the game progress
Ahh yes, I've heard of Touchstarved, that seems to be quite popular but by the time it took off I had lost a lot of interest in VNs since I had become obsessed with IFs instead. It's weird because in theory, it feels like a VN specifically tailored for me lol. Gothic setting? Vampires? I mean hell yes, two of my favourite things, sign me tf up. But idk, I can't really explain it but it's always felt kind of... off and souless to me, in a way, I had that feeling every time I looked it up. As
@miaomi above said and explained better than me, it felt too corporate and I think that's a part of it. I did not know about the negative feedback lmao but I'm feeling vindicated rn anyway
I'm reading all these replied about Touchstarved in the thread rn and omg I'm shook that Touchstaved is apparently made by ex Nix Hydra devs (who made The Arcana) but suddenly it all makes so much sense
And omg Ebon Light!!! I had not thought of this game for so long, it's been ages. I'm gonna have to go and replay it soon tbh, it's been so long since I played that it's gonna be like a new game for me haha. That's literally such a unique gem amongst the sea of unfinished VNs
The game has such a cool setting, MC, ROs and it's finished most important of all lmao. And in addition to that it even has customisation for the MC!! That was the first VN I ever player that has customisation for the MC's sprite and it spoiled me lol.
But yeah clearly a VN can have a good plot, interesting setting, amazing art, several ROs, and even MC customisation and... I know this is gonna come as a shock to a lot of devs but... Gasp, it can be finished!!
Without kickstarer and patreon grifting!!
Ebon Light you will always be an icon
I haven't heard of Reverie I think and I never got around to playing Perfumare even tho it seems cool so I'm gonna have to check them out sometime.
Also just as a side note but since I was very sassy about it lol, I wanna clarify that I have no issue with Kickstarter or patreon in general. I've kickstarted lots of things, and I've also supported plenty of projects on patreon, and I'll continue to do so. I'm a writer too so I like supporting authors, and I've also kickstarted some of my favourite games of all time. I just don't like the general patreon/Kickstarter... Culture??? (I guess lmao) in the VN and IF community, I've seen way too many things turn into a grift and milking a cash cow lol.
I mentioned a few other VNs that spawned around the same time (all due to the popularity of The Arcana and very clearly inspired by that) in one of my previous posts. But WTNC and A6 were the only ones that actually got finished. I don't like A6 either, the MC is too boring and I didn't like where the story was headed, it was just bland in general. But hey.... at least they're gonna finish the game I guess? 
