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[GIVEAWAY] The House in Fata Morgana - 10 steam copies [DEADLINE 3rd June]
- Thread starter OniBaka
- Start date
Mr_Kuschels
Member
Very interested. I only heard great things about it and it's been a while since I played/read a VN.
Randomizer
Member
Currently playing through the demo. I completed the first chapater a few nights ago. I'll post some quick impressions.
Whilst the graphics are pretty low resolution, I do quite like the art design and character models, which remind me of Kuzuma Kaneko and Yoshitaka Amano. The soundtrack is great and the overall sound design in general is excellent. I took the game's advice and played wearing headphones, very atmospheric stuff.
Now onto the meaty part of any VN, the story. The initial premise and setting had me greatly intrigued and looking answers to it's many mysteries. Who is the unknown protagonist? What is the stroy of strange Maid? And what exactly is the house? The writing and dialogue so far has been great. The first chapter's setting was very believable, the writing does well to capture and paint a picture of
I started the second chapter but have not made much progress. I like that it's completely different from the previous chapter but I'm sure they all tie in together somehow.
Thanks for bringing the game to my attention and thanks for the generous giveaway!
Whilst the graphics are pretty low resolution, I do quite like the art design and character models, which remind me of Kuzuma Kaneko and Yoshitaka Amano. The soundtrack is great and the overall sound design in general is excellent. I took the game's advice and played wearing headphones, very atmospheric stuff.
Now onto the meaty part of any VN, the story. The initial premise and setting had me greatly intrigued and looking answers to it's many mysteries. Who is the unknown protagonist? What is the stroy of strange Maid? And what exactly is the house? The writing and dialogue so far has been great. The first chapter's setting was very believable, the writing does well to capture and paint a picture of
adolescence in the renaissance period. The expectations of family within the aristocracy. With things such courting, arranged marriages and the keeping of family honour. Then you have the exploration of the obvious divides between rich and poor. The tragedy of how it all plays out with the twist was great. I can already tell this will be a huge emotional rollercoaster. One minor complaint though, the whole big brother, little sister trope is so played out in Japanese stories by now lol.
I started the second chapter but have not made much progress. I like that it's completely different from the previous chapter but I'm sure they all tie in together somehow.
Thanks for bringing the game to my attention and thanks for the generous giveaway!
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
I'll just say that as someone who's playing through the game right now that the first 2 stories are definitely the weakest part of the game, though they do play a role.
Randomizer
Member
Damn now I am even more hyped!
thebigmachine
Member
I'm quite interested. I've always felt VNs don't get the props they deserve.
Hope to see your impressions in the OT thread.I'm interested, it's been on my wishlist for a while. Thanks for doing this OP!
Edit: Played the demo, loved it, bought it. Take me off the giveaway list
Funyarinpa
Member
Enter willing post numbers into a random number generator?
Ah ok thanks.
There's also https://www.random.org/lists/
Enter all usernames as a list, give the copy to the first ten of the randomly shuffled list. Or 5 and 5, for demo and non-demo folks.
McStickenstein
Member
I tried downloading the demo, but it'll take hours - I'm overseas and using a bad connection. I'd appreciate a chance at this giveaway. Thank you very much!
Thanks, think I'll use it.
rhophiehalul78
Member
I would like to play (or rather read) the full game!
I jumped into it blindly, played the demo and here are my impressions:
- I really like the art! I like this watercolor style that seems to go well with what the game makers are trying to accomplish with regards to the mood. The music goes well with the mood as well though I did not like those with singing involved.
- I play at night and somehow this game gives me the creeps. I am interested in the mysteries the house is keeping.
- This Mell and Nell scenes are making me uncomfortable lol. Some of their scenes take too long but I guess it's needed for setting the mood and for establishing the relationship. I am assuming these interactions will play a huge part on the later chapters?
I have to go to bed and I'm not sure what percent I have finished (I just finished watching the scene wherein the white rose turned to red) but I'm liking the setting so far. I hope the story pushes through.
I jumped into it blindly, played the demo and here are my impressions:
- I really like the art! I like this watercolor style that seems to go well with what the game makers are trying to accomplish with regards to the mood. The music goes well with the mood as well though I did not like those with singing involved.
- I play at night and somehow this game gives me the creeps. I am interested in the mysteries the house is keeping.
- This Mell and Nell scenes are making me uncomfortable lol. Some of their scenes take too long but I guess it's needed for setting the mood and for establishing the relationship. I am assuming these interactions will play a huge part on the later chapters?
I have to go to bed and I'm not sure what percent I have finished (I just finished watching the scene wherein the white rose turned to red) but I'm liking the setting so far. I hope the story pushes through.
enfieldvball
Member
Definitely interested, just finished VA-11 recently so I'm looking for another VN to play.
Green Card
Member
I like horror and VNs. Put me in with post only.
Finished the demo. Played each door in one sitting, which took... longer than I expected each time.
I like the episodic structure. My visual novel experience (not counting hybrids like 999 or Phoenix Wright) begins and ends at Saya no Uta; everything else I've tried takes so long to get going that I often quit ten minutes in. The House in Fata Morgana doesn't suffer that problem. It delivers the hook right away, which has kept me on board. And even if I'm still far away from discovering the true mystery of the mansion, each two-hour chapter delivers a beginning, middle, and end of its own kind of tragedy, so I don't feel like it's wasting my time.
Visual novels are a weird sort of media. They're a less literal storytelling form than movies but more than books. All the images are approximations, coming up short of the fullness of what the prose might describe (and on occasion contradicting it). I'm never quite sure what to think about them. Why not go all the way, or, in the alternative, get the pictures out of the way of the writing? Why stick with blurry backgrounds and the limited shorthand of a handful of character poses (almost like an old JRPG)? Even here, it's a constant problem, as I sometimes found myself torn between following the changes in the character portraits, or maintaining the pace of the developing story.
As far as I can tell, there are a few reasons. The first (which both Saya no Uta and 999 use to some degree) is the way a visual novel can create this ambiguous second-person narrative space. The fixed perspective and constant need for input force a sense of participation in the story, without removing an author's absolute control over the narrative space. The second is the power you get from marrying audio and text, which plays on the reader's imagination in a unique way. The third is the power you get when you bend the otherwise-rigid rules of how a VN is delivered, which can deliver something uniquely impactful to the reader.
What I'm trying to say is that I'm pretty impressed so far. I've got some quibbles about the prose sometimes (particularly how Door 1's occasionally-colloquial dialogue poorly matches the setting), and it's certainly... not exactly subtle when it wants to deliver an emotional punch. But so far, it earned my investment. The art is strong, the music varied, haunting, and evocative, the writing generally has a good grasp on tone, on tension and release, pacing the drama of each of these little tragedies so that they have the appropriate impact. And while I'm not sure how much I approve of some of the more blatant visual novel tricks it pulls to keep me in the dark (blatantly censoring information in front of my eyes on a few occasions), it's still doing a good job teasing out the mystery it delivers up front. I have a lot of questions, a few theories, and very little sense of how the larger tale will play out.
Even if I don't get a free copy, I might still buy the game before the sale ends. There's still so much more I want to know, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable putting the whole thing aside and leaving it.
I like the episodic structure. My visual novel experience (not counting hybrids like 999 or Phoenix Wright) begins and ends at Saya no Uta; everything else I've tried takes so long to get going that I often quit ten minutes in. The House in Fata Morgana doesn't suffer that problem. It delivers the hook right away, which has kept me on board. And even if I'm still far away from discovering the true mystery of the mansion, each two-hour chapter delivers a beginning, middle, and end of its own kind of tragedy, so I don't feel like it's wasting my time.
Visual novels are a weird sort of media. They're a less literal storytelling form than movies but more than books. All the images are approximations, coming up short of the fullness of what the prose might describe (and on occasion contradicting it). I'm never quite sure what to think about them. Why not go all the way, or, in the alternative, get the pictures out of the way of the writing? Why stick with blurry backgrounds and the limited shorthand of a handful of character poses (almost like an old JRPG)? Even here, it's a constant problem, as I sometimes found myself torn between following the changes in the character portraits, or maintaining the pace of the developing story.
As far as I can tell, there are a few reasons. The first (which both Saya no Uta and 999 use to some degree) is the way a visual novel can create this ambiguous second-person narrative space. The fixed perspective and constant need for input force a sense of participation in the story, without removing an author's absolute control over the narrative space. The second is the power you get from marrying audio and text, which plays on the reader's imagination in a unique way. The third is the power you get when you bend the otherwise-rigid rules of how a VN is delivered, which can deliver something uniquely impactful to the reader.
What I'm trying to say is that I'm pretty impressed so far. I've got some quibbles about the prose sometimes (particularly how Door 1's occasionally-colloquial dialogue poorly matches the setting), and it's certainly... not exactly subtle when it wants to deliver an emotional punch. But so far, it earned my investment. The art is strong, the music varied, haunting, and evocative, the writing generally has a good grasp on tone, on tension and release, pacing the drama of each of these little tragedies so that they have the appropriate impact. And while I'm not sure how much I approve of some of the more blatant visual novel tricks it pulls to keep me in the dark (blatantly censoring information in front of my eyes on a few occasions), it's still doing a good job teasing out the mystery it delivers up front. I have a lot of questions, a few theories, and very little sense of how the larger tale will play out.
Even if I don't get a free copy, I might still buy the game before the sale ends. There's still so much more I want to know, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable putting the whole thing aside and leaving it.
Hours Left
Member
I'd like to enter please.
I've been interested in this game for awhile but haven't tried the demo yet.
I've been interested in this game for awhile but haven't tried the demo yet.
FrontalMonk
Banned
Sure, I'm in. Haven't played the demo, and haven't been through a VN since Danganronpa 2. Favorite is still Umineko, so I'm excited to see if it can take the crown.
InternHertz
Member
I'm interested. If I win a copy I'm committing myself on playing it thoroughly.
I very much doubt it'll surpass some of my favorites but I'm more than ready to be proven wrong.
I very much doubt it'll surpass some of my favorites but I'm more than ready to be proven wrong.
quoting for new page, my absolute 2 favorite ost from the game. You'll only heard them from the middle of the game to the end.
malikhaing_bayag
Member
Is it still okay to join this? I wanted to play a VN with good story right now. No time to play the demo though.
I'm going off the US date so there's still one more day.
I played through the first door of the demo so far, and while it took it's time getting going I really liked where it ended up. There's definitely an uneasy vibe throughout the chapter. I wouldn't call it horror, as it never felt like it was really trying to scare me. It's more like everything felt slightly off-tilt, like things weren't quite right even before they went wrong.
It also really embraces the "novel" in visual novel, other than saying good morning I don't think I've had any interaction. I'm fine with the approach, I don't think it would have added anything with the first door, if anything it would have hurt it.
Also, am I the only person who constantly reads the title as "Fate", not "Fata"?
It also really embraces the "novel" in visual novel, other than saying good morning I don't think I've had any interaction. I'm fine with the approach, I don't think it would have added anything with the first door, if anything it would have hurt it.
Also, am I the only person who constantly reads the title as "Fate", not "Fata"?
JamesJoyce1882
Member
I'd like to enter. I've been interested in this since it won #1 in an underdog category in GAF's 2016 GOTY election. Based on what I read then, it seems great and right up my alley.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
It's more of a tragedy than a horror game.
Also yeah, most VN's are bsically kinetic novels.
FantasyFreak07
Member
Sweet, I'm interested. I just finished Steins Gate 0 a while back, so I can go for another engrossing VN!
Thanks for the giveaway and good luck to all!
Thanks for the giveaway and good luck to all!
Scrooge McDuck
Member
It's great of you to do this, OniBaka. I'm really interested in this.
Played the demo and here's my impressions:
The developer must have paid attention to sound design for them to explicitly suggest using headphones while playing, and turns out they are completely justified because it's great, and not just due to the musical artistry. I like that sometimes there are static going through the songs, alternating on speakers, adding some sense of unease and disorientation. The sound effects - like the creepy creaking doors, the footsteps going incresingly distant, the pitter-patter of rain drops on the window that really sounds like it's happening somewhere outside - also greatly enhance the atmosphere.
The character art is beautiful and really fit the haunting feeling they are going on. One nitpick is art of the Maid who wakes the viewpoint character up doesn't really resemble her art on the title page or her inside the doors.
I wish the background art could be more descriptive, though perhaps the blurry and super narrow view is intentional to add some sense of hazy claustrophobia. Still, there are some background like the Rose Garden that just looks like abstract colors to me.
I really appreciate the prose brevity. A lot of VNs a played tend to drone on longer than my liking. Here I feel the dialogues linger just enough to effectively convey character information - even through all the flourish - and the narration is efficient in building up the proper mood.
I have little idea where the general story is heading, but I am properly intrigued. The Maid prefacing everything with "everyone in this house would meet misfortunes" set a grim expectation and some defiant hope.
Played the demo and here's my impressions:
The developer must have paid attention to sound design for them to explicitly suggest using headphones while playing, and turns out they are completely justified because it's great, and not just due to the musical artistry. I like that sometimes there are static going through the songs, alternating on speakers, adding some sense of unease and disorientation. The sound effects - like the creepy creaking doors, the footsteps going incresingly distant, the pitter-patter of rain drops on the window that really sounds like it's happening somewhere outside - also greatly enhance the atmosphere.
The character art is beautiful and really fit the haunting feeling they are going on. One nitpick is art of the Maid who wakes the viewpoint character up doesn't really resemble her art on the title page or her inside the doors.
I wish the background art could be more descriptive, though perhaps the blurry and super narrow view is intentional to add some sense of hazy claustrophobia. Still, there are some background like the Rose Garden that just looks like abstract colors to me.
I really appreciate the prose brevity. A lot of VNs a played tend to drone on longer than my liking. Here I feel the dialogues linger just enough to effectively convey character information - even through all the flourish - and the narration is efficient in building up the proper mood.
I have little idea where the general story is heading, but I am properly intrigued. The Maid prefacing everything with "everyone in this house would meet misfortunes" set a grim expectation and some defiant hope.
It's been patched in the full game so her art is in line with all the characters.
They updated her art in the full version of the game.
Anyway, a while back I gave away five copies of this game* in the giveaway thread, but once OniBaka announces his winners I might give away a few more to additional people that posted their impressions and sounded like they enjoyed the demo. Because if you liked the demo, which is basically the least good part of the game, I can only imagine your reaction to the real game. It doesn't really start getting good until chapter three and doesn't start to reveal it's true nature until a bit later than that, so you are in for a ride.
*Not trying to brag, just make the point that there is more than one person that was so moved by this game that they felt the need to give away copies to strangers. It's not like I'm some philanthropist, I've never given away anything before and I probably never will again, but this game is special. And on sale!