Scarlet Hollow

I have played through the available episodes multiple times. I love the artwork and the story is fun. Being able to select different character traits that open new dialogue options make the replay value excellent. I enjoy the characters and the references you can find throughout the game. It's very enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the next episode. Highly recommend.

The atmospheric art and music can be glanced from the trailer, so here I will just note that the game keeps up that standard throughout all of the three episodes released so far. What the trailer does not show is that occasionally, the horror in the art and subject matter can really escalate the tension as the artists goes from 'spooky pumpkins' into full on 'guts- and body-horror' territory. So if one requires content-warnings, one should seek those out. Everyone up for the experience can expect the same level of horror the artist has previously brought into non-interactive works for comics and graphic novels. While many games tried to make choices meaningful (old TellTale comes to mind), this game excels in making the NPCs react to prior interactions and dialog choices made by the player. Yes, there are the *big plot branches* one would expect from such a game, but as those become taxing developmental-debt of an ongoing story, these indie-developers here have smartly focused on tailoring the interactions in-between those events to shift in subtle, but very much noticeable ways, thus reinforcing the feeling that the player has agency not only on the broad story, but especially on personal interactions. After all, part of this experience is akin to a dating sim. But where other such tiles give you heart-meters or other linear scales which governs the characters reaction to you, here the NPCs form a multidimensional opinion of you, and from there adapt the way they talk to you, rely on you, and are willing to help you depending on the situation at hand. Having played the three episodes released until this writing, I can say few early-access games make me anticipate new content quite as much as this one. The content updates so far have not only added episodes to story, but also refined already released ones, often giving me great reasons to replay content I have already completed.

Beautiful hand-drawn art, extensive and engaging writing, massively branching story tree, high replayability. If you join the discord, there's plenty of memes, theories, and discussions on everything from connections to the Divine Comedy to background plant analysis (no I'm not kidding, every instance of ivy appearing in the art has been thoroughly catalogued). People are enthusiastic about this game and enjoy interacting with the characters, since the relationship system (which is not explicitly a romance system, though you can romance a few characters in later chapters if you so choose) is so complex and rewarding to experiment with. Anyway, I recommend it, even for those not typically into the visual novel genre (I wasn't before I played this game, and I still don't think I would play many VN games). Is that enough parentheticals to make my point?

Masterpiece! also, Tabitha is the G.O.A.T. <3

While I'm usually loathe to review anything that's a work in progress, I have to say that I've been impressed by this game (and maybe even a little obsessed). The variations in just three chapters from the various "builds" you can make and interactions with the interesting NPCs are terrific on their own but the slow-building mythology of the game's horror is a major draw - fantastic and creepy in an understated fashion. PROS: Every frame is hand-drawn with care, creating excellent atmospheric art that draws you in. The careful thought put into the game is also quite evident in the story with well-written and interesting characters (some you can even romance if that's something you're into). The heart, humor and horror are top notch. The creators also listen carefully to and happily encourage fan feedback as they edit the game to increase player satisfaction and options. CONS: The first chapter can feel a little railroady and some builds have more immediate payoffs than others. It is still a work in progress, so a small bug here and there can be found but they're almost immediately patched and fixed. These are minor issues, however, and not ones that will ruin your overall enjoyment. Overall, I would definitely recommend getting in on the beta version because I feel like this will be something truly special - extremely replayable and unique, possibly even a modern day horror classic.