This is so good. I wish I had friends like these girls. I am going to use some of those stills as my background wallpaper. I can’t wait for the full release. Great job. 👏
Loved the flow of the story, the pace was super b. The clashing tones and the details on the spaces made me wonder how the spiders were taking the rain. Looking forward to see more!
I made an Itch.io account just to write this comment. It's weird giving this game such positive and uplifitng praise considering the bleak nature of the game, but "Set Yourself On Fire" was truly a compelling demo. The characters, the story, the beautiful visuals, it was amazing. This game truly does take me back to when I was an aimless teenager in the cosy Northern United States, waiting for something to sweep me away and give me purpose. I would stare into the dark clouds and meander by abandoned restaurants and count the days until I was dead. This game hits really, really close to home and puts me at ease. I always worry that I wasted my best years laying in the orange grasses, drunk, waiting for winter to blow over and take me with it. Yet, playing this demo, I feel comforted; This game made me feel normal. Anywhoos, I'd seriously consider giving this demo a download, and for the artist who crafted this: Thank you.
You’re one of the few people who have downloaded the demo in quite a while. I'm never really sure how to respond to positive comments. I don't think anything I say can do your comment justice, because it made me realize I’m making something meaningful. What you’ve said encapsulates exactly what I’m trying to reach with this VN -- aesthetically, narratively. My goal, ultimately, is to have my work truly speak to someone, even if it’s just one person. Thank you.
Yeah, I kinda had to do a triple check when I realized I was one of like... 8 people who have reviewed this novel (virtual novel?) It was a bit like finding a winning lottery ticket in a trashcan like- "Woah, am I really the only one who knows about this?" I tried to get some buddies of mine to give the game a try but none of them had a platform to play on, but maybe when I get back into my flow of work I can find someone to pass this experience onto.
just played the demo - what a gorgeous little game. excited to see it continue :)
i really love this game's thoughtful framing and visuals - especially the little touches, like when a part of the background forms the border for a piece of text, or when the text angles to match the perspective of a window pane, or when the text appears behind something. i wish more visual novels did stuff like that.
the writing is at times very evocative, which carries the game a long way - but i also found that some of my favorite parts were when we got these montages of "still shots", giving us a moment to just absorb these places and really sink into the mood of the game. those moments are really special.
i like that the game plays a little bit with its own style - sometimes surprising you a little bit.
if i had one suggestion, it would be to use a chunkier, sans serif font for the in-game text (the text used on the main menu screen might actually work really well). with the current serif font, it sometimes became difficult to read - the thinner parts of the letters get lost in the backgrounds when the backgrounds are noisy (e.g. leaves, cris-crossing lines) or when the contrast is low or when the font is smaller. italics were almost always tough to read too. a thicker, blockier font (and in a larger size, in some places) would help readability a lot.
overall, though, this game is doing a lot of fun experiments with presentation, and the ending moment of the demo does a delightful job of hinting where it's going to keep going. looking forward to seeing more!
Just finished playing the demo and I really loved it!! So many gorgeous moments (visually, sonically, narrative-wise, etc.) all throughout. I don't want to list any of them off in case someone who hasn't played is reading this comment, but there was so many moments where I felt genuinely surprised and thrilled by the way you played with format of the story. Recommending this to all of my friends right now, so excited to see the finished novel :)
Oh my goodness, where do I even start? This game, if I could describe it in one sentence, is like going through a melancholic artbook. Each and every scene looks like it could be someone's desktop wallpaper. It's beautiful, and the texture is so well done that I didn't even realize it was 3D at first! I initially thought it was 2D art that was rigged to be animated. When I realized this was all 3D, a big smile came across my face because it was totally unexpected. The choice to have the text move along with the artistic style of the game rather than being in its own textbox is also wonderful. I especially enjoy how the text is distorted to match the angle of a window or wall, or changed to add to the also changed tone of a scene.
Speaking of the tone, it really matches what the characters are talking about. There's only two characters in this demo, but they draw me in and keep me very engaged. This game is very good narrative wise because it feeds you information through the dialogue of the characters and their internal thoughts rather than just straight-up telling things to you bluntly. The descriptions, the metaphors and similes and imagery, are fantastic. They feel so guttural, depressing, yet beautiful at the same time. Despite this being a kinetic novel, the usage of the spacebar makes the player still feel like they're "playing" the game. For instance, the spacebar being tapped a certain amount of times to turn on the lights in a store.
You also get attached to the characters pretty fast. Yes, they do talk about some rather existential and depressing stuff, but it's interesting to hear about their opposing viewpoints, and sometimes the things they agree on. The sudden cut from Michelle to Alex's perspective is very well-done, by the way. Jarring in the best way possible! It actually put me on edge and made me preeetttyyy unnerved. But I love it. The change in art style perfectly accompanies this. I know this isn't a horror game, but I was still waiting for a jumpscare to happen because of how creepy it was.
Overall, I don't have any negative critiques I can think of at the moment! One of them was initially that some transitions might work better if they were smooth instead of just hard-cutting to the next scene. But the more I played, the more I realized that the hard-cut transitions actually fit in my opinion! The characters' perspective on their lives is as if their lives are labor, or like they really don't exist in their bodies. The sudden cuts make sense to me because it's like the passage of time really can't be comprehended in their minds.
Awesome and alluring demo!!! I can't wait to see more.
Edit: I actually do have one criticism!! And that there not really the ability to save or load a game. At least when I played it? There was no lower menu that I could select from that I could see. I'm not sure if that's a me problem because I saw that the menu was available in the screenshots, but not when I played it.
I won’t go into full detail in case someone who wants to play reads this, but I think my favorite part was the “tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.” part. The way it was structured, I actually did press the space bar in time with each “Tick. Tock.” instead of casually clicking through the text. It made the gameplay very engaging!
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This was great! I loved the visuals so much (and the words too ;) )
This is so good. I wish I had friends like these girls. I am going to use some of those stills as my background wallpaper. I can’t wait for the full release. Great job. 👏
Loved the flow of the story, the pace was super b. The clashing tones and the details on the spaces made me wonder how the spiders were taking the rain. Looking forward to see more!
Thank you. Glad you liked it. :)
I made an Itch.io account just to write this comment. It's weird giving this game such positive and uplifitng praise considering the bleak nature of the game, but "Set Yourself On Fire" was truly a compelling demo. The characters, the story, the beautiful visuals, it was amazing. This game truly does take me back to when I was an aimless teenager in the cosy Northern United States, waiting for something to sweep me away and give me purpose. I would stare into the dark clouds and meander by abandoned restaurants and count the days until I was dead. This game hits really, really close to home and puts me at ease. I always worry that I wasted my best years laying in the orange grasses, drunk, waiting for winter to blow over and take me with it. Yet, playing this demo, I feel comforted; This game made me feel normal. Anywhoos, I'd seriously consider giving this demo a download, and for the artist who crafted this: Thank you.
You’re one of the few people who have downloaded the demo in quite a while. I'm never really sure how to respond to positive comments. I don't think anything I say can do your comment justice, because it made me realize I’m making something meaningful. What you’ve said encapsulates exactly what I’m trying to reach with this VN -- aesthetically, narratively. My goal, ultimately, is to have my work truly speak to someone, even if it’s just one person. Thank you.
Yeah, I kinda had to do a triple check when I realized I was one of like... 8 people who have reviewed this novel (virtual novel?) It was a bit like finding a winning lottery ticket in a trashcan like- "Woah, am I really the only one who knows about this?" I tried to get some buddies of mine to give the game a try but none of them had a platform to play on, but maybe when I get back into my flow of work I can find someone to pass this experience onto.
This is one of the best games I've played in years. period. I'm speechless by how good it was! PS: As a player, you control when the text appears.
just played the demo - what a gorgeous little game. excited to see it continue :)
i really love this game's thoughtful framing and visuals - especially the little touches, like when a part of the background forms the border for a piece of text, or when the text angles to match the perspective of a window pane, or when the text appears behind something. i wish more visual novels did stuff like that.
the writing is at times very evocative, which carries the game a long way - but i also found that some of my favorite parts were when we got these montages of "still shots", giving us a moment to just absorb these places and really sink into the mood of the game. those moments are really special.
i like that the game plays a little bit with its own style - sometimes surprising you a little bit.
if i had one suggestion, it would be to use a chunkier, sans serif font for the in-game text (the text used on the main menu screen might actually work really well). with the current serif font, it sometimes became difficult to read - the thinner parts of the letters get lost in the backgrounds when the backgrounds are noisy (e.g. leaves, cris-crossing lines) or when the contrast is low or when the font is smaller. italics were almost always tough to read too. a thicker, blockier font (and in a larger size, in some places) would help readability a lot.
overall, though, this game is doing a lot of fun experiments with presentation, and the ending moment of the demo does a delightful job of hinting where it's going to keep going. looking forward to seeing more!
Just finished playing the demo and I really loved it!! So many gorgeous moments (visually, sonically, narrative-wise, etc.) all throughout. I don't want to list any of them off in case someone who hasn't played is reading this comment, but there was so many moments where I felt genuinely surprised and thrilled by the way you played with format of the story. Recommending this to all of my friends right now, so excited to see the finished novel :)
Oh my goodness, where do I even start? This game, if I could describe it in one sentence, is like going through a melancholic artbook. Each and every scene looks like it could be someone's desktop wallpaper. It's beautiful, and the texture is so well done that I didn't even realize it was 3D at first! I initially thought it was 2D art that was rigged to be animated. When I realized this was all 3D, a big smile came across my face because it was totally unexpected. The choice to have the text move along with the artistic style of the game rather than being in its own textbox is also wonderful. I especially enjoy how the text is distorted to match the angle of a window or wall, or changed to add to the also changed tone of a scene.
Speaking of the tone, it really matches what the characters are talking about. There's only two characters in this demo, but they draw me in and keep me very engaged. This game is very good narrative wise because it feeds you information through the dialogue of the characters and their internal thoughts rather than just straight-up telling things to you bluntly. The descriptions, the metaphors and similes and imagery, are fantastic. They feel so guttural, depressing, yet beautiful at the same time. Despite this being a kinetic novel, the usage of the spacebar makes the player still feel like they're "playing" the game. For instance, the spacebar being tapped a certain amount of times to turn on the lights in a store.
You also get attached to the characters pretty fast. Yes, they do talk about some rather existential and depressing stuff, but it's interesting to hear about their opposing viewpoints, and sometimes the things they agree on. The sudden cut from Michelle to Alex's perspective is very well-done, by the way. Jarring in the best way possible! It actually put me on edge and made me preeetttyyy unnerved. But I love it. The change in art style perfectly accompanies this. I know this isn't a horror game, but I was still waiting for a jumpscare to happen because of how creepy it was.
Overall, I don't have any negative critiques I can think of at the moment! One of them was initially that some transitions might work better if they were smooth instead of just hard-cutting to the next scene. But the more I played, the more I realized that the hard-cut transitions actually fit in my opinion! The characters' perspective on their lives is as if their lives are labor, or like they really don't exist in their bodies. The sudden cuts make sense to me because it's like the passage of time really can't be comprehended in their minds.
Awesome and alluring demo!!! I can't wait to see more.
Edit: I actually do have one criticism!! And that there not really the ability to save or load a game. At least when I played it? There was no lower menu that I could select from that I could see. I'm not sure if that's a me problem because I saw that the menu was available in the screenshots, but not when I played it.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the game. :) It's really nice to read my own artistic intent from someone else's point of view.
You can right-click or press "esc" to access the pause menu. It's stated in the "help" section.
I missed that! Thank you for letting me know.
I won’t go into full detail in case someone who wants to play reads this, but I think my favorite part was the “tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.” part. The way it was structured, I actually did press the space bar in time with each “Tick. Tock.” instead of casually clicking through the text. It made the gameplay very engaging!