Wishes in Pen: Chrysanthemums in August (Demo)
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Meeting you seemed nothing more than just a passing phase to me.
But as the colors slowly drain from the leaves under our feet and rain turns into snow, I find myself drawn to you.
So then why, as we get closer… As we fall in love… Do your eyes tell such a sad tale?
Now on Kickstarter (Back this project now!): http://kck.st/2OhoJ0j
On that fateful night, little did you know that a simple wish and a careless “yes” would turn your entire world upside down.
The reality you once knew has been replaced with one you’ve only seen in games and movies…
The only difference?
You’re the character and life is the player.
As time slowly ticks down to the pivotal choice you’ll have to make, will you be able to survive the in-betweens? And can you say goodbye to the ones who matter most?
From Lunaniere, a brand new subsidiary of Afterthought Studios, comes a 40-hour long epic of a girl from modern Tokyo who has slipped back in time and right into the end of an era, just in time to witness the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the war that followed in its wake.
With lives, her survival, and her heart at stake, will this 21st-century city girl ever find a way back?
Experience romance and intrigue in the time of the legendary Boshin War through Lunaniere’s immersive writing, artwork, and soundtrack!
Choose your MC's look
As well as naming your character, you'll have three different sprites to choose from! Two of the possible MC designs are modeled after the likeness of real life cosplayers, Rea Kami and Etsuko.
Animated Sprites
Bringing the world of Wishes in Pen to life for you with memorable characters, plot, and designs is our primary goal - so we decided to take it one step further with animated sprites and background art! We promised you a visual novel and we intend to deliver, in every sense of the genre!
Animated Backgrounds
The little touches to a visual novel are what really lend it a personalized appeal. Knowing this, we have taken the effort to animate all of our background art. Watch the video below— a playlist consisting of three different backgrounds— and see for yourself!
Gorgeous OST
Of course, it's only fitting that a story set in such a culturally rich period of Japanese history would have the music to reflect it. The soundrack of Wishes in Pen: Chrysanthemums in August is composed by THEM3 Studios, which also worked on the critically acclaimed When Our Journey Ends.
40 hours of immersive gameplay
With graphics you won't want to take your eyes off of and music to set the mood just right, allow yourself to become engrossed in 40 hours worth of story, including differing text based on the decisions you make, with over 3 possible endings per route! (NOTE: The choices/endings could be counted as their own feature)
Facebook: facebook.com/lunaniere
Twitter: @lunaniere
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lunaniereofficial
Now on Kickstarter:
Download
Development log
- Now Available for Pre-OrdersOct 11, 2018
- Funded! Official Discord Channel & Pre-Orders to Open SoonSep 08, 2018
- FUNDED!Sep 03, 2018
- Almost halfway!Aug 20, 2018
- 23% funded on Kickstarter!Aug 11, 2018
- 9% at Day One!Aug 09, 2018
Comments
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Honestly, one of the ways we can help warn people is to probably make a category on our own itch profile of about dropped or cancelled projects. I made mine after i also backed a game on kickstarter that failed to launch so i hope at least my list can help people :)
PS: If you guys know of any more great otome games that have been dropped but already funded, let me know!
Is there anyway for this creator to be banned from this platform? Or to have a notification/tag put on this page to warn others of this 'dodgy' project?
A bit mean? Perhaps, but I am one of the 278 backers from the Kickstarter project. I think the creator took the over S$17k funded from Kickstarter and was hoping to let this die off without delivering.
Makes me wonder how much of their updates was real. Did the creator have good intentions to start off with, or whether it was always a scam (just put together a decent demo to get attention and to lure them in for the Kickstarter project - never intending to finish the game)?
Also for those wondering, Kickstarter does NOT offer refunds. They put the reponsibility on the backers to do their research, and that's it. This makes me never want to back any new developers on Kickstarter ever again.
so it was funded and they never realeased a statement about it? Thats sucks for he backers. Hopefully hey got their money back
so what happened to this project? no tumblr page whatsoever. and i just checked their kickstarter's page and the last update was on december 2020. it's been a year... what a shame.
I think they planned to just let this project die off quietly. Since all their socials are dead with no update, even their website, this game will likely never be finished.
that sucks esp. for those who actually funded the project. what a loss of money. i hope they get some sort of refund or something.
Truly hope you guys ok.. Stay safe and take care.. And thank you so much for such a beautiful game ❤️❤️
Is it dead now?
Any updates as to when this game will be completed or is it abandoned?
Their website is a dead link, they have not been active on twitter since April 2019 or Facebook since July 2019. Their tumblr page can't be found and they last updated on December 2020 on kickstarter about completing Tora's route but dead silence since then. This game was supposed to be completed in March 2019 but I guess they had something going on. Before December they posted monthly updates even if they were quite short. But there has been no word from them since the past 7 months. The backers seem to have lost hope due to the lack of response.
I really love this game and want to see it come to fruition and I really hope that they have not abandoned it. I can understand that things are tough during current times(especially since the artist seems to be an essential care worker) but atleast an update as to whether the game is on hold or abandoned or still in progress would really help
This game seems so interesting reminds me of the Ikemen Otome games I used to always play. I hope it gets fully released someday.
Hope this game is full released some day ;-;
i loved this so much :( the art and the story line is so well done. i hope the full game will be released some day?
I looked at their Kickstarter page and they’ve been making monthly updates to it. On December 8th they said they completed Tora’s route and that they only have 3 more routes + 1 chapter left to complete. So hopefully it won’t be too much longer.🤞🏻☺️
This game is really amazing
Nya~! This game is really amazing! UwU. Although, I would like to know, would the bartender be a love interest? Nyo ho~ OwO. Would probably make a nice secret route.
Is this project abandoned? I'm really interested in this.
I played the demo a few months back and I loved it, but it feels like this game is kind of... abandoned, which makes me sad. I hope the devs will pick it up again
It's not abandoned. C: There's monthly updates on the game from their kickstarter page.
Oh thanks you! I guess I missed those since I'm not usually checking kickstarter so thanks xx
Yup!
Are there still monthly updates? I really hope this game makes it through.
They do! A new update will come soon. (If you want more update notifs, I'd suggest joining their discord server.)
I loved the demo so much! Can't wait for the full release! <3
Can we know when the game is going to be released?.. We are really eager to play since the demo was really great!..
Why are the shogun being made out to be the bad guys?? The imperialists were the enemy
Hope the bar tender is dateable!
Amazing prologue, can't wait till it comes out <3
Is there a date set for it already?
Hi, I wanted to ask... when will the game complete?
I just got so immersed in it that I just can't seem to wait anymore^^
Not trying to rush or anything, just wanted to know, is all~
/)^.^)/
Ahh, also... could you tell me who said this line to whom?
"So then why, as we get closer… As we fall in love… Do your eyes tell such a sad tale?"
My curiosity got the better of me...but if it's a secret, then it's fine...
X3
Just curious is all XD
v.v sorry to be a bother
i am waiting for my new laptop, i am really exited to play this game!! i can't even wait for my laptop>//<
however i have a question , the full game... will it be free? i don't have a credit card so i can't buy it ,., , i don't want to play it, get attached and not play the final version
Hi mony_sakura,
Sadly, this is indeed a paid game! :( This demo is our proof of concept for the Kickstarter campaign!
it is okay, if i made a credit card i'll be sure to buy this game, thank you for replying and good luck!
You can go to Walmart and get a prepaid credit card, it works like a gift card. Also debit cards work as well.
Ah......about that.........we don't have those in my country XD don't worry i'll go and annoy my brother for one (he works in a bank) lol . Wish wish m luck
Looking forward to the release!
Thank you! c:
I've finally met all of the love interests! I can't wait until I can start romancing some of them. I really like the characters and their personalities! I do have a question though. Whenever I record this game, the game audio becomes all glitchy and it skips. Is there any way that I can turn the audio off
Hi MadPanda, glad you enjoyed it! Just head on into settings at the main menu. You can lower the volume from there ^^
I really like the concept and would love to play it. I am wondering though if there will be a option to turn off all the animation? I know in the demo you can turn off the background and the MC sprite. But the animation of other characters is actually making it really hard to just play the demo. I think it's a great thing to put in the animation for players. But I also hope there will be an option to turn it off for players who might not have the best computer or laptop to run the game on.
Hi Kikaharu,
We'll look into it! Thank you c:
I loved this so much and I can't wait for the full release!
Thank you so much for your support, GardenAngel! :D
I'd support you anytime!
Thank you!!!
NP!
:)
The scene at the bar is literally the greatest scene that I have had the pleasure of acting out. Thank you guys so much for including it! I could not stop laughing. I also want to applaud the art style and characters. Everything is so beautiful! I can't wait to finish the demo!
:0 We're so happy to see you're enjoying the game! Thank you! Absolutely passing your compliments to the team and can't wait to see more of your playthrough c:
Hi everyone , I am liking the story so far. However is there a way to save the game? Cause I had to restart everything previously. Thank you!
We're happy to hear you enjoy it so far, lalalaeti! c:
Sorry to hear that you had to restart everything, though! To save your game, click the 'Save' button between the 'Skip' and 'Load' buttons while playing. When you click an empty slot/save file, you'll still be prompted with 'Are you sure you want to override?' on the bottom left part of the screen. Click 'yes,' and there you have it!
I'm liking the story so far a lot! The fact that the backgrounds and sprites are actually animated made me want to play this game and I haven't been disappointed at all! Good job and I can't wait to finish the demo!
Thank you so much for the playthrough! We're happy you like it! :D
First off, this game looks amazing and the story is super intriguing! But I am biased because I'm a total sucker for this kind of storyline lol
I played the demo for the Android and while it looks amazing, it didn't run smoothly (with and without the animated sprites/bgs turned on).
With the animated sprites/bgs turned on, the animations were choppy and felt like watching a gif in 8fps ;_; The animated bgs were smoother than the sprites though! If they are not turned on, the game is still choppy (like when you open the save menu, or a Sprite making a sliding transition on/off the screen). To be fair, I am a fast reader and I was zooming through the game which made the slow animations even more noticeable (or maybe contributed to the cause??).
While playing the game, I noticed that the choices you make do not have a background button. So, it looks like plain text across the screen which is really hard to read against the bg/sprites. But, I could still select the choices and continue with the game.
A few other things:
°if the name is long it will be hidden by the 'Textbox Opacity' button; my mc name was short but this happened with Mitsuki's name.
°playing this game made my phone hot and drained my battery; made me think it'll be safer to play on my laptop lol
°this is totally my opinion, but I am bummed that the animated sprites of the mcs kinda lose that charm of the cg art we see above. I know it's dumb and finicky, but I think the animated MCs kinda have same face syndrome??
Making the sprites animated reminded me of that one game the men of yoshiwara lol
Anyways, I'm so stoked about this project and encourage everyone to support it!
Hey lahatmahal,
Thank you for your feedback! I think although the fast reading part contributed a little, we will still strive to reduce the amount of power needed to run this game. Therefore, we'll look into a new solution once the NVIDIA fix on our end is ready with the new version of Ren'Py!
Thanks for your kind words though! Please share with your friends! We're at 40% funded right now! :)
My only reservation concerning this game stems from the choices - of which there is a limited range. Moreover, they don't appear often enough in the game, which makes the heroine appear a little rigid and makes it difficult for the player to establish a unique personality in her.
The soundtrack, art and graphics were exquisite. I'm already hooked on the plot. The potential love interests are excellent because they don't cater to the typical character archetypes found in most otome games. The animations must have taken a lot of effort but they definitely enhanced the beauty of this game. In addition, the level of historical detail and knowledge makes the game extremely immersive.
I'm really anticipating the release of the full game! Keep up the hard work!
Hey Seraphina!
The demo is only 30,000 words - Please be rest assured the full version has a lot more options! Thanks for your praise, really keeps us going! Please share this project with your friends ! :) We're at 40% funded right now and we need everyone's help!
I love it! It was amazing, I can't wait until the full game! :D
Txara! Thank you so much, we're so glad you enjoyed it! c:
The game has crashed on me over 5 times while playing it at different parts. But it looks gorgeous.
Hi isawhat, do you mind giving me the specs of your PC? Apparently there may be issues with NVIDIA graphics memory leak that we'll fix with the new version of Ren'Py.
If not, please try the newest build we have and turn off the animations and let me know if it works?
I have a Dell XPS 15 with Windows 10 64-bit and the following specs:
Processor: Intel i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80 GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GEForce GTX 1050
I'll try to use the Intel graphics card instead of the NVIDIA and see if I can get past the point of meeting Toranosuke (where it continually crashes at).
aaaa i loved this so much! old time periods are my secret weakness; toss in a couple of cute men and one has a katana?
yes plswhat bugged me most was that the whole encounter with the emperor felt rushed (or at least, too easy) for me? plus, the demo was super short ;; it ended right when things were getting good- the music was beautiful (especially the samples on the ks 👀) and the art (both sprites and backgrounds) was downright gorgeous. gui could use a bit of work, plus some other technical issues that i've already sent in :p
i love that the mc was relatable and had a lot of personality! particularly that bit at the start where she daydreamed about a monster; it made me question if i was in the right vn, lol. (and since she drinks, i have this crack thought of her drinking sake with her chosen bachelor, like who would win and what kind of hilarity would spawn-) i'm really hoping to see her personal motivations grow~ the demo barely scratched the surface for the routes and i'm really interested in all of them! amane was your local neighborhood mystery cryptid (aka his mystery is his allure), mitsuki and yatsuhashi were the cutest things ever, and i've fallen irrevocably for iori and yatsuya ><
also, historuki. 'nuff said.
Hi, inky. c: Thank you so much for such a detailed review!
Period piece games are wonderful. Just be careful with that katana!
The Emperor is a patient but decisive man, and he will absolutely be getting more screen time - MC needs to prove that she deserves her place in court, after all! But we're glad the end got you hooked. c; (All according to keikaku.)
Thank you again for your feedback on the more technical aspects of the game, by the way. As for the MC, yes!!! Her personality made her so enjoyable to write alongside the bachelors and other characters. More drinking for her, though? Chie would not be happy to hear about that! :0
We hear you on the guys, too. It's hard to pick just one. But don't knock on Historuoki - it's MC's favorite game!
no worries!the katana is safe in my handswhat do you mean, i love historukiHi, Raithias!
Thank you so much for your support. We certainly poured our heart and soul into this project, and we're overjoyed to see that you liked it! The team is working to ensure the final product is even more fun to play through. c: We hope you share it with friends who might enjoy the Wishes in Pen experience, too!
Dear: Lunaniere + Sekai Project
I've tried downloading the 3 Windows folders & the story has a problem loading when I'm telling the king about what I've seen in the future as a seer.
If possible can you try to fix this bug
Thx!
(P.S Cool game so far).
Lone Shadow
Hello, Lone Shadow! We are truly sorry you encountered some problems while playing our game. We have informed our programmer, and they're currently in the midst of fixing the issue.
Thank you so much for your interest, and we will be sure to let you all know once the bug's been fixed!~
Thx.
which one do I download for windows? there's like 3 files
Hello there, limerence18! Terribly sorry for the late response. Please download the first link (Version 1.4.1) as that's the latest one! :) Thank you so much for your support and interest!
Amazing game with a lot of potential. This game feels like a love letter to Hakuoki (in a great way). Good luck on Kickstarter!
Thank you! Please share it with people who you think will love the game! :D