This is a poll done mostly for my own curiosity

I have some ideas myself, but I'm curious to see what people say, so I won't spoil anything. You can pick multiple choices, so if you think the game had poor art/writing/etc you can pick them all!

(I'm not offended, considering is one of my worst selling games of all times...!)

I don't like the Supernatural theme.

And if it was only horror but no supernatural?

edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

And if it was only horror but no supernatural?

edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

Then I think they tend to use the term Thriller.



Myself, I am fine with a supernatural theme, but that is one of those personal preference things.

To be fair, horror can be a difficult genre to do right. Personally, I love the Gabriel Knight series and Lovecraft's work, but there was something about Vera Blanc which felt really bland and uninteresting. The art style didn't do it any favours, I think. Not because it's something other than anime or bad quality overall, but because it gave off this sense of beige blandness as well. From the introduction, both the characters and the narrative settings sounded very familiar in an unappealing way, as if I had already seen the same stories done elsewhere a number of times before. Other games of yours stood out a lot more, either in gameplay style, characterisation or setting, which is why I think they didn't have the same problem.



If the Vera Blanc series was revamped at any point, I'd be looking into ways to make it more unique within its genre. The Walking Dead by Telltale Games for example, would be just another zombie flick in a very saturated genre if it wasn't for their narrative approach, which cast the whole affair as a character-based melodrama centered around human relationships, morality and the futility of survival in a post-apocalyptic world.



Also, I think the characters could use a bit more vulnerability. Vera's initial description portrays her as beautiful, incredibly rich, charismatic AND gifted with supernatural powers. The combination of all the above turned me off as a reader/player, because the apparent lack of flaws makes her seem less human and more like a cut-out caricature of a person, like an Harlequin romance protagonist. It's difficult to empathize with characters who seem so perfect and invulnerable.



Sorry if I sound really critical, I just thought detailed feedback would be best for this kind of discussion :D

Yes thanks, the feedback was useful

And if it was only horror but no supernatural?

edit: I realized it was a bit of a stupid question lol, horror is almost always supernatural

Then I think they tend to use the term Thriller.

I'm not really into Horror either,I'm too much of a scaredy cat to put myself though things like that. For instance;Not knowing it was a bit of a horror story I ended up playing through Lifeline on my phone,alone,at night,in my dark basement. And I almost got freaked out enough to stop playing it all together,so that light level of horror is about as much as I can stand.



If you are talking more about a mystery/suspense style thriller,I'm all into that. Like I initially thought Nicole was a supernatural horror story for some reason. It wasn't until after I read the description when it was in the Heart bundle that I realized it sounds more like the type of thriller that I like and i became interested in playing it.Though I must admit even though I did buy it in that bundle I've yet to actually try it yet,so I can't say for sure if it's something I like,but it sounds like the style of thriller I would like.

When I found Winter Wolves, I was really only interested in Planet Stronghold and Loren the Amazon Princess, because I was looking for RPGs. Eventually, I started buying some of the visual novels. I didn't really care for the comic book style presentation of Vera Blanc, and I was also uninterested in GxB romance, so those I skipped.

Well this was interesting, since I thought the main reason was the poor art style (and seems I'm right) but also the writing. Instead it's the idea/characters, I didn't think was that

Well this was interesting, since I thought the main reason was the poor art style (and seems I'm right) but also the writing. Instead it's the idea/characters, I didn't think was that

For what it's worth I actually really like the art style,But as I'm sure everyone has noticed by now, my tastes of many things is often atypical.

http://i.imgur.com/eoDUPkB.jpg" style="max-width:100%">



Where's the sexy men, Jack? WHERE'S THE SEXY MEN?



In all seriousness, I like and prefer western style art, but I can't get over how Vera was treated. She doesn't feel like a character, she feels like eye candy. You can do sexy but still keep a character feeling human - just look at Princess Leia. Everything about Vera was "look at my body" and that's such a turn off, mate.



You should have just made Vera full-on 18+

Haha well there were sexy men just not as many as Vera probably, or not showing off.

(or maybe they weren't sexy as I wanted).



Anyway PSCD showed clearly that not just manga works for VN. I watched again the VB art and western style OK, but the quality was really poor. I'm almost ashamed myself, comparing it with my recent games



Then yes the game was written by me so probably that's why it didn't work. There are games purely focused on "eye candy" that did extremely well on Steam (the various Huniepop, Sakura, etc) but are indeed more XXX rated. I should have either a better story/characters or as you said go full 18+

The story seemed a bit cliché and it is very shallow of me but I have a really hard time with most comic styles, whether it is a western or manga-like style. This is why I almost didn't even try the walking dead, and I would really have missed out here! I love western, realistic drawings like the ones in Nicole, or Colonial Defense (and I have to mention the overly talented Gracjana Zielinska in Cinders/Solstice too). The more simplified/overly exaggerated (blue hair and pink eyes, big eyes, big boobs in a childlike figure, chibis only there because it looks cute/cool or whatever) the style is, like in roomates for example, the less I'm likely to even give the game a try unless the story seems too good to pass up and/or is cheap enough, because it detracts me from the story and I have a hard time taking it seriously. I'm not sure if Nicole's artist still works for you, but I'm really looking forward to see what she/he will do next Except the chibis, but I guess that comes with the territory and no otome can be done without those



As for full 18+, should it really be either/or? Can't it be a 18+ with a better story and characters? And not focused on the male point of view too while we're at it? :p I know I'm picky, sorry ^^

No the 18+ was a reply to Aleema. In practice he said, if I wanted to do a pure fanservice game (in this case female, but could be male too) I should have gone "full" in it. Those games I mentioned have zero plot/character development and are bought only by the amount of fanservice. So doing something "half-way" as VB was a mistake in any case.

But it's only regarding this specific case

I would say the theme is a big reason for me as well. I am not a fan of either horror or supernatural stories for the most part. Now a psychological thriller is a different matter, think Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes, Silence of the Lamb kinds and not Poltergeist and its vein.

I didn't mind the western art style, and horror/supernatural can be really good if done well.



I mostly buy the games of yours that offer LGBT options, without them, the characters and the theme has to blow me away for me to even consider picking it up.

Winterwolves is one of the -very- few publishers I (almost) always auto-buy stuff from (others being Bioware , Bethesda, Obsidian, inXile and ...Choice of Games of all things) , Vera Blanc was not an exception, I bought that as well.



For me I -think- what turned me off was ....the gameplay / minigame thingies. Why? I didn't -quite- know what to do, how to play it (nor did I take the time to -try- to learn how to beat the minigames).



As a player you -could- call me lazy (and you'd be right to) in that I seek out and enjoy -familiar- games from ones I already like, and know.

When I've played new versions / sequels of games like Street Fighter (latest being SF4) or Soul Calibur V I ...tend to pick characters I already know (even if there are awesome new ones). This has become more and more true over time, as I used to spend -hours- and weeks figuring out games back when I started playing (at around age 10). I struggle with new types of games I'm not familiar with, and always prefer ones that I consider "easy to learn, hard to master".



Had Vera Blanc had a "VN Mode" or even a more familiar RPG fight system (or even a system like in the Undead Lily tech demo) I`m convinced I would've finished it.



Vera Blanc? I never hated the game, it just didn't interest me long enough to -want- to learn how to beat it. (where I spent hours lots and lots of hours trying to beat a certain "hidden" boss in Seasons of the Wolf .....Chalassa was that -one- companion who was worth it )

I would agree that the lack of female gaze and LGBT content hurt this game. There is nothing inherently wrong with writing/illustrating something from a straight male perspective but when most of your audience is female and/or LGBT, it is more likely to turn them off or leave them uninterested.



That being said, it's really good that you are willing to take criticism and improve on your gamecraft Jack. A lot of creative people can't stand a single negative thing being said about their work. Maybe a VB remake is in order? Or a new mystery game built from VB's ashes?

Had Vera Blanc had a "VN Mode" or even a more familiar RPG fight system (or even a system like in the Undead Lily tech demo) I`m convinced I would've finished it.

I added it in a later update! You can choose at beginning of a new game to play without minigames. Just saying in case you want to finish them

That being said, it's really good that you are willing to take criticism and improve on your gamecraft Jack. A lot of creative people can't stand a single negative thing being said about their work. Maybe a VB remake is in order? Or a new mystery game built from VB's ashes?

I like constructive criticism since help me to understand better and learn from mistakes

Right now of course I am NOT starting any new game. Also because I have even 2-3 "secret games" that I haven't announced but are in the works since last year or recently.

I was mostly thinking how to do my first experiment in that "gamebook" or as some users called it "Interactive Fiction" thing which I talked about in today's blog post. I thought a horror game, or something supernatural with comic style would work, but of course I could do basically any kind of genre/game/setting



BTW in my original idea, Vera was bisex, but I never got to reach that point

Western style art does not bother me much, it is how the art work looks to me that matters; I know I am in the minority here, but the art style of PSCD is the reason I will not buy it. Why you might ask it is just a matter how it looks to me, if it looks penciled in and slightly brushed like PSCD that is a nay-nay

Show Spoiler

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, Luis Rojo style and quility or Escher style

Show Spoiler

https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcXwQKZlWcP8AIeQunIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIzb2J0Y2R2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANhMGZiOWVmNzg2MDhmNTE2ODRiNTBlODEyYzYzMzg3YgRncG9zAzEyBGl0A2Jpbmc-?.origin=&back=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3DEscher%2BArt%26fr%3Dyhs-mozilla-001%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D12&w=738&h=1082&imgurl=th05.deviantart.net%2Ffs71%2FPRE%2Fi%2F2013%2F005%2F7%2F9%2Fm__c__escher__hand_with_reflecting_sphere_by_borcolor-d5qibhs.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fborcolor.deviantart.com%2Fart%2FM-C-Escher-Hand-with-Reflecting-Sphere-346855600&size=180.7KB&name=%3Cb%3EEscher%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+Hand+with+Reflecting+Sphere+by+BorColor+on+DeviantArt&p=Escher+Art&oid=a0fb9ef78608f51684b50e812c63387b&fr2=&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&tt=%3Cb%3EEscher%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+Hand+with+Reflecting+Sphere+by+BorColor+on+DeviantArt&b=0&ni=144&no=12&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12jd74qht&sigb=13pdfl04l&sigi=13d9mrj2l&sigt=1240nobd3&sign=1240nobd3&.crumb=a6M1LDRwzW7&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla" style="max-width:100%">

style presentation I am going to have to pass every time.



Tis the main reason why I love anime style art work I am so easy to please in the genre.



And back to the topic at hand......never noticed the Vera Blanc but seeing the presented art style....hmmm coloring is throwing me off and huge cannons are another put off for me too.



EDIT: have to rightclick the word image and view image to see he image XD.