Random free EVNs worth reading #2
Entry posted by Plk_Lesiak in Free EVNs
654 views
Hello dear readers to the second installment of this new, purposefully-random segment on my newly-undead blog! Since the resurrection of my interest in VNs, I've been coming to a rather horrifying, and equally exciting realization of the massive amount of high-quality, free content the EVN scene delivered in the last year and a half. While game jam entries and similar projects are usually an ocean of forgettable works with a few pearls hidden below the murky waters, the number of decently-sized, quality-looking games in this year's edition of NaNoRen0 alone is overwhelming. And if you look around Itch.io and Steam, it's just the tip of the iceberg...
While I have no hope or ambition to cover it all in any kind of systematic and comprehensive manner, it seems like the hobbyist scene is going to provide me with a near-infinite amount of projects to feature in this segment. And as these games are particularly prone to being overlooked and quickly forgotten, I'll do my best to continue spotlighting them in the foreseeable future – and I hope some of you will be willing to join me on this ride. 
The Gray Wolf and The Little Lamb | Fantasy/Comedy | ~1h 30min
The Gray Wolf and The Little Lamb is your quintessential game jam VN – relatively short, stylish and making up for its short length with tons of personality and wit. It tells the story of the Wolf – an outcast hated and feared by everyone around her, and the Lamb, who offers Wolf hospitality in hope of reforming her. Lamb's charity, however, quickly turns into an exercise in mutual misery, with Wolf staying distrustful and destructive, and Lamb's ego preventing her from fully understanding Wolf's stubborn behaviour.
While normally this setup would be a nice starting point for yuri romance, the actual story nimbly avoids the most obvious cliches, leading to unexpected story developments and a rather out-of-the-box set of endings where romance is at best a mild subtext. The real focus here is on the struggle between Wolf's negative impulses, formed through her haphazard way of life up to this point, and Lamb's somewhat questionable ambition to "civilize" her. Your choices determine if, and in what way, the two will be able to overcome their differences and find some kind of mutual understanding. Of course, "overcoming" does not mean "negating" and one of the main strengths of this VN is acknowledging that there are limits to how much most people can change, especially in short time, and that finding common ground can often be just as grueling as it is rewarding...
A Field Of Flowers and Stars | Yuri/Sci-fi | ~1h 30min
A Field of Flower and Stars is a VN by Watercress Studios, the team behind a long list of quality, free EVNs. While it's not as high-concept or unconventional as some of their other projects, it's both decently-conceived as a piece of sci-fi storytelling and rather ambitious in its execution. Featuring three main characters and full voice acting, it tells a story of Reine, a freelance space explorer who crashes on an unfamiliar planet and bonds with one of its alien colonists while trying to repair her ship. While enjoying the hospitality of the locals and being seemingly in no immediate danger, there's one thing that keeps the protagonist's anxiety high – if she fails, she not only risks getting stranded, but also losing the way of life and freedom she values above all. At least until some events makes her doubt her no-attachment, egoistical attitude...
While the story structure itself isn't anything new, it's very solid, with the only thing limiting the game being its length. While we learn quite a lot about Reine, the alien love interest and her colony's history are presented without much context and depth. The game says how the characters talk about the colonists and their homeworld, but probably to avoid infodumps, little of it is actually relayed to the reader. And I really would want to see that infodump, to get a better grasp on the motivations of the aliens and significance of the colony itself, particularly because its safety becomes a crucial plot-point later on. Still, that one complaint aside, the VN looks, reads and sounds very solid and will very likely satisfy fans of yuri romance – just like it did for me.
Graveyard Girls | Psychological/Yuri | ~1h
A title like this was bound to belong to some questionable meme game, but in reality, Graveyard Girls is a very serious and surprisingly well-put-together VN. And if that wasn't strange enough, it mixes rather intense depictions of grief with yuri romantic subtext, with an effect much better and more interesting than it had any right to be. Starting with the protagonist, Elle, visiting her father's grave and talking about the struggles she faced after he was gone, for the most of it's length this is a very sombre game discussing the topics of grief and loss in all gruesome details. However, the appearance of the second character, Lucia, adds another layer to it – discussion of long term and short term grief, and of recovery, along with subtle romantic tension between the two. While never losing its focus, Graveyard Girls combine these elements to push the narrative in ultimately positive and hopeful direction – if you make the right choices, even concluding with a straight-up sweet image I won't spoil. The game also looks and sounds very good, with high-quality art, good use of perspective and simple, but very fitting soundtrack. It's definitely on the short side, but for once I won't be complaining about that – it's the kind of short story that achieves exactly what it set out to do and will most likely leave you fully satisfied. If you're in the mood to deal with its heavy subject matter, I highly recommend giving it a chance.
The Life We've Chosen | Psychological/Romance | ~40 min
In some ways, The Life We've Chosen falls slightly below quality standards I aim for with these posts – it's rough around the edges and one of the crucial characters, protagonist's best friend, does not even have a sprite or character portrait. However, what it has going for it is the subversion of most obvious tropes and story structures you would expect from this kind of VN. The ominous "demon" which the protagonist interacts with in her most vulnerable moments might be instinctively identified as a metaphor for depression or some kind of malicious influence, but the story consistently avoids giving easy answers about its nature... And it doesn't even bother to identify the "right" path in any clear way. What could be described as the most optimistic ending is not where most people would expect it to be, while every conclusion leaves a lot of space for interpretation and the "good" or "bad" might be more up to the reader's opinion than anything else. Probably not everyone will find it to their taste, but the quality writing and unconventional choices at the very least make this VN into something memorable, that stands out among your typical game jam entries – and this is something I deeply appreciate.
And that's all for today! While I'll not necessarily be prioritized fresh releases for this series, as the randomness here is a feature that allows me to read what I feel like and not chasing the new content, the freshly-conlcuded Spooktober VN jam and the upcoming Yuri Game Jam will definitely leave their mark – and I already see there's a lot to look forward to in both events. In the meantime, my renewed activities convinced me to revive my Steam Cutator page and my Twitter – feel free to follow both for updates on stuff I'm putting out. Thank you for reading and until the next time!
- KuroKairin and Zakamutt
-
1
-
1
2 Comments
Recommended Comments