Metaparadox

TEXT-ONLY ALPHA DEMO ON ITCH.IO
 
The Bitter Drop: 1. Sparrows is a long Fantasy/Horror/Gay Romance Visual Novel currently in development by writer Isak Grozny. Deeply inspired by Slavic and Ashkenazi Jewish folklore, Russian Imperial history, weird fiction and queer culture, it is the first of a planned trilogy of Visual Novels. 
 

In a divided capital of a crumbling decadent Empire, a bigender failed rabbi and a flamboyant, gay doctor-necromancer uncover ominous occult happenings that not only hold clues to the Febrile Rebellion's failure eight years ago, but also implicate the Czarevena-Regent and her White Guard in eldritch crimes against humanity. Impoverished and disfranchised, they must not only prevent the White Guard from unleashing a reality-shattering evil but also survive the cruel realities of life on the margins, and nurture their vulnerable found family and their blossoming love for each other.
 

Narrative design, words and code by Isak Grozny; GUI design and assets by potouto; sprite, background and CG art by [TBA].
 

July 16, 2018:
the artist is working on character design and the sprites necessary for the demo the artist is working on promo art, including profile portraits of the narrator and the major NPC/Love Interest the writer is working on the first two chapters, scheduled to be released as a demo in October 2018 The GUI is about 90% complete and coded in. The soundtrack remains a mere concept July 19, 2018:
the artist has completed the sketch sprites of the narrator and LI, allowing the writer to start programming scenes the artist is working on further sketch sprites necessary for the demo. current progress: 2/15 sketch sprites the writer is still working on the first two chapters. scene one has been outlined by major conversation choices the GUI is about 90% complete and coded in, might require extra assets? the soundtrack has been conceptualised but we still need budget and a composer  

Currently, we don't have finished sprites/BGs/CGs, but the GUI's almost entirely complete! Just a few minor tweaks left, plus implementing a Gallery screen, an Endings screen and potentially a Music Box screen.



 
 

We'd love to hear from you! Here's some prompts, but any kind of feedback is very much valued and appreciated.
Does the story sound appealing to you? What kind of thing would you be interested in exploring in a fantasy city? Would you be interested in playing a test build, e.g. one with the final GUI, but no backgrounds or sprites, just the dialogue and narration text? Would you support a Patreon if you could play such early test builds as part of the rewards? In a story that isn't just about romance, do you prefer sex scenes to be explicit or fade-to-black or having the choice between the two? How do you find the aesthetic of the GUI? If you played the text-only proof-of-concept: what were your overall impressions? As above, what was your main impression of the narrator character? How about of Anzu? ---
CHANGELOG:
July 16, 2018: new thread made! July 16, 2018, sometime later: the pitch has been revised and edited. July 19, 2018: added small progress update, screenshots, a link to a text-only proof of story concept.

This sounds great! Looking forward to seeing more of this! There is a need for more trans and/or nb characters in video games!