Dicentra

put this off for way too long because i wanted to make sure i had the time, energy, and attention to actually give this visual novel the love that i KNEW it would deserve. now that i finally got that time, i'm so glad i waited because it was truly A Treat to sit down and play this visual novel all the way through.

the writing is PHENOMENAL the entire way through and is such a good example of beautifully gothic horror writing AUGHHHHH. the way your descriptions of everything from the scenery, to the characters' emotions, to the horrifying events are so VISCERAL it's like you're right there in the game with basil. which makes the horror aspect of the game THAT MUCH STRONGER the whole way through. EVERYTHING from the little plot points you feed us, to the ambiguous conversations exchanged between the characters, to the scenery makes you feel that discomfort basil talks about THAT MUCH MORE. in general the story was amazing to unravel alongside basil; at no point did i know what direction the story was going to go (in a good way) and i found myself at the Edge of my seat wondering what dove and basil's next moves were going to be, and what this haunting mansion had in store for them. so many plot points felt so tragic, and i could feel my heart go out to dove especially for the broken life and painful place that she was trapped in. and all of this made seeing the good and true end feel that much more empowering; i was so proud of dove T!!!!!

it goes without saying that the art is stunning in this. the cgs of course have an amazing amount of detail and emotion. but beyond that, the entire aesthetic of the game (esp the color design detail of the black, red, and white, and how that shifts during the Good Ending) is so carefully curated to give you a Specific Experience and shows sm mastery from a talented artist. i love the UI and the little details it has from basil's changing sprite, the stained glass and rose motif, and even the mushrooms to parallel the magic. your characters and BGs are always beautiful (i rly liked the touch of the BGs feeling like they're from basils perspective too and kinda being lower to the ground), and this game is no exception. i found myself switching between sm different emotions from "omg baby" to dove and basil, horrified awe  at the ghost designs, shameful thirst over Daddy (why he kinda....) and That Guy (helLOOOO OSAILOR), and more. 

AND THE SOUND DESIGN......... you've done SO MUCH WITH THE SOUND DESIGN ITS CRAZY. i love the little touches with the creepy sound effect that plays when something bad happens, or the windchime effect (that also plays during the true end WHICH WAS SUCH A GOOD TOUCH AND THAT I WILL BE THINKING ABOUT FOR WEEKS), and the musicbox song that plays on the main menu and tells u EXACTLY what kind of experience u r about to have.

this game feels like it was made with sm love which is always gratifying to see in the current age, and everything from the well thought out magic system, to the stunning and unique character designs, and the absolutely gorgeous ui tells you that this was a story made with pure love (and craziness, which is always the sign of a good and Cracked creative LAFJISDLIFJ). i feel so honored to have experienced the ride that you put us on and am so grateful you decided to share it with us. i just know i'm going to be thinking about these beautiful, kind, strong characters for so long, and the love that we can FEEL that you have for these characters is contagious!!!! 

Y termine la versión en Español

If Dicentra has no fans, I am dead and gone. 

Oh my goodness, this is easily my favourite game of all time. This game had me screaming, nay, yodelling in disbelief and raw emotion at my screen. I was so invested in this game, at one point my friends and I had worked together on a white board flow chart trying to predict the ending of the game (we did not predict the ending of the game). I'm the only big horror fan in my group, but my whole friend group demanded I read the game out as I play so they could still keep up with the story, they were that invested in it! We wound up giving up on trying to predict what was gonna play out in the story, so instead, we wrote down some of our favourite aspects;

The fact that you play as a non-human character was such an interesting and novel idea!! Most gothic games force you to play as a human or a ghost, so the fact that Basil takes the form of a wolf pup in the game was beyond rewarding! (Canine poetry girlies come get your juice) Basil's undying devotion to Dove made all of us cry, including my boyfriend! 

And Dove herself?? A perfect character, absolutely perfect. I always find that I can't stand horror games centring around dysfunctional family dynamics, as they always depict the 'victim' character as someone with no power nor agency. Dove defies this trope wholeheartedly. Not only is she strong and brave, but she is beyond selfless, showing kindness to Basil and being willing to put herself on the line for the benefit of others. She was such a refreshing take on the usual broken-and-battered trope, and as someone who resonated very deeply with her story, I cannot thank the developer enough for taking time and care when designing her, her story (albiet sad and painful) was beyond empowering<3

AND THE CHARACTER DESIGN. I could truly drone on for hours and hours about the character design both aesthetically and personality-wise. The design of witches having dark markings around their eyes, the gothic clothing, the wild hair; THE GHOSTS!!!! I saw Grell and had to take a second good god the ghost designs were so well done! As someone who loves indie horror games, I get very used to seeing the same designs or motifs over and over again, but the designs for the ghosts in Dicentra were completely unique, terrifying, and uncomfortable to look at--I loved it!!!!

And the art style!!!! The gothic imagery, Basil's stained glass icon (such a minor detail but oh my god so beautiful and unique!!), the CGs, the facial expressions, the rose motifs!! A very romantic-goth game in terms of style!

This game hit quite literally every single thing I like in a horror game; gothic style, a unique and well-written MC, a cast of compelling characters, stunning character design, beautiful sound placement, flower imagery, bone-chilling descriptions (the crow scene had me shrieking like a banshee) and a story that made me and my friends shed genuine tears. 

Dicentra is such a treat to play and a work of art, I look forward to potentially more games in the future!! Thank you so much for making such a compelling game!

For myself I waited until the full release came out to begin playing. I like to play a game from beginning to end without any demo or trailer.

This game is absolutely awesome. I admit, colorful and happy storys are more my type but I came here explicitly for some light horror. And I wasn't disappointed, quite the contrary! It's amazing.

There are three most things for me to mention:

1. The perspective of a little wolf cub is just perfect. It reflects relationships between scared dogs or wild wolfs and humans so well. Their trust, and empathy related to each other is captured lively the reader is teleported right into the scene. Not to mention the little distractions and instincts. Whoever has a dog knows what I mean.

2. It comes without heavy jumps cares, and I am really grateful for that. Typical horror games are usually nothing more than monsters popping out from anywhere or psychic elements meant to haunt for weeks. Neither I am the brave sould beering tons of them without having difficulty falling asleep after them not I am interested in those profane works. Your game instead provides much more variables feeding the atmosphere, like dark secrets within a family, disgusting inclinations, and reminders of how cruel reality can hit you. That stuff doesn't make reader hiding unter the blanket fot the duration of the movie but let them thinking about the plot all the more. It mirrors current social problems like child abusment, betrayal and selfishness.

3. The story, names, personalities, drawings and the voice were really good. Maybe sometimes the story or Basil's emotions felt a little bit repetitive but even that increases the feel of closeness. Speaking of the drawings, they are wonderful. Did you say, you draw them by hands? What an excellent art style!

Thanks for the great game you created - and for making it a free one of course!