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SPOILER WARNING

It's been a while since I played the demo of The Divine Speaker, but since the game was so great, I finally decided to write down my feelings about it. English is not my first language, but I try my best to bring the message home.

The brilliance of the game starts right at the beginning with the opening scene. It’s not complete at this point, but already gives an idea of how extensive and detailed the finished sequence will be. Since only a few Visual Novels contain animations, this is a special feature that immediately catches your eye. Especially the body movements of the characters give the impression of watching an anime. It looks so professional it is hard to imagine that only a small team has done that. And it's their first VN! Kudos!

I also love the sprites and CG's. You can tell right away that the artists put a lot of effort into shaping the world. I especially love the frequency of the CG’s. This way, the world seems much more alive than it would be without them. The beautiful backgrounds impress me the most. In many visual novels, they are second thought or in need of improvement. Here, however, they look very detailed and atmospheric.  It’s very easy to look at them and feel like a part of the world.

The same thing can be said about the wonderful music. I especially like the opening sequence, which is not only animated but also has an own song, which is very memorable. Both composer and vocal artist have done a really great job. But the other music pieces are also very melodic and atmospheric. I can’t wait to hear more of these beautiful pieces of art in the later course of game.

Also worth mentioning is the general atmosphere of the game. Funny scenes take turns with serious and sad scenes. It’s easy for the player to share many different feelings with the characters. I especially like the little horror elements that were included in the demo, for example the backpack scene. You really feel sorry for poor Raen at that moment.

Also a big THANK YOU for the many different languages the game has to offer. Usually I have to stay with English. But since English is not my native language and I don’t understand some words and therefore have to look them up, my flow of play is often disturbed at some points. It is a great bonus for me to be able to play in my own language.

The characters are also very intriguing, Leos for example is a fascinating guy. I wonder why he lied to Raen and got him into trouble. What’s his agenda? Why did he do such a thing to a person he doesn’t even know? I really want to find out. Plus his voice is hot as hell! Fawn already makes a very likeable impression. I especially like his wisdom and gentleness. I hope he shows more of these personality traits as the game progresses. It makes him so sweet and kind. I'm also curious about Cyne. Since he’s the only one we haven’t seen at this point, he’s kind of a mystery. But judging from his description, it could become a very interesting (and difficult) ‘ride’ with him. I'm curious. ; )

For the most part, the dialogues are very good and impressively show how different the characters talk and act. Especially The Speaker fascinates me. I really hope that the stretch goal with his background story will be reached. I would love to learn more about his past and, ideally, experience it first-hand.

Written language is the foundation of every story. That's why it's always very important to me that dialogues, inner monologues, and thoughts are plausible and make sense. They are crucial to whether or not you can relate to the characters in the course of the events. Without proper language, there’s no way to feel different emotions for them. I’m glad The Divine Speaker works so well at this point. It’s easy to understand how Raen and Fawn feel at various situations.

There are only few situations where I can’t understand or follow Rae’s way (or lack) of thinking. But please don’t take this personally, it’s just the way how I feel and reflects my subjective impression. I remember two situations that seemed a bit strange to me. At the beginning Raen told the orphan that bad guys and dangerous animals live in the forest around Aurelia Cavella. Shortly afterwards, the orphan asks him if really everyone lives in Aurelia Cavella and he says yes. But how can everyone live there if there are bad guys in the forest at the same time? I was also wondering why Raen is not surprised that there are so many human-made objects lying around the river in the forest, although allegedly everyone in the entire world lives in Aurelia Cavella? I mean, there were obviously a lot of things lying around there. It seems unlikely that the people in Aurelia Cavella threw all of them into the river and then they continued to flow to the forest. Especially the scrolls and books in Fawn's room would never have survived this way. Even someone as naive as Raen should be skeptical about the things they told him in Aurelia Cavella after seeing Fawns house and listening to his speech about other cities. I understand that he did not immediately have a clear head for those thoughts, but later he should have noticed that. I also wonder if he didn’t hear what the speaker said about his father when he chased Raen out into the forest, or if it just didn’t seem important enough to him at that moment? But if the latter is the case, why doesn’t he remember it afterwards? Why doesn’t he think that’s important? These are all little moments in which I wished Raen was a bit more thoughtful. He may be naive, but he is not stupid. And that's why it sometimes seems strange to me that he doesn’t question or wonder about various things at all… at least in situations where I think everyone would be skeptical. But as I said before, that's just my subjective impression. 

The other thing that bothered me a bit was the long pauses between the interactive scenes. I would have wished for more choices, even if not all of them had long term consequences. It would give more individuality to a playthrough.

However, apart from these two points, I was very satisfied and can fully recommend the game at this stage. I'm really looking forward to the final product. You do a great job! Thank you so much. It was a great experience, and I’m sure I’ll play the demo again. : )

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Hi Eichhirnchen!

Thank you so much for your wonderfully detailed review! I really enjoyed reading through it. I'm so glad you enjoyed the demo, we can't wait to bring out even more.

Rest assured that a lot of the things you pointed out don't get forgotten! Quite a lot of the game is already written, and most (if not all!) or your points are addressed. Raen's only been away from home a couple of days, give him some time ot get used to things and it'll all start to settle in ;). 

As for the "bad guys", it's mostly just something you tell to scare little children and to keep them away. None of them really know whats out there, after all.

You'll find a lot more choices as the game progresses too! Since the demo only captures the first chapter, there's very little, so look forward to more!

Thank you again for writing all of that out!

- Gabby


(+1)

Thank you so much for answering and dispel my worries. I'm happy to hear that there'll be more choices during the course of the game. I really love choices. <3 Can't wait to play through all of it. I wish you the best of luck and hope your kickstarter campaign will be a great success! You'd deserve it.

(1 edit)

Okay so first of... This game is gorgeous! Both the art and the music are AMAZING!  Man I wish the demo was longer! 

I was surprised by the amount of CGs, honestly. I didn't think it'll have so many. But the thing I'm the most amazed with is the opening. Once finished, it'll be the prettiest thing ever. I just can't wait!

Anyway, enough with the excited talk! I hope the kickstarter succeeds - it seems to be going smoothly so far so that's something!


As for more in depth opinions, well... first off, let's put a warning for people who are not the devs...

--------------SPOILERS AHEAD--------------

So, with that being said and done...

Let's start with the overall story. It's interesting, obviously - I wouldn't be so excited otherwise. I'm not very fond of the "hero being exiled from his homeland because of a misunderstanding or something along these lines" trope, but the rest of the story so far makes up for that, so I don't mind that much. The whole weird dreams and marking appearing on arms thing  along with the forest setting remind me a bit of Lamento, but considering Lamento is one of my favorite games ever, it's a compliment! 

I'm curious about the bloodlines - it seems to be a major plot-point, maybe even the main one, but obviously it's too early to know anything more about it. 

Unsurprisingly, Leos is my favorite character - he's just exactly my type so yeah, nothing I could do about it. I just wish there were more of him, but again, I'm sure I'll see him at some point before the final release, in the next builts, so I'll be waiting patiently.

What was unexpected on the other hand was for me to like Fawn as much as I did, and not only because he's the only love interest Raen really spends time with in the demo. I usually don't like characters like him, at least as love interest, but he's just too sweet, so yeah. Still, Leos remains and will remain my favorite.

Not much to say about Cyne right now for obvious reasons, but I can't say I like the Speaker. Not necessarily because of what he did during the demo, but simply because I don't like his aura or something. He makes me uneasy. 

As for Raen, he's a sweet main character, and I think it's lovely that his name sounds a lot like "Rain" - I didn't really read it that way before hearing the voice acting, but I like it. Also, I don't really know if it's because of the art style or if it was on purpose, but he seems to be a bit cross-eyed and for some reason I think it suits him a lot and makes him look even lovelier. Though... is it actually on purpose? I don't mean to insult if it wasn't the case, maybe it's just me who sees it that way - but well, I think he looks pretty that way in any case!


I'd like to ask a couple of questions too!

- I see you put a rough estimation of the release date you're aiming for, but I'd love to know if you have any estimates for the next built releases, either public or beta (both are fine to me since I've pledged as a betatester)

- It seems the game will be very long. Do you know how many hours more or less? I'm just curious about what to expect!

- Thank gods the game will be mostly about the story and character evolution and stuff, and not focused on the mature content - it would be a shame! But I can't help but notice you said "while there is a multitude of NSFW sex scenes" - does that mean there is more than one or two scenes per route? In most story focused R-18 games of that style there is only one or two adult scenes per route so, again, I'm curious!

- Are you planning to add the opening (and ending/s if you plan on having an animated one) to the image gallery, or make a gallery for movies? It would be great to be able to re-watch that little gem anytime!


And I think that'll be all!

Good luck with the project - you're doing great so far!

Hi Konoi! 

Thanks so much for your glowing review. Really, it warms my heart to see someone talk about our game so indepth. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I can see why you're a fan of Leos, and it's not a long wait until he "rejoins" the group, so to speak. Look forward to it! Also, we're big fans of Lamento too, so to even be compared like that is a huge compliment!

So, to answer your questions:

1. We won't be doing public build, apart from the demo + extended demo in the future. Since you've pledged as a beta tester, you'll get to try out all of our build along the way! I'm currently working on editing + programming in the next couple of chapters, so you should expect a new build in the next couple of months. It'll most likely be without voice acting, but we'll see how we go!

2. As for length, we're aiming for around 200-250k words. Depending on your reading speed, this is anywhere from 18-25 hours+ of game. It could also end up longer, but that's the general amount we're aiming for!

3. We're aiming for around 3-5 per route! It'll differ between the different characters, and could increase since we have Patrons supporting us for extra things like that.  It's a long game though, so you won't find these jam packed in with no story content, don't worry. NSFW scenes and story are both important to us, but there's no point in mindless smut! (Unless you're Cyne, of course.)

4. Oooh! That's something we didn't think about! Yes, we'll add the opening movie to the Gallery in the next update. 


If you haven't, I encourage you to join our Discord! Once the KS is up, we'll have a private channel for Beta Testers!

Thank you again for your review, and I hope you're looking forward to more of The Divine Speaker!

Gabby

Thanks for your answers! (and so fast haha!)

Yeah, I'll join the Discord, but I'll do it tomorrow - it's late here, and I have work tomorrow morning, sadly. No point in joining now and staying up late to check the channels - I know I won't be able to help it so yeah, waiting till tomorrow is for the best!

Fantastic! :D 

(3 edits)

ok just played the demo and the art is GORGEOUS! the music is pretty, was not expecting voice acting so am very pleasantly surprised, matron had a lovely voice, Leos has a super sexy voice loving him, fawn is a super cutie and soooo romancing him first we must protect the cutie!!! he is too precious for this word! T.T also was that friday the 13th sounding music in the woods intentional? lolol

(+1)

Hi Sandpixie,

Thanks so much for playing the demo! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

All of our voice actors are fantastic and I'm so glad we've got the chance to work with them.

And Fawn is adorable! I think you'll really enjoy his route if you want to protect him ;)

Also, the spooky music was pretty spooky, right? We've got even more tracks to add after the demo!

Thanks again,

Gabmag

(+1)(-1)

Fawn for the win for sure. 💯 Fawn isn't the only reason I'm excited for this game but definitely the main reason. <3

(3 edits)

SPOILERS for the demo.


The demo was pretty great! The voice acting was a pleasant surprise for me and I really enjoy it and it makes me wonder if the entire game will be fully voice acted or maybe partially so. The art style was very nice and I really like the character designs. The backgrounds and character sprites fit well together in a way that the characters looked like they actually belonged there. The music was pleasant to listen to and didn't grate on my ears as I played through the game. Most music fit the scenes well enough and it never really felt outta place.


I love Fawn the most out of all of them so far. He's the cutest little hoarder I've ever seen and in his defense it doesn't look that bad in his treehouse. His voice is very sweet and soft and it fits him well.  It was very cute to see him act so shyly around Raen at first and it was pretty funny that he couldn't help, but stare down south when Raen tackled him down. He does show an endearing childish side when he warms up to him and knows he won't hurt him. The scene with them sitting under the stars was pretty cute and the fact that he barely noticed he was still holding Raen's hand tell me that he's either pretty attention starved or got so excited, he didn't notice.


We didn't get to really see much of Leos and Cyne though. Leos just kinda popped up to throw poor Raen into the situation he found himself in. I'll say this right now, I don't trust the speaker since it seemed like he or the lord set this up. Leos lying to Raen, Raen getting caught in the archives, and the fact that the lord popped in at just the right moment to save him from an execution. It definitely seems suspicious and I can't wait to see how the story unfolds.

(+1)

Thank you so much for playing the demo! 

I'm glad you enjoyed this short little look into The Divine Speaker. This is only the start, and Leos comes back in permanently a short while after the demo ends. Cyne doesn't appear for quite a few hours! We also wish we could've shown them off more, but since the demo only covered the prologue and chapter 1 it wasn't really possible.

The rest of the game being fully voiced depends on our Kickstarter (Which launches tomorrow! In around 13 hours!). We really, really hope we can do this, because we believe that it really adds to the experience and we love our voice actors.

Who knows about Leos, the Speaker and the Lord, though! You'll have to play the full game to find out. Let me just say that even if something seems like chance, Raen will quickly find out that maybe things are more planned out than he first thought.

(P.s Fawn's my favourite too, don't tell the other dev)

Thanks for the review! 

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I figured the full voice acting would be under a stretch goal and I do hope it gets hit after it gets funded. I also do realize Leos came back at the end for the 'Thank you', I just forgot it in my very scattered review. If I can, I'll  donate to the Kickstarter.

Thank you so much! Just reading your review was fantastic.

(1 edit)

is the demo out anywhere? :3

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Keep an eye out in the next 12 hours ;)

(+1)

How come I've never come across this?!?! This looks absolutely amazing! It's so cute, has a great art and has a great plot.  Can't wait to see progress >.<

Thank you so much! We can't wait to bring the demo out! We're currently beta testing it for any issues and then we'll have a public release in the next few days. If you get the chance, feel free to join our Discord or follow us on Twitter, where we make the most posts.

Thank you for your support! <3 

oh this is SO CUTE!! really excited to see the progress! WANT

(+1)

Thank you so much! Feel free to keep an eye on our twitter - we make a lot of announcements and update posts there! Plus, we're holding an art poll right now. :D 

I can't wait to play this game! The story is intriguing, the art looks amazing and the characters all looks interesting! The main character seems cute and kind and my favourite love interest has to be Leos! \o/ Good luck on your progress and we all can't wait to play it! <3

I'm looking forward to this game!

It looks interesting, especially Cyne! :D

I hope you update soon! Take your time, though!

Thank you so much for your support! We're so happy to hear that you're a fan of Cyne :) If you want to see updates, feel free to join our discord/follow us on Twitter! 

This looks amazing! Are you guys going to have a Kickstarter? I'd love to pledge and help!

Hi AnnaMarieJ3! 

Yes! We'll be having a kickstarter once the demo is complete, in the early new year. Thank you so much for your support! 

Now this looks interesting and gorgeous!

I'll follow the project! Good luck guys!

Thanks so much Konoi! We're waiting on a few more CGs and our demo will be complete! If you want to see updates, please check out our Twitter :) 

Great to have you! 

Would this be coming to Mac?

(+1)

Hi WaverlyAlexa! Yes, The Divine Speaker will be available on Windows, Mac and Linux! 

Awesome! Looking forward to it! Good luck

**makes grabby hands** come here you yummy looking red haired man! Two of my weaknesses in one place! *Squeeee!* Literally yelled "I have a thing for redheads!" when I saw him. That applies to men and women.

Thanks so much for your comment! This one made us laugh :D

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