The Willowmist Emporium of Antiques & Curiosities

I looked forward to trying out this game after getting a bunch of ads for it! I loved the Idea and the art so much! I actually did a video of my playthrough :3

OMGOMG IM SO HAPPYYY

YAY, ive been keeping up on social media. so excited!!

OHMYOGSH ITS OUUTT AHHHH

amazing demo LIKE AGHHHB

may i ask how long this game is?

I just finished the demo and it's pure gold. I didn't even see the time go by and I screamed internally when I finished. You guys never disappoint. The music, art, characters and interactions between them and the MC... everything is great. Normally, I don't really like MC's that aren't very customizable, but I loved this one and felt captivated. I'm really looking forward to seeing the full game, just like I did with A Date With Death and Dreambound. Keep up the great work! 💖

ITS OUT SDAFIJDJGKHJKFS

Im not even done with the demo but am in major shock. 

HUGE GIGANTIC SPOILERS!!!!!!!!! I'M SERIOUS DO NOT READ.

When I first went into this game, I was convinced it was just a cozy store rpg with pretty love interests and nothing else, we met florian and I saw his..suspicously long canines and was like "haha are you a vampire" jokingly, then was distracted by other things..until the night of day 2 when the glass cut mc's finger. I was so shocked when he ran off it triggered my brain neurons and I made the great realization.. NONE OF THEM ARE HUMANS OH MY GOD. I thought I was reaching so hard because of my vampire fixation but HE ONLY WORKS AT NIGHT?? HIDES HIMSELF FROM THE SUN?? INTROVERTED?? SENSITIVE TO BLOOD?? I CLOCKED YOUR ASS DONT EVEENN. I also suspect Quinn is a werewolf, gamer girlies a ghost, and aunt sylvie is def a witch. This game is even better than I imaged, I absolutely adore all things supernatural and am so so so hyped to continue and find out more!!

what is blessing my eyes right now

I'm so excited to play this!!! 

PEAK.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS

I'm actually obsessed with this game omfg, it has such a unique style and I love how we can actually set our own prices 😭

2andahalf cooked again yall. but this though??? holy crap. i cant wait for the full release. the characters are so charming AND THE ART? god, the art is genuinely so beautiful and i love the detail in the backgrounds since its been a while since ive played a vn game that put so much effort into them.

Another peak from the creators of adwd, so excited for the full game!

I need more of the dude at the end of the demo 😭

The demo is absolutely fun!! Florian is my favorite for sure! But question, will the full version be paid? Or not? Just asking!! :3 also goodluck on the game progress! Im a really big fan of A date with death aswell!

i don't usually leave reviews, but it would be crazy for me not to after playing this amazing demo. i'm honestly in shock with how much i loved playing it. most times i play a demo and forget about the game the next day (unfortunate reality for someone who has little time to game) but i couldn't get this game out of my head after i finished it. the story building is so creative and the game itself is beautiful. i dont usually like all characters/romantic interests but i found myself liking everyone! aside from their jaw dropping visuals, all of them hold such depth and make me want to learn more about them. the gameplay is also so interesting and i love dice rolling aspect. 

this demo offered so much that i can't believe it's only a demo?! overall, i genuinely am so excited for the game to come out whenever it does, already have it wishlisted on steam! <3

IM GONNA TWEAK im so excited for the full game... also im madly in love with florian i love him so bad omg

there's no way this is just the demo, omg. Still, I can't wait to see Florian again. Two and  a Half Studios never dissapoints me! looove this sm <33

haven't seen game mechanics like this in a while omg im loving this 

The demo was very cozyy and successfully made me attached to the characters already. 

Now i finished the story but i'm crying(no literally) WHY IS KAEL IS NOT ROMANCEABLE OPTION LIKE HE'S EVERYTHING I NEED. I'M SEARCHING FOR MY TYPE FOR YEARSSSS AND I FIND IT FINALLY AND IT DOESN'T HAVE A STORY DOESN'T HAVE A ROMANCEABLE OPTION OR ANYTHING. My stomach hurting from so much thinking and crying. HE WAS PERFECT FOR ME 😭😭😭 (I look like overdramatic but i'm being serious😭😭😭😭)

this is so good omfg i cannot wait for the full vers to be out <3

SAGE IS SO BEAUTIFUL OMG

THIS WAS SUCH A FUN GAME TO PLAY. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE FULL GAME COMES OUT!!!! :>

I had SO much fun playing this oh my gosh! I played the first week for my channel and 6 hours later it was so late but I'd done a whole week and I was so proud. I had an unbelieveably fun time doing the voices too. The dialogue in this is so well written and engaging and AHH. Did I mention the music was amazing? Because OH MY GOD. And the full on OP like we were in an anime had me slackjawed before I even started playing the game. AND THE ART???? OH MY GOD????

Needless to say I'm on tenterhooks waiting to see more of this. 

I WANT FLORIAN

Wow. I had high expectations because we've all played the amazing 'date with death' but this game still blew me away. At first, I was surprised by the choice to put the text on the side and make the MC so prominent (they're usually more hidden to self insert), but Sage CARRIES this game with her witty remarks.

All the characters are very complex and loveable- I had to keep covering my mouth to hide my laughter from my family. Even though it was just an intro to the characters, it was still really emotionally endearing with realistic relationships built. I will say, like others have noted, it did get text heavy at some points and I was just fast forwarding to skip it.

I don't normally like forced gameplay in visual novels but this was very immersive and didn't compromise the storytelling at all. 

I need Florian in a way that is concerning to feminism.

I love this game so far!! I just hope that in the full game there is more character customization!! I can't wait to see the full game!!

Oh my! I love all of them especially Florian! I honestly can't wait for the completed game. I love that there is a friendship option instead of romantic as well. I was really enjoying trying all of the options and seeing how each character would respond to it.

ok let me talk about eden for a moment because the red flags are huge and i love him omg... hes so charming and put together but almost TOO put together? like oh no... sir, you are hiding something. he likes mysteries and lies? and whats up with him, like... is he religious adjecent? maybe fallen angel? his name alone is suspicious but i cant work it out... he talks in a way that makes him seem almost too human, too rehearsed... i really love that the demo didnt tell us whats up with him tbh because i have IDEA

also enjoyed the rest of the demo loads ofc, all the characters are so likeable, lucille and winnie are MY GIRLS. i wish we could spend even longer with them, i want to just chat for hours and hours... i also rly enjoyed the shopkeeping, i know this is only the demo but cant wait for more 

OKAY HI I AM LOSING MY MIND OVER THIS GAME ACTUALLY 😭💖 I went into Willowmist thinking 'oh cute cozy shop game' and came out emotionally attached to PIXELS like this demo had NO RIGHT??? 

The ART is SO gorgeous and soft and nostalgic omg the artists are amazing and those background are crazy detailed, the whole town just feels alive in that quiet, magical, rainy-afternoon way that makes you want to stay forever. And THE CHARACTERS???

florian has absolutely destroyed me - the tired vampire energy, the awkwardness, the softness under the grumpiness, arrrghh he was made just for meeee. and then EMMETT shows up with his stiff attitude and i was like. damn. you cant do this to me two and a half studios. I am kicking my feet every time he’s on screen. The way you can bond with everyone even platonically is SO GOOD and makes the town feel like a found family already, and the writing is funny but also warm and sweet. I kept stopping just to stare at backgrounds and listen to the soundtrack and scream internally about dialogue. This demo has fully convinced me that Willowmist is going to be one of Those Games™ that lives in my brain forever. I am OBSESSED, I am INVESTED, I am counting the days, please take my money immediately, thank you for ruining my life in the coziest possible way. 

fuck i love visual novels.

This game is an artist daydream with amazing background and character art portraits that shows the vast amount of skill the artists of this game prosses. I also must praise the story writing of this game, it is clear to me that a lot of love was put into every character, even the non-romanceable ones.

However that also brings me to the primary hurdle this  demo seems to be struggling with. Pacing. For there are multiple instances of characters giving fifteen to thirty minutes of lore dumping, without hardly any input from Sage. Like for instance with the knight's first event we get her background and marriage thoughts on the same day. With few proper Sage inserts or choices in-between. This could be fixed by learning the backstory on the first day and only learning about the marriage prospects if we decide to romance her. 

Florian is a prime example of pacing done well, with only tidbits of information given each interaction. For the more opened characters though, Sage should hold off asking deep probing questions until more time is spent with each character, making each reveal feel more rewarding.

The segmenting of information would also allow for antique part of the simulator to shine. Giving more emphasis on the pricing of products, conversing/ haggling with customers, and finding more unique items. Also having the cleaning be an active minigame sort of thing other than just pressing a button would also help with this.

If these things are pursued then the balancing issue would be fixed, and this game I am sure would surely shine.

I think this is the first time I have ever reviewed a visual novel type game. I found adjusting the auto-play text speed in order to get through the large blocks of endless text to be an extreme hassle, and it put me off of playing the game itself. longer paragraphs, unless the text speed is at the very far left of the adjustment bar, goes by much, much slower than a singular sentence of dialogue quip. This is unfortunate since the large chunks of text don't seem to typically have important info, and did not aid the world-building or cozy-ness levels at all, so I had no interest in waiting for them to be over so i could get to important dialogue and game instructions. I ended up using the journal to see what was said, but this was also clunky as the scrolling bar was not sensitive enough. The default speed of autoplay was painfully slow to the point that I would click the on and off button in a state of confusion on why the text was not going by at all. Lastly, that brings me to the point of the game "forgetting" that I had autoplay on between the numerous interjection and an interpose of the short cutscenes of the shop views and the MC/other characters. Every time one occurred, I would have to hit autoplay again, so to improve gameplay I'd wish for there to be a way to keep autoplay on. Overall, I have dropped this game despite its aesthetics due to the awkwardness of mixing a set-storyline visual novel with little to no narrative choices or decision making with a store management type gameplay. They do not meld well in this game, opposed to other types of games that mix these elements skillfully. I think this may be due to a lack of balance and a too strong of a focus on solely the text and art in the beginning, making the goals of store management and visual novel storylines conflict. I think games like coffee talk and strange horticulture define the genre with brevity and cozy vibes plus minimal but fun game mechanics. Moonlighter and Dave the Diver have more complex game mechanics and focus more with the shop management and action aspects. I am confused at what this game tries to be, but it is still pretty at least, even if that doesn't make one automatically have a vested interest in it.

Omg SOOO excited for the full game, ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE SO HOT I DON'T KNOW IF ILL BE ABLE TO CHOOSE. (also YESSS black mc🩷🩷🩷 so hard to find games with them besides the ones that we just customize)
Absolutely obsessed with this game!! I'm so used to demos being small so there was like 5 times where i thought it would end and it kept going! Can't wait for more🩷

I'm loving the game so far and can't wait to play the rest!

Has anyone else experienced the issue where if you have the game in fullscreen the cursor disappers? I could still click on things just no visible cursor.