Absolution: Way of the lost (DEMO)
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
You are Dr. Hart, a young psychologist determined to work in a mental hospital. Your lifelong dream is to help people in need, and this is where they await you.
Your new job is not as easy as one might think - you will be faced with many challenges. Nothing is handed to you. Your patients' trust, will to cooperate, to even talk to you - everything depends on your ability to understand them and communicate with them. There will be times when you will find yourself lost, and confused. At these times, you have to remember to never lose hope - because the fate of your patients depends solely on your choices.
Your patients will only tell you a fraction of what you need to know - you have to figure everything out on your own. Will you know all about them before they reveal it to you? Or will you fail and lose their trust?
Four patients will be assigned to you, given your lack of experience. Each of them deals with a drastically different illness:
- Dissociative identity disorder (commonly known as split personality disorder)
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Schizophrenia
- Generalized anxiety disorder
Of course, you are allowed, and even encouraged, to focus on the one you communicate with best - make sure not to neglect the others, though...
- Experience six routes with unique storylines,
- Manage your time well - plan sessions with your patients,
- Succeed as a psychologist - make the right choices while interacting with your patients,
- Create bonds with your coworkers - use your breaks to interact with three side characters, who each offers their own side story,
- Enjoy an original soundtrack and custom user interface,
- Customize your character with a first name of your choice,
- View information about all characters you've met using a special menu, which updates every time you learn something new,
- Adjust difficulty settings.
While the game was in development for multiple years, it was never finished and the project has since been cancelled. I've been the target of harassment from disappointed fans demanding that I return to work following the game's cancellation, which led me to restrict access to the game's pages on itch.io for a long time to protect my own mental health. Now, the demo, the first of the planned six weeks of gameplay, is available for free once again here, but there are still no plans to continue the game's development. You can follow me on Twitter @navypink_dev for updates on my current projects. The Absolution discord server is no longer affiliated with me.
Download
Install instructions
Make sure to check out the help menu for controls if this is your first Ren'py game!
Development log
- Full OST on YouTubeDec 07, 2023
- Build B tomorrow + SURVEYJan 19, 2022
- Build A releaseDec 20, 2021
- Bug fixing patchDec 06, 2021
- Final demo buildDec 05, 2021
- Build A trailer (first official trailer)Dec 04, 2021
- Week 2 release date + updatesNov 25, 2021
- Partial release outlineNov 07, 2021
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
really hope you continue the game! the dialogueis amazing, and all the characters are so loveable.
Thank you <3
There was a longer paid build up on itch for a while, but I took it down after I stopped working on the game because I didn't want people to buy it thinking that it would be finished and then be disappointed in the incomplete product. I might republish it at some point, though.
really looking forward to it if you ever finish it:)
Wow.... this game is the best I've played recently
Thank you <3
I took it down for a while so it's really surprising to see new people finding it after all this time.
I am so sorry if I sound stupid when asking this, but is this supposed to be a dating simulator kinda game? I'm only asking because after my first playthrough, it said I was on Sharpe's route
This game is a visual novel with minor elements of romance, but it is primarily a horror game. Romance is not, and was never meant to be, the focus, and even in scenes featuring it, there is no aspect of traditional "dating". If you want a more classic otome experience, you may not like this game.
Ohhh alright! Thanks for telling me
Show post...
GOOD DEMO DEV
Thank you Stompy <3
Very fun! I'm a psychology major who actually happens to have all four mental illnesses of the main patients, so this was especially interesting for me lol. I appreciate your attention to detail and accuracy. I loved getting to analyze the patients and take a different approach to each of them. It felt pretty realistic! I also liked the notes feature.
I will say, Michael is in some... risky territory when it comes to OCD representation, as a violent character, but I'm gonna reserve judgment until I see his whole arc. When the full game comes out, I'll definitely give detailed opinions of each character's psychology.
That being said, I do like all of the characters so far! I'm interested to see where you go with them.
Thanks for the trigger warnings as well. It's always nice to be able to prepare myself for stuff like that.
Thank you <3
I'm honored to see psychology majors playing this game as I'm just writing from experience and as much research as I could do without having studied psychology.
With Michael the reason was that I'm really tired of OCD being represented as "funny handwashing quirk" and as someone with violent OCD I don't think it gets talked enough as much as it should. Michael is obviously a very extreme case due to the lack of previous treatment and very bad circumstances, but the intent is still to potray him in a sympathetic light, just like the others, and maybe even more so since it's an issue that I've personally struggled with.
I also think trigger warnings are a necessity, especially in a game like this.
I feel you. I look forward to playing the full game!
Hey, I might need the help of a psychology major like you for development stuff. Could you contact me through DMs, either on tumblr (@navypinkdev) or discord (Absolution's server is linked on the game's itch.io site)?
What a fantastic meaningful video game from the perspective of a psychologist newly working in a mental hospital, as she tries to get through to her patients -also get through to a girl whose not her patient. The mental illnesses portrayed in the demo reveal you have in depth knowledge of mental illnesses, including what disorder category they belong to [anxiety disorders, mood disorders etc...] and that's very impressive. I can personally relate to this video game, so I find it meaningful and intriguing.
I agree with dibsonnibs, it's fascinating to get to know the four patient characters, and that the different musics fit the different scenes perfectly.
I agree with indigonightmare; I also had that error when speaking to Elizabeth, replying: "Your not a problem for them", but I just clicked ignore and the game luckily continued. It's good to know with the newest update this error will be fixed.
One last thing, after trying twice after the first week, my character decides this isn't the job for her, as she can't connect well enough with her patients, is that how it ends because this is a demo or do I need to fill the bars of the patients to full so she continues working at this mental hospital?
Fantastic work Navypink, one of the best itch.io video games I played, keep up the great work, I can't wait until it's fully released.
P.S. Thank you for giving trigger warning that is in the fully released version.
I am so sorry I didn't see this sooner, since the game has been on a bit of a hiatus recently I stopped checking itch.io as often.
Yes, the game stemmed from my desire to represent mental illness in a realistic way, being someone who has struggled with it for as long as I can remember. Thank you for your kind words on the characters, the music, the presentation.
The game has the structure of an otome game - it expects you to enter one of the six routes by the end of the introductory week so the later story makes sense. For that reason, I had to block players after the first week if they didn't meet the requirements for one of the routes - otherwise, the plot wouldn't make sense and the whole experience would be dragged down. The way to get on one of the patient routes is to spend five sessions in total with them, so one every day of the first week, and choose the options that show that you understand them and are taking steps to get them to trust you (which are highlighted by hearts, or affection indicators). There is also Dr. Sharpe's route (spend an equal amount of time with all patients) and Elizabeth's route (spend all breaks you can with her without meeting the criteria for any of the other routes). I realize that the route system might put some people off, but being on a route does not force you to enter any kind of relationship with that person, contrary to standard otome games. It just means that you form a meaningful enough relationship with them to see that character develop over the course of the game.
Thank you, once again, for your kind words, it's been difficult to find the strength to work on the game due to matters beyond my control, but once it's over in May I will gladly turn all of my attention to finishing Absolution.
Lots of love
~ Navypink
You are welcome.
It's alright don't worry, it can be burdensome keeping up with player comments.
I hope you are getting the support you need and deserve for your mental illness.
Thank you for your advice on different routes to follow to win the demo version of: "Absolution: Way of the lost", I will try the different routes you suggested.
Take a break from making this game if you need to or whatever the reason that made you came to a halt with further designing and developing this video game, when your ready to continue, then good luck. I can wait until its finished, I don't mind.
What is an Otome game, I seen a few other games here which were also called Otome, and I know this game is an Otome as you mentioned it.
Thank you, it's definitely not a burden to read nice comments like yours, it's just that nowadays I have so little time for anything.
An Otome game is traditionally defined as a visual novel targeted mostly towards female readers where the main goal is to develop a romantic relationship between the main character and one other character, called a LI (love interest). Absolution has a route structure typical of an otome game and that's why I've been branding it as such online, even though at its core it's a psychological horror game.
Awww thank you Navypink for admiring my comments, I like your comments to, hence why I liked 1 or 2 of them.
Excellently explained, I understand now what an Otome game is; yes I think Absoution is an Otome and psychological horror visual novel video game.
Hi, thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review <3
The art is the thing that I feel like needs the most improvement by far. I made a devlog post about it here, in case you're interested in my thoughts on it.
I'm so happy to hear that you became invested in the characters and the plot, however little actually happens on week 1 compared to the later weeks. It amazes me how much people enjoy the simple demo when the things I'm working on right now (week 5 out of 6) are so much more interesting and intense.
If you would like to keep up with development, the best place to do so would be my discord server. there's always something going on there and I don't post all my progress to tumblr or itch.io so that's the place to be if you're invested and hyped.
P.S.: I am very glad to hear that you believe in the supremacy of my self-insert.
Downloaded the newest demo to replay the game and I can definitely see the new dialogue and event(s) you've put in it! :^D I can't believe it's already close to 2021...I remember playing this game in Nov. of 2019 and dreading how long it would take to finish. But the long ride is almost over and I'm very excited to see it finally being released! Keep up the good work, Navypink :]
Ahh I can't believe it took me this long to notice this comment! (itch.io notifications omit comments for whatever reason so I have to scroll every time I want to check them)
Thanks for replaying the game, it means a lot! <3 If you want to keep up with the total development progress, check out my trello checklist - I'll try to update it when I finish something new.
Lots of love, take care ~
Dude i enjoyed it cant wait for the full relas
Thanks a lot ~!
A great game! It's a lot of fun so far! I am getting this error though when I try to select the "You're not a problem for them" option when discussing Elizabeth's parents.
That's a strange error, I thought I fixed it by now... I remember this getting reported a while back and fixing it then, let me see the code real quick.
Okay, it looks like an issue of moving updates between versions. I fixed it. Whenever I release the next update it should be fine.
Thank you for your patience!
Thank you so much! You must have a lot of patience to be making video games. I'm in college right now studying programming and video programming is my least favourite because it's a lot more work than I want to do
Personally, I think making video games requires less patience than many other tasks because you can switch between different things so once you're bored with something you can just start doing something else. Just my thoughts, though.
Also, good luck at your college!
It's the second best VN I've ever played, just after Doki Doki Litterature Club. I can't wait for the game to be released ! Congrats !
Ahh thank you so much :") It's really encouraging to see people like the demo so much, despite it being just a small part of the final game - there's a lot more to come.
If you want to keep up with development updates, either follow me on tumblr or join my discord server (links on the game's page).
I really liked this game, there are some delicate themes being worked in the game and things could go to the wrong way very easily but it didn't. The writing and the pacing is very good and gives a nice vibe of mystery, I ended the demo wanting know more. The interview part was interesting, and I was surprised (a nice surprise) when I got fired when I first played it. The branches makes the game even better, all the possibilities and replays we can do to see more content and story lines, and I personally liked the back button on. I am really excited to see the final game.
Thank you ~
The branching story is probably my favorite aspect of making "Absolution" - I always try to take into account if and how MC's actions could affect the people around her and her story. One of the branching systems I utilize is bad ending checks - at some points, the game will check how well you've done so far and decide whether or not it would make sense for you to continue the story. So the job interview (and the possibility of being fired on Monday and Friday) serve as a taste of these bad ending checks. The later you mess up, the worse the outcome is, so get ready to make some difficult choices!
Loved this game! I have a question, though...
Is the default birthday of the MC the 24th of October or did I enter my birthday somewhere and forget about it? I was so shocked when Michael asked for her birthday and she really answered with mine lmao.
The 24th of October is MC's canonical birthday, yes. It's also the day around which development of this game began. Your birthday being on the same day as MC is a very interesting coincidence, though! Some of the characters share their birthdays with people I know (like me and Michael having the same birthday), but MC wasn't like that - so you can almost think of her birthday being chosen after yours. Thank you for sharing your thoughts <3
played this game onstream and I was super intrigued the whole time. from the dialogue to the music, I felt like this was a game that I would definitely play in its full. the only small critique I have would be to proofread, as there were a couple typos, which is more than okay, its a demo. I just cannot wait to see where this game goes from here!!! 9.5/10
The typos are being fixed, some of them are only in the demo and fixed in the full version. Thanks again for streaming, I really enjoyed it!
Hello! First of all, I'm loving the atmosphere of this game & the music is spot on. I can't help but be intrigued about where this will go. I'm not finished playing the demo yet and will comment again once I am, but I wanted to mention that I think I may have come across a bug? On the second day, I had a session with Charlie, then Michael. After the break (spent with Elizabeth) I was given the option to choose someone again and Michael was an option. I selected him and the conversation dialogue was the same as before. Figured I'd mention it just in case it's something you haven't caught yet!
Going back to the demo now - can't wait to play more :) Keep up the great work.
Edit: After returning to the demo I went back and decided to choose Tom instead since I was getting the same scene again with Michael, and the score meter overlapped the names of Michael and Tom. Michael's score meter seems to be stuck on the screen and on day three when I selected Michael, I got the same dialogue again.
I hope I'm not being a nuisance in bringing it up ^^;
Got it, will fix it right away ~
Actually, I feel like some of my testers from way back reported this issue and I dug through the code, unable to find anything wrong with it then. I'll try it again, but there's definitely something going on with that Michael session. Thanks for reminding me, anyway.
It might be as simple as you choosing the option that ends the session more quickly. My bad.
EDIT: I can't believe you asked him that lol
Pffffft -- in my defense, he started it lmao
Hello! I want to say that I really love this game, I've been following kind of silently for awhile, and I noticed in the discord you were posting progress images of the characters, I didn't want to say anything at first but i don't know, it's kind of an unpopular opinion but here we go.
I think the new sprites don't look good, the MC"s shoulder looks a little large in comparison to everything else, and everything is just so dark, I understand it's a dark themed VN, but when the background is dark, the story is dark, and the characters are dark too? There's no real contrast, unlike the original that had darker backgrounds and brighter looking characters, they were a little easier to see, but now it's just a lot of black shading on black. I don't want to sound too harsh, I just want to offer another perspective, Tom's sprite especially. I think his jaw is set a little too low, it looks more like he has wider cheeks instead of a wider jaw, it's a tad unflattering, which is a little unfortunate as Tom is probably my favorite character. Charlie is also very dark, it's just a lot of black shading, and I don't want to discourage you or make you think i'm trying to just be negative, I think the story is fantastic and the scenery is beautiful, I just think having especially dark characters with dark backgrounds is a mistake visually, and some of the anatomy is a bit off. Obviously not all art will be perfect, and always striving to improve is a good trait, so I hope this doesn't come off as toxic, criticizing always gives me a bit of anxiety because I'm worried it will be taken as just insults and not constructive like I want it to be, I just want to help a little if I can, and i know people will probably disagree with me, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, I think the older sprites were more visually appealing, even if they weren't anatomically correct, but it's also a personal opinion. I'm really looking forward to the development of this VN, and I hope to support it however I can. I'm really sorry if I caused any offense ;~:
Oh no, that's a perfectly valid point. No offense taken.
I myself am not very happy with a lot of the graphics, I try to get better and redo them sometimes, but well - like you said, it won't be perfect. I'm constantly improving and fixing things, I personally think my art doesn't look very good and I agree with a lot of the examples you brought up. Still, I think the new sprites are an improvement over the old, even if the shading makes the colors kind of dark and greyish. That's something I'm still working on improving.
Honestly, if I could do cell shading that looked good, I would and it would save me a lot of time as well. But for some reason I just can never get it right digitally.
If you're on my discord already, feel free to say hi. Valid criticism only means you care about the project, not that you're trying to hate on it or sabotage it.
Thank you for the honest criticism ~
I Liked your game a lot! The characters have a really unique personality, and the environment is also pretty creepy. You made a nice job in the ambience, and I really liked that! :D
Hope you have success with the game <3
Thank you for the kind words <3
Hi! It's around 5 a.m. and I've spent last 3 hours playing this game.
And let me tell you, those 3 hours were amazing! I love the characters and how their personalities and stories unravel, love the atmosphere, music, love how unique the general idea of the game is.
Thank you so much for your hard work and for referring to such an important topic as mental health. Can't wait to see the rest of the game.
Wish you all the best! <3
I'm so glad you enjoyed the game ~
Lots of love <3
Wow this was amazing! I was hesitant at first because of the many content warnings about jump scares and such (im quite squeamish) so I was pleasantly surprised with how calm the main gameplay is! I am a huge fan of Michael and I look forward to being able to play his full route when the game comes out. This is such a cool game and the dialogue is wonderful, thank you for this!
And thank you for leaving the nice comment ~
The content warnings apply to the full game, but I figured I wouldn't want people enjoying the demo and then not being able to play the full game because it does get heavy later on content-wise. The jumpscares are pretty rare and don't really happen on most of the routes. But I like elaborate content warnings, so I put everything in it.
I'm glad you like Michael, he seems to be pretty popular among players.
I kinda made myself an account just so that I could write you a comment and tell you how amazing it is! I'm so much in love with the whole concept, the story and the characters (I think Michael is my favourite for now, even if he kinda scares me a little). I'm really excited for the release date and I'm 100% down to buy it! Keep the good work up!
Thank you for the nice comment ~
I'm very grateful you decided to make an account just for this, reviews like these really motivate me to keep working on the game.
I adore this game and in the 24 hours I have had it, I've played it different ways just to see all of the outcomes. I love that there is a back button as well so I can quickly see outcomes if I was questioning myself. Does the game continue on after you show up late for work and speak with the boss?
****SPOILER KINDA***
I've had him fire me, but I have also had success but then quit later.
*END SPOILER*
Are these the only possible endings right now? I have literally done everything that I can think of.
I can't praise the creator/s of this game enough. I adore it and I am definitely looking forward to the full release.
The two endings you got seem to be the "bad" endings which you can't continue from in the full game.
To get on a patient's route (one of the four) you will need to spend one session a day with them. Just make sure to spend at least one session (tuesday to friday, monday is scripted to get to everyone) with everyone else, or you'll be accused of neglecting your patients and fired. Additionally, you'll need to get most answers during their sessions right.
To get on Sharpe's route, do your best during the job interview and spend an equal amount of sessions with everyone. And for Elizabeth, you just need to hang out with her every day since tuesday and try not to say something that will upset her.
To put it simply: you can't proceed without selecting a route, and there's no menu to do that - you need to get on a route throughout week 1.
I hope you have fun exploring the different paths you can take in the demo. Thank you for your kind words ~
Thank you so much for the response! I was seeing every single patient, and the best ending that I got a few times was that he said my schedule was perfect and decided to hire me... but then my character ultimately quit because she felt like there was no progress... Anyway, I will definitely try it again with the way that you suggested.. I mean you are the creator of the game... :) I don't mind replaying it. I love the characters and the whole makeup of the game. Again, thanks for the response and creating this incredible game. I can't stress enough that I cannot wait for the full game to come out and look forward to the other games that you make in the future!
Just played the demo last night and I can't -wait- for the full game release. The patients that I had kept me on the edge of my seat and the whole game gave me a sense of...unease? Trepidation? And I loved every...single...second of it. Great job so far, and really looking forward to whenever you finish making this game. I will totally buy it on Release Day in a heartbeat flat.
I'm glad you liked the demo so much ~
I've been intrigued by the premise of this story since I'm bipolar and have been hospitalized a few times. But two things in your game description make me very leery of playing it since you seem to have some very wrong ideas about mental illness. OCD and panic attacks (or as you say, panic disorder) are NOT reasons someone would be hospitalized. No doctor in their right mind would hospitalize someone just because of those diagnoses. PLEASE tell me you have written the patients as someone who actually knows something about mental illness and not just what you have heard and read on the internet and seen in movies and TV. Those of us with mental illnesses are VERY sensitive to how we're portrayed in popular entertainment (including games) BECAUSE so many people treat us according to what they THINK they know about mental illness, which is too often dead wrong and VERY misinformed.
So am I going to be insulted by your portrayal of the patients or am I going to have a positive experience? I'm hoping for the latter but in my experience too often it's the former. Just as an example, from watching things like Judge Judy all too many people think that because I'm bipolar I'm going to be very nice to them one minute and trying to kill them the next. That's not someone with bipolar disorder (which 99% of us would NEVER even THINK of hurting anyone else) but that IS a psychopath, which is something else entirely.
I'm quite honestly awaiting your reply because most people wouldn't even set a game or a story in a mental hospital (which in most hospitals is really no different than any other unit in the hospital, although in most hospitals it's simply called the psychiatric unit). So as I said at the beginning, your story synopsys has me very interested.
I fully understand your concerns regarding my game's potrayal of the sensitive subject that is mental illness.
One of the reasons that I, after 2 whole years of development, am so motivated to finish this game on my own is the way it adresses mental health and the many false, harmful stereotypes surrounding it. That means I am very careful with the sources I trust and the inspirations behind certain characters. In my opinion, I have been very mindful of how my game might shape the players' mental image of the illnesses presented in it, and of the people struggling with them.
From what I've heard from both my testers and the players on itch.io, the characters are potrayed as realistically and respectfully as possible. Of course, some of them were more difficult for me to grasp than others, but so far I've had no negative feedback regarding that aspect of the game. I believe the key to creating mentally ill characters in a respective and positive way is to simply treat them like any other character. We are all people, with real thoughts, feelings and motivations, regardless of our mental health - this is the message I'm trying to send with this game: that people with psychiatric disorders are not antagonists - they're not serial killers, creepy stalkers, or some monsters out of a horror movie. Now, you may be confused as to where the "horror" tag comes from, given that. Suffering a mental illness, especially when not treated, is a very difficult and frightening experience for the sufferer and their loved ones - but I'm sure you know that much, given your story. The true horror of "Absolution" comes from the feelings of loss, loneliness and helplessness experienced by people like you. I think it's a subject that should be explored in any medium, as long as it's done in a truthful manner.
I would also like to mention that I am a life-long sufferer of multiple different mental health problems and I know, just as much as you do, how it feels to be left out and misunderstood. I've heard responses anyhwere from: "Mental illness? You? Ha!" to "But you're not going to kill me, right?". Even if I haven't personally experienced everything potrayed in this game, I feel like I care a lot about what is said and shown in it, because it concerns me as well.
One of my hopes for this game is for it to be able to someday build an open-minded, comfortable community where people can share and discuss their experiences, learn more about what mental illness is like, etc. That's why I am always very fond of people approaching me about the game to talk about how it relates to their experiences. If you have the time and want to contribute, I would love to discuss your criticisms and thoughts on the potrayal of this topic within the demo - it's never too late to tweak a thing or two if I learn something new. You can find me on discord via the game's server.
Now, to answer the points you made
I look forward to your response once you play the demo. It's been a pleasure.
~ Navypink
Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough reply. You've put my mind at ease. I'm downloading the game right now and I'm looking forward to playing it. Here's hoping I've found a new favorite. And again, I admire you for creating a game based on such a sensitive issue as mental illness.
I kinda hated it bc IT didnt save the last time i played and i got the job that time NOW I HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVERRR
Did you save your game, but it got corrupted?
Also, consider turning gauge meters on if you're having trouble - that way you can try every option and see which one raises the likelihood of your success.
Hellooo
I really liked it and would definitely pay for this. Its such a unique concept!
I hope you will be able to finish it ;P
Thank you ~
I might have to take a break for a month, but we'll see about that (I hope I won't have to, but work's piling up and I have deadlines).
Hi!
I really enjoyed playing the demo.
This game is so interesting. My favorite characters so far are Charlie and Tom.
When I was first introduced to Charlie, I felt instantly delighted. After all, Charlie's personality was so different than the rest of our patients. He was so friendly and brought a smile on my face. I know there's more to him than meets the eye.
Unlike Charlie, Tom was so mysterious. My list of questions for Tom just kept growing as I started to get to know him better. I look forward to meet his alters and maybe they will answer questions Tom won't.
I wasn't being biased with my schedule. As a psychologist, I wouldn't want to play favorites with patients who have mental illnesses and add to their distress. When Dr. Sharpe was evaluating our work, I realized Dr. Sharpe himself may be a potential love interest. 😅
I can't wait to play more. I want to know what will happen next. I'm suspicious of Dr. Sharpe and the hospital, though. I don't know why, but I get this feeling that they're hiding something ... or I might just be paranoid. 😆
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment ~
If you're curious about Charlie and Tom, you can always replay the game and spend one session each day with one of them - I put the more interesting things about each patient in the later sessions so only the more commited players will see them - it's how you get on their route, by spending as much time as possible with them without neglecting anyone. But I see why you'd want to treat everyone equally.
Again, consider checking out the rest of their sessions - I won't spoil anything, but you probably won't regret it.
Yes, Dr. Sharpe is a love interest, and so is Elizabeth. I thought it would be nice for a side character like him to be explored a bit more rather than just being a soulless plot device.
I discovered this game just a few days ago. I have always wanted to play a VN/Dating Sim with a setting like this, and better yet if the MC is a psychologist. But I wasn't expecting the way the story sucked me in, and at the end of the demo I was left wanting more. I loved all the characters you introduced, William specially... but every patient is really interesting and I'm curious of their stories and want to help them in any way I can. Even if it's just a Demo, it surpased my expectations and I definitely will buy the full game when it's released. I'm really happy to have come across this game and I thank you for all the effort you are putting in making it. Take your time and take care of yourself, everyone who loves this game will wait patiently. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. :)
Thank you very much, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too ~
The setting was always a huge part of this game, and it was really the initial idea - to make an otome where you're a psychologist in a mental hospital. I just thought the sessions format was an interesting way to interact with the characters.
Make sure to check out the game's Discord server to stay up to date on all "Absolution"-related content.
ohmygod this was so good! Surpassed my expectations for sure! Michael and Charlie are my favorite, especially Michael! Can't wait to play the full game!
Thank you so much. I'm very glad the game surpassed your expectations <3
Merry Christmas ~
Just wanted to take the time to say that you're amazing for creating a game like this, and I hope you don't overwork yourself or anything! Can't wait for the next update :)
Currently rewriting a long event on the fourth week of Michael's route - I'm fortunate to be in the mood for this recently and it's been very motivational to see all the recent progress. I appreciate your concern, though ~
Besides, I can still make time for school and Netflix, so it's all good.
Thank you so much for making such a wonderful game! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I hope that progress comes easy for you and that you have a lot of fun continuing this project!
Thank you, I'm trying to get as much progress as possible done in December. My current goal is one asset a day and more on the weekends.
I love this SO much, if you have any idea of when the full game is coming out please tell me!
Thank you ~
I think I should add this to the game's site, but anyway:
Development plans post | Anniversary post
You're welcome! I'll make sure to keep up to date, thanks!
Also there seems to be an issue with the link to the development plans post.
Hi, it's me again! :) I just come back to this game because I just love William and the other boys so much. By the way, what time period is this game set in? It really feels like a 1990's sorta of environment.
Anyways, once again, best of luck on this game., and you're doing amazing! I'll probably 99 percent buy it once it comes out in 2021.
-Steph :)
I wasn't going for any time period in particular, I guess it's set whenever it comes out.
Thank you for your continued support ~
I just finished to play the demo and I’m already in love with this game ! I played quite a lot of visual novels and Otome games and I can definitely say that from what I’ve played so far , yours might be one of my favourite ! Thank you for your amazing work ! Even though Michael is my favourite for now , I’m really excited to see what you have in store for all of them. Mental illness is a very touchy subject and I think you handled it quite well. The characters seems so complex and have so much depths ... I’m really curious to find out more about their past.
I just have a little question : do you have any idea when the game will be fully released ? Not to pressure you or anything , I’m just so excited to play this game that I wanted to know...
Again great job and good luck !
Thank you for the praise, I really appreciate it ~
I actually made some posts here on itch.io about my plans regarding the game's schedule and plans of release. If you're interested, that might be the place to look:
Development plans post | Anniversary post
Or just ask me on the discord server.
Ah I'm really happy I tried the demo! It's really interesting so far and I really like it. My personal favorite is William so far :) I'm just excited to see what he'll be like once Dr.Hart makes him completely trust her. I can't wait for the final release of this game!
Thank you so much for the nice comment ~
I'm glad you like William, he seems to be the least popular of the four, which worried me a bit, since he's also my personal favorite.
Until the full game is released, feel free to follow my development blog on tumblr or join the discord server for updates.
I really enjoyed the demo, Michael is my absolute favorite!~ I think this game shows a lot of promise in both gameplay and storyline, and the demo alone has so much complexity-- I'm excited to see it develop further. The soundtrack in particular stood out to me as really impressive, it set the atmosphere well and honestly had me feeling tense more than once while playing. I've played a lot of horror games and that doesn't happen to me too often anymore, lol!
I do have a question, due to the (what I anticipate, considering the content warnings) sensitive nature of the game's content: do you have a sensitivity reader, or someone with experience regarding mental illness and hospitalization, to help with those aspects of the writing? I understand that this isn't necessarily supposed to be a hyper-realistic portrayal of a mental hospital, but I would be sad to see later portions of the game fall into unintentionally harmful stereotypes.
This game strikes me as a project that has a lot of love in it, I can't wait to see the end product!
Thank you for leaving a comment ~
Michael seems to be the fan favorite so far, and it honestly makes me quite happy, given the nature of his illness and his introduction. It's a miracle that the soundtrack seems to work so well, given my complete lack of knowledge on music, so it's very nice to hear that it serves its purpose.
The whole point of this game is to avoid negative stereotypes about mental illness - I have heard feedback regarding the later parts of the game that the sensitive issues are tackled well so far, at least until halfway through the game.
I'm putting a lot of effort into the game, I really appreciate the feedback.
Amazing!! I'm really so happy to hear that n_n Thank you for working so hard!
Can't wait to destroy everyones life!
It's not going to be hard in this game.
as both a visnov addict and an aspiring psychologist, i'm really excited to see this get developed more!
I'm glad you enjoyed the demo ~
There's a lot more to come, and I'm just as excited to show it to you
Ah, a very nice game from what I've seen so far. It has alluring characters and an interesting plot. I hope to see more, and I can ascertain that I will definitely buy this once the full game is released!
Though I also read the recent development news; I hope you'll feel better soon! c;
Thank you so much ~
I'm glad someone actually reads these posts ^_^
The game looks exiting! The only thing that bothered me was text that blended with textbox and made it hard to read :(
Is it possible to make it a few shades lighter?
I also have a question. Was MC's red colour scheme intentional? Wouldn't red be a bit agitating for patients from a practical point of view?
By the way, I was surprised that MC's template name wasn't Harleen.
I plan to make a small patch to the game that makes the text a little brighter, along with a few minor fixes soon, maybe even today.
I don't know, I just thought it looked cool, honestly.
I didn't want to base her off of any 'psychologist stereotypes' in order not to associate her with them.
Hey, I drew you something for Halloween: https://navypinkdev.tumblr.com/post/188723626744/happy-halloween-everyone-i-thou...
Wow she looks dope xD
I love that this is not a straight up Harleen cosplay but Harley Quinn inspired.
Now I wonder what sort of villains could other characters be but that's probably falls into spoiler territory so I'll abstain from asking :)
I did have some ideas about the others, but yeah, some of them are spoilers. Maybe I'll draw someone else next year, who knows ~
It's also good to see you reply such a long time after your original comment. If you have a discord, consider joining the game's server - if you want to keep up with development news or just chat in general, it's pretty fun: https://discord.gg/wxrxGN3. It's always nice to see new faces there <3