Actala: The Hero's Shadow - Act 1

This was a fun demo! I really enjoyed the character dynamics, and the world-building was easy to understand and felt natural. The characters each felt like their own person and I could easily see the dynamic between Shizu and the love interests and how/why they'd fall for each other. Well, except for Hugh, but that's because he's hard to read lol. Liam and Faye are so cute and it never felt awkward to tease/flirt with them. Rowan I am eying with some anticipation, he and Shizu would be such a power couple!

MCs make or break dating sims for me, so Shizu was a breath of fresh air for being older as well as the responsible one of the group. I liked that she was competent and on equal footing with everyone, especially with tropes that can easily be the opposite, like the master-student thing with Faye or the sibling matter with Sei. 

If I had to critique something, I'd say some of the transitions felt abrupt and the princess's true nature seemed a bit too on the nose when Shizu encounters her. Granted, I can also see it as being something the princess doesn't see the need to hide since no one would believe Shizu. Overall, I look forward to seeing what happens next! ^^

I enjoyed this so much ^^ as others have said before, the layout of this feels very unique, similar to a comic book , and flows very well, especially with the animated scenes ! the amount of CGs in the demo alone was also amazing . another aspect I liked a lot was getting to know the world and the characters through past fragments - it made me understand them and their relationships better . 

also , I somehow unexpectedly fell for Liam ?? he wasn’t going to be my first choice initially, but gosh he’s just too cute when flustered and the interactions between him and Shizu were just too good to pass up ! I am also a sucker for childhood friend dynamics, so Sei is another one I can’t wait to properly romance … his gentle smile at the beginning was just too sweet !!!

Shizu herself is also really likeable as well. I especially liked how she often took the initiative when flirting , how protective she was , and that she is a voice of reason within the group. seeing a female MC that is older than most of the love interests was super refreshing, and something I don’t see a lot . 

The plot twist too, was so intriguing. I really can’t wait to learn and interact more with the other characters, and see how the story plays out ! Sending lots of appreciation towards you <3

This game is a true 5/5 experience. I had a BLAST while playing! Chatter is a masterful story teller! The game succeeds in everything it tries to do and more! 

Making me: swoon, scream, cry, etc... I love where it's going and Liam and I are getting married- no debate, no question. Also Shizu is one of the best protagonists to a visual novel period, especially for an otome game.

Everything I could say here I have said, and more in my playthrough, so if you want to hear them, just watch the my chaotic playthrough of it here:

Actala Act 1 Playthrough -this is the youtube playlist link.

Excuse the unprofessional-ism, they are recorded mainly for Chatter to enjoy, but can be enjoyed by others as long as they realize I'm a bit insane lmfaooo.

Again amazing work Chatter! You've made a permanent fan of me!

Absolutely loved playing the game and cant wait till we see more!

I will forever shout this but I love Liam!

Legitimately probably one of the BEST games I've played -- and it's FREE. There is so much heart and soul poured into every aspect of this game, it is UNBELIEVABLE. 

The intense lore and world building is only a plus as you gradually learn about it through the eyes of the MC (Shizu). All of the men are lovable in their own ways, and it builds realistically. Even with the villains, you LOVE to HATE them. 

It keeps you on edge and wanting more. It's free, four hours long, and you have nothing to lose. PLAY IT!!! You WON'T regret it!!!

*added to wishlist*

OH GOSH.

OH

OH OH OH

Ok I have finally played all the way through this. Actually, since I knew it was pretty long, I was going to take a couple days and play like one or two chapters a day but I ended up playing the whole thing today because every time I stopped for a bit I couldn't stop thinking about it so I would go back to it for "just a bit more" and then eventually I just got to the end LMAO

SO IT WAS QUITE ENGAGING. LET'S JUST SAY THAT.

Oh gosh though where do I begin OK I WILL JUST START WITH...

...the design 😌 IT. IS. EXCELLENT.

HELLO???? IT'S LIKE A MOVING COMIC BOOK / STORY BOOK / IMMERSIVE ANIMATION MOTION PICTURE???? I'm not sure I've ever played a VN like this before and it was just BEAUTIFUL! Every scene was so immersive. From the composition to the art itself to the animations. To the full CGs that really set the tone to the fun little cut-aways of the characters' faces and how you'd use all kinds of fun panning effects to use different types of shots and add a real cinematic quality to everything. It was just. A LOT. So so so much there to just fall into and experience. It was so wonderfully done, every single part of it. Also adding here that things like the menus and the cute little tutorial and just everything about it felt so polished and fun and unique and innovative and GUHHHHHHH.

THE MUSIC IS DELIGHTFUL. Some of those tracks really got me hard and pulled me in. Everything paired so well with the scenes and the emotions to really amp things up. And the WRITINGGGGGGGGG. It is SO beautifully descriptive and just an absolute delight to read. AND GOD LIKE. THE WORLD-BUILDING?? HOLY COW.... there is SO MUCH GOING ON. And you did such an excellent job of not just DUMPING it all on us but feeding it to us bit by bit through the story and characters themselves. I never felt overwhelmed or like I'd never be able to remember anything since I was only given the most important bits I needed to know right then and there, helping me build the world of the story together in my mind as things progressed. Which I just found so lovely. There are just so many fun small details and all these intricate backstories and complex relationships and gosh golly geez that must be so much to keep track of HAHAHA. Admittedly I'm not great at following and understanding a ton of political stuff, but I found it pretty easy here, especially since the characters themselves were so well-written and easy to attach myself to, so it made it easier to follow all of the complex inner workings of the government and the nobles and the families and god just so much LMAO It really felt like a living breathing world with years and years of history.

Ok I haven't even talked about the story yet HELP. I found the story SO. MUCH. FUN. As someone who grew up playing RPGs and other various games about saving the world and going on some giant adventure, I'm all too used to reaching the end and everything be like yaaaaay but then also me being like gosh I wonder what would actually come next after this???? So I found this whole premise an absolute delight and such a unique and fun start to everything. I love how the characters all have so much history between them and you can tell even from how they act and their dialogue how close they all are and you can see all these little references to things they've experienced together. Also I'm just like.... ------------ OK I reached the end of Act 1 / the demo and was like HELLO WHAT LKDJFALSKDJFALKDSFADFALKDSJFA??????? But I will not spoil it here BUT HO-LY COW. What a cliffhanger and now I'm just like PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW MORE. What a fantastic build-up. The whole first arc is just really well done, introducing us to all the chars slowly over the course of also revealing much of their history, their struggles, the current WEIRD STUFF going on, and just building building building until that BANG moment. And then the re-use of the beginning puppet-esque storytellling thing GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD HELP.

The characters themselves -- I LOVE THEM????? OK maybe not Hugh so much he was kind of a douche though I did like how he at least stepped in for us that one time with the princess. But Sei is just such a cutie and I love his and Shizu's relationship and he is just like this sweet little guy that apparently also kicks ass but he doesn't act like and I find that very endearing. Liam is hilarious?????? I got a number of laugh-out-loud moments from his dialogue. I especially like the part where he and Shizu went to go to the little town to investigate the thingie I don't know I felt htat really showed a lot of his personality and it was just very fun. I LOVE FAYE????? HE IS VERY CUTE AND SWEET. I honestly can't decide he might be my fav but I do love Liam and also Sei so I... do not know. UhhhHHHHHHH OH THAT SILVA GUY I admit even though he seems like an asshole it's in a way that intrigues me and I'm Very Curious to know more because he seems like me might wreck me slightly. And of course Shizu herself???? I admit I love the fact that this ISN'T a self-insert, because I tend to enjoy non self-inserts more. That's just a me thing though LOL I think it might come a bit from my ace-ness and generally preferring to not be involved in any way personally in the stories I engage with and prefer to ship chars with each other. And in that regard I loved Shizu a lot. She just has so much personality and is a really fun and conflicted character that is just so desperately trying to figure herself and her life out, which is something I can also relate to so much GOD. Her dialogue with all the LIs was so much fun, especially some of the snarky back-and-forths she can have with Liam.

OK GOD I will stop rambling this is literally turning into a novel and I must stop. BUT. I really enjoyed this A TON. It just really pulled me in straight from the start. Great characters, writing, and story mixed with an absolutely delightfully immersive design and so much great art and animation! I shall be waiting for more with bated breath!!!! 🤭💕

(also apologies there are probably rampant typos in here I just stream-of-conscious-nessed this whole thing in a flurry of rampant thoughts LMAO)

In my previous comment you mentioned that Liam’s route is a good one to be played first and Sai’s route should be played last. Just wondering what the recommended route order is for the game.

Are the only two routes available currently are Liam and Faye? I keep trying to get the prompt to start Rowan's or Hugh's route but it's not coming up. (I do really like Sei, but I kind of want to treat like the secret route you get by playing all the others.)

Hi! I've finally finished the demo and what can I say! I was amazed by the quality of it!

I think what's struck me the most is the quality of the world-building: the world is consistent, the politics were great, the mage ranking was interesting... I couldn't put enough emphasis on how great this all was.

The story is also interesting: I'm interested in the deconstruction of the hero trope as Sei doesn't seem to be able to shoulder everything that is thrown upon him (and the ending shows that).

I also appreciated a lot Shizu as a protagonist: her struggles were real, I liked how the different reactions all felt consistent with her personality, despite the choices having very different outcomes.

Also, Liam and Faye!!!!! It doesn't need any explanation.

And finally, it all is polished: it almost felt like reading a storybook! The effort you put in this demo really shows, and this is certainly one of the most high-quality games I have ever played!! Animations, background, lighting, GUI... I also LOVED the design of the Nightmares!!!!

So, if anyone here is reading me: go play the demo, the quality of it is INSANE!! Having having played the demo, I wondered: sure, this game was worth my time; but was my time worth the game (wdy it doesn't have any sense)????

So, congrats, Chattercap! Looking forwad to what happens next!!!!!

I've just finished playing this demo on Steam and since I can't gush over there, I started poking around to see where I could be updated as the game goes. (I did leave a rating, but I'm not sure if that's the proper place to do it. I'm very new to commenting on itch.io.)

I wanted to say thank you for sharing this gorgeous slice of demo with us. <3 It was such a breath of fresh air, with wholesomeness at some parts and snark at others, that I couldn't stop once I had started, and needed to poke at every choice. 

For anyone undecided, give it a go! While it is still a while till the release of the first route, I feel that this demo is meaty enough to be a standalone experience. Of course it ends on a cliffhanger, but unlike other demos where nothing is really revealed, so much is hinted at, and so much relationship potential is teased. 

I'm super excited to see where each of the character routes will lead us since all the LIs seem so different. X)

Ahh I just finished the demo and I'm super excited to see where this game will go! I love the visual animations and I don't think I've ever played an otome game in this format before. I will definitely be following along with its updates and buying Liam's route the moment it comes out!!

I think it's interesting how the heroine is a "side character" of what is typically a story about a hero and his quest to defeat the big evil that's wrecking havoc on the world. The set up reminds me a bit of April was Fool where an innocent bartender gets swept up in the aftermath of a group's quest to defeat a villain, as well as a Heart of Tales which picks up after the heroine, the "hero" has finished her quest and decides to settle down. Both games were some of my favorites because of the premise and I think this one is sure to be as wonderful and as exciting! *w* Thank you very much for creating and sharing this wonderful game!

I put some of my thoughts to critique the plot and the characters below, and I hope my words aren't too harsh as I don't mean them to be discouraging and it was just how I felt about the story.

____ spoilers underneath ___

I really enjoyed playing through the game but I felt there were times the plot was a bit cliche. There could be a chance I am misunderstanding but I felt from the first few scenes of the game, Sei was more or less in love with the Shizu, who was completely oblivious to his feelings and every time he tried to express them the timing was awful. I felt that was a little bit obvious - but I can't seem to decide if Shizu is also in love with him back (because she mentions feeling sad on multiple occasions when he's cold to her) or whether she sees him as family and fears the day he realizes how "different" their standings are and no longer wants her there? I'm a big fan of angst so honestly that *would* be a very interesting dynamic, however I feel as if Sei is too pure to do that to her and I wish Shizu would realize how much he cares about her. So I suppose I'm not a big fan of the miscommunication between the two and I think it's a bit cliche but that's just my personal view on it!

Moving on to Liam, I think he's my favorite character thus far! When showed up in the first scene where they defeat the King Nightmare the smile he gave Shizu won my heart :') and I'm definitely really excited for his route! I really like the fact that Shizu can basically flirt with him back and make him flustered  instead. Their interactions feel extremely natural and I loved seeing them bond. I think there's also lots of potential for drama considering the fact that Shizu and him are from different "classes". How will they reconcile their relationship with both nobility (Liam's father for example), especially when Shizu seems to look down on herself thinking that she's only a "common girl" with "no title" that no one would want? I like how Liam refutes Shizu when she puts down herself and I find it really sweet - and I find it interesting that even though he seems to like her as a person he (realistically) is also torn between his duties and his family. He knows what's proper and what's not (considering the double bed scene) and even though he seems rebellious and nonchalant, I think there's definitely a part of him that still cares about social decorum and perhaps pleasing his father (but uh like all things I could be wrong about that too!)

For my closing thoughts, I originally thought the story would be easily predictable, one where Shizu distances away from Sei (who might or might not love her) due to miscommunication, and then Sei, who thinks Shizu doesn't feel the same, gets swept away by a manipulative rival female lead who acts to drive a wedge between the characters. For example, when Shizu points out the poison and how the princess healed Sei immediately, I thought her wickedness/manipulativeness and her role as a villain was extremely obvious.

*However* I was very excited about the plot twist that ended the demo! Seeing that made me so surprised and makes me wonder if I mistook the story for what it would be completely??? I can't wait to see where the story goes and how "the hero" might not be a hero! c: