Karamu

As I started replaying it more and more it just amazed me....wow Chattercap, u did an amazing job

Dear Chattercap,

Wow, Karamu is amazing. 

My first impressions:

I liked that you had to replay the story to fully understand what was going on. Also thanks for the Post-Mortem, I enjoyed reading about the lore.

This was SO SO GREAT! That plot twist *chefs kiss*. Honestly the characters and story were so so good. Loved the voice acting too!

Woweeee! I really enjoyed this game! Kind of was Team Raku all the way! Fantastic characterisation for him and Nelli. Really enjoyable experience. Great work!

Such an amazing game, and I really love Nelli as an MC. I have to say, I already knew Raku was sus af the first time I laid eyes on him, but I couldn't see that twist coming a mile away, same with MC's motivations for doing the things she did. 

Wow! The fact that this was made within the contraints of a jam is a testament to the developer's talent. The plot twist? The smooth animations? The BACKGROUNDS?! THE VOICE ACTING?!?

I have to say, if there's anything more I could ask from this game it would be to see another one expanding upon it!

WOAH I am beyond impressed that as a solo dev you did all the writing, art, animated parts and everything to put this piece together!!! LOVE the CGs awesome work!

I remember reading the script and getting chills with the dark ominous vibes, seeing it come together is really something! I was startled at the SFX of the bike falling and I appreciate the art details like Rakuo's bright blue eyes and his sweater with the cute spider on it hehe (I totally thought the aesthetic would be super dark and scary, the bright blues are nice and refreshing, makes the player more unsuspecting!)

The changing perspectives of the scenery are such a great touch too. And OMG his face rubbing against Nelli's hair made me squeamish haha wayyyy too close than an ex should be! The way his voice changes throughout the story was phenomenal as well
Didn't expect Nelli to have red eyes and for Rakuo to look so nice and not as creepy as I read him as hahaha, so cool to experience the story in a different light!

Yoooo, I can't believe how good that was!!!!! Oh my god, I need more. I don't want to go into spoiler territory in the comment section but I need to talk about this. Aaaaah, I love Raku! And the twists... I saw them coming but in the best way. 

The unconventional presentation was absolutely gorgeous by the way, I loved the choice to do basically all CGs. And the voice acting was so good too... Honestly, I have no critique, I am in love with this game. I just want to know more lore, and what happens after hahaha

You did an amazing job, and I am looking forward to any other projects from you!

the flow of the writing got me totally engrossed! I can't believe everything was made by one person the art was consistent and high quality as well, both characters are beautiful

I really enjoyed the voice acting - the actors did an awesome job :)

raku is adorable aaaaaa >< an early scene where he patched up nelli's wounds (not spoiler territory I hope) he was so meticulous and gentle about it 🥺 i love yandere men and he got me quick

the little dancing spiders were too cute :D

Technical feedback! maybe it's just me but I find it strange that the fast forward button is dark blue when unselected, usually I'd think the opposite other than that it's all perfect

Actually obsessed with this!! The pacing is excellent, have you written short stories in the past? Truly, the story felt like it moved at juuuuuuuuust the right speed. :) 

I want to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT TO THE VOICE ACTORS, too!! They really brought the characters to life and made them both feel like real people. You definitely chose the right people for the job. Also I must have skipped over the bullet point where you mentioned that it was fully voiced; when Raku first spoke, I jumped hahaldasfj

I can tell you put a lot of love into this project, Chattercap, and I'm so happy you shared it with us!! also I really love yandere men 10/10 thank u for that

this looked so cool and i couldn't wait to play it as i went a little into the game and i found myself interested even more then i figured i would check back over here by chance and see what the spoilers were of what to watch out for. there i see it if your afraid of spiders and my heart sank im so glad i did not continue but i wish i could but i have arachnophobia bad. anyways for what i got to see i did like it and i wish you luck

Great game, this is legitimately the best visual novel voice acting I´ve ever seen :o

I loved this so much! The creeping dread, Raku's longing, Nelli's secrecy... oh man. It built into a twist (that had just a hint of foreshadowing) and I just... this was impressive and delightful and eerie. Thank you!

The technical parts of this visual novel are amazing it's pretty easy to read and interact. I guess the only two things which in my opinion are missing is a rollback and a skip seen text option but those two things not in the game doesn't negatively impact the game of course ^^

The arts are amazing and i love how lively you made it (because it's technically a sort of an animation lol) reminded me of "Nothing special" from Pempille.

I also love the character designs ^^

Spoiler:

As for the story i really liked our spider boy Rakou i also felt really bad for him which i rarely do for Yandere characters 

And our cold blooded murder Nelli is in my eyes relatable (not for killing tho) referring to her not wanting Rakou to deal with her problems/feeling like being too much. 

I kinda had the feeling that we acted suspiciously but i didn't think that this shitty guy (forgot his name he is irrelevant anyways) killed our best friend and we kinda avenged her lol. 

The story was all in all suspense which i liked :D

Take care ^^

loved this so mmuch!! the vibes, the details, the great characterization... all of it was just chef's 💋. the only thing i'd add is maybe an ending indicator because i had a hard time figuring out which ending i was missing but that's it really everything else was incredible!

Even knowing the topics this game would touch, I was not prepared to what I encountered. After playing through the first two endings and learning the truth in the third... I was surprised! I did not see it coming, but it made sense.

I was expecting Karamu to be absolutely disturbing from moment one, but I have to admit I actually kinda felt a bit for him? Even with everything, he was pretty nice, and then seeing... you know. Well, I got a bit intrigued that's for sure!

All in all, this was a fantastic experience, with the wonderful animated art and amazing voice acting really enhancing it a lot! Piecing things together and seeing how things pan out was really fun. Amazing work!

yes it's the same as my rating but let me give you more engagement you deserve it

Raku best boyfriend tbh! I loved playing this and everything about it was amazing! The twist was the best! Also, the UI was so satisfying to me, great work from the dev all around!

I have been so excited to play this game and I am genuinely blown away by the production quality!! I was constantly in awe of the art, voice acting & writing. I have ADHD so sometimes it takes me a while to really get into the groove of playing a game but I was HOOKED my brain was working so hard to try and piece together the little hints, thinking stuff like "wait, what does that mean" or "IS THIS FORESHADOWING" LMAO it was so so so fun to play through and after I got my first ending I knew I had to go back and find answers.

.

((( SPOILERS )))

I absolutely LOVED the plot twists! The writing building up to it left enough hints that I didn't feel betrayed as a player/reader for the sake of shock value, (which I feel happens a lot!) so that was great!!
I had somewhat sussed out the twist for Nelli but not at all for Rakuo which was SO FUN omg I legitimately gasped when I saw his spider form.

I have to admit I don't often consume the yandere type of media because sometimes I find the writing a little too over the top but I looove how Rakuo was written. He was creepy but not so obscenely so that it felt uncomfortable to read even as a player. Both Rakuo and Nelli felt very real and were wonderfully complex characters :) I love them both!!!

I hope you are super proud of yourself, this game is AMAZING!!!!!! lovelovelovelovelove

Hi! This was a super enjoyable game! When I saw the warning saying, "Do not play if you are afraid of spiders." I was pretty worried, but I was alright throughout. There is one thing I noticed, though. I played through all the choices and followed the walkthroughs, but I think I only got 3/4 of the endings.

I say I think because I got 3 end cards: one with the dancing spiders, one where what I did was called cute, and one about being rescued. I don't know if I missed something or if this was intentional.

Either way, this was a really interesting game. The plot twists were shocking, and I love the characters. Thanks for making this! 💙

Karamu is a game that plays with your expectations in a brilliant way. Very often I see games portraying yandere characters and focusing on their personality, 'passion', and the relationship dynamics they end up creating, but this game doesn't stop on that. 

Before I started it, I thought it would restrain itself into simply dividing the couple into a "good side" and a "bad side" (of course the yandere being the bad side). But the plot is much more thicker than that, and each time I got a different ending, my mind would twist itself. "What?... Huh.... Why is this happening?... Huh?... Wait WHA... GASP!"

It's a incredible jigsaw puzzle that gives you hints that you will let pass by until the plot shoves it in your face and you feel "HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS BEFORE???????????????". It's beautifully intelligent, gently enticing, scary in a soft way.

10/10 fr

Absolutely loved this! It was such an enjoyable experience, the production value was off the charts! I adored how you used the comic-panel style, I've always been intrigued by it's usage in VNs but your minimal animations made it feel really dynamic too! And the lighting was spot-on too, the sprites melded perfectly with the background and was a delight to look at! The voice acting was very top-notch too, it felt very natural; they did an amazing job! 

(Slight spoilers for people who haven't played it yet!) As an avid consumer of Japanese media, I immediately got the hints from the title of the game and Raku's name, very ingenious, but when the first hint arrived I still went "No wayyyy" haha I really enjoyed the twist. I really enjoyed both Raku's and Nelli's characters, they both felt very real and interesting! Loved Nelli's kind and no-nonsense manner but she's willing to do what needs to be done for the people she cares about. Raku was creepy but also very dream-like. I really liked how he described his feelings for Nelli, it was very touching. Their shared memories were cute to read too, relationship goals! Overall a top-notch game, I really enjoyed this, well done!

(Copy-pasting review as comment again because I'm not 100% sure which is better so just doing both asdfghjkll)

So... umm... Were on drugs when writing this? Because I couldn't believe what I was reading lol. That twist came out of nowhere, I had to pause for a few minutes because I started to laugh like a maniac. It was so random I loved it! Excellent creativity! Also, Raku is bae and I never imagined that I'd get turned on by something like that!

WOW! This is my first introduction to your work (I’ve yet to start Actala) and BOY OH BOY AM I EVER EXCITED FOR MORE CHATTERCAP PRODUCTIONS NOW. Remember when I said I loved a good clingy yandere ex-boyfriend? Well I maintain that point, and you totally delivered. 😁

Super enamoured by the visuals, the dynamism of everything having slight idle animation to it and the addition of comic-book-style panels was super fun to watch and very engaging, I found myself sort of just staring at it all quite a few times. (Big fan of the kitty peeking out from behind the bed in Ending A.) And I quite like this UI as well! I didn’t realize the potential Unity had for making such beautiful and dynamic VN’s, it never would have even crossed my mind, but you did an absolutely amazing job top to bottom on this! You make it look a lot easier than I’m sure it really is. 💙

And your writing too, the slow unravelling of different details and aspects of Nelli and Raku’s relationship to one another but also their own individual pasts and how it all snowballs with each passing ending was really fun to uncover with fresh eyes in each subsequent play-through.

MASSIVE props to Shay-Ki and Zoe for their PHENOMENAL voice acting, totally elevated this game into a whole new realm. I’m especially taken by Shay-Ki’s work here! He delivers the bone-chilling emotionality of Raku’s yandere personality so well.

⚠️ [MILD SPOILERS?]

My favourite line was Raku’s “But you don’t need me? You don’t even want me?”, the delivery was absurdly good. Actually, now that I think about it, that line is perhaps second only to Raku’s “What’s in the bag, Nelli?”... CHILLS. 😵‍💫

⚠️ [ACTUAL SPOILERS!]

I KNEW in my gut there was some kind of flesh in that yellow bag when she put it into the freezer in Ending A. I didn’t piece together it could have been Ji-Hoon, but I certainly had a feeling Nelli wasn’t as innocent an MC as we perhaps presumed her to be initially based on that small freezer detail alone. I love morally dubious MC’s, they always have a place in my heart.

I was also so glad we got a monster form reveal, total sucker for ‘em. 🕷🕸

THE GAME IS ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. SAME GOES WITH THE PLOT. 

I love the game so much. and I LOVE the effort you put in designing the character, animating it and even find VA for this game. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Looking forward to see your other games!

everything about this game was just awesome from the moment i open the game till the end. this is such an awesome game and easily one of my favorite entries. 

This is the first time I've played any of your games and I'm STUNNED! First of all, I'm amazed at how optimized the game is. Especially the fact that this was made in Unity, plus the animation? (Oh boy, I struggle a lot on the optimization part from there, so really, great job!). Next, the amount of controls on the settings is insane and all relevant! It definitely enhances the user experience! Graphics and animation? OMG. I really love the way you color the illustrations, especially the lighting! Like the softness of the sunlight on Raku's hair? It really suits the scene and made it a lot more heartwarming. ❤️ The writing? OMG. The voice acting? OMFG. There were a lot of times when their voice acting made me cry. Awesome voice direction! I'm in love with Raku! Probably one of the best entries I've played from Otome Jam. Great job!

I love it! Im so satisfied and its worth of time. The art is so brilliant. RAKUUUU

this is SO WELL DONE !!! The graphics were so cool and the GUI (plus having the whole tutorial and walkthrough accessible from the menu) are SO great. The overall atmosphere and how the story unfolds was so satisfying. I was definitely blown away while playing. Super excited for more games thank you for the awesome project!

(Don't read this review Play the game play the game play the game, it will be ruined if you read this before playing and you don't want it ruined for you! Go shooo!)

Apologies the video went to shit, I wish I could have given you that because I was honestly very proud of myself for getting every ending while reading without stuttering and telling jokes lolol I also guessed some shit! I swear!

Alright pacing and writing is so so good, I didn't know what to expect since you told me to play this game before Actala, and I was astonished at the quality, some lines were just-mmmmm so so good! I was like "Chatter is eating with these lines GOD."

The art was brilliant and spooky, and hot and...cute? Yeah I said it, CUTE I was skeptical of Raku ofc because like, well look at him,

BUT NELLI

I adored her before, during, and after everything is said and done so much more, watching this game unravel was fucking wild, but what made it so much better was that when everything was unraveled (hehe see what I did there) everything made more sense!

Also I like Raku and Nelli together, sue me, like it's really fucked up (the most fucked up honestly) was how he blackmailed her to stay with him in the kiss ending. But like, Idk confident/angry murderer Nelli and spider-man Raku are just a match made in heaven honestly.

I want to know what made you come up with this stuff? Like, I have so many questions and things to say, and I already said them and I hope I can remember some of what I said so I can say it again.

Bro, Shay and Zoe went so hard and only helped this already awesome product reach a higher level!

I'm so satisfied with every ending to an extent and though I am super squeamish with horror stuff, this wasn't so much scary as it was a bit unsettling and suspenseful which I lovedddd!

I kept saying you're doing a bad job at making me dislike these characters, because the more of themselves I got to know the more I liked them.

I just- man so much to say! I wish I could truly express how much I enjoyed it, I did in the video (like it got close) but, as a writer words fail me- but they sure as hell didn't fail you.

INCREDIBLE job, pat yourself on the back for this, please for me if nothing else. This was a fantastic project and blast to experience.

-Joy (going through the stages of grief still)

OH MY GOD??? The quality in this game is INSANE!!! There's so much care and detail put into it, I'm amazed in the best possible way skjdgbksjbg!! BRO, THERE'S EVEN A TUTORIAL WITH AN ARROW ANIMATION, AND A WALKTHROUGH INSIDE THE GAME?? I CAN'T EVEN- GUYS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WAS DONE IN 2 MONTHS?? TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, SENSEI!! Seriously, this was such an amazing experience from the get go: the backgrounds, the art, the animations, the UI, the voice acting (kudos to the VAs, they did such a great job), THE WRITING!!! It was all so well-done and it flowed together so naturally!! At times, it felt like I was watching a movie, the story is really cinematic and knows when to use the animated CGs in order to make you feel even closer to the characters. 

The way this fooled me into thinking it was going to be a certain type of yandere story... and then it's basically the meme of: WELL, YES, BUT ACTUALLY NO. Reeeeaaaaaally good pacing, it leaves you more and more curious until you finally learn the truth of the mystery. 

What else can I say? The characters felt very much alive. It's difficult to write characters in a way that seems like they had a life before you get to tell the story inside your game and I feel Karamu managed that very well! Great Job, Chatt!! <3

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started playing this haha. But wow, it was so, so good!! My favorite part is the art. Those plot twists too! I'm super impressed with the attention to detail with all of the cool UI features. Voice acting was nice as well.

I really enjoyed this. Karamu is fresh and creative. The artwork, design, music, atmosphere, writing...everything is excellent. The game does a great job at drawing you into its world, and I felt almost hypnotized while I was playing this. The artist/developer is very talented! I would recommend this 100%. Looking forward to future titles from Chattercap.

As always, another BANGER from Chattercap!

I loved every ounce of suspense, from the writing, to the music, to the monochromatic vibe, and to the amazing job of the voice actors!

I've said this before and I'll say it again - your work is practically PROFESSIONAL level and the way you paint a picture for us not only with your specific word choice but also WITH REAL ART is astounding. You are SO talented, and Karamu + Actala only attest to that (Karamu especially, as I've seen lots of improvements!)

The story was super well thought out, and I feel like each of the four endings were well explored (though of course I'm gonna say the kissing one was my favorite!) 

I feel like I can't delve too far into this review without massive spoilers, but to everyone considering it: PLAY IT! It is 100% worth your time, especially if you are a horror-romance/yandere fan.

Wow, the game was a ride, and so well-written, too! 😯💕

I enjoyed it a lot, the animations and the voice acting (excellent!) made for a very immersive experience. I think you did a great job setting the mood and fleshing out the characters. I could feel Nelli's uneasiness and Raku's hope turning into desperation and anger as the conversation progressed. And then the endings? I did NOT expect THAT. 🫠

The art is lovely and the GUI has a polished (if not professional) look to it and I especially loved that little sparkle effect you get when you click something. (and the GUI sounds were very pleasant, too) 💕

Overall, very immersive and polished! Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout 👌

THIS WAS SO GOOD???? LKDJFALSKDJFADSF I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WAS EXPECTING....... ok I slightly did just because of some of the lead-up posts........... BUT LIKE EVEN THOSE EXPECTATIONS DIDN'T EVEN COME CLOSE TO THIS KDJDKLFJAD

This was just FANTASTIC?? Like. Everything about it. The art. The ambience. The characters. The CHILLLLLLLS it sent up and down my spine. The intrigue??? The building tension and terror? THAT ONE CG HOLY GOD LAKDJFALKDSJFADSFA

Gosh.

I love, first off, how it just like... I don't know. It really transported me into the world right off the bat. The BGs are gorgeous??? The sheer immersive-ness of them. Mixed with those ambient background sounds. Like. When it raining I could practically feel the raindrops on my own skin. That's how much I felt immersed in the vibe you had created. It set it up right away for this kind of... subdued, tense isolation that then built beautifully as more and more got revealed.

The animated CGs were beautiful!! Every single one of them was like a work of art. And I really loved the composition of the various comic panels and just how you set everything up. It really added to the feeling of immersion you already had going, like being sucked straight into each and every scene and really feeling it in your gut.

The story GUHHHH. Fantastic. I got the ending where you're not quite sure what's going on at first -- only that something bad is going on. Probably because I was so Dubious about Raku that I instinctively didn't always answer as kind to him as I could have LOL (though even despite that, I still was never mean to him, since I felt like that wouldn't have gone over well either hahaha). So then I retried following your advice and was able to get two of the, mm, more intense endings lkdjfasldka God, I started to guess more and more bits of what was actually going on the more I played it -- which is a great testament that you wove enough little foretelling bits in and out of the story. For instance, in the first ending that I got, the mention of the spider watching Nelli, I was like wait............. but even despite having that inkling after that IT DID NOT PREPARE ME FOR THE ONE CG GODDDDDDDD LKDJFASD

I enjoyed also how depending on your choices you could "go along with it" or..... not, and though that changed the outcome, it didn't really change Raku's hold on Nelli because at that point it's too late. Both of the endings were so chilling just in different ways??? HELP BUT THEN YOU HAD THOSE CUTE LITTLE SPIDER CHIBIS IN THE FINAL TEXT FOR THAT ONE AND I SNORTED A LITTLE BIT.

Anyway...

I just loved this so much. What an absolutely fantastic thriller that just devolves into creepy horror that makes your blood curdle. I'm such a sucker for dark stories that still include some romance so this was right up my alley already, but it was just so well done. It's going to sit with me for quite a while!! 🤭💕

There is still one ending I need to get, so I'm going to keep testing more options to try and get it!!

(OH ALSO RANDOM BUT I LOVE HOW THE LITTLE TUTORIAL IS THE SAME AS ACTALA'S??? It feels like this cute little connection to you as a dev and your games. Like "welcome to my world, here's a little tutorial" ldkjfadskfa idk I just wanted to mention it hahaha)

I'm so excited to play this ever since I followed the development; I'm awed! The sleek interface, the sprites and how pleasant it is to click around -- it's very well done! 🥹✨ Without much spoilers, Karamu has brought my feelings on a completely unexpected emotional roller-coaster ride. Congratulations for the release!!

An extra info that may be helpful: there's no Linux build but you can run the Windows version of Karamu on Linux smoothly with the help of Steam!

Okay, I played this game and honestly? Of course I was expecting everything that happened and wasn't surprised in the slightest. Completely predictable... Nope, not surprised AT ALL.

On a more serious note, this is a very good game: a thriller and the most unique exploration of the yandere trope I have ever seen (and that's saying a lot). The art is immaculate (the rendering, in particular, is just spectacular), the music works perfectly to set the mood, the writing style is top-notch, the GUI looks very good too. All the game is plunged in these tints of blue, as if we were trapped in some eerie world... And of course, the voice actors were absolutely EX-CEL-LENT, and that's an understatement.

Overall, I can't believe you sold it as "mostly sappy unhealthy romance" when it is more, but SO MUCH MORE than that! Your game is one of the most unique ones I've ever played, and certainly what is going to be the most unique entry of the jam! You surprised me and, if there is one thing I caught pretty quickly during my playthrough, I was definitely NOT expecting the game to go in the direction you chose, and it fitted, especially considering it wasn't an easy thing to write! I won't talk too much about it for now as it is spoilers, but damn! It was good and, I'm not someone easily scared by games (horror games tend to lean into the gore, which disgusts me more than if frightens me), but here, I was FRIGHTENED. So congrats!!!

And that's it for the non-spoiler part of the review, so for anyone reading this who hasn't played the game yet: go play it, it's not too long and it's worth your time.

--------------- SPOILERS --------------------------

OF COURSE it had to involve some sort of Eldritch monstrosity! How did I fail to see that knowing you? frgbsrdcsfsdvvef Honestly, this gave me chills! Although I understood quickly that Nelli murdered someone (what gave it away is her refusing to let Raku hold her bag) and suspected Ji-Hoon to be the victim quickly too (when Raku mentions Nelli has been seen coming to his house and getting closer to him), but what I consider is the true ending (so, the one in which Raku turns into a spider-like creature) GAVE ME CHILLS. You managed to pull off nothing less than a genre shift, turning the game into absurd horror!!! And it worked so well!! Wow, I was flabbergasted!!! I started having chills the moment Raku uncovered Nelli's plan, but DAMN, I wasn't expecting this turn of events!! Really, you did something so great here! And to be honest, I didn't catch up directly the whole scope of his "It smells delicious" but GOODNESS. And even the final part of this ending, with Raku realising they won't break up because Nelli now needs him... The possessiveness!! It really made it a horror game for me!

The third ending I got was the other "secret" one, and honestly, it was so frightening too! When Raku was behind Nelli, telling him "I wasn't done talking, Nelli." I was like VADE RETRO SPIDERMAN AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The last ending I got was the spider web one. I supposed I already had the bigger picture, haha, but you still managed to create a good sense of mystery!

The first ending I got was the cat one. The illustration has a great meme potential and, if it weren't so spoilery, you should definitely use it for the "ad parody" ("Sky! My husband!", with the two choices, "Reveal you've had an affair with the cat" or "Eat the cat"), but on a more serious note, you really managed to write Nelli's paranoia.

And to conclude this meaningful review: in the end, to think Nelli has been the smelly one this whole time... the real plot twist of your game...

Wooo!!! Congratulations upon release! Very excited for this one!!!