Demo Impressions Part 14

Featuring Babette, High Times – Dating/Cooking Sim, Some Goodbyes We Made, Lost But Found, and Zero Sum Heart

Sometimes, I want to post my demo impression before games are released haha. Plus, it’s my birthday and I can post anything I want today. A have a bunch more demo impressions to post now, thanks to the recent Steam Next Fest, and I wanted to post some of them this week as most of these are set to release soon. Like really soon. Plus, there’s one with a Kickstarter that went live yesterday. There is another game that had its Kickstarter go live yesterday as well, but I sadly couldn’t get around to playing it in time. Go check out High Times and Mirage Noir‘s Kickstarters!

Also, as you probably noticed, I decided to just simplify the titles to these demo impression posts. I was running out of post titles, okay.

As always, any titles with a (*) still have its demo up at the time of posting. Now, onto the demos!

Some Goodbyes We Made*

Coming October 24

This game is about goodbyes and it features 11 minigames featuring 11 different goodbyes, with the demo featuring the first three. In addition, these minigames also seem to represent the developer’s personal experiences with goodbyes. Though, that doesn’t mean you won’t be faced with goodbye minigames that can parallel the goodbyes you had to make yourself. The first has us on a plane, remembering all that has happened so far by clicking on the highlighted parts of the images, as the plane takes off until the memories that once made you happy…makes you sad. Next we have a more visual novel-esque minigame were you get into a game where you try to not talk first. Though, of course, you do end up talking to him and having a conversation. Once where you both learn about each other, but one where you also learn the origin of this game and why he plays it. ANd the last is where you’re on a train leaning out the window waving goodbye to the person you’re leaving behind. You can wave as long as you want, even when they become just a little speck in the distance.

After each minigame, we also get a little text document file to get some more background on the minigame. Though, we do have some input on how the events in the text documents go. I found this pretty weird, as this is described as being like a journal of the developer’s own goodbyes, but it’s fine. I do like the text documents we get after each minigame so far and I definitely related to these goodbyes. I’ll definitely keep my eyes on this one.

Babette*

Coming October 25

Two words: Evil Tamagotchi. Babette is basically a game where you find a Babette toy at a yard sale and you decide to buy it. Babette is basically a Tamagotchi where it’s a little keychain with a virtual pet and buttons so you can interact with it and keep it alive and happy, but in this case just happy. The first night starts out pretty normal as you’re just keeping Babette the cat happy. There’s a progress bar on the bottom of the Babette keychain screen and you need to press the big paw button to fill it up. Oh yeah, there’s a left and right arrow buttons on the respective sides and a paw in the middle, with the paw pad making up the middle button and each toe bean making up four different buttons that you use in the minigames. However, Babette will put you in a minigame stopping you to be able to progress. This can be Babette moving screens and you needing to find it (using the arrows to find the room it went to), wanting to be petted (clicking the toe beans in order), or wanting to be fed (each toe bean is a lane and you need to catch the falling food chips in its bowl). Once the progress bar reaches the end, that’s the end of the level.

However, it soon gets creepy. It starts coming on in the middle of the night without batteries. You start hearing things and seeing your door being opened, you see eyes staring at you in the darkness, and Babette starts looking…sinister. Not to mention that the minigames become harder, at least one new minigame is added, new rooms are added (one with a chained up door…), the what I’d assume is the happiness meter starts to slowly degenerate if you’re not pressing down the paw pad button, and a blade pops out with Babette asking you to cut yourself with it. What the heck is going on? Am I going crazy? Will I be able to survive?

So far Babette is interesting and I’m embarrassed to admit that this game did get me with its creepy atmosphere. It’s alright, though I hope there will be a chapter select in the full game or at least let you skip the first chapter. Especially if there will be multiple endings.

Zero Sum Heart*

Coming October 31, 2024

I downloaded the demo for this one purely because the art style was interesting and I honestly wasn’t going in with high hopes. Zero Sum Heart has us play as a young woman named “I” and we jump right into the action as you and someone else is going into a bathroom stall where the person you’re with sits on a throne…aka the toilet (which cracked me up). This turns out to be Witch (or The Witch) who is also a teacher at this school (oh yeah this is set at an academy where you live on campus in a dorm room) and…you’re sister. While your older sister and brother have been doing very well for themselves and were (and probably are still) popular, “I” hasn’t had the same experience. “I” does genuinely seem like a sweet girl, but it seems like she’s shy and awkward and just doesn’t have the same qualities as her older siblings. She wants to feel loved and she doesn’t even think her own family loves her (and the fact her sister is always mentioned as Witch by “I” rather than as her sister really says a lot). Back to what’s happening, “I” has been wanting to do a ritual and the only one that could possibly do it is her sister…who is also a teacher here. This ritual hasn’t been successfully done in hundreds of years, but that changes today. “I”, with the help of Witch, needs to take out her own heart and give it up willingly to gain the hearts of everyone around her. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt thanks to the potion and enchanted knife.

After the ritual is complete, you then see the effects it has on everyone including “I”. It doesn’t seem like anything changed at first, but people all around her fall in love with her. The effects are unique between individuals based on how they themselves interpret love. In addition, “I” is experiencing side effects. I’m not sure if the eyes during the scene where she’s waking up the next day are part of the side effects or just a visual representation of the new attention she’s experiencing, but she definitely is having trouble with those exhibiting the effects losing their details. Either losing their facial details, looking just like a blurred face, or totally unrecognizable. It’s a spectrum which I’m assuming depends on how strong the love is. Well, at least there are two upsides. She gets extra food from the cafeteria ladies and she met the man that took a certain picture she’s been keeping.

There are also choices that you’ll be able to take, which gives you different dialogue for the section that it effects. There was even one that caused a death. I like how the choices were done here, mainly due to the visuals that accompany them. Also, we do get flashbacks to “I”’s life, which explains various things like her motive for doing the ritual and introducing her past interactions with other characters. It does seem like Zero Sum Heart will take place over a month, based on this being described as a short VN and The Witch is crystallizing “I”’s heart and that’s how long it takes. In fact, we get to see how many days its been at the start of what would be the game’s chapters.

Zero Sum Heart surprised me and I ended up really liking it. The art style is unique and really works here, I like the characters, the world is interesting, the writing style is nice and the only mistakes I found were just two words being switched, and I really like how this shows that there are different kinds of love. It’s interesting how this ritual is not only affecting “I”, but also the people around her. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the full game and what’s going on with the love interest. Especially with that flash that we get after him and “I” run away from the crowd to talk alone and one of the screenshots featured on the store page.

The only thing is that I did wish the spacebar didn’t activate auto mode. I’m used to pressing spacebar for VNs and I thought auto mode was activating by itself until I finally figured it out (it also doesn’t help that there’s nowhere that lists all the controls).

High Times – Dating/Cooking Sim*

Ah Yangyang Mobile, giving us another great game. I’ve been keeping my eye on this game ever since it was announced and I have been looking forward to playing the demo when we got news about it coming. I was sure I’d enjoy the writing, but I wasn’t so sure about the cooking part.

After creating your character in High Times and not forgetting to name them (like I totally didn’t…) you’ll be sent to start your shift. You work at a donut place called The Hotbox, but it’s not just any donut place. The donuts at The Hotbox are not only delicious and made to order, but also serve as a mood enhancer thanks to the glaze/filling. Surprisingly enough The Hotbox isn’t that well known. Anyway, your work day starts out normal as you serve a customer that’s new to the establishment. However, as you’re wondering where your boss is, you find a letter. Saying that your boss went on his honeymoon. Without telling you. And expecting you to make The Hotbox the talk of the town by the time he’s back. Sigh. Even worse yet, all of your exes find out that you’re working here and you kinda…maybe…totally didn’t end those relationships well. Well, at least you have some regular customers to serve and your best friend to help you out.

Eventually, the characters visiting your shop will order a donut. Making the donuts are pretty simple. All you need to do is roll out the dough, cut it out with the right mold, pick the right glaze either based on what they want flavor-wise or mood-wise, and top it with the glaze/fill it/drizzle it/add toppings according to what they want. You do have a lucky recipe book to help you out when they ask for a donut by name as well. As you progress through the story, you’ll also slowly gain all the different flavors, toppings, tools, and recipes as you do only start with the basics. Oh, and did I tell you that you get to customize the donuts yourself? However, while you’ll notice that you’re getting paid, you might not notice that you’re losing money as you’re making the donuts. Understandably, as you’re using ingredients and I do like how it’s not a game where you have to guess how much of each ingredient you need, but you might not want to get good at glazing donuts. If you’re pouring the glaze over already glazed parts just to make sure you’re getting the whole donut it’s like you’re just pouring money on the donut. Yep, your money still ticks down. Once you have their donut made, you can serve it to them, get their reaction, and usually continue the conversation.

I didn’t play the whole demo, I usually don’t for visual novel demos, but as far as I’ve gotten it’s pretty good. While a specific line makes me feel this was more geared towards having a male main character and the backlog was bugged for me, I do think the writing and story was good so far and I liked the cooking mechanic. For me, it was simplistic enough to where it’s not tedious having to do it for the whole game, while also having enough complexity to where it won’t get boring. The only thing is that it looks like you won’t be able to make donut holes and that is a little bit disappointing. I’ll be looking out for this game’s release and pledging to the Kickstarter campaign (which is now live).

Lost But Found*

I like Lost But Found, but also the game is just confusing. This game is basically you manning a lost and found counter. Periodically, items will come in on the conveyer belt, you’ll put those items on the table, and people will come up to your table to tell you the item they lost. They do have a patience meter so you’ll either have to find it and drag it to them, and they’ll leave a tip that you’ll need to click on to add it to your tip jar. Or you’ll say you don’t have it, you’ll be given a post-it with a number (the item they’re missing will pop up when you hover over the item), and you’ll call them back if it turns up. And if there’s a robber, hit them over the head before they take a lot of money. As time goes on, your table will fill up and it can get difficult to search for the items due to the time limit and if you’re not organized. At the end of the day, you’ll be sent to a store where you can buy items to help you out, like a picture to increase patience or a scanner to call the person up without typing their number in your phone, before being sent to the next day.

Sounds simple, but here’s where the confusing part comes in. There’s barely any tutorial windows. There’s a trash can, but it seemingly does nothing as you get penalized for using it. There’s pepper spray, but you’re told to click on the robber three times. There’s a thermometer that seemingly does nothing. There’s a collection box where you can sneak some items away and put it on a table to sell at the “end of the day” phase, but you don’t get an explanation on it (I’m not sure if it’s set to not buy items if they’re set at $0, though). And the items that were given to people didn’t despawn and were just pushed back onto the table at the start of the next day.

This does seem like a good game, but it still needs some time in the oven.