Under the Murder Tree

This was such a fun visual novel! 

For a story that was so short, the pacing was fantastic and the plot itself was really cool.
The interrogation was seriously interesting, and I truly enjoyed uncovering Eliot's motive as well as gathering clues as to where he buried his victim.
(Not to mention, reading about the death rituals/mythologies was awesome! I really adore that you put stuff like that into your games and, as someone who studied anthropology/archaeology at one point it was a lot of fun to get a bit of a refresher on some things that I've read about before ❤ )
I did feel very conflicted about the situation, though. Eliot's victim definitely wasn't a good person and did something positively horrible. 

I also loved the timed mechanic. It gave a sense of urgency and it was utilized really well. I loved even more that we were forced to basically gain all of the clues before we could even put in our answer. To top it all off, having to type the answer just made the moment even more tense.
It was just a lot of fun to be put into a situation where there were those sorts of consequences.
(Also, it would have been cute if Eliot had reacted to naming the egg/bird after him. But I 100% understand that under the word limit it probably wasn't possible.)

As an aside... Eliot's design was very aesthetically pleasing. I'm a sucker for characters who wear an eyepatch. And Eliot himself is terribly cute.

I sincerely had fun with Under The Murder Tree!

My god never have I ever looked at my typing going "... is it case-sensitive?!?!? Is it space-sensitive?!?!?!? ACCEPT MY ANSWER YOU--"

But legit, I absolutely adore this. I love the art and once I finished the VN and saw the title screen, my heart just broke when it looked like Eliot was reaching longingly to the sky of birds. Honestly, he did seem unhinged but it appeared as though he was well-behaved as long as he had his birds, as obsessive as it sounds. He didn't really mean any harm until the victim so callously killed them without any meaning (I kind of wish it was expanded over the victim suddenly doing this acts and maybe more history on Eliot himself).

The one thing I'm perplexed about is why Eliot wrote a cypher letter and having the police find him when it looked like he would much rather give himself up to the authorities since his precious birds were all dead and he apparently seems to have no will left, or if he prolonged the search by sending a cypher riddle to extend the suffering of his victim which would fit with how Eliot absolutely has no remorse to the person who killed his birds.

Another fact I love is the misdirection itself. I was so caught up with the three books in Eliot's room that I completely miss the obvious hint... It was not my finest moment.

I wish Eliot would have reacted if we named the little egg after his name, he probably would find it amusing if not baffled over why the officer chose it, but maybe in a way he'd feel at peace over the murder of his birds. Either way, I adore everything, from the story, music, pacing, THE GUI MY GOD YOU ABSOLUTELY SLAYED IT, and everything else. I kinda wish we had a bit more, but because of the jam limitations, I must say this is absolutely impressive and amazing!

The music is very similar to the ones used in Matsuro / Terasene and I really love them. I liked the plot, the subtle reference to the title and the way it went. Good game!

(+ the history facts were good too)

Love this little glimpse into the mind of a killer. He has that great "deranged, yet sympathetic" vibe that we get from all the best criminal characters. Killing my murder would definitely make me commit murder!

If there was an element I wasn't going for it was just the music; I didn't feel like it added much.

I like the time limit but I feel like something miss in this game. if it has a back story little not just listening from Eliot belike about him and why the other guy must kill Eliot's raven or the raven get killed is a wild bird and in the main menu It little hard to understand where to start, where to load the save game and what locked it means.

Definitely feel like the cops should take the 'Murder Tree' title more literal in future, maybe have regular patrols to that spot just to be safe :') 

Great job on the jam, looking forward to your next game!

I loved the vibe!

With the music and the timer it really feels like you are against the clock.

The sprite looks so cool and charming!

I love villain-adjacent characters so Eliot stole my heart in seconds!

I understand where he is coming from even if his actions were too extreme.

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{SPOLIERS}

A confession: After my first playthrough; I played again, made myself a coffee and listened to the cell block tango from the musical Chicago while the timer drained and the bad end came cuz "they had it coming"

Now I feel kinda evil but… the poor birds T--T and pets/animal friends may as well be family sometimes

Very well done :) Played it while drinking my morning coffee. I think you could do a really good interogation game without the text restrictions. Now it tickles me to get back to renpy myself.

Such a cool game! The timer function was an interesting addition that added to the mood, the spritework delicious, and Skolaztika's GUI work is as always out of this world.

Well done!! :) <3

Loved the game, especially the character design and animation (I audibly gasped when his mouth started moving, lol)

I really enjoyed it! Hopefully it wins, but even if it doesn't it was a very fun (albeit stressful) experience

Hey! I played the game and it was neat!

First, the sprite was very gorgeous!! And then, WELL, it was intense?? Honestly, the music and the timer really set a stressful and tense mood!

The story in itself was very interesting and uncovering the mystery was fun to do! And if at first Eliot sends off bad vibes, the ending almost makes his actions look selfless and pure (although I'm not sure it justifies his actions, haha, but I guess that's the point)?

It was a great O2A2 entry, congrats Banya!!