Dicentra

For myself I waited until the full release came out to begin playing. I like to play a game from beginning to end without any demo or trailer.

This game is absolutely awesome. I admit, colorful and happy storys are more my type but I came here explicitly for some light horror. And I wasn't disappointed, quite the contrary! It's amazing.

There are three most things for me to mention:

1. The perspective of a little wolf cub is just perfect. It reflects relationships between scared dogs or wild wolfs and humans so well. Their trust, and empathy related to each other is captured lively the reader is teleported right into the scene. Not to mention the little distractions and instincts. Whoever has a dog knows what I mean.

2. It comes without heavy jumps cares, and I am really grateful for that. Typical horror games are usually nothing more than monsters popping out from anywhere or psychic elements meant to haunt for weeks. Neither I am the brave sould beering tons of them without having difficulty falling asleep after them not I am interested in those profane works. Your game instead provides much more variables feeding the atmosphere, like dark secrets within a family, disgusting inclinations, and reminders of how cruel reality can hit you. That stuff doesn't make reader hiding unter the blanket fot the duration of the movie but let them thinking about the plot all the more. It mirrors current social problems like child abusment, betrayal and selfishness.

3. The story, names, personalities, drawings and the voice were really good. Maybe sometimes the story or Basil's emotions felt a little bit repetitive but even that increases the feel of closeness. Speaking of the drawings, they are wonderful. Did you say, you draw them by hands? What an excellent art style!

Thanks for the great game you created - and for making it a free one of course!

I'm trying to get in the habit of writing reviews for the games I play but I often have trouble articulating the words I want to get across. All this to say, I played Dicentra right about when it came out and I adore the story! The subtlety and slow reveal of plot as Basil discovers it was so much fun. Not to mention I'm such a sucker for gothic horror. Not to mention the artwork is hauntingly beautiful, I would often find myself going to the cg page just to gawk in awe and wonder. The writing absolutely sucks you in; I felt like I was transported into this world every time I picked it up. Thank you so much for releasing this work of art, I look forward to the next game you release!

This game is one of my favourites!! it really deserve way more recognitionfrom people!! (And, tbh, it helped me a lot with my artblock, so double thanks, the other for making this amazing game!!<3)

A jaw-dropping, beautiful experience from start to finish. This was my first time ever going totally blind into something off the recommendation of a stranger, and I didn't regret it one bit. You should all be very proud of yourselves for what you've created here.

spoiler:

Basil in the true ending though... :(

spoilers ahead!














SAFFEINE ILYSM AND I HATE YOU SO MUCH FOR *THAT* ENDING HHH- you dont know how much i'm tempted to put you into a box of tuperware and just SHAKE YOU OFF SO HARD!:LM<E><#@:M. i will simply refuse to believe that *THAT* ending exists and only the good one is canon in my head. 

dove and basil my babies,,,, they deserve lots of candies and everything sweet,,, i will kindly put them into a soft king size bed with AC and lots of plush and a 24 x 24 meter handmade quilt embroidered blanket.

YOU WILL NOT RUIN THAT FOR ME. NUH UH-

jokes aside, this is simply, a delicious, 10 course meal encased in a 2 hour playthrough! you got an enthralling storytelling abilities, it's feels like i'm pulled into the worldbuilding and characters that you've made. not to mention that the art perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the story. it's like watching the aftermath of a painting session. you could see each stroke of paint, each splotches of color easily captures your eyes. you cant just look away from it!

if i had to describe it, it's like staring at the soft void tendrils in the corner that make your whole bones shiver in uneasiness.

your skill is not to be underestimated. 5 michelin stars from me.

its an absolute delight to be able to experience this. i can't wait for more of this universe! <333

I love this game, the art and atmosphere are top notch.  Absolutely gutted but also pleased about the True Ending, it's only increased my appetite to know more about this world and Dove.  You threatened us with lore dumps on Twitter, saffeine.  Please don't be an empty threat I'm famished.

im always so glad to stumble upon hidden gems like this one on this site <3 everyone's already said it but the art is stunning, the color pallete is an excellent choice for the tone and really makes the important details stand out. Story was really impactful and while i was really sad that i had to leave Dove behind in the true end i know she has her own story to move onto and I'm glad she got out of there either way.

...on an...unrelated note...is Belphie...taken? 👀

I have started playing this game with a couple of friends, and we've been having such a blast voice acting it for fun! It was one of the earliest introductions I've had to this genre. The art is beautiful, the characters are beautifully drawn, and the art style is so captivating! The music is catchy as well, and it fits each and every scene. 

We have not completed it yet, but we are aiming to reach the good ending. I just wanted to say that this is game has positively haunted my mind and now I want to keep playing it all the way through to the end after work! But alas, I need to wait for my friends to all be ready for it as well, lol.

I won't be spoiling the experience for anyone who thought about giving this game a shot, but if you felt that the art style of the cover art caught your eye? Then definitely give this game a shot. It is one of the few games where the story of the game matches the art style in terms of quality. I absolutely adore it!!!

I am rather late to this party, but I hope my compliments were enough to make up for all that time I wished I could have been supporting this game from the beginning. Besides! It seems the full release came out not too long ago, I have a looot of catching up to do, and plenty of motivation and will to do it!!

I'm not much of an artist, but I want to draw fanart of this game eventually once I get the time. <3

Much love and support, and I look forward to any and all future updates/games you may release! I decided to donate $25, I hope that does something lol.

*SCREAMS ENDLESSLY* i am back. again. with a horrendously long ramble 😭 ill spoiler free gush first and then drop a lil warning

after accidentally tripping into the completed game a bit back (i dont know if im actually among the first people who found it but im telling myself i was bc i like feeling <3 special<3) i FINALLY managed to finish all the endings/routes.

the art remains just as gorgeous as ever, the music still slaps, the plot? the plot had me STRESSED at several points. it felt like the more i found out the more questions i had and even now i still feel like i have so many. every reveal and choice was intriguing, it was such an enjoyable and engaging ride going through the chapters.

the characterisation is also excellent. i love dove to absolute bits. her blushing/embarrassed expressions reminded me of how alive she is, which really hit since the art style enhances the eerie and ghostlike vibe of everyone. and yet her greed and curiosity for magic and finding out more felt frightening at times. but the feeling that she really is just a kid in an insane situation never left. all the other characters felt complex in their own right, i wanted to know more about them, i hated them and feared them and also felt for them in equal turn. it really did just slap!! 

[ok im spoilering now 😭 on the off chance anyone gets this far and hasnt played thru everything yet GO DO THAT]





i teared up SO MUCH when dove burnt babels remains. the detail about the flowers just got me so hard (also yay for title drop). slowly learning more about who the ghosts were was also very fascinating altho i still have SO many questions my god. also love the significance of dove and basil's names. (in the true ending when she started calling out for basil I WAS DYING). of the bad ends i found dove mercy killing basil one of the saddest and i did just have to sit there like :(( for a bit. and hypatia's resurrection definitely felt the most chilling by far. 

and finally. the true ending. screams!!!!!!!!!! with all the respect in the world, for the sake of my happiness, i am lwk going to ignore the fact its the true route 😭 or at least pretend the good ending is also a true one. 

the whole time i was on the edge of my seat and my jaw just kept dropping. during my play throughs several times i kept going "oh no no no absolutely not" and i RLLY felt this in the true route. i was practically shaking basil through my screen when he left, and the reveal of belphie had me reeling. in a way im very glad dove gets a form of power, hope, and freedom, in the place of being a sacrifice and victim of her fathers/the witchs grief. but there is such tragedy that she may simply become entangled in another cycle, traumatised and abandoned yet again by someone she really cared about. altho belphie seems like a very charming devil to make a deal w sksk, i will say i did have a moment where i paused my internal shock to go 'wow belphie can GET IT' but i digress. 

in conclusion, i had a blast playing dicentra and tbh i still want to know so much more about the universe (who exactly was the witch boy? what happened to hypatia?? whats up with the deal/etc between the belphie, mother reverend, and the witch??? and so forth). tysm to everyone involved for all the hard work and dedication into the game, its definitely going into my list of favourites!! now i am going to sprint back and relive the good ending to dry my stunned emotional tears<3

Adorei o jogo, muito obrigado por ter feito tal obra de arte. Consegui todos os finais, no final verdadeiro vi uma possível sequência, mas o meu preferido continua sendo o final bom :)

Initially I snuggled into a blanket and made some soup to relax and play, only to end up pacing in my room at like 3 am.

I kid you not, I've never scrumpt WHAT so many times during a VN play through in my life, the pacing of this story kept me hooked and the tense moments got me SWEATINGGG. It felt like binge-watching a show; I could not stop. Every time a new (GORGEOUS) CG popped up like a shiny gem I felt blessed, admiring the compositions, the colors and the little details, ARGHHH ITS JUST *punches air* SO GOOD. (I can't even pick a CG favourite bc they're all so!!!!!! Wow!)

I haven't even gotten to the story yet, and I won't. I'm not spoiling a single thing. Just, you know these silent book reviews? so like, *spins around, stomps, wails, flails arms, cries, pulls hair* man I was so engrossed in this world and it's inhabitants. (also! geeking out with Dove over the magic system!!!)

Also when hunting down endings I was so happy to notice little changes in the main menu, I'm a sucker for these little things. No spoilers, but like, once you reach a certain point and check the main menu,,, GOODNESS. HELLO? HAHAHA. AH.AHHA. WOW. HI??? 

Also, the good ending?? Just looking at the CG makes me TEAR UP. And the true ending? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. 

Okay but like the characters. THE CHARACTERSSSS. I love Dove and Basil so much, I love Dove's design, I love her complexities and how she navigates her complicated relationships and feelings with Basil by her side. Basil's helplessness is conveyed so well by him being a wolf. (LET ME HELP HERRR HOLD HERRR SAY ITS GONNA BE ALRIGHT AHHHHHHH) 

Also, that protection spell. Just. My heart.

BTW The character designs themselves like,,,, I could write an entire essay. (The Witch?? The mother??? The (TRUE ENDING REDACTED) hehehe) And. The GHOSTS? Their designs convey tidbits of who they were so so well and they're so iconic. So recognisable from their silhouettes,,, truly in awe.

I do be yapping, but words truly don't do Dicentra justice. I had such a wonderful time playing this game, I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you for the experience, props to you and the team! Super excited for any future titles! ⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*)⸝

before i played the game i thought basil was dove bc i 100% didnt clock the fact hes,, yk, a wolf LOL and all i could think of was "wow that boy needs to drop his mascara and hair routine". i digress<3

im loving the game SO MUCH so far. the art is beautiful (the use of black/white/red...), i always stare at every new bg bc theyre so detailed and the style eats. the ghosts are v distinct (and were pretty unnerving at first!), i adore dove's entire everything, and the UI is also rlly lovely. the music is excellent as well and rlly fits w the scenes. also rlly liked the timed choices thing!

the narrative is also intriguing, ive only finished the first section (?) but im already curious about the dynamic between dove and the ghosts (esp the white lady), the magic that's keeping her trapped, and even whats up w her roses. lots of things to think about and explore and im so excited to do so!! also i rlly enjoy the fact the protag is a wolf pup. whilst he can sneak about much easier than a bumbling human, i felt this intense feeling of vulnerability bc he just feels very small and very helpless a lot of the time. the obvious language barrier between him and dove is also so. like. ugh!!!!!

also i saw that the full release is august (woo!!!!!!!). i j wanted to say, and i didnt know whether to bring this up bc idk if im just being stupid/misunderstanding smth, but the version i downloaded (full version 1 mac??) looks a lot more complete than the demos i see other ppl reference (i looked at some vids in the comments). im able to progress further than all of them (the scene of dove's pov). maybe this is just an extended demo and im being Very Silly but i thought id j mention it. so sorry if im just not Clocking Something, and also so so sorry for this wall of text!! blame the 2am rambles<3!!

Is there any ETA for the game yet?

the art is drop. dead. gorgeous. i was seriously amazed over how intricate those backgrounds were, alongside the cool monster designs, and how perfectly they set the ambiance for this spooky gothic tale. this took me back to my nostalgic days of ib, mad father, the witchs house etc. (I can totally see dove fitting in with those haunting girlies)

Stunning art, both beautiful and horrifying, with an intriguing story and a cool twist at the end of the demo that brings everything into spine-chilling clarity. The writing is almost as stunning as the art, a display of immense talent.

The colors of the title screen catched my attention. Gorgeous art (the best backgrounds I have ever seen) and choices that don't feel like filler for the sake of calling it a visual novel. Good atmosphere, I liked the timer. Nice music. Pretty ui.

As a horror game, it's interesting having the wolf's point of view and feeling the need to communicate but the difficulty to do so, the same with its fragility.

Honestly, I keep staring at the artwork. I love red.

Lately I started playing some visual novels to learn for my projects, I wish I could make in the future a game half as beautiful as this one.

This was such a beautiful and long demo. I loved the artistry. 

The art was really good and I enjoyed the aesthetics. I did semi-enjoy the story but I would suggest watching the closer look on youtube for more in depth story telling. Played it with my friend and we both didn't enjoy the game because I felt that it could be made in google slides and wasn't fun to read everything. Maybe get a friend or someone to voice act. The game also didn't have a trinity hook which is the core of every successful game or even a demo. The only hook was the story and that hardly makes a strong game. You need a gameplay hook and a mechanical hook. Also the horror just wasn't there for me and I get scared easily AND was playing it at night. As an indie game dev you need to have experience in all aspects of game making, strong art and ok story just won't cut it, this game was just a choose your own adventure that i could read in second grade. Honestly the story was mediocre but the art was good. would recommend trying to expand the game to a bigger audience by adding an actual hook.

Beautiful art work, and a well written story.  I quite enjoyed this!  I think the music that plays roughly in the middle of the game comes off a little too high in comparison to the rest of the music that plays, and some additional sound effects for the pages being ripped out of the book, more drips, and various other parts that emphasize that you're hearing a sound would be cool!

Feel in love with the art style immediately. The story is intriguing cant wait to play the full game! There is only one critics that I can give is the lack of sound effects. For example when it said the door slams behind me as soon as I entered the house, feels empty without sounds to emphasize it. But that is just my opinion the game is still amazing! Thanks for the Demo! 

good art and interesting premise, but I feel that it truly would have been better if the main character were human, the main character actually being a wolf or dog or whatever doesn't really add to the horror, in fact I would go so far as to say it takes away from it. some of the best horror is good because our mind can find something to relate to or latch on to, so if we feel that we as a human are being treated like dogs we feel mistreated or demeaned, but if we feel that we ARE dogs and are being treated as such we feel prideful, also just the fact that the MC is a dog could be a good artistic choice, but only for like an intro, and don't make it seem like a fanfic, this is a horror game and shouldn't be taken so lightly. the monster design was great btw.

  I should also say that I'm not trying to be mean, I think you are very talented and this has huge potential, also not saying you need to rewrite your whole game or anything, just trying to give some pointers if you're open to them.

Congrats on getting featured! So well deserved. I've always admired your art from afar and this gothic lil' tale is so very, very striking. Really enjoyed it!! :) <3

!Minor spoilers!

that was beautiful the art and story left me craving more the colour palate of grey and red really highlight the difference of the white ghost while the red still ties her in and while dove is the same colour she is outlined in black so she fits in but she still appears important. Amazing work!!!