YOMINOKUNI | Otome Jam 2023 Demo
Content & Trigger Warnings
This project is a very dark and adult/mature story and the complete visual novel is going to have a wide range of content and trigger warnings. Beware, that these are only the trigger and content warnings included in the demo:
- abduction
- swearing
- mental health / trauma
- sexual innuendos
- death / murder
- strangulation (not the good kind)
Reader discretion is advised.
*chibi of [Kaede] drawn by Aixen
One fateful night you are dragged into a world between life and death - a world illuminated only by a scarlet moon.
This is the Yominokuni.
This strange realm is a place created for souls who live in unrest, for souls who have been denied entry into the afterlife.
But are you not dead. Right...?
Though you may think you're on your own at first, you will encounter 6 companions who share a fate similar to yours.
Will you be able to unravel the mystery of the Yominokuni and go back to your everyday life?
- 20k word demo [Prologue & Chapter 0]
- customisable name-input for the heroine
- 6 different love interests
- custom soundtracks & character / UI artwork
- a story about spirits & personal struggles beyond life and death
- choice-driven story with multiple endings
- not-safe-for-work / mature content (sexually & mentally)
- inclusion of queer romance
- point-and-click investigation sequences
- a glossary to store all your information
Listen here to Yominokuni's original soundtrack:
“You know, you have me too. I mean it, if you need anything, anything at all… I'm here.”
Rei Amano is a 27 year old financial manager with a warm heart.
His thoughtful nature and difficult upbringing make it easy for him to take on the role of the group leader.
As a result of the very diverse array of members, disagreements are bound arise - this is where Rei steps in and tries to mediate between the parties. However, because of his so affectionate personality, he often tends to put his own feelings and needs on the back burner.
So will you be able to have him open up to you and be his pillar of comfort?
“The Yominokuni is not just a scary place full of spirits that might not have your best intentions. You can die here!”
Haruka Sano is 25 years old and not only a fellow student, but also your best friend from childhood days.
No matter how miserable you seem to be, he always finds a way to push aside those clouds that loom above and bring a smile to your face. But behind his constant good-humored and energetic facade is a deeply hidden abyss. Something unfathomable, which he keeps locked away even from you.
Will you be able to break through his mask and finally see his true self?
“I just want to root for you and make sure you can at least find some belonging with us.”
Emi Inoue is a 25-year-old caretaker for senior citizens. She is also an avid collector of Groc shoes.
Her sunny personality illuminates even the rainiest of days. Easily excited, yet nurturing and kind, she’s the perfect remedy for when you’re feeling down. Emi will not rest until your beautiful smile is back on your face.
She’s not above flirting to get her way!
But where does so much benevolence come from? You might just figure it out if you decide to dig deeper into your relationship.
“I investigate crimes. My knowledge will help us here in the Yominokuni. I know it will.”
Mayumi Fukumoto is 27 years old and the youngest female investigator in her police department.
Due to her tough and male-dominated work environment, she has built a seemingly impenetrable wall around herself. Her gruff and abrasive manner makes her seem untouchable.
Yet there is one person who can climb that wall without a problem and bring a smile to her face.
Her childhood friend, Emi Inoue.
Will you also be able to break through her hard shell and provide her with a place of vulnerability?
“Oh, Miss. Don't get me wrong, I am behaving myself right now.”
Ryuji Miura is a simple 29 year old man.
During the day he helps his sick mother in her flower shop and in the evening he doesn't say no to a passionate night with an appealing woman - under the condition she doesn't become emotionally attached to him. So don't be fooled by his courteous behaviour - he might have ulterior motives!
Will your heart be able to endure his alluring and dominant persona?
“I don't think it matters what you choose, really. As long as you actually get shit done, you're more helpful than most of them.”
Hiro Sasaki is a 23 year old programmer.
Due to his social ineptitude and harsh, smart-ass behavior, he has a hard time blending in among the group. He will let you know what he thinks of you without any regards to your feelings and is quick to antagonize the rest of the group. Rei, in particular, seems to be a constant thorn in his side...
Will you be able to see past his dismissive nature and get him to connect with the rest of the group?
On this demo worked the following people:
- elduator (Haruka Sano & Ryuji Miura)
- Snakkiez (Rei Amano & Hiro Sasaki)
- Mari (Emi Inoue)
- Cassie M. (Mayumi Fukumoto)
- James Molloy (soundtrack composer)
- Vanilla Cheesecake(soundtrack advisor / ME / SE)
- Lanae (GUI implementation)
- Dana (script / sprite / sound / story implementation)
- elduator (basic implementation / phone & investigation sequences / polishing)
- Kristi Jimenez (play testing / quality management)
- Unsplash (image resource for backgrounds)
- FreeSound (resource for sound effects / sfx used in-game)
- Nighten (code source for phone sequences)
- ellr (GUI Sounds: "Universal UI / Menu Soundpack")
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Comments
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this is an awesome demo! looking forward to the full game
This was so GOOD! OMG i so giddy to continue playing this game with the demo being that captivating! Legit such a good start to this story, I can totally see myself playing every route. The characters are so good AAHH! Blown away, I hope everyone on this team is proud of what theyre making because GOD DAMNN ITS GODLY and I dont mind being in a life or death situation if it means I get to pet jiyuu :3
I am so excited for the continuation of this game! The characters feel so real and I just want to learn more about them. The sprite art is absolutely fantastic and I really enjoyed the urgency of looking for clues in the investigation sequence. It made it feel more critical to find what you were looking for. I can't wait to see more from this game.
I was really impressed with this demo overall! First of all, the aesthetic is really fantastic, and I love the premise and the setting. The red/black theme for the game sets the eerie, supernatural tone well, and I really like the gradients that are used for the "yominokuni" backgrounds.
The game is very polished and looks and plays well. All elements of the GUI are detailed and look FANTASTIC, from the start menu to the save/load screen to the log to the texting portions. The sprite movement is very dynamic, and I love the use of the diagonal/vertical panels to provide even more variation to the sprites. The sprite art is colorful and adorable. The custom soundtrack is wonderful, and I also enjoyed the point and click investigation (even though getting the last few items was a bit tricky!) The glossary was something that I haven't seen in many visual novels, and I really enjoyed collecting all of the entries!
All of the love interests are characterized well, and I love the diversity in their personalities and their different dynamics with each other. Rei was definitely my favorite, as I love his style, his reliable leader/big brother attitude, and his occasional moments of sincere awkwardness with the MC. My favorite scene was Rei's interaction with the MC before asking for what assignment she chose, as it really showed off his sincerity and his kind nature. However, all of the characters were intriguing, from the bubbly Emi to the taciturn Mayumi to the aloof Hiro to the gruff Ryuji. The character that I'm the second most interested by is definitely Haru. Although I enjoy childhood friends by default, I'm also curious as to the reasons behind his change in attitude towards the MC.
While I'm not 100% sure where the plot is going from here, I'm intrigued by the worldbuilding, and I think there's a lot of ways the story could go. I'm interested to see how it all pans out!
Overall, this game came out VERY well, incredibly polished! Great job to all the people who worked on it!
Aaa, the UI for this is so slick! It looks so good! I really like how the ctc icon is colour mapped to all the characters; it's a small detail but it shows a lot of attention went into the presentation of this. The floating textboxes are really nice too, and the in-game glossary. It's all very polished for a free game!
I'm impressed you were able to get this done in such tight time constraints!
As for the story, it's pretty interesting so far. I like how sassy the main character is, and there's a lot of fun characters to interact with. I wanna know why Haru's being so mean, but I think my favourite boy is Hiro...
I hope he becomes more deredere the more you talk to him haha; the brief scene where he blushes is very cute.
You all did a great job on this; I had a lot of fun reading it! Thank you for your hard work!
Ahhh! Thank you so so much for your nice words, ebi! They are very appreciated by everyone in the team! 💛
Yes, we put a lot of thought into YnK's UI and how to design it. I'm really glad you liked it! 🥀
Everybody in the team worked hard to get this demo out in time and everybody should be really proud of the work they've done (especially with that truly tight schedule in mind)! I couldn't be prouder as a creative lead! ☺️
I'm also relieved to hear that the MC and our little H.S.-boys (Haru Sano, Hiro Sasaki haha) caught your attention! We deliberately made the MC more vulgar and sassy to stray away from the "innocent Otome heroine" stereotype. - And in regards to how Hiro develops in his route... you'll just have to wait and find out when the full game is released! ; )
This demo is really cool!! The premise of the game is unique and the characters are all very likeable yet mysterious, so I'm excited to get to know more about them. The demo was super fun to play and I'm excited for the release of the full game. Thanks devs for making such a cool demo :D
11/10 for Jiyuu because asshole cat supremacy!
Hahaha, thank you for playing the demo and liking the premise and characters! - I can't wait to show more stuff of the project in the future! 💛
And yes, Jiyuu is such a loveable and totally normal cat!
Finally played it and oh boy, I got intrigued from the very beggining. Such a powerful demo, it left me wanting more! There's so many questions that this introduction set for us, and I want those answers!
The characters were all super charming, from their designs to their personalities. As you may have picked up from other sources, I'm in love with Rei Amano right now. He's not only cute, but he seems so sweet?! Ugh! I need more of him!!!
The music and SFX also worked super well to enhance the scenes, and it's really nice! I also really liked having a glossary, that's going to be super helpful for the investigation!
In any case, I'm so excited to play the full game once it comes out!
Thank you so much for checking Yominokuni's demo out, Flori! 💛
I'm really happy you enjoyed playing through the game and liked the setting and the glossary!!
And yes, Rei is a ray (haha) of sunshine! Always there to keep the team together and making sure everyone feels happy and comfortable. - Such a sweetheart!
I can't wait to show updates of the project in the future!
Was kinda sad it stopped before getting in the main action, but I guess it's the proof I really liked that. The setting is interesting, and I like the characters a lot.
I wish the best of luck for the future development of this game!
I'm glad to hear you've liked the game so far - and I apologize you weren't able to delve into any of the routes. Since they are still in production, we decided to only show the Prologue and Chapter 0 to introduce the player to the world of Yominokuni. 💛
I hope you'll be looking forward to future updates of the game! 🥀
I had such a fun time playing this demo and am eagerly anticipating the full game! I really really really LOVE the plot of stumbling into a hidden world lead by a hilarious asshole of a magic cat, joining a group of ghost-busters (well, more like spirit keepers but still), and having to investigate this amazing mystery as to what's going on in the spirit world.
I love the tension, the mystery, the incredibly relatable MC (who I really feel for... I can't wait to see what the intro scene is about), and the wide range of LIs. I'm super interested in Emi and Haru in particular... Emi because she's such an adorable sweetie and I love her already, and Haru because he's such an interesting spin on the childhood character and clearly holding onto this own secrets...
Anyway, such a fascinating game so far and I cannot wait to see more from this team!
Ahhh! Thank you so so much for giving Yominokuni a chance and liking it ! 🥀
I'm relieved to hear you find interest in the world building and story of Yominokuni! 💛
Yes, we wanted to make the heroine a bit different from "classical" otome games, a bit more vulgar and straight to the point and wanted to give her a few flaws, which make her stand out more.
As for Haru... yes, he has a few secrets he wants to keep hidden - but will the heroine be able to reveal them? 👀
I hope you are looking forward to future updates and again thank you so much for playing Yominokuni's demo!
I was a writer for this, but regardless here is my review of the ACTUAL game lol o7
(I tried to keep spoilers out, but here are my random thoughts while playing)
The splashscreens in the beginning are very professional, and right off the bat you're hit with nice music. The soundtrack artist has some serious talent!
Everything is really well put together, and all the sfx and music I've encountered so far have been great. The Gui is exceptionally pretty!
The sprite cutouts are very unique and they look super nice! Helps get more of them on the page without it being cluttered.
ahabsabjad THE HIRO MONCHING NOISES, I LOVE IT!!
Jiyuu is 10/10 for asshole cat, love that for him lol
Emi is such a cutie! I love her little interrogation
I had to go back and play the bad end, because it was the only one I never read - but it was so cool! I love how the mood switched and you had to search for the toy...awesome feature!
Overall, really cool game, even cooler people worked on it! Massive praise to the soundtrack artist, writers, programmers, sprite artist, UI artist, and all the proofreaders who helped out (and anyone my brain might be missing!) Super excited for future updates (and to annoy tf outta my man Hiro, love him)!
Thank you so much for playing this game and for being part of the dev-journey! 💛
Thanks to you and the amazing ideas you've brought into the project, it truly became what it's supposed to be! - As well as your writing! (You know it already, but I'm really in love with your writing.) The scenes you've wrote for the demo were phenomenal!
I'm so happy you liked the investigation sequence and bad end! As well as the whole playing experience! I'm really excited for the future of this project!🥀
I have a great time playing this demo and hoping for more updates in the future! Love it 😍
Thank you so much! Ahh! I'm really glad you like the demo! 😭💛
Hey! I played the demo!
Well, can I say? You already know I really enjoy this story and these characters. As a player, I feel like I'm slightly more drawn to Mayumi, but honestly, they are all very solid: they do all have distinct personalities, but are all very charming or myserious enough to get me curious (Haru and Hiro here hehe). I mentioned it during my proofreading, but I'll say it again: I really enjoy seeing them all interact as a group. This is the kind of dynamic we rarely see in visual novels (friends group) and I'm happy to find it here in Yominokuni!
The direction was amazing: the backgrounds were great, the sprite art too, the GUI was superb, the way it was implemented just amazing and the music!! The music!!! It gave the game a retro-feel which really fits a story like this.
Overall, a very polished and pleasing experience, full of sweat, caffeine and heart (I mean, all the details in the glossary just proves it)! It is very promising and I'm looking forward to the rest of the demo!
P.S.: I was so surprised to see When The Wind Blew You Away being featured on the page, haha, Peter is slowly conquering the world!
Thank you so much for playing Yominokuni's demo and enjoying it! 🥀
I am glad, we were able to uphold the feeling you've had about this project and its story when proofreading!🙏🏻
Again! Thank you so much for taking your time proofreading the script and having you on the team! It really means a lot and is deeply appreciated! 💛
Every team member worked so hard on it and I couldn't have done it without them! To ever see this story and its world, I've started to work on last year in August, come to life feels so surreal and I am looking forward to the future of this project!
And especially thank you for checking out the glossary! (I really put a lot of work - especially caffeine - into it, haha!)
P.S. Of course I had to feature your Otome Jam entry! 🫶🏻