Today marks the 4th anniversary of SHINRAI‘s release and, in celebration of that, we’ve just released a little update for it!
Although no new major content (such as additional scenes or diary entries) has been added, this update applies a number of tweaks and changes to the game, which will definitely provide a better experience. From simple bugfixes and typo eradication to the addition of new music tracks, as well as a much desired checkpoint system for the final chapter.
But let’s have a closer look at the changelog, shall we?
- General Fixes: As mentioned above, a number of minor issues such as typos, bugs and visual errors have been fixed (like Henjin‘s arm being cut off on his profile page or the characters’ legs being hidden behind the black bar on their intro cards).
- GUI Adjustments: The textbox design has been updated to better fit with the rest of the GUI.
- Sound Adjustments: With the help of our new composer, Solo Acapello, we’ve tackled a number of sound-related issues. BGM/SFX loops are now seamless, the volume for various sounds has been adjusted, and some have even been redone.
- Music Addition: Since some players found the occasional (rather long) stretches of silence to be awkward, new ambience and music tracks have been added to fill the auditory void. In total, there are four new BGMs, one of them being a variation of an already existing track, whereas the other three are completely original compositions.
(If you’ve bought the OST on Steam, they’ve been added to it through an update. Itch users will have to download the new zip.)
- Notebook Update: The text size for the notebook content has been slightly increased (yes, it was even smaller before).
As a result, all “Diary”, “Trivia” and “Clues & Evidence” entries, as well as all character profiles have been revised.
In some instances, new tidbits of information have been added, along with references to our new projects.
Since some players have gotten confused by it, the “DD/MM/YYYY“-format for D.O.B. information has been changed, as well. - Script Changes: A bunch of dialogues and narration segments have been revised for better readability and structure, as well as to make them more concise and thus improve the pacing a little. Some parts have even been rewritten, while others were elaborated on. This mostly affects the first two chapters and the game’s extra content.
- Checkpoint System: If you pick the wrong culprit and end up getting a bad end, you will now get a choice between going to the title screen, or returning to an automatic checkpoint that will let you try again. Thus, players who don’t save often or overwrite their save files a lot will not run the risk of locking themselves into a bad end anymore.
- Code Cleanup: Natsu has taken the time to optimize the game’s script, getting rid of thousands of unnecessary lines of code. Honestly, this is something that you, as a player, won’t notice. Nevertheless, it makes us feel pretty good!
There are a number of reasons as to why we’ve decided to update SHINRAI now, four years after its release.
Some of the changes are tied to something we can’t quite divulge yet, but it will be unveiled within the next two months.
What I can already tell you, however, is that this was also done in preparation for our next two projects:
GENBA no Kizuna and SHINRAI – Withering Without Hope.
As some of you may know, SHINRAI was originally written as a short novel in 2011, never intended to be a VN until 2013.
So it’s actually been nine years since its initial conception, and ideas for a sequel have been gathered ever since.
Naturally, these ideas have greatly evolved over time, especially during these past four years, while we’ve been busily working on GENBA and WWH. Thus, I wanted to take the opportunity to update SHINRAI with these developments in mind.
There is also the fact that, back in 2016, when I decided to add some extra content to the game, hinting towards the sequel, it was done pretty much last minute. As a result, it ended up being a little rushed, which is probably why we’ve found most of the typos in there. Some minor things also didn’t quite make a lot of sense, so I wanted to fix that as well.
If you’ve already beaten the game, there may not be enough new stuff here for another full playthrough, but you might at least want to check some of the extra content again, particularly Kamen‘s secret diary entry. She now elaborates more on her feelings towards a certain someone, which will naturally play a big part in the sequel.
So, how is development going on our next project anyway, you may wonder…?
Well, we’ve made some major progress on GENBA this year, which is still scheduled to be released first. Although it chronologically takes place ‘before’ SHINRAI, it further sets up WWH by introducing characters, themes, relationships and important plot points.
As of right now, I don’t want to make any promises. I can tell you for sure that it won’t be out this year, but we have a release date for it in mind, which we’d really like to meet. So keep your eyes peeled for more information towards the end of the year, I guess!
I will talk more about this update, the BBD changes, GENBA‘s and WWH‘s development, as well as our plans for the upcoming months in our next weekly blog post. However, before this one gets any longer, I should better wrap it up.
We know that a lot of you guys are eagerly awaiting our next projects and we’re really sorry for the long wait. Which is why we appreciate your patience and continued support all the more! Believe me, no one wants to finish these games more than we do!
It’s been four years now, and we still receive messages of new and old players on a regular basis, telling us how much they enjoyed our little murder mystery and that they’re looking forward to what’s next. However, even though we’d love to release something ASAP, we also don’t want to disappoint you. So, while it is taking quite some time, please rest assured that we keep working as hard as we can to deliver something that will live up to your expectations!
We’re sincerely grateful for all the positive feedback and reviews, the kind comments and messages, and the exorbitant amounts of motivation your support has supplied us with over these past four years! As developers, we couldn’t ask for more <3
