Before we get into this week’s update, here’s a little reminder that we recently published our progress summary for 2023 as well as our plans for 2024, along with an extra post over on Patreon with a few more personal words. So if you have missed any of that and are curious to know more about our overall progress on GENBA no Kizuna, be sure to check them out!
Jan 06
Weekly Update #492: Plans For 2024
Happy New Year!! We’re already one week into 2024 and so I hope that you had a very pleasant and already successful start into it!
In last week’s blog post, I looked back at the entirety of 2023 and although a lot of cool things certainly did happen and a ton of progress was made, we sadly didn’t reach our main goal of finally releasing our next murder mystery visual novel GENBA no Kizuna.
We have gotten very close to the end, however, currently working on the finale, and so I can say that it will release this year for sure.
And maybe it was always meant to be this way, given that 2024 is the year of the dragon!
Dec 30
Weekly Update #491: 2023 Retrospect
2023 is coming to a close, so as has become our tradition here, I want to use today’s blog post to look back at the year as a whole, summarize our achievements and talk about the things that didn’t quite go according to plan as well as about the positive developments that unfolded, which never even were part of our initial plans! So let’s get right into, shall we?
Dec 23
Weekly Update #490: Merry Christmas!
Today, we’re just gonna have a super quick post again, since I’m currently very busy with a lot of things, given that Christmas is right around the corner now! Next Saturday, however, we’ll make up for that with a much longer post in the shape our annual retrospect.
As always, I will take a look back at the year and summarize what we’ve accomplished and what didn’t go quite according to plan, before we talk about our aims and goals for 2024. So, if you’re interested in hearing about all that stuff, keep your eyes peeled! Patrons can also expect a more personal post again, addressing a few extra things I usually don’t like to talk about publicly.
Now, in terms of update news, there isn’t much to share anyway. I’ve primarily been working on art assets this past week, while also polishing the script some more. We have one more week to go before 2023 comes to a close and my main objective is to finish up the last bigger remaining sprite assets, DPA illustrations and fill in the last few script gaps.
But yeah, I will delve much deeper into all that next week!
Sadly, I didn’t have the time to draw a new Christmas illustration this year, since I’ve just been focusing on actual game assets, so I won’t be making an extra post tomorrow as I usually do. Therefore, I’m already gonna wish you a very merry Christmas right now! Both Natsu and I hope that you’ll have some cozy and stress-free Holidays and that you’ll be able to spend the last bit of the year in fun and good health! Until next Saturday, take good care! :3
Dec 21
Winter Sale 2023
Christmas is right around the corner and, as we can all agree, the only thing more satisfying than unwrapping presents is to unwrap a chilling murder case! And with SHINRAI – Broken Beyond Despair, you can do just that! So, whether it’s for yourself or as a last minute gift for a fellow visual novel aficionado, be sure to grab it during this year’s Winter Sale for 50% off!
The sale lasts until January 4, 10:00 AM PST and also includes the complete OST! As a matter of fact, you can get the soundtrack bundle for an additional 10% off! As always, these deals are offered both on Steam and itch!
Dec 16
Weekly Update 489: Credits & Working With Limitations
As mentioned in last week’s blog post, I have now moved on to working on the credits for GENBA no Kizuna. Just like in SHINRAI, they aren’t just a sequence of development categories and names, but get interspliced with some short dialogue exchanges between the characters you have met throughout the game. As such, they do require quite a bit of work, but I’ve mostly wrapped them up over this past week. Of course, they will also need some more polish, but I’ve written everything out at least. Well, except for the very last scene. That one poses some difficulties, but I can’t really get into those due to spoilers.
Dec 09
Weekly Update #488: Main Script Done, Final BGM Sample, Commissions & Fanart
Alrighty, today, I’ve got a lot to share with you guys, so let’s jump straight into the exciting news! A couple of days ago, I wrote the final line of script before the start of the credits roll for GENBA no Kizuna! And not only that, today, I also essentially finished the secret bonus scene that plays out after the credits!
Dec 02
Weekly Update #487: Writing Progress
Last week, I talked a bit about the final “social phase” of GENBA no Kizuna, how it’s structured and how the whole “bonding with your teammates” aspect of the game works, so if you want to know more about that, be sure to check out our previous blog post!
Naturally, I have continued working on the social phase over the past week and essentially finished the scenes for Rei and Shinketsu. Himatsu‘s was kinda done as well, but after thinking it over for a bit, I want to revise the way her conversation with Keiichi ends, since I feel it currently doesn’t fully align with her personality. I already know how exactly I want to fix this, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ll commit myself to that right after this blog post, however, so that I can hopefully finish before bed time!
Nov 25
Weekly Update #486: Final Social Phase
As you can tell from the title, this week, I’ve been working on the final social phase of GENBA no Kizuna. The game may not have a dedicated epilogue chapter like SHINRAI did, but that doesn’t mean that the story just ends with the credits right after the case has been successfully solved. You will get one more chance to talk to all three of your team members to wrap up their individual arcs.
All three conversations are basically separated into two parts. First, you exchange some general words with Himatsu, Shinketsu and Rei and then, if you have gathered all the required “social points” for them, you’ll get an additional bonus scene in which they will open up a bit to Keiichi about the true nature of their struggles and motivations.
Nov 18
Weekly Update #485: CGs Done!
Last night, Natsu sent me the remaining two CGs for GENBA no Kizuna‘s final chapter fully colored, which means that her asset work is done again for now and that all the CGs are finally taken care of! That also means that, in terms of art assets in general, there isn’t really much left now. I definitely do need a few more sprite variations (primarily different facial expressions) for the end of the chapter, when things get a bit more emotional and we’ve got a couple character breakdowns, but other than that, there are only a couple more DPA pictures missing, a few simple artworks to visually illustrate case-related things (think the depiction of a certain someone standing on a glass table in SHINRAI) and… well, something I don’t wanna really talk about yet to keep it a surprise!
But yeah, we’re slowly getting to the end in the art department. Now, as for the writing, I have continued working on the script and written the “the case is closed now” scene. I still need to do some revisions and flesh out the emotional parts mentioned above a bit more, but then I can move on to the final social phase. One more conversation with Himatsu, Rei and Shinketsu before Keiichi goes to the chief, the investigation gets officially concluded and we transition into the credits sequence!
It might not sound like much (and it really isn’t), but some of these scenes will be difficult to write for reasons I can’t really get into.
Still, I’m aiming to get all of it done by the end of the month and feel really excited to wrap things up!
Anyway, that’s about it, so while I’m gonna get back to the script now, I hope you’re having a super chill remainder of your weekend!
Until next Saturday, take care :3
