Ballads at Midnight
Synstoria · 2022 · Vampires, Free to Play, Otome, Female Protagonist, Interactive Fiction
PC
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →
Screenshots
About Ballads at Midnight
When a sarcastic bard is arrested and exiled to an abandoned castle, she expected to be at the mercy of a hungry, blood-thirsty vampire. She soon discovers that the vampire, Lucius, is not starving: he is gravely bored. She may just survive on borrowed time, one ballad each midnight.
(The name can be changed)
A well-traveled and gifted bard. Abigail is quick-witted and quick to act, though not necessarily in that order. Sarcasm coats her words like calluses, formed through years of undergoing difficult journeys and indulging difficult people. While she has a strong sense of insight and genuine interest in others, she has a dogged impulse of announcing her observations. This is seldom appreciated, and at worst has led to face grave consequences.
Still, no one can deny that she has a flair and talent for entertainment. Not even a centuries-old vampire.
(Love interest)
One's first impression of Lucius is that he's menacing at worst, and witheringly unyielding at best. However, his coarse exterior is a thin veil for his impressively dry wit - which he's more than happy to reveal if he thinks his sense of humor will be heard. It's rather hard to share one's wit when your guests generally scream and run at the sight of you though.
♦ Enemies to lovers, found family, bonding through shared trauma, and even more of your favorite relationship tropes!
♦ A dark fantasy romance that seamlessly blends lighthearted moments and hidden depths, with believable dialogue and an abundance of banter. (Boy, they love to argue. ;p )
♦ Beautiful sprite and original music
♦ Three clearly-marked endings - abandon him as early as possible, remain in eternal bliss or discover gruesome secrets about the world around you.
♦ Flavor line choices: be an unabashed flirt or have a razor sharp tongue. The choice is yours, no consequences.
♦ More than 42 000 words (around 3-4h per playthrough)
♦ Partial voice acting & two original bard songs!
Ballads at Midnight is rated T for suggestive material, strong language, alcohol use, and allusions to trauma, child abuse, and fantasy violence.
Ayael (Director, UI designer & programmer, scripter) - Arrapso (Sprite, background artist), Wudgeous (Lead writer, narrative designer), Notafish (Writer), Jeneara (Editor), Rowanty (scripter), Eliana Zebro (Audio & voice director), Shar Joyner (composer), Megan Youmans (Voice actor - MC), Eric Navarro (Voice actor - Lucius), Kimi (Trailer creator)
This visual novel was created in one month during the NaNoReNo 2022 jam.
(The name can be changed)
A well-traveled and gifted bard. Abigail is quick-witted and quick to act, though not necessarily in that order. Sarcasm coats her words like calluses, formed through years of undergoing difficult journeys and indulging difficult people. While she has a strong sense of insight and genuine interest in others, she has a dogged impulse of announcing her observations. This is seldom appreciated, and at worst has led to face grave consequences.
Still, no one can deny that she has a flair and talent for entertainment. Not even a centuries-old vampire.
(Love interest)
One's first impression of Lucius is that he's menacing at worst, and witheringly unyielding at best. However, his coarse exterior is a thin veil for his impressively dry wit - which he's more than happy to reveal if he thinks his sense of humor will be heard. It's rather hard to share one's wit when your guests generally scream and run at the sight of you though.
♦ Enemies to lovers, found family, bonding through shared trauma, and even more of your favorite relationship tropes!
♦ A dark fantasy romance that seamlessly blends lighthearted moments and hidden depths, with believable dialogue and an abundance of banter. (Boy, they love to argue. ;p )
♦ Beautiful sprite and original music
♦ Three clearly-marked endings - abandon him as early as possible, remain in eternal bliss or discover gruesome secrets about the world around you.
♦ Flavor line choices: be an unabashed flirt or have a razor sharp tongue. The choice is yours, no consequences.
♦ More than 42 000 words (around 3-4h per playthrough)
♦ Partial voice acting & two original bard songs!
Ballads at Midnight is rated T for suggestive material, strong language, alcohol use, and allusions to trauma, child abuse, and fantasy violence.
Ayael (Director, UI designer & programmer, scripter) - Arrapso (Sprite, background artist), Wudgeous (Lead writer, narrative designer), Notafish (Writer), Jeneara (Editor), Rowanty (scripter), Eliana Zebro (Audio & voice director), Shar Joyner (composer), Megan Youmans (Voice actor - MC), Eric Navarro (Voice actor - Lucius), Kimi (Trailer creator)
This visual novel was created in one month during the NaNoReNo 2022 jam.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
very cringe but i cant lie i wouldve eaten this up if Lucius was a woman so.....1 found this helpful
I loved this so much :) The plot was actually interesting! I did turn off the voice acting, though, as that's the most lackluster part of the game.
This game is free, so I can definitely recommend it. A bit awkward and rough around the edges, but there's enough heart there to pass the time pleasantly.
I really liked this game! Positives: - Loved the dialogue: it was witty, romantic and the characters were both smart - Loved both the MC and Lucius (and their yearning/bantering) - the character art was beautiful and the backgrounds were good (my favourite was the blood moon) - I liked the lore! The middling: - the voice acting was great, don't get me wrong, but it was weird how it only happened in a few scenes. The line delivery was very well done (except during the song) but it left me wanting more. I think I'd have prefer it to have been either fully voiced or not at all. The bad: - I found it ended quite suddenly. (I had the become a vampire/ break the curse ending) I would have loved it if we had seen them have a proper romance scene or at least do the ritual together/ leave together. I missed some oof at the end. So actually I just wanted more of this story and didn't want it to end.
the story had me hooked a lot of times
I genuinely liked it.
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