Drown the Bride

this did not feel like a ren'py game at all! very enjoyable short little game. it felt refreshing to have such a unique protagonist and i enjoyed the relationship between the gal pals. was a little difficult to figure out how to get all the endings but overall really liked this one <3

These Sun Labyrinth shorts VNs always have [i]something[/i] interesting going on, even when they're bite-sized - this one is great at ratcheting up tension (the boat scene!) just with simple point-and-click mechanics and creating an oppressive atmosphere out of very little (lovely backgrounds with a kind of 90s computer game aesthetic and moody music). Tetrine and Rosemary are familiar characters if you've played Asher or Winter's Trumpet, and they have a lovely relationship that is nicely developed here, with Rosemary attempting to save Tetrine from herself and her terrible taste in men. However, the story does stand alone, as I'm pretty sure it takes place before all of these chronologically. All in all, it's not a terribly complex story, but it's well-told; from that perspective it's a pretty decent entry point into this fictional universe, as it teases out some of the more complex lore in some of the endings. An alternative option to start on Steam would be [i]Goblet of Mercy[/i], a much weirder (and free) VN that is quite a bit darker in tone.

[i]Drown the Bride[/i] is another entry in the (almost 10 games strong, if you count the ones only published on itchio - and I do hope they make it all to Steam one day) Sun Labyrinth catalogue. It is amongst the shorter ones -around 20-30 minutes for a playthrough- and in-universe, I think it might be amongst the earlier ones as well. As such, it is a good entry point in the verse. From the get-go, I could see it has a lot of the qualities I enjoy in the developer's work: a strong, claustrophobic atmosphere that immediately grips you, extremely efficient and snappy dialogue, and a great use of colour (red and blue are applied to very good effect here). The pixel art is something that will more or less appeal to people's sensibilities but I like the callback to earlier flash games it produces, and for such a short story, it works well, I think. I was a bit more intrigued and perplexed by the way the playable character moves (you have to use either hotspots to move in a room, or a small "compass" to change locations), but I got the hang of it after my first playthrough. What really got to me though, is the themes the game explores. Rosemary, our main character, is intelligent and l…

Delightfully gothic and easy to pick up and play through. Part of a greater story verse but that's not needed to understand this installment (I should know, I haven't played the other games yet).

An interesting mix of a traditional point'n'click adventure game and a visual novel. The idea and visuals are nice, but the story feels somewhat rushed. Still, worth a playthrough. [spoiler]Objectively:[/spoiler] 6.5/10

Rosie is such a great friend <3