Early thoughts and impressions
I’m a big fan of the original morenatsu, so I thought I should give this game a try. I’ve played a couple of the first days, so I thought I would jot down my thoughts. I do greatly admire the team’s attempt to work on such a project, so even if my criticisms sound harsh, just know it’s coming from a place of love.
I think the game’s new art has good and bad elements. It does a good job of catching the original Morenatsu’s vibe, while looking more modern. However, some of the characters look off. Kouya (looks too skinny), Kounosuke (looks less chubby), and Soutarou (way too tall) all look weird to me. Other characters benefit from the style changes though, like Shun. Very smart choice to give him glasses. I also feel like there’s less expression in the sprites overall, but I understand development is still being done with that.
The game’s writing is also a mixed bag. I understand that some of the characters have different stuff going on now compared to the original, but it feels like the core intent of these original scenes are lost now. The party at Raimon in the original was fun and welcoming, but now it’s just very uncomfortable? Nearly every character acts more sad/passive aggressive, and it kinda ruins the scene. I get that the original game’s scene had some weird moments, but it was written in a comedic tone that made it more digestible. It was also a lot more fun to read. When Hiroyuki says he’s smiling in the bathroom now, I just don’t buy it nearly as much as the original. I also feel like the new writing is ham fisted at times. Hiroyuki has 2 monologue lines where he’s directly telling the player about how Tatsuki’s route is about his alcoholism, which feels like I’m being spoon fed incredibly obvious information. In terms of positives though, I think the new scenes are very nice. It’s clear that an intent was made to show additional aspects of these characters which we only heard about in the game/blogs previously. I also think the writing for Hiroyuki is overall spot on, even if I think his edge was diminished. He was a great protagonist in the original, and I’m glad this project mostly understands why. I have played Revisited before, and although I can’t say much about it for Homecoming specifically right now, I am excited to get to the main routes of some characters—knowing that a lot of them got vast improvements from the original game (cough Kounosuke).
Probably the biggest negative I have for Homecoming is that I think getting rid of the ability to choose how you spend each day from the map is VERY detrimental to the experience. The whole thesis of morenatsu is that you’re supposed to be making genuine memories in a finite amount of time. Going to the map select each day for the first half of game, seeing the area of Hiroyuki’s hometown that you wanna go to, and then choosing to spend time in that area/with that character is an essential part to the experience. Once you make your decision on what to do, that’s all you can do that day, and that makes each day’s event feel a lot more meaningful and impactful. It also opens up a lot of replay value, as you learn different things about Hiroyuki’s friends/past/hometown every time you choose to go somewhere on a given day. The player is willingly choosing how they want to make use of their finite time, and exactly which aspect of Hiroyuki’s past they want to learn more about. Knowing that summer will eventually end, and that the stuff you experience with your friends will also come to an end, is literally apart of Morenatsu’s identity. Feelings of nostalgia, and all that.
Homecoming relegating this to Hiroyuki just walking around town and choosing to stay in certain spots based on text options is so underwhelming. Sure, you’re functionally doing the same thing as clicking from the map, but you’re losing the entire player experience. Players no longer feel that sense of finite time, and like they’re the ones choosing which aspect of Hiroyuki’s life that they wanna learn more about/continue. It also hurts the game’s replay value, as each day’s events take much more time to get through and start. I’m assuming this change was done so that each day has more content in it, which I admire the attempt to add a lot more writing, but it feels fundamentally at odds with what Morenatsu is supposed to be. This change causes the game to feel a lot less unique compared to other visual novels now.
Even despite my criticisms though, I am looking forward to continue playing. I do appreciate a lot of what this project is doing, and It’s just really cool to see how much effort was put into it. I hope the best for the team, and that ya’ll continue trekking.
I think the game’s new art has good and bad elements. It does a good job of catching the original Morenatsu’s vibe, while looking more modern. However, some of the characters look off. Kouya (looks too skinny), Kounosuke (looks less chubby), and Soutarou (way too tall) all look weird to me. Other characters benefit from the style changes though, like Shun. Very smart choice to give him glasses. I also feel like there’s less expression in the sprites overall, but I understand development is still being done with that.
The game’s writing is also a mixed bag. I understand that some of the characters have different stuff going on now compared to the original, but it feels like the core intent of these original scenes are lost now. The party at Raimon in the original was fun and welcoming, but now it’s just very uncomfortable? Nearly every character acts more sad/passive aggressive, and it kinda ruins the scene. I get that the original game’s scene had some weird moments, but it was written in a comedic tone that made it more digestible. It was also a lot more fun to read. When Hiroyuki says he’s smiling in the bathroom now, I just don’t buy it nearly as much as the original. I also feel like the new writing is ham fisted at times. Hiroyuki has 2 monologue lines where he’s directly telling the player about how Tatsuki’s route is about his alcoholism, which feels like I’m being spoon fed incredibly obvious information. In terms of positives though, I think the new scenes are very nice. It’s clear that an intent was made to show additional aspects of these characters which we only heard about in the game/blogs previously. I also think the writing for Hiroyuki is overall spot on, even if I think his edge was diminished. He was a great protagonist in the original, and I’m glad this project mostly understands why. I have played Revisited before, and although I can’t say much about it for Homecoming specifically right now, I am excited to get to the main routes of some characters—knowing that a lot of them got vast improvements from the original game (cough Kounosuke).
Probably the biggest negative I have for Homecoming is that I think getting rid of the ability to choose how you spend each day from the map is VERY detrimental to the experience. The whole thesis of morenatsu is that you’re supposed to be making genuine memories in a finite amount of time. Going to the map select each day for the first half of game, seeing the area of Hiroyuki’s hometown that you wanna go to, and then choosing to spend time in that area/with that character is an essential part to the experience. Once you make your decision on what to do, that’s all you can do that day, and that makes each day’s event feel a lot more meaningful and impactful. It also opens up a lot of replay value, as you learn different things about Hiroyuki’s friends/past/hometown every time you choose to go somewhere on a given day. The player is willingly choosing how they want to make use of their finite time, and exactly which aspect of Hiroyuki’s past they want to learn more about. Knowing that summer will eventually end, and that the stuff you experience with your friends will also come to an end, is literally apart of Morenatsu’s identity. Feelings of nostalgia, and all that.
Homecoming relegating this to Hiroyuki just walking around town and choosing to stay in certain spots based on text options is so underwhelming. Sure, you’re functionally doing the same thing as clicking from the map, but you’re losing the entire player experience. Players no longer feel that sense of finite time, and like they’re the ones choosing which aspect of Hiroyuki’s life that they wanna learn more about/continue. It also hurts the game’s replay value, as each day’s events take much more time to get through and start. I’m assuming this change was done so that each day has more content in it, which I admire the attempt to add a lot more writing, but it feels fundamentally at odds with what Morenatsu is supposed to be. This change causes the game to feel a lot less unique compared to other visual novels now.
Even despite my criticisms though, I am looking forward to continue playing. I do appreciate a lot of what this project is doing, and It’s just really cool to see how much effort was put into it. I hope the best for the team, and that ya’ll continue trekking.
Show more
I love this game! But miss it too..
I absolutely love this game and fell in love with its story and characters ever since I first downloaded it, but it also pains me not to see the story or game update, I usually come back every so often to check on the game to see if it did update but never did. I just hope that in the future I’ll be able to see it continue.
Show more
Excellent
Loving it! Can’t wait for more routes to be finished :3
😪
To be honest, the updates take way too long. I have been replaying this game for three years and it’s kind of tiring for me to replay characters that aren’t finished, but I will see. I do appreciate you for putting in the to make us all happy
Very good game- can’t wait for more updates!
I really enjoyed this game. I’ve been doing Shun’s route, and I can’t wait for his route to be continued! Once the full game is out, I’ll definitely rate it five stars!
求汉化
中国的粉丝们也很喜欢这款游戏！请添加语言选项！
🍆
I think it's a very good game, but feel like the language is a bit monolingual? Did you consider too much translation? Several languages, such as Chinese
CAREFUL EMOTIONAL ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Game will make u emotional ❤️❤️ honestly such a great VN
Superb game
I really liked playing this game and interacting with all the different characters especially shun I hope when the full game comes out because I only played the full demo I can’t wait to continue the character story some I felt I have gotten really close to but then to be left on a cliff hanger I and just wanting to continue it so much more
Really liked the game can’t wait for the full release
Really liked the game can’t wait for the full release
Show more
5stars
i love big fat dragon guy, ten out of ten.
I am speechless. Truly. This is your warning.
I was not prepared for this. I wish someone had warned me so now I am paying it forward and warning you. Just straight up ugly crying in the guest room so I don’t wake up the whole house. I am the white girl in the club. This song is about me. I am all of these people. I have been personally victimized by regina george.
Genuinely I was not expecting nor ready for this game to be what it was and devs, if you are still working on this, I want you to know that as a lifelong gamer, this hit me in ways that made presentable liberty look like a bedtime story. Thank you. So much.
Now please for all that is good in the world: finish Tora because it’s going to haunt me.
Genuinely I was not expecting nor ready for this game to be what it was and devs, if you are still working on this, I want you to know that as a lifelong gamer, this hit me in ways that made presentable liberty look like a bedtime story. Thank you. So much.
Now please for all that is good in the world: finish Tora because it’s going to haunt me.
Show more
Fascinante
Fue una experiencia muy entretenida y estoy ansioso por la ruta completa de torahiko
Response from developer
Gracias por su apoyo. Nos alegra que esté disfrutando de este proyecto. La ruta de Torahiko será la última, pero tenemos muchas cosas buenas planeadas, así que esperadla con impaciencia.
Game is awesome
Play a lot times really good story and characters and places enjoy it keep up excellent job on the game really want more story and characters other places to I hope get updated on the games
Update
Love the game but I’m just wondering when the next update is going to happen
Thank you so much ❤️
Just found this game from a friends recommendation and am blown away, never have I played a game and felt so many emotions in my life. I believe I’ve played and replayed Tarou’s route (1-16) about 1000 times so far 😅 been branching out to the others and am constantly blown away from the storytelling, relatability, and all the emotions they bring! So again just wanted to thank the team behind this for bringing this into my life, and can’t wait to see what more y’all bring to it ❤️
Show more
I love this game, can’t wait to finish all the stories
10/10 I recommend this! It’s a great love story and story about bonding! Can’t wait tell all the characters are able to get a full ending. My personal favorite is Juuichi, made me cry definitely in love with him.
Great VN, can’t wait for Shun and Torah’s endings!
Such a great Visual Novel, really just great, I know Torah’s path is going to be finished last, but I haven’t been able to anything about when Shun’s path(s) are planned to be finished by? Thanks, keep up the great work!
I only have one question.
I love this game, but is this only a demo? Because I don’t have my own PC because I can’t afford one at this time, so I would want to still play the entire game on my iPhone without needing a PC for itch.io
Morenatsu
Save the icon download iOS or Android 🇺🇸🇯🇵 ▶️
Went in expecting not much, was pleasant surprised by what’s here.
I was originally part of the English translation for the original project, mostly to correct grammar mistakes, or note any missed Japanese text, and it saddened me immensely to see the project originally die. I spent many years quietly lamenting the loss of the project. I heard others had tried to pick it up only to put it down for one reason or another. The most recent attempt had me learning that Hiroyuki had been changed to a fox with all references to humans no longer existing due to the writers decision and bias, which I did not approve of.
Since then, I had put the project out of my mind until recently, when my family was to go on a week long vacation. I was searching through apps and the like to prepare, and came across the VN, apparently now released for iOS. I decided to try it, on the basis on the glowing reviews, and the fact that Hiro seemed to have an option to have his species restored. The layout of the project was also radically changed. Normally you had to pick who you hung out with on the day, which sped the game along, now you played out almost ALL the events present. This significantly lengthened the game but also allowed you to experience a large amount of missed content.
I finished the Shin route on my first attempt and got the best ending. I have to say this game hit all the right marks, including the updated art, and even some events that I know didn’t exist in the original project, which helps to develop the characters. I’m very impressed with this version of the game and hope to see it as it continues to develop.
Since then, I had put the project out of my mind until recently, when my family was to go on a week long vacation. I was searching through apps and the like to prepare, and came across the VN, apparently now released for iOS. I decided to try it, on the basis on the glowing reviews, and the fact that Hiro seemed to have an option to have his species restored. The layout of the project was also radically changed. Normally you had to pick who you hung out with on the day, which sped the game along, now you played out almost ALL the events present. This significantly lengthened the game but also allowed you to experience a large amount of missed content.
I finished the Shin route on my first attempt and got the best ending. I have to say this game hit all the right marks, including the updated art, and even some events that I know didn’t exist in the original project, which helps to develop the characters. I’m very impressed with this version of the game and hope to see it as it continues to develop.
Show more
