The Stories of the Boys I Loved
Made with love and sweat for the Summer Novel Festival (SuNoFes) 2022.
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL SUITORS?
Hana is a 17-year-old Japanese student who's in love with her best friend, Renjiro. Yet, the fujoshi inside her awakes as she discovers his homosexuality: instead of complaining about the impossible blooming of her feelings, she decides to set him up with another boy. But little does she know that love works in mysterious ways, and that she might find unexpected love in the process.
CHARACTERS
DEMO FEATURES
- Around 1h30 of gameplay (i.e. the full prologue)
- Lovely anime art style by the extremely talented YuHeS
- Choices that influence the scenes you unlock! (yes i know for once)
- Quirky, flawed but nonetheless ✨ endearing characters ✨ (hopefully lmao don't hit me)
- BLOOD!!!!!!! (not visually tho i got your back my hematophobic folks)
- pretty colours????? (hey, i'm trying to convince you to play it????)
PLANNED FULL-GAME FEATURES
- Around 9 to 12 hours of total gameplay
- The possibility to either play Cupid, or to date bishounen boys YOURSELF!!
- Two main routes (one per love interest), each subdivided into two routes (according to either you're dating our underage Don Juans or throwing Renjiro at them)
- Eight different endings
- CGs!- criticism of capitalism (will definitely happen)
- drAMA!!!! TEARS!! RENJIRO KILLING HANA IN A FULL YANDERE PLOT TWIST (ok this won't happen)
WARNINGS
The game is PG-13. It contains the following:
- slight cussing (although I tried to avoid it being heavy)
- mention of some teenagers' fantaisies
Some more and more spoilery trigger warnings can be found here. Please, note that this only spoils the demo content and that the main game will have many more trigger warnings; but, once again, it will always remain PG-13.
CREDITS
Writing, scripting, GUI: Yacine Aggoune
Character Art: YuHeS
Background art: good old UncleMugen, House of Imagi Studio, Clip Studio Assets assembled and edited by yours truly
Music: Dova Syndrome
Sound effects: VideoPlasty, Zapsplat
NOTES ABOUT THE WEB VERSION: This game is meant to be donwloaded and played on a computer. Playing the browser version might be laggy, and it is therefore something you should do if and only if you cannot download the executable files. Also note that the web version might not work : a change of browser usually solves the issue (I suggest Mozilla Firefox). Please, also note that the web version only features the demo: the full-game version, when it is released, will have to be downloaded.
Download
Install instructions
Thanks for giving this little demo a chance! Remember to extract the files (unless you're a savage and open the executable right in the ZIP file... that's what I do too to be honest but shhh)!
Development log
- OH MY GOD THE DEMO IS RELEASED AND I'M GONNA DIEAug 29, 2022
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
hey! quick question. well.. i tried running the game, but after extracting it said "Error: Uncaught RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded (see JavaScript console for details)This is a known issue in Safari and Webkit browsers. Please report this issue to Apple." but i'm playing on a lenovo laptop. any idea how to fix this?? i tried refreshing, it didn't work.
Hi! The solution is to change your browser. I know the issue tends to happen with Google Chrome, while it has never happened to me on Opera or Mozilla Firefox.
Oh!- okay, thank you so much! i'll try that right away. :)
Rate: 4.9/5 ✨ Interested? Cool! Just play it! 💞
Comment:
At first, I wasn't 100% sure how I feel about this unique concept. Because as a bi guy who's mostly gay, anything yaoi and fujoshi are sensitive subjects to me due to how insensitively they're usually portrayed. Butt of jokes, fetishized, etc, the list goes on...
So yes, whilst I want to wholeheartedly support and trust my friend, chimeriquement, I honestly still went into this game rather guarded...
And relieved that I finished the demo with a nice feeling in my chest and a huge smile on my face ☺️💞
Ofc, there are scenes where Hana's fujoshi mode just made me supremely uncomfortable, lol, but. She's willing to learn from her mistakes and I'm intrigued to see how she'll grow in the full version. And overall? I really like how she's practical, blunt, self-confident, and dominant. A personality which I'd like to see more of in game protags in general ( not just otome ), apparently, lol. ( What's up with devs and meek protags agshsjdk )
I love how Oliver, despite being quite the hyper puppy, has layers to him, such as the mature and experienced way he handles LGBT+ topics. I may or may not have clapped when he also shot Hana's fetishisation down, lmao. Oliver is definitely my favorite character so far. He makes me smile <3
Also yes, bi and pan are quite confused with each other it's insane agshdjkd-- Thank you for including that! Such a relatable moment xD
All in all, the characters are lovable in their own way and they bounce off of each other really well! I highly recommend giving this a try! <3
Thank you for making this game, chimeriquement! Renjiro x Oliver is my OTP and I am HYPED to see how their love story unfolds! ^v^)/
Love,
WingedHares
Oh my, thanks a lot for your logn and detailed feedback, it means so much from you!!!!!
"Because as a bi guy who's mostly gay, anything yaoi and fujoshi are sensitive subjects to me due to how insensitively they're usually portrayed" -> understand that as a biromantic guy... When I realised how terrible the portrait of gay relationships yaoi media depict was, I really wanted to write stories to deconstruct their tropes. And I'm glad I managed not to disappoint you on this one!
"whilst I want to wholeheartedly support and trust my friend, chimeriquement, I honestly still went into this game rather guarded..." -> And yet, you gave my game a shot. Thanks for your trust!!!
"She's willing to learn from her mistakes and I'm intrigued to see how she'll grow in the full version" -> Ha ha, I guess seeing these boys struggle might help her realise some things!
"Ofc, there are scenes where Hana's fujoshi mode just made me supremely uncomfortable" -> (you have no idea how uncomfortable yet somehow amused I was when I wrote those)
"( What's up with devs and meek protags agshsjdk )" -> I don't really know, and from what I see, it seems like players want the meek protag trope to be more present again; for my part, I really think my protagonists should be characters as fleshed-out as the love interests.
"I may or may not have clapped when he also shot Hana's fetishisation down" -> Actually, this scene is in the prologue thanks to you! When you told me I should try to indicate in the demo that the game would be tackling fetishisation, I rewrote the scene to include it there!
"Oliver is definitely my favorite character so far" -> (he's also mine; Renjiro and Daisuke are close, considering I know their full-development, but yes, I do believe in Oliver's supremacy)
"bi and pan are quite confused with each other it's insane agshdjkd" -> I swear, everytime I ask someone the difference, the explanation they come up with is different!!!! I thought it'd be a fun touch to include (and also, a way to show the player that I am document about LGBTQ+ issues and therefore conscious about what I should and should not do in this game)
"All in all, the characters are lovable in their own way and they bounce off of each other really well" -> Oh, thank you! I worked hard to make sure their dynamics were fun and balanced, thanks for noticing that!!!!!
"Thank you for making this game" -> Thank you for having played it and taken so much time to share your thoughts on it!! It means so much from you!!!!
With even bigger love (what do you mean this is not a competition?),
someone who's neither a hare, nor winged
Agshdkflf I love you!! Whilst I can't reply as much as I do on Twitter, know that your reply brought a huge smile to my face! 😂😂💞
So yes, likewise! I'm glad I managed to impact the game in some way. It's an honor 🥺🙏🏻💞 I was actually hesitant to tell you about it, but since good friendship is about honesty and growth, I had to tell you ( I also trusted you won't be mad, so 😖👉🏻👈🏻 ). Happy it ends well x'3
Anyways, best of luck with the game! I know it's in safe hands with you~ Hyped to eventually send Renjiro off to the sunset with Oliver 👀💞💞
With an even bigger, BIGGER LOVE ( ;p ),
WingedHares
Ha ha, as long as it's constructive criticism, there was no reason to be mad (okay, some people are self-conscious but hopefully I'm not part of them, haha)!
Thanks!
With even more gigantic love, like so big the universe is too small to contain it,
me
i ain't readin allat 🤣
Any chance this "lgbt" game can have the player play as a gay guy?
Hi!
Although Hana is the protagonist, and the game is therefore told from her perspective, there are in the demo some scenes from Renjiro’s perspective (hint: depending on the club you suggest Oliver, and on whether or not Hana volunteers to go with Daisuke to the supply closet), during which he is a temporary narrator. This is also to be expected from the full-game: Hana narrates the story most of time, but of course, the scenes during which Renjiro and his suitor have to speak the truth will be told from Renjiro’s point of view.
So, in short: Hana will remain the main protagonist, but expect some scenes from Renjiro’s perspective (especially if you follow the “Renjiro x suitor” path, rather than the “Hana x suitor”).
really cute, funny, and kinda relatable game!
just a bit confused about the last sentence(something like "who do you want to pursue") considering the line before that was talking about who to ship renjiro with, does the character you choose result in hana x char, renjiro x char, or they'll be fighting over the character??
Hi, thanks for your nice feeedback! Things like those always mean the world!
To clarify, regarding Hana’s perspective, it’s about who to pursue as a suitor for Renjiro. Gameplay wise, the game is structured like this:
- Prologue (which you played) at the end of which you choose a suitor between Daisuke or Oliver; this choice will lead you to one of the two routes. The demo ends there but, of course, the game will continue.
- So now, for instance, let’s say you chose Oliver (by the way, if I may ask: who did you choose?). You’ll start Oliver’s common route: Hana will try to set Renjiro up with Oliver. According to your choices, she might make them closer or Hana might instead fall in love with Oliver.
- The third act will be a specific route, determined by your choices during Oliver’s common route: only then will you reach either the “Hana x Oliver” and its two endings, or the “Renjiro x Oliver” route and its two endings. The choices you make during this phase will specifically lead you to one of the two endings of the subroute.
It was a bit long but I hope I clarified things a bit: but long story short, the character you choose results in a common route, during which the “falling in love with a guy while trying to set your best friend up with him” thing might (not) happen, all according to your choices.
ah i see! thanks for clearing it up :>
i chose daisuke ^^
Congrats on finishing the demo! I enjoyed it ^^
The characters are vibrant and the interactions between them were fun to read through. I really liked Oliver innocently pushing Hana's buttons and her being taken aback at his straightforwardness. 🤭
Also, Daisuke playfully teasing Renjiro and Renjiro getting mad was an entertaining dynamic and I definitely want to see how their relationship develops ^^
Oliver is hilarious and kinda relatable to me as I basically started learning Japanese to translate some doujinshi (lol) I also appreciated the little winks to other works.
I love how rational Hana is in her crush on Renjiro but then she turns into a hopeless fujoshi and goes absolutely wild at the mention of the boys dating 🤭
her reaction to Renjiro's coming out was peak humor, 10/10 👌
The art was great, too, I especially liked Hana and Renjiro’s flustered expressions and Daisuke’s little smile 🤭
Very fun overall, I'll be looking forward to playing the next installment ^^
Hey, thanks for your detailed feedback!
Thanks for overall noticing the dynamics between the character, it was really important for me to make sure these characters have rich and cute interactions between each other!
Ha ha, who hasn’t tried learning Japanese at some point? I guess there are people like you or Oliver who manage to actually do some learning, and others who stop after learning their katakanas!
I also had a lot of fun opposing Hana’s rational personality and her wild love for boys’ love! I guess this is the kind of contrasts that give dimensions to a character!
Thanks for all your nice words, it really means a lot! I’m excited to see how the next part of this story will turn out as a game!
ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡