I literally LOVE this game!! After playing the demo and interacting with Vayden I HAD to see the development through till the end! It was 100% worth the wait and I can't imagine how hard the dev worked on this for and I am so grateful for all their hard work. So far I've played through Vayden's route (absolute favorite), Laceaga's (a very close second), and Haron's. I can't wait to play Duliae's and Ernol's! This script was fantastically written and allows the player to personalize every part of their experience and this is exactly the type of game I LOVE playing. I was immersed from beginning to end, and I can't wait to see what games follow from Underbliss!
A lonnnng development, soooo glad to hear that it wasn't a total let down <3 <3 Thank you so much for being so patient, for giving it a try in the end! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
It was ABSOLUTELY an amazing game!You guys need to make films,books whatever, anything.You deserve so much!!!OMG I love your creativity.I just signed up to comment on this.I wish I had a lot of money and meet you guys!!I am looking forward to your next project
This is one of the best VNs I've played in a while, and the fact that something of this quality is also free is still something I find difficult to grasp. The setting, story and characters had me completely captivated. And oh, the feels. Thank you, Ahnna.
p.s.: Lacey's route was hilarious, absolute fave <3
Oh boy where do I even begin? There's so much so gush about that I cant even handle it <3 English isn't my first language so I'll probably run out of vocabullary for some things but bear with me please XD
I think I'll start by thanking the game creator, Ahna. When I played the demo I was SO amazed by the game complexity that I was reading my purse for when it came out. I mean, its only obvious it'd be paid right? It must've taken so much hard work and time to desing all those characters, all the routes (and jesus there were SO MANY OPTIONS ICANT EVEN) and all the amazing dialogues that it seemed only fair. But imagine my surprise when I saw it was FREE O.O Jesus we dont deserve u Ahna ;-; I gave a bit of money and I can only be sorry I couldn't give more to such a talented game designer like her. Anyway, thank you so so much for this. I had a REALLY fun time. Life hasn't been very kind to me lately but this made me smile a lot, and I rlly needed that.
SO, back to the game. If I had to say what were the things that made me love this game so much I'd say there's 3 reasons: character costumization, dialogue options, and the well blended romance. Tbh it took me a while to notice this game because it had, at first, a pretty dark and gloomy feel to it. I'm a sucker for romance so I thought " nah its probably some dark story with some equaly dark, boring, expressionless characters who probably wont romance for shit" but boooooooy, how wrong I was. I aint gonna lie, the costumization option got me lol I can't help it, I just really aprecciate creators who go out of their way to help players create their own experience. And GOD she added so many costumization options <3 I loved that we could choose our character's personality type! When I saw that I could CHOOSE an outfit I almost screamed lol
But the BEST thing ever, the thing that REALLY got me hooked were the dialogues. They were SOOOOOOOO fun, interesting and exciting to read! Considering it was ALL done by a SINGLE person, I dont even have words to describe my amazement. I like to try out all the dialogue choices and I was not dissapointed! The story got more and more interesting by the second and I was always sweating like a pig thinking " shitshitshit what if I messed up". The death endings mostly made sense, everytime I died I just laughed at myself like "lmao ofc you'd die u dumb b*tch" so we really have to think carefully. I never knew whom to trust, and it was fun figuring out the best course of action. The game its really long too, almost like reading a book! Whenever I got that dreaded feeling that the "To be continued" or "The end" would come, the game just kept going, to my utter happiness.
And let me just say this: Ahna maybe an spectacular job with the romance option. Okay,maybe I'm getting ahead of myself cause I just romanced one guy for now but STILL. I mean, the game had a REALLY dark feeling to it, with all the dark eleves and all, but our character kinda brightened up things and so the romance just felt right most of the times.
The only thing that left me juuuust a tiny lil' bit sad was that there weren't many images featuring our character given all the events happening in the story, but that is completly understandable since Ahna was doing everything by herself not to mention she was runing on the clock lol Her art is rlly captivating too, very dark and very different to what I'm used to, but I liked it! Sure I think it needed a bit of work, not that I'm a drawing expert or anything, but I'm sure her artstyle will only improve with time. But really thats just a minor issue.
aNYWAY, I loved tis game and TOTALLY recomend it to whoever likes VN's with romance options. Even if you're not rlly into the dark stuff, I assure you you'll love this one! Ahna is such an amazing person, always updating us on her progress on social media, and giving us this amazing game for free! I will deffinetly support her and keep track of any games she plans to launch on the future! (COFCOFCOF can we have a sequelCOFCOCOF)
Oh... <3 <3 Thank you soooo so much for leaving such an extensive review <3 So much!
I'm so glad you played it and that you enjoyed it, so glad you found it -- gave it a try -- thank you so! I'm not sure what else to say, but thank you!
Hey there! First let me say I love this game so much!! ♥♥ and you've done such a great job!
Your character writing is phenomenal, I read a lot of VNs and not many of them succeed in making the characters feel truly alive but!! here!!! they are ALL their own person and feel so tridimensional, even the secondary ones have their own opinions and personalities (I love love love Saffron and Chandler!!); the world feels real and populated it's insane (in a good way!!! 😅); the care you've put into building this world is simply incredible!! The compendium is also very well written! not to mention the work you've put into the UI.... just.. so well done;;;
The romance is top-notch, the way you've interwoved it in the main story is amazing and feels very natural. I just finished Lacey's route and it's!! so good!!! ♥♥♥ He might be my fave!
I'd like a clarification on one thing only if possible: I understand you can get practically every outfit and start a new game with the ones you purchased already unlocked, but is there any way to be able to hear the comments of the LIs for every outfit without resetting the game? Because, for what I understand, once you purchase all of them the scene goes as if you don't buy anything and skips the comments.
Anyway, let me say again I love this game very much and that the wait was more than worth it!!! Great work!!!! and thank you!!
Okay the dress thing! Being permanently unlocked is by design and yes, you can trick your LI a little to still get comments-- right after the buy screen closes, open your change clothes menu and change, and your LI should respond as though you just bought whatever you're wearing!
I heard about this game for the first time yesterday, I just finished my first route a little bit ago (Vadeyn - such a darling cinnamon roll (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) and I had to say this game is fantastic! I'm even enjoying reading the compendium which is unusual for me. The storytelling is top notch. Thank you for this amazing game !
Hi! I've played through all the route and it was so worth the wait \(owo)/ I loved playing through all the guys routes - Ernol and Lacey are def my faves. Skylar giving my mc igon that I could actually put on was adorable <3 Thanks so much!!
Being friendly with Skylar - let her speak her mind mostly. If she likes you enough she gives you igon before you get on the ship (the one cascas tries to chomp). Sorry if that's too vague 😔
I haven't finished with my first playthrough but I really want to tell you that the writing on this is one of the best of this genre. I cannot wait to delve into all of the characters you've developed and yeah. I chose Lacey as my first romantic interest. Who doesn't love an arrogant bad boy?
I haven't been waiting
as long as some but I was so excited to play this game. Wonderful
distinctive artwork, immersive worldbuilding, intriguing LI's
and side characters who are larger than life. Even the way you
start the game itself is notable – it's got such immediate impact.
The music and sound effects were very well put together, building the
atmosphere even more.
Because of the
customisation, the range of dialogue choices and the dark fantasy, it
feels like you're more influenced by single player RPGs than
'typical' otomes and since I often feel romance is lacking in RPGs
even when included, you combined two of my favourite things. My
personal favourite LI was Ernol, whose slow-burn into an intense
romance gave me all the feels but all of the routes are worth
playing. Plus I really appreciated the extra content you put into
the Duliae romance if you selected certain actions which answered a
few questions – but I won't go into spoilers here.
Essentially this game
should not be free. I don't review much. I rave review even less. I
hope you take a return trip to Gha'alia one day but I'll keep a
lookout for anything you do in the future.
The game doesn't look bad but the sprites were drawn a bit carelessly - most of the characters look strange. Especially Dulie - he looks like a freak or a victim of bad plastic surgery.
I also was a bit disappointed with the romance in the game - it didn't stir up almost any feelings in me.
I undestand that this game is free to play but the creator could work a bit more on the quality of sprites and the romantic part of the game.
hi! Thank you for playing EL, and for leaving your review! I'm sorry to hear the romance didn't do it for you, and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the art <3
i understand you're sharing your thoughts but this criticism doesn't seem constructive in the least as these are things that effect you personally; the creator cannot help how her own artstyle looks and seems more to be your own personal preferences into play, a lot of the people did enjoy the artwork and Duliae was one of my favourite romance paths, if you didn't like the romantic paths and art that's fair enough but I don't see why you felt the need to criticise a game that a creator has spent so much time on giving to us to play for free, it's not as if you have spent any money on a product.
Don't mean to start any arguments but the tone of the comment bothered me and seemed entitled and as someone has been waiting over a year and seeing how hard the creator was working I couldn't help but speak up.
This is a free country with a freedom of speech so I will criticize whatever project I want, if I want to do so. I didn't ask either for your opinion or for your criticism of my opinion but here you are. I think the sprites in this game look a bit messy(believe me, if artists try harder, their art can look better) and the faces of some guys look strange. If the creator's intent was to make Dulie look bizarre - she did a great job. I know that this game is for free but I was expecting that at least the romance would be more interesting. I sincerely hope that if the creator continues to work in this field, her next games will be better. And I anyway wish this project to be successful. And yeah, I couldn't care less whether my tone is bothering you or no. Have a good day <3
Please, everyone, let's not start a comment war here. I think all that had to be said has been said, and the author has read it. Let's leave it at that and move on (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ
I see that you got butthurt by my comments but next time try not to stoop to name-calling and personal insults. It will help you to look less vulnerable and insulted ;)
I guess thats what happens when you live in a free country. People get to have opinions of your opinion, whether you ask for it or not. They don't need your permission.
"if artists try harder, their art can look better"
If a human tries harder, their grammar could be better, yet you still chose to type this garbage comment and grammar. Free speech does not mean freedom of consequences. Art is art, there's no better or worse. You prefer a different art style than what is portrayed here, but the art is by no means bad. I love this art style over the typical Japanese visual novel style. The proportions are accurate, anything past that is subjective. You clearly don't know anything about art if you can't grasp that simple concept, and clearly shouldn't be judging anyone else with such lack of knowledge. Based on your choice of words, you're clearly under the age of 18 and lack maturity. Learn to understand the difference between personal preference and bad quality. I hope someone tears down something you worked hard on as well. Perhaps someone already did if you have to make rude comments online to maintain any sort of sense of control and power in your life. You're clearly not getting enough of it in your own day-to-day, pubescent life. Grow up.
P.S: You're the only POS who didn't enjoy the art. You're alone with your false and sh*tty "criticism."
Best game ever, can't even think of anything to complain about in light of how much I love it. I'm so happy it's finally here, well worth the wait. I may or may not have cried tears of joy every day since it was fully released. ♥♥
Congrats on the release it was well worth the wait!!! Both the art and the writing is fantastic and the amount of choices for the mc is amazing. I just finished my first play through and I already can't wait to dive back in! Thank you so much for all your hard work <3
Loving it so much so far, to the point that it's 5 AM and I just dragged myself off the game to go sleep haha. Quick question, though - is there a recommended route order? I find myself always craving structure when it comes to VNs, as much as I love the option of choices, and prefer at least having a set path as far as who I romance. Dev suggestions are appreciated <3
There isn't really a recommended route order, though you may get deeper insight into some things with Duli's romance, so perhaps that one left till last (or first, depending on preference?)
This game was WELL worth the wait !! I always knew it would be but it definitely proved itself !!
First off, I've played all the routes and surprised myself: I played Lacey's out of a grim sense of obligation and curiosity about playing an absolutely feral MC and I ended up liking both Lacey and the feral MC the best (sorry Haron... and my basic decency). She was the protagonist which I felt I built the best, with the perfect balance of madness and control. Lacey broke me down which was a SHOCK: I ended up loving the battle couple dynamic and totally falling for the banter between the two of them.
Ernol and Haron tied for me, weirdly enough: a very INTENSE set of brothers, and I need to run through their routes again now that I understand how to not get at least one of their grandparents merced 😅
The MC was another delight: I usually take VN MCs with a grain of salt, especially if they have a somewhat set appearance, assuming that their development is partially set in stone and that especially in a VN of this complexity, I might not be able to pick every reaction I would think realistic... but I absolutely could. Better yet, all the reactions seemed grounded in the situation: there wasn't a big red EVIL button I could slam to let everyone in the room know that this was the playthrough where I was gunna be a dick, but I could tell people to leave me alone and I could tell people I was scared.
There are a few crash errors, and I'm sorry I didn't keep track of them all (I play mostly at night when I'm only pseudo coherent), but I know that it fails on "It was a lot of trin" (or something to that effect) when shopping for clothes with Duliae, and during Ernol's route when approaching the island against after destroying the sea monster telling him something to the effect of "I won't let you make that choice" (I'm so sorry, apparently on my later playthroughs I forgot that I made saves where there were errors and saved overtop of them) trying to find what I think is an MC sprite (one referenced 'butter/MC' so I'm not sure if that was a typo in the code?) Besides that, I think it was Lacey who had an issue at one point where the MC referred to him as "[lacey]" which I assume was a referential variable meant to decide between his full name and nickname (if it helps, my MC would refer to him by his full name rather than "Lacey"), and I believe it was also Lacey's route where there was a... I don't know how to refer to it unfortunately, but it looked like '%s'.
And i don't know if this was a bug or not (or if it really matters to you, but just in case) but it's technically possible to purchase an outfit in the store and then rollback to the store again and have the full trin to unlock another outfit and repeat until you've unlocked all outfits. I'm not saying I did this, I'm just saying that my MC looks super great and the outfits were an incredible touch. Once I figured out that you could change your clothes in the Compendium, it was OVER for me.
I understand if those aren't strictly helpful, but I tried 😅
Anyway, I've been following the game for a while and I'm THRILLED that it's finally been released! I devoured the routes in the first two night it was released, and I'm excited for my more purposeful (read: metagaming 😂) reruns. The art and writing are so good and it's so atmospheric and fun and just the thing I needed to buoy my mood !! Great work !!
Oh man <3 Hearing that after all this time it didn't end up a super disappointment is literally one of the best things to hear, thank you so so much <3
The outfit thing is there on purpose -- so people could unlock all outfits, and then use them if they wanted to replay from the beginning of the game!
Lacey is a lot of people's surprise favorite, from what I've been hearing, has!
Thank you so for letting me know what bugs you founded <3
Ahhhhhh, it's such a great game? When I first came across EL, almost 2 years ago, I was drawn in by pretty elves, not gonna lie. Ultimately tho, now that the game is out I can say for sure that it was the story that kept my interest, as I was second-guessing my theories about what was going on up till the very end. I went through all the routes, and, honestly, it's been a long time since I was left so satisfied with the entirety of a VN. Probably because the game has such an abundance of choices, dialogue-wise. Also, lemme tell you: I adore when I can roleplay as a bit (or VERY) mean character so the game has been such a tasty treat in this regard. (And don't get me started on romances. I adored all of them, and for me, someone who always ends up having no more than two favourites... it's a pleasantly surprising developement.) Really, I can only praise the game and thank you for the effort and dedication you put into it!
This game was truly amazing. I have only played one route so far but I was hooked. It is beautifully drawn, wonderfully written, and I am in love with all the variety and systems you have worked into this. I can't wait to play through more routes and unlock even more of the story. Truly, this game is a masterpiece. Thank you so much for your hard work and for sharing this gem with us.
So I've nearly finished the game with only one route left to go but I've hit on something of a roadblock... in The Blood Circle, when I try to help out the injured elf and ''Go in the circle,'' I die every time seemingly no matter my stats. I eventually caved and peeked at the script, which seems to say that you need Might greater than 300 and/or Brave (Daring, I guess?) greater than 20 to survive. And I'm pretty sure I do? My Might and Daring are all purpled out. Still I keep dying and I'm ready to tear my hair out about it lol, I know I could play the scene several other ways but I really want to canonize this one. I'm playing v2.3. Is it a bug or am I just an idiot? Did anyone else have this problem? Heeeelp.
Oh no! That's a bug, that so should not say 300 it should be 30 -- 300 is totally impossible to get! I will have that fixed with the next update, my apologies!
BEST. BIRTHDAY PRESENT. EVER!! Thank you for all the hard work and updates! I know I haven't been following this game for nearly as long as others, but the community you've built around this game made me feel like part of the family. I'm updating it now and will play the heck out of it throughout the day!
Congratulations on your release! Thank you so much for all your extraordinary work! I can't dive into this beautiful game (i'm dowloading the file as I'm writing this) and enjoy the full story.
I LOVE IT SO MUCH I FINISHED MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH and KIDA (MY PC) AND ERNOL ARE VERY HAPPY AND EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!! THIS IS SUCH A FANTASTIC GAME!!!! AAAAHH!!!!
Hehehehehehe best part of the year is Christmas before Christmas! Thanks for all the work you poured into making Ebon Light come to life. You're amazing!
AAAA OMG OMG I'M SO EXCITED! english is not my first language but thank you for all your efforts and hard work and congratulatios on releasing <3 <3 i'm 'in love with this game since the demo, i can't wait to play it!
Wow, congratulations on releasing!!! You can't know how excited I was to get home and see such an anticipated update. Thanks so much for your hard work and perseverance, I'll be spending this entire weekend playing! <3
Every so often, I scroll through the games on itch.io, and I just couldn't stop myself (as if I would even want to) from playing this! No seriously, you had me at:
Ebon Light is a dark fantasy visual novel with romantic subplots, lots of choices, a customizable protagonist, and multiple ways to die.
What.
This has everything.
Romance? Choices? Love 'em. Multiple endings? To die for. Being able to customize MC? Awesome.But, being given a diverse range of skin tones? Lovely!
I've always felt that I exhausted the supply of otomes that were readily available but stumbling into the trove that is itch.io proved that false. And now playing Ebon Light, it's like discovering an entirely different take on what I'm used to in otomes!
And this is free too?
Again: what.
I didn't mention this above but, being able to attune MC's personality how I want is super cool and will make the replay value 100x better! (Also, being able to call Laceaga "Lacey" all throughout the game was the easiest choice to make lol).
Though I did not like Laceaga when we first find him following (read: stalking) MC, to kidnapping her (not two seconds later!), and (potentially) hurting Vanya. I had him pegged as non-romanceable for me right away.
But, of course, after learning what the others thought about him, picking every choice that irked him, calling him Lacey, and making sure MC told every Elf about the Cuthintal, I ended up finding Lacey kinda likeable. Haron and Vadeyn are still the top tier romance options for me though.
So excited for what's to come! I'll be sure to keep up with the updates :)
Translation: "Oh no, I didn't get what I wanted, when I wanted it, despite the absolutely massive solo effort on the part of someone who isn't me. I think I'll throw a child-sized tantrum about it. Oh, and be completely wrong while I'm at it."
The game is not abandoned, as indicated both here and on any of the multiple sites linked above. Y'know. The ones with the updates on game progress. That are a simple click away.
If you only scrolled down a tiny bit, you'd see other comments (mine, explicitely) directing people who want updates to Discord. If you don't want to join the server, you could simply go to her Tumblr, which is on the links above, as @sadiemorgan indicated in their reply. Ahnna's latest Tumblr post was merely 10 days ago: https://underbliss.tumblr.com/post/188187138027/hello-checking-in-because-yes-of-course-its
You don't have to play this game, but I would ask you to stop spreading misinformation. The game is very much still in progress, in fact, very near completion, and the developer (it's only one woman who does all the writing, art and programming, btw) talks to the players on Discord every day and answers any question asked to her.
If you'd like to check the updates now or contact the author, please do so. Ahnna is a very polite and good-natured person and I'm sure she'd love to put your doubts to rest. If you want to ignore the game, that's your right, too, of course. However, I hope your 'blacklisting' doesn't imply badmouthing the developer or the game itself to the public. Now, that would be very unkind and certainly impolite. Please, refrain from doing so.
Holy SH1T this was such an amazing game, I can't wait for the next update! This game was recommended to me by another VN creator and I really did not think it'll be as amazing as it was. Now I just have to wait until January 31st :,))))
also, Vadeyn is such a pure-hearted boi I love him so much xx
January 31st is not the official release date! It might say so at the end of the demo, but there is no official ETA and there won't be. Ahnna will simply upload the complete game one of these "days". If you want more information, I recommend joining the Discord server :)
For anyone who might be worried: Ahnna's still working on it every day, she doesn't update much in social media lately because she's focusing on the game. If you want more detailed updates, though, you can hear from her on the Discord, so I recommend joining if no-updates make you nervous or something :)
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I literally LOVE this game!! After playing the demo and interacting with Vayden I HAD to see the development through till the end! It was 100% worth the wait and I can't imagine how hard the dev worked on this for and I am so grateful for all their hard work. So far I've played through Vayden's route (absolute favorite), Laceaga's (a very close second), and Haron's. I can't wait to play Duliae's and Ernol's! This script was fantastically written and allows the player to personalize every part of their experience and this is exactly the type of game I LOVE playing. I was immersed from beginning to end, and I can't wait to see what games follow from Underbliss!
A lonnnng development, soooo glad to hear that it wasn't a total let down <3 <3 Thank you so much for being so patient, for giving it a try in the end! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
It was ABSOLUTELY an amazing game!You guys need to make films,books whatever, anything.You deserve so much!!!OMG I love your creativity.I just signed up to comment on this.I wish I had a lot of money and meet you guys!!I am looking forward to your next project
Ugh wow <3 Thank you!! <3 <3
This is one of the best VNs I've played in a while, and the fact that something of this quality is also free is still something I find difficult to grasp. The setting, story and characters had me completely captivated. And oh, the feels.
Thank you, Ahnna.
p.s.: Lacey's route was hilarious, absolute fave <3
Thank you so, thank you so for playing <3 <3
I love Haron so much!
He's so cute and caring!
He made me blush and giggle so much, with his flirting! 😚
Awww <3 Thank you for playing!
@ Laceaga; The Office, Season 2 episode 5 14:45
Ha, I'll have to look it up ;)
Oh boy where do I even begin? There's so much so gush about that I cant even handle it <3 English isn't my first language so I'll probably run out of vocabullary for some things but bear with me please XD
I think I'll start by thanking the game creator, Ahna. When I played the demo I was SO amazed by the game complexity that I was reading my purse for when it came out. I mean, its only obvious it'd be paid right? It must've taken so much hard work and time to desing all those characters, all the routes (and jesus there were SO MANY OPTIONS ICANT EVEN) and all the amazing dialogues that it seemed only fair. But imagine my surprise when I saw it was FREE O.O Jesus we dont deserve u Ahna ;-; I gave a bit of money and I can only be sorry I couldn't give more to such a talented game designer like her. Anyway, thank you so so much for this. I had a REALLY fun time. Life hasn't been very kind to me lately but this made me smile a lot, and I rlly needed that.
SO, back to the game. If I had to say what were the things that made me love this game so much I'd say there's 3 reasons: character costumization, dialogue options, and the well blended romance. Tbh it took me a while to notice this game because it had, at first, a pretty dark and gloomy feel to it. I'm a sucker for romance so I thought " nah its probably some dark story with some equaly dark, boring, expressionless characters who probably wont romance for shit" but boooooooy, how wrong I was. I aint gonna lie, the costumization option got me lol I can't help it, I just really aprecciate creators who go out of their way to help players create their own experience. And GOD she added so many costumization options <3 I loved that we could choose our character's personality type! When I saw that I could CHOOSE an outfit I almost screamed lol
But the BEST thing ever, the thing that REALLY got me hooked were the dialogues. They were SOOOOOOOO fun, interesting and exciting to read! Considering it was ALL done by a SINGLE person, I dont even have words to describe my amazement. I like to try out all the dialogue choices and I was not dissapointed! The story got more and more interesting by the second and I was always sweating like a pig thinking " shitshitshit what if I messed up". The death endings mostly made sense, everytime I died I just laughed at myself like "lmao ofc you'd die u dumb b*tch" so we really have to think carefully. I never knew whom to trust, and it was fun figuring out the best course of action. The game its really long too, almost like reading a book! Whenever I got that dreaded feeling that the "To be continued" or "The end" would come, the game just kept going, to my utter happiness.
And let me just say this: Ahna maybe an spectacular job with the romance option. Okay,maybe I'm getting ahead of myself cause I just romanced one guy for now but STILL. I mean, the game had a REALLY dark feeling to it, with all the dark eleves and all, but our character kinda brightened up things and so the romance just felt right most of the times.
The only thing that left me juuuust a tiny lil' bit sad was that there weren't many images featuring our character given all the events happening in the story, but that is completly understandable since Ahna was doing everything by herself not to mention she was runing on the clock lol Her art is rlly captivating too, very dark and very different to what I'm used to, but I liked it! Sure I think it needed a bit of work, not that I'm a drawing expert or anything, but I'm sure her artstyle will only improve with time. But really thats just a minor issue.
aNYWAY, I loved tis game and TOTALLY recomend it to whoever likes VN's with romance options. Even if you're not rlly into the dark stuff, I assure you you'll love this one! Ahna is such an amazing person, always updating us on her progress on social media, and giving us this amazing game for free! I will deffinetly support her and keep track of any games she plans to launch on the future! (COFCOFCOF can we have a sequelCOFCOCOF)
Oh... <3 <3 Thank you soooo so much for leaving such an extensive review <3 So much!
I'm so glad you played it and that you enjoyed it, so glad you found it -- gave it a try -- thank you so! I'm not sure what else to say, but thank you!
Hey there! First let me say I love this game so much!! ♥♥ and you've done such a great job!
Your character writing is phenomenal, I read a lot of VNs and not many of them succeed in making the characters feel truly alive but!! here!!! they are ALL their own person and feel so tridimensional, even the secondary ones have their own opinions and personalities (I love love love Saffron and Chandler!!); the world feels real and populated it's insane (in a good way!!! 😅); the care you've put into building this world is simply incredible!! The compendium is also very well written! not to mention the work you've put into the UI.... just.. so well done;;;
The romance is top-notch, the way you've interwoved it in the main story is amazing and feels very natural. I just finished Lacey's route and it's!! so good!!! ♥♥♥ He might be my fave!
I'd like a clarification on one thing only if possible: I understand you can get practically every outfit and start a new game with the ones you purchased already unlocked, but is there any way to be able to hear the comments of the LIs for every outfit without resetting the game? Because, for what I understand, once you purchase all of them the scene goes as if you don't buy anything and skips the comments.
Anyway, let me say again I love this game very much and that the wait was more than worth it!!! Great work!!!! and thank you!!
Ahh <3 <3 Thank you so much! I'm so <3 <3
Okay the dress thing! Being permanently unlocked is by design and yes, you can trick your LI a little to still get comments-- right after the buy screen closes, open your change clothes menu and change, and your LI should respond as though you just bought whatever you're wearing!
Thank you for playing it!
OH! So thats how it works! lmao thank u
I can't believe this game is for free! It looks amazing =) Thank you so much for all your hard work.
Aha, thank you! And thank you for playing it!
I heard about this game for the first time yesterday, I just finished my first route a little bit ago (Vadeyn - such a darling cinnamon roll (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) and I had to say this game is fantastic! I'm even enjoying reading the compendium which is unusual for me. The storytelling is top notch. Thank you for this amazing game !
Thank you!! I'm so glad you're enjoying it, I'm so glad you heard about it ;) ! Thank you for playing!
Hi! I've played through all the route and it was so worth the wait \(owo)/ I loved playing through all the guys routes - Ernol and Lacey are def my faves. Skylar giving my mc igon that I could actually put on was adorable <3 Thanks so much!!
Ughhh one of my favorite things to hear <3 <3 Thank yoouuuu so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
You can get wearable igon? How??
I'd like to know that too. I know I got it in an early playthrough but I can't remember how or when. And I promised Lacey, so...
Being friendly with Skylar - let her speak her mind mostly. If she likes you enough she gives you igon before you get on the ship (the one cascas tries to chomp). Sorry if that's too vague 😔
I haven't finished with my first playthrough but I really want to tell you that the writing on this is one of the best of this genre. I cannot wait to delve into all of the characters you've developed and yeah. I chose Lacey as my first romantic interest. Who doesn't love an arrogant bad boy?
Vadeyn, definitely, does not love an arrogant bad boy--
Ahhh I'm so glad you're enjoying it, thank you for playing <3 <3
I haven't been waiting as long as some but I was so excited to play this game. Wonderful distinctive artwork, immersive worldbuilding, intriguing LI's and side characters who are larger than life. Even the way you start the game itself is notable – it's got such immediate impact. The music and sound effects were very well put together, building the atmosphere even more.
Because of the customisation, the range of dialogue choices and the dark fantasy, it feels like you're more influenced by single player RPGs than 'typical' otomes and since I often feel romance is lacking in RPGs even when included, you combined two of my favourite things. My personal favourite LI was Ernol, whose slow-burn into an intense romance gave me all the feels but all of the routes are worth playing. Plus I really appreciated the extra content you put into the Duliae romance if you selected certain actions which answered a few questions – but I won't go into spoilers here.
Essentially this game should not be free. I don't review much. I rave review even less. I hope you take a return trip to Gha'alia one day but I'll keep a lookout for anything you do in the future.
Oh <3 Thank you so, quickthorn! I'm so very glad you enjoyed EL, thank you so, for waiting for it, for playing it <3
The game doesn't look bad but the sprites were drawn a bit carelessly - most of the characters look strange. Especially Dulie - he looks like a freak or a victim of bad plastic surgery.
I also was a bit disappointed with the romance in the game - it didn't stir up almost any feelings in me.
I undestand that this game is free to play but the creator could work a bit more on the quality of sprites and the romantic part of the game.
hi! Thank you for playing EL, and for leaving your review! I'm sorry to hear the romance didn't do it for you, and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the art <3
I'm sorry if I sounded a bit too hursh. I hope that your project will anyway have success.
i understand you're sharing your thoughts but this criticism doesn't seem constructive in the least as these are things that effect you personally; the creator cannot help how her own artstyle looks and seems more to be your own personal preferences into play, a lot of the people did enjoy the artwork and Duliae was one of my favourite romance paths, if you didn't like the romantic paths and art that's fair enough but I don't see why you felt the need to criticise a game that a creator has spent so much time on giving to us to play for free, it's not as if you have spent any money on a product.
Don't mean to start any arguments but the tone of the comment bothered me and seemed entitled and as someone has been waiting over a year and seeing how hard the creator was working I couldn't help but speak up.
This is a free country with a freedom of speech so I will criticize whatever project I want, if I want to do so. I didn't ask either for your opinion or for your criticism of my opinion but here you are. I think the sprites in this game look a bit messy(believe me, if artists try harder, their art can look better) and the faces of some guys look strange. If the creator's intent was to make Dulie look bizarre - she did a great job. I know that this game is for free but I was expecting that at least the romance would be more interesting. I sincerely hope that if the creator continues to work in this field, her next games will be better. And I anyway wish this project to be successful.
And yeah, I couldn't care less whether my tone is bothering you or no. Have a good day <3
Please, everyone, let's not start a comment war here. I think all that had to be said has been said, and the author has read it. Let's leave it at that and move on (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ
free country doesn't give you an excuse to be an asshole but yeah have a good day <3
I see that you got butthurt by my comments but next time try not to stoop to name-calling and personal insults. It will help you to look less vulnerable and insulted ;)
I guess thats what happens when you live in a free country. People get to have opinions of your opinion, whether you ask for it or not. They don't need your permission.
"if artists try harder, their art can look better"
If a human tries harder, their grammar could be better, yet you still chose to type this garbage comment and grammar. Free speech does not mean freedom of consequences. Art is art, there's no better or worse. You prefer a different art style than what is portrayed here, but the art is by no means bad. I love this art style over the typical Japanese visual novel style. The proportions are accurate, anything past that is subjective. You clearly don't know anything about art if you can't grasp that simple concept, and clearly shouldn't be judging anyone else with such lack of knowledge. Based on your choice of words, you're clearly under the age of 18 and lack maturity. Learn to understand the difference between personal preference and bad quality. I hope someone tears down something you worked hard on as well. Perhaps someone already did if you have to make rude comments online to maintain any sort of sense of control and power in your life. You're clearly not getting enough of it in your own day-to-day, pubescent life. Grow up.
P.S: You're the only POS who didn't enjoy the art. You're alone with your false and sh*tty "criticism."
Best game ever, can't even think of anything to complain about in light of how much I love it. I'm so happy it's finally here, well worth the wait. I may or may not have cried tears of joy every day since it was fully released. ♥♥
oh <3 <3 <3 <3 I'm so happy it's finally done!! ughhh!! I hope you enjoyed it!
Definitely, I'm so glad. I can't wait for more from you. =3
Congrats on the release it was well worth the wait!!! Both the art and the writing is fantastic and the amount of choices for the mc is amazing. I just finished my first play through and I already can't wait to dive back in! Thank you so much for all your hard work <3
Thank you so! Thank you for being so patient! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!
asjdfjfjajd its installing now and im so excited im shaking
Pff I was, too~~~~
Loving it so much so far, to the point that it's 5 AM and I just dragged myself off the game to go sleep haha. Quick question, though - is there a recommended route order? I find myself always craving structure when it comes to VNs, as much as I love the option of choices, and prefer at least having a set path as far as who I romance. Dev suggestions are appreciated <3
There isn't really a recommended route order, though you may get deeper insight into some things with Duli's romance, so perhaps that one left till last (or first, depending on preference?)
I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for playing!
This game was WELL worth the wait !! I always knew it would be but it definitely proved itself !!
First off, I've played all the routes and surprised myself: I played Lacey's out of a grim sense of obligation and curiosity about playing an absolutely feral MC and I ended up liking both Lacey and the feral MC the best (sorry Haron... and my basic decency). She was the protagonist which I felt I built the best, with the perfect balance of madness and control. Lacey broke me down which was a SHOCK: I ended up loving the battle couple dynamic and totally falling for the banter between the two of them.
Ernol and Haron tied for me, weirdly enough: a very INTENSE set of brothers, and I need to run through their routes again now that I understand how to not get at least one of their grandparents merced 😅
The MC was another delight: I usually take VN MCs with a grain of salt, especially if they have a somewhat set appearance, assuming that their development is partially set in stone and that especially in a VN of this complexity, I might not be able to pick every reaction I would think realistic... but I absolutely could. Better yet, all the reactions seemed grounded in the situation: there wasn't a big red EVIL button I could slam to let everyone in the room know that this was the playthrough where I was gunna be a dick, but I could tell people to leave me alone and I could tell people I was scared.
There are a few crash errors, and I'm sorry I didn't keep track of them all (I play mostly at night when I'm only pseudo coherent), but I know that it fails on "It was a lot of trin" (or something to that effect) when shopping for clothes with Duliae, and during Ernol's route when approaching the island against after destroying the sea monster telling him something to the effect of "I won't let you make that choice" (I'm so sorry, apparently on my later playthroughs I forgot that I made saves where there were errors and saved overtop of them) trying to find what I think is an MC sprite (one referenced 'butter/MC' so I'm not sure if that was a typo in the code?) Besides that, I think it was Lacey who had an issue at one point where the MC referred to him as "[lacey]" which I assume was a referential variable meant to decide between his full name and nickname (if it helps, my MC would refer to him by his full name rather than "Lacey"), and I believe it was also Lacey's route where there was a... I don't know how to refer to it unfortunately, but it looked like '%s'.
And i don't know if this was a bug or not (or if it really matters to you, but just in case) but it's technically possible to purchase an outfit in the store and then rollback to the store again and have the full trin to unlock another outfit and repeat until you've unlocked all outfits. I'm not saying I did this, I'm just saying that my MC looks super great and the outfits were an incredible touch. Once I figured out that you could change your clothes in the Compendium, it was OVER for me.
I understand if those aren't strictly helpful, but I tried 😅
Anyway, I've been following the game for a while and I'm THRILLED that it's finally been released! I devoured the routes in the first two night it was released, and I'm excited for my more purposeful (read: metagaming 😂) reruns. The art and writing are so good and it's so atmospheric and fun and just the thing I needed to buoy my mood !! Great work !!
Oh man <3 Hearing that after all this time it didn't end up a super disappointment is literally one of the best things to hear, thank you so so much <3
The outfit thing is there on purpose -- so people could unlock all outfits, and then use them if they wanted to replay from the beginning of the game!
Lacey is a lot of people's surprise favorite, from what I've been hearing, has!
Thank you so for letting me know what bugs you founded <3
Ughhh thank you so so much!
Ahhhhhh, it's such a great game? When I first came across EL, almost 2 years ago, I was drawn in by pretty elves, not gonna lie. Ultimately tho, now that the game is out I can say for sure that it was the story that kept my interest, as I was second-guessing my theories about what was going on up till the very end.
I went through all the routes, and, honestly, it's been a long time since I was left so satisfied with the entirety of a VN. Probably because the game has such an abundance of choices, dialogue-wise. Also, lemme tell you: I adore when I can roleplay as a bit (or VERY) mean character so the game has been such a tasty treat in this regard. (And don't get me started on romances. I adored all of them, and for me, someone who always ends up having no more than two favourites... it's a pleasantly surprising developement.)
Really, I can only praise the game and thank you for the effort and dedication you put into it!
is there a walktrough?
This game was truly amazing. I have only played one route so far but I was hooked. It is beautifully drawn, wonderfully written, and I am in love with all the variety and systems you have worked into this. I can't wait to play through more routes and unlock even more of the story. Truly, this game is a masterpiece. Thank you so much for your hard work and for sharing this gem with us.
So I've nearly finished the game with only one route left to go but I've hit on something of a roadblock... in The Blood Circle, when I try to help out the injured elf and ''Go in the circle,'' I die every time seemingly no matter my stats. I eventually caved and peeked at the script, which seems to say that you need Might greater than 300 and/or Brave (Daring, I guess?) greater than 20 to survive. And I'm pretty sure I do? My Might and Daring are all purpled out. Still I keep dying and I'm ready to tear my hair out about it lol, I know I could play the scene several other ways but I really want to canonize this one. I'm playing v2.3. Is it a bug or am I just an idiot? Did anyone else have this problem? Heeeelp.
Oh no! That's a bug, that so should not say 300 it should be 30 -- 300 is totally impossible to get! I will have that fixed with the next update, my apologies!
Excited to read this!
Does this game have a recommended route order at all?
There isn't, though Duliae does have some secrets that may be best to left at the end (or first!) depending on your preferences!
BEST. BIRTHDAY PRESENT. EVER!! Thank you for all the hard work and updates! I know I haven't been following this game for nearly as long as others, but the community you've built around this game made me feel like part of the family. I'm updating it now and will play the heck out of it throughout the day!
Ohhhh happy, happy birthday!
HOORAY!! SO EXCITED AND PUMPED THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN
Thank you so for being so patient <3
Yes! Yes! Yes! I lived to play the full game! Thank you!
Congratulations on your release! Thank you so much for all your extraordinary work! I can't dive into this beautiful game (i'm dowloading the file as I'm writing this) and enjoy the full story.
AAH! I am so excited! I woke up to this being released and I am so flipping excited!
Well worth the wait!
Thank you so much for this!!!!
Argh thank you so much!
I LOVE IT SO MUCH I FINISHED MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH and KIDA (MY PC) AND ERNOL ARE VERY HAPPY AND EVERYTHING IS FINE!!!! THIS IS SUCH A FANTASTIC GAME!!!! AAAAHH!!!!
Thank you so much for all your hard work! I hope you're super proud of the incredible effort it took to make Ebon Light - and now it's finally here!
Now with my rubbish Australian net I'm going to download and enjoy!
Congratulations and thank you again! <3
Oh man, thank you! I hope you're enjoying it!
Hehehehehehe best part of the year is Christmas before Christmas! Thanks for all the work you poured into making Ebon Light come to life. You're amazing!
Misu
Oh Misu <3 Thank you so much!
AAAA OMG OMG I'M SO EXCITED! english is not my first language but thank you for all your efforts and hard work and congratulatios on releasing <3 <3 i'm 'in love with this game since the demo, i can't wait to play it!
OMG I AM SO EXCITED I AM SO PROUD OF YOU AHNNA! YOU DID SUCH AMAZING WORK!
OMG, so excited!! Downloading now!
Congrats on the release !! I can't wait to play the full game :) Thank you so much for all your efforts !
Wow, congratulations on releasing!!! You can't know how excited I was to get home and see such an anticipated update. Thanks so much for your hard work and perseverance, I'll be spending this entire weekend playing! <3
Every so often, I scroll through the games on itch.io, and I just couldn't stop myself (as if I would even want to) from playing this! No seriously, you had me at:
What.
This has everything.
Romance? Choices? Love 'em. Multiple endings? To die for. Being able to customize MC? Awesome. But, being given a diverse range of skin tones? Lovely!
I've always felt that I exhausted the supply of otomes that were readily available but stumbling into the trove that is itch.io proved that false. And now playing Ebon Light, it's like discovering an entirely different take on what I'm used to in otomes!
And this is free too?
Again: what.
I didn't mention this above but, being able to attune MC's personality how I want is super cool and will make the replay value 100x better! (Also, being able to call Laceaga "Lacey" all throughout the game was the easiest choice to make lol).
Though I did not like Laceaga when we first find him following (read: stalking) MC, to kidnapping her (not two seconds later!), and (potentially) hurting Vanya. I had him pegged as non-romanceable for me right away.
But, of course, after learning what the others thought about him, picking every choice that irked him, calling him Lacey, and making sure MC told every Elf about the Cuthintal, I ended up finding Lacey kinda likeable. Haron and Vadeyn are still the top tier romance options for me though.
So excited for what's to come! I'll be sure to keep up with the updates :)
Translation: "Oh no, I didn't get what I wanted, when I wanted it, despite the absolutely massive solo effort on the part of someone who isn't me. I think I'll throw a child-sized tantrum about it. Oh, and be completely wrong while I'm at it."
The game is not abandoned, as indicated both here and on any of the multiple sites linked above. Y'know. The ones with the updates on game progress. That are a simple click away.
If you only scrolled down a tiny bit, you'd see other comments (mine, explicitely) directing people who want updates to Discord. If you don't want to join the server, you could simply go to her Tumblr, which is on the links above, as @sadiemorgan indicated in their reply. Ahnna's latest Tumblr post was merely 10 days ago: https://underbliss.tumblr.com/post/188187138027/hello-checking-in-because-yes-of-course-its
You don't have to play this game, but I would ask you to stop spreading misinformation. The game is very much still in progress, in fact, very near completion, and the developer (it's only one woman who does all the writing, art and programming, btw) talks to the players on Discord every day and answers any question asked to her.
If you'd like to check the updates now or contact the author, please do so. Ahnna is a very polite and good-natured person and I'm sure she'd love to put your doubts to rest. If you want to ignore the game, that's your right, too, of course. However, I hope your 'blacklisting' doesn't imply badmouthing the developer or the game itself to the public. Now, that would be very unkind and certainly impolite. Please, refrain from doing so.
Have a good day!
Oh my gosh, you sound so toxic. If I were the creator of Ebon Lights, I would be happy that my game is in your blacklist :)
I love this game and can't wait for the update. I'm just curious, though, what game engine was used to create Ebon Light?
Ren'Py :)
Thank you!
Holy SH1T this was such an amazing game, I can't wait for the next update! This game was recommended to me by another VN creator and I really did not think it'll be as amazing as it was. Now I just have to wait until January 31st :,))))
also, Vadeyn is such a pure-hearted boi I love him so much xx
January 31st is not the official release date! It might say so at the end of the demo, but there is no official ETA and there won't be. Ahnna will simply upload the complete game one of these "days". If you want more information, I recommend joining the Discord server :)
Hi, thanks for the update!
For anyone who might be worried: Ahnna's still working on it every day, she doesn't update much in social media lately because she's focusing on the game. If you want more detailed updates, though, you can hear from her on the Discord, so I recommend joining if no-updates make you nervous or something :)