The best VN for my taste (and I've read a lot of them) so far. And I'm a pretty picky and exacting vn-reader, you know ;) Well, there're no extremely shocking and mind-blowing twists in the novel, yet, it's still gorgeous. The whole atmosphere is magnificent. The plot is very decent and exciting. The "main character role-playing element" is pretty huge, you may act as you like, making your own personality. You even may customize the character (not too detailed, but still), also may change outfits during the game. Love interests are good and properly written, each of them has his own personality and logic of actions, they are diverse thus everyone will find a lover for the taste. Moreover LI don't attack MC with their rampant groundless love from the beginning (well, most of them don't, heh), love-stories has logical development. What else, hm..? The story is fit for adults as well as for not that adult ;) since it's pretty mature-oriented, yet there's no too adult content, everything decent and respectable. Almost forget to mention that it's well and high-quality drawn. You totally should try it yourself, it's absolutely worth it. I'm extremely surprised the novel being free. There're so much worse things that cost a price and this treasure is for free. Hope endlessly the developer will honor us with another masterpiece.
I first played this game when it was at 98% and absolutely love everything you put into this game! <3 It was fantastic! The lore was so engaging and the interaction with all the characters enriched the story even more! Thank you for making such a wonderful experience!<3
This is my fav otome. It's nice and dark, there's a constant tension and the characters are all wonderfully drawn out! Only a scarce few have your well-being at heart and I like how realistic it feels.
The MC is and acts however you want her too and I immensely enjoyed how witty she could be. The routes are all wonderfully cute and I still have a hard time deciding who my fav is. (I would have loved a Cuthinal route)
The routes are all streamlined, which means while there is replay value thanks to the sheer amount of choices at your disposal, the romances are all following a similar pattern along the main story. The ending(s) you achieve are therefore equally similar.
I wish there was a DLC or something. Anything. I'm desperate for more :<
I honestly think this game should not be free. I've paid for Otomes that didn't give me half the content nor the engaging story and then there's Ebon Light, giving me all that and much more, and it's free. Yeah, unbelievable.
Thanks so much for this!! I'll be playing this for years to come<3
First of all, an enormous "thank you" to Underbliss for creating this masterpiece! It has been a delightful distraction from my daily life in quarantine. I've thoroughly enjoyed escaping to the wholly original, fully developed world of Gha'alia. If you're a fan of dark tales and gothic romance, you will not want to miss this VN!
Now, to discuss the love interests. There are five possible love interests in Ebonlight, and each of their routes are are equally enjoyable. There was not a route that I did not enjoy playing! Of course, everyone will have their favorites. My personal favorite routes were Ernol's, Haron's, and Laceaga's.
Haron's was the first route I played, and I'm so glad it was. Haron falls in love with MC at first sight, and is just so genuine and charming throughout the story. He has no qualms about showing affection to his "madralee," so there are plenty of swoon-worthy moments in his route!
Duliae is cunning and charismatic, and surprisingly tender in his relationship with MC. In order for the romance to feel more genuine, however, it's best to play through the game with a cunning and clever MC. His route revolves around the MC discerning whether Duliae's attraction to her is because she possess the Cuthintal, or if he desires her for her own merits. This is the route where you learn the most lore, in my opinion, so I found it quite fitting for a second playthrough.
Vadeyn's route is best described with one word: sweet. He is very caring and considerate towards MC, if not a bit shy in revealing his affections. Vadeyn is pure and kind; a true Prince Charming among the love interests. Of all of the routes, his felt the most romantic to me.
Laceaga's route surprised me; I was not expecting to love him as much as I did! He and MC have a sort of antagonistic, flirtatious relationship that I found immensely enjoyable and surprisingly sexy. I think that he and MC consider each other to be true equals by the end of his route, which is why their relationship works. In my opinion, this route had the best dialogue in the game.
To my surprise, Ernol's route ended up being my absolute favorite! He is cynical and brutally honest, and does best with a clever and cunning MC. The romance between him and MC is definitely a slow burn, but once he confesses to her, it becomes clear that his feelings are the most intense and passionate out of all of the love interests. His confession came later in the game than the others', but had me swooning the most of all. I also found Ernol to be the most attractive of the love interests, which endeared me to him even further.
If you are able to, definitely pay for the game! I would consider it to be worth $20, at the very least. While there is no voice acting and relatively few cgs, the writing and storytelling alone make this one of the best vns I have ever played. Brava!
Easily in my top three fav. otome games. Call me infatuated, but I absolutely adore the lore of the game, the customization, graphics, storyline, love interests, everything . I'm gushing; it was that good, completely binged all the routes (dibs on Haron and Laceaga, flirty Casanovas and deadly, humorous elves are totally my type).
Thanks for creating such an amazing game. I'm looking forward to any future projects you guys do, sending my support and cheering you on <3
Of all the games i've played, this is ONE I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF!! :<<< I LOVE ERNOL OMIGOSH THANK U FOR THIS GAME <3 I am trying to find games that can top this one but so far, no luck :<<
I played this game more than 5 times now--Checking out all the guys, ya know, ahem--and uh, PLEASE, PLEEAASSEEEE make a sequel for this! OR EVEN ANOTHER VISUAL NOVEL! Ebon Light has become a part of me(Just like the Cuthintal) AND I NEED MORE OF THIS!!!
Thank you for this beautiful masterpiece, Ebon Light goes directly into my top 3 visual novels and I'll be sure to play it again in a few months when I feel like I've forgotten enough of it to start again from the beginning (sometimes I wish I could erase my memories just to play these great games again and again). I just finished all the routes and I am so in love and jealous of you at the same time for being able to write such great stories, and create an amazing world with just the right amount of mysteries, fantasy and realism (which is something I've been trying to do myself for so long). I love all the characters and will think about them for a long time, also because your art is great, thank you so much. If you start looking for translators one day, I'd be happy to translate your game into French (I am a freelance translator), I'm sure many people from the French community would enjoy it. Please keep writing & drawing Underbliss, I'll support you in the future as well.
Now, for those who'd still be hesitating to try this game, here is my first tip: buy it. It deserves all the thanks and the money. Second tip: if you're like me and enjoy playing with a bit of guidance, look for Underbliss' walkthrough on her Tumblr, and read the comments below, that will help.
Oh, definitely agreed and I didn't even finish it or a route yet. It's that good <3 While I myself can't and won't donate, sadly, I'm baffled at this being for free as well.
I wish the devs would release it on Steam, maybe with some Artwork or Artbook or Walkthrough to buy (and the OST as well, if they are allowed to) and maybe could get some money that way to develop something as great as this or better.
One of the lore-heaviest and most unpredictable VN's with shades of gray instead of clear black and white, mysterious, greatly written characters and the perfect atmosphere, in my opinion.
This... this is ONE OF THE BEST VN I'VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE (and I've played A LOT). I spent a couple of sleepless nights but it was TOTALLY worth it. The world, the lore, characters, THE MC APPEARANCE THAT CAN BE CHANGED and the fact you can choose HOW she behaves... OH MY GOD I just cannot find right words. I wish you all that can ever be wished and hope you will present us your new MASTERPIECE in no time. As soon as I get my salary I will make a donation.
P.S. I think I also can help with the translation into Russian, believe me, russian girls LOVE such things and not even a half of them know English. Please write to me if you're interested.
This game is truly amazing! One of the best, if not the best, otome game I've ever played (and trust me, I've played a lot of them). The story is super interesting, the characters are great, the art is really beautiful and the world is just incredibly vibrant (I would love to see another story play out there!). I also love the fact that your character can be whoever you want her to be and you can still romance anyone, so there are no bad choices in that regard (I really appreciate that in otome games).
I‘ve really enjoyed spending the last month or so in caleare. I think I can say that with some honesty since not only have I played Ebon Light several times, I’ve also made several character-based playlists, and spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the world and the people who populate it. It’s that kind of game. It gets in your head.
The world is well-developed, the characters are interesting and multi-faceted, and the main character can actually be who you want her to be: whether that’s a trembling innocent, a cunning jokester, an @$$-kicking antagonizer, or any combination or those or several other personality traits. No need to mention the art, since you can see for yourself in the previews, but it is stunning.
While he doesn’t seem to be the most popular choice, my personal favorite LI is Haron. A quasi-intellectual curiosity nerd who is also charming, attentive, and gorgeous? Clever, flirty dialogue? Yes, please!
I have to admit though, I was surprisingly charmed by the teasing-Lacey relationship. I’m not normally one to go for anyone I consider to be a bit of a bully, but wow did I enjoy the dialogue that went with needling that poor guy.
And then there was the dance of trying to outwit Duliae. Ok, they were all just great and each was unique and well-worth a play-through or two.
Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this venture. It is absolutely beyond the quality of many paid games. I am happy to contribute some funds to your future endeavors, and I very much look forward to seeing your next project.
This is definitely one of the greatest games I've played so far. The graphics are just astonishing topped with an intruguing storyline and plenty of entrataining options to choose from. I honestly don't know what I love most about this. Ebon Light offers not only a vast and captivating story but also an original experience, very different from usual visual novels. Being so detalied and well done and having the free hand on actually shaping your character the way you see fit is just incredible. Congratualtions on a marvelous job I'll cetrainly recommend this to others!
This game was recommended to me by some of the followers of my stream and I'm happy for the rec! I have a few small issues here and there, mostly with characters names showing before we meet them and then Alenca knowing their names when I never made a choice where they tell her their names. But, overall, I really am enjoying the game and can't wait to play more and review it for my site. I've played games I bought for $50 that were terrible at world-building and character writing, the writing here is great! No need for characters sitting the player down for 20 minutes to explain the world's backstory to someone who live in it. Ah~ So great!
While I initially paid $5 for the game, I decided that this is easily a game worth $15 and gave y'all another $10. Cheers! :)
I just finished the game today after a few days of going through every route and almost every choice (as far as I know), and I'm quite impressed. I appreciate that consenting (to be kissed the first time) is included in the game---I'm not sure if any other otome game I've ever played has included this. You can also back out of any romance at any time, though I couldn't bring myself to do so after testing it once. I can't bear to break hearts, even in games.
Of course the art is lovely; that was never in question. My only concerns are regarding the text and story, and I encountered a couple of bugs when playing. I hope problems with the text will be corrected in further updates, as I saw many typos, some issues with tense, subject-verb agreement problems, punctuation mistakes, run-on sentences, sentence fragments (non-stylistic) and trouble with homophones (ex: led/lead).
TL;DR: I think a good polishing would make the writing even better. It's a little overwrought in general, and that made some bits difficult to read. I'd be happy to help revise the text if asked.
The first bug I found was at the dress shop. After buying a dress in one playthrough, it stays purchased and you cannot buy it in subsequent playthroughs---the game acts like you haven't chosen any of the dresses if you try.
The second bug was an exception at the very end of the "Alluvion Alenca" ending (I had no partner):
The only thing that truly disappointed me was that the outcome of the endgame confrontation with Alenca's enemies could not be changed no matter what I did. It made my prior choices regarding that matter seem meaningless.
I suppose I would have also liked codex entries for the Gha'alian words and phrases in the game. The player has the opportunity to learn what "madralee" means regardless of route, but I would appreciate entries for the other terms of endearment as well.
Still, this is quite a good game. Thank you very much for your efforts!
I don't really have anything to comment on, except that the dress buying bug is entirely intentional; not even a bug, really. You can still get the comments for each dress from each LI if you exit the shopping menu and change your outfit during the FIRST line of dialogue; the LI should react as though you just bought it. That's all!
Good art, choices, and more complex characters than usual, variety.
Anyone wondering about a play order: I would not suggest Ernol or Duliae or really even Lacey first. Ernol and Duliae are better played after a couple others so you can get a better sense of the story. Ernol's is less romantic than I thought and more learning, but it makes sense for him. He is a more serious type than originally anticipated (I thought he was awkward but he's more serious than anything). He's close to becoming a general, and fiercely patriotic. Duliae is more romanceable but you almost have to be clever and aware of the scope of things before going into his route. Lacey is hilarious and like trying to romance a Klingon (Star Trek reference). He is a trip. Don't expect anything sweet from him. He is seriously all grit, sarcasm, and tenacity and he likes his women to be that way as well. You'll get the most interesting things from him if you are bold in the face of danger to the point of almost recklessness with few exceptions. Haron has more layers than I expected but is a flirt through and through. Vadeyn is a sweetheart and everyone hates him for it because they are a warrior race. He is the most "typical" I would say but in a good way. Vaedyn and surprisingly Duliae seem to be the most well paced romances. Haron comes on strong and never stops, Ernol is a very slow burn, and Lacey is just himself. None are bad, but I found myself enjoying the pacing of V and D the best.
I don't think it makes sense to rank them because they all offer something different.
Helpful things:
1. If you send Chandler away he will always die and everyone is mad at you or a little extra sad about it.
2. Pick up the handwritten note by your bed in Duliae's route when you first wake in his house and talk to the assassin in the hall on the ship (he wants the paper and has info to trade for it).
3. Running away with Lacey (and I suspect the others as well) the night you get back form the ship does not get you or him killed, just a slightly different end to the story.
4. You can scroll back through options picked previously and avoid a lot of saving with the mouse wheel.
5. If you look in the mirror in your bedroom you'll have an extra dialogue option to tell Haron, Duliae, and Ernol about what you saw later but that is all and increases your noise by 2.
6. Saving the coward doesn't seem to have any upside to it.... So, I always killed him.
When choosing to run or stay:
Duliae and Ernol: stay and never surrender (don't fight the guard either)
Haron: stay and surrender/fight the guard or run and run from the others who try to help you
How do I get a completely clean slate with this game? I messed up when I was in the clothing store, trying to see if I'd get different reactions (didn't wait long enough for them) and now I can't buy the clothes I want. I've deleted the files and reinstalled, I've tried a new file. I've gone into appdata and erased things. Everything I could think of off the top of my head and it's still set to the clothes already having been bought. Any help would be appreciated.
Had a similar problem, but there's an easy fix: right after leaving the dress selection screen, you go into your inventory and change to the dress you want, the reaction will run as if you bought it. Tested it with Lacey.
okay Im having this same exact issue but ! For some god forsaken reason none of the dresses I just bought are showing up in the “ change clothes” it’s driving me nuts !! I wanted a specific dress reaction and no matter how much backing up or deleting saves nothing is working :,(
There's one instance where it MIGHT be classified as a jumpscare but even that scene isn't very scary. You'll be fine! I'm sure you'll enjoy the game, it's amazing.
Holy shit, this was SO good. Where do I even start?!
1. AMAZING character creator. Yall -- being able to create characters with a diverse range of skin tones, hair colors, and eye colors was a DREAM COME TRUE. I never get to play VNs with this level of detail, and it made all the difference for my playthroughs T___T
2. Really fantastic worldbuilding! I'm a huge fantasy fan, so it was easy to get lost in this world. The world felt large and vast, with a diverse range of races, species, threats, and mysteries.
3. CHOICES MATTER! Whoooo. This story took twists and turns I never expected, which has made replaying all the more enjoyable! Also, the creator ain't lying -- there are a lot of ways to die in this game, some of which I knew to steer clear of from context, but others I totally stumbled into. Also, I keep discovering new routes I never anticipated, or new areas of the world I hadn't gotten to explore before, or entirely new sets of side characters I never met the first time around. I can FULLY say I intend to play every single route.
4. Swoon-worthy romances. Each LI is enticing in their own way, and has a lot of depth to them. So far, I've only completed Lacey's (my fave, perhaps because of the thematic way MC begins and ends the tale with him), and Ernol (who is HAWT and intense, but also awkward but adorkable, and did I mention intense, but in the best possible way???). IDK fam, I can see myself enjoying all the other routes and absolutely getting lost in replaying this game for the LIs over and over again. *heart eyes*
5. Meaningful choices, which is especially powerful given heavy themes in the story. I keep thinking back to a moment in the story where Ernol does something intense, bordering on frightening, and my MC actually got to *bring it up* with him -- I'd seen him do the same thing while I was romancing a different LI, so it was SO amazing to see how context and LI routes change when you're on them; it really feels like you're getting unique content all around.
6. A system of fucking character traits that actually matter + an inventory system (that MATTERS, depending on the situation you get your MC into!!) + OUTFITSSSSSSS. *screeches* Being able to collect and change the outfits and eye makeup of my MC at will was fucking AMAZING, and I'm pretty fucking sure how you wear it affects some of the LI routes? The fact that they all comment on the clothing depending on what you choose, just ;LDAKJF;ALDSKJ. The depths of this game. THE DEPTHS.
I'm already too wordy, but basically play this game, and PAY for this game if you can. Goddamn, it's great, and I can't wait to see what else this creator puts out!
I've said it once and I'll say it a hundred times: I am willing to wait as long as it takes for a game as great as this.
With all the amazing indie games that have been promoted through itch.io lately, this is a must play, not only for those who enjoy visual novels, but for anyone who loves mystery, romance, drama, and one of the most delightfully fleshed out MCs I've ever encountered. God. I just... love her so much. I can't even adequately explain my love for this game and the story it tells.
Ebon Light makes my top ten for games of all time, and I probably won't ever be over it. :')
I was using the script files to help me figure out how to get specific stats, hope that's ok, and I noticed what might be a few mistakes.
I'm pretty sure that there are some places where the < and > are swapped, like where there's an opportunity to make a smarter action but it checks if you have lower cunning instead of higher. I might be misunderstanding but just in case I wanted to let you know.
There might be more but the ones I noticed are in the second script file on lines 6428,6442,6449,6451, and 6456.
Alright, I can't string together enough words to explain how absolutely stunning this game is but I'm gonna try!
First: the art! It's incredible! The gothic-esque feel to the color scheme and overall clothing style was stupendous, and the characters were all so lovely and diverse! While the color palate is similar with the elves (which is not at all a negative remark to be clear!), you've still captured unique and individual facial features and expressions for each one and it's incredible. To create so many characters and not have them with the same face-base is just wonderful! I fell in love with each and every one of them! Though I must admit that Haron, Ernol, and Vadeyn are my favorites. <3
Second: the story! The story didn't go where I expected- although I've only finished once through with Haron so I need to explore more- but I LOVED it! There were twists and turns I had no idea would be coming and it was so plentiful in details that I never felt a moment of boredom.
I know someone else mentioned this but I felt that I had to let you know that I agree with them and it's another favorite aspect of the game- I adore that I felt free to make the choices I'd naturally make without fear of getting negative reactions from the characters; same for flirting with them because, let's be honest, they're all love worthy!
I've already shared the game with a few of my close friends who are also into visual novels and I hope to spread it more! I seriously feel everyone should give this at least one play through for the rich experience it provides.
Thank you for creating such an immersive world that I can get lost for hours upon hours in!
This game is amazing! I loved all the routes I've played so far because of the personality of the characters and their interactions with the MC. It's well written and there was never a dull moment. Beautifully illustrated, too!
This game is incredible and I highly recommend it. I find it difficult to find well done and fleshed out dating sims because really, they aren't a super popular genre. The indie dating sim scene is full of skilled and talented creators such as this one. Well written, well drawn, and a variety of interesting and engaging characters. Go for Laceaga. He's a babe.
***Mild Duliae Route Spoilers in the Last Couple Paragraphs (Below the Cut)***
Absolutely amazing game! There are so many great things I could say about it, but I know that if I wait until I have the time to write all those things out, I'll never actually get around to doing it.
First off, I loved the world you created. Very cool to see a militant, elven society! And all those dialogue choices!!!! I was drooling over them all. Being able to dictate the MC's personality and make decisions are a couple of the things that I look for in an interactive fiction game, and I loved that who we could pursue/whether or not we were on a romance route were not dependent on these decisions. I felt like I was free to make my character be the way I wanted without being punished for it. (A lot of otome games like to put you on the bad end route if you don't choose the actively flirty options, and I'm not a fan of that.)
Also, I loved all of the characters! I thought Laceaga was going to be my obvious favorite because I love the whole "enemies to lovers" trope...but then came along Vadeyn and he just had the prettiest eyes? And was super nice to the MC? And I was just like "okay, this is it, mmhm."
But then there was Duliae??? And he's not my type, at all, but he was just very interesting. Always very pragmatic. He clearly has his own agenda, and I was intrigued by how his romance would go. So, I was eventually so curious that I stopped playing Vadeyn's route in the middle (forgive me, Vadeyn!) and switched over to Duliae's. And I love him? He ended up being my favorite route and my favorite romance. I think you handled their dynamic very well, and while there was some, let's say, "suspicious happenings" occurring during his route, their relationship never felt unhealthy or manipulative, which I was initially a little worried about with him. I even came to like the pet name he called the MC. (I forget what it was...darling?) And I usually hate being called that... I don't what happened here, but I liked it.
Also, I spent way too much time constantly changing outfits. Very addictive. XD
P.S. I stole the ring and made it back into bed for the first time during Duliae's route, and I loved all the scenes associated with those choices. I think that's really what made me start to fall for his character.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
The best VN for my taste (and I've read a lot of them) so far. And I'm a pretty picky and exacting vn-reader, you know ;) Well, there're no extremely shocking and mind-blowing twists in the novel, yet, it's still gorgeous. The whole atmosphere is magnificent. The plot is very decent and exciting. The "main character role-playing element" is pretty huge, you may act as you like, making your own personality. You even may customize the character (not too detailed, but still), also may change outfits during the game. Love interests are good and properly written, each of them has his own personality and logic of actions, they are diverse thus everyone will find a lover for the taste. Moreover LI don't attack MC with their rampant groundless love from the beginning (well, most of them don't, heh), love-stories has logical development. What else, hm..? The story is fit for adults as well as for not that adult ;) since it's pretty mature-oriented, yet there's no too adult content, everything decent and respectable. Almost forget to mention that it's well and high-quality drawn. You totally should try it yourself, it's absolutely worth it.
I'm extremely surprised the novel being free. There're so much worse things that cost a price and this treasure is for free. Hope endlessly the developer will honor us with another masterpiece.
I first played this game when it was at 98% and absolutely love everything you put into this game! <3 It was fantastic! The lore was so engaging and the interaction with all the characters enriched the story even more! Thank you for making such a wonderful experience!<3
This is my fav otome. It's nice and dark, there's a constant tension and the characters are all wonderfully drawn out! Only a scarce few have your well-being at heart and I like how realistic it feels.
The MC is and acts however you want her too and I immensely enjoyed how witty she could be. The routes are all wonderfully cute and I still have a hard time deciding who my fav is. (I would have loved a Cuthinal route)
The routes are all streamlined, which means while there is replay value thanks to the sheer amount of choices at your disposal, the romances are all following a similar pattern along the main story. The ending(s) you achieve are therefore equally similar.
I wish there was a DLC or something. Anything. I'm desperate for more :<
I honestly think this game should not be free. I've paid for Otomes that didn't give me half the content nor the engaging story and then there's Ebon Light, giving me all that and much more, and it's free. Yeah, unbelievable.
Thanks so much for this!! I'll be playing this for years to come<3
Wonderful, mysterious Visual Novel. Had me hooked in the first few minutes and it's unpredictable and keeps up the tension the whole time.
Very lore-rich and fitting music (nothing upbeat, but more subtle and with emphasis on the situation or location.)
Very much recommended :)
And I didn't even finish it nor a route once yet. Just need to stop a bit after reading it without a break for 3-5 hours or so.
Three words: HOT EMO ELVES
Seriously though, totally worth a read as you can tell by all the positive comments. Thank you for this amazing game :)
First of all, an enormous "thank you" to Underbliss for creating this masterpiece! It has been a delightful distraction from my daily life in quarantine. I've thoroughly enjoyed escaping to the wholly original, fully developed world of Gha'alia. If you're a fan of dark tales and gothic romance, you will not want to miss this VN!
Now, to discuss the love interests. There are five possible love interests in Ebonlight, and each of their routes are are equally enjoyable. There was not a route that I did not enjoy playing! Of course, everyone will have their favorites. My personal favorite routes were Ernol's, Haron's, and Laceaga's.
Haron's was the first route I played, and I'm so glad it was. Haron falls in love with MC at first sight, and is just so genuine and charming throughout the story. He has no qualms about showing affection to his "madralee," so there are plenty of swoon-worthy moments in his route!
Duliae is cunning and charismatic, and surprisingly tender in his relationship with MC. In order for the romance to feel more genuine, however, it's best to play through the game with a cunning and clever MC. His route revolves around the MC discerning whether Duliae's attraction to her is because she possess the Cuthintal, or if he desires her for her own merits. This is the route where you learn the most lore, in my opinion, so I found it quite fitting for a second playthrough.
Vadeyn's route is best described with one word: sweet. He is very caring and considerate towards MC, if not a bit shy in revealing his affections. Vadeyn is pure and kind; a true Prince Charming among the love interests. Of all of the routes, his felt the most romantic to me.
Laceaga's route surprised me; I was not expecting to love him as much as I did! He and MC have a sort of antagonistic, flirtatious relationship that I found immensely enjoyable and surprisingly sexy. I think that he and MC consider each other to be true equals by the end of his route, which is why their relationship works. In my opinion, this route had the best dialogue in the game.
To my surprise, Ernol's route ended up being my absolute favorite! He is cynical and brutally honest, and does best with a clever and cunning MC. The romance between him and MC is definitely a slow burn, but once he confesses to her, it becomes clear that his feelings are the most intense and passionate out of all of the love interests. His confession came later in the game than the others', but had me swooning the most of all. I also found Ernol to be the most attractive of the love interests, which endeared me to him even further.
If you are able to, definitely pay for the game! I would consider it to be worth $20, at the very least. While there is no voice acting and relatively few cgs, the writing and storytelling alone make this one of the best vns I have ever played. Brava!
OMG I think exactly the same!
Easily in my top three fav. otome games. Call me infatuated, but I absolutely adore the lore of the game, the customization, graphics, storyline, love interests, everything . I'm gushing; it was that good, completely binged all the routes (dibs on Haron and Laceaga, flirty Casanovas and deadly, humorous elves are totally my type).
Thanks for creating such an amazing game. I'm looking forward to any future projects you guys do, sending my support and cheering you on <3
This is definitely one of the best visual novels I've ever played.
My first route was Ernol and I have to say he has touched my heart. I'm playing Duliae route at the moment ;).
Congrats to the creator for such a good job.
Thanks you!
p.d: Have you considered to translate this novel into spanish? I am sure that the Spanish-speaking community would be very grateful to you (me first)
Loving the game so far but I have a weird bug ....stuck on my screen even after reload is Kadia "Wonderful" it just wont leave the screen.
What an incredible game. Truly fantastic.
Of all the games i've played, this is ONE I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF!! :<<< I LOVE ERNOL OMIGOSH THANK U FOR THIS GAME <3 I am trying to find games that can top this one but so far, no luck :<<
If this would have voice actors,, I WOULD HAVE PROBABLY DIED. thank u once again thank u thank u
I played this game more than 5 times now--Checking out all the guys, ya know, ahem--and uh, PLEASE, PLEEAASSEEEE make a sequel for this! OR EVEN ANOTHER VISUAL NOVEL! Ebon Light has become a part of me(Just like the Cuthintal) AND I NEED MORE OF THIS!!!
Thank you for this beautiful masterpiece, Ebon Light goes directly into my top 3 visual novels and I'll be sure to play it again in a few months when I feel like I've forgotten enough of it to start again from the beginning (sometimes I wish I could erase my memories just to play these great games again and again). I just finished all the routes and I am so in love and jealous of you at the same time for being able to write such great stories, and create an amazing world with just the right amount of mysteries, fantasy and realism (which is something I've been trying to do myself for so long). I love all the characters and will think about them for a long time, also because your art is great, thank you so much. If you start looking for translators one day, I'd be happy to translate your game into French (I am a freelance translator), I'm sure many people from the French community would enjoy it. Please keep writing & drawing Underbliss, I'll support you in the future as well.
Now, for those who'd still be hesitating to try this game, here is my first tip: buy it. It deserves all the thanks and the money. Second tip: if you're like me and enjoy playing with a bit of guidance, look for Underbliss' walkthrough on her Tumblr, and read the comments below, that will help.
Can't believe this is free?? some Vns on here are like $30 and don't come near this one. I'm donating
Oh, definitely agreed and I didn't even finish it or a route yet. It's that good <3 While I myself can't and won't donate, sadly, I'm baffled at this being for free as well.
I wish the devs would release it on Steam, maybe with some Artwork or Artbook or Walkthrough to buy (and the OST as well, if they are allowed to) and maybe could get some money that way to develop something as great as this or better.
One of the lore-heaviest and most unpredictable VN's with shades of gray instead of clear black and white, mysterious, greatly written characters and the perfect atmosphere, in my opinion.
Are you planning a sequel?
This... this is ONE OF THE BEST VN I'VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE (and I've played A LOT). I spent a couple of sleepless nights but it was TOTALLY worth it. The world, the lore, characters, THE MC APPEARANCE THAT CAN BE CHANGED and the fact you can choose HOW she behaves... OH MY GOD I just cannot find right words. I wish you all that can ever be wished and hope you will present us your new MASTERPIECE in no time. As soon as I get my salary I will make a donation.
P.S. I think I also can help with the translation into Russian, believe me, russian girls LOVE such things and not even a half of them know English. Please write to me if you're interested.
rain.at.night5@gmail.com
This game is truly amazing! One of the best, if not the best, otome game I've ever played (and trust me, I've played a lot of them). The story is super interesting, the characters are great, the art is really beautiful and the world is just incredibly vibrant (I would love to see another story play out there!). I also love the fact that your character can be whoever you want her to be and you can still romance anyone, so there are no bad choices in that regard (I really appreciate that in otome games).
spanish?
I‘ve really enjoyed spending the last month or so in caleare. I think I can say that with some honesty since not only have I played Ebon Light several times, I’ve also made several character-based playlists, and spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about the world and the people who populate it. It’s that kind of game. It gets in your head.
The world is well-developed, the characters are interesting and multi-faceted, and the main character can actually be who you want her to be: whether that’s a trembling innocent, a cunning jokester, an @$$-kicking antagonizer, or any combination or those or several other personality traits. No need to mention the art, since you can see for yourself in the previews, but it is stunning.
While he doesn’t seem to be the most popular choice, my personal favorite LI is Haron. A quasi-intellectual curiosity nerd who is also charming, attentive, and gorgeous? Clever, flirty dialogue? Yes, please!
I have to admit though, I was surprisingly charmed by the teasing-Lacey relationship. I’m not normally one to go for anyone I consider to be a bit of a bully, but wow did I enjoy the dialogue that went with needling that poor guy.
And then there was the dance of trying to outwit Duliae. Ok, they were all just great and each was unique and well-worth a play-through or two.
Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this venture. It is absolutely beyond the quality of many paid games. I am happy to contribute some funds to your future endeavors, and I very much look forward to seeing your next project.
ummm how many posiible endings ar there ? (How many bad ones and how many god ones) i got a bad ending a XD i got executed.
Same. First ending I had, too.
Hey!!! I'm loving the game so far but I can't save anything at all? The screen for 'an exception has occurred' keeps popping up??
This is definitely one of the greatest games I've played so far. The graphics are just astonishing topped with an intruguing storyline and plenty of entrataining options to choose from. I honestly don't know what I love most about this. Ebon Light offers not only a vast and captivating story but also an original experience, very different from usual visual novels. Being so detalied and well done and having the free hand on actually shaping your character the way you see fit is just incredible. Congratualtions on a marvelous job I'll cetrainly recommend this to others!
This game was recommended to me by some of the followers of my stream and I'm happy for the rec! I have a few small issues here and there, mostly with characters names showing before we meet them and then Alenca knowing their names when I never made a choice where they tell her their names. But, overall, I really am enjoying the game and can't wait to play more and review it for my site. I've played games I bought for $50 that were terrible at world-building and character writing, the writing here is great! No need for characters sitting the player down for 20 minutes to explain the world's backstory to someone who live in it. Ah~ So great!
While I initially paid $5 for the game, I decided that this is easily a game worth $15 and gave y'all another $10. Cheers! :)
I just finished the game today after a few days of going through every route and almost every choice (as far as I know), and I'm quite impressed. I appreciate that consenting (to be kissed the first time) is included in the game---I'm not sure if any other otome game I've ever played has included this. You can also back out of any romance at any time, though I couldn't bring myself to do so after testing it once. I can't bear to break hearts, even in games.
Of course the art is lovely; that was never in question. My only concerns are regarding the text and story, and I encountered a couple of bugs when playing. I hope problems with the text will be corrected in further updates, as I saw many typos, some issues with tense, subject-verb agreement problems, punctuation mistakes, run-on sentences, sentence fragments (non-stylistic) and trouble with homophones (ex: led/lead).
TL;DR: I think a good polishing would make the writing even better. It's a little overwrought in general, and that made some bits difficult to read. I'd be happy to help revise the text if asked.
The first bug I found was at the dress shop. After buying a dress in one playthrough, it stays purchased and you cannot buy it in subsequent playthroughs---the game acts like you haven't chosen any of the dresses if you try.
The second bug was an exception at the very end of the "Alluvion Alenca" ending (I had no partner):
The only thing that truly disappointed me was that the outcome of the endgame confrontation with Alenca's enemies could not be changed no matter what I did. It made my prior choices regarding that matter seem meaningless.
I suppose I would have also liked codex entries for the Gha'alian words and phrases in the game. The player has the opportunity to learn what "madralee" means regardless of route, but I would appreciate entries for the other terms of endearment as well.
Still, this is quite a good game. Thank you very much for your efforts!
I don't really have anything to comment on, except that the dress buying bug is entirely intentional; not even a bug, really. You can still get the comments for each dress from each LI if you exit the shopping menu and change your outfit during the FIRST line of dialogue; the LI should react as though you just bought it. That's all!
Shit dude... I don't even know what to say... Good job! You've created a masterpiece!
Good art, choices, and more complex characters than usual, variety.
Anyone wondering about a play order: I would not suggest Ernol or Duliae or really even Lacey first. Ernol and Duliae are better played after a couple others so you can get a better sense of the story. Ernol's is less romantic than I thought and more learning, but it makes sense for him. He is a more serious type than originally anticipated (I thought he was awkward but he's more serious than anything). He's close to becoming a general, and fiercely patriotic. Duliae is more romanceable but you almost have to be clever and aware of the scope of things before going into his route. Lacey is hilarious and like trying to romance a Klingon (Star Trek reference). He is a trip. Don't expect anything sweet from him. He is seriously all grit, sarcasm, and tenacity and he likes his women to be that way as well. You'll get the most interesting things from him if you are bold in the face of danger to the point of almost recklessness with few exceptions. Haron has more layers than I expected but is a flirt through and through. Vadeyn is a sweetheart and everyone hates him for it because they are a warrior race. He is the most "typical" I would say but in a good way. Vaedyn and surprisingly Duliae seem to be the most well paced romances. Haron comes on strong and never stops, Ernol is a very slow burn, and Lacey is just himself. None are bad, but I found myself enjoying the pacing of V and D the best.
I don't think it makes sense to rank them because they all offer something different.
Helpful things:
1. If you send Chandler away he will always die and everyone is mad at you or a little extra sad about it.
2. Pick up the handwritten note by your bed in Duliae's route when you first wake in his house and talk to the assassin in the hall on the ship (he wants the paper and has info to trade for it).
3. Running away with Lacey (and I suspect the others as well) the night you get back form the ship does not get you or him killed, just a slightly different end to the story.
4. You can scroll back through options picked previously and avoid a lot of saving with the mouse wheel.
5. If you look in the mirror in your bedroom you'll have an extra dialogue option to tell Haron, Duliae, and Ernol about what you saw later but that is all and increases your noise by 2.
6. Saving the coward doesn't seem to have any upside to it.... So, I always killed him.
When choosing to run or stay:
Duliae and Ernol: stay and never surrender (don't fight the guard either)
Haron: stay and surrender/fight the guard or run and run from the others who try to help you
Lacey: run and yell at stranger on the docks
Vadeyn: Run and run from stranger on docks
How do I get a completely clean slate with this game? I messed up when I was in the clothing store, trying to see if I'd get different reactions (didn't wait long enough for them) and now I can't buy the clothes I want. I've deleted the files and reinstalled, I've tried a new file. I've gone into appdata and erased things. Everything I could think of off the top of my head and it's still set to the clothes already having been bought. Any help would be appreciated.
Had a similar problem, but there's an easy fix: right after leaving the dress selection screen, you go into your inventory and change to the dress you want, the reaction will run as if you bought it. Tested it with Lacey.
Thank you!!!
How do you find the inventory???? My cloak is stuck on for some reason
Underneath the text box, in the middle, there's a faint white shape that you can click on to open a mini menu:
In the menu you click on the little key symbol:
It'll open up your inventory and then you just click 'Change Clothes'. You can also find Igon, there, for your eyes.
Thanks!
okay Im having this same exact issue but ! For some god forsaken reason none of the dresses I just bought are showing up in the “ change clothes” it’s driving me nuts !! I wanted a specific dress reaction and no matter how much backing up or deleting saves nothing is working :,(
It's not scary.
Pinky pawmise? :D
There's one instance where it MIGHT be classified as a jumpscare but even that scene isn't very scary. You'll be fine! I'm sure you'll enjoy the game, it's amazing.
Holy shit, this was SO good. Where do I even start?!
1. AMAZING character creator. Yall -- being able to create characters with a diverse range of skin tones, hair colors, and eye colors was a DREAM COME TRUE. I never get to play VNs with this level of detail, and it made all the difference for my playthroughs T___T
2. Really fantastic worldbuilding! I'm a huge fantasy fan, so it was easy to get lost in this world. The world felt large and vast, with a diverse range of races, species, threats, and mysteries.
3. CHOICES MATTER! Whoooo. This story took twists and turns I never expected, which has made replaying all the more enjoyable! Also, the creator ain't lying -- there are a lot of ways to die in this game, some of which I knew to steer clear of from context, but others I totally stumbled into. Also, I keep discovering new routes I never anticipated, or new areas of the world I hadn't gotten to explore before, or entirely new sets of side characters I never met the first time around. I can FULLY say I intend to play every single route.
4. Swoon-worthy romances. Each LI is enticing in their own way, and has a lot of depth to them. So far, I've only completed Lacey's (my fave, perhaps because of the thematic way MC begins and ends the tale with him), and Ernol (who is HAWT and intense, but also awkward but adorkable, and did I mention intense, but in the best possible way???). IDK fam, I can see myself enjoying all the other routes and absolutely getting lost in replaying this game for the LIs over and over again. *heart eyes*
5. Meaningful choices, which is especially powerful given heavy themes in the story. I keep thinking back to a moment in the story where Ernol does something intense, bordering on frightening, and my MC actually got to *bring it up* with him -- I'd seen him do the same thing while I was romancing a different LI, so it was SO amazing to see how context and LI routes change when you're on them; it really feels like you're getting unique content all around.
6. A system of fucking character traits that actually matter + an inventory system (that MATTERS, depending on the situation you get your MC into!!) + OUTFITSSSSSSS. *screeches* Being able to collect and change the outfits and eye makeup of my MC at will was fucking AMAZING, and I'm pretty fucking sure how you wear it affects some of the LI routes? The fact that they all comment on the clothing depending on what you choose, just ;LDAKJF;ALDSKJ. The depths of this game. THE DEPTHS.
I'm already too wordy, but basically play this game, and PAY for this game if you can. Goddamn, it's great, and I can't wait to see what else this creator puts out!
WOW this game was incredible and so much fun to play through, amazing job!
I've said it once and I'll say it a hundred times: I am willing to wait as long as it takes for a game as great as this.
With all the amazing indie games that have been promoted through itch.io lately, this is a must play, not only for those who enjoy visual novels, but for anyone who loves mystery, romance, drama, and one of the most delightfully fleshed out MCs I've ever encountered. God. I just... love her so much. I can't even adequately explain my love for this game and the story it tells.
Ebon Light makes my top ten for games of all time, and I probably won't ever be over it. :')
Hey great game, absolutely loved it!
I was using the script files to help me figure out how to get specific stats, hope that's ok, and I noticed what might be a few mistakes.
I'm pretty sure that there are some places where the < and > are swapped, like where there's an opportunity to make a smarter action but it checks if you have lower cunning instead of higher. I might be misunderstanding but just in case I wanted to let you know.
There might be more but the ones I noticed are in the second script file on lines 6428,6442,6449,6451, and 6456.
This game is absolutely amazing!!! I loved every single route, which is really rare in a visual novel.
Currently I'm trying to get all character and place entries and trying to hunt down hidden content. Any chance there is a walkthrough for this?
Alright, I can't string together enough words to explain how absolutely stunning this game is but I'm gonna try!
First: the art! It's incredible! The gothic-esque feel to the color scheme and overall clothing style was stupendous, and the characters were all so lovely and diverse! While the color palate is similar with the elves (which is not at all a negative remark to be clear!), you've still captured unique and individual facial features and expressions for each one and it's incredible. To create so many characters and not have them with the same face-base is just wonderful! I fell in love with each and every one of them! Though I must admit that Haron, Ernol, and Vadeyn are my favorites. <3
Second: the story! The story didn't go where I expected- although I've only finished once through with Haron so I need to explore more- but I LOVED it! There were twists and turns I had no idea would be coming and it was so plentiful in details that I never felt a moment of boredom.
I know someone else mentioned this but I felt that I had to let you know that I agree with them and it's another favorite aspect of the game- I adore that I felt free to make the choices I'd naturally make without fear of getting negative reactions from the characters; same for flirting with them because, let's be honest, they're all love worthy!
I've already shared the game with a few of my close friends who are also into visual novels and I hope to spread it more! I seriously feel everyone should give this at least one play through for the rich experience it provides.
Thank you for creating such an immersive world that I can get lost for hours upon hours in!
This game is amazing! I loved all the routes I've played so far because of the personality of the characters and their interactions with the MC. It's well written and there was never a dull moment. Beautifully illustrated, too!
This game is incredible and I highly recommend it. I find it difficult to find well done and fleshed out dating sims because really, they aren't a super popular genre. The indie dating sim scene is full of skilled and talented creators such as this one. Well written, well drawn, and a variety of interesting and engaging characters. Go for Laceaga. He's a babe.
***Mild Duliae Route Spoilers in the Last Couple Paragraphs (Below the Cut)***
Absolutely amazing game! There are so many great things I could say about it, but I know that if I wait until I have the time to write all those things out, I'll never actually get around to doing it.
First off, I loved the world you created. Very cool to see a militant, elven society! And all those dialogue choices!!!! I was drooling over them all. Being able to dictate the MC's personality and make decisions are a couple of the things that I look for in an interactive fiction game, and I loved that who we could pursue/whether or not we were on a romance route were not dependent on these decisions. I felt like I was free to make my character be the way I wanted without being punished for it. (A lot of otome games like to put you on the bad end route if you don't choose the actively flirty options, and I'm not a fan of that.)
Also, I loved all of the characters! I thought Laceaga was going to be my obvious favorite because I love the whole "enemies to lovers" trope...but then came along Vadeyn and he just had the prettiest eyes? And was super nice to the MC? And I was just like "okay, this is it, mmhm."
But then there was Duliae??? And he's not my type, at all, but he was just very interesting. Always very pragmatic. He clearly has his own agenda, and I was intrigued by how his romance would go. So, I was eventually so curious that I stopped playing Vadeyn's route in the middle (forgive me, Vadeyn!) and switched over to Duliae's. And I love him? He ended up being my favorite route and my favorite romance. I think you handled their dynamic very well, and while there was some, let's say, "suspicious happenings" occurring during his route, their relationship never felt unhealthy or manipulative, which I was initially a little worried about with him. I even came to like the pet name he called the MC. (I forget what it was...darling?) And I usually hate being called that... I don't what happened here, but I liked it.
Also, I spent way too much time constantly changing outfits. Very addictive. XD
P.S. I stole the ring and made it back into bed for the first time during Duliae's route, and I loved all the scenes associated with those choices. I think that's really what made me start to fall for his character.