Pulled by Strings
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
This game features heavy depictions of homosexual relationships and other queer characters. In addition, this game features mentions of blood, death, alcohol abuse and other adult themes. The game is sfwish with some suggestive visuals. The writing is also very nsfw, as such, you must be 18+ to play it.
(This VN is being redone to cut back on the unreasonable scope I set myself and to significantly improve the quality of the visuals and writing. The game will still be up for download and updates will be posted regularly, but know that you're playing a version of the game will be obsolete in the future.)
No concrete release date is set as to not rush and overwork myself, but my tentative aim is by June 2025.
Pulled by strings is a romance/mystery/fantasy visual novel set in a modern day setting with fantasy like world building.
Synopsis: The game tells the story of Eric, a wolf who wakes up one day in the middle of nowhere with no memories of his life and is quickly put in danger from an unknown force known as an 'Memory Outbreak.' A mysterious phenomenon where a person goes violent due to uncontrolled emotions.
He is saved by what is known as a 'Representative', a person who has been gifted unique powers of unknown origin to deal with said outbreak. Following that, he then then tries his hardest to live out his day to day life, but quickly realises that things aren't as they seem: himself, the world and the people that inhabit it are filled to the brim with secrets, personal baggage and mysteries and its now your job to unravel them.
Will he make it out alive in one piece? Or will he and those around him go mad trying to find out who is really pulling the strings from behind the scenes?
About this project:
This game will feature 4 routes that largely centre around their own plotlines interwoven within a greater narrative, these routes will bring the focus onto a smaller cast of characters to hopefully give everyone a chance to shine.
I am going to talk a bit more about how the routes and by extension romance of this visual novel are set up, because it is rather unconventional, also note that this game is *not* a strict dating sim, nor is this visual novel a slow burn romance.
This game has 4 routes, they consist of:
- Raphael's route - by far the most explicitly dating sim-esque route in the game, nothing extra here.
- Chase's route - like Raphael's, you will get together with him. Unlike Raphael's - he isn't the only character you'll get to know during the story and his takes a bit longer to pick up.
- Stephen's route - No romance between him and the mc, Stephen's route is about his relationship with another character who I will not mention due to spoilers. The mc will get to date others during his route, but it's not Stephen. The mc will get together with Orlando and the potential for more.
- Lastly, 'Vincent's' route - this route is about Vincent and his role in the story, but no romance between him and the mc are possible. Like Stephen's route, the mc will get to do things with other characters though. The other characters in question being Noland and Pierce.
Note that this is primarily a passion project made by one person. All sprites, writing and coding is done by Final Bear/Final Universe. Updates will come whenever I feel like it, and note that major changes won't be made to the structuring of the story for the time being.
All music used is royalty free/free to use non-commercially, full list of credits is found in game. All backgrounds used are either real photographs I took myself or Stock photos sourced from either Unsplash or Pexels.
If you have questions, find any errors or just want to chat - join the discord server for the game: https://discord.gg/Wr4EXyxG
Download
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Development log
- Important announcement of the future of this game + some new character art.31 days ago
- Build 5 Status update + New 'Chase' design.69 days ago
- Build 4 launch: Raphael's finished ch2, new art and an announcement regarding th...Oct 22, 2024
- 2nd Build 4 Preview: Build 4 Release date, new sprites and some big art style up...Oct 14, 2024
- Build 4 Preview: Updates, New characters, New Li, Chase Resprite and updated Spr...Oct 04, 2024
- Build 3 launch & Discord server release!Sep 23, 2024
- Build 3 preview 2: Tentative release date, many new resprites and writing update...Sep 15, 2024
- Build 3 Preview: New character, Eric Redesign and a progress reportSep 03, 2024
Comments
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I gotta say I'm loving this game so much, I've seen the dev log and honestly I agree while I do like chase somewhat I also wish it was a Archie route he's just so cute, I'm also happy with how much thought your putting into the game this by far one of my favorites. :D
I am glad you enjoyed it!
It's interesting :)
The sprites creep me out hahaha they're hot for sure, but it feels like they're all clones and their expressions are kinda weird :P
And the music is incredible!
Does this game has Android version? Kinda like this VN but I usually read them from my tablet
Well, a lot of mystery around the MC, will one day we discover the truth around him, frankly incredible, the story with each character with their own information and their own charm, especially Vincent, totally gay, it's that's why we like
The story the plot the plot the characters the writing the bugs I haven't encountered, honestly A lot of information raises a lot of questions I can't wait to see what you have in store for us (Final_Bear)
I am glad you enjoyed it! And yeah, it is very gay.
can you add platform tags people using the itch.io desktop app cant download them and with the pc verson can you put windows and linux we can play windows stuff via wine and the steam deck can play it
Well I like to read the VNs so frankly clean that there were a few spelling mistakes but it doesn't matter I was wondering how many characters will there be in the story plus is that each route would be different from the others since it's still the beginning but I dare to ask how many people we can go out/fuck? that's all
Plans aren't set in stone yet, so I can't give a definitive answer to how many total characters there will be. Rn there is 14 + the 3 coming next build. Then there's atleast 6 more waiting to be introduced (2 for Stephen's route, 1 for Raphael, 1 for 'Vincent's', 1 for Chase's, 1 general.)
As for romanceables, well each route will probably be different - and again it's not set in stone yet, things can and probably will change; but the current plan is:
Raphael's route is just Raphael himself.
Chase's is probably just Chase with the possibility of someone else in the future.
Stephen's route: from Eric's pov will be nothing fancy but you'll be able to do things with two yet to be introduced characters with one of them previewed in the recent devlog. From Stephen's: it'll be between him and Robin.
'Vincent's' route hasn't had the 2 "dateables' formally introducd yet, so I don't really want to spill - but it'll be blatantly clear who they are when 'vincent's' ch2 p1 drops.
There also won't be any romance content with Vincent.
Very good, I won't bother you anymore thank you
Cool VN but here's a improvement you need to do:
1 - You should be careful when using the ost from other VNs. Echo project and other creators might have a problem with you for using their ost's in your VN without permission, i recommend start looking for royalty free music and use those instead.
2 - Despite the story having an interesting plot, some interactions feel weird and there are too many characters being introduced simultaneously. The info dumping doesn't help either, and at some points i got the urge to just start skipping parts but i pushed through and managed to finish. Try working on the pacing and gradually introducing the characters and concepts so it isn't overwhelming. Take for example the intro, Eric is injured but we don't get an explanation of why or how, there is no need to say exactly how it happen but give an ideia through Eric thoughts. And the hospital scene, someone is talking about something Eric doesn't know and he just rolls with it, that's not how people work, we always try to get as much information about the situation, especially when the MC has amnesia.
3 - Speaking of concepts, you should introduce the world and important concepts right in the beginning and expand on them as the story goes on, in order to keep the reader invested in the story. The first 5 minutes of a game or story are the most important because it determines how invested the reader will be in them. Setting a tone and expectations is really important and it works for you as well because it keeps you from falling off the path you want your story to take.
Those are just a few point of concern but other then that every thing looks great so keep up the good work, i'm looking forward for improvements and more updates. Don't give up
I'm sorry, but point 2 is just unfair.
The characters gets introduced but only in couple of two max, and each gets their own chapter, too much padding between introductions and it will just drag too much;
What happened to Eric is left a mistery on purpose because it will be relevant to the story later on, already knowing what happened to him will just spoil future parts of it;
I could see the hospital scene being confusing but at the same time it's because Eric is most likely subconsciusly aware of what's happening, even if amnesyac, so he's just riding the events.
The author is doing his best to provide a fantastic experience, I have full trust in him, let the story unfold, it will be a great experience.
Point 1 is irrelevant: Every piece of music used in the VN is Royalty free or free to use non-commercially and every piece of music is credited in game.
All of the tracks ''''''taken'''''' from Echo like Court and Page are royalty free and can be used by anyone at any time by anyone for any purpose - if you who know how to access the YouTube Music Library, you can use it. It quite frankly doesn't matter what the Echo Project thinks - they don't own the rights to that music, the music was not made for Echo, it is theirs as much as mine or anyone else's.
Point 2: Well, I am no professional writer: so expect some scenes to feel a little weird - several scenes during ch1 will be updated next build.
You aren't supposed to know fully what is going on, that would - as lampshaded in game - spoil the story right at the beginning. The scene with Chase in the Hospital was also supposed to come off as confusing and Surreal as Eric is not fully acting as a fully functioning person during those scenes - And Chase is well, he has his own deal.
The thing with Character introductions is also something I can't really help, lots of people needed to be introduced for plot threads etc - and that won't be getting much better next build. I suppose this could've been addressed by breaking ch1 into 2 days but that was not in the plan.
Point 3: As I said before - lots of lore was left vague early as to not spoil the story - this is a mystery VN, there will be things that don't make sense at first.
I also am not really sure your point here, the first scene sets the tone for the overarching narrative, then you receive hints about the two major forces (Reps and the Memory Outbreak) at play in the game's world as early as the literal next scene before then formally being introduced to them both not even two scenes into chapter 1 alongside a necessary lore dump, ending off with the introduction of the three ''''''Main''''' characters, I don't think I could get any more concise than that other than improving the writing itself.
I rambled on a bit there, sorry.
To start, i'd like to make some points of my original comment clearer. On the first point, i was already aware that some songs are from the public domain but i thought that some of those songs were Echo Project's and other creators original ost, that's why i mentioned the possibility of them getting mad about but, if the music used are from public domain then my mistake. On the second point, as someone who has read many VN's over the past decade i simply was trying to help by providing my point of view and a few ideas for improvement, there is no need to be a ''professional writer'' to write a conversation between two people. Other conversations that happen in the story flow more naturally and only the hospital one is ruff around the edges. Point 3 is mostly about world building, in other words, providing what can be considered the common sense of the world, in order for the reader to situate themselves with the new world they are exploring, something like a flavour text.
In the end my comment is just that, a comment and choosing to take the criticism and advice at face value or with a grain of salt is yours to make. I love reading VNs and have already read a lot of them, including many that ultimately died without an end because the creator lost their way and/or gave up half way. My hope was to help a new creator not only improve their story but also grow as a writer, by pointing out what i considered shortcoming in the writing or plot, but like i said before, it's just a comment. For the most part i enjoyed the VN and would like to see what will happen next in your story so goodluck
It's fine - I would rather people make sure they check these things before accusing others of stealing music, people could see that and absolutely get the wrong idea.
I am also sorry if my comment came across as harsh, that was not my intent. I can't and won't promise any significant changes to what you mentioned will be made for the time being, especially as there are other things to work on about the vn and those take priority, but in the future: maybe, I'll consider it.
I'm just adding myself to say that it's good to leave comments and suggestions to improve this VN but you also have to take into account that the person, so the creator works alone for example or he is not a writer so it's It's normal that there are small problems at the beginning of the story plus the characters who are created the environment alone it's already not bad plus we must also take into account that each VN was created for several reasons already for me I find that each VN is unique in terms of the team that works on it or a person and on top of that, the story, the mysteries, the information, everything and the creator who created this masterpiece works alone, in short I try to say that each VN each creator creates his story with misunderstandings and waves of little or too much information but for me it does not matter and even if a VN dies or returns to the life at some point I trust this VN and I trust the creator who created it :(
Well an incredible story from start to finish with tragic moments a lot of mystery around the MC of the hot characters it was perfect and excellent but my comment will not be enough but I support this project :)
Thanks, I am glad you enjoyed it! Commenting alone already helps out a lot.
Another artist who comes out of the shadows I like the style of the characters and the style of the VN and even the story continues like that I hope we can have a sequel
This looks promising, I will definitely give it a try.
Now the question is: will the characters have nipples? would be weird without
Anyway looking forward to it
Good question. Right now it is a some do/some don't kind of deal, though it is possible I go back and give everyone (or at least, everyone who shows their chest) nipples at a later date.
That's great news :D