On this day, exactly ten years ago, we released SHINRAI - Broken Beyond Despair, our very first visual novel. And today, in celebration of that, we’re excited to finally share with you our latest project:
SHINRAI Saku - Blooming Beyond Despair is a direct continuation of the original SHINRAI, taking place one month after that dreadful Halloween night and focusing on its aftermath and how Raiko and the others are dealing with it. It’s a much shorter story that can be considered more of an additional epilogue episode rather than a brand-new standalone tale.
We would also like to once again point out that Saku is not a murder mystery! It’s a character-driven, almost entirely kinetic experience, meaning that you won't encounter any gameplay elements, such as investigation segments or evidence presentation, this time around.
That said, Saku does contain a lot of what was supposed to be addressed in the early parts of Withering Without Hope, the full-on murder mystery sequel planned for Broken Beyond Despair. We just repackaged things a little and elaborated more on them than it would have been possible in a project primarily intended to deal with a new story, new characters and a new murder case.
Still, in a sense, you do get a little bit of WWH here already, including some more setup for it!
In any case, we once again tried something different from what came before, but even if there are no dead bodies to examine this time, we hope you’ll still enjoy reuniting with Raiko and the others and seeing how they’re doing in the lead-up to what’s next!
For more information on Saku, check out the store page or the official Game Boy-style Instruction Booklet which introduces the characters and setting and thoroughly explains the controls and menus.
Official Soundtrack
If you’re also interested in acquiring the amazing soundtrack that the incredibly talented Crescendo created for us, you can find it on Bandcamp! We decided not to publish it on Steam this time and, instead, leave the release fully in our composer’s hands, as that not only makes things a little easier on us all, but also allows you guys to support the creator of the music directly!
The complete soundtrack contains 9 tracks (the 8 from the game + a special bonus one), adding up to a total playtime of 33 minutes and 40 seconds.
Thank You
10 whole years… and that’s only counting from the release day of our first project! Naturally, we’ve gotten into VN development even earlier than that, so it sure has been quite a long time. But what’s even more difficult to wrap our heads around is the incredible support we’ve been receiving throughout all of it. Aside from our own passion for simply creating stories like these, that’s the biggest reason that keeps us going and fuels our drive to jump right into the next project.
Of course, we wish we could significantly speed up development to reduce the waiting time between releases, but we’re still primarily a team of two, so it’s not that easy. Some fans have moved on over the years, which we certainly don’t blame them for, but we also keep gaining new followers and some of you have even been with us from the very start, which is especially crazy to think about!
But whichever category you ultimately fall into, we appreciate your interest in our works all the same and are deeply grateful for you choosing to give them a chance. It’s truly one of the most special things imaginable for creators like us and we don’t take it for granted.
So, from the very bottom of our hearts, thank you so much!
Final Words
Now then, if you do decide to give our latest release a spin, please consider leaving a review as well. After all, breaking that crucial 10 review mark as quickly as possible is very important for small indie devs like us, as it provides an official Steam rating for the game along with a boost in visibility. Plus, it not only helps more people to find it (and our works in general), but to also make up their minds on whether they want to check it out for themselves or not.
But we’d be happy about receiving any sort of feedback in general, whether it’s through a simple comment, mail or private message. We do want to continue improving our work and therefore greatly value your opinions, both positive and negative!
There are some more fun things to share over the next week, as we continue the anniversary celebrations (GENBA no Kizuna is officially two years out now as well), so keep an eye on our socials if you’re curious! But for now, it’s time to come to a close, so… thank you for reading this far and hopefully, you'll enjoy your stay at the Grand Miyamoto Relax. Raiko and Co. are awaiting you!