Creating a game is a special experience.

What was supposed to be initially a showcase game for my technical skills (graphics, writing in English - which is not my mother tongue, game design, coordination with a developer), became a companion that occupies all my thoughts in the background.

Personally, I noticed that if I wasn’t working on Another Story, it influenced my morale quite significantly. It simply became my life’s work, my heart project.

Why a visual novel?

There were moments when I regretted the visual novel format.
Maybe I could have made a manga? Or just a novel?

But no, I really wanted to create a video game experience.

Even though it might seem like a shortcut not to have to describe the characters with beautiful prose… The character sprites are very expressive and can tell many more things than one might think if you pay attention.

For my part, I am convinced that the story of Another Story would not be the same if it had to be told in another format.
Everyone might experience it differently: “What if I didn’t do such a route before such another”; “I’m too lazy to test the other branches”; “I don’t like Hana, I only want Kyoko endings”, etc.
Unlike a movie, we should be able to feel satisfied even if we stop before the grand final thought by the author. (Well, then again, if you haven’t managed to get past the prologue… it’s a bit sad, but I guess you wouldn’t be here reading my ramblings, right?)

That’s why I like the comparison with a choose-your-own-adventure book because you can observe the consequences of your choices directly. Except that here it’s not a dice roll that will define your success but your real understanding of the characters.

Although few in number within Another Story, choices are for me a way to question the player on their morals and their knowledge of the protagonists Kyoko and Hana but also to allow exploring other facets of the characters’ psyche that we thought we knew everything about.

A brain dedicated full-time?

For more than 10 years, every activity I did: movies, TV series, animes, mangas, novels, video games, internet discussions, working - everything was fuel to feed my reflection on Another Story.

This allowed me to:

• understand the world of otome games and romance,
• mature the psychology of my characters,
• refine my knowledge of storytelling,
• appreciate art differently and have a recognition for all the people involved in a project,
• discover and test new design tools,
• better define the scope of the full project,
• develop the scenarios in a more advanced way than the initial clichés,
• have a more assertive critical sense.

This is a non-exhaustive list but it gives a good idea of the impact that Another Story had on me. Far from having wasted time, I come out of it grown.
But the main lesson I learned: creating a game is not a race but a marathon.

Small projects by Zure?

I know in hindsight that I clearly bit off more than I could chew when I defined the project scope. (Really, start small for a first game. Don’t do like me!)
But I was able to hold on because I worked on 3 small projects that have not yet seen the light of day:

• Endless Dreamer
• One Room Script
• VillOrd

Each of them allowed me to get out of my lethargy when I was on the verge of giving up on Another Story. It reminded me that I was much too far along on my main game to back down from the challenge.
And above all, I know I want to tell stories and not keep them only in my head.

I want to share the story of my characters.