I got the idea for this game in 2023 when I was getting into Bishoujo games. I was inspired by Clannad, which is one of my favorite things ever (The inspiration is pretty obvious lol).

My biggest mistake was rushing into the art, as it became the biggest flaw in the game. By the end of development, I had improved tremendously and wished I could redraw everything, but it would take far too much time, and I had already sunk two years of my life into the project.

I made Naitemo for NaNoRenO 2025. It was my second game jam and my second visual novel. I consider it to be my best so far. It was originally a short, light-novel-esque story I wrote in 2021 (around the same time I was working on the original Konsui VN). I never finished it, but I had always liked the idea. I wrote this before AI was as huge as it is now, so it kinda disturbs me looking back on it lol.

I had already been developing Emit Glass for like 9 months when I made it, so I was more familiar with Ren’Py than I had been when I made Konsui. My art also improved a bit. The game looks dated, but that was the point, haha. I love old visual novels- the small dimensions and the art styles specifically. I wanted to replicate that.

Big thanks to my dad, who helped with two of the background music tracks!

Even If You Cry
Main menu theme lyrics:

Inside this little metal heart of mine, I cry,
Thinking of all the people who were left behind,
Can we heal a broken world again?
A place taken over by things that long to live,

Where within your mind are your memories,
The things that happened then between you and me,
I will always remember your face,
Though your voice wasn’t strong enough to make its way to me,

Even if you cry,
Even if you can’t find your way to the light,
I’ll be here always waiting,
Forever is our call,
Build a new life from tears that fall.

Konsui was the first visual novel I released. It started as a small concept I made in 2021 using Google Slides. The game was short, clunky, and underdeveloped (as you would expect from a visual novel made using Google Slides…), but I was proud of it at the time. I used premade art from things like Picrew and backgrounds I found online.

I lost interest in visual novel development for a few years because I thought that coding was too hard for me. In 2024, I decided to give it another try because I was inspired by some VNs I had either played or admired (Clannad, Nanatsuiro drops, Little Busters, etc.). It went horribly because I had no idea how to use Ren’Py, I couldn’t do digital art, and my art was really bad.

I appreciate it though, because it showed me that I was capable of making a game. I just had to try harder. I became obsessed with visual novels, and I wanted to continue making them. I’m glad I gave it another chance.