Oh my god im so in love with this game ;-; I did play this over the course of 3 days BUT IT FELT ALL TOO SHORT!! I wish I could rewind time to experience playing this game for the first time again and go through all the routes again </3
CONTAINS SPOILERS!!
I swear when I saw Kisha's true body for the first time- I SCREAMED I SWEAR LMAO It's so cute how he's literally smoking hot but is also kinda like a softie. LITHIEL'S ROUTE WAS ALSO SO UNEXPECTEDLY CUTE!! It was so refreshing seeing another side of him that I couldn't normally witness in the other two's routes. AND SOL... okay maybe I'm a bit biased since childhood friends to lovers is my favorite trope but AGH I LOVE HIS CHEMISTRY WITH ALTO SMM
Aghh Im just so in love with everyone in general. I love this game <33
Hi blinkuue! Thank you for playing OFAF and glad to know that you liked the game and the characters! Do consider leaving a rating if you enjoyed it, hehe ^^
My deep dive on OFAF, blabbering on about Alto, routes, and favorites
The game features as is what was stated, how Alto's life was thrown on the line because of how she was interwoven into the secrets behind the veil. Sure, it's the course of the bigger things doing their work, but the fact is it slowly dominoed its way to her as people whom she loves and will have come to cherish became and were significant pieces of the chess board. That's the main driving force of the novel, and so perhaps from the description someone might think the storyline will be politically heavy: it isn't. Politics was a mere plot device for the story and its main themes are about one's purpose in life, committing to living everyday to realize it—duty, dreams, filling in that lackluster gap, and rising above your mistakes trying to achieve it. Above all, of course, is love.
The heart of the story is how this all started because Alto was acting for the people in her life since the start. Enter the time she meets Kisha, then, if you so choose—true to her character, devoting herself to the companionship they had shared through life and death. Or the time she reconciles with her childhood best friend, with whom after all the years they had missed together she gets a surge of this innate vibrancy from, the energy that defines who Alto was first.
The story is as bright as they come, and because of its ladden foundation, as others say, is pretty much straightforward. That's what shaped it for me and what I loved about it.
The framework for the plot was what initially drew me to the game, second its artwork.
I had to get to the very last route in order to fully appreciate Of Frost and Flowers, and I understand better now why that is as I am leaving this comment. Each route pulsed a life of its own into the story that converges to explain the journey of our main character.
Spoilers below
Kisha's route
I had first started Kisha's route because, come on, blond locks, magenta eyes, saved her from a major fiasco, got the first character appearance, had "hidden agendas"?—he screamed majorly significant.
I love that Kisha was kind and gentle and thoughtful and gentle and has smiling eyes full of softness. I do. I love kindness in people, above all in romance. I thought somehow, however, is this really convincing? Is this route doing a good job of convincing me of the two of them together? How will this lead from here?
And then we got to the rising action! The big reveal.
Of course, it still ends with what had attracted Alto to Kisha: the comfort that he offers. I was only able to truly appreciate Alto's perspective of Kisha when I got to Sol's route though, even though I had already initially understood it in all its how's and why's.
Sol's route
Sol's route brings a different dynamic that lives up to the route it represents. Friends-to-lovers. A classic! Here, we see the Zethania's knight for all the she is and could be. Our ol' reliable Alto despite her clumsiness!
Sol's route peels back her layers. If in Kisha's route we see Alto merely responding to where her choices take her, responding to her feelings for Kisha, responding to find and save her missing best friend—responding from one thing to the next, in Sol's route we see her identity, in all her essence. We see her assertiveness, we see how she had became a knight solely to achieve her goal—we see her in all her sides of different scopes and range.
We see her capacity, full of assertion, in an environment forged where she can freely make decisions from what she knows she's got laid out on the table. After all, Sol is one of the two persons she knows like the back of her hand. All her innateness comes out. She does not have to figure out anything.
The bickering, the banters, the teasing, and how understandably she and Sol have this soft place reserved for one another whenever they share vulnerable and gentle moments.
She goes back to being a child with him around, yet she is also Alto after the three years she spent all to save Ellys. Alto is a very capable knight who had risen in ranks because of her natural potential for craftsmanship which got put on the backend because of higher priorities. Alto would have had to learn how to carry herself through situations, Alto is her own person, Alto is of her own sound mind. Alto showed this in Sol's route, with her different childlike gleam sprouting only because it is something that Sol brings out. Alto is Alto.
Alto
Which is why I say I understood Kisha's better, after. It was an advantage to have had the backround context of Kisha's route in doing Sol's as Sol's route expounded a lot more on what went behind-the-scenes, and it also goes the other way around, only it helps us to better understand the Alto from Kisha's route. In fact, it was already stated explicitly by Alto herself: "I should be protecting him, not the other way around. But I have to admit, it does feel nice to be the one protected by someone for once, especially when that someone is Kisha..."
In Kisha, Alto found someone she can rely on in a way wherein she naturally does not feel the need to shoulder a big responsibility, that she can share it, that she can take and just give back, that she can lean on more than she can do and provide results. After all, as a woman with a practical mind (Sol describing Alto liking method more than freedom, and as is obvious from hobbying crafts which is a practical activity), in order to embody the fortitude to apply herself in situations, she has had to learn what it is like to do it alone. And she did do it alone for three years, with Ellys missing, with Sol going off a different path, and with her supposed execution whilst no one was at her side. Then Kisha came, he saved her, and then someone was at her side taking care of her.
Kisha was a carer-carer, and Alto was all the more an innocent woman by his side because of this. Alto was co-dependent with Sol, but with Kisha she can be just dependent. Kisha triggers her switch-off button, and I like that because I like the notion of finding someone who brings that kind of comfort for you.
Alto is herself but softer, and not a watered down version of Alto in Sol's route despite this. It may not initially be obvious, but Alto was still inquisitive and careful, a curtain view of who she is that she has yet to show to Kisha, for after all they had just met.
Additionally, right at the very start in Kisha's route, Alto finds it in herself that she is also a woman. She starts the journey as she relearns herself. Kisha represents who she can be as a person, and this was immediately shown by that stunning painting scene by the meadows—because Alto had forsaken painting, thought it was not in line for her path, and yet it actually was and maybe she's got a chance for that life. Kisha also made it happen—the chance for that life—as he gets to know who Alto always was and who she can further be.
Lithiel's route
Then there's Lithiel who I found gave me a mix of the previous two. Alto's playfulness and childlike wonder, Alto's assertiveness, Alto's dependency, Alto's wit, Alto's brawn. And more of who he is that we didn't get to see from previous routes. If Sol was the past and Kisha was the future, then Lithiel was the present as by the end Alto finally chose for herself without any explicit romantic notions influencing her choice, not needing to think for the future. The ending of Lithiel's route only displaying vagaries and hints of romance was perfect.
My conclusion
If I were to rank the storylines, I would perhaps say that Sol's would take the cake because of the details and development. It also feels like it is how everything was supposed to go from the start, but it is easier to set that up, having them know each other for years. Lithiel's comes a close second. The two is more dynamic than what I felt was a static turn of events in Kisha's.
I cannot choose between Kisha and Lithiel's character design, meanwhile. But if I were asked which prospect I love on their own, I would not have an answer because each character is written with complex layers. Kindness and peace do not make Kisha simple, for example. I noticed that he has a different side/s that we didn't get to see in his route from Lithiel's. He once stated that he is a character who usually does not give a care, and it is true that he seemed more quiet than Lithiel's surprisingly loud character. I saw the maturity that he exudes that made Alto rely on him, as well, being the Ellys to Alto and Lithiel's Alto-and-Sol dynamic.
And also goddamn it may not be apparent from my analysis but I find Kisha HOT.
All in all, I would have loved to have seen more of these guys!
Hi Amaleakim! Thank you for playing OFAF and for leaving your heartfelt review! You have a keen eye and empathise with the characters so much, being able to understand their POVs and underlying essence. And yes! As you pointed out, each of the routes bring different sides of Alto!
*spoiler warning ahead*
As you mentioned, with Kisha, Alto is more reserved as they just met, but she reciprocated the kindness and comfort Kisha gave her with her own unconditional love. Kisha's route focussed more on peeling the "layers" of Alto's true character, until she eventually let her guard down and discovered a side of her she did not even know herself.
In Sol's route, since the two have known each other for a long time, Alto's layers have been removed completely from the get-go, showing her in all her true, unrestrained nature. Perhaps that's why you enjoyed Sol's route more, hehe, we tried to show players a different side of her and added more comedic shenanigans between the two.
Since Lithiel is a mixed bag of personalities, ranging from being incredibly wise to being surprisingly child-like, his route pushed Alto to feel a spectrum of emotions: She went from being scared of him, to angry, to wary, to curious, to playful, and finally, to respect. Also, writing Lithiel's route was very fun as we added more lore dumps and didn't have to care about spoiling the secrets in Kisha and Sol's routes XD. Meanwhile, writing the other routes required loads of meticulousness and cross-checking to keep the suspense and avoid spoilers.
Anyway, thanks once again for sharing your experience and thoughts on OFAF! Hope you enjoyed playing it as much as we enjoyed making it ^^
really really cute!! Kisha is so hot and sweet, the 3rd route is quite fun, but they can't compare with how cute Sol was!! He's so fun to tease lmfaoo 😭😭
Great job for creating such distinct voices and characters for such a short story!
Being able to establish a character such as a childhood friend with lots of prior history such that the audience will also feel the feels is no easy feat!!
Also the art is very cute, my fav was the colors on that public market background
Thank you so much for playing, ephermeyal! It was pretty challenging writing the script, but thankfully the proofreaders are there to back me up, and the artists did a really great job too! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and stay tuned to my future games~
Hi there, you can download the "OfFrostAndFlowers-release.apk" file from this page on your Android phone, then go to your download folders, click the apk file and install it!
The game is wonderful, very very beautiful, and its drawing is distinctive, but I want to ask you what your next game is, will it be played on Android or not, and will there be endings or not? I apologize for asking a lot of questions, but I am really looking forward to your upcoming game.I appreciate your effort, thank you
Hi there, Ggggf. Fyhvg! We have an upcoming otome game planned that will also be released on Android, but it's still in the early stages. Meanwhile, you can look at my socials for game updates , and thank you so much for playing!
This game was an absolute pleasure to play from start to finish. I had an amazing time streaming it and my viewers loved it too! Looking forward to more titles from this amazing publisher.
I've come to love this game so much after finishing all routes! It was a wonderful adventure that I've joined in! I love all the characters here and want to give them a hug, except for the villains, of course.
*Spoilers ahead so don't read if you don't want them*
As for Piero, I have mixed feelings but he's ok if he will keep the sweet healer safe.
I can't seem to choose who's my favorite bachelor here because all of them are great guys! But if I need to pick, I enjoyed Lithiel's route the most. I found myself laughing always when he and Alto banter, and when Lithiel is claiming that he is indeed "the God of Knowledge", Alto (and Kisha too lol) will follow it up with "the Exiled God of Knowledge." out loud or not. Let's not forget his soup!! Ever since Alto mentioned that it is glue, I call it glue soup. I also wanted all the lore drop in his route! It is always interesting to me to know more about their world. Man, I enjoyed Sol's route, too, when Alto discovered his diary full of edgy poetry and tried to read them out loud so he would show up! I can embarrassingly relate to Sol the most because of my love for making poetry too, so it was wild! lmao
Alto is gonna be one of the most fun and coolest heroines I've ever met in games. I am actually looking forward to her new adventurers fondly in my head whenever I finished a route. I wish I have an Alto in my life! ^^
Thanks really for making this game! I enjoyed it a lot! The story is just so good! I'm kinda interested to try your other games soon if I have the time!
Oh, I have a question btw! Where can I send you a fanart if I decide to create one?
I don't really know how to feel about this game if I'm being honest. This game is good, but I didn't really feel connected well idk bro. It felt like I was skipping most of the story cuz I got the bad endings first(maybe that is why). The story and art was great. I don't think I'd play the RPG (since this is a prequel) because I'm just so stupid at RPGs.
I am in tears. I love how it was written it's like reading a novel but playing it in otome mode. I love the part in Sol's route his diary moments... it was sweet but boy in Kisha... the wordings everything, it is perfect. But I like lithiel the most. I so love your writing. I kinda hope someday just a little sequel for the two. and i love their ending... because it is true. nothing is stagnant but only constant change. I love this.
Just finished every route, and honestly I loved it all. Only thing I'd recommend working on is the different art styles for the sprites and the CGs, other than that I loved the story and the characters! Sol is my personal favorite~
Great story, the story was more straight forward, so playing through once onlt took about 3 hours. CG's are looking good, but I would encourage the artist to keep practicing if this is something they want to persue for a career. (Still a lot better than some of my own stuff lol) One recomendation I would have is the addition of the abillity to change the name of the MC. If not I can understand, but my reason for saying this is because the game shows the creaters have a lot of potential, and if this is something longterm it will be a good feature to have in these kind of projects. All in all, great work and gripping story! I wish all those who were a part of making this are proud of their work :)
Hi again and thanks for playing! Glad to know you enjoyed it, and sorry about the difference in art style and quality for the CGs (I drew most of them myself, and I have lots to improve on). As for the naming, I tried to keep a constant name so that the character can be referenced in sequels, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind for future projects! Once again, thanks for playing and leaving a comment!
I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED TO PLAY THIS YAY! Just wondering, is there a walkthough by any chance? (I have the worst luck with otome games and ALWAYS get bad endings without guides T-T)
Had the game's demo on my backlog for quite a while, so I'm glad to find that the game is fully released when I revisited it again! (though this also act as an unpleasant reminder of how much of a procrastinator I am).
I actually regretted I didn't play this game sooner. The story is really engaging and I found myself so immersed that I went through all the three routes in one sitting. I was worried the game would be too short or too long, but that was an unfounded worry. I think each of the route has an appropriate length and ends satisfyingly. Alto is a great protagonist and I love her dynamics with all of the boys. It's actually pretty hard to pick a favorite, though I think I like sol a little bit more because I'm weak to childhood friends tropes.
All in all, it's a great game! Kudos to all of the team for their hard works! I managed to get 5 endings so far: 3 good endings and 2 bad endings (kisha's and sol's) by accident. I wonder if there are more endings I missed, so it'll be nice if you actually release a walkthrough!
Hi Mayyones! Thanks for playing OFAF and happy to know that you enjoyed it ^^
I've just released a walkthrough here: https://elseth.itch.io/of-frost-and-flowers/devlog/463915/ofaf-walkthrough (should've done it long ago, but I guess I'm also a procrastinator :P). And congrats on getting all endings! Yes, there are a total of 5 endings- Sol and Kisha has 2 good and bad endings each, while Lithiel has 1 good end.
Thanks again for taking your time to play and comment :D
Hi, I just finished playing the game and love it so far! It will be better if there is a walkthrough but I still finish the three routes.
The plot is interesting and well-written and I really enjoy playing it! Thanks for making this game, and I love the characters so much! They are all so cute!
hi!, just came across this game today and it looks amazing (i love the art so much!) i was curious though is there a walkthough for the routes? or are getting on the routes pretty explanatory? ahah sorry im just one of those people that like to make sure i do everything perfectly;;
Hi Nikole! There's currently no walkthrough available, but thanks for reminding me- I'll make one soon and update in the devlog!
It should be pretty easy to get the bad and good ends of each route respectively though (Sol and Kisha have 2 endings each, and the mystery route has 1 end). Also note that the mystery route is only accessible after getting both Kisha and Sol's good end! Hope this helps and hope you enjoy the game~
Is Sol in love with Ellys? It comes across that way in the few minutes I've played. Childhood friends is my FAVORITE trope, but if he's already in love with the friend then I won't be able to handle it, and it's the only reason I can't continue the game until I find out. Please spoil that for me!
this is my first time commenting, but i seriously love all your games and played most of them, i could understand some stuff since i played Crysmalia: dawn of darkness and KAIROS before playing this game.
spoiler
man i think this was before the events of Crysmalia: dawn of darkness, now i get to understand why Piero did the things he did (since Erika is his daughter).
and if i may ask was Lithiel the keeper of time, as in the one who used to bear the Memoria?
and depending on the route Alto chooses (the potential love interests) is it possible that Siena, Kain, and Ning Jun are related to her and the boys? just asking since i was curious hope i was not offensive
also wish you the best in your future endeavors, and thank you for such a lovely game.
p.s. I love all the characters in this game, but my favs are Kisha and Lithiel
Wow, thanks for playing C:DoD, KAIROS and OFAF! Really happy to know that the world of Gaia is familiar to you, and I hope this visual novel gives it a bit more depth.
* SPOILERS AHEAD *
Have you played Lithiel's route already? If you have, then Lithiel isn't the Keeper of the Memoria; in the Sky Realm, Chronos and Kairos are the only ones who could access it. There is a copy of the Memoria in the Sky Realm and another one in Gaia, which is kept by the Keeper tribe (not mentioned in OFAF).
There are no clear-cut references of Siena and Kain in OFAF, but there is an obvious one at the end of Lithiel's route, where you see young prince Terevska (if you've played C:DoD, Terevska is Ning Jun's old name). Also, if you've talked to the strange cloaked man in Hosheira Desert (Sol's route), he's actually one of Noir's colleagues (from C:DoD)! And don't worry, there's no way your question is offensive. I love answer questions regarding lore, hehe.
Thanks for playing OFAF once again, and good luck with your endeavours too :D
I finally finished the demo, and man... you have outdone yourself! Entering Gaia again, and seeing as it is a prequel to the Crysmalia RPG got me super hyped! The artwork in this is also especially gorgeous, the sprites are so cute and the CGs are brilliant. I was immediately drawn in the moment the game started, what a way to introduce the characters, and I love how the first choice dictates who saves Alto and the route the player will find themselves o.
The story itself is really engaging. I love how it explores more lore. I grin each time a country/region is mentioned, since I remember all the events from the previous games. I love despite the story's more serious tone, you always have many lighthearted and fun moments, like the banter between Alto and Sol, or the man trying to hit on Alto in the market, or The Desert Falcons book in the library. Very fun stuff!
Now to the routes themselves.....
I played Sol's route first. Childhood friends, ftw! Sol is an interesting character, and equally cares to find their missing friend, but his methods of doing so are questionable. Again I do love the banter between the two, and you really learn and can feel the bond Alto, Sol, as well as Ellys had which I think helps to connect players to why they so badly want to save her. The cliffhanger ending.... wow, how dare you end us there!!!
Then there's Kisha's route. Wow, he's so incredibly sweet, but is also mysterious. I felt the most emotions on his route. I really wonder who he is, and after the cliffhanger ending on THIS ROUTE, whoa.... I can't say much about Kisha's route without giving any spoilers but I really enjoyed it.
Overall, absolutely looking forward to the full release. This world has become so fleshed out with each game you release for it. You did a good job laying out the foundations and lore for the world for new players, as well as hype excitement for current fans. ^^
Aaaa thank you for playing, Kokoro~ Super glad you enjoyed it, and even more stoked that you remembered details of Gaia from other games! Look forward to the full release, can't wait to see how you react then! ^^
Really nice demo for this VN, the art is beautiful, music and sound effects really help bring the world to life, However ,I think the strongest point of this game is the characters, they are so good and well constructed and no one seems t0 take the spotlight so we get to know a little bit of everyone. The story seems very promising (Not gonna spoil it here!) so I'll be looking up to that.
Little note, I love the amount of choices we get to make during the demo, it really feels like playing a story and not just reading it!
Granted this world seems to be very big, with multiple storylines and plots to explore, I felt a little overwhelmed at the beginning by the amount of names of places and people I read with no context for me to put them in, luckily towards the end of the demo I came to understand most of the things (Thanks to a very good trip to the library) and since this is a demo of a bigger game it totally makes sense that I don't get all the answers I want.
Hi, Hikiyami Moriko! Thanks for playing and streaming our game's demo! We're glad you enjoyed it! We'll take your comments into consideration, so perhaps we'll add more details about the lore and add more world building as we know it can get quite confusing at first. Thank you again and don't worry, there will be more choices in the full release! :D
I was excited to play this one and dfjdjsdahadhs you didn't disappoint me aaaah this was so good! I chose Kisha and I loved him so much!!
(I was a little sad when I saw it was a demo, but after playing and seeing how complex it is, I get why lol and I can't wait to see what is going to happen 😬😥)
Spoiler!!!
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When Alto does the flowers crown I was like "if he does not wear this I'm going to get pissed" and DHdsjsdjjddhd thank you so much for that CG 😭♥️♥️♥️ fbsfnfhfsj
Also… I got a little bitter with Sol 🤣🤣🤣I don't want yet to see his side of the story I'm still mad with what happened lol jyjtssjtfk
Hiya Alex_at_the_Moon! Glad to see you liked OFAF and the CG, our CG colorist and I had fun working on that! And haha, I see Kisha is going to be the popular one. I can see why you're mad with Sol lol, but trust me, he has a reason ;). Thank you again for playing and good luck with your future games!!
omg everything is so beautiful! I love the text box and characters' sprites... It's so pretty and their expressions are adorable 😭❤️❤️
I did Kisha's route first and I'm so happy with it 😍 The relationship between MC and him is so precious and easy to understand 🥺❤️
The story's pace is also very good to keep you wanting to see more and tHE CG IS TOO MUCH FOR MY HEART!! 😫🙏❤️
Kisha is a sweetheart 🥰 I fell in love with him right away, but in the end of his route I felt like he's going to make me cry a lot in the full game 👀 I can't wait for it lol
I loved this game and I'm very interested to know more about this world and the characters.
Congratulations on the release! I'll be around to see more for sure 🤗❤️
Hi demonbear! Thank you so much for playing OFAF's demo! And hehe glad to know you like Kisha! The pretty text boxes and sprite arts were made by our talented Sprite artist and GUI artist, so yep, thanks to them, and thanks to you for playing!! :D
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Oh my god im so in love with this game ;-; I did play this over the course of 3 days BUT IT FELT ALL TOO SHORT!! I wish I could rewind time to experience playing this game for the first time again and go through all the routes again </3
CONTAINS SPOILERS!!
I swear when I saw Kisha's true body for the first time- I SCREAMED I SWEAR LMAO It's so cute how he's literally smoking hot but is also kinda like a softie. LITHIEL'S ROUTE WAS ALSO SO UNEXPECTEDLY CUTE!! It was so refreshing seeing another side of him that I couldn't normally witness in the other two's routes. AND SOL... okay maybe I'm a bit biased since childhood friends to lovers is my favorite trope but AGH I LOVE HIS CHEMISTRY WITH ALTO SMM
Aghh Im just so in love with everyone in general. I love this game <33
Hi blinkuue! Thank you for playing OFAF and glad to know that you liked the game and the characters! Do consider leaving a rating if you enjoyed it, hehe ^^
My deep dive on OFAF, blabbering on about Alto, routes, and favorites
The game features as is what was stated, how Alto's life was thrown on the line because of how she was interwoven into the secrets behind the veil. Sure, it's the course of the bigger things doing their work, but the fact is it slowly dominoed its way to her as people whom she loves and will have come to cherish became and were significant pieces of the chess board. That's the main driving force of the novel, and so perhaps from the description someone might think the storyline will be politically heavy: it isn't. Politics was a mere plot device for the story and its main themes are about one's purpose in life, committing to living everyday to realize it—duty, dreams, filling in that lackluster gap, and rising above your mistakes trying to achieve it. Above all, of course, is love.
The heart of the story is how this all started because Alto was acting for the people in her life since the start. Enter the time she meets Kisha, then, if you so choose—true to her character, devoting herself to the companionship they had shared through life and death. Or the time she reconciles with her childhood best friend, with whom after all the years they had missed together she gets a surge of this innate vibrancy from, the energy that defines who Alto was first.
The story is as bright as they come, and because of its ladden foundation, as others say, is pretty much straightforward. That's what shaped it for me and what I loved about it.
The framework for the plot was what initially drew me to the game, second its artwork.
I had to get to the very last route in order to fully appreciate Of Frost and Flowers, and I understand better now why that is as I am leaving this comment. Each route pulsed a life of its own into the story that converges to explain the journey of our main character.
Spoilers below
Kisha's route
I had first started Kisha's route because, come on, blond locks, magenta eyes, saved her from a major fiasco, got the first character appearance, had "hidden agendas"?—he screamed majorly significant.
I love that Kisha was kind and gentle and thoughtful and gentle and has smiling eyes full of softness. I do. I love kindness in people, above all in romance. I thought somehow, however, is this really convincing? Is this route doing a good job of convincing me of the two of them together? How will this lead from here?
And then we got to the rising action! The big reveal.
Of course, it still ends with what had attracted Alto to Kisha: the comfort that he offers. I was only able to truly appreciate Alto's perspective of Kisha when I got to Sol's route though, even though I had already initially understood it in all its how's and why's.
Sol's route
Sol's route brings a different dynamic that lives up to the route it represents. Friends-to-lovers. A classic! Here, we see the Zethania's knight for all the she is and could be. Our ol' reliable Alto despite her clumsiness!
Sol's route peels back her layers. If in Kisha's route we see Alto merely responding to where her choices take her, responding to her feelings for Kisha, responding to find and save her missing best friend—responding from one thing to the next, in Sol's route we see her identity, in all her essence. We see her assertiveness, we see how she had became a knight solely to achieve her goal—we see her in all her sides of different scopes and range.
We see her capacity, full of assertion, in an environment forged where she can freely make decisions from what she knows she's got laid out on the table. After all, Sol is one of the two persons she knows like the back of her hand. All her innateness comes out. She does not have to figure out anything.
The bickering, the banters, the teasing, and how understandably she and Sol have this soft place reserved for one another whenever they share vulnerable and gentle moments.
She goes back to being a child with him around, yet she is also Alto after the three years she spent all to save Ellys. Alto is a very capable knight who had risen in ranks because of her natural potential for craftsmanship which got put on the backend because of higher priorities. Alto would have had to learn how to carry herself through situations, Alto is her own person, Alto is of her own sound mind. Alto showed this in Sol's route, with her different childlike gleam sprouting only because it is something that Sol brings out. Alto is Alto.
Alto
Which is why I say I understood Kisha's better, after. It was an advantage to have had the backround context of Kisha's route in doing Sol's as Sol's route expounded a lot more on what went behind-the-scenes, and it also goes the other way around, only it helps us to better understand the Alto from Kisha's route. In fact, it was already stated explicitly by Alto herself: "I should be protecting him, not the other way around. But I have to admit, it does feel nice to be the one protected by someone for once, especially when that someone is Kisha..."
In Kisha, Alto found someone she can rely on in a way wherein she naturally does not feel the need to shoulder a big responsibility, that she can share it, that she can take and just give back, that she can lean on more than she can do and provide results. After all, as a woman with a practical mind (Sol describing Alto liking method more than freedom, and as is obvious from hobbying crafts which is a practical activity), in order to embody the fortitude to apply herself in situations, she has had to learn what it is like to do it alone. And she did do it alone for three years, with Ellys missing, with Sol going off a different path, and with her supposed execution whilst no one was at her side. Then Kisha came, he saved her, and then someone was at her side taking care of her.
Kisha was a carer-carer, and Alto was all the more an innocent woman by his side because of this. Alto was co-dependent with Sol, but with Kisha she can be just dependent. Kisha triggers her switch-off button, and I like that because I like the notion of finding someone who brings that kind of comfort for you.
Alto is herself but softer, and not a watered down version of Alto in Sol's route despite this. It may not initially be obvious, but Alto was still inquisitive and careful, a curtain view of who she is that she has yet to show to Kisha, for after all they had just met.
Additionally, right at the very start in Kisha's route, Alto finds it in herself that she is also a woman. She starts the journey as she relearns herself. Kisha represents who she can be as a person, and this was immediately shown by that stunning painting scene by the meadows—because Alto had forsaken painting, thought it was not in line for her path, and yet it actually was and maybe she's got a chance for that life. Kisha also made it happen—the chance for that life—as he gets to know who Alto always was and who she can further be.
Lithiel's route
Then there's Lithiel who I found gave me a mix of the previous two. Alto's playfulness and childlike wonder, Alto's assertiveness, Alto's dependency, Alto's wit, Alto's brawn. And more of who he is that we didn't get to see from previous routes. If Sol was the past and Kisha was the future, then Lithiel was the present as by the end Alto finally chose for herself without any explicit romantic notions influencing her choice, not needing to think for the future. The ending of Lithiel's route only displaying vagaries and hints of romance was perfect.
My conclusion
If I were to rank the storylines, I would perhaps say that Sol's would take the cake because of the details and development. It also feels like it is how everything was supposed to go from the start, but it is easier to set that up, having them know each other for years. Lithiel's comes a close second. The two is more dynamic than what I felt was a static turn of events in Kisha's.
I cannot choose between Kisha and Lithiel's character design, meanwhile. But if I were asked which prospect I love on their own, I would not have an answer because each character is written with complex layers. Kindness and peace do not make Kisha simple, for example. I noticed that he has a different side/s that we didn't get to see in his route from Lithiel's. He once stated that he is a character who usually does not give a care, and it is true that he seemed more quiet than Lithiel's surprisingly loud character. I saw the maturity that he exudes that made Alto rely on him, as well, being the Ellys to Alto and Lithiel's Alto-and-Sol dynamic.
And also goddamn it may not be apparent from my analysis but I find Kisha HOT.
All in all, I would have loved to have seen more of these guys!
Hi Amaleakim! Thank you for playing OFAF and for leaving your heartfelt review! You have a keen eye and empathise with the characters so much, being able to understand their POVs and underlying essence. And yes! As you pointed out, each of the routes bring different sides of Alto!
*spoiler warning ahead*
As you mentioned, with Kisha, Alto is more reserved as they just met, but she reciprocated the kindness and comfort Kisha gave her with her own unconditional love. Kisha's route focussed more on peeling the "layers" of Alto's true character, until she eventually let her guard down and discovered a side of her she did not even know herself.
In Sol's route, since the two have known each other for a long time, Alto's layers have been removed completely from the get-go, showing her in all her true, unrestrained nature. Perhaps that's why you enjoyed Sol's route more, hehe, we tried to show players a different side of her and added more comedic shenanigans between the two.
Since Lithiel is a mixed bag of personalities, ranging from being incredibly wise to being surprisingly child-like, his route pushed Alto to feel a spectrum of emotions: She went from being scared of him, to angry, to wary, to curious, to playful, and finally, to respect. Also, writing Lithiel's route was very fun as we added more lore dumps and didn't have to care about spoiling the secrets in Kisha and Sol's routes XD. Meanwhile, writing the other routes required loads of meticulousness and cross-checking to keep the suspense and avoid spoilers.
Anyway, thanks once again for sharing your experience and thoughts on OFAF! Hope you enjoyed playing it as much as we enjoyed making it ^^
Thank you for all the time and care you spent making this! I really loved playing it. Everything down to the dot is genius!
really really cute!! Kisha is so hot and sweet, the 3rd route is quite fun, but they can't compare with how cute Sol was!! He's so fun to tease lmfaoo 😭😭
Great job for creating such distinct voices and characters for such a short story!
Being able to establish a character such as a childhood friend with lots of prior history such that the audience will also feel the feels is no easy feat!!
Also the art is very cute, my fav was the colors on that public market background
also, i really liked how you wrote Alto! she's such a fun pov to be in
Thank you so much for playing, ephermeyal! It was pretty challenging writing the script, but thankfully the proofreaders are there to back me up, and the artists did a really great job too! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and stay tuned to my future games~
how can l play at android ?
Hi there, you can download the "OfFrostAndFlowers-release.apk" file from this page on your Android phone, then go to your download folders, click the apk file and install it!
The game is wonderful, very very beautiful, and its drawing is distinctive, but I want to ask you what your next game is, will it be played on Android or not, and will there be endings or not? I apologize for asking a lot of questions, but I am really looking forward to your upcoming game.I appreciate your effort, thank you
Hi there, Ggggf. Fyhvg! We have an upcoming otome game planned that will also be released on Android, but it's still in the early stages. Meanwhile, you can look at my socials for game updates , and thank you so much for playing!
This game was an absolute pleasure to play from start to finish. I had an amazing time streaming it and my viewers loved it too! Looking forward to more titles from this amazing publisher.
Ahh thank you, MiMo! The stream was super fun and thank you for letting me tune in too!
会有中文版吗?
对不起,现在还没有 :')
I loved this so much. Kisha's route was the best and had me smiling so much
SPOLER ALERT
not to mention how hot he is in his real body HBVGWVBDHJ
Hi there, morgs! Thanks for playing!
(spoiler alert)
(IKR LKMSLKSDMFKdkmFKMDk)
I cant download this game(android ver) its say"forbidden download" needp help
Hello, sorry to hear that you have that issue! Can you provide us with more details? And what version of android are you using?
I've come to love this game so much after finishing all routes! It was a wonderful adventure that I've joined in! I love all the characters here and want to give them a hug, except for the villains, of course.
*Spoilers ahead so don't read if you don't want them*
As for Piero, I have mixed feelings but he's ok if he will keep the sweet healer safe.
I can't seem to choose who's my favorite bachelor here because all of them are great guys! But if I need to pick, I enjoyed Lithiel's route the most. I found myself laughing always when he and Alto banter, and when Lithiel is claiming that he is indeed "the God of Knowledge", Alto (and Kisha too lol) will follow it up with "the Exiled God of Knowledge." out loud or not. Let's not forget his soup!! Ever since Alto mentioned that it is glue, I call it glue soup. I also wanted all the lore drop in his route! It is always interesting to me to know more about their world. Man, I enjoyed Sol's route, too, when Alto discovered his diary full of edgy poetry and tried to read them out loud so he would show up! I can embarrassingly relate to Sol the most because of my love for making poetry too, so it was wild! lmao
Alto is gonna be one of the most fun and coolest heroines I've ever met in games. I am actually looking forward to her new adventurers fondly in my head whenever I finished a route. I wish I have an Alto in my life! ^^
Thanks really for making this game! I enjoyed it a lot! The story is just so good! I'm kinda interested to try your other games soon if I have the time!
Oh, I have a question btw! Where can I send you a fanart if I decide to create one?
Hi there! Thanks for playing OFAF and leaving a comment! Glad to know you enjoyed the story and banter, and YAY a fellow poet, I see :)
As for fanart, feel free to tag me on twitter or Instagram. Thanks for playing the game once again!
Omg hello!! Thanks for the reply sjdjjdkfkf
happy ofaf resurgence week!! <3
yayyy! :D
I don't really know how to feel about this game if I'm being honest. This game is good, but I didn't really feel connected well idk bro. It felt like I was skipping most of the story cuz I got the bad endings first(maybe that is why). The story and art was great. I don't think I'd play the RPG (since this is a prequel) because I'm just so stupid at RPGs.
Hi there, thank you for playing! ^^
I am in tears. I love how it was written it's like reading a novel but playing it in otome mode. I love the part in Sol's route his diary moments... it was sweet but boy in Kisha... the wordings everything, it is perfect. But I like lithiel the most. I so love your writing. I kinda hope someday just a little sequel for the two. and i love their ending... because it is true. nothing is stagnant but only constant change. I love this.
Hi there, thank you so much for playing OFAF and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Maybe I'll add in a little sequel sometime in the future, so stay tuned!
Just finished every route, and honestly I loved it all. Only thing I'd recommend working on is the different art styles for the sprites and the CGs, other than that I loved the story and the characters! Sol is my personal favorite~
Thank you so much for playing! ^^
Great story, the story was more straight forward, so playing through once onlt took about 3 hours. CG's are looking good, but I would encourage the artist to keep practicing if this is something they want to persue for a career. (Still a lot better than some of my own stuff lol) One recomendation I would have is the addition of the abillity to change the name of the MC. If not I can understand, but my reason for saying this is because the game shows the creaters have a lot of potential, and if this is something longterm it will be a good feature to have in these kind of projects. All in all, great work and gripping story! I wish all those who were a part of making this are proud of their work :)
Hi again and thanks for playing! Glad to know you enjoyed it, and sorry about the difference in art style and quality for the CGs (I drew most of them myself, and I have lots to improve on). As for the naming, I tried to keep a constant name so that the character can be referenced in sequels, but I'll keep your suggestion in mind for future projects! Once again, thanks for playing and leaving a comment!
I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED TO PLAY THIS YAY! Just wondering, is there a walkthough by any chance? (I have the worst luck with otome games and ALWAYS get bad endings without guides T-T)
Hi there! The walkthrough has just been released here: https://elseth.itch.io/of-frost-and-flowers/devlog/463915/ofaf-walkthrough. And don't worry, it shouldn't be TOO hard getting the good ends in OFAF... Or is it...? Haha, anyway, hope you have fun!
Great!! The art is gorgeous so I have little doubt I will love it :)
Had the game's demo on my backlog for quite a while, so I'm glad to find that the game is fully released when I revisited it again! (though this also act as an unpleasant reminder of how much of a procrastinator I am).
I actually regretted I didn't play this game sooner. The story is really engaging and I found myself so immersed that I went through all the three routes in one sitting. I was worried the game would be too short or too long, but that was an unfounded worry. I think each of the route has an appropriate length and ends satisfyingly. Alto is a great protagonist and I love her dynamics with all of the boys. It's actually pretty hard to pick a favorite, though I think I like sol a little bit more because I'm weak to childhood friends tropes.
All in all, it's a great game! Kudos to all of the team for their hard works! I managed to get 5 endings so far: 3 good endings and 2 bad endings (kisha's and sol's) by accident. I wonder if there are more endings I missed, so it'll be nice if you actually release a walkthrough!
Hi Mayyones! Thanks for playing OFAF and happy to know that you enjoyed it ^^
I've just released a walkthrough here: https://elseth.itch.io/of-frost-and-flowers/devlog/463915/ofaf-walkthrough (should've done it long ago, but I guess I'm also a procrastinator :P). And congrats on getting all endings! Yes, there are a total of 5 endings- Sol and Kisha has 2 good and bad endings each, while Lithiel has 1 good end.
Thanks again for taking your time to play and comment :D
Hi, I just finished playing the game and love it so far! It will be better if there is a walkthrough but I still finish the three routes.
The plot is interesting and well-written and I really enjoy playing it! Thanks for making this game, and I love the characters so much! They are all so cute!
Hi Cherrylmy, thank you for playing OFAF and glad you enjoyed it! Will make the walkthrough soon~
hi!, just came across this game today and it looks amazing (i love the art so much!) i was curious though is there a walkthough for the routes? or are getting on the routes pretty explanatory? ahah sorry im just one of those people that like to make sure i do everything perfectly;;
Hi Nikole! There's currently no walkthrough available, but thanks for reminding me- I'll make one soon and update in the devlog!
It should be pretty easy to get the bad and good ends of each route respectively though (Sol and Kisha have 2 endings each, and the mystery route has 1 end). Also note that the mystery route is only accessible after getting both Kisha and Sol's good end! Hope this helps and hope you enjoy the game~
Hi! I'm excited to try to play this game but...
Spoilers
Is Sol in love with Ellys? It comes across that way in the few minutes I've played. Childhood friends is my FAVORITE trope, but if he's already in love with the friend then I won't be able to handle it, and it's the only reason I can't continue the game until I find out. Please spoil that for me!
Hi TwirlyMuffin, thanks for playing the game and I'll just cut to the chase...
* spoilers? *
No, Sol is not in love with Ellys. :D
Hope that answer encourages you to play the game, haha.
Thank you so much for answering! I'm excited to play now. :)
this is my first time commenting, but i seriously love all your games and played most of them, i could understand some stuff since i played Crysmalia: dawn of darkness and KAIROS before playing this game.
spoiler
man i think this was before the events of Crysmalia: dawn of darkness, now i get to understand why Piero did the things he did (since Erika is his daughter).
and if i may ask was Lithiel the keeper of time, as in the one who used to bear the Memoria?
and depending on the route Alto chooses (the potential love interests) is it possible that Siena, Kain, and Ning Jun are related to her and the boys? just asking since i was curious hope i was not offensive
also wish you the best in your future endeavors, and thank you for such a lovely game.
p.s. I love all the characters in this game, but my favs are Kisha and Lithiel
Hi lonerwolfnanz!
Wow, thanks for playing C:DoD, KAIROS and OFAF! Really happy to know that the world of Gaia is familiar to you, and I hope this visual novel gives it a bit more depth.
* SPOILERS AHEAD *
Have you played Lithiel's route already? If you have, then Lithiel isn't the Keeper of the Memoria; in the Sky Realm, Chronos and Kairos are the only ones who could access it. There is a copy of the Memoria in the Sky Realm and another one in Gaia, which is kept by the Keeper tribe (not mentioned in OFAF).
There are no clear-cut references of Siena and Kain in OFAF, but there is an obvious one at the end of Lithiel's route, where you see young prince Terevska (if you've played C:DoD, Terevska is Ning Jun's old name). Also, if you've talked to the strange cloaked man in Hosheira Desert (Sol's route), he's actually one of Noir's colleagues (from C:DoD)! And don't worry, there's no way your question is offensive. I love answer questions regarding lore, hehe.
Thanks for playing OFAF once again, and good luck with your endeavours too :D
Thank you for explaining things to me, now i can understand the connection between the stories even better!
Thanks a lot!
Omg its all released<3
It indeed is~ Enjoy~
I finally finished the demo, and man... you have outdone yourself! Entering Gaia again, and seeing as it is a prequel to the Crysmalia RPG got me super hyped! The artwork in this is also especially gorgeous, the sprites are so cute and the CGs are brilliant. I was immediately drawn in the moment the game started, what a way to introduce the characters, and I love how the first choice dictates who saves Alto and the route the player will find themselves o.
The story itself is really engaging. I love how it explores more lore. I grin each time a country/region is mentioned, since I remember all the events from the previous games. I love despite the story's more serious tone, you always have many lighthearted and fun moments, like the banter between Alto and Sol, or the man trying to hit on Alto in the market, or The Desert Falcons book in the library. Very fun stuff!
Now to the routes themselves.....
I played Sol's route first. Childhood friends, ftw! Sol is an interesting character, and equally cares to find their missing friend, but his methods of doing so are questionable. Again I do love the banter between the two, and you really learn and can feel the bond Alto, Sol, as well as Ellys had which I think helps to connect players to why they so badly want to save her. The cliffhanger ending.... wow, how dare you end us there!!!
Then there's Kisha's route. Wow, he's so incredibly sweet, but is also mysterious. I felt the most emotions on his route. I really wonder who he is, and after the cliffhanger ending on THIS ROUTE, whoa.... I can't say much about Kisha's route without giving any spoilers but I really enjoyed it.
Overall, absolutely looking forward to the full release. This world has become so fleshed out with each game you release for it. You did a good job laying out the foundations and lore for the world for new players, as well as hype excitement for current fans. ^^
Aaaa thank you for playing, Kokoro~ Super glad you enjoyed it, and even more stoked that you remembered details of Gaia from other games! Look forward to the full release, can't wait to see how you react then! ^^
Little note, I love the amount of choices we get to make during the demo, it really feels like playing a story and not just reading it!
Granted this world seems to be very big, with multiple storylines and plots to explore, I felt a little overwhelmed at the beginning by the amount of names of places and people I read with no context for me to put them in, luckily towards the end of the demo I came to understand most of the things (Thanks to a very good trip to the library) and since this is a demo of a bigger game it totally makes sense that I don't get all the answers I want.
Keep the good work!
Hi, Hikiyami Moriko! Thanks for playing and streaming our game's demo! We're glad you enjoyed it! We'll take your comments into consideration, so perhaps we'll add more details about the lore and add more world building as we know it can get quite confusing at first. Thank you again and don't worry, there will be more choices in the full release! :D
look so cute and pretty
Yes, the artists did an amazing job!
Absolutely loved it!!!! But I wish it was the full game :<<<<
Hi, thanks for playing and glad you enjoyed the game!
I was excited to play this one and dfjdjsdahadhs you didn't disappoint me aaaah this was so good! I chose Kisha and I loved him so much!!
(I was a little sad when I saw it was a demo, but after playing and seeing how complex it is, I get why lol and I can't wait to see what is going to happen 😬😥)
Spoiler!!!
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When Alto does the flowers crown I was like "if he does not wear this I'm going to get pissed" and DHdsjsdjjddhd thank you so much for that CG 😭♥️♥️♥️ fbsfnfhfsj
Also… I got a little bitter with Sol 🤣🤣🤣I don't want yet to see his side of the story I'm still mad with what happened lol jyjtssjtfk
Hiya Alex_at_the_Moon! Glad to see you liked OFAF and the CG, our CG colorist and I had fun working on that! And haha, I see Kisha is going to be the popular one. I can see why you're mad with Sol lol, but trust me, he has a reason ;). Thank you again for playing and good luck with your future games!!
This... I want to see a lot more of this game!! 🥺
omg everything is so beautiful! I love the text box and characters' sprites... It's so pretty and their expressions are adorable 😭❤️❤️
I did Kisha's route first and I'm so happy with it 😍 The relationship between MC and him is so precious and easy to understand 🥺❤️
The story's pace is also very good to keep you wanting to see more and tHE CG IS TOO MUCH FOR MY HEART!! 😫🙏❤️
Kisha is a sweetheart 🥰 I fell in love with him right away, but in the end of his route I felt like he's going to make me cry a lot in the full game 👀 I can't wait for it lol
I loved this game and I'm very interested to know more about this world and the characters.
Congratulations on the release! I'll be around to see more for sure 🤗❤️
Hi demonbear! Thank you so much for playing OFAF's demo! And hehe glad to know you like Kisha! The pretty text boxes and sprite arts were made by our talented Sprite artist and GUI artist, so yep, thanks to them, and thanks to you for playing!! :D