Let's talk about Yokai

Hello everyone,

Today I want to talk about... Yokai (I swear I wanted to put something funny here but everything I thought of was either not funny or could cause a commotion in the comments, so I gave up :x)

Because it's something that doesn't show a lot in the base story, but there's a bit more to it than just giving wolf ears to Matsuri. I made some searching back then, tried to find something that was both interesting and fitting (both geographically AND for the story.)

Otohime Gitsune is a Yokai legend in Niigata, which is the region SoVO and SoVR occur in. I didn't chose her randomly. The fact she helps farmers and all was all thought. Reina also has her little back story, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a moment before discovering it (or even discovering what kind of Yokai she is, feel free to take a guess in the meantime :x)

I've always tried to set my games as deeply rooted in Japan as possible. Of course, there are tons of liberties I'm taking either because it's easier or not doable otherwise and a game can ALWAYS look more Japanese (unless you're called Ghost of Tsushima but I'd have no problem making an H game the level of that game if you gave me its budget 8D). But when I started thinking about implementing Yokai in the game it felt like an obvious thing to do.

Yokai are a trend (and some of you would say I'm jumping on it, I couldn't argue with it). Look at the shittons of work around them (notably Yokai Watch which helped). They've actually been so popular that now, everyone propose their own version. If in hentai, Hanako is more or less always depicted the same (though her age can GREATLY vary depending on the wish of the author), the popular manga Toilet-bound Hanako-kun turns her into a boy. That's one of the wonderful thing with Yokai: whether they're old stories from 300 years ago or urban legends from 50 years ago, they have different versions depending on the region and all, making it much more flexible.

As such, if I want to make Otohime Gitsune look like Matsuri, then I can. And while I'm making research to try and find Yokai living around the Niigata region to make it more credible, if I mess up a bit with their design or their behaviour, it's fine as well. That's why the game will feature what is called the "Yokai Farm".

It's not a place where you farm Yokai (I'm telling that to MMORPG players) nor a place where you breed Yokai (I'm telling that to... Breeding Season players? *insert risitas meme*). It's just that they found shelter in an abandonned farm. Hence the name.

Inside, you'll find mostly friendly Yokai and floating souls that represent Yokai that are disappearing from the world because less and less people know/remember them. It's going to be a bit deep but while the original idea is pretty trivial (I got inspired by Freddy vs Jason, where Freddy revives Jason because he needs people to remember him to be able to haunt their dreams) the older I get the more I think about the fact that unless your name is credited somewhere forever because you've done something awesome or you've been popular, the second all the people who know you die, you REALLY disappear from the world. Like, your whole existence. Believe it or not, one of the reasons that made me want to do games is because I want to leave something behind me after I die. The thought of having lived a life without leaving a mark is terifying me ^^'

Anyway, those Yokai are slowly fading from the world and the different girls will have to do something to help them. There's one Yokai per girl to "bring back". The other Yokai will either remain as souls (until a girl bring them back as well) or will have their normal shape. Even if you're not versed into Yokai, you might recognize one or two. The most famous ones I implemented are Ao Oni & Aka Oni. The Yokai overseeing the farm is Nuppeppo (if you fancy Googling him :p). There are other Yokai. Some will just be there to give some consistence to the map, and other will have more importance.

Now I suppose you're all thinking: "That's nice, Ark, but if we wanted to play Yokai Watch, we'd be on our consoles, not playing your game." And you'd be right. Of cooooooourse you'll get to have smutty smutty time with some of them. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly (you'll understand in the case of Yuki's Yokai). But yeah, the girls will be able to have some H time with them. And I'd rather tell you right away, in the case of some girls (notably Yuki), the most disgusting stuff planned for the game will be there :x

As of today, I don't know yet if I'll have the time to implement everything I want for the coming update. The farm is ready as well as the way to unlock it (don't worry, it's automatic through another quest.) For the rest, I can't promise anything. Basically, through this month and the next one I'm building both this part of the game as well as Akiko's part, hence why I don't know exactly what will be ready (it doesn't rely on me only as well.) But in an ideal world, the update before we leave for Japan will contain everything related to Akiko and a good amount of the Yokai content for Yuki (the very extreme stuff will have to wait, though, because, you know... skill tree locking and stuff ^^')

Anyway, that's all for today!

See ya o/