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Visual novel game 'ELEGIES: Aya' boasts Pinoy-made artwork
A Filipino artist is creating artwork for a visual novel game entitled "ELEGIES: Aya," whose demo is already out on Steam and itch.io.
Under development by Dream Squircle, a new indie game developer based in Germany, "ELEGIES: Aya" is "a modern-day thriller visual novel" about a boy who, after suffering a great tragedy, meets an impossible girl.
"After losing his parents and barely escaping his burning home, Zach wakes up in the hospital where he meets Aya," said Dream Squircle about their game.
"But there is more to Aya than what meets the eye, for it turns out that she's... a ghost! What's the deal with Aya, and why can only Zach see her?"
"Join Zach and Aya on their journey of overcoming trauma and discovering the mysteries surrounding Aya's past. Only by working together can they conquer the difficulties they soon will face."
The game features character art by Lawnielle, a Filipino artist whose background includes creating visual novel artwork and co-founding a virtual YouTuber production team.
As Character Designer for "ELEGIES: Aya," Lawnielle is responsible for designing and illustrating Zach, Aya, and every other character in the game.
Dream Squircle founder Jürgen Christl discovered Lawnielle through Twitter. Christl immediately sent Lawnielle an offer to join the team as a character artist.
"We agreed really quickly on the terms of our collaboration and since then, Lawnielle has drawn eight visually stunning characters and six beautiful CGs (special scenes with the characters inserted into them) for our game since March 2022, with many more to come," said Christl.
Christl described Lawnielle as someone who is a great pleasure to work with and who is "always giving their all to ensure [the] game will be a great success."
"You really have to put a lot of effort into designing each character that the game needs," said Lawnielle.
According to Christl, Dream Squircle is "an international team of eight people from different backgrounds working together remotely from all over the world." Lawnielle is the only Filipino on the team.
"I'm proud that another Filipino is designing a visual novel game based in Germany that has a Japanese anime style of illustrations," said Lawnielle.
Lawnielle's character art can also be seen in Malheur Games' visual novel "Once More," which saw Early Access release in October 2021. He also co-founded Crescent Link Productions and designed one of its VTubers, Haniel.
"ELEGIES: Aya" is due for release this February 2023 via Steam. Players can expect 5 to 7 hours of gameplay and different endings based on the choices they make throughout the game.
The demo, which was released this August 5, features 20 to 30 minutes of gameplay, original backgrounds and character images in 2k resolution, original music, and funny and emotional writing.
—MGP, GMA News
