The Divine Speaker - Extended Demo Impressions

Extended Demo Release: August 12, 2020
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"Does fate not exist after all?"

"The Divine Speaker" is an upcoming fantasy BL game by indie dev Two and a Half Studios. The demo is SFW with some slight spiciness but the game will be 18+ at release and in multiple languages. (Maybe I can replay this in multiple languages to help with my foreign language learning. 🤣)

Follow alongside Raen - an orphan from the secluded city of Aurelia Cavella, the only civilization on the entire planet... or so they're told.

Abandoned for his poor Judgement, the "destiny" given to him by the Divine Speaker, he grew up thinking his life would be plain and unexciting, and that's exactly how he liked it.

However, that all changes when he's expelled from his home on a death sentence, cast out into the vast and dangerous forest that surround Aurelia Cavella.

Raen must finally come to terms with the fact that there might be something else out there after all - and there's more to Aurelia Cavella than first meets the eye.

Honestly it was a complete accident finding this game and I'm so glad I did! Lots of gushing below the cut because this was such a delight. 

Leos (CV: Jonah Scott)

This cg and his other knife cg are kinda hot don't @ me

"Sorry, I tend not to listen to people who are talking out of their asses."

A resident of Aurelia Cavella like Raen (CV: Jacob Wilson), Leos is a tsundere through and through. He's brash and sarcastic and likes the thrill that comes with fighting, but of course there's hints of a squishy side underneath. Although him and Raen don't start on the best or most ideal of situations, I enjoyed seeing his walls start to slowly chip away too. Sure he's "obligated" to stay with Raen, but we all know that's just a front as time goes on heh. Besides, Raen's not the only one experiencing epiphanies of the world. 

Fawn (CV: Nick Chang)

"The beauty is hiding danger, but the danger is also hiding beauty."

A shy cinnamon roll that I absolutely adore. He also sings and talks to animals and is literally a Disney Princess lol. Compared to Raen, Fawn is surprisingly knowledgeable about the outside world despite living majority of his life in a deep forest. He gets embarrassed easily - especially with some of the questions Raen ends up asking him - but it also seems like there's more to his story than meets the eye.

P.S. His whole outfit is a look™ and the possibility that the crop top belongs to Leos is hilarious

Cyne (CV: Edward A. Mendoza)

"You know me, I'm a generous guy. Anything to help you out."

Cyne is a well-off young man who is elusive about answering questions regarding his personal life as well as someone who enjoys the more *ahem* carnal pleasures of life. He decides to tag along after meeting the group in a certain establishment, but his reasons for doing so are just as elusive. 

System

This demo has your standard array of VN functions, such as a backlog, auto, gallery, etc. If you need to rewind back a few lines, you can conveniently do so with the mouse wheel! The auto text speed is already perfect imo, but of course it's also adjustable in the settings. The UI is general is very sleek, and I appreciated how smooth the transitions were between scenes or menu options.

There's also a detailed dictionary! Special keywords will pop up in different colored text - pink for new words and blue for updates - which leads to a dictionary entry when clicked. 

Throughout the whole demo there were only a few errors I noticed, either slight typos or the voice acting not matching completely with text, but it's hardly a distraction. 

Art

How dare this game include so many pretty characters that I can't romance?! Seriously everyone with a sprite is gorgeous. Special NPC shoutouts to Nikos and Lilas for being absolute cuties. Illran is also not that bad looking himself either.

Speaking of pretty- WOW the art!! I'm just.. wow. It's so good. And apparently the final version will have over 100 cgs! Σ(･口･) I'm seriously in love with every cg, be still my beating heart. The lead character artist who deserves so much praise is Fuyuure (who also worked on the recent BL/Otome game "Royal Alchemist").

Visually, the Divine Speaker is such a babe, it's a shame he's not a love interest. 😂 Then again, it would be a little odd dating someone who supposedly saw you as a baby. Apparently he knew Raen's father though... An interesting relation that will no doubt continue to be explored in the full game. 👀

I also really like how the sprites have that like daytime/nighttime effect and are even affected by the environment, such as sunlight streaming through leaves. They're already so polished, but it's the little things that help bring even more life to it, yknow?

Speaking of sprites, Raen has a lovely shirtless sprite.. I can only hope the other boys will too. 😉 

I can also only hope that there will be more adorable instances of characters randomly popping in from other directions. I laughed so much when Fawn's sprite just slid in from the top of screen because he was climbing a tree. 

And of course, our protagonist and 3 wonderful Love Interests all have amazing sprites. I wouldn't be able to pick a favorite because I love all the variations. 💖

BGM & Audio

This demo has a wide range of tracks available already, and of course has that nice fantasy feel. The demo also conveniently has a music box gallery in Extras, which I really enjoy. 

Shout out to their composer Efe Tozan! One of my favorite tracks already is during the suspenseful scenes because it's just. 👌 And while you can't find it (yet?) in the Music Box, another favorite of mine is "The Forgotten," a harp/vocal piece added to the extended demo, which is performed by Emi Evans (yes, from Nier Automata!). Below is a soundcloud playlist of sample BGMs from the game as well. That first song and Pained Whisper in the playlist are also other favorites of mine.

Gabmag · The Divine Speaker OST

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this demo has voice acting! ⭐ I don't always expect it in indie games but it's such a treat when there is, so I always feel so spoiled when there's acting hehe.

The only VA I'm familiar with is Jonah Scott thanks Seduce Me but everyone involved did a phenomenal job! Not to sound like a broken record, but kudos to the cast - the quality, authenticity, and care taken definitely helps make the characters feel even more alive.

P.S. I love that there's actually some singing by Fawn during the inn scene! So sweet. 😊

Characters

For being just a demo there's so much content! The devs really weren't kidding when they said "extended."

Real talk, Raen's backstory gave me some Lamento vibes: Orphaned boy who receives a curse that manifests as a tattoo on his arm and is forced to run off into the dangerous forest while experiencing prophetic dreams. However, that didn't deter me from playing at all, and I loved seeing the direction the game would be going. Despite any parallels, it felt fresh thanks to how unique the world building is.

I also really like how all the character mesh or not so mesh together, and the resulting banter is hilarious. Honestly, it's my kinda humor haha. I'm invested in every character with a sprite so far, main and side characters alike. I don't want to say too much about the main characters because then I'll just end up gushing forever but.. I just love them okay haha.

・ﾟ✧・ﾟ✧・ﾟ✧ Final Thoughts・ﾟ✧・ﾟ✧・ﾟ✧

It's been a while since I last played a BL game and it was a lot of fun! I was so engrossed in the story that I had to make myself stop binge playing and take reasonable breaks lmao. 

I'm really enjoying the characterization & development of everyone, including the NPCs, and I appreciate how the player gets a chance to really learn about the main cast rather than jump straight to mindless smut - especially considering Raen's circumstances. 

I'm so interested in seeing Raen's growth as a character as he goes through a journey of self-discovery to unlearn the lies he was taught growing up. And to learn the concept of LOVE good lord. And there's element after element of mystery that immediately has me hooked. I have my theories about some things, and I'm excited to see how they'll pan out. 👀 

The pacing and writing is overall great. Naturally there's plenty of fanservice-y tension, but not everything is all fun and games. There's a darkness in the world... something that's encroached upon numerous corners of the world. While of course I'd be happy with just a fluffy BL game, I'm really invested in this mystery now heh.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there's bad endings in the demo already! Oh man, the suspense leading up to that was intense and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. In a way, I enjoyed the thrill of how following or ignoring the advice you were given makes it clear that you can be heading towards a bad end: You know it's coming but you don't know when it'll hit! And the other bad ending where you have to "choose?" Ooof. I can only hope that future bad ends are just as captivating.

The world building of course is just as fascinating. A land ruled by once a king and divine speaker, with some bad blood between them? A lost lineage? Disappearing townsfolk? A small village that to one person is just a myth, but to another is literally their whole world? Magic?? I'm ecstatic to uncover more of this expansive world. 

So far my favorite LIs are definitely a tie between Fawn and Leos. I especially love the dialogue and interactions with gentle and sweet Fawn.. my heart is so full. I know this is probably due to a good chunk of the demo beginning being spent with Fawn, but I really wouldn't mind playing a whole game of just him haha. And of course I am weak to tsuns, so how could I ignore this perfect one in front of me~? I'm still a little neutral with Cyne, but to be fair he received the least amount of screen time. (I'm also possibly having some mixed feelings with his trope? But we'll see how it pans out lol)

Although it's non-canon, the post-credits scene is super adorable. No context favorite scene: "You really have killer legs."

I just still can't believe I've never heard of this!? This is definitely a game to keep on my radar. I don't know how accurate it is still, but I saw an older post that showed an estimate price of $30 and I'd happily pay that for such a stellar game as this. This is already such a polished game full of love and I can tell the final product is going to be amazing! Anyone who doesn't try this is missing out.

Until next time~! (*´∀`*)