Love & Dehumanization

i got this game on recommendation and holy smokes. long story short, this is easily my favorite visual novel i have played to date. it's funny, it's adorable, it's heart-wrenching, it's personal, it's vulnerable, and it's, well, it's just beautiful. the whole thing radiates love and understanding. 

i paid extra close attention to the presentation, the story, the prose and the characters and even took notes as part of a little Visual Novel study project i'm doing. my SUMMARIZED notes for this game are 6 pages and quickly go from gushing about the presentation to gushing about every little plot detail and character interaction! there is so much to learn from this game about how to do a VN right.

i usually struggle to come back to VNs even when i love them bc i like to multitask, but this game was so easy to return to and get immersed in. 

the characters are gorgeous and the body diversity was so freaking refreshing. seriously, i adore the presentation and musical choices! the sound design was so charming and non-intrusive, and always brought a smile to my face.

it's very rare to find a story like this that is so blunt with its messaging and its content without feeling hand-holdy. it doesn't leave much up to metaphor, and the metaphors that we see are obvious in a really great way AND creative as heck!

the content warnings are freaking GENIUS. i've been thinking of how to do this exact thing, worrying it would be an annoyance, but this game freaking NAILS its content warnings by giving everyone the choice to engage with them but not making it a mandatory thing. i'll be remembering that for my own projects...

i've found it's really hard to find erotic visual novels from a female perspective that actually feel like they were written for and by said perspective, and Love & Dehumanization is ABSOLUTELY gay as hell - FRICK YES. the erotic scenes didn't feel voyeuristic in an alienating way, and balanced its sexual and emotional content beautifully. there was something so matter-of-fact about them that i deeply loved.

all in all, Love & Dehumanization is absolutely worth your time whether or not you can personally relate to the game's core themes. i could gush for hours about how it presents its themes, how it shows that Melody isn't alone (in so many beautiful ways, literal or otherwise), but i'll leave it at: this game is all Heart. every second of it was a pleasure. if you're reading this comment and haven't played it for yourself, i genuinely recommend it if it even interests you a little.

I'm going to be quite frank in this comment. I was expecting a cute little kinky game and I got a whole lot more than I bargained for (in a great way). "I" am actually we...we're a system, the membership of which includes not only some freaky masochists /aff but also some members with deep feelings of self-hatred. This project really spoke to us and honestly we cried a lot. We're crying even as we write this comment, because this has really affected us. We'll certainly be doing some serious introspection after this...
So I guess to wrap this up...thank you. Thank you so much for making and sharing this. We wish you the best of luck in your journey ♥

This game is fire. I first thought it will be common dark kinky vn but it turned out with insanely great story. Every aspect is made just right. All the sounds, music, visual effects and especially pixel art fits so well in that story. I was wondering at first that this game looks a little silly and wasn't very polished but all this little messed up stuff adds a strange yet cozy and comfortable feeling to the story.

I really appreciate your hard work on that, I know how hard it is to make a whole game with a few resources. Even if it's just a VN with some animations (which are goat) everything is made perfect. I'm very grateful for making such rebellious or maybe revolting story and theme. It's my first commentary on this site and I'm happy to say thanks to you, Aria, and everyone who helped in this tough path.♡

Thank you for this game, it truley gave me something to think about when approting my masochisme and kinda helped me understand we it can turn sour for me so fast, so thank you.
I also wanna thank you for the souls/system representaion, this felt very safe and nice and i felt very seen in a aspect of my life i in no way exprected to be here, especially the way the thought i was something supernatual.. guilty! and they way they worked together in the end, giveing space and in turn being validated wow
I have seen a lot of things that half represented me and this feels very genuine  
so again thank you

do you have a way i can donate some money too you for you hard work, this touched me more then most games i have played like at all, and i feel like i wanna give something back

with love from Lava and their system 

Holy shit. From the bottom of my heart--the darkest, deepest recesses: thank you. You have put a lot of my thoughts into words. That's so crazy to me!! I think it's funny (for lack of a better word) reading this story about a woman who feels like no one else understands her, and as the reader being like "oh my god I get her exactly!" which means that there are other people who understand!! What a lovely, comforting little paradoxical sensation. Caya's feelings resonated with me especially hard. I don't want to spoil anyone of the reading experience, but the screen that ends with "The natural conclusion of my existence." Wow. I just never expected these exact feelings of mine to be understood and shared and respected. And then againreading other comments here like, there's even more people who share these feelings???????

I really love your straightforward writing style. I really love all the sound effects and animations too. Every time I heard that shatter.. I was like GIRL ME TOO! my head just also made that sound!

And the fact that its a bunch of gay women in there!! Makes me so incredibly happy. Seeing these topics explored with just sapphic relations is so so special thank you again. Man, lesbians figuring out their sexuality in any regard always makes me cry. Thank you women. Thank you beast tamer lady.. I wish you were real...

I don't typically leave comments on like anything but I feel compelled to with this vn because it had me feeling very emotional/vulnerable and very seen. I'm going to try not to spoil anything too much and still get all my thoughts out as best as I can.

This was such a good way to explore how some people use bdsm as a way to deal with trauma or self loathing. I love that it shows how if it's approached wrong it can further traumatize someone but it can also be super liberating and healing if done right!

As a queer and trans person the theme of sexuality affecting self worth and making it feel like you are inherently unlovable or somehow undeserving of basic human decency really touched me.I also really understand that feeling of being disconnected from ones own body both in the trans dysphoria way and in the disassociation because of trauma way.

And I wanna talk about the reveal in the 3rd chapter but I don't wanna give away such a big thing either... I think you handled something really well that is frequently shown in a super stigmatized and negative light. I don't want to assume anything about you personally but it felt very much like it was coming from first hand experience. If it's not something you personally experience, then I'm even more impressed by how well it was depicted and handled! Honestly, the way mental health things are shown in this vn in general is really well done!

I hope you feel proud of yourself because you deserve to. This vn was amazing and I can tell a lot of heart and effort went into making it! I hope you do make another game eventually but please take care of yourself first and foremost. Thanks for making and sharing this.I'm really glad I played it.

i need to leave a comment here but i don't have the exact words to describe how much i love this vn so just know it got me out of a bad writer's block and permanently altered my brain chemistry.

I was brought here from YouTuber Amelie Doree mentioning this game in one of her videos, and right off the bat, I'd like to thank you for not only the content warnings, but also the option to view a detailed version of those content warnings. Whether or some things may be potentially upsetting can be incredibly situational (I know it is for me), so it's a very thoughtful option to put into a game, and especially one like this.

I love the setup / "world" of this game, the interesting and unique ways this leads to how sexuality is viewed, and the pixel art (really added to the RPG feel)! That said, though, this game's most striking quality is its writing. You've taken very difficult-to-understand concepts (even and especially for the people who know them most intimately), and boiled them down to such easy, impactful language. It's a truly amazing feat, and everyone involved should be very proud.

I related to Melody a lot (he said, in a manner much like someone who had grown up Catholic and was taught that sexual desire was sin to punish), but even I have struggled to categorize these feelings. I still struggle with a deep sense of shame and self-hatred for these things, so playing this game was (and I mean this in an EXTREMELY positive way) like getting smacked across the face HARD every two seconds with a revelation about myself, all of which were often equal parts relieving and painful. Needless to say, I'm going to be laying on my back and staring at the ceiling for a LOOONG while after posting this review, lol!! It's a huge weight off of my shoulders to finally be able to understand this side of myself. I couldn't have reached that understanding without this game, and for that, I thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful piece of art. I will be recommending it to anyone who will listen, whenever topics of fantasies of this nature come up.

thank you so much for sharing your experience. with the original credits I was impressed with how many people worked on this, but with the real credits it did make more sense haha (me trying to figure out, wait, what does set design mean in the context of a KN??).

It gives really good context for how BDSM and things that would normally be considered dehumanizing, can be caring when offered with care. I really liked how you showed how this can work for different sorts of people. I think the reveal around the fairy character was really lovely, since we don't really know the whole context of the world. It's hinted at, so I like that those hints follow through. 

I also think the way that the world was defined made for a useful mechanism for telling the story you wanted to tell. 

Maybe 2 hours playtime seems short compared to the amount of the time you put into it, and that it may only be seen by a few people. But I think it speaks to the heart that you put into it that people felt seen or changed by it. That's not something to underestimate. 

I have so many things to say yet so little ways to say them. I... dunno... I love and hate myself more at the same time.

I've never experienced anything even remotely close to what I'm feeling right now.

    This was recommended to me, and I couldn't have loved it more. It put these really complicated emotions in a more understandable, less existentially devastating way, and I'm grateful for this game. Thanks!

wow, this is really good. it's funny, has a cute art style, and has so many emotional moments and a story that's very relatable at times. as someone who's also had complicated feelings of self-hatred and learning to love myself for who I am, this was really impactful to me. thank you so much for making this, it's really something special.

wonderful game, thank you for making it! the amount of humanity and warmth put into this story is amazing and not something everyone can do. it truly feels like a creation meant to extend a hand to others experiencing similar doubts, and the warmth made me feel happy as well... keep up the good work!

Absolutely beautiful read, I thoroughly enjoyed Love and Dehumanization. The desire to be love and accepted when you can't help but see yourself as never being able to fit in, contrasted with the reclamation of what from the outset could be seen as ritualistic sexual self harm to cope - fully embracing that and letting go of the guilt and allowing yourself to accept that as a part of you, and that if you let them, other people can and will understand you. The world created was also really interesting as I initially wasn't expecting it. The very concept of life and death as this expendable exchange, and the complete distancing of humanity when one allows themselves to become a monster... My thoughts are a bit jumbled because I'm still very much hot off the heals of reading through but I really must sing my praises to this work I found on a whim.

EDIT: I don't know if this counts as a spoiler or not but I want to say the revelations in chapter 3 and the exploration of that was something I wasn't expecting at all but it had me absolutely hooked - super refreshing I've never seen it handled with such grace before especially within the exploration of sexuality and the balance for control.

One of the most excellent things I've played for ages, so well made, drawn + written with such a lot of thought, humour and maturity about relationships to being a person. A real one for the soul. Awesome music too. Thank you!

what a lovely game! the themes really struck a chord with me. the unflinching earnestness of the writing and how much (emotional) ground you covered in the runtime was seriously impressive. the pixel art was also really evocative. thank you for making and sharing your work with the world!

That was great! Made me feel a lot of things, didn't expect the part about systems which was amazing for me :o

I super loved this game. Just so much fun, really grabbed me from the very start, I think the concept of people being able to revive changing how sex works will stay with me for a long time. I love the worldbuilding! I love the characters! I love the art! It's such an inspiration, I never thought a visual novel could look and work like this. Really great pacing, I always wanted to see what happened next. The presentation is fantastic. I really, really liked the main font you used and immediately downloaded it.

The core themes really resonated with me. I have my own hang ups about things deeply embedded in me. The same fear and worry about people not liking me because of them. I thought about that while playing. "It's probably too late for me to be a normal person." But I still want to make art that speaks to me, which means embracing that side, even if I can only do so pseudonymously. Your game inspires me to do that. Thank you! 

Thank you for making this game!! I can’t really understand Aria and Melody’s feelings, but I can empathise with their struggles of self-acceptance, and the vulnerability and sincerity shown in this game.

I especially appreciate the use of humour. The RPG fantasy worldbuilding, the comedic timing in animations. The game embraces its own silliness, instead of dangling it at arm’s length as a cheap joke. Instead of cheapening the sentiment, the humour disarms and sets up contrast for the heavy stuff. It reminds me of the thesis in Patricia Taxxon’s essay “Art, Furries, God”.

Probably the most personally touching visual novel I've read in a long time. I'm struggling to find the words to describe my experience, other than I can tell a simply amazing amount of love and effort went into it, and not just to put virtual paintbrush and inkpen to virtual paper - it touches on a lot of ideas and themes that aren't easy to even talk about, let alone express so beautifully.

I struggle a bit to think of myself as a kinkster, since there's not a lot I've done irl or any trauma I can point to. But I saw a lot of myself in every major character. Their desires all felt very real, despite how brutal and bizarre they were.

I wish I could say how this has changed me, but words fail. Do I understand myself better? Other people? The world? Maybe.

Thank you so much. I'll be thinking of the erotic and horrifying parts of this VN a lot.

i don’t want to go into too much detail here, but wow, i’m stunned by how relatable this entire game was for me lmao. it’s adorable and loving and made me feel seen in a way i never thought i would be. thank you for making it.

I really enjoyed this game. It’s hard to go into details without writing an analysis that’s half as interesting as the game itself, but I’ll just say I found this a worthwhile exploration of how reclaiming “violent” sexual fantasies can help resist alienation.

It explores a wide array of kinks like BDSM and vore. The latter especially amused me since I don’t share the fascination, but I’m beginning to see the appeal.

Definitely recommended to people who are interested in discussions of sex and trauma.

Holy shit this presentation is ~decadent~. It feels like every three or four lines of dialogue there's some new bespoke image asset or change to the background to accentuate the feelings in the story. I can't imagine how much work this was, but the end result is drop-dead gorgeous. Dead Girl's Notebook was already insane with the VN presentation stuff but this goes several levels harder.

Cried a lot at the story!! I think this is your strongest writing so far. You crunched hard to make this but it doesn't feel at all like a jam game, it feels totally finished and uncompromised. I seriously can't imagine making a VN this long, this asset-intensive, and this polished in just three and a half months, it makes perfect sense that you need a break after all that.

Really really appreciate the intensity of violence and gore in the first chapter. I think if you'd played that more softly it would've cheapened the impact of the rest of the story. The smut and violent scenes in general are really delightful and well-done; the chuuni-as-hell chapter 5 fight is a highlight for sure.

Thanks for making this, friend <3 Dead Girl's Notebook was a huge joyful surprise to me when I played it, it's very wonderful that your follow-up VN is so fleshed out and excellent. Please don't feel like you need to one-up this scope/presentation next time or I think you might die in real life

God, this game's so cute. Disarmingly so, even; the story grapples with some deeply relatable stuff as a queer person working through deeply-held self-esteem stuff with a supportive partner. I find your work often very relatable, but this one really struck a chord.

Fantastic VN direction, and stellar use of Rengoku-Teien music too xD Thank you for this!

I find drama usually very messy, and even then this is made with so much vested energy that it's exciting.