The city is on fire, and the Devil is to blame - or is it? Two women must solve an occult-themed mystery set in an alternate 1980s while unraveling the secrets of their past. Hunt for clues and interrogate suspects in this interactive yuri visual novel.
Reviews View More
Forbidden gay romance, mystery and the occult? Sign me up!
Night Cascade is an occult mystery in an alternate '80s setting with captivating characters that are enhanced by atmospheric graphics and soundtrack. Diane and Jackie, who are old high school sweethearts, are set to work together on a mysterious case of ritualistic fires. They must learn to put past mistakes where they belong and come to terms with their underlying feelings for each other, while having to hide their sexuality.
Nigh Cascades was really interesting and very well made visual novel. I was hooked in by the element of mystery and occult, but also the way the artwork looks, it was stunning and so beautiful! The characters are so well designed and pretty, and their personalities are different and interesting. I was really happy with all artwork between the conversations and it really was great eye candy.
The gameplay mechanics were similar to your average visual novel, but there was two different "minigames" between Diane and Jackie. Diane's minigame is a search for all clues type of minigame and Jackie's is kind of like interrogation type of minigame. There is no different endings in the game, so there is no real choices in dialogue that would affect anything in the story, but other than that the game is really great.
If you enjoy pretty females, a good mystery and an easy 100% game to complete then it's definitely for you! Definitely recommended for all VN lovers!
Night Cascade is an occult mystery in an alternate '80s setting with captivating characters that are enhanced by atmospheric graphics and soundtrack. Diane and Jackie, who are old high school sweethearts, are set to work together on a mysterious case of ritualistic fires. They must learn to put past mistakes where they belong and come to terms with their underlying feelings for each other, while having to hide their sexuality.
Nigh Cascades was really interesting and very well made visual novel. I was hooked in by the element of mystery and occult, but also the way the artwork looks, it was stunning and so beautiful! The characters are so well designed and pretty, and their personalities are different and interesting. I was really happy with all artwork between the conversations and it really was great eye candy.
The gameplay mechanics were similar to your average visual novel, but there was two different "minigames" between Diane and Jackie. Diane's minigame is a search for all clues type of minigame and Jackie's is kind of like interrogation type of minigame. There is no different endings in the game, so there is no real choices in dialogue that would affect anything in the story, but other than that the game is really great.
If you enjoy pretty females, a good mystery and an easy 100% game to complete then it's definitely for you! Definitely recommended for all VN lovers!
Night Cascades is an interactive, kinetic (single route, no choices) Visual Novel that was released in 2022. It was developed and published by Hanako Games of ‘Long Live The Queen’ fame!
Night Cascades is a cult-themed mystery thriller that takes place in the 1980’s and features a pair of women protagonists who not only have a series of crimes to solve, but also must tackle their relationship issues from the past. Perhaps the real mystery is will they or won’t they get together!
I found the writing to be very solid and enjoyable. The mystery is good and there is a logical progression in the investigation as well as the overall plot. All of the characters, both major and minor, had a distinctive feel to them; everything they said felt right, like it was something they’d say. There are a lot of times where you can read the protagonists’ thoughts, which helps add to their characterization, giving them a more personal feel to the reader, and also gives a sense of having walked in their shoes.
Speaking of the characters, I thought that the models were positively fantastic. The models lean very heavily into realism yet all contain this refined, beautiful edge to them that keeps them from looking gritty or too realistic. Furthermore, the backgrounds are all handmade and have that same aesthetic of pseudo-realism. Truly, the game is very pleasing to look at.
At first, I found the font a bit hard to read but as I spent more time with it I got used to it and it wasn’t an issue at all, so maybe that was a me problem, but I thought I’d mention that for clarity’s sake. The choice of yellow text was a great choice and fit the text box well.
The textbox of whomever's point of view you are currently reading from has a nice oval-shape that reminds me of a rear-view mirror (which is appropriate because the characters spend a decent amount of time in a car) and is see-through so you can see the background/character models on the other side. I wish more visual novels had text boxes that allowed me to see everything that’s on the other side of them. I really hate missing out on parts of images when there is no reason for it.
The music was amazing and really helped sell the 80’s vibe to me. I’m of the opinion that it has a very jazzy feel to it.
Transition screens are handled in an intelligent and creative way. Whenever traveling to a new location, the game transitions to a map of the town and shows a dot traveling across it until the destination is reached, which it then changes to.
Perhaps the only part of the game that I felt wasn’t as great as it could have been were the interactive elements that I had previously mentioned in passing. The interactive elements/minigames are unique to which character you are playing as. One of them has you clicking whatever you see that you think is relevant to the case for clues and it tells you the number of them you need to find. There’s even a handy hint that you can click on if you get stuck.
The other character has what is called intuition mode which has a wavy thing it wants you to follow and then click when you see an eye icon. Following the waves was such a pain for me and I didn’t fully understand it, so I just opted to click everywhere until I saw the eye. I also didn't see any rhyme or reason to where I'd click giving the results it did. For example, there’s an instance where I had to click on the street and it follows up with a conversation about a character being a boy scout, great, but what does that have to do with the road I just clicked on to get that intuition?
The minigame just felt tacked on. It wasn’t awful and I appreciate the attempt to do something new and immersive, but it just didn’t work for me.
It took me three and a half hours to read through it and it regularly clocks in at a price point of $10. I’m a pretty quick reader so it might run most people around four or five hours to get through the entire thing. That might be a bit of a turn off to some, but I’d gladly take a tightened and well-paced experience rather than a rambling slog.
Really though, if that one small, insignificant thing is all I can find to rag on - and it is - then I have to say that this is a very solid visual novel and well worth experiencing!
Night Cascades is a cult-themed mystery thriller that takes place in the 1980’s and features a pair of women protagonists who not only have a series of crimes to solve, but also must tackle their relationship issues from the past. Perhaps the real mystery is will they or won’t they get together!
I found the writing to be very solid and enjoyable. The mystery is good and there is a logical progression in the investigation as well as the overall plot. All of the characters, both major and minor, had a distinctive feel to them; everything they said felt right, like it was something they’d say. There are a lot of times where you can read the protagonists’ thoughts, which helps add to their characterization, giving them a more personal feel to the reader, and also gives a sense of having walked in their shoes.
Speaking of the characters, I thought that the models were positively fantastic. The models lean very heavily into realism yet all contain this refined, beautiful edge to them that keeps them from looking gritty or too realistic. Furthermore, the backgrounds are all handmade and have that same aesthetic of pseudo-realism. Truly, the game is very pleasing to look at.
At first, I found the font a bit hard to read but as I spent more time with it I got used to it and it wasn’t an issue at all, so maybe that was a me problem, but I thought I’d mention that for clarity’s sake. The choice of yellow text was a great choice and fit the text box well.
The textbox of whomever's point of view you are currently reading from has a nice oval-shape that reminds me of a rear-view mirror (which is appropriate because the characters spend a decent amount of time in a car) and is see-through so you can see the background/character models on the other side. I wish more visual novels had text boxes that allowed me to see everything that’s on the other side of them. I really hate missing out on parts of images when there is no reason for it.
The music was amazing and really helped sell the 80’s vibe to me. I’m of the opinion that it has a very jazzy feel to it.
Transition screens are handled in an intelligent and creative way. Whenever traveling to a new location, the game transitions to a map of the town and shows a dot traveling across it until the destination is reached, which it then changes to.
Perhaps the only part of the game that I felt wasn’t as great as it could have been were the interactive elements that I had previously mentioned in passing. The interactive elements/minigames are unique to which character you are playing as. One of them has you clicking whatever you see that you think is relevant to the case for clues and it tells you the number of them you need to find. There’s even a handy hint that you can click on if you get stuck.
The other character has what is called intuition mode which has a wavy thing it wants you to follow and then click when you see an eye icon. Following the waves was such a pain for me and I didn’t fully understand it, so I just opted to click everywhere until I saw the eye. I also didn't see any rhyme or reason to where I'd click giving the results it did. For example, there’s an instance where I had to click on the street and it follows up with a conversation about a character being a boy scout, great, but what does that have to do with the road I just clicked on to get that intuition?
The minigame just felt tacked on. It wasn’t awful and I appreciate the attempt to do something new and immersive, but it just didn’t work for me.
It took me three and a half hours to read through it and it regularly clocks in at a price point of $10. I’m a pretty quick reader so it might run most people around four or five hours to get through the entire thing. That might be a bit of a turn off to some, but I’d gladly take a tightened and well-paced experience rather than a rambling slog.
Really though, if that one small, insignificant thing is all I can find to rag on - and it is - then I have to say that this is a very solid visual novel and well worth experiencing!
This was fantastic, and everything I could have wanted. A queer occult neo-noir thriller is everything I ever wanted from a game, and this delivers on all points. I love everything about the game -- the 80's aesthetic, the music, the pining, the fact that we're playing as adults rather than teens fumbling through their sexuality. That last bit is a breath of fresh air, actually -- as an adult myself, it's nice to play a queer VN with characters who I feel I can actually relate to, rather than who feel like I did fifteen years ago. Plus, it's written respectfully and realistically -- it's very clearly from a queer creator for a queer audience, rather than feeling like it's a fetishized romance for straight guys wanting to get off. I also loved the crimes, and the way the mystery was presented. I felt like I was genuinely figuring it out alongside the protagonists, and it was delightful. I can only hope the tease at the end was true, and that there's a sequel coming eventually. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.