Whispers of the Luminaries - New Cover Art and Major Updates! news

NEW COVER ART!

Whispers of the Luminaries is a visual novel that aims to combine the grit and suspense of detective mysteries with the glitz and glamor of the idol industry.

Something like this has never been done before, so we spent countless hours trying to figure out how to reflect both these themes simultaneously through our cover art.

Ultimately, we decided on pink, blue color palette, showing the idols and detective in front of a concert stage. Then we added a shattered glass effect to it. What do you think of it?

1. A NEW CHARACTER ARRIVES!

Guess who’s finally here? That’s right - it’s Sayuri, the final member of Luminaries. She was shafted from the original demo and we felt really bad :( But now she’s here - and ready to light the world on fire!

Some really cuteee idol costumes are also being designed. Do you want to see them? Make sure to sign up to our newsletter for all the juicy updates: Whispers of the Luminaries Game

2. STORY - More impactful, higher stakes prologue

Some of the scenes, particularly in the early prologue, were weak on characterization and slow-paced. I'm rewriting these parts to make the prologue more captivating and impactful.

One element that received a lot of love was the combination of idol themes with mystery and suspense. Good news: We'll be doubling down on this - bringing you extra idol inspiration and suspense!

3. UI - Updating the placeholder assets

We're in the process of replacing all "placeholder" assets in the game, such as the hearts and free-time map indicator.

A few gameplay elements, like the UI buttons were confusing. We're working to make these clearer.

4. Music - More idol charm mixed with suspense

• Composition of idol theme almost complete.
• Some suspenseful tracks, inspired by the iconic Higurashi series, coming in the next update.
• We'll also be bringing on a vocalist soon.

5. Other improvements: Branching Narrative, Greater Immersion

• This is new terrain for us, but we're studying some storytelling and cinematography techniques to bring you a more immersive experience.

• Further down the pipeline we’ll be adding branching stories and endings that are influenced by the free-time events and character stats. This is a very time-consuming task, so I might need to find another writer to help in the future.

As well as making these improvements, we’re developing an extended demo, which will feature more scenes, characters and free-time events.

The story will take off where the playtest ended and dive deeper into the mystery, with a greater emphasis on suspense.

Expected release date: October 2023 (next month)

Hope you are as excited as we are! Our goal has always been to combine suspense/mystery with idol inspiration and wholesomeness. The next demo will showcase everything we’ve learnt - and you’re going to see big improvements.