In the lead-up to this update, I'm sure some people may have noticed that the main page has gotten some updates. Of particular note, each character now has a sample portrait and every character with a completed (or nearly completed) route has an extended description. I hope this helps anyone who wasn't sure about the game before in figuring out if they'd like to give the game a chance.

As for the new build, Demo v4 brings the rest of Kiku's route and a few new events for Orino's route. The full details:

Changes/Additions for Demo v4:

• More UI updates, particularly for mobile devices
• Minor fixes for existing scenes
• Kiku's full route
• New scenes for Orino's route
• Numerous behind-the-scenes fixes

Planned Upcoming Features (Demo v5 onward):

• BGM placement improvements
• Full routes for all seven love interests
• Three(?) bonus routes that focus on couples not involving Himeka (subject to change)

I hope people enjoy the new demo!

Dev Notes: A Story for Kiku

While writing for Blooming Nightshade, Kiku might have been one of my favorite characters to write about because of her mature, caring personality. But when the first Steam version of the game came out, Kiku was one of the least popular characters, going by the achievement stats for her ending. Even as I write this, Kiku's achievements have the fewest completions. When I went and looked back over the game to make the story overhaul update, I wondered if players found her "boring" because she didn't have much in the way of personality conflicts or a distinct story arc to her route. So while I put in some hints that Kiku had more depth to her in the story update, I realized it was probably too late to get people to play her Blooming Nightshade storyline.

With that in mind, I went into Kiku's story for Flowering Nightshade with the intent of making her feel more interesting, while keeping true to her character as depicted in Blooming Nightshade. To go into too much detail here would probably constitute a spoiler, but the basic idea that I went with was to show how "prodigy" children or "precocious" young adults aren't always prepared for actual adulthood. While Kiku is certainly a mature person, there are aspects of a healthy adult life that others may have assumed she could figure out on her own, leaving her with a smaller support network than everyone assumes. And someone that is used to being everyone's role model may have trouble navigating the expectations of people who don't see all the effort taking place. Without going into spoiler details, that's the idea I went with for Kiku's story. So while we rarely see her in a vulnerable state in Blooming Nightshade (unlike most of the other characters), there is a very specific set of conflicts for her in Flowering Nightshade.

Having said all of that, I hope people will enjoy Kiku's story in Flowering Nightshade! It'd be great if the completion rate for her story more closely resembled the number of fans she has in-universe. Let's prove that she can be just as interesting as Izumi or Nanami!