I didn’t remember adding it to my wishlist, and honestly I didn’t remember what it was.
Still, a visual novel about lesbians solving occult mysteries?
Oh, and it’s made by the studio behind RPS favouritesLong Live The Queenand Black Closet?
Ah, go on.
Our Grahamnotedthe launch of Night Cascades in March 2022 but we didn’t take much of a look after.
Enter Diane, a teacher and author with a degree in folklore.
Night Cascades is fairly straightforward as a visual novel.
We play alternately as Diane and Jackie, each with their own minigame to jazz up investigations.
It’s a visual novel, yeah?
It’s a nice visual novel.
The spooky crimes unfold and escalate with interesting turns and oh, these gals are such pals!
Diane and Jackie dated in college, intense and powerful and evidently doomed.
I was not prepared for that in a cute visual novel about occult crimes.
Are the writers keen studies of the heart, I wondered, or am I so cliche?
In the game’s world, public opinion turned after police dropped a bomb on a neighbourhood.
Consequences were certainly far smaller in our world.
Relatively unchanged is the homophobia of the 1980s.
It ran through their actual relationship, and even as crime-solving partners it creates anxious tension.
What if someone can tell?
What if they see us?
This edge grounds their romance even while yearnings run fast and wild.
I do wish Night Cascades chewed on some themes and plot points a little longer.
This also feels a missed opportunity for chats revealing more of Diane and Jackie and their dynamic.
