Edit (3/8): The Kickstarter for this game was successful at meeting its funding goal. The final funding amount was $13,220 with 434 backers! The game now has a tentative release date of 2018! 

Hey hey guys I’m back again with another Kickstarter campaign, this time for the upcoming fantasy romance visual novel, Zodiac•Axis from indie game developers, Studio Theophilus!!

I have been quietly stalking following this game for months and I am excited that they are finally launching the KS campaign!! This game looks gorgeous and I wasted no time whipping out my wallet to show my support!!

Story

Zodiac•Axis is an Asian inspired supernatural romance visual novel that promises to be a uniquely engaging gaming experience. Instead of adhering to traditional “romance game themes”, Zodiac•Axis has blends together suspense, psychological horror, mystery, supernatural fiction, and of course romance!

Alison Hart, a fresh-out-of-college journalism graduate, is desperate for a job. In fact, she’s so desperate that she’s willing to apply for an infamous (yet successful) online tabloid that specializes in “supernatural events”—though, really, it’s just a collection of tinfoil hat conspiracies.

When Alison is assigned to investigate six people who are rumored to carry the “Spirits of the Zodiacs”—whatever that means—she isn’t worried. After all, the whole idea is just sheer nonsense. Right?

–Synopsis (Studio Theophilus)

Characters

So the potential love interests kind of remind me of the characters from Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Baskets. Each guy is the embodiment of one of the Spirits of the Zodiac and our lovely journalist MC, Alison Hart, has been tasked with investigating each of them!

Alison Hart is recent grad who dreams of one day becoming famous journalist… unfortunately like most graduates she finds that her dream job is just out of reach. So she settles for a freelance job with an online tabloid, her first assignment: investigate six supernatural individuals!?

• Beckett Armistice is a mature, levelheaded diner manager with a huge sword…like really big! 😉 His Zodiac spirit is the Dog.
• Haulten Augustine is an apathetic and blunt delivery driver. S/N: I love his shirt!! His Zodiac spirit is the Tiger.
• Leaf Lewis is soft spoken audio engineer and the guy I’m most looking forward to!! Leaf has a habit of going ghost…all the time! 😛 His Zodiac spirit is the Rabbit.
• Zaxary Harvenfest is a tease pretty chill elementary shcool teacher. Who knows what’s really going on behind that smile of his… oh and he’s a megane!! <3 His Zodiac spirit is the Ox.
• Dexter Ardent is a mystery…

Features

• An expansive visual novel experience with over 50 HOURS of gameplay and features!!
  • The player will have the chance to build up Alison’s skillset  by leveling up one of three stats: Courage, Creativity, and Observation!
• There will be a total of FIVE romantic partners, each with their own unique storylines and endings.
  • There will be several choices throughout the game that will  effect the course of the story and Alison’s fate!
  • Build up friendships and romantic relationships!
• The game also features an fantastic soundtrack and original artwork!!
  • Beautiful hand painted backgrounds and CG artwork!
  • Each character sprite comes with 3 different poses and 30 facial expressions!!

This will be a commercial release, but by pledging at the $20 level, you all can snag a copy of the game. There are also a set of Stretch Goals that will expand the scope of the game if met. Some of the expanded features include additional romanceable characters (The Cat), partial voice acting, a mobile port of the game, and much more!! Upon it’s release the game will be available for Windows, Mac, Linux! The tentative release date is set for Late 2018! The Campaign Goal is $10,000 and the KS will run until February 19th, 2017!

At this time there is a short alpha demo which can be downloaded from the KS campaign page. The alpha demo covers roughly 7 minutes of gameplay, but you get a good feel for the mechanics and the characters, so it’s definitely worth checking out! There are plans to release a more polished beta demo later on this year!

So PLEASE check out the Kickstarter campaign, HERE, and lend your support. There are still 29 days left for the campaign and every little bit helps! The various price tiers come with some nice goodies so definitely check them out!

You can also contact Studio Theophilus on Social Media through the following channels:

• Website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Tumblr
• lemmasoft

If you can’t help out monetarily, SHARE this post or the Kickstarter page on social media and spread the word! As always THANK YOU for reading!!!