Hemotropic Friendship Virus: Occultation
A downloadable visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux
(Note: This game has been made to be more accessible to players relying on Ren'Py's Self-Voicing accessibility feature. If Self-Voicing is enabled, images will have alt text provided, characters' appearances will be described when they first debut on-screen, and extra notes only available through Self-Voicing will be added in to further accommodate visually impaired readers. Pressing the "V" key anytime while in-game will toggle Self-Voicing.)
"Nobody REALLY wants to be Ximun's friend. So...what could Adair possibly see in him that keeps her coming back?"
After quitting his school’s track team, Ximun Ibarra searches for another extracurricular activity to keep him entertained for the remaining few months of the school year. He ends up feeling drawn to the Creative Writing club; and, as a result, he happens to catch the attention of current club member (and local micro-celebrity) Adair Olivares Hernandez. For whatever reason, Adair is incredibly interested in him… She seems nice enough on the surface, but are her true intentions so innocent?
Hemotropic Friendship Virus: Occultation serves as the prologue for the larger Hemotropic Friendship Virus series of visual novels (currently a work-in-progress.) The story periodically switches perspectives between Ximun and Adair, indicated by the changing color and design of the textbox.
Depending on your reading speed, this game will likely take you somewhere between two to three hours to complete (estimates based on times it took beta-readers to complete.) A much shorter bonus story has also been included, accessible separately on the title screen; this story will likely take around thirty minutes to one hour to complete, should you choose to read it as well. Both stories are entirely linear, having no dialogue choices or additional endings.
If you're interested in learning more about Hemotropic Friendship Virus, you can also check out the "HFV" pages on my blog, babycatplanet.com! It's a Tumblr blog, so you can also follow me there if you want to keep up with the development of future visual novels.
(Content Warning: The story of Hemotropic Friendship Virus regularly covers some highly sensitive topics related to trauma and mental health. You can click here for a more detailed list of warnings (babycatplanet.com/cw.html). There is also a list present in-game that will display upon launch. The list itself is an image, but Self-Voicing will still read it properly if it is enabled.)
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hi! you previously knew me back when i went by togeticky online. your work crossed my path by complete chance and i wanted to give it a peek, and i just really wanted to say i really enjoyed this game. particularly the bond between ximun and rowan, and the portrayal of them in the bonus story. you really did a wonderful job portraying the thought process of traumatized teenagers, and it made me feel heard in a way little else has. particularly ximun. i wish i could word my appreciation better, but it just really felt nice to see a character that hit home to my own "teenager learning its okay to be loved for the first time" feelings so well.
i also just generally really like the UI and "feel" of the game. leaning into rpgmaker sorts of inspirations really suits a game that takes place in the early 2000s. i especially really like the internal dialogue text noise. scratches the brain well
i really look forward to seeing what else you create (if i'm welcome to keep looking that is), and i hope you're doing well
(P.S: in the bonus story during the dream sequence, one of the images is broken- the error i got was "image 'rowany shyc' not found". just trying to help out lol)
Hi! Thank you so much, this is very sweet. I'm so happy that the story was able to resonate with you in such a way. And I will also be sure to fix the missing sprite in a bit, lol. I made a quick fix before release and thought I caught everything but I guess not... Oops. (edit: fixed!)
I hope you are also doing well. In all of the time that has passed since then I have learned many things about myself and had much time to reflect and heal. I hope you have been able to do the same. You are welcome to keep looking if you wish, I do not mind at all. Thank you again for leaving such a kind comment. Take care!
phew, you have no idea what a relief it was to see this notification LOL. of course i would have respected if you didn't wanna hear from me, but it's such a weight off my shoulders to actually hear back from you ^^
and also very much so have i done a lot of self reflecting- if there's ever a place that isn't itch.io comments where you'd be willing to talk more at all, id be happy to catch up so we can both re-contextualize everything. if not, that's cool too. i'm "arcoleiris" on just about every single platform, though i might have friend requests disabled. regardless, i'll be sure to check out whatever else you publish. rooting for you (waving light sticks)
excited for the full series.!
thanks for adding support for blind players.!
look forward.
OMG!! This is so sweet!! Thank you so much!! I'm already hard at work on the next part. I will continue to add support for blind players to all of the series!
will the series be free or paid
and, sorry for being impatient, but when'll it be released?
The series will be available for free, paying will be optional starting with the next part. Based on the time it took me to complete this part, it will likely be finished within the next four months or so.