The Cardinal Park Case - Chapters 1-3
A downloadable Visual Novel for Windows, macOS, and Android
Although you're used to the chaos that comes with detective work, this case definitely takes the cake for, "The weirdest case I've ever worked on."
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After one of your friends is brutally murdered, you task yourself with finding the perpetrator of such a heinous crime. Unfortunately, dealing with the fallout of her death and finding the perpetrator proves to be rather difficult for you, even though you SHOULD be a hardened detective by now.
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Features:
-Comedy followed by tragedy, and vice-versa
-Dark, slightly more inappropriate humor
-Pretty (and goofy) artwork
-Pretty music
-A very messed up story hidden under layers of laughs
-A cold, bleak city, filled with snarky, cynical people
-Plot twists(necessary to the genre, of course)
-An overly determined, neurotic protagonist
-A snarky narrator
-A stereotypical "escape the house" sequence
-Dumb puzzles
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Current Content:
-3 chapters, each around 20-40 minutes long
-Enough information to figure out what the heck is going on
-2 dead ends
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Future Content:
-2 additional chapters, where everything in the first 3 chapters will fully pay off
-The fall out of the perpetrator's reveal
-Several dead ends, at least 2 real endings
-A final, epilogue chapter
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Note: Just like my other visual novel, there's some fairly strong language, but in addition, there's blood, death, and slightly more explicit content here. Viewer discretion is advised. Also, if dark, slightly edgy humor isn't your thing, please don't play this, as a good chunk of the comedy is like that.
PS: This game isn't technically finished. Only the first 3 chapters are available right now. In addition, stuff in these first 3 chapters are subject to change. Also, apologies for no browser version, this game's way too big!
Last PS: If you like this game, please remember to rate it!
Made in 3 weeks for the 5th RPGMaker Horror Jam hosted by Beregon and Daybloom Project!!
Jam: https://itch.io/jam/rpg-maker-horror-game-jam-5
Status | In development |
Platforms | Windows, macOS, Android |
Rating | Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars (18 total ratings) |
Author | LiminAce |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Made with | FL Studio, RPG Maker |
Tags | Atmospheric, Creepy, Dark Humor, drama, Horror, Psychological Horror, RPG Maker, Story Rich, Thriller, Urban |
Average session | A few hours |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- The Cardinal Park Case - Thank You!!!35 days ago
- The Cardinal Park Case - Devlog #346 days ago
- The Cardinal Park Case - Android Release!92 days ago
- The Cardinal Park Case - Devlog #2Aug 24, 2024
- The Cardinal Park Case - Devlog #1Aug 16, 2024
Comments
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This game is 10/10.
Hello, I'm Brazilian, I just want to say that I really liked the gameplay.
Chapter 3 really ended on a cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to seeing how chapter 4 does and how Oliver deals with what he's learned so far.
Ooohhh I finally got a chance to play this!! Love love looovee the art and story!!! You're way of world building feels very "real", like I found myself also thinking "yeah, same man..."
I also love the game mechanic of including many different ways for the player to try again (like with the snowmen and paperclips), it was really thoughtful!! Aaa I can't wait for more! ^w^ <3
i hope with my whole heart that he gets with clarence in the final chapter oml
Just to clarify: The main character in TCPC is not the same person as the guy Clarence was with in Exorcize Me. Clarence was with Asher Cypress, the father of this game’s protagonist
OH tyty
Here's the gameplay, enjoy! https://youtu.be/dILJ_8GoqMw?si=s2-UrySqteDy1SiO
100th follower ohyoh ohyoh funny 3-digits number. Great game btw 👍
Thank you Alz, for being follower 100!!!!! I’m glad you liked the game!!! <3
Hello, I recently recorded chapter 1 of this game and I'm glad to say that I'm liking it so far! The video should come out next week so I'll let you know till then! All love ❤️❤️.
Thank you for playing, I’m glad you’re liking the game so far! :)
It's really good
Thank you!! :)
commenting because IM EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER
<3
I really liked this game. :)
Thank you!! :)
LOOKING FORWARD TO NEW CHAPTERS 🗣🗣🗣🗣
Thank you! I hope to deliver the next chapters soon!
this is,THE,BEST,CANT,WAIT,FOR,MORE,CHAPTERS!!!!
Thank you!!! :)
Congrats 🎊 on winning the City of Adventure jam! This is a beautiful game. Well done!
Thank you!!! <3
I love it soooo muchhhhh Oliver is such a character yayyyyyyy <3 <3 <3
Overall I think it's bonkers its only developed in three weeks (All three chapters?) the cg is numerous and lovely as always~
The SOUND is COOL, I love all the sound design thing. Especially the footsteps~ And I love how there's so many things we can interact with ^-^
Story is thrilling I DEFINITELY want to immediately play more and explore of what the FUCK is happening.
However, level design, if that's the correct term, is kind of confusing. For example during the cafe where I need to walk to the line to trigger the event lol, but honestly that's understandable~ It's not bad just a mini flaw!!!
There's a few minor bugs, or feature...? I don't know!!! But there's clearly some minor bugs and typo like phasing through walls~ But it doesn't really m to the a to the t to the t to the e to the r, matter~
I really love Chapter 1 and 2, although for me Chapter 3 feels a bit more light compared to the other 2~
Question!!! Does the Chapter 2 choices carry on an effect on Chapter 3? And is there endings in chapter 2???
The choices will change a small part of chapter 3, but the full effect won’t be realized until the release of future chapters. There are no endings in chapter 2
Okay, thanks!!! <3
This was, in all honesty, the best game I've played in this jam, a severely underrated game.
The gameplay is excellent, the QTE events are very well done, the puzzles are great (why are so many keys hidden in fires? I guess we'll never know)
The characters feel natural and relatable (especially Oliver, a fellow coffee addict)
The soundtrack is something else, I literally kept the title screen open until its OST finished playing cuz it was just that good
I can't wait for chapter 4, and I surely hope we can make great games together one day
It was perfect...perfect...down to the last minute detail
Ooooooohhhhhhh ^-^
i'm sorry you made this in 3 weeks?? how??? that's time management skills some would kill for lol. this was really great!! :>
(SPOILERS)
the vibes here are top notch. a college student who doubles as a homicide detective is such a cool idea, and oliver was super charismatic and did that concept a ton of justice! i love his stoic nature, how the game's narration conveys his thoughts, his sudden bursts of emotion (specially when he lashes out at edward in the first chapter-), his drug-induced cheerfulness when he gets kidnapped... basically everything about him lol. his obsession with solving cases made it so i never forgot i was playing a detective story. on top of that, everything feels appropiately gritty and mysterious, along with having a really funny sense of humor that i think sets this game apart from similar stories! sometimes the game veered a bit too far into silliness for me (especially considering how the moments where it focused on the darkness/tragedy of the plot where a LEGIT gut punch, like when oliver finds emma's body or when he breaks the news to her mother), but that's just personal taste and tbf i can't say i wasn't warned there'd be humor at inappropiate times haha.
like your last game, the art is SO SO GOOD UGH I WANNA EAT THIS STYLE- all the characters had REALLY great designs and all the backgrounds were REALLY pretty. once again i love how the cutscenes kinda look like comic panels? omg everything just has such a nice flair... and that's not mentioning the small details that tie everything together! the falling snow, the fading footsteps, the colored backgrounds that appear when characters have strong emotions, the dye that covers the screen whenever something horrible happens, the custom mouse cursor?!? everything comes together so beautifully; you genuinely have one of my favorite art styles i've seen in any jam game! :D and that's just the visual aspect of the presentation, because the music was also so so great and you also made it all yourself??? i'm kinda jealous ngl HAHA. the songs were fantastic for every scene they were in, whether they were atmospheric, comedic, suspenseful... this game effortlestly fires on all cylinders with its presentation!
the story was great too! it was a really cool investigation with a nice pacing that never makes the plot feel stagnant. i think it might've been a bit too... dark for me, but that's what i get for not paying attention to the warnings lmao. and hey, the characters were light and charming enough to balance out the darkness of the story haha. i've already sung my praises about oliver, but his mother was also pretty funny and entertaining (as funny and entertaining an emotionally abusive gaslighter and potential murderer can be at least-), emma was cute in her tragically shortened screentime, i hope edward rots in jail but it was funny how much of an incel he is, emma's mom made me go from laughing to crying in the span of five seconds, clock is the best character any human has ever conceived... and minor characters like abbott, the two girls at the park or the kidnappers are still super memorable and charming, which is really impressive considering how little they talk! and every character aids the story in their own way and makes everything feels really well put together.
there were some things i didn't love; like i said the silliness of some scenes kinda took me out of the story and i wish it was a bit toned down (again, that's just personal taste tho). and some puzzles were kinda frustrating to figure out, i pretty much got through the forest bit with sheer luck, and i spent a pretty long time trying to find the flowers i needed for emma's mom (istg that potted plant in the first floor was taunting me-). and i think the mother being related to the murders was a tad obvious? maybe making her mental instability more subtle would've helped make the reveal she's involved in all this be more impactful. that's just me idk, reveals being "obvious" or not is one of the most subjective things in mystery stories so ignore me if you want lol.
overall i really loved this game!! had too many memorable moments to count, and i'm really intrigued to find out what happens next! :D
Thank you for the kind words, I’m always excited to see what you have to say!
Just commenting to say I love this game!
Thank you, I’m glad you found it to be enjoyable! <3
Thanks for replying!
Hello there. This game was a very nice change of pase
Spoilers.
There arent that many games made in RPG Maker that take me more than 1 day to complete. I think I just like looking at every nook and cranny. Liked to story. Nothing bad to say about it really and doesnt really happen alot for me. (Even my friend I was in a disc call with told me I sounded much more excited while playing it). Thats true. Nothing makes me happier then a good told story. The walking looked a bit wanky though and ofcourse the wall and snowman that i already told you about.
Final thoughts.
Mostly great job I would say. I would probably look over the game for some bugs you might missed but besides that I got nothing else to say.
Hope this helps. Keep it up
Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad that you liked the story, unhinged chaos and all!
Hello, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the game and I was wondering if you would allow me to translate it into Brazilian Portuguese. I see a lot of potential for it to gain an audience that is interested in games of this style.
Thank you for playing! Funny story, I actually saw a Brazilian youtuber play this game quite recently (Mr. Midnight)!
I’m flattered that you want to translate this game, of course you can!
I did Chapters 1-3 in a single night. I have some questions and feel some things could have been done a little differently but really liked this regardless.
Thank you for playing! While I’m developing the next chapter, I’m going to try and take a lot of the feedback into account!
I totally loved playing this! i can't wait for the 4th chapter :)!
I’m glad you liked it!! <3
A great game with a very interesting story and characters design ,I hope to know the rest of the story very soon.
Thank you for playing!!!! I hope to release chapter 4 soon, then you’ll get more of the puzzle pieces!
I only played the first chapter. I'ma play the others separately but I am having a good time with this so far
I’m glad to hear it! If you liked the first chapter, I think you’re gonna love Chapter 2!
Thank you for playing!!!!
Thank you for the kind words and for playing!!! That was a pretty fast upload!
Hello and good evening! I immediately downloaded your game the moment I saw a notification on itch lol, there's so much in this game that it's amazing to see it was made in only 3 weeks, I didn't expect to see more of your art and stories this soon and it has been fun playing through the game!
Spoilers:
I was wondering if there's any phone number that you can use with the landline phone in the mother's bedroom? Or is it gonna be used in later chapters?
Even though there are 2 more chapters to expect, I think the player can quite guess that the mother has something to do with the murder case of the poor barista girl (and the case of Mrs. Barrette even), and considering the mother's behaviors towards Oliver, I may make a dumb conclusion here but she is obsessed with taking care of his son, right? God I hope that won't escalate into something more suggestive (or will it? But either way that's not a problem or anything).
And why are half of the characters in this game so thirsty bruh 😭 That Edward dude literally wants to get it on with a corpse, the 2 sisters blush when Oliver just simply takes out his trenchcoat and that one goon wants to dress Oliver up like a goth girl and sell him 😭 (but ngl Oliver has potential). I just expected everyone in the game to be mean and maybe crazy but they caught me off-guard every time lol, though I feel very bad for Mrs. Greenwood, she deserves better imo.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing the next chapters! I hope more people will play your game soon, especially Clock, hopefully he won't miss it this time lmao.
Thank you for playing!!!! There’s quite a few things that’ll become relevant in later chapters. Also, I’m glad that the thirsty stuff caught you off guard :) You’re right about the Mother’s obsession, btw.
Again, thank you for playing!!!!
A few other things I forgot to mention, the atmosphere and soundtracks in this game are very good btw, love the indoor footstep noises, the Moonbills cafe vibes, definitely an improvement from Aquatic Grave (though Spider Lilies still stuck in my head sometimes, and duh the youtube video doesn't have it slowed like in that game). And tbf the *gore* kinda surprised me also (reader discretion ain't messing around).
Also think I found a bug in chapter 3, I went home instead of finding a way to go in the alley, then I chose to go to Greenwood's house and was stuck in a black screen, I had no other choice but to reload a save, as I dug through the game's files (excuse me for that), I found out that there's a picture of Greenwood's house, is that supposed to be an accessible area or unused stuff? (I also found a cutscene art of Oliver looking up named untitled159 and I don't think I have seen it anywhere when playing).
One last question, as the game still has 2 more chapters in development, not all of the soundtracks are used right? Cuz I listened to the OST on youtube and heard a few songs that I hear nowhere in the game (like Smothered), or maybe it's just my goldfish memory forgor it already.
Looking back, this game is so fun and packed with details to talk about, but Imma stop for now to progress more stuffs in the game later I guess.
Yeah, there’s quite a few unused things here. Smothered is actually the title screen music.
I’ve gotta fixe that bug, thanks for telling me!
Alright, that bug should be fixed now!
That part works fine now, thanks for the fix!