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genuinely one of the best otome games I've played (and ive played probably too many)

I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! Thank you for playing 😊

I really had fun playing this game but Paris and Rafael voices would randomly decrease.

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only in ch 1 so far, & i'm loving the humor. i adore paris but i had to pick rafeal cause he's so dang hot. 

though looking at the comments, i'm a little concerned: if there's nothing in this that's nsfw, why did it come up in an nsfw search? i also saw a comment saying that there was nsfw stuff in celestial crowns, which i also found in this search & played, but i saw nothing in that which was nsfw either. i've barely found anything on the entire search page that is nsfw at all... it's making me doubt the trustworthiness of itch.io's search function, & possibly the tags on any of these games

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hello! Thanks for playing. Celestial crowns is rated nsfw for content that will be in future chapters. I thought it best to add the tags now even though there is no nsfw content in the demo. The pretenders guild has a tag for adult content due to some romantic scenes later in chapter five. They’re not explicit but I wanted to be safe. 

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Hello Harlevin,

I'm writing to let you know "Harlevin" and "The Pretenders Guild" isn't showing up in the itch.io search function. For "Harlevin", it says "No results found" whereas it simply does not list "The Pretenders Guild" at all. It does show up using a search engine under "The Pretenders Guild" + "site: itch.io". Thought I should let you know.

I just checked all your titles and "Celestial Crowns" doesn't show up in the search lists either. The rest do (Arena Circus, Lilith Hall, Mnemonic Devices).

Edited to add: "The Pretenders Guild" doesn't show-up in the game tag lists either. So checking "otome", "character customization", etc, it isn't listed in any of them.

Hello, thanks for bringing this to my attention! I checked and it does come up when I search, but only if I'm logged in. I'm going to contact itch.io support and see if I can find the issue.

You're quite welcome. :)

I was logged-in when I searched. I just searched again now while logged-in and it's still not showing up for me. Not your creator name "Harlevin" nor "The Pretenders Guild" nor is "Celestial Crowns". I tried searching while logged-out too to make certain, no dice. I don't know if you can find them through the search function because you're the creator or if perhaps something is going wrong on my end. Maybe having someone else check too would be useful.

Good luck!

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:C

sadly not, if you want NSFW, get Lust doll. It's a great game, but only has two named male characters.

ty

no problem!

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Hah! Not this time, BUT in my next game, you can expect some spicy nsfw scene. you can follow it here: https://harlevin.itch.io/celestial-crowns

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I have a question. I really like Rafael and was wondering how to do the romance path for him. I'm already playing as the shika race (and have ash saying that he's hot) and have done the scene on the boat where you help him catch rats, but beyond that, I have no idea what to do.

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In this game, it's not always the direct flirty or romance options that will get you on their route. Each character has a specific type of personality trait that they respond well to, and you will know based on the sparkles that show when picking the right one

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Okay, thanks for the info. As I'm blind, I probably won't be able to figure out the personality traits thing very easily. That's why I was asking for a guide or something. If you don't mind that is. If not, that's alright. I still enjoy the game, so I'll keep playing regardless. And thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

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oh you are blind? I'm sorry for not reading your previous comment first. unfortunately there isn't an official guide. I'm sorry I don't think the developer made this fully considering possible issues with sight impaired people, since they purposely, added those visual effects to make it obvious you are choosing the right answers. So simply put Rafael tends to respond well towards smart personality and only can romance in shika or cubi races. Paris tends to respond well towards flirty personality and only can romance in cubi or reaver races. Lastly Braums (aka the rich guy) tends to respond well towards nice personality and only can be romance in shika and reaver races.

Unfortunately I don't have the time to give you the specific personality trait that works for each situation, but in my summary when I say "tends", that suggests that those specific personality traits work most the time, you may have to just experiment a bit to get the right choice for certain situations. My advice in those situations is think what would truly work best when listening to the dialogue while also considering the personality of the character. I hope this helps and maybe someone will right you a guide on here.

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That actually might help a bit (personality traits I can definitely experiment with). So far, I've gotten the Broms route (I think I spelled that right). Thanks for the help.

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Hello, I'm so sorry I didn't see this post sooner! Let me know if you are still interested in a guide, and I will happily put one together for you.

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I am having lots of fun with this game. I've gotten to chapter 3 and am really enjoying how the story changes depending on which race you have Ash as. As a blind player, I'd like to say that accessibility with blind-user programs does work in case someone asks about that. There are a few buttons that give me trouble sometimes, but there's ways around that (saving a lot and trying out options). I really love the story and a lot of the interactions are very funny and keep the story interesting. So glad it's voice acted too cause that definitely enhances the experience.

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love this game sm !!!! the writing is great and funny and kept making me smile :] and i rlly rlly like how ash feels like their own fleshed out character while also having customizable traits ash is suuuuuuch a good mc. ive only gotten one of the endings (spoiler: it was the bad ending w/ paris getting stabbed and i honestly have NO idea what i did wrong LOLLLL so if anyone has any insight thatd be appreciated) but i cant wait to check out the other endings :]

Hi! Thanks so much for playing. I've just updated this page with a guide to the good endings. :)

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I should take the time to write down a proper review at some point, but for now-- I just need to say that I lose my shit in Ch. 1  when Rafael says "I'm sorry about your tough childhood, Paris," every. single. time.

Thank you so much for the game! One of the best and my favorite!

<3

Is there no download button on this page or am i just dumb?

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I was in the middle of posting an update and had some technical difficulties, should be good now!

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Hello!  I have played only a few hours and love it so far! One thing is that the voice lines for Paris and Rafael are a bit too quiet for me to hear... I would suspect my hearing issues but I can hear Ash's lines just fine, I am just letting you know for future updates.

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Such a super fun game! I'm looking forward to playing all of the routes. I spent a little over three hours enjoying Rafael's, and I adore him so much! The plot of this story is fun, the music is relaxing, the art is beautiful and the twists are delightful. 100/10!

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uh hiii, can I ask how to get Rafael's route? I just started and am currently at Braums' route, but it bugs me that I can't choose Rafael's at the part where you'll choose the route at first. I'm about to die in anxiety '-' whasudguswa jk. Should I finish the 2 routes first before getting his? or smthg like that? 

edit: oh gosh, I just read the comments on how to get Rafael's route, and sorry for bothering you shuwiefh, man I just realized that I should use my eyes more than my, uh, hands (it'd be much weirder if I typed mouth when I'm only typing using my hands so yeh excuse me '-').

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Haha it's okay, Martinez! And thank you L. Boucher!

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This game is great! I had a wonderful time playing it. Thank you so much for creating it and making it available. The whole cast was really enjoyable in their scenes together, and I particularly enjoyed Braums and Rafael.

I downloaded the game two days ago, and I am completely O B S E S S E D, I finished two Paris' endings (he's my favorite character) and one for each Braums and Rafael. I've finished endings: 2, 4, 5, and 7 at the moment, but I want to finish all of them! 

The characters are amazing and so funny, the romance is really well done, and I loved all the voices! 

Honestly, I'm so happy I discovered this, you made such an amazing game! Congrats! And I'll be playing more of your games in the future! 

hi! the description mentions 96k words, is that only for the current chapters(1+2) or will that be the count with all chapters combined? 

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hi! The game is currently complete, that is the total word count. ^^ 

It’s just that only the first two chapters are voiced. Thanks for your interest! 

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Just played Paris and Raphael's route, love it. Raphael is best boy and I will ship Ash and him together until I die

Hi I may not understand something but for some reason when I get to choose a route I can't choose Raphael.

Hello, only cubi and shika ash can romance Rafael. If you choose reaver in the beginning, his route is locked. 

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Oh, thanks for help

Hi I really love the game but I got a quick question. Where do the sparkles to show I have made a good choice appear

Hi! Thanks for playing. The sparkles will appear in the center of the screen, but only if the choice affects the route you’re currently on. There are no sparkles in the intro because you won’t have chosen a route yet. 

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really enjoyed this visual novel. And, goodness gracious the soundtrack! It blows my mind that you guys created it, it's so whack! (in a good way haha). I'm not very comfortable with, uh, intimate stuff but I'd be lying if I said that the story wasn't good. A great balance between comedy, romance, and all that good chiz. For what it's worth, I give you two thumbs up! (or two happy dudes?)         ٩(๑・ิᴗ・ิ)۶٩(・ิᴗ・ิ๑)۶

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aaaah i stumbled across this this afternoon and i'm in looooove. thank you so much for this, it was amazing!! and thank you for the many different customisation options for Ash! i'm gonna let my first playthrough settle and then i'll be straight back in there trying a different route <3 <3

- also love the voice acting!! so i'm def looking forward to re-playing it when all the voice acting is done :D

I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! I hope to bring more voiced chapters soon!

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omg i've ignored all of my chores to play this game literally all night! my husband is not pleased lol


I've only done rafael's two endings but I'm excited to play more! how many pieces of content can be unlocked? I see that on the main menu there is a little rafael icon that has lit up, but there are still 4 out of 6 scenes locked when I click on it.


I LOVE BRAUMS AND PARIS I LOVVE THEM FOREVER OTP


Thank you so much for this game! Are you planning on any future works? <33

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thank YOU for playing! Am I planning future works! Always! There are those six scenes, some early sketches, and a special letter you can unlock. ^^

I always look forward to the voiced chapters, one of my fav dating sims ever. qvq <3

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I-think-i-may-die-from-laughing-too-much//myspacebarisnotworkingso...

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amazing game but it would be nice if we could rewatch the tutorial or at least something to remember what each symbols for the choices mean

Hello, the tutorial is the first CG in the gallery of the voiced version! I thought it was in the unvoiced as well but I will double check on that. 

This was so fun to play! I liked that we can customize Ash's gender and pronouns too. All of the characters were lovable but Rafael was such a sweetheart. I got all of the endings except number 3 because I can't seem to figure out how to get it. The art was also really pretty and it's great that we can customize the main menu background too. This is a pretty solid game and it helped me get through a tough time. So thank you for this, can't wait for more! I'll be sure to check out your other games too because I'm sure they'll be as great. Lots of love! <333

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This game plays like a DnD session where all of the players love puns and references. And I love it. I am HERE for it.

Edit: I can't figure out how to get two of the endings??? 3 and 8 are out of my reach. Help???

hello! 3 is I believe a good ending with Braums as a shika, and 8 is unlocked after viewing all the extra scenes (unlocked by getting the “best” ending with Rafael as a shika) 

Sorry for the late response!

Ah, thank you!

That was amazing! I've had this game on my "want to play" list for a while now, and I'm so glad I finally got to playing it. 

I decided to give the voiced version a shot. I was kind of surprised by the many voice options for Ash, and the plan was to try all of them out with different races but I just completely fell in love with Ash's 2nd voice option (Christian O'Boyle did an amazing job with it, I'd love to hear him voice more of the game in the future!). The customization element was super fun, and I liked the details that changed along with different backstories. 

Ash was an amazing protagonist. The interactions with all of the love interests were just pure gold. It's hard to even choose a fave to be honest lol And the romantic scenes too... The writing was really good! I couldn't help myself from smiling while going through it. I think Reaver Ash might've been my fave, but I may be bias because that's the first one I went with lol Also I just have to mention this.... Rafael spanking Paris absolutely cracked me up. xD

The only real issue I noticed was the different voice volumes? Paris and Rafael especially were hard to hear sometimes (even tho I had all of them at the same volume, and turned down my music volume), which is a pity because they also had really interesting voices :( 

Overall I had lots of fun getting all the endings and cgs! I wish I played this sooner, purely because of how fun it was lol I think I might replay it  once more voiced chapters come out for Ash #2.... lmao  Totally recommend! 

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Please help I'm stupid. When I go to choose a route, I can't choose Paris' route for some reason. It's dark, while Rafael and Braums' are lit up. I was wondering if I chose something that made me unable to do his route. Could you please explain what I did wrong? Q~Q

I'm a shika cisgender girl, I've tried saying both 'yes' and 'no' to cheating on the boat,  I gave him melon bread, called Rafael 'Fai', didn't snoop through Braums' private information and didn't get mad at Braums for forgetting my name.

Oh, great game, by the way. Love the character customization!

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You get specific routes based on what race you choose ,for example shika lets you play in rafael and braums route but not paris,if you choose cubi you will get rafael and paris but not braums and ect.

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Oh, ok, I get it now! Thanks!

no problem

hmm idk if it's just me, but the voices haven't shown up at all??  i just downloaded this game a couple days ago, so i'm not entirely sure if the files have been fixed yet.  if not, then feel free to ignore this comment :))

Hello! Double check which file you downloaded, and know that only the first 2 chapters plus the intro are voiced. If you still have an issue please email me at aferalcircus@gmail.com

Hey! Idk if i missed it, but is there a guide anywhere?

No guide, sorry! But there are in game hints available. But if you're curious how to get a certain ending I'd be happy to help! 

I think i figured it out, but thank you for responding so quickly! Love the game! Might leave a review soon <3

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for playing ^^

I'm so sorry I don't understand so you are not finished with the game correct? is the reason being just the voicing or you are not actually done with the routes and such ? sorry I just get so confused :0

The game is complete! It's just the voice acting that's not fully implemented. It's done up to ch 1, ch 2 full voice will come soon!

ok thank you!

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Wow, you guys made quite a job! I mean, it's excellent. The VN was great itself, but I'm absolutely in love with the new remastered voiced version. It's perfectly gorgeous! Look forward to play the entirely voiced VN. The voice acting is 10/10. So talented. Thank you for your efforts.

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Thanks so much, so glad you like the voice acting! More voice acted chapters will be going up soon!

I really liked the VN and yet I saw that you were doing a voice acting. Right the moment I saw that I watched the trailer and OH MY GOD the voices fitt so PERFECT! I LOVE it!!! Much thanks from my side I totally enjoyed playing the game so far and I will look out for more updates. Keep the good work up! :)

I'm glad you like the voices!! More chapters will voice acting will be coming soon!

I really love this vn so far!! I love the art style and all the characters are amazing. I think my one complaint is that Ash's pronouns don't remain consistent with what you've chosen; IE if you make a character with a "female" body but with he/him pronouns, your character will still be called a girl, which is sort of uncomfortable. I do appreciate all the customization you can put into your protagonist though, and I honestly think I'll be playing this through multiple times!

Hello! Thanks so much for playing, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! That definitely shouldn’t happen, can you please shoot me an email (aferalcircus@gmail.com) with a screenshot or a note of the spot where that happened? 

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the game!

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I have finished getting all eight endings, have played each route with both the same race and then the alternative race, as well as redone certain routes twice out of love. I have to say, the game is well paced, the soundtrack amazing and the characters are likable. I played the unvoiced version since I wanted to read with my own interpretation of their voices first as well as wait for the voice acting is finished hehe.

tl;dr version of this: I love this game so much I wrote fanfiction

-The changes in inner monologues and dialogue as well as certain moments based on each race of the mc is a nice attention to the backstory that each race has. My personal favourite would have to be Shika Ash because of the fact I can romance my two favourites, plus it also allows me to access some of the minor world building details about Shika. Reaver Ash is a close second due to the personality as well as the emotional drive with the restaurant. Sadly, Cubi Ash isn't a favourite of mine but is still a good one seeing as Cubi Ash has a lot of development for the romance with Paris (due to the many references to Ash's crush on Paris). 

-The little mentioned details on the world itself gives it a solid feel, well done! I liked how the small references to history don't feel hamfisted and Paris cursing out the king feels quite natural. I also enjoyed the reference to religion such as Rafael explaining the Shika world creation story, or the mention of Savaran vs Shika religion is like. Shika Ash mentioning Talia instead of the Saints as well as recognizing Rinka's statue is pretty cool.

-The romances have me swooning for days! Rafael is my favourite by FAR! He's so sweet and caring, especially when he smiled and made a little joke (Plus when he actually says 'cheep, cheep'! I love it!) Rafael has me smiling and having him leave in his neutral ending only to come back had me crying and grinning at the same time. I love how Rafael is both honest while being deceptive. It's a hard balance but you've done it well. The ship moment with him and the rats really make you think about what he's gone through once you know his backstory. And when he started saying the smoothest lines, my heart is his, no question about it.

Braums is my second favourite because of how shy he is as his walls fall from the arrogant noble to the shy person behind it. (Which I think is due to the strictness of his father) I was blushing and covering my face from how downright adorable he is as well as how innocent. Though I do wish we could have had a bit more mention on his opinion on his father, considering this isn't a very long game, that's understandable. I played his route first since I played Reaver Ash and I loved every second of it. My favourite part was how you did the emotional 'forced to say bad stuff' moment. It's so emotional and hurt, I was mumbling apologies.

Paris is my last, sorry Pear but you're route was built on childhood bestfriend stuff but I didn't have much to build it on besides 'childhood flirty bestfriend that Ash has a crush on'. I prefer Reaver Ash with him though, it added another flavor to that story especially when the whole Rain scene happened. The CGs and the moments though did make me fond of him and I laughed a lot at their banter.

-Over all story: The story is rather linear and after playing through it for around twelve times, I basically slogged through it since I memorized what would happen next. It's to be expected but I would have preferred if each route provided a different take on the story after the prologue but that's just me being picky about things. Otherwise, the twists and the endings had me gasping and pausing when I first experienced it. Especially when the guild does a play and the sudden tone switch was like watching Mulan and going from 'Girl Worth Fighting For' to the ruined village. Well done!

On the technical stuff, I love the soundtrack! Rafael's theme is a bop and Braums theme had me smiling and Paris' theme really did remind me of rabbits. Though there are times the music glitched out for a moment before going back to normal (when I go from the menu to save then returning back to the current game for instance) it only happened a handful of times. However, I do have ONE problem and that would be when Shika Ash is romancing Braums 

At the end of watching the Theatre in Riddel all the way to Chapter 5, Shika Ash says 'Saints' instead of Talia and it may be minor but it kinda frustrated me because 'Ash are you so in love you forgot you're a Shika'? It really pulls you out of the moment, but besides that, nothing else. 

Besides that, I really have nothing much to comment on.

The art is also great! It's so fun and memorable, and the CGs are glorious! 

Also! The fact Ash is customizable, *chef's kiss* Thank you and I love you. The fact some of the dialogue makes references to Ash's appearance as well as how it makes the CGs look pleases me very, very much.

All in all, good job! Story is well paced, music is wonderful, art pleases the eye, romance has me swooning (Rafael, call me) and it's pretty good! I'd say 8/10 

*Btw, I've fallen in love with this so much I am writing fanfiction for it, if you want to read it then look for my ao3 'ClearAutumnVibes' the title of the fanfiction is 'Liar, Liar' I'm not taking the fanfiction too seriously lol since it's mainly self-indulgent. 

I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the game! Yes, TPG is pretty linear, I hope to do VNs with more variety in the routes in the future! 

I found your fic and I'm really enjoying it so far! I'm looking forward to the continuing adventures of Suzaku!

*Screaming* While I did put it up, I never expected it to actually be read ahahah I'm so happy you enjoy it!

omg!!!!  i finished seven endings and can't seem to get the second ending for some reason.  like i've done the "bad" and "good" endings for each route and played with all the different races, so i'm not sure what i'm missing :((  do you think you could help me out?

Sure! Three of the endings should be Braums with Good End 1 being Reaver Ash and Braums, Good End 2 is Shika Ash and Braums, Bad end is for both races, then there would be Fai's Good and Bad end, then Paris' Good and Bad end.  The endings do not vary even with a race variation, the only thing that changes is dialogue. The eight one should be Braums and Paris bonus ending which can be accessed via the bonus content. Hopefully this helps!

thank you so much!!  finally, i can have the satisfaction of having all the endings  ahaha!!

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Ngl, wasn't expecting a lot from this game, but boy am I glad I'm wrong.  This game actually made me laugh a lot.  Plus, the characters became endearing through the play time which I was def surprised at when I ended up really liking B-boy because he is not something I would normally pick to play.  Paris was actually my favorite?  Normally I do like characters like him but idk I loved him more than I was expecting.

The plot wasn't something I have seen before and it had a lot of cute moments. The customization was a touch I really liked.  Having the character become more how you want them to be is great for everyone,  I personally don't care for when the character has no pronouns or gender at all and I really liked how you could choose what to be and that it actually affected the story.

I do wish someone had made a walkthrough because boy was it hard for me to figure out some of the good choices for the good endings.  And the little snipits you get after getting the good endings I liked.  I was not expecting spoiler-> that Paris and B-boy were going to actually get together, and I am very surprised to admit I liked that addition as it was never something I had ever fancied or tried to read before.  Though I will admit I def was a little jealous over Paris for that haha

Overall, read the game.  I'm usually afraid of free games but this one is worth your time and the MC is super cute and has a good personality that's pretty relatable with a lot of her reactions :)

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I love this game and it's characters!! Rafael was definitely my favorite, from beginning 'till end. I played his route first (against better judgement) because I knew I was gunna love that man, and I do, he's so precious!! Thank you so much for making this game and I honestly look forward to whatever you produce in the future!

My one thing is that I have no idea how to get ending 8, I've tried most levels of right and wrong answers, I've played through all possible race combinations, I'm not sure what I'm missing :( If you could give me a clue I'd be forever grateful! Thank you!

EDIT:

Oh! I forgot to say I really liked the character customization and how it actually impacted the story and CGs in a real way, kudos for doing that! I'm sure it took a while. It really helped up the replay value, I'm a completionist so I try for every ending, but the different dialogue helped keep me in the story! Really good job.

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