hai guys!! my first actual lengthy blog post!! even tho this has been up for ~8 months now...
im happy to write, and about somthing im SUPR obsessed with right now, no doubt!!!! today, i wanted to talk
about beloved indie game dev
nomnomnami.
i first found out about nomnomnami when i was very young, like preteens... i played syrup and the ultimate sweet. it was really fun!! before
that, i was unfamiliar with the concept of visual novels, and i was enamored with the combination of dialogue and exposition with pretty art and branching choices.
i played a few others like htwml, contract demon, and first kiss at a spooky soiree, and then when starry flowers came out i went and played it too. i think what drew
me in was the art, mostly!! its super cute and stylized. i also loved the characters. they were so expressive, and as a young impressionable writer they really inspired me. also,
as someone who knew i was queer since i was very young, engaging with queer media like this just ... idk made my heart feel full?? representation is SOOO important!!
so anyway, after finishing starry flowers i let nomnomnami's games rest far in my heart while continuing with life. before i knew it, four years had passed, and it was around late 2025
when i was on vacation and decided to open itch.io to find some games to play.
i dont remember if it was on my recommended page or if i went to nomnomnamis page specifically, but i saw night with timber... ahh... i was like, oo!! new nomnomnami game!! like a mouse to some cheese.
i hadnt played a nnn game in years at that point, but i remembered the characters pretty well. anyhow, it looked fun, so i went and clicked on it.
isnt the timing crazy...? at that point, nwt had only been out for about a month. fate works hard...
yeah i finished the game in one night. then read all the cg commentary and epilogues and blah blah ok kill me.
the writing was INCREDIBLE. the story is so immersive. i was really really in love with how each route is like canon (kinda kinda, you kno) and uhh uhhh uhhhh SEGUE INTO TALKING ABOUT SENBEI
senbei oh senbei... where do i even start... this is gonna contain spoilers so dont open if u wanna play nwt for urself (YOU NEED TO!!!!) but to summarize hes basically. an evil ahh black rabbit (living with his parents (pushing 30 btw)) whos antagonistic to
timber (the main character and a wolf) cuz he thinks wolves r dangerous and wants to kill all of them to keep his town safe!! and i deeply love him. ok spoilers below.
SENBEI/NWT SPOILERZ
ok so. argh. ARGHHHH. i cant begin to explain how hard i fell in love with senbei while playing nwt. something in me really really REALLY loves egoistic stubborn characters.
i love his motivations so much. hes just. like. a loser lol. who uses justice as an excuse to be a terrible person cuz he just cant leave timber alone. their dynamic was so intriguing to me... IM COMING OUT AS A DIEHARD TIMBEI SHIPEPR.
not in the romantic way ive just always loved toxic ships, and their onesidedness is so ugh to me. its perfect idk i love when a good ol wet cat has everything except the one thing they cant and get super pissy about it. HE SUCKS AND I LOVE HIM!!!!
my love for him is so strong seriously i cant explain it fully but i havent felt love this strong for a character since maybe... makoto tachibana from free? but even that im not sure was as intense.
maybe my favorite line of his was in the black rabbit route cg commentary on timbers false death scene, where he goes, "for me, it was..." oh gosh i cant get enough of it. FOR YOU IT WAS WHAT?? ARGHHHH SENBEI IM GONNA EAT U i think a close second is in the
music room commentary where he says, "3/4 compositions such as this are referred to as a waltz. now then... shall we dance?" oh senbei how i luv u.
hes so complex as a character and i truly love every bit of him. i feel like im drawn to characters who are entirely ironic in and of themselves and dont even realize it. so u want to eradicate wolves?? but ur in love with one??? LOSERRR
ok enough bullying. but ugh. yeah.
i keep drawing him all over my notes. i cant help it hes just the cutest thing ever.
anyways, after finishing nwt and feeling like i just had an out of body experience, i decided to... not play again for like 2 months lol. i replayed a little here and there but that was mainly it.
then randomly in late february, the nwt brainworms came back and i replayed it again. this time, FINALLY, i was like... hey, why dont i replay some of the other games?
so i did and of course i was enraptured all over again. here are my thoughts on the games ive replayed since!!
her tears were my light
GOSH I LOVE IT!! when i was a stupid lil kid i didnt know how to do the rewind stuff so i remember being confused, but its an easy mechanic that i thankfully understood this time around lol.
i adore it so much. i think time is such a sweet character, and surprisingly ranked very high on my overall favorites list. shes so sweet to space, and worked hard to keep both her and nil happy.
i love space a lot too!! i think her bubbliness is fun, and i found her emotions switching at the drop of a hat funny. her crying bit really made me giggle. nil is of course a sweetheart too.
the plot twist was super enjoyable, and the true ending made me smile. and lowkey brought me to tears. im so yuridoomed
contract demon
CUTEEEEEEEE ugh so cute. I HEART KAMILLA!!! her soft spot for eleni was so cute to read and her attempts at typical occult creepiness are so adorable.
eleni being sneaky and silly was fun to read too. shes peppy without it being bothersome, which is a hard thing to balance, but it was done very well!!
the line about them being a fake angel and fake demon couple. geez so dang cute bleh
also olog kinda... kinda umm... so are we sure demons dont date cuz. ummmmmmm
now that im looking at it. it like. its not. a lot. er. trust ive been so busy this week with school and everything i didnt have time for the longer ones LOL i swear ill get to them.
i really want to replay starry flowers and syrup and the ultimate sweet, and the games i havent played yet (which is a surprisingly high amount) are
- lonely wolf treat. I KNOW I KNOW!!! i just played the first 3 chapters a couple hours prior to writing this and i will say i am 1) IN LOVE WITH TREAT. everytime
she makes that one sad little sprite face i feel a piece of my heart breaking off and 2) so excited for trick. ive seen her design and im in love with it. (secret third thing: WANNA SEE SENBEI NEED TO SEE SENBEI IDC IF HE ONLY HAS LIKE 2 LINES I NEED HIM)
- syrup 2. desperately need to!! looks uber fun and syrup is one of my favorite characters.
- bad end theater. its been on my itch.io wishlist for like a year now, but i never got around to buying it for some reason.
among others. the connected storylines mean so much to me my heart just goes kaboom everytime i think about their world. OK HERES MY TOP 5!!! UR FORCED TO TAKE IT!!
- senbei. self explanatory. hes everything
- syrup!! I LOVE HER!! shes my aro rep so i feel drawn to her, and i like how shes sometimes rude but not genuinely mean. shes very logical, which is such a fun dynamic
compared to gumdrops erraticness.
- osmanthus... BOOOOOO TOMATO TOMATO ok geez im sorry i just really like him. he was enjoyable to read in nwt and i love materialistic characters.
hes a loser but in like... a different way than senbei. a little more self awareness methinks. BUT HES AN ASSHOLE!! KNOW THAT I DONT CONDONE HIS BULLYING!! EFF HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO BUTTERSCOTCH!!
- thyme/time. shes just so! cool!! luv her!!
- treat!! im sure shell go up this list a couple spots once i finish lwt, but even before i started playing i knew id adore her. SHE IS LIKE SO AHHHHH like i understand why date treat exists. WHO WOULDNT WANT TO DATE TREAT.
and i really gotta mention it again but that one sprite she has where she just looks. SO SAD. i make a frowny face irl everytime i see it its just so SAD
honorable mentions to pastille, kamilla, and trick, who i think ill really like once i play through lwt. ugh this is so long ive been writing for literally an hour and 30 mins idk how. its 3am. i need to sleep
i hope maybe this convinced u to give some nomnomnami games, or just vns in general, a try. visual novels are one of my favorite game genres and nami just does them so well! this is just something ive been so fixated on and i felt like the world
had to know. so there u go.
yours truly,
aegisu
