Of Sense and Soul

In 1875 London, an editorialist and a gentleman have an unusual first meeting through a misconstrued personal ad. Their paths intertwine as they struggle against their own regrets and ways, and they must decide which to follow: their hearts, or the status quo. Of Sense and Soul is a story lost to time, centred on two men navigating the smog-covered streets of Victorian London:  Hugo Brooks , a reserved editorialist who never adventures far outside the written word, or  Seamus Charkham , a confirmed bachelor who would sooner move forward blindfolded than look to the past. Both are set in their ways, and both are in desperate need of a change, though loath to admit it. Despite wanting to believe they’re satisfied with continuing on as they have been, they find that sometimes, things can change for the better — and that the marks we leave on the lives of those around us are so much greater than we realise. Of Sense and Soul is a late-Victorian character-driven slice of life romance visual novel and the first game by Forsythia Productions.  It will be available for PC, Windows, and Linux. The full release date is to be announced.   Wishlist on Steam Chat with us on Discord Join our Newsletter   Website  | Socials  | Press Kit Disclaimers and Content Warnings Of Sense and Soul  will be rated 15+, with mentions of alcohol consumption and smoking. No graphic themes or imagery will be included. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the developers' imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.  The full game is planned to contain... A researched, robust Victorian England setting  Detailed watercolour-inspired visuals 2 player routes with multiple endings 100,000+ words of story in three acts, comprising about 8-12 hours of gameplay 18 scene illustrations/CGs Timed choice menus and writing composition menus Multiple accessibility options Fully original soundtrack Partial voice acting A lot of gay pining and introspection The OSAS Extended Demo contains... The prologue and a little over half of Act 1, featuring a total of 5 main game chapters selected from both routes. 20,000+ words of story, comprising 1.5-2.5 hours of gameplay (2.5-4 hours if streaming) 3 scene illustrations/CGs 15 soundtracks Partial Voice Acting, including six fully voiced scenes. Of Sense and Soul   is a passion project by Forsythia Productions, created by Ingrid Yiu and Rowan York. Lead Developer and Artist, Co-writer: Ingrid Yiu ( ingthing ) Lead Writer: Rowan York Background Artists:  Joseph , Luciam , and Ebbasuke Programmers:  Ende , Justinn , and Fen Composers:  Martin Johansson and Henri Tikkala , with jingles by Bell Kalengar Casting Director:  Eamonn Leighton Voice Director: MAHO!Cody Audio Engineer:  Xuan Vinh Huynh VOICE CAST Max Herzfeld as Hugo Brooks Shaun Mendum as Seamus Charkham Olivia Vidas as Camilla Brooks Oliver "Liv" Smith as James Ashburne Chidumebi Njoku-Browne as Everett Lewis Richard Gibson as Mr. Coulston Nick Eriksen as Mr. Bentley Vinay P. Nariani as Mr. Hammond Su Ling Chan as Miss Lee Mateo Ervin as Cornelius Steven Kelly as Mr. Evans Vikram Rajan as Mr. Rahim Special thanks to our friends and fellow devs who have helped provide feedback on OSAS! We couldn't have done it without you :) Looking for more OSAS?  Confluence is a free-to-play spin-off game we made for O2A2 Queer Edition 2023!  It's a short, sweet, fully voiced snapshot of the happy ending in store for Hugo in OSAS, so give it a go if you've got 10 minutes to spare! Confluence (noun): a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point; the joining of two rivers.  In the epilogue of his happy ending, Hugo waxes poetic on the scale of his life and love and how, wondrously, the littlest of things can also be the most precious. Confluence: An Of Sense and Soul Soliloquy by Forsythia Productions, ingthing Click on the arrow to the left of each question to open the dropdown. I've found a bug/issue, what can I do about it? For visual glitches, try restarting the game first--but if all else fails, we have a bugs and fixes thread on our Discord or you can fill out our Demo Feedback form ! When will the game be released? There is no release date determined as of yet. To find out as soon as we announce it,   Subscribe to our newsletter ! How will negative "period-typical" social attitudes be handled in the story? Of Sense and Soul is written with the intention of portraying queer individuals and voices in history in a positive, heartfelt way. Although the setting is intended to be believably historic, our narrative does not display or provide a platform for discrimination of marginalised peoples, moralistic perspectives, or other prejudices of the time.   Will the game be crowdfunded? The game has already been funded through Kickstarter ! We couldn't have done it without you :)  Will there be voice acting? Partial voice acting will feature in OSAS, consisting of vocalisations for regular gameplay and some fully voiced scenes. How can I share my thoughts on the demo? Visit us over on Discord or leave a comment/review on this page! We'd love to hear from you! We also have an Extended Demo Feedback Form for more in-depth prompting.