Another awesome VN from Kidalang! I liked it so much, I went through the first playthrough (5 hours) in one sitting; couldn't stop reading. I do admit that I liked An Octave Higher a bit more, but this prequel was definitely a close second. While some have suggested otherwise, I do think the VN is more enjoyable if you've read An Octave HIgher first. An Octave Higher explains the magical system and gives an overall introduction to the world in these stories. Besides, it's more interesting to see Janis's backstory while knowing who she is in An Octave Higher. Like in An Octave Higher, this story was very thought-provoking and causes the reader to consider things about life. It particularly raises questions about the treatment of those with mental illnesses in society. As someone who suffers from depression/anxiety, I did relate quite a bit to some of the rhetoric used in the story. Ideas on the time lapse: (kinda spoiler-ish) Based on how young Janis is in this game and how old she ...
One Small Fire At A Time
- Release Date:
- Jun 10, 2016
- Developer:
- Kidalang
- Publisher:
- Culture Select
- Platforms:
- Windows Mac Linux
Game Tags
About This Game
But no one has a worse madness than 13-year-old Janis—not even those who long for death, or live in constant fear, or see and hear the unreal—because in a city where everyone can use magic, Janis alone can't. "Magic Deficiency Disorder," they call it.
Her disability makes Janis an easy target for bullying, but she still fights back despite always losing. One day, she is saved from her bullies by Aidan Woolf, a powerful mage and police commander.
In Woolf, Janis finds a father figure, but the commander didn't come to her madhouse just for a visit. He has a mission.
Characters:
Janis
Janis has lived in a madhouse since she was a small child because she suffers from what many people call the worst madness ever - she can't use magic. Between her so-called "magic deficiency disorder" and the bullying she has to endure every day because of it, Janis is ready to give up hope, but her life is about to change...
Aidan Woolf
As the commander of the Overture police's most elite special forces unit, Aidan Woolf comes to the madhouse on a mission from the king himself. There he meets Janis, a teenage girl who reminds him of the daughter he lost many years ago in an incident that transformed him into a hardened warrior who puts duty above everything else.
Candela Carroll
Her sketchbook is the only thing in the world that can hold Candela Carroll's attention for more than five minutes, but she's Janis's best friend at the madhouse. However, since she's three years older, Candela will be forced to leave the children's ward before Janis does, and that time may come sooner than they think.
Drake Perrault
Drake is a bully. He and his friends - or, rather, his underlings - especially like to pick on Janis because they see her as a helpless girl who can't defend herself. But his friends and victims don't know that, for Drake Perrault, bullying is a way to cope with his condition.
Ena Polidori
Though a little clumsy, Ena Polidori is the children's favorite nurse. She volunteers to teach Janis magic, much to the younger girl's displeasure, and always encourages her to keep trying. Things get awkward between Ena and Joff Godwin after she mistakes the young lord as a new patient at the children's ward, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing...
Joff Godwin
Lord Godwin recently founded Magical Mechanical, a company that researches and manufactures magic machines. With his aristocratic status and his position in the new magical engineering industry, he helps Commander Woolf's investigation by approaching the madhouse's owner with a business proposition.
Johann Poe
As one of the most well-known and respected magical scientists in Overture, Professor Poe uses his extensive knowledge of magic to assist Commander Woolf in his investigation. But will he also learn something from his time at the madhouse?
Alanis Blyton
Professor Poe considers her to be one of the brightest students he has ever taught, but Alanis Blyton sometimes wonders if magical science is the right field for her. Instead, she often finds herself poring over psychology textbooks.
Colton Sherwood
The madhouse is not a correctional facility, Colton Sherwood believes. He built his madhouse to give lunatics a place where they can be who they are, where they don't have to be "normal," where they can be safe from the outside world.
Oriel Sherwood
Oriel Sherwood is a magical scientist, but her main job is to help her husband operate the madhouse. Because she and her husband don't have children, they care for the children at the madhouse as if they were their own.
Screenshots
User Reviews
This VN is about the protagonist that lives in a madhouse because she can't use magic and a group of men trying to uncover some shady activity that the owners of the madhouse might be involved in. It has a true ending which lines up the protagonist's life before An Octave Higher happens and 3 alternative endings that could have happened depending on your choices in the story. You can play this even if you haven't played An Octave Higher and only miss a couple of technical details about the world but not the story. It was nice to see more of Joff's and Poe's character here to give perspective on their characters in the main game. All in all I like this game :3
A nice little VN with a good amount of Comedy and Drama at the End of it. It has around 3-5 hours Playtime and shows an interesting Story of a Girl, which can't use Magic in a World, where Magic is everywhere. Because of that, she was brought into a Madhouse where the Story starts. PS: This Game is the Prequel of ,, An Octave Higher'' Charaktere: 4/5 Stars. ( The MC has a nice personality and the SC's aren't that bad. They have a story which will be explained to some decrease.) Art/Style: 3,5/5 Stars ( It has a nice look, cute at some times but it can intensify the Drama and the Fights. Musik: 3/5 Stars ( The Musik isn't special but nothing bad. It match the Story but it sometimes stops abruptly when you move forward to the next scene) Story: 4/5 ( It has a nice Story which is well told. I would have given 5 Stars if the ending wasn't so......how should I say it......odd? ) I would give it around 3,5/5 Stars and recommend it.
Overall, One Small Fire At A Time is a pretty good prequel to An Octave Higher. While it lacks the length and depth of its predecessor, the artwork is definitely better. My only problem with this visual novel is that you can reach the true ending quite easily. I did it on my first playthrough and I like to struggle a bit, get a few alternate ones (all preferably) beforehand. Having read An Octave Higher is a plus but it's not essential. I would still recommend playing AOH first. It's a fascinating story that will make make you want to know more about Overture and its people. That's when One Small Fire At A Time comes in, as a nice cherry on the cake.
It's surprisingly good and really cheap on Sale (Less than a dollar). I'm really enjoying it so far It's not that long and the choices are really simple like "Go There or Don't Go There" But otherwise it's great.
The story is actually quite nice. But sometimes the angst seems really funny as my 14 year old emo self can sometimes relate to it. Some problems that this game has is that there is a bug that prevents you from being able to click on the screen in order for you to read through the text. You have to restart the game in order to play it again, which makes it quite troublesome as you need to remember to save every so often. But nevertheless, the game is actually quite nice!
Where should I start.... I really like this game, just as I liked previous part, which is "An Octave Higher". The story is set some time before "Octave", more or less 20-30 years. We see origins of some secondary characters, most notably Janis and Joff Godwin. Anyway, you have the story explained in the summary of the game, above reviews section, and I don't want you to read the same shit all over again. I'll just tell what you can expect. You can expect well balanced story, with humour, action, sad moments, plot twists, etc. There are also many long and smart conversations about various things (mostly psychology), so if you don't like it, then I don't recommend it to you. Art. Art is very impotant factor in Visual Novels. Often in low-budget games, such as this one, artstyle is very cheesy. Thankfully this isn't a case here, character sprites and backgrounds are detailed and just well done. There are also many CGs for more complex scenes, which is very good. Music. I'm especially...
I can't tell you how much better this VN is than An Octave Higher was. I went for the true ending first, and I was gripped from the second chapter on. The twists, the turns, the comedy, the drama, the mystery, this story literally had it all. A certain amount of my enthusiasm could be coming from the fact that I suffer from a few neurological disorders myself, so I found this story (very thoughtfully focused on the treatment of people with such disorders) and some of its characters to be quite relatable. But regardless, this has to be one of the best VNs on Steam! I do think I enjoyed this game more than I otherwise would have because I had played AOH first, so if you can slog through it, I do recommend playing AOH first. Rest assured, OSFaaT will be way better. There's only one really cringey part (near the beginning) and the rest of it flows magnificently. Since the protagonist is a child, turning 13 during the game, there are no romance options or dating elements to worry ab...
Well, that was unexpectedly Great. This VN has pretty unique art style, and the characters aren't that easy to read by the looks, as they may appear to be. The choice of the music fits the scenes almost perfectly, and the music itself never got me tired. The story is decent, a bit shorter that I expected. With some sharp turns, and a lot of things that are not what they were appeared to be. It's a madhouse, after all. I like that.
If you like previous game "Octave Higher" this is a good sequel. If you are first time of this series, it'll be fine because it's just small easter eggs from previous game and still a good VN game that has multiple endings, depends on how you behave.
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System Requirements
Minimum
- OS *: Windows XP
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Storage: 260 MB available space
FAQ
How much does One Small Fire At A Time cost?
One Small Fire At A Time costs $9.99.
What are the system requirements for One Small Fire At A Time?
Minimum: Minimum: OS *: Windows XP Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Memory: 1 GB RAM Storage: 260 MB available space
What platforms is One Small Fire At A Time available on?
One Small Fire At A Time is available on Windows PC, macOS, Linux.
Is One Small Fire At A Time worth buying?
One Small Fire At A Time has 100% positive reviews from 50 players.
When was One Small Fire At A Time released?
One Small Fire At A Time was released on Jun 10, 2016.
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