Hollow Victory

lovely visual novel!

Despite my initial doubts, he (Xael) really does care for the main character in the end, which is sweet!

Really nice visual novel, despite being very short (understandably), I enjoyed trying to figure out how to get all the endings hahah. Amazing job team!! :^]

can someone respond to me on how to download it and play bc im on pc and idk 

-SPOILERS AHEAD-

I love how dynamic this feels??? Like, the simple way you used the same or slightly altered art and split it up to draw attention to certain features??? Like, when Xael first enters we see his shoe! Like, that's so unique to this game, I've rarely seen it in any others to this extent??? Utterly beautiful, omg, absolutely LOVED it. 

I also adored the story you managed to tell with such few words, and how different those stories were depending on my word choices. I love simple ones like this because it just makes my heart MELT for certain ones and break in others. Utterly fantastic character writing as well.

Even though it's so short, you get such a solid feel for how both characters operate, even if Prin can be a little more flexible considering we control them. (Prin is such a pretty name ngl, absolutely love it)

CTRL+C'd from my bookmark for this game;

"Ending 1: "Rekindling" I was in my flirtatious era, I was letting this Xael worm his way back into Prin's good graces !!
Prin may not free him using his offer but,,, man, the horns and get-up are definitely attractive I'll agree with that (I say, as an aroace person)
Okay but srsly, silly /pos lil evil guy you know how it is

EEEE THE LITTLE ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE IF I DO A {FLIRT} AND THEN SAY I DOUBTED IF HE WOULDN'T HURT ME WHERE HE GOES "For a second there, I was worried you wouldn't help" LIKE ??? SIR OMG/pos

Ending 2: "Purgatory" Heheh I told him Prin didn't like his form and he was like "Would you take me back if I wasn't?" fvj4htgr and then I hit em with the ..maybe from Prin
Homie wanted that "yes", mans want that LOVE back bro giggling
He did not appreciate such an iffy answer, sorry broski, this is just what happens when you attack the city and cause mass property damage 😔✊

!!! EEEEE THE WAY HE GOT SO UPSET WHEN PRIN JUST SAID NO TO TAKING HIM BACK AS A HUMAN AND SAYING PRIN DIDNT COME TO FLIRT!!!
Awww baby misses that love so badlyyyy omg

Ending 3: "Moving On" THAT SWITCH-UP AS SOON AS HE STARTS IT OFF WITH "You sound bitter" OMFG OMFG AAAA /POSPOSPOS That's a big ol' change from the rest of the ending games !! Being so mean really did make him upset,,, OMG THAT "Get out by midnight" HE STILL CARES ABOUT US !! HE STILL CARES ABOUT PRIN !!!! GAH OMG

Idk if I'm just like,,, falling for his charms but homie really does seem to regret that one part of the deal, losing his lover. I don't think he has much remorse for attacking the world though, considering other elements. The offers to just run away together though like <33 Yes Xael I will run away with you, who cares for Prin (I do, sweetiebubs is having a rough time emotionally and I support them 100% in whether they side with Xael or ditch him, they're so right to do that, even if Xael never ever would have hurt THEM. Morals and boundaries do exist for a reason, and Xael also breached trust by pretending to be a normal lil human) let's go be eldritch deities that cause mass property damage and civilian death together !"

I loved the character design for this game so much too !! Like?? Gah /pos
Utterly stunning use of a cool colour palette, and the way his heart is literally MISSING from his chest like !! He's hollow inside !! It was a hollow victory,,,/pos
Wordplay my beloved

Omg I just LOVE the spark of pink compared to the cool blue tones for his eyes and earrings like <3 Omg /pos
Again it's just wonderful design wise,,,,,,, brb gonna go draw him actually

Here's him traditionally !! (took me 15-20 minutes gvfh one of my quicker ones honestly, probably helped I did black and white for him)
(Sorry it's so big btw, I... do not know how to downsize images in itch.io comments yet,,,)
He is judging you. Heavily.

I love how much character you can extrapolate from this short experience about Xael, and his relationship with Prin. You can pick up on the fact that Xael is determined, confident and a little sad from his dialogue and body language. He's got so much Charm to him that I could instantly see why Prin would have fallen for him originally, before all the "Actually I'm a deity beyond human comprehension and I'm gonna murk a bunch of people" was revealed. He's very in-tuned to what Prin likes, and whilst he may use that knowledge slightly manipulatively, with how he drops certain information, it's very clear he does genuinely love and care for Prin, or at least, who they were before. So much so that he wanted, wants even now actually, for Prin to also join him as a demonic entity. I love the detail that, no matter what, he still gives you the details about how he could escape the prison--with or without help--through the weaknesses in the barrier. That is, until you don't show ANY grounds to move or forgive him, then he tells you to just LEAVE by midnight like ??? Even when he knows Prin hates his guts, he Still tells them to get out of the danger zone then if there is no chance for Prin to be by his side during it? Uhm??/pos

He's so... contradictory. And yet complimentary. He makes sense, but he does things to the opposite of what he should for what he means. Makes sense though, he isn't human after all, he is a demonic entity, he doesn't abide by those same human morals. It's part of why my dude casually disses the fact that Prin is currently human, expressing it as a problem they can solve later where Prin expresses (indirectly) they'd go with him. He's very !!!! you know?? /pos

I love the subtle world-building, incorporating magic and the way that his hollow chest is where the Hero incapacitated him. Cool things like that !!! The term deicide too and him casually saying it's still not pleasant to go through is just >>> Splendid !!

I'm--The way the ending names are correlated to BOTH characters is also something unique to this game. Usually the names are linked to us, the players, experience, but this game also has it from Xael's POV too ! Or maybe that's just my interpretation... But in "Rekindling", Xael is also shown that Prin is still attracted to and wants to still love Xael, which you can see was actually a concern from Xael through certain dialogue patterns. They both confirmed and rekindled that loving flame between them. In "Moving On", seeing how distant Prin is and how very Not into Xael they seem, it serves as Prin's official I'm Done moment for their relationship, and thus triggers Xael's own Okay, We're Over response. "Purgatory" represents both of them being unsure where their relationship lies. Xael doesn't know how loyal Prin still is to him, and how much they're willing to do, but he's eager to try and win back their affection. Prin is struggling to identify themselves how much they still like Xael, and if they even should. Their relationship is in purgatory.

Maybe it works for both characters because the ending names aren't really about them, but the relationship as a whole. And thus, it inadvertently applies to both and I'm just rambling so much oh my stars, I apologise ahah

(Just replayed the game and unlocked the fricken "I still have feelings for you" dialogue--Just about lost my marbles at that omG....... The little blush on his cheeks dude,,,/pospospospsos
I feel like it was supposed to get that on normal playthrough but I did NOT and I am fgjgrvfy4frgv)

I just love everything about this game, honestly, thank you so much for creating it! I had an absolute blast playing and picking up on the lore available! Continue what you're doing Ekkoberry :D

Hope this big ol' comment serves as a great way to give that lovely experience back to you!

Hi Ekkoberry,

Hope you don't mind that I did another Let's Play as well. Great work! I look forward to seeing more of this character/story in the future~

Made an account just to follow you hehe

yeah i love demons

made an account just so i could make this comment- i.am.insane.about.this. you do not know how much i enjoyed Xael's character! the way he talked about his feelings towards Prin was so endearing?? Xael's line about genuinely loving Prin made me 'aww' outloud; who could've guessed the evil aspiring-conquer of earth would be so charming- anyway, before i get side-tracked- i got the 'rekindling' ending and enjoyed this game a lot, i would be thrilled if you made a follow up to this!! These two have such an endearing dynamic and i'd be so happy to see more of them!

(ps. In my mind, post 'rekindling' ending has Xael taking Prin out to a hike & picnic date or smth because the idea of this o' dark lord trying to win over his ex's affection by proving he still remembers her favourite foods and places is just too good, especially given everyone in the jail is about to lose their minds the second they realize he has escaped)

cute and enjoyable and had me giggling and kicking my feet, looking forward to more games (hopefully with prin and xael too)

made an account just so i could kick my feet and vibrate about this. i only did one ending since it was tanking my poor old man of a laptop but it's really well made and cute and i like xael hes so silly :3

Hello! I wanted to say I really liked the game, I went in blind and didn't realize it was for O2A2, so I thought it was a demo until yesterday. Regardless I look foward to your future games :))

https://youtu.be/lyfKzBgz26Q

I MADE AN ACCOUNT JUST TO COMMENT thsi was so silly /pos

i would kill for more of this argh the art is so cute too TT

Visiting your villain ex in jail is such a fun concept!

I loved this so much!! The UI is so nice and it looks so polished! I love the overall aesthetic and I am definitely keen to see more of Xael!!

I really enjoyed reading/looking through the artbook too -- the insight into character designs and extra lore was nice!!!

I really liked the story , I was wanting more story after ending 1, and very nice graphics. 😁

The art is great, I love the design of Xael! Looking forward to playing more of your games.

Really enjoyed playing through Hollow Victory, Xael may be an evil demon, but he also has some compassion for Prin despite Xael's current circumstances. An enjoyable read with Ending 2 being the more difficult ending to reach in comparison to Endings 1 and 3. 

I think I'm gonna have cardiac arrest because of him. Thank you for making this game! it's so cute!

cute

I loved this SO MUCH!! I love demons, dark fantasy and romance so this was right up my alley. The story was really good and Xael is SUPER CUTE; I hope we're able to see him in another project!! The art and UI is beautiful, I loved the whole aesthetic!!

Awesome job, I'm looking forward to seeing more of your projects!! :D

this game really cute! will have a story before Xael does this?