A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing is a murder-mystery visual novel that takes place in a French high school. You play as Mercredi, an aloof teenage girl who finds that her life is quickly and continuously going awry when your friend goes missing.
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Development log
- AWISC 2 In The Works!Jul 24, 2022
- Thank You! (Fun Facts)Jun 23, 2022
Comments
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If I had a nickel for every indie game basically about the big bad wolf going to hell, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
I will say the art style is great, with characters that are both memorable and interesting. While the concept and story is interesting and engaging, I have to say that with it being so short it limits the characters growth and hampers the players ability to fully connect to a character, unless they can personally insert themselves into the character. This could a cause the player to be confused especially when characters suddenly act out of their established character.
I also have to put emphasis on the music because I was highly distracted by it, because it seemed as if the music was trying to get your attention, with the soundtrack being slightly out of time. It could just be the inner musician in me but the music really bothered me.
I do believe that you have an interesting world to work with and an art style that is eye catching for the average Joe to stop and consider. I suggest that you increase the interactions with the characters and allow more development between all of them. Bouncing different views or ideologies between them, would help establish the characters logic, emotions, and morals. This would outright stop or at the very least stop you from accidentally making characters that either fit a trope or have vastly different characteristics that outright refute and contradict what was established for a character.
I also highly recommenced that for characters like Mercredi, where they have a mental, psychological, and or morale problem. That you focus on the struggles they face. Especially if they are the main character, having it were we the view/judge are watching them go threw there desperate act to cling to their normality while trying not to damage there sanity or destroy there morals. This would not only help us the viewers to connect to a character but will also help in your story writing forcing the characters to either give in to whatever temptation their mind gives them or to struggle for those around them so that others don't have to suffer from their actions. With more time given to the characters and establishing their individuality you could easily avoid the player getting confused on what is happening.
One of the last things i would highly suggest is to pay attention to the music. While a story can be good without music, it could easily become great with the right music, and it could very will worsen the story if the music is terrible. Music is the lifeblood of all video games and movies, so much so that for some games that's all they need. (Frozen Synapse, Spacechem, Bastion, Dancing Line, and Scott Pilgrim vs The World.)
I enjoyed the game and the story it was trying to tell. In all honesty i wish to have a conversation with you about the game it's characters and the world they live in. (It reminds me of Beastars). If you are willing would you have chat with me?
Anyways good game, there are some improvements but that's the fun of creating. Good job you did a fine job.
I am the most transphobic and homophobic person that I know, yet I left it all behind when I played this game, pure fucking peak ngl.
"and they will behold the one who left it all behind, and his overwhelming intensity"
Same. Good writing bridges those disagreements by being understandable to many perspectives.
1. congrats you made a visual novel that was insanely good, a pleasent suprise
2. great art style
3. GOD DAMN YOU, NOW MY SOUL HURTS NOW
Why do some bad bitches really gotta emphasize the "bad" part, like damn it hurts so much 😔On the real--
Normally, very adverse to VNs. Just never really was my cup of tea. A lot strike me as too flat to ever fine appealing. However, I love good art and some neat stylization. Very huge fan of simple, yet unique character designs using a limited color scheme, primarily using white and black as a base; very old RPGmaker horror game fan here lol
As for the narrative of the game, what most will probably focus on the most, I will wholly admit I did not play the game. Just happen to be browsing Youtube for some content in the "small, indie, furry horror" genre, and watched the creator Neco the Sergal's run through the whole game. Again, despite being a VN, the art style and that look from Mercredi had me immediately hooked.
MASSIVE Spoiler warning below (I'm not used to writing feedback or comments, so bare with my lack of etiquette)
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TLDR; Great little game where just about everyone was doomed to fail from that start. Not every game needs a happy end. Life sure doesn't all the time, and that's just how it be :) Hope to see more games/art from you!
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I'll be frank and say that my normal cynicism, mixed in with the title, kinda gave it away to me from the jump. It was immediately cemented by the early shot we see of Mer and Cosette in the IR. While I would not have been blown out of my seat from a twist on the ending, I still would have been shocked if Mer wasn't the big bad of this story. Her demeanor, early on, can be seen as endearing and non-suspicious; just a gal with permanent RBF who knows what she does and doesn't like. Simple enough. Obviously, as the story unfolds, that same behavior becomes more of a tell of her psycho/sociopathy. At that point, it's a no brainer. I have nothing negative to say on that front, just merely my experience lol
I will say Mardi did throw me for a bit of a loop. Like, I figured something was wrong with her before her introduction, but no one is ever ready for a bombshell like that, I suppose. Wonderfully messed up character, with a more light depiction of her crimes, which I find respectful. You know what she did, no point it going into uncomfortable detail for the sake of shock factor. Especially since it was being recounted by the victim himself. She road her hedonism and psychopathy straight to her own her end, and I kinda love how she just explained her death like it was just another outcome she was ready to die just for the thrill of it. She didn't have a care in the world for anyone or anything other than her own perverted ways, and I'm SO glad it was that and not just a boring rehash of the "race relations" analogy but with predator and prey animals again. She was insane, went unchecked, caused a lot of harm, and died on her fucked-up hill, and I'm so down for that lol
John didn't deserve that, but that's how the story went.
Speaking of which, he is the last character point I wanna mention before the ending and . Damn John, truly a sweetheart to a fault. Really sad to see a character like that just take loss after loss like that. And I'm gonna be honest, in my head, he ended his own life after the ending. He lost the one thing I think that mattered slightly more than Mercredi, and that is the battle against Mardi.
The one grave, yet understandable error he made was focusing on Mer not ending up like the monster his abuser wanted moreso than helping Mer actually find herself -- her whole self. While he only addresses her as his daughter, no major emphasis on her half sheep, half wolf nature, he very must wanted her to be something she could never be -- 100% sheep. His traumatic experience with Mardi, in my opinion, hindered him from assisting her to be what she is, and ultimately, that kind of treatment can be seen as a building block in the shattered castle that is his daughter's ego. She doesn't know what to be(oustide of trans, which made me legit clap lmao), and she had no guidance on how to be herself. Ain't no way she was getting out of this story scot-free. That isn't to say the John is some terrible father like how he sees himself in the end. He's "human", and that very real human fragility and pain causes people to make mistakes. Her actions were on her and her alone. He cannot blame himself for her taking innocent lives. No blood is on his hands.
However, ironically enough, his determination to not let Mardi win ultimately gave her what she wanted -- A freak of nature who could, and did, cause harm, just to "shake things up".
Will try not to go super deep into this ending because this post is obnoxiously lengthy as is.
Did Mercredi get what she deserved in the end? Who's to say. Due to my cynical and more nihilistic nature, I can say I'm fine with her execution. (EDIT: The more I keep thinking about it, I really hate her Joker arc speak at the end. Kinda messes up her character in my opinion, and ties back into why I didn't want Mardi to go on a "political speech" about. What she did would have still been irredeemably bad, and that speech feels like trying to force in some weird message that didn't need to be stated explicitly. ) She was never "normal", never gonna get the chance to be "normal", and there was no doubt in my mind that if she didn't get the chair, she was serving life in prison, which is the same as dying in prison. I don't care to prolong living tragedy, however we curious creatures are still fascinated by it. It was either she die now or die later. Sure, they could have finally given her the help that she never got. That would have been a small victory for her to maybe come around and fully realize the gravity of her whole life situation as a hybrid, but again, that's a small victory. The end was going to be in that prison, period.
And while I'm not a religious person(no godly belief, but some kind of afterlife would be neat), her meeting her mom in the end was kinda weird. As Neco put it, Satan must have been so impressed that he was like "Shit lady, take what you want, just stay away from me" lol. That weird bubble of protection bit was odd, but I love that hauntingly playful music track that accompanied that whole scene.
In my mind, I think that whole scene is just the finally remnants of her worldly conscious trying it's hardest to put pieces together, but ultimately it was useless. Her pretty face was doomed to Hell.
As a tangent, I have this idea in my idea that I may or may not draw out one day of what I believe would have been a funny yet morbid end-end to the game where after that final frame of her mother consoling her in that bubble, it immediately snap-cuts to a silent "jumpscare" of Mercardi's writhing cadaver(seeing how she is burning in Hell after all) with that image being in her screaming mouth or maybe her blown-out eyesockets, truly tying back to my interpretation that she is being punished, and can just BARELY dissociate into this fantasy of is all being "okay".
Thank you again for the game :)
Y'know, as much as I hate to admit it, I completely agree that Mer was doomed from the start, Greek Tragedy style. In an ideal world there might be a single good ending, but sometimes people are just... beyond help. Another note is that I think the bubble is supposed to be Purgatory and, now that I think about it, oddly fitting as it is meant to be a sort of unnatural mix of Heaven and Hell (I think?). Good review.
i really like the game! the visuals, half-french talk, all this noir style is fascinating and murder mystery! just WOW! keep up good work lad!
I just played this game and...
I LOVE IT!!!
I love every character, the environment, the music, and the soul of the game!!
I thought it was going to be a mystery visual novel and then be delighted to see that I was wrong<3.
(Although if you had made the "killer" have amnesia, and it was part of the mystery to find out the "real killer", it would have been interesting too lol)
I've really fallen in love with your game, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else you create in the future<3<3<3<3.
PS: Could you make a guide?
Please, I get confused easily XD.
Me: Oooh what a nice character design, lets see what this VN is about with a friend.
my friend: Bunny Family!!!
The Actual Game Plot Happens
Us: Well Damn :( Hope she gets a happy end!
Props to you this VN was fucking GOLD, don't normally like Mystery Novels that go this direction but now you got me looking for what the sequel will be about (Kinda amazing THIS will get a sequel though @.@)
(Now watch as i add a lot of spacebars as spoiler deterrent!)
I honestly did expect this to be a simple mystery VN where Mercredi had to sniff out the killer from the high school grounds and we would get to go through her story with her friends too but DAMN, the rug was pulled with such speed and determination, I feel so bad for her.
Holy shit i fucking hated the ending in a "this emotionally SUCKED" way ;w; Like its fuckign brilliant but mAN NEITHER COUPLE GOT A HAPPY END OF ANY KIND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASame
what is the [i love glitter] file?
It's a font that I was originally gonna use for some kind of note, but decided against. I think I was gonna use it as Mercredi's handwriting, but it's probably closer how to Cosette would write in retrospect.
awolfinsheepsclothing-1.22>game>images, scroll all the way down to the bottom and there you will find a image file called "sussy". Perfection
P.S I loved the repetition of the D minor scale (:
LMAO I completely forgot I had that image entitled as "sussy.png"!
Thank you, glad someone noticed the motif! :)
np, it also made me want to write a short piece of music which I'm currently calling "Teeth and wool"; it's not finished yet but when it is, it's going to have four parts each one will come together to create short musical story. Here's what I've got so far:
(I couldn't figure out how to attach the video file to the comment so I just uploaded it to YouTube then linked it)Sounds wonderful! I can't wait for it to be finished. :D
Hello Ronald! Thanks for making AWISC for the world! I haven't experienced such an immersive visual novel in a long time, and AWISC is literally a breathtaking one!
Your work is definitely worth spreading in a wider range and attracting more, and I am more than willing to provide simplified Chinese translation for AWISC.
If you are interested, feel free to contact me at the following email address:
chikaminko@gmail.com
(As it might be a plus for translator of a French background VN, I also speak French fairly fluently ^.^)
Thanks in advance!
on the fourth picture where mercredi friends are dead might be indicating something going to happen in AWISC 2 I’m guessing that they will die not including ferret guy because he is dead.
or its a foreshadow for the endings
A couple of days ago I saw something say, "What If I told you Noir has a brother?" I think it was a reply to something? I'm not sure if it was YOU saying this because I didn't get to look at the pfp. But, if it was, will we ever get to see him in Aesop's Fox?
It was indeed me! It wasn't a reply to anything, but, yes, he will be pretty prominent in the second game.
That's so cool!! I'm so glad to see more minor characters and their "backstories" really coming in to play, especially relatives of theirs. I will watch your career with great interest :)
Do you think you could ever post the sprites for some of the characters?
They're super easy to find in the game files! Just go to the folder where the .exe is, then go into game>images and you should see all the sprites. There are also .clip files which you should be able to change to .PSD files so you can edit on expressions.
Thank you, Ronald! (If you're comfortable with me calling you by your name, ofc.)
Of course!
i love the game and it has some sad lore to it and i love the gore it is fun to see dead body that are some what eatin and the art style is really good to and cant wait for awisc 2 i hope it will be gorey as this one
This was such a strikingly stunning visual novel! First off, the color palette with the monochrome and red accents was my favorite. Though I've seen it in other games before, the execution in this one was really well done. The art style was also lovely, and I couldn't stop obsessing over the sprites for certain characters. (Mercredi and Noir in particular, haha.) If you enjoy psychological horror, this one is a must-play.
**Major Spoilers***
Getting to know Mercredi and her life story only to eventually discover the people she's killed was shocking. It wasn't as if her fate was completely undeserved, but you find yourself wondering how things could have been different. The shock factor of having to choose to kill one of the characters you've grown so attached to definitely threw me for a loop. Overall, I loved the storyline. Great work to the creator :)
1. Amazing game, great story telling, art music. etc... Clearly you have tallent...
2. WTF!!?!?!?!?!?!?
Now we need Lundi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi and Dimanche and we can end this hell of the week
I really love the artstyle, and the music is superb, and it hits the emotional beats pretty much perfectly, the characters relationships were believable, and while they sort of ruined the murder mystery by revealing who it was basically halfway through the game, they didnt do any bullshit like fakeouts, forgiving mercredi and basically avoiding her punishment. The dialogue is also good for what its trying to be, this is honestly one of the best games I have found on itch
Spoiler Alert
I honestly wished that too, I was going to cry knowing that the skeletons would finally catching, while a part of me wish she was also in psychological treatment or care. But yeah while the ending made me cry, it was still a good game. Hope to see another game in the future, with a rad artist like this game.
I usually never write comments or reviews for games, but I feel like I have to for this one. I've played many horror & similar visual novels and games, but there was just something else to this game, something that made me absolutely love it. I don't know if it was the characters, the plot or the artstyle, but regardless of what it was I can proudly say that this is my favorite game & visual novel I have ever played. I absolutely loved every single thing about it, and look up to more of your content! And even if some people were complaining about the ending being "too sad", I think it gave the story a nice ending touch. You are such a talented creator, and I hope you release more projects in the future. I'll happily support them <3.
I support you to
Sigo subiendo en partes por el tiempo que me lleva, pero ya casi por el final. En español ^^
A wonderful game, it's a pity there is no translation into Russian so that I can understand the whole point, in any case, thank you and greetings from Mother Russia!
harlequinn could you create a link to the pt br translation? A lot of people won't see if she stays down there in the comments (like the project kat page they have a link with only downloadable translations) https://www.mediafire.com/file/0ztlgc1sna0w2ro/A_Wolf_in_Sheep%2527s_Clothing_pt...
Heya! I'm a content creator and streamer, I was just wondering, is it ok to play this game on Twitch and VOD for youtube? I played the game the first time offline, and honestly, I have to admit, I love this game so much!! I really connected with the characters, and almost cried at the ending, and I don't cry often! You really did an amazing job with this game, and I absolutely loved it, and the art style is amazing as well!!!!!
Thank you very much!! It's perfectly fine for you to make any kind of let's play of this game! I'd love to get a link to you playing it, though!
Thank you very much, I honestly do appreciate it very much!! I honestly really loved this game, I mean the way the game play goes is honestly amazing and really connecting to the characters, and I really appreciate you allowing me to play this!!! I will make sure to leave the link to put the link as well in the description for the VOD :DD Have a lovely day!!!
I see many who do it and don't get in trouble (and yes I'm one of them) but it nice that you are asking first but i think you can play it on twitch and VOD it on YT.....but I'm not the creator so that means I could be wrong with having permission.
Thank you very much, I just wanted to be sure :>
You're welcome
could have a happier ending.
Yes it could.
yea
Pretty good overall, but I can understand some people not liking the ending(s). Mind you, if it happened around my area I could see a "Not Criminally Responsible Due to Mental Illness" verdict being possible. This would lead to a stay in a mental asylum until said condition is cured, or forever if that never happens. Probably the best one could do as far as ''happy'' ending goes.
I would prefer an ending like that
That does sounds like a good ending to add to the game.
https://www.mediafire.com/file/0ztlgc1sna0w2ro/A_Wolf_in_Sheep%2527s_Clothing_pt_br.rar/file Jogo com a tradução pra pt br (precisa do winrar)
there will be updates, or part 2 of the game?
As Koben said on a reply she will probloly not make any thing else for the game.....but there could be more to the game if someone mods it in. (sorry for any bad spelling)
I've wanted to download this but... I got complications with downloading game. I can't play it on mobile and even on PC.
Well, there aren't any mobile builds, but on PC the problem might be you're using the wrong .exe. If you're running 32 bit, you have to use the executable that ends in -32.
It work on win 11?
I downloaded all files few times, none of them work.
How to do - 32 bit file?
Are you planning to do mobile version?
Ok thanks so much, ill make post from 1 to 10. Ill play. Thanks.
- GOC OFFICIAL
I made an account here for the singular reason of saying how good this experience was.
Same lol
Same
I have a question. If you murdered someone and it was really gruesome does that add more years to your penalty
Crap imma be gone for a long time the
But was it really that bad?
Yes, yes it was
Y'all who's your favorite character? Mine is Cosette.
Mercredi or PaPa
Papa, 100%. He was such a kind man