A Paramnesis Novella

An anomaly of the consciousness plagues the city of Inksmouth. The memories of the citizens have begun to clash en masse, as if an epidemic had broken out that affects the mind and its recollection. Phantom memories of people, places, events: the reach of the mass recollective dissonance stretches across it all, and despite any confidence one might have on their grasp of the truth, no one can track a pattern down.

Independent private eye Shiori Novella had been quietly observing the spread of the phenomenon until a letter arrived on her desk, sealed with a blue wax stamp—a formal request to join the senior investigator Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame in the pursuit of the case of the phantom memories. Ever down on her luck and desperate for a big break, Shiori agrees, but it’s not quite open-and-shut with her arrival—the emerging chemistry between her and Liz aren’t enough alone to unravel the sprawling tangle of the recollective dissonance… And it’s not much simpler when the prime suspect in the public eye and the police precincts is the rising star Nerissa Ravencroft, someone Shiori had known personally... and cut off years ago.

Amidst all this, she can’t help but feel that her dreams of figures distinctly resembling these arrivals and re-arrivals in her life might be connected to the mystery, but those visions and reality paint pictures that contrast each other with an almost sickening starkness.

As the investigation goes on, she can’t help but wonder: are they just dreams, or portents? Could it be their edge in the case, or will pursuing it only lead to a dead end?

And can she weather all this when these two make her heart jump and her spirits sing as much as they make her stomach tie itself in knots?

Features:

• Point-and-click investigation sections
• Updating character profiles and investigation notes
• Two font choices for the interface and names/page titles
• Demo duration: ~1-2 hours (~20000 words)
• more to come!

Demo build work-in-progress disclaimers:

• Placeholder assets for Bijou, Raora, FuwaMoco and profiles screen
• Un-finalized music choices
• CGs unimplemented
• Autofister is curiously missing but they will appear we promise

Team Credits

Pen @sappenguin	Main Writer, Assistant Programmer
Nick @criostatic	Programmer, UI Artist, Assistant Writer
Ema @lizbianjailbird	Assistant Writer
Ops	Assistant Writer, Assistant Manager
Lio @of_aphelion	BG Artist
Mocca @inyandesu/@bunvelite	Sprite Artist, Character Designer
Kayrii @KayriiArt	Main CG Artist, Itch page banner artist, BG Artist
Onlysummer @hoomies84/@onlysummer17	Original Soundtrack Composer
Scurry @Scurrishi	In-house playtester

Additional BGM and SFX sourced from:
MusMus, Pixabay, freesoundslibrary 

Additional music: "Anomalies Abound", "Going Different Ways" by Eric Matyas (https://soundimage.org)

With background art based on materials from: Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay

Ren'py plugin credits: Kinetic Text Tags and Ren'py Auto Highlight by Wattson, Ren'py Action Editor by kyouryuukunn, Layered Image Masks by Feniks

CONTENT WARNING

The story of A Paramnesis Novella contains themes of unreality and depictions of experiences closely resembling panic attacks.

Individuals for whom such subject matter is sensitive or potentially triggering are advised to read with caution, or avoid the story altogether if necessary.