When 20 Minutes of the Demo Turned into an Hour‑Long JRPG Horror (Devlog)

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Introduction

Hello! This is my first post on dev.to, and I’m excited to introduce you to Death Flowers — a 2D JRPG in the psychological horror genre. Over the past week the game has undergone major changes, and in this devlog I’ll explain what’s new, how it works, and where you can see the first footage. I’ve been developing this for about a year; it was inspired by Omori but has grown into something entirely unique. It’s hard even to call it a simple JRPG, given its unconventional mechanics, and surprisingly, they fit together perfectly.

1. Three‑Dimensional Ventilation

In the current beta you could barely play for more than two minutes in the school. Now I’ve added variety — you can’t just leave the school through the door anymore; it’s locked. You have to find a stepladder and climb into a three‑dimensional ventilation system that generates itself randomly while rats scratch along the metal.

As soon as you find the exit, the hero falls outside — landing on a row of trash bins and returning to the familiar 2D world.

City and Childhood Friend

After the battle with the police, a large city replaces the old beta’s car‑and‑mother scenes. Here, the hero meets a childhood friend and for the first time uses the party mechanic: companions follow you step by step. You can switch between characters via the ESC menu, where you can also see their stats and descriptions.

The best friend is called Remy; through him the game’s lore and both your and his childhood will gradually be revealed. For now, I’ve only implemented the mechanic itself, Remy’s animations, and a bit of the city. :р

An Hour Instead of Twenty Minutes

The original demo was meant to last 10–20 minutes, but with the addition of ventilation and the city after the school it’s already stretched to thirty minutes! The final demo version will now run for at least an hour.

Tutorial through Emotions

The tutorial is now built into the dialogue — to complete it you need to experience all the character’s basic emotions. Hints on how to trigger them are hidden in the conversations. Emotions grant temporary buffs and debuffs, and I’m still working on balancing them.

Character Concepts

So far only the visuals of the future heroes are ready. One of them is a botanical girl with acid‑yellow disheveled hair, blue spiral glasses, and a scientist’s lab coat. She believes her device can rid everyone of mental disorders and is a bit unhinged… but you’ll learn more when the game comes out.