The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns 1.0

Visual novels are one of the most popular genres for indie developers to make games for, due to there being a fantastic free engine out there that helps people easily make visual novels, as well as the low amount of resources required relative to other genres. As a result, indie developers need to do something unique in this genre to stand out. The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns doesn't try to reinvent the wheel but still stands out due to its themes and execution.

To install The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns, simply unzip the archive and run the executable.

The premise is fairly simple but interesting. It follows two concurrent storylines that it switches between constantly. The first storyline follows Emmeline and Cornelia as the two start building a relationship with each other. The game doesn't try to idealize this relationship - while they are genuinely in love with each other, the game recognizes the legitimacy and limits of their relationship in their current society. It is a fine line to balance and the game tackles it admirably.

The second storyline follows Toma Andrews, as we see the world presented through her eyes. She has a ton of familial troubles, and it serves as a fantastic contrast to the sunny first storyline and also helps us get a better feel for the world.

These two storylines eventually converge and interact with each other, and that's where the story pays off. If any of this sounds interesting, you should definitely give The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns a download.