Lock & Key Progress Update - March 2024

Long time no see, my fellow Magical Girl Appreciators! With the end of March (ALREADY) at hand, I thought it might be a good time to give you all an update on Lock and Key! As you’re probably already aware, our Magical Girl adventure has been undergoing a major revamp with regards to art, UI, and even an expanded story! Today I’d like to share some of that updated art; specifically, our new and improved sprites! While Sherri and Kealey’s new designs are public, I figured our lovely patrons should be able to see the rest of our wonderful cast. Naturally, we’re going to start with the one and only Ms. Nina Alencar! Everyone’s favorite idol has become even cuter, something that scientists previously believed to be impossible. Thanks to Shari's amazing work bringing the character to life in her style, Nina is shining like never before.

Our primary goal for this revamp was to make sure every member of the team was playing to their strengths. As enjoyable as our original aesthetic was, we decided that it would be better to embrace the elements of game development that inspire the most love and passion in our hearts. Vibrant art design, heartfelt and mature storytelling, and an aesthetic focused on the core ideals of the narrative combine to create a game that brings our team’s love to the forefront. We look forward to bringing you more frequent updates about this process over the course of the remaining months of development, providing our patrons with unique insight into our design philosophy and development process.

So what have we been up to this month? Our current focus is twofold (no pun intended! Okay, pun semi-intended.) as we work to revise and finalize the script for the first two acts alongside our art update. That also includes adding new scenes, meaning that the first act is going to offer even more than it did in the demo! In the art department, we’re reworking our existing CGs alongside our sprites in order to ensure both consistency and quality are top notch. We’ll also be adding new expressions to spice up character interactions in addition to reworking the old ones. Our focus on those two aspects will remain our first priority going into next month as well, so we’ll have both more art and more info about the writing and revision process by the time our next update rolls around at the end of April!

Oh, and one more thing: on a personal note, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your patience with our team’s development process and journey through this evolving experience. Lock and Key: A Magical Girl Mystery will be well worth the wait. I can’t wait to share more details about the game with you (and somehow hold back my excitement enough to not accidentally reveal the killer’s identity, even though they’re one of my favorite characters we’ve ever written) alongside patreon-unique bonus stories about the world and its wonderful inhabitants. Look forward to it!

Love always,

Rachel

P.S. Here’s a bonus Nina having a completely normal response to 2023. Onward and upward!