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~~~~~
"Mariko, I love you.
But I can't do this anymore.
It's not your fault,
and there was nothing you could've done for me.
There's nothing you could've done about 'her'."

~~~~~
Dear Mariko is a short, simple game about a girl who comes home to find a goodbye letter from the one she loves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Features
* 10 minutes of gameplay
* 3 Endings
* 3 Unlockable Images

Official Website

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The RMXP RTP may be necessary to play the game. If you get an error along the lines of "RTP not found" please let me know so I can try to fix it again. Thanks!

Alternatively, if you encounter the "RGSS-RTP Standard not found." error when opening the game, all you need to do is opening the Game.ini file and delete the "Standard" in the "RTP1=" line.

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Please consider supporting us on Patreon if you enjoyed this game and want to see more like this soon! Thank you so much for the support!

Latest Blog

Dear Mariko: Crimson - Released!



After a year, Dear Mariko: Crimson, the pay-what-you-want version has been released, thanks very much to the efforts of @baka-baru, who graciously helped with the game! This version has brand new character and CG art, and an additional short playable epilogue with 4 endings, shedding a little light on the overarching story as a whole, as a stinger towards a future game.

Feel free to think of this extension as a 'tip-jar' of sorts for everyone who has enjoyed the free games I have made so far. All proceeds will partly go to the lovely @baka-baru and to the development of Mica: Apoptosis. Everyone who has donated to Dear Mariko before Crimson's release will get a complimentary copy - just shoot me an email at coren.baili@gmail.com. Please do send all bug reports to that email as well. Thank you all once again for your support!

The Free version includes:
* The full main story
* 3 endings
* 3 CGs

The Crimson version ($0.50 or more) includes:
* Brand new character and CG art
* An additional epilogue
* Double the gameplay
* 7 endings

Download the Crimson Edition here!
  • Completed
  • Kirroha
  • RPG Maker XP
  • Puzzle RPG
  • 05/16/2015 11:08 PM
  • 03/16/2019 12:20 AM
  • 05/17/2015
  • 182451
  • 51
  • 10034

Posts

Dragnfly
Beta testers!? No, this game needs a goddamn exorcist!
1809
Done. It's a nice digest length.

Bugs:
-There's no cursor box when prompted with options.

Stuff I dislike that aren't bugs:
-I was never a fan of head proportion 4 for characters who aren't very young kids, especially since her sprite conveys an older person. Even as an anime fan, it just annoys me. Even when the characters are youthful-looking they usually get around this with a higher head proportion. The art itself is good though.

Stuff I liked:
-The changing book names were nice.
-The 3 endings are good enough. True End was great. Nice twiiiist.
author=Kirroha
Ok, I've uploaded one and I think it's *finally* fixed. So sorry for leading you on this silly wild goose chase :P Let me know if there are anymore problems!


Thanks for uploading the new version.
I have played it without any problems :)

I never played a short yandere horror rpg that was so good.
The true ending was very unexpected :)


Sorry for my bad english. I am not a native speaker.
Thanks so much for playing, guys! :)

@Dragnfly: Thanks for the critique! To be honest I'm not a fan of the head proportions thing either, but the thing is - it's simple to draw. :P I wanted to do something 'chibi-like' so that I can get all the art and CGs done quickly so that I can release the game. But yeah, she's meant to be an older person.

@IA-chan: Thanks for notifying me about the bugs! Phew so glad that it's all fixed now. Glad you enjoyed it!



Well, I've also got a Let's Play completed for this game and it covers all three endings. Though, I have to admit the true ending is difficult to put into words. I can't say this game really endeared itself to me though. Though, to be fair I'm not really a fan of horror. So, this game was always going to suffer an uphill battle to win my affections.
Hey there, I played the game because it looked interesting, but I have to mention that I wasn't expecting the horror-esque turn that it took. It's funny because I have a lack of trust with rpg maker games (what with the majority seeming horror centric) and I said to myself "This looks harmless!" lol.

However, these types of things do spook me a little, especially when it happens by surprise and I wish I could suggest to you to put some sort of warning... but then that would kind of ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? :(

Great twist, though! I do enjoy games that have that aspect of exploring your environment and also with the different endings. I didn't want to write up a formal review (mostly since I'm new and don't want to do something wrong OTL) but I just wanted to leave some feedback. So I'm a little spooked but I kind of enjoyed it, haha.
For a short game, it was rather decent! The art was nice for the small amount of time spent on this.
The only real bit of it I didn't enjoy as much was that the theme of the game itself (I have gotten all three endings) is not original... BUT! This is the first time I have seen a game with this idea. But I know the original idea has been around for years ^^;!!

Overall, I enjoyed the game regardless. Even if you have heard the original story before, it's refreshing! Plus, it's just a short little game regardless. :D So, all-in-all, I enjoyed the 10-15 minutes I spent on the game...... Was a bit longer than the expected time because I didn't know you had to inspect pretty much everything another time after the letter.

I do suggest giving it a quick play! It's a nice, short, and sweet(?) game! c:

I may make some fan art of "Mariko" in the future (if that's alright)?
Thanks for playing, guys! :) And yeah, fanart will be very very very much appreciated and encouraged!
I really like it. Played trough all 3 Endings. No quite sure if I also found all pictures. Are pictures only found by getting the right ending or is there a hidden picture aswell?
author=raiyux


Great twist, though! I do enjoy games that have that aspect of exploring your environment and also with the different endings. I didn't want to write up a formal review (mostly since I'm new and don't want to do something wrong OTL) but I just wanted to leave some feedback. So I'm a little spooked but I kind of enjoyed it, haha.


If you want to write a review, do go ahead! Reviews will need to get approval from the site staff, and should you really "do something wrong", they will tell you what you need to add/correct/improve for it to be accepted. Many games are looking for feedback, and it is always appreciated. (Welcome, btw)


Now then, I played the game, and while the plotline felt incredibly forced, you really managed to capture the moods with the use of music and sounds.
It is neat that you have to think of ways to get the ending yourself (which are actually fairly intuitive).
It's a fairly good game, I'm sure many will enjoy it.
Short Review will be up soon.
I enjoyed playing this a lot, but I'm having trouble figuring out what all happened in the true ending, can you help me understand it a little more?
Well? It's kept fairly clean. Here's my gist as far as I can tell

Stalker faces Mariko, Mariko kills stalker, Mariko kills herself, because she's become a murderer and thus is not befitting of him anymore (or so she thinks)


Anything else is up to interpretation, and likely

he will mourn her death until eternity, will blame himself for it all, but can't change a thing.
author=Kylaila
Well? It's kept fairly clean. Here's my gist as far as I can tell

Stalker faces Mariko, Mariko kills stalker, Mariko kills herself, because she's become a murderer and thus is not befitting of him anymore (or so she thinks)


Anything else is up to interpretation, and likely

he will mourn her death until eternity, will blame himself for it all, but can't change a thing.

No, that's not it haha... :P I was puzzled as to why you said it felt 'incredibly forced' ('cause if that's the real plot, then yeah it is incredibly forced), but no that's not the twist. The true ending is basically just: (Warning: Major Spoilers for the game!)

You are not Mariko. Remember, the game never said you were...
And goodnight to the real Mariko.

There were a few foreshadowing hints hidden around the place, e.g. the player character finding Mariko's bed stinky, and saying that she hates Mariko's choice of flowers, and being generally all-around creepy around Darien's bed. And saying "So that's what he really thinks of me..." to Darien's letter, which described her as an insane stalker.

Wasn't sure if I should've made it clearer though... I thought the main character saying "Goodnight, Mariko" as she stabs the real Mariko should've been obvious enough, but I guess I must've put too much effort into making the player assume that the main character is Mariko.
Okay, got it. Well, makes more sense that way. But the whole letter thing is still weird to me. The forced feeling is really more the situation you find yourself in, as there could be a far more reasonable course of action to take.

Why would then the real Mariko go search for you .. ? That does not make sense whatsoever. If you think someone dangerous, so dangerous your relationship broke up because you might be killed, you just scram. Nor makes the bad ending much sense.
Unless it's your delusion kicking in .. but .. eh. I see it. I see the twist. But I can't connect it with the overall experience. I just can't.

Not having the key before makes sense then. As well as the touches you pointed out. Still, ugh .. then is the ???/real mariko dialogue in her head, a delusion or just added for fancy's sake? Even someone coming in "by force". I don't know how it's for you, but I don't scratch around the door when I get home.

The "reaction" to the normal end makes in a way sense, but in another way it doesn't. Because you know, they broke up. You could see this as a chance just as well. And I highly doubt that she is not aware of her being a little bit obsessed ..

I can't get something coherent together, no matter the version.

(and Darien's course of actions is still a mystery and completely stupid to me, to be perfectly honest)

I think I'd add some clarifications that you do not kill yourself. Like noises of leaving the house. Then it will be clear.
When you get that line of dialogue - the knife's are already bloody! The deed is already done. Another stab would either be on an already dead corpse .. or on yourself.

author=Kylaila
Okay, got it. Well, makes more sense that way. But the whole letter thing is still weird to me. The forced feeling is really more the situation you find yourself in, as there could be a far more reasonable course of action to take.

Why would then the real Mariko go search for you .. ? That does not make sense whatsoever. If you think someone dangerous, so dangerous your relationship broke up because you might be killed, you just scram. Nor makes the bad ending much sense.
Unless it's your delusion kicking in .. but .. eh. I see it. I see the twist. But I can't connect it with the overall experience. I just can't.

Not having the key before makes sense then. As well as the touches you pointed out. Still, ugh .. then is the ???/real mariko dialogue in her head, a delusion or just added for fancy's sake? Even someone coming in "by force". I don't know how it's for you, but I don't scratch around the door when I get home.

The "reaction" to the normal end makes in a way sense, but in another way it doesn't. Because you know, they broke up. You could see this as a chance just as well. And I highly doubt that she is not aware of her being a little bit obsessed ..

I can't get something coherent together, no matter the version.

(and Darien's course of actions is still a mystery and completely stupid to me, to be perfectly honest)

I think I'd add some clarifications that you do not kill yourself. Like noises of leaving the house. Then it will be clear.
When you get that line of dialogue - the knife's are already bloody! The deed is already done. Another stab would either be on an already dead corpse .. or on yourself.


Ahhh I see why it may be confusing, true. Good point there, maybe I should do that if I ever release another version. Thanks for the suggestions!

For me the main challenge in the game is trying to strike a right balance between foreshadowing the twist while at the same time still trying to make it shocking, heh. I wasn't sure if I managed to get that, but I guess for different players the balance would probably be different. For a Charon-style 'yandere' plot like this, I don't really have high expectations for it to be realistic, but I still tried, though probably not hard enough. :P

An explanation for Mariko would be that she has been so freaked out by Shinku's stalking that she decided to take matters into her own hands (after fiction-land police clearly don't seem to be very competent), the door sound effect was supposed to be a 'doorknob getting stuck' sound effect (though I guess that can be pretty confusing as well) and the normal end is just something to be added in for fancy value (though I guess with Shinku's creepy obsession, it does seem a little strange how she'd easily give up just because Darien left a letter behind for Mariko). Sadly I don't have any explanation for Darien's idiocy, haha... just chalking that to typical anime/horror guy cluelessness. Not that he ever appears though, so I left that behind.

As for the real Mariko searching for you, well, she was just going home. She has a knife for her own protection. Probably a little dumb of her to go around investigating after hearing a noise in her own house especially since a crazy stalker's on the loose, but well. *shrugs* Haha.


Thanks for the comments - really appreciate them!:)
It's hard to strike a balance, but what you want is hints that make sense in retrospective.
As it is, you have a mix of contradictory hints and reactions, which is not what you want. You want the "aaaaaah"-effect, not the "wait, then what was that?". Some are good, some are not so good.

It's hard to set it up well in such a short gameplay frame, but I think what could've helped it would be to keep the reactions later on simpler and open.

For example ..

If your character already knows that Mariko might be the one coming in .. why would you need to point out that someone is forcing themselves in? Not commenting further would not change the atmosphere, but leave it open!
The player will automatically assume someone is forcing their way in by the sound and looks of it. But it will also make sense in hindsight.

The letter is such a huge reaction - mirrored in the one who shouldn't have it.
You have a crazy laughter standard yandere-like reaction - which the real Mariko shouldn't have! The crying was well, the soundeffects are all very well chosen in this game actually, but why have this on-point narration when it is in fact wrong?
If you want to have a narration than let your main character do so! That way, it yields to subjectivity. After all, you can think you hear she is going crazy or getting out a knife while you are hiding.. but the actual reasonings can be different still and you can't know.

There could be some more hints to what she actually is, that she is fairly obsessed with Darien. That would be best done not by only putting negative to Mariko's belongings, but also to give more detail on Darien. She's swooning over him, after all.


I think there don't need to be any more direct hints. That is fine. What makes this hard to pick together are the logic holes that open up and that you can't fill up as the dialogue choices are too precise to ignore.


It feels as though you put so much effort into creating an observation of what's happening from what the real Mariko would see that you neglected to make it a possible observation for our stalker-chan as well.


Just a few notes from me!
Overall, this revelation changes little of how I see the game. The story is kind of bonkers, but the general atmosphere, the music and sounds make it a decent experience.

Hmm true, especially for the door suggestion. I'll keep that in mind!

For things like Mariko laughing, I just chalked that up to her going slightly deranged from all the prolonged stalking (and some of it was just normal giggling at oooh silly Darien and his silly book collection), and her reaction to the letter was just how upset she was at how her relationship had to suffer like this because of the stalker, but I can see why that would be a little confusing in hindsight.
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
random thoughts

cute art style

when searching the plant you get a yes/no option but i cannot see the selector

in the send room theres a letter walking up and down the let goes above the character :3

yeah the selector for choices needs to be changed in fact if its mandatory why have a choice at all

yandere's are such a plague


please hide spoilers in tabs (things like the 2nd post which tells you how to do something)

endings

normal end was the best
bad end was just sad
true end was terrible and made no sense


overall
worth it for pretty art and its short

@raiyux no its called rpg maker for a reason lol...horrors not the majority
Holy crap, that plot twist was so creepy... I love this game so much. Nice and short and still gives me the creeps. Is it just me, Coren, or have you stopped making happy endings entirely since Ribbon of Green?

Six Rules and Dear Mariko are both really scary and depressing... while Ribbon of Green started off depressing and ended off bittersweet and a little happier. You are such a troll, Coren-senpai. I like your shockers, but I ended up crying so hard after Six Rules you don't even know...

Make a happy ending next time pleaseee (especially for Crimson Rafflesia and Mica: Apoptosis I just want everybody to be happy I'll cry if any of the main characters die)
I too did not understand the true ending until you spelled it out.
Here are my thoughts:
My first impression of the true ending was that 'Mariko' (the playable character, I didn't realize that she was the stalker) killed the stalker, but since she turned crazy after the murder, I thought that she was going to go kill another 'Mariko' (like there was this whole chain of crazy stalkers leading up to the real Mariko o___o). But then I thought 'Mariko' killed herself with the two extra stabs at the end when she says "Goodnight, Mariko"
(also, for entertainment purposes, I thought I'd let you know that the 'bad smell' in Mariko's space was because of a dead body or something of the like.. xD)
I attained the true ending again after learning what it actually meant. Here are my comments/thoughts about things I found confusing:
-While the real stalker's offhand comments about the decor make more sense now, they kind of threw me off before.
-I think the door sound effects when Mariko comes in are fine - they aren't too excessive.
-I think that maybe in the dialogue when Mariko returns, the stalker should conjecture that it is 'her' trying to get in the house rather than 'that woman' because I think that leads to an easier interpretation of the playable character not being Mariko.
-It does seem strange that Mariko walks in the house with a knife on full display. Maybe a better way to do this would be to have her bring it out later? (additionally, I don't understand how Mariko knew somebody was in the house in the first place...maybe after reading the letter because wouldn't she see that it was opened?)
-Mariko's red text looks really threatening, but maybe I just need a lot of hints as to what's going on xD

Sorry for the long read.
And some of the interpretation could have been my fault as it was indicated that this is a quick play so I might not have paid as much attention as I should have xD