everything an nsfw ai visual novel gives you that a chat window can't

Okay so. Every few months someone in my DMs asks the same thing, slightly embarrassed: is there an NSFW AI visual novel that isn’t pre-written? One where the characters actually react to you, not to option B?

Until this week my honest answer was “kind of, if you squint.” There are adult visual novels on Steam with AI art baked in, and there are chatbots that can roleplay anything. Neither is a real story that’s written live around the characters you love.

Soulkyn shipped one on November 6. It’s called Reverie. Here’s the no-nonsense version of what you actually get.

who gets it

Reverie is in the menu under Scenarios. It’s for Deluxe and Deluxe Plus, and it’s labeled as in testing, so the team is still watching how it plays and tuning it.

what it is, in one paragraph

An authored story (places, characters, money, items, quests, several endings) where 1 to 3 of your own Kyns play the roles, and every scene is written live in their own voice and personality. You pick a choice or type what you do in your own words, and the story follows what you actually did. Your Kyns react as they go (♥ +1 when you charm them, 💔 −1 when you don’t), and the people you meet remember how you treated them.

the stories

Ten at launch. Six are free for now:

• The Lantern Market. One night, one stolen bell, a market that moves when you blink.
• The Great Cat Café Crisis. The owner is away and eleven cats have opinions about your service.
• The Keeper of Gullhaven Light. A storm, a dark lighthouse, and a very polite ghost.
• The Velvet Masquerade 🔞. A masked club and a hostess who only opens the last door for her boldest guests.
• The Snowbound Onsen 🔞. A blizzard, a mountain inn run by a fox, and a hot spring that only opens at the hour of the ox.
• Terms & Conditions 🔞. You signed something at a party, and Hell’s legal department would like a word.

Four more unlock with souls, once, and you replay them forever: The Wyrm of Ashfall Pass, Neon Last Mile, The House of Open Doors 🔞 and The Silk Block 🔞.

what a run looks like

I played The House of Open Doors last night. The pitch: a manor with no locks, a guest book with very particular rules, and a hostess who wants to see how far you’ll go.

The opening, word for word: “Rain ticks against the tall windows of the front hall as Ambrose sets the folded invitation aside and slides an uncapped pen across the mahogany table. Beyond the half-open door, a laugh tangles with something slower and lower, and neither Ruby nor Kuby quite manages to look away.”

Neither of them quite manages to look away. Reader, neither did I.

The screen tells you a lot at a glance. Your Lead and whoever is By your side stand on either end, each with their own heart counter. The character you’re dealing with sits in the middle. Up top there’s the story’s own money, your Bag, your Journal and your Pictures. Down by the narration you’ve got Auto, Voice and the Log for when you want to reread something. Ahem. For plot reasons.

the extras (and which ones cost nothing)

• Every line read aloud, free. Each Kyn in their own voice. Auto-read turns it into a radio drama you really shouldn’t play at work.
• Pictures. Picture a Kyn, a character, or the whole scene. The first picture each scene is free, and you can save the good ones to your Kyn’s gallery.
• Rewrite. Don’t like how a scene went? Ask for a new take.
• 3 save slots per story, on any device. Stop at the door. Come back tomorrow. Open it on your phone.
• Endings. Every story has several, some secret, and your collection stays on the story’s page. The library shows you the count (“Endings 0/5”), which is either motivating or a personal attack.

today’s update: music

As of November 8, every scene in every story has its own instrumental music. The manor’s front hall got a slow, decadent string quartet with a low cello. Candlelit, slightly ominous. It’s doing exactly what you’d think it’s doing.

The same update also made SK-Alpha images slightly more consistent for styles and NSFW pictures, and the Harmony video engine got a bit faster and better at NSFW. Small steps. The changelog has the details.

(And if you’re wondering where all this runs: the same place your chats do. I wrote about how Soulkyn moved everything onto its own machines a while back. Your guest book entries stay home.)

what’s coming

The changelog’s next list: music for every place (done, as of today), maps you explore with random encounters, creators writing and sharing their own visual novels, and more stories.

That creators line is the one I’m watching. Ten stories is a great start. A shelf written by the community is a different animal.

so, is it worth it

If you only want quick, direct chat, your chat window is still right there. Reverie is for when you want a place: stakes, a slow burn, a door you’re not sure you should open, with someone you already have chemistry with.

Open Reverie and start with The Velvet Masquerade. Or find a Kyn first if you’re bringing someone new.

Sign the guest book. Read the rules. Break one.