Selene ~Apoptosis~
Developer: Viscum Key, Nupu Neko Dev
Publisher: Nupu Neko Dev

First of all, what is Apoptosis? In simple terms, it's the self destruction of cells. Now let's apply it to Selene ~Apoptosis, it's the self destruction of our characters lives. At the beginning, we're met with a writer with terrible insomnia and writer's block. As he tries to fall asleep, he hears a knock on the front door. What's awaiting him? A fluffy cat(girl) with black hair and golden eyes. He takes her in, bathes, feeds, and pets her. Now that she's in, it's over from here on out. We're introduced to our protagonist, Ethan Harrison, who is a history consultant to the writer from the beginning. However, he too has an issue with his work and maybe his marriage. He's accepted the job from his returning customer, but after that, his anxiety kicks in. Selene is in his life, the abnormalities begin.

1.
The story can be... a little strange. Maybe hard to understand at first. That isn't a bad thing here, though. It adds to they mystery of what Selene is. Is she just a being of bad luck? Is she actually there? It's hard to say. With Ethan, Selene is like seductive woman, with a hint of danger. Depending on what Ethan does, his life could spiral out of control. The anxiety could kill him, or maybe karma could. The endings are all interesting, obviously one being the best outcome. All the bad endings are just like what the title says, the self destruction of cells. Decay. If Ethan handles his life poorly, he dies and loses everything dear to him. If Ethan handles it properly, he fixes his marriage and looks more into a second career opportunity. While I say, the story may be hard to understand at first, it all clicks together when you get all the routes. It is ambiguous on what Selene is, but that is the mystery. We really don't know, we're just ordinary people. I think that is what is done quite well here. Honestly, this is a story that just lets you determine how far you want to think into it.
2.
The characters are just a small bunch. Ethan's acquaintance, the writer who works with Ethan here and there. Ethan, our protagonist, a struggling history consultant. Hope, Ethan's loyal wife. Finally, Selene; our mysterious and seductive cat lady. Ethan at first is an anxious man and with Selene, he gets paranoid to near insanity. I think it's done fine as we see him grow throughout the story and try to persevere through the horrors. Selene is a fascinating character. She's sensual but also can be timid. She's like a parasite, feeding off Ethan. Her demeanor gets more sinister later on, obviously enjoying the pain she is causing on her puppets.
3.
The art is great. The character art is wonderful along with the horror scenes fits in well. The extra parts like the tv selection is interesting to see with a range of infomercials, interviews, or childrens' shows all succumb with a horrific twist.
4.
The music is royalty free, but it fits in with the story. I'm sure with custom music, it'd elevate things.
5.
The voice acting by Phan Masaki[x.com], PixieWillow[x.com], and Purity Sin[x.com] are all great to listen to. Selene is seductive and playful, Hope is extremely pleasant to listen to.



1.
I'm not sure whether Ending 1 is actually in the game or it's actually just 5 endings and it's just a mistake, but would be nice to have a solid ending to finish the story on.
2.
I think there could've been more scenes with Ethan and Selene, I understand there's the dream sequences, and the anxiety inducing events, but more in the end could have done really well. Possibly a final intimate encounter with Ethan to solidify the need for her (if choosing bad choices) or if recovering, Selene puts more work into manipulating Ethan.


Selene ~apoptosis~ is a neatly done horror with anxiety inducing scenes and a seductive intruder, but while it does have a range of endings that go from "I screwed up" to "I think it will be ok", the missing Ending 1 does give the strong desire to see what a possible true ending may be.



Score: 7/10 GOOD

the story is not bad, mas the narrative, the text, the transitions, its all very tiring. I wanted to see what happens, and found myself rushing through the texts. I dont need 10 dialogues telling me about the long grass outside the house.

Get your damn cat spayed