The Hero's Journey (NSFW edition)
A downloadable game for Windows and macOS
This is the NSFW edition of The Hero's Journey, which is a free otome about forgetting your heroic past and retracing the steps you took in your world-saving quest! If you've never played THJ, you can try the free version here:
The free version contains the full 175k words story, but the intimate scenes occuring in chapters 3 and 4 are only implied and have no CGs.
This version contains all of the free content and replaces the intimate scenes with longer, more detailed scenes and adds CGs.
Here's a breakdown of the content:
- 6 thousands new words
- Eight NSFW CGs (2 per love interest) with different versions (16 CGs total)
The booklet (which you can purchase on the free version's page or here, along with the NSFW version, for a discount) has over 90 pages of extra content.
It contains:
- 20k words and a few illustrations
- multiple stories from the love interests' point of view
- some trivia about the characters
- a detailed walkthrough of the game and how to obtain the different CGs and epilogues
- a look at THJ's development, previous versions and old art
A note for players on Mac:
Some Mac users can’t run the game, or the game freezes when they try to save, change their settings or see a CG.
If you encounter this problem, you can try these solutions:
- Right-click on the game app -> Enable Write permissions.
- Right-click the game app -> Click "Show package contents" -> Open "Contents” folder -> Open "Mac OS" folder -> Double-click on the executable called “The Hero’s Journey”. This will launch the game through the terminal.
This VN is intended for mature readers.
Please be advised that THJ is an overall harsh story taking place in a harsh world. Some of the choices offered to you are morally reprehensible and possibly distressing. The game has mentions of death, injury, child abandonment, sexual assault and child abuse. Your choices can lead to explicit violence and some of the art depicts blood.
The NSFW edition adds explicit sexual content and isn't suited for minors. All of the sex is between consenting adults.
Credits:
Music: Village and Dark Hollows by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Other music and sounds from zapslat
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $6 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- 1.5.4 fixNov 30, 2022
- DLCs released!May 13, 2022
Comments
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You should continue with nsfw works, you're really good at it.
I confess that I played the pirated NSFW version, but this game captivated me so much that I came here to buy it just as a way of gratitude for this magnificent game.
I really missed a good game like this. It was an adventure, I was really immersed in the story, almost forgetting about real life.
I really loved everything, the story is so captivating, the plot twists are really engaging, the characters are so alive, your choices have real changes, you get hooked playing more and more to unravel the plot and the consequences of your choices.
Also, the romance! It really touched me, I almost cried! Almost.
I liked it, it's a rare occasion in a game where you have a female protagonist who doesn't have to date any men. I totally went Aerona and I was really happy about it. I really love when you have a romance option for women only or something like that.
The art is really good too, very well done.
I'm really touched by this game.
I will never forget this game, definitely one of my favorites now.
Hi! turns out I'd mispelled Emrys' last CG's name in the script :') I just uploaded a fix and it should work now!
Hi there! Bought the dlc but cant seem to find the booklet in the files. Just wondering if anyone else has this issue. Im having a bit of trouble without a walkthrough lol
Hi! Normally itch.io should show you separate buttons for each files that can be downloaded, so you can check if you've clicked "download" for the booklet too. But if that's not working for some reason, you can email me at manekimushidev@gmail.com and I can share the booklet file with you directly!
hi maneki-mushi! Just wanted to start out saying how much I’ve loved the game and am dying for a sequel, prequel or more dlc. Heck, I’d read a book of this series!
Thank you for the advice! I’m new to this platform and after checking I realized I didn’t click the button to download the additional file, I rebought it properly :) So it was me, not an issue with the download. Thank you for replying, being willing to help and for making such a great game. Just bought your Saint game to play when I get off work tonight :)
Could this game work with linux or no?
There's no linux build (I don't have access to linux so I wouldn't be able to test any builds, and I'd feel bad releasing something potentially completely broken), but from what I understand either the Windows or Mac version should work in virtual machines/emulators? I don't know much about linux though, so I could be wrong.
I bought the DLC, but it does not seem to be working for me? Could it be because I am transferring saves?
I tried overriding the free version with the DLC's content, and it didn't change the scenes. I then tried to extract the DLC and transfer the saves into the save folder (after initially starting the game) and it still won't show...
It could indeed be the saves! The game checks for a "DLC enabled" variable to play the DLC scenes, so your saves from the free version would have this variable set to false and would fail to trigger the scenes... Sorry about that!
Have you tried starting a new game in the DLC version and choosing "Start from another chapter" to start from chapter 3? That should let you see the DLC scenes without having to replay chapters 1 and 2!
Hello! I recently discovered this game and bought this version (both the NSFW ver and the booklet) but I just tried to download the booklet and for some reason I don't seem to be able to. T____T idk if maybe it's because I'm on Mac but I did try digging into the file contents for the NSFW version since Mac likes to put things in weird places but I couldn't seem to find it. Now whenever I try to download just the booklet there is no file that can be selected to download? Just overall weird. Wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem and maybe how to fix it?
Love the game btw, the nuance and the twists! Love literally all the characters and currently working through romancing everyone.
Ah that's really weird! If you email me at manekimushidev@gmail.com (using the same email as your itch.io account or attaching your payment receipt so I can check you bought the game), I can give you a link to the booklet!
hello! I bought the dlc earlier today and wasn't sure if I wanted the booklet but now I really want it and was wondering if there was a way for me to get it, ill still pay the other $2 ofc!
you can email me at manekimushidev@gmail.com! either use the same email connected to the payment service you used or just show me your itch.io receipt, and I'll give you the booklet file!
okay, thank you!
the in-game content is still uncensored and hasn't changed! I just censored the screenshots to be safe/avoid showing adult content to people clicking on the page by accident.
Think you missed a vag in the censorying, fam. XD
aah thanks for letting me know :')
neat
i love this game but every single time i quit the game and enter again all of my data is gone and i'm forced to start a new game which makes it practically impossible to do multiple playthroughs :(
Oh that sucks, I'm not sure why that might be happening! You might want to check the app's Write permissions if you're on Mac. If you're on Windows you might want to look into the save files (there should be a Saves folder inside the The Hero's Journey_Data folder) and see if things disappear when you quit the game.
Hello! I have finished Emrys route and I only have 3 CG NSFW. Is it a bug or is he the only one with 3 CG NSFW instead of 4?
Thank you
He does also have four, but I just checked the script and it seems I forgot to make one of them unlock in the gallery. I'll make a fix for this soon! Thanks for letting me know!
Hello!! I'm absolutely loving the game so much, I had to buy dlc! But I made a mistake and didn't buy the booklet. Is there any way I can download it? I can send the $2 but I just didn't want to pay for the whole game again.
Thank you!
You can send me an email at manekimushidev@gmail.com and I'll give you the booklet file! Just use the email connected to your paypal/what you used to buy the game so I can check your purchase :)
Should i have the original game first before buying this? This is a DLC, right? or is this also the full game already just with the added NSFW stuff?
This contains the full game + the NSFW DLC, so you can buy it by itself!
i love the game so much.
I'm glad you do :)
why is it that it always wants me to pay for the booklet again? it never saves to my pc too
Do you mean that itch.io is not letting you download the booklet? It should be available if you purchase the game for $8 or more. This will unlock the downloads for both the game files and the booklet pdf (these are separate files, you'll have to press the Download button for both).
I have bought it before. even remember sending money into my paypal to buy it
Maybe you weren't logged in/you were logged into a different itch.io account? This page https://itch.io/docs/buying/already-bought has advice on this, or you can just look for an email from itch.io (sent to the same email address that's connected to your Paypal account). They should have emailed you when you made the purchase, and it will contain a link to the downloads.
I'm looking at the receipt. It was $6 and it allowed me to open the booklet??
Was it for "The Hero's Journey (full game)" or "The Hero's Journey (NSFW edition)"? The former would give you the files for this version of the game:
https://maneki-mushi.itch.io/theherosjourney
(this version doesn't have the NSFW content, but the purchase would have unlocked the booklet)
If it was the latter you would have been able to download the NSFW edition of the game, but not the booklet.
First, I just want to say how much I absolutely love this game- I had been following this game for a long time and remember when it all released in full. When you announced this version and the booklet I was so excited- the booklet is so lovely and adds so many details that I'm obsessed with!
Super excited for your next game as well <3
There were some errors in the epilogue mentioned below-
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This is the line in Emrys epilogue which cuts off-
"Sometimes he taunts you for giving your love to a man you once betrayed, and asks who"
Could you tell me what the rest of this line is- if there are no updates for this game?
There is also an issue when it comes to-
"Lady Catrin visits you in Brynarth, Morgan silently following."
This section repeats a few lines.
All the best!
Thank you so much, and I'm happy to hear you liked the booklet too!
I'm actually going to publish a fix soon so this is helpful!
SPOILERS
Noted for Emrys's epilogue, that'll be fixed!
Just to be sure, the issue with the repeating lines occurs in the epilogue where you've spoken to the stranger? And the lines that repeat are the one you mentioned + "Paladin Tomos has been a good friend to her, she tells you... (etc)"? Or is it something else?
Yep, that's the line :)
Ah i love this so much!! And the details, insights on the booklet! *chef's kiss*
Thank you for making this (along with WD and Blank) amazing art and experience, excited for more of your works!! <3
I'm so glad you liked it and my other games! I'm working on the demo for my next project now, looking forward to sharing it with everyone soon ;)
Hello, some bugs! I will add gifs to the Twitter chat as I can't add them here.
Spoilers for game
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Some gifs of errors I didn't want to post them on Twitter as they are near the end of game. If you don't want to click on the link I can email them to you?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QLgw2ycZaBtLs9Nv5zegPBWR8-Tiw2-Q?usp=sha...
Rhain just wants to be huge
Spelling
Missing a word - "but only one of us?
Misspelt - precious - c instead of v
It was an amazing game! I'm on my second play-through.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Rhain does seem to really want to be big haha. I'll fix everything and have an updated build up soon, thanks again :)
So excited to play this!! I'm having some bug issues on my end I think - it won't allow me to proceed past the first scene in chapter one. How should I fix this?
are you playing on Mac, and when is it stopping exactly? If it's not showing the first CG and you can't change your settings or save, you can try either of these solutions some Mac players have used to solve this issue:
GODSPEED just in time for my birthday!!
happy birthday :)
AHHHH so excited
I hope you'll like it!