Hush Hush | An Emotional Roller Coaster Masterpiece Of A Visual Novel

With four years in the making and a 100% fully backed Kickstarter, Sad Panda Studio’s Visual Novel Hush Hush was finally released on August 22nd, 2022. Waiting those four years was definitely worth it. Some spoilers are up ahead! You have been warned.

Hush Hush is an indie dating simulator wrapped up in a Visual Novel bow. The premise of the newly release VN is that five girls in the fictional town of Subrosa are at risk of a life-or-death situation. You as the protagonist are sent there by two Goddesses you had met in a dream on a quest to impress and seduce them, and ultimately save them from a horrid demise. If that premise intrigues you as much as it intrigued me four years ago, then this Visual Novel will thoroughly impress you.

This Visual Novel does include a lot of graphic and adult scenes, and also mentions a range of sensitive topics, which are all explained before you start up your first game to let everyone know what is in store for the emotional roller coaster that is Hush Hush. There are adorably cute lovey-dovey moments, heartbreaking and tearjerking scenes that’ll make you feel for these girls, and shocking twists that will pull you in even deeper into the world of Subrosa and Hush Hush altogether.

As I had aforementioned, the five destined girls face a life-and-death situation at one point in the Visual Novel, and with a deadly twist comes in my opinion, slightly tame death scenes. But there are also ‘cuter’ deaths with chibi versions of the girls so as to not make all of them super gruesome as not everyone enjoys/can handle gore the same way. It is a nice contrast and balances out the Visual Novel so as not to be super dark during those moments.

I took my time during my first full playthrough of Hush Hush, listening to the beautifully voice-acted audio accompanied by an amazing OST/soundtrack softly playing in the background, and appreciating every little detail I could possibly discover. I instantly fell in love with it, even after playing the demo that came out a couple of weeks prior. The excitement that built up within me for the past few years leading up to this game’s release was shown through my eagerness and my wide smile while playing. The storyline, writing, visuals, and music, all blends in this wonderous harmonious fashion that tick off everything I look for in a game.

I cannot pick out one part of the whole Visual Novel as my favourite, it was all just so exhilarating. To learn all of these girls’ secrets, knowing about their past and what their lives were like before us as the protagonist showed up at Subrosa is like an actual well-written novel. You start reading it and you get hooked, so you keep on reading. Before you know it, you’ve been transported into this new world with characters you’ve come to love and hate.

This Visual Novel has surpassed all of my expectations. The Sad Panda Studio Team has made what in my opinion I would like to call one of the best indie Visual Novels ever. Alongside the main game, you could also purchase the Official Artbook which is 195 pages of concept art and sketches used for Hush Hush, which sections for all of the characters that make an appearance to the many background variations all done by the lovely Art Team consisting of Morgan Long, Mur Moruno, Tonee89, BurBurArt, and background artist Oadneyung. The OST is also available for purchase with 49 tracks composed by James Spanos, Dale North, Chris Iskander, Alyx Jones, Felix Arifin, and Pau Damia Riera. I loved listening to each track while playing Hush Hush, each of them was absolutely perfect for each individual scene.

Hush Hush is a well-designed, well-written, emotional roller coaster of a Visual Novel, and it was completely worth the wait. I’m so glad the Sad Panda Studio Team took their time with it, making sure the artwork looks great, testing new features, and making sure the right UI pops up when needed. Hush Hush has been given some of the best love and care any game could have. 26/10 is my rating, it’s out of the park.

Learn all of the girl’s secrets and keep them out of danger. But make sure you keep it all Hush Hush!

24.08.2022

Hush Hush Picture | Steam, Sad Panda Studios

Character Reference Sheets | Sad Panda Studios