In the Shadows of Ashwood

A lifetime of being ridiculed left you living at home with a mother who's given up too, drinking through her own disappointment. Then a strange, beautiful new neighbor shows up next door and starts pulling you out of that hole, whether you're ready or not.

The story follows your slow climb out of a genuinely bad life, through friendships and romances with an odd assortment of people around Ashwood, as you deal with your mother's problems and your own at the same time. It's less about escaping the town and more about learning to live in it.

You play through this as a fairly standard visual novel, reading and choosing your way through conversations and relationships with the people you meet, including your neighbor and others who complicate things as the story goes on. The focus stays on the personal drama rather than any real exploration or sandbox systems.