Proto:Sweet Home

This page details one or more prototype versions of Sweet Home.

To do:
There are way more differences.

The prototype of Sweet Home is close to the final version, but has numerous differences.

Download Sweet Home (Prototype)

File: Sweet Home (J) (Prototype).nes‎ (256 KB) (info)

Gameplay Differences

The characters cannot be named in the prototype.
The intro does not play when a game is started. Instead, it begins with the entrance being blocked off.
Every character has far more health in the prototype, most likely to make the game easier to playtest.
Characters move much more slowly in the prototype.
Boulders do not activate, nor do they hurt characters.
Health potions do not restore Pray Points in battles, only HP.
The sticky floor on the second floor of the mansion does not trap characters at all.
All scripted battles with mirrors, suits of armor, and bats are missing.

Sample Message

This message shows up before the title screen, identifying it as a prototype.

Title Screen

Proto	Final

The title screen at this point is less detailed compared to the final product. For example, the final version has an eerie purple sky, while the earlier version has a blander blue sky. Also, the final version added more detail to the mansion instead of having a silhouette. For some reason, the shading on the bloody title was removed in the final.

Inside the Mansion

Proto	Final

When looking at something in the puzzle menu, items can only be used by the character in control. This was upgraded in the final game to let anyone use items.

Also, frescoes do not have their own theme when being looked at like in the final. Instead, the standard puzzle theme plays.

First Floor

Proto	Final

Some broken glass was added to the final version to force the player to switch to or team up with Asuka, thus teaching the player very early on about party management. Oddly, despite being closed in the previous cutscene, the door on the bottom is wide open in the prototype.

Proto	Final

This room was made more important in the final by having some items added to it, including an extra tonic. Also, Kazuo talks about going into this room in the final when the party enters the main hallway.

Proto	Final

Proto	Final

The floor's palette was changed for the final, and a note involving the frescos was added. The end of the room has an extra item present in the prototype, as well as missing blue wood.

Proto	Final

This room has the lights on in the prototype, while the final has the room be dark until a generator is turned on. A note about rescuing falling team members is missing, too.

Proto	Final

An ax that is normally found here in the final game has a log in its place in this build.

Second Floor

Proto	Final

Instead of a fire extinguisher and a doll to look at, there is a blue candle and an NPC to talk to.

Screenshot

Transcription with Kanji

Translation

私の赤ちゃん……　ここの
間宮夫人に連れ去られたまま
帰ってこないの

"My baby... They were kidnapped
and brought to this sweet home
and haven't come back.

きっと地下室に
閉じこめられているのよ。
お願い！ 探してきて……。

Lady Mamiya has 
them locked up in 
the basement, I'm sure.
Please! Go look for them...."

Courtyard

Proto	Final

In this build, the clay doll that you get in the final game after getting the basement key by pushing the statue into the fountain is just lying around, removing the need to do the puzzle.

Scrapped Cutscene

While entering the basement, a cutscene not found in the final game starts.

Screenshot	Transcription with kanji	Translation
	秋子エミだ！	Akiko "It's Emi!!"
	秋子エミさん！！無事だったのね！！本当によかったわ！	Akiko "Emi san!! You were okay after all!! I'm so glad!"
	山村待て！！そいつはあんたらの仲間じゃないぞ…！	Yamamura "Wait!! That's not you guys' companion at all...!"
	山村仲間はまだこの近くに居るはずだ急いで探すんだ。間宮夫人にやられる前に！	Yamamura "Your companion should be around these parts still; hurry up and look for them. Before Mrs. Mamiya gets to them!"

Emi can still be in your party by the time this happens, and she doesn't get separated from the other characters afterwards.

After this sequence, Yamamura is shown to be idling on the stairs in the basement. Characters can go right through him, and leaving the area and returning makes him disappear.

Perhaps at one point, the doppelgangers found at the end of the game were meant to have more significance?

Item Differences

Wood is not sorted into strong and weak wood, and indeed this build only has the flimsy wood.
- Additionally, if one walks by on top of a piece of wood, the very next step breaks it, rather than it collapsing under their feet, meaning a single person could walk by on top and be fine. However, if two people walk on it repeatedly, the second person will have the wood break underneath them after the first person breaks it.
The Diary Key is a powerful weapon in this build, and does not open Ichirou's diary.
The candles scattered around the mansion have no purpose at this point in development. Not only is the player unable to get to the three statues in the innermost part, but there's no darkness for the wax candle to take effect.
The gasoline has no use at this point in development. Since there's no darkness in the mansion, the generator in the east garden can't be turned on and so the gas can't be used.
The bucket, used to pour blood on a bronze statue, is not only useless in this build but also doesn't work. Using the bucket on the blood fountain gives a prompt that nothing happened, and the statue it's supposed to melt is gone.

Unused Graphics

Torch

Like in the final game, this torch goes unused in the prototype.

Box

This treasure chest-esque box goes unused as well, leaving its purpose unknown.

Magnet

Unknown use. One possible explanation is that it was used to move metal objects around.

Lighter

A lighter goes unused, like in the final game. Maybe in an earlier build, the characters' special items could be moved like they were normal items, but was quickly scrapped.

If one were to cheat and have Kazuo's lighter on the overworld, it uses this graphic.

Thermos

This object is found along with the rest of the items, with unknown use. Maybe an early version of the bucket, used in a puzzle?

In the final game, this item's tiles were replaced with a copy of Ichirou's diary.

Stone Slab

The flimsy wood graphic used in-game uses the strong wood graphic from the final game. Meanwhile, in the strong wood's slot is this stone slab, possibly used as an early version of the strong wood.

Heart-Shaped Key

A key with a heart-shaped handle, not to be confused with the golden key found late in the game. Its use was probably as an early diary key, or a key that unlocks any door for testing. Its graphic was replaced with another copy of Ichirou's diary.

Chair

A chair from an overhead angle.

Another chair, this time from an isometric sideways angle. A possible use was so quicktime events would also happen from overworld sprites, similar to the bats in the final game.