Ren'Py A House in the Rift [v0.7.14b1] [Zanith]

[Demoness_Kiss]

Yes, but those updates have been about nothing. A lot of filling material, if you think about it. There are no memorable and emotional scenes, no new relevant information. Just bland, silly, material. The last good update was the one of Rae, when MC and her visited different worlds and we knew about a mysterious new character that has been forgotten since then. A lot of months for a cliffhanger. This game has an intriguing premise and a couple of good characters, but is pretty much an annoyance.

the LAST good update was the date with Rae in MC's world. Since then it was a lot of unresolved drama:

- Naomi mad at her crew for moving on(believing she died) and then still trying to turn Cait into a pirate (to be fair the new captain is a turbo-cunt: "I moved on the second you fell in the water", means she gave up saving her or something, it may not be the exact quote but damn that's fast), after a while we get to tell Naomi to cool off but...that's it, we moved on to Lyriel

- Lyriel mad that her friends(the elves that manage the pub/tavern/inn) are secret agents/spies and never told Lyriel...and Lyriel is mad, and we moved on to Caitlyn

- Caitlyn wants to know her parents and she is investigating while dealing with Naomi's way to cope the "temporary" end of her relationship with her pirate-crew, and we move on to Blair

- Blair is sceptical, which is her only true trait(i mean aside masturbating and having an accent) and you just deal with that

Yona? Completely forgotten but not really because she is around, feels like she is there for the sake of reminding us that she exists.

Rae's date was actually good, maybe plot-wise irrelevant, but at least it was good, wholesome and nice.

 

[mrgreen360]

Are there going to be any consequences for me being a huge dick to everyone? Cuz those reactions are kinda the most fun lmao. I particularly like being an asshole to the shy ginger girl.

 

[Demoness_Kiss]

Are there going to be any consequences for me being a huge dick to everyone? Cuz those reactions are kinda the most fun lmao. I particularly like being an asshole to the shy ginger girl.

i use universal renpy mod, and honestly some may get you lose some intimacy points, but nothing tragic, usually they're just choices for the sake of having choices in the game. Something like DragonAge2's dialogues when there aren't important choices involved.

 

[The Black Cat]

the LAST good update was the date with Rae in MC's world. Since then it was a lot of unresolved drama:

- Naomi mad at her crew for moving on(believing she died) and then still trying to turn Cait into a pirate (to be fair the new captain is a turbo-cunt: "I moved on the second you fell in the water", means she gave up saving her or something, it may not be the exact quote but damn that's fast), after a while we get to tell Naomi to cool off but...that's it, we moved on to Lyriel

- Lyriel mad that her friends(the elves that manage the pub/tavern/inn) are secret agents/spies and never told Lyriel...and Lyriel is mad, and we moved on to Caitlyn

- Caitlyn wants to know her parents and she is investigating while dealing with Naomi's way to cope the "temporary" end of her relationship with her pirate-crew, and we move on to Blair

- Blair is sceptical, which is her only true trait(i mean aside masturbating and having an accent) and you just deal with that

Yona? Completely forgotten but not really because she is around, feels like she is there for the sake of reminding us that she exists.

Rae's date was actually good, maybe plot-wise irrelevant, but at least it was good, wholesome and nice.

Sadly its is like you say in your "resume"... Very accurate. Its bad we cant see love or emotions between MC and LIs. Maybe Rae is a exception, but the story really lacks emotions like love.
We have sex, obvious, but some devs forgot that sex and love are two different thing. Both can be complete one with the other, but when you have some sex scenes, without emotion... its kinda bland...

 

[jahall]

Are there going to be any consequences for me being a huge dick to everyone? Cuz those reactions are kinda the most fun lmao. I particularly like being an asshole to the shy ginger girl.

You're a monster.

 

[Demoness_Kiss]

Sadly its is like you say in your "resume"... Very accurate. Its bad we cant see love or emotions between MC and LIs. Maybe Rae is a exception, but the story really lacks emotions like love.
We have sex, obvious, but some devs forgot that sex and love are two different thing. Both can be complete one with the other, but when you have some sex scenes, without emotion... its kinda bland...

I agree with you but my point was mostly about how everything is kinda suspended, since Rae's date with MC, the character-arcs are kinda suspended, example:

We got Naomi mad at her crew, okay let's deal with that, but only for 3-4 updates(until we save Cait from Naomi pestering her with pirate-stuff) we tell her to cool-down and we move on to Lyriel and her drama, same thing 3-4 updates and we move to Cait and we get 3-4 updates about her, and now we're dealing with Blair.

Did we really solve the problem with Naomi's feelings of betrayal? not really, the dev simply put her on a break or something(kinda like mods put a game "On Hold" in this website)
Did we really solve the problem with Lyriel's feelings of betrayal? not really, the dev simply put her on hold.
Did we really solve the mystery of Cait's parents? not really, the dev simply put her on hold.

And like i said, now we're dealing with Blair.

 

[The Black Cat]

I agree with you but my point was mostly about how everything is kinda suspended, since Rae's date with MC, the character-arcs are kinda suspended, example:

We got Naomi mad at her crew, okay let's deal with that, but only for 3-4 updates(until we save Cait from Naomi pestering her with pirate-stuff) we tell her to cool-down and we move on to Lyriel and her drama, same thing 3-4 updates and we move to Cait and we get 3-4 updates about her, and now we're dealing with Blair.

Did we really solve the problem with Naomi's feelings of betrayal? not really, the dev simply put her on a break or something(kinda like mods put a game "On Hold" in this website)
Did we really solve the problem with Lyriel's feelings of betrayal? not really, the dev simply put her on hold.
Did we really solve the mystery of Cait's parents? not really, the dev simply put her on hold.

And like i said, now we're dealing with Blair.

Indeed...

Its like... If the dev dont want to finish the story, and want to keep the story to endure, but without real development.

Worst than this is if the dev want to made the same story in a better game engine, like Unreal Engine, in his next future project, and milk down...

Oh, wait a second!...

 

[DevinHesi]

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[fachriuezt]

Anyone have update compressed from 0.7.13 ? Im from 0.7.12r3

 

[Demoness_Kiss]

Indeed...

It's like... If the dev doesn't want to finish the story, and want to keep the story to endure, but without real development.

Worst than this is if the dev want to made the same story in a better game engine, like Unreal Engine, in his next future project, and milk down...

Oh, wait a second!...

Either milking, or doesn't know what to do with the current story. This is a common problem with long-developed games

 

[Risbue]

Either milking, or doesn't know what to do with the current story. This is a common problem with long-developed games

Both things. The guy is trying to make the development of the game as long as possible, and at the same time, doesn't know how to add scenes that aren't filling material. I would be totally OK with those scenes of the day-to-day of the house that doesn't advance the plot, if they were interesting, funny and emotional. But they are just bland. And the fact that MC lacks of personality and background and doesn't have special emotional attachment with none of the girls, and the girls don't have real attachment with him, only make things worse. There are a couple of scenes with Rae that suggest that she could feel something for him other than 'I'm horny and you are the only guy here, so lets fuck', but that's all.

 

[Taerol]

And the fact that MC lacks of personality and background and doesn't have special emotional attachment with none of the girls, and the girls don't have real attachment with him, only make things worse. There are a couple of scenes with Rae that suggest that she could feel something for him other than 'I'm horny and you are the only guy here, so lets fuck', but that's all.

Well shoot :/ I was going to give this a shot but emotional aspects are the real draw for me with these kinds of games. They can be as nasty and twisted as can be and I'll go 'yep, let's see where this goes' but if there's no emotions between the characters everything loses meaning. That's a shame to hear

 

[Demoness_Kiss]

Well shoot :/ I was going to give this a shot but emotional aspects are the real draw for me with these kinds of games. They can be as nasty and twisted as can be and I'll go 'yep, let's see where this goes' but if there's no emotions between the characters everything loses meaning. That's a shame to hear

Rae kinda acts like a girlfriend, or a smug wife, but the others? feel like they're there just for the sex and MC being the key to bring them back to their worlds...maybe Caitlyn is kinda interested in MC, but it's very implied/subtle...like an afterthought.

 

[Digteren]

Rae kinda acts like a girlfriend, or a smug wife, but the others? feel like they're there just for the sex and MC being the key to bring them back to their worlds...maybe Caitlyn is kinda interested in MC, but it's very implied/subtle...like an afterthought.

Lyriel is clearly enamored with the MC, and her "OMG gross!" routine when he wants to have sex with one of the others I take as an expression that she really wants him to herself.

 

[wookie ookie]

I take as an expression that she really wants him to herself.

I'd be okay with that can't get enough of her

 

[Karnewarrior]

Well shoot :/ I was going to give this a shot but emotional aspects are the real draw for me with these kinds of games. They can be as nasty and twisted as can be and I'll go 'yep, let's see where this goes' but if there's no emotions between the characters everything loses meaning. That's a shame to hear

I strongly disagree with everything Risbue said, which seemed mostly motivated by egregious salt.

The emotional content is there. The girls are all clearly interested and emotionally invested in the MC, at least after a bit. They have relatively deep problems for a porn game (and pretty decent ones even taking into account regular games, even if this ain't Detroit: Become Human or some shit).

If you're drawn to emotional aspects and your standards aren't "Katawa Shoujo Only" tier, you'll get something out of this game.

 

[Evil13]

Yeah, a lot of the emotional problems the girls face in the game aren't the kind that are solved by the MC dicking them a little harder. It's more about the MC and the girl in particular working through the issue.

For example, Lyriel, the elf girl. Before she joins the cast, she was raised in a very isolated way, seeing humans as disgusting beasts, barely above animals. She was also very ignorant and dismissive about things outside of what she knew. But her time in the house exposes to new ideas and she undergoes some character development.

 

[destroyerofassholes]

Sadly its is like you say in your "resume"... Very accurate. Its bad we cant see love or emotions between MC and LIs. Maybe Rae is a exception, but the story really lacks emotions like love.
We have sex, obvious, but some devs forgot that sex and love are two different thing. Both can be complete one with the other, but when you have some sex scenes, without emotion... its kinda bland...

The developer is deathly afraid of having any actual goddamn romance in his harem game. Which is fucking crazy.

Doubly so because it's the only harem game I know where the harem would make somewhat sense, the guy and girls are stuck in a place with no way out and he's the only dude.

It's absolutely insane that we get nothing but filler and more filler and more filler locked up behind some idiot triggers around the house, it's been half a decade and all the girls still act like dicks to you no matter how much you "develop" their relationship, maybe except Rae.

It's not like the dev is completely incompetent but he just has such a shit vision for the game and focuses all his attention on trying to get as much out of the game as possible while the faucet's still leaking.

His idea for the game just seems to be a happy-go-lucky friends-with-benefits sort of deal with everyone involved with perhaps only Rae having some sort of relationship with the protagonist and even that will probably never be official and only implied at this rate.

 

[Karnewarrior]

I really do not know what kind of game you lot are playing, but there seems to be plenty of romance to me.

 

[Alaric1066]

I strongly disagree with everything Risbue said, which seemed mostly motivated by egregious salt.

The emotional content is there. The girls are all clearly interested and emotionally invested in the MC, at least after a bit. They have relatively deep problems for a porn game (and pretty decent ones even taking into account regular games, even if this ain't Detroit: Become Human or some shit).

If you're drawn to emotional aspects and your standards aren't "Katawa Shoujo Only" tier, you'll get something out of this game.

I'm not sure I fully agree. I mean, there are emotions. There just isn't really any romance. Outside of Rae, there's very little sense that any of the characters have any real romantic affection for the main character. Oh they all like him well enough as a friend, and they have a variety of emotions relating to their personal story arcss, but they don't showcase any sense of romantic love. Naomi treats you as a little brother, just one she can blow off some steam with sexually sometimes. Cait similarly treats you like a brother, just a big brother, but a big brother that she can also experiment and explore her budding sexuality with. Blair and Lyriel have respect for you but that isn't the same as love. Blair because she likes talking with you about Earth's technology and because you're the only other person who's a little unclear/unsure about magic, Lyriel because you are acting as a sort of authority figure while also helping her break out of her shell both sexually and with being less of a spoiled brat. Again they definitely have some respect for you, but that's about as far as that goes. Lyriel might have also some hints of something deeper, but it's so little and so rarely seen especially considering how long she's been in the story that I don't give it a lot of credit at the moment. Yona...I dunno, exists I guess. She's kind of a blank slate of a character at this point, weird that Blair has more going on despite Yona having been around much longer. Anyway, point is that none of that is romance.

Even Rae despite having the most overtly romantic tones is sort of wishy washy. Sometimes she's engaging in romantic dates or cuddles or whatever and other times she acts super elusive and keeps the MC at arms length, which makes sense at first but like I said with Lyriel she's been a character for so long and had so many scenes and content by now that you'd hope her arc and relationship would have developed beyond that by this point.