I for a change actually really enjoy physical changes, like hair dying and piercings and stuff. Especially one of the artists drew Laura in a very nice way with the blonde hair. Though I dont really like the other artist.
Somehow her hair looks weird there. Otherwise I love this physical change that mirrors her mental change. And yes there are some NTR games (especially japanese ones) that also do this, but even on the japanese market we are far from "standard trope for many NTRs".
Physical changes in general add a whole new dimension to the NTR. It is something the protagonist can observe and thus he can get more suspicious/jealous. Something NTR stories love to play with. Also it makes the corruption progress visible. Women like Laura who despise sluts and male play things reach the point where they themselves do the things they despise. For me that is very hot in a sexual context. IRL physical changes often follow mental changes, so it also adds a touch of realism, though we are of course looking at a made up story and fiction and reality might not always go along very well.
Why do you think this is not hardcore. Apart from NTR beeing very hardcore itself already (just look at all the haters and people that despise NTR because it hurts them to look at), I felt this was a pretty hardcore ending, with Laura totally giving up on herself and becoming what she despised most. Hardcore doesnt mean = gangbang. Hardcore means hardcore. And for me the ending was quite hardcore. You even say it yourself:
I might have slipped the (core) inside there, but I found it very fitting
BTW thats the purpose of most corruption/NTR games: The characters go through a change, become corrupted and therefor --> feel like a different person.
I do agree with you, but that is something HC mentioned several times when he started making this game. Artists are slow, therefor he needs more artists to keep up the update and production pace this conflicts with art consistency. So he asked his patrons what do they prefer, and we all answered. MORE ART. So there you go. Thats why.
Maybe when HC gets more and more professional and has more and more artists whom he worked with for a long time, he can apply or delegate the art that has to been done in a better way. Still look at the number of scenes this game already has and its only the first ending. Thats almost more scenes then some games like
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have. And there its a whole team that is producing them not a single guy. So I guess we just have to accept some minor deviations from perfection...