- Aug 23, 2018
- 1,283
- 2,043
I see what you mean but I kind of disagree. I admit, "rival" was a pretty strong word there. It was more like I was just looking for a replacement for BADIK. I didn't like the last two episodes and I was looking for something at least good enough that wasn't going to take 1 year per update. I'm not saying Yuno's writing was great but it was good enough. Some of it didn't make much sense, a good amount of "texting-speak" even though it's supposed to be a story, etc. but I don't think the writing was that bad compared to others I've seen.jit trippin, the game is pretty, the dev is better than most on this site when it comes to 3d rendering for sure, but the writing in v.1 was so aids bro at least badik is coherent and consistent and the mc isn't an ape.
that said, the dev definitely had something with this project and the fact that its abandoned is disappointing nevertheless. like where is the passion?
also, i understand your sentiments towards avns as well, i'd call it burnout considering the fact that updates are so few and far between. having to start over as a refresher is what's keeping me from playing the long list of avns that i've personally subscribed to. its also the fact that hardly any indie dev on this site could fancy themselves a writer. producing a multi-media artform requires you to be a jack of all trades and often times, devs are just good at a few aspects of game development.
the fact that so few developers are even decent at writing makes it hard to muster the desire to keep up with an avn and the urge to just skip through or abandon them altogether is a great one.
- Example 1: Life in Santa County. The best example of some ass-writing. It just needed to be mediocre with its level of renders and couldn't even accomplish that.
- Example 2: Westview Academy. It's good enough but it feels like one big fever dream. Kind of incoherent and you're left to infer 90% of the context.
You're definitely right that BADIK is better but DPC isn't without his weaknesses as a writer. He has some really strong points but also some bad ones. There were inconsistencies with how the MC acts at times, the plot is pretty much just an endless soap opera where conflicts just keep getting kicked further down the road, and relationships are just spinning their wheels in place even AFTER the Crossroads decision. I think given enough time and experience, Yuno could've at least reached an acceptable level. The game had at least somewhat of a coherent plot and as long as no one dies in a house fire (lol) he would've at least been on the right track. Also, there were some others I had high expectations for as well but those didn't really pan out for different reasons. BADIK definitely above mediocre writing but I'd say I liked the renders of this game better. I'd say that rather than it having good writing, it had other qualities that made it all work together. It's just that it could only be maintained if we weren't left to ruminate for an entire year each time on what didn't work.
I'd actually play off your point about there being very few devs who are actually good at writing. There are so few, that I'm honestly never really expecting much in terms of writing. It's fucking fantastic when I do find one but it's not exactly the clincher in what becomes really popular. There are a few other games that others would argue have better writing than BADIK but aren't as popular. Some aren't even close. The sheer number of games with garbage writing has lowered my standards. It just needs to not be horrible writing, have great aesthetics, and not take more than 6 months for an update to be on par with BADIK. But it turns out Yuno took even longer for his only release for this game so ... yea.
Yea, I feel that sentiment about passion. DPC isn't without his faults but that man definitely has passion. (Although, I'm gonna be honest. With Ep 9 and some of the weekly status reports I've seen, he almost seems like he's gotten bored with the game.) With the recent trend, it makes me wonder whether he's one of the unicorns or this small pocket of indie games is just kind of falling off. Also, yea I'm the same way. I've got a list of stuff that's updated but I just don't have the mind to start from the beginning again. Some of it's "gimmicky" stuff I've lost interest in, half of it needs a good proofreader, and the other half is just boring with nothing really memorable.
Anyways, thanks for hearing me out man. You don't have to read all that. I just wanted to cover all my bases on what I thought about *Acquainted compared to BADIK and other VNs.