- Dec 7, 2022
- 517
- 887
Very nice review. I agree with most of it.Well, I've played through a substantial portion of Episode 9, and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it much.
If I'm being subjective, it was more or less everything I feared: one excuse after another to stall the relationships with the chosen LI, with a *massively* overblown party to distract us from everything else. If I'm trying to be objective things are better: there's still a lot of sharp dialog, goofy fun and (of course) sex to enjoy. But even then, I think the structure of this episode is very badly conceived. The Halloween party goes on way too long, the vaunted branching actually feels less distinct that the old paths did, and there's a real disconnect between DPC's obsession with consequences and the frankly moronic shit he makes the characters do to keep things on his preferred rails.
IMHO as Christmas gifts go, Episode 9 was the relative who spends an obscene amount of money on trendy, high-priced junk to make up for the fact they didn't pay enough attention during the year to know what you actually want. On the one hand, it's comforting to know that they really do care, but on the other hand it's hard not to be a little disturbed at how much they wasted on stuff you're never going to use.
Episode 9 didn't give me the stronger romantic connections I was looking for in the wake of the crossroads, and it certainly didn't do much to advance the plot. It did deliver a lot of sex scenes, but you sure have to slog through a lot to get them. The high water mark is probably some nice work with the side girls on the Others branch (particularly for Quinn, Riona and Zoey), but that just deepens my suspicions that Season 3 will be all about stalling the LI branches while the new girls play catch up. I'm not waiting 2-3 years for that.
We'll dive into the nitty gritty of the Episode then call it a wrap, which will obviously involve spoilers. But first, a quick note to a certain member of the audience:
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Okay, now, on with the spoilers.
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So that's my take on Episode 9. IMHO it was not the episode we needed at this point. But it's pretty clear it wasn't a mistake, so we might as well accept it or move on.
tl;dr An overgrown free-roam that slows down the LIs, speeds up the side-girls, delivers plenty of spectacle and ends on yet another cliffhanger, all without actually advancing the story.
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