I was busy with work and other games ( mostly mainstream) so I only played the interlude today.
Thoughts:
DPC did it again with giving depth and gravitas to a character. Interlude was decently paced and sized, nothing crazy, juuuust right. Even the supporting cast in San Diego was a blast to watch. Jonah and Bret were real funny characters.
That one retrospection scene on the balcony of the tattoo shop with Bret and Zoey, you don't see such a decently written and framed scene where two characters just talk and reminisce in many quality movies, let alone a porn game where one man devs everything. Kudos.
Thoughts about Zoey: When Ep8 launched, my analysis on her appearance was that she was going to become a major roadblock, an incredibly powerful pull away from chosen LIs within a given playthru. In particular, I alluded that Jill and J/M paths would see the most drama.
I was right, and that's totally what is going to happen. However, in Zoey's characterization, we now have an answer to why an MC, DIK OR CHICK doesn't matter, can be so inconsistent when it comes to relationships.
This guy was burnt bad. He fucking undersold it to Bella in that recap. By a metric ton.
That shot of train leaving and him just sitting there, that's genuine devastation. This MF may lie to himself saying he doesn't know if he loved Zoey like that.
Motherfucker, you loved her a LOT. You just didn't realize since it was also deep seated due to childhood friendship.
This is all to say, Season 3 got a lot more interesting. My worry was that locking LIs with a full season ( and maybe more) of story to go may have proven disastrous. Not only that's not gonna be a problem, but also DPC will drive the drama car to the garage all the way through.
MC's attachment to Zoey was immense, and it took him almost a year to get over her, slightly, to fall for Josy, to an extent.
Zoey is now in direct opposition to all established and locked LIs.
Not only that, she's also the perfect counter for two major non-main LIs, aka Quinn and Lily.
It now makes a lot of sense why MC would go out of his way for Quinn on certain situations, because he's subconsciously seeing the shades of Zoey's recklessness in her. Obviously, Quinn is another beast altogether, but point stands.
As for Lily.... Here's the scary part. Even their character models look alike. Zoey talks, walks and acts eerily similar to Lily, Lily having a lot more edge to her, and a certain degree of ruthlessness. It is interesting, but I was thinking Zoey would present most threat to someone like Jill, where in reality, it looks like it'll be Lily trying to establish her "rolling together" setup.
Main LI playthrus obviously will all heavily tie in and rely on Zoey's return. For every single one of them, Zoey represents a clear and terrible danger that MC might just bounce back to his first love, if they learn about her, that is.
For example, I don't see anything going remotely okay if Jill meets Zoey and learns who she is. Doubly so for Bella, who is already privy to major parts of their situation.
Maybe DPC decides to get creative with J/M route, though. Maybe th throuple becomes a foursome? I don't know, it is possible I guess.
In closing: Zoey is fully formed. She is compelling, and ladies and gentlemen, we thought the game was over, but what we have here is a brand new ballgame!
Note: Who are the Vixens? I recognize the one the left as the girl that was getting railed by two guys in dorms, but cant place the other two. Also, adding MORE side characters this late in the game, in addition to Zoey seem an arbitrary choice. Hope DPS has a plan. There are already too many threads in the play.
