Internet down since Friday and that meant I got to play more BaD and "finish" two runs. My conclusions:
Jill Path: Well, it was nice. Pretty much what I expected from her friends and her parents. I know Doc Cake doesn't make mistakes (
) and doesn't have poor writing (
) but I felt that they treated MC from above, even though he claims he had a great time. I just didn't see it and the wasabi error made me cringe since I knew what was coming. (Just soy sauce for me in running sushi restaurants, thank you very much.) Also her mother gave me the "you really don't belong" vibe (I may be mistaken) and we surely don't know what her dad really feels given he was drunk.
The "orgasm timer" was a cool idea for a one-off, gives you incentive to not skip video loops too early. Could be done by other devs, too, to "liven up the scenes".
Rusty's got a problem with the relationship. I really like his DTE attitude, but he's the one to talk about his "the one that got away" (yeah, he claims it's not that way, but... yeah, sure, dude) when he's in the Micha situation.
About Bianca, why TF would we risk the relationship with Jill for her? Okay, do the Madame Rose deal to put the scenes into the archive and then immediately delete the save. IMO she has nothing going for her.
And finally, back to Doc Cake's "perfect writing", I think he's got her Halloween party stuff the other way round. It would make sense that "relationship Jill" dresses as sexy bee for the MC while "timid Jill" hides her body in a banana suit.
Others Path: So we're besties with Elena and she doesn't want to risk our friendship for a romp. What TF did I miss, was there some serious off-screen bonding going on somehow?
Nice to see scenes with many girls that I didn't think we'd get some. Like Tiffani or another Tara one. Being with Riona was kinda sad knowing what was coming for her. Same with the text that MC sends her about going to the arcade again. Since this is the only path where we see more of her face I hope that she was just sleeping with a black eye and not having just one eye left. Her punching Quinn was extremely satisfying. You go, girl!
Becky's scene was just sad. Ironically it's the only one where MC (almost) used protection. I immediately reset that scene to pranking her. Speaking of, during the Christmas party we had sex scenes with Tiffani, Tara, Becky, Lily and Elena. In addition to that Sage (minus some since they happen after MC's leaving) if you leave the party. And you're telling me that MC can't handle Sarah and Melanie within half an hour or so? I call BS. (Yeah yeah, I know, perfect writing and such.)
Some observations: Nice for Karen Rebecca that she got to hook up with somebody, although I'd prefer seeing a scene with her and the MC (maybe a threesome with her and Sally) instead of Leon - or was it Jamie, I always get those two mixed up. Speaking of Sally, during her scene in Leon's room it looked like someone was sitting on the chair watching the bed. Was a bit creepy. Could be my imagination though. And have we ever established who that guy or gal in an unrecogniseable costume, but extremely piercing blue eyes, was in The Moose during the Halloween party? He or she was in there with Derek, talking rubbish (about relationships?) to the MC.
Finally, I feel that Doc Cake really wants us to leave Nicole alone. First decide between a date with Nicole or Nora and her
asshole cat Fluffy. Later on it's either dump Nicole or Lily. Therefore my updated relationship predictions slighly change: Nora - No (teacher, cat sabotaging the relationship; MC may be trapped by a baby though - could lead to Nora having custody); Nicole - No (MC isn't comfortable with being responsible for her kid as stepfather, her husband is just waiting for her to screw up somehow, and it still remains that she is 10 years older and her kid just 9 years younger); Lily - Yes (if you are on the gentle sex decision and she keeps opening up to MC, and leaves the Pink Rose behind after finishing her studies, as she wants to go for a "serious job"); Zoey - possible Yes (if you take her back and she gets into B&R for her art program - even if she wants to travel the world for inspiration afterwards and MC is stuck with a science project somewhere. We had that similarly in Rebecca's ending in Melody.).
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General stuff:
* So during Party Planning Nick is obviously gone, but why does MC, who is replacing him, start out with 0% happiness? That makes no sense and it's just dragging down the score. Speaking of which, is it possible to get a good grade for Christmas? I managed S on both Halloween and Thanksgiving, but Christmas is mostly D or E with just once a B on the Others path.
* Speaking of Nick, of course throwing anybody and everything under the bus is way out of line, but I am willing to give him some leeway since he was cornered with no escape. (I guess, IRL I would lash out too and deal with remorse later.) And Tommy started the shitshow with Heather. So for now I am keeping his (and Tara's) attitude score low and see what will come out of it.
* Can anybody please tell me in a spoiler about Quinn's sob story that made people come around on her? I have no intention of playing her path, but I'm kinda interested.
* It felt a bit weak, but on Jill's CHICK path I liked the opportunity to let Kylie and Penny (shame that we couldn't pick her for best costume at the Halloween party!) in so that they can apologise in person. The DIK decision is coercion though, and I don't know about US law, but that could get you into real trouble over here. (Monetary fine or up to 1 year in prison; up to 5 years if something happens to either one on their way back or up to 10 years should one of them
commit suicide because of it.)
* The puzzle box was okay the first time, and I did not mind the two Maya renders since she is my favourite. However, after that it's just pointless and annoying.
* I also like the new Science minigame, while Math is hit and miss. I usually am sure that I got the correct solution, checked and double checked, but then the summary states that I still got it wrong and I don't know where I screwed up.
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Not ill this time, but another sleepless night made me think of the different main girl paths. (Sans Isabella, since I haven't played hers yet. Still think it's headed for disaster, though.)
*
Thouple: Maya is the sweet centerpiece of it all, and of course she takes center stage. "Miss Alady" Josy is a nice sidekick, mostly chipper, but a bit withdrawn lately. Could definitely improve communication, but it seems they are headed in the right direction after Bella's Christmas party. I still see a temporary breakup coming in C12. Maybe permanent in S4 if you've favoured one of them too much, or sailing into the sunset with both if you've balanced it correctly. With the relationship being longer and him meeting the two girls Neil will also come around. Individually he should like them like Sage and Jill. (Not so sure with Bella.)
*
Jill and Sage: Jill is nice and sweet and all, and she's coming out of her shell, but I feel she doesn't really bring much to the table. She's the good friend / love interest in the background, giving advice when needed, but is only affiliated with the Preps, and we don't have any interaction with them save for a truce with three of them (nothing much comes out of it) and there is Tyballs, the "antagonist" that I can't take serious at all. Other than that her affiliation is with her group of friends who we have even less interaction with; at least Bianca got a bit more story in the cabin. Contrast that with Sage, who comes with the sorority that we constantly interact with and the real dangerous antagonist Quinn (whose guts I hate with a passion, but I can respect how she is written). Plus she is also tied in with possibly the head of the Prostitution Ring (although that might be the mysterious Priscilla) by relation, and Quinn brings her family of drug dealers in and Vinny who could be life-threatening for the MC. In short and with an analogy, while we have Gryffindors and some Slytherins in the DIKs and HOTs, the Preps and the Nerds are the forgotten and overlooked Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
And of course, the Jocks are Slytherins. (Too bad, I liked Ravenclaw.
)
Thanks for bearing with me through the long-ass wall of text.
