[Ch.3 Part 2]
I enjoyed this for the most part, but objectively, I couldn't quite say that it is 4* ("Good"). It's somewhere between average and good 3.5* seems about right.
The visuals are self explanatory. I'll just say that the animation isn't all that smooth and the render quality is slightly below average for this day and age. The models... are ok for the most part. The comical body proportion on the mother might put off some people.
The writing is... about average in my books. It will not appeal to everybody. I will explain my understanding of the broad direction of the story without spoiling too much.
“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” This quote from Nietzsche is the first thing you read when starting this game. I think this is the main theme behind all the crazy and confusing things that are happening in this plot. What we are seeing is perhaps the descent of the MC into becoming the monster that he wants to fight. The title of the game seems to point towards this theme as well. There is a dichotomy in the MC. He wants to protect his family at all costs, but at the same time, he is perving on them and actively undergoing steps to "corrupt" or seduce them. He tells himself and the audience that it's because of love, but hmmm.... it doesn't always come off that way. Also, while being this protector to his friends and family, he is a ruthless killer and rapist to his enemies (arguably against his family too lol). Again, there is this dichotomy. He is really straddling the line between salvation and the abyss.
Now if I had full confidence in the writer's ability, I would praise the complex characters and themes. It's just lacking that polish and delivery. I can't quite determine how much of this is actually a fluke, a goof, or intentional.
Some characters do have pretty unique and interesting traits. The mother especially is quite well realized as the battered woman who endured so much abuse over the years, becoming extremely timid with low self esteem. It could appeal to the "submissive mother" fans once we get more scenes with her.
The more specific plot elements in this game are confusing as all fuck. I am generally quite good at reading between the lines and following a story, but I was left scratching my head multiple times. They name drop characters we never see, new factions come into the picture left and right, some motivations are hard to decipher, and some situations are said to be dreams when there was hardly any indication that it was. Of course, when used deliberately, all these things can be a tool for story telling. I'm just not quite there with the author on this one. I'd say the execution is lacking a bit.
A big detractor for me was the choice and points system used in this game. You are presented with a series of choices like "Look at ass vs Don't." If you look at ass or generally be pervy, your character gains +1 corruption (not shown in base game). If you do the gentlemanly thing, the MC gets +1 love. Essentially, the choices are designed around the MC's moral compass. That's great so far. The problem is that literally nothing (save for 1 instance) changes in the narrative based on the MC's corruption/love stat. If you choose not to perv, you just get a "...." and it skips the minor interaction of looking at her ass or whatever. If I had to guess, these points are primarily for determining the ending, or perhaps for a huge route split later on. You will not get any play by play variations in the MC's personality.
As you can see, this is quite on the rails. One important thing to note is that while most games of this type default to a story that makes more sense on the "good guy" route, this one might actually be written with the corruption of the MC in mind. The +love gentlemanly choices are all basically just "null" choices that omit some portion of the script you would have got otherwise.
This got overly long, but I guess I wanted to be thorough. I did enjoy this because I am quite a fan of "corruption of the male MC" type of stories. I am interested in how far the MC will go to defeat his enemies and protect his loved ones, possibly becoming the monster himself in the end. Objectively, the game lacks polish in all aspects which makes it hard to rate it as "Good." It may be average, but it's certainly doing something interesting if you are into the themes I talked about in this review.
I enjoyed this for the most part, but objectively, I couldn't quite say that it is 4* ("Good"). It's somewhere between average and good 3.5* seems about right.
The visuals are self explanatory. I'll just say that the animation isn't all that smooth and the render quality is slightly below average for this day and age. The models... are ok for the most part. The comical body proportion on the mother might put off some people.
The writing is... about average in my books. It will not appeal to everybody. I will explain my understanding of the broad direction of the story without spoiling too much.
“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” This quote from Nietzsche is the first thing you read when starting this game. I think this is the main theme behind all the crazy and confusing things that are happening in this plot. What we are seeing is perhaps the descent of the MC into becoming the monster that he wants to fight. The title of the game seems to point towards this theme as well. There is a dichotomy in the MC. He wants to protect his family at all costs, but at the same time, he is perving on them and actively undergoing steps to "corrupt" or seduce them. He tells himself and the audience that it's because of love, but hmmm.... it doesn't always come off that way. Also, while being this protector to his friends and family, he is a ruthless killer and rapist to his enemies (arguably against his family too lol). Again, there is this dichotomy. He is really straddling the line between salvation and the abyss.
Now if I had full confidence in the writer's ability, I would praise the complex characters and themes. It's just lacking that polish and delivery. I can't quite determine how much of this is actually a fluke, a goof, or intentional.
Some characters do have pretty unique and interesting traits. The mother especially is quite well realized as the battered woman who endured so much abuse over the years, becoming extremely timid with low self esteem. It could appeal to the "submissive mother" fans once we get more scenes with her.
The more specific plot elements in this game are confusing as all fuck. I am generally quite good at reading between the lines and following a story, but I was left scratching my head multiple times. They name drop characters we never see, new factions come into the picture left and right, some motivations are hard to decipher, and some situations are said to be dreams when there was hardly any indication that it was. Of course, when used deliberately, all these things can be a tool for story telling. I'm just not quite there with the author on this one. I'd say the execution is lacking a bit.
A big detractor for me was the choice and points system used in this game. You are presented with a series of choices like "Look at ass vs Don't." If you look at ass or generally be pervy, your character gains +1 corruption (not shown in base game). If you do the gentlemanly thing, the MC gets +1 love. Essentially, the choices are designed around the MC's moral compass. That's great so far. The problem is that literally nothing (save for 1 instance) changes in the narrative based on the MC's corruption/love stat. If you choose not to perv, you just get a "...." and it skips the minor interaction of looking at her ass or whatever. If I had to guess, these points are primarily for determining the ending, or perhaps for a huge route split later on. You will not get any play by play variations in the MC's personality.
As you can see, this is quite on the rails. One important thing to note is that while most games of this type default to a story that makes more sense on the "good guy" route, this one might actually be written with the corruption of the MC in mind. The +love gentlemanly choices are all basically just "null" choices that omit some portion of the script you would have got otherwise.
This got overly long, but I guess I wanted to be thorough. I did enjoy this because I am quite a fan of "corruption of the male MC" type of stories. I am interested in how far the MC will go to defeat his enemies and protect his loved ones, possibly becoming the monster himself in the end. Objectively, the game lacks polish in all aspects which makes it hard to rate it as "Good." It may be average, but it's certainly doing something interesting if you are into the themes I talked about in this review.
