- Dec 8, 2017
- 23
- 39
Great points, your last sentence in particular sums up my current dissatisfaction.This game reminds me a bit of someone rewriting a hentai incest doujin, but their dialogue doesn't quite match the scenes we're seeing. We're seeing a depth of expression in the renders that isn't matching what's in the writing.
I don't mind the existence of the blackmail angle in a game, and if fact it can be kind of fun. Sadly, it's Alice who is the only one to really use it effectively. If it's going to exist in the game, it should be Max that uses it, and much more effectively. But the game didn't really capitalize on any of that, because to do that would mean to actually make Max active versus passive. Also, to many of us, the game sent the vibe that there were or would be romantic angles with some of the characters, through the way the character's looked at Max, or bits of dialogue or actions. Even if there won't all of those hints there, the game desperately needs some element of positiveness to it to offset the darker tones of Alice's blackmail, Ann's tragic history, Eric's influence, and Max's ongoing general douchebaggery. For a game that with such bright and vibrant renders, it's a very dark and stagnant world.
Funnily enough, with the doujin rewrite example, I was thinking that some of the story disconnects could be a lost in translation issue. However; reading some of Dark Silver's replies in this thread have killed that hope for me. He seems squeamish about conflating affection with incest, based on comments like anal precluding romance with Lisa or Alice's recent development.
To clarify, I think the blackmail and darker plot elements have a place in these games. I would even prefer that this story had both dark and warm elements. This family seems to have gone back to being too damn cold and it's immersion-breaking for me.