moskyx

Engaged Member
Jun 17, 2019
3,920
12,616
I played through Chapter 12. Alas, that's both my opening statement and gist of my review. I don't hate anything here, but I was expecting something more.

The update is... okay. It has some nice character bits, it has the requisite sex scenes, and it technically advances the plot. But there's very little synergy between those items - they just coexist in the same vicinity; if anything, the story feels like a hinderance to fitting in the sex and character scenes. What little momentum we had from the end of Chapter 11 is squandered as the pieces are moved around the board yet again. The final scene of Chapter 12 reassures us that the end is now at hand, but it's hard to get invested in the moment when the statement is so divorced from the gameplay we experience.

Any further details will probably require spoilers, so let's get to it.
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.
So that's my take, make of it what you will.

tl;dr Chapter 12 gives us more of what we like at the expense building towards a satisfying finale.
Mr. ename144 hitting all the sore spots, as usual. In my opinion, the whole 'Book2' it's being a huge disappointment after the brilliant effort made in chapters 1-7, which were 'fucking prime' in terms of both worldbuilding and narrative tension. Back then, everything was well-paced and made sense in the context of the story; now, the game has become an endless hide-and-seek game where the fugitives aren't really trying to hide their constant movements and the alleged ultramegapowerful evil corp seems unable to track them after several weeks despite having all the LAPD's assets at their disposal. In that regard, the suspension of disbelief has been strong in this one ever since the clash at the very beginning of Ch8, but this last chapter is probably the worst offender with that pathetic op against Victoria's place (I know it's not easy for an amateur writer to write a good and believable action scene, but still), and I fear the ultimate clash at Baynard would be another bluff. The feeling of thrill and danger is completely lost despite the text and characters trying to convince us otherwise, as it's obvious that our protagonists aren't going to be caught no matter how stupid their decisions may seem, and god they seem stupid: from our trips to meet Shanlon (and then never take a look at the info she gave us) to this last night's walk to Todd's just because our mighty Ghost now gets antsy when he has to just wait. When you try to rationalize this whole season, it's not that they are good enough to escape from dangerous situations: they create dangerous situations for themselves and still get away from them because their rivals are just dumb. And that's never good news when you aren't aiming for a silly comedy.

I think this is one of those unfortunately common occasions when having just an overarching plot defined but not a closed script in advance is causing a heavy and painful impact on the overall product. The remake of Ch11 last scene that has been included in this Ch12 (in order to have Gloria showing up at the Tech Noir to get the whole group together again, blowing yet another mech in the process) is paramount to this planned-not planned workflow. I can't help but feel that the story has been dragged on a bit aimlessly just to accommodate the required quota of sex encounters, with several similar events (MC goes out because reasons, has sex with someone, then comes back to the current safehouse without any significant progress made to maybe have sex again with some LI, rinse and repeat), and totally anticlimatic solutions after each pretended cliffhanger (I'm looking at you, The Pit, but not only). At this point, I'm sincerely happy, and even relieved, that the game seems to be really close to its end, this time for real.

I'm not going to change my 5 stars rating because it's still a 5 stars experience in the context of this forum, but I do feel it's been a wasted chance to create something really special. And it's especially painful after the magnificent Book 1. COBD never engaged me because of the girls or the sex scenes, and sadly that's basically all there is to it as of now: great cinematics, bombastic chicks, and a mixed bag of love dramas and action scenes. Let's hope it still ends in a proper fashion that could leave a little bit sweeter taste.
 

Avaron1974

Resident Lesbian
Aug 22, 2018
25,044
85,688
unable to track them after several weeks despite having all the LAPD's assets at their disposal.
Except they don't.

There are riots going on that have turned violent which is taking up most of the LAPD's assets.

All camera's are down, satelite isn't finding them thanks to coverage and they don't have the resources to constantly hunt them down.

That's why Meredith brought the Red Moon in.

They can only act when they know where they are and even then they don't have the numbers to spare to go in force especially after Gloria wiped out a whole unit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xXwankerXx

Balu83

Newbie
Jul 17, 2018
85
405

moskyx

Engaged Member
Jun 17, 2019
3,920
12,616
Except they don't.

There are riots going on that have turned violent which is taking up most of the LAPD's assets.

All camera's are down, satelite isn't finding them thanks to coverage and they don't have the resources to constantly hunt them down.

That's why Meredith brought the Red Moon in.

They can only act when they know where they are and even then they don't have the numbers to spare to go in force especially after Gloria wiped out a whole unit.
Hmm... Still, it feels like they could catch them just by randomly bursting into closed clubs, as that's where our MC has been spending lots of time as of late.

Now seriously, yeah, I guess you are right about that, they don't actually have a full force dedicated to chasing them. However, it doesn't change the fact that most of MC's late moves are not exactly bright (or at least, not as bright as you'd expect from the best Ghost in town, even taking into account that the skills and rational thinking we have seen from other ghosts are not exactly impressive) and feel extremely and unnecessarily risky in their current situation for very little gain (besides his own sexual satisfaction). Plus I can't really get my head over how poorly designed that spec-op to eliminate Victoria was.

As I said, what I liked the most about this update is that it seems we are finally getting somewhere near to the endgame, thanks basically to Philly's rework of chapter 11's last scene which saved us from another streetwalk to get Gloria back with the group. About time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ename144

ename144

Engaged Member
Sep 20, 2018
3,172
13,228
Except they don't.

There are riots going on that have turned violent which is taking up most of the LAPD's assets.

All camera's are down, satelite isn't finding them thanks to coverage and they don't have the resources to constantly hunt them down.

That's why Meredith brought the Red Moon in.

They can only act when they know where they are and even then they don't have the numbers to spare to go in force especially after Gloria wiped out a whole unit.
Except they do: the LAPD drones are now under contract to Baynard, and Meredith doesn't give a shit about quelling riots at this moment. As for the cameras, we were told 75% of the network was back online when Meredith asked about it in Chapter 9, and it's been several days since then.

But beyond that the riots are a completely informed attribute. The MC and Chandra/Abby could hang out at an abandoned strip club - full of booze! - within a block of these alleged riots and never see a soul. Shanlon can drive around in her company limo completely unhindered by the mob supposedly protesting her. And again, the MC somehow managed to carry a half-naked Victoria through these riot-torn streets without incident.

The idea that the riots are an impediment to anyone is just another example of the story talking a big game then ignoring it in the next scene.
 

RC-1138 Boss

Message Maven
Apr 26, 2017
12,957
19,110
Mr. ename144 hitting all the sore spots, as usual. In my opinion, the whole 'Book2' it's being a huge disappointment after the brilliant effort made in chapters 1-7, which were 'fucking prime' in terms of both worldbuilding and narrative tension. Back then, everything was well-paced and made sense in the context of the story; now, the game has become an endless hide-and-seek game where the fugitives aren't really trying to hide their constant movements and the alleged ultramegapowerful evil corp seems unable to track them after several weeks despite having all the LAPD's assets at their disposal. In that regard, the suspension of disbelief has been strong in this one ever since the clash at the very beginning of Ch8, but this last chapter is probably the worst offender with that pathetic op against Victoria's place (I know it's not easy for an amateur writer to write a good and believable action scene, but still), and I fear the ultimate clash at Baynard would be another bluff. The feeling of thrill and danger is completely lost despite the text and characters trying to convince us otherwise, as it's obvious that our protagonists aren't going to be caught no matter how stupid their decisions may seem, and god they seem stupid: from our trips to meet Shanlon (and then never take a look at the info she gave us) to this last night's walk to Todd's just because our mighty Ghost now gets antsy when he has to just wait. When you try to rationalize this whole season, it's not that they are good enough to escape from dangerous situations: they create dangerous situations for themselves and still get away from them because their rivals are just dumb. And that's never good news when you aren't aiming for a silly comedy.

I think this is one of those unfortunately common occasions when having just an overarching plot defined but not a closed script in advance is causing a heavy and painful impact on the overall product. The remake of Ch11 last scene that has been included in this Ch12 (in order to have Gloria showing up at the Tech Noir to get the whole group together again, blowing yet another mech in the process) is paramount to this planned-not planned workflow. I can't help but feel that the story has been dragged on a bit aimlessly just to accommodate the required quota of sex encounters, with several similar events (MC goes out because reasons, has sex with someone, then comes back to the current safehouse without any significant progress made to maybe have sex again with some LI, rinse and repeat), and totally anticlimatic solutions after each pretended cliffhanger (I'm looking at you, The Pit, but not only). At this point, I'm sincerely happy, and even relieved, that the game seems to be really close to its end, this time for real.

I'm not going to change my 5 stars rating because it's still a 5 stars experience in the context of this forum, but I do feel it's been a wasted chance to create something really special. And it's especially painful after the magnificent Book 1. COBD never engaged me because of the girls or the sex scenes, and sadly that's basically all there is to it as of now: great cinematics, bombastic chicks, and a mixed bag of love dramas and action scenes. Let's hope it still ends in a proper fashion that could leave a little bit sweeter taste.
I agree that the novelty of Jake going off somewhere to do a side quest and taking the opportunity to have sex with someone is running a bit dry. Specially in this update, when this was used in such a waste of character space like Sasha.The game already have two eye candy since the start: Venus and Shanlon.

They are much better worked already with their motivations and character development. Time wasted on that two bit gangster would be better off used working on Victoria's character, her motivations are quite shallow when compared to the other main characters, or in finding a way to give screen time to Chandra, who got upgraded to LI but barelly has screen time.

However i disagree on the part about Baynard. Meredith lost almost all of her robotic assets/vehicles assigned to hunt down Gloria after the girl unleashed that shockwave/eletromagnetic pulse. Plus the police is having to deal with the civil unrest caused by people protesting against the laws being passed to restrict more and more the rights of mutants/milchers. On top of that any remaining bounty hunters are unlikely to help since they got caught in the crossfire too.

That should explain why Meredith had so few resources to sent to kill Victoria at her apartment, one gunship and less than a dozen of their own mercenaries (no robot cops or bounty hunters).

Those are also likely the reason why those 3 owners (?) of Baynard called Meredith to give her a ultimatum to grab Gloria. She is leaking money and there is nothing a "good" capitalist hate more than feeling their pockets geting lighter.

So despite my complaints i don't think part 2 is a disapointment, i am enjoying it a lot so far (even if wonder what may happen in the ending with some characters).:cool:
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Berto_ and moskyx
4.80 star(s) 396 Votes