Just...they have insisted in making so many super-special-snowflakes in this game that honestly it doesn't feel like we're needed anymore, stopping Kassyrra is meaningless, I'll just go into the forest to enjoy some Tall, Fertility-Goddess-Like Leothran pussy, that's my mission I guess? roam the land and find sexy new holes.
This pretty much sums up any of my playthroughs in the sparse amount of time I've touched the game, why waste my time being a ACTUAL NPC in the story telling diarrhea that's the main story when my fem character can find comfort in some Vari titties in the forest whenever she wants. Likewise with any other characters who catch my interest.
The lack of consistency with the main character and how it is written is a big deal to me, in some sex scenes you're literaly the biggest chad around who has fucked hundreds of holes and basically one-thrust-man while in others like the Manticore one suddenly you're a shy virgin who's having trouble telling an npc yo BARELY KNOW that you love her (yeah, not like her, LOVE her, if this shit ain't the most ecchi highschool anime moment in the game outside of Tobs' then idk what is.)
As someone who likes diverse characters and not the stereotypical 'Unga bunga Futa stud', this one hits. Don't get me wrong I got nothing against dominant characters who'll rail someone else into the bed (I mean my male PC playthrough is literally about tapping femboy ass whenever I come across it.) But as ya said there's a disconnect there in the consistency of your character.
Why do I have to do crap when Carmen and Oxanna apparently have been alive for hundreds of years and were super uber disciples of Kotone or whoever the fuck her name was?
Why can Kasyrra have an entire fucking dialogue scene with Malach, a FRIGGING GOD-LEVEL-SPAWN FROM THE VOID and still be alive so we continue our "rivalry" when he could've just smited her?
Just...they have insisted in making so many super-special-snowflakes in this game that honestly it doesn't feel like we're needed anymore, stopping Kassyrra is meaningless, I'll just go into the forest to enjoy some Tall, Fertility-Goddess-Like Leothran pussy, that's my mission I guess? roam the land and find sexy new holes.
Yeah, it really feels that as the game kept being written, the devs forgot about the main plot and started making a bunch of OCs that sound cool on paper and would be cool additions to the game... until you realize that those NPCs would canonically solve the main plot in seconds. If the game isn't supposed to be a power fantasy - maybe it should have been a story about Chad Thundercock, who's main trait is having a thunder cock and he wants to fuck while the opportunity is present due to Kassyrra's influence while the actual gods and powerful, wealthy people deal with the problem instead of doing fuck all.
Perhaps instead of making the MC the hero who is supposed to be the one to save everyone (not power fantasy btw), it should have been more of a personal story? Maybe Kassyrra's nicked your soul and that shortens your life span. Maybe she stole your cash. Give you a personal reason to stop her (I know there is romance route, but it's a quest for a pussy in a porn game where you gain 15 pussies per hour).
To be honest, I wonder how feasible it is. It would require a lot of variables and changes to every scene that may or may not be easy to make. For a game with a size of CoC2 I am not sure if it's something that can be done properly. Given how this disconnect happens because of the difference of personality of the MC between scenes, I wonder how much this would be solved with a single writer or if the overview of the scenes was stricter and HAD an actual established tone and vibe for the MC.
Naturally, it's either hard or even impossible to make an MC who works as both virgin and a chad at the same time. You kinda have to stick to one for the game, or have some linearity to make an actually manageable progression without writing several version of every scene.
That's not to say that scenes like this can't work, as long as the game acknowledges it. If a writer wants to make a scene where MC is a bit more virgin-like/innocent, when he is a chad thundercock in every other scene, making it clear than you and the other character are going for a specific roleplay scenario and are switching it up a little bit is something I think could work.
I do think there is much wrong with it, but I won't kinkshame people on a site full of stuff I don't like and don't engage with. Everybody is here to play different games and for different reasons.
Like I said, it's a list of changes to fit my personal changes, views, and ideas. Every game being full of sluttery is tiring, and to me, is worse for that. If the game focused on corruption, loss of purity and innocence, it would make much more sense. As CoCII and TiTS are now, it's mostly a "hey wanna fuck" "yea sure", which not leading to any meaningful relationship or consequence is a timewaste and redundant in my book. Being a free use cumdump or selling yourself should be inherent to becoming corrupted, but instead Mallach is literal god of sluttery. In my view, it would be different. But, the only thing I know about code is some words my drunk programmer friends throws at me whenever his ass hurts because he doesn't know what isn't working this time. So, I can't code what I want and take what is, waiting for an OCA 2.0 for this game. And I hope there'd be content switches in the setting so everybody can leave happy, with one button changing some stuff across the appearance screens and whether the first time you sex a character has a few additional lines of dialogue.
I think this game is a good foundation for something I'd want, as well as something others would want. In the end, we get the mud that was written by authors stuck far up their asses, not pleasing a lot of people, as they don't seem to want to commit to anything. No personality for the main character controlled by a variable, and neither an understanding between the writers as to what the character should be like, as well as what tone the world and characters should have, leads to most people here being dissatisfied one way or another. Most that are completely happy are the people sitting on Fenoxo forum yes-man'ing to Savin&Co. and buying a free game on steam, showing all their friends they're playing a porn game right now. Which is not bad by itself, but can be a bit weird to see that your friend is in the middle of a jagoff session.
The question I want to ask is, would the game be better if it was written by one person with specific views and tastes, like me or (you) or Savin or gods forbid Fenoxo? Or is this way of multiple writers preferrable? Assuming, of course, we get the same amount of content because the guy earns big money or has a sugar mommy or something and can code and write all day without any burnout. Would one author be able to break through and write things he doesn't like? Seeing a few comments here disagreeing with me, I wonder if I'd be able to write things I don't like, but at least there wouldn't be disputes between authors on the kind of content they tolerate, or situations like where Kitsunes and Ryn have 69 pages of dialogue after selecting an option (really more like 4-5 consecutive pages, not counting the amount of content) as opposed to some other characters.
Tl;dr : One author (maybe not coder?) or many, what is better for a game like this? Game like this and this one specifically too.
Although in a different game it could be interesting, almost like a reverse CoC where you enter a world that's Puritanical and your quest is being the corruptor
At least there'd be corruption. Anyways I don't understand the "untouched" purity mindset. Milfs aren't just fabricating into existence.
Yet.
But at the same time the only swinging dick I want to read about is my own. The only sexual escapades I care about is the MCs. The only romance I give two shits about in a porn game is the NPC x PC. If I want to read NPC x NPC that's what fan fics and non MC focused games are for.
That shit like randomly triggered scenes with Atugia the former blushing literally kissless virgin having a sex bet with sub Arona if they happen to be in your party and you camp? Yeah can't say I'm a fan.
Nor was I a fan of that hobgoblin nonsense:
We then have legit CRPGs like Pathfinder or Baldur's Gate, which let you have ENOURMOUS customizability of PC and a massive array of choices that is borderline terrifying. Those games takes years to make for a reason and probably require a very specific writing style to make sure the story still flows well despite those choices possibly derailing all written content.
Anyways, you wanted to know about what makes an MC pleasant to play through?
Having options besides
would help.
Having pages not just happen while my character does and say things and even performs actions without my input would help.
Different routes or outcomes both with around the same amount of content (instead of disgraces like centaur, hive, and now libido/confidence) would help.
Actions actually mattering would help.
Corruption actually mattering as a mechanic would help.
Basically tons of things would help. But none of them are going to happen.
Talking about "what you would like" is meaningless for this game.
Even if I were to open some level of dialogue with even a single writer explaining in detail points of contention with player choice in some quests, further using THE most popular games in the porn game space as a springboard to stake my case, literally nothing would happen due to the success making them immune to criticism.
With a small aside that this resistance is why Ryn Quest 2 has like no lines for companions that aren't Ryn and Savin Arona.
Can't believe I'd use this example in a positive light but even Dark Cookie isn't that far up his own ass.
(One of the things in the indie and western game scene in general that continues to impress me is how open to feedback the developers are and the ability of some to sift through feedback to decipher what's actually valid and usable and what's nonsense)
Oh no, I know how ridiculous they can get but what you linked is actually pretty tame for them lmao
And on the "purity" thing, I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's the enjoyment of feeling like you're the first? To avoid the gae? Who knows tbh. Having sex with a virgin is not as fun as someone who's had sex more than once lmfao
I disagree with the "MC is the only Chad Thundercock", mainly because like... other people having sex makes the world feel lived in. Don't throw pages of it at me at a time, but like acknowledge that it's happening y'know? Otherwise you just have what other dude described. Example being, let's say you're not pursuing Cait or Brint, kinda makes sense that they'd start having sex. Wait nevermind no it doesn't, because the Lust bar went away right? I don't know, I dislike that everyone is constantly fucking around in your party but also there should be some fucking around yknow?
Nail on the head with BG and all though. This game is like, three lines of code from just being a book lmao
This could have worked if there are was progress in scenes over time.
I see, and could believe, how womanizer that always make moves on a woman becomes shy and uncertain when woman make moves on him. Because he doesnt know what to do in such situation due to the lack of experience. But there are should be progression, aka experience gain over time, like
first five times womanizer just cutely moans while woman breaks his pelvis
next five times womanizer whispers something like 'wow, thats nice'
next five times womanizer get a hand on it by helping woman ride him
next five times womanizer pick and sucks tits straight up from the start and gets spoiled for being obedient little boi
or something like that.
Woah, bro, could you not dirty MGD by mentions it in this thread!? Thanks.
So, I want to hear your takes on the CoC2 protagonist, cause it's actually something I've been wondering about. RPG games have all kinds of protags.
Some of them are really light - Persona series basically has pre-made MC who's personality you can lightly shape by some choices, as well as stable relationship with all companions. You WILL obtain them and they WILL be your friends no matter what, but it's up to you if you want to romance someone. It has the advantage of companions actually serving a solid role in the main plot and being developed pretty well.
Some are heaver - like Fallout, where you can be much more of an evil asshole, straight up murder potential companions and love interests and have a nice degree of choice. But naturally, those games are way less interactions with those companions - they cannot really be that major to the main quest anymore and typically stop being that interesting once their personal quest is done. Fallout 4 actually did fix that a bit (while making other things worse), but it's still far from perfect.
We then have legit CRPGs like Pathfinder or Baldur's Gate, which let you have ENOURMOUS customizability of PC and a massive array of choices that is borderline terrifying. Those games takes years to make for a reason and probably require a very specific writing style to make sure the story still flows well despite those choices possibly derailing all written content.
I've heard some complains about CoC2 protagonist, but they were more about lack of agency and freedom of choice. There are quests where you feel like you should have been able to do something, but you can't, because the written demands it. Yet, something like this would probably feel more appropriate in a Persona game or another RPG where protagonist, while being mostly a self-insert, still has his own agency and personality.
The reason what I am wondering about this topic is because I wonder what aspects of a main character are dealbreakers and which ones is something people can still vibe with. CoC2 already mixes a lot of aspects, due to multiple writers and often cause a weird inconsistent mix. Would the game be better if MC had their own, clear personality which you influence by choices and all companions are vital for the story, even if you never pick them in combat? Would it only work if the game then locked appearance options, because having this type of MC while still having freedom over their appearance creates disconnect? Do you think every quest should allow for an evil choice for the sake of roleplay, no matter how forced it might feel? Basically, I just want to hear others ramble about what makes a good protag for them to play as in this sort of game and what they find acceptable and terrible.
Depends on the game personally. I don't have a singular preference, just whatever works for the premise. In Fenoxo game's case, I prefer complete freedom in choice and personality because that's what the premise is. They have a corruption meter, you can be a variety of races, choose your name, companions, how you interact with said companions, etc. I hate it when writers (mostly Tobs) railroads dialogue to make you respond to everything in the most robot-like fashion or make you say the most cornball shit like Alypia, no matter what your personality is suppose to be. Not to mention how some make you act like a fucking virgin despite the miles of ass you've fucked. If the MC is suppose to react to something, then give me the option to choose which reaction I want. Or actually tailor it to my choices and states.
Oh no, I know how ridiculous they can get but what you linked is actually pretty tame for them lmao
And on the "purity" thing, I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's the enjoyment of feeling like you're the first? To avoid the gae? Who knows tbh. Having sex with a virgin is not as fun as someone who's had sex more than once lmfao
I disagree with the "MC is the only Chad Thundercock", mainly because like... other people having sex makes the world feel lived in. Don't throw pages of it at me at a time, but like acknowledge that it's happening y'know? Otherwise you just have what other dude described. Example being, let's say you're not pursuing Cait or Brint, kinda makes sense that they'd start having sex. Wait nevermind no it doesn't, because the Lust bar went away right? I don't know, I dislike that everyone is constantly fucking around in your party but also there should be some fucking around yknow?
Nail on the head with BG and all though. This game is like, three lines of code from just being a book lmao
Before I start, I'll state this is mostly my opinion and not one I particularly feel strong enough to die on the hill of. That said, you mostly get what I'm saying. If I'm not getting intimate with the character or it was only ever some fun with character you know aren't comiting, that's whatever. It's only when that starts muscling into romances that I have issue.
Now on the believability of the world, you don't need to see Atani's mom smashing to know she's getting satisfied. Don't have to see to know Garrett is a horndog and he and Hethia had it. Don't need to see to know that the stylists are probably smashing, that the vesperans are getting it in, that the demons are obviously fucking, that the siroc's are obviously fucking, etc etc.
Yes SkoW I'm sure the maids and the guards will have a beautiful relationship the first 15 times this scene hijacks my trip through my own base.
Knowing and being forced to watch (look man I'm not into voyeurism no shade to those who are) with no control are my points of contention. Especially if anybody involved is supposed to be a romantic option.
Anyways, I brought up Atugia mostly because that character is a bag of what even are you
Although in a different game it could be interesting, almost like a reverse CoC where you enter a world that's Puritanical and your quest is being the corruptor
Just to make it clear, I wasn't trying to defend CoC2 or anything. It does fuck up a lot of aspects. What I meant by "Forced choices" however is the fact that I don't always feel like having a choice is always a positive thing. As you mentioned - CoC2 itself has an enormous amount of meaningless choices that have zero consequences. Not just CoC2 honestly. Most of non-hardcore AAA "RPG" games also get this critique. A few pages ago I made people argue about Skyrim and how little choice or memorable characters it has. Point is - player agency and choice is something people always want and something only a few games deliver on.
So the question is - what's better? A hollow choice or a lack of choice entirely? You mentioned how, despite having an entire confidence system created and developed just for Ryn, her quest has the exact same resolution. Corruption system doesn't alter anything. A bunch of other quest have choices, yet no real consequences or alterations to the world. It could be writers being lazy, it could be that they simply do not have the ability to do such massive changes. Whatever the case, they gave you a choice because that's what people expect them to do. It's an illusion of player's agency. Would it be better if they didn't even try?
I don't know if it's fair to expect Owlcat levels of polish in terms of choices and consequences from a fucking free porn game, even if it's making quite a lot of money and is a very, very famous name in the porn games industry. I am not that kind of person who would disregard an enjoyable story just because it doesn't allow you to be evil, or be asshole to some character for no reason other than "a few players might do this". Not every quest has to present you with choice with huge impact, not everything need to be a part of this grandiose net of cause and effect. Having a choice for the sake of having a choice without full commitment to make it actually matter in my opinion is slightly worse than having no choice at all, if it has negative impact on the story's quality.
Depends on the game personally. I don't have a singular preference, just whatever works for the premise. In Fenoxo game's case, I prefer complete freedom in choice and personality because that's what the premise is. They have a corruption meter, you can be a variety of races, choose your name, companions, how you interact with said companions, etc. I hate it when writers (mostly Tobs) railroads dialogue to make you respond to everything in the most robot-like fashion or make you say the most cornball shit like Fleep, no matter what your personality is suppose to be. Not to mention how some make you act like a fucking virgin despite the miles of ass you've fucked. If the MC is suppose to react to something, then give me the option to choose which reaction I want. Or actually tailor it to my choices and states.
It's honestly funny how freaking gacha games sometimes handle this is a slightly better way. They don't have any meaningful choices and you cannot change your relationships with character at all, but just having options over what your character says that highlight their personality traits sort of goes a long way into making you understand the character you are playing as and what sort of person they are. What I wonder if having less variables means that the player is more okay with lack of agency. If there is no corruption meter, there is no anticipation that you can alter your personality by corrupting yourself. If there is no ability to pick or ignore companions - will the player be more okay with them tagging along without permission? Does lack visual customization makes it feel more appropriate when MC a doesn't full reign over every single decision? It's seems like a difficult balance of meaning versus... "vibes".
Whenever viewing this thread, there's never talk about the gameplay, which in and of itself speaks volumes. The greatest grievance I this game and just any western sandbox is the gear based progression supplemented by a party. Plainly put, if the player doesn't have the party composition and gear they're fucked, literally in this case. And what little room there is for leveling is quickly put down by the tiny areas of this game and wild variations in encounters and sub-areas. The player could be fine fighting one random battle in an area only to be completely ran over because they went one tile too far, this design is insufferable.
The areas are lackluster as well, there's plains with horses, hills with orcs, and forest with fuck all for starting areas. Guess where the player is expected to go first, the fuck all area. And what is with this group of writers and starting the player off in forest or jungles. CoC 1 you start in a forest, TiTs after the tutorial forest (it was the first zone in earlier version before the hacking tutorials), and this game forest. Then the player goes to snowy wasteland with kitsunes because screw any sense of cohesion this is weeb territory (get out this is a time sink with no value), going from centaurs, orcs, trolls, and imps to samurai land. This setting is second thought to the fetishes, which aren't supported by poor writing.
So what does this game have going well? The position on the same site as TiTs I guess.
So the question is - what's better? A hollow choice or a lack of choice entirely? You mentioned how, despite having an entire confidence system created and developed just for Ryn, her quest has the exact same resolution. Corruption system doesn't alter anything. A bunch of other quest have choices, yet no real consequences or alterations to the world. It could be writers being lazy, it could be that they simply do not have the ability to do such massive changes. Whatever the case, they gave you a choice because that's what people expect them to do. It's an illusion of player's agency. Would it be better if they didn't even try?
Here's the thing. this isn't a one or the other thing because TiTS did this and so did CoC1. There are a lot of variations and they all lead to different conclusions. Some of which having lasting consequences.
Now, I could make some concessions on expectations due to companions and their recurring nature requiring the game to keep track of more variables. But none of that matters due to not being able to interact or change anything with the companions already there.
Examples:
Viviane has like one line in Ryn Quest 2.
So does Brienne.
Lyric has been in your backpack for years and has nothing to say about anything.
Quint (and Atugia) remain a mute noncharacters.
They've limited all options and they still can't even deliver so much as basic companion dialogue. It's insane.
There are a LOT of porn games on the market now and a large number of them successfully achieve the goal of making the player choices matter. A text based porn game with a few images has way more freedom in the sheer amount of shit you can actually do.
You've got less shit to worry about from a raw mechanical scale and you're not spending months in processing time rendering 40 minutes in animations alongside your 50k words.
Agency
There are single ending, mono heroine VNs that give more player input. Even something as saying something and an NPC responding positively impacts player engagement.
Choosing what to discuss about a predicament in a dungeon and being told in two blocks of 5k words are worlds apart in player engagement.
It's pretty unreal to even fathom that this game came from parts of the same guys. Even Savin is slackin'.
The Federation Quest on Myrellion:
Even the mission briefing is you inquiring into things and casing out the situation
At the start you can choose 3 different options for flirting with an ant amazon (antmazon?)
Have multiple ways to proceed through the dungeon (bully daughter, bust/fight tank, fuck around and find out)
And the queen has multiple ways of being engaged (talking or fighting)
With multiple resolutions to the quest (living on Mhen'ga, with the kui-tan, captured, slain)
I'm not asking for like Alpha Protocol where you can pick 9 different text options per response to really narrow down the kind of jackass you'd love to be. I'm just saying being able to engage with the game without entire blocks of exposition thrown at me where the character questions, intuits, and acts on a situation all without any input would be preferred.
Ye I agree, I just meant like yknow, don't give the impression that no one is fucking. Example, you can see the maid scene at the Wayfort whenever you want. Don't have it procc automatically, let the player choose to interact with it. If you really want it to procc, have it do that once. Then the player is aware the fucking is happening, and they can move on. One of the reasons I'd prefer to be aware of any fucking going on is, no surprises like Azzy. Imagine you had no idea that Cait was a super slut until you got to Khor'Minos, and suddenly she's under a table sucking dicks. You got attached to her, really enjoyed her character, and now suddenly she's a turboslut?? People would be ranting and raving about how they ruined Cait, but she was always like that. The player just wasn't made aware. That's where I think the "People are constantly fucking" complaint comes from. It's that it forces you to acknowledge it constantly. Like thanks guys, just trying to grab some fucking gear. I don't wanna dismiss three different events twice on my way in and out.
Lack of choice, but don't lie and say it's a Role-playing game. It's really that simple not gonna lie. Like don't call your game an FPS if it's a third-person hack and slash, people will be upset.
Whenever viewing this thread, there's never talk about the gameplay, which in and of itself speaks volumes. The greatest grievance I this game and just any western sandbox is the gear based progression supplemented by a party. Plainly put, if the player doesn't have the party composition and gear they're fucked, literally in this case. And what little room there is for leveling is quickly put down by the tiny areas of this game and wild variations in encounters and sub-areas. The player could be fine fighting one random battle in an area only to be completely ran over because they went one tile too far, this design is insufferable.
The areas are lackluster as well, there's plains with horses, hills with orcs, and forest with fuck all for starting areas. Guess where the player is expected to go first, the fuck all area. And what is with this group of writers and starting the player off in forest or jungles. CoC 1 you start in a forest, TiTs after the tutorial forest (it was the first zone in earlier version before the hacking tutorials), and this game forest. Then the player goes to snowy wasteland with kitsunes because screw any sense of cohesion this is weeb territory (get out this is a time sink with no value), going from centaurs, orcs, trolls, and imps to samurai land. This setting is second thought to the fetishes, which aren't supported by poor writing.
So what does this game have going well? The position on the same site as TiTs I guess.
110% hard agree, the levelling system is shit because they can't be assed to do more than one level at a time apparently. That's what cheating is for I guess, because I can be assed to properly compose my gear and party (and their comp) in a porn game that doesn't respect my time lmfao And I think they always do "Forest" first because it's the easiest to compose enemies for. Notice that each game also features bees in the Starter Area?
The areas are lackluster as well, there's plains with horses, hills with orcs, and forest with fuck all for starting areas. Guess where the player is expected to go first, the fuck all area. And what is with this group of writers and starting the player off in forest or jungles. CoC 1 you start in a forest, TiTs after the tutorial forest (it was the first zone in earlier version before the hacking tutorials), and this game forest. Then the player goes to snowy wasteland with kitsunes because screw any sense of cohesion this is weeb territory (get out this is a time sink with no value), going from centaurs, orcs, trolls, and imps to samurai land.
I mean that's just your average game design. A lot RPGs and just games of every genre in general throughout history have had a forest or jungle as one of the main starting areas/the first area or mission you go to. That's how it's always been. It's like games having snow or underwater levels.
For example: Legend Of Zelda, Mass Effect 1, Dark Souls 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Pokemon, Titanfall 2, Final Fantasy, Nier, Elden Ring, Tales of, etc
And the area after the Old Forest is the Frostwood, which is a snow covered forest(there's the kitsune lumberjack getting wood and everything). The frozen wasteland is past that, next to Winter City. That seems pretty cohesive imo.
It's honestly funny how freaking gacha games sometimes handle this is a slightly better way. They don't have any meaningful choices and you cannot change your relationships with character at all, but just having options over what your character says that highlight their personality traits sort of goes a long way into making you understand the character you are playing as and what sort of person they are. What I wonder if having less variables means that the player is more okay with lack of agency. If there is no corruption meter, there is no anticipation that you can alter your personality by corrupting yourself. If there is no ability to pick or ignore companions - will the player be more okay with them tagging along without permission? Does lack visual customization makes it feel more appropriate when MC a doesn't full reign over every single decision? It's seems like a difficult balance of meaning versus... "vibes".
They already created expectations by making it a sequel of CoC. They wanted to coast on name recognition but didn't actually want to do the work for what a sequel is suppose to do. Then they get all standoffish whenever someone rightfully calls them out on it.
I mean that's just your average game design. A lot RPGs and just games of every genre in general throughout history have had a forest or jungle as one of the main starting areas/the first area or mission you go to. That's how it's always been. It's like games having snow or underwater levels.
For example: Legend Of Zelda, Mass Effect 1, Dark Souls 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Pokemon, Titanfall 2, Final Fantasy, Nier, Elden Ring, Tales of, etc
And the area after the Old Forest is the Frostwood, which is a snow covered forest(there's the kitsune lumberjack getting wood and everything). The frozen wasteland is past that, next to Winter City. That seems pretty cohesive imo.
Those games advantages that CoC doesn't decent world building. In Zelda the protagonist is elvish, MS1 the colony is a small farm world, Dark Souls uses the forest for suspense, DA Inquisition if I remember the plot correctly the player character is an exile to some sort of cult that hides in woods, Pokemon has several starting locations for the different regions, Titanfall 2 has a ship crash land I think, FF again has several starting location some of which are more inspired than other, Nier I don't know about, Elden Ring ditto for Dark Souls, Tale of ditto for FF. The use of woods, jungles needs to be justified, and CoC use of the forest is uninspired as well as bland. There's nothing inspired about the descriptions, the enemies are forgettable, and stated else where the space just seems to be effort to hit a word count.
There could have been more to the initial city that could have served as a initial area. Hawkehorne is where the story starts yet never serves any purpose besides being a companion dumping ground and a money sink. The hamlet could have been a bit a larger and a bit of sprawl to the north where there could have been more varied encounters other than bees, flowers, elves, and angry doggos.
Lolwut, for all games you mentioned, forests are just an easy region to design and a good place to imagine people starting their adventure. Elden Ring most certainly doesn't use the starting forest for 'suspense'. The Tree sentinel is for suspense.
I've always considered the main quest/story line in CoC1 to be more of a pretext to justify sexual adventures and depravity in a sandbox game and yet I personnally think it better uses script writing tricks to make the player invested mainly by making it personnal.
You begin the game as the champion sent by your village elders to protect the portal, you barely fend off a lowly imp sent to capture the champion/sacrifice (more on that later), your first name enemy is not a powerfull demon making you quickly understand you are the underdog whatever you'll win, you'll win it by your own effort and by getting stronger.
The reveal in the first dungeon that you are not meant to be a champion but a sacrifice in fact gives you the player more agency, your fight against the demon is no longer on behalf of some elders from some village but of your own will. The player is the engine that push the story forward not anything else, if you decide to stay pure and fight the demons or become the top demon is based on your own will not anyone else.
This is personnal, this is relatable. Without a personnal stake or motivation a big quest like saving the world is too distant to be fully engaging, that's why you never begin a roleplaying game by saving the world but by smaller personnal stake that slowly reveal a bigger threat and become personnally linked to your character. If you learned of a nuclear terrorist attack you alert the autority but if a friend is attacked by thug under your eyes you're more likely to intervene.
The world of Mareth is also better written for your character being the deciding factor, you arrive after the catastrophe, the battle is mostly over, the gods and their champions defeated or seriously weakened making them in need of a new one to fight Lilith no bulshit reason to not have them intervene, the complacents gods defeated by the demons and now the complacent demon queen about to suffer the same fate.
In comparaison CoCII with so much story focus completly failed to either make it personnal or at least make the player the engine/motivation for the story to progress. You always do something because somebody else need/want to or in reaction to Kasyrra action, never for your own good. While Kasyrra want to use your soul, never do you actively seek something to protect your soul or became stronger or find an artifact that can 100% defeat her. The soul protecting ring you get is not something you learned about and actively went for your own good but because disguised Kas sent you get it and at the beginning of the quest it wasn't said it was for you that was just the nice surprise at the end. The same for giving your soul to a god, it's an offer they make after you did some things for them but not the reason you seek them out.
The reward you get are not what you seek but the payement you receive for doing errand for other character. Because you never seek anything for yourself. Helping Etheryn (that I found adorable) is not a side quest you do because you like her (as a friend or lover) but because you have to in order to progress Kas story. Compare it to Urta and Marble quest, completly optional only progress because you are into them. Also the kid interaction, in coc1 either they were kinda feral and went into the wild or you had visit in the mother home but here nothing except for a fox that began as a wholesome content and ended in daughter voyeurism.
The nail in the coffin of writing mistake is Kasyrra being from the beginning a world ending threat in a world where gods and powerful champions exist, aware of her existence but not insta killed.
If she was presented as not being a threat to the people direcly under the gods protection but only a local warlord level then the gods not intervening and considering her and demons on the same level as other mortal being and thus deserving a chance at life and coexistence could make sense. Then her experimenting with portals and attracting the wraith in a repeat of the past (like the player discover) and not caring for consequences despite knowing them because she is litteraly incapable to deviate from her desires as a demon. The quest of stopping her from using your soul by either killing her or dominating her demon style and redirecting her desires naturally transform from being personnal to save the world as a bonus.
My conclusion is that despite not being story heavy and more sandboxy coc1 (and TiTS also follow a same pattern although maybe not as well) feels more engaging and more about you while CoCII is errandboy/girl/herm simulator.
Is there a way to turn off the auto procs for the maids in the Wayfort? It's weird to see it all the time. Also, the tiles already have a button to access the maids anyway.
