I like this overall, but this latest chapter just didn't work for me. It's hard to say if the chapter itself was bad or if the small issues I have with the vampire route finally built up to be too much. I thought I'd like Mila as a vampire since she could be more proactive as an "evil" character but she still is very passive. Other characters tell her what to do and where to go. When she does have agency, her personality is inconsistent. The chapter starts out with her making a joke about something serious, something I don't think she's ever done. You needed a reason for Dorian to be upset with Mila so that's why she tells that joke.
Then during the dungeon, when she gets locked up, the reason for that made perfect sense. Yet, she acted like it was a complete betrayal. She's not an idiot and has displayed emotional maturity to understand what someone is feeling and took steps to help them (I'm thinking of Clover and Liora). Another aspect I had issues with was her relationship with Dorian. She became a vampire after knowing Dorian for like 5 minutes. This chapter addressed it, and I still don't buy it. We know she had fantasies about becoming a vampire, but the reasons why were never explored. That would have been a more satisfying explanation. Instead, the actual explanation felt bland.
I think the underlying issue is that the vampire route is built off of a sidequest, and it requires the player to lose/throw the fight. It's also confusing as to what is canon from the hunter route to the vampire route. It would be nice if stuff the player does had a impact on future scenes, but I do understand that would be a massive pain in the ass to do. The closest we get is giving future Jessica a better ending, which is nice. I think if the vampire route was tied to the main story, it would be easier to track things, or if the vampire route took place after the hunter route.
I know I have been rather negative, but I do like the game overall. If I didn't care about the game, then I wouldn't care about these issues. The sidequests have been largely fantastic. The second one was a little lame as I didn't care for Edith as those kinds of characters usually end up dead in vampire stories. Compare Edith's motivations for wanting to be a vampire with Clover's. One is clearly better than the other. I liked Clover's transformation scene and wished it was longer. The third was better but still felt a little flat. The reason were great. The one with the haunted school was extremely well done and creepy as fuck at points. A lot of work went into it and it paid off. I like Liora's design the best as she's one of the few characters to actually wear clothes instead of being half-naked. The last one with Eve and her sister was nice to help flesh out Eve's character, and again, I wished Effie's scene lasted longer. Having a side quest that connects to the main story does help make everything feel connected instead of being a series of events.
The overall plot has been good. I like where things are going, and was surprised by what happened at the end. We got some good backstory on the origin of the spheres and Alexandria. I do want to see a scene with Mila and her mother. I didn't think they had much closure in the hunter route (also, why couldn't Ashe do her thing? She was 10 feet away. All Mila had to do was subdue her mom and have Ashe break Gabrielle's control over Selina) so seeing them reconnect as vampires I think is needed. And, if Gabrielle is still alive, then Mila needs to kill her and get better closure than what happened in the hunter route. Gabrielle was basically the reason why everything bad happened in the hunter route and Mila never really got the chance to lay a smack down on her.
Lastly, I do like the extended bad ends of the hunter route, especially Viviene's. Going around and turning people all over into vampires was really cool, even if the scenes were recycled. You even added bad ends inside the bad end. A small tweak would be to imply that you can go around and explore. I think most people will go straight to HQ and miss out on all the extra stuff.
Overall, the storytelling is good, but there are some characterization issues. I didn't say much on the combat since it's an RPG maker game; its going to feel like every other RPG maker game. It functions well enough. The dungeons are well-designed with interesting puzzles. Sorry for the massive wall of text; I've been holding onto these thoughts for a while, not sure how to express them as they got bigger.
