To those complaining about the Siren path: you realize Ashe is naturally a shy and timid person right? How can a person so timid and shy and lacking confidence for 20 years suddenly become a hot queen domme? What are you expecting to see? Yes she chooses the Siren path, and she will not back down every time like she used to, or she will try to take the initiative more. But that doesn't mean she all of a sudden changes her demeanor completely, unless she has a dual personality all this time. She's still lacking experience in the sex department, so why would her all of a sudden become a master in bed?
The point that the dev seemed to be making in the last episode was that the choice was a pivotal moment for Ashe, that it would be the catalyst for character change. Based on this episode it clearly wasn't. Ashe behaves completely the same no matter the route you choose. It is only some minor choices you can make and dialogue options here and there.
The problem isn't that she's shy and timid, the problem is that she doesn't
attempt to change. The change shouldn't be immediate, however like with everything in life she should be trying, stumbling, falling and failing. It is with rebuilding herself from those failures that she would be changing. She doesn't try, she makes no attempts. She doesn't reflect upon her actions differently based on the path. The siren path cannot coexist with the kitten/cuckqueen paths. It needs to branch off fully.
Basically the paths look like this currently:
Code:
_ _ _ ___ _
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \
--------------------------------------------
\_/ \_/ \_/ \___/ \__/
When realistically I'd expect something more along the lines of:
Code:
_____ __
_ _ / \__ ___ / \_
/ \ / \/ \ /
--------------------------------------------
\__/ \_/ \___/ \__/ \_ /
\__/
Kitten and Cuckqueen (middle and bottom) can be much closer together behaviour and demeanour wise than the siren (top) route should be.
They could still converge for the major story beats, but the reactions will need to be vastly different. Ashe's expressions, language and tone would need to be completely different.
That is a clumsy at best evasion of the point.
What I think people are taking issue with is the blackmail nonsense being some hentai b movie plot pile of nonsense and it being played along with, here is something then even a shy doormat can do, rationally explain a situation to an employer to remove themselves from the equation, them essentially just being a stuttering doormat and more awkward then commanding and no real improvement or distinction from other paths.
Ultimately yeah I do agree with the consensus that this was a letdown update for the Siren path and is rightfully being called out as way too similar to other routes, there isn't even really any building blocks to indicate major personality or dynamic shifts are incoming. At best if we buy your logic she might be a dom by the game's conclusion or epilogue and again rightfully so I think, plenty of people don't want to wait that long.
Mostly agree with you.
The
blackmail should be a great opportunity for the dev to differentiate the paths, they unfortunately just do not.
Same with the later scene with the best friend, good opportunity to seize control. Instead we
are forced to take it up the pussy