So I finally finished the update. Have to say, it's very clear the dev put a lot of effort and soul into it, and I did come away with a pretty pleasant experience. Kudos morriganrae. Well done.
I still wanted to leave my personal thoughts on the 3 routes here, but not affect the game's rating by leaving it as a review, so just gonna jot it in short here. I must emphasize again, "The following is a personal opinion. Not a quality review of the dev's work."
The Siren: 9/10
Dominant route, and my favorite. While aggressiveness does not suit Ashe's initial personality, events do occur over the course of the story that do seem to bring out the more "in control" side of her. I still can't help but feel that some of her decisions do feel a bit on the "unlikely" side but, the whole route still comes off nicely when it comes to Ashe commanding a more respectable stance when interacting with the world around her. You also get to take agency over key critical decisions, something I very much appreciate when handling my MCs. One of the highlights, is that your Ashe doesn't turn into an obnoxious alpha jock like Cleo, and actually handles her new found persona more reasonably. She is understanding and careful still when interacting with LIs, but will take a stand when necessary. Definitely, my main preferred route.
The Kitten: 7/10
As the name implies, you get to handle a more submissive Ashe who prefers avoiding confrontation by simply resigning and walking away from scary developments. Or simply hides behind more stronger characters. This Ashe- while some would call spineless, feels much closer to her initial personality. Sedated by weed, avoiding the world, always in fear of her secret- the developments that take place in this route feels akin to being less in the driving seat and more being in the passenger one. You still get choices, but ultimately most are made for you. The route is still fun if you enjoy watching other characters take control, something I rarely do, so definitely my less favored route. Still.. far preferred than the next one.
The CuckQuean: 4/10
Now this one really had me weirded out. Now fair disclaimer, I handled Netorare/Sharing POVs just fine. In-fact, I'm quite comfortable with them. But perhaps because I abhor playing pathetic point of views, I really couldn't get into the vibe of this one. Your first instance of "voyeurism" comes when Ashe's mom has a one night stand with a butch of a woman who immediately belittles you and tells you to either go away or keep your mouth shut while she plows your Mom. Fabulous first impression. Then you get another taste of a similar feeling when your own sister breaks rank and gets the hots for the police officer. Then to take things up a notch, your own relationship with Fiona is more focused on her fantasizing about Ashe's mother and then later boning Lexie because you push her for it. Ultimately, I realized, this is not the cuckquean style I was hoping for. For me, I am more a fan of active participation and groups having fun. Not that the dev doesn't warn you about that, so nothing wrongly done here from that end. Just not my taste of cuckquean.
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All in all, I definitely enjoyed the update. One of the few games that actually still manages to hold its story quality factor while slowly serving AVN elements. I'm just afraid, that the sheer expanse of the game, and now multiple distinct routes, might just take a big toll on the dev and start burning him/her out. I know they have stated that the routes will largely still follow the same pathway, so synergy will still be there. But from what I have seen, little diversions like who Cleo ends up having sex with, or was the bartender also involved, might snowball into a lot of parameters to keep track of down the line. Have seen devs dip out plenty of times for far less than this :S
Still, hoping for the best. Keep up the great work.
