Nice.
In the 4th challenge, when Nova saw them, I knew she would do something immediately... she is a sniper after all, and you just cannot let such a good opportunity go to waste. The method surprised me, but not her action. Lots of cool fmvs.
Love it when the few posts that are something more than bawling over some character get deleted.
Not that bawling over some character is bad...it just kind of...gets old
The pacing is stellar and the plot has me genuinely salivating over the next developments, even though it's not at all an original premise; that requires real talent.
One thing I particularly appreciated is how Orion's a genuinely good guy, much unlike Once in a Lifetime's MC. It's still a bit iffy how he just leads all of these girls on at the same time (and some of them definitely do not seem like they'd appreciate him dating around), but I do understand that's a concession that has to be made in a harem-focused work.
Don't get me wrong, I do not mind morally imperfect protagonists at all (as long as they're written well), but OIaF's commitment to portraying its MC like a generally good guy while
to get optimal results was downright eye-rolling at times. Because of that, seeing Caribdis write Orion as a pleasant person in a believable way was truly refreshing.
I've had a hard time relating with the common "Eternum is SO much better than Once in a Lifetime" sentiments, as well as "It starts rough and gets better." And I played Eternum (0.3) first before ever hearing of Once in a Lifetime.
There's a specific "feel" or taste in Caribdis' work that hits right from the very start in both games, and that "feel" is the core of the experience. Judy and Lauren are just as instantly lovable as our stars of Eternum, and the main conflict begins just as quickly.
Yes Once in a Lifetime includes a few reprehensible player actions. I chose to not take those as face value, with the tone intentionally hamming up porn/fantasy logic. I did not enjoy them but just moved on from those scenes - which was possible because the tone remained consistent, so those scenes didn't sour the rest of the work.
The "tests of character" in your choices feel similar. While I may not always agree with what the "right" or "best" choice actually should be, it is clear that both works are about being a man of exceptional character, strength, and kindness, seeing what is truly most precious in the world, and being willing to protect that.
I've had a hard time relating with the common "Eternum is SO much better than Once in a Lifetime" sentiments, as well as "It starts rough and gets better." And I played Eternum (0.3) first before ever hearing of Once in a Lifetime.
If by rough you mean "it doesn't seem to have a solid grasp as to how it wants to present itself as a story," then yes, absolutely. Personally I think the storytelling only started gaining full steam around the time Asmodeus came to the picture (0.5), but before that it was just felt...I dunno, unfocused. Especially given that 0.1 to 0.4 is mainly about a guy who's struggling with his studies and getting into random sexual hijinks with the occasional main plot stuff that he just happens to stumble upon instead of showing the initiative to get the ball rolling* (see: encounter with Moloch at Jasmine's party, stumbling upon the meeting place of the SoA after they fortuitously find that secret entrance)
*And no, don't cite me that moment where MC deciding to open the basement being his way of "taking initiative." The man was bored, and his primary motivation other that sating his curiosity about seeing his father doing shady shit in Mistbury was to combat said boredom. After that he had to be dragged by Judie towards the plot. A far cry from Orion who takes it upon himself to start investigating (or at the very least ask the people he know of who they know could help in said investigation) about Benjie's death in the real after it happened in the game
There's a specific "feel" or taste in Caribdis' work that hits right from the very start in both games, and that "feel" is the core of the experience. Judy and Lauren are just as instantly lovable as our stars of Eternum, and the main conflict begins just as quickly.
Not really. IMO the characters were fine (barring Stabby Mike**), but the feel only started to take shape around 0.5. Everything else before that felt like Cari was testing the waters as to what his style ought to be (0.1 was mostly intro but it leaned heavily on the mystery aspect, 0.2 started throwing in the supernatural stuff, 0.3 had 1/2 main plot 1/2 meandering stuff but the blend still feels like it leans heavily on the latter, 0.4 was mainly downtime with some plot sprinkled to it...and then 0.5 was like "okay, let's incorporate everything we've learned from the past 4 updates, trim out the fat, and get this right." And get it right he did).
**I've said it before in this thread and I'll say it again: as a character, I like Mike. From a literary/writing perspective, I kinda detest him for basically becoming unnecessarily important in the overall plot and obtaining the true ending. I suppose I can forgive a minor character from becoming crucial to get the true ending, decisions and consequences are kind of a thing in VNs after all. But him showing up in just about every important event in the plot for one contrived reason after another?
If by rough you mean "it doesn't seem to have a solid grasp as to how it wants to present itself as a story," then yes, absolutely. Personally I think the storytelling only started gaining full steam around the time Asmodeus came to the picture (0.5), but before that it was just felt...I dunno, unfocused. Especially given that 0.1 to 0.4 is mainly about a guy who's struggling with his studies and getting into random sexual hijinks with the occasional main plot stuff that he just happens to stumble upon instead of showing the initiative to get the ball rolling* (see: encounter with Moloch at Jasmine's party, stumbling upon the meeting place of the SoA after they fortuitously find that secret entrance)
*And no, don't cite me that moment where MC deciding to open the basement being his way of "taking initiative." The man was bored, and his primary motivation other that sating his curiosity about seeing his father doing shady shit in Mistbury was to combat said boredom. After that he had to be dragged by Judie towards the plot. A far cry from Orion who takes it upon himself to start investigating (or at the very least ask the people he know of who they know could help in said investigation) about Benjie's death in the real after it happened in the game
Not really. IMO the characters were fine (barring Stabby Mike**), but the feel only started to take shape around 0.5. Everything else before that felt like Cari was testing the waters as to what his style ought to be (0.1 was mostly intro but it leaned heavily on the mystery aspect, 0.2 started throwing in the supernatural stuff, 0.3 had 1/2 main plot 1/2 meandering stuff but the blend still feels like it leans heavily on the latter, 0.4 was mainly downtime with some plot sprinkled to it...and then 0.5 was like "okay, let's incorporate everything we've learned from the past 4 updates, trim out the fat, and get this right." And get it right he did).
**I've said it before in this thread and I'll say it again: as a character, I like Mike. From a literary/writing perspective, I kinda detest him for basically becoming unnecessarily important in the overall plot and obtaining the true ending. I suppose I can forgive a minor character from becoming crucial to get the true ending, decisions and consequences are kind of a thing in VNs after all. But him showing up in just about every important event in the plot for one contrived reason after another?
I dont care too much about the Asmodeus vs Mike thing but the first couple of sections of your post is exactly how I feel when comparing Eternum vs Once in a Lifetime. Eternum just felt a lot more polished and focused from the very beginning unlike Once in a Lifetime. Overall I think Eternum is significantly better when comparing the two.
That said I do think Once in a Lifetime does humor and horror a lot better than eternum. Once in a Lifetime is overall a much funnier game - there are more humorous situations, more wacky characters etc. And I liked the horror segments in Once in a Lifetime a lot more than the Red Herring server - I was not as invested in the eternum horror segments because it was all in game and it was just a video game session to Orion, Luna and Annie. Same can be said about the Andromeda date with Annie. The MC could lose the gem but nobody's life was at risk because its all just a game. The MC's dreams are nice but they are too short and so not as scary.
[...]I do think Once in a Lifetime does humor and horror a lot better than eternum. Once in a Lifetime is overall a much funnier game - there are more humorous situations, more wacky characters etc. And I liked the horror segments in Once in a Lifetime a lot more than the Red Herring server - I was not as invested in the eternum horror segments because it was all in game and it was just a video game session to Orion, Luna and Annie. Same can be said about the Andromeda date with Annie. The MC could lose the gem but nobody's life was at risk because its all just a game. The MC's dreams are nice but they are too short and so not as scary.
OIAL horror works because the danger is a lot more real compared to Eternum, where much of the horror stuff happens inside the "game" (or, assuming that the twist about it is real, deludes you into thinking that it's all just a game until the inevitable reveal, meaning the horror is more of the "fridge" type variety where you realize how scary it actually is much later in the story). However, given the longer nature of the narrative, I'm sure that the horror elements and the "danger" factor will continually ramp up as time goes on (and that's what worries me tbh).
Also I disagree with the humor comment. I feel that Eternum is just as humorous as OIAL, but IMO the reason OIAL's humor seems to land a lot more to people is because of 2 factors:
a) HS1 being able to pull the "humorous" face gags a lot better than HS2 because the more realistic art style of the latter engine dilutes rather than enhances the gag factor (which is also my argument as to why I think slapstick doesn't really work in Daz3D unless the models themselves look exaggerated...that, or act in an exaggerated fashion...which could look cringe instead of funny depending on how the scene plays out)
b) the tone of OIAL is a lot lighter compared to Eternum, which helps make the gags in the former land better compared to the latter, where the gag might not land or feel out of place at times despite the scene still being funny overall (i.e. the Dark Arts test gags, the Chop Chop gag at Red Herring, Nova's comment on Orion's wang size in the Egyptian server)
