- Oct 10, 2022
- 4,349
- 7,740
I don't like Nicki and Risa, other than them I'd like all the LIs and their paths. I would not cut Nicki's path but if Risa goes about same one more update, I'd take the earliest exit for her.
- Thread starter NeonGhosts
- Start date
- Jul 25, 2017
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Nicki was my least favorite initially but once I took a deeper look at her mistakes she wasnt as bad to me anymore actually she became my favorite after that. Tho it helps I really felt how sincere she was in her explanation that was enough for me to take a second look at her after my first initial playthrough.
I'm still on the fence about Risa everything she did says I should hate her but my gut feeling tells me not to judge her to quickly. Just something about the way she looked at us in the car said so much to me without her speaking a word. Which makes me want to give her some updates to fully decide how I feel. That's only because Neon is amazing when it comes to facial expressions in this game any other dev id probably not give her a chance to change my mind very few devs are as good as Neon is at facial expressions.
first playthrough done.
impressive writing. especially when you check out both extremes of the MC's character. all the branching feels dizzying.
a few spitballing remarks though:
- as a best friend, it's weird that MC doesn't advise Nicki to leave her boyfriend in chapter 1. he could even make it his request in exchange for the money. he could even suggest that she stays the night in the guest room, or until she finds a new home. there is no reason for her to return after Brent sold her out and she realized it. and MC insisting that he gives the money to her and not to her boyfriend would provoke a discussion on the shared bank account.
- Even on the love route, MC should have brought up to Ashe that he found her college pictures and got them all, so she could just forget about it and move on. it might come up in their next meeting now that she told him the story, but it's not canon, she only tells MC if he mentions he knows Britt. it's easy to avoid making it awkward as it would be pretty normal for a guy with money to research the girl he is interested in as gold diggers exist.
- during the photoshoot, it's weird that MC tolerates the attitude of Jamie to that extent. he could easily announce that it is a workplace and that Jamie, as an outsider, is only tolerated as a favor/curtesy to Brittani, and if the attitude continue and impede on the actual work he will be asked to leave or the whole shoot can be cancelled and offered to another girl as there is still time to switch. even as a "good" person, there is no reason to tolerate it in a professional setting, and Brittani knows it.
- during the photoshoot, Jamie destroys the camera, but there is no consequence for that. let's hope MC makes him reimburse the value of the camera and lens, even if the value is nothing to MC.
- if he got Jamie's secret files, MC should quickly inform Brittani about the video as there is a chance that she went back to him after the photoshoot. She knows MC helps Gabby, so it's easy to tell her he found the files while trying to protect Gabby because she told him about all the stuff her ex recorded.
- when meeting Brittani in his grocery shop, MC could have suggested that she worked at his cafe/restaurant instead of her new workplace. it would allow him to make it easier for her to prepare for the movie too. also, in that scene, it felt that the part with friendship and fwb were reversed ?
- during Ashe's date, it is said that she spent the weekend at the animal shelter like every weekend, but the first time she visits MC's apartment, it is said she does it once a month.
- when meeting Ashe's parents, I felt like MC could have suggested to Cole to work as a supervisor on the bookshop remodel project, as he needs someone he can trust there. MC saw first hand the quality of Cole's work in Wren's pantry, so it's easy to justify. Ashe could get a vote on that, to avoid making it too awkward.
- when MC comes back to Ashe after spending the night with Risa, Ashe smells something different. There is no need for MC to completely lie about it. He could have easily said that he was just chatting with Risa while she was vaping.
- MC being angry at the "influencers", they chase MC down to his building and dox him. There was an opportunity for dark MC there. he could have asked Risa to close and lock the doors, call the cops, and have them arrested for trespassing, harassment and weaponizing their followers by doxxing him. and going to the extremely dark MC, he could have pulled out a gun as they trespassed on a private property, and held them at gun point, and make them dox themselves during their own streams...
impressive writing. especially when you check out both extremes of the MC's character. all the branching feels dizzying.
a few spitballing remarks though:
- as a best friend, it's weird that MC doesn't advise Nicki to leave her boyfriend in chapter 1. he could even make it his request in exchange for the money. he could even suggest that she stays the night in the guest room, or until she finds a new home. there is no reason for her to return after Brent sold her out and she realized it. and MC insisting that he gives the money to her and not to her boyfriend would provoke a discussion on the shared bank account.
- Even on the love route, MC should have brought up to Ashe that he found her college pictures and got them all, so she could just forget about it and move on. it might come up in their next meeting now that she told him the story, but it's not canon, she only tells MC if he mentions he knows Britt. it's easy to avoid making it awkward as it would be pretty normal for a guy with money to research the girl he is interested in as gold diggers exist.
- during the photoshoot, it's weird that MC tolerates the attitude of Jamie to that extent. he could easily announce that it is a workplace and that Jamie, as an outsider, is only tolerated as a favor/curtesy to Brittani, and if the attitude continue and impede on the actual work he will be asked to leave or the whole shoot can be cancelled and offered to another girl as there is still time to switch. even as a "good" person, there is no reason to tolerate it in a professional setting, and Brittani knows it.
- during the photoshoot, Jamie destroys the camera, but there is no consequence for that. let's hope MC makes him reimburse the value of the camera and lens, even if the value is nothing to MC.
- if he got Jamie's secret files, MC should quickly inform Brittani about the video as there is a chance that she went back to him after the photoshoot. She knows MC helps Gabby, so it's easy to tell her he found the files while trying to protect Gabby because she told him about all the stuff her ex recorded.
- when meeting Brittani in his grocery shop, MC could have suggested that she worked at his cafe/restaurant instead of her new workplace. it would allow him to make it easier for her to prepare for the movie too. also, in that scene, it felt that the part with friendship and fwb were reversed ?
- during Ashe's date, it is said that she spent the weekend at the animal shelter like every weekend, but the first time she visits MC's apartment, it is said she does it once a month.
- when meeting Ashe's parents, I felt like MC could have suggested to Cole to work as a supervisor on the bookshop remodel project, as he needs someone he can trust there. MC saw first hand the quality of Cole's work in Wren's pantry, so it's easy to justify. Ashe could get a vote on that, to avoid making it too awkward.
- when MC comes back to Ashe after spending the night with Risa, Ashe smells something different. There is no need for MC to completely lie about it. He could have easily said that he was just chatting with Risa while she was vaping.
- MC being angry at the "influencers", they chase MC down to his building and dox him. There was an opportunity for dark MC there. he could have asked Risa to close and lock the doors, call the cops, and have them arrested for trespassing, harassment and weaponizing their followers by doxxing him. and going to the extremely dark MC, he could have pulled out a gun as they trespassed on a private property, and held them at gun point, and make them dox themselves during their own streams...
Viola and Pepper got little content but the implied content already has more potential than most mains, honestly.
Now that Brittani's mom has been introduced, and her (ex-)boyfriend's transgressions, she became more interesting.
Ashe seems to be pure vanilla compared to the rest. except the past accident, there doesn't seem to be much in her story. Neon is baiting something with the Halloween photo, but there is no hint or real foreshadowing, so it doesn't really stick. it might just link back to MC's sister anyway. there was a missed opportunity with Ashe's father, in my opinion. for now Ashe is just a girl that is underestimated because of her looks, that's not much to stand on.
- Oct 10, 2022
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- 7,740
Mistakes can be made, I don't care about that but when she tried to use their friendship in favour of her ex, I draw the line there. She crossed a line that cannot be forgiven. I don't like to play dark path it's not for me but I do it for Nicki.
I don't know, I did not like her from the beginning. Probably she annoyed Carolina one too many times. Her drug thing and tricking MC into drug den was sealed the deal.
- Jul 25, 2017
- 11,868
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I must say you are stronger than me I can't do Dark path stuff without skipping through the lewd scenes even for a LI I dislike or hate lol. Just wouldn't be able to do it. Tried to watch the Nicki one before I changed my mind on her and it was to much for me
Yeah I felt like that initially it was a line she crossed for me as well. It was only later I changed my mind cause I did feel like she didn't want to do it but did it anyways (that's my own interpretation). What really sold me onto her was the the fact she didn't come asking for more money again taking advantage of the MC cause would of been easy for her to do lets face it. Instead of using and taking advantage of the MC she went through hard times to try get solve her problems on her own. + her explanation. It also helped a little as far as I can recall she only asked for nothing more for a place to crash for the night and never felt like she was worth being forgiven or the job we gave her. But you probably aren't surprise I am able to forgive her and look past everything , id bet you are more surprised by the fact I didn't like her at first on my first playthrough lol.
Yeah I 100% agree with you on Risa but idk she is just one of those rare LI I should 100% hate but I just cant for some reason. Not sure if you have any like that Risa is probably the 2nd on for me that's like that. But yeah I have no real rational reason for not hating her other than a stupid gut feeling I had from a look on her face when she was in the car lol.
- Mar 25, 2021
- 11,287
- 24,965
I'm pretty sure Risa is a main LI. There is a character sheet link on the first page.
I think she did it more for herself. she was under pressure from the bank and the loanshark everyday and night with no hope. couldn't sleep for a long time.
that's how her dickhead boyfriend could convince her to go ask MC for help using his feelings and her body. she was desperate.
if you choose the dark path in chapter 1, she didn't want to go back to MC to ask for more help because he hurt her deeply. if he raped her for 20k, you can't imagine what he would do for 100k. though after the fact, she realized she loved him before he blackmailed her.
on the "nice" path, she seeks forgiveness though, and promise that she will prove that she is really sorry if MC doesn't forgive her. so she does think she deserves to be forgiven. but she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and doesn't want to risk losing MC if the relationship fails.
her choices are rather irrational for me, but I don't dislike her. she is not a bad character at all. I don't get the anti Nicki protest here
dev said she is not, but the guy that did the character guide wanted her to be so he bumped her up to the main LI category
it could be said that Carolina and Risa are two sides of the same coin. one is too stuck up, and the other too irresponsible. put together, you got a perfect mix
you forgot the fact that Risa is adopted by a rich family that only wanted a puppet, that she is utter disappointment and disgrace to them, that everything she does is scrutinized to the extreme... and she can still stay playful and positive everyday (though drugs help a lot there). that adds several layers to the character.
- Mar 25, 2021
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Well that kind of sucks can you tell me who the main LI are?I think she did it more for herself. she was under pressure from the bank and the loanshark everyday and night with no hope. couldn't sleep for a long time.
that's how her dickhead boyfriend could convince her to go ask MC for help using his feelings and her body. she was desperate.
if you choose the dark path in chapter 1, she didn't want to go back to MC to ask for more help because he hurt her deeply. if he raped her for 20k, you can't imagine what he would do for 100k. though after the fact, she realized she loved him before he blackmailed her.
on the "nice" path, she seeks forgiveness though, and promise that she will prove that she is really sorry if MC doesn't forgive her. so she does think she deserves to be forgiven. but she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and doesn't want to risk losing MC if the relationship fails.
her choices are rather irrational for me, but I don't dislike her. she is not a bad character at all. I don't get the anti Nicki protest here
dev said she is not, but the guy that did the character guide wanted her to be so he bumped her up to the main LI category
it could be said that Carolina and Risa are two sides of the same coin. one is too stuck up, and the other too irresponsible. put together, you got a perfect mix
you forgot the fact that Risa is adopted by a rich family that only wanted a puppet, that she is utter disappointment and disgrace to them, that everything she does is scrutinized to the extreme... and she can still stay playful and positive everyday (though drugs help a lot there). that adds several layers to the character.
I like to avoid non main ones in these games.
- Jul 25, 2017
- 11,868
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Yeah while I hate the mother I look forward to see how her and Brittani's story goes from there
I actually get the feeling Ashe is never really meant to be that broken of a character in comparison to the others. Which is why I think he went the path of her having a nice and loving family. I really get that impression when we see her skating as that to me kind of says and show how she is just a typical happy young adult having fun and not worrying about the world or other things. It's almost like she is past her issues but we know that isn't the case when she opens up about the car accident. Her issues may be a bit simple and come across a bit vanilla for a character at least until you have sex with her but I think it really works well in this case
Damn really that sucks well im still gonna treat her like a Main girl still. If she really is a side character she really comes across as someone that is gonna have alot of depth and story since she feels like a main.dev said she is not, but the guy that did the character guide wanted her to be so he bumped her up to the main LI category
yeah I was just talking about the good path. I don't really like to talk about the dark path tbh since it's not my main save + my memory and information is really limited on that path. Since I only play it to see the consequences, while control skipping past the lewd scenes so it's pretty easy for me to forget the context of alot of the dialogue on that path.if you choose the dark path in chapter 1, she didn't want to go back to MC to ask for more help because he hurt her deeply. if he raped her for 20k, you can't imagine what he would do for 100k. though after the fact, she realized she loved him before he blackmailed her.
on the "nice" path, she seeks forgiveness though, and promise that she will prove that she is really sorry if MC doesn't forgive her. so she does think she deserves to be forgiven. but she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and doesn't want to risk losing MC if the relationship fails.
her choices are rather irrational for me, but I don't dislike her. she is not a bad character at all. I don't get the anti Nicki protest here
Ah I didn't catch that on the good path since I always forgive her
Viola. The End.
I don't know for sure. I'd say Nicki, Ashe, Gabby, Madison, Brittani, Viola. maybe Mason.
I'm not sure about Alex, Carolina, Wren and Pepper.
and given the taboo nature of the game, Cassie might be an LI too
then given the kind of game this is, maybe Ashe is mainly meant to be broken by a dark MC. so having a vanilla romance would balance it. her M kink being a bonus. I found her character development on the blackmail path to be interesting. and i'm curious about the rape->apology path.
Ashe might have more branching than Nicki
next update might change her status though. she seems to be prominently featured. wouldn't be the first AVN to promote a popular LI
I could be remembering wrong, but from what I gather, Risa was originally just going to be a side LI, but due to her popularity and the dev's enjoyment of writing her, he bumped her up to a main LI.I think she did it more for herself. she was under pressure from the bank and the loanshark everyday and night with no hope. couldn't sleep for a long time.
that's how her dickhead boyfriend could convince her to go ask MC for help using his feelings and her body. she was desperate.
if you choose the dark path in chapter 1, she didn't want to go back to MC to ask for more help because he hurt her deeply. if he raped her for 20k, you can't imagine what he would do for 100k. though after the fact, she realized she loved him before he blackmailed her.
on the "nice" path, she seeks forgiveness though, and promise that she will prove that she is really sorry if MC doesn't forgive her. so she does think she deserves to be forgiven. but she doesn't think she deserves to be loved and doesn't want to risk losing MC if the relationship fails.
her choices are rather irrational for me, but I don't dislike her. she is not a bad character at all. I don't get the anti Nicki protest here
dev said she is not, but the guy that did the character guide wanted her to be so he bumped her up to the main LI category
it could be said that Carolina and Risa are two sides of the same coin. one is too stuck up, and the other too irresponsible. put together, you got a perfect mix
you forgot the fact that Risa is adopted by a rich family that only wanted a puppet, that she is utter disappointment and disgrace to them, that everything she does is scrutinized to the extreme... and she can still stay playful and positive everyday (though drugs help a lot there). that adds several layers to the character.
Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the main LIs are (in order of appearance on the main page's image, left-to-right, top-to-bottom): Nicki, Gabby, Ashe, Viola, Cassie, Brittani, NOT Wren, Alex, Carolina, Mason, Risa, Pepper, & Madison. So Wren is basically the only side LI in that picture I believe. Not sure why Neon put her in the poster tbh. Maybe he considers her an integral part of Ashe's story? Or, maybe if Ashe is going to be up for sharing, Wren will be "the one" she wants to share with, and therefore a kind of package deal? As in, we won't get as much content with Wren solo, but will if we go the Ashe sharing route (again, assuming she's actually up for that). That's all I can think of. Or he just plain likes her character, I guess, haha. Not exactly a rule about posters and main LIs technically
- Jul 25, 2017
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Funny thing even tho im a anti dark path player but I do still check it out for context and consquences. The ashe one is the only dark path I can recall. I went with the option after assaulting her in the alley , and forcing her to go on the date with Guy. I drugged her but I didn't have sex with her. When Guy tells her he didn't have sex with her as she leaves and turns ask guy something I forget the question. But she gave a look like she is curious about guy. Is he just Loney? It was like almost she saw another side to him instead of the guy that raped her. To me on that path it did feel like she could perhaps be considering giving guy a second chance as she kind of felt bad for him or something. ( tho Guy shouldn't be given a second chance, doesn't make alot of sense for what he did but hey it's a game) I find this path kind of interesting as it feels like it could be opening up a redemption arc / path for guy in some sort of way.then given the kind of game this is, maybe Ashe is mainly meant to be broken by a dark MC. so having a vanilla romance would balance it. her M kink being a bonus. I found her character development on the blackmail path to be interesting. and i'm curious about the rape->apology path.
Ashe might have more branching than Nicki
it's possible. I haven't followed it quite closely enough to confirm.
Ashe does easily accept the idea that MC wants a threesome with Wren and seem open to it. but not quite open to a throuple route as she seems to be very monogamous.Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that the main LIs are (in order of appearance on the main page's image, left-to-right, top-to-bottom): Nicki, Gabby, Ashe, Viola, Cassie, Brittani, NOT Wren, Alex, Carolina, Mason, Risa, Pepper, & Madison. So Wren is basically the only side LI in that picture I believe. Not sure why Neon put her in the poster tbh. Maybe he considers her an integral part of Ashe's story? Or, maybe if Ashe is going to be up for sharing, Wren will be "the one" she wants to share with, and therefore a kind of package deal? As in, we won't get as much content with Wren solo, but will if we go the Ashe sharing route (again, assuming she's actually up for that). That's all I can think of. Or he just plain likes her character, I guess, haha. Not exactly a rule about posters and main LIs technically
doesn't seem like a harem game, so I wonder how dating everyone at the same time will be resolved.
Only Risa is open to sharing MC with everyone.
in the scenario you describe, she asked him why he made her stay if he didn't fuck her. but she just listens to his answer and then leaves. I don't think she changes her mind about him. it might be you that pity him in that scenario.
but she does pity him if you don't drug her, and you instead apologize in the jacuzzi. though there is more hate than pity. and she lost a big part of her fear.
the blackmail path is interesting because Ashe becomes jaded and pragmatic, and if you treat her right during the date, she is the one that wants to fuck.
if you right click on the "skip" on the mini menu, renpy will immediately jump to the next choice. it's really quick to speedrun then.
- Jul 25, 2017
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yeah alot of my thoughts on this scene comes from the look on her face and my own interpretation. Since i find Neon really is really good with facial expressions in this game to the the point it can say alot and leaves alot of things open up to our own personal interpretation.in the scenario you describe, she asked him why he made her stay if he didn't fuck her. but she just listens to his answer and then leaves. I don't think she changes her mind about him. it might be you that pity him in that scenario.
but she does pity him if you don't drug her, and you instead apologize in the jacuzzi. though there is more hate than pity. and she lost a big part of her fear.
the blackmail path is interesting because Ashe becomes jaded and pragmatic, and if you treat her right during the date, she is the one that wants to fuck.
if you right click on the "skip" on the mini menu, renpy will immediately jump to the next choice. it's really quick to speedrun then.