- Jan 11, 2022
- 958
- 1,860
Makes me wonder now exactly how late we will be able to move from friend route to romance route, and will it be obvious when the option permanently cuts off?Thank you for that detailed explanation. For now, I'll stick with the Friends route as I really need a good dude friend to counter the heavy feminine energy my MC is surrounded in. Maybe later on I'll explore his other routes for the story as I am still curious how he will develop in a situation where he isn't being exploited on the streets on a daily basis.
Foremost, thank you for your weighted opinion. Regrettably however, it seems you might have taken my preference for a "balanced relationship", too literally. While I agree with your assessment that MC will almost always have an edge thanks to his extreme financial prowess and doubly so if you support LIs positively, making them heavily indebted to his goodwill but, there is still a valid emotional argument to be made here.
Let's say if someone is in dire need of your aid and offers you sex in that moment, would you interpret the motivation behind it as genuine love? Or simply a desperate attempt to sweeten the deal so they can secure what they need from you? Of-course it could be the former, but in that moment, the situation isn't exactly easy to analyze.
Now the same thing happens, but this time no favors are in the air. Personally, I'd struggle less with this one as the only thing weighing more on my mind would be, "Do I even like this person?" "Will this work out?" and all that exciting pizzaz, instead of dissecting and doubting their thought process.
Of-course, I understand that not all LIs did this here so I'm not doing a mass projection. But the idea is somewhat universal. Ever LI here is vulnerable and the game has them leaning on you for aid, one time or the other. But, honestly, whatever is offered, taking advantage of someone right off the bat, just doesn't sit right with me- even if they were the ones who offered it. Because I feel that if I take up on their offer in their weakened emotional state, I'd be reducing them to some sort of a prostitute. And you don't exactly treat real friends like that. At least not if you are playing a Lawful Good role. Either you help them in their need, or you do not. And I'd rather help them now without strings attached, and later once they are on their feet and emotionally stable, we could explore a more romantic angle.
Of-course that is just my POV. I do not mean to dis anyone on their choices and styles of dealing with the LIs, nor lecture the dev to change anything. In-fact, I'm here for the ride and the story as it's envisioned to be.
I get where you're coming from, but ofc, it all depends on how Neon sees it and what he intends and so forth. You've already said your views, so I'm not trying to push against it or anything, but the way I see it when I'm playing is that it's possible to have power over someone and still be in a healthy, happy relationship with them. In fact, I'd say there's many, many women out there who like it that way; their fantasies are full of it: rich, successful guy to sweep them off their feet; or a fuckin' old ancient vampire that could snap them in half like a twig all while sparkling in the sunlight That kind of stuff. I know we hear from lots of feminists that they don't want a man to rescue them, and good for them! But there's always been a significant number of women who want exactly that, for Prince Charming to stride in and save them from their sucky situations. I personally think that's where our LIs are right now, in one form or another.
And I think one of, if not the main thrust(s) of the story is that the LIs are only in peril from you if you want them to be. So you can sweep them off their feet and not abuse the power dynamic; give in to your bloodlust and treat them as objects of desire; or somewhere in between.
Again, not trying to push against your already established stance on this, but if you haven't tried romancing any of them yet, you could maybe give it a shot and see how it feels to you? You might discover some of your concerns quelled. I found all the interactions to be very sweet and don't recall any signs of toxicity or creepiness or anything that weren't given as a choice. You might too? Just something to consider.
Also, given the nature of porn VNs, especially when it comes to making money from them, things kinda necessarily have to be sped up as compared to RL. Otherwise, we're blueballing with every girl for like... at least 3 updates.. which there's definitely an audience for that sort of thing, but I guess that's not what this game wants to do. I don't recall if this was one of your issues, but that might also explain why it can sometimes not quite feel right in the moment, because it goes so fast.