VN Ren'Py Friends in Need [S1 v0.85c] [NeonGhosts]

[Ropyl]

It's still obviously real sociopathic to assault a woman that's after your money, though Same for the other LIs, too. So, I never really understood why some people playing the dark route seem to have a problem assaulting Nicki now, but evidently assaulted the other LIs without any issue? It's all the same to me, a psycho Guy seeking pleasure through power and control.

Yeah no I don't want to downplay the sociopathic-ness of the dark path, of course. Just that it seems more out of the blue regarding Nikki in this version.
Regarding other LIs, I'd say it depends. Assaulting Ashe is just a guilty pleasure for me, but Brittany, if you're on Gabby's side so to speak, seems more justified. Massive air quotes around "justified" of course, and let's not forget this is just a game; nothing could justify that kind of behavior outside of this fantasy context. But I'm one of those that are now nice to Nikki but not necessarily to others, and yeah, I'd say some "deserve" it more than others. Although right now, besides Britt I'm not sure if others really deserve it... Maybe I just like Nikki too much, now that I think about it
I guess I never asked myself "why" before... Damn those characters and this writing, making me doubt myself!

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

Yeah no I don't want to downplay the sociopathic-ness of the dark path, of course. Just that it seems more out of the blue regarding Nikki in this version.
Regarding other LIs, I'd say it depends. Assaulting Ashe is just a guilty pleasure for me, but Brittany, if you're on Gabby's side so to speak, seems more justified. Massive air quotes around "justified" of course, and let's not forget this is just a game; nothing could justify that kind of behavior outside of this fantasy context. But I'm one of those that are now nice to Nikki but not necessarily to others, and yeah, I'd say some "deserve" it more than others. Although right now, besides Britt I'm not sure if others really deserve it... Maybe I just like Nikki too much, now that I think about it
I guess I never asked myself "why" before... Damn those characters and this writing, making me doubt myself!

I'm a dark path enjoyer, so I have no moral qualms playing it haha. I just mean, within the story, I don't think a single LI "deserves" it. Mayyyybe Brit's mom when the time comes? Mayyyybe Tessa?

 

[Echoesinthedarkness]

oh my god you guys are terrible

 

[Shabrani_Goudou]

The third time I go to the bookstore, after meeting Ashe's one-legged friend, Gabby breaks up with MC without any option of changing her mind. Can't find anything about this in the walkthrough (still covered by it). I thought it would have to do with Brittani's photoshoot but that doesn't seem to be it. Anyone know what variable I have to take to avoid this no-choice breakup? MC's always been on a romantic path with her, even in the darkest mind runthrough (man, it is dark).

There are no variables for the break up on the normal path. It's just the result of Guy not telling her about her dad and above all for her wanting to more or less go public (or at least be seen with him, tell her mom etc) while he tries to explain to her why it's complicated. So she thinks he's not serious about them plus other stuff > break up. (did not dark path her so idk in that case).

But their story is so fucking sweet, the continuation is needed.

 

[Ragnar]

We need a pol about what version of Nikki dark path is better, the OG or the remake. My vote would be for the original. Nikki asking for money was a big trigger for Dark Guy. That's gone now.

I think the rework felt more incel-y than what it used to be to be honest. I don't fully remember but I think before the rework, it felt more like an asshole doing whatever, now the intro feels like an incel doing whatever.

Yeah, sometimes like when Ashe is introduced in the remake if you pick the dark option it sounds like an incel caricature.

 

[armond]

I think the rework felt more incel-y than what it used to be to be honest. I don't fully remember but I think before the rework, it felt more like an asshole doing whatever, now the intro feels like an incel doing whatever.

That seems pretty real to life as incels really love crypto

 

[NewTricks]

The third time I go to the bookstore, after meeting Ashe's one-legged friend, Gabby breaks up with MC without any option of changing her mind. Can't find anything about this in the walkthrough (still covered by it). I thought it would have to do with Brittani's photoshoot but that doesn't seem to be it. Anyone know what variable I have to take to avoid this no-choice breakup? MC's always been on a romantic path with her, even in the darkest mind runthrough (man, it is dark).

Gaby will always break up with Guy over the same issue. His refusal to tell her about her father's arrest. I try to put myself in her shoes and think about someone taking me on dates and acting like everything's okay while knowing the whole time that my dad is rotting in jail. There is no way I would stay involved with them. No way in hell. I'm kind of glad that no matter how Guy has acted up to that point, Gaby always opts to break things off.

 

[PHIL101-YYouPPHard]

Gaby will always break up with Guy over the same issue. His refusal to tell her about her father's arrest. I try to put myself in her shoes and think about someone taking me on dates and acting like everything's okay while knowing the whole time that my dad is rotting in jail. There is no way I would stay involved with them. No way in hell. I'm kind of glad that no matter how Guy has acted up to that point, Gaby always opts to break things off.

But.. can't you find it in your heart to forgive, Gabby?

 

[Lightaces]

The third time I go to the bookstore, after meeting Ashe's one-legged friend, Gabby breaks up with MC without any option of changing her mind. Can't find anything about this in the walkthrough (still covered by it). I thought it would have to do with Brittani's photoshoot but that doesn't seem to be it. Anyone know what variable I have to take to avoid this no-choice breakup? MC's always been on a romantic path with her, even in the darkest mind runthrough (man, it is dark).

No, if you are on her romance route she will always break up with you for not telling her that her father was arrested. Which, to be fair, is not unreasonable on her part. There are means of making it up to her later.

 

[HelpfulSunglasses]

Has the Taboo patch been removed or taken down for updates? When I download from the mega link the file has a size of 0KB and doesn't trigger any of the normal pop ups.

the patch won't do anything if you get the patreon version, because patreon forced a ton of censorship on it. Grab the SS version for the full game.

 

[Chronos Alpha-Omega]

MC's interaction with Nikki after she comes back really makes no sense after the remake. He's way angrier than it makes sense to be given the new context of the remake. Before Nikki seduced him for some money while also having feelings for him now it's just the feelings and it's MC who initiates the charity. Now Nikki is almost entirely blameless and an innocent victim. It make no sense at all to pick the dark path. I feel like this is true with a lot of the dark path options now. Before there was an (unreasonable, and cruel) but understandable train of thought towards the MC decisions but now there's none. Maybe this is what people mean when they say the dark path feels neutered? It's much more jarring now to pick the dark options than it was before. I am not sure why that is. Maybe because the MC is no longer such a blank slate? Will this be changed?

I don't think adding more interactions with existing charters was a good idea. A good general rule of thumb for writing: for it to be in the story it should serve some purpose. But before and after the remake the way the characters interact with the MC is almost entirely unchanged. It's just bloat. It's better to add more depth to what you have than to just increase the number of characters. Plus the character you choose to add are very similar in their dynamic with the book shop family. In any story you'll never be able to go through every single thing the MC's will be going through second to second so you're supposed to just show the most important and impactful moments for the MC's story. I've been skipping way more and I know would still be skipping a little even if I hadn't played this before. Before the writing was snappier and to the point but now there's much more wasted words, inconsequential events and unnecessary context. The remake isn't worth replaying the same game with a different shade of colour on it. Just imo though.

 

[DatGuy20]

MC's interaction with Nikki after she comes back really makes no sense after the remake. He's way angrier than it makes sense to be given the new context of the remake. Before Nikki seduced him for some money while also having feelings for him now it's just the feelings and it's MC who initiates the charity. Now Nikki is almost entirely blameless and an innocent victim. It make no sense at all to pick the dark path. I feel like this is true with a lot of the dark path options now. Before there was an (unreasonable, and cruel) but understandable train of thought towards the MC decisions but now there's none. Maybe this is what people mean when they say the dark path feels neutered? It's much more jarring now to pick the dark options than it was before. I am not sure why that is. Maybe because the MC is no longer such a blank slate? Will this be changed?

I don't think adding more interactions with existing charters was a good idea. A good general rule of thumb for writing: for it to be in the story it should serve some purpose. But before and after the remake the way the characters interact with the MC is almost entirely unchanged. It's just bloat. It's better to add more depth to what you have than to just increase the number of characters. Plus the character you choose to add are very similar in their dynamic with the book shop family. In any story you'll never be able to go through every single thing the MC's will be going through second to second so you're supposed to just show the most important and impactful moments for the MC's story. I've been skipping way more and I know would still be skipping a little even if I hadn't played this before. Before the writing was snappier and to the point but now there's much more wasted words, inconsequential events and unnecessary context. The remake isn't worth replaying the same game with a different shade of colour on it. Just imo though.

MC's dynamic with literally every character is similar because of who he is. The only one who is truly different is Nicki and that's cause you knew her before. Otherwise they're pretty much all people in need of the resources the MC is providing. Even Risa needs someone who is powerful enough to go against Lucien. I would argue the bookstore is different from the other store because you have a relationship whether that be friendship love or financial abuse vs Maddison where you legit just have invested in her business and that's it.

 

[Ayyar]

Is there anyway to prevent the near constant flickering of the portrait with every click. Like every time the text advances it changes briefly to the MC with a blue shirt then either disappears or changes to another character portrait either of the MC or someone else. Its only a small thing but its super distracting and annoying to me.

 

[Kniges]

so the rework stops at chapter 10?

 

[Skrotum]

Doing a remaster before the game is over

That is just normal software development. If you don't like it, don't buy into early access. Developers often change things they don't like before the release. They do that before the release to have it stable and reliable when they decide to release it, so others can depend on it then.

 

[bolenart]

I started a new playthrough of 0.85c to recreate my saves but it just ends after meeting Lucien? Where is the rest of the content?

 

[Joshy92]

I started a new playthrough of 0.85c to recreate my saves but it just ends after meeting Lucien? Where is the rest of the content?

The rest of the older content will be added back with the next update.

 

[Gormius]

NeonGhosts One route I love in particular is the one where you start off as an asshole with Ash, forcing her to come home with you and sleep with you. And then later switching up on her and being nice to her. It's so well written that I can't help but be impressed by the realism, and I feel that is exactly how things will go tbh. MC is a bit screwed in the head for doing what he did, threatening her job and forcing her to sleep with him, but then he switches up and actually shows his good sides.

I am a huge fan of love hate relationships where the girl hates the guy's guts first but then comes around to liking him and I feel that such a thing has huge scope in your game not just with Ash but with other characters too. Out of the 3 routes I have played so far, full on rapist route, nice romantic route and this one. I love this one the most.

 

[Jimayo]

A Sci Fi and Fantasy nerd doesn't know the count of monte christo? So he's never watched the simpsons or v for vendetta, etc. etc. etc.?

 

[Ragnar]

A Sci Fi and Fantasy nerd doesn't know the count of monte christo? So he's never watched the simpsons or v for vendetta, etc. etc. etc.?

Yes, zoomers don't know what a book is