diggadiggadance
Thanks for the review, Is this one event the only issue you have with Harem Hotel? I just want to point out that I try to make all exposition dumps, such as the one in the library, completely optional. You didn't need to sit down and listen to any of that, because I know there are players like you who don't care about that exposition. There was no forcing of this at all.
I'm not sure how I could made this clearer, you don't have to enter the library in this event at all if you don't want to. And you're given another choice after this to leave as well.
My ears are open to suggestions.
Hey, I appreciate you responding to my review!
Yes, this was one of the events I had in mind.
I think my main issue with the scene was that I am the type of player that loves exposition, so I instantly chose to follow her. I also - personally - felt bad about leaving Kali to have to suffer through the history lesson alone (especially when she responds negatively to you ditching her here). I'm sure people will argue that there were no actual, concrete points lost by skipping, but that's not how I felt as a player. I felt guilty. And this was before I even knew what the contents of the history lesson even were. That's what I meant by "forced." And I'm sure there are plenty of people who play this game and skip the scene without being affected at all, and that's fine. My viewpoint is not representative of everyone else's.
With the actual library scene, I actually really enjoyed the information I was being given about the elvish history. What I didn't enjoy was the constant interjections by Vanessa. I get it; she wants to support the elves, because she's seen the bad things done to them. I'm also a stereotypical elf-owner in her eyes. And maybe you were trying to write her as a dislikeable character, maybe not. I was there to get some nice worldbuilding, not get shouted at by a character I don't care about. It completely ruined what would have otherwise been an awesome scene for me.
This also applies to the scene where I'm meeting with Kali late at night to give her coffee; I'm not even given a choice before Vanessa's talk-show randomly comes out of nowhere. I have to sit through her very opinionated interview with another random elf for several paragraphs before I'm allowed to interact with Kali again. I went to the university to grow closer with Kali - especially since it was her character's event, not hear Vanessa ranting.
That's my main gripe with Vanessa; it's not her ideologies or her political views. It's not even how her character is written. It's the fact that she's ruining your well-written scenes with her presence.
I was confused, because you've done character separation wonderfully before with Ashley and her schoolmates. I was able to enjoy Ashley's storyline without having to be too concerned about Felicity and Emma's bitchiness, because they had their own stories that you focused on. I was able to grow to love them in their own route. Same applied for Kate; she had her own path that I could explore.
Vanessa on the other hand, is super one-dimensional from the player's perspective; I'm not even given a separate route to get to know her. She just barrels into me in random scenes and makes herself hateable then disappears. I'll be enjoying someone's event, then I'll roll my eyes because she'll appear, once again, and ruin the interaction.
Like I mentioned above, I'm sure there are plenty of people who are able to just skip the lines and not care that much. That's fine if they feel that way; they don't have to be as invested as I am in these small things. I am just a single player among thousands after all. But it doesn't sit well with me; it's literally driving my enjoyment to the ground.
On an unrelated note (and this is totally less constructive and more about what I selfishly want, so you definitely can disregard this if you want), I don't like the dark tone the game has taken on. I initially fell in love with Harem Hotel, because I was able to have a lighthearted fantasy harem with characters that were, to an extent, three-dimensional. I didn't really come into the game wanting more politics and emotional angst - I have enough of that in reality. But like I said in my review, that's up to you as the author. No blame there.
Thanks man!
