at this point im as infested in the story as in the nsfw content... if updates keep coming in this quality this game will be on the first side of "sorted by quality" in no time, up there with the big ones like OIAL
i secound that, mc can be a ruthless hardass on the selfish route but this scene rly seemed like he spontaneously decided to lay of every last bit of empathy he has and goes full on psycho mode.. this scene feels rly of exspecially if you played "friendly" route first and knowI'm all for revenge, but this is some psychotic shit. Not only was the scene very messed up, it has issues with the narrative which I'll go over in just a bit. But the one thing that I detested the most was the fact that there's no alternative scene for different routes, only for scumbag.
I was surprised the torture scene wasn't gated behind being ruthless or taking the vengeance flag. When my 99% compassionate MC could just casually throw 20 points in the bin and do something so out of character I questioned if it was a bug.Just played through the scene with the princess. What the actual fuck man.
I'm all for revenge, but this is some psychotic shit. Not only was the scene very messed up, it has issues with the narrative which I'll go over in just a bit. But the one thing that I detested the most was the fact that there's no alternative scene for different routes, only for scumbag.
As for the narrative problems with the scene: the MC "justifies" his torture by saying she's a lying bitch and he wouldn't believe a word out of her mouth anyway. Problem here is that she has a slave seal and is incapable of lying to him if he so wishes. Second problem is that while she indeed did many shitty things and absolutely deserves to be punished, she's not the one who perpetrates the acts nor is she the one being cruel. She allows it to happen, which, again, needs to be punished for sure, but what was implemented was a massive psychotic episode, no room for any nuance.
Look, some of the greatest evils is the banalization of evil - when people don't move to stop horrible acts, and passively condone/allow horrible shit to go down without doing anything about it, especially if they hold power.
If the princess was indeed a psychotic freak, then fine. I wouldn't have liked the scene but in some messed up way I feel it could be seen as justified. But she isn't - her father and Lucius are.
While the arena scene was getting wrapped up, the first thing on my mind was Lucius. As soon as the guards came around to "greet the new lord" I thought MC would ask them to seek out and capture Lucius immediately. But instead MC only thought about him, what, 2 days after?
Anyhow, the princess only tells you of her motivations if you choose to listen to her. But even if you'd want to go the torture route, the justification of "you're lying and I don't believe you" is ridiculously weak and makes the MC as bad as, if not worse than she is.
Holy shit, what a let down. And the scene is pretty hot too - the animations, pose variations, and camera angles. But that context killed not only the scene, but a good portion of the narrative for me. I absolutely want revenge on her, but this ain't it.
My overall rating of the game dropped significantly after this. In one of my previous posts I mentioned how the karma system is frustrating, yeah? Well, this is exactly the kind of scene that should be locked behind 55+ ruthlessness points. More because of the narrative context (the MC would have to be a scumbag consistently to get that far and do the things he does to her) than because of the content of the scene itself.
If not locked behind a wall of scumbag points, then I'd expect, at least, some variations in the text, dialog and actions based off how many points you have.
And the lack of alternative scene for the other route is just a twisting of the knife.
Redo of healer isn't exactly great either imo.I was surprised the torture scene wasn't gated behind being ruthless or taking the vengeance flag. When my 99% compassionate MC could just casually throw 20 points in the bin and do something so out of character I questioned if it was a bug.
It's like someone watched Redo of Healer and got the idea for the scene.
i agree i've followed alwaysfan since the beginning and now after playing this game it feels like the amy game and eva type of difference, it's always good when dev actually get better and can deliver higher quality with experience, kudo to the dev this game is a gemit's honestly incredible how far the dev's animations skills have come along since the early stages of alwaysfans. some of the best custom hs scenes on this site right now
" question for the folks in the scumbag route "Okay, question for the folks in the scumbag route - do you actually get to r*pe Manon in the baths at 50+ ruthless points? If not, what happens?
The game is starting to feel like scumbag simulator
Yes, no? kinda? I would not say rape but it's not the most consensual. Heavy pressure on her to accept.Okay, question for the folks in the scumbag route - do you actually get to r*pe Manon in the baths at 50+ ruthless points? If not, what happens?
The game is starting to feel like scumbag simulator
... an extremely generic example of isekai writing.
Bland guy randomly gets into another world, then of course is motivated by "revenge" against someone who literally saved his life; classic isekai-edgelord-y. That's enough to give him Special Snowflake powers because of course. World building done with info dumps, again of course (illustrated with "AI CG" if that bothers someone). And of course slavery comes with a build in excuse for the protagonist to instantly gain one himself, and that's not fucked up or traumatizing for anyone but just "eh, nice perks"; not something worth solving. Just vaguely being nice is naturally enough to earn undying loyalty too because that's how that works.
That probably sounds much more critical than it is; after all, there's basically an infinite amount of light novels/manga/anime that come exactly with the same ingredients these days, perfectly accepted into mainstream pop culture, and unlike that garbage, this is just a self-made porn game and doesn't pretend it's something else. But the lack of originality is still disappointing. You'd think if you are entirely inspired by those you might add a bit of a unique twist or whatever to the formula ^^#