VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.2A Final] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[TessSadist]

Spoilerish question. Will we be getting more alessandra this update? I feel like all the other sisters get so much more attention than her and I get theres a reason for that, but still the mysterious aura around her is intriguing

It is hard balancing all the sisters, but I have some sort of plan to try my best, haha! I can only confirm for sure that in 0.6, there are two possible scenes so far with her written/rendered. (am planning more) One scene is based on being a pure dom (never licked Alessandra's foot in earlier update, and NOT flagged a sub K5 - e.g. a former K4 or lower player promoted to K5) and the second is based on Kane either licking her foot as a dom OR being flagged as a sub K5, a new former sub path promoted to K5 during 0.5.

Keep in mind with this second very subtle path (high ranking K in program/quiet sub behind closed doors), it's a unique path that will have to play some dom scenes as a high ranked K5+, but branch off to some secret sub scenes with only select people. (you can't really be a pure sub to everyone like a true low rank as this kind of sub is more secret/hidden with only set characters, one of which can be Alessandra) So it's not going to get a ton of the normal sub path -- especially the program scenes as a sub, etc. This is the classic strong exterior/normal performer on the outside to most people, but quietly a sub in the bedroom with one or more women, but not most. (they won't know) Hope this helps!

 

[doktormundo]

can the female mc be played as submissive?

 

[Spfjolietjake]

can the female mc be played as submissive?

My understanding is yes to an extent (I honestly don't know how sub she can become because of where she starts).

Regardless evil dom is where it's at

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

can the female mc be played as submissive?

She can make submissive choices but shes not really in a position to be submissive yet. I assume her personality will come out more the more shes around kane in later chapters

 

[ddaisy]

I'm not sure if submissive is the right word in this context. Yeah she can make some submissive choices, but my impression was that she's going to be a dom either way and our choices will only influence how good she'll be at that. If we maker too soft and/or naive, she'll get used by other people, but I think she'll remain someone who's assertive in general and occasionally submissive toward people who have some kind of special leverage over her.

 

[TessSadist]

Not to spoil, but this is a tricky element and very hard for me in planning -- how submissive she is long-term. Should you expect her to end up as a K1 slave completely devoid of anything? No, because of who she is...that's not realistic. But could she end up in a position of submission versus say a very specific character/group even though she's still relatively "fine" compared to the masses being stomped into servitude under the proverbial boot of The Karlsson Group? Much more realistic/possible.

Hope this helps!

 

[jasont123]

I've had a good amount of free time the past few days and as I've always enjoyed the story, I decided to play again but this time I attempted to really take in the information of the story. This VN has some of the best world building and character building on this website. I took notes while playing the dom/evil route with Veronica as a sponsor, but note that you get basically the same information minus a few conversations no matter the route you choose. Read only if you don't care about spoilers as this is going to be VERY spoiler heavy and I've added a lot of my own speculations as well. This is going to be a very long post..

Spoiler: Overview

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: First Scene

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: The MC

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: The Gambit

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: Callista and the Gambit Queen

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: The Karlsson Sisters

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: Olivia

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: The Hacker and the Bracelet

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: Karlsson Board Members

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: RLI for MC

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Spoiler: The MC... Again

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Well that was a lot lol. I hope to see if my speculations come to light with future updates. Tess did mention that in .8 shit gets real so we shall see

EDIT: Removed some parts per request by Tess

 

[DarkFencer1]

Well that was a lot lol. I hope to see if my speculations come to light with future updates.

It took me almost 1 full hour to read and process everything. But it was completely worth it. I agree almost 95% on all of the above. I'd love to discuss later that 5% I have some comments on what you concluded, but after racking my brain so much, I need to go get a beer. After all, it's Friday.

PS: by the way, congratulations. It was a daunting job to centralize everything like you did in a single post. Respect!

 

[jasont123]

It took me almost 1 full hour to read and process everything. But it was completely worth it. I agree almost 95% on all of the above. I'd love to discuss later that 5% I have some comments on what you concluded, but after racking my brain so much, I need to go get a beer. After all, it's Friday.

PS: by the way, congratulations. It was a daunting job to centralize everything like you did in a single post. Respect!

Haha thanks. This definitely took me a good amount of hours jotting notes down, then organizing them on here added even more time to it lol. Feel free to shoot me a pm if you want to talk about it

 

[TessSadist]

No way I specifically respond to all that, but only a few minor comments.

Hand/arm locations are sometimes by design. (is anyone favoring a specific hand a bit?)

Facial expressions sometimes are super critical. (even as far back as 0.1 -- Olivia in one single render in the limo is very obvious now I think)

Shocked at one recognition of a theory/future plot point that is absolutely true -- figured no one would even think about it yet.

Something else in there is way off, but the logic to arrive at that theory is very good and makes perfect sense.

Have a great weekend all!

 

[TessSadist]

Step 1) Tess has no clue how the hell she can continue that mess of a story
Step 2) Reading crazy theories in F95
Step 3) "Shocked at one recognition of a theory/future plot point that is absolutely true"

I'm sorry you lack the ability to read into a lot of the clues I put in there! Yes, one thing he wrote and noticed is absolutely a future plot point.

I'm not sure why you feel the need to troll the thread, but it's clear you are not being a productive contributor. Maybe you should stick to something a little more your speed.

 

[TessSadist]

As a side note, thank you so much to the people that have supported on Itch! I was genuinely shocked at it and it peaked as the #1 tagged Renpy game on the whole site, and a Top 25 seller at one point (out of 30k games!). I saw it on the best seller list next to a non-adult game I actually know (Among Us -- a lot of fun for groups!) so it was kind of weird moment for me. I am using almost all that money this month except for a few Daz assets for a bigger bonus to my assistant/artist since it was income I was not expecting to be honest. My biggest Patron (he pays about 20 percent on Patreon, 80 percent crypto) also upped up even more, so very lucky month to start 2022. Very grateful people enjoy playing the game!

In relation to why I was shocked, I mentioned the first clue about that I think in 0.2. (I forgot if in 0.1 I threw it out there, but I don't think so...)

 

[I am Gone]

Step 1) Tess has no clue how the hell she can continue that mess of a story
Step 2) Reading crazy theories in F95
Step 3) "Shocked at one recognition of a theory/future plot point that is absolutely true"

Not Tess's fault simple brains like yours cant handle actual plots and stories unlike 99% of the games here that have neither. Tess actually is one of the best Dev's/storytellers here, she makes you think and keep guessing. Maybe fap less? you seem to be losing brain cells here.

 

[DarkFencer1]

Sirs and ladies, we should come back to the game.

Nothing good will arise from keep on this. Just a humble opinion.

 

[TessSadist]

Not Tess's fault simple brains like yours cant handle actual plots and stories unlike 99% of the games here that have neither. Tess actually is one of the best Dev's/storytellers here, she makes you think and keep guessing. Maybe fap less? you seem to be losing brain cells here.

Thanks, but it's ok. I actually find him incredibly amusing with a tinge of pity, so no offense taken on my side. I'd facepalm if I was annoyed, and I think I've only done that on the site when another dev was attacked.

And while I definitely have a few red herrings in the narrative, I also have already written out the entire branching storyline (in outline form) with 15 endings ahead of time (I don't want to say 15 totally unique ones, as some have variants of just a different female romance perhaps).

I am trying to throw some clues for these ahead of time so that a if player goes back someday, they might enjoy a replay with catching a lot of things they missed the first time around. But some are very obvious too. I think a lot of players have identified a few clues with Elena for example (0.1 limo image, Board Room moment where Alessandra touches Elena's hand (now I think I changed it from her hand to her body, is my memory going haha!) right after she sees someone for the first time, etc.) Whether this plan ends up satisfying or not to a lot of players is another matter, haha!

 

[DarkFencer1]

...I also have already written out the entire branching storyline (in outline form) with 15 endings ahead of time...

I am trying to throw some clues for these ahead of time so that a if player goes back someday, they might enjoy a replay with catching a lot of things they missed the first time around...

You've got a whole commission of detectives out there. You should know. And I would even go so far as to say that I personally wasn't much of a fan of visual novels about 2 years ago. And to date I've been interested in several, but I haven't dedicated the replayability time I've dedicated to yours to any of them. Clearly the plot is at the level of any Netflix series.

 

[Kxca]

Honestly, the power struggle and dynamics inside the company are more entertaining than 90% of the series' Netflix puts out. Couldn't even finish watching the recent Witcher season with how much they deviated from the source material.

 

[Jetse]

You've got a whole commission of detectives out there. You should know. And I would even go so far as to say that I personally wasn't much of a fan of visual novels about 2 years ago. And to date I've been interested in several, but I haven't dedicated the replayability time I've dedicated to yours to any of them. Clearly the plot is at the level of any Netflix series.

Yeah, the replayability of this game is great, not only because the mutiple paths. With every update (I remember playing it for the first time in .....0.2 I think?) Tess gives you some more hints and every time after finish it always start a new game trying to find a meaning to some theories I create.
I think this is the only game that allows me do this, if you know another let me know it.

Congratulations to Tess for her Itch.io numbers (I prefer it, or buymeabeer to Patreon for some reasons....)

 

[danny slayer]

Does the path you are on affect your final standing? Or was it just a case of not making the ’correct’ choices? On my Juliette route I got promoted to K8 at the end, but on my Dominique route I think I was K6.

 

[TessSadist]

Does the path you are on affect your final standing? Or was it just a case of not making the ’correct’ choices? On my Juliette route I got promoted to K8 at the end, but on my Dominique route I think I was K6.

I will try and explain the ranks as best as I can in the following way: There is kind a main tree trunk story branch that is the major path of the story. Right now there are two MAJOR paths: K4 and below (sub) and K5 and above (dom). So ranks for those major paths won't matter as much as a K5 and K8 will see the same major scenes.

There are smaller side branches that will lead to specific scenes. Ranks matters a little for extra flavor scenes. A K3 has seen one extra specific scene with Olivia err "watering" someone. Another example: to formally do a game shot host dom path with Katsumi later, you will have to have chosen the "gameshow" tag from 0.5, she also mentions in the story you need to be ranked K7 or higher to work that job. So at some point (not yet), a player needs to hit K7 to see that specific little branch from the perspective of Kane helping run the game show. (versus not) A few minor scenes such as what room/girl might appear in a small scene might matter for specific rank. For example in 0.5 update, a K5 saw one room and Chanel/Delilah kiss/play in front of you/Kwame, at K6 another scene with just Delilah happened (either just blowjob or sex depending if you had 2 points with her), and a K7 yet a third starting room with Junko (again either just blowjob or sex depending if romance path open with her). But after the start of 0.5, most of the dom scenes were basically the same.

So rank is not a gigantic difference at all for a lot of scenes. (too hard to write four entire story paths for say K5, K6, K7, and K8, etc.) In the end, the major endings are more defined by what big choices you make with certain decisions/women. A K6 won't be locked out of a major romance or ending possibility with the huge choices. Trying not to spoil, but hope this helps!