VN Ren'Py Karlsson's Gambit [v0.8.31 FinalA2] [Grym Gudinna Games]

[Rowszix]

I'm gonna have to disagree on that one. As I saw the lore, Alexander felt his heir needed to have the perfect bloodline: Alexander's and Callista's (the perfect woman). Because of his infidelity they never had children so their children (Kane and one of the Karlsson sisters) would need to sire the chosen son. I never saw where ethos had anything to do with it; just passing the trials that Alexander had to endure at the hands of his own sisters.

I see Veronica as being purely pragmatic (neither good nor bad even though I do see her enjoying some evil things); the reason Alexander chose her to manage the gambit was because he trusted her to be impartial in executing it; she won't try to sway the results.

Ahh I would say Veronica is definetly extremly evil. Her evil is just very different from the most of the cast. She seems very often completly indifferent to the suffering of others, but also enjoys and abuses a lot of the powers she has. She is also very high on experimenting on humans. When she sponsors Kane in the beginning she tells him that she is basically in between high morals and sadistic cruelty and don't like either of them. It seems like she can't even understand how cruel her experiments are. While her sisters are all sadistic devils, she is a cold hearted monster.

About Alexander, it is told to us that he became much worse after Callista and his sisters left. I interpret this as he just didn't gave a fuck anymore, because he lost the three people that actually mattered to him, so he just doubled down on being awful. But maybe, just maybe deep inside he hoped that with the influence of Callista their could be someone in his family who could be the man that he wanted to be, but failed to be himself. This would also explain why he is so high on Olivia - if she is the daughter from the intro - as she was raised by Callista.

 

[MorallyLucky]

Why are they bitching about noncon femdom in a femdom game? And why are they bringing up feminism? Like wtf? Has there been more femdom hate as of late, not less? I'm obviously out of the loop.

Yes, femdom is very politicized in this site. Although, it seems to be a vocal minority... A lot of people get personally offended on behalf of fictional characters, which is wild to think about.

 

[harsha_26]

I played this game around 3 years ago, without ever using guides, the final scene was with Kurumi (?), I think? Now I'm looking into it - and first, the game seems to be alive (which is nice), but what's up with the recent reviews by Bmagada and MikesDK? Why are they bitching about noncon femdom in a femdom game? And why are they bringing up feminism? Like wtf? Has there been more femdom hate as of late, not less? I'm obviously out of the loop.

I don't know if they are against non-con as a gender neutral thing. But, this game is a big hypocrite in dealing with femdom and maledom. Tess says she gives same focus and dedication to all the routes, but she does extremely evil and non-con things on only sub routes. If I suggest to Tess on anything related to torturing females by the hands of kane, she says "I'm against non-con and violence, what kind of man you are? You don't have common sense?"

So, yeah, Tess and her minions are running a femdom cult in the name of "multi-route game" where rules & restrictions exist for only dom players.

 

[harsha_26]

Spoiler: Tess's Q&A regarding Bomb Theory

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I don't understand what she mean, but figure it out if anyone interested.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

I kinda wondered about that, too. I even wondered if he were Astrid's brother (maybe Yvette passed the disease along to some of her offspring?). But that would make the whole romantic tension between Astrid and Seth kinda weird... ...not to mention how Veronica was jilling herself while watching Seth being tormented during the "research"...

I was on the yvette's the secret mom of seth theory as well but then upon further thought, the fact that she hasnt tried to see him once since he's been on the island eliminated that possibility for me. you notice romantic tension between those 2? I legit see Astrid as asexual in this game so far. More child-like than anything. I dont remeber the veronica scene youre referring to so I cant comment on that.

Olivia and Veronica are the absolute worst evil we've seen so far in the game. Bar none. Because between the two of them, they had the power, knowledge and means to put an end to this shitshow before it even started. Yet they chose to let it all happen. At an enormous cost for a lot of people, especially Seth and Kane.

Olivia's cool with me, Olivia is the only one bothering to give Kane any real information and honestly the other sisters are much worse to her considering they have had access to the Karlsson weapons all their lives while Olivia is just getting introduced to that lifestyle.

Spoiler: Tess's Q&A regarding Bomb Theory

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I don't understand what she mean, but figure it out if anyone interested.

She's being cryptic probs telling people not to get too married to any theory because the bomb might have nothing to do with Alexander. Hard to say without seeing the question she was answering.

 

[harsha_26]

Olivia's cool with me, Olivia is the only one bothering to give Kane any real information and honestly the other sisters are much worse to her considering they have had access to the Karlsson weapons all their lives while Olivia is just getting introduced to that lifestyle.

Olivia depends on Player. If you want to play as a evil dom and want olivia as a good sub, you imagine what happens between them, yeah it won't be extreme like sub path of demoness olivia vs good sub kane (as tess is a hypocrite and not into violence on women). Still, we can guess that in this path, Kane will be more bad than oilvia is and he will get a chance to show domination on her (as long as you have chose goldidomslock).

But one thing is right. Olivia has more secrets.

 

[RNasc4444]

Olivia's cool with me, Olivia is the only one bothering to give Kane any real information and honestly the other sisters are much worse to her considering they have had access to the Karlsson weapons all their lives while Olivia is just getting introduced to that lifestyle.

I get that but can't agree.

Olivia had access to Callista herself. She had a pretty damn privileged upbringing in secret as well, all things considered. We are even told she had lessons throughout her whole youth. Including freaking acting lessons. There isn't a doubt in my mind she is playing a part. Nothing she does or says is the least bit honest. I don't think she gives a damn about Kane or Seth. She has a purpose and a goal and that's all that matters to her. She will lie, deceive and manipulate anyone in her way to get what she wants.

Which is why, to me, she's top 2 of most disgustingly evil chars in the game. Second only to Veronica.

 

[NewGuy2022]

But one thing is right. Olivia has more secrets.

No doubt. "That" is one of the big things I'm trying to learn as the game progresses. How much did Callista really teach her during her upbringing? How much of what we see Olivia say and do is the "real" Olivia and how much of that is theater put on to influence or deceive others? How much free will does Kane really have vs. how much of what we see is forced/manipulated to steer him to act as he does?

Does Good Olivia truly love and respect Dom-Good Kane the way she tells him she does? Or is it all just an act to manipulate things to achieve a specific outcome?

I want to think so but this game tends to dash a lot of hopes and things often don't end well for men. This, along with the "how did this all come to happen" probably are the two biggest things I'm sticking around for. If nothing else, the writer has set the hook for me on this.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

Im still on the Callista did a horrible job of training Kane for what lies ahead train. Even with the head bomb, i feel she couldve properly prepared him for what to expect. Instead we get her patting herself on the back for giving Kane a chance to survive which will come down to Kane's will to survive. Other than birthing him, nothing she does even remotely helps Kane.

 

[NewGuy2022]

Im still on the Callista did a horrible job of training Kane for what lies ahead train. Even with the head bomb, i feel she couldve properly prepared him for what to expect. Instead we get her patting herself on the back for giving Kane a chance to survive which will come down to Kane's will to survive. Other than birthing him, nothing she does even remotely helps Kane.

I'm not so sure about that. To be fair, Kane is Dom-Good on my runs so your results may be different.

She taught him ethics, such as they are. You only need to look so far as most of the Karlssons and their ilk to see that being reared by Callista was a blessing for him and Olivia both. I am bitter that I think she deceived or at least withheld information from him but I think she did that to better prepare him for the gambit. She taught him that will you describe and would have taught him coping strategies. She clearly drilled him hard with studies when he was younger (he complains about it during flashbacks). Finally, she reared him and encouraged close development with Olivia. On the dom-good path at least I see this as a major advantage for him.

Just my opinion but Callista foresaw that at some point the family would come to claim Olivia and would seize Kane in some way to test him. If he knew what to expect, that might skew the outcomes and potentially put him at risk. I think he'll be pretty angry when he learns this but she foresaw that when she told him "you may even hate me one day when you learn more" (my words since I don't recall the exact quote). I do feel Callista showed much more to Olivia than to Kane but I believe it's because she anticipated different roles for the two of them after the Karlssons come and take them back.

I'm not a fan of everything this dev does (trust me) but she does a good job with foreshadowing and planting hints that will be useful later in the story; I'd say she's better than most devs I've seen in that regard.

 

[harsha_26]

I'm not so sure about that. To be fair, Kane is Dom-Good on my runs so your results may be different.

She taught him ethics, such as they are. You only need to look so far as most of the Karlssons and their ilk to see that being reared by Callista was a blessing for him and Olivia both. I am bitter that I think she deceived or at least withheld information from him but I think she did that to better prepare him for the gambit. She taught him that will you describe and would have taught him coping strategies. She clearly drilled him hard with studies when he was younger (he complains about it during flashbacks). Finally, she reared him and encouraged close development with Olivia. On the dom-good path at least I see this as a major advantage for him.

Just my opinion but Callista foresaw that at some point the family would come to claim Olivia and would seize Kane in some way to test him. If he knew what to expect, that might skew the outcomes and potentially put him at risk. I think he'll be pretty angry when he learns this but she foresaw that when she told him "you may even hate me one day when you learn more" (my words since I don't recall the exact quote). I do feel Callista showed much more to Olivia than to Kane but I believe it's because she anticipated different roles for the two of them after the Karlssons come and take them back.

I'm not a fan of everything this dev does (trust me) but she does a good job with foreshadowing and planting hints that will be useful later in the story; I'd say she's better than most devs I've seen in that regard.

So, you mean to day, callista never thought of Kane ruling the karlssons. Yeah, In fact, lots of main characters are not willing to see him as a chairman even in dom path.

If you are in Veronica path, she wants Kane to go island4 with her. Best path if you are looking for romantic vanilla ending and it is also the canon path.

Alessandra Path, she wants Kane as a secret sub while the real control lies in her for female supremacy.

Dom Olivia is grooming herself to be the future queen with support of Elena, Callista, Veronica and wants Kane as a partner.

I think best chance for ruling as a chairman for Good Dom Kane, as of now, is Dominique (a strong supporter of men compare to other sisters) while keeping Olivia as a sub.

If you are evil Dom, then Dominique and Juliette evil harem path (as confirmed by tess) could be best and Katsumi. Katsumi is the only one executive who believes in Kane as a chairman.

 

[NewGuy2022]

If Kitty's hair were on fire I wouldn't piss in her face to put out the flames. I loathe her even more than I despise Juliette, Alessandra, and Chastain. And, for me, that's saying something. On my runthroughs I refuse to do anything Kitty asks, even when it penalizes me with points and flags, just to upset her. The way she reacts when a man with a choice turns her down is priceless to see; also, I really hate her personality as presented in the game. On my main path, I'm trying for the throuple if the dev doesn't kill that off, too.

 

[harsha_26]

If Kitty's hair were on fire I wouldn't piss in her face to put out the flames. I loathe her even more than I despise Juliette, Alessandra, and Chastain. And, for me, that's saying something. On my runthroughs I refuse to do anything Kitty asks, even when it penalizes me with points and flags, just to upset her. The way she reacts when a man with a choice turns her down is priceless to see; also, I really hate her personality as presented in the game. On my main path, I'm trying for the throuple if the dev doesn't kill that off, too.

Trouple you mean Domi+Jili evil harem or faction B vero+oliv path?

Regarding Katsumi, I know she have haters in good Dom players, but it's just my personal opinion as a evil Dom player. Even though she is evil and all, I like her personally. I like how she fought hard for her executive position from K4 level (even with elena chip compromise). She seems to be the only one who is encouraging Kane to the ruler of company while most of others are expecting you to be executive and support the sisters.

 

[MilesEdgeworth]

I'm not so sure about that. To be fair, Kane is Dom-Good on my runs so your results may be different.

She taught him ethics, such as they are. You only need to look so far as most of the Karlssons and their ilk to see that being reared by Callista was a blessing for him and Olivia both. I am bitter that I think she deceived or at least withheld information from him but I think she did that to better prepare him for the gambit. She taught him that will you describe and would have taught him coping strategies. She clearly drilled him hard with studies when he was younger (he complains about it during flashbacks). Finally, she reared him and encouraged close development with Olivia. On the dom-good path at least I see this as a major advantage for him.

Just my opinion but Callista foresaw that at some point the family would come to claim Olivia and would seize Kane in some way to test him. If he knew what to expect, that might skew the outcomes and potentially put him at risk. I think he'll be pretty angry when he learns this but she foresaw that when she told him "you may even hate me one day when you learn more" (my words since I don't recall the exact quote). I do feel Callista showed much more to Olivia than to Kane but I believe it's because she anticipated different roles for the two of them after the Karlssons come and take them back.

I'm not a fan of everything this dev does (trust me) but she does a good job with foreshadowing and planting hints that will be useful later in the story; I'd say she's better than most devs I've seen in that regard.

She also left him with a huge reason to be resentful. There's the father thing that Dom couldve used if she knew what she was doing, there's the whole faking her death and putting him in this gambit thing, which I cant imagine he'll be happy about once he finds out. Good sub (depending on your girl)/dom are the best case scenarios but neither path seems exactly tempting given what Kane has gone through.

I like tess's character work, I might bitch about her characters but they all act according to the way they're supposed to according to the way she's written them

 

[NewGuy2022]

Trouple you mean Domi+Jili evil harem or faction B vero+oliv path?

Regarding Katsumi, I know she have haters in good Dom players, but it's just my personal opinion as a evil Dom player. Even though she is evil and all, I like her personally. I like how she fought hard for her executive position from K4 level (even with elena chip compromise). She seems to be the only one who is encouraging Kane to the ruler of company while most of others are expecting you to be executive and support the sisters.

The Throuple is Veronica and Olivia. You get some clues about the possibility of that when Callista is visiting w/ Veronica in her anti-gravity lab and it's not easy to collect all the flags you need (I love the walkthroughs; they're really helpful). Kitty "fought hard" as you put it by demonstrating to Elena (when Elena was on an evil streak) just how sadistic she was. I truly hate sadistic people (in real life as well as in games) or anyone who needlessly torments or harms someone. After the things I (as the player) saw Kitty do to Seth, I really despise her. Kane doesn't know many of these things, of course because while the player saw them Kane did not.

I really enjoy her sister's character, though, and another of the game's secrets I hope to learn is how the two girls grew up to be so different.

 

[daffyrolls94]

I like tess's character work, I might bitch about her characters but they all act according to the way they're supposed to according to the way she's written them

The characters who actually have a character (Kane, Cole and the boss bitches) act consistently because they are differentiated by random personality quirks. The basic motives/stakes are identical. When they come into conflict it's usually because of arbitrary plot devices like the "gambit", which can be whatever they need to be for the story/power fantasy to progress in a certain direction. As a result both the drama and the overall story have no impact or payoff beyond unlocking certain scenes. Also every page of this thread is inundated by posts about which subcategory of extreme bdsm fetish is the most "moral" i.e most fappable and therefore deserves more dev attention.

 

[harsha_26]

The Throuple is Veronica and Olivia. You get some clues about the possibility of that when Callista is visiting w/ Veronica in her anti-gravity lab and it's not easy to collect all the flags you need (I love the walkthroughs; they're really helpful). Kitty "fought hard" as you put it by demonstrating to Elena (when Elena was on an evil streak) just how sadistic she was. I truly hate sadistic people (in real life as well as in games) or anyone who needlessly torments or harms someone. After the things I (as the player) saw Kitty do to Seth, I really despise her. Kane doesn't know many of these things, of course because while the player saw them Kane did not.

I really enjoy her sister's character, though, and another of the game's secrets I hope to learn is how the two girls grew up to be so different.

Seems like you are going for good dom and wants faction B throuple ending. Tess said it is possible as long as you follow some flags like: Saving Nurse, Kane & Olivia as Dom with good alignment etc..

I'm a evil Dom player and confused about how Alessandra plays her part in future of Evil Dom.

 

[Rowszix]

Why does Kane actually seem so mediocre compared to his parents and his sister (Nadia)? Basically everyone who has a powerful lineage in the game is exceptional to some degree. And Kane was also raised by Callista, so I would think that he is also extremly intelligent or extremly talented in a specific field or both. But even super successfull dom route Kane seems not to be a genius. Yes he is intelligent and all, but not as exceptional as someone with his lineage and upbringing should be. Also he was never able to lift himself up before going to prison, of course he is pretty young and maybe didn't had so many chances, but all of this seems a little bit sketchy to me? Is Kane maybe actually hiding something himself?

I think many people accept that Olivia most likely hides her knowledge about her heritage from the begging and how much she knows about the gambit and all. *Putsontinfoilhat* Is Kane maybe also aware of everything and also just plays a role? Maybe even he and Olivia are actually working together behind the scenes (I know this sounds kinda far fetched, but I just looking for reasons why Kane isn't on the same level as the rest of his family)?

 

[harsha_26]

Why does Kane actually seem so mediocre compared to his parents and his sister (Nadia)? Basically everyone who has a powerful lineage in the game is exceptional to some degree. And Kane was also raised by Callista, so I would think that he is also extremly intelligent or extremly talented in a specific field or both. But even super successfull dom route Kane seems not to be a genius. Yes he is intelligent and all, but not as exceptional as someone with his lineage and upbringing should be. Also he was never able to lift himself up before going to prison, of course he is pretty young and maybe didn't had so many chances, but all of this seems a little bit sketchy to me? Is Kane maybe actually hiding something himself?

I think many people accept that Olivia most likely hides her knowledge about her heritage from the begging and how much she knows about the gambit and all. *Putsontinfoilhat* Is Kane maybe also aware of everything and also just plays a role? Maybe even he and Olivia are actually working together behind the scenes (I know this sounds kinda far fetched, but I just looking for reasons why Kane isn't on the same level as the rest of his family)?

Pease try to digest the fact that Kane have no secrets except whatever Tess shown about Kane in the flashback upto now. Tess designed Kane to be a blank character so that it is easy for players (especially sub players) to mold him however they want. If you give him heroic background with secrets, Then sub path won't sound so logical.

 

[Rowszix]

Pease try to digest the fact that Kane have no secrets except whatever Tess shown about Kane in the flashback upto now. Tess designed Kane to be a blank character so that it is easy for players (especially sub players) to mold him however they want. If you give him heroic background with secrets, Then sub path won't sound so logical.

Sure, I assumed that too (therefore the tinfoil hat), but it just seems to go against everything the game tells you how genetics work in the game world. Brillant parents = brillant children. And he was raised and taught by Callista ... so why is he not better? Or do you assume just because game mechanics? But that would be strange in a visual novel