Well, praise where it is due: the devs set a release date and they kept it again. Good job.
To get it out of the way too: this is a filler and so is the next patch by the looks of it. Any new real content would be better, but since Hreinn is open about it, i'm not holding it against them at the moment. Feel free to do so for yourself if you want to.
For me this patch is almost decent, but it keeps stumbling at every step, so it's time for another long post and spoilers.
First of all, the concept is great: Sabia being captured by a rival faction. This is a classic idea for a reason. What will she do? Will she submissively bide her time and hope that she made enough friends back in Grok-og Dar to get rescued? Will she try to be tricky and manipulate the orcs to make an opening for herself? Or will she use her wits, skills and endurance to turn the tables and not just escape, but come out with an advantage?
...Or will none of that happen because this is just a filler bad end...
Another example: the orcs purposefully took some of her stuff with her too. Good. The second day they tell her to put on the slave armor. GREAT! Then it gets stripped off for the sex scene again. Facepalm. And they don't even use it's assets for the groping pic either. Headdesk.
I swear these devs either lost the asset files or they are doing this to me intentionally...
And if you choose to attempt to escape, then the first thing Sabia does it to get rid of her slave armor? Why, she has been wearing it since day 5 in my playthrough... But ok, this could have been salvaged: just say that the orcs finally used the damn collar and chain on the armor and tied her to something and that's why she has to strip down. It would give a reason for this day to include this armor, finally actually use the features of this outfit for the first time in 4 years, go for a kink that has been underutilized for years and give Sabia a reason to strip. There is no drawback and it would only cost an extra line or two.
Finally the escape attempt. Naked Sabia running through the woods and getting caught. That's good and all, but i can't help but think that it would have been even better that if you made the right choices then she could escape. Just imagining Sabia walking back to camp completely naked after she's been missing for a few days could be incredible. It could prompt reactions from her friends and enemies, it could be the start of her being able to walk around naked casually or if Nomo was here, he could make a leaf-bikini for Sabia as a new dress.
Unfortunately the setting, while great in concept, also works against this patch as a standalone release. I praised the last patch because it enriched the daily life of Sabia by adding repeatable scenes for her working at different places and including casual sex on the job which fits the theme well. A bad end does not add a lasting experience in the same way. It can be good for the flavor or the setting, but for me the previous patch wins by concept already.
While i'm at it, finally, the interaction that starts this bad end: Neve tells Sabia that she heard disturbing rumors and she thinks that Sabia shouldn't sleep in her own tent for a week.
Once again, i'm immediately drawn to the alternative: skip the bad end and sleep elsewhere. But where exactly? Sleep with Neve? Vehlis? Kia? Lutvrog? One of her other friends, or someone less friendly like her captain? Shaman's grunts? Kira? Avion?
I know that this would be a lot of work, and i know that they don't have too many assets for these, but i can't be the onlyone who wonders what it would be like to have Sabia spend a whole week crashing at one of our favorite NPCs...
I don't know if i'm being to lenient or the oposite and i'm making things worse in my head, but this patch kind of felt like watching my favorite sports team repeatedly barely missing to score a point. It could be good. It wouldn't even need massive adjustemnts or it could be patched in later on, but as it stands, with only the first half of a bad end, this just missed the mark for me.
