I've been here for a while now and this is my first time posting. This game is amazing. It reminds me of Acting Lessons and Being a Dik in terms of tone. We need more games like this.
I've been here for a while now and this is my first time posting. This game is amazing. It reminds me of Acting Lessons and Being a Dik in terms of tone. We need more games like this.
I've been here for a while now and this is my first time posting. This game is amazing. It reminds me of Acting Lessons and Being a Dik in terms of tone. We need more games like this.
I'm very interested for more. Has me intrigued.
Unsure about character ages though. Very hard to pic down.
One frustrating thing is seeing at the end of a chapter that I missed scenes. I wonder how or where I missed them, or wonder if it's for the best I missed them for the sake of whatever path I'm pursuing.
That actually worries me a great deal. AL upset me. A lot.
Using AL as inspiration could guide someone to make a compelling, character driven game, which is shockingly fulfilling, or it could mean forcing you into an unavoidable ending that really fucks with you.
That actually worries me a great deal. AL upset me. A lot.
Using AL as inspiration could guide someone to make a compelling, character driven game, which is shockingly fulfilling, or it could mean forcing you into an unavoidable ending that really fucks with you.
Personally I can completely understand the concern, but also consider that it could simply guide an inspiring author to remain focused on merely keeping the audience emotionally invested (which most VNs lack due to complete shallowness and actual character development). I will admit it's all rather subjective but, to a degree, tragedy and/or controversy are just a few potential elements in great storytelling (though they are certainly not required). LoF can go in many directions to be sure but I took Drifty's post as meaning AL was simply a body of work that is setting par for the course and not intended as a source of duplication. I fully respect your point of view though as there's surely elevated chance for plot twists that will rub some folks emotionally. In the end, in a storytelling perspective, that can be seen as a good thing. We'll see. Regards.
I'm all for being emotionally invested, and wanting something much more than the typical shallowness.
That's why I played AL in the first place. And up until a certain point, it was, by miles, the best I had ever played.
Tragedy is part of real life. Used well in a story, it can be shockingly compelling. And, arguably, AL used it well.
A good story, after all, is supposed to make you feel. If you don't feel, it never really gripped you. AL wouldn't have upset me the way it had if it wasn't compelling, and if I wasn't emotionally invested.
But, sometimes, I think the scope of the tragedy outweighs what was needed to make the story compelling. And when you're faced with a tragedy that you either feel that, IRL, you'd have a better solution for, OR, if it happened that way, you'd have never mentally recovered from it, it makes the tragedy itself seem forced on you, and it makes the rest of the game, where you put yourself back together and reach some happiness, feel alien to you, and you lose the emotional connection you had with the game.
I actually haven't had a place to write about how AL made me feel, since I finished playing it, months ago, so this is kind of a dumping ground for my thoughts right now, while trying to avoid spoilers for other people, who haven't played it but might read this.
Anyhow, I like a game that doesn't feel like a parody. That takes its setting and characters seriously. With a character-driven plot. Where fucking everything that moves is a bad choice. Where sex is usually earned, and when spontaneous, at least feels natural. Where it feels like adult entertainment, in that it is a complex and well made story/game, for the purpose of entertaining, and not strictly for porn.
So, I'm fervently hoping that this game keeps on track with what it seems to be doing, because it seems to be everything I want.
Personally I can completely understand the concern, but also consider that it could simply guide an inspiring author to remain focused on merely keeping the audience emotionally invested (which most VNs lack due to complete shallowness and actual character development). I will admit it's all rather subjective but, to a degree, tragedy and/or controversy are just a few potential elements in great storytelling (though they are certainly not required). LoF can go in many directions to be sure but I took Dirty's post as meaning AL was simply a body of work that is setting par for the course and not intended as a source of duplication. I fully respect your point of view though as there's surely elevated chance for plot twists that will rub some folks emotionally. In the end, in a storytelling perspective, that can be seen as a good thing. We'll see. Regards.
I'm all for being emotionally invested, and wanting something much more than the typical shallowness.
That's why I played AL in the first place. And up until a certain point, it was, by miles, the best I had ever played.
Tragedy is part of real life. Used well in a story, it can be shockingly compelling. And, arguably, AL used it well.
A good story, after all, is supposed to make you feel. If you don't feel, it never really gripped you. AL wouldn't have upset me the way it had if it wasn't compelling, and if I wasn't emotionally invested.
But, sometimes, I think the scope of the tragedy outweighs what was needed to make the story compelling. And when you're faced with a tragedy that you either feel that, IRL, you'd have a better solution for, OR, if it happened that way, you'd have never mentally recovered from it, it makes the tragedy itself seem forced on you, and it makes the rest of the game, where you put yourself back together and reach some happiness, feel alien to you, and you lose the emotional connection you had with the game.
I actually haven't had a place to write about how AL made me feel, since I finished playing it, months ago, so this is kind of a dumping ground for my thoughts right now, while trying to avoid spoilers for other people, who haven't played it but might read this.
Anyhow, I like a game that doesn't feel like a parody. That takes its setting and characters seriously. With a character-driven plot. Where fucking everything that moves is a bad choice. Where sex is usually earned, and when spontaneous, at least feels natural. Where it feels like adult entertainment, in that it is a complex and well made story/game, for the purpose of entertaining, and not strictly for porn.
So, I'm fervently hoping that this game keeps on track with what it seems to be doing, because it seems to be everything I want.
Indeed. There are other ways to tell a story than (almost) playing two li's into a threesome relationship, only to forcefully removing one of them from the game by death. Shock value can be overplayed.
There is great beauty in character exploration - watching them grow over time, learning their quirks, spending time with, and exploring. When you get to the romancing part, and it's done correctly, it can be a very powerful and emotional experience. And as a writer, by then you know how the scene is going to play out, because you know the person better than anyone, and you know that the reader will feel equally enthralled by the moment.
One frustrating thing is seeing at the end of a chapter that I missed scenes. I wonder how or where I missed them, or wonder if it's for the best I missed them for the sake of whatever path I'm pursuing.
You are actually forced to miss at least one...Not really a spoiler, but the choice occurs when you're playing video games. Choose one way or the other and you miss an opportunity with the other.
There is great beauty in character exploration - watching them grow over time, learning their quirks, spending time with, and exploring. When you get to the romancing part, and it's done correctly, it can be a very powerful and emotional experience. And as a writer, by then you know how the scene is going to play out, because you know the person better than anyone, and you know that the reader will feel equally enthralled by the moment.
I'm really enjoying the character development in LoF and getting to know them. All of them are unique and have their own quirks and qualities. Cece is amazing and the CG you used really helps capture her emotional state and brings us closer to her. I can see how you took inspiration from AL and based on what I've seen, I think you're doing a better job. It appears you are going to take the game in a direction I'm really looking forward to. Keep up the great work!
Indeed. There are other ways to tell a story than (almost) playing two li's into a threesome relationship, only to forcefully removing one of them from the game by death. Shock value can be overplayed.
There is great beauty in character exploration - watching them grow over time, learning their quirks, spending time with, and exploring. When you get to the romancing part, and it's done correctly, it can be a very powerful and emotional experience. And as a writer, by then you know how the scene is going to play out, because you know the person better than anyone, and you know that the reader will feel equally enthralled by the moment.
You are actually forced to miss at least one...Not really a spoiler, but the choice occurs when you're playing video games. Choose one way or the other and you miss an opportunity with the other.
I kind of assume that... that I'm just not seeing scenes because I'm following a route. Turn down Kira after the bowling alley date, and you obviously miss her scene. Blow off Stephanie, and you miss hers. And I expect those choices to effect the story.
I'm not upset I'm missing scenes, like that.
I'm just wondering where I even had a choice to make to end up missing other scenes, and wondering what scenes I turned away from, that might not have negatively effected anything if I went for them (example, would it be OK to pursue FWB with Robin, or would that bite me later? Glad that the opt out doesn't seem like and out-and-out rejection, but instead like just not letting things go that far, yet)
Example, it says I missed a possible Lexi scene, but I don't even know where I could have missed that.
Tempted to play back through and look for other scenes, but in games I want to treat seriously, it almost feel wrong to do that, and to instead just stay on the route I'm on.
I have to say this game, if it were more detailed and each chapter longer with more things going on, it could definitely be one of the better games out there, even better than "Being a DIK." The characters here actually have some depth. I would change the MC render, he looks a bit dumb, but already I like the idea of choosing a path from the beginning. The game has a better feel to it than most of them. It doesn't feel as if it's only a sex game. Good job so far. I like a romantic story better than just straight-up sex.
I will also add, if I may, that I appreciate the intellectual discussion here (rather than the typical thread rants that tend to be disrespectfully argumentative rather than cordial debate). I raise my Crown & Coke.
Tempted to play back through and look for other scenes, but in games I want to treat seriously, it almost feel wrong to do that, and to instead just stay on the route I'm on.
I get what you're saying...I know I go through the play route I want and then I go and play the gaps I missed. I played through a number of times to try and figure out where I was missing opportunities. Once I figured them out, I went back and played through the way I wanted. Which, oddly enough, gave me more misses than my first play-through.
