Nice job with this game ! Lots of spoilers in this post, so if you aren't done yet then just skip it for your own benefit.
I played this one at the release of the 0.3 and went all the way on both sides (good/bad). It felt like a full game already at this point with the two endings. I think you could rename it as something like chapter 1 or else to emphasize how much the game moves on from then.
I appreciate the fact that the rape scene with younger Jessy was removed, I remember having a hard time going through the pedo renders and feeling extremely bad after watching it. Thanks for that, removing those and deciding to keep only Jessy's explanation was still very effective to convey the original feelings you intended to give us. Not everything needs to be graphically/shocking represented through renders to let your player feel the intensity of those moments. I wish more developers were mindful about the dark places they can send the gamers when they tackle those topics (winking at Retrieving the past
). Got a few partners in my life who had been through the hell of terrible abuses and every time i had to deal with the aftermath and how mentally broken they were left... It was never anything close to fun. So playing a game that shower me with rape scenes or torture always trigger disgust and awful feelings which then put me off the "game". Next step would be full pedophilia contents which would definitely transform the "adult" genre into a black sheep on the gaming market and make it an easy target for all the almighty justice warriors bashing the internet (we could talk about Japanese production but what do i know, you can become a sex worker from the age of 16 in my country). I know this production is gonna follow up with a lot of violence but i hope you'll find a middle way to keep it entertaining and not send me to a mental breakdown. You did just fine up til now.
Besides, adult games are already a niche market, so i'm not sure you want to throw your hard work in an even thiner one.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no snowflake and i got nothing against the kink about roleplaying with consensual partners in intimacy about almost everything, but when i read some comments (like just a little before mine...) urging to bring back the "rape ass scene" i just feel myself wishing those guys would get a ring on their doorbell and a big huge dude to take their own ass virginity forcefully, just to get them a taste of their own medicine... Ok enough about that and sorry for the undeserved ranting, it was more about the general direction of this industry.
About 0.4, a few things. First, i liked it, so I'll rather focus on the few points that i had trouble with. If i followed the story correctly, the main idea for the mc was to take a week sorta vacation for him and Jessy to show her California and what the world has to offer, while spending some good time together and then go job hunting. I find it weird that he decides to cling his ass to a shitty area of the city and make only trips from a cheap hotel room to a cathouse. It downplay very quickly the protective role he said he would assume while he is still maintaining his concern about Jessy safety. She : "I want to see the ocean", him : "yeah baby let's go get some lapdances and stay close to the gangsters or even work for them". It kinda invalidates his initial intentions and makes me question how truthful this psycho is about getting his life back on track. Again, it's just a game so whatever must happen happens i guess. I can get over it though but it breaks a bit the immersion for me. I'm sure Tracy would be so glad with the decisions he's been making for her daughter, although from the start of the game, at least on the relationship dimension, nothing was ever normal, which made the story so entertaining to follow. Even the incest part didn't bug me off (which is rare) since it was so well endorse with the past of the cast you used.
Next, and this is my biggest issue, something must have gone wrong with the coding, because for example, i never got the BJ (how do you get it by the way?) from the redhead, neither have i bang the other waitress and just before the end of this version when the mc accepts the job, the girls whispers about how respectively their ass and their jaw have been banged up while talking with Jessy, who welcomes them into "the club" or sthg, which breaks the logic of the choices I have been making up til then. It's like i get lines from another path i didn't go down. I've been testing a lot and I think i can retrace the beginning of the "mixed up" text to the handjob after the lapdance. Like if I refuse the handjob then, for example, after banging the owner of the hostel i don't get the scene where she offers me to rent the penthouse. I don't get also the line from Jessy telling me i smell sex and need to take a shower. I don't know if it's because of the new "attitude" points system that needs to stack up or if there is something else behind the coding of the scenes. But the chain of the story feel very broken for now. Nothing beyond repair but still it deserves some fixing to make more sense and keep consistency.
I also wish the new system (switching from good/bad to impressive/low esteemed) would deserve more explanation. Actually i didn't get the rule behind it before reading a post about it on the forum. In addition, I would like to know if those choices mean something only on single situations or if there is a stacking point system that should reflect your global reputation. I think with the kind of big story you're telling and the freedom and variety of choices you give to the player, going with a leveling point system might makes things very hard to stay consistent with future updates. Because if you choose to, then most players will play not the way as they would endorse the mc decisions as they were theirs but simply instead always go with one type of choice in order to stack those points to get the scenes they want. Not sure if i'm very clear about this, i hope it makes some sense.
That was about my main inconveniences, I still very much enjoy the game and i really appreciate your work process. Each time you release a new version there is so so so much content to play around with, it's just amazing and truly remarkable. This update is a great example, it's crazy the difference how letting Jessy drink the shots or not lead to a completely different outlook on the story. If she stays sober then you get a huge amount of background infos about the backstory of the new characters, while if she doesn't then she stays mostly away from the dangerous situations the mc is getting into but you miss a lot about what might be going on behind the scene. I really like this approach, it makes me feel conflicted at some points but keep at the same time the game fresh and easily replayable. I hope you can come up with a fix for the inconsistencies in the text and the results I've noted earlier and wish you well with your production. I'll be waiting for whatever comes next !
