I just finished playing this for the first time, it had been on my radar for a while, but I finally got around to it (nearly 2 years late to the party…
) and I wanted to leave some thoughts as a first-time player. Not meant to sound like a review, just musings and praises. Long post, so fair warning:
*The sandbox and schedule is impressive, especially with the hint system. With the hints, I liked how I didn’t have to check every room at every hour to discover something. I also like how this doesn’t play like a overly simple scene-hunter either. This is how a sandbox should be.
*Regarding story, I liked the blackmail b-plot. It added nice tension, a bit of character development for our MC, and serves its purpose as a means to further interact and develop with the girls on a flirtatious, sexual level.
However, I would have liked to have seen more regarding the main plot. As a newcomer, it felt like the death/murder aspect of the story was lost early in the game and never quite resurfaced. It certainly doesn't seem like this is simply meant to be an excuse for the MC to be present, since John is a conversation choice for all of the LIs, Kate's presence seems tied to the murder/ investigation, and with Madeline still going to board meetings at John's business. But, and again as a newcomer, the wait for the circling back to this plot line hasn’t been a long wait for me, for now. I hope more of this main plot line, as well as more of the MC acting as a legitimate bodyguard/ protector/ guardian, comes into play sooner rather than later. Otherwise, how is this plot any different from all of the other
"So-and-so returns home and beds everyone," VNs already out there...
*I like that these characters all have clear, distinct personalities:
MC isn’t a blank page who’s simply along for the ride (mostly); we see his thought processes, and we see his emotions. I do hope we get to see more of that. I also hope we get a bit more push-back from him, given how easily he’s been played by a few of the LIs. I know we’re starting to see it with the bdsm scenes, but I’d like more from him outside of sex scenes or those quick dinner scenes that set them up. As of now, he tends to get emotional, only to lose it too soon. If the MC’s emotions could linger in future scenes, or if his levelheadedness were made more apparent and focal to his character, I think that would give him more authenticity.
I also like the core personalities of the LIs. They’re well established from the start and I like seeing how they act, react, and behave in believable accordance. I do hope more growth and evolution is introduced, for example I’ve liked how Annabelle is coming out of her shell, and I liked how Victoria implicitly owned up to her attitude by bettering her interactions with the MC. Though I’m now waiting on Olivia to feel some real remorse and humility. Her crying toward the end, great as it was, only led to sex, so it kind of felt like she got what she wanted again, even felt like she's getting another one over the MC. I think I need to see more from her before judging.
*Perhaps by biggest gripe, however, is how little character development and interaction there is beyond establishing the LIs’ personalities, especially in the beginning. I know we see a list of likes and dislikes for the girls, and yes the MC interacts with their likes, for example, Victoria’s preference for social media via the photoshoots, or Olivia and the one swimming event. But beyond that, I feel like we just don’t really learn anything deeper about them. Nor have we seen enough everyday, slice-of-life interaction between the MC and the girls for their relationships to have gotten to where they are now.
What are their goals in life? What are they studying? What are their ambitions? Do those ambitions conflict with what Madeline wants for them? Are they feeling overly pressured? What do they like about the MC besides his looks or how easily he’s wrapped around their fingers? Do the girls, or MC, have any long-term thoughts on their relationships?
And I think much of this could be addressed with more interactions between the girls and the MC
outside of the mansion. For their relationships to have developed at this pace, and in such a small, contained environment, and without any real-world interactions, it all makes it feel like their relationships were forced and developed unnaturally quickly.
Using Victoria as an example again, I would like to have seen how deep her initial animosity towards MC ran, and perhaps what the reasoning behind it was. Why so mistrusting? Are there deeper reasons for it? Possible past trauma? Or perhaps recent events regarding John, Devon, or both are hitting her harder than she’s letting on?
So as her bodyguard, maybe the MC and Victoria are forced together when she wants to go out, like a shopping trip or whatever, whom both end up loathing, and during which Victoria has inner monologues providing us a bit of insight. Misdirected anger, frustration, hate, projecting onto MC, that sort of thing. Then, maybe after the Devon scene, they go out and have proper conversations during shopping, lunch, jog, whatever, we learn more about both of them, and their relationship properly builds up from staunch business associates to genuine friendliness to then flirtatiousness and so on.
I guess what I’m saying is, the courses of the relationships between MC and the LIs lack believe-ability. And I think it’s because those courses, the progression, are lacking in depth and genuineness. And look, I get it, there is no Romance tag, and hell, 2 of the girls just started calling MC "master." However, it most certainly takes trust to get to this point in a relationship, and that trust happens in normal living over time. So I think slice-of-life scenes, with emphasis on life
outside/ away from the mansion and what it represents, can help both better lay that foundation and build to where their relationships are now.
To just throw an idea out there, perhaps a rotation of 3 or so optional scenes, again like an outing, per LI over the weekends (so as not to interfere with the schedule early game). Maybe more optional scenes could replace those weekday mandatory tasks when they disappear. Maybe the text could also change as the LIs’ stats change too. The groundwork is already there, as are the characters and their personalities. So I think that extra
something, that extra touch of real life happening around them can go such a long way to solidifying those relationships.
*Overall, despite my one hangup and a few other odds and ends I've mentioned above, playing this has been an enjoyable experience.
Faerin (and I think
TheDevian too, yeah?), you’ve done amazing work and I’m looking forward to what you have in store. Hopefully a good mix of bdsm and sweeter interactions as well (again, I know, there's no Romance tag, but you have all of the pieces there, accidentally or intentional! Just saying...
). But, I’m also hoping to see more of the murder mystery soon, and especially more in the ways of character depth. Characters ultimately make a story, and more detail and depth would take the LIs, and this game, from great to exceptional. You're right there, just a bit more cooking would do it.
