I’m posting this piece here for the creator, Moniker Smith, to hopefully see. Or at least spark some thoughts on the forum. I’ve defended the game designs in the reviews, but I unfortunately agree that there is a lack of horror and story variance in this game. I don’t expect readers to be afraid, but I do believe there should be more scenes that convey a sense of unease, tension, and horror for the characters. There are multiple changes that this game could make. They are interlinked and a change in one area would directly improve another.
To add horror, there should be more scenes that take place at night. I really like the events in book one where vampires were prowling around at night nude in their pale forms. It felt supernatural when compared to scenes with vampires mingling in the daylight. Let them crawl on walls or ceilings. Have them hide behind curtains or under the bed. Make them climb through windows and jump across buildings. Highlight the inhuman and perverse attributes to create more eerie scenes and showcase the monster that these humans have become. Being clothed works really well in scenes that involve human camouflage, but it also humanizes them to a degree and covers the vampiric features that make them “monsters”. Additionally, if vampires are unburdened by societal expectations and worries, it might be better to remove clothes completely to show the stark differences in mindset and physicality between a human, fledgling, and vampire. To make the game feel more spooky, there needs to be a mix of human camouflage and monster scenes in the town takeover. I think it would be unnerving being surrounded by vampires in their pale “monstrous” forms as the town slowly dwindles.
Including non-con and BDSM in both lewd and regular scenes will improve the variety and horror of the visual novel. Considering orgasms are one of the catalysts to transformation, the game could explore forced orgasms or orgasm denial. There could be scenes where the human, stage one, and stage two fledgling are forced into transforming. As an example, a stage two fledgling could wake up restrained terrified on an operating table with a vampire looming over. When weapons and thrown objects are ineffective against monsters it can create unnerving scenes. Using rituals to catalyze transformations can add more occult feel to the visual novel. To create certain horror events, there's no need to include overt transformation. For instance, a victim could be dragged into a closet and pop out as a full vampire. If Bloodlines decides to go really diabolical, violent scenes could be added by burning more vampires or “killing” additional humans.
The vampires becoming powerful in book two is hurting the story and scenes. The combination of the corruptive blood, the magical mist, and the vampiric suggestions all together remove many possible internal and external conflicts from the story. Most characters do not acknowledge or struggle with the corruption inside themselves and their peers. Townspeople become docile and compliant. The result is that most scenes are similar or predictable even if the characters and settings are different. While all these are extremely beneficial for the vampires, it unfortunately makes the story and characters less interesting for players. The visual novel also includes chase and resistance scenes, but the tension is lost after the character is infected and shifts into a fledgling, becoming a willful participant, which leads to my next point.
While there are stark physical differences between the vampiric stages, there are less observable differences for the psychological state. The progression of corruption can be immediately noticed from human to fledgling, but is not really apparent with fledgling to vampire. At stage two, characters are almost identical in behavior and mannerisms to a full vampire. I mentioned the appeal of seeing well-adjusted individuals turn into a depraved reflection of themselves in my review. That change is two-thirds or more complete with the onset of infection, it's far too quick in my opinion. This reduces the impact of each stage of infection and the depth of corruption arcs. This problem is shown in book two when stage one students are already engaging in public sex in the hallways of the campus. When the majority of the students are stage two fledglings or vampires, I don’t know how much more drastically different the campus can get with each iteration.
Additionally, fledglings are either magically given a sense of purpose or are sabotaged emotionally which eliminates possible storylines and scenes. Many characters are described to lose fear after the first infection which makes the rest of the scene predictable. The vampiric stages have such mild differences in characterization that corruption feels drawn out. This problem is apparent with slow-burn events that span over multiple updates. Characters such as Dean Hayes are intelligent prude humans who lose their respectable aspects immediately after the first bite, but while the mental corruption is mostly complete, the physical corruption takes multiple updates and is less impactful. The transformation stages should be adjusted to have incremental mental changes. Moreover, full vampire transformations are the final stretch of corruption where the stakes should be high. That is when a human truly falls victim to corruption and completes their journey into vampire. This is the transformation that will appeal most to the readers/viewers. That final shift and trigger is important, so it would be more impactful if more characters were not mentally monsters upon reaching stage two. Something like the stages of acceptance could be integrated into the corruption.
With the combination of vampire powers and the vampiric stages, every townsperson is a lamb led to the slaughter. This is a stark difference to book one where there was more variety for the viewer. Characters like Raze and Mercy are choosing to be vampires. Dave is aware of his changes and tries to respond accordingly. In book two, both multi-transformation or slow-burn scenes are starting to blend together. That being said, with the current story set-up, there's logical reasoning as to why most character and corruption arcs are similar. But there’s also a need to balance the types of scenes to ensure the readers/viewers do not get bored. There still is an expanding cast of characters and the story is hardly complete, so there’s a lot more opportunity to change things. My in-game explanation currently is that the vampires gained too much malign influence in book two, which also strengthened the symptoms of infection. On another note, supporters expect new lewd scenes every update. Instead of using the lewd scene as the transformation catalyst for winner of the poll, it could be used to revisit fan favorite or less featured vampires. Which could also be voted by supporters. While the vampires are in esctacy, it means scenes with winners can be creative and transformation shifts could initiated by other catalysts. The scenes would be less monotonous. I am a corruption enthusiast and this story really hits a specific note that is less explored, let alone in a visual format. Because of that, I really like this project and want it to be at its very best! Whatever the decision, I will still enjoy the visual novel!