Ren'Py Monster Girl Dreams [v26.5 Alpha] [Threshold]

[icollectsouls]

Not that I like to keep comparing this to Monster Girl Quest, but that game also featured a similar surface-level feel of "haha RPG parody where you try not to lose to monster girls!" only to actually have a deeper plot lying behind it, complete with scenes that really hit different emotions. There were even similar moments where you'd hear about traumatic experiences for characters or get these tidbits of a "darker" past. (For a non-H example, Gintama seems like it'd be nothing but a funny parody of shounen anime, but god damn does it do a good job of making you laugh, cry, and feel hyped up, sometimes simultaneously.)

To go back to Lillian, while many of the characters in this game exemplify a variety of tropes, they also tend to be less one-dimensional in some aspects compared to her. If we take Vivian for example, she's practically sex incarnate, but talking to her reveals that she's actually quite religious and has some great insights on the others. Perpetua is a silly rival character, but given that she's likely to keep appearing and we haven't reached the true end-of-the-game yet, we haven't seen if she's got more depth to her character. Lillian, however, doesn't show anything further than her blind fanaticism. The unfortunate part about this is that she's a central character in town, and you'll more organically interact with her compared to someone like Kotone, who has loads of character depth beyond her initial appearance of "hot fox lady who tries to hypnotize you," yet is an NPC you actively have to go out of your way to interact with.

 

[Jeshua]

I have just spent more than 6 hours with both Feng and Minoni (only now moving into Kotone territory) and all I can say is that Lillian was strangely useful and that holy Headpats are heartwarmingly awesome.

 

[Passerby#4554]

Not that I like to keep comparing this to Monster Girl Quest, but that game also featured a similar surface-level feel of "haha RPG parody where you try not to lose to monster girls!" only to actually have a deeper plot lying behind it, complete with scenes that really hit different emotions. There were even similar moments where you'd hear about traumatic experiences for characters or get these tidbits of a "darker" past. (For a non-H example, Gintama seems like it'd be nothing but a funny parody of shounen anime, but god damn does it do a good job of making you laugh, cry, and feel hyped up, sometimes simultaneously.)

To go back to Lillian, while many of the characters in this game exemplify a variety of tropes, they also tend to be less one-dimensional in some aspects compared to her. If we take Vivian for example, she's practically sex incarnate, but talking to her reveals that she's actually quite religious and has some great insights on the others. Perpetua is a silly rival character, but given that she's likely to keep appearing and we haven't reached the true end-of-the-game yet, we haven't seen if she's got more depth to her character. Lillian, however, doesn't show anything further than her blind fanaticism. The unfortunate part about this is that she's a central character in town, and you'll more organically interact with her compared to someone like Kotone, who has loads of character depth beyond her initial appearance of "hot fox lady who tries to hypnotize you," yet is an NPC you actively have to go out of your way to interact with.

Fair point, but consider this: repeat to yourself the phrase "blind fanaticism", think of other things that blind people, things that people never want to be known, and things that people want to forget. My point is this: what if this blind fanaticism is a mask she deploys in order to hide/run from an even darker past than her character would suggest at first?

 

[Mustang Flex]

Fair point, but consider this: repeat to yourself the phrase "blind fanaticism", think of other things that blind people, things that people never want to be known, and things that people want to forget. My point is this: what if this blind fanaticism is a mask she deploys in order to hide/run from an even darker past than her character would suggest at first?

Considering the deeper aspects of a character is a worthwhile exercise, but I feel your take on it borders on starting to create lore where there isn't any. Don't get me wrong, filling in the gaps is always something that happens at one point or another, but the game isn't quite done enough that we should start considering holes in the lore free space to put our interpretations or headcanons into.

I of course, totally could see Lillian having some backstory reasons for her dogmatic adherence to the purity heresy. But until something's written to suggest or outright state that. I'd avoid letting conjecture color one's interpretation of a character, and how well written we think they are.

 

[L30]

Here's another piece of generally good news everyone. A small bugfix update is planned to be released tomorrow. However, this bugfix update will also include Aiko's two new art assets and the ability for players to choose which form Aiko has, so those looking forward to more body variety will have a little something to look forward to in this small update as well. In addition to this, the bugfix update will feature the revised Lillian content which includes every character that talks about Lillian having their dialogue option that features their opinion and thoughts on her revised as well.

The new Lillian has been described as cute, frenetic, occasionally grandiose, and filled with determination. So it will be interesting to see how she turned out and how this version of Lillian compares to the current incarnation in the game at the moment. It is also worth noting that Threshold stated that their long term plans for Lillian remain unchanged, so this new Lillian should still fit with the overall narrative and character development planned for her as well as how her relationship with the player character will advance and mature.

I hope that everyone interested in this information finds it useful.

 

[ThresholdMGD]

v21.8a is now out with the Lillian revisions, thicker Aiko (with options), and bug fixes.

 

[Mustang Flex]

Inb4 Lillian revisions spark an equally vocal group to bitch about it, causing an endless chain of rewrites. Or not, not would be preferable.

 

[Dremo]

Question: how many enemies use your ass in combat now and which one are they? I remember back then in character creation that pumping ass sensitivity to the maximum was pretty much optimal since getting attacked there was almost impossible.

 

[ssj782]

Are the scenes still just blank text? I haven't tried out this game in like 6 months or more.

 

[fanboi]

Are the scenes still just blank text? I haven't tried out this game in like 6 months or more.

Art is added regularly. Aiko's art is added in this latest small update. The one before that two pieces of art for the Caverns area were added. There is still a long way to go but if you haven't played for a while you'll probably notice a lot more art than you remember.

 

[ssj782]

Art is added regularly. Aiko's art is added in this latest small update. The one before that two pieces of art for the Caverns area were added. There is still a long way to go but if you haven't played for a while you'll probably notice a lot more art than you remember.

When I played, I think only the town npc's had any art at all, lol.

 

[someone~]

its been a while since I saw a good monter girl game that wasnt either a VN, abandoned or just was so new it didnt give time to the developer to drop it, develop anything interesting or start milking it on patreon. Someone is pleased today and im loving it so far

 

[Belphegor007]

Inb4 Lillian revisions spark an equally vocal group to bitch about it, causing an endless chain of rewrites. Or not, not would be preferable.

Eh I liked her more of a zeolot airhead, but whatever she is only one of a bunch of other characters

 

[Mustang Flex]

Eh I liked her more of a zeolot airhead, but whatever she is only one of a bunch of other characters

True, although I can see why the dev would want to rewrite if they intended her to be more a cutsey harmless character than a zealot. And it is just the one. With the game as early as it is we'll certianly get more opportunities for new interesting characters or existing ones to get expanded on.

 

[WolfGirlsAreLife]

True, although I can see why the dev would want to rewrite if they intended her to be more a cutsey harmless character than a zealot. And it is just the one. With the game as early as it is we'll certianly get more opportunities for new interesting characters or existing ones to get expanded on.

I'm with the other guy. Part of why I liked her was the obliviousness and extreme devotion. Made her far more interesting and could have lead to more fun scenes than the generic 'protect the innocence' thing they've put on her. I just find it weird people took issue with that and tried to make connections to actual radicalism in religion, let alone took issue with it enough to warrant a rewrite. Won't make me hate the game or anything, but Lillian was always one of my favorite characters so it sucks to see her personality changed.

 

[Mustang Flex]

I do agree that Lillian's characterization was interesting. And I usually side with audiences when popular interpretation clashes with authorial intent. I'm just pointing out that it makes sense if Lillian wasn't meant to be a more grey character, then she would be rewritten to make the intended interpretation more obvious. All told, however, a character filling a similar niche as old school Lillian is something I'd like to see, if it's in the cards for such a person to be added in.

 

[Duke Greene]

Question: how many enemies use your ass in combat now and which one are they? I remember back then in character creation that pumping ass sensitivity to the maximum was pretty much optimal since getting attacked there was almost impossible.

Jora likes to shove her tail in your ass and iirc slimes can do prostate milking. I think that's all.

 

[Gloot]

Is this one of those games that you have to lose the encounters in order to see some spicy content?

 

[Nouvi]

Is this one of those games that you have to lose the encounters in order to see some spicy content?

Nope! Plenty content in all sorts of ways, be it winning, straight up middle of fight, losing, out-of-battle conversing, random events...

 

[icollectsouls]

I like the "new" Lillian the best, similar enough to the old one but she gives off more of a "willfully ignorant" vibe, and also seems less... racist towards monster girls which I'll consider to be a huge plus. She's also got just a touch more "snark" to her personality which is pretty cute.

Personally, I think if a character similar to the old Lillian gets introduced, it'd be interesting to give her some sort of a twist. Maybe have a girl who looks more like a nun and is even more outwardly chaste & anti-monster, only to have her either not realize she's a monster herself (through some contrived method, maybe she's been "sealed"), or something happens and she gets turned into a monster. (I might just want to see a scenario where we play more of an active witness to a girl getting turned into a monster, rather than seeing only the after-effects like with Catherine.)