I have, unfortunately. I followed N_Taii since the beginning of HC2. The series is very narrative (as in, "lore") driven, and both (haven't played HC1 save for peeping the recollection room) did exceptionally well in "world-building" indeed. Even having employed some of the narrative tips i outlined.
But personally, i found myself liking the idea of instigated/intrusive corruption (i.e. a clear male antagonist persistently coaxing/manipulating heroine to put out) less and less. I feel like there is some kind of "ridiculousness" to it which i can't get behind. If maybe i were to put a finger on it, it's the antagonist's absurd dedication to corrupt (i.e. obsession, ipso facto) this girl in particular (the heroine) that came across to me as kinda pathetic. Which i guess is also a necessary feature to establish the story in this case. Even if it is "done right" (or at least believably) according to other readers, i still can't bring myself not to (for lack of better word) cringe at that particular narrative premise.
By all means the above is not an objective critique against the genre, just a personal preference.
I am now just desperate to see a netorare work where there is less emphasis on a male antagonist (as the primary instigator of the corruption plot), and instead the narrative emphasis lie more on just the moral turmoil of the FMC (girlfriend) herself. A story of someone trying to navigate the duality of being a faithful girlfriend while assimilating to a highly debauched urban culture. If there has to be an intrusive agent who instigates the corruption, i prefer it to be just the FMC's peers and not some obsessive dude.
Which i believe makes for a more grounded, believable, and organic narrative. Although some might exclude this kind of story as "not technically netorare", which is perfectly fine by me since i don't care for pedanticism. I care only to be met with the product i demand. So please let me know where i can find such works.
P.S. in one of my post here a while back, i tried to discuss the issue with dismissively classifying what i'm seeking into the problematically vague genre of "cheating". I instead opted to use the term "Quasi-Netorare" (which i made up myself).
