[Version reviewed: Ch10]
Yet another great game by EvaKiss. I loved Good Girl Gone Bad, and although this one isn't finished yet it's been amazing 'till now.
I must start by paying hommage to the
technical side of things. Simply put, quality improved a lot (not that GGGB was bad, far from it, but you get me): art is better while keeping the style, and UI/phone is perfectly organized. I played so many games with messy UIs that made things tedious that I'm always thankful when I see one that is so clean.
Now onto the game itself... You alternate POVs between Lena and Ian, sometimes 'repeating' events which gives you both perspectives and I must say it's both immersive and very well done. However if I'm being honest, I'm enjoying Ian's side way more than Lena's.
It's not the characters themselves and I love a good female POV in my games, but it can be summarized in 2 points:
- Ian's friends are very likeable despite their flaws, and overall looks like the people I'm friend with IRL. But Lena's friends aren't (except Molly, she's an angel and we better be able to save the cafe). Even if most of them have redeeming qualities, I can't get over the facts that
- This one might be due to my choices, but while I could improve Ian's life substantially (book, gym, better job, hooks-up/gf), Lena's situation still gets worse all the time and the only 'improvements' I can find seems to lead her down the corruption path.
And the crux of these 2 points is that it gives this game some sort of alternating tone, giving wholesomess then unease when the POVs switches. I would have been fine with Lena's sad story if not for Ian's side that kinda...
breaks that mood ? Anyway it's a weird thing to explain, and while I'm kinda rambling, I love this game.
Now about the sex parts (funny that I'm only talking about it now), there seems to be lots of possibilities but I'm focusing on romance atm so more on that once I did those routes.
I must warn you that just like GGGB, this game is pretty long. Also there's a walkthrough available to help you, and it's very useful. I'll conclude by saying that I was glad to meet a certain
tattoo artist that seem to be doing pretty well. Also take Emma's drug. And don't panic, there is no bug.
Edit: I've been diving into the sex parts of the game and it only reinforces my feel of
double tone I was referencing earlier. Ian's sex scenes CAN be very basic "dick-in-hole" style but there's always some romantic possibilities, even with girls that are only interested in getting in his pants at first. For Lena though... it might be me, but the only genuine connexions seems to be Ian, Holly and Stan. Sadly, I ship Ian and Holly, and Stan is very unattractive to me personnality-wise.