VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch.13.3.6] [Eva Kiss]

[desmosome]

just a small comment:
I find the women in this game all well characterized and actually "datable" in general terms (on top of the obvious attractiveness). Even the most dull of them (Cindy) is in fact interesting, and actually have some justifications for her acts. On the contrary among the men you can choose from, you only have Ian as true option. Jeremy is quite "honest" in his own bizarre way but going for him is automatically malicious on many level. Then we have Robert, who is introduced as a person ready to beat up two strangers just for a spilled beer, Mike who is ready to randomly cheat, Axel who is narcissistic and abusive and finally Seymour who is like the villain in a Bond movie.. and to just consider Stan or Ed (!) you have to push them on their pervert route..
I would like to have good heterosexual opportunities as Lena, men that she could relate to and legitimately want to date without being necessarily "corrupt".

The dev is a female, but she is writing this for a porn game audience (predominantly males). Just how many female protagonist games do you know of that is about romance and mundane everyday relationships? Not many. Because even self inserters are not gonna self insert into a female MC to live out some romance fairy tale. The vast majority of players will look for corruption and sluttery in a female protagonist game. If you look at GGGB, it doesn't have many legit wholesome dudes either. There is Dave/Eric (which is basically Ian), and there is possibly the Jack redemption (didn't play it so i dunno) arc. On the other hand, male players do like to see wholesome romance as well as corruption/cheating/man whoring in male MC games.

I think that kinda explains the character archetypes we see. In terms of porn game appeal, realistic/wholesome/average/nice girls are good, while male NPCs with the same qualities are boring. That said, only Holly and Emma are truely wholesome girls. Cindy is the typical high maintenance posh girl, Cherry is a homewrecker, and Alison is a stalker waiting to happen.

On the male side, I think Robert could use some adjustments to make him more palatable and that would be sufficient to balance things out. Robert is already pretty boring and can't compete with other alphas on any level as a corruptor or dominator. Yet, his character and story arc is not very wholesome either. I think he could be written as a sympathetic character instead of a grown up fratboy co-worker who makes advances at Lena. He could be the non-asshole male NPC that isn't a fat loser. Not sure how he reacts to Seymour stuff because I didn't play his route fully, but a good guy Robert could be a potential ally for Lena after he sees them at the restaurant. Find some shady dealings in the restaurant. Or try to eavesdrop on Seymour's business dealings etc.

I still have not been able to get on Stan's route so I can't really say much about him. I tried to be nice and amicable, but it just didn't make sense for Lena to coddle him so much and pose for him with no sense of creeper alert at all.

 

[bauman]

On the male side, I think Robert could use some adjustments to make him more palatable and that would be sufficient to balance things out. Robert is already pretty boring and can't compete with other alphas on any level as a corruptor or dominator. Yet, his character and story arc is not very wholesome either. I think he could be written as a sympathetic character instead of a grown up fratboy co-worker who makes advances at Lena. He could be the non-asshole male NPC that isn't a fat loser. Not sure how he reacts to Seymour stuff because I didn't play his route fully, but a good guy Robert could be a potential ally for Lena after he sees them at the restaurant. Find some shady dealings in the restaurant. Or try to eavesdrop on Seymour's business dealings etc.

I think Robert needed a soft reboot more than Stan. He's bland and pointless as a character. He reminds me of Doug and the college guy (Kevin?) from GGGB as an uninteresting blend of both.

 

[La Dani]

OMG, I have again to play the story from the beginning ?
I love this game, but again from the chapter 1..

 

[desmosome]

I think Robert needed a soft reboot more than Stan. He's bland and pointless as a character. He reminds me of Doug and the college guy (Kevin?) from GGGB as an uninteresting blend of both.

To be fair, Robert and Mike are minor characters like Doug and Kevin were. But I agree with you. At least Mike has a pretty interesting cheating situation going for him. Robert is just...

 

[Deleted member 53157]

Some other thoughts.

You can score a hat trick on Alison, Cherry, and Emma. I think Cherry route can only be opened during the first meeting, so you need to go with her instead of Alison. That means Jeremy bangs Alison, but you can still go to lunch with her and get on her route. However, if you go for Emma, you are closed off from Alison route after that. This hat trick can give you hilarious dialogues if you share everything with Jeremy bro, and trying to bang as many chicks as possible is pretty fun too. Holly vs Cindy and Minerva on the side.

I'm not sure if y'all noticed, but I think Lola is basically the representation of corruption in the MCs. If you do good things, she doens't lose points and even gains points. If you do bad things, she will lose points. For example, if Lena is going for Robert or Mike, she loses points. Pure Ian can befriend Lola, but if he kissed Cindy, Lola will hiss at him and lose points.

Finally, Jeremy is actually a very endearing character with a good heart. He never shits on Ian for the majority of the game even if you lower his points intentionally. He will share pictures of bitches he bangs but never in a malicious way to put down his bros. He can catch Ian with Cindy, but will not rat him out even after admonishing him. He is really the only dependable friend Ian has. And you can be (double) Eskimo brothers lol. And he will make attempts to fend off Lena's treacherous ass, but who can resist that if she's got MC powers? Every exchange between Jeremy and Lena is 100% instigated by Lena. Once he does fall to her snake like seduction... well, he is kinda screwed and it's understandable that it will be hard to fess up (but that is more for meta game reasons than his character, imo).

I actually agree, Jeremy is more of a Bro despite that many here thinks otherwise. I agree also the dialogue is hilarious when Ian and Jeremy share all the girls, like the dialogue with Alison ex, reminds me of the movie Savages with Benecio del Toro, where the plot is that there is 2 Bros (no homo) who are that much of a bros that they have to share everything, including 1 girl from them both.

 

[desmosome]

I actually agree, Jeremy is more of a Bro despite that many here thinks otherwise. I agree also the dialogue is hilarious when Ian and Jeremy share all the girls, like the dialogue with Alison ex, reminds me of the movie Savages with Benecio del Toro, where the plot is that there is 2 Bros (no homo) who are that much of a bros that they have to share everything, including 1 girl from them both.

Yup. During the drinking game at Ivy's place, he manages to stop Lena from doing the BJ thing if Ian told him about his feelings for her. It's only if Lena has the BBC kink and insists on it, that he falls for it after the initial protest. And when she comes into his room to basically rape him, he doesn't take control and do the typical alpha thing. He is just like Oooh shit.. uhhh.... and Lena is doing everything. So while he is not infallible and is able to get seduced by a whore path Lena, he tries to do his best. If the player doesn't force Lena onto him, Jeremy is nothing but a bro.

 

[monk_56]

Yup. During the drinking game at Ivy's place, he manages to stop Lena from doing the BJ thing if Ian told him about his feelings for her. It's only if Lena has the BBC kink and insists on it, that he falls for it after the initial protest. And when she comes into his room to basically rape him, he doesn't take control and do the typical alpha thing. He is just like Oooh shit.. uhhh.... and Lena is doing everything. So while he is not infallible and is able to get seduced by a whore path Lena, he tries to do his best. If the player doesn't force Lena onto him, Jeremy is nothing but a bro.

To each their own I guess. I find Jeremy intolerably annoying. If I had a MMF sharing kink I might like him- but either way he shows us nude pics of women without their consent- which is a shitty thing to do. As for his attempt to resist Lena. It takes two to tango. His attempt to resist her was weak shit.

If someone was constantly talking about nothing but his hook-ups, trying to show me pics of women without their permission, and generally just trying to be a fuck-boi I'd find a better friend. Jeremy sucks. He is a shit friend in my book.

I wonder which character people think is Ian's highest tier friend. I'd go with Emma. She has cool hobbies, generally pretty friendly and kind, and a laid back attitude.

 

[CoalPhelps]

To each their own I guess. I find Jeremy intolerably annoying. If I had a MMF sharing kink I might like him- but either way he shows us nude pics of women without their consent- which is a shitty thing to do. As for his attempt to resist Lena. It takes two to tango. His attempt to resist her was weak shit.

If someone was constantly talking about nothing but his hook-ups, trying to show me pics of women without their permission, and generally just trying to be a fuck-boi I'd find a better friend. Jeremy sucks. He is a shit friend in my book.

I wonder which character people think is Ian's highest tier friend. I'd go with Emma. She has cool hobbies, generally pretty friendly and kind, and a laid back attitude.

That's why I want an Axel buddy path for Ian. He's Chad, but also not meathead, has something to talk to him about besides women, he's professionally realized and generally laid back. And pretty cool roasted Jeremy at the bar.

 

[desmosome]

That's why I want an Axel buddy path for Ian. He's Chad, but also not meathead, has something to talk to him about besides women, he's professionally realized and generally laid back. And pretty cool roasted Jeremy at the bar.

Axel is an interesting character for sure, but he is a character. This kind of person is hardly found in real life and not many people would be able to relate. He is pretty fucking intesnse 24/7, exuding masculinity and utter confidence. I doubt someone like Axel could even have real friends. He will have contacts, acquaintances, associates, rivals, and maybe even people he respects, but not many real friends. He is even more unapproachable than someone like Jack from GGGB.

I've had a very close friend, maybe even a best friend when we were in the same country, that is pretty much exactly like Jeremy. Well, not the sharing pics part and so much conversation being about banging chicks lol, but personality wise. In a way, I could see myself in Ian and the bromance between them reminds me of a better time.

 

[michelazzo]

The dev is a female, but she is writing this for a porn game audience (predominantly males). Just how many female protagonist games do you know of that is about romance and mundane everyday relationships? Not many. Because even self inserters are not gonna self insert into a female MC to live out some romance fairy tale. The vast majority of players will look for corruption and sluttery in a female protagonist game. If you look at GGGB, it doesn't have many legit wholesome dudes either. There is Dave/Eric (which is basically Ian), and there is possibly the Jack redemption (didn't play it so i dunno) arc. On the other hand, male players do like to see wholesome romance as well as corruption/cheating/man whoring in male MC games.

I think that kinda explains the character archetypes we see. In terms of porn game appeal, realistic/wholesome/average/nice girls are good, while male NPCs with the same qualities are boring. That said, only Holly and Emma are truely wholesome girls. Cindy is the typical high maintenance posh girl, Cherry is a homewrecker, and Alison is a stalker waiting to happen.

On the male side, I think Robert could use some adjustments to make him more palatable and that would be sufficient to balance things out. Robert is already pretty boring and can't compete with other alphas on any level as a corruptor or dominator. Yet, his character and story arc is not very wholesome either. I think he could be written as a sympathetic character instead of a grown up fratboy co-worker who makes advances at Lena. He could be the non-asshole male NPC that isn't a fat loser. Not sure how he reacts to Seymour stuff because I didn't play his route fully, but a good guy Robert could be a potential ally for Lena after he sees them at the restaurant. Find some shady dealings in the restaurant. Or try to eavesdrop on Seymour's business dealings etc.

I still have not been able to get on Stan's route so I can't really say much about him. I tried to be nice and amicable, but it just didn't make sense for Lena to coddle him so much and pose for him with no sense of creeper alert at all.

I totally understand you, and you actually show the reasons behind my comment. This game had just a different approach than many other "porn" games I played, because it seems interested in exploring relationships and sexual relationships from the point of view of the different parties involved. I pointed out that with such premise it would be nice to have better opportunities among men.
You just need to add a couple of lines of text to Robert and Mike to make them just a bit more profound, in a similar way as it has been done with Cherry or Alison for example. You pointed out how despicable both women actually are. And this is totally true, but still they are introduced in the game as good choices; then by playing you discover their issues and how it may play well into some depravity.i
On the contrary, if you just say "no" to Robert he gets mad and have you sacked from the job immediately (!), Mike you discover is cheating even before something actually happen and then you even make fun of the girlfriend of his. I think you can still satisfy male audience making your female protagonist being super sexually active but with actually decent people. I noticed similar issue with Good Girl Gone Bad game, but to my view in that case the point was actually the "going bad" thing so sexuality had to translate into incest, cheating, being dominant etc etc.

 

[Reasoon]

Yup. During the drinking game at Ivy's place, he manages to stop Lena from doing the BJ thing if Ian told him about his feelings for her. It's only if Lena has the BBC kink and insists on it, that he falls for it after the initial protest. And when she comes into his room to basically rape him, he doesn't take control and do the typical alpha thing. He is just like Oooh shit.. uhhh.... and Lena is doing everything. So while he is not infallible and is able to get seduced by a whore path Lena, he tries to do his best. If the player doesn't force Lena onto him, Jeremy is nothing but a bro.

I agree with you on the Lena Path but in this Case it's also US playing Lena but on the other Hand you have Alison where he is a horrible Friend to Ian (If Ian doesn't want to share her and even kind of confesses to him that he likes Alison and tells him to stay away Jeremy doesn't give a shit and still tries the whole Game to hook up with her and the only thing that stops him is if you play most of the Alison Route and therefore Alison likes Ian too much and doesn't care about Jeremy) and that's why I don't think he is that good of a bro to Ian at least not always.

I also think in the Scenario with Cindy him knowing that Ian and Cindy hooked up in that alley will backfire horrible for Ian at some Point.

 

[alexferno]

That's why I want an Axel buddy path for Ian. He's Chad, but also not meathead, has something to talk to him about besides women, he's professionally realized and generally laid back. And pretty cool roasted Jeremy at the bar.

I like Axel as a character, but he's easily the most aggressive person in the game. Axel is toxic and abusive towards Lena and goes into full rage mode when Lena doesn't want to talk to him and Robert tries to defend her.

 

[CoalPhelps]

Axel is an interesting character for sure, but he is a character. This kind of person is hardly found in real life and not many people would be able to relate. He is pretty fucking intesnse 24/7, exuding masculinity and utter confidence. I doubt someone like Axel could even have real friends. He will have contacts, acquaintances, associates, rivals, and maybe even people he respects, but not many real friends. He is even more unapproachable than someone like Jack from GGGB.

I've had a very close friend, maybe even a best friend when we were in the same country, that is pretty much exactly like Jeremy. Well, not the sharing pics part and so much conversation being about banging chicks lol, but personality wise. In a way, I could see myself in Ian and the bromance between them reminds me of a better time.

Makes sense, but to me personally Jeremy totally asshole both as a character and as a hypothetical person. No offense, but I couldn't stand that kind of friend in real life. Axel with his problems and personality in real life would probably be a maniac at all, like Ted Bundy, sure. But as a character he's much nicer than Jeremy (to me personally) and while he's also totally asshole, at least he can hold his own in any social setting while Jeremy is either talking about chicks or hitting on them. And that's boring as shit.

 

[desmosome]

I agree with you on the Lena Path but in this Case it's also US playing Lena but on the other Hand you have Alison where he is a horrible Friend to Ian (If Ian doesn't want to share her and even kind of confesses to him that he likes Alison and tells him to stay away Jeremy doesn't give a shit and still tries the whole Game to hook up with her and the only thing that stops him is if you play most of the Alison Route and therefore Alison likes Ian too much and doesn't care about Jeremy) and that's why I don't think he is that good of a bro to Ian at least not always.

I also think in the Scenario with Cindy him knowing that Ian and Cindy hooked up in that alley will backfire horrible for Ian at some Point.

The first choice is when she sends you the pic. You can tell him you think she is hot which is the most affirming choice. You didn't tell him at that time to give you dibs on her. Plus, Alison was sending pics to Jeremy also. She clearly has some weird obsession with Ian, probably since their high school days. She will interrupt Ian's conversations with other characters to talk to him lol. Her character is quite interesting. She doesn't want a serious relationship, except secretly with Ian, but since Ian has Lena, she is kinda using Jeremy as a consolation prize or to invoke jealousy. However, neither Ian or Jeremy knows this yet. For them, shes just looking for casual hook ups after her break up and the mood was "may the best man win."

I looked through the script for the "block jeremy" choice because I have not played that route. Jeremy's reasoning isn't wrong really, but I can see how that might not be the most bro move on his part. You could argue Ian scored first and "won" the free for all, so Jeremy should back off. But it's also true that Alison isn't Ian's girlfriend, and that Ian is being insecure and selfish to try and monopolize a fuck buddy. He says in multiple instances girlfriends are where he draws the line (although lets hope that cheating Lena can seduce him with powers of the MC).

I can see why this might annoy people though. Neither in real life, or in most male MC games, do we (average people) see this kinda free for all fuck buddy parade between friends. It's an unfamiliar situation for me and I assume most other people. For people who hate sharing of any form, a character like Jeremy would understandably not get the benefit of doubt when it comes to his character.

 

[What'sNew]

robert's sex scene with lena in ch 4 is still locked for me in the gallery despite already seeing it. anyone else have this problem?

edit: had a lengthy chat with one of the devs on discord. from what I can gather, it is bugged after all.

 

[Tierra_Azul]

I looked through the script for the "block jeremy" choice because I have not played that route. Jeremy's reasoning isn't wrong really, but I can see how that might not be the most bro move on his part. You could argue Ian scored first and "won" the free for all, so Jeremy should back off. But it's also true that Alison isn't Ian's girlfriend, and that Ian is being insecure and selfish to try and monopolize a fuck buddy. He says in multiple instances girlfriends are where he draws the line (although lets hope that cheating Lena can seduce him with powers of the MC).

Yes, the only way Ian can "loose" Alisson is if he A) shows her no interest or b) want's to screw all the other girls (Emma). One can't just go around calling dibs on all the hot girls, and expect all the other men (Friends or not) to live in celibacy. That would never work in real life, all Ian has to do is put some miniscule effort in his chase for Alisson and she's all over him... If not she's fair game.

As for his attempt to resist Lena. It takes two to tango. His attempt to resist her was weak shit.

To be fair, 99.9% of all men would fail horribly if a 10/10 model was insisting on sucking their dick. Even the pope would throw in the towel at that point.

I agree that the photo sharing is a dick move, but will probably come back to bite him in the ass later down the line. Jeremy's problem is that he's a 14 year old boy trapped in a grown man's body. He acts and behaves like most high school boys would do. Same as Perry, but he's more like a autistic child.... Makes me wonder what type of men Eva hangs with.

 

[desmosome]

To be fair, 99.9% of all men would fail horribly if a 10/10 model was insisting on sucking their dick. Even the pope would throw in the towel at that point.

That is debatable. I'd like to think real friends would block the advance even if it's a 10/10 model. And he does block it under reasonable circumstances (where Lena is not BBC crazy and Ian told him about falling for her).

The issue of placing the blame for this event on Jeremy is that he is battling against a player controlled character. If he denies it no matter what, you are preventing a scene that the player wants. This character has to fall for her at this event, and the best Eva could do is make a reasonable attempt to characterize it in the best light for Jeremy. And I think she achieved that.

 

[aifgamer]

One can't just go around calling dibs on all the hot girls, and expect all the other men (Friends or not) to live in celibacy.

Right telling your friends they can't try to hook up with some hot slutty babe because you might want to casually bang her is not exactly a "bro" move.

I agree that the photo sharing is a dick move, but will probably come back to bite him in the ass later down the line.

One thing to keep in mind is these aren't naive teen girls sending naked selfies to their first crush. They're women in their 20s -- Alison is a college-educated almost-30 year old. If she lets a guy video her getting spitroasted she knows full well that video isn't staying private for long.

 

[kabir_07]

 

[fortuna95]

Is this rather Ian's quote?