Guys... Lena and Ian are playable characters... They don't have set personalities; they are whatever you want them to be.
We might get muscular Ian during the MMA tournament.
So you're not a natty?I've never felt more called out in my life
I am but whenever I tell people that they give me the "chicken and broccoli" line.
Sure, the whole cast is based on very easily identifiable tropes that we also see in other games and everywhere in popular culture as a whole. But there's a difference between writing completely one-dimensional archetypes and basing the characters on those archetypes and then expand on them. That's the thing I think Eva does better than most other comparable developers (not that the competition is particularly tough). Even the most one-dimensional of them all, Jeremy, offers something more because of how Eva ties the paths together and puts him in the middle of it. They're archetypes, but with some extra flavour, and they become more interesting because they're put in situations that are less straightforward than “click this button to go to sex scene” / “click this button to skip sex scene”.Writing-wise, ORS is as stereotypical as it gets because it shares many of the same character archetypes as GGGB and most smut games:
- the fat nerd: check
- the black guy with a big cock: check
- the blue-eyed ubermensch with a cold personality: check
- the bitchy pumpkin spice frappuccino-drinking blonde: check
- the shy girl: check
- Pauly D from Jersey Shore: check
- the boomer degenerate: check
etc.
That's not how you set up memorable characters, though. Give Ian Axel's model and explore his struggles, personal problems, and insecurities despite his attractive physical attributes and superficial successes. Explore his frustrations of being unable to talk to girls despite his looks, driving a BMW, and being a perfect gentleman. Make Jeremy cry himself to sleep because he's feeling objectified by these drunk horny white girls who constantly try to get the pipe. After all, they know all black guys are packing and are willing to do anything. Or have Perry be a successful poonhound despite being an overweight, annoying alcoholic.
I disagree that they're whatever we want them to be. Ashley in GGGB was a blank slate, and could be whatever we wanted. Lena and Ian can only be it step by step and within the limits their starting characters allow.
Well, you can disagree all you want, it still won't change the fact that they are blank slates.
Okay, let me rephrase that then: You’re wrong. I see you cut out the part where I explain it, and don’t offer any arguments yourself for why they’re blank slates.
It's pretty simple; neither of them have set personalities.
Agreed. They're malleable by design. But they come into the game with their own distinct personalities, wounds and problems already. We just get to choose which of several paths they take and which potential aspects, lying dormant in themselves, they grow into. Just like IRL where life decisions can have a very strong impact on one's future path and self. But these aren't blank slates and anyone who thinks they are either doesn't know what the term means or is using it incorrectly. Ashley was much more of a blank slate form, at least for all intents and purposes game-design-wise, though not 100%.
I think Ed fits the bill. Not sure if it's going to lead to anything/anywhere tho.
A bad case of the lazytitis my bro, but think we'll get the new chapter by December.
