So just finished the content in my playthrough, it's not finalized thoughts and I haven't been here a while. Main stuff is that I'm seeing where most of the characters are going and the dual twist where I like it. Mostly did a blind playthrough. Still solid, well worth the replays (which are coming) and I still have to decide on a system and process that makes sense because the saves are all over the place. For the most part, I have to do ONE more run where I'm unlocking the content, THEN I'm doing my ideal runs. Still haven't quite gotten to THAT part yet so...
Gonna do one more runthrough where I focus on interviewing Rosalind and a few other things. Also need to change Edwin to a social chameleon to get those last few videos to unlock.
Then I'll write the big review of how I see it so far...
That begs the question: what are Chuck's motives? He's by far the most mysterious character in the game. It makes no sense to pay someone's whole tuition just so they can help around at your sex club, and it's a huge gamble to reveal the club to Edwin because his prior relationship with Edwin was based on the "professor Chuck" mask. Chuck might as well have paid his tuition for free, because the only people pulling Edwin's strings are Kat and Abel. Chuck seems to have no dog in the race, and Edwin's closest supervisor, Kat, seems to work against both Chuck's and August's interests. If he genuinely likes Edwin and wants him to succeed, it seems stupid to reveal himself as an old pervert.
Maybe in his fucked up brain he IS showing love for Edwin and looking out for him. Maybe he offered Edwin the job to make Ian happy. Maybe the theory that August used to pimp Victoria out to men like Chuck is true and he gets sick pleasure out of involving her son in the family business. Vicky certainly seemed unsettled when talking about Chuck, and wouldn't elaborate why. Perhaps she experienced "uncle Chuck's" perversions first hand. Or it could be anything else.
Chuck's motivations may be the final puzzle piece for the endgame, and we still know nothing. We can't analyze Edwin's place on the chessboard properly if we don't know what all the players want, after all. Because if all there is to Chuck is an old pervert, it makes no sense for him to drag some random kid he used to teach into the club. If he's looking for an heir, he already molded Ian into a carbon copy of himself. What use would he have for a shut in loser like Edwin. We have no idea if Chuck is pulling Edwin's strings, and if he is, for what purpose?
Chuck is more or less taking care of family. While he's a hedonist, he doesn't get along with August because August is small time compared to him. He believes that the women and the pleasure is something for young men with the high clientele enjoying the pleasures of the flesh.
In a sense, Chuck is Zeus in Olympus enjoying the ambrosia. Remember, he's constantly pointed out that Edwin is family to Kat and others. And even though he's molded Ian into his image and forced him to be cultured with the games of intellect (chess, Go), Ian has not matured in his eyes due to his own hangups.
Let's see what we have here. In the twelve days between the last dev diary and this report our dear completed 293 static images, 3 animations, and 5977 words - exactly as TD said. That translates to an average of roughly 171 statics, 1.8 animations and 3500 words per week over that time. Since overall work on Chapter 4 Update 4 began, their weekly average is now ~108 statics, 2.3 animations, 2400 words. Here are the charts for Week 16:
The numbers seem to agree with TD's summary: the low animation count corresponds with the work still being focused on the art exhibit, and implication Felica has a lot of extracurricular material afterwards reinforces the notion this update will be on the larger side. If we assume something on the order of an additional 40 animations and assume GIL can match the 5-6 animations/week pace he had earlier this fall and we'd be looking to complete the art in early February, with a likely release in mid-to-late February. Of course this is all pure speculation; both the remaining render count and the sustained render rate could easily be easily be higher or lower than my ballpark guess. The only thing I'd say with confidence is that the update won't be ready in January.
However long we wind up waiting, I'm confident the update will be worth it. Felicia is a fascinating character and this is clearly a big deal for her, plus whatever TD is hinting at in the penultimate scene (my money is still on Mina). Should be fun - even if the update winds up being very short on my main run.
As for the sappy stuff, by the time I stumbled onto Pale Carnations (just over 3 years ago))it was already at the end of Chapter 2. A lot has happened since then, but in that time it's easily become my favorite game on this site. I'm eager to see what happens next, both for Felicia and for the rest of the game. Happy holidays, TD & GIL, and we'll see you next year!