VN Ren'Py Rebirth [Ep.5 Update 13] [LikesBlondes]

[cxx]

0011,
Episode 3 update v3 link ?

don't need it, v4 has v3 content too and all ep3s too.

 

[FunFuntomes]

Since he is taking up far to much time from all of us... I pose an actual game question....

How the actual fuck is Ivy going to play catch-up at this point to be considered a serious love interest contender (which LovesBlondes says she is)??????

I have been wracking my brain, about how she saves the day in the watery cave maybe????? Highly doubtful unless she is WAY more than she appears..... I am frankly stumped how she can make ground up and get in same league with our existing highly involved and attractive 3 and then whoever the actual 4th is locked down to be Calisto, Malia, or Inanna..............
Thoughts?
Peace all, even Mr. Grumpypants.

One idea would be some alone time with her. The might be caught in a cave-in and until Sharon and the others can freee them, the have to spend the time together. If it is a little longer she will for sure see that he is not human anymore.

Other idea would be that she need to be thralled or turned otherwise she would die.

Very reasonable ideas to the problem... Second one would come in to play since she is smart and possibly figures out that Sharon and MC is a vamp......Definitely food for thought. I like the cave in idea on it's own since the MC would have to snack eventually. And he would then have to do your second option..... or the cave in could work... possibly combined with Laurie and Sharon coming after them and they hit the lair of the ugly one and somehow Ivy's knowledge of caving comes into play....?

Well that does add 2 more options on my list for consideration... Ivy has been bugging me since she is such a late add on, I keep wracking my brain for what could be her deal maker....
Peace

You do know Ivy is a redhead with freckles? She just gave the other LI a headstart. Add to her looks a brain (she was the first human to fully question the agency cover and the unusual hours..
and since she is a resident in scottstown, could she be the thing that attacked Sharon?

 

[Ragnar]

I´m not judging the fans of this game, but truth is, as other previous and controversial comment says, that LikesBlondes is toying with topics like NTR, men being cuckolded by lesbians, male impotence and male dominated by women. The dev is not entering into that kind of themes to the full so far, but that´s the "smell" of this game the last updates.

First of all, the MC is obliged by the plot to romance Sharon. He can mess up things with her, but he can't decide not to see Sharon as a romantic interest. He can't start treating her just like a mentor and nothing more, or leave her and go to follow his own path with another girl. There are other female characters, but they are just secondary characters.

But he can´t make the girl fall in love with him either. Sharon treats him like a pet dog. Since he's useful as a helper, she gives him some petting from time to time, and the rest of the time humiliates him with her indifference and her mocking towards his romantic advances. And the MC accepts that because... as other people says in a previous comment, he´s a pussy. Likesblondes didn't make the MC a strong and charismatic character, even being a vampire. His dialogues are not really funny or witty, for example. And the worst, he's even mostly an eunuch if he don't drink blood, and he can't even drink blood every time he needs it...

At first is OK: the poor MC has started a new "life", knows nothing, and is clumsy when try to get Sharon's heart, but at the en of the day, he gets some wins... but them, Astrid appears, and it's obvious the MC in this game is right now just the third wheel into a quarrel of two old lesbians. The conversation of Astrid during the last update is specially humiliatingly for the MC (it means, the player). "You think that you the center of Sharon's world but you are not, that's me" "The couple of times she has opened her legs for you means nothing compared with the decades we spent together" "Hahaha, she didn't even opened her legs for you, right?" Morally, the MC is being humiliated and cuckolded by lesbians. Because what Astrid is saying, is true. The MC is not the center of the world of Sharon, Astrid is. They loved each other (or probably, Shanon was Astrid's submissive bitch) for decades, then for some reason they had a fight, Sharon felt deceived or betrayed and, instead forgetting Astrid (the healthy thing to do after a bad break up) she started to feed a bitterness about her. And that means she already has intense feelings about her. And now Astrid is plotting to get back Sharon. It´s supposed that the lifespan of a vampire is eternity. They were lovers for decades, enemies for some decades more, and probably in a few decades more they will be lovers again, since Sharon seems to have a "weak spot" for Asley, as the bald guy (the other pet dog of Sharon) says.

Being forced to romance Sharon from a "beta" position, as a mere subordinated begging for some attention from her, and with an antagonist that is a manipulative bitch and has so much power over her, means that the dev is flirting with forcing the player to enter into the same field of feelings of NTR, cuck, male domination and humiliation. And we can expect that the main drama in the future will be Astrid having more and more power over Sharon, and gaining her closer and closer. I don't think the dev is going to enter full in NTR and cuck, but right now, is already caressing it with the point of the finger.

And I don´t like that. Like the other user says, I don't play a game to feel that my romantic interest is thinking in his old lesbian lover more than in me. I don´t judge, again, if others like that kind of feelings when they are playing an erotic game, but I´m not into that fetish, and I don´t like the path this game is following since the appearance of Astrid. I could think in supporting the dev, but obviously, not like that. I like games in which, if the player adopts stupid decisions, there is a bad ending. But I don't like that the dev doesn't gives real options to the player and puts him, as the MC, into a humiliating position for starters. I play games to get good feelings, not humiliation and cuck, even if in a soft form.

Play LikeBlondes first game it was basically a kinetic novel centered around one girl. He doesn't make choice complex games or branching paths. There were some secondaries but the point of the game was the love story of that single girl.
If Rebirth follows that pattern at the end the game will have some different endings but the core story is a straight arrow. This means Sharon is the main girl and she will end with the MC in the good ending.

 

[strel1]

I found this interesting. I know it's a link to youtube video about...

"How To Argue With Someone Who Won’t Listen"

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it's around 12 minutes.

Maybe some of it is good to think about.
Who knows ?

 

[Hildegardt]

Play LikeBlondes first game it was basically a kinetic novel centered around one girl. He doesn't make choice complex games or branching paths. There were some secondaries but the point of the game was the love story of that single girl.
If Rebirth follows that pattern at the end the game will have some different endings but the core story is a straight arrow. This means Sharon is the main girl and she will end with the MC in the good ending.

There was this one dialog choice in ep. 2 I think, where you could tell Sharon that if you ever found out who turned you, you'd want to tear their head off. This choice wasn't respected in ep. 3 at all, where Sharon accuses you of not going after your vamp mom.
This kinda ties into my earlier critique concerning how easily the MC arranges himself with all the circumstances the writer throws at him. Maybe it's just that the choices we're given aren't very consequential. Like, what's the difference really between a romance and a slave route, if Laurie is your thrall right from the start anyway? Or what's the dilemma about controlling your thirst really, if keeping blood dolls if OK anyway?

 

[BigStuffedTiger]

I´m not judging the fans of this game, but truth is, as other previous and controversial comment says, that LikesBlondes is toying with topics like NTR, men being cuckolded by lesbians, male impotence and male dominated by women. The dev is not entering into that kind of themes to the full so far, but that´s the "smell" of this game the last updates.

I'll give you the male impotence thing, but the author pulled that from the inspirational material (aka VTM), he didn't invent it himself. If I were in his position with the freedom to pull the things I liked from the inspirational material while leaving those I didn't behind, I'd have either left it behind or enabled the MC to pick up some blood dolls earlier in the game so it could be much more quickly resolved. So I can empathize with your disappointment on this one.

I'm not really seeing the NTR or lesbian cuckolding however. And it would be odd for someone who has existed as long as Sharon to have no prior relationships. Not wishing to believe the worst of an Ex is not the same thing as NTR. Furthermore Sharon is only in a dominant position because she's been a vampire much longer than the MC and was given responsibility for the MC's education; she's not domineering at all. In the most recent updates she's even expressed a bit of submissiveness towards the MC.

First of all, the MC is obliged by the plot to romance Sharon. He can mess up things with her, but he can't decide not to see Sharon as a romantic interest. He can't start treating her just like a mentor and nothing more, or leave her and go to follow his own path with another girl.

This is a common criticism of many visual novels. They're railroads with insufficient choices. This has much more to do with the author wanting to reduce branching and thus the amount of work needed to write the story than female domination.

There are other female characters, but they are just secondary characters.

I grant you that Sharon is the most significant female character in the game and anyone who very strongly dislikes either the lack of choice regarding her relationship with the MC or the tenor of the relationship itself will probably not like the game much either.

But he can´t make the girl fall in love with him either. Sharon treats him like a pet dog.

Sharon treated the MC like a fledgling vampire for much of the game. Yes she was a bit patronizing, but given that she was for all practical purposes his patroness, that patronizing attitude isn't surprising. He was an ignorant newb, and he was spouting what sounded like nonsense to her. So of course she wasn't going to take some of his seemingly more outlandish statements seriously in the beginning. And he didn't exactly do a good job of explaining what he was seeing in his visions either. He just assumed that Sharon would believe him and acted surprised when she didn't. He missed a great opportunity to convince Sharon when he had that vision from the past of Sharon and Astrid in bed together. I can just imagine the expression on Sharon's face had he described that past event in detail.

Since he's useful as a helper, she gives him some petting from time to time,

It's more than that. I think it's pretty clear she's falling for him. I'm sure he'd have bedded Sharon by now, if Astrid hadn't crashed the party. That's why the MC had arranged for the blood doll to show up. Instead we got a scene with Carmen, which I still enjoyed.

and the rest of the time humiliates him with her indifference and her mocking towards his romantic advances.

I wouldn't call it humiliation. She just didn't take the seemingly ridiculous statements the newb vampire was making seriously, and it took awhile for her to recognize that the MC wasn't a typical newb. And what you call mocking I call flirting. She isn't being mean about it, she's teasing him affectionately.

And the MC accepts that because... as other people says in a previous comment, he´s a pussy.

The MC gets very few choices in the game, too few in my mind, and I don't like it when the MC acts like a dunderhead either, but I also sympathize with the desire to avoid branch proliferation.

Likesblondes didn't make the MC a strong and charismatic character, even being a vampire. His dialogues are not really funny or witty, for example. And the worst, he's even mostly an eunuch if he don't drink blood, and he can't even drink blood every time he needs it...

I actually agree with you here, but I also don't consider it the end of the world. The MC's personality is kind of blah, and there are times where something he says or does causes me to do a face palm. Those are the times when I wish there were more choices in the game. Nevertheless, there are enough other things about the game I like that I'm willing to roll with it.

At first is OK: the poor MC has started a new "life", knows nothing, and is clumsy when try to get Sharon's heart, but at the en of the day, he gets some wins... but them, Astrid appears, and it's obvious the MC in this game is right now just the third wheel into a quarrel of two old lesbians.

I disagree. It's Astrid who is the third wheel, the discarded and still scheming ex who is attempting to get between Sharon and the MC.

The conversation of Astrid during the last update is specially humiliatingly for the MC (it means, the player). "You think that you the center of Sharon's world but you are not, that's me" "The couple of times she has opened her legs for you means nothing compared with the decades we spent together" "Hahaha, she didn't even opened her legs for you, right?" Morally, the MC is being humiliated and cuckolded by lesbians. Because what Astrid is saying, is true.

Astrid is a scheming and manipulative bitch. Just because she says something doesn't make it true. Sharon discarded her and she's bitter about it. So of course she's going to say hurtful things, and she's observant enough to put the worst spin possible on the things she observes in a bid to drive a wedge between the MC and Sharon.

The MC is not the center of the world of Sharon, Astrid is.

I don't think the evidence supports this statement.

They loved each other (or probably, Shanon was Astrid's submissive bitch) for decades, then for some reason they had a fight,

We only have Astrid's word on them being lovers for decades. I'm skeptical about that as I strongly suspect Astrid is exaggerating here.

Sharon felt deceived or betrayed and, instead forgetting Astrid (the healthy thing to do after a bad break up) she started to feed a bitterness about her.

Astrid is the one who is bitter, although she's pretty good at hiding it most of the time. Nevertheless Astrid's bitterness is evident from the MC reading her emotions in the morgue, from her alliance with the archon to enslave Sharon and make the MC her toy, and her willingness to break the Masquerade by sending some hunters after Sharon and the MC.

And that means she already has intense feelings about her. And now Astrid is plotting to get back Sharon. It´s supposed that the lifespan of a vampire is eternity. They were lovers for decades, enemies for some decades more, and probably in a few decades more they will be lovers again, since Sharon seems to have a "weak spot" for Asley, as the bald guy (the other pet dog of Sharon) says.

This is what Astrid wants the MC to think, but it strikes me as a combination of exaggeration and wishful thinking on Astrid's part. The MC would be a fool to believe her.

Being forced to romance Sharon from a "beta" position, as a mere subordinated begging for some attention from her, and with an antagonist that is a manipulative bitch and has so much power over her,

It's the classic, Boy sees Girl, Boy chases Girl, Girl acts hard to get to make things more of a challenge, Boy catches (and beds) Girl. In this case it's just that the Girl is his mentor, and it's taking longer than usual for him to bed her due to his little impotency issue. I'm not really seeing Astrid as having "so much power over" Sharon.

means that the dev is flirting with forcing the player to enter into the same field of feelings of NTR, cuck, male domination and humiliation. And we can expect that the main drama in the future will be Astrid having more and more power over Sharon, and gaining her closer and closer. I don't think the dev is going to enter full in NTR and cuck, but right now, is already caressing it with the point of the finger.

And I don´t like that. Like the other user says, I don't play a game to feel that my romantic interest is thinking in his old lesbian lover more than in me. I don´t judge, again, if others like that kind of feelings when they are playing an erotic game, but I´m not into that fetish, and I don´t like the path this game is following since the appearance of Astrid. I could think in supporting the dev, but obviously, not like that. I like games in which, if the player adopts stupid decisions, there is a bad ending. But I don't like that the dev doesn't gives real options to the player and puts him, as the MC, into a humiliating position for starters. I play games to get good feelings, not humiliation and cuck, even if in a soft form.

I'm not seeing the humiliation or the cuck, just women with past histories, a newb vampire MC who in the first half of the game needs to prove himself, a perhaps unwise amount of screen time spent on the MC's impotence issue, and a game that could use more choices because there are times when the MC behaves like a blockhead.

 

[Ragnar]

There was this one dialog choice in ep. 2 I think, where you could tell Sharon that if you ever found out who turned you, you'd want to tear their head off. This choice wasn't respected in ep. 3 at all, where Sharon accuses you of not going after your vamp mom.
This kinda ties into my earlier critique concerning how easily the MC arranges himself with all the circumstances the writer throws at him. Maybe it's just that the choices we're given aren't very consequential. Like, what's the difference really between a romance and a slave route, if Laurie is your thrall right from the start anyway? Or what's the dilemma about controlling your thirst really, if keeping blood dolls if OK anyway?

Like I said before the game will have different endings depending on past choices. Like if you turn Laurie into a blood junlie at the end she will end bad. But don't expect branching paths like in big productions at least until the end or the final chapter.

 

[Mr_Sel]

Can someone please remove sci-fi tag from a bloody vampire game? It makes my eyes bleed. Thank you.

 

[Ayhsel]

You must be registered to see the links

Hey

Apologies for now making one of these sooner, but real life gets in the way sometimes.
Work is progressing quite well on the next upload. No sex scenes in this one (sorry), so it will be a bit more story focused. But we're close if not already passed the half way mark. So, everything should be on time.

Best regards
Likesblondes

That is someone we have not seen in a while. And who is the other woman? have we met her yet? Cannot remember her.

 

[Trojaner]

And who is the other woman? have we met her yet? Cannot remember her.

Hmmm, could it be MC's Mommy looking for her Son because he never answered her calls or called her atleast.

 

[Ayhsel]

Hmmm, could it be MC's Mommy looking for her Son because he never answered her calls or called her atleast.

Ohh that would be interesting to see.

 

[cxx]

Can someone please remove sci-fi tag from a bloody vampire game? It makes my eyes bleed. Thank you.

well true but there are some advanced computer systems so it tag is partially right.


this thread should be cleaned from those fighting posts.

 

[RMAUX]

I only have 2 minor complaints so far, the first being that stat points don't seem to affect anything, that I have noticed anyways, and the second being that I found out about and started playing this before it was over, so now I have to wait a very long while to have my curiosity regarding the story satiated.

Kudos to the Dev so far, very enjoyable story, and I am actually enjoying the fact that the sex scenes are more sparse than other games on here, and seem much more organic as well.

 

[Ayhsel]

the second being that I found out about and started playing this before it was over, so now I have to wait a very long while to have my curiosity regarding the story satiated.

Well, here are some good and bad news, then. Good news, updates are regular every month, except exceptions (very rare). Bad news, updates are quite short, which is probably a consequence of the good news.

 

[RMAUX]

Well, here are some good and bad news, then. Good news, updates are regular every month, except exceptions (very rare). Bad news, updates are quite short, which is probably a consequence of the good news.

A balancing act, I'm sure. I'll probably sideline it until a significant amount more content comes out, so that I can binge that as well.

 

[Ayhsel]

A balancing act, I'm sure. I'll probably sideline it until a significant amount more content comes out, so that I can binge that as well.

A few people I know do that. Probably smart to wait until chapter 3 is done, then. If we assume it will a similar length as previous two, December would be my guess.

 

[ucu32167]

I only have 2 minor complaints so far, the first being that stat points don't seem to affect anything, that I have noticed anyways, and the second being that I found out about and started playing this before it was over, so now I have to wait a very long while to have my curiosity regarding the story satiated.

Kudos to the Dev so far, very enjoyable story, and I am actually enjoying the fact that the sex scenes are more sparse than other games on here, and seem much more organic as well.

One thing though. Stats do matter. You get powers based on stats.
Some scenes play out differently depending on your powers.

 

[BigStuffedTiger]

Some interesting points, but still think that a lot of people here see the characters as they want to see them.

Astrid is being maintained in the basement by LikeBlondes for something.

Agreed. Too much has been invested in Astrid's development for her to go down before that investment gets a big enough payoff.

She's not going to be punished, and that's all.

Yep, she's probably not going to be punished in the way Sharon and the MC currently envision. Vampire politics is corrupt, and Astrid as a social manipulator almost certainly has some boons she can call in to keep her skin intact. And if she's some powerful elder's cat's paw, he may intervene on her behalf just as Calisto did on Sharon's as a gift to the MC. That doesn't mean she won't ever reap the consequences of her actions.

The focus of the drama in the development of the plot seems to be the old story between Sharon and Astrid. If not, why to write that story, in the first place?

It adds drama and moves the plot along.

Probably LikeBlondes is planning to make Sharon and Astrid get closed emotionally at some point, maybe Sharon visiting alone Astrid in the basement and remembering old feelings, falling in her manipulations, or something like that.

I think Sharon isn't quite willing to personally execute her old flame, and is hoping to pass the decision to the princeps. This is partly because she still has some feelings for Astrid, and partly because she still hasn't completely lost her naive belief in vampire justice. By punting the responsibility she loses control over the outcome and hands Astrid an opportunity to lay counter charges against her.


I don't think Sharon is going to hop back in the sack with Astrid. Astrid burned that bridge when she tried to pimp Sharon out way back when. Sharon has her principles and Astrid has none. No rapprochement is possible as Astrid is unwilling to accept Sharon the way she is, and Sharon is unwilling to surrender her principles in order to satisfy Astrid. Complete impasse. The drama is due to the fact that Astrid is not just unwilling to let Sharon go, but is also willing to both break vampire law and risk her own life in an attempt to either bend Sharon to her will, or break her.

Right now, Sharon doesn´t even know if she wants Astrid being severely punished or not.

Agreed. Her heart is hoping Astrid will change for the better even if her head recognizes it is extremely unlikely.

LikeBlondes seems to hint that path in the plot for some time now: to create drama, the dev is going to try to make the player feel that the MC can lose Sharon for Astrid. Their hate turning into love again for some reason: that's NTR with lesbians territory. Maybe even there will be an ending with that outcome.

I don't think that's likely, especially if the MC himself resists Astrid's seductions. Now if the MC should try to help Astrid seduce Sharon then things will become more dicey.

And I don´t like that for some reasons:

First, most devs seem to think that making a character a lesbian or a bi makes her more cool and sexy. I don´t think so, specially with a character like Astrid, whose only attractive is a good 3D model. Sharon is no more the cool and strong character that was the first updates, after knowing that she was in love (or had a submissive relationship) with a character as unpleasant as Astrid. If Sharon was stupid enough to felt for her, it's like she's faking that cool.

Astrid is a social manipulator who curries the favor of the powerful. The impression I got from the hints dropped in the game so far is that Astrid was grooming Sharon to be a sweet young sex/blood toy for one or more powerful vampires for unspecified favors in order to increase her own power. Sharon was horrified when Astrid tried to push her into someone else's bed and terminated the relationship. Astrid however isn't willing to accept "No" for an answer and is scheming to drag Sharon back into her orbit one way or another.

Second, the MC is a bland character. LikeBlondes has not written him as someone able to seduce Sharon. Probably he wanted to create an attractive MC, and he wanted to create the impression that Sharon could be slowly falling for the MC, but he fails, in my opinion. Right now, it seems that the MC is always making stupid jokes and being rejected by Sharon, that only gives him some crumbs of affection to maintaining him attached to her. And I don´t like to play with a character that seems to be created to be a "beta", or a pussy, if you prefer.

Those are things that make the game less enjoyable that it was the first updates.

I both agree with you and disagree with you here. I agree the MC is fairly bland, but that's pretty typical in the genre so I'm not going to ding the game as heavily as I could for this since games that execute more flavorful MC's well are much less common. There is a school of thought that if the author is not going to allow a lot of choices, then bland MC's will maximize the size of the audience as they're the least likely to offend someone. You see this a lot in harem fiction for example. It's the gals that usually carry this sort of story as a result. That said, I would strongly prefer a smarter, more assertive and proactive MC.

I don't see Sharon as rejecting the MC any more. She's agreed to have sex, and is waiting for him to fix his impotence issue by setting up some blood dolls. Astrid inadvertently cock blocked him showing up when she did.

 

[UncleFredo]

One thing though. Stats do matter. You get powers based on stats.
Some scenes play out differently depending on your powers.

True. If only the game made enough progress that we could put those powers to work. I love the game but the dev(s) need to get a move on.

 

[evankehell]

Unofficial Android Port for Rebirth Compressed :

Download Episode 1

Download Episode 2

Download Ep3Up4

YOU NEED TO COMPLETE EPISODE 1 USING MY PORT IN ORDER TO PLAY EPISODE 2. IT WON'T START OTHERWISE.
ALLOW STORAGE ACCESS
My Android Ports now have a 2nd Persistent save location. So, even if you uninstall the game, the saves will remain Intact.

Spoiler: Gestures

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

If it says unknown developer or something like that just press install anyway.

Give Me Your Feedback on the Discord Server. As it's easier to reach me there, than here.
Discord:

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The save from the 2 not work for me in the 3