Unlike last time, I got the opportunity to sit down and play 0.2.8 and 0.2.9 fairly soon after it becomes public! So let's get to it.
V0.2.8
- Erina's thoughts when the Dark Lord is influencing her is frighteningly realistic, it is plenty good. A large part why it works is because the horror of her situation and her empathy for the Dark Lord's slaves are working against her; which is amusing since she is a goddess and yet her corruption is banking on her feeling mortal helplessness. Delicious.
- Ah yes, the crowds are slowly doubting Erina. The best part of seeing a religion failing is the exact moment the domino begins falling. Seems I can start seeing people openly doubting Erina by level 3...
- Gotta say, I am enjoying the prison game with Erina more than I should, even if the Dark Lord can't win yet. There is something inherently amusing about a goddess of purity and a lord of corruption playing tug with a poor mortal woman's mind on the balance.
- I think Yuma's corruption is getting... easier with each level. That's not a bad thing since it is a consequence of corruption, but it is almost disappointing that Yuma's choices are increasingly easier to discern and Yuma herself is easier to gaslight, lol.
- The second Archangel has that "beware the silly ones" energy, definitely more dangerous than the first. The Supreme Goddess's plan is reasonable in theory, though she would need "inciting factors" to worsen the overall conflict and make her plan reasonable in practice. So to speak, the Supreme Goddess relying on a certain element/factor to see her plan through would make her more realistic, as it is easier to get overconfident when you think "I have a card no one else has". I will save the idea for the suggestions.
- Finally, the people have started to see that worshipping the Dark Lord is the way, lol. The fact it is a member of the clergy which proposes it is the icing on the cake. I like how Yukako still has persuasive power for nuns even as a literal succubus. The overall progress of the religion is still very early, but I like how even the first step is basically "what kind of deity is the Dark Lord?" to the populace. More nuances should be considered, though I will save that for suggestions.
- Yet another quest where the Demon Queen gets to take advantage of the Dark Lord again. I have a feeling we won't be seeing that journal of hers again until we get to corrupt someone higher in the ranks of the Demon Army, someone close to the Demon Queen herself. Well, at least we get another treasury of the former Dark Lord.
- Ferox is a lot more... gung-ho than I expected. Given how he betrayed the Demon Queen, I would have expected a cold, ambitious demon. Instead we get a quick-tempered general who is better at destroying than he is at building, much less ruling. The idea that Ferox might have been tricked into thinking the Demon Queen plans to betray him also reeks of conspiracy... interesting.
V0.2.9
- I said it once and I will say it again: Hikari is sooo easy, lol. First humiliation conga, now she is getting competitive with her own daughter in sexual services. Soon enough, Hikari would be asking you why you are not doing more depraved things with her, lol.
- As usual, Hikari's prison game is not a game, it is just us insulting the IQ levels of everyone else in the room. I almost want the next level to spice things up a bit -- I will keep the idea for suggestions below.
- I am not that surprised the Elves are even less prepared for a war than Hypatia, but it does mean they would be more desperate. Trying to use chokepoints in their territory to stall the Dark Lord's Army would need coordination, requiring Elven important figures to lead operations such as supplies and fortifying. The elven important figures being present would mean they are vulnerable to infiltration, especially because the Dark Lord is a small, mobile force which can subvert and corrupt small numbers of people to his will. I think it will be a good idea to add such key targets when the Dark Lord bulldoze the elves.
It is also plenty obvious by now that Hazuki is experiencing these dreams because someone is trying to make Hazuki open to the idea of accepting the Dark Lord ruling her and her people. I was initially thinking the Archangel previously touched by the former Dark Lord was responsible, but given how blatant these dreams are, I am starting to doubt that. If she is an Archangel going rogue, wouldn't she be more careful with showing visions to mortals? Unless she can keep it a secret from even the Supreme Goddess...
- I quite enjoyed Sortevius's next quest. Subverting another nobility's investigation and brainwashing a witness into giving false testimony? Count me in. And we are going to rebuild the former Dark Lord's capital, too? Sortevius has the greatest ideas despite being human. I chose not to rename the former capital Athurgaul, btw.
- Is it coincidence that Rina's quest has plenty similar themes as my previous suggestion? It is still distinct though, what with the rebel actually turning himself in. I am interested to see further plans from those who would like to assassinate the corrupt nobles of the Hypatia capital, and more importantly how this will turn out.
The last two updates have been great, so time for suggestions:
- Since every generation of Heroes since Zereth was able to wound the former Dark Lord, and in at least one case even taking off entire limbs like an arm. I think it would be a good idea to have the Divines have access to these portions of the Dark Lord's physical form.
Perhaps not just from previous Heroes, but also from Romanos's victory over the Dark Lord at the beginning of the game. It can be easily justified as Romanos, Misaki and Yukako offering up the Dark Lord's remains to the Divines like a sacrifice ceremony.
Having portions or remains of the Dark Lord's body, as one of the masters of the physical realm, most likely would allow the Divines to study how they might truly incarnate with a physical body which isn't "leaking" Divinity like their usual ways of appearing in the material world. The Supreme Goddess having this kind of card could easily make her overconfident, especially since it means she is one step ahead of the Demon Queen currently still studying ways to invade the spiritual realm, much less the "newborn" Dark Lord.
- An important aspect to any religion is religious offering. The very fact the Dark Lord had converted all the women in the Hero party of Romanos is a well-known, so I think it will be interesting to have the populace eventually come up with the idea of offering women they deem attractive enough for the Dark Lord in exchange for boons. This is something every single slave in the Dark Lord's harem would be very happy about, I imagine.
Obviously, the commoners are not going to do that anytime soon -- excepting potential desperate individuals -- but the nobility of Hypatia is both corrupt and self-centered enough that they would do just that. Especially now that the Dark Lord has recently been overruling/denying a lot of nobles (Hikari's prison game). Sooner or later, they would look for a woman good enough to be offered to the Dark Lord in the hopes of gaining his favor.
- An amusing idea to spice up Hikari's prison game is simply to add Ayumi into it and have her insult the nobles, her father, and indirectly her mother too. Like, the next prison game would be Hikari at level 3, by this point both her and the spineless king should be cowed enough that adding Ayumi to the court wouldn't be a problem. And I am sure Ayumi will relish any chance to get back at her parents...
For now, that's all. As usual, feel free to not use the ideas if they aren't conforming with your plans, though I do think they are, haha. It's been nice update: I will be waiting faithfully for the next one.