My is unwanted and unneeded review of the game thus far, and yes, I have supported the game on and off for 2 - 3 years on Patreon, before anyone asks or claims otherwise; this is just a better avenue to post a review.
Pros:
The experience this game provides is awesome. The setting is fantastic, the writing is fantastic, the art is fantastic. You can definitely see where the developers want the game to go, and what they want it to be. The game is massive as is and it's not even the end of Act I yet. I'm saying this even well knowing that my favorite aspects of the game have seemed to be more of an after thought to the dev team. Is the game worth playing? Yes. Is the game worth supporting? Yes. The game is awesome.
Cons:
Here's where things get tricky, and don't take "Cons" as in "THIS IS BAD REEEEEEEE!"; take it more like these are my subjective opinions as an avid gamer both sexual and non-sexual, as a game developer myself in the game industry (non-sex related), and my honest critique of the game.
The first con and the biggest, is the actual game play. The developers have repeatedly said on almost every platform of media available that they mechanics are getting an overhaul. My question is why? Removing the mechanics of the game wouldn't hurt the game (as it stands now) in the slightest. The stats are useful for random events and clearing certain CG checks (which tend to be random events) that you may never get in a play through despite having the proper stat level. Almost all the main events do not require a stat (if this isn't the case and there's hidden stats, such as Alexia's Corruption, that'll be tackled in a later con). I find myself doing the main things so that I don't get off'd at a certain week and then not even visiting the map at all. I'm not saying the random map events are useless or not needed, I 'm just saying they feel empty and I hope this is an aspect that gets some love in the mechanic overhaul. Either that, or just remove the stats. I once played to about week 150 and got the majority of scenes I wanted to see without even leveling up. Just doesn't seem consistent with what the game is portrayed as trying to be.
The second con, is hidden stats. I love living with my choices, and I love not being able to go back and fix an outcome to my liking, but having hidden stats that dictate what is and isn't going to happen is a game developer no-no. I get it, smoke and mirror it until you make it (I work in the game industry, I do get it), but hidden stats are absolutely a no-no. I can't think of a single game where hidden stats were well recieved. Give us an indicator of Alexia's corruption without needing the debugger. Give us indicators of relationships or progress with characters. So much of the game is centered around using stats and then they're just used poorly. As said before, I hope this is an aspect that gets some love in the mechanic rework.
Third: Items. Same thing with hidden stats or, well, just about all the stats. They're largely unused from what I've seen in my years of playing the game on and off. We'll see how things go with the mechanic rework, but honestly, the game would be just as good without them. I understand Cla Min would need to be able to sell something, but what she sold to begin with didn't change the game at all. Maybe you can buy materials from her, or eventually, quest items? Just a thought.
Fourth: This is probably the most personal out of the cons, honestly. Rowan was designed to be the main character. Alexia has become the main character. There's a recent comment on Patreon saying "If the scene has Alexia in it, you might as well just order the art." That sentiment isn't wrong. I would love to agree with the Greyhide fandom, but it's not Greyhide that's winning the polls, it's Alexia. Alexia and Tarek would win over Rowan and [Enter some side character here]. It's a bit late in the game to switch ideals and go for a more "Choose who you'd like to control" playstyle but if Act II is it's own separate game, it might be worth noting. Again, this is just my personal reflection and viewing from a very outside looking in perspective.
Fifth: The last con I have has to do with either random chance OR the structure of the writing. My most recent playthrough, I completed all the main quests needed, was working on upgrading every building, etc. Alexia was at high corruption and I chose to have her go the Andras route. After the scene after the actual sex scene, all side character scenes (for jobs and stuff, the ones that are repeatable) stopped. This is a criticism I had with another game I supported on and off over the years (Fleeting Iris) where it locks you in a path. This could have been bad RNG, and I hope it is, because locking players in a path is bad news. There's a difference with living with your choices and locking them into a path. A way around this would be 1) If you decide to lock the player to a certain path, put repeatable scenes for that path they are locked in, or 2) Don't lock the player in a path.
All in all: Great game. Looking forward to more updates. Keep up the good work.
Edit: Don't know how I missed the word "is" at the very beginning. Added it in, lest you all think I'm an illiterate twit.
