okay i didnt have main route with melina or samuel or vanessa and i still cant have the first sex scene with suya anyway i can get it?
- Thread starter UncleVT
- Start date
- Jan 28, 2022
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God bless whomever created the accessibility menu on ren'py, cause the font in this game is god awful
- Sep 25, 2020
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Damn, sometimes I hate how lazy Blake is, cause I really would love to check on more than one person after moving to Deliverance - especially my girls Zoey, Tanya, Surya and Jasmine. Also Jamal - he's a bro.
OK. It's time to wrap it up. Is this porn reincarnation of Joyce's Ulysses or something?
For me "Shattered" doesn't work well neither as a story, nor as a game. While the setting and its premise, beginning chapters did hold huge promise for greatness, this turned into pointless, bloated dragfest with no clear points of interest, drama, meaningful choices or even personal achievements we could pursue. It consists mostly of tedious, mundane, everyday mental stream of a character who avoids to ever leave his zone of comfort and doesn't really offer interesting perspective or worldview, so we are closed within a head of the least curious person available there as a proxy for our exploration and involvement in surroundings. That choice alone dampens most of drive for it. Choosing lazy, sheltered protagonist may not be lethal to a story, but then you need to overcompensate for his passiveness and find some other way that supporting characters may push him and get involved with a world.
For me art and storytelling is all about transformation. Just as in magic tricks, we should have preliminary state of our character in a world, input you could say, and output - state of world somehow changed due actions in the story. Inventing skillfully transition is a crux of that matter. And "getting there" should be engaging.
"Shattered" after second slums visit (which is optional), loses any suspense and stake whatsoever. From this point onward game becomes devoid of any momentum and completely directionless. There is no structure in Blake's activities; we can't build up our position meaningfully in town or really choose our faction so there can be no payoff for choosing given path. And that state of things draaaaaaags to Deliverence. Which should be interesting as survival arc for unknown incoming catastrophe, but it's not. Getting into new surroundings doesn't make Blake more invested in establishing new life there and we can't decide what and how we are going to do that. Damn, we are even dispossessed of choice to not to go to Deliverance at all to witness what happens from first row, if we don't believe in any doomsday danger scenario. Which is one of obvious stances to a story you can take, given the presented lore. You can think, Deliverance is just whimsical solution in a search for a problem which won't really materialize or snake-oil for rich to lure them into bunker-type closed community. In fact this should be crucial choice we could take from storytelling point of view, but no, we have no say here either. Why?
(In fact, Blake doesn't have really good reason for another moving out, especially if we aren't romantically involved with someone who decided to go there. If Blake would be usual lazy self, going there without any strong convictions would be out of character. We've been asked for our beliefs about state of world and its future. Giving optimistic response in dialogue options, should mean we don't believe in any disaster or we discard it, so obviously Blinn shouldn't be interested in another migration.)
Since storytelling is about transformation, feminization arc and decisions within should be main forte of this production. But sadly, they aren't. This game despite its size and excessive writing doesn't challange us on how we can understand femininity, what is like to be a woman and how a man forced into becoming one could cope with taking completely new social role, what setbacks he could expect and how he would decide, what kind of woman and life style he's going to choose for future life with tits. If you're a writer, this is glorious opportunity to play with usual preconceived manly notions about women and femininity. You could establish what Blake as a guy thought about other sex, before changing sides and how that influenced his future behavior as girl or sissy during transition. Well, if you think girls are sluts, would you become one yourself? If you hold more conservative view and think women shouldn't make career and it's their job to be mothers, would you take that role yourself and get preggers? Will becoming feminine change you views on that matter, or just confirm them? That's the point of interest and a lot of untapped potential here is completely unused.
Yeah, we can decide, if we want to Blake identify as gay or sissy or take steps towards transition, but all of that is really superficial, and since Blake is easy come, easy go, lazy in every role, I guess passiveness is only notion of femininity he's got and playing your all concerto on that one string is boring. Therefore ongoing transformation process lands flat. Getting back to slums to save a friend by using your lady charms to actually deal with situation was possibly one of well played story points this game offered. But after that there was no follow up of this sort.
If it is true that this game exceeded 2 million words mark (!), you could expect much more from it. The main two problems are: (1) lack of gaming freedom in middle of the game and (2) lack of progression/skill level for adapting to being better in girl role.
"Shattered" supposedly opens up and almost becomes Renpy-based open world where we have illusion of bigger, richer world that we can navigate through, where our social base can be broaden, but we really can't choose Blinn's new self, attitude and we can't decide our gaming strategy. In most of available paths Blake is Blake, as passive as always, un-maneuverable as always and everything gets back to bubbly lack of world impact and continous home staying rot. Even appearance of Ambrosia as imagined future-self mentor doesn't help, since Blinn ignores most of her guidance.
When it comes to second point, think of this. After fire and escape from Melinda's house, Blinn achieves sort of independence and lives alone or moves to some other party, but is far from being finished article. Her feminine training Melinda and Rebecca started comes to abrupt end half way, while here a player should get steering wheel in his hands and finish that job. So Blinn should find herself another lady role model and get tutored in social skills, art of seduction, being better socialite or getting know how of bulding her support circle as girls usually do. Depending on who would you put on to pedestal for that role model, you should be able to pick what "kind of girl" you want to strive to be yourself in future. So here, Blinn could decide who makes biggest impression upon her: women of succesful career (future oriented), family-oriented mother figure who sets social order for her children due rearing and tradition (past oriented) or careless slut on dick carousel living for carnal satisfaction in the present. And each of those routes should have some benefits or be detrimental to relationships with certain characters, uninterested with your set of values or life goals.
This way, player could be really constantly immersed in Blinn's growth and would try to play the game to avoid fuckups, masculinity/guilt relapses and other obstacles which should exist further in a way. This character growth should happen on screen, influenced by our gameplay, not off-screen between chapters, signaled by time lapses, different clothes or hair style. Instead of getting completely open sex buffet with most of characters available in game, this should be more structured, because in present state, sex scenes are very atomized and don't fit into believable scenario escalation. And what is worse, some scenarios were quite promising, but didn't concluded in any meaningful way.
Let's take Rebecca's relationship breakdown. In some routes we should be able to get some revenge sex with her ex or even be reason for that relationship failure as notorious homewrecker in slutty route, because bad girls sometimes steal other women guys and Rebecca had it comming for a long, long time. But if Blinn would pull that trigger or not, that should depend on player. Story shouldn't make choices for us. We should make these choices!
This way we could end with 3 gameplays for Mother (caring about significant other, being compelling trad wife, fending off bitches who want to turn away your hubby from you, becoming Goddess and creating life), Businesswoman (doing everything for status and fucking your way up to top, getting along with Dominique with same values), Slut (cocks, cocks, cocks, cocks, cocks everywhere, just for meeee!) with difficulties and challanges you can master or fail made exactly for this type of play.
My playthrough was concentrated on desperatly trying to get Blinn out of her comfort zone, to get some ersatz of growth, decision making and notorious risk avoidance. I thought biggest chance for it would pose criminal-related path and taking Troy and Claude threesome partnership. After some time passed and they tried to meet Blake alone, I thought this triangle will get some proper dillemma and resolution as Blake should pick one of them, but then after departure to Deliverance all ties were cut short. Scenario with Gillian and helping or stoping her for drugging Jamal also hangs in air and is unresolved. And those completed character mini-arcs should point us in direction of Mother, Slut or Businesswoman and sort us in proper lanes. Instead of that we get these sorting hat sessions with doctor Lowe. Come on, that should be decided during gameplay with our choices up there, in the world, not in session with shrink!
So my biggest issue with "Shattered" lies with poor gameplay part. When we play it first, we don't know Iris, Samuel or Suya, so it's usually more blind choice we make and story then goes in a way of our intended way of tackling feminization goal and ignores our will completely. We can't make choices and become hostages of Blake's insufferable aloofness and time (life) wasting. That destroys most potential of a story and a game.
And it's not that I'm opposed to lazy or conflicted characters, who don't know what to do with their lives. Zoë Castillo, protagonist of
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is like Blake for all prologue of a game. But then something happens, she gets a task: she needs to find and save April Ryan, is intrigued with that quest and she starts getting involved in a world step by step. This becomes therapeutic in its own way and journey heals her up. I don't mind a guy relectuant to an idea of becoming feminized and getting his psyche shattered. But pivot point, change of stance and overcoming indecisiveness, reintegration should happen much sooner in a story, because playing character who doesn't know what he/she wants almost up to the finale is not very enjoyable.Build up to the finale should already be on its way, and yet we see Blinn estranged in new location with exactly the same mindset and no prior experience really changes anything in her attitude. Problems with learning? Geez, don't tell me this is some kind of Pinocchio and good fairy Ambrosia will turn wooden boy into a girl in some deus ex machina...
So yeah, I probably play final version anyway, when it comes, just because of sunk cost fallacy, but man... this could be really insightful game when it comes to femme mystique, women behavior and man's perspective on it after switcheroo that allows watching life and society from other side of table. But no. We get 2 million words of aloofness and disengagement.
Yes, this game is huge, I thought author's patience will iron it great, but I guess story merger with gameplay was never considered or analyzed from point of view of player experience.
Well, good luck with next projects, Yeda. Thank you for your effort.
- Apr 9, 2024
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well, if there is something bigger than this game is your reply... I did all the routes, and it burned a great amount of time. I just wish to find something similar.
- Nov 7, 2023
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I watch this VN because I like seeing submissive girls or sissys. So I choose Melindas path for 1st time and then startet but not finished the cop girl. For these path imho Blakes character was very fitting and I did find the stream of consciousness interesting or at least entertaining most of the time. My only regret would be that after coming to deliverance there are too less sex scenes if Blake is locked on Melindas path. But that in itself makes sense within the story arch.
So could very well be I am just too simple minded but I personally find the story and especially the worldbuilding very compelling. Imho it is a good story. Not just good for a porn game, but genuinly good.
- Dec 27, 2019
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A lot of what you say is completely correct, I would be the first person to admit that the story focus wasn’t as strong as it could’ve and should’ve been. I learned to accept my limitations as a writer and an artist during the making of my game, it is what it is. However, it’s not that I don’t try or don’t care. One thing that’s been a persistent factor in my life for the last couple of years was constant lack of time to develop certain ideas of mine, due to poor health, lack of proper leisure time, and just common day to day stress. But I still have to give my players something on a regular basis. Which is why it’s often necessary to provide a very generalised content that is, perhaps, not moving the story forward but more of a fan service for those who already love Blake. I understand why one might feel disappointed. I wish I could do better. But then again, I think Shattered is judged by standards that might be just a tad too high for a game that is ostensibly just porn.
- Nov 7, 2023
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It sure is the Ulysses of porn.
But as I said I don't think you should be overly critisizing yourself.
I think this opus is pretty impressive.
- Apr 9, 2024
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For most people that's a quite common lifestyle, me included. But the fact that you created an entirely new world with your imagination and managed to spread it to a considerable number of people is a huge feat in your life.
I hope you don't lose the will and inspiration to keep this project alive through the end.
It's one of the few AVN's that I play for the story and not the porn. It's a rarity to find an avn that has a good story and world-building.
Being one of the people who also expressed similar concerns to the post you responded, I do want to stress that you should not let opinions like these get you down. As I've pointed out, this is still 5/5* game for me, and it would remain 5/5* even if it were significantly worse, that's how highly I'd rate the passion, content, art, dedication etc... behind it.
This game is much more than just porn, even if you originally envisaged it as such. And people here are not looking for just porn, I'd argue. Internet is certainly in no short supply of free fap content. It's the deeper level of immersion and personal investment (for whatever reason) that is driving the demand for porn games. To give an example - you could have made pretty much exactly the same porn content, if you set up Blake as porn actor/actress at the very beginning and each scene was "next scene" in an in-game porn film. Would anyone think the game would be as popular?
Don't sell yourself or your audience short. You do have a talent. I would argue that it is just a matter of admitting that what you've created has maybe grown beyond a collection of sex scenes, and that you can tap into that and make it even better.
My opinion (and I'm only speaking for myself, I fully understand that I'm probably in the minority here):
1) start working towards wrapping things up
2) figure out what you want to happen, and add sex scenes to it, rather than thinking of sex scenes and then arrange the plot around it
3) don't introduce a new character unless there's a good reason for it
4) cut down on dialogues (especially inner dialogues)
5) sex scenes that happen in dreams and imagination of Blake work when in small quantities. Too much of that and it degrades to impact of "actual" sex scenes
- Dec 27, 2019
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It's already wrapping up. Next update should be the final one. After that, I will be only releasing Patreon versions with expanded and reworked previous content, hopefully fleshing out underdeveloped routes and tying up numerous loose ends in a satisfactory way.
Even if "only fleshing out underdeveloped routes and tying up numerous loose ends" it could be a lot of work for several updates
Hope every guy will receive some nice scenes with Blake. Thank you for your thoroughness and sense for order
- Dec 27, 2019
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It will be a lot of work indeed. The reason why I stopped remaking pictures in acts 6–10 is because I'm thinking of completely rehauling Blake's appearance in those acts. That longer red hair made more sense to me four years ago (for technical reasons as well) but now I've got a lot more good looking assets at my disposal, and I can do better. It was never really explained how Blake could grow such long hair in a couple of months anyway. The makeup also looked too much on the «raccoon» side. Anyway, I'll estimate this process later on, as I'm focused on the current content right now. But yeah, this is just one step down the path of making Shattered closer to what I envisioned.Even if "only fleshing out underdeveloped routes and tying up numerous loose ends" it could be a lot of work for several updates
- Oct 20, 2022
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Honestly having longer hair isn't so hard to explain. Could be a weave/extensions/wig.
Personally red hair is my favorite so I hope you keep the color.
hi guys, if i want play full size, i need to donwload 0.16 and every single update to get 0.22?
- Dec 27, 2019
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- Nov 7, 2023
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- Dec 27, 2019
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I just released the next demo for v0.23. It's on my Patreon if you're interested. Cheers!
