Recommending Story-first games

[Raife]

While I really liked the story update, I'm not a fan of Eve and Legacy being husband and wife. Why would combat AI have genders at all?

For fun, of course -- or out of personal affinity. When we're taling AIs, rather than programmes, one can imagine all sorts of personality quirks and different preferences... perhaps of a diversity even greater than the range among humans.

But... I also don't necessarily trust their description of their relationship... or anything about them. There's no reason to take anything they say at face value... and, indeed, plenty of reason not to. Which is great! I enjoy the fact that Panda's narrative has a logic to it, as well as a great deal of unpredictability and uncertainty.

 

[jufot]

For fun, of course -- or out of personal affinity.

For a household AI, or some sort of companion bot, sure. But for combat?

There's no reason to take anything they say at face value... and, indeed, plenty of reason not to.

It's possible, I suppose, but I'm not getting a duplicitous feeling from Panda. The game is too cutesy and wholesome for that. But then again, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised

 

[jufot]

Camp Klondike has

You must be registered to see the links

out, concluding day 4! Public release should follow soon.

Spoiler: It's about...

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

 

[boobsrcool]

Tried Savior. Early parts are very rough but it gets good

 

[cisco_donovan]

Hi, sorry to self promote but a fella's gotta do what a fella's gotta do.

My game, Private Dick, is aiming to meet that criteria. I'm just starting to get some feedback which tells me I'm going in the right direction, so I'm reasonably confident in putting this up for contention.

No lazy fourth-wall jokes. Rich and witty dialog with an understanding of voice. An ongoing story which is about more than sex (although sex is highly entwined in it all and in the demo it doesn't really have time to get going). There's also a social media screen that aims to give characters a sense of self beyond their interaction with the MC.

Eddie Monotone of the wonderful Private Academy: Supercharged! (which should probably be on this list if it's not already) is exaggerating when he says:

"Private Dick is one of those rare things, like Pratchett or Hot Fuzz, that pokes fun at a genre but is still a good version of it"

And HH Richards of Lewd Mod (which come to think of it should also be considered) said simply:

"Great writing and great artwork! The dev clearly put a lot of love & effort into this game!"

 

[jufot]

Nothing is Forever has an update out, and it's the best and longest one yet! I shared some thoughts here. What do you folks think?

 

[boobsrcool]

Nothing is Forever has an update out, and it's the best and longest one yet! I shared some thoughts here. What do you folks think?

really appreciate the updates in this thread would have missed this

 

[vneotpolemus]

Price of Power, Klondike, and Nothing is Forever. All in the same week.

Never rains, but it pours.

 

[noping123]

Slightly off topic, but not quite:

can anyone suggest any games that fall into the category of

"It would be on this list except...."

Basically games that fall maybe 1 criteria off from being eligible - they're close, but not quite.

 

[E_O_N]

Slightly off topic, but not quite:

can anyone suggest any games that fall into the category of

"It would be on this list except...."

Basically games that fall maybe 1 criteria off from being eligible - they're close, but not quite.

I think the whole point here is that there are no compromises.
The list would be quite a lot bigger, if there were.

 

[Raife]

"It would be on this list except...."

A certain highly popular game, heretofore discussed, would be on this list were it not for jufot's Notorious Anti-College Game Bias (TM).

 

[Raife]

"It would be on this list except...."

Good question, noping -- I'll give it some thought.

My highest-level observation is that games that fall off jufot's list do so in a manner that emulates Ernest Hemingway's description of how a person goes bankrupt: "slowly, and then quickly." They might start out with one or two narrative compromises... which rapidly snowball until the game becomes a full porn-first enterprise. In other words, it's rarely one thing... when a game shifts to porn first, it's usually many things, quickly.

The flipside of your question is equally interesting, though: what can flip a porn-first game over the story-first hump and on to jufot's list?

That shift is rare... but it _has_ happened. For example, jufot did not think that _Halfway House_ qualified, since the LIs are all more or less porn cliches (albeit with twists that I thought made them something more). But when the dev devoted an entire chapter, essentially, to developing the character of a male (non-LI) NPC (a gruff, overweight, Hawaiian shirt-wearing cop with a heart of gold) we saw it as prima facie evidence of story-first intentions. You just don't give so much care and attention to a character like that, as a dev, if your main object is porn.

 

[boobsrcool]

Slightly off topic, but not quite:

can anyone suggest any games that fall into the category of

"It would be on this list except...."

Basically games that fall maybe 1 criteria off from being eligible - they're close, but not quite.

or games that got removed from the list

 

[E_O_N]

At this point why not make a new thread?

We have this one where it's "C boob sized" and you are asking about B and D that are close to C.
Next thing someone comes and asks for B and D.

Naturally some will be interested in those, but it's not the purpose here, right?
End of day jufot started this list. If he doesn't consider it off topic, who am I to argue?

 

[noping123]

or games that got removed from the list

I think games that get removed are a bit different - as raife said those often tend to snowball quickly, to the point where they're not "almost but not quite", but closer to "not even remotely".

I was more thinking about things that are just on the cusp, but not quite there.

Like maybe they *could* be included if they just changed one thing, or did something different in the future, or maybe they'll never be included but they're *so* close that an argument could technically be made....

End of day @jufot started this list. If he doesn't consider it off topic, who am I to argue?

So then why are you?

 

[E_O_N]

So then why are you?

Did I accidentally fuck your wife or what is your problem?

 

[jufot]

Eon Able please tone it down. We've managed to keep this thread going for more than a year without a single instance of insults or name-calling, until now. Until you. Please don't do it again.

On a more general note, as long the discussion is relevant (story, characterization, porniness etc.) and respectful, I trust the people of this thread to post responsibly

 

[desmosome]

At this point why not make a new thread?

We have this one where it's "C boob sized" and you are asking about B and D that are close to C.
Next thing someone comes and asks for B and D.

Naturally some will be interested in those, but it's not the purpose here, right?
End of day jufot started this list. If he doesn't consider it off topic, who am I to argue?

Threads like this are generally a place where people who like similar qualities in a game can discuss pretty much anything tangentially related.

Nobody agrees on everything. Just because jufot doesn't personally add it to the list, doesn't mean it is not a story-first game. First of all, jufot needs to play the game to make an assessment and no one has time to play everything. Also, people obviously have their preferences when it comes to other themes apart from story-first. Jufot won't prioritize games with male dom or dark stuff as the major theme when picking games to try out. On the flip side, I won't prioritize games with standard romance as the major theme (unless it has some interesting turns that deviate from cliche love story).

So the list is jufot's personal list, but no one is stopping people from discussing games they consider to be story first.

 

[E_O_N]

Eon Able please tone it down. We've managed to keep this thread going for more than a year without a single instance of insults or name-calling, until now. Until you. Please don't do it again.

I didn't start this one and neither did I insult him. It was an honest question because he seems to have a problem with me.
Anyway, I don't want the mood to sour here.

Edit: desmosome I agree. As you are saying. story first. It was not about the different viewpoints on that, that was questioned to be included. But the essence of what if it was not "story first", but what if "Almost story first". I personally like the topic here because of the line it draws. If it doesn't what is the purpose of it.

 

[jufot]

But the essence of what if it was not "story first", but what if "Almost story first". I personally like the topic here because of the line it draws. If it doesn't what is the purpose of it.

The lines drawn in the OP for what counts as "story first" are only meant for that list. People disagree with those criteria, and that list, all the time here. That's not only fine, but is welcome. In short, the OP is about my tastes, but the thread is about ours