The art of this game is pretty good and feels overall attractive, and the dialogue I'd seen seems fine. That being said, I didn't get too far, and I'm going to go over a smaller complaint first because I believe I understand the reasoning as to the change and it has to do with the bigger complaint anyways. Then I'll wrap by addressing what I believe to be a significant core philosophy issue.
In regards to the lesser issue, I don't like it when games remove forms of control. I want to be able to mouse wheel up to look at previous dialogue instead of having to drag my mouse to the bottom of the screen to hit back. It's not a huge waste of my time (maybe a second or two every time it happens) but it is a waste of my time. I also didn't appreciate that I couldn't right click to open the save menu. However, I believe both of these functions were removed for the sake of attempting to dissuade players from cheating at the rock-paper-scissors minigame.
The unfortunate issue of the main minigame is that it's rock-paper-scissors. Ignoring the ludo narrative dissonance involved with buying packs of cards worth hundreds of dollars despite the fact that my roommate and I need to pay off three months of rent by the end of the month, there are significant issues. Even with the addition of the flipping the bird card or whatever, it feels like I understand the entirety of the minigame right away. Because I do. It's rock-paper-scissors. I think I first played this when I was like 4. You can throw all the birds, dynamites, Spocks, or whatever else you like into it, it's still just rock-paper-scissors. I was only on my fourth round in when I found myself wishing it just wasn't there. And to cap that off, various control schemes seem to have been removed in what feels like an attempt to stop me from save scumming the minigame to just win as fast/easily as possible without having to over-edit my deck.
And that brings me to the last point. The philosophy of this game seems to be less about time enjoyed and more about time spent. I don't want to have to click multiple times to open a pack of cards or to break the heart at the end, I don't wanna play another boring minigame, and I especially don't want to have to do it multiple times before I even see a single scene (barring the initial shower scene.) I wanted to be responsible for managing the business, I wanted to get to meet the friend who owed me a favor or the two new roommates as they were moving in, and maybe I would've even wanted to help them.
This art has potential. Don't bury it beneath rock-paper-scissors.
In regards to the lesser issue, I don't like it when games remove forms of control. I want to be able to mouse wheel up to look at previous dialogue instead of having to drag my mouse to the bottom of the screen to hit back. It's not a huge waste of my time (maybe a second or two every time it happens) but it is a waste of my time. I also didn't appreciate that I couldn't right click to open the save menu. However, I believe both of these functions were removed for the sake of attempting to dissuade players from cheating at the rock-paper-scissors minigame.
The unfortunate issue of the main minigame is that it's rock-paper-scissors. Ignoring the ludo narrative dissonance involved with buying packs of cards worth hundreds of dollars despite the fact that my roommate and I need to pay off three months of rent by the end of the month, there are significant issues. Even with the addition of the flipping the bird card or whatever, it feels like I understand the entirety of the minigame right away. Because I do. It's rock-paper-scissors. I think I first played this when I was like 4. You can throw all the birds, dynamites, Spocks, or whatever else you like into it, it's still just rock-paper-scissors. I was only on my fourth round in when I found myself wishing it just wasn't there. And to cap that off, various control schemes seem to have been removed in what feels like an attempt to stop me from save scumming the minigame to just win as fast/easily as possible without having to over-edit my deck.
And that brings me to the last point. The philosophy of this game seems to be less about time enjoyed and more about time spent. I don't want to have to click multiple times to open a pack of cards or to break the heart at the end, I don't wanna play another boring minigame, and I especially don't want to have to do it multiple times before I even see a single scene (barring the initial shower scene.) I wanted to be responsible for managing the business, I wanted to get to meet the friend who owed me a favor or the two new roommates as they were moving in, and maybe I would've even wanted to help them.
This art has potential. Don't bury it beneath rock-paper-scissors.