I've played 0.5, I'm just at the bit before they all get it on however, I'm really conflicted by something.
I walked into this game thinking it was gonna be an emotional ride with some drama, but in the end it would be okay. What I got was a hostage situation between the stupid and poorly adopted point system. I was NOT made aware of the a bad ending in this game. Not a hint, or a sniff. I'm not talking about the looming threat of the Twins, I'm talking about the game Dev, the possible tags, the trajectory for gods sake. Usually, people make things that are gonna upset people obvious enough to see coming. However, this game almost makes it a sport in obfuscating paths. It takes a walkthrough to know EXACTLY what is a good option (even then, it doesn't give you a trajectory just indication), since there are often more decisions than "act like a knight" and "act like an asshole". Also, there is no indicator on how many points you need for a particular path.
Let me make this clear: This game is fantastic progression wise, character wise, and I admire that it does things better than most other visual novels. It gives you meaningful choices and that's great. However, choice is not a good excuse for poor planning/design. When you have a bad path so disgusting, so objectionable and so dark, it's really hard to justify how much choice you have to the ease of hitting such a path. As a writer, I find it much easier to write darker tones than experience them, I have hangups that I can justify when I'm in control, but not when I'm not. That said, i see that wanting the reader to find a dark surprise around the corner is awesome and it reminds me of when I was contemplating a dark twist in a fantasy series when I was younger. However, and this is the most 'however' a however, you are playing with people's psyche's here. That may be a bit exaggerated, but it's true.
Some people play games for fun, some just for porn and other want some real indepth story telling with gripping plots. But some people also have lives they've lived, traumas that are still bleeding and things they'd rather not see. These VN's are great for people like that because it gives control in a world that refuses them that same right. So when I say that some people can be triggered by such content when it isn't explicitly said, I'm not messing around. Real life and games are different worlds, and we like to keep them separate for the most part. One is inevitable and the other indulges you of things that aren't possible. GOD DAMN IT! Sorry about that, I'm digressing so much, I'm sure people reading this are frustrated. I'll finish what I wanna say. Basically, people can get fucked if you don't give them a trigger warning for godsakes! They get angry and upset and it isn't pretty.
I'll finish this with my thoughts. I played to the aforementioned point and stopped. I just felt like I needed too. I wanted to confirm my worst fears. And it was true, the Dev made this alternate reality where if you don't walk on eggshells exactly how the plan was set (don't deny Dev, I've read multiple people saying the same), you'd fall into this pit of agony. If I had seen or heard what had happened in that bad end to no fault of my own (I was nice to everyone, I promised to protect them) and I made the mistake of NOT talking to Cassie at the lingerie store instead of Eve and someone gets raped I think I'd delete the game immediately and contemplate giving a heavy F#%k you to the Dev. Punishing your audience for making a mistake is the worst. I don't stand by that. However, I know there is an asshole route where the MC becomes a negative and wholehearted sociopath, that's where that ending belongs.
Dev: Player agency is important and the "ending 7" as you mentioned it has zero agency. "It's avoidable" is not a good excuse to someone that got caught out with that ending. Not following a walkthrough should not punish those that want to try out your game. Some will never return because they feel betrayed. That can't be undone. It's also not a simple matter of "Not everyones gonna like my game, I guess I'm absolved of that responsibility". You always bare that responsibility because you're telling a story to people, not robots.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared to play the game because of the possible traps the Dev has in wait :/ though I don't hold that against them, I just wished they had warned some people. I had to replay the game multiple times to be sure enough I wouldn't get the bad ending
Have a fantastic day Dev!
I walked into this game thinking it was gonna be an emotional ride with some drama, but in the end it would be okay. What I got was a hostage situation between the stupid and poorly adopted point system. I was NOT made aware of the a bad ending in this game. Not a hint, or a sniff. I'm not talking about the looming threat of the Twins, I'm talking about the game Dev, the possible tags, the trajectory for gods sake. Usually, people make things that are gonna upset people obvious enough to see coming. However, this game almost makes it a sport in obfuscating paths. It takes a walkthrough to know EXACTLY what is a good option (even then, it doesn't give you a trajectory just indication), since there are often more decisions than "act like a knight" and "act like an asshole". Also, there is no indicator on how many points you need for a particular path.
Let me make this clear: This game is fantastic progression wise, character wise, and I admire that it does things better than most other visual novels. It gives you meaningful choices and that's great. However, choice is not a good excuse for poor planning/design. When you have a bad path so disgusting, so objectionable and so dark, it's really hard to justify how much choice you have to the ease of hitting such a path. As a writer, I find it much easier to write darker tones than experience them, I have hangups that I can justify when I'm in control, but not when I'm not. That said, i see that wanting the reader to find a dark surprise around the corner is awesome and it reminds me of when I was contemplating a dark twist in a fantasy series when I was younger. However, and this is the most 'however' a however, you are playing with people's psyche's here. That may be a bit exaggerated, but it's true.
Some people play games for fun, some just for porn and other want some real indepth story telling with gripping plots. But some people also have lives they've lived, traumas that are still bleeding and things they'd rather not see. These VN's are great for people like that because it gives control in a world that refuses them that same right. So when I say that some people can be triggered by such content when it isn't explicitly said, I'm not messing around. Real life and games are different worlds, and we like to keep them separate for the most part. One is inevitable and the other indulges you of things that aren't possible. GOD DAMN IT! Sorry about that, I'm digressing so much, I'm sure people reading this are frustrated. I'll finish what I wanna say. Basically, people can get fucked if you don't give them a trigger warning for godsakes! They get angry and upset and it isn't pretty.
I'll finish this with my thoughts. I played to the aforementioned point and stopped. I just felt like I needed too. I wanted to confirm my worst fears. And it was true, the Dev made this alternate reality where if you don't walk on eggshells exactly how the plan was set (don't deny Dev, I've read multiple people saying the same), you'd fall into this pit of agony. If I had seen or heard what had happened in that bad end to no fault of my own (I was nice to everyone, I promised to protect them) and I made the mistake of NOT talking to Cassie at the lingerie store instead of Eve and someone gets raped I think I'd delete the game immediately and contemplate giving a heavy F#%k you to the Dev. Punishing your audience for making a mistake is the worst. I don't stand by that. However, I know there is an asshole route where the MC becomes a negative and wholehearted sociopath, that's where that ending belongs.
Dev: Player agency is important and the "ending 7" as you mentioned it has zero agency. "It's avoidable" is not a good excuse to someone that got caught out with that ending. Not following a walkthrough should not punish those that want to try out your game. Some will never return because they feel betrayed. That can't be undone. It's also not a simple matter of "Not everyones gonna like my game, I guess I'm absolved of that responsibility". You always bare that responsibility because you're telling a story to people, not robots.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared to play the game because of the possible traps the Dev has in wait :/ though I don't hold that against them, I just wished they had warned some people. I had to replay the game multiple times to be sure enough I wouldn't get the bad ending
Have a fantastic day Dev!
