Their relationship is another one of the main reasons why SG is my favourite AVN. I mean, the whole concept of them connecting through similar experiences of trauma and ostracization is not the kind of connection I was expecting from an AVN. So far, no other relationship in all the AVNs I've played has resonated with me more than Bella and MC's. Maybe Kindra and the MC of Artemis may eventually get there, but nothing else so far has come close. I personally think that Bella's currently one of the best female love interests on F95, and the crazy thing is that she may not even be SG's best Love Interest. As much as I love Bella as an LI, I have a hunch that she won't be Ocean's best.
I genuinely believe that as time goes on and SG receives more updates, it'll become the best AVN on F95. Once the dialogue's fixed and the dev cycle shrinks(amongst other problems), it'll undeniably become one of the best AVNs on this site if it isn't already. Lol, I haven't even mentioned the lewd scenes. Although I don't care much for them, SG's popularity will surge when the first lewd scenes are added. I see so much negativity for this game, but just last year, SG had almost half as many patrons as it does today. Its growth is crazy. That's why it is not out of the realm of possibility for Oceans to complete this game. Everyone ignores just how much it grows with each update in both popularity and supportღ
I think as more of the paths are revealled, we'll have a hard time deciding which shared trauma we follow. Bella wears her trauma like a trophy, as does Nika: it is evident to everyone that they have some form of dysfunction. Nami's trauma is eivdent, as well as a superficial level of Mila's, Sonja's and Victoria's respective traumas. As the story unfolds and we see each of the LI and support characters on their own merits, I think we'll have a harder time: trauma can't be compared, and each path with be a move towards healing trauma, it's simply Bella's path (and trauma) has been central to the opening of the plot.
I can imagine Damian's trauma being relevant, and the other guy in the basket ball team (Sai) to pushing elements of the plot. It won't only be the LI that have issues that will be explored. I mean, Ayua probably will have high levels of trauma as a legacy from WIAB...
Sacha and Nia are possibly the most interesting to me right now, because their trauma's are not clarified.
List of potential traumas tugging the ol' empathy index:
Ayua: presumably left with all the easter eggs from Miru and Willi, most of which will be a slow burn so Ocean doesn't reveal too much of WIAB ahead of it happining in WIAB. Also, as part of the Zane clan, it might be partially her uni, eventually, guess it depends on how much breeding in WIAB ends up being canon.
Sacha: so much innuendo, the scar suggests many alternative things, yet her interactions with the MC show she has a hard, icy front, with internal gentleness.
Mila: obvious caste traumas, but I'm sure there will be more subtlety about the abuse from her parents, whether or not just simply the abusive situation they find themselves in.
Nia: she's already shown that she hides behind revealing herself, I'd say in some ways she's the opposite to Sacha - a warm exterior hiding fragile heart that has had too many disappointments.
Victoria: the obvious trauma is only the begining, and is almost a plot crutch. I think as we see her inner frailty behind her smiles more, her character will develop complexity. Her and Maja's shared trauma regarding their parents will have a place, considering how the Frohn's were mentioned in the pre-reworked WIAB (considering it was right near the end of that original version, chances are they'll be part of WIAB in some way).
Zara: her competitive nature and feelings of inferiority causing her to overcompensate will be heartbreaking. I dread to think what might happen if a callous MC breaks her heart with infidelity.
Marla: finding out how her trauma develops and why she was seeing Amber already prior to the crash (that's the way I understood it anyway) might also reveal a lot of easter eggs about WIAB.
Nojiko: there will hopefully be some exploration of how she adopted Nika and Nami, as well as the connections to WIAB.
Damian: the abandonment/need to prove himself to his mum.
The Holgersons: How the hell did they go so bad from WIAB? Does Zoey disown her brother?
Aziz: I feel like he might end up having some significance being a support for Nika, having overcome his traumatic experiences with reporters.
Sai: I'm guessing he'll provide levels of conflict with Nika.
Nadia, Vanessa seems to be some of the few LI's without trauma (currently) to explore. I imagine some of the background characters will also be normal enough as this list is already more than enough to really explore.
Long post, but the point I wanted to make is the way the project has grown, these characters are some of the most convincing and genuine characters in any of the VNs. There's no way that they plot can be shortened and still have impact. It'll be done when it's done and I'm glad there are writers who don't think that the sole plot point is "when does the MC get to bang the milf, will there be pregnancy???" or "here's a story of how one penis walks around the entire block without seeing 1 STD". I literally have zero interest in the lewd aspect: I'm completely ambivalent towards it, the story is compelling. No problem with the lewd aspects, but if you removed lewds from most other VN's, you just have an MC walking between rooms or houses, no plot left.
So yeah, the negativity is surprising, as the level of detail and care shows Ocean's detailed commitment to the story. I don't even see WIAB as a separate thing, it actuall feels like it's the real season 1, being co-developed with season 2. I think something to consider is that haters are always more active. The extremes of fans and haters tend to dominate the discourse, but there are more moderate people who don't engage in the discussion, and are happy just to see the development when it happens. Or (unlike me) they have an easier time ignoring trollish comments. I get way too triggered by the radom accusations, and I'm not really invested. I just hate bullshit when it's clear Ocean is grinding away to do his best to find new ways forward, flaws and all.
