Honestly, I'm not impressed at all by this game after the first two updates. There are a couple of things I have huge problems with, and it worries me that Mr Dots' games seem to get gradually worse.
One of my issues with Sunshine Love is the premise itself, where I found it extremely hard to sympathise with the MC. His actions and his character strike me as indecisive and conflicting. For example, in the background, he does not appear to care whatsoever for his sister, and her mere presence annoys him. However, in a complete turn of events, he kisses her and confesses his undying love, which just doesn't make any sort of sense based on how their relationship has been up until then. After they leave, 10 years go by without the MC and his sister speaking. A time he uses to work towards his goals and develop a new life, making you think he has somewhat moved on. When she calls, though, he is incredibly eager, and is ready to help her with the hotel almost without batting an eye. This just feels off, especially considering how their relationship was when growing up. Finally, even when she lies to him and he gets pissed, he remains helpful, dedicated and optimistic as if nothing has happened.
The games wants there to be conflict and uncertainty between these characters, but it never leads to anything. When they show that he is annoyed by her, in the next scene, it turns out he actually loved her with all his heart. When they don't talk for 10 years, he still wets his knickers with excitement at the prospect of leaving his current life and helping out a person to whom he has a questionable relationship. When they fight about her lying/when he thought she wanted to kiss, the next scene is them cooperating as a perfect team. This is unbelievably indecisive, causing you to just end up in some weird middle-ground where the story doesn't know where it wants to go and the characters constantly contradict themselves.
However, my main issue with the game is the spookily flat, dull and bland writing. This is also the aspect that has worsened the most in recent times with Mr Dots' games. Honestly, here are some examples from this update:
"The grease, sediment, and solids that enter the plumbing system can lead to lengthy and expensive repairs, so it's good to protect your plumbing by using a grease trap." Who the fuck talks like this? Am I supposed to believe that this is something a real person would say? The entire kitchen scene with Victoria makes me wonder if I am reading dialogue or a pamphlet with householding tips.
"He brought four cupcakes home, but Mom accidentally gave one to Rosa, not realising that there were only four cupcakes in the bag" This line is not so bad, until you learn that it is said by a NINE YEAR OLD CHILD. What nine year old talks like this? It sounds like a robot! I'm not even sure the word accidentally is in a nine year old's vocabularyfor crying out loud.
"Even though I've expressed my desire to change things around here, they're very intent on keeping the same look for now." Again, maybe not so bad, but who in the hell talks like this? "Expressed my desire"? It's sounds ridiculously formal, which ruins the immersion.
All the dialogue is like this: it doesn't sound like real people talking. Instead, it's formal, flat and rigid, as if they are English butlers. Unfortunely, the consequence of uninspiring writing is that the characters become bland. They all talk the same way, with the same formality and politeness, like they are attending a job interview or something. No one ever says anything unexpected or quick-witted. It becomes boring to read, because you never get upset, never smile, never raise your eyebrows, never anything. Sunshine Love's writing is what the result would be if you trained an AI on thesis publications and asked it to write a dialogue between two people.
All in all, this has made for a pretty lackluster experience so far. It makes me worried that Melody got exactly this way towards the end, and that DMD might be heading in the right direction. Mr Dots has everything needed to make great games, but when it characters contradict themselves, are hard to sympathise with, and all sound like textbook professors, you can't help but wonder what the hell went wrong.
