Oi dudes! help an old hag with this stupid quotestuff, will ya?
For now like this will have to do...
Oh and uh... sorry in advance, it became a tapestry... *scratching head* hehe...
Siphon
The only reason people actually like this game are the renders/models are solid. I can only assume everyone tripping over themselves trying to claim it is a masterpiece of writing are deluding themselves or just don't have very high standards.
The characters are fairly shallow and aren't very believable at all, and the story feels like something a teenager would write after binge watching The Godfather 50 times. It takes itself far too seriously for its content and seems to think it is revolutionary when it's actually droll. Instead of actually bothering to explain things like rational human beings they prefer to keep thinly veiled secrets just for the sake of being mysterious.
The gameplay is the standard grinding that plagues just about every game, it's not special but it isn't an active detriment.
Renders, as I said before, are great.
Sexual content, as I'm sure you are all aware, is near nonexistent to focus on the 'story'. If the story is good a lack of content is understandable, but as I discussed earlier this is not a good story. I imagine sexual content won't be coming for quite some time, as then the developer wouldn't be able to blame the bad reviews his game gets on anything else.
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First of all, I'll like to say I'm no Fangirl and have no problem with ppl rating a game, that is not to their taste, badly.
But criticism comes with a few things.
So let's hopp onto the bandwagon, eh?
The renders of the game are its Strongpoint. Okay, I can agree with that.
HopesGaming be so kind and point out a game, with similar stunning renders to me. As I haven't stumbled upon one so far.
I really love BaDIK and Melody etc. But their renders... can't match at all to this game.
So with this point we are on the same page.
It is something, right?
The Characters are fairly shallow.
Now that is a very strong argument. Sadly you don't lay bare why you conclude this. All you say are some wild speculations, how the Developer, yes, I'm looking at you, Hopy, might have come to invent those. A discussable Opinion of you? Couldn't find one.
And let's take a few looks at the Characters.
MC. Hey, with him I'd actually agree. He is fairly shallow. But, He grows with the decisions you make. He is not the best MC out there, mind me, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Hopy gives us players enough choices to develop the MC in a direction we want to.
Old Gramps.
Sorry, but the old man and shallow? I never read a more amusing depicted right hand of a crime syndicate, than him.
He is dry as the Sahara but adds humor with exactly that. He has his own past. Enemies, like the father of the Assassin Family and good memories with the kids in the Household.
If you call that Shallow, what do you expect from a Sidecharacter to have?
Shall we read 30 hours of his past 40 years, so he becomes more... I wonder what even? He is good, as he is. And far from being shallow.
Big, Silent Bob err... Mom. Cordia.
What makes this Figure beautiful aren't only her stunning looks.
Damn, Hopy! I'm a married woman and I would go for that lady without blinking an eye!
But what makes her really attractive IS her character.
She has a past, of which we so far only got hints.
A Lady through and through. With the rules of this sinister world down from a to z.
Yet still, she shows motherly qualities towards the MC. Tries even to avoid topics about which she is insecure about, with Gramps. I loved the scene where he tried to nudge her about Luna. It showed wonderfully that she has some things rather NOT all wrapped up and under control.
Again, explain to me,
Siphon, where is she shallow? What is missing?
Do you want a deeply emotional scene from a character purposefully designed to only show a bare minimum of emotions?
If so, I question your qualification to criticize her as shallow, because that would highly contradict the character itself, if Hopy did sth like this.
Let's move on to Luna, shall we?
Luna is a Nutjob. And as one, a very delicate, hard to write Character.
First of all, Hopy earned my respect for her, the way she starts off, and developed throughout the story.
Luna is a crazy, trigger-happy lunatic (giggles, scnr).
IF she stayed this and the storyline about her was only "Yeah... that's how she is, deal with it!" from Hopy, I'd never have rated this game a 5/5 because THAT would have been a shallow character if I ever saw one.
But no. The Character gets one of the emotionally fucked up backgroundstories and we even see it!
She isn't crazy. She is traumatized and never actually got over it. This Character has trust issues, impulse-control issues and a lot more. Which we all get showed why.
Yet again I challenge you to explain to me, in what department she is lacking depth.
Who else... who else...
Ah! Gracie.
Yes. As my last one, I shall pick up Gracie.
come, come. Scoot over to me. Let's take a look at her.
A doted, Genius.
That's really shallow, isn't it?
Oh, wait... No. Hopy made great effort to create a relatable Genius.
Gracie isn't your giggly girly happy go lucky teeny girl to fuck, 5 seconds after you meet her. No, she is a Genius.
Her Brain revolves all-around stuff, normal humans won't even touch without getting their brains fried.
"But Auntie... She is smart isn't any depth at all!" you say now, right?
I hear ye. I hear ye.
But: For a fact, my best friend is exactly this type of human being. A genius. Her head all in some clouds I don't even try to understand, despite being a decorated Psychologist myself.
And Hopy simply nailed it!
Yes, she is smart. But she is socially awkward. Has no connection to things like love etc.
Indeed, she loves her family. But that is all about mimicking behavior my dear padawan.
Point is, you have either a very smart brain or empathy. Both is... let's say as rare as a flying elephant.
Yet Hopy used HIS brain again marvelous to let us barge in on her at night and all she reacts is "Uh... what are you doing here at this time?"
Wanna know what?
I laughed at this. As it fucking nailed it. This was exactly how my friend would have reacted too. While I would have stabbed the MC with something if it was me.
Okay, now we can argue at this point if a mentally challenged person, such as a genius, is shallow as a human being for only functioning on the rationality side.
And Hopy used his brain again. MC is a smartypants too and approaches Gracie from the perspective she can understand and relate. Learning. And she is eager to learn.
Okay. Sending her a hardcore porn... that was a bit over the top. Maybe Hopy got a little impatient himself with the poor girl?
Wrote Novels myself, and I can totally relate to the Author becoming impatient if it drags out over time.
Oooh... Why didn't you remind me on the result of Gracie!
Here we go.
Is Gracie shallow?
Debatable on an illness angle of argument. But as a Charakter in a novel? Nope. She is depicted very lifelike, her reactions fit and still, she is kept likable to go for her. Which isn't easy with such ppl, trust me.
Onto the next train of thought! Choo-Choo!
So... they don't explain their circumstances to random stranger Number 1 as normal rational human beings would do.
Uh... right...
This business would be closed faster than Luna could pull her trigger.
First of all, they grew up being educated to prefer silence over the blind trust.
Secondly in this world Respect is mandatory. Before they talk to you, you have to earn their respect.
Third... If you do that, they start explaining their circumstances. Surprising, eh?
And again I ask. What do you expect from them to do from your perspective?
MC arrives and meets Luna
"Oh hey, stranger. Btw, I'm the traumatized Nutjob of the family, because I got abused, abducted and sold as a small girl. So... don't mind if I stab you accidentally or sth like that, kay? Thx, bye!"
Nah, right?
I won't go over all characters again now.
I say, they have their own pace of telling you their story and it feels right along with the tale Hopy spins.
Explain to me why not and actually use examples and arguments this time?
It's not like you couldn't change my mind if you did.
The Gameplay... Ah, now that really is a point in the beloved Family business.
I mentioned a few things that disturbed me, but they don't hinder the overall experience enough to downrate it to only 4 stars or worse. All those games have to live with the mechanics the engine offers them and despite feeling a bit lost at the beginning it's not sth unusual to encounter.
Aaaah. The Main-Issue I presume? It's okay. You can't fap to this game and this frustrates, I get it.
But an Adult Novel isn't about Porn. Though 99% of the games go that route, it's about telling stories for Adults.
I don't need Sex in a Novel to enjoy it. And don't "yeah yeah. you're a girl, of course you'd say that" me now. I love good sexscenes. Lesbian, Hetero, all together, don't care. BUT, I don't expect or need them! What I search in those Novels the most is a compelling Storyline. And Hopy delivers so far in the game.
I want to know what Big Mum hides from poor MC, I want to see if MC can get close to both Daughters, why he has to die and so on.
And that's what good storytelling is all about my dear. Hooking the reader up, that he demands more.
The Novel wasn't to your taste? That's okay.
Write this. But don't throw semi-professional terms around, without correctly analyzing and criticizing.
Of course, no one can take you seriously with what you did so far.
The Review you presented, the way you argued in here... It only supports the misunderstanding you just skipped through the game to find Fapscenes, which it doesn't offer so far, and did, what all cockblocked would do, blowing your load into the review.
That's why I took my fair time at half fucking past 3 am, to show you, how it is done in a correct and calm way.
Pick up the points I showed to you, and show me your point of view on them in an understandable way.
Let's HAVE an actual discussion. I'm really curious, why you said those things, wanting to understand your perspective.
LG