- Mar 15, 2020
- 575
- 1,121
- Thread starter N7
- Start date
- Dec 24, 2018
- 3,137
- 6,582
Honest thoughts after finally finishing The DeLuca Family v0.07.
The Godfather DeLuca is back, and it was a really, really welcome return.
The Breakdown
Main Story:
With the restart, going through it all again was, I'd have to say was a quite pleasant and emotional experience, even though I went through most of the previous storylines before. Additions such as MC and his future rival Dominico's first meet, or alteration to MC and Leliana's greetings again in "Fly, White Bird, Fly!" were little touches, but they actually added to the whole connective tissue of the narrative and I liked that.
With the Eiza's sister rescue missions and its aftermath, well I loved it.
MC's engagements with various characters in the Stealth Team, from Serpent, Caterina, Amata (damn her lines just cracks me up, her & Caterina's banter might just be the best part of the rescue mission in terms of dialogues), Amita was just too fun, and even with characters like Siobhan (a new character we encounter in the Rescue mission) I loved it.
Others we know such as Gildart, Onorina, Elita, Angelo, Battista, Michael, Pelata, Gray, Bionde and many others, lots of interesting (or eccentric) characters are present.
And of course, we have interactions with Eiza, as well as Cordia, Luna Wilfred and others, we all know and love. This just comes to show that Hope's writing still remains top notch.
A lot of awesome/interesting things happened in this update in terms of narrative in the main story, and I'm looking forward to the game's future.
Contracts - narrative and characters:
Now, the first part of the Contracts I'll discuss will be, the narrative and the characters in it.
The 6 contracts which arrived with this update had all very compelling narrative that I liked to various degrees (come to think of it, I don't think there is any contract that I disliked in terms of its narrative).
With Contracts, we gets to meet some characters first here before we meet them through the main story (unless the player went with VN only mode), such as Leliana Jokren, the nuns Amita and Amata,
In terms of characters, I particularly liked how the Bonan contracts really fleshed out Leliana's character which we didn't see too much in Isabel's "Fly White Bird, Fly!" event.
Even characters like Amita and Amata, while we don't get to see as much in the main story, we still get a welcome introduction as to what sort of characters they are with MC's contract with them.
And characters such as the jewel lady we meet in the Nimble Fingers, even though I'm getting the feeling she's likely to be contracts-exclusive character, has me really looking forward to MC's next meet with her.
Other interesting characters would be the old man in Nimble Fingers contract, as well as the friendly dog (perhaps it's just me, but I kinda hope we get to see this dog in main story too, heh. Might be a very welcome pet for MC)
In terms of their story, as I said above, I liked them all, but perhaps the one that I was particularly impressed with the "The Painter" contract's narrative. A long-running narrative of that Contract with the mystery of what happened, and the whole story especially after I reached the true ending I felt was very touching.
All in all, kudos to Hopes and all the community writers of these contracts. You all did a very well done job, and I'm looking forward to more of these Contract storylines and how these game characters get more fleshed out through them.
Contracts - gameplay
I have to be honest, at first the new gameplay in the Contracts system I felt frustrated with because I was not used to it, and wasn't strong enough. But as I spent more time playing them, I grew to like it quite a bit.
In the beginning, it does feel like there is a little bit of grind (but not overbearing) because you as a player don't have enough good items to equip the MC, and in early stages there are considerable expenses to spend even in the main story as well (such as MC's cameras, Gracie's jeans with holes, Isabel's wines, Luna's shoes etc etc),
But there are events where you earn money as well (such as Beach Prison event, Promotion event), as well as Contracts itself giving money as its reward.
So soon after starting the game, I think I was trying to balance my money making decisions to where to spend my money first etc.
A big mistake I was making also was that, I was just jumping in these Contracts expecting to 100% them all in my first try, but that wasn't the case and hence the frustrations. But with more playthroughs, I realized that wasn't the case. The point of these Contracts was to be played multiple times, and see the player's MC evolve over time with better equipment, and better stats compared to the previous try, until we get to the point where we 100% the contract itself, getting everything.
In some ways it felt a bit like solving a puzzle, or a rubik's cube which I previously didn't know the solution to before (but getting the immense satisfaction when I finally crack it). So they really grew on me, and I enjoyed them quite a bit.
Swapping in and out the equipment to do a contract better than I have done before, and whenever I passed an attribute test (e.g. Perception passed etc) which I failed previously, it was good to see (such as in a Bonan contract, if you fail a Perception test, you get nothing, but if you pass it next time, you share a kiss with Leliana).
I've mentioned The Painter Contract above in the narrative section as well, but having enough stats in Threat, Intelligence etc to finally get the true ending for that one, it was really worth it.
Plus, Special Renders rewards, a lot of them are pretty darn cool (and saucy
).
To conclude, perhaps others may feel differently about it (and that's fine), but I loved this update.
The Contracts were a welcome addition as a whole, and the main story additions did not disappoint.
Thanks HopesGaming for another great update, and I'm already really looking forward to your next one.
Now, some questions:
1) Who did the Chibi characters design? They look sooooooooo good. I'm guessing when we get Cordia update, we'll be getting her Chibi design as well. Any chance we'll see more of them? Eiza? Caterina? Amita? Amata? Wilfred? Antonio? Serpent? etc?
2) So we currently have Chibi Isabel as one of Special renders. Will other girls Chibi designs also be Special Render rewards in the future?
3) Are we gonna find out
?
4) Any chance we can sell our old, obsolete equipment back to the shop rather than just discarding them? My guess is, with higher ranked contracts, shops will have higher priced equipment also. While we're likely to have increase in income with Promotion and other events as well, I actually think it might be great if shops can buy our old equipment back at second hand price (like 70% or 80% of original purchase price).
It would fit with MC's in-game personality too, with how he reacts to expensive things.
5) (Not sure whether you can say anything about this, but) will we get to visit Isabel's former workplace "The Daring Flamingo" a bar of the underworld (possibly for Isabel's Netori or even Friendship path, to dig more into Antonio's secret life)?
6) In Antonio's bio, it says he dislikes the Profaci Family. Will we find out why in a later arc?
7) So far, I have gotten every single Special Render except Milky Luna. Is that Render not available yet in this update?
The Breakdown
Main Story:
With the restart, going through it all again was, I'd have to say was a quite pleasant and emotional experience, even though I went through most of the previous storylines before. Additions such as MC and his future rival Dominico's first meet, or alteration to MC and Leliana's greetings again in "Fly, White Bird, Fly!" were little touches, but they actually added to the whole connective tissue of the narrative and I liked that.
With the Eiza's sister rescue missions and its aftermath, well I loved it.
MC's engagements with various characters in the Stealth Team, from Serpent, Caterina, Amata (damn her lines just cracks me up, her & Caterina's banter might just be the best part of the rescue mission in terms of dialogues), Amita was just too fun, and even with characters like Siobhan (a new character we encounter in the Rescue mission) I loved it.
Others we know such as Gildart, Onorina, Elita, Angelo, Battista, Michael, Pelata, Gray, Bionde and many others, lots of interesting (or eccentric) characters are present.
And of course, we have interactions with Eiza, as well as Cordia, Luna Wilfred and others, we all know and love. This just comes to show that Hope's writing still remains top notch.
A lot of awesome/interesting things happened in this update in terms of narrative in the main story, and I'm looking forward to the game's future.
Contracts - narrative and characters:
Now, the first part of the Contracts I'll discuss will be, the narrative and the characters in it.
The 6 contracts which arrived with this update had all very compelling narrative that I liked to various degrees (come to think of it, I don't think there is any contract that I disliked in terms of its narrative).
With Contracts, we gets to meet some characters first here before we meet them through the main story (unless the player went with VN only mode), such as Leliana Jokren, the nuns Amita and Amata,
In terms of characters, I particularly liked how the Bonan contracts really fleshed out Leliana's character which we didn't see too much in Isabel's "Fly White Bird, Fly!" event.
Even characters like Amita and Amata, while we don't get to see as much in the main story, we still get a welcome introduction as to what sort of characters they are with MC's contract with them.
And characters such as the jewel lady we meet in the Nimble Fingers, even though I'm getting the feeling she's likely to be contracts-exclusive character, has me really looking forward to MC's next meet with her.
Other interesting characters would be the old man in Nimble Fingers contract, as well as the friendly dog (perhaps it's just me, but I kinda hope we get to see this dog in main story too, heh. Might be a very welcome pet for MC)
In terms of their story, as I said above, I liked them all, but perhaps the one that I was particularly impressed with the "The Painter" contract's narrative. A long-running narrative of that Contract with the mystery of what happened, and the whole story especially after I reached the true ending I felt was very touching.
All in all, kudos to Hopes and all the community writers of these contracts. You all did a very well done job, and I'm looking forward to more of these Contract storylines and how these game characters get more fleshed out through them.
Contracts - gameplay
I have to be honest, at first the new gameplay in the Contracts system I felt frustrated with because I was not used to it, and wasn't strong enough. But as I spent more time playing them, I grew to like it quite a bit.
In the beginning, it does feel like there is a little bit of grind (but not overbearing) because you as a player don't have enough good items to equip the MC, and in early stages there are considerable expenses to spend even in the main story as well (such as MC's cameras, Gracie's jeans with holes, Isabel's wines, Luna's shoes etc etc),
But there are events where you earn money as well (such as Beach Prison event, Promotion event), as well as Contracts itself giving money as its reward.
So soon after starting the game, I think I was trying to balance my money making decisions to where to spend my money first etc.
A big mistake I was making also was that, I was just jumping in these Contracts expecting to 100% them all in my first try, but that wasn't the case and hence the frustrations. But with more playthroughs, I realized that wasn't the case. The point of these Contracts was to be played multiple times, and see the player's MC evolve over time with better equipment, and better stats compared to the previous try, until we get to the point where we 100% the contract itself, getting everything.
In some ways it felt a bit like solving a puzzle, or a rubik's cube which I previously didn't know the solution to before (but getting the immense satisfaction when I finally crack it). So they really grew on me, and I enjoyed them quite a bit.
Swapping in and out the equipment to do a contract better than I have done before, and whenever I passed an attribute test (e.g. Perception passed etc) which I failed previously, it was good to see (such as in a Bonan contract, if you fail a Perception test, you get nothing, but if you pass it next time, you share a kiss with Leliana).
I've mentioned The Painter Contract above in the narrative section as well, but having enough stats in Threat, Intelligence etc to finally get the true ending for that one, it was really worth it.
Plus, Special Renders rewards, a lot of them are pretty darn cool (and saucy
).To conclude, perhaps others may feel differently about it (and that's fine), but I loved this update.
The Contracts were a welcome addition as a whole, and the main story additions did not disappoint.
Thanks HopesGaming for another great update, and I'm already really looking forward to your next one.
Now, some questions:
1) Who did the Chibi characters design? They look sooooooooo good. I'm guessing when we get Cordia update, we'll be getting her Chibi design as well. Any chance we'll see more of them? Eiza? Caterina? Amita? Amata? Wilfred? Antonio? Serpent? etc?
2) So we currently have Chibi Isabel as one of Special renders. Will other girls Chibi designs also be Special Render rewards in the future?
3) Are we gonna find out
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content.
Log in or register now.
4) Any chance we can sell our old, obsolete equipment back to the shop rather than just discarding them? My guess is, with higher ranked contracts, shops will have higher priced equipment also. While we're likely to have increase in income with Promotion and other events as well, I actually think it might be great if shops can buy our old equipment back at second hand price (like 70% or 80% of original purchase price).
It would fit with MC's in-game personality too, with how he reacts to expensive things.
5) (Not sure whether you can say anything about this, but) will we get to visit Isabel's former workplace "The Daring Flamingo" a bar of the underworld (possibly for Isabel's Netori or even Friendship path, to dig more into Antonio's secret life)?
6) In Antonio's bio, it says he dislikes the Profaci Family. Will we find out why in a later arc?
7) So far, I have gotten every single Special Render except Milky Luna. Is that Render not available yet in this update?
- Mar 14, 2018
- 609
- 524
- Sep 2, 2020
- 57
- 93
I believe its from one of the "Cultivation" mangas. might be an anime as well.It is awasome
- Jul 1, 2019
- 1,655
- 858
For forgive me if I misunderstood but wasn't it already revealed that his mom was one of the original serpents?
- Dec 1, 2019
- 8,766
- 14,877
- Apr 29, 2020
- 803
- 1,906
- Dec 1, 2019
- 8,766
- 14,877
- Dec 24, 2018
- 3,137
- 6,582
That would basically contradict Cordia's answer to MC in her office scene that Rina (MC's mom)'s ex-fiance isn't MC's father though, unless she is lying.
And to be honest, I don't think Cordia is someone who outright lies to others. She may keep the truth hidden by not saying anything (like not telling MC why he has a contract with the DeLucas), but her reply then was definite "No." more than anything.
- Apr 29, 2020
- 803
- 1,906
If i remember correctly MC asked cordia if she was his real mother to which she said no, nothing about his father.
- Dec 24, 2018
- 3,137
- 6,582
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content.
Log in or register now.
- Dec 24, 2018
- 3,137
- 6,582
Then she goes onto say she didn't go through with the marriage, and when MC ask why, she just says "a lot of things happened"
- Apr 29, 2020
- 803
- 1,906
When MC says father he is talking about the man that left his mom which he considers his father so of course cordia would say no so she is not lying. If he asked if he was his real father then we would know for sure.
- Jun 8, 2020
- 2,419
- 12,491
Not only that, but Serpent seems a little too young to be his father, and seems to hate his father......A LOT
- Dec 1, 2019
- 8,766
- 14,877
The latter wouldn't convince me. Self hatred of a former self and acting like it was a different person has happened in literature and movies. (Okay, movies also skip the age issue by having both the 16 yo daughter and her 40 yo mom being played by 25 yo actresses, but here it may be a point)
- Dec 24, 2018
- 3,137
- 6,582
Well we're talking about this with the assumption that "Serpent" is Rina's ex-fiance aren't we?
What MC's basically asking to Cordia here is whether that man seen hugging Rina in the photo (i.e. Rina's ex-fiance) is his father (biological ) or not, in which she said no.
Afterwards, he asked whether Cordia is his actual mom, and she replies Rina will always be his biological mom.
So it would basically conflict with established lore to have "Serpent" as MC's biological father.
"Serpent" basically hates MC's father (which was evident in his first meet with MC), and even Cordia notes that MC looks so much like his father (in her character bio in the beginning of the game).
Both cases just won't make sense if "Serpent" ends up being MC's real father, as well as contradicting what Cordia said to MC, as I said before.
What I think likely happened is, after MC's actual (biological) father abandoned him when he was so young, time and time again "Serpent" came to visit Rina (my guess is even though everything that happened with Rina calling off the engagement, he continued to love her, and continues to love her even to this day), and became fond of MC in his own way.
That's how I think MC has some memories of "Serpent" from his childhood (saying his voice feels familiar, soothing). Not because he is MC's biological father, but because he acted more of a father towards MC than his real father did himself.
- Apr 29, 2020
- 803
- 1,906
Serpent being his father is just an assumption but him being the former fiance i'm pretty sure about that. It has been stated by different characters that serpent even acknowledging a nobody like the mc is unheard of. He can't be just watching over the child of his former love. Maybe he is not the real father but the plan is for him and cordia to become his mentors/parents, i mean cordia is already giving the motherly love while serpent is trying to teach him to be more ruthless/disciplined.