[Ep. 3] Spoilers below.
After several recommendations, I've spent the past several nights playing this game, and I'm really glad I did.
I like the characters. Most of them are fleshed out and three-dimensional. Even the villains are compelling. The setting is tropey (hot stranger moves into a house full of single models) and there is plenty to complain about (huge dick, every woman immediately falling for MC) but there is also plenty to like.
I liked the ease of sexual banter with non-MC men. Lucas' quips with Lucy at the nightclub were fun. Likewise, it's good to see women chasing one-night stands for a change. Nadia and Nicole both knew what they wanted, and it wasn't romance. Nicole in particular was amazing.
As for the main LIs, the only one that's been a hard pass for me is Alexa. She's cute, but a teenager is still a kid, despite her protestations. She is clueless about relationships, sex, and even basic human anatomy. It just feels wrong to pursue her. Besides, could you really be in a relationship with someone who enjoys
Sunshine Love?
![Stick out tongue :p :p](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I'm glad we got to see her acting and meet her friend group. It shows that she has a good life outside the MC and while she
wants him, she doesn't particularly
need him. I really like that!
Lucy is nice, but feels underdeveloped. She's little more than MC's sidekick and doesn't really exist outside that relationship. She could use some attention from the dev.
Valentine is lovely. I admit I've found her off-putting initially, but she has shown tremendous improvement in a very short time, perhaps to an unrealistic degree. I find her job irksome (as I do IRL) but it doesn't seem to dominate her life - it's just work. And then there is Sam. I'm glad he isn't a clichéd monstrous ex. He's merely an ordinary man who lost his way and made some terrible decisions, but he seems to be on the right track and genuinely wants to make amends. His presence provides fertile ground for Valentine's character growth, and I thought it was handled very well. Svetlana pushing Valentine towards forgiveness, and encouraging her to talk to Sam despite his abusive past was great to see.
That brings us to Laura. Hot women with dead husbands are an AVN cliché. It's usually nothing more than a story device to create a sexually frustrated woman who simply must have MC's dick. Well, Laura is anything but that. I love the way the game deals with unexpected loss. It's very gentle, careful and realistic. By all accounts, Andrew was a great man and Laura is still deeply in love with him despite the passing years, and feels horribly guilty for being interested in another. She knows her reaction isn't rational, but grief rarely is, and MC is uniquely well positioned to understand that. It wasn't rational for him to abandon his education and a promising future career to revive a derelict bar either, but he did it anyway. It's a nice juxtaposition to Laura's situation, and gives them common ground. I particularly liked her dream where she accidentally mentions MC to her husband. It's a compelling way to address her inflict conflict, and trying to make sense of her past and present. She is the only one I have eyes for
I tried to keep my choices as true to life as possible; to choose as I would have done in those circumstances. That means a young man who wants to have some fun, but isn't willing to risk hurting the people he lives with and cares about. That translates to sticking to one-night stands that wouldn't get anyone's feelings hurt - Nadia, Nicole and Lily, but not Elena or Coralie.
I've also passed on sleeping with Lucy for similar reasons. She is gorgeous and has history with MC, but it felt like she wasn't the casual sex kind of girl despite seemingly offering it. I felt extremely validated in my choice when I read the script and what do you know, she is exactly the kind of person who asks "are we a couple now?" after sex
![Big grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but the one I was really interested in was Laura, and I wasn't willing to risk a love triangle.
I'm also a fan of the Alexa/Elena story line. It's not a path I took, but hurting someone you care about in a major way for short-term pleasure, and then having to slowly, painfully rebuild that relationship is not something you see in VNs. It's so messy, toxic
and real!
I also love that, no matter what you do, Valentine falls for MC and confesses her love. I care
a lot about LI agency, much more so than player agency. It is so rare for developers to force players into uncomfortable (but real!) choices like that. MisterMaya deserves massive kudos for it!
This review is already way too long, so I'm going to stop here and urge everyone to give
The Entrepreneur a shot. It's well worth your time
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)