Two weeks into the game and I got to the point where the story says they accept their new body, but the way it happens didn’t quite sit right with me.
I started with the male origin*, did a lot of stat grinding, and took my time going into the promiscuous stuff. The image I had in my head was that they didn’t necessarily hate this but did want to just go on with their life as they had before; Samual or Samantha, they’ve got more important things to worry about; they’re open to trying feminine things when introduced to them, especially if by their sister or friends, but the familiarity of hanging out with the boys and being a bit of a tomboy is comforting to them. That’s basically how I tried to RP things.
*disclaimer that I have not tried the female origin for comparison.
I’ve really liked the content and its pacing up to this point, with Sammy adapting maybe a bit more quickly than is realistic, but more importantly at a steady pace that works for the story and has kept gameplay from getting stale.
However, the change at the two-week mark felt comparatively jarring and made me think I’d missed some option. This is mainly because it is the first time something happened in the game that didn’t seem at all within the player’s control and broke from the way I’d interpreted Sammy during those first two weeks.
Hence, I came to the thread to find out what had actually happened here (I since read all the posts I could find, including the dev’s own explanation).
It now mostly makes sense to me what this is meant to represent but I still don’t feel like the Former man origin perk should necessarily disappear entirely.
I’ve really liked the dialogue that addresses their origin but I hadn’t even noticed it was being brought up less frequently until explicitly told I was at a cutoff point.
I also feel like even if they are completely coming to terms with their new body, even preferring it to the old one, it is presented more like they outright forget their past/I’m now being made to play the game with a new character.
Unlike the hidden stat I read about, the perk is simply either there or not. I feel it would be better handled like the change from having the Virgin perk to gaining the Technical virgin perk.
i.e. if the perk stayed but the description were to becomes less negative/retrospective:
- no longer - “I used to be a man, then some fucked up science experiment turned me into a girl…”
- but for example simply - “I’m a girl due to that science experiment” or “I’m a girl in this new life”
As for the stat modifiers, they suit me more than the alternatives but if they need to be removed (e.g. if for balancing or thematic reasons) I wouldn’t so much mind them disappearing like with the aforementioned perk. Alternatively, it’d be cool if the soft transition of Sammy becoming used to their new life then extended into those status effects becoming progressively more minor in the days following their decision to embrace their new identity.
Of course, since I enjoyed it in the early game, it would be nice to see mention of the male origin appear occasionally later on (e.g. inside jokes with people in the know), but again I don’t think I’d even have noticed that had stopped if I wasn’t told about it.
On the other hand, the perk suddenly disappearing makes more sense to me if it is presented as an epiphany that they were always trans female, rather than just accepting of the new body, but again I think it would be good for the player to have freedom there.
Notes unrelated to the above:
- There’s occasional minor dialogue that doesn’t make sense (e.g. encouraging Robin to hang out with the boys and then in a later conversation she let’s you know she’s played with them before she logically could have).
- The male roommates get mentioned a fair bit but I haven’t seen hide nor hair. I guess they’re future content to look forward to?
- Robin mentions safety in going to and from the beach together but, unlike the School journey, I haven’t figured out a way to go together. Is that not implemented yet?
- Some of the things that happen when you’re very horny can be strange, though I suppose it’s probably unfeasible to account for every scenario. E.g. Sammy thinks that the boys will help them “cool off” if they go to the sports field, but then they run to the lockers when you start trying to head that way, or… I genuinely did a double take here, when they thought “I’m so horny” followed by “I wonder if I can catch a bird”.
- Emile disappearing is treated VERY casually by Sammy, to the point that for a while I assumed she just had a very restricted schedule, until it finally came up in conversation by the old lockers. It would be nice if they expressed some concern and/or if there was a given reason for Sammy to initially assume Emile was just too busy to visit.
- Failing persuasion during whoring does not seem to have any actual consequences. Is that part of this “danger content” that was removed?
- Similarly, I thought there’d be downsides to going commando (e.g. discomfort or increased danger in certain clothes, pants or skirts respectively, for example), but it seems only bras have an effect and that is only on Sammy’s allure?
- The number of showers you need to take daily seems excessive. It’s like the scientists that put your body together accidently used five peoples worth of sweat glands.
- The friendship interactions have seemed as well written as the sexual parts, which is exactly what I look for in these games, it adds a lot of charm and depth to the world, love it.
I wanted to give thoughts on my experience since I’ve enjoyed it a lot thus far, but then I’ve gone and left it a couple of weeks since I last picked the game up, so I hope my feedback is coherent and that I didn’t forget anything (or ramble too long).
