VN Ren'Py Completed The Interim Domain [v0.31.0] [ILSProductions]

[PaxHadrian17]

The Director's Cut will be landing here soon and for those interested in trying the Harem ending, it can only be achieved on the Hard setting (which is pretty unforgiving).

I strongly recommend using the WT when you try it to avoid missing enough Qi points that you cannot get to 600 Qi for a 'win' over Ifuma.

There are a number of new scenes and Many new renders per the dev logs posted here so enjoy the replay when you get the time.

Cheers!!

 

[taler]

The Director's Cut will be landing here soon and for those interested in trying the Harem ending, it can only be achieved on the Hard setting (which is pretty unforgiving).

I strongly recommend using the WT when you try it to avoid missing enough Qi points that you cannot get to 600 Qi for a 'win' over Ifuma.

There are a number of new scenes and Many new renders per the dev logs posted here so enjoy the replay when you get the time.

Cheers!!

I assume you're a patron? How come this game didn't make it into your sig.

Also I am turbo mad that there's an update i just completed and deleted my saves holy shit.

 

[danb35]

Info about the director's cut has been posted quite a bit in this thread (probably since shortly after the game was completed). It sounds like it includes a lot of rewrites too--looks like I'll be starting over.

 

[Bloodguard]

I assume you're a patron? How come this game didn't make it into your sig.

Also I am turbo mad that there's an update i just completed and deleted my saves holy shit.

Fully enjoying the director's cut will involve starting a new game. So, no big loss on the saves.

 

[taler]

As promised (or threatened?), some thoughts on the endings:

• I expect your preferences for endings will be closely tied to your preferences in the LIs
  • Though Marisa and Anita did swap places for me--Anita was my #1 in the Interim; Marisa's ending edged her out. I don't know that I can explain why that is, though.
• I came in wanting a harem ending--I really like all (OK, almost all--Natalie still doesn't do anything for me) the LIs, and didn't want to have to choose one (hence my now having played through almost all of them). But the solo endings are so wholesome and heartwarming (OK, I'm a bit of a romantic, so sue me) that I've mostly changed my mind--yes, it'd be nice to be with all the ladies in the reborn world, but I don't believe it would be nearly as emotionally satisfying.
  • I'm not even sure about the throuples. Mira/Polly do seem like an obvious one, as do Marisa/Anita. Robin/Tina probably as well. But I have the same reservation about them.
• The "no one" ending was, IMO, pretty sad. I know, what did I expect from a "no one" ending? Well, I thought MC might meet someone completely new (though if I'd thought harder about that possibility, and the work the dev would have had to put in to make it happen, I'd probably have realized that wouldn't happen). Or, once the side character we'd seen earlier popped up, that he might get together with her. But nope, he goes through life alone, then dies. There were a couple of nice Easter eggs in this ending, but it isn't what he said he'd wanted.
  • Though the lead-in didn't work as well with this one. With all the LIs' endings, the "but there was something else, though. Something I was promised..." works. But for this ending, it doesn't--MC asked, literally, for nothing, was promised nothing, and got nothing.
• All the endings except Mira's, though, kind of leave you thinking you should have gone with Mira. Sure, you have a great life with your loving wife, but you still think, "Fuck it, I missed Mira. She was the best friend I ever had."
• To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that Anya's ending was a surprise. But if you were looking forward to the MILF, you'll be disappointed.
• The Cycle gave more than it promised--it said only that the chosen LI "would subconsciously know that you[] two are linked." But it's clear with each of them that there's an immediate, and strong, attraction. The degree of "I feel like I know you, but I don't know why" (or at least the degree to which it's expressed) varies, with Kara being most direct (and most unnerved) about it.
• Selene frankly frustrated me
  • I get it, she has her own shit to deal with, right in line with the theme of the entire game/story. And unlike any of the other human LIs, she remembers who and what she was before and during the Interim. "You should hate me. Why don't you? You saw the woman I was." Unlike the other human LIs, her issues were largely her own; they weren't forced onto her (though in classic Greek fashion, all the LIs had at least some responsibility for the situation they were in). And MC plays the Archon one last time, I guess.
  • And what should MC have hated her for? Her life before the Interim? People have pasts; they change, and it's not like she'd done anything to him. The way she treated him initially? Sure, she acted like a bitch, but hadn't they gotten over that already? They were surely on good terms before the end.
  • She also doesn't seem to account for (though she's fully aware, and even mentions) the fact that MC chose her, and "a girl might feel special if she knew" that. And regardless of how you rank the LIs, I think anyone would agree that she had several who were tough competition. So, knowing that, she tries to keep him at arm's length, and he shows the patience of a saint. All's well that ends well, I guess, but...
  • I recognize that I'm looking at this logically, and emotions aren't particularly logical. But still, frustrating.
• Why was Mira wearing an engagement ring when she first met MC?
• Really liked both Mira's and Polly's endings. Between the two, slightly favor Mira's, just because she comes to understand MC's loss in sending the other LIs on--which, as I'd mentioned earlier, wasn't as hard as I'd expected, but was still rather painful (and that's for me, playing the game that's telling this fictional story).
• I don't know about Tina. Or really, that she wasn't quite Tina. New-Tina was still very attractive, and a bit more feminine than old-Tina. The character was very much the same. But the model seems to be missing what made Tina, Tina.
• I really enjoyed Sammy's ending. It was good to see her a little less high-strung, without the purple hair, and a less-stressful family situation. I liked her a lot as it was, and it was nice to see her a little less stressed-out.

Regarding the endings, I was very surprised on the changes to Tina and selene... why? The other girls got taller, makes sense to me if bad childhood conditions stunted their growth, but making selene and Tina smaller makes no sense both narratively and from a player expectations standpoint.

Selena is easily the hottest.

If its a going back in time scenario I'd expect the MC to have picked up some bitcoin or Nvidia stock...

The endings really failed to sell me on a new love story. It felt largely magical, like a gift from the cycle.

Plot is basically fate stay night lol.

While I'm excited for the Harem ending, and its probably too late for such comments, id rather have some fun small harems where it makes sense, even if unethical and culty. Stories of Marissa letting us have a couple of mistresses on the side, having Anya, Kaitlyn, Tina together. Keeping both selene and Natalie, and Mira and polly.

But maybe the Harem ending is that just altogether? But if altogether the believablity and logistics can get bad enough that it impacts enjoyment. Still looking forward to it.

 

[taler]

Mira/Apollyon is my favorite throuple possibility as well.

The idea of two beings eternal wanting to set aside their immortal existence (for at least a time) to enjoy a mundane life with one mortal man, because of everything they went through together, is very appealing.

I think one of the lessons the dev learned is that there should have been some 'in AVN' guidance/rules re: timing for helping the different women (for ex. = the more time spent away from any of the people you are trying to help, the better the chance that they will become a remnant, something Mira could have conveyed as part of coaching the MC).

This would have been a legitimate prompt to get the player to advance the different women at something closer to the same pace, making it easier to then avoid some of the plot/continuity breaking bugs that you and others discovered playing one full path at a time.

I'm hoping that the DC addresses this in some fashion.

My experience was very different than yours - you played a completed AVN (less the DC) while I played TID from the beginning, playing as much content as I could with the limited choices that were available with each monthly release (so no way to play anything like a full path before starting another woman).

Spoiler: Learning curve recognition (IMO)

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Cheers!!

A very good decision to make the cast smaller on the third game. The same sounding characters is a giant problem, even ifuma sounds the same lol. Reading the reviews a bunch of people mentioned this as a reason for dropping. It didn't feel that bad in N&T because of the small cast. She was his daughter and her best friend, makes sense to sound similar, but the more diverse the cast is the more it feels like bad writing.

 

[danb35]

The other girls got taller, makes sense to me if bad childhood conditions stunted their growth, but making selene and Tina smaller makes no sense both narratively

I'm taking all those differences as "things are very similar here, but not the same," not specifically "they were malnourished in the Interim version" (and really, the ones that most likely would have fit that--like Robin--were quite tall in the Interim anyway). So some people will be taller, some shorter, and that really didn't bother me either way--except with Tina. And it's not because she was shorter as such, but the whole look was different. Not bad by any means, but also not Tina.

Selena is easily the hottest.

Of the humans, yes, but I'd say Polly beats her hands down.

On the harem ending, I'm torn. I came into this wanting one, but I found most of the solo endings to be very emotionally satisfying (with Selene and Natalie as exceptions), and I just don't know that a harem, or even a throuple, ending would do that for me. But I guess I'll see.

 

[taler]

Yeah the solo endings makes the most sense character wise and I'm happy to treat the Harem ending as the developer intended, which is a for fun non canon fanservice bonus.

For the char changes i really don't get it. I felt it was clearly communicated both with the phrasing to the cycle, "continue the world" and the fact that everything was identical, eg Walt, the world, no differences were mentioned aside from the stuff that he "fixed" that it doesn't make sense to me that selene would be shorter. It wasn't like, everything's respun, new genetics for everyone. It just doesn't make sense, though it ultimately it doesn't matter that much. Just a very odd choice on the writers part.

I'm taking all those differences as "things are very similar here, but not the same," not specifically "they were malnourished in the Interim version" (and really, the ones that most likely would have fit that--like Robin--were quite tall in the Interim anyway). So some people will be taller, some shorter, and that really didn't bother me either way--except with Tina. And it's not because she was shorter as such, but the whole look was different. Not bad by any means, but also not Tina.

Of the humans, yes, but I'd say Polly beats her hands down.

On the harem ending, I'm torn. I came into this wanting one, but I found most of the solo endings to be very emotionally satisfying (with Selene and Natalie as exceptions), and I just don't know that a harem, or even a throuple, ending would do that for me. But I guess I'll see.

 

[danb35]

the fact that everything was identical

But it wasn't. It was very close, but it wasn't identical. Yes, Walt still had the 'Stang (and Kara remembered it), but he and MC got along better. Everyone (that MC interacted with, and therefore that he checked on) had a better life, not just the one LI he picked. Kaitlin's car accident never happened, Robin wasn't abused by her father, Sammy's parents were less controlling, Bud had a girlfriend, etc. Obviously the geography was different. So, very similar but different.

In the same way, the LIs are immediately recognizable, but not quite the same. And frankly, new-Tina is probably more conventionally attractive than old-Tina, so there'd be a fair argument that it's an improvement. But to me, she's lost at least some of what made Tina, Tina.

 

[taler]

But it wasn't. It was very close, but it wasn't identical. Yes, Walt still had the 'Stang (and Kara remembered it), but he and MC got along better. Everyone (that MC interacted with, and therefore that he checked on) had a better life, not just the one LI he picked. Kaitlin's car accident never happened, Robin wasn't abused by her father, Sammy's parents were less controlling, Bud had a girlfriend, etc. Obviously the geography was different. So, very similar but different.

In the same way, the LIs are immediately recognizable, but not quite the same. And frankly, new-Tina is probably more conventionally attractive than old-Tina, so there'd be a fair argument that it's an improvement. But to me, she's lost at least some of what made Tina, Tina.

It was AFAIK the same except for the changes he made in the Interim. He got along with Walt better, correct me of im misremembering AFTER he returned with more maturity. Explicitly everything about his home life was the same up to that point. But the cycle improved the LIs lives where he saved them, which is emotionally a good reward for the end.

Now though this makes it feel ick with making girls shorter if it feels like making tiny and selene smaller was what MC subconsciously wanted for them or if the writer thought that it would be their ideal state.

 

[danb35]

He got along with Walt better, correct me of im misremembering AFTER he returned with more maturity.

Walt took the initiative. Yes, MC is more mature and therefore more responsive to Walt's approach than he likely would have been in his pre-Interim days, but Walt takes the initiative to talk with MC outside the home, the first evening of MC's new life.

But the cycle improved the LIs lives where he saved them

I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here, but by and large, at least, it improved their lives by eliminating whatever issue they were having trouble letting go of in the Interim. Bud (not an LI, of course) wasn't stuck on Sammy, Sammy didn't have her overly-controlling parents (nor did Roe), Robin's father hadn't abused her, Kaitlin's accident hadn't happened, Anita's mother was still around, Marisa wasn't such a basket case, etc. Anya was kind of a special case; her ending meets her at a very different time in her life than we'd met her in the Interim. But I do like that we see them all and know they're all OK, even if we're only with one of them (except for the threesomes).

 

[taler]

Walt took the initiative. Yes, MC is more mature and therefore more responsive to Walt's approach than he likely would have been in his pre-Interim days, but Walt takes the initiative to talk with MC outside the home, the first evening of MC's new life.

I don't know if that counts as a change as it still happened after, and could've been prompted by MC subtly, eg being open to him instead of shutting up in his room or avoiding walt. If the writer wanted to show changes he could've done so easily with something else.

I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here, but by and large, at least, it improved their lives by eliminating whatever issue they were having trouble letting go of in the Interim. Bud (not an LI, of course) wasn't stuck on Sammy, Sammy didn't have her overly-controlling parents (nor did Roe), Robin's father hadn't abused her, Kaitlin's accident hadn't happened, Anita's mother was still around, Marisa wasn't such a basket case, etc. Anya was kind of a special case; her ending meets her at a very different time in her life than we'd met her in the Interim. But I do like that we see them all and know they're all OK, even if we're only with one of them (except for the threesomes).

Well this is what I'm saying, I largely agree with you here. I was just pointing out that this means the writer intended for Selene and Tina to get smaller as them eliminating a problem, as no other changes were ever shown in any other context, I'm led to believe that the world stayed the same, just problem removed. In world you can sort of think of it as like the Cycle rewarding MC for his achievements in the Interim. To be clear I don't really care as this is a good game and this doesn't really impact my opinion on it, but that was just what I was pointing out.