I don't want to get into examples of specific games or to 'name & shame' VNs that have terrible MCs, because I don't want to turn this into a bashing session, but allow me to make a general plea to developers: stop making generic, unlikeable, garbage MCs.
And yes, that includes the wish fulfillment crap where women drop their panties for cardboard MCs who have all the personality and depth as a piece of cardboard. I write fiction, I understand the idea that your protagonist should act as an 'empty vessel' for the reader to insert themselves into. But here's the thing: no one wants to be a pathetic, useless man who needs massive amounts of plot armor and author fiat for anyone to believably be romantically interested in him. Note that I am *not* complaining about the games that are little more than 3D/animated fap sessions. I'm talking about games that ostensibly claim to have a story.
I understand many devs are not writers, but are rather animators/artists. So here's a helpful guide to creating a basic character: Your character should have feelings. They should have motivations, interests, desires, goals, and - *most importantly* - they should have FLAWS. They should make mistakes. They should fail (sometimes). They should have weaknesses that lead to seemingly obvious missteps. They should learn and improve.
In other words, MCs should at least somewhat resemble human beings.
What's absolutely crazy to me is how many games out there follow all of the above suggestions to creating a character... but ONLY for love interests/women, while the MC is still a useless, entitled, Gary Stu piece of shit. Like, you obviously can write characters well, why do you still make the character I'm supposed to play 'as' such an unlikeable piece of shit??
I've come to love NTR games simply for the joy of seeing the realistic outcome of a useless character 'losing' the girl.
And yes, that includes the wish fulfillment crap where women drop their panties for cardboard MCs who have all the personality and depth as a piece of cardboard. I write fiction, I understand the idea that your protagonist should act as an 'empty vessel' for the reader to insert themselves into. But here's the thing: no one wants to be a pathetic, useless man who needs massive amounts of plot armor and author fiat for anyone to believably be romantically interested in him. Note that I am *not* complaining about the games that are little more than 3D/animated fap sessions. I'm talking about games that ostensibly claim to have a story.
I understand many devs are not writers, but are rather animators/artists. So here's a helpful guide to creating a basic character: Your character should have feelings. They should have motivations, interests, desires, goals, and - *most importantly* - they should have FLAWS. They should make mistakes. They should fail (sometimes). They should have weaknesses that lead to seemingly obvious missteps. They should learn and improve.
In other words, MCs should at least somewhat resemble human beings.
What's absolutely crazy to me is how many games out there follow all of the above suggestions to creating a character... but ONLY for love interests/women, while the MC is still a useless, entitled, Gary Stu piece of shit. Like, you obviously can write characters well, why do you still make the character I'm supposed to play 'as' such an unlikeable piece of shit??
I've come to love NTR games simply for the joy of seeing the realistic outcome of a useless character 'losing' the girl.