You can in fact win... Or at least get good non-death endings in every path. They are just very hard and will take a lot of trial and error. You should indeed not go to sleep with a tasty fish on you.
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Super late response but man, you are reading my mind. This is literally as if someone picked on my brain and put it into a comment when I wasn't looking.No, I didn't "misread" at all, my post was a complaint, not of confusion of game intent; I know this particular game is heavy on the escape, and not the staying, I'm mainly complaining about all of Gatobob's games, and using this as an example to realizing where she's going with her work. I just remember way back when, when Gatobob was advertising Boyfriend to Death, they had this heavy hitter "opening statement"/advertisement (seen on reddit and even on their homepage, I believe?), that said something along the lines of "This is a dark romance game/don't play if you can't handle it/the point of the game is to explore psychological abuse/for people who like dark romances/Fetishes by fetishist" yadda-yadda. If you google search for any "mature/adult otome" or abusive/toxic LIs, Gatobob is as much a favored name as Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome is to porn games for women.
Now, I get just because Gatobob begun with a toxic romance game doesn't mean they have to stay that way, or didn't/can't change their narrative, I'm saying that none of their games have that feeling that it wants you to enjoy S&M, despite being heavily S&M and reaching out to people who likes that kink. You only get the S&M parts when you mess up, maybe one or two "soft core" (yes, I'm a little far gone) scenes to set the mood, but everything else is reserved for if you "lose" (Yes, I also know some people like losing).
Gatobob came up when Bad Ends were the popular/sane approach to enjoying toxic/kinky shit, clearly they were inspired by Japanese games that saved rape/abuse for bad endings (like Amnesia, to name a few). And I remember people were very vicious to Gatobob for even making BFTD, so of course they needed disclaimers and Safe, Sane, Consensual spaces; this is kind of a thing developed between dark topic writers, we discuss allowing "aftercare" pages/trigger warnings/and hard stop buttons (I will even do so myself, for my own dark works) so the masses don't accuse us of glorifying rape/hurting people. Just because Gatobob is very considerate and found a healthy avenue for keeping sane, doesn't mean she intended to work on shaping people's mental health and producing content that picks "the right thing to do".
IF Gatobob's games are to attract people who prefer to "escape psychopaths", they wouldn't be so heavy handed on the abuse and futility of the situation (Silent Hill doesn't advertise sexuality with Pyramid Head at all, so it's ridiculous to expect that; Gatobob lays rape by LI pretty bare, so, of course I'm expecting it. I was asked if I was a virgin, and blond fuck really liked my answer, what else am I supposed to expect when he buys me? Little Shit didn't even take it); I get it's horror, but vanilla people who don't want the abuse couldn't even stomach Gatobob's intros, let alone the full game, and kinky people who like the horror and abuse will be very disappointed in that you can only get the abuse when pursing failure/bad ends. <--- that's my point.
Of course, I'm sure there's a middle ground of people that likes what Gatobob is doing, (some kinkster that loves the horror, but simultaneously wants to cockblock it???) the world isn't black and white, different strokes and all that, but I just think the development of their games are... off. It's strange to make an abusive, toxic, gore, dark topic game, but then have not only the playthrough, but also the endings (the prize for people who play VNs), to be narrated in avoiding all of that delicious "abusive/toxic/gore"? In the end, it kind of makes you question why even play, if the goal is to not experience it?
Gatobob is stuck in, what I call, the "Bad Ends" trap, that's why they still make a game where there's multiple Bad Ends (with all the good kinky shit), but a few (usually 1 or 2) Good ends, with either the "Yeah, I showed that asshole" satisfaction, or the, my favorite, "Uh-oh, they still got me!" satisfaction. The point of all of Gatobob's game is to naturally fail, get your S&M kink high, then when you've learned how to play, and ready to reach the "true end", avoid all the S&M and "escape" (the path I had to take to get the end I wanted avoided majority of the horror). Making games where the highlight of abuse/violence is in failure, in a game that's valued in its abuse/violence, is what I mean when I say the intent is wrong; Gatobob clearly favors abuse/toxicity, but their games only allow me to indulge in it when I fail, making me kind of resentful at losing.
I believe the real problem is that I don't like "Bad" ends, and I don't like failure; I find that many "Bad ends" even the "good ones" are... lackluster. I don't play my VNs to reread/skip through already played content, to try and "solve the case", I play my VNs to enjoy the story, and for the romance (I understand that this particular game may not have had romance in mind). I don't want to replay games, I want to make choices and enjoy that my choice gave me a satisfactory end (I play romance VN for the relationship dynamic/buildup, not the adventure). Gatobob's games are design for you to flounder and replay, it's sort of impossible for anyone to ever get those 2 "good" endings on their first play through (I clearly used a walkthrough, because I know Gatobob likes random events, and throwing curve balls), and if you did magicallycheatinglyget the good ending on the first run, the story turns very mundane, as now all the abuse/violence has been avoided.
My point is, making a horror game that stimulates S&M, then saving the S&M for "Bad Ends" feels like a subvert of the kink; I played the horror to get the horror, I didn't play it to avoid it. I'd avoid it to avoid it. Making the kink something players regret picking kind of tells the player to regret that kink, and I know Gatobob likes S&M/abuse fantasy, so why would she encourage avoiding it? Or, at least, that's how it reads to me. (I get it if other people don't pick up on this)
BTD2 is the only game of hers that I actually felt like it rewarded you with S&M, and not punished you; plus all the endings were satisfying to me, reaching them had equal part horror in it (I think the truly "bad" ends were achieved by just being absolutely obstinate, and boring the psychopath to your death). Even the escape end still gave you the experience of the abuse. Obviously I only played Derek in this game, so I don't know how Celia and Mason go in their endings, but from what I heard of other comments, I'm not too far from the money on them being just like Derek. (I'll be playing Mason a little later... just... disappointed...)
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I know this is out of order, but I'll go check that TINR comic out, I really do love Gatobob, and have been following them for years, but I hadn't checked up on their website in a long while, and didn't know they had more things, I didn't even know they were making THIS game, (last time I looked, long long ago, they were working on some "Doll" game...? That was supposed to be their special baby, or something? Did their website change? I know their little group split, or something...). I did remember they had a comic going, but totally forgot in waiting for its update, thanks for the reminder!
Yah, my big rant is above, I get what you're saying, but my complaint isn't that I'm saying they "can't", I just believe that Gatobob is stifled from indulging in a true yandere game (I use the term yandere, because it encompasses my meaning to love the psycho); maybe it's not what they want, that's fine, but it's feels misleading. Just as a recap, I remember hearing posts from Gatobob about finding the courage to post dark romances, I believe she even said people gave her shit for BFTD (I remember internet articles/posts freaking out over the game, and it really isn't even that bad); people really do give you shit for your kinks and fantasies, I'd know, I'm kin with Gatobob in this. Even I once imagine making a game where you get to "escape"/"stick it" to the abuser, from fear of the masses booing me off the stage; now in my maturity, I don't give a fuck, I love Yanderes, and I'm proud game developers have come this far to not shy away from making them.
I'm not blaming Gatobob for satisfying all parties, if she wants to add an escape to her games, that's fine and dandy, I don't want to take that away, I'm saying that the narration focuses on the escape, and not on the kink, even though the game is more satisfying in the kink; I feel she put more energy in "killing" the abuser, than being "abuse" by the abuser, and I'm disappointed (like, really, I felt giddy for the rape, and MC only get mouth raped, once, I know it's primitive, but give me that PIV; my kinky ass instantly thought "tsk, weak~"; tis why I listed those games that focus on riding that high.
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Onto your request, gosh, I wish I could list all my old games, I have them stored on my PC somewhere (might of deleted a few), I'll have to go through them to really find them to recommend; but to be completely honest, what you're looking for doesn't exist... yet. Most games like Love Lock is still being developed, and may very well be abandoned for all I know.
Plus, almost all the games I've played doesn't have erotica in it, either the characters are sex-less, like some damn kids cartoon, or you get a "fade to black"; I do recommend looking atYou must be registered to see the linksstuff, they're the best in Yandere/crazy romances. The tone is a little cliche/basic, but it's fun if you don't mind on the nose content. Also, if you haven't, check outYou must be registered to see the linksother works, they're in the same vein as this game, so don't expect much, but Gatobob got the erotica for sure. Most of the games I've played are old/amateur stuff, that won't live up to the quality of Gatobob, or even Love Lock's play; I've a few Japanese game recs, but they're no where as gritty as English games, the closes I can get to is Diabolik Lovers, but don't listen to the community, it's very, very tame (in the context of the thread we're in). Ephemeral - Fantasy on Dark's yandere is pretty... something, but it's more psychological/emotional abuse than physical, I was just impressed with how... shit that man is.
I don't know what you mean by "YAOI style", I'm assuming you mean anime/Eastern? You're going to be hard pressed to find Western art with Yandere/abusive LIs, because Westerns are still squeamish about GTA, let alone rape romances, and people who like that stuff, first find it in a Japanese medium that continues to influence them. I have a few Choice of recs (maybe 1 or 2; I will, and I have, killed for Winter Umf~
I was actually mildly disappointed with TPOF - the art is beautiful, the ending with the... Forest Spirit is breathtaking, some things had my heart pounding... But it was a *survival* game at the end. I thought, okay, it's my fault - i didn't manage my expectation correctly... And then your comment blew my mind because it's my exact same complaint. I am not playing a dirty murder game for survival. Sure, I actually did kind of enjoy those aspects but it also further leads to the critique of the game - survival aspects are not developed enouh because you don't have that much options - it's a narrative game after all. But then the narrative is not as strong because a lot of the game, you spend alone trying to survive, and a lot of it is done alone.
Maybe people with harder kinks than mine enjoy this game more but, well, I *am* a masochist and the outright gore and survival doesn't really hit, especially without the aspect of sexual violence. The threat of it, the dirty talk is incredibly exciting. Seeing our character violently torn apart? Eh. My favorite, in terms of pure hotness, is now ironically, the free update of Ren. He genuinely got my heart pounding, he *felt* like a sadistic LI. From the original trio - Derek is the most exciting and he's still a dissapointment. As you've pointed out, he's excited by the possibility of sexual violence and ruining a virgin, the oral feels like foreplay for further sexual torment and then... Nothing. *Sigh*. Sex felt a bit out of place in the Mason route if I'm being honest (I was in pure survival mode for the most of it, I didn't care about him at all) and Celia... Something is just missing with her. She doesn't feel particularly original at all - she's just your standard dommy mommy with depth. The gameplay when she's not present is genuinely mind-numbingly boring, especially when you're not going for the 100% escape ending. Her ending just feels... Strange and rushed.
Gato is both inspiring me and frustrating me into wanting to make my own games lol. The unashamed violence/sex mix is incredibly inspiring to us dark content enjoyers but the lack of romantic and sexual interactions is an unfun mental edging that makes me want to create something I would be satisfied by lol.