I want to vent a little, as I feel that game is punishing me for choices that make sense.
I find it a marvelous, brave and uncommon move to make a branching at the beginning of the game.
However for me only one choice is acceptable and the second is unacceptable to that extent, that I even did not check the second.
Sticking with the brother makes a lot of sense imo.
First he is a brother. Blood ties were much more important in the past than they are in the present. From what we can gather from the game it’s likely that’s still the case in this fantasy medieval setting. Second, he is loved or at least liked by MC. She cares a lot for him. Third, he is a lacking king and he needs MC. Both him and the kingdom need MC.
On the other hand we have a friend who left MC. And the main cause of that is that Kate was going to be forced into marriage. Historically normal thing and from the game we also can gather that is the normal case in this fantasy medieval setting. So, not the best reason to leave “the best” friend. Kate is absent for a few years, without contacting MC. When she is back MC can not be sure what her real motives really are or even if she is still her friend. Things look a little more favorable for Kate, if the player decides to make her the lover of MC, but Kate is a lover of MC for a little more than a week (if I’m not mistaken). Acceptable choice for porn game, but weighing a short term lover, who was absent for a long time and MC can not be sure that she can be trusted (convenient time of appearance, and going for being a lover almost right off the bat, pls, not sus at all
) , against the kind brother will always cause me to choose the kind brother.
Thanks to Sancho’s mod I’m aware that I limit the content of the game for myself, but it’s the choice that I’m not going to change with how things currently look in game. Too many reasons to stick with the brother and not stick with Kate imo. Even so, it’s a little disappointing that MC doesn't even have a choice to ask Kate to stay with her. Nor Kate offered to stay with her regardless. It looks sus again. Kate told that MC can be murdered here, but leaves her. What sense is in that? Did she lie about danger or does she not care for her childhood friend/lover?
After the battle, player have a choice to talk to Marrion or Varg. Imo more reasonable is to talk to Marrion, cause his advice was at least partially ignored during council meetings and the princess should show her favor to Marrion, who is the most important noble, brought an elite force with him and participated in battle himself. But I find limiting the choice to agree to his later proposal by talking with him after battle doesn't make a lot of sense for me. Varg also proved himself in battle as an excellent commander, so he deserved the royal favor (princess attention) too. Regardless I can not get how the choice with whom to talk after battle should limit political decision later on.
Political marriage with Marrion makes sense, but if player decide to turn him off, the choice of words of MC is very poor, considering that she was taught etiquette for a decade. Even I can think of much better words while also being taken by surprise. While it differs from country to country, overall historically it was quite common in Europe that it was impolite for the king/queen to directly refuse the plea of his/her subject. There was even a latin term for it, that can be translated to english as “thinking king” (official translation can be different, english in not my first language, nor is latin). King could say that he would think about the matter and usually he thought about it over the years till his death. While telling Marrion that MC needs to think about the matter more, may still cause his insurrection, at least makes more sense given the setting.
Anyway, I forced myself and MC to refuse Marrion proposal, assuming that it cause trouble, and after reading MC wording, being sure that it will cause and stopped playing after confirming my prediction. I’m not willing to play that branch, as that fallout could easily be avoided. I’m much more interested in what problems will appear after the marriage with Marrion ( or what prevents it from happening) as I doubt that it will be a lovely and happy union.
I’m aware that the game is not finished yet, but it’s v. 0.8 and choices that make sense imo cause that you can play it for about an hour (more or less, depending on how fast you read), which looks quite short, considering that release date is Jan 18, 2023.
Thank you for reading!
PS. There is a problem with MC’s eyes. In 2 scenes the player can read that she has brown eyes, while the art suggests blue. And the text shows that Kate is present during one council meeting, which makes no sense.
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