Adding my two cents to the discussion about the girls and the dojo/elemental skill exchange thing of the game:
They're martial arts manhua tropes.
The girls (at least up to Karen) are strongly influenced by martial arts manhua tropes.
The whole book/scroll from which you can learn shounenized wuxia kungfu techniques is also a staple trope of Chinese martial arts fiction, including how the elemental schools compete with each other, having secret technique books that are prime currency in the world ofmartial arts ToT, and fighting each other for them.
I found just replacing all mentions of 'magic' or 'power' with 'qi' made it obvious for me.
The game also states 'villainesses,' so that's exactly the kind of characters you'd find in it. It's a defeat/getting corrupted fantasy. So the girls are more defined by how they can break and corrupt Ethan. (Whereas in MGD, the girls actually want to coexist or get into a stable relationship)
Subjectively, I'm somewhat in the Lily camp. After five floors of unrelentingly sociopathic girls, she was a breath of fresh air (ha!) who has a clearly-stated goal and some visible vulnerability. Bo Wei's disdain for her actually turned me off the game, because that meant the sociopathy is what the authors like. I like the harsh femdom, and I have smell fetish, but I got tired of the heavy-handed approach and the feet.
I like Crow, though. Not just the armpit content, I found her mercenary (literally) approach is also distinct from the others.
...but couldn't they just post her and Swan as 7F and push Kaori up a floor... or something?
It's just labeling, but it makes us feel like we're getting nowhere.
I'm not making any statement about the writing. Tropes used and the direction of the game has little to do with Koda's writing aptitude and techniques.
But I understand how writing can take a lot of mental energy, and maybe Koda should lower his own expectations juuust a little.
They're martial arts manhua tropes.
The girls (at least up to Karen) are strongly influenced by martial arts manhua tropes.
The whole book/scroll from which you can learn shounenized wuxia kungfu techniques is also a staple trope of Chinese martial arts fiction, including how the elemental schools compete with each other, having secret technique books that are prime currency in the world of
I found just replacing all mentions of 'magic' or 'power' with 'qi' made it obvious for me.
The game also states 'villainesses,' so that's exactly the kind of characters you'd find in it. It's a defeat/getting corrupted fantasy. So the girls are more defined by how they can break and corrupt Ethan. (Whereas in MGD, the girls actually want to coexist or get into a stable relationship)
Subjectively, I'm somewhat in the Lily camp. After five floors of unrelentingly sociopathic girls, she was a breath of fresh air (ha!) who has a clearly-stated goal and some visible vulnerability. Bo Wei's disdain for her actually turned me off the game, because that meant the sociopathy is what the authors like. I like the harsh femdom, and I have smell fetish, but I got tired of the heavy-handed approach and the feet.
I like Crow, though. Not just the armpit content, I found her mercenary (literally) approach is also distinct from the others.
...but couldn't they just post her and Swan as 7F and push Kaori up a floor... or something?
It's just labeling, but it makes us feel like we're getting nowhere.
I'm not making any statement about the writing. Tropes used and the direction of the game has little to do with Koda's writing aptitude and techniques.
But I understand how writing can take a lot of mental energy, and maybe Koda should lower his own expectations juuust a little.
