CarbonBlue Hmmm...
Just played the game for the first time. You've made distinct characters, which is really cool to see, and of course they're very good-looking. However, in-game I can't imagine the MC having anything but an absolutely abysmal first impression of any of them except Olivia. Shannon immediately assumes he's a pervert and threatens to cut his dick off - if any girl did this to me in the first five minutes of speaking to them I would actively avoid them as much as possible and absolutely shit on them any time they tried to approach me because hey, fuck you bitch. Angel tries to get me in trouble with my host by flashing her tits. This too would not go over well; I'd be thinking "What a whore" and - again - avoid her (she's not worth getting in trouble with the person keeping a roof over my head). And lastly, Maeve whispers weird shit in my ear and pops in and out at random. What would I do about that? You guessed it: avoid the freak. Even Olivia spoils her first impression by getting shit-faced within a day (understandable, and congrats to her for selling the house, but...) which leads me to suspect she has an alcohol problem.
To be clear, I do like the characters. I also like how unique they are. But I can't imagine anyone coming away with a positive impression of someone threatening to chop their nuts off before even really getting to know them, or someone you went out with once and got drugged (their fault or not, would anyone really want to ever go out with that person again?). It's not that the MC couldn't grow to love these characters, it's that the weird shit they do hits him like a tidal wave before he's even had a chance to wade into the shallow end. On a meta level, cool, distinct, colorful characters. In-universe though, not people you'd want to associate yourself with based on first impressions. You see what I'm getting at? I really hope this doesn't come across as a "yOuR ChArAcTeRs SuCk" rant, because that's not at all what I mean or how I feel.
Am I thinking too much "in-character"? I don't see why I shouldn't - surely that's part of the fun, treating the scenario as though you were there. I want to take your game seriously, because it seems like it deserves that. But in doing so, I am repelled from basically everyone. Not
repulsed - I want to make that clear - but repelled, as in, I wouldn't want to spend any time with any of these people, and certainly not do them any favors (except Olivia, who is providing me shelter). I wouldn't comfort Angel, I wouldn't go out with Maeve, I wouldn't sit and play Jeopardy with Shannon. Their first impressions are so bad that I would never get to (or even want to) know them if these things actually happened, at least not for quite some time.
I don't see you drastically overhauling your game based on my comment alone, so I'm not sure what I'm shooting for here. I guess I just wanted some reassurance that turning them down will be an acceptable playstyle for awhile, at least until we have the opportunity to get to know them better. If the awful first impressions are intentional, which they seem to be, please please allow us to play accordingly. I like the characters. I like their quirks. But the MC needs time to discover their good sides before he could possibly be fine shouldering their
heavy baggage, you know?
Oh, one thing I would ask that I think is a small change is please can we not get railroaded into "peeking" on Shannon when she's not even doing anything interesting? I don't think that changes much at all - she seems like the sort to make that stupid knife joke in the middle of the first night regardless (terrible, terrible, terrible impression of her from this lol). I thought the railroading with the names was funny and clever, but this choice didn't seem all that important and I don't get why the MC would care what she's doing at this point (we can see it's nothing interesting through the crack, no peeking required). This change wouldn't even necessitate any more renders or anything, you just move us on to the next scene. Though, as I have no experience with game design, maybe such a change would be a lot of work after all, idk.
I also didn't like getting railroaded into suggesting I had my eye on anyone to my dad - must have pressed the "No-one's caught my eye" option 50 times (we became lifelong rivals, this choice and I
). Eventually I just gave up and said Olivia, but I have to ask - why is this vital? Why can't I just say no-one? I'm being genuine here, no spoilers but does this actually set something up?
Thanks for reading all this. I want to reiterate that I have a positive overall impression of the game, and admire the imagination that went into creating these characters. Well done! They all stand out. I also appreciate your hard work and look forward to more! I suppose all this came from the fact that I did enjoy the game, which is why I held it to a higher standard in terms of choice. If I should stop considering my choices and just play for shits and giggles, let me know and that's what I'll do!