That is because of poor writing. I am convinced Waifston wanted us to relate to Elena but failed. And we always end up to the one reason : Waifston is a bad story writer.
It may be harsh. But you have to know what you can do and what you can not when you start something as "important" as the premium version of your game.
I have to be the asshole apparently. I do like Waifston, though, because he does look like he's trying, but the attitude of disregarding advice is getting to me.
This is why I feel Premium Edition will fail -- maybe not financially, but from a quality standpoint. He's trying to tell a story and he has no experience really. A story wrought with unsympathetic nightmares he calls characters. The entire place comes off as a hellhole filled with assholes in the prologue, even trusted friends and family will knife you in the back to feel superior, nobody would want to genuinely live with these people and if it weren't for the crab bucket mentality would likely have fled as soon as possible. Well, that and they're trapped on a fucking island. The only motivation I find believable for the MC and Alice is to get the fuck out of Dodge by having the MC becoming some kind of prostitute to raise funds enough to get off the island. There's nothing redeeming about this place to me. There's no reason any sane individual would want to live there. Like moving to Singapore where they beat the shit out of you for spitting gum out and on the pavement.
And one thing that bothers me... and my memory is faulty, but MC took karate lessons as a kid, right? Why didn't he roundhouse kick the mugger in the Alice flashback like he did Zach? Was it because Zach is a bigger pussy than the MC? Because that just seems to feed the narrative that this entire island is a pecking order of assholes. Waifston comes off completely jaded when he tells the story this way.
As
DA22 said, this is shaping up more to be some generic revenge bullshit, but that doesn't seem to be what Waifston is aiming for. There's nothing romantic here, however, there's nothing charming here either.
And worst of all? I feel Waifston is neglecting any advice you or I give him. I gave him advice back during the Christmas debacle. You don't change established characters. It's a jarring move and it creates a huge disconnect for fans of the game. That's happening here, he may get new fans and good for him. I'm gone, though. The only reason I type this out is because I believe in Waifston despite how negative I am about the present work.
If he wants to fix Elena, and since he seems deadset on being grimdark, he needs to make it that Elena has severe abandonment issues and worked against the MC to keep him on the island and/or near her. If he wants to fix Sophia then she needs to be completely rebuilt, you can't just have a false accuser in a story as that shit is traumatizing for the accused. There are men who still have nightmares from that and never rebuilt their life. It's why I'm actually stunned MC got off relatively light considering. He was bullied by her and everything and I get that, but the thing is Waifston really should try making it more like she's... damaged in that she can't express love without disdain or hatred. Like she got crushed by someone, completely destroyed emotionally and she doesn't want to feel love again. So when MC - for whatever god awful reason she can love the midget - somehow catches her fancy, she goes full rage mode and tries to destroy him to prevent getting hurt. The false rape shit is too far, though. No one recovers from that.
If he wants a serious tone he has to take this shit seriously and make it believable. Being off the cuff and dumb worked for the original because it was that, it was goofy, you can be silly with the plot then. This? This isn't silly. You can't be dumb about the characters. You gotta make sure each and every action follows the chain called motivation.
I like your advice about Alice, though, in that maybe her wild and reckless behavior has led her to find a different fix for the adrenaline rush she had in life. She has a kid, she loves him, she doesn't want to end up dead? What's a good dopamine fix to replace that? GAMBLING! Make that abundantly clear in the narrative, like MC listens in on some conversation, it gives MC motivation to do better because it adds that guilt for him to get off his ass and help her. Because technically? She may not be dead or beaten to hell and back, she is still seeking that fix and the house and everything is up for collateral because she doesn't want to leave you alone. In her mind you got each other, even without the house it's fine. The aunt comes in, smacks her around a bit and buys the house from whoever she lost it to. Auntie explains in no uncertain terms that if she goes back to her old ways, she's out. MC can stay, but she wants Alice out of their lives forever because she's hurting the MC. Makes Auntie just as stern, but also sympathetic because she's looking out for MC.
These can easily be fixed as you said. I just want Waifston to listen to our options on how to fix it. He does need to make MC 5'7" at least, though. I don't know what the metric for that is because I'm a filthy amerimutt, but that's how it goes. Also maybe make him dress a little bit more serious? I feel like that outfit he presently has better suits the old game than this one. Unless the fashion of this island is like North Korea in that they get all their fashion tips from outdated intelligence.
And not to bring drama from another thread, but I find one game significantly more offensive than this one and it's posted on this site. That reason being the author of that is a naive fuckwit regarding politics and is deliberate about it, Waifston is just naive in trying to appease people. He can fix this, he has that ability and I know he does. He just needs to be open to suggestions which doesn't seem to be the case with him. He's far too sensitive and just throws the baby out with the bathwater instead of tweaking things accordingly. I get that feeling, I lived that feeling, that's why I'm being so hard on him about it. If people were harder on me about quitting or throwing babies out of windows with the bathwater, I probably wouldn't be here having a serious discussion about the narrative regarding
a porn game. Not that I don't love you guys.
