VN Ren'Py Unraveling August [v0.3.04] [AugustEsoterica]

[Simulacrum29]

It's tough to reply to this, because you critique the lack of player agency, and I think that's valid. About the equals thing.. well, she got the jump on him and with a blade to his throat, there's not much he can do.

there's not much "you" could do. MC is a Black Ops Operator and had probably the occasionally knife at his throat while serving. Also pretty sure that they learn to counter stuff like that in CQC training.
And Valentina being stronger because of Magic? Maybe she has that gift, but she herself said it wouldn't be a pretty battle between them, and even more important MC has no clue if or that she can use magic, so why shouldn't he make a move?

He seems totally inapt at that moment.

 

[Dark Silence]

there's not much "you" could do. MC is a Black Ops Operator and had probably the occasionally knife at his throat while serving. Also pretty sure that they learn to counter stuff like that in CQC training.
And Valentina being stronger because of Magic? Maybe she has that gift, but she herself said it wouldn't be a pretty battle between them, and even more important MC has no clue if or that she can use magic, so why shouldn't he make a move?

He seems totally inapt at that moment.

Wait. Is this what everyone is in an uproar about? A magically gifted ho attacking a badass soldier? Well, unless she has on boots of stealth and gloves of Hill Giant strength or potions that are equivalent, I don't see that happening. Soldiers, especially black ops trained, have a sixth sense sort of and it would be pretty damn hard to get the jump on them. So, I'm with the naysayers on this one.

But I still think the dev can write what he wants. If he wants a magical floof to appear and piss on everyone for no other reason than he can, that's his perogative.

 

[Fazed]

there's not much "you" could do. MC is a Black Ops Operator and had probably the occasionally knife at his throat while serving. Also pretty sure that they learn to counter stuff like that in CQC training.
And Valentina being stronger because of Magic? Maybe she has that gift, but she herself said it wouldn't be a pretty battle between them, and even more important MC has no clue if or that she can use magic, so why shouldn't he make a move?

He seems totally inapt at that moment.

He sort of did make a move. He literally moved away from her in the space of 2 frames. Albeit prompted by Akira, but he did move. Just chose not to attack. MC says : "I have to stop messing around. Just because I am back home doesn't mean I'm out of the shit"

A magically gifted ho attacking a badass soldier?

ok now it's time to get nerdy

...Last time I checked in the realm of fantasy, unless the mundane "warrior/soldier/fighter" archetype has a pocket healer or other external protection they will get stomped by magical enhancement or wizards all day long.

So lets take magic out of the equation here. The truth is we actually dont know what Valentine is capable of. We know nothing of her background. She could be psycho child soldier that has been forced to fight and kill since she was 5. Who knows? The point is all we have to go off of is what Akira and herself said about a hypothetical match up.

 

[Simulacrum29]

Wait. Is this what everyone is in an uproar about? A magically gifted ho attacking a badass soldier? Well, unless she has on boots of stealth and gloves of Hill Giant strength or potions that are equivalent, I don't see that happening. Soldiers, especially black ops trained, have a sixth sense sort of and it would be pretty damn hard to get the jump on them. So, I'm with the naysayers on this one.

a "Maybe" magically gifted ho, it isn't even a fact that she can use magic. The elves can probably that's why Akiras dad want their cooperation and its inferred by the cluelessness the princess had with everything that's related to tech, but they are probably few in numbers.

 

[zeph19]

there's not much "you" could do. MC is a Black Ops Operator and had probably the occasionally knife at his throat while serving. Also pretty sure that they learn to counter stuff like that in CQC training.
And Valentina being stronger because of Magic? Maybe she has that gift, but she herself said it wouldn't be a pretty battle between them, and even more important MC has no clue if or that she can use magic, so why shouldn't he make a move?

He seems totally inapt at that moment.

I'll go with "he just isn't a fucking dumbass". This shit isn't your typical Van Damme or Jet Lee movie where our guy just jumps up, does a helicopter spin kick and then proceeds to kick the shit out of Valentine, Akira, and the 100 foot soldiers that will storm the classroom to make shit even cooler and more satisfying for you.

Valentine's just as strong, maybe stronger even than he is and obviously either stealthy, fast as fuck or using magic. Why risk getting his throat slit in a situation where his enemies obviously want to talk and not kill him? He makes no move because not making one is the smarter decision.

I never said Valentine's stronger because of magic, I'm saying that in a world where magic and magical beings seem to exist, I can accept a psycho chick in heels being skilled enough to be a real threat to our still very competent MC. If you think that's stupid, so be it.

 

[Raziel_8]

there's not much "you" could do. MC is a Black Ops Operator and had probably the occasionally knife at his throat while serving. Also pretty sure that they learn to counter stuff like that in CQC training.
And Valentina being stronger because of Magic? Maybe she has that gift, but she herself said it wouldn't be a pretty battle between them, and even more important MC has no clue if or that she can use magic, so why shouldn't he make a move?

He seems totally inapt at that moment.

Yeah that scene let's him look completely inapt, not Valentina as particular stronger or anything.
He is a trained soldier, maybe black/spec ops, they are in an empty classroom, Valentina is in plain sight and is playing with a weapon and the MC does notice this...and somehow she can sneak on him, with high heels...

I mean, if she doesn't have some kind of magic/superpowers than this simple him a complete morron, like there is no way someone can sneak on you on this conditions. But as you said, if she does have some kind of powers of that sort, it should be easy for her to kill him, which she said it wouldn't.

 

[Fazed]

I mean, if she doesn't have some kind of magic/superpowers than this simple him a complete morron, like there is no way someone can sneak on you on this conditions. But as you said, if she does have some kind of powers of that sort, it should be easy for her to kill him, which she said it wouldn't.

While it seems to be a fantasy setting, lets keep combat magic out of it since we quite literally don't know. The "elves" are still enslaved/hiding despite supposedly being able to use magic.
Anyway, her being particularly light on her feet or having some sort noise suppression doesnt help much in an all out fight.
Thats the thing with magic, it could literally be anything. We just don't know.

 

[ciberma7865]

While it seems to be a fantasy setting, lets keep combat magic out of it since we quite literally don't know. The "elves" are still enslaved/hiding despite supposedly being able to use magic.
Anyway, her being particularly light on her feet or having some sort noise suppression doesnt help much in an all out fight.
Thats the thing with magic, it literally be anything. We just don't know.

We know that she is the (sole) bodyguard of an rich heiress (who's already active in family business), that she is a know killer, and that she have (had? don't remeber if she said that they are dead or not) trouble with her family. So personaly I would bet on an assassin or a ninja

 

[CoffeeVortex]

I think one of the biggest things I took from the game and what people are saying here is the feeling of disconnect between the first chapters and the latest and between what we see and what we are told. The first 2 chapters, especially chapter 1, create a world that is quirky but have a darker side and the characters fit that and the options you are given match that too. Even the montage and the interaction with Lucas at the start of chapter 3 match that.

However, in the first chapters Sam is shown as quirky, sexual, and independent, and probably with the whole sleeping blowjob thing with Lily I think people expected that to be who she is, but with no on screen build up she changes to be aggressive, petulant (maybe understandably since we don't know the past yet), and maybe a little weird or at least overly quirky, and that combined with the new characters who are all at least antagonistic it does feel like a tonal shift without giving for the player to see why.

Also, the difference between the MC described as a soldier for years and highly trained, but not being shown to be switched on like you would expect, even if he would lose everytime to Val, he should be aware before the knife is at his throat, and honestly I think just in general he should be a little more aware and intelligent to match with what we know so far.

With the talk of femdom, I'm not sure if that is the way it's going, but I do worry it might go like other games where you have a MC who likes having the women in control in sex, this normally translates to most of the sex scenes being cowgirl and the MC being a human dildo and you don't get the choice of positions (part of the worry here is that Lily would be the obvious one to be the exception to this that games like that throw in, although Casper is a bit of an unknown in that regard).

Overall I still hope for this to be a good game, but it feels like were just missing something, maybe a few scenes between chapters or maybe a flashback somewhere to fill things in and give context clues for the way the characters interact.

 

[Raziel_8]

While it seems to be a fantasy setting, lets keep combat magic out of it since we quite literally don't know. The "elves" are still enslaved/hiding despite supposedly being able to use magic.
Anyway, her being particularly light on her feet or having some sort noise suppression doesnt help much in an all out fight.
Thats the thing with magic, it could literally be anything. We just don't know.

True we don't have any clue about the fantasy elements like magic as of now.
Noise suppression in high heels aside, she is still in plain sight, i mean, who would let the armed psycho out of sight in an empty classroom.

 

[Ka1tzer]

Seems the focus of the conversation shifted a little, thankfully.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the folks that had negative reactions if we're specifically talking about the MC getting a knife to his throat by Valentine moment. I'm sure the intent was to show how much of a badass Valentine is. But instead of that, the way it was done made me think that the MC was inept.

It'd be different if some kind of distraction happened, like a sudden loud noise outside the classroom that briefly distracted the MC. But as it is now, I'm not a fan.

But almost everything else about this update was very much to my liking. Overall a great update. If the dev somehow chooses to tweak that scene, it'd be awesome.

 

[MisterNephilim]

Valentine's just as strong, maybe stronger even than he is and obviously either stealthy, fast as fuck or using magic. Why risk getting his throat slit in a situation where his enemies obviously want to talk and not kill him? He makes no move because not making one is the smarter decision.

I never said Valentine's stronger because of magic, I'm saying that in a world where magic and magical beings seem to exist, I can accept a psycho chick in heels being skilled enough to be a real threat to our still very competent MC. If you think that's stupid, so be it.

You don't show a character that is a foil (in this case Val) to the MC, by making the MC look incompetent, because that would mean that if Valentine is "equal to the MC" then she is just as dumb as MC.

If you want to make Valentine as a believable threat to the MC, you make him fight her and lose, not just "give up".

 

[Rintal]

Great update! The DEV is simply a master of his craft, of the highest class! I would even say that this is a pure masterpiece! There are so many letters and words and, what is especially surprising, words made from letters! This is wonderful! I've been scrolling for about 20 minutes, but the letters still don't end!!!1111 I'm in ecstasy! This is simply wonderful! It's simple and wonderful! I give it 15 graphomaniacs out of 10!

upd: Unfortunately, after another two minutes of scrolling, the letters is ended. I am disappointed! But I can finally delete this game and forget it like a bad dream.

 

[zeph19]

You don't show a character that is a foil (in this case Val) to the MC, by making the MC look incompetent, because that would mean that if Valentine is "equal to the MC" then she is just as dumb as MC.

If you want to make Valentine as a believable threat to the MC, you make him fight her and lose, not just "give up".

Respectfully disagree, because I thought of the MC as quite the powerful guy, so him getting caught off guard means that Val's the real deal. No need for a flashy clash of fists on an epic stage with a thunderbolt in the back and bystanders pointing out how powerful they both are for me to arrive at the conclusion. Cheers.

 

[MisterNephilim]

Respectfully disagree, because I thought of the MC as quite the powerful guy, so him getting caught off guard means that Val's the real deal. No need for a flashy clash of fists on an epic stage with a thunderbolt in the back and bystanders pointing out how powerful they both are for me to arrive at the conclusion. Cheers.

If he gives the impression of "quite the powerful guy" then getting caught off-guard in the setting he was in is incredibly dumb. I don't need an epic battle, I could give it to you if she had taken off her shoes beforehand or something more cunning/stealthy. Hell, maybe even imply that there is "magic" involved.

I guess we have different thresholds, but this just lowered my perception of MC's abilities, not the other way around (as in, making Val look equal)

 

[JoleenStar]

That intro screen and music. I stayed on it for ten minutes. So good.

Needs more sex tho.

 

[carcas]

hilariase? writing! Beautiful rendering {of course I want anal} Thanks soo much I am not wasting my time enjoying your great fun and Really imaginitive work!

 

[OcularisVN]

If he gives the impression of "quite the powerful guy" then getting caught off-guard in the setting he was in is incredibly dumb. I don't need an epic battle, I could give it to you if she had taken off her shoes beforehand or something more cunning/stealthy. Hell, maybe even imply that there is "magic" involved.

I guess we have different thresholds, but this just lowered my perception of MC's abilities, not the other way around (as in, making Val look equal)

It was a very simple way of conveying how dangerous all of these characters are without spelling it out. Valentine got the drop on the MC because he had no reason to believe she would pull something like that. He was having a very important conversation with Akira, who had his full attention and even caught him off guard in her own way. Valentine, as far as MC knew, was no more than a simple bodyguard if a threat at all. Besides, Valentine comments on MC's abilities after the fact and talks him up; she even said how excited she was about him. It also shows how serious the situation actually is. MC went into it bullshitting and making stuff up, but left knowing this was some serious shit. Felt reasonable to me?

 

[MisterNephilim]

It was a very simple way of conveying how dangerous all of these characters are without spelling it out. Valentine got the drop on the MC because he had no reason to believe she would pull something like that. He was having a very important conversation with Akira, who had his full attention and even caught him off guard in her own way. Valentine, as far as MC knew, was no more than a simple bodyguard if a threat at all. Besides, Valentine comments on MC's abilities after the fact and talks him up; she even said how excited she was about him. It also shows how serious the situation actually is. MC went into it bullshitting and making stuff up, but left knowing this was some serious shit. Felt reasonable to me?

If I were a special ops military guy, I would try everything to not have anyone I don't trust (specially a bodyguard) close to me, and if said person held a knife to any vital part of mine, I would at least try me best to turn the situation in my favor. And since I (arguably) play as the MC, I personally don't feel that it was reasonable.

You know what could have been reasonable? Something like this.

Spoiler: ME2 Grunt

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Also, what could have been very reasonable, is having the option to not trust Val from the start.

 

[crabsinthekitchen]

He sort of did make a move. He literally moved away from her in the space of 2 frames. Albeit prompted by Akira, but he did move. Just chose not to attack. MC says : "I have to stop messing around. Just because I am back home doesn't mean I'm out of the shit"

that was my least favorite part of the entire scene. I'd like to just stay still and continue talking like having sharp objects close to your throat is a completely normal thing you do every morning. he knows how to shave, right?