How would I get the new version while still keeping my progress?
Saves will transfer automatically
Wouldn't call it a 1:1 but it definitely smells of a heavy influence.
MC here is pretty innocent at the start and from the future scene at the beginning seems to get corrupted as they get used to dealing with the curse.
Mars is corrupted af and seems to get less and less so as he develops relations with the hero's party and confronts some of his traumas.
Not to mention Mars is about the polar opposite of a femboy, trans woman or futa.
Yeah, there are plenty of differences, and that's only going to become more clear as the story develops further. The general idea for a Neteori-themed game was inspired by Dark Hero Party and just a general lack of representation for the genre as a whole, but I also took plenty of inspiration from other games such as Karryn's Prison, Clicker Heroes, Slay the Spire, Honkai Star Rail and my own games to fuel ideas for this one.
I could see how someone just observing the world from a broad angle could see the similarities. This is most noticeable in the hero vs. demon king/queen plot complete with a guild, but these are very played-out tropes that have representation in hundreds of anime media these days. As far as the characters and their goals go, it's almost the exact opposite of DHP. The main character isn't a spy or powerful; they're genuinely the sibling of the legendary hero and a good character. You're also not trying to corrupt the girls but are instead a victim of corruption. And like you said, the protagonists themselves are, needless to say, extremely different.
DHP is also more of a training game where you break the will of the characters, while UtU is more of a dating simulator where you build affection and get to genuinely know the characters between dungeon runs. As far as the individual characters go, there are very few parallels between the two games. That is, character archetypes like Mirabelle, Seraphina, and Hazel have no representation in DHP. The goals of the games and the experiences they want to provide to that end are very different.
could do with a way to turn off the rain sound
Any particular reason why?