Doorknob22
Finally got around to playing the update and I'd like to jot down a few words as feedback if that's OK.
I'm not going to sing the praises of the game. I've done that in my review before. I will however say what I personally liked about the update, plus two other things, one is a minor opinion, and the other is a criticism.
I know you read these posts carefully. If it was any other game and developer, I probably would've saved my thoughts for myself.
Here it goes:
As usual, I really liked the writing. Writing a game like this is a challenge, and you, being a good storyteller, rise up to it in every update.
I also liked the speed with which you released this update. I know about your employment condition (best of luck on that btw) but still, it's always nice when updates come soon and deadlines are met.
I really liked the "Retcon" section. Not only does it provide context, but it's also a way to go back and retroactively add things to the story. Almost no one else does that. So it was a pleasant surprise.
As a side-note, I want to give a shoutout to whoever has done the voice acting for the scenes. Doing Foley work with the mouth is not easy
Now, unto what I perceive to be improvable.
First, which is more of an observation, regards the sex scenes renders.
I feel like a good number of scenes do not have enough renders. Of course, it varies between scenes but I strongly feel like a good number of scenes can do with more renders, especially when it comes to transitions. I suspect you know this better than I do and it's just a matter of time/budget constraints. This isn't specific to this particular update, rather it's always been there and it's becoming more noticeable as the expectations of the game grows higher.
If I were a decent reviewer (or a decent human being for that matter!) I would go back and bring up every specific example of how lack of enough renders has made a scene feel abrupt. Like when Karder is talking to a wench face to face, and the next frame is him mounting her.
An overexaggerated example of this is Karder's cave scene (named "Lion's Share") with the Three Thicc Thieves which Karder literally jumps from being inside Anasti, to being inside Jenya, to being inside Marya.
Even when Karder is standing on top of a wench who's lying down, IMHO there should be a few preparatory renders before he jams it in.
Unless, eroticism is not the focus of the game/scene, in which case I concede my observation.
I also understand the absurdity of "Please, sir, may I have some more please?" especially in a game where there are multiple variations of most scenes, but still, I think it's a feedback worth remembering going forward to your future games.
My second opinion, which I believe to be rather objective regards Karder's sex animations.
A good number of animations, especially recent ones, don't look like Karder is ravishing anyone, rather he is carefully providing gigolo services to brittle-boned 80 year old ladies. It's not "Vae Victis". It's "Miseratio Victis" instead.
The consistent 1-inch-range-of-motion of Karder's thrusts has had me worried about his health. General Brennus would certainly disown Karder if he saw these.
Again, I understand that adding animations was an afterthought, something that's relatively new to you, and they do soak in a lot of time and resources, but I can think of other games (
*cough*) in similar situation which have more Vae Victis worthy animations than Vae Victis.
I however don't think it is has anything to do with animating skills or the quality of animations. Those are fine. It feels more like a design choice, and if this is the case, it really feels weird to me.
Regardless, my best wishes to you on the rest of this journey. And I'm sure you know that any feedback or observation comes from a place of caring.
