My biggest issue with this update is the hackneyed mafia shit with contrived rules like arranged marriages. Couldnt we have left that in the 90s when people last gave a shit about that?
Is there any reason why William and Leia couldnt have been "adopted" into this semi-criminal family for whatever fake-dramatic but insignificant reason, got involved with each other and then chastised simply because its fucked up when you basically grew up as siblings? Instead of some silly mafia-family-arrangement reason? Unlike how some games on this site are suggesting, people would absolutely react repulsed by that, not to mention that as a parent I wouldnt want this to mess up the whole family dynamic. Leia would 100% get bullied relentlessly for that, and William running away to avoid dealing with the situation makes sense. Why do you need to craft this nonsense mafia story around that?
Then the story could have simply been about William trying to reconcile with his de-facto family (without being some fucked up tool for leverage in the mafia) and then helping build up the Zane empire with criminal and non-criminal means. You can then craft stories around conflicts with other crime syndicates (without cringe Italian names), government institutions etc. Thats a solid basis for a story, not outstanding, but solid. The incest angle would have made things spicier, but what can you do, not like you would nuke the game over outside factors. The mafia angle makes the story way more convoluted, and further developments are too reliant on the origin story. I dont think Ocean can pull that off well.
Fwiw I will continue playing this because I play Ocean's games for the interactions and the visuals, and these are mostly intact still. The plot, like in every other AVN, has always been pretty much slop. But thats fine, because after all the purpose of AVNs is to give some context and generate attachment to characters, so getting off is more enjoyable. If I want actual good storytelling, I'd rather read a book or watch a movie, but AVNs can have some deficiencies because they serve an additional purpose. And after all, I think WiAB's plot is in an AVN context still fairly above average.
As a side note: As a German, can Ocean stop using these cringe German words that make my skin crawl? Ironicallymy reason for uninstalling will be the next time I have to read another 'Bubbele'.
