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(1 edit) (+3)(-3)

Ok.  The AVN looked interesting, like many others here looked interesting.  I figured I'd give it a shot.  And... I barely got past the prologue before feeling like I had to just... put it aside.  I realize that this isn't "fair"... so I am going to try again.  But the storytelling is just off... wrong.

I'm not talking about the story idea, AI constructs in human-like bodies that are essentially a new/better form of human wanting to create a revolution.  I'm talking about the execution of that concept.  Alright.  The MC was left alone by his parents, and is bullied, so he keeps to himself.  Even his oldest friend, isn't really a friend.  Sure, she is pleasant, but when he reaches out to her for inclusion, all she can do is fob him off on other people *SHE* doesn't want to be friends with.  When her friends arbitrarily decide not to include him, she doesn't stand up for him.  His parents buy him an AIGirl out of guilt because they aren't there for him, and now he has to deal with bullying in his own home.  He doesn't even have the option to hold this AIGirl responsible for the way she acts, and the ONLY option is to have a good time watching a movie with her, while she teases him just to make him uncomfortable.  The MC is one who apparently enjoys his own company, rather than face a continued stream of rejection... and he doesn't even have that anymore to retreat to.  And for us, to enjoy any of the adult content, we have to make choices that are completely OUT of character, for the character we are given to play.

He meets and "saves" another AIGirl who gets injected in his life, who appears to be the polar opposite of the one purchased for him.  When she expresses desires for the MC, our "legitimate" first AIGirl only bullies the MC further... not out of actual jealousy, but out of a sense of control.

He meets the rule-breaker in class, talks out of class, is told that she is interested in him playing drums with her band, and then tells him he needs to compete with someone else for the chance.  The character, as has been detailed up to this point, would simply reject himself rather than audition and face this new perceived humiliation.  Everything up to this point just says he would completely believe in a "Why bother trying, I should just play more games" attitude.

As an experiment, I progressed several weeks into the game, simply showering and going to class, going home, playing games and sleeping.  Not one AIGirl ever called/contacted him.  There was no concern.  After telling the maid what her duties were, that was it.  No random scenes involving meals when he got home, no random conversations asking about how he was doing, or why he just focused on school/games/sleep.  From the way the story played out, he wasn't supposed to take advantage of his maid without inspiring derision and the ire of the AIGirl he owned, but he most certainly couldn't take advantage of that one either.  A Damned of you will, Damned if you don't scenario.

Even the formation of the guild/club/team/syndicate to fight the VAI threat... our original AIGirl had no interest until she could be in charge of it, and even then the idea of her having any responsibilities as the one in charge turned her off.  In a broader sense, it was tragically comical how the MC was introduced to the threat of an AIGirl starting an AI Revolution, and the only solution was for him to have a *different* AIGirl be in charge of fighting this revolution... trading one bad master for another, so to speak.

I get it.  I was supposed to make different choices as the game progressed.  Those choices as presented did not feel organic or natural at all.  Sure, turn him into a dominating, lecherous person, and you get the NSFW content.  But that just feels like... having to ignore the story and MC's details just for sex scenes.

It is a shame that there does seem to be a lot of potential to this AVN, with how beautifully it is rendered with wonderful looking character designs, but it comes across like "I need to show tits to the player now because they have spent XX amount of time playing" rather than any valid reason for why the MC would see them.  Even peeping, or walking into a silent bathroom, or a door left open by accident would be better than "I need to write this AIGirl as insecure for this scene so I can render tits."

So, I'll try again.  I'll play the character for the scenes, and not the story... because at this point, with what the MC has faced this early on, I don't know why we aren't given the option to have the MC just throw himself from his own terrace.  I mean, I know that would just end the game (and there's no point to **that**), but as written, it feels like that option **should** be available.  Not because I want to kill the MC.. but because every time there is a possible reason for him to want to come out of his shell, the story as written slams him back into it.  I could get behind an MC who decides enough is enough, and he is going to become a Sex Slave Master.  But that isn't this MC.

Another commenter here put it well.  Our suspension of disbelief is stretched too thin... beyond the breaking point.  And for the record, with all those Patreons having their usernames immortalized on the shelf, you'd think that some (at least one) of them could have helped improved the spelling, grammar, and dialog issues.  It kind of comes across like the only thing that matters is money.

Deleted 45 days ago
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I'll start by noting that I am in no way connected with this games production or writing, and only just found this days ago. I feel like you're over-analyzing the unaddressed overarching elements of the story. The 1st AiGirl is tsundere and is playing hard to get it's very obvious and a classic trope. MOST the characters are seemingly designed within specific tropes honestly it's coming together pretty well compared to most VN's.  Most the things you mention are addressed within the story over time or are being hinted at, I'm not going to add spoilers you can either notice them yourself or not. MC's situation at the start also seems to be a much *MUCH* larger overarching plot that the story direction seems to be getting to, but has not yet covered. From where things left off it's at a major turning point where some of these questions will probably start to be answered and make more sense. It's also obviously still very early in the story as well, foreshadowing wise I've got a pretty good idea where some of these plots are going to go (its honestly obvious). The lack of random encounter/ "AiGirls not calling the MC or showing up random" etc.. Is obviously due to the point this is at in its production, its still way too early to expect that level of side content. My suggestion to you would just be to put this on the back burner, and wait for a few more updates before you continue. This game isn't even at version 1.0 yet, literally only at v0.3.6. Most your issues are just nitpicking early content, and not being able to follow or notice the overarching plot points. This is actually one of the better VN's on here overarching plot wise the author has made good use of hints and foreshadowing if you know what to look for. As for understanding the characters, my suggestion would be to associate them to the tropes they are obviously leaning towards. I mean no offense it just seems like you missed a lot of the more subtle story elements that you seem to have an issue with. I typically only check these types of titles out to see if I like the general setup or not and then wait for later versions to have a more fleshed out experience. I would say this has lots of potential and recommend waiting until the story is closer to version 1.0 as v0.3.6 is wayyyyy too early to be so critical.