Ay, fantastic game so far, got through for what i believe is the most of what the version has to offer.
not gunna be negative about anything cause overall i was satisfied.
however 4 major things i saw as an issue.
#1 the doctors cure doesnt actually cure poison. made the hobo leader fight 20 billion times harder than it needed to be. Also side note on this, was i just being stupid or is there actually a "negative red" switch for the bridges? cause i couldnt see em
#2 despite reading the dialogue and trying to pay attention i constantly felt lost on what to do and where to go to try and somewhat progress the game. i dunno if it was just me but i didnt even find the r slums till about day 37 or so just cause it was so small and not near any other location other than i believe e district.
#3 ranking up the other characters to get their events feels really slow and a little inconsistent? this'll most likely get changed once more gift options become a thing but especially for characters like dr.G i believe and ty only having them on one specific day just makes maxing them out a slog.
#4 and final one, it was mentioned before but it walking around the maps feels super clunky and overly tedious i appreciate the semi fast travel from ren's house to the hospital from the sewers, but other districts definitely didnt get the same treatment and it shows. Still in development i know so i wont blame ya too much on it, just something to keep in mind, dont need hyper fast traversal of the map but maybe just more streamlined so it doesnt feel like a chore going to or from a location. Maybe include a way to let you fast travel back to your home when ren is tired for a few extra bucks? she calls a cab or something idk, just a spitball.
But i mean hey aside from that it was pretty fantastic, all the h scenes were pretty good even if some of them werent my personal preference. ren is a super adorable cringe cutie patootie, i feel some of the side characters will have some fun interactions and scenes.
(personal note) this is just me but i really do hope that the landlord route wont be mandatory for general story progression, am not a fan of him at all. but thats just a me thing.
lastly not so much a critique but more so a question. is there a reason ren is so prone to the situations she gets into other than "funny porn game moment"? i aint mad, i mean i did just say i loved the scenes, but to me idk. just feels a lot like porn logic especially when you have dialogue that makes her act differently based in scenes y'know? just something i noticed when i was playing.
but yea aside from all that, thanks for reading my wall and i am excited to see the newer renditions of this game!
Hey! Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all this out!
About your points:
1: Yeah you’re totally right, the Doc’s Cure item doesn’t actually cure poison 😅 how did I even miss that? It’s already fixed and will be working properly in the next update.
2: Some other players have mentioned the same issue about getting lost or areas being too far apart. To fix that (and thanks to a suggestion from another comment here), I’m planning to add a proper fast travel system through the bus stops scattered around the city. Right now they’re only used to go to the overworld, but in version 0.1.12 they’ll let you travel anywhere directly.
3: I recently increased the relationship points you get from gifts to make things a bit faster, but I guess it still wasn’t enough. Aside from adding more gift options overall, I also plan to include a “Hang Out” mechanic where you can go to different spots in the city with NPCs to raise their relationship faster. That’ll probably come in version 0.1.13.
4: Similar to point 2
The way I tried to designed the game is so the player can pick whichever route they want, play through the 5 main events of each one, and in the end choose which route to finish with (and see the corresponding ending). So the Mr. Pig route won’t be mandatory for story progression, but players can still do it if they want before choosing another ending. Each major route (Dr.G, Mr. Pig, Tyrus, Tom, Maria) will have its own way of solving Ren’s rent problem, just in different ways.
And lastly, about Ren, deep down she’s actually super pervy but tries hard to repress it. That’s why her behavior shifts depending on who she’s with. For example, during her “prostitution job” scenes, she takes the lead with the shy guy who’s never kissed anyone, but act disgusted (while secretly enjoying it) with someone like Mr. Pig or Mr. Kuma. That’s what I tried to go for anyway, I know writing is my weakest point in the game haha.
Also, thanks again for the kind words and for playing! It means a lot!