...was that it for this update?
Is it just me, or was that, like... really lackluster, compared to the last one? And I'm not even talking about the plot; it was genuinely pretty funny, and I like this direction for the cast, especially Elena. Whoever took care of the writing did a great job of maintaining the plot threads from previous characters (Liz & Annie specifically) and keeping them relevant without overtaking the "current arc." A lot of stories tend to have a relevant arc for a character and then have them basically not mention their development or recent history in future arcs. If this were an SFW game and this was all I was rating the update on, it'd get a surefire 4 stars from me.
But the thing is, I'm not here for the writing. The writing is icing on the cake, an appetizer, the thing that adds a little spice to the real meat of the story: the sex. There's a reason the SFW version of this game is culturally irrelevant, and I genuinely feel like I may as well have played that version until 0.9.0 comes out. Yes, we got 2 new 'non-canon' scenes for Lulu & Maeve, very true, but not only do they not have any of the buildup the other scenes have (which isn't a bad thing on its own--the release notes explicitly warned us of this), but they're also just drawn and animated poorly. No "fast" option (if this is 'non-canon,' there's no reason to only go slow), no option to move your hand positions, Lulu is *incredibly* stiff, her pussy is too wide and overshoots the diameter of the MC's dick, and (the worst offender), Maeve's "Full Nelson" is misdrawn. Either your arms or your partner's arms have to lock underneath the bottom's knees to hold the position--yet the arms drawn in the animation are layered behind the bend of the leg! There's nothing holding Maeve's legs up! Individually, these are minor problems. The other sex scenes from previous updates aren't perfect either, but their illusions are maintained, disbelief suspended. But for this update specifically, there's, quite literally, no other meat to enjoy. It feels like I was given a wonderful cake yesterday, only to come back to the restaurant for another just to find that they only have icing + a thin sheet of breading to hand out today.
Look, I know this is a porn game, that "it's not that deep, bro." But this project is genuinely a work of art, in my eyes. There's so much passion behind it, even the SFW parts. This is a real world that the developers are creating, and I want to respect the magic of that by taking it seriously. I know you shouldn't use an update to judge the entirety of a game--that'd be like watching someone bake a cake, tasting the frosting when that's the only thing they've prepped so far, and using that to judge the whole cake. But sometimes, the frosting itself tastes like shit, and we should be allowed to judge frosting when it does.
Still rating the game 5 stars tho lol, keep up the great work, devs!