Post by OwO_That's_Kinky in 400,000 Downloads + Q&A Session comments

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Helloo! Happy to hear the vn's hit 400k downloads! It's def one of my favorites. This question is for the writing team:

Why's there such a lack of female characters? Greta leaves the cast in chapter 11, and nobody else has the same amount of prominence since. There's Nini, but she's not very relevant and appears for just one scene, I believe. There's also the nun that gives Pedro the cheese, and then there's the second nun and Ms. Piedade, but those two are completely missable. Is there a deeper reason for this? I know MH is written primarily for gay men, but even in other vns with the same demographic, there's still women in the main cast

Minoh Workshop8 days ago

Acts 1 and 2 of Minotaur Hotel were written over 2 or so years when we were working under a philosophy of "Superserve your first audience" -- in our case we were working with gay men in mind. It was not a bad idea, I think it did a lot to establish our readership.

We tried to include female characters where we could (and the Hinterlands, in particular, had serious thematic reasons for it, I consider it very core to it in fact), but nonetheless there is no on-screen female character as part of the main cast.

The stretch of content we are walking into right now, Act 3, is something we've worked while informed by the reality that now we already have a loyal audience, and, if I may speak frankly, the cast of men we provide is already satisfactory in number, depth and quality. The "superserve your first audience" advice, while still important, is no longer the first on our list. Moreover, Minotaur Hotel has a foot firmly planted on literary fiction -- and if having a female character is what the story needs to explore its themes, that's what must be done.

In short: expect a more diverse cast going forward. We plan on introducing a female character, most likely in Chapter 21, who'll be part of the main cast. She's one of the characters I'm most excited about, I've been working on her concept for years. There'll also be other female characters, though they won't have as much screen time, and we're also introducing a trans character soon in Luke's overhauled hangouts.

There is another reason I could offer as to why there're no female characters, and it's actually the most direct and simplest, but it'd also be a bit of a spoiler. I can say it if you want but it's something people can already make out from what's already in the game.

OwO_That's_Kinky8 days ago

You can't leave me hanging like that, man!! I'm on the edge of my seat -- scratch that -- I already slipped off it! I'm on the floor waiting in anticipation!!! Lay it on me!!!!

Minoh Workshop8 days ago(+1)

Alright.

Look at the list of Olympians. Check how many are women and think back to which Gods are important to Asterion. That's your answer. I knew we'd need a number of female characters because of that alone, plus a few more for other reasons, and that they'd be main plot important for Act 3. Ultimately the sausage fest of Acts 1 and 2 was always going to be a temporary state, which could be justified in-universe by Hermes' intervention but would necessarily be shaken up as the plot escalated.

We simply cannot finish the story without bringing in [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] who's seen [REDACTED] all along via [REDACTED], and [REDACTED] who's one of the few [REDACTED] in [REDACTED] who's been given [REDACTED], and so on! And how could I forget [REDACTED] who's known for her [REDACTED], which is very convenient for the [REDACTED].

And since I'm saying all of this, here's a funny one: who are the narrators? Have you figured that one out? And if you did figure it out -- have you really figured it out? Though I personally think they only count halfway for this discussion, since they don't appear on-screen.

Oh, and then there's Robert's mom... I can't wait to have her appear in the story! Can you imagine what a mother of demons must look like? The woman who sculpted him and all his siblings, whose thumbprint shaped his navel, whose hand is the symbol for the Nuremberg demons? We've been building up ideas for her since the game started!

And then there is... the prosecutor... But I'd rather not speak of her for now. I'll say she takes some notes from my favorite Ace Attorney prosecutor, and that I'm abslutely giddy to write her!

So, yeah! We're gonna have female characters, and I'm really looking forward to their roles in the story. Hell, just today I was editing some dialogue from Luke's mom, and that might just be one of the best moments in the highlight scene of his overhauled hangouts.

OwO_That's_Kinky8 days ago(+1)

Oh my gosh... you just made me squeal like a teenage girl........ Minoanon, you're so evil! You can't tease these beautiful things and then make me diligently wait for them!! This is torture.....!!!! aaa! I look forward to them!!!!!!!!

itch.io

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