Post by Konoi in Bad Ritual comments

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Ah, very cool game, at least on Siruud's path! Though now the cliff hanger will start killing me haha! I'm really eager to see more of the story!

I only had two minor issues. The first one is VERY nitpicky, but I'd love to have MC's hair color on the "ID" (as in, the "stat screen"), for the sake of memory. The second one is a bit more serious I guess (though not that much either!) - it made me a little bit uneasy that MC was forced to find all of Siruud forms attractive instead of letting the player select if they like a specific form or not, or decide which one they prefer. It may sound a little weird, but these forms vary GREATLY, so it would make sense to like one while disliking another - everyone has specific tastes, and I'm sure our MCs too! But that's the only thing, really!

HeartForge3 years ago(+3)

Hi !! So glad you liked the game, and sorry to leave you hanging with a missing MC 😅😂

To address your concerns, I've been hemming and hawing over how to integrate player appearance, mostly because there just isn't much to it at all at the moment and I have plans down the line to give players the opportunity to go in-depth (set actual styles and textures of hair, skin colour, etc). Right now the only information is that which is relevant to SignetWorks (except maybe height but who knows what I was thinking when I added that). I can definitely add hair colour (I mean, since height is there: it seems like the place for such information but realistically I meant to only include job-relevant stuff which would only be eye colour) but the way it's integrated is subject to change !!

Unfortunately the answer for the second concern may not be as satisfying. I don't think I would integrate such an option just because the humansonas aren't strictly meant for MC's consumption, so their preference is irrelevant to the actual plot: in the long run, they just don't really matter all that much! Ultimately MC will not be romancing Siruud in the human forms, so it won't matter in the long one which the MC actually prefers: and I'm sure you can understand why I would be hesitant to let players express distaste for how their romantic lead looks at any given time.

I know it may seem intentional that MC expresses that the humansonas are handsome/hot, but I really do try to write from a place of scene building rather than trying to remind you that you're reading a romance. That's just to say that it doesn't need to be read as MC expressing their desire to hook up with the humansonas, just because they're attractive and technically all the male lead in their own right: just that they are attractive. And like I mentioned, that was integrated more or less to convey that this was still the romantic lead, and that Siruud likes men/the masculine and so goes through particular effort to craft himself attractive humansonas. In the end, Siruud will look like Siruud does while being romanced (it's a bit of a thing for him, as I imagine it would be for anyone who could change their appearance at will: how fraught would that make dating?).

I hope all that makes sense!

Konoi3 years ago (2 edits) (+2)

Eh, I get why it may be strange for the hair color to appear on the ID (height makes perfect sense, you know, as it may be relevant for some missions, like infiltrating a place where someone too tall or too short would stand out too much and stuff). I was saying that because as someone who plays a TON of games, I like to have reminders of what my MC looks like when I boot a game again after an update, in case I have doubts about specific physical traits in any given game.

As for the other thing... it's funny because I was actually saying that because it kind of is a reminder that this is a romance story for me, when my MC finds every form attractive by default. I suggested offering a choice as to give the opportunity to be indifferent, but another option would be for MC to think they are objectively attractive, without necessarily implying they find each form hot - that would leave it even more neutral. But this is just my perspective eh! I'm not insisting here, just claryfing my point of view at this point, since I feel like my intention about that didn't come across as I intended. Though yeah, it's a bit of a tricky situation anyway, since this IS the same character. I guess I'm also biased towards the idea of Siruud finding all these hot bodies, and MC being "meh, looks better in his original form" XD

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