itch.io

Dude, I'm not trying to steer anyone toward it. I'm just on the page people have already steered toward, defending it from accusations that seemed to me petty at best.

I played through the scenes we're referring to again to be sure, and there are a couple things I want to point out: 
Neither Ayase nor the MC really won the fight against the thugs. Both were in a rough spot until her backup arrived and saved them. I kinda misremembered this, same as you I think.  

After the fight, yeah, she blackmails him after apologizing for attacking him. Nothing disputed, but we obviously disagree on whether that was justified.  I still don't define that as a rape accusation in and of itself, because the accusation has not been made. And that's exactly what was said in OP. 

I appreciate the apology. Any ad hominems I directed toward you I felt were retaliation, and I'm sorry for them. I think this game has a lot of potential and I saw your criticism as being blown out of proportion. But now I understand that you were ranting from a place of honesty, even if I disagree with... pretty much everything.  And that's better than trolling.  Hope you will come back to it later and have a better impression.  

As far as Chika, I'll probably keep adding points to her route and see where it goes. Like I said elsewhere, actually staying platonic with her at first does this. (It actually reminds me of Jack's romance route from Mass Effect 2.) But she's not best girl by any means. I would actually hope that the MC can end up in a monogamous relationship with her if things go right. I'm not particularly worried the dev will lock the player into anything with her that they don't choose (especially after her mixed reception here). Of course, I can't know what her story will be.  

can't reply to poor schmuckpuppet, maybe he got suspended?
Anyway, I said I was out, but here's my retort.  Have a good day, kid. 

--
Ohh, that's your "rape accusation".

The character you're referring to snapped a picture of the MC in a compromising position in which he'd accidentally ended up while trying to save a drugged girl from a bunch of thugs. At that moment, said character had thought he was one of them.... After they saved the girl together, she told him she'd show the picture to others if he didn't keep her secret crime-fighting identity a secret, as a way of ensuring his cooperation. That's not a rape-accusation; it's insurance against an unexpected 3rd party she didn't know well enough to trust in a high-stakes situation. Furthermore, she clearly knows she doesn't NEED to use that nuclear option, since the mere threat of it leverages his silence. And if you kept playing the game after that, you know it doesn't take long for her to trust him with her secret.

So, you're accusing others of lying while refusing to add relevant nuance yourself. So much for the public service.

... exactly. This is why I don't engage with most critics on this page. They have ONE thing they're mad at which is totally optional, and to pad out any lack of substance in their complaint they just make shit straight up and publicly infer what they want to believe but have no proof for. All because they've got nothing better to do.

I've actually seen people write about this same, exact complaint in an intellectually honest and civil, polite manner. It IS possible, but some people either can't or won't adjust the imagined size of their penis.
Anyway, I'm out. 

dude you're so funny. You just gotta search the whole comments section for people you disagree with and try to dunk on them. (edit: Wow... I didn't realize that was true; you really are actually all over the place, aren't you...? For all of your accusations about this being an NTR, you sure don't need help keeping your dick dry, do you...? Anyway...)

Anyway, you're misrepresenting her storyline... it hasn't even been halfway written.  

Here's where we are right now:  

-Chika is a prostitute. She's a student with an abusive home and school life. 

- A little way into her route, MC can try to become friends with her, at which point she offers to have sex with him. It's worth noting that you get no points toward her relationship route for making this choice, and do receive points toward it if you refuse her offer.  (source: official walkthrough.) You should think about that for a second.

If you choose not to have sex with her, absolutely NOTHING has been written about the way Chika may want to have a relationship with the MC. If you remember, choosing this actually improves her opinion of you. And as others have reported, actually having sex with her at this point leads to a cuckold-type relationship- at least at time of writing.  So, how is that not a "you and everyone else who picked that choice" problem? (Mind you, I've been trying like Hell to get Miharu & MC to bang every chance they get, but they never get past oral (minus the flashback, or course). It seems to me this game just puts an more of an emphasis on building relationships. 

So... what have we learned...? Chika is hinted to be a prostitute from the VERY FIRST SCENE she is in. The dialogue with Yuuka's bullies make it clear with her. If you find this unacceptable for a LI, and... well, can read...  why would you want to fuck her in the first place? Why are you complaining about this character when you're not forced into a romance with them? Why do you need to go out of your way to berate people who see worth in the character...?
Ah, it's because you're a prick trying to prove something on the Internet that you don't have in real life. 

Dude. I first patreon'd at this game like 6 years ago and it's amazing to see how far it's come. Thank you so much for your work on it.  It was good enough back then that I would've bought it after some deliberation; now I wouldn't even blink an eye.  Just fantastic.

Ok, so I just met Chika, and I can understand why the author chose to give a public, three-paragraph ovation in her defense. She's a badass and immediately compelling character. Can't wait to learn more about her. And yeah, she deserves to be an available romance route option. 

Also gotta say Ayase is turning out to be one hell of a nuanced femme fatale.

Uh... I don't know about other people but the extra "comment" from Dev got my jaded ass to give this game a shot. Just got to V0.1 end. So far the story's interesting, and the comic relief is cute without bending the tone too much. (Never thought I'd see a School Rumble love letter so early in, it really made me chuckle.) I'll say the dialogue and internal monologues of the characters get to be a little too... net-speakish(?) for me at times as written.

And to those who seriously expect fictional ladies to be virginal on first-contact with your protagonist in order to not lose their merit as romantic interests... I sincerely hope your potential irl interests correctly gauge your expectations of them by first-contact.

I really like this so far, but wanted to post a problem I have specific to Windows versions: No sound, whatsoever. 

When I try the appropriate version on my Linux machine, running the shell script, it's glorious.

It has been a long time since a vn has taken me completely by surprise with its quality and premise. This also has the distinction of taking me completely out of my  comfort zone without driving me away. I am freshly new to the whole "mind-control" sub-genre, so that's probably why I feel this way, but I find the idea behind the player character's objectives so patently unethical that it almost affected my stomach. Despite this, the dialogue and narrative are so clear-cut and faithful to the environment that this can be looked past into a very interesting view of the story that kept me playing all the way to the morally ambiguous conclusion... It's kept me thinking about it days after finishing your demo (and signing up to the Patreon), so kudos.

I also noticed so much attention to detail in that the choices you make affect later fixed dialogue and visuals. (Cerise reacts so much to everything you do!) It really impressed me.

Since character backstory appears to be a thing in this, I wonder: is there also character growth planned?  I guess part of me just wants to know if Keller will question what he's doing down the road. :P  

I am rapt, after just having found the "Romance of Raskya" ending, and eager to see news about this next project! Wish you the best of luck with it, and thank you.

Wow. I've only completed the escaping with Nasrin route, but I wanted to say I really appreciate having found this little gem of a story on itch.  I fully intend to play the other routes.  It reminded me a little of reading a novel called The Pillars Of the Earth, a work of historical fiction that has a compelling romance combined with politics and a fair bit of eroticism.  Will you be working on another project soon with the same team?

Thanks for the free try, will be purchasing this one.  The obvious references to Roman infantry tactics and hierarchy (testudo, legion commanders, tribunes, etc.) was a nice touch, as were the apt descriptions of the warfare itself. I particularly enjoyed how the perspective switches naturally to move the story along.  And the dialogue is doing a great job at fleshing out these characters and the world they live in.

I'd argue that his buddy Axel falls within the same vein. However, your point about Ben being the only black character is a good one. I think that a good solution for those concerned about the offense would probably be to diversify the ethnic makeup of the morally better characters. For example, I wouldn't have anything against one or more of the girls being black. Or Chang.  Or even Bumbledore.

My old save info carried through to updated versions after downloading. Not sure how that works, though.
Also there's the skip button to zoom through to choices quickly.

I'm running Mint, which is Ubuntu-based.  All I had to do was extract the game folder from the compressed download file (PC version), then run either the Eternum.exe or Eternum.sh from that directory.

I'm impressed, and honestly surprised this is free to play considering the quality that's going into it. I went ahead and donated, excited to see future releases.

thanks for the linux confirmation.  I would've found out at the end of a long download, but good to know in advance it has a script! :D

This is a page-turner, and I am about to go throw money at your Patreon page.  The biggest criticism I can give is that the visuals/audio are unfinished, but I appreciate a game that lets those take a backseat to story development, rather than vice-versa.  
The thing I enjoy most so far, is the difficulty of the choices presented. They all seem to have serious consequences, and it makes me put thought into each one. I get the sense they'll actually influence the story.   It also helps that the writing is both descriptive and expedient; I'm not skipping entire pages that bog down the story instead of helping it.

Do the patreon versions have voice acting or sound of any kind?

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate this game, and I hope your continued work bears fruit as promising as what's in the current demo.  In particular I liked the detail of the sex scenes' narration, and how you're trying to stay true to how dragons have lore and personality (reflected through your choices) - they'e not just big, scary monsters. That and the description of the world and different factions kept me playing to find out what the demo has to offer.   I hope that you are able to acquire more specific artwork for the scenes, and maybe add a map (just my 2 cents).   

All in all, thanks and good work.