I don’t mind the combat system but maybe make it so hitting 1-6 would place whatever you’re highlighting into that tile?
Like, I press 1 over a basic attack and it’s placed automatically into the 1st tile depending if you count from top to bottom.
TheGeeb81
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I did read about the 1.1 changes on some of the free posts and how you felt the original felt rushed, made the MC and Mia feel a bit dumb, and made Suzzie feel shallow. So the changes for that I completely understand.
I just kinda wish I could play the original 1.1 side by side to see the differences cause I'm curious about what people pointed out as well as what Suzzie scenes were added in.
Also as a side note, I do feel the need to apologize if my comment came off rude or annoying in a few places. I kinda struggle to get the right emotions across when I write and I tend to CAPITALIZE, underline, italicize, and put words in bold that I want to put emphasis on. Which has been mistaken for me being angry in the past.
Maybe I'll wait until 1.2 to give a proper review then? Especially with how its supposed to basically be the start of everything else. 1.0's the character introductions, 1.1 seems to be the MC and Mia fixing up the office (haven't played much of it yet as I've gotten distracted by people playing Battle Brothers), and from what I've heard about 1.2 it's supposed to be the beginning of the actual running a business/company part. Also posting memes/images in replies is pretty fucking funny, I love it. Oh and since you do seem to be constantly looking for feedback, I don't mind the lesbian scenes existing, the flashback scene wouldn't bother me, and I wouldn't mind future lesbian scenes (which will either be skippable or written to be threesomes as well).
Speaking of the lesbian scenes though how is making them optional going to work? Like I click the option and that's that, I never see it again? Or will it be on a scene by scene basis? Is it only for Jade and Noe's flashback scene? How will the future scenes work?
I'm not exactly sure how to ask what I want to ask tbh. I guess something like, the future scenes in 1.4 and 1.7 have been rewritten to be threesomes. Am I going to be forced to see the lesbian version if I saw the flashback between Jade and Noe? Is it 100% guaranteed to be a threesome now no matter what I choose? Will there be optional lesbian scenes that AREN'T also written to be threesomes but are skippable/written out of the story depending on what option I chose?
[MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT WARNING]
So I just finished the introduction and I'm loving it so far. The game's got a lot of neat little touches that make it feel alive. For instance the custom clothing (or custom textures on clothing?) is a really nice touch that I haven't seen in that many of these games before. The character designs are really well done too, I especially love some of the outfits they wear.
I also really enjoy how deeply you dived into the MC's and Mia's relationship. Most games that give the MC an already pre-established girlfriend tend to just leave it at that. They basically just say "This is the MC's girlfriend, ok bye" and leave it there. But this game is different in that it decides to actually show you multiple stages of their relationship in detail allowing you to get a pretty sizable look at both of their characters which is much appreciated. It allows you to actually develop interest in the characters yourself instead of trying to force you to be interested in them.
Can't really say much about the story as it doesn't really kick off in the intro. But so far it IS a fairly interesting premise and it DID catch my attention. So I'm excited to play through 1.1's content.
With all that said I do want to leave a bit of a warning I guess. I've read the comments and learned about some past drama and rewrites due to it. So I wanna give a piece of advice here. Try not to deviate from YOUR vision too much. I feel like if you constantly rewrite and change too many things you'd risk losing your edge, your motivation I guess. It'd stop feeling like it's YOUR story that YOU'RE making and the overall quality of it may drop as a result of that. Let me use Zenless Zone Zero as an example. It had a rocky start but it felt unique, and it felt like something the devs WANTED to make, something they were confident in, and I could feel that as a player. Then the devs began removing TV mode, and the amount of detail began dropping too, there were less neat interactions between characters, less detail in the environment, then later began changing the whole formula in season 2. It wasn't bad initially, but last minute rewrites to the story followed and then following the rewrites came issues with voice acting. To me it began feeling like it was moving away from what the devs actually wanted. They began moving away from THEIR vision out of fear that it'd be rejected by the players. I already feel like this game is something I'm gonna be following for a long time and I don't want it to go the same direction as ZZZ did.
Now I want to clarify something while I'm at it. Feedback IS good, Criticism IS good, and it's something you SHOULD be using to improve and grow as a developer/writer/whatever. But at the same time it can be dangerous as it could lead to that sort of loss of motivation I mentioned earlier. The mistake the ZZZ devs did was fold to everything their players said about the game. If YOU think that something is TRULY essential to your game, then I think you should argue for it, try and make people see the reasons WHY it's in the game. Or at least that's how MY brain operates, there's certain things I don't find excusable at all and I'd make sure to tell you about them but otherwise I'm willing to change my opinion provided the right reasons. Alternatively, find a middle ground. A solution that both you AND the players are happy with WITHOUT compromising the game's integrity.
In regards to the Lesbian content being rewritten/removed/whatever. There's a game that's going through something similar in those regards. The source of your drama was a flashback lesbian scene between two future Love Interests. The game I'm referencing here is ECHOES by Oldcat/Lyk4n. Lyk4n's drama originated from a short flashback scene where the MC caught his ex-gf cheating on him. Technically NTR, so I understand the drama there more than the drama here. The parallels between the two is simple, both CAN be viewed as NTR as they both involve a character the MC is/will be romantically involved with, doing something with a different character that ISN'T the MC. However, whereas ECHOES is actually a form of NTR used as plot/character development. The scene from this game just straight up isn't NTR as neither character was involved with the MC at the time of the scene occurring. Both situations have made me realize just how fanatical people are about NTR, so much so that they seem to begin these crusades against things that are easily misinterpreted as NTR. Making it all optional is a fairly good solution to it as it DOES remove that scene, but I still feel like whenever it's re-added the fanatics would still consider it NTR because it's a flashback between the two characters. So I think whenever it's drummed back up, you should ignore them. You've already given them a solution, so now it's up to them whether or not to take it. Tying it back to my previous paragraph, I wouldn't recommend completely writing it out of the story either.
That's honestly everything I've got to say. Or to be more accurate, I'm actively stopping myself from saying more or else this would probably end up being a couple hundred pages long. I tend to easily ramble about things and that translates into writing as well. Ultimately you're the developer, so you get the final say in whatever decisions are made about the game, I just wanted to provide my input on the matters at hand. Overall, I AM enjoying the game so far as it is now and really look forward to future updates. So I wish you well with the development of the game.
Edit: After reading a few of the free patreon posts. It looks like you kinda already knew a lot of this huh? Sorry for repeating it then lol.
A Personal Message Regarding Episode 2 of ECHOES and Future Updates of MOS comments · Replied to LewdSimian in A Personal Message Regarding Episode 2 of ECHOES and Future Updates of MOS comments
The problem is: It IS optional, there IS a skip button, and it's NOT dominant in the story (so far, and I hope it stays that way).
It's a flashback to the MC catching his ex cheating on him. That's it. Literally it. It's even hinted at BEFORE you even see the flashback when the MC looks at the picture of him, his ex, and his "best friend" and he then mention's something along the lines of "them rewriting the script without him" or "writing their own love story behind the scenes" or something like that. Doesn't take a genius to assume something's going on between those two. Then lo and behold, the flashback happens.
The hate's undeserved in this scenario imo as the scene accomplishes its goal which is to establish the MC's past, give you a key reason as to why he's basically trying to "become" someone else by completely changing his personality, and establish a sort of antagonist/hyper douchebag that nobody likes. Hence the whole "Lies we tell ourselves" part of the game's title as well as its constant references to "wearing masks." His personality change is just a mask he wears due to the betrayal.
"Add semi open sections in some plot points..."
Reminds me of what Out of Touch does and how they sometimes have sections at the beginning of an arc where it's just a bunch of the characters walking around. You get to walk to different locations, talk to the group at each location, and examine each location. There's even sometimes optional stuff included, like extra bits of story or lore. My favorite thing to do is to go to the Subway/Train Station in that game and examine it, almost every character goes "Why the fuck am I here? What was the point of even coming here?"
I have to be completely honest here. I think one of my favorites things in this game (like top 3) are the dev notes.
It's a PURE nostalgia hit from things like Half Life and Left 4 Dead and the developer commentary in them.
Also worthy of note, is that this game is INCREDIBLY well made AND all the art's amazing too!
I'm just bad with social cues man. No clue why, but I have a hard time reading people unless it's so incredibly obvious that even a blind person could see it. I'm slightly better at it IRL, but fictional characters are tough sometimes.
I'm good at detecting "twist" villains and strange things. Like all of Harry's tells for instance. You go out to eat/hang out with him and suddenly some weird shit happens. Yeah, THAT I can piece together as being strange/suspicious/weird/ a telling sign of something being off. But with more subtle things I just can't read them at all. Sometimes I can notice some body language or the character's smile disappearing when something is said, etc.
But for the most part I just can't really pick out any cues like that. I also seem to struggle with idioms, poetic/philosophical things, as well as hidden meanings behind words. If I think a sentence has a different meaning than what is actually said, I end up rereading it like 20 times until I either give up or am satisfied with whatever explanation I came up with.
Yeah I can pretty much agree with this for the most part.
"If it was a matter of blood, incest wouldn't have been mentioned." This is the type of "stretch" that I was talking about. For all we know it could've just been an oversight by the dev or something akin to it. Or maybe that's just my hopium talking.
But at the end of the day it's still an Adult VN that some people use to live out whatever fantasies they want, while others just enjoy the stories and characters in them. The harem parts imo, are just there so people don't have to play the game a hundred times JUST to see each scene with each girl. Gives them the option to pursue whoever they want without any real consequences basically. And because they're part of the fantasies too I guess. Then another part of people's fantasies tends to be that they want their partners to be 100% loyal and almost perfect in every way. THAT tends to include things like "3 or less ex partners," "not a prostitute/has NEVER been a prostitute," "Will never cheat," etc. Then, the final part is that they pretty much want every attractive character to be fuckable/dateable. Like Wild Cats has Bianca who isn't fuckable/dateable and people are a bit disappointed by that. I also recommend that game btw.
The dev definitely made a ballsy move making Chika a "prostitute" though. So I guess it's partly his own fault too? I mean, he should've anticipated the backlash at the very least. Especially considering it's a genre where most of the players don't really want that.
I do agree that the hate's a bit extreme but it goes both ways a little too.
I've seen people like soldier screaming at the top of his lungs, people screaming at people like him, then people like me who TRIES to use logic and reasoning and just gets downvoted to hell anyways because I STILL disagree with the dev's decision and that's apparently enough to warrant downvotes.
Makes me think both sides don't really read what's being posted past something like "I hate that Chika's a prostitute" or "There isn't NTR (would then go on to say 'because...')"
I'm planning on making my final judgement whenever the next update's posted. If I don't like the direction it takes, then I'll just leave.
You probably misunderstood, you're the DEVS biggest simp/white knight.
I say this because every post that mildly disagrees with the dev/dislikes the game has you jumping in, fully kitted out in platemail to defend your lord's honor, with your sword and shield in hand.
You're even willing to dig deeper than physically possible as well, as a great deal of the things you say are a bit of a stretch. So therefore I've come to the conclusion that either you're a detective or some sort of psychologist/therapist because of how you dig deep looking for things that just might not even exist at all.
First things first. If the MC DID get with Yuka it would depend on your definition of incest for it to BE incest. If you consider incest to be any family relationship (including things like step-mother, step sister, and two people in the same family despite not ACTUALLY being related.), then yes, it would be. But, unless my memory is failing me once again (haven't played the game in roughly 5 months), Yuka isn't related to the MC through blood, can't remember if she's adopted or what though. So if your definition of incest requires blood relations, then it wouldn't be incest.
"That's like getting upset that your gf had fwbs before you got into a relationship. Makes no sense."
That means "Friends with benefits" right? (actual question)
If so, then congratulations! You've just discovered a new piece of evidence for why people are upset. In the modern day there's a decent amount of drama surrounding things like OnlyFans and people having copious amounts of sex. Most people don't really want their partner to have had say... a thousand ex partners, as that could signify some sort of problems they don't want to deal with. In other words, it's usually seen as a red flag. Nor do they want others to see their romantic partners naked. A vast amount of people that have an OF page, have both copious amounts of sex (sometimes their videos are WITH their romantic partners and sometimes NOT) AND have people pay to see them naked. Both things people aren't too fond of in their partners as they walk the line between some form of NTR and normal exclusivity. And as such, people aren't too fond of dating both current AND ex prostitutes for that exact same reason. They have copious amounts of sex AND people see them naked all the time.
Chika's relationship with the MC is more of a close friend at the time of her H-scene. If the player chooses "yes" THEN it becomes a singular, smaller step closer to NTR as you've at least had sex with her and that COULD advance the relationship, though in this game it won't because it DOES give you more points with her for turning down her offer, most of the people giving the game an EXTREME amount of hate don't completely understand that.
Yuka and Eri appearing in that flashforward makes them appear as if they're important. In most of these games, side characters' routes aren't required for the best or harem endings, they're usually added filler at the end with stuff like "so and so was there too." And important love interests usually equals main love interests. And if that flashforward is basically the "best/harem" ending then yeah.
And it'd depend on if that character's story being focused on affects the ENTIRE game. If the post he made a while ago said something like "I'm holding OFF on their stories for a while." Then it'd be fine. But instead it pretty much said that he's making them side characters. So less screen time, less development, pretty much less everything.
It wouldn't make Harry a main LI but it could very well mean he's now a main character. (hopefully my memory is correct) He's that blonde guy who's basically the MC's best friend right? Judging from some hints and tells, he pretty much already IS an important character too.
There was an old patreon post a while ago where KS basically said he made Yuka and Eri side characters so that he could focus more on a specific character's story. That's definitely a point of contention as Yuka is at least a commonly reoccurring (and seemingly well-liked) character.
People assumed Chika's story WAS that specific character's story. Another reason people call Chika a main girl is because of how she appears in that sort of flash forward at the beginning where it feels like it foreshadows the MC's harem. So it's a safe assumption to make that she IS a main girl. Plus she's a commonly occurring character and the main girls are usually shown quite often in these types of games.
Judging from a lot of the comments he's posted here, it's kinda starting to feel like he's the dev's biggest simp white knight.
I mean, I can see/understand SOME of the points he makes but it also seems like he gets really heated sometimes and that's not a good look as it doesn't actually contribute anything meaningful to the conversation.
Few things I wanna clarify. The ALL CAPS are meant as emphasis for important parts of my comments as I tend to struggle when it comes to properly explaining things, thus I put some words in CAPS, bold, underlined, italics, and whatever else I can do to emphasize their importance. Guess I should've used less caps in that reply, my bad. In addition I happen to struggle with social cues, so I guess I'm sorry for not picking up on any subtleties in her conversations? And good for you for doing so. I'm proud of you for that. Pat yourself on the back for that too.
But even then half of that just... Isn't really buildup? She's reserved. So is every shy character, that doesn't mean they're all prostitutes. And the rest of that isn't really any indication either which makes me feel like it's a bit of a stretch. Those can all be descriptors of someone's personality, not exactly their role/job/occupation. That doesn't necessarily indicate/buildup to her being a prostitute. It instead builds up to her actual background (Abusive father, dead mother, bullied, etc)
And for clarifications sake, I declined that offer at the cost of missing a scene in the gallery but ehh whatever, can always replay and get it. And I do completely agree with those last few points though. The hate IS a bit extreme, especially when it isn't necessarily NTR, UNLESS you accept her offer. But then again, this IS an adult game. And USUALLY in adult games picking "yes" to sex IS the right option, unless it's something like "I'd like to stop here." So it's fair to assume that the people getting genuinely upset, made that same assumption and picked "yes" BECAUSE they though it was worth more than saying no. Also I in fact mentioned that the MC was more of a friend in a reply to Comfy Cherry 8 months ago. Around the time of the H-scene the MC is more of a close friend of Chika's, whether or not she really WANTS him to be. But he does know her whole situation/past AND wants to help her so the MC is basically making himself a close friend of hers (cause he genuinely wants to be)
Anyways, it looks like this has the potential to devolve into a string of endless insults instead of actual meaningful conversation so this is my final reply in this thread.
Every MC in just about every VN can be considered a whore. They ALL sleep with multiple women, and almost ALWAYS keep it to themselves until it blows up in their faces. Very rarely do you find MCs that actually tell the women they're in relationships with, that they sleep with pretty much anyone that looks at them.
Some people play these games to live out their fantasies or some shit while others simply enjoy the stories. (Not gonna lie, the stories have been more enjoyable than half of the AAA trash I've played in the past 5 years.)
The only expectation that 99% of the people who play these games has is that none of the Love Interests in these games EVER have sex with another man. ESPECIALLY when the MC is ACTIVELY pursuing said Love Interest or already IN A RELATIONSHIP with said Love Interest (irrelevant for New Horizons, but IS relevant for My Best Deal)
The Love Interests can only have sex with other men if it is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL and (very rarely) A PUNISHMENT FOR BAD CHOICES (Caribdis found out that using it as a punishment [Once in a Lifetime] is still decently frowned upon, hence the very rarely)
Even then, sometimes the hatred CAN be a bit extreme. For instance ECHOES (by Oldcat/Lyk4n) has a scene in the past where the MC catches his ex cheating on him. The MC then uses this experience that he utterly despised to grow and develop as a person by trying to be less shy/antisocial and be more like the jocks in some ways. Anyways, People apparently gave the dev so much hate for it that he has basically gone on vacation until January despite it being... ok... (MC didn't actively cheer it on/encourage it, MC fell to his knees and knocked open the door, MC didn't watch the full scene, and the MC was utterly heartbroken and felt betrayed.)
So, those are my observations from roughly 3 (three) years of dwelling in these types of communities. (1 year of lurking without an account and 2 years of actually having an account)
I feel like I'm repeating myself man. Just read my comment from 3 months ago, I believe I explained it better there. But I guess I'll try again (again) (again).
It's BOTH. She's a main girl who isn't initially portrayed as a prostitute. The rumors only appear FROM HER AND ONLY HER, so when she eventually says she's a prostitute (and it's then made 100% irrefutable shortly after when she exits a love hotel.) people are disappointed, frustrated, angry, devastated, etc. The buildup would've softened the blow, substantially, hence why I say it's necessary.
IF the rumors were propagated throughout the game as conversations you either have or overhear, then people would begin to deduce something, they'd begin to piece things together and make their own deductions about it. Once again repeating myself, THE RUMORS ARE ONLY TALKED ABOUT BY CHIKA HERSELF. So when she confirms the rumors ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER INTRODUCING THEM and then SHE IS SEEN EXITING A LOVE HOTEL (making her confirmation 100% irrefutable) that's going to upset people.
Here's an example that's mildly exaggerated (replace 20+ hours with 5 to 10+ hours to remove the exaggeration): You pursue a specific love interest's route in a VN throughout the entire game. She's, in your opinion, the hottest character in the game. Then after almost 20+ hours of gameplay, picking all the right options, and dealing with all her trauma/story, you finally get the option to ask her out, so you do. She then proceeds to tell you that she isn't interested because she's 100% a lesbian and has absolutely no interest in men. Surely this is false, right? About 10 minutes of gameplay later, she then introduces you to her girlfriend and actively makes out with her in front of you. You are COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED and FEEL LIKE YOUR TIME HAS BEEN WASTED. You spent HOURS of your life getting invested in this characters story, only to then have your hopes shattered when she randomly reveals something that completely changes her character, frustrated you replay the ENTIRE GAME and find ZERO CLUES TO HER IDENTITY.
(If you find "lesbian" to not be a valid example and as such it hinders your understanding, then replace the word "lesbian" with ANY OTHER CHARACTER TRAIT THAT WOULD RUIN SAID CHARACTER FOR YOU. For example: replace "lesbian" with "has a penis" or something else)
Does that example help you understand why people are mad? Or should I just give up completely? Also, once again, I recommend reading my comment from 3 months ago as it is sufficiently better written as I was not moderately upset from repeating myself nor was I sick (got the flu, but it's basically gone now).
Before her H-scene she herself confirms the rumors, that is correct, then an extra layer of proof is added when you see her exit a hotel with a client a little while later. But the conversation that Kaizen was talking about was a conversation between MC, Ayase, Yuka, and Chika in a restaurant, NOT the one between Chika and the MC in the MC's apartment.
This is where the "Not sure if I'm misremembering or not" part of my comment comes in as I haven't replayed that specific conversation (the restaurant one), but I believe that in the restaurant conversation she simply mentions that there are rumors going around school about her. Kaizen, was acting as if at that point in time, those rumors were 100% proven true simply because Chika mentioned them. She basically said something like "people are saying I have sex for money" and Kaizen took that as her pretty much saying "I DO have sex for money. It's 100% confirmed true." Kaizen was then using that as evidence that Chika's "prostitution" was already mentioned when at that specific point it was nothing more than a rumor.
My comment was pointing out how those "rumors" don't exist BEFORE that conversation in the restaurant, when Chika brings them to your attention. NOBODY mentions them UNTIL THAT POINT. Which is one of the reasons why the players are upset as it feels like it comes out of literally nowhere with absolutely zero buildup. When they get to the restaurant and Chika mentions the rumors, the average player (me included) is most likely thinking something along the lines of "Oh, they're just rumors, surely the story will involve us proving that they're false." Only to be severely disappointed when the story then proceeds to double down on the rumors by instantly confirming them to be true a short while later.
Also it's important to note that KS says the quotes around "prostitute" matter, so I don't know what the hell that means.
A Personal Message Regarding Episode 2 of ECHOES and Future Updates of MOS comments · Posted in A Personal Message Regarding Episode 2 of ECHOES and Future Updates of MOS comments
Take a break if you want to man, I'd understand it.
At the very least it's foreshadowed in Episode 1 so it's not like New Horizons to where it's "foreshadowed" that one of the characters is a "prostitute" about 5 to 10 minutes before it's confirmed true after you've already played hours of content.
Anyways, for my actual full scale opinion. I think it's fine, I despise ntr and that scene did nothing to me other than what I think it was supposed to do. Which was to make me understand why the MC is trying so hard to "be" someone else. So I'd label it as the "good" form (it actually hurts me to say "good" and ntr in the same sentence) of ntr, it's a skippable past event that already happened to the MC, the MC wasn't into it at all, nor did he actively encourage it, and it's used as a key facet of his character, his story, as well as the main story. Plus he didn't watch the "full" scene, the shock caused him to collapse to his knees and knock the door open.
It's a major plot point that his ex cheated on him, happens in real life too and while it's understandable that people don't want that kind of stuff to happen in VNs, it can still be used to tell interesting and entertaining stories like Echoes. The way I see it, the MC is using that experience to try and get his life together and improve, to try and be more active and less secluded.
My only potential problem with it is if there would be any forced ntr in the future, like no matter what choices you make the MC agrees to some sort of sharing or one of the girls cheats on him, THAT would make me upset and switch sides.
I say keep making the game, after all the scene IS labeled as a "side girl" which pretty much means its completely optional to get back together with her, and it's not even confirmed if it's even possible to do so. BUT, your health is the most important thing, so take a break. However long you need, I'll gladly wait. Take care man.
So what exactly is the penalty for breaking enemies? Because the game mentions there are "permanent consequences" for it but it's literally the ONLY way to win some of these fights with healers in them because breaking enemies makes their allies lose the ability to heal/buff them allowing them to be killed for good.
Otherwise the healers enter an infinite if/then loop where they heal/resurrect any low health enemy. They pretty much turn into one of those enemy fights where you NEED to kill them all at the same time or they resurrect. And it is incredibly annoying, especially since the stuns you have access to are only a 50% chance to proc and it takes forever to raise that percentage. And even the stuns become useless if there's 3 healers since whoever ISN'T stunned will just heal or resurrect one of the stunned guys. Not to mention the fact that they sometimes decide 75% health is low enough to heal and end up giving their friend overhealth so they're now at like 135 out of 75 health.
I'd recommend either adding cooldowns to the enemy heals, lowering how much they heal, or something else entirely.
Edit: after reading the description again it mentions breaking "POWERFUL" souls, does that mean whatever the penalty is, it's only for bosses?
That's good to know I'll get the points at some point.
Also, that would explain it then. English IS a rough language to learn/deal with, especially if it's your second language. But for what it's worth your English is also pretty good compared to some others I've seen and the grammar/spelling problems are few in number. They also don't hurt the experience too much either.
So I'm just now playing Episode 2, and I just have a little problem with it so far.
Back in Episode 1 where you get the choice to go and have sex with Roxy, choosing "no" has you leave the party with Mina instead and you have a heartfelt conversation with her and then a choice to kiss her or not. Everything there feels perfectly built up and reasonable within the context of the scene.
But in Episode 2, if you DID choose to go with Roxy in Episode 1 that whole sequence with Mina is kinda squeezed in before Mina's first scene and it feels... Kinda bad? Like it doesn't really feel like it fits there. It especially feels like it shouldn't lead INTO her H-Scene. But it does give you 2 new unique choices to make to try and "make up" for the points you missed out on in Episode 1 though which is greatly appreciated. But saying no to Roxy still feels like the right choice since it builds up Mina's character in a better way.
So I guess I just have to ask if I can eventually get those 2 points with Roxy back later (similarly to how you get the chance to get the two back for Mina), or is going to her apartment to have sex with her the ONLY way to get them?
There is one thing I have to say while I'm at it though. The writing here in Echoes, seems substantially better than in MoS (I should probably play your other games too at some point to get a proper point of reference but I have yet to get around to them, and MoS is the only one I've played so far.) MoS, feels more... rushed? Like it has more spelling and grammar mistakes and the story is good enough for a parody, but it isn't the best. But Echoes feels better overall, less spelling and grammar problems. And the story is original, and quite good so far too. Not to mention the characters are all well written so far with very distinct personalities, appearances, stories, and even hidden sides. The visuals in both games are really good though.
Once again, I don't have a proper point of reference so I'm not sure if this is an actual improvement in your overall skill and writing quality or it just turns out MoS is more of a "just for fun" sorta thing. While Echoes is "It's time for me to get serious again." Please don't take any offence by any of this btw. This is just me struggling to put things into words and writing down what comes into my mind first, it's intended to be criticism that's hopefully valid. Anyways, great job with Echoes so far, I've been loving it and am very interested to see where the story and characters take me.
Not sure if I'm misremembering or not but that conversation mentions how they are rumors. How people SAY she does that.
The definition of rumor is: "a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth."
I.e. possibly false. Something that may not be true at all.
You make it sound like it's a fact that she's a prostitute, when it's not. Rumors can be TRUE OR FALSE. And I'm a firm believer in the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing so I tend to not make judgements without proper evidence, or at the very least keep my judgments light as well as give the benefit of the doubt, and the fact that it is stated as a rumor helps take some of the suspicion away...
Until Chika comes out of a love hotel with a random guy a day or two after her first H-scene...
THAT would be the "until proven guilty" part. It is impossible to deny the evidence your own eyes give you. She comes out of a love hotel... with another guy. Ergo the prostitute rumor is then confirmed to be true.
That wouldn't be as much of a problem IF it was properly built up to. I've mentioned this in a comment I made 2 months ago, but I'll mention it again. I believe those rumors aren't found anywhere else outside of that exact conversation which represents a massive missed opportunity by the dev. Players first see Chika as a goth who is closed off and apprehensive about friendships. When this random "rumor" is then confirmed to be true a day or so after her scene, it blindsides people because they only just discovered it moments ago. Throughout the game leading up to that point, you find NOTHING about that rumor. NOTHING hints that Chika is a "prostitute." It practically doesn't even exist until SHE HERSELF mentions it RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
At the very least characters should've been talking about the rumors throughout the game, which would then allow more of a story buildup as well as an opportunity for the dev to add in hints as to why the quotes around "prostitute" matter instead of the "just trust me bro" excuse that the dev is currently using. That way the players could possibly discover the hints and then build theories around the whole thing. It'd foster engagement in the community instead of discourse like it is now as well as create more trust with the dev overall. Right now all we can do is wait until 0.4 releases and replaying the game right now yields no additional insight into why it's "prostitute" and not prostitute. 0.4 will essentially be the "make or break" update for many people. Resulting in either people forgiving the dev, or a mass exodus away from the game. Plus there's the fact that his trust has dropped in the eyes of many, which I can see resulting in accusations of the dev rewriting Chika's story in some way or another.
Just finished chapter 3 and god DAMN it was good! Definitely worth the wait and I will definitely wait however long it takes for the next chapter.
Every single character is incredibly well written so far. And as you learn more about each one, they only seem to become better and better. I've also found each chapter has a heavy focus on a couple of characters at a time so far. Chapter 1 focusing on the MC and Eve, Chapter 2 focusing on Saki and Zoe, then Chapter 3 focusing on Fiona, Lexi, and Desiree. The title card for each chapter also seems to foreshadow what the main focus points are going to be.
Each chapter continues to reveal more about the MC as he overcomes his problems and tries to become a better person. Chapter 3 reveals a lot about Fiona, Lexi and Dessie, that make them that much more appealing and interesting. Never once have I thought a character in this game was boring or bland in any way. It is an incredibly rewarding feeling, unraveling their stories, motivations, and quirks as you progress through it. Not to mention these characters could probably pass the damn Turing test with how real they feel.
It's also still the classic underdog story we've all heard and loved. But once again in Chapter 3 it does it WELL. And it sounds like we're finally getting to the best parts too.
You and your team are doing an absolutely outstanding job so far and I wish each of you all of the luck in the world! However long it takes, I will patiently wait. Especially if waiting results in such superb quality.
I'd say the amount of people who've downloaded and played should be good enough proof it's trustworthy.
But if you're still worried just run some virus scans and what not. Windows also usually freaks out about random garbage sometimes. I personally had to add Battle Brothers to an exception list in order to get it to run with mods and my PC's been completely fine since.
Sometimes you just kinda have to take a risk and play it anyway. In those cases a virus scan before and a virus scan after is what I usually do. It also doesn't hurt to research the game beforehand, like taking a look at the Patreon, Subscribestar, itch page, and everything in between to make sure it's as trustworthy as possible. Could even ask around the Discord if need be.
1, 2 or 3 in that order is my vote.
But hey, this type of stuff just kinda happens in this field. Lots of people just want to make a game as a fun little hobby and maybe make a buck or two on the side, but then real life comes in and knocks them onto their back. So if you want to kind of retire for a little while and wait for things to die down, go for it. I'd completely understand. Also you don't need to update the game daily, that tends to add more stress than anything else. And overall, I'd say your health is more important than getting a new update for a game.
A Growing Adventure: The Expanding Alchemist comments · Replied to TheManKilIer101 in A Growing Adventure: The Expanding Alchemist comments
Probably one of those weird things technology does. You know, how some things work for others while some don't. Then you turn off a completely unrelated setting and suddenly it starts working. Computers are weird like that. Code, is weird like that.
I still think it's better to be safe than sorry though, and keep Discord OFF on the off chance the setting decides to just stop working.
A Growing Adventure: The Expanding Alchemist comments · Replied to TheManKilIer101 in A Growing Adventure: The Expanding Alchemist comments