Tired of these games that give you unknowable, arbitrary choices that lock out half the content. It sucks being forced to use a wiki instead of just enjoying the story to know what to do and/or being forced to start over and spam click for an hour to get back to where you were.
I'm fairly new to visual novels but I think whoever thought these unclear branching paths that only lock out content (not lead to DIFFERENT CONTENT) is a moron.
^
[EDIT: After interacting with others in posts below I regret the phrasing of this last sentence. Especially calling people who like this type of storytelling "morons". I'm actually glad a wide verity of games and game-play styles exist.]
And from what I'm seeing the walkthough i just opened, falling behind once forces you to lose out on even more relationship "+'s" in the locked scenes leading me to wonder why I'm bothering at all.
I'm perfectly fine getting negative responses to this comment. The game has a full 5 stars, after all.
Completely random dialogue dead-ends seem to be a popular trope/gamely style a lot of people like. That's cool. Glad people are finding the things they enjoy.
However, there is a comment section and have no problem using it to express my frustration with unknowable/unpredictable consequences. Especially when I'm vested in the story.
Ghryst, you don't seem to understand my opinion, so I'll try and elaborate.
Random ripples leading to unpredictable outcomes is fine- IMO
Random ripples only leading to dead ends is not fine- IMO
Early and seemingly innocuous choices I could have no knowledge of picking correctly only snowballing into locking out massive sections of content and characters feels unfair and frustrating to me. Not giving any feedback takes that sense of control from the player. Especially when you don't know anything about plot or personalities at the beginning. Choices are entirely random.
A "good" example of this is the VN Halfway House. The premise intrigued me and I liked the art style/3d models. A smaller scope felt refreshing and the story felt mature for a change. You know, not targeted at children as a lot of these are.
Then about halfway into Halfway House, I realize that I'm missing a ton of content from the MILF who runs the place. Looking at a walk through; instead of the young man just getting out of prison for aggressiveness approaching the counselor/caretaker with respect and building into something more, you are intended to molest her from the very first choice. If you don't, it's a perpetual losing game for one-third of the characters, and the only way to get out of it is to start over from the very beginning.
Again, people can like blind mazes that lead to dead ends. People can like playing through the same content over and over and clicking random options until they happen to get the correct combination. People can like alt+tabbing to check a walk through instead of the game itself giving some type of feedback/knowledge to inform your choices. Fantastic.
That being said. My personal opinion about what I enjoy cannot be wrong.
If you think an opinion can be wrong, your existence is probably harming humanity as a whole.
its almost as if you're upset because you arent able to see how dead ends are a type of unpredictable outcome. its kinda like you've been raised with participation trophies even though you lose. and it reminds me of someone who isnt capable of making an accurate prediction. probably just mine and just about everyone elses wild imagination though, right? couldnt possibly be a "you" problem, right?
you're so special <3 the center of the universe and you can be anything you want and all that bullshit right? why not just manifest a new non-deadend ripple with the power of positive thought?
If you didn't enjoy it, then stop playing the game, mate.
Don't rant to people that don't care just because you found the system of choices relating to various relationships unacceptable.
If you haven't already noticed, the choices of a dating sim like this one are based on decisions IRL, whereby the most 'innocuous' choice, as you've put it, can lead to the most drastic changes.
If you find that you've missed out on a path with one of the characters, guess what? THERE'S A SAVE MENU! Go back and make the alternative decision in order to achieve the outcome you wanted. There's even a SKIP button there so that you can fast forward through the conversations you've already read through.
Innovative, isn't it??
The Author took their time to carefully craft this game and plot. In essence, the time you're meant to spend playing it includes the screw-ups you'll definitely encounter along the way. Hence, the reason why you can go back and replay saves.
Don't bitch about something utterly petty that can be easily rectified by YOU, THE PLAYER. Have you ever considered the possibility that you're just garbage at playing AVN's? Might wanna invest your time in getting better at them before you start barking.
1: I have up-votes, so people agree with me/care.
2: If you think everything should be 100% free from criticism, you are delusional/in for a surprise during your stay here on Earth.
3: There is no way to "get gud" when there is no information about far-reaching, early choices other than opening a walk through or reloading then spam clicking to get back to where you were in the story. That is a gameplay choice by the developer.
Not all VNs are like this and that's fine. Everyone is different and likes different things. Nothing you could ever say would convince me to enjoy "blind" systems some of these titles have. I liked the story, so I expressed my frustration.
G'day, mate.
I never once said that the game should be "free of criticism". I said that you're overreacting over something that can be easily fixed by simply replaying the game you keep complaining about.
And as for your third point you still don't seem to get the picture. I see now that you are a person that cannot understand plain reasoning if it punched you in the face. The reason you don't get this plethora of info about certain decisions is due to the fact that these choices are a direct portrayal of ACTUAL LIFE. You call me delusional, yet you expect a game that uses realism to spoon feed you fifty pros and cons about a singular moment before you make a decision? Are you mental? The game makes you think on your feet, plan out your choices like a chess player for later moves. That's literally the essence of the game since it's about bloody TIME TRAVEL! Of course you're going to make one or sixty wrong decisions during each chapter, that's the whole reason there's a reload system. If you find that to be a useless mechanic then you must be a lazy person naturally. Getting ruffled by the fact that the game dev doesn't want to hold you hand throughout the game? Come on, man. What AVN have you played that gives you X-ray vision into 100% percent of the choices you as the player are meant to make ON THEIR OWN?
You are right. Not all games are like this. But MOST games are like this. Once In A Lifetime, Deviant Anomalies, bloody Harem Hotel, and even My Bully Is My Lover, to name a short few.
My issue isn't that you are offering concrit, bruv. The issue is that you're pointing out a problem you have with the game that literally 90% of other games posses because they are AVN's.
Nevertheless, I won't bother with this any longer, you have my word. Can't believe we're having a debate over a game mechanic.
Eh, it's not really a debate. Other people agree with my comment and opinion about blind choices.
Harem Hotel is nothing like Ripples. It's a sandbox with no miss-able content. It's one of my favorites so far! The Headmaster is REALLY Good too. Amazing expanding sandbox with no wrong choices.
If you've been paying attention, replaying the game is my personal gripe and not a valid solution. And to think Ripples is like chess... yeah you probably mentally align with the guy who thinks math equations are opinions.
It's okay that people don't like the same things you do. How shitty would the world be if everyone liked the same thing? Maybe the internet isn't the right place for you, bruvington brokowski.
The Headmaster is literally one of those games whereby if you pick the wrong choice, it blocks out the development of a certain route. It even encourages replaying, something you have gripes with. Way to contradict yourself.
But you're right, mate. I've been hot headed for no reason about something this utterly stupid. Allow me to apologize.
And I'm perfectly fine with my opinions online, thank you. The only reason I replied your comment is to defend the game.
I know what you are trying to say. I really love the concept for the Persona games, but never play them because of how my personality handles time management and the FOMO I get.
Would be nice if there was an option to turn on some indicator of what a choice may result in for people. Just a hint so the players that want don't pick completely blind.
For multiple play throughs! Unlike life, in games it is possible to get the first run all 0's and just come back and make different choices. This is how these kinds of games that are not all about the H content can survive. Enjoy the play-throughs and skip the walk-throughs. It is much more fun discovering things on your own.