Post by become-as-gods in Endings

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I'm going to join the choir and say all of the endings were disappointing in one way or another. I love the game, the setting, (and to a certain extent) the characters. I get that the devs were going for a dark, gritty and realistic game - but at some point it just felt like they were slapping more flaws onto characters and pushing more depressing aspects onto the game solely in an attempt to be "subversive" to what is usually expected from something marketed as an otome/vampire dating sim.

Otome is a genre that is usually plagued with love interest on protag rape? Let's make the protag feel like a rapist, instead. Otome protags are usually a magical fix all band-aid for all the love interests' problems? Let's make it so the protag can't improve a damn thing about their love interests' life, and arguably make it even worse. Otome game endings usually contain a multitude of happy endings, and unlockable ones that are even happier? Let's make every single ending a downer in some way - even the "special" ones they have to spend hours unlocking.

If I sound bitter it's because I am, the devs even said as much that they were aiming for this game to be an unforgettable experience, one unlike any other you'd played before - and it is, for all the wrong reasons. In hindsight it was also really cruel of them to "hype" the routes up as being '15' on a scale of being mature/shocking, and is what contributes to me feeling like they ended up shooting themselves, the game, and all the endings in the foot - all for the sake of being a "subversive" but ultimately unsatisfying experience for the people who played it.

I don't regret buying the game on the first day of release (despite how grating the ending bugs were) and this won't make me not support them in the future. Just wanted to vent what I feel are some reasonable criticisms of this game as a whole.

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become-as-gods5 years ago(+13)

Ah I'm really relieved to see someone else feels the same way, I didn't want it to come across like I was hating on the game or anything. I loved the game, which is why the direction it took in the end really disappointed but also riled me up, because I felt it could have been so much more than what it ended up being, if that makes any sense.

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become-as-gods5 years ago(+20)

Oh man I really feel for you, I ended up discovering the demo about a month before the final release, instantly got sucked in/immersed into the world and was really hype and checking in every day to see when word of the final release was, but I still have it easy in comparison to those who were beta testers, kickstarter/patreon backers who waited so much longer (and had a higher level of emotional attachment.)

That's not nuts, I can totally see why you feel that way - at times it DOES feel like the game is actively trying to punish you, especially when it comes to initiating any kind of intimacy. Flirting is fine, but as soon as anything physical gets involved it seems to cross a line in the sand that the game wants to punish you for. You know that one common ending where Lazarus kills you, and while you're dying he begins taunting you that he won't even eat you because you might enjoy it? That's how it feels the devs went about implementing the sex scenes - they'll give them to you (due to fan demand) but in return, they'll make sure neither the characters, or the person playing can enjoy it (in good conscience.)

Then to top it all off with the "true" unlockable ending being some vague meta message about how nothing you did really mattered? Like, how did they think that was going to be received by their fanbase? It's the literary equivalent to suddenly dunking a freezing cold bucket of water all over your audience's head after they've poured their time, money and effort into playing your product. I fail to see the message they were going for, other than punishing their players for wanting mutually consensual sex and a semi-healthy relationship out of a dating sim game.

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become-as-gods5 years ago(+10)(-1)

On the one hand I respect them for venturing out of the expected norms of their field, if no-one ever tried anything experimental or new within a genre fiction would be terribly boring as a whole - but on the other I also feel it's a shame that it had to happen to this game in particular. I just wanted a dark, power fantasy vampire dating sim with controversial elements sprinkled in, not a sermon on why escapism is bad and there's nothing but cold, empty suffering to show for all of your efforts. It just felt like a bit of a slap in the face to the player.

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become-as-gods5 years ago(+7)

Oh Lord the end of your post has been sending me, I couldn't stop laughing. Like, Markus runs a fucking sex shop! There is -no- reason why they couldn't have paused, pointed out it wasn't exactly working out as-is, dashed out to buy some vampire lube and then continued when they came back. The way these characters forced themselves through extremely uncomfortable sex made you feel like the world was going to end if it didn't happen right there and then - and the fact it isn't even implied to happen again afterwards all points to it being no fun for everyone involved.

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Wintersleep5 years ago(+3)

Ahhh Dammit nooooooo!!! Well there went my dream ending of being special because Markus "chose" us...although he does hint at your choices not really mattering when you first encounter Lazarus .." No need to take the path less traveled...it doesn't matter in the end." (cries) ..before I read all the comments I've already played 76% of the game.....I was hoping with all the choices in game that raises or lower your humanity ...or going all out vampiric would have a impact since it hints at some thing in game, like in Markus route when your "dreaming" but actually go AWOL from the hotel in reality , Markus said " Here we stand tethered, in between"....I was kinda hoping you two evolved into Gods in his special ending. Damn the dev. misleading asses!!! He was all where I end ..You begin. If I was a writer on this I swear I'd have went Epic with Markus's route, tying in theme's from the other two stories. But hell this whole this is just disappointing....I just gonna go head on and say it the BEST part OF THE ENTIRE game is when Heath and the MC are hiding in Markus's store and he was all "...Dare I ask why you two are hidin' amidst the strap-ons? I laughed so hard I almost pee'd myself. I paid 20 for a laugh and some mental abuse I'm starting to feel like a masochist.

noa~237 days ago

4 years later and I AM WHEEZING OVER THE LAST SENTENCE OF THIS COMMENT because that’s exactly how I feel with 80% of the game that I went through. Screaming and crying and shaking and tormenting my roommate with my howling. I have Markus special ending to go through and then I’m playing some cutesy lovely VN fuck this man skkajahwgagagaga

Lulababy5 years ago(+5)

I'm totally with you guys! After playing the game I literally couldn't sleep and kept thinking about the characters! They felt so real in a way, and you wish there was something more, its like you wanna hold on that little piece of heaven.

bre5 years ago(+5)

This is all very true, games should have a balance of dark and depressing with good and rewarding. In many ways the game is amazing, the atmosphere, art and dialogue are amazing but I've yet to get an ending that didn't leave me unsatisfied.

hurricaneginger5 years ago(+31)

This and this whole thread, I agree so much. I don't regret buying the game, or playing what I have; I'll play the game when my mood is at its best definitely, but I'll need to stay away from the game when it's not (I'm having to shelf it now, for instance.)

There are already so many games out there that have the "nothing you did mattered" aspect to them - and so many more where you're punished no matter what you choose. That doesn't make the game fun, you feel punished for just playing the game. And like shock therapy, you just don't want to play it after a while.

Hell, Bloodborne and Dark Souls are some of the most difficult games to play, but they are made so they are also rewarding and you feel pumped when you get past something that was hard before you gained enough levels. And those are dark games with sad messages, but you still come out feeling like you did something. You're only punished if you rush in unprepared and not enough experience.

There's nothing wrong with dark stories. I love cosmic horror and tragic characters, but when such a genre becomes commonplace and you have no way of achieving some semblance of kindness, you grow weary. There needs to be growth in the story and in the characters, else it all just feels stagnant. That's not a rewarding experience, and it's memorable for the wrong reasons.

AwkwardSimp5 years ago(+6)

Daamn, your comment is gold.

Please devs listen to this, is sooo on point....

Empyre4n5 years ago (2 edits) (+4)

I feel the same way. I love the story and everything, and I appreciate everything the developers do.

But we put $20 (even $17.99 or more) into the game, we might as well get a happy ending or something good. And sadly, I feel the routes were totally "hyped" up to be more than what they were.

I really hope they add more to the game, in the future. (unless they're finished for good) :(

*SPOILER* for 1 of Heath's endings & a scene: the dumpster scene with Heath, where he wants the MC to do drugs (or don't get the NSFW scene) and when the MC doesn't join him with Andrei, he ends up hating the MC.
And if you do join him, the MC gets killed (or can be)

That was depressing lol

itch.io

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