I am just impressed with the visuals here... like I was expecting it to be AI no offence but... I can not find any evidence of that on my part which just makes me even more stunned.
It looks great and has potential as a story while also drawing in some people already with it not even having been out for a Day.
You could have a big hit on your hands man so all luck to ya.
It is a pretty darn good demo.
It has Groves charming visuals and the character expressions I love so much in your games but its a completely different style with the new combat and you being able to craft with materials you gathered.
Its quite good and does have a interesting premise I would however possible suggest something similar to Groves Dream Grapple Tutorial where if you can fail and get a wet dream with Grove waking up so something similar could be done if you fail repeatedly.
For quality of life allowing crafting to be done not only with the items in your inventory but also those stored in the Stash at home would be nice and highlighting which items you have the materials for and for which you dont also save some time and you needing to check constantly if you can make this or not.
Another thing I would suggest making the MCs model on the right a little smaller, make it only visible once you open up your menu or allow for the "Hidden Portrait Image" to maybe remove it completely from view as it was a little distracting for me even in the Hidden mode.
I did however notice a visual error while playing. In the dream you have a Leather? Metal? Gauntlet like euipment on the MCs hand but if you set off the rope trap the MC moves his hand yet the Gauntlet doesnt change positions and is just flying in the air until you either fail to free yourself or succeed.
The game is still in development so no one can say what Nameless actually wants or is going to make us do if we refuse or accept to serve him. So really choose what you feel is the best answer but until we get more updates expanding the story to actually see differences between the two options no one can say how it will play out.
I would say I enjoy the visual novel right now as I find the qualiaties working for it arent really enough to put me off but I do agree that I think the story would highly benefit from actually standing by and admitting that its characters are not good people and some very much evil in nature.
One of the first things our MC does is destroy a entire kingdom and several innocent people in it, I can very much enjoy a not ideal hero like MC leaning or being evil but the story should stand for the fact he did infact do these things.
Later on we learn his backstory and its tragic and sad sure but... he killed literally a countless number of children be it directly or indirectly he did that whole "Killing a Kingdom" thing does include very much children so he is kinda becoming the type of person he oh so hated yet the story makes it out to be a thing we should be celebrating and then cry when we learn his sad backstory.
You can not have both a killing cold blooded monster murdering people easily but following its own goal and a tragic misunderstood figure we should feel bad for because they lost 1 single person or 2 they were close to and not address the underlying hyporcrisy in his actions.
So while I do enjoy this VN and I consider it just some fun not to get tooooo deeply carried away in over interpreting I do recognise its flaws in not fully realising the characters actions and how much of a horrible person they are being.
I really find the game has a lot of potential, there is plenty of neat detail and it looks really visually stunning be it the characters who have unique style and personality in just their art or the world around them while also having a unqiue concept in you not being Ress but are able to influence him in some ways by playing around his emotions or those of others.
This update I find quite nicely done as it carries so many new possibilities for the future and how Ress and Ludwig will interact.
I am happy to see what is to follow, my biggest hope is that the different choices made on "Do I Influence him here or not" have a big effect on the story later on as this has so much promise story telling wise on the characters and how they interact further.
You feel uncomfortable with such content and have experienced it in real life.
That is totally ok and not something anyone should downplay or try to make fun of yet...
you get a clear warning about its inclusion and its very concept of a mind control and corruption filled game already hints at the fact its inplimented into it.
You feel uncomfortable with seeing such content, sure yet you do not get the right to tell other people what they can and can not enjoy as long as its not hurting anyone else.
You being uncomfortable does not count as hurting you, just avoid engaging with this type of content. No one is making you do this and no one is making you be here on this games page or play it.
Would any of us enjoy getting r*ped in reality? No, very much not because it isnt some fricking perfectly comfortable event with all going smoothly and painlessly but there is a profound difference between a sexual fantasy as well as what our minds imagine to be sexually appealing about a non consensual situation and true raw unfilltered reality.
There are many people who engage in sexual roleplaying and doing such things and other kinks because they enjoy it and want to engage with it in a save way without negative consequences.
I feel sorry for your real experiences but just because you and many other have experienced this pain does not mean you can go around to people and tell them what they can and can not enjoy in a fictional game, with fictional characters, fictional powers, 0 consequence to oneself and our wellbeing.
Besides that you are rudely making various assumptions here and your statement of "Cis Men" not understanding such horrors shows your own shallowness and your own downplaying of the very real fact Men can and HAVE been r*ped before and still are as well as you thinking they do not have the ability to feel compation for others bad situations. Besides that you just assumped... everyone on the dev team is a cis men which I can not prove or disprove but even if it were true neither gives any of your points more credibility.
I can understand you are being very emotional here but step back and realise you are the person stepping into a enviroment not meant for you and making a fuss over nothing that is actually harming individuals in real life steeped in fantasy and artworks.
Well it is true that the demons powers can be very helpful and in the future save him in lots of tough situations but so far we are reponsible for:
-Making him fall Unconcious during a Important Mission harming his and his teams reputation
-Made him overly Horny and played with his desires or his friends desires
-Are probably responsible for why those thugs wanted to kidnap him in the first place
-Are probably going to cause some sort of panic or distrust if anyone learns Ress has a literal demon inside him he can not control or keep in check that can also manipulate people around him. For Ress and this whole Order are kinda... very Anti-Demons for Good Reasons.
So he might be less enthusiastic at the start then we may hope... we will probably be able to convince him though after some effort
Your "Fan Service" Issue kinda missed the whole point of Logan though in his Normal Route. There are lewed scenes with him of course but he is probably the most "Not Lewed" NPC that has gotten this much screen time in the game.
It may be your own opinion but I honestly would argue hard that that quality exactly makes him unique and the interactions we do have so much more special in comparison for our Normal Logan and down right wholesome and cute wen he expresses affection.
As he does express deeper emotions and care for us just subtler and less outright sexual as most of the other characters so for those reasons I dont really get the complaint about him as this is just who he is and taking that away while specifically not choosing Bottom Logan and going for normal would kinda take away a huge chunk of why I like him.
Well what happens if pretty much the same for both if you choose the other, you help one and the other can be found at the Wolves Den in Werewolf form at night, you can help them and cure them at your home if you capture them.
What it means though and for a more Meta Suggestion (if you want the info):
if you do not Choose Logan you do not gain his first heart and I think you are locked out of his future relationship events and quests (might be different now because Updates but I think very very unlikely) and you will gain 10 like for Bernarde. Though if you choose Logan you can continue Bernards relationship and events.
To keep it simple I would suggest choosing Logan as you can just continue boths relationship events if you choose him so you make win win here.
I finally made the connection why you seemed so Familiar. I played the Completed Version of "The Mage's Tower" Game on Furaffinity quite some time ago and I marked it as a Fav so going back to it I decided to check out your Profile and saw you also made this!
Well no wonder I liked this so much then I was already a fan of your work. Really amazing work here looking forward to more from you Sleth.
If you kept the Lake of the Lizards Pure:
continuously enter and exit the Lake of Purity. It will get you Glowshrooms at random
then seek out Othra or the Witch and they can help you from there.
Just equip the amulet and your good to go.
If you corrupted the Lake:
Go to the Trolls Bridge and seek out for a alternative path
It will lead you to a cave where you find Glowshrooms
Then go to the Witch.
Roushk and Logan are the Top for me.
I like a lot of the Cast of Characters we can have a Relationship with but these 2 are my personal faves for very different reasons.
2)Roushk is caring and even if you are basically a whore to the other Lizards he still treats you with great respect and never forgets that you are responsible for saving him and he has pretty versatile scenes with him more naturally leaning to be the Top but not exactly objecting to being more Submissive and Bottoming and if he does Bottom is very adorable.
1) Logan on the other hand is a different story... He is a hard Hard Haaaard Nut to crack you need to put in a lot of effort to even have a single scene with him even vaguly "Sexual" which actually I find a nice change you know? You have to work a lot to get any Sexual or Romantic moments as he starts of just trying to brush you off or get you away so you slowly cracking at his shell and him being more caring is a dynamic I love. He does have the potential of course to also be corrupted but Nah that one doesnt do it for me as it also lacks a lot of depth and character development the normal Logan has. I find Logan to be the most complex character here as he can change a lot from wen you first see him into a more caring and open person who is still sometimes a little Dickish but its like You know he Cares even if he wont admit it directly. The Werewolf Event and the resulting stuff with it also fleshes him out amazingly. From the whole deal with his Wife and his hate for Wolves and then Werewolves he becomes one and has to deal with it and its never forgotten he is a Werewolf it becomes part of his character and its a blessing and curse in many aspects.
For the first Heart.
You must Discourage him from going to the Bandit Camp because if he does that is the Bottom Logan path which doesnt have any hearts.
Then at the Full Moon Event Choose Logan.
His Second is more complicated.
You must do the "I owe you a Beer" Event:
It must be Evening
All Bareshade's Expansion event completed
Ste’s New Farm Road Quest completed
The Scene ‘Clash with Barrel’ seen
‘Ask about his work’ done with helping,
and his Like must be 40 or more and have 1 Heart.
Then you must Enter your home at Bareshade.
And once its all going choose the "Grab his Hand" Option.
You tame Wolbauk like anyother creature you need their Lure. You get that during the Orc Questline from the one who takes care of their Stables and a Poison which will make them a little weaker and easier to deal with.
For the Lost Acolytes there are 3 in total. One in the Ruins but only at afternoon, one in the swamp with hunters and the one that is probably the hardest to find is in the Forest in the Pool area.
Oh honey I know I already got Emotionally Scared and made feel Guilty since the times of the v0.20s Updates.
I just took a break from the game and left it to collect juicy new stuff right before vo.26.
Certainly not disappointed and it can proudly maintain its seat next to Tavern of Spear in the "Super Hot/Emotionally Scaring/Scary" Section of my mind.
