At first, I played the demo and liked what I saw; the premise held promise. Then, all the positive ratings on Steam swayed me to purchase the game after all, despite it apparently being only the first part of a yet to come series. As a completionist, that was a gamble in itself. But still, I thought that I couldnāt go wrong with a good story, however dangerously incomplete it could prove to be were the author to give up on pursuing it. Oh, how woefully do I regret that now!
So I had started playing, continuing where the demo left off. It was enjoyable, and even humorous at times, as was the case with the remark pertaining to the very practical 3-inch heels, for example (especially for a powerless crime-fighting hero). The romance, though, seemed at the time too easily initiated, empty, but a glance at the possible achievements reassured me as to the potential for spicier situations later in the story.
I also found some mistakes/typos, but made an effort to overlook those. (as a āgrammar naziā myself, how lenient of me!)
But then, slowly, dreadfully, unpleasant things just seemed to pop up all over the place, accumulating into what now makes me quite despise this piece ofā¦writing.
This is an interactive fiction game, or so it claims to be. Yet you are, as the player, deprived of any consequential options, instead being railroaded into situations out of convenience for the plot. Some choices even only consist in you giving an opinion that has no bearing on the events whatsoever. The first āchoicesā in the beginning come to mind. Boxing, chess, or special effects? --> Oh never mind, you actually did all 3! How amazing of you, child-prodigy! But my gripe with the game on this particular point lies with more major decisions that SHOULD have mattered. Who said I wanted to visit the hospital at first? Who said I wanted to RETURN to the hospital a second time to visit that sick kid again? And who said I wanted to go a third time? The lack of options in those instances was outrageous, more so due to the story implying that if you didnāt return despite Origamiās promise, the poor sod would be sad! Or perhaps your reputation would plummet in the news, or your overall relationship with your fellow heroes could suffer. Nope. Nothing.
Oh and that āboss encounterā at the end with Contrarian? Sure she might have been way out of your league, but you had not even the option to talk to her in a way that could have impacted the ensuing events? Thatās where the āpersuasionā skill usually comes into play, you know. But again, nothing. There was nothing of significance you could do (not even negatively); whatever shreds of intellect or skills your character might have possessed amounted to nothing. Or did I miss something? Donāt expect so, though. By that point in the game, the lack of consequences to my āchoicesā had made me soā¦bored I couldnāt enjoy, even as a fan of tragedies, the final death. Or perhaps the emotions were clumsily conveyed and left me indifferent, too.
Then, some things just didnāt make sense or were plain dumb. How is giving up secrets, yours or othersā, to a random stranger who came crashing out of nowhere supposed to be a good way to gain better grades in Secrets? Should his asking you to spill the beans not itself have been a final test of sorts? How does MERELY promising to gather/tell 3 secrets give you an A exactly? For all one knows, that could easily have been a lie. That was lazy, if not outright shallow writing. I even overestimated the depth of the writing of that part at the time, selecting ā1 secretā, thinking that surely, that mysterious spymaster was more than he seemed and that SURELY, an ensuing option would allow me to say something witty along the lines of āBut that secret would belong to you, Nil.ā The fact that what your character said there was what she meant made me restart the game, but I have restarted much longer games for much less, so that was fine, if only a tad disappointing. The āstand still so as not to betray your intention of betraying your teammatesā part was decent, though (in hindsight, stuff like that might have led to my expecting more from Nil than I maybe should have)
But really, all of the above, all of it, I could have forgiven, to some extentā¦probably. All of it is not what made me create an account to post this. Mind you, I have never even done so for incredibly well-written games that deserved praise. What disgusted me to such an extent is the way the character of Hedonist was HANDLED in the story.
Yes, yes, this is a fictional piece and should not be taken seriously. However, it depicts a very real issue, one that is far uglier than most seem to realize, sadly. And one you, as the author, seem to make light of. People abusing of their authority, their power, to receive sexual favors. I do not quite understand how so many people here seem to be unfazed by the implications of Hedonistās activities, or even excited, aroused, maybe? It is rape, however mild you guys may want to deem it to comfort yourselves in your frail sensibilities, or perhaps youād dismiss it as mere harassment. I suspect it might have to do with the overabundance of horny teenage brains that fail to grasp the gravity of the situation. Or that you people are a bunch of ignorant fools who live in a world of light, oblivious to the darkness that lies out there. Mhm⦠Sure, the girls/boys performing such acts give their consent, right? But how truly valid is that consent, when it is done under such binding a circumstance as the authority of one who holds the power to change your life for the worst?
Now, for clarity, Iām not calling you out on writing about a topic that frustrates me very much, in my humanity, my frailty. Nor am I complaining because Hedonist didnāt get punished. Heck, I would likely have even deemed it good writing (though I probably would have felt sad nonetheless, even if itās just fiction), IF ONLY you had handled it more thoughtfully. But instead, the scenes you wove, the emotions you conveyed through the characters, they all exuded a sort of āit aināt no big deal!ā Especially the characters. They really just stand and watch. What is that, if not condoning such despicable actions through passivity? In the context of the story, is that school not meant for aspiring heroes, champions of justice willing to give of themselves for the sake of others? And not one single person attempts to do anything about it? Instead, they f***ing bend to him! (ugh, literally, too) Well, your character can meekly try to tell the principal, but is interrupted and quickly forgets the matter, not even agonizing SLIGHTLY over it, or having the option to. That was neglectful storytelling. Only at the very end does the guy just get scolded a bit, half-heartedly threatened of getting fired, which is where his crime is acknowledged at last. But by then, it is way too late. A shame, I really would have liked to enjoy this game.
Tl;dr More consequences to oneās choices (yes, even negative onesā¦) And more thoughtfulness whilst writing, I guess.
Oh hey wall of text.