I apologize, I think I need to clarify what I was saying.
When I say that Dionysus isn’t a genderswapped Persephone, I wasn’t referring to completely different playthroughs depending on the PC’s gender, just the fact that Dionysus is a different god entirely and not originally part of the myth.
@Neverwherehere – I can think of a huge reason … the dynamic between Zeus and his brother is a huge overriding element of this story, and to change Hades to his sister would change the entire dynamic, especially with Zeus being portrayed as traditionally as he is.
As far as locking the reader into the myth… self inserts are a huge draw in CS IF… destroying that draw to lock in the mc would be risky for @Jaybirdy’s sales at best.
The author’s vision is executed well as is, and I am sure JJ has the chops to pull things off either way, but still, what we have really is a well executed story told the way they wanted it told.
So … basically Dionysus in this game is a genderswapped Persephone. He just happens to have a default name borrowed from a different god.
Thanks for answering my question, I appreciate it! I agree; what we have is pretty impressive.
No idea. I haven’t played as Persephone, so I can’t speak to the changes. The only thing I know for sure is that Dionysus wasn’t part of the original myth and he certainly wasn’t the god of Spring.
But I feel like we’re having two completely different conversations here. If we are, can you understand my confusion?
Functionally, yes. But I feel like there was also some intention to connect/explore or play with the connection between Persephone and Dionysus as mythological figures? From what I understand, there are a lot of variations, translations, and interpretations of the mythology out there. There’s also some overlap in what they can functionally do.
I wonder if we’ll get to choose how our MC’s powers develop in the following games? That would be really cool!
That’s true, but I don’t think it matters, myself. This already far from a typical adaptation of the myth as it is (and it’s all the stronger for it, imo).
To the author: I wonder what gave you the idea of making Alekto partially deaf and introducing sign languge in this game?
I wondered about this before too. But since this is my third playthrough in a row and I choosed to pursue Alekto this time and my curiosity acted up more, so I’ll ask now (not like I see it as something bad, I’m just curious).
Also I think so far I like Alekto’s romance route the most. Conversations with her (once she opens up more to the MC) seem to be the most interesting so far. (I did Hecates and Hades’s route before)
I was curious about that as well. I’m HoH myself, so I enjoyed the addition. I haven’t romanced her (yet) but I kept waiting for “what? what? what the fuck did you say? how many times do I have to ask you to talk to my face?” (I’m mostly kidding; I think it was handled with a lot of elegance.)
It’s sort of hard to answer ‘what gave you the idea?’ because I knew from very early on in Alekto’s development as a character that she was going to be. I suppose it naturally came out of her backstory and the myths that inspired her, mixed with, well, something along the lines of ‘I just think she’s neat.’ It didn’t seem to me like I really needed any special justification for her to be HoH (no one would ask me to to justify anyone else being hearing, after all), but it happened to make sense with her history, too. 
To clarify: I didn’t take either of you to be demanding such justification or anything, either!
Loved the game, even though slice of life is really not my vibe usually. I am glad I didn’t know it was slice of life before I played it or I maybe wouldn’t have given it a chance. 
Kind of expected more drama? Which I do miss a little, but less than I thought.
I did kind of wish we made a little bit more progress romance wise during the first game and that it was slightly faster paced, but it was very enjoyable read anyway. I do adore how soft the characters are and I find myself very fond of Hades.
Anyway, I came to give report of what I think are two bugs I found? Or maybe more oversights since the only reason I noticed is due to looking at the game’s code as it doesn’t crash the game or make it unplayable.
Both with Eurydice in Chapter 4 & with “secret” in chapter 6 you can never pass their checks to get the info (eurydice > 2 & secret > 2) as those variables can at those point never be more than 2, so even if you met them on each opportunity you got and got the maximum points with them, you would still fail those checks (I tested it with Eurydice). I imagine this in not intentional, especially as they can each give you a hint to mystery or well, tell you the secret. 
Finally, I wonder if you could put makaria_met to true even if you do not meet her that first night after leaving the Olympus party early (set it to true after Hades introduces her on contract signing and after the first variable check, of course, in Chapter 2) so you could still ask Hades about her on his date in Chapter 4. Doesn’t really make any sense to me to restrict that option as you’ve still definitely met her by than and it is a question you as his wife / husband would definitely want to ask. Or at least I wanna ask. 
Thank you for the game, I really enjoyed it!!! I’ve only played a single route so far though and I just wanted to ask a question about the Hades romance!
I’m honestly not sure if my choices locked me out of more intimate scenes lmao. I chose the “I’m not interested in settling down” option since eh. It’s also understandable if the game just doesn’t focus much on romantic intimacy but I’d like to know if that was specifcally just a thing with Hades!! I kind of got asexual vibes especially with the ending I got (crying pissing sobbing slow burn build up to a single hand kiss) but since it wasn’t really brought up by the man himself, I’m a bit unsure. Just wanted some clarification, haha! Other than that, really cool slice of life read!!
I saw it as a way for non-femme MCs to have some sort of known deity to connect to and I suppose it’s not as much of a stretch since there is, of course, a connection between Persephone and Dionysus (him being her son) in the old myths and Dionysus has several origins. I suspend my disbelief in modern retellings as much of the basics will be molded and changed quite a bit to fit the author’s goals - like in A Song of Achilles which is a rather pop culture retelling, Achilles and Patroclus were no longer bisexual and Briseis was no longer the sex slave in the Iliad that Achilles “won” in the spoils of war whom he felt possessive over and ultimately the conflict between him and Agamemnon where she was taken from him led to his destruction. Naturally, in A Song of Achilles this was changed as it’s a love story so Achilles’ character changed along with it as well as Briseis becoming a woman he was “protecting” from the others. Unbelievably different from the Iliad, which is the furthest from a love story, so it had to be done for the author’s vision. They’re modern spins and rarely a reflection or loyal adaptation of the source material.
This is in fact the most ‘romantic’ version of the ending for him. The bulk of the romance content for anyone is in the sequel I’m working on now, and if you got that scene you definitely haven’t locked yourself out of any of it.
FoA is really meant to be about building the foundations of the player’s relationships with everyone, and a version of the myth it’s based on. I recognize that that is very slow pacing (too slow for some people, and that’s totally okay), but the game also only covers a (relatively short) period where the PC is a essentially a hostage (even if a willing one, they’re still stuck there with no recourse if things go very wrong and everyone is cognizant of that).
I think the thing that confuses some of us with the game is that we got into it with no knowledge that it is part one of two, so expected to, well, finish, the game in one go. It is a completely different pacing when the story is spread over two games as opposed to one. The Underworld ending does feel slightly as if it is merely a pause and not an ending. 
As far as my previous comment on slow pacing goes, I’ve since replayed the game and now that I know this is merely the first part and that the focus is fully on the characters, it does not feel slow. I can’t think of any scenes that are out of place or not adding to the story and if the game was shorter or the story moved faster, I am not sure it wouldn’t detract from the experience. In fact, you’ve convinced me that I was probably too hasty in dismissing slice-of-life as something I wouldn’t enjoy in IF.
I really love how much agency you gave to the player character despite what is ultimately a situation with very little and on replay of Hades romance, his ending really shows that by choosing to stay in the Underworld of your own choice, you’ve proven in a way to him that he can let himself open up to you without fearing he is pressuring you. With the age difference between you and him and when I remember to take into account your situation (whoops ), it’s understandable of him to be very cautious in how he approaches you.
I love the way you can change Eurydice’s fate in a way that also gives her more agency and the way you’ve interpreted the greek myths is, I think, one of my favorite versions of them.
In short, I love this game and look forward to the sequel, which will be an instant buy from me then. <3
I for one definitely don’t mind that. I appreaciate the opportunity to get to know the ROs instead of just rushing to the “steamy” parts.