I also got to the part where I heard about the old MC being a guest judge. I just don’t know if tredging through all these societal/personal checks is even worth it for what will probably be a five second Prodigal/Old MC moment… I was hoping for a cool story about a superhero (or in the case that I was going for, an anti-hero), but I can’t get over this society-is-evil kinda thing 
Oh well, I will do anything for my chickens 
To be honest, I quite liked the game. I was playing in the mindset that it was only part one and there will be more later though, as a stand-alone game I don’t think it’s very compelling
I guess part of my reason for that is I’m just not that into the whole reality gameshow thing since the second part of the first trilogy was also my least favorite part. Because of the eliminations, a lot of characters ended up not being memorable and I had a lot of moments where I was like “Wait who is this again?” Like at the scene were MC first meets the voiceless and they see the one who was humiliated by Miss Boss in the semifinals, I had no memory of that scene until my second playthrough. Of the characters that I did remember and get interested in, basically only JK, and, to a lesser extent, Tarsiero, StarSoar, and Miss Boss felt well rounded out for what we saw of them, and then StarSoar got eliminated and Miss Boss died/fell into a coma
The social issues are more of a focus in this game than in the previous trilogy, but I feel like it’s weaker in that aspect than the previous games were. Like a lot of other people have said, I also felt like it was kind of preaching to the choir. I didn’t mind a whole lot since there could be a lot of players who weren’t so familiar with these kinds of subjects, but I still think it could’ve been done in a bit more concise way. Some parts kind of broke up the narrative and sounded less like ‘in-the-moment’ dialogues or thought processes and more like what I sound like when I randomly get mad at things at two in the morning and just rant for an hour. The scenes in the previous games that focused on social issues felt a lot more natural, even when they weren’t part of the central theme of the story. For example, the one about LGBT inter-community problems in The Hero Project with Stageshow (I think it was her), The Bear, and GG both hit home to me and gave enough information for someone who wasn’t as aware of them. It was admittedly uncomfortable to read, but it was more of a punch in the throat than an article that you might read for a college humanities course
I think I’ve commenter on this before, but I do think this game is intended to be like the pilot of a TV series. The author has said he wants Redemption Season to be longer than three books, so he’s planning on having a lot more room for the story to branch off and change course.
It just seemed to me like he was trying to reintroduce the universe, since we got the basics in the first book but this one is about a much more complex subset of the society. It got kinda preachy, yeah, and I get wanting more superhero based content, but from my point of view, nobody’s favorite episode of any show is the pilot.
I didn’t know he was planning more than three books 
I was excited for the next installment before but I’m even more so now!
Hopefully all the negative feedback to that aspect of it will convince the author to shift it more to heroing, or at least give players a choice to not give a damn. Like later in the book it treats me like I voted out Transfer to save my own ass, when in reality I just liked Griffin more. Although in a way it’s almost like my frustration at being made something I don’t want to be is included in the book, as in the producer scenes it was like they pushed me towards what was best for ratings, even if I only cared about me and JK. Anyway, Redemption Season isn’t making me give up on the Heroes Rise world just yet, I’m confident that the next book will be a lot better.
I love how in the scene with GG, Stage Show, and Bear I got to pretty much tell everyone to shut the hell up because (In Character)I didn’t want any part of it and (out of character)I didn’t want to read about that shit. Although Bear’s comment on Monk made me laugh my ass off because it was so out of tune with the rest of the book’s universe
In all honesty, I found the conversation really uncomfortable, not funny, because it was really familiar with what I go through as a trans guy who’s feminine, gay, and sometimes identifying with nonbinary, but I was pretty happy with how Sergi, a cis gay guy, decided to call out his own community on those attitudes. I wasn’t feeling guilty at all about voting The Bear out
Oh I was uncomfortable too for entirely different reasons, I just found Bear’s zehir comment funny because of how out of left field it felt as compared to everything else. Tbh I think everyone was being dicks to everyone in that conversation and I went into “sick of yo bullshit” mode
I’m glad to see that this series is going to continue, even though I disliked the series overall. When Heroes Rise first came out I enjoyed it but after each volume it appealed to me less and less. It has a particular audience and I just so happen to not be a part of it (which is sad since it seems to want to be inclusive and tolerant).
Politics and the ideaology it supports aside, I wanted to enjoy it and support it but I couldn’t. The series seemed on “rails” from the very beginning with very little choices which had a major impact on the story. The romances were alright but certain aspects of them felt rather heavy handed as well.
It never felt like you were in control of the story or your character. You were pulled and pushed to certain objectives and playstyles for optimization and if you made a choice which was against the norm (like romancing Prodigal or Jury for instance) you were acting against character.
Overall I enjoyed the story from the beginning but as the story developed I believe that certain choices made into the development and story were wrong.
I played the original trilogy but loss interest when I read comments and reviews of Redemption Season. The major issue being the so called “preachy” ways the author addressed particular issues. Something I noticed early into the original trilogy as well.
I know my views on the series isn’t going to be well received by some but I haven’t shied away from having controversial views before (just see my comments on the Trump candidacy lol).
Perhaps I should purchase Redemption series to know for myself but I had issues with the series before it was released.
Thanks to anyone who actually read this, you’re a legend.
In the beginning of the series your choices did not have as large of an impact because the story needed to take off, which I personally found understandable. Your choices in the second game mattered a fair amount, because it altered relationships that could bite you in the butt later on in the third installment, also the game with the biggest altering decisions. By the middle of the third game, your decisions could decide life or death of both yourself and others, too. You are always entitled to your own opinion, but I personally believe the weight of your choices are fine in this series.
Besides, in the first book you’re a nobody. You can screw up and people will forget in like a week. Of course your choices won’t have as big of an impact on the world.
While I feel like this was overbearing in the Redemption Season, when I was romancing Prodigal I never felt like it was against my character per se. Of course it was against the norm for a big hero to be dating a big villain who tried to destroy them and everything they loved. But I never felt like my character had to change for them. Yes, if your character is similar to Prodigal romancing them will be easier, because while opposites attract, so do similarities. That being said, I never felt like I had to change my morals or anything for Prodigal. I just had to stand up for her a few times and then decide I loved her when the time was right. Could you maybe give me examples as to when you felt like you needed to “act against character” for Prodigal? Also, I haven’t romanced Jury so I can’t speak for him, but I bet it’s the same situation as Prodigal.
Yea, I agree with you here. This whole series has been trying to draw attention to social issues and the like, but the first three were more subtle about it. The story was still about our hero and superpowers and action and all that jazz. The Redemption Season is about as subtle as a train. And when it hits you, it feels like one, too. If you didn’t like the first three a lot, you won’t like this one. I’d say hold off on getting it until the next one comes out and people review it.
Props to you for voicing your opinion even when it’s controversial. These days we need people who are able to speak out for what they believe in, even if people will try to drag them down for it.
Thanks for the reply, will try and answer as well as I can on the questions that were raised.
As for the part which concerned the story being on rails, I understand the need for it in the first game, to a certain degree, and out of the three which I played that was certainly the most on rails in the series. Prodigal having so much control of what happened in the story just seemed like a slap in the face for a game which is about free choice.
But just like with other choice based games, such as Choice of Games other titles and Telltale, we expect as much. So not a major issue just something which annoys me of most games which proclaim to be choice based. And as you said it does change in the later games when we can make bigger choices.
As for the Prodigal and Jury romances this was primarily based on discussion topics we’ve had in the forums and the views of those who have played this series. These two romances were, mainly Prodigal, were debated as one side loved them and wanted a happy ending for them while the other didn’t care much for them or believed they were beyond redemption.
As for what’s written, It’s been a while since I’ve played these titles so I would need to play them again in order to find evidence for my claims. I do recall that they are both characters which you are suppose to hold some resentment towards because of their, or their families in the case of Jury, actions. Also when you find out Black Magic’s secret but I have a rather devil-may-care attitude in these games so I found it weird that I was suppose to have these “feelings”.
And the social issues… yeah. It was trying to be subtle to me in the first three… wasn’t really on my opinion but it didn’t bother me a whole lot. I just didn’t see the point for the story overall. Would the game be much different without it? Probably not but that was the author’s choice and I won’t tell them what they should or should not do.
I’ll probably do a run through the games again soon to familiarize myself with the source material again but maybe after having another run through Tin Star.
I’d like to put up my two-cents on the Jury romance.
Personally, out of all of the romances I feel like his punished you the most. Like, the game punished you the most for getting with him. Like, in Heroes Fall (and I don’t know if I need to spoil these since the game is older now) when you first kiss him you actually lose legend. While it is still possible to get a perfect legend and get with him there is a chance that you could lose out on that only because you romanced him. I think he’s the only one that happens with too.
Then there’s the fact that Jenny will get mad at you for it. I don’t know if she gets mad at you for getting with Prodigal tho. (And, yes, Black Magic and Lucky will get mad if you get with the other but that makes sense and you don’t really get punished in any other way that I can think of).
These issues wouldn’t be too big of a deal though. If it ended up being for nothing since you guys break up and there’s literally nothing you can do about it. Like, the Prodigal romance doesn’t have a happy ending either but, really, there wasn’t a way for that to end well. Even if she wasn’t sick she would’ve had to go to jail. Yet, everyone else you end up all happy and together if you romance them. I know it’s petty but I’m just… mad about this. It really soured the game (and Lira’s character, the man-stealing b*tch) for me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I could be in a good mood, remember that this happened and get mad about it still.
Jury is my favorite character out of the ROs (I love Jenny, Prodigal, and Black Magic but Jenny and Prodigal I like more as friend characters and Black Magic is a fun RO but I just like Jury better because I have bad taste, and I just find Lucky kinda boring) but he is probably the worst of them. You don’t get to really get to do anything romance-wise until the third game which wouldn’t be so bad if I could enjoy it. Even being as nice to Jury as the game lets you doesn’t really give you a lot. (I think you can make him smile once in the second game?)
I actually thought about it and at the end of the third game (which I figure would be about June-July-August since its 6 months after the start which must take place in Jan-Feb since Victon’s reign as President has just begun) which means the MC and Jury break up not too long after that (it’s November when Miss Boss dies/falls into a coma since they mention taking a break for Thanksgiving). So when you’re reading the epilogue where everything seems fine and you even have Jury in the same room as your family and Jenny and you two are all happy it ends, what, in 2-3 months? And then he’s just with someone else.
Also it doesn’t help that this is revealed to you in a pretty harsh way. The first time I read it I legit thought he was cheating on my MC.
I’m sorry to make this a huge rant but I’ve just been salty about this for the last few months.
She even gets mad if you broke up the friendship with her and not just that: the narrator tells you what a terrible person you are for romancing Jury. That does not happen with Prodigal (Jenny also reacts less disapproving but more disbelieving to Prodigal). Again, this happens no matter how bad your relationship with Jenny is, you’re always a “bad friend” for romancing Jury. It’s annoying.
Yes, I’m bitter. Still.
I get her being mad about you making out with the guy who almost killed her…
BUT at the same time the fact that she doesn’t get mad about Prodigal makes it not fair. Not only did Prodigal also try to kill her but Prodigal did it purposely where Jury was an accident and he was trying to make up for it. It would’ve been at least nice to be able to have an option that would have salvaged some of our relationship with Jenny back, or have Jenny more understanding since it’s not like it came out of nowhere.
I am also bitter. I really hope there’s going to be a way to salvage the Jury romance in the next Redemption Season but, at the same time, I’m worried it’s going to feel shallow since we don’t have direct control over the MC who actually got with them. As much as it would be funny to have our new MC playing matchmaker I just don’t think it’ll have any real impact that way. Unless we get to switch to them like we got to control Weaver and the man-stealer but even then I don’t feel like my MC would even want to get back with him after that.
My MC would is also bitter.
I have zero dogs in the Jury romance fight–I see where people are coming from but I never played his romance, he just as a character is deeply, deeply uninteresting to me, but I feel like blaming Lyra’s character for Jury’s decisions is not great? It’s been a bit since I played through it, but isn’t there implication that he’s kind of with her to advance his career, get more attention to the current American Protectorate, get more opportunities to get back in the public light? It seems like Jury’s actions aren’t Lyra’s fault–she doesn’t have any relationship to the MC, it isn’t really any moral failing on her part that Jury came on to her.
I dunno, I mean again I didn’t romance him so I don’t know how it goes, but I just got the impression he’s kind of an ass and cares more about attention than much else, and that continues into the next book. If anybody wants to disagree with me, please do, but it seemed like about where his character would go.
Of course, not saying that the people who romanced him deserved that at all, I absolutely get being upset by that. But I didn’t feel like Jury had much of a character arc in the original trilogy, he’s just sort of belligerent for the sake of belligerency to the MC throughout it and then kind of turns on a dime towards the end of the third book. I wasn’t convinced he’d learned his lesson at all, so much as just changed away from what looked to be the losing side. It seems like if Zach wants to give him any kind of satisfying character progression, he needs a lot more content, and separating him away from the MC you aren’t in control of anymore was probably necessary for that in order to not just feel like he’s writing your MC for you in the new season. The other love interests pretty much have their developments over the course of the trilogy, but since Jury is sort of an antagonist throughout, he doesn’t get any of that, he just gets that quick wrap up “now we’re happy and he’s a good guy despite being very markedly not that the rest of the time” and while it’s definitely shitty to the people who romanced him and wanted the same happy ending the Jenny, Lucky, and BM romancers got, I can’t really argue with what’s apparently a move to let the poor boy grow as a person. Like, at all.
Eh, I stopped liking Jenny the moment I gave Hero Project a few replays. Well, that’s not right, I like Jenny as a character, but when seeing it through my MC’s eyes she just became a more and more insufferable person. Worse because I felt that Jenny was the perfect character to embody what annoyed me at the narrative: It pushed you in a certain direction and if you wanted to take a choice that wasn’t the expected way to take you got punished, or at least got berated by the narrator (however I don’t think anywhere as clear as during the Jury romance). That didn’t got better in the new series, actually it even got more overt (do I even have to mention the Miss Boss dilemma?).
Especially after replaying I started to dislike most of the characters and the forced relationships with them (but not MC’s Grandma, she is great.), especially Jenny because she got utilised various times to tell the player that the narrative didn’t like their decision (not just the character mind you but literally the damn narrative).
MC got pushed around the whole story, choosing the guy they really shouldn’t chose was a very satisfying option/conclusion for me because of that. (That and ending the damn world. That was funny too.) (Also I waited literally three games to romance Jury…)
I totally get you, and I know I’m not being fair to get mad at Lira for it… but it’s like hating your ex’s new partner. It’s not logical, it’s not fair, and I know it’s petty but that doesn’t change that just can’t like her over this. Like, I will say that even if I didn’t romance Jury that her kinda being his boss (plus the way she talks about him in game just rubs me the wrong way) makes it kinda skeezy on her end too, but I will 100% admit that me getting mad at her is just pettiness on my part but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still how I feel and I can’t change that.
The thing about this all is I feel like this next step for his character (which is probably going to be well done and is probably going to be the best thing for his character in the long run) just wasn’t planned really planned around those people who did romance Jury. The Lira Jury this is even brought up in the YouPower short story and was definitely not written with the possibility of the MC being with Jury. It makes it feel like the choice of being with him is degraded, that it’s not a valid choice, and the people who made it just don’t get to enjoy their choice.
If Jury getting with Lira is so important to his character why let the MC romance him at all?
That’s fair, I definitely feel like Jury romances get the short end of the stick pretty often. It feels to me though like Jury wasn’t even supposed to be a legitimate character, and most of his new content was due to fans liking him–he’s really just a throwaway antagonist in the first two games, he’s weak and useless and stated to be so quite often. I’d assume that Zach didn’t really start with an outline of the character, just wanted to wrap up HeroFall quickly, and then later decided that he wanted to give Jury more development.
Like I said, I just can’t find it within me to care about Jury in the slightest, so while I still just can’t really care about what Zach does with him in the books, I still have a lot of sympathy for people who had an emotional investment in the romance and then didn’t get a good ending. I’m hoping that Jury will get to grow as a person, and then the MC will get a chance to take him back (in one of those other perspectives like you got in the new book).
That’s all I’m hoping for too, and I do have faith in Zach. I know this is just the first game and it needs to step the groundwork for the awesome. But until then I’ll just have to be a salty, bitter woman who just wants to love her trashy boyfriend. The next game can NOT come out soon enough.
I completely agree. In most places this didn’t bother me personally until it came to the Jury romance. I normally like CoG games that are a bit more linear because I get really overwhelmed when I can literally do anything (I know everyone loves Choice of Robots and Tin Star but I’ve tried both and I just can’t play them, I can’t wrap my head around an open world in text form) but I still like having the choices I make be meaningful and impact the story without the game smacking my hand and telling me “no, you shouldn’t do that.”
Ah, I know. I hate how you can’t have anything with him in the first two games. I know, game, that I’m supposed to hate him but I was under the impression that I get to make choices here and the choice I want to make isn’t here… And when I do finally get it it’s taken away from me. I get that Zach tried to make him as unlikable as possible but for me that failed because I like characters who are overly confident when they have no right to be. He is literally one of my favorite characters in anything ever and I wanted to at least try to not be hating on him the whole games.
I mean, just imagine if instead of all roads leading to knocking him out that first time you met you could work together with him. Have a friendship (or something else) and then he finds out who you are and maybe thinks that you only friended him to try and get revenge on his dad for jailing your parents. Give him a deeper reason for you two to not like each other, a deeper relationship. You could do so much more with him that just simple “ha ha, got you again, MC,” this is the son of the man who ruined your life for pete’s sake! Just. Ah. I have too many feels about Jury!
I think it kind of makes sense for her to get mad about you kissing the guy who just shot her, in front of her, while she’s in the hospital from said shooting. That’s what the ‘bad friend’ comment in the narration refers to.