When you’re first playing Book 3 and are immersed within the story, you don’t usually think about the logistics of things. However, I agree with those who point out areas where the plot falls flat or scenes that could have been revised and improved. Speaking from my own experience with Book 3, I definitely believe that, while it is interesting to give the player two different options for the outcome of the auction (whether you’re kidnapped or attempting to deceive the auctioneer), one path vastly outweighs the other. The path you take with Rebecca appears to be devoid of danger. There was nothing to be concerned about because the auctioneer thought we were on their side. They believe this despite the fact that they have been playing a mind game with us the entire time. That being said, you can also attribute that behavior to the auctioneer assisting their boss, the Knight, in achieving their goal of quickly gaining the MC’s support.
The path that leads to the protagonist’s capture is more interesting. There is more happening, more at stake, and more to be concerned about. Either the “deceive the auctioneer” route needed more to keep the readers’ attention and engagement, or the “capture the MC” route should have been the default route.
I believe I have mentioned fight scenes before, but I believe they should be more brutally depicted. Especially when Unit Bravo is engaged in combat with the trappers. What baffles me is why these vampires do not fight like vampires. Where is there any mention of blood? Why aren’t they biting their opponents and inflicting scars and trauma on them? This would be an effective way to force the Trappers to find another way to combat vampires by injecting poison into their blood. This ensures that each bite gradually poisons Unit Bravo, which makes sense given their inability to easily beat the trappers.
I also expected the auctioneer fight scene to be more brutal in order to relieve the MC’s emotional tension. It makes no difference whether or not the auctioneer fights back. This person has been playing with us for weeks. The MC can literally blame themselves for the kidnappings; they can cry and become enraged, but I’m supposed to believe we don’t beat this auctioneer bloody? This would also make an interesting scene for the LI or Rebecca to come across. Make Rebecca work hard to prevent us from beating this peon to death (the success of which depends on your relationship with Rebecca).
Vieno and Tapeesa should have been permanently sold, and we don’t get them back until the sixth book. This places additional emotional and mental strain on the MC, potentially leading to the full-fledged breakdown described above. Or, in order to save writing time, perhaps Elidor should have been the only option to capture? I don’t think it was entirely necessary to have three different versions of who was captured. This is due to the fact that it makes little difference. This decision would make more sense if Vieno, Tapeesa, and Elidor joined the fight near the end, if this was a way for them to demonstrate their abilities and skills, or if the auctioneer used one of them as leverage to escape or murdered one of them. As things stand, there’s no significant impact from one being captured over the other. Not to the best of my knowledge.
Mind you, I’m not ragging on the villain in this book. I actually think this villain was better than Falk and the Maa-alused. I didn’t have any problems with Falk in any of my routes, so Book 2’s villains were pretty bland to me. According to the code, they remain bland until Falk attempts to kill you, Rebecca, or something along those lines. Regardless, I view books two and three as fakeouts. They aren’t real villains from my perspective, and Murphy is the better villain so far.
Love Interests
In terms of romances, I mostly enjoyed them. M appears to be a completely different person than they were towards the MC in Book One. That’s a positive improvement.
- I also liked learning about A’s background and the car scene we had with them. I can’t talk about the kiss scene considering my MC didn’t kiss them. However, I will say that I’m not upset that we can’t be in a committed relationship with A or M. I realize I am in the minority, but I’m perfectly fine with my MCs developing a friendship with each vampire before embarking on a romantic and then sexual relationship. Because there will be seven books, it makes more sense for this progression to happen gradually rather than jumping into a relationship with them without knowing their past, how they were turned into vampires, what their last name is, and so on. I believe I mentioned this before, but our MC and these vampires barely know each other in the game. It’s been about 6 months in the game, and 4 of those months we didn’t even spend quality time with said vampires. It makes sense that M and A are not diving headfirst into a relationship with the MC. Having said that, it’s been 5–6 years? People’s frustration with these routes is understandable, but so is A and M’s romance’s being slow paced.
A and M’s romance definitely seems designed for people who enjoy the thrill of chasing after the person they want. These types of “romances” are depicted in TV shows as them weighing down the other person with their persistence until they persevere.
- F’s route was pleasant, and movie night was sweet too. Their path is a breeze to deal with, and I like how so far there’s been no drama in their romance. I will say that I would have preferred a better scene between the MC and F after nearly dying during the encounter with Sin. I don’t understand why F’s scene is so tame compared to the others, but I don’t appreciate it from a reader’s perspective.
I believe F’s “conflict” should be assisting the MC in repairing their relationship with Rebecca. They had a great relationship with their own mother, and by not understanding why the MC would have a strained relationship with Rebecca, it makes sense for them to be portrayed as the type of person who would encourage a relationship. The fact that they don’t have an issue viewing the strained relationship between the MC and Rebecca, considering they lost their own mother, is insanity. They make remarks towards M and A all the time; why not make more remarks about this situation?
- Regarding N, I stand by what I said about them on the LT route. They’re crazy. LMAO! I find it amusing, but they are mentally twisted, and this has been going on since Book 2 of the LT. N, in my opinion, has a facade in place. They are aware of how they want to be perceived by others, but this is not who they truly are on the inside. In my opinion, I like how they are becoming more comfortable showing their other side to the MC and how they are developing more depth.
I’m not sure how anyone could find N’s route boring, but they are crazy, and crazy is never boring to me. That being said, I didn’t get any of the fun stuff because my MC is not dating N. If you were not dating them, the pool scene was especially uninteresting. Instead of N being so chivalrous, I believe they should have gone all out during the pool game. How well we play against them should have been determined by our skill stats. Reading the forum, it appears that I missed the story about N’s family. That being said, I agree that you must approach these romances in a specific manner in order to reap the full benefits. I will say that N’s theatrics, especially in front of the entire team and Rebecca, are pure comedy, but it’s just not the time or place for that. Rebecca’s just in the background, ignoring it and letting N take over the discussion so they can stress in front of everyone.
I haven’t played the LT, so I can’t speak about that.
I also like how the MC can have parallel stories with the LI’s.
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The MC’s guilt and self-blame for the supernatural people being kidnapped parallel A’s guilt over their family and how they can blame themselves for it.
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The MC being experimented on by a vampire parallel’s some of M’s backstory.
Rebecca
Rebecca is just…something. She’s something. My MC’s relationships with her range from decent to positive, but on a personal level, I’m hoping for something exciting with her, primarily because she’s so secretive. It wouldn’t surprise me if she secretly hated the agency and had plans to eradicate them all (specifically the chamber members) after her husband’s death. Rook’s death could be the result of a mistake that was made by one of the chamber members. If she’s secretly plotting everyone’s demise and doesn’t want the MC to get caught in the crossfire, that could be the main reason why she didn’t want the MC involved too.
Another contradiction that has been mentioned is Rebecca’s claim that she wants to improve her relationship with the MC without putting in any effort to be there for them during the tough times. For example, she doesn’t even visit the MC after they’re nearly crushed to death. She should’ve had her own scene with the MC, either by default or depending on your relationship status with her. She also should’ve had a scene where the MC could choose to call her when they’re in their office crying. Having said that, the MC also doesn’t put in any effort either, because while Rebecca rarely seeks the MC out or keeps in contact, the MC doesn’t do this at all, not even with the one’s who do have a great relationship and want to elevate their relationship with her despite her being an absentee parent.
Theories and Things to Ponder:
Do you think N could use their mind-control abilities to assist M in dealing with their memories? Maybe N could encourage them to accept their trauma? Maybe N could force Mason to calm down if M lost control of their pheromones?
I am curious if the MC can be affected by the agency’s memory wipe. If the standard memory wipe fails, the agency can modify it to work for the MC. It would be interesting, I believe, if our memories were erased in B5. What if we are given another parallel to M’s backstory, go through something so traumatic in B5 that we can’t function normally, and are offered to have our memories erased? Maybe a plotline about us having our memories erased by force? That would be fun.
Given that the MC’s blood had been altered with vampire blood, it would have been nice if vampire blood could have been used to heal them. A positive side effect from being tortured during Book one.
Sera clearly needs a co-writer, based on the 3,000+ posts I have read on readers experiences with Book 3. I believe @EvilChani has previously stated something similar. Even if the co-writer’s responsibility is to only write the sexual and overly descriptive moments so Sera can focus on the main points of the story, it would be really beneficial for her and the readers. This would be a good way to speed things up significantly. I’ll be leaving similar feedback on the Play Store, Tumblr, and wherever else I need to.
