Don’t think it’s been implemented yet. If I remember correctly, save systems usually get implemented when the game is about 80% done or has entered the publishing queue. Book 3 has not reached either of these milestones yet.
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Ah ok, thanks!
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The misery is what A-mancers are here for.
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Masochists! 
Of course, now it appears that M-mancers will have to be worse masochists than the A-mancers! At least we can share in our misery, though.
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Oof, gotta say… I’m not exactly feeling optimistic about this. I’ve been mostly playing Wayhaven for the M romance, and even how that works in the demo for book 3 is getting on my nerves.
I genuinely get the feeling I’m probably going to drop this series after book 3 releases - I just really can’t stand the (as it comes across to me) immature hot-and-cold behaviour from M. It’s a bit sad, because I enjoyed Sera’s VNs long before Wayhaven came out, but M is increasingly reminding me of high school-level drama and I just don’t find that attractive. Especially as I don’t play a shy MC, so it’s a bit annoying that my PC would be penalised for that with a later confession.
I know this series is quite unique even compared to the HC games in terms of how intensely it focuses on romance as the plot, which I can know is enjoyable to many people. But to be something of a sceptic - if this does end up being seven books, this will be the longest CoG series with a single protagonist. How many will really want to hang on for 4-6 years in hopes that book six will finally be the book where M (and even A) finally get into a relationship with the protagonist?
Maybe I’m wrong, especially as I know the majority of the fanbase seems to congregate on Tumblr, not the forums, but honestly it just feels exhausting to even contemplate. Then again, maybe it’s different for people who enjoy more than one of the romance routes, but I do wonder. It’s kinda a shame Sera doesn’t really interact with the forums (though I know she’s focusing on her writing in general at the moment) because I’d love to get some clarification so I can decide whether it’s worth me getting invested in the rest of the series or not.
That being said, I can see how what she’s said will appeal to a lot of fans, so that’s fair enough and I don’t begrudge anyone that. Just a bit saddened that it looks like I’ll probably end up dropping this series, as the world building is fascinating and I’d love to see more of the wider setting.
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Why not just romance F or N instead then? 
No need to drop the series because of these two.
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Yeah, I’m right there with you for both points. This pretty much confirmed my worst fears for this series. And I agree that M in the demo is… well, I’ve said it before, it’s more like A than how I picture M, and I find A’s path exhausting already.
Agreed. M has repeatedly been presented as the one who goes with what feels good and doesn’t overthink things. They don’t “do” relationships and are up front with the MC that it’s just no-strings sex, which is fine. What’s not fine is M acting like it’s more than that (like walking down the street with an arm slung around the MC then kissing the MC like they are the most precious thing in the world) only to get nasty not two seconds later–that isn’t going with the flow, that’s intentionally resisting. I’ve accused A of being emotionally abusive in the way they do the hot/cold, mixed signal thing with the MC (and I stand by that, because that isn’t the way you treat people you supposedly care for), but with M headed down the same damned path, it is actually worse than what A’s doing because (for some MCs, mine included) sex is involved, and giving mixed signals on top of that is just all kinds of fucked up and is nothing more than playing with the MC’s head.
Yeah. I figured M would be the f-buddies turned friends turned intense love thing, not a mirrored version of A, with M jerking the MC around and constantly acting like they actually care one second and kicking the MC in the teeth the next simply because M doesn’t want the damned feelings any more than A does. And penalizing the MCs who don’t get into the drama of letting the LI get hurt or acting like a flustered 13-year-old is just wrong. I can’t imagine four books of the shit we’re getting in the demo before getting an actual relationship with M. By the time that happened–after a year or more of having M vacillate between caring and just wanting her to get off with–my MC wouldn’t believe M’s “love” for one freaking second and would think he was lying to get something from her. And there’s pretty much nothing that could convince her otherwise.
Longer than that if it takes her a year and half to get one book done. And I’m not sure how many will want to hang on that long with this high-school hot and cold BS from both A and M. Personally, I figured with a series this long, it would give us a chance to see what we normally don’t see in other series or one-book IFs, which is getting to see the MC in a relationship with their LI and how they handle things as a couple. Usually, the LI and MC don’t actually get together until the end of a book and there has yet to be a series focused on romance the way Wayhaven is. Unfortunately, it seems that, for A and M, the “get together at the end of the book” will be “get together at the end of the series.” I get that Sera sees “romance” as the flirting and build-up for A and M, but I do not. Build-up isn’t the romance for me… it’s building a relationship and future together that is the romance. And I had really counted on getting to see that, instead of just endless longing looks with A and meaningless sex with M (both getting a moment or two per book where they actually show some true emotion only to immediately go back to being cold).
Well, one thing to consider is that a lot of the Wayhaven fanbase love the “angst” of the MC not being able to get together with A or M, so they are probably not only okay with it taking the whole series, but they want it to. I think you and I are in the minority by not enjoying the childish mixed signals and hot/cold crap.
I can only answer for myself, but… although I find the F romance cute, it’s not something that really draws me in. And N? I need to be dosed with 5 billion tons of fluoride to keep from getting a cavity from that path. As characters, neither of them are as interesting as A and M. As romance options, F feels too childish (and I had to make a very young detective to fit with him and make her flighty as hell) and N is just… I don’t know, he doesn’t feel natural and feels like the least “real” person of the four. It’s not because he’s nice–I know plenty of nice people–but he’s so tropey that it’s almost cartoonish.
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I play all the routes (except the love triangle as it isn’t my cup of tea/water/coffee), but my personal preference is my original self-insert with ‘A’.
I can understand the issues some have with it, but because we have limited omniscience as a reader. you can still feel loved/cared for by the character because we get to see those internal struggles and other moments of those around them that can see straight through them.
I think because the book is supremely replayable due to the variety of the characters, I don’t mind delayed gratification. Not only the destination, but the travels… yeah?
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That’s the thing, though… what I know as a reader doesn’t help along my MC. I don’t do self-inserts. I make characters for each path and RP them–the scenes from the LIs are helpful for me reading it, but they aren’t enough, because in game my MC doesn’t know any of it and the way the MC is treated in the A (and now the M) path is wrong. Any friend worth their salt would tell the MCs to get the hell away from both A and M because all they clearly don’t give a damn about them, longing looks and lust aside.
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That is a valid opinion. Me, I usually play as a self-insert, but even when I don’t, I always feel like a guiding force to a character instead of roleplaying as that character. So, I never really allow myself to disregard that limited omniscience unless I’m purposely trying to disregard it.
I do appreciate that the game has wildly different romances that can satisfy people who want angst or people who want saccharine.
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I’ve played them all, including the LT. F is my favorite but that’s because I can see myself in her RO path. I know what it’s like to just want to be chosen. N is nice and I love how sweet she is. A is my second favorite though. While she keeps pushing the MC away she is fiercely protective of them and that makes me happy. Plus it’s fun watching her blush and stutter at the flirting.
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F is actually the other romance I’ve tried and while it’s ok, it’s not appealing enough for me to buy another 5 books. And N’s a bit bland to me, in all honesty.
Yep, I was fine with the M romance when it felt like it was going in the “fuck buddies turned lovers” direction, but I’m not up for dealing with A’s nonsense in M form but with added sex. Like I originally thought the sex would make it more interesting, but now it just feels like it’s going to become even more toxic than A’s romance (which again - each to their own but I really don’t like A’s romance).
And this was a big part of the appeal to me, but the idea of the flirtation stage dragging on for six books is just too much to me. Fair enough if Sera does see that as part of the relationship, but I agree with whoever said up-thread (I think it was you?) that if we’re not in a committed relationship with M or A, the option to pursue a short-term RO and see their reactions would be interesting.
This is honestly the clincher for me, I think. The video makes it really clear that what I look for in video game romances is almost directly opposite to what Sera is writing, and I’m not going to desperately cling onto a game when it’s increasingly clear the future entries aren’t going to appeal to me.
Honestly, as much as I like book 1 and 2, I’d argue this appeals to an extent to all the ROs. That’s kinda why I only really went for M - up until this point, they felt like the less tropey of the ROs. I’ll admit, while I enjoy romance VNs (including Sera’s), I’m just used to CoG ROs feeling… a bit more human? Which is probably why I’m not terribly torn up about this so much as somewhat disappointed, because this series has never been a “I madly adore this game” series for me. It’s been a “well I have some money to spend and I don’t mind this series so might as well”.
Not to sound like I’m repeating myself, but I’m just seconding this really hard. I know a lot of people like romance related fiction and games because of escapism, and I usually do too, but M’s behaviour in the demo alone just makes me feel like my MC would have to radically change to have either no self esteem or to being a doormat to continue.
Again - not saying every M romancing MC would be like that, but given how I’ve been playing my MC, that’s how they’d have to change for this romance to continue and I’m not really comfortable with that.
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So I recently replayed Book 1, and I think I’m finally able to pinpoint what exactly about this series falls flat for me. I think it’s the lack of autonomy we have over the character. And by that I don’t mean having a lack of choices, because the choices in this series are abundant (something I’m quite impressed with by the way). I mean it in the more literal sense of the author telling us what our MCs feel, or, in my opinion, forcing feelings onto the MC.
I think this is most visible in the A route. I went into it with an MC that didn’t care for A at all in the beginning, but was beginning to see them as a friend towards the middle of B1 and then all of a sudden, as soon as I had locked in the A route (you know that scene where you have to make your choice on which route you’re going to be on) my MC suddenly became so much more concerned for A than they were at first. I can’t think of any reason why my MC, who just 30 minutes ago was telling A off for treating them like a child, would suddenly be so concerned with what A thought about them.
A’s route is supposed to be all about the buildup, so I don’t understand why the MC can go from “I respect you as an agent and we could be friends, but for now I hate your guts” to “This person is the light of my life, I need them to feel the same way about me or I’m going to be sad and pouty” (this is an exaggeration obviously).
This isn’t the only example of feelings being forced onto the MC either. I think in either Book 1 or Book 2 the MC can tell Rebecca off for treating them like a child, and then when she looks all sad about it for a second, the MC will “feel a pang in their chest” or something along those lines. But like, what if that’s out of character for the MC? What if the MC could not care less about Rebecca’s feelings because they feel she abandoned them when they needed her as a child?
There are other examples, but these are the major ones I could think off of the top of my head. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think the author should be forcing feelings onto the MC. I mean, I understand physical sensations and pain being forced onto the MC, because that is an instance of the world acting on the character, and the author is in charge of the world. What I can’t get behind is forcing emotions onto the MC because that is something the player should be able to decide for their character. The player is only in control of what their character does and feels, the author is in control of everything else.
Again, perhaps this is just me, but it feels like the MCs are becoming more and more railroaded into acting and thinking a certain way. The series is becoming less interactive and more novel. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not really what I personally am here for. Don’t know if anyone else feels the same way, feel free to share if you do though, since I have a feeling that this isn’t exactly a popular opinion.
Edit:
Not on the subject of my original post but I strongly agree with this. I’m sure the ROs probably have some hidden depth to them, but they need to show it too. Sometimes they’ll show some sort of character depth, but not often. If this game is going to span 7 books, I want to see some character development, not only from the MC, but also from the rest of the characters. They all feel incredibly static as it is right now.
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I think either that or I’ll just stick to LT even if it grates on me sometimes. Smh playa’s life is a hard life.
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That is a perfect word for how A’s romance feels to me: toxic. And, like you said, given what we seem to be facing with M, it’s going to get even more toxic than A’s, and that just leaves me with a very uncomfortable feeling for the series as a whole. I think one problem is that I don’t find toxic behavior to be “romantic.”
Yep, that was me. And, at this point, I think that’s about the only thing that could save A and M’s path for me. My A-mancer would date other people since, to quote A, “there is nothing between them.” My M-mancer probably wouldn’t date unless someone was persistent (she really is clueless) but if she could hang out with someone outside of UB that she was attracted to, that would be perfect. Hell, in book 2, she just stood there and let Bobby (who she utterly hates) kiss her because she was so out of it about Mason.
Plus, if the MC dating others is something that makes A and M suffer, all the better.
Same. A is only slightly less tropey than N, but still cartoonish. M felt more real until he turned into a mini-me of A and this video came out all but confirming “deep romance” with M will just be more meaningless sex, only the MC will be “comfortable” with it. Whatever the fuck that means.
Yep. The M we’re getting isn’t what we were served in books 1 and 2. And my MC is already emotionally damaged, so the last thing she needs is to be jerked around. M is the only one who actually fit her, though, so there’s nowhere else to put her. And the M I thought we’d get is perfect for her–a fuckbuddy to love progression with neither of them realizing it until they were already in deep. And I didn’t think that would take six books to get.
It is not just you. Emotions are constantly forced on the MC, despite choices that are made. It’s really bad in the A route (and I wish the MC could just remain standoffish or cold back to A) and in any interaction with Rebecca. My main MC despises Rebecca and wouldn’t notice if she looked “sad” but it’s constantly forced, and I think that’s Sera’s way of pushing the MCs and players into being nice to Rebecca or being painted like a terrible asshole for not kissing her ass. I also see it in the N path, but less so in the F path. It’s beginning to be forced in M’s path now that M has become A’s mini-me.
But yeah, you aren’t alone. And I really hate having emotions forced on my MC, especially when they are often the antithesis of who she is.
I’m guessing we’ll get that in the LI’s backstories? Well, for A, N, and F, anyway. Can’t really happen for M since they don’t remember their backstory. Given how tropey they all are, I wouldn’t be surprised if the only growth we see from A and M are them falling in love with the MC by book 7 and no longer playing head games with the MC.
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Pretty sure Sera has already stated multiple times A and M will get in a relationship with the MC before the end of the series and have interactions and scenes as a couple.
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Book 6 is before the end of the series. The first part of book 7 is before the end of the series. There was even a “joke” in there to please let the A “I love you” happen before book 7 (and from what they said, A’s admission will happen before M’s).
Also, considering she implied that “deep romance” for A and M could just be flirtation and no relationship, and that the “deep romance” will be book 5 for N with book 4 for F, it seems unlikely we would get “deep romance” for A or M sooner than the book 5 (and remember she implied that ‘deep romance’ for these two is probably just flirting/banging/looks/whatever build-up, not a relationship). And, since she said M will be in love for years before realizing it, and that it will take a very long time for M to even fall in love, that doesn’t really bode well for any relationship with M before book 6, at the earliest, or possibly book 7. So whatever she said before, today seemed to give more of a hint of when things will happen and that the romance for A and M is far leas about relationship and more about the MC being “comfortable” with the flirtation and hot/cold shtick.
Edited to add this for @MisterJB… at least 2 years will pass over the course of the series:
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According to EvilChani’s post, the Chronicles will take place during the course of years.
If so, then I hope that kissing A will take at least a year, that’d be the ideal time frame for the romance.
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All of that is speculation, we don’t know when we’ll be entering a relationship with A or M or how the relationship will progress. At the end of the day all we can go by is what Sera has said, which is we won’t have to wait until the end because she is eager herself to get to the relationship part.
If the A romance bothers you so much you don’t have to do it, that’s what N and F are there for. Go another route instead of playing a route categorized as slow burn and angst and then constantly writing about how much you hate A’s romance every couple of weeks.
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You know, there might be enough happening to distract us from that
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