Probably only me, but I would really love to see more of dark fantasy genre. Most of the stories are soft or atleast not that serious as they should be according to their lore.
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Tried Soul Stones War? It has its silly moments, it’s true… But it can be very dark and grim when it needs to be
Probably SFW sports games, IMO. It’s an untapped genre. I hope Extreme Ball, Last Shot, and the two tennis WIPs make it into the queue.
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SSW is so dark and grim that it’s like Warhammer 40k (“in the grim darkness of the 41st millenium, there’s only darkness and grimness. Oh, and some war. But mostly darkness and grimness”), but without the self-satirical nature.
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Yes, but I felt like the homo relationship was being forced into me. Kinda made me uncomfortable to continue.
Also have you read the eternal by endmaster? That’s the kind of dark theme I mean.
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I don’t think there’s anyone here that can write berserk level dark fantasy
It would be sweet but I don’t think COG would even allow it
It kinda force you into at least one romantic relationship (you still have the friendship route, but it feels more lackster and less dramatic) but I don’t remember any forced homo relationship, it even asks you what’s your romantic/sexual orientation
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Don’t forget Super space hell!
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Which is dark and grim! Hellishly dark and grim!
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Guess I am the only who felt that
Sadly, would have been great to see such stuffs but I can understand why it’s not allowed.
Try reading the stories by endmaster, you will love them.
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So personally I think it’s horror based genres. I’m not a big horror person but I can see the rift between what is being published and what is not being represented. Someone also mentioned political based story which my brain was like “What if a goblin was running for high council and had to run against like the Fae, werewolves, vampires, and many others in order to control what crypid’s are seen in the human media that year.”
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I think what needs more representation in IFs is more mature romance. I’m very tired of kissing being treated as a reward at the end of long road of longing gazes and convenient interruptions (Wayhaven, ATOC).
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I feel like more realistic low fantasy is necessary, ITFO is the kind of thing I’m talking about, except maybe something that doesn’t rely on the usual European type of setting. It would be fun to see something like that based in the setting of may be ancient China or India.
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Do you have any examples of a mature romance?
I agree 
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I’ve said it before, I want a game where you actually get to have a relationship with your chosen RO and face trials together throughout the story, instead of there being obstacle after obstacle for the romances themselves that keep the MC from being with their chosen LI.
So, yeah, I want an actual romance game (not a game with romances thrown in as an afterthought) where we get this. Getting a relationship at the end of the story (or near it) shouldn’t be the damned reward. You should get that before that, if that’s what your MC wants.
Edit:
Just to add… yes, I know some NPC characters are just resistant to relationships from the get-go. However, if that romance will happen, there are always things that can prompt it to happen sooner. Life or death situations tend to trigger those latent or resistant feelings.
An author who wants those opportunities to have the relationships sooner can create the atmosphere to trigger it… you can’t force your characters into things they don’t want, but, as their “god,” you damn well can throw things at them that get them there a bit faster.
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IF example: Let’s take Night Market (Twine).
Every RO has its own pacing, some characters move faster than others and there’s no author prodding them apart from MC with numerous “funny” romcom style interruptions.
Relationships are allowed to progress at a natural pace, sex is introduced according to what makes sense for the characters and MC.
There’s no puritanism rearing its head, for example, characters who are very casual about sex suddenly “respecting” the MC by not “treating them like sex dolls” because they’d rather develop “real romantic feelings” first (barf).
In other words: sex or relationships aren’t put on a pedestal as something that happens right before your happily ever after.
Long, several book spanning slow burns are guilty of putting this mythical moment where stars align and these two characters are together and everything is perfect on horizon and refuse to explore how these characters would work as a couple because that cheap dopamine hit that’s going to be there when it finally happens is more attractive (I’m not talking about TWC only) so we can take our time.
A very popular pattern is: longing or flirting → (couple of chapters, entire book or the end) first kiss → sex? maybe?
All I’m saying is that It’s possible to make being in a relationship interesting, not just getting into one - there’s plenty of drama to explore, and uncertainty to add to keep the romance alive.
Relationships can be transformative and they don’t have to be romantic either to be interesting. They don’t have to last forever (though that has to be handled with delicacy).
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I actually like when characters do this… it gives the MC the choice of how fast the relationship is. And from a character perspective, I think it’s sweet. It shows that the MC means more to them than the people they’ve been with before. A good example of this is M from Wayhaven. You can have a sexual relationship right away, but you can also refrain from that until later without any consequences
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Yes, but that’s MC’s choice - and that’s a good thing. MC can set the pace (within reason, that should’ve broke the M route IMO, Mason is not that complicated). MC having their own requirements and opinions is only positive imo.
My example has more to do with RO’s deciding this on their own and leaving MC no choice because their view on sex is a bit unhealthy (bit madonna-whore complex) and this behaviour being treated as a sign of true love.
But don’t feel bad about enjoying things I don’t of course 
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Yep. Ultimately, that’s what these games are about, aren’t they? MC choice? If some MCs want to wait until there’s definitely love between them and their LI to have sex, fine. But that doesn’t mean every MC should be forced into that if they don’t want it–unless it fits the character.
I’m of two minds on this, really. I agree that should’ve broken M’s route. M is physical, it’s what they crave more than anything, so to have an MC deny them that repeatedly (possibly forever) just doesn’t fit with them.
Then you throw in the soulmate thing…
And it makes a bit more sense. To a point. It’s a draw M can’t resist. The MC can’t resist it, either. So if that means waiting, M will wait–but I think the thing here is that M should be… miserable about it. You have a character here who loves the touch–that is literally M’s only love language–and they’re being denied it. Personally, I think any angst in M’s route (the “relationship” angst) should come that rather than M not understanding their feelings. After all, M doesn’t care to analyze such shit, they go with what feels good, and then realize, after the fact, they did something “weird” but don’t much care about it because that isn’t their style–that’s A’s style.
I also think that permanent refusal of any sort of physical contact should break the romance completely, or at least make it seem more tragic. It’s like taking a character who requires verbal confirmation of feelings and putting them with one who refuses to ever speak those words as long as they live.
Of course, those are just my feelings on it and don’t matter a hill of beans. My M-mancer isn’t like that, so I don’t have to read it. I’m just pointing out how I see it.
I honestly feel like a lot of these games try to force one view of “love.” And that’s a problem, because it’s not one-size fits all. The other thing that bugs me is this thing that “this LI gives you this type of romance, and this one gives you a different romance” instead of centering it on the interactions with the LI and MC. Different people bring out different sides of you, and that should affect the relationship/romance and how it all goes. But that’s just me, I guess.
No one should feel bad about enjoying something just because others don’t. And no one should get upset because someone doesn’t enjoy something they do. Otherwise, I’d be really pissed about people not liking playing the horror porn games me and my husband like playing to see who gets murdered first…
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