VN Ren'Py Completed Game of Hearts [Ch.5 R2] [SparkHG]

[sac812]

Not going to lie, this was a terrible update. No idea why everyone's gushing over it. Where to start..

1) First of all I wasn't feeling the whole Julia thing. The writing was bad with her constantly mentioning that he's staring or what not. The whole feeling just wasn't as organic as it was in the previous updates, it's almost as if a different person wrote it. It didn't have me even the least bit emotionally invested which is new for this game. Then how it switches straight to Ruby completely ripped even the last bit of feeling out of the scene. I regretted having chosen the "I love you" option because I had decided that she was going to be the main LI a while back. Now honestly, even Brie seems like a better option for me after playing this update.

2) The whole Ruby encounter was even worse. She starts out by making the MC choose between her and Maxime, not sure why. Later she asks him who he likes better, her or Julia, we literally just met Ruby and we are being asked to choose her? Apart from knowing she had a history with Nero, whom we know nothing about, there hasn't been any moments where you connect with her what so ever. Julia on the other hand, we've had loads of those moments. The Ruby thing is being rushed and I'm not feeling it. And what was the ending of that scene? Some flashback and then all of a sudden you're walking with Julia? There was no little stat menu during the sex scene with Ruby, would have been great so see the progression and what's going on. During this scene, there wasn't even music.
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I haven't been able to wrap my head around a coherent theory yet, but there is clearly a significant connection/backstory around Red/Neo/Julia/Hell Julia/Ruby ... and whatever the terms of Julia's "contract" are with Astofiel, I'm pretty sure it exists as a result of some sort of previous event/fallout they were all involved with.

The flashbacks and subtle inferences to these "previous" relationships are there to tease us, but I'd bet the obfuscation is very much deliberate. Recall that we (Red) know very little about our childhood/origins -- I presume we were subjected to one of dad's memory wipes at some point -- so the process of piecing together our true identity is a primary subplot, but it's naturally going to lead to a lot of confusion around all the players involved. I like that aspect personally, but I can definitely see it how it would be frustrating for you (and likely others). Either way, I imagine it will all trickle out eventually.

3) Then there's the whole Brie thing. Why did we go visit Brie again? Because I wasn't even aware of the fact that this was a plan or that the MC knew about it, I damn sure didn't. And since when was taking down his mom even a thing, I thought we were in some kind of demon war.

Julia told us a while back that we were to go and meet someone "angelic" who she and Astofiel thought might be of help. Was first brought up back at the house with Meredith (Ch 3?), but Julia mentioned it in one of her earlier conversations with Ruby as well. It didn't come out of nowhere.

Edit: Also, when do we get to finally update our skills? Haven't been there in like 2 updates. By the time we get back there we'll have like 5000 points and will just be able to upgrade everything. Is that even still a thing? Because none of it seemed to matter during the Ruby scene as that little point gathering system wasn't even there, and Brie had a completely different thing that just showed her face with a number under it. Really disappointed with this update.

I mentioned this some posts back, but the skills/power only really matter when it comes to acquiring our followers. They're an indication of the strength of our demonic powers. Since there were no shoots with Meredith in this update, there was no need to upgrade. Julia/Ruby are not affected by our skills since they're already demons. Julia has a "scoreboard" during her scenes, but the mechanics -- and the ultimate goal of our relationship with her -- are different.

Brie's counter was for "Trust" points accumulated during your conversation (similar to the Jealousy point system in the hotel with Max/Meredith). I think somebody mentioned earlier that you needed to secure 5 (of a possible 6) Trust points in order to get her on "your side".

 

[WICKEDp4th]

Uh, really, do you know how many times the same model ends up in different VNs?
It's not like this Dev snuck over to the AOA Dev's (dunno what AOA is) house and downloaded their custom models that no one else has. If the AOA Dev was so worried about that, they should have gotten custom models or did something to set them a part in their VN.
You can't complain that someone is using a model that is freely available to everyone.
To point this out is petty on the AOA Dev's part...

Read between the lines.
It is not primarily about the models. AOA Acadamy's Developer TLG Games abandoned his game and then out of nowhere a few months later comes SparkHG with his VN Game of Hearts who "re-uses?" similar models.
Same guy?!

 

[Six0]

First of all, if you're going to put a line like this in there, give her pubes a more contrasting color.





Second of all, these choices and his response are lame. A 'little bit' of hair is hardly nice, it's more like the bare minimum we ought to expect on a woman. A bush is what you'd call nice. There should be a 'It's better that way" option where he says it's sexier. Fucking plebs and their need for bald little girl cunts to get it up.

 

[sac812]

Is it even possible to have 4+ levels in both Corruption and Affection without cheating? I've never come close, but I've also never dug too deeply into just how to optimize my points. The fact that a bunch of scenes seem to play out the same way regardless of our levels with Meredith makes me worry that the game isn't properly tracking its loose ends and most of the choices we're making won't have much payoff down the line - which would be a real shame.

I don't like the though of breaking Meredith's will, so I've been trying to avoid that. From was Astofiel said that should be tantamount to suicide for the MC, but since the game makes it an option (and spends so much time ruminating on the morality of our actions), I feel like I need to try it and see where it leads before trying something less pleasant to me.

But as I said, I'm having a very hard time telling where it leads. Is this a broken path the dev never actually expected anyone to take? A very slow path to an early game over? A long and complicated path that could potentially lead to a secret, non-thrall ending for Meredith? The same path as all the other choices, just wearing a funny hat in some scenes? I really have no idea.

For what it's worth, I did stumble into a issue while pursuing a max-attraction path with Meredith. In short, I found it nearly impossible to get to Level 3 *before* the hotel scenes, and as a result, she always went back to Tommy instead of giving in to the kiss.

This led me to dig into the script and the various conditions/counters and I found out where the issue was in my particular case. I'm not sure how widespread it would be based on how others play the game, but from the sounds of things, you may have ended up in the same situation.

I've had some back and forth with the dev about this on Patreon and they've said it will be fixed, but aside from sharing all I could from my end, I don't know exactly what that "fix" will look like. But yes, there is a bit of an issue currently, although it shouldn't be gamebreaking.

 

[Handsy]

I think you're being overly harsh, it was a great update.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Everything between Julia and Ruby was explained. Ruby thinks (or maybe she does) she has a history with Red and she loves him. She asks questions to find out more about who he is and how he acts, how he treats the people around him.

Yeah that much is clear but why should the MC care about her at this point? Better yet, why should the player care for her at this point? Because up until now we had a scene at her place in the last update where all this was explained and that was it. That is supposed to justify picking her over Julia who we've been building a relationship with this whole time? The same Julia that has all this mystery surrounding her and their past?

This was the first he visited Brie, and it was talked about several times. Julia kept telling he'll be meeting someone special soon and to get ready.

Yeah but Julia didn't tell him who they were visiting, yet when talking to Ruby he somehow already knew.

His mother has been talked about several times, everyone is afraid of her. That's about all we know to be honest, she's super powerful.

Doesn't address what I said, since when was taking her down the plan? Why did Julia ask Ruby to transport them around and why is this a big secret?

I think you read too much into her questions, don't look at it from Red's point of view, step out and think about Ruby's side of things. She is in love with Red, I think she thinks he's Neo and he might be, we don't know enough yet. Ruby is connect so much to Red, she went out of her way to smooth thing over with Julia, just to be close to him.

I understand Ruby's point of view but it's not about her point of view, it's about the players point of view and I see no reason why the player should care about a character that was just introduced, as much as he cares about a character that he's been invested in since the beginning of the game. To start presenting the player with choices between the two at this stage is just bad writing. Ruby doesn't stand a chance in my book, at this point. She looks good but that's not enough, not for me anyways.

And you didn't address all the rest of my complaints.

1) When do we get to update our skills? It's been like 2 updates now where we haven't been able to do it.

2) Why wasn't there a stat thing in the Ruby scene where you can see corruption, love, etc etc etc. What was the point in "pushing the MC to his limits" if none of the upgrades we've been purchasing mattered?

3) What was that at the end of Ruby's scene when she gets on top of the MC, with no music, flashback? Reality? Dream? You don't think that whole transition was terrible? And after that you're just walking with Julia to meet Brie. MC doesn't mention the whole Ruby thing that left him so shocked?

4) A whole update without playing that signature track at least once, doesn't feel like Game of Hearts. Are we certain the same dev made this?

Worst update so far since I've been playing. And while I'm sure I forgot a lot from the early game, I'm not at all motivated to play it again after playing this update.

 

[TankH04]

Is this the guy that made that game "chains of corruption" or "chains of pleasure"? I can't remember which one it's called. The whole middle plot is just like that game.

 

[MrRick]

it already is updated...

Sorry for being dense but where? All I see is Ch 4

 

[Joint311]

Sorry for being dense but where? All I see is Ch 4

dude go to the first page click in walkthrough mod and it takes you to the updated mod...

 

[Maviarab]

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First of all, if you're going to put a line like this in there, give her pubes a more contrasting color.

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Second of all, these choices and his response are lame. A 'little bit' of hair is hardly nice, it's more like the bare minimum we ought to expect on a woman. A bush is what you'd call nice. There should be a 'It's better that way" option where he says it's sexier. Fucking plebs and their need for bald little girl cunts to get it up.

 

[dixoncider88]

Is there somewhere else we should be bringing up the issues with the JokerMod? It tags the jealousy options but doesn't define them so the code breaks down.

 

[JokerLeader]

I also found these errors. Not sure if they've been discussed yet. They don't happen on a non-modded game.

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It should be fixed, thank you.

 

[Handsy]

Julia has a "scoreboard" during her scenes, but the mechanics -- and the ultimate goal of our relationship with her -- are different.

And why doesn't Ruby? Just seems really inconsistent if you ask me, not a fan. Edit: That whole little minigame, managing that "scoreboard" was a big part of the fun for me when it came to the sex scenes with the girls. What's the point in choosing when or when not to use your influence when you can't see that scoreboard?

 

[sac812]

And why doesn't Ruby? Just seems really inconsistent if you ask me, not a fan.

*shrug*

So far as we know, sex scenes with Ruby don't serve a mechanical purpose. Meredith's are for acquisition, Julia's are for love/attraction + influence training. Ruby just wants to reconnect with her old boyfriend lol.

I do agree with what you said about some of the transitions during her scene being odd/jarring, but I don't (and didn't) see the need to have a counter of any sort. They're fucking just to fuck.

 

[Handsy]

*shrug*

So far as we know, sex scenes with Ruby don't serve a mechanical purpose. Meredith's are for acquisition, Julia's are for love/attraction + influence training. Ruby just wants to reconnect with her old boyfriend lol.

I do agree with what you said about some of the transitions during her scene being odd/jarring, but I don't (and didn't) see the need to have a counter of any sort. They're fucking just to fuck.

I explained it a bit better in my edit.

That whole little minigame, managing that "scoreboard" was a big part of the fun for me when it came to the sex scenes with the girls. What's the point in choosing when or when not to use your influence when you can't see that scoreboard?

Also, they weren't just fucking to fuck, they were pushing his limits. You couldn't see the limits though because after Julia, the scoreboard just disappeared and that whole idea became irrelevant.

 

[sac812]

I explained it a bit better in my edit.

That whole little minigame, managing that "scoreboard" was a big part of the fun for me when it came to the sex scenes with the girls. What's the point in choosing when or when not to use your influence when you can't see that scoreboard?

I totally get that -- I love the mini-game aspect as well. They're what make the Meredith scenes so good.

But again, with Meredith and Julia, there's an underlying *purpose* to them (acquisition/training). Ruby serves no such purpose, so it made sense to me to not have one. Just my $0.02, but I get where you're coming from.

 

[Handsy]

I totally get that -- I love the mini-game aspect as well. They're what make the Meredith scenes so good.

But again, with Meredith and Julia, there's an underlying *purpose* to them (acquisition/training). Ruby serves no such purpose, so it made sense to me to not have one. Just my $0.02, but I get where you're coming from.

Judy was training as well, she took over because Julia couldn't continue.

 

[sac812]

Judy was training as well, she took over because Julia couldn't continue.

Nah, that was just a cover. MC even says to Ruby "did she just fake exhaustion so that we could be together?" after Julia left.

And yes, Ruby says Julia told her to push his limits, but I read that more as Julia looking to leverage the situation into something useful as opposed to it being the actual purpose. Julia's helping Ruby make their reunion happen, but she's still jealous.

 

[starbright2]

I feel like I still don't really know Julia or Ruby or Maxine for that matter. Meridith is easy. What was Maxine doing when she was making her choices? Was she inert? Brie is a good addition in that it may bring some stability. I still feel like Julia is playing it safe and it's driving me bananas that I don't really trust her and that I'm sleeping with her. This was a quality update that's given me a lot to think about.

 

[BOWmfs]

ive backread some of the comments hete and bruh i think y'all are overthinking thoughts bout the avn


first of good sh*t dev as always

models are nice as well as some lines(cheesy yeah sometimes corny but who am i to judge yeah?)


some of the "chatters" of tis avn complains bout the writing of the avn

bruh do y'all know how hard to write even a good poem?

i know i cant since grade school

dev cant cater all of y'all complains bout that since WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT OPINIONS AND TASTES IN CERTAIN THINGS

ive played a lot of interesting avns that has a potential to have a good finish to the plot but unfortunately dev got bummed out and one of the reasons of that is some mofos havent like the avn cuz tags,a certain scene etc. that we all know is just burning the dev and his/her team

"oh i dont like this cuz MC is too assholery"

"ohh why is she actin like that? she is so bitchy"

bruh as ive said before WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT

maybe some like the banters between the LI and the MC or maybe there's a reason why she's a bitch

chill bruh let the dev cook afterall we are still at the beginning of the story sheesh

are yah that entitled cuz you played the avn or cuz you just paid 10$ tier?

all in all we can voice all the opinions bout something we dont like yes but do it in a more gentler manner and not some brutish caveman way cuz comments like that makes some of the avns that worthwhile playing disappear and when that happens,some of the genuine players who like that work gets dissappointed cuz dev got burned out cuz of the hurtful comment y'all are doin


or if you really dont like the avn,DO IT YOURSELF

see if there's only nice comments bout hardwork you doin

 

[siath70]

Yeah that much is clear but why should the MC care about her at this point? Better yet, why should the player care for her at this point? Because up until now we had a scene at her place in the last update where all this was explained and that was it. That is supposed to justify picking her over Julia who we've been building a relationship with this whole time? The same Julia that has all this mystery surrounding her and their past?

Red doesn't care for Ruby, well not in a love type way. It's all but said Red will fuck anything with tits, just because he can, but he likes married women.
He views it as training, nothing more at this point, except with Julia (I think there's a bit more going on there).

He knew he would be meeting an angel.

Julia or Ruby's training is all about him using his powers to get stronger. To be able to resist being attacked by bad people.
Why does Julia have them and not Ruby? Well, I don't know, only the Dev would. If you want my opinion on it then there is something more going on between Julia and Red and that is the reason for her stat points.
I am sure there is more to these three than we know right now.

It was said multiple times his mother was coming and in his state it would be a bad thing to run into her. I think it was even mentioned she was looking for him.

As far as skills, they're not needed any more, Meredith is pretty much broken at this point Maybe in part 2 there will be a skills screen before everything kicks off, but I really don't see the point. Why would Red expend his energy to do that when it's pretty much a done thing.

As far as the rest of what you said, I think you need to go back and slowly read the story, everything is explained. I can't explain everything to you, I'm not the Dev, these are my thoughts/opinions I got when I read the VN.

I could be 100% wrong or I could be 100% right or somewhere in between. But for now this is what I see and how I feel about things. You bring up somethings that shouldn't even matter, like Meredith and skills, by this point in the story she should be pretty much broken, so no matter what you put into skills should make no difference. The whole Brie thing, I do believe Julia told him he would be meeting a special angel that has requested to see him. At some point I also think she mentioned her name before they left, if not then it's an error on the Dev's part.

Not everything is black and white, sometimes you have to take a leap and just come to your own conclusions in a story. It's up to you to like or dislike something or to connect things in your own way.
I can talk facts from the story, but some of the story is very shadowed right now and we don't know about it right now, so we make up our own minds how to see the events.
It's one of the downfalls with VNs, they're released in chapters or acts, it's not like you can read the whole thing from front to back right away so everything makes sense. This is why some people wait for the completed tag, others just go with the flow knowing not everything will make sense.

So, I once again say, this is my own thoughts/opinions based on the events in the story.

I really do think you should read it slowly again because some of the stuff you talk about is explained. That choice, of course, is for you to make.

Thanks!