Recommending Story-first games

[Finuee]

It hasn't made its way to F95 yet, but I have a new recommendation:

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This is somewhat of a return to form by ebi-hime, whose recent games have all been fluffy, saccharine romances. Roses is angsty, dark, and flowery in its prose - as the best of ebi's work tends to be. In fact, it turns out that a VN studio well known for publishing yuri games approached her, who pitched this game to them, and they rejected it as being 'too dark'.

So, what's it about? Cage of Roses is a gothic romance drama set in 17th century Germany (and appropriately scored with copius Bach). It's heavily inspired by Beauty and the Beast, which should be apparent within the first hour. Noble girl Meike is on her way to Augsburg to meet her future husband, travelling with her family and her maid Henny. Their carriage is attacked by bandits and none are spared, save for the two. Just as they are about to die too, a shadowy figure leaps in and makes short work of the outlaws.

Enter, Magdelena - an aloof, dignified vampire living in a decrepit old manor. She throws the girls into the dungeon, but after some bargaining agrees to let Henny go. And so, a parallel story starts. Henny goes to great lengths to rescue her mistress, recruiting some unlikely allies in Johann and Heidemarie. Meike spends her time getting to know her captor better, who might not be so alone in the manor, if the occasional screams she hears are to be believed.

That's all I can say about the plot without heading into spoilers. Hopefully it sounds interesting to some of you. Unusually for a story of this kind, Meike is neither the most interesting nor the most important character. That's despite being the protagonist and the literal damsel in distress. That honour goes to the other four I've named, all a lot more colourful and endearing.

Cage of Roses is very, very far from ebi-hime's darkest work. She has grown soft! But if you're looking for a story that's a bit more challenging and angsty than the usual safe space harems around us, you might want to give this a shot. I'll wait for the game to show up here before adding it to the OP, but I'll leave you with an excerpt. It might even entice you


P.S: As always with ebi-hime's work, when you finish the game don't forget to check Addendum and Notes under the extras section.

Sounds enticing. I love me a good gothic romance and a good dark fairy tale, and this one seems to fuse both genres. A bit skeptical on the lonely vampire trope, as I often feel it's been overdone to death, but if you say it's good I'll chekc it out.

 

[jufot]

A bit skeptical on the lonely vampire trope, as I often feel it's been overdone to death, but if you say it's good I'll chekc it out.

I was sceptical too, but the "B story" with Henny's quest to save her mistress is a clever way to inject some freshness into this otherwise tired genre, and I think it worked really well.

 

[Finuee]

I was sceptical too, but the "B story" with Henny's quest to save her mistress is a clever way to inject some freshness into this otherwise tired genre, and I think it worked really well.

Glad to read that. I'll definitely give it a go, then. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[kotte]

Dancing Colors has a new episode out.

This episode is getting a liittle bit closer to the porn game genre depending on how you play it (I mean, it had to, otherwise it would have been purged), but I still think it stands out as story-driven and well-written. It's an interesting choice to turn the MC's antagonist into an LI, but still keep the options to reject her (and miss/dodge her sex scenes).

 

[GokutheG]

Dancing Colors has a new episode out.

This episode is getting a liittle bit closer to the porn game genre depending on how you play it (I mean, it had to, otherwise it would have been purged), but I still think it stands out as story-driven and well-written. It's an interesting choice to turn the MC's antagonist into an LI, but still keep the options to reject her (and miss/dodge her sex scenes).

Do devs really care about being on this site enough to alter their content to stay here? I doubt that.

 

[MelanColic]

Humbly posting my new trailer for the upcoming, maybe plot driven, VN.
(don't mind the big tiddies, it's for... ummm... story purposes)

Spoiler: Mace Of Power - Trailer 1

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[jufot]

This episode is getting a liittle bit closer to the porn game genre depending on how you play it

Yeah, that scene felt odd for the general vibe of this game. Too much of a tonal shift, I think. What felt even weirder, though, is the coworker casually stalking the MC and he's just being... cool with it? I hope that's heading somewhere dark, but I don't think it will

 

[GokutheG]

Humbly posting my new trailer for the upcoming, maybe plot driven, VN.
(don't mind the big tiddies, it's for... ummm... story purposes)

Spoiler: Mace Of Power - Trailer 1

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The dragon looks really nice but the trailer told me nothing about the game. Is the dragon important to the story? Do we play as one of the women? Are the women and dragon allies of some type? Is the dragon sentient or is it just a beast? Had more questions than answers.

 

[MelanColic]

The dragon looks really nice but the trailer told me nothing about the game. Is the dragon important to the story? Do we play as one of the elven women? Are the women and dragon allies of some type? Is the dragon sentient or is it just a beast? Had more questions than answers.

YES!

Edited: Jokes aside... This trailer is more to showcase the world where the story will take place, characters, and atmosphere.
The questions will be answered as the story will progress. Mystery is one of the elements of the story.

 

[GokutheG]

YES!

Edited: Jokes aside... This trailer is more to showcase the world where the story will take place, characters, and atmosphere.
The questions will be answered as the story will progress. Mystery is one of the elements of the story.

By the look of things this is a high fantasy setting. I'm guessing we will play as one of the women shown or a member of a magical coven that those characters are a part of. I really love magic and dragons.

 

[MelanColic]

By the look of things this is a high fantasy setting. I'm guessing we will play as one of the women shown or a member of a magical coven that those characters are a part of. I really love magic and dragons.

More details are in my development thread.
We play as a male character, who is trained by a coven of sorceresses at the location showed in the first scene of the trailer.
He is trained to wield a powerful weapon, called The Mace of Power. A weapon powerful enough to slay dragons.
Yes, is high fantasy.
It's a "hero's journey" type of story.

Another thing.
I personally don't like to explain the elements too much. I am of the opinion that these aspects should be experienced as you read the story. I kind of hate the sort of celebreality of explaining the story. It's like explaining a joke, it's not funny after. It kills the magic so to speak.

 

[GokutheG]

More details are in my development thread.
We play as a male character, who is trained by a coven of sorceresses at the location showed in the first scene of the trailer.
He is trained to wield a powerful weapon, called The Mace of Power. A weapon powerful enough to slay dragons.
Yes, is high fantasy.
It's a "hero's journey" type of story.

Another thing.
I personally don't like to explain the elements too much. I am of the opinion that these aspects should be experienced as you read the story. I kind of hate the sort of celebreality of explaining the story. It's like explaining a joke, it's not funny after. It kills the magic so to speak.

Oh you play as a guy. I think it might help to showcase the mc more prominently so people can know who you play as and get a sense of where the story will go. I agree with not spoiling things but breadcrumbs to get the brain working would be nice.

 

[MelanColic]

Oh you play as a guy. I think it might help to showcase the mc more prominently so people can know who you play as and get a sense of where the story will go. I agree with not spoiling things but breadcrumbs to get the brain working would be nice.

Of course.
I was thinking of trailer were a specific scene might play out, with the MC doing his thing...
Like is shown in this picture... MC vs Dragon, it's just... well... it's work in progress... and animating this scene takes a bit of time (it's a shot from later on in the story)

Spoiler: MC vs Dragon

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Thank you for the feedback.

 

[Finuee]

Do devs really care about being on this site enough to alter their content to stay here? I doubt that.

Some do.

 

[jufot]

We've talked quite a bit about LI agency on this thread, and on that topic, there is a

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on Eurogamer with the Obsidian's game director for Awoved:

[...] it's important that non-player characters don't lose their sense of self in a game just because you've shown romantic interest in them. "Part of doing romance well means not only a compelling romance path but also one that is faithful to the character being romanced," she said.

"It's always a bit of a letdown when you see a character who has a clear personality, and goals and interests, and suddenly, in the service of this romance that the player has embarked on with them, they now become the player's yes-person; they're happy with whatever you want and lose their sense of personhood."

Number two: romance shouldn't be the only way you can get closer to, and deeper with, someone. A relationship should not only depend on - or be gatekept by - romantic interest. "You need an equally compelling platonic path," Patel said, "because it's a shame if romance is the only right way to really get to that full level of depth with a character."

She also has some good criticism of "love points" in games:

Finally - and Patel said she sees this a lot as developer and a player - if romance is used as a mechanic then it will be treated as one, potentially detracting from why it was there in the first place. "The more you introduce romance as a mechanic, and the more that you build systems around it, and metrics, and ways for players to bolster and measure their affinity and affection level with other characters, the more it becomes something people engage with as a system rather than as a relationship," she said.

I realize this isn't always possible for VN devs with no real budget, but it feels like most VN devs who claim to be "into romance" don't even care about these issues. Not even on an abstract level. For example, if your game has the protagonist successfully pursue a love interest, you should be able to explain - to a reasonable degree - why the LI is interested in the hero, not just vice versa. ~95% of VNs would fail to do so :/

 

[realjitter]

why the LI is interested in the hero

Because of his big dick, case closed . Yeah, unfortunately, you gotta keep it real with what AVN's ultimately are =(

 

[Tlaero]

I realize this isn't always possible for VN devs with no real budget, but it feels like most VN devs who claim to be "into romance" don't even care about these issues.

I'm not sure that a lack of budget is the culprit here. I think that the bigger issue is a lack of writing experience. The good news is that inexperienced writers can get experience by listening to advice and feedback and practicing the craft. It does take practice, though.

Tlaero

 

[raynarnab]

I finally got around to finishing up to the recent version of Superhuman. Like others in the thread have sometimes mentioned the Artwork can really put people off but it does get better over time.

Overall the entire story is super fun! I feel like there really is no need for the porn and it can stand on its own. Something that I really enjoyed was the development of characters beyond the MC. There is development for side characters which made the world so much more richer and engaging. As well as the fight sequences, timed with great music choices really creates a great atmosphere.

I know some folks have previously praised it, but I figured I would add to the chorus. It is a great read and I was mistaken in being put off by the art for as long as I did.

 

[Finuee]

We've talked quite a bit about LI agency on this thread, and on that topic, there is a

You must be registered to see the links

on Eurogamer with the Obsidian's game director for Awoved:


She also has some good criticism of "love points" in games:


I realize this isn't always possible for VN devs with no real budget, but it feels like most VN devs who claim to be "into romance" don't even care about these issues. Not even on an abstract level. For example, if your game has the protagonist successfully pursue a love interest, you should be able to explain - to a reasonable degree - why the LI is interested in the hero, not just vice versa. ~95% of VNs would fail to do so :/

That's a very interesting read, thanks for sharing it. I agree that dating simulators and relationship points are overdone and don't feel like romance at all. If anything, they feel like playing the other person, hustling them for a shag.

 

[Raife]

We've talked quite a bit about LI agency on this thread, and on that topic, there is a

You must be registered to see the links

on Eurogamer with the Obsidian's game director for Awoved:

Great write-up. This really gets to the first principles of writing compelling LIs. Thou shalt not:

1. Allow romance mechanics rather than story to dictate the course of an in-game relationship;
2. Create NPCs (especially LIs) that contort their personalities or agency in non-credible ways vis-a-vis the MC; and
3. Write LIs that have no purpose, identity or agency beyond their romance with the MC.

Speaking of well-written LIs, has anyone played The Missing Part? The game starts off in an extremely conventional and unappealing way, but then throws two curveballs. The first one I saw coming, but the second one caught me completely by surprise.

Five minutes into the game, I wanted to stop playing ('not another callow teenage MC!'). Fifteen minutes in, I was hooked.