Stories that left you disappointed for a reason

[Zoklitsos]

Ok, so the whole 'stoic and emotionally unavailable\not in touch with their emotions' thing is a huge turn off for me for romanceable characters (sidenote: compare him with O from infamous. O is stoic but they are not stunted; they are single mature&professional person in a circus). That, combined with overabundance of Blade compared to any other character + Lena's constant reminders that 'um, acshually, when SoH was a book Blade was a cannon RO for MC, hehe' and him always getting more content waaay ahead of the others gradually turned me from being neutral about him to disliking him lol, He also has the most tropey and cliched personality, imo, because most of the other chars have bits and pieces that graduate them from being tropey.

Oh, literally same. I completely get you. When I first found the game way back in the day, Blade was my first pick for a RO, and he seemed like the most compatible one for the kind of MC I was playing. Then I started following the author on social media, joined the discord, started supporting her on Patreon... and realised just how much favouritism there was for Blade lol. It all eventually just culminated into me being totally turned off by this RO entirely. I didn't think much of it at first, because I feel like it's inevitable that as an author you'd have some characters you like more than others, I mean I am a writer too and I definitely have some favourites lol. But it was becoming way too blatant and on the nose with Lena and Blade, like it felt the whole fandom was one huge circlejerk about how amazing Blade is, and then it started bleeding into the actual game as well

Also, while I quite enjoy other aspects of the game, I really don't like the romance system in the game in general and it's still very possible that I'm just not going to romance anyone for my canon playthrough. You're basically forced to play a pretty specific kind of MC for every romance, and the romance points requirements are kinda strict, so you'd better pick any romance option that pops up for whatever character you're trying to romance, even if you don't like it, or else tough luck! - you might end up getting locked out of the romance. I especially hate how your MC behaves when you pick the romance options for Blade.... It felt like I either had to pick between 'sexual harassment simulator' or 'uwu blushing flustered otome protagonist' in terms for romance dialogue for him lmao. It felt so uncharacteristic for the kind of MC I was trying to play (more on the serious and reserved side) that it completely ruined my desire to romance him. There was some more normal options as well, but they were few and far between. At this point I enjoy the platonic friendship the MC can have with Blade way more tbh and find it much more compelling, especially with what happens later on in the story.

But overall it's been a while since I played bc at this point I've replayed the game so much that I'm just waiting for the it to be finished, last time I played was around that chapter where you investigate some tree or sth in the elf quarter in the city I think?? So idk if there's been any improvement at all... but judging by what people are saying in this thread, it seems like the favouritism is going strong lol. I myself am now a Red and Ayla enjoyer, but I'm pretty sure the author doesn't remember they exist anymore

EDIT: Oh, also honourable mention to Chase who is clearly the author's second favourite, as some people already said. I already find the kind of character trope he embodies very repetitive and annoying, so he was insufferable to me as it is. But the author's clear bias towards him makes me hate him even more

 

[blossom1]

Also, while I quite enjoy other aspects of the game, I really don't like the romance system in the game in general and it's still very possible that I'm just not going to romance anyone for my canon playthrough. You're basically forced to play a pretty specific kind of MC for every romance, and the romance points requirements are kinda strict, so you'd better pick any romance option that pops up for whatever character you're trying to romance, even if you don't like it, or else tough luck! - you might end up getting locked out of the romance. I especially hate how your MC behaves when you pick the romance options for Blade.... It felt like I either had to pick between 'sexual harassment simulator' or 'uwu blushing flustered otome protagonist' in terms for romance dialogue for him

okay i just have to pop in to say - u know youre not supposed to pick the 'sexual harassment simulator' flirt options right? u literally get - flags and points for some of them... You get romance points from..just about anything, hell asking the RO if they are okay.etc. i kind of love this about the game. you dont like...spam hit flirt options to a relationship. You get points for like..saying you want to avenge your teammates lol so imo its too easy to romance everyone even

 

[Zoklitsos]

okay i just have to pop in to say - u know youre not supposed to pick the 'sexual harassment simulator' flirt options right? u literally get - flags and points for some of them... You get romance points from..just about anything, hell asking the RO if they are okay.etc. i kind of love this about the game. you dont like...spam hit flirt options to a relationship. You get points for like..saying you want to avenge your teammates lol so imo its too easy to romance everyone even

No, I didn't know that - I've never picked those options as they're way too cringe for me, and I haven't really read through the game's code super extensively other than to see what the skill checks are + I'm not involved in the fandom anymore. And this doesn't make it much better for me because the other flavour of 'flirt' options for Blade in particular tended to be kinda cringe a lot of the time too. Also, tbh I'm kinda baffled by your statement as this has not been my experience at all, in fact it has been the total opposite where the romance options felt kinda sparse at times so I felt compelled to pick them anytime they popped up even if I didn't like them so I could actually have enough romance points for whoever I am romancing. But as I said, it's been a while since I did a full playthrough, probably at least 2 years if not more. I am assuming that either new stuff has been added in the main story in terms of romance content, that romance flags and stats have been adjusted in the code, or that more interludes with various ROs have been added where there were more normal romance options, because from what I remember it was the main plot romance dialogues that felt off to me whereas in the hangout interludes they were more lowkey and normal most of the time.

 

[blossom1]

No, I didn't know that - I've never picked those options as they're way too cringe for me, and I haven't really read through the game's code super extensively other than to see what the skill checks are + I'm not involved in the fandom anymore. And this doesn't make it much better for me because the other flavour of 'flirt' options for Blade in particular tended to be kinda cringe a lot of the time too. Also, tbh I'm kinda baffled by your statement as this has not been my experience at all, in fact it has been the total opposite where the romance options felt kinda sparse at times so I felt compelled to pick them anytime they popped up even if I didn't like them so I could actually have enough romance points for whoever I am romancing. But as I said, it's been a while since I did a full playthrough, probably at least 2 years if not more. I am assuming that either new stuff has been added in the main story in terms of romance content, that romance flags and stats have been adjusted in the code, or that more interludes with various ROs have been added where there were more normal romance options, because from what I remember it was the main plot romance dialogues that felt off to me whereas in the hangout interludes they were more lowkey and normal most of the time.

so yeah thats how it works... any dialogue or action can get you romance points which is how i end up stealth romancing most of the characters... you ll get a (flirt) option that actually works once in a while but they are rare... u definitely get points from physical actions like holding his hand etc those are usually never the 'wrong' flirt but most others are for roleplaying i guess bc how can u expect to romance the serious stoic guy by saying youre so sexy blade mid meeting lmao..its just a comic relief moment

for example with shery... during her interlude u get more points by like.....supporting her instead of telling her she s pretty. things like that. anyway feel free to hmu (anyone else too) bc i was pretty into the code for a while lol

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

It felt like I either had to pick between 'sexual harassment simulator'

Speaking of this ****ery. I really hate A Date with Death (especially the second and frankly wayy too many VNs) for this. Sexual harassment isn't cute and quirky, it's creepy. Yet, too many people think saying "So are you taking me to your room later lol" and 'I'm the love of your life" to a character you just met is funny dialouge. Playing through a Date with Death 2 is a slog because of this.

 

[Ireth313]

I myself am now a Red and Ayla enjoyer, but I'm pretty sure the author doesn't remember they exist anymore

Red recently got a confession scene, actually (after Blade, Trouble, and, iirc Tallis and whatever there was with Chase?), so he's not the most forgotten one, but Ayla, on the other hand... Yanno, it really is transparent when the author only wants to romance male ROs

Playing through a Date with Death 2 is a slog because of this.

I want to woo the bossman there, but every flirty line towards him makes me feel like he'll call HR on MC soon (and will be completely within his rights tbh). The first game just make me feel like it wasn't teasing 80% of the time but straight up being annoyed, and if dude had any romance experience whatsoever, he would've run for the woods.