Stories that left you disappointed for a reason

[Re336]

Don’t worry, I didn’t ask what everyone’s playing simply to give my opinion, I just wanted to see if I am the only one unable to pick up any IF lately—I’ve played most of the titles mentioned here too, which is probably inevitable after keeping up with these IFs for 8 years.


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Surprised no one has mentioned Misplaced yet. Am I the only one who feels like the choices fall flat? Interacting with Az'Lean feels more like a child speaking to a parental figure—he’s always right, and only his opinion matters. The MC constantly gets rebuked, and there’s barely any romance. If you don’t romance him, Thianne’s relationship with him gets more attention than anything you get. I chose to reveal that the MC is fae, but it hasn’t led to anything—it hasn’t even been brought up again. Now I kind of regret telling him. Maybe saving that reveal would have had more impact.

I’ve also been replaying Crown of Exile to try Oren’s route. I kept choosing the bold flirt options, but after the third time I got yet another variant of :
 "Sir Oren gazes at you, a faint blush on his cheeks." / "My duty is to ensure both you and His Highness are safe." And honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading after that.

I actually like Misplaced. I like that the author is consistent with update. And the story seems promising enough to me.
Regarding Az'lean's reaction tho, I think it makes sense that he reacts that way? He's someone who's holding a grudge (and also blinded by rage?) so it's only right that he won't listen so easily to what MC says.
Yeah, the revelation route is a bit underwhelming. I was a bit disappointed that he doesn't react so strongly. I was expecting at least some kind of cold treatment from him after revealing my true nature, but no I don't feel he's acting any different. He said it himself that he's going to "use" us. But so far nothing happened. He still treats us like... an equal? Not a tool, like he said. So revealing our fae nature doesn't really make an impact.
I hope the author will add some "unhinged" Az'lean's moments where he does use MC like a tool. And I hope in the future we get into a really huge argument with him, hell maybe even a deadly fight for more drama Or maybe a scene where MC can kind of sacrifice themselves to protect Az'lean. I want MC's actions to be able to change Az'lean's perspective of the fae

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

Surprised no one has mentioned Misplaced yet.

Got bored. I enjoy Fae/Faerie stories but there was something weird about the way the fae are portrayed in the story. I couldn't put my finger on it then, but the fair folk just felt too human for me. Also the whole premise was very clearly not for me.

* POMA / Aura Clash: I don’t think I’ll be reading anything by these authors again.

Aura Clash is ok when you play it the way it's clearly meant to be played, an unhinged marital arts game. I'm only still playing POMA because I want to see exactly how Nicki screws over Ruo's romance since it's supposed to be a slow burn. Every non-Mei romance (that has actually started) has been thoroughly ****ed over so far, special mention to Tigress and Ai romancers on that part so I'm here for the train-crash. Ruo's is author's favourite OC so it's bound to be glorious.

* The Bastard of Camelot: The updates content feels like being fed with a micropipette.

At least Bastard of Camelot's writer at least tries especially with their hand/wrist problems (damaged nerves), Wayfarer's writer keeps trying to stick to a schedule that is frustrating everyone, themselves included. Last public story update was in 2022 and Episode 3 still isn't half done yet + the author wants to start Ep 4 before posting 3. It's clear they bit off more than they can chew with Wayfarer but refuses to get help or try to dial down the scale of things. If Ep 3 releases before the end of 2027 at this rate, I'd be shocked.

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

Honestly, Wayfarer's writer suffers from the same problem a lot of IF writers suffer from but with much better writing. Ambition is good but only when you know your limits. Don't publicly publish something you know damn well you're going to get bored of and not finish. Especially if you're going to ask for people's money in patreon or whatever. Sometimes ideas just need to stay really nice idea.

 

[Ireth313]

Wayfarer is so frustrating to me because the characters I'm actually curious about either haven't been introduced yet, had like 30 seconds of screen time, or have been pushed aside in favour of *checks notes* yet another branching route for Aeran.

Speaking of frustrating characters... My greatest frustration is when IF writers force your MC to have a best friend without any option of ruining said friendship. Idk, somehow being forced to be besties with someone who gets on my nerves (Fadiya from crown of ashes or whatever it's called comes to mind) is in my top-3 things list of things that make me instantly drop an IF.

 

[seneya]

yet another branching route for Aeran

The funny thing about it is that as far as I remember, Aeran isn't listed as a full RO, and the author was pretty open about the fact that *something* is going to happen with him. Does he die? Turn into an enemy? Gets kidnapped by an UFO? Idk, but he sure gets a lot of attention so far.
The game is more of an RPG in a text format, so the author would indeed benefit from some outside help.

* Lust Odyssey: I made a lot of progress in this one, but realized I didn’t like some of the choices I made. I restarted, intending to do things differently, but ended up dropping it—too lazy to go through it all again. Still, for an NSFW game, the plot is solid, the choices carry weight, and the relationships are surprisingly nuanced. I think it’s doing so well because it escaped criticisms of a certain category simply since all the LIs are male.

Lustful Desires is very similar, but fantasy.

* Andromeda Six: When I was new to VNs, it felt fresh and exciting. Now, all the routes feel too similar—like they just swap out the sprite and tweak a few lines based on the LI’s background and relationship with the MC.

Afaik it's exactly what they do? I remember going through the same scene with diferent characters/ROs, and a part of text was shared between them.

* POMA / Aura Clash: I don’t think I’ll be reading anything by these authors again.

Imo they work fine if you treat them as martial arts games first, everything second. I prefer AC since it doesn't take itself too seriously tbh.

* One Knight Stand

Am I the only one who finds that animations and sounds don't really enhance the atmosphere in this one? Idk, might be because I have trouble reading it as a horror game in the first place, the writing style is more on the joking/light-hearted side most of the time.

 

[ADB446]

The funny thing about it is that as far as I remember, Aeran isn't listed as a full RO, and the author was pretty open about the fact that *something* is going to happen with him. Does he die? Turn into an enemy? Gets kidnapped by an UFO? Idk, but he sure gets a lot of attention so far.
The game is more of an RPG in a text format, so the author would indeed benefit from some outside help.

Lustful Desires is very similar, but fantasy.

Afaik it's exactly what they do? I remember going through the same scene with diferent characters/ROs, and a part of text was shared between them.

Imo they work fine if you treat them as martial arts games first, everything second. I prefer AC since it doesn't take itself too seriously tbh.

Am I the only one who finds that animations and sounds don't really enhance the atmosphere in this one? Idk, might be because I have trouble reading it as a horror game in the first place, the writing style is more on the joking/light-hearted side most of the time.

Agreed, the author started strong with the opening part. That was genuinely scary to me had me thinking someone could’ve been in my house, but the rest of it kind of lacks a good balance between the comedy and everything else.

 

[yourstalkeroutside]

The funny thing about it is that as far as I remember, Aeran isn't listed as a full RO, and the author was pretty open about the fact that *something* is going to happen with him. Does he die? Turn into an enemy? Gets kidnapped by an UFO? Idk, but he sure gets a lot of attention so far.

Spoiler

It's choice dependent and needs a low relationship score but he can become your enemy especially if you side with/ have a positive relationship with the High mage guy. Otherwise, he's the only link that we have to what happened down at HQ and he's lying to us about probably near everything about it.

Otherwise, the whole not actually a full RO is because romancing him is dependent on making one choice in the beginning. If you don't pick it, you don't get his route at all.

 

[seneya]

Otherwise, the whole not actually a full RO is because romancing him is dependent on making one choice in the beginning. If you don't pick it, you don't get his route at all.

Given the structure of the game (a ton of branching), I don't think he isn't listed just because it depends on this one choice (or not antagonizing him, which will probably be true for others you can romance as well). I think the reason his romance is so well-hidden might be partly to dissuade people from going down that path easily (lol) in case I'm right and something does take him out of the picture later on.
I mean, the fish guy is listed as a romance, and afaik he can just straight up die right in chapter one?

Spoiler

Yeah it's pretty obvious he's hiding stuff, kinda curious how all of this will play out

 

[Kein]

Feels like new IF authors are competing to make the most tortured MC

This is so true... And its not like i am against this, its fine, when it's written well of course. But its getting kind of exhausting. I really need some more palate cleanser if's.

Generally, there's so much depressing stuff, and something wholesome/light - i can count on the fingers of one hand.

 

[ADB446]

This is so true... And its not like i am against this, its fine, when it's written well of course. But its getting kind of exhausting. I really need some more palate cleanser if's.

Generally, there's so much depressing stuff, and something wholesome/light - i can count on the fingers of one hand.

I’m sorry, I’m guilty of this but I love tortured MCs and dark themes. I just find it more compelling to read about, don’t know why.

 

[Ireth313]

The game is more of an RPG in a text format, so the author would indeed benefit from some outside help

I think she would've benefitted greatly from having someone doing the code for her. I know a good chunk of struggles came from the game having a ton of branching that is hard to account for.

Tbh, I love Wayfarer because the prose is cool, the worldbuilding is pretty neat if not the most original, the characters seem to have more going on than being there to move plot around for the MC, and I even used to support the author on the Patreon when chapter 1 came out, but the lack of substantial updates made me put the game aside. My bet is the author will eventually lose the motivation to finish it.

the fish guy is listed as a romance

Nah, the main fish guy is the one you meet in ch.2, and he's unkillable. The other half-fiish guy that is killable is a fling or smth.

 

[seneya]

I like tortured MCs. I dislike it when I'm not even given an option to fight against the trauma or, like, keep it under control, and just ~have~ to keep spiraling until the story decides otherwise.
Then again, in at least some cases it feels like the trauma is mainly there to make ROs fawn over the MC (nevermind that irl, ppl with trauma usually chase others away rather than attract them lol)
You can see this also from the asks in the vein of "how would ROs react to an MC that's crying over every little thing". You can just tell the sender is fishing for a scenario of MC being coddled. And the answer is never "will tell them to get over it" or "wouldn't be intetested in someone like that" x)

 

[seneya]

The other half-fiish guy that is killable is a fling or smth.

Yeah I meant this one, he's still listed as a secondary romance on the blog.
(The green fish guy, not the blue one xDD Sorry I forgot the names)

 

[mmyyssttyycc]

I think shepherds of haven needed to be multiple books, there are so many plot points and characters that a singular game doesn't do any of them justice. I enjoy it a lot and is one of my all time favorites, but i can't help but feel that there's a lot of plot but not enough time to explore it?
I kinda wish the author had the resources to make it into a game like Baldur's Gate

Also, if you want to keep an amount of seriousness for a character do not go to the tumblr, people sometimes ask pretty good questions but it's mostly the author having some fun toying with her characters ^–^"

 

[seneya]

I enjoy it a lot and is one of my all time favorites, but i can't help but feel that there's a lot of plot but not enough time to explore it?

Yes, the game changes scenery too often. Also has the side-effect of making it feel like the demon lords are a tad too easy to deal with...

people sometimes ask pretty good questions but it's mostly the author having some fun toying with her characters ^–^"

Too late, this has already ruined Blade for me >->

 

[mmyyssttyycc]

the answer is never "will tell them to get over it" or "wouldn't be intetested in someone like that" x)

the only RO's I've seen where the author straight up said wouldn't be into an emotional mess of an MC are Rosy from Mind Blind and Riel from ShOH

 

[Kein]

I’m sorry, I’m guilty of this but I love tortured MCs and dark themes. I just find it more compelling to read about, don’t know why.

I understand, I like them too. I play a lot of yandere vn's, murder sims, horror's, etc. Sometimes it's just too much for my mental state. My irl life not daisy's and rainbows at the end of the day. I need something to balance it all from time to time. And it would've been nice to have more chill options that I didn't read/played/watched million times already. (And it doesn't need to be absolutely dramaless too)

 

[mmyyssttyycc]

Yes, the game changes scenery too often. Also has the side-effect of making it feel like the demon lords are a tad too easy to deal with...

the only one I felt some tension was with Jarkyth during the gladiator arc, kinda anticlimatic how easy he went down with the power of friendship

 

[SasariRomanii]

I’m sorry, I’m guilty of this but I love tortured MCs and dark themes. I just find it more compelling to read about, don’t know why.

No problem at all with tortured MCs. God knows how obsessed I am with the Ronin from SoH, Sidestep, the Marshal from ItFO, the Corruptant from the Corruptant, Virtue's End, Greenwarden, and many more. The problem is when those tortured characters aren't treated with the gravity they deserve. How are we supposed to sympathize and take these tortured MC seriously if the author treats their suffering as if it was just a cute quirky little trait to fawn over and generate cheap angst?

 

[seneya]

the author treats their suffering as if it was just a cute quirky little trait to fawn over and generate cheap angst?

An assumption, but I think a lot of authors may have simply never experienced the kind of heavy trauma they're writing of, God bless them (it's a good thing). Therefore, they never witnessed how destructively it can manifest or what the consequences can be.
There's also that... wish, the fantasy of being loved and helped no matter how bad you get, I think.