Roommate game

A dating / life sim for all tastes set in college http://www.winterwolves.com/roommates.htm
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jack1974
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Re: Roommate game

Post by jack1974 »

Image
the jealousy scenes are pretty fun. The only one not having fun seems to be Max. I love the look on Sally and Isabella's faces :lol:
Today fixing all the problems that Michael found. Still aiming at beta tomorrow! :)
j20019
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Re: Roommate game

Post by j20019 »

Don't know where to post it, so I'll post it here.

I pre-ordered and played through the Beta. I enjoyed it.

Being a Yuri fan, I, of course, played Anne's scenario. No question who I picked as a love interest. ;)

It was a bit more constrained as far as relationships and storylines go. Loren spoiled me. But I enjoyed it. Leaps better than Sprited Hearts (Which I also enjoyed but has it's faults).

Pros

1. While constrained, I enjoyed how there was an actual backbone and meat to the story. I also liked how the romance added to it and not seem like a side story running along side it. Can't speak for the other love interests, but I loved how (censored just in case)
Spoiler:
Isabella's bombastic personality seemingly cracked Anne's shyness, which was her goal all along. I could almost swear this was the canon romance, based on that fact alone
2. One thing I also enjoyed and stood out: Isabella wasn't the obvious f/f choice. I stayed away from most of Roommates promotional images and material just like I'm staying away from Loren 2 and Season of the wolf. I know I'm getting it, why spoil myself? :p

Back on point, for the first half of the game
Spoiler:
I couldn't lock down on Isabella, because I got vibes from Sally as well. Even when I was 100% sure Isabella (though Annie-belle's horse was slow to cross the finish line) was an option, Sally was still a question mark. The fact I could visit her for Valentine's day didn't help. Only until spring break, when Sally made the pecker comment did I realize she must be straight only, which was a shame cause she and Annie bonded. Also, Car-car dropped into my radar, though she didn't last long (not much signs from her as from Sally).
.

I loved the subtext, however. To me, it added to the story as we focus less on Isa's sexuality and more on her personality
Spoiler:
(For example, why is she hitting on Anne so much when she had a boyfriend? Maybe she was 'teasing' and not 'flirting'?
.

3. I don't know why, but the stat grinding didn't wear on me as much as Sprited Hearts and Love & Order. Both were decent, but there were times that it was a bit of a slog between story bits.

4. Most games, mainstream and indy, outsmart themselves. This one didn't. Too many to list, but I loved the bells and whistles. Multiple save slots, a screen that lays out at least the base skills you want to pick out for a love interest (Which I didn't pickup on till late in the game), all the way down to the fact that every choice, even if you SKIP the event, matters, even if it's a minor change. I look at mainstream games like Beyond Two Souls and shake my head. They try to be 'different' and shoot themselves in the foot. Stay simple, Tell a story, make it easy for the player to follow it, and if the player wants to go a certain direction, honor it. Roommates does this and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

5. CG's and Sexy scenes in general. Good job with the subtext without turning things up too much. I would've liked the Loren option (the ability to switch between PG-13 and R), but I understand this will (hopefully) lead to bigger audiences.

And besides, there's always Loren 2. :)

6. When a game has 'comedy' as a focal point, it often falls flat for trying too hard. Fortunately, this game succeeded in having some chuckle moments, including a scene that literally had me break my face in laughter. It was wonderful.
Spoiler:
Dominic: I'm Hooooooo-ooooly hell, what happened here!?!?
7. Again, can't speak for Max, but I loved how objective the game is. Loren was like this as well. I liked how Anne wasn't a Mary Sue. For example
Spoiler:
I liked how, with Isa's romance, Anne was confused and started questioning things. She was straight, but changed her mind later on. It was a gradual change that matched her goal of cracking her shell, and not a personality change of convenience like most novels/games do.
Cons (Nit picking alert, but I have to be objective here)

1. The game was a step down in that, unlike Loren, I felt the game is over after Isa. Sure, there are other love interests I'm curious about (like how Max/Anne differ from each other's point of view, which is clever), but I felt constrained. In Loren, I had the choice of Loren, Elenor AND an expansion character. So I had a bit of replayability, and that's before you make the game changing choice
Spoiler:
I'm referring to, of course, the big sacrifice
. I guess it's the lack of options that had me down a bit.

2. I understand why they were there, and I may be in the minority, but the advanced jobs broke the game for me. Once past
Spoiler:
Spring Break
I pretty much coasted, swapping in a rest period as necessary. Not that I complained, as it made it a breeze to get to the story bits. But it would be nice to make those advanced jobs more tiring, for balance sake.

3. Choices, outside of relationships, were way too easy to decipher. Basically if you follow two general rules:
Spoiler:
Don't be a jerk and stay positive
You'd do alright for the most part. The only time I screwed up was where
Spoiler:
I defended Isa from Chad. I understood completely why I lost points afterwards and it was my fault for falling into a rut and not seeing the signs.
. With that example, THAT type of choice would change a passive reader to an active one... because it forces you to try and get to know the character. The best Visual Novel games are the ones where you're properly foreshadowed as to the potential consequences without it being handed to you on a silver platter.

One idea to consider: There's a game called long live the queen. In that game, you could die due to past choices, combined with stats that you neglected. In short, you need a build strategy AND you need to pay attention to the story so that you can make smart decisions that benefits how you built the character. You slip up even once... dead (or you wish you were). Considering that there were stats I was ignoring after the halfway point, there should be a consequences for doing such. It would make me think on how I build Anne.

So, yeah, great game, well worth the money spent. Thanks for the hard work and time spent, and I will be looking forward to Loren 2 and Nicole (Yuri version)
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jack1974
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Re: Roommate game

Post by jack1974 »

Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the advanced job that made the game too easy, you were playing at "Normal" difficulty (the default) ? The difficulty is always the hardest thing to balance, so that's why I provide different levels, so people that find it too easy can try at the Hard level.

I know LLTQ, the developer is a long time friend of mine. I thought about making a game like that, but it must be a very short one (like that one) because otherwise dying after you play for 4h because of a bad past choice early in the game... doesn't seem fun :lol: so I think can work but only if you make a shorter game with lots of replayability.
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Lonestar51
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Re: Roommate game

Post by Lonestar51 »

j20019 wrote:Also, Car-car dropped into my radar, though she didn't last long (not much signs from her as from Sally)
Glad I am not the only one who would have liked to romance Carmen. :wink:
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