by SpectralTime » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:06 am
...Yeah, I'm still following this. Sorry for dropping away for a while.
I've played through the whole thing, beginning to end, twice so far in the new edition, with Thyme and Irine. Going to keep going with my Sairyn save too, and maybe... Rhiannion?
Anyway, just wanted to say that I actually really liked the Thyme & Irine scenes, from both perspectives. All too often, I find that characters like Thyme end up being great big jerks about how "liberated" and "superior" they are to the chaste and pure ones. I know that I know all too little about Thyme (Is she a vampire? She fits the description in the books...), but when she dealt with Irine, it honestly felt like they were having a genuinely mutually respectful discussion. And that's nice. Their odd sort of friendship is something I'd look forward to seeing expanded on... and not just because it would mean having the two best (and tankiest) spellcasters in the game in one party. Poor Gwen would be even more obselete.
Since they didn't have glitches, I didn't comment on the character-specific scenes before. I'm doing it now.
Thyme's is really long, but really interesting. It's nice to see a younger, fresher, pre-brothel-madame/witch Thyme reminiscing about love, and... well, I don't want to be creepy or anything, but it was also very hot. I'd complain more if there wasn't a skip feature, though, as... well, I've seen it five times now, between testing and playing the game but failing to save properly, and it would have dragged something fierce if I had to mash the "A" button to get through it. Five out a five.
Irine's, on the opposite end of the spectrum... wasn't. I didn't find it very interesting, or very involving. It comes out of left field, and ends abruptly and without explanation. Now, don't get me wrong, the sex itself was, again, not bad, but... it wasn't as emotional as Thyme's, with less context or character. Especially since I feel an opportunity was missed to explore in greater depth Irine's conflicting biological and theological impulses by just plopping some sort of weird brain-sex into the middle that she can't avoid. Fer pity's sake, the discussion with Thyme does that job better a few moments later.
I suppose I'm just spoiled: I KNOW that Irine is a closeted lech who's simply very good at controlling herself and acting ladylike while repressing her urges... and that's interesting, to me, helping her stay that way. But, if I hadn't lost yet, if I was just finding this scene for the first time after never losing and ending up in the Chambers? This would be my first exposure to that fact. And it's not... bad at expressing that view to the player, between itself and the later scene with Thyme, but... well, it's not great at it either. Two outta five for a below average but still passing grade.
...And, yeah, that's that. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to drive my golf cart for my job. Tootles!
...Oh, right. Thanks again, KITA, for all your hard work. As a fellow student, I'm amazed you can find the time to do ANYTHING creative this time of year.