So, I am not going to dwelve into the things that we know to expect from a collaboration of you two. Suffice to say that those things, I’d say amount for about 80% of what makes a game enjoyable, which is why I think you should be supported in P. To merely enumerate them, here we have again the usual i) bug-free game, ii) excellent visuals, iii) good prose with next to no typos iv) hot sex scenes and last but not least v) non trivial story. The fact that you not only keep to those standards but, I think improve on the formula on this game is I believe excellent news.
As for the rest. I think the story deserves a particular mention. The two previous games in this series hinted that there was more going on in this universe but not a lot was clear so they still felt like a traditional dating sim. This is the first tlaero game that, to me, feels more like a continuation of a bigger story that happens to have sexual scenes. Interestingly, tlaero herself has said repeatedly in this forum that ultimately, her games are about how to get the girl. I had thought from before that this point of view was quite narrow, that “dating sims” such as these could be produced with the main objective being to tell an overarching story. I think this game proves that and for me that makes it all the more enjoyable.
The innovation of this game, switching the goal to staying in character instead of hitting the right options with the girl I think works greatly. Kudos to including a number of dates to match the number of possible choices so that one could see all the content in the four separate playthroughs necessary. Also kudos to spreading pieces of the story across the 4 dates, so that you really were seeing meaningful content in each different date.
One thing that has nothing to do with the game but I’ll say nonetheless, is that I think the code has become much cleaner and more efficient. Since I cheat shamelessly in these games, I appreciate that everything has become much easier for me
.
As for the things that I dislike or that I find dissonant, I will just mention the most important one. TL,DR: Finding Miranda does not pass the Inverse Bechdel Test.
Chaotic already made this point but I may expand on it a little, also because it gives rise to a more general comment. The character of Miranda feels utterly unrealistic. And no, it is not justified by the fact that Miranda hasn’t slept for 6 months, if I recall correctly. As a matter of fact, we are introduced to Miranda as she, seemingly looking at a segment of code for the first time, comes up in a few minutes with a “new class of hacker attack” that “seems obvious” to her. Just this is already unrealistic. People did not started coding yesterday and all the “obvious” things are known. We are left to conclude by this line that Miranda is set apart as easily the greatest programmer on Earth.
But of course, during the course of the game we learn that Miranda not only is the greatest programmer on Earth but also is proficient in a number of skills. Chaotic list is incomplete. Miranda is a painter, repairs bikes, plays basketball at a level in which she can play evenly with men, a martial artist AND she knits her own clothes. But wait, cause we are not done. When a trio of Japanese girls is introduced, Miranda salutes in Japanese. It is not clear in game if she knows more than a simple 'Hi', but with her background, the player, or at least I, assumed she does. And by that time in the game in which it is necessary to pick a lock, we already know what is going to happen. Sure enough, Miranda steps forward because of course she knows how to pick the lock!
All of this gives the impression that whenever a problem is presented in the story to the main characters, the solution the author will provide is ‘to bestow a new skill on Miranda’. If say, there had been at some point the need to fly a helicopter, I would certainly have expected that Miranda would have known how to do it. The game is actually even self conscious about this: when Miranda asks “do you know what I am good at:”, the PC answers: “Everything as far as I can tell”. Ha! Indeed. And that is of course a choice of the author. But I personally, am not that interested in superhero/heroine stories.
This is not the first tlaero game in which the heroine feels somewhat overpowered. Keisha, Christine and Jessika have all had the same issue although this one is maybe the most extreme one. The general comment I wanted to make is that without pretending to get into her head, this seems to come from a pursuit of showing women in strong roles. Ultimately I think that this intetion fails because, in my opinion, the character ends up being so ridiculously strong that it’s just unbelievable. This is of course a gender neutral statement, the character would be equally unbelievable if it was a dude.
From a subjective point of view, as it has happened also in other games, male characters feel subpar. This game is not that bad, I liked the character of Ismael, for instance. The PC however for me falls flat in most of the dialogue (to be fair, not as much as the PC in Jessika). The other male characters of some relevance are the ubervillain and the groping dude. On the other hand, on the female side we have a set of 4 super heroines, either relevant to the story or appearing in it, if we include Xara, 3 bikers that all 3 of them best the PC at his only not-coding skill, and the somewhat redeemed Chloe (we can not know which story is canon regarding the PC’s wife). Well, again, worlds inhabited by interesting, strong women are perfect by me. This world however is in my opinion imbalanced.
I am not the author. If I were the author, I would have relieved this imbalance by doing very simple things. For instance, Xara could perfectly be a man, since the only moment in which her femaleness is important is for the PC to check his ass at the end. Unless in this story, it turns to be ultimately a requirement that only women can have superpowers, I don’t see why Xara could not have been a blind guy. And leave the dialogue exactly as is, including the charming bonding between her and the PC at the end.
To conclude with a very clear point. There is this thing called the Bechdel Test, which is designed to spot sexism or ascertain whether women have a meaningful presence in works of fiction. It asks whether a movie or any fiction has:
1.- At least two women on it…
2.- Who talk to teach other…
3.- About something other than men
Finding Miranda passes easily the Bechdel Test. Off the top of my mind, there is Miranda - Xara, Miranda - Chloe, Miranda - Elsa…. and that is great. However I don’t think it’s great that if I recall correctly, it does not pass the the male analogue of the Bechdel Test.
To finish with one good thing, the most interesting character for me in all this series is Chloe. She is the gray one, the one that is broken, and the one that can do good and also can do bad. And I certainly hope we keep seeing her in the future. But I think tlaero has done an excellent job writing and fleshing out that character specifically.
PS: For a world I think it’s well done, inhabited by strong women yet not superheroines, and most of which I would like to date, see A Song of Ice and Fire.
As for the rest. I think the story deserves a particular mention. The two previous games in this series hinted that there was more going on in this universe but not a lot was clear so they still felt like a traditional dating sim. This is the first tlaero game that, to me, feels more like a continuation of a bigger story that happens to have sexual scenes. Interestingly, tlaero herself has said repeatedly in this forum that ultimately, her games are about how to get the girl. I had thought from before that this point of view was quite narrow, that “dating sims” such as these could be produced with the main objective being to tell an overarching story. I think this game proves that and for me that makes it all the more enjoyable.
The innovation of this game, switching the goal to staying in character instead of hitting the right options with the girl I think works greatly. Kudos to including a number of dates to match the number of possible choices so that one could see all the content in the four separate playthroughs necessary. Also kudos to spreading pieces of the story across the 4 dates, so that you really were seeing meaningful content in each different date.
One thing that has nothing to do with the game but I’ll say nonetheless, is that I think the code has become much cleaner and more efficient. Since I cheat shamelessly in these games, I appreciate that everything has become much easier for me
.As for the things that I dislike or that I find dissonant, I will just mention the most important one. TL,DR: Finding Miranda does not pass the Inverse Bechdel Test.
Chaotic already made this point but I may expand on it a little, also because it gives rise to a more general comment. The character of Miranda feels utterly unrealistic. And no, it is not justified by the fact that Miranda hasn’t slept for 6 months, if I recall correctly. As a matter of fact, we are introduced to Miranda as she, seemingly looking at a segment of code for the first time, comes up in a few minutes with a “new class of hacker attack” that “seems obvious” to her. Just this is already unrealistic. People did not started coding yesterday and all the “obvious” things are known. We are left to conclude by this line that Miranda is set apart as easily the greatest programmer on Earth.
But of course, during the course of the game we learn that Miranda not only is the greatest programmer on Earth but also is proficient in a number of skills. Chaotic list is incomplete. Miranda is a painter, repairs bikes, plays basketball at a level in which she can play evenly with men, a martial artist AND she knits her own clothes. But wait, cause we are not done. When a trio of Japanese girls is introduced, Miranda salutes in Japanese. It is not clear in game if she knows more than a simple 'Hi', but with her background, the player, or at least I, assumed she does. And by that time in the game in which it is necessary to pick a lock, we already know what is going to happen. Sure enough, Miranda steps forward because of course she knows how to pick the lock!
All of this gives the impression that whenever a problem is presented in the story to the main characters, the solution the author will provide is ‘to bestow a new skill on Miranda’. If say, there had been at some point the need to fly a helicopter, I would certainly have expected that Miranda would have known how to do it. The game is actually even self conscious about this: when Miranda asks “do you know what I am good at:”, the PC answers: “Everything as far as I can tell”. Ha! Indeed. And that is of course a choice of the author. But I personally, am not that interested in superhero/heroine stories.
This is not the first tlaero game in which the heroine feels somewhat overpowered. Keisha, Christine and Jessika have all had the same issue although this one is maybe the most extreme one. The general comment I wanted to make is that without pretending to get into her head, this seems to come from a pursuit of showing women in strong roles. Ultimately I think that this intetion fails because, in my opinion, the character ends up being so ridiculously strong that it’s just unbelievable. This is of course a gender neutral statement, the character would be equally unbelievable if it was a dude.
From a subjective point of view, as it has happened also in other games, male characters feel subpar. This game is not that bad, I liked the character of Ismael, for instance. The PC however for me falls flat in most of the dialogue (to be fair, not as much as the PC in Jessika). The other male characters of some relevance are the ubervillain and the groping dude. On the other hand, on the female side we have a set of 4 super heroines, either relevant to the story or appearing in it, if we include Xara, 3 bikers that all 3 of them best the PC at his only not-coding skill, and the somewhat redeemed Chloe (we can not know which story is canon regarding the PC’s wife). Well, again, worlds inhabited by interesting, strong women are perfect by me. This world however is in my opinion imbalanced.
I am not the author. If I were the author, I would have relieved this imbalance by doing very simple things. For instance, Xara could perfectly be a man, since the only moment in which her femaleness is important is for the PC to check his ass at the end. Unless in this story, it turns to be ultimately a requirement that only women can have superpowers, I don’t see why Xara could not have been a blind guy. And leave the dialogue exactly as is, including the charming bonding between her and the PC at the end.
To conclude with a very clear point. There is this thing called the Bechdel Test, which is designed to spot sexism or ascertain whether women have a meaningful presence in works of fiction. It asks whether a movie or any fiction has:
1.- At least two women on it…
2.- Who talk to teach other…
3.- About something other than men
Finding Miranda passes easily the Bechdel Test. Off the top of my mind, there is Miranda - Xara, Miranda - Chloe, Miranda - Elsa…. and that is great. However I don’t think it’s great that if I recall correctly, it does not pass the the male analogue of the Bechdel Test.
To finish with one good thing, the most interesting character for me in all this series is Chloe. She is the gray one, the one that is broken, and the one that can do good and also can do bad. And I certainly hope we keep seeing her in the future. But I think tlaero has done an excellent job writing and fleshing out that character specifically.
PS: For a world I think it’s well done, inhabited by strong women yet not superheroines, and most of which I would like to date, see A Song of Ice and Fire.
