Seduce Me

[kessie8yl]

The card games are an abstraction for various types of interactions with the NPCs. That has been explained several times in this thread alone. I can understand that not everybody liked that abstraction, but why ignore the explanation?

BTW, by the same token, you're not having penetrative sex; you're watching a picture with people having sex. But that's an abstraction, too - right?

No, I have never ignored it, I just think it's so much hokum.

You seem to have got things a little muddled. Watching a movie or playing a game are realities in themselves not substitutes or "abstractions" of anything else. Reading Lord of the Rings doesn't make you a Hobbit but Tolkien is a good writer who conveys what it is to BE a Hobbit. The plot works because you understand the characters and their motives. You have an empathy with them which is why you can even feel a little sorry for Smeagol.

That's what this game is lacking. There is no natural progression between the plot stages, no reason to explain why winning a hand or two of cribbage makes all these women want to rip their clothes off and engage in rampant sex with any guy who happens to be passing.

The card games are simply an unimaginative cop-out on the part of the developers. As far as I'm concerned to try calling them anything else is just pretentious.

Of course if all you're interested in is gawping at the pictures at the end then I'm very happy for you. I expect a little more effort for my money.

[Henrik]

to piggyback on what others have said, here's what the failings of 'seduce me' are, in my opinion.

i'll use ariane, getting to know christine, and the best work of goblinboy as the gold standard in this genre. when you play those games, they ask you to listen and learn about the characters, story, and setting. if you want to get to the sexyfuntime parts of those games, you have to make smart and informed decisions as a player based on clues you've gleaned from playing the game and noticing details of the characters and the setting and the story that have been dropped by the game author. 'seduce me' gives the player no reason to care about the characters and there's next to no plot and a threadbare, nearly nonexistent story. to get to the good parts you're simply going from one area to another and playing card games to help you manage your game stats. in so doing, it combines the most tedious and fiddly parts of role-playing games and opaque stat min-maxing with a mini-game completely divorced from the action and story and characters in the game itself.

it's a lousy game design, it's grindy and un-interesting to play, and frankly it feels like the whole thing is a convoluted and poorly-intentioned vehicle for a graphic artist to use to show off his explicit nude artwork.

i can't say it enough: avoid this clunker.

[rspc]

I think the absolute worst mechanic in the game is losing your (incredibly limited, fragile, and therefore valuable) popularity points for leaving a room with a game opportunity. Few things say "fuck you, player" louder than a direct penalty for declining a risky, sometimes literally unwinnable, potentially game-ending bout against your needlessly antagonistic AI.

[Jiimbojones]

I understand where you guys are coming from, but I liked it. I like that it was story based and I like card games, so maybe that part didn't bother me as much as some of you. I only wish that I could get a better understanding on figuring out what was going to happen after I clicked on something. Also, being able to re-watch/read the scenes of a girl at the end would have been a nice touch.

[zeeyeecd]

The game aesthetic is pleasant but it seems the gameplay is a bit lacking.

[flambo]

it's a lousy game design, it's grindy and un-interesting to play, and frankly it feels like the whole thing is a convoluted and poorly-intentioned vehicle for a graphic artist to use to show off his explicit nude artwork.

I hate to pile on, as I try to support adult games when possible, but I agree with what was said above and I am really disappointed with this game. The card games are at best frustrating, and to me, the game was an exercise in futility. After playing the game for several hours, the best I could accomplish was a few mid-tier interactions and getting kicked out of the house (game over) many times. After one night of playing, I wouldn't even pick up this game again unless there was some kind of cheat code released so I could at least experience more of the artwork.

[Sniff3005]

if you edit the registry in the game you can alter the game to have it show u want u want to see. but again playing with the registry can have bad effects if you dont know what u are doing.