Episode 9 Recap

Episode 9 Recap

I'm assuming most of you have played through Episode 9 at this point. Now I wanted to talk more about it and give a small preview of where things might be going both in terms of the character and the story.

Main story points

The episode opens up with you training in Old Town. You've got the big Proving Grounds tournament on the horizon. The tournament is a big plot point that will play out over the course of multiple episodes. I wanted to continue to emphasize the your growth and development as a fighter. He's not a world beater just yet but he's not the amateur he was training in Billy's basement.

I think the biggest story point is the opening of Billy's new coffee shop. If you recall, I had a poll for a remodel a long time ago. It was actually for this new shop and how it was going to be designed. This is a new chapter in the story of the coffee shop and the start of a new chapter in the game entirely. From here, the story is going to continue ramping up.

Erika

Your relationship with Erika continues to be centered around your partnership and bonding over trying to win the tournament. The tournament is a big deal in terms of the story and your relationship with her. As you continue to progress, you'll learn more about her and figure out what makes her tick. I think it's firmly established that you and Erika are as close as two partners can be.

If you've chosen to pursue her, there'll be plenty of opportunities for both sex and romance in the future. It's tricky to find ways to keep things exciting but if you like Erika, I think you'll be happy with how things go. If you decided not to pursue her, your friendship will still blossom. Remember that Erika is the gateway toward learning more about Old Town overall and I think her story will only get more and more interesting even without a romance.

Harlow

In terms of pursuing her, Harlow follows the more traditional sequence progression you see in all VNs when it comes to sex. I think it fits her character well in regards to her background and everything you've seen from her in the story so far. In that aspect, you can expect to see her open up more to you.

In terms of the storyline, Harlow's character was established as another one of your contemporaries at college. Your friendship will continue to blossom as more than just lab partners as it has over recent episodes. Right now, it's continuing her progress toward getting over the accident and moving forward.

Kate

Kate's in a unique position because she's an authority figure but not a contemporary like most of your other acquaintances. I try to make every interaction with her impactful because they're less often. Now that you've been given the concrete outline of trying to save the psychology department, your relationship with Kate will develop into the friendship that I tried to make seem inevitable.

If you're pursuing her, I wanted Kate to maintain the professionalism expected of her, even with this big favor you're doing for her. You've had sex with her but I didn't want her to lose herself completely. There's still a stigma around your relationship. She maintains just a hint of the reluctance that comes with the territory. There's much more to your potential romance to uncover.

Riley

You may or may not have known that I've gotten a lot of feedback on Riley. Out of all of the primary love interests, Riley seems to be the most controversial because you're making the least progress with her. Many times it can seem like you're not making any progress with her. In the longest scene with Riley in Episode 9, I wanted to continue to establish your friendship with her. You two are very comfortable around each other. You're friends and my main point of emphasis was establishing that. It was a fun scene where you two can talk, laugh and enjoy each other's company while getting to know each other a tad better.

If you want to pursue Riley, I can see how it might be frustrating for Riley to continue to spur potential flirtations. I understand the stigma of the dreaded 'friend zone' and its implications. If you're still interested in pursuing a potential romance with Riley, I can say that something will blossom from your already established friendship with Riley. I want to continue making that friendship stronger. And if you choose not to pursue Riley, your relationship will continue to build in more casual scenes, like this most recent one at the coffee shop. For the time being, Riley's primary focus will be on the main story of trying to bring back Billy's shop and your friendship will continue to grow from that.

Vanessa

Vanessa has an air of mystery about her that goes beyond hiding her face behind her shades. For that reason, I find myself having to bite my tongue a lot to avoid future details getting leaked. I want her to be as much of an enigma as possible.

I chose a scene with Vanessa at the comedy shop for different reasons. The first is that it's an already established location. I had planned this a long time ago and now that it's here, it made sense in the story to use it as another location for Vanessa to acquire more followers.

Another reason I had Vanessa at the comedy shop is because it's a stark contrast to the demeanor I've given her. She's emotionless. She doesn't laugh or smile. She doesn't seem to have any feelings for you. And she seems to be hiding a lot of things from you. I thought the comedy shop was a great way for you to at least try to get her to open up.

As some have said before, Vanessa is a brick wall that you have to continue to chip away at. The comedic scenes were meant to be you swinging a hammer as hard as you could at that wall. The wall is still standing but if you look closely, there might be a chip or two.

The comedy shop will segue directly into Episode 10 and the next step of your budding relationship as well as the story overall. Whether or not you're interested in pursuing Vanessa, you've made progress and you're going to make even more in the coming episodes. The comedy shop will be an important reference point.

Sophia

Sophia isn't a main love interest mainly because she doesn't play as large of a part in the main story as the others. However, I wanted to give her as much depth as I could. She's not remarkable in the sense that she has some incredible backstory or a wild personality. I wanted to create a character who was just a student at the school and that's it. Someone who was just normal. There are enough characters that make the plot wacky enough, so I think there's room for someone grounded in terms of story. I think she adds some depth to the world I've tried to create in the game. The characters make a story and Sophia is one of them, even if her impact seems minimal.

If you chose to do something with Sophia, I wanted to make the scene as erotic as I could with a 'plain' student. Is she just a friend? Do you only want to have sex with her? Is she someone you're interested in pursuing romantically? I have plans for her for every potential option but let me know what you think of her and what you'd like to see from her.

Other notes

Episode 9 was a shorter episode. Even with a planned short episode, it took longer than I expected to put everything together. My goal with every episode is to make sure that the plot keeps moving and something happens. I'm trying to keep things simple since relationships have been established and introductions are out of the way. Looking at it now, I'm satisfied with what I have to build on and what I can do moving into Episode 10.

What did you think of Episode 9? Leave any comments, suggestions, questions or requests if you like.

I'm working on Episode 10 right now. It's mostly outlined and I'm getting busy with the first renders. Plenty of stuff happens and I'm already excited about getting it out there. It's still early but I'm hoping to have some good and solid progress to report on in a month. The start of every month is like a shot in the arm to see just how much I can do.

As always, thank you for your support. We've come a long way but there's still a long way to go. Take care and I'll talk to you all again soon.