Man it was hard staying away from this topic for 1 week to avoid spoilers, but it was worth it. Anyway I just finished playing the new update.
First things first: While I can't do the same with The Last Sovereign because I don't own RPGMaker, RenPy games you can actually look at the code to make optimized playthroughs. If Sierra or Nomo are against it, I will edit this post later.
I looked everywhere for that Neve scene in the teaser (with the glowy red eyes) but could not find it. After playing the game normally a couple of times (more like dozens), I started replaying it with the code open to add some info to the playthrough notes I made for the first release. I found out that that scene isn't in the game. I was extremely... I think sad is the right word here, FeelsBadMan
Is it ever going to be released to the public?
With that out of the way, great update. Playing it multiple times testing choices and combinations made me see how things are branching out already and that the game will have many different paths. I love that! I replayed it until I found out how I want things to go exactly (for now at least). As a side note, fuck Tekrok! Please give us the option to kill him lol.
There's one tiny bit of inconsistency that I would like to see fixed: Not every Orc you get from the sparring option at the Training Grounds gives XP. It's a completely different game being able to spar with Lutvrog being level 3 because you got XP from every Orc or spar with Lutvrog being level 2 because you didn't get that XP.
Another thing that has been in the game from version 0.1 but just now caught my eye: After the trial Neve says: "I have somewhat of an interest in ruins myself, Sabia. And believe me, I am certain there was nothing in that region. Makes one wonder if you were telling the truth about why your patrol was there in the first place..." But if you tell the trial something else (I go with Hunting for Bandits), then Sabia would never had told anyone that she was there searching for ruins. Just something minor, but it's there. Unless Sabia told Neve in private and I missed it.
One small error that happens after the trial: Eavesdropping the Orcs at the Trading Lodge. It looks like their lines are switched; if Kulgan is alive they'll talk about him like he is dead and vice-versa.
One last error that I found: When the Warchief asks you who do you want to give the credit for the catgirl raid, if you pick Rokgrid without having made any alliances previously, the Warchief chief will say "Very well. Make it official with Tekrok, then we will discuss our specific plans." when he should tell you to make it official with Rokgrid. And then when you're talking to Rokgrid his name suddenly changes to Tekrok. Weird times.
The bar groping scenes: Had the best art in this update in my opinion. It would be awesome if the outcome had two variants depending on Sabia's Dominance or Submission. I feel the current outcome is perfect for a more dominant Sabia; kill the motherfuckers who dared to speak against her during the trial. But a more submissive Sabia could in fact lead the Orcs to the relief tents instead of the dark alley and "gain their support" there. It wouldn't even need new art; just use the same barmaid outfit art that was used for impressing Tekrok's crew, with maybe very little variants if any. This way people who choose to not side with Tekrok still have a way to see this beautiful CG. It would only need new text of course. I think this would make for a more satisfying experience for the players that expected something more to happen after all the groping. I know I did
One small piece of observation about the Sabia x Barrin scene: I felt like Sabia's face was a little bit different in this scene. I really can't point my finger at the cause though. Maybe it's just the angle? Or maybe I'm just used to seeing her hair parted the other way? Or the top of her skull could be just a tad bit less round? It is a great piece of art anyway!
I decided that my main save is going to be Sabia NOT whoring herself at the relief tents for an easy start and staying as neutral as possible as far as Orc Politics are concerned, which means I side with Dajrab and never introduce myself to Rokgrid or Tekrok. I also want Sabia to be more dominating instead of submissive so I opt into choices that increase that stat. And I want Sabia to support Freedom more than Slavery so my choices will reflect that. Yes you will miss some scenes following this but nothing stops you from having multiple saves to see all the CGs anyway.
And so I'm sharing my playthrough notes for this route if anyone is interested. It lists all the options you should choose in spefic order in order to achieve the results I wanted. I optimized it with many other aspects in mind, including stamina usage and other hidden scores. It is kind of a walkthrough if you're interested in following the same choices I made. Of course the choices aren't set in stone and I could change them based on their implications on future updates. Again, if Sierra or Nomo don't want all these hidden variables to be made public, I could edit the notes to just list the choices and remove the variables.
I will keep it updated in future versions; RenPy savegames aren't very predictable when the game is being constantly updated, at some point you may have to restart your save. Keeping these notes will allow me to quickly go back to exactly where I was.
Anyway, sorry everyone for the wall of text. Got a little carried away
Make this one ten times more complex than TLS
