Noblesse Oblige: Legacy of the Sorcerer Kings

Progress at time of review: Chapter 9 ---{ Art }--- ☐ Gorgeous ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS RPG Maker game is still an RPG maker game, but as far as they go, this one looks pretty good. Graphics aren't really much of a consideration when you pick up a game like this. And the custom art is rather good. I really only have one minor quibble: the style of the custom portraits by the user doesn't fully match with the generic RPG maker assets. It's hardly enough to be noticeable, outside of the title screen where it's more apparent, but the extra effort to either replace the generic assets in the custom style or for the custom assets to more mimic the generic style would be up the overall art quality. Granted, the latter would represent a monumental effort for a solo project for comparatively little payoff. ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't It's games like this that remind me just how customizable RPG maker is as an engine. There's a frankly dizzying array of status effects that all interact with the characters' abilities in remarkably clever ways. It's clear that a lot of care has gone into the combat system and the synergies a character has with her own skills but also with the larger party. Outside of the combat system, the game has a few features that differentiate it from the crowd. There's a good amount of scenery customization. There plenty of statecraft options that feed into the choice system. It's neat how the party member influence system works with the larger story as well as combat at large. Unfortunately, generic equipment is pretty pointless and we'd be better off without them at all. Generic items, such as potions, are more important due to how certain party members interact with them. Additionally, they can be useful in a pinch if, for example, the healer goes down, is low on MP, or you need her to do something else with her action. Additionally, walking speed could be faster. Particularly in the vault where you have to often loop to talk to the steward ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf Most of the audio are generic RPG Maker sound effects. And, in their defense, they work perfectly well. But where this game gets a high rank is that some of the songs in here are downright earworms and I'll catch myself humming as I go about that day. The main theme and Ariadne's theme (particularly the piano version) are particularly notable. ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma There's really nothing much objectionable here that would warrant a higher rating. Romance, and the elements thereof, play a pretty significant role in the story but the game avoids being very explicit. The game will fade to black rather than show or describe anything explicit. Overall, it's less explicit than many mainline books, but it also doesn't shy away from rather harsh topics that fit in with its subject matter. ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer I've played most of this game on a non-gaming, albeit rather good, laptop without a dedicated graphics card. However, I do experience some lag in more dense areas. This game is pretty heavy for an RPG maker game but that's a little like being the world's largest mouse. It's heavy for what it is, but practically any gaming computer built this decade or a decently strong daily driver will handle it fine. ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☑ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data Around 2GB. Yet again, big for RPG maker but workable on every thing else ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls The game isn't particularly hard, but at the same time there's a lot of system mastery there if you go looking for it. The generous recovery systems, in and out of battle, help a lot as you almost always fight fresh ---{ Grind }--- ☑ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding It's recommended you fight everything you can but no enemies respawn so you can't really "grind" so to speak. I suppose if you went out of your way to avoid every find you'd end up underleveled, but just playing normally will keep you well on curve. ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life The game is rather linear but with a fair number of branching and impactful decision points The story has clear themes, is well told, and has a good vision. This isn't really a game about politics as much as it is about rulership. It isn't a game about ideology, class conflict, the pitfalls of monarchy or even the logistics of kingdom management but does have elements of these. It is, mostly, a game about power, how people behave when they have it, as well as how they really ought to behave. The main character, Alexander, is an idealized princely figure. He's honorable but practical, merciful but just, clever butbut hones, and dignified but approachable. He's a good balance of the qualities you'd want in an ideal prince. What he isn't however, is flawed. I'm of the opinion that "flawed" characters are kind overrated, especially in videogames. Alexander is an active protagonist. He's a driving agent for a lot of the plot as he tries to take back his kingdom. This naturally leads him into conflict against those with conflicting interests, especially the myriad factions that populate the world. This keeps the plot churching and keeps it from getting stale. It's clear that a lot of care has been put into the world building. The lore is surprisingly deep as well as sensibly thought out. If you like fantasy religions, history and politics there's a lot to enjoy here. There are lots of factions each with their old grudges. And dealing with these factions actually builds the overall plot quite a bit. The setting is a pretty well designed powder keg just waiting for all these ancient grudges to spiral out of control. The party members themselves are all decently well written. They all have consistent characterizations and are likely to have a well informed (and well based) opinion on every decision. I like some of them more than others, but that's to be expected. As far as criticism go, certain things feel a little anime, but admittedly my tolerance for that sort of thing is pretty high. Overall, if you're the sort of person who likes the well thought out epic fantasy works full of scheming nobles and political debates then I think you'll enjoy the story quite a bit. ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond This is a very long game especially for a solo project and doubly so considering... ---{ Price }--- ☑ It's free! ☐ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money You're getting a lot here for literally nothing. This game would be worth the price even at a much higher price point. ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs As mentioned, I've experienced some lag issues and a few times where the AI pathfinding was broken but nothing to write home about. A pretty stable experience ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

Noblesse Oblige is one of the best solo-dev RPGMaker games I have played - and I seek that genre out specifically, so for me this is real praise. What this politics-and-war fantasy drama does best is world-building & "realism" - everything in the plot that happens is detailed with notable backstory to contextualize it, character motivations to justify it, and explicit discussions of logic & consequences to explore what is possible. This feels like how real people make decisions and how real history progresses. And stacked on top of that plot is actual character work with strong arcs - these are not uber-rational politics-bots, they have their own lives amid this civil war tale. All of this combines to give the story a lot of heft; the defeats and victories of the characters are brutally earned. Gameplay-wise, this does lend itself to the experience being visual-novel esque - I like that, but that is up to your own taste. But the heavy plot is spiced up with lots of decisions of the "kingdom building" variant, which shapes how the story progresses and what challenges one overcomes vs fails. But it is not punishing, where you are "forced" to play with a guide; every choice has positives and negatives, and they mainly result in different routes as opposed to good or bad results, which gives it strong roleplaying elements. And pinning all of this together is a very solid turn-based combat system unique to the game - every character has unique mechanics that synergize with the team, you will use all of the units at different times, and enemy units have a variety of tactics. It is "what you expect" in an RPGMaker game combat-wise, but 20% cooler than normal. The game isn't perfect, of course. It is a solo-dev RPG maker game, the NPC sprite art is inconsistent and all of that - you are either fine with that or you aren't. While the plotting is great, the prose itself is just "fine", and some of the main villains can be somewhat two-dimensional. And there is a bit too much combat for my taste, that may bother some (though there is an easy mode for those so inclined). For me, none of these are close to dealbreakers - once you settle into the game it is a very engaging story that is doing things in ways few other games in this genre are. Also it's free! Just play it!

My time spent playing this game should attest to my recommendation of it. It has an enthralling story with a strong hook, and it only goes up from there. Play until chapter 6 and see if it's for you. That was the game's first showstopper for me. And it isn't just the quality that goes up, but the complexity as well. I've said it on the dev's Patreon before, but the story's conflicts grow increasingly complex and they're shockingly legible. You'll be dealing with factions upon factions upon schemes upon schemes upon factions - and trust me when I say that if you stick with this game, you'll understand all of them. You'll not only be invested in the greater story, you'll be able to follow even the smaller details. I can't overstate how impressive that is. I had very little interest in medieval history before playing this game, but I've engaged in discussions with other players like we're discussing the rich history of an actual nation. And the real kicker? The game is just starting! It's already been such a rollercoaster, but again, trust me when I say it's just the beginning. As of writing this review, there are currently 13 chapters, and the stage has been set for the next chapters to blow the doors wide open. I've followed the game all this time when it's still building up its main conflicts. Now we may actually start getting glimpses of it. I haven't even gotten into the combat. This is some of the most fun fights I've seen in an RPG. They're fine-tuned challenges that are somehow both complex and intuitive. It's almost never easy, but it's also never unfair. Never, even in its hardest fights. You can't underestimate the mooks either. I've half-jokingly thrown around the headcanon that everyone in this world is a superhuman that would tear normal people apart if they lived on Earth, even the most average of soldiers. I've replayed the hardest boss fights of the game hundreds of times and I still keep coming back. Play this game. Stick with it and it'll reward you tenfold. This level of passion and dedication deserves so much more attention.

I usually don’t write reviews, but this game caught me off guard in a good way and it really clicked with me. The story is genuinely well crafted and pulled me in more than I expected. The combat isn’t just flashy, It rewards using each character’s skills thoughtfully, which makes every battle feel engaging. The art and worldbuilding also give the game a lot of personality. There are moments of somewhat tedious reading for me, But i found the extra details really enrich the main story and make it worth it There’s more I could say, but it’s best experienced firsthand.

Watched a streamer I really like play thiss, and this is one of those games that I just have so many thoughts on that I had to give it a revieww. For its store page is blatantly dishonest and actually romanticizes the sensitive topics shown throughout the storyy, not only leaving a sour taste in my mouthh, but also feeling like a big piece of missed potentiall Firstt, the little thingss: What really bothers me about this game is that it doesn't know what it wants to beee. Does it want to be a VN? Does it want to be an RPG? Clearly not the latter part due to the obvious lack of breathing room throughout the storyy. More often than not you'll be thrust in a very long segment of dialoguee, and then a large number of battles back-to-back-to-back with each otherr, only to be followed by more dialoguee. I had thought many times that this would work much better as a VN, or possibly a light novell, but the medium of using RPGMaker for this just isn't a good fit for this gamee. I'm saying this as someone who used to make VNs within RPGMaker during my first few years of learning the programm: You can make a VN in RPGMakerr, it can easily be donee, but VNs don't typically have slogs of combat like this and are clearly better pacedd. Moresooo, the cutscenes where it looks like you're reading a book is a breath of fresh airr, but they leave you wanting moree. It would've been much better if there were CGs like a true VN instead of a blank paper background with white textt The Game Over screen is also extremely clutteredd, very bad for those who have issues with accessibiltyy (many contrasting elementss, it looks like it was lazily put togetherr, waaay too brightt). There's an option in settings for improvements to dialogue for those who have dyslexiaa, why wasn't this said at the beginning of the game with the keybinding pop-upp? Likee... What do you want to dooo? Do you want to be good for those with accessibility issues or nott? Noww, for the thing that mainly bothered mee: Throughout the gamee, there is a "will-they won't they" plot with the main protagonist and the female lead/love interestt. It's made blatantly obvious that the protagg, the malee, likes the girll. Throughout the whole timee, the male lead is seen as the "happy-go-lucky hero who always saves the day" yada yada whateverr. Howeverr, there's a scene around the 8-hour mark where the girl is drugged and tied downn, and the male lead is forced to rape the girl in order to break a spell cast onto herr, and the game excuses her actions by basically saying that she wanted itt. Despite the Store page saying that there's "Attempted SA", there's actually is a moment of blatant SA in this gamee, a veryy, very poorly done one at thatt. The least the devs could do is be honest to those who view their game's Steam pagee If you have a game that focuses on "purity" and "innocence" then there's so many ways that stuff like this could be handledd, especially in the symbolic aspect of itt, it doesn't need to be directly told to uss, especially not in this formatt. The only time that I think showing it full on would be needed would be to show the horrors of such thingss (my biggest example would be the film "The War Zone", very powerful filmm, it handles these topics with actual respectt) Howeverr, this portion alonee, due to the way that this scene is described (ie: "Even from where he stood, even for the heavy incense that clouded the room, drowning out the scent of battle, he could smell... Desire") makes it clear that this topic isn't handled in such wayss. Especially after the fact that it's only used to introduce a character that could've easily been introduced in a different wayy, it feels like it was only done not to make you actually feel for these characterss, but to just move on to the next segmentt. It feels very much in poor tastee, especially knowing how long this game is as this is very early onn. If the game handles sensitive topics like this at such an early pointt, at around 8 hours inn, then I fear for the rest of the gamee Not only thatt, but it feels kinda strange when the game excuses this action by claiming that "she wants it" (see highlighted segment) making it so thatt, no matter how horrible this stuff iss, it apparently doesn't matter because "she wanted it", which is a very harmful excuse that's used to try and justify the actions used by the one who commits these actss It's not a bad thing if you have characterss, even the protagg, commit acts such as this in your story as long as its treated with respect and caree. Not only that but with the protag (or any other characterr, though this is especially the case when dealing with the protagg) you could also use that to point out the flaws of the protagonistt, leaving for something complex in the character development aspect of the storyy. Howeverr, Oblige doesn't do thiss. Instead you're given a story where it's heavily shown that the prince likes the girll, and later SA's her to try and save her from a cursee (when that shouldn't even be used to save anyone in the first placee. It's not a good thingg, it never iss, so why treat it as suchh??), but the game excuses + romanticizes his actions of SA and paints it as "it doesn't matter in the end of things" and only uses it to introduce a characterr. It offers nothing complex in the character writing department alll. It's holloww, it's lazyy. It's bad/lazy writing and a cop-out to actually fleshing out the dynamic between the male lead and love interestt. Do betterr

Edit: While a lot of what I have said below was true at the time, I have found that my enjoyment of the game has diminished a lot. I think the further you get, the slower the pace gets. The combat gets less and less interesting and, to be frank, the story starts to feel ridiculous. Spoiler Alert: I'm not kidding when I say, I actually cringed when a King came from a flying ship to threaten me at my court because of me taking Ligae with me, a commoner who is at best, the daughter of a somewhat important person on that King's court (saying important is rather generous, too). The King walks in, outright ignores all arguments and Ligae's response, and not only threatens you with joining your enemy's side (over the daughter of a commoner, mind you!) should you not do as he says, but the story actually does as he wants and when he asks for you to prove it and entertain his dumb demands, it forces you to do it! One of the lowest points in the story, to be honest. I actually was cringing just picturing the scenario and how out of character so many of the characters had to be forced to act for the scenario to even take place. Honestly, I am going to put a pause on playing the game just because of it. Having said that, here is what the old review said: Well, after 43 hours played (in under a week lol) I can confidently say, I love this game. It actually hurt my soul when I realized I didn't have any more content to go through (so far). I'm not the biggest fan of RPGMaker games but I am a big fan of games with decisions that fundamentally change the story in them, so I gave it a chance and I don't regret it at all. I might buy that DLC later to support the devs a bit, I know the game is in early access but I feel a little bad that I enjoyed this game as much as I did and didn't have to pay anything for it, especially when considering that, given the descriptions, there's only one dev working in the project. Honestly, just give the game a shot. I'm sure you'll love it. That's not to say the game is not without it's flaws, like I said, I'm not the biggest fan of RPGMaker or whatever it's called. Maybe you like it, so that's not an issue for you, but I would be lying if I said at times it didn't bother me. Sometimes combat is far too long and tedious to go through, it's not that it's difficult, it's just LONG and it gets old really fast. The game starts slow, everything before you take Castle Kharos is considerably weaker and less entertaining than what comes after taking Castle Kharos, so do keep that in mind. The first few hours I didn't think the game was anything too special but the deeper I got into the game, the more I loved it. I also had some issues with some moments where I personally felt we should have gotten a decision and we didn't get that. For example, (minor spoiler alert, I suppose) recently, we just sent one of our most recent allies (white haired woman who helped us earlier in the story, I forgot her name) to investigate about Medea and Ariston, we even are presented three options in dialogue as to different things we could send that woman investigate, but no, she's automatically sent to investigate Medea and Ariston, when I think both of the other options seemed far more valuable. As to why that happens, well, it's obviously because the dev wants to take the story there, but it doesn't stop it from being annoying, there are many instances where similar things happen with big story moments, you really don't get a say at all in them, and it really feels like you should get that say. You do get to influence a lot of things, so I won't say like it feels like your choices don't matter, but I do think there should definitely be more of those 'big choices' that the story takes by itself given to the player. I understand it would be impossible to write something that branches into a trillion different paths, but in that Medea and Ariston thing, well, it really feels like we should get at least some type of choice, even if the conclusion at the end is ultimately the same. As for the characters, they are great and what elevates this game, the world building is good if you take some time to go through the different books and just enjoy the story as it reveals more and more of the world to you, but the characters are definitely the best part about this game. Ariadne, Sindarion are the two most interesting ones, imo. I think Somnus could get there as well since he has quite an interesting story depending on where the dev wants to ultimately take it, but as of now I don't know enough of him to put him at the same level of Ariadne and Sindarion. Alexander, the protagonist, is... A mixed bag, but this review is long enough as is so I won't get into the many issues I have with him. There's a lot to enjoy with his character, but he has such a strong personality, it sometimes is a bit annoying, especially when I'm trying to think about 'what I think is best' to choose when I'm playing a character like him. The dialogue is quite enjoyable and definitely fits the medieval fantasy setting. No complaints there for the most part, sometimes it does feel really repetitive in terms of content, especially as far as Ligae is concerned (seriously, I must have gone through virtually the same conversation about ten times with her feeling like she doesn't deserve the trust I give her, or that I overvalue her). The first time, it was great. The second one, not so much, by the tenth time I see a conversation heading that way, I just smash the enter button so I can be done with the interaction, and that's not a good thing. Thinking about it, we really should get a say when it comes to the romance stuff. I understand Ariadne ultimately has to be the Queen and Ligae has to be around or else the whole story needs to change, but I really would have preferred to be able to say 'no, I don't want to have a threesome (lol)' or 'no, I'd rather we just be friends (to Ligae)'. Maybe it's too late to change that, but it did sour my experience quite a bit, usually the least I expect in an RPG that has romance is to be able to say 'no' stuff like that. Even though I wager many might say yes, given the option, something about *not* getting a say is annoying and makes it hard to get immersed. Huh... I realize towards the end I complained about many things, but I really loved this game regardless. I can't wait for the next update. Update: The more I play this game, the more I realize combat IS getting quite annoying. It overstays it's welcome in terms of length and it is not particularly engaging. It's really souring my enjoyment of the overall game.

Absolutely fantastic game. If you liked the part of neverwinter nights 2 or Dragon Age Origins simulation part of what it actually takes to fight a war, where you manage to keep, prepare the army and get custom gear from a master Smith. Then using your limited resources to solve problems, end threats, prepare contingencies and wrangle your allies and subjects to help you this is a game for you. It has all the intricacies and detail that make works like war and peace and Game of thrones great. These qualities are sadly removed from TV shows and video games to "appeal to a wider audience" but honestly I feel like the writers of such shows and games are simply not well versed in subject matter and do not have the authors passion for history, politics, economics and military knowledge. But this game is truly rich in it, the worst part of the game is when you make it to the end of the update and have to wait for the next one.

Progress at time of review: Chapter 15 ---{ Art }--- ☐ Van Gogh tier ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ My eyes! RPG Maker game... but as far as they go, this one looks pretty good on the overworld. But you probably don't pick an RPG maker for graphics (unless por—). And the custom art is rather good (mixed with borrowed art). I really hate the art, it looks nice (the custom ones: Alaxander, Ligaea, Despoina, ...) ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Addicting ☑ Good ☐ It's there... as expected... ☐ Bad even for it's genre ☐ Mental torture Games like this really show how customizable RPG maker is as an engine. There's a frankly dizzying array of status effects that all interact with the characters' abilities in remarkably clever ways. It's clear that a lot of care has gone into the combat system and the synergies a character has with her own skills but also with the larger party. The only way I can think of improving it would be to have even more mechanics but since this is free game made by a small group/person. This is already enough. Outside of the combat system, the game has a few features that differentiate it from the crowd. There's a good amount of scenery customization. There plenty of statecraft options that feed into the choice system, even small investment can have quite an impact. Generic items, such as potions, are more important due to how certain party members interact with them. Additionally, they can be useful in a pinch if, for example, the healer goes down, is low on MP, or you need her to do something else with her action (I rarely use this unless the fight is extra hard, and only use revive/smelling salts). ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's there... ☐ Ears gone Some of the musics REALLY set the mood. ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma There's really nothing much objectionable here that would warrant a higher rating. Romance, and the elements thereof, play a pretty significant role in the story but the game avoids being very explicit. The game will fade to black rather than show or describe anything explicit (You can download the text por—). ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Good ☐ NASA tier It's an RPG maker game... might be a little heavy for most RPG maker but still light compared to most games. ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☑ Quite light ☐ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Your mom Around 2GB. Not that bad ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just spam ☐ Easy ☑ Use your brain ☐ Difficult The game isn't hard most of the time, there is plenty recovery, it will warn you if it get hard though. ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☑ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Expected ☐ Too much grind It's recommended you fight everything you can since they don't respawn for you to "grind". It is quite grindy if you are lazy and don't want to spend time explore and talk to every NPC though, you will miss out a lot of content that way as well as EXP if you avoid enemies and optional quests. ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Bad ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Shakesphere The game is quite linear but with a fair number of branching and impactful decision points The story has clear themes, is well told, and has a good vision. This isn't really a game about politics as much as it is about rulership (this I like). It is a game about "Noblesse Oblige". The main character, Alexander, is an idealized princely figure. He's honorable but practical, merciful but just and knows when to be strict, clever but understandable, strong but gentle, and dignified but approachable. He's a good balance of the qualities you'd want in an ideal prince. He is not really flawed, because there is not really a reason for him to be. He does love more than one women so you can say that is a flaw, I guess... It's clear that a lot of care has been put into the world building. The lore is quite deep and sensibly thought out. If you like fantasy religions, history and politics (I really like the Order of Alivaea since it is basically free medication). The party members themselves are all decently well written. They all have consistent characterizations and their opinions are helpful (to me). ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Don't blink ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond This is a very long game, as long as your coc— ---{ Price }--- ☑ It's free! ☐ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If you are rich and want to I am willing to pay at least 10 US hamburgers ---{ Bugs }--- ☑ Never seen ☐ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ Beta test? What's that? I am either very predictable or just lucky but no bugs (so far)

This is a pleasantly anachronistic mix of feudal drama with a strong "Imperial British" atmosphere to it via the language used by most characters (which can easily be my uneducated misinterpretation), which is reflected in the first half of its title. 16 hours in and I'm barely a few chapters in, so I can't be too certain about saying so but the fantasy part of the game/setting can be best described with the word "measured". Of course, no feudal drama is complete without romance, which is utterly railroad-y but it plays out well enough that it feels justified and reasonable (whether it is enjoyable is 100% a matter of taste). 16 hours isn't much in this game but even this little into the game you can get the impression that the protagonist is hovering uncomfortably in this limbo between being a heroic drama protagonist and a harem anime protagonist, given the, uhm... *traffic* around him. He could be both, given the quality of the writing but neither the setting nor most of the women involved seem compatible with this, which I'm not chalking up as a criticism, but rather as a tax on my poor boy's nervous system going forward.