[h1] Horrible pacing [/h1]
For those who like it short and sweet: If you haven’t played the first two games, I advise you to stay away from this series. Far away. Unless you’re into [b][i]endless [/i][/b] emotional edging and love roleplaying an UwU tween angst machine, anyway.
The most glaring problem is the pacing. Put bluntly, it sucks. This game is pitched as a romance, but three full installments in and two of the LIs are still stuck in first gear. There are “moments”, but no relationship available and no steps towards one. It’s hot and cold, back and forth, one step forward and two steps back. Any progress is immediately retconned or completely ignored. Why? Because the author promised to have just as many “moments” for the slow burns as the other two LIs, but she never promised they would actually mean anything, because you aren’t allowed to have a relationship until book 5 or 6, no matter how stupid and contrived it becomes!
A good example of this is M. In this particular installment, M’s path is phenomenal. By the end of the game, M is clearly in love with the MC and all but says so, both to the MC (“You think I could do without you now?”) and to a best-friended A, (“Let's just hope she's as relieved to have me too.”). At the end of the game, M looks at the MC and takes a shot of hard liquor to “Never have I ever fallen for a coworker.” M hates food and even the mildest thing aggravates their senses, but they downed liquor described as window cleaner. Looks like love, right? Not so fast, buddy, there are seven books in this series!
The author has said M is still clueless about their feelings. All that in the previous paragraph? That means nothing. M was apparently thirsty, because they have no clue how they feel, no matter what you read. It gets worse.
There’s a scene around 2/3 of the way through this book where M and the MC go to cleanse their crystal. The MC can realize they’re in love with M and choose to tell M. Choose it, and the moment is interrupted. Annoying yes, but…
On the author’s social media, someone asked what M would have done had the MC told M they love them. Run away? Freak out? No. The author said M would’ve realized that’s what they themselves feel and would have been relieved. And [i]that[/i] is why she had to stop it, because this was not “the moment” [i]she[/i] wanted M to realize their feelings. That’s later (the very end of book 4 or end of book 5, according to an old post on her social media). So suck it, M-mancers, you don’t get happiness yet because the author wants to drag it out forever, not because it’s not possible for the character.
This is not an isolated incident. There are interruptions, freakouts, and nonsensical behavior abound, all with one singular purpose: to delay gratification. If you’re into edging, this series is for you, because that’s what you have to look forward to until at least 2035. By the end of this installment, all Lis should have been available for a relationship and it should have become a story about the LI/MC as a couple against their problems. Instead, two Lis [i]are[/i] the problem, and the MC not only has to battle whatever ridiculous antagonist the author has invented, but also the LI. Long story short, the pacing on the romances is [i]intentionally[/i] terrible to fill seven games.
If it makes you feel any better, the pacing for b3’s overall plot also sucks. In the first chapter, we learn the Trappers have put a bounty on the MC’s head. No one cares, really. The LI has a talk with the MC and the MC goes about their business. Lesson #1: Every event exists for one reason, and that’s to create a “moment”, and though the MC temporarily moves in with the team at a later point, it is not for their protection. In fact, no one offers or suggests the MC stays with the team. Why? Well, remember the first lesson. The main plot of the MC being in danger isn’t important yet. There’s something far more crucial to fit into the story: wet pajamas.
Yes, I’m serious. The entire reason the MC moves in with the team is because a bathtub falls through the ceiling of the MC’s bedroom. Apparently, architects and construction workers in Wayhaven are braindead. Nah, who am I kidding? This happened so the MC could be seen in wet pajamas by the LI. Only then can the MC stay with the team, and the MC is forced to ask the LI to stay there. I’m not joking, that’s the entire purpose for this idiocy.
Whenever you run across a scene that leaves you scratching your head at the stupidity of the characters, the complete and utter disconnect from reality, or are left muttering, “That’s not how that works!”, understand there is some scene the author [i]had[/i] to add and was, apparently, incapable of finding a way to do it without resorting to forced nonsense.
The blood drive is another example of this. It is one of the stupidest, most contrived side plots I have ever seen. The only reason it exists is to create funny “moments” in the town with the MC resorting to slapstick plans to get out of giving blood. Instead of, you know, saying no like a normal adult would. At worst, the Agency could’ve had a doctor send a note stating the MC is anemic. End of story.
But if you expect anyone in Wayhaven to behave like anything other than a moron, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Logic and realism aren’t welcome here. Nor is satisfaction, if you’re on M or A’s path. To quote a friend of mine on the discussion board, “I feel like what was happening in this book was that we were a cat, and the book was dangling a toy on a string in front of our face constantly while pulling it away at the last minute.” An apt comparison. You get teased with romances that aren’t allowed to happen for another book or two. You get teased with a cool plot that is never really explored or used to its fullest extent. You get teased with a villain that is ridiculous and not the least bit scary.
You also get teased with choices, but the choices are naught but illusions. Even in the romances, nothing your character does actually matters. There is no way to affect the [i]romance[/i] with the LI, because anything that [i]could[/i] result in a quicker resolution is blocked by the author.
In Wayhaven, you are allowed to choose your path. You can choose your love interest, side “friend” path, and the Douglas/Bobby path. Yet, within those paths, there is little to no choice. You simply hand your ticket over to whichever proverbial train you wish to board and then you’re along for the excruciatingly slow ride, with no air-conditioning, no food or drinks, and nary a window to open.
Worse, you’re stuck in your seat, where you’re forced to roleplay a wide-eyed ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tween with various physical maladies appearing every time their LI walks into the room (stuttering, shaking, heart palpitations, etc.). A high-combat, intimidating MC will jump at their own shadow and go googly-eyed over their RO, who never returns the favor.
If you build your MC as anything other than a tweener UwU female, you’ll get whiplash when the author takes over and turns them into one. You aren’t allowed to decide your MC’s feelings and are [i]told[/i] how they feel at every turn, using an abundance of overly flowery descriptions, with the same words and phrases repeated ad nauseam.
It has become painfully obvious there is not enough to fill seven books, and managing a complex plot seems beyond the author’s ability. The romances are sadly lacking in the two slow burns, who will take most of the series to get into an actual relationship. If there’s [i]ever[/i] a relationship with M, that is.
Unless she gets some betas who will give some honest feedback about the writing, plotting, and lack of real progress in some of the romances, I suspect it will only get worse. After all, this series was spawned from Twilight, so we shouldn’t be surprised when our MC, despite being an adult, acts like a mindless tween with their first crush.
