With this visual novel nearly ready for release (well, in a few months anyway), I thought it might be time for a review of how things went, and so on.
Synopsis
With the young megalomaniacal kleptomaniac Grendel Jinx causing trouble in Chichester, England, the protagonist decides to take her back to America. Unfortunately, he/she didn't take into account the local tourist guide teaming up with the hotel waitress to foil the protagonist's plans.
Available on Steam.
How it came out
Whilst I was developing my previos visual novel (WTC : Relentless Protagonist [SxS] - which I'll be updating towards the end of the year), it was suggested by a member of the Otome Lovers Discord server that I should write an otome visual novel. So, LLL came about.
I needed a break from developing RP anyway (there is a lot of violence in the game), and so decided work on LLL. The first parts written were the classroom fight and the playground island. Everything else expanded from that
Who to choose?
It was pretty easy who to choose for the protagonist in this game: Grendel. In all the previous episodes, Grendel has never had a partner (nor even mentioned one), so LLL would be used to explain why.
The protagonist wouldn't be suitable anyway, as he/she stated before that the work is far too dangerous to contemplate a relationship.
The boyfriends
I was considering giving Grendel a girlfriend (which is why Cindi mentions it), but decided to keep things as a standard romance. I did, however, dwell more on Grendel's mother possible sexuality, especially towards one of her subordinates.
It should be noted that a lot of her flirting with the protagonist was toned down in Relentless, due to a request.
So, who on earth would want to hang out with Grendel? Surprisingly, a few boys!
Edwaldo (taken from 'Where's Waldo') becomes infatuated with Grendel due to her involvement with protecting him from the class bully, whilst Braeden and Grendel have a common love for "Dr. Not-Nice".
Love - or lack of it
It should be noted that for most of the game, Grendel views both boys as nothing more than a business scheme - very much a case of "what's mine is mine, and what's yours is also mine". She has no real love for either of them, and just views them as tools for her own money-making ideas: she uses Edwaldo as cover to steal from the "Munchy Munch Tea Rooms" and Braeden for free viewing of the "Dr. Not-Nice" film.
It's not until much later on (and ironically, thanks to "Dr. Not-Nice"), that she develops romantic feelings. Unfortunately, by then, it's far too late for her.
The Result
During the end, Grendel does confess that she does miss both boys, but as usual, those thoughts are quickly replaced by more immediate ones.
It should be noted that both boys make a "cameo" appearance in NightFall (when I finally get around to updating the game), when Grendel watches the final part of the Dr. Not-Nice film trilogy.
The Story
Love's Labour's Lost story essentially revolves around mistakes: by Grendel, her mother, the protagonist, Cindi, hotel waitress and many more, all to differing levels of seriousness. The idea is to show that Grendel and everyone is completely faliable. "The Council Of The Unseen" may have ambitions for world domination, but you're not going to get far if mistakes are made. Both Grendel and the protagonist learn that the hard way.
Characters
Most of the characters are returning from previous episodes - Thaddeus; the four schoolgirls (one of which may be a murderer); Three Wise Men (although they are really part of NightFall) and many others.
The Council Engineer is introduced here, and as fairly large part in NightFall, where her relationship with Mrs. Jinx is fully fleshed out. Pauline makes her first (in the timeline anyway) here and has a major part in NightFall
Inspiration
I did get a few ideas for three parts of the story, from elsewhere:
- Braeden's transformation was directly take from the 10th Doctor's regeneration sequence
- Talentless Nana was another - some of the comments regarding Edwaldo have been taken from my comments about Nana. Mrs. Draybek murder was directly taken from the manga/anime
- The classroom fights were taken from Classroom of the Elite. I was contemplating making Thaddeus look a bit more like Koji, but decided against I would have needed to get the character redesigned
- The monster fight was lifted slightly from Attack on Titan
- The incoming missile section was taken from the "1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident"
Overall
I'm very pleased with how everything has worked out. And whilst there is still work to be done (as of the time of writing), I'm hoping it will provide some entertainment, and with any luck more reviews too.