First of all, I'd like to thank Ryu for keeping his promise and delivering a more fleshed out game for the supporters. Because I am invested in the game and would love to see a great end-product for the full game, I wanted to give feedback based on my experience with the EAv1.7:
STORY: The story has developed as per expectations. The new characters are hot, diverse, and are a welcome addition to the cast. The new clues do not give away the killer, which is important at this stage of the game, but still enriches the story. Having important clues locked to different capture routes allows for better replay-ability as the player has to put in work to piece together the whole puzzle. There are also no obvious plot holes. However, the story does seem quite linear at this stage of development. While the demo offers a side adventure with the player going on a (rather hot) detour to the park, the new material from the early access does not provide any side stories relating to clues. Having multiple branching stories enriches the main plot as it provides different perspectives while also giving the player agency, which I wish the game can have more of going forward.
ADULT CONTENT: The CGs/sex scenes has obviously been sacrificed in exchange for the development of the story. Which is a bummer, because the quality art and character designs are honestly why I decided to support the game in the first place. I have a lot of praise for Ekram's sex scene in the demo—it is kinky and well animated, look at his heaving chest and the way his body strains against the ropes—contrary to the new sex scene from the EA (I mean, what is more vanilla than a handjob?) The scene is barely animated, with the Look Back Mode not having any animations whatsoever.
I imagine there may not have been enough time to finish these scenes in a satisfactory way and I know that Ryu is working on them right now. I get that there is a deadline on the EA release, and that Ryu might have wanted to prioritize the development of the story, but in my honest opinion, that does not need to be the case. If I wanted to experience a mystery masterpiece, I would read Doyle or Christie. Mystery/thriller VNs are also dime a dozen. But what really set DD apart for me were the quality sex scenes featuring well-built men; a kink sex game that finally catered to gay men. It would be disappointing if this aspect of the game took a backseat for any reason, even if for the plot. The infrequency of sex scenes is also a cause for concern. We are now at Chapter 4 out of 7, and there has only been the addition of one new scene. At this rate, the full game would have a very unsatisfactory amount of adult content. More NSFW Easter eggs (like spying on Frank changing) can help supplement this. But it would be amazing if the released chapters could be combed over for places to insert sex scenes. An obvious one would be Don performing torture on Karl/Frank in the storage (where the demo ends). Don sending the player away after all the egging on and stripping the hunk almost gave me blue balls! These sex scenes (and this one in particular) would be excellent in the 'Look Back Mode'—imagine using interactive sex toys to play with these men; it would definitely give me a reason to revisit this game after completing the story.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This game is a large scale one-man project. Anyone who has attempted to do one would know how difficult it is. Timelines and promised deliverables sometimes aren't met because it is hard to do everything by yourself. Ryu has a lot of weight on his shoulders because of our expectations. I, like many others, saw his potential and the potential of the game (in showing that NSFW games made for gay men can be successful) through the demo, and that is why I decided to support him. And Ryu has been very forthcoming with updates and has kept up a positive and optimistic attitude. So while it would be a lie that I'm not a little disappointed by the EA, I see that Ryu is trying his best. So I will remain hopeful and optimistic about the full game as well. You got this, Ryu! 加油!
Nice feedback. I totally agree with all of it.
The demo had really promising interactive XXX scenes, and the art was fantastic. Would love to see that be more of a focus, but not sure it's headed that way since the choice has been made to create a no-nudity version of the game. In the EA game, the hand job scenes were basically the same and triggered at the same point in the game. It would be really nice if the later sex scenes could have more variety and interaction.
Thank you for the detail feed back. I'll try my best do give you guys a good (Fetish) Game. :D Love ya! Ryu