#hashihime was such a disappointment and i think uuu was less so

[dondake]

i wrote a whole rant for hashihime so i deserve to do another one for uuultra c since i keep subjecting myself to the messy writing of adelta

honestly after ch 1 i had a nagging feeling i was just not going to enjoy the game just like hashihime but i powered through. my biggest concern ended up being true: that the plot holes that were written in - obviously with the intention of being patched in later chapters - would not all be filled in. it's fine to leave some things to the reader's imagination but it shouldn't be a barrier to immersion which it was, unfort for this game.

if the writer wanted a weaving storyline, they should not have written it into 3 separate sections. the sections imply that they are standalones and can be read to understanding as such. they are not. the first chapter suffers the most from this, since it basically forces you to finish the other 2 to collect more detail. and honestly, it did not even need to. the concept of the first chapter is "i am a kaiju and my boyfriend is a hero dedicated to destroying kaijus". that is a whole idea. yes, it could be supplemented by other details that are fleshed out in other chapters, but the central concept is compelling enough. but because the writing was determined to make you go through the rest of the game, you're just reading it and being like huh? that makes no sense...so you end up not being able to fully enjoy and complete the first story because you end up thinking about things that don't add up. i actually liked the akira/shoutaro ship, which made me disappointed because then i had to go through with other ships to get more context for some of the storyline

the backstory for some of the kaiji encountered in ch 1 being part of the story of ch 2 and 3 was interesting and honestly that would have been enough to connect to ch 1. instead, i finished ch 1 wondering if the writing was bad on purpose or if it would all be resolved by ch 3 (spoiler, it wasn't)

ch 2 was ok. it filled in more detail and went faster than ch 1 since we already had some of the details and context explained. i don't think i have much to say about it. i'm meh on the ship dynamic, i think they tried to make it way more edgy than it needed to be without actually saying anything...probably the ship i'm most ambivalent about

i had a lot of hopes put on ch 3. i was partially interested in the ship dynamic but also the previous chapters kind of set it up as a "ok NOW you'll get a full explanation" so i was waiting for it. and yeah, it explained a bit more. it kind of satisfactorily legitimized the need for a parallel/alt universe, although maybe the translation was a bit wonky because i needed to reread that part to understand the intent. but then yomi coming back (did he? the pre-credit scene implied some kind of closure with jyuro but in both previous chapters it's implied he was shot back into space - either to die or return to his home planet. it was unclear which) came out of left field. how did that happen? nah, that isn't important! also, you'll be left wondering because there's no post credit stinger scene like in the others! why? because it's a meta commentary on two plot drivers deciding they don't want to be main characters anymore so it doesn't matter!!!!

ultimately i have a few requests for adelta. i think they have a lot of promise. both uuu and hashi have really good core concepts. time travel bookstore? heros and monsters? good ideas. the buildup is usually good too. but both suffer tremendously in the end game by bad writing, which is a result of:

the decision to use really complicated plot devices (time travel, alternative universes). it's fine if you can pull it off, and maybe most players won't think too hard about it. it's a fucking game after all. but for players like me, it's hard to ignore hand waving especially because the first half was so well done. it takes me out of the immersion and makes me realize i'm fucking reading a visual novel. so then why would i feel invested in the characters and story anymore? those plot devices are usually pulled in for someone who usually can't think of a satisfying way to end a story, which brings me to my next point --

inability to commit to a central idea. it's fine to have an open ended ending and have some things left purposefully vague. but the endings for hashi and uuu just feel like the writer was like "ok here's this concept...oh and THIS plot twist...ok...wait...now how do i bring it down to a conclusion" and then they pull a plot device to try and explain things. ok...but when you clearly don't put as much investment in the end because you're leaning on the plot device as a crutch, then it just leads to an unsatisfying ending. the laziness here also seems to translate in a few sloppy cgs which felt so out of place compared to other beautiful cgs which makes me wonder if there was a scramble to get this out. and i understand the tendency to choose a vague or unclear conclusion - but it's not like the writer is unable to write well. fuck, look at the first halves of the stories? look at the post-game mini stories, the yomi/jyuro one basically making me tear up? i'm really hoping her next work is more focused. like the childhood friend route in hashihime was honestly the strongest route and then the rest of it kind of fell to pieces. so i KNOW she can write a good story

overall, adelta has some solid foundations. the art is pretty decent. the setup and concepts are good. it doesn't take itself too too seriously with some humor and references to other media and breaking the fourth wall. but these games so far have felt like you've seduced me and brought me home only for me to realize you want me to clean your house (an apt metaphor since i ended these two games trying to piece together threads that never got addressed). i really want to keep playing their content but if the next game (i believe it's got a TON more characters which makes me really anxious) also flops i might have no choice but to just drop this circle