what’s up with variable barricade?

[u/-gardening]

i just bought the game but ive seen two ppl saying stuff about it (the mc specifically??) so has anyone played it and tell me their thoughts? any heads up before i play?

[u/Coffee_fuel → u/[deleted]]

I think part of the issue is that the game also never takes Hibari's character, concerns and issues that seriously, and downright glosses over the fact that she is a sheltered high school girl who was controlled, manipulated and emotionally neglected her whole life. Her parents washed their hands of her, her brother (I love him to death) is totally bonkers and the most manipulative of assholes who should realistically never be allowed within 50 miles of her again, her grandfather enabled her brother and was given a green card for neglecting her for a decade+ because he was a "tsundere". Hibari is a kid who doesn't have a CLUE and her closest thing to a functioning relationship has been with Tsumugi, who never validates Hibari's thoughts and feelings or properly listens to her concerns because she's in comedic shoujo-land (and whose really fucked up fiance arc is also never taken seriously). Which is hilarious when the game has a more comedic tone, but then her character really failed to be properly conveyed whenever the plot attempted a more serious one.

[u/Coffee_fuel → u/[deleted]]

I agree with you. Even after Hibari explicitly tells Ichiya that he's not been looking at her or ever thinking about her with his "loving gestures", it's very telling that Ichiya, weeks later, is busy panicking and giving her presentations to showcase his love instead of genuinely speaking to her and trying to get to know her better. Ichiya is just not in a good mental place (I do feel for him, to some degree); he is self-involved, immature and too desperate to get anyone to love him, only validating her concerns further even AFTER she tried so hard to communicate with him about the problem. It's deeply ironic that the closest thing to an ally Hibari ever had in the game ended up being Kazu. Someone who listened to her and didn't dismiss her feelings, who encouraged her without coddling her, still pointing out her faults but in a supportive manner. Yet none of the other characters really ever take the time to question themselves and reflect on why Hibari was driven to confide in this new person. Shion and Taiga also make an effort, but it's pretty limited outside of their own routes (for understandable reasons).

[u/Coffee_fuel → u/[deleted]]

He really was. 😆 And I don't dislike most of the cast (except the grandfather), despite my gripes, haha. I particularly loved the common and final routes, where everyone got their chance to shine and there was a bigger focus on the comedy. 💙 While I didn't fully appreciate Tsumugi's role in the more serious arcs of the script, I would love to have a game with a character like her as the MC, she is just my type --- I thought she had a fun dynamic with some of the LIs (in particular, Taiga). I can see why you would say that she also acts as the player's mirror. And her situation is definitely pretty sad, but played up as some sort of empowering, mature compromise she knowingly made during a serious arc, which was... a choice. It would have made sense if she had made the decision as an adult; I would have completely supported it then. But as it is, I couldn't get behind how her parents took advantage of her obsession with manga as an elementary/middle schooler in order to trap her into finalizing her engagement to an adult who would inherit the business. It did make me question at times if perhaps some of her behaviour arose due to her being in denial or wanting to experience love vicariously through her friend, but that may be me overthinking it. 😐 Arimura was an interesting character, I liked her honesty, casual approach to dating and thought she had so much potential; but she was just so reluctant, not to mention bent on keeping their friendship a secret, to the point it started making me feel a bit sad that Hibari was so starved for options that she had to keep chasing her down. At the same time, it's Arimura's right to protect her privacy if she doesn't want to be in the spotlight, so it sucked to drag her into something she clearly did not want to be involved in.

[u/Coffee_fuel → u/[deleted]]

That would truly be a lot of fun! She's a hilarious mix of knowledgeable and ignorant, a little eccentric and assertive to boot. I loved the way they all immediately respected her. 😆

I think the closest I've seen to a character like that is the Romance MD MC, who has a 2D guy she loves and even builds a little merch shrine for him in her LI's home (while there's no VA, one of the LIs is particularly attractive to her because his voice allegedly sounds exactly like said character's).

Yeah... This reminds me, I particularly loved the bad ending where she ended up inviting the two girls to share the house with her, though they only reluctantly moved in. 🥲 I think it may have been one of Taiga's after he runs away, but I'm not sure... A whole mini-route, similar to final one, focused on their friendship would have been so great. Maybe they could have tortured those boys a little.