#and experiencing multiple playthroughts didnt help

[thedeafprophet]

Right, its the 8th now so i'm gonna talk a bit more, with spoiler tag ofc. With my time I put in 14.6 hours into Mask of The Rose and achieved 4 different endings, so I think I can speak on the game. And I have to say, whilst there are things I like, the game is unfortunately ruined for me by the pacing (or lack there of).

I understand the goal of limiting runs and only being able to accomplish so many things at once, but as it stands it leaves it immossible to experience anything properly. You are put through a constant rush, no time to properly explore without the impending doom of someone being hanged looming over you. It is not possible for the player to be able to explore, romance, matchmake, and solve the mystery in this limited time. So everything is left feeling stressful and rushed with no proper way to experience it fully.

This heavily affects the relationship building aspect where you're expected to know what kind of relationship you want with someone after a first conversation, and everyone suddenly thinks you're the cats meow after a few interactions. You have no time to get to know anyone, no time for build up, and its just left... hollow. The addition of the major timeskips doesn't help this.

The mechanics of story building, outfits, and nonlinear play are very interesting! But this falls short in the reality that it is impossible to become immersed in this story when you have no time to slow down and experience it. The game feels like it is still a demo. Its too many things at once without fully giving time for establishing any one of them. If this was setup with the aim of the player finding the 'ideal route' of actions to solve the mystery then that is just generally not ideal for a visual novel.

Ive gathered some reactions of others who played, many feeling the same with regards to the pacing. Its not just my experience here. Im not sure this can be fixed at this rate, but its a grand shame that the game has such a major flaw. I'm surprised this wasn't approached before the game shipped. Pacing is an extremely important aspect in visual novels. I don't see how new players could be able to immerse themselves in the FL universe with such a rush.

I really wanted to like this game! I backed it on kickstarter for a reason! I love Fallen London and I really really wanted to love this game. But honestly unless this is somehow changed i cant see myself picking it up again... I hope its different for some other folks and that others have more fun with it, but I don't think its for me in this state.