This is an edited conversation of the conclusion discussion about the Cyanide Tea visual novel, Taarradhin done on October 12th on Line.
Pokeninja90: Okay well let’s start with what we got
Pokeninja90: So what did everyone think about the game?
Pink: MC-chan seemed pretty spoiled
Loomy: It was a pretty short game with very few options of dialogue, the fact that you have to unlock more dialogue by re doing the game multiple times was surprising at first
Iris: They should’ve fleshed it out, instead of giving such a short story
Pokeninja90: I loved the artwork, but I found the story to be problematic
Pokeninja90: The game was created for NaNoReNo… so they only had a month to develop it, so I understand why it was short
Cat: the mc was….
Iris: A lot of things could be addressed but instead we were given a super cliché story
Pink: The endings left much to be desired, apparently.
Cat: The true ending didn’t redempt it at all, it needed a gravity and fleshing that this short of a game didn’t
Loomy: I don’t really know if i liked it and that way of doing in the end xD
Loomy: The fact that it was short helped accept it
Cat: Especially when she was super bitch in the love routes
Cat: and the true ending……………………
Cat: “oh what a brave soul, sacrificing herself for them, but it’s okay she ain’t gonna die whichever way, even tho they did in the other ends”
Pokeninja90: Yeah me either
Pokeninja90: But again it was for NaNoReNo
Pokeninja90: So they didn’t have much time for production
Cat: Then they shouldn’t have done this type of heavy subject
Loomy: Story was meh, could have been more historically oriented
Cat: That needed much more fleshing out
Pink: What was up with the sacrifice thing anyway?
Pokeninja90: Cyanide Tea usually cover deep subject matter
Cat: The stars of the game were definitely the slaves, Avaarand and Jyrik or whatever their names were, in the true ending
Cat: this needed more fleshing than a 1h 20 minute game
Pink: I feel like if she truly wanted to, the MC could’ve prevented it.
Iris: I was actually disappointed BECAUSE I’ve played Cyanide Tea games before
Cat: The only good thing going for the game is the art and really the slaves, the rest was beh
Pokeninja90: I checked out the other NaNoReNo games from 2014
Loomy: Nessa wants flesh again and again, we know :p
Cat: LOL
Pink: Lots of six-packs
Pokeninja90: Taarradhin was the most unique
Iris: That too, the MC is actually pretty powerful
Pink: Male and female
Cat: I haven’t played cyanide tea before and this doesn’t make me want to
Pokeninja90: I wanted a romance option for the slaves
Cat: I wanted them to date each other, cause them falling for her in just 3 days was just weird… it was unrealistic
Pink: Exactly. If MC had that much power, she should’ve done something
Pokeninja90: Their other games are really good,Usually short, but still really deep
Pink: Other than moan about how her slaves don’t realize how good they have it.
Pokeninja90: Was it?
Iris: It feels realistic for me
Iris: Her complaining
Pokeninja90: As problematic as Neqtia was, that’s how the nobility see the poor
Loomy: At first I chose the guy, he was kinda secretive or so I thought and he seemed not to really love mc
Iris: What I couldn’t stand was her transition
Loomy: But, just marrying because why not
Pink: Why would he love her?
Cat: 3 days with her…I felt like they only went along with her being in love so as not to be killed and climb the ranks tbh
Pokeninja90: It was fairly realistic in that respect
Pink: Why do any of them love her?
Cat: Yes, I meant what wasn’t realistic was Jyrik or Avaandra loving Neqtia
Cat: in 3 days
Cat: and even the true ending still had issues to me
Pokeninja90: The romance aspect was flawed
Pink: It’s unrealistic to think that enslaved people would suddenly fall in love with the person who treats them badly
Loomy: I guess it’s more about the twists of the story than the love aspect
Cat: Maybe if it didn’t have the “romance” ends and was just the true ending it’ be better
Pokeninja90: However the true message of the game was relations between the rich and poor
Iris: The true ending made a little more sense to me since they had more interactions enough to be called friends
Pokeninja90: Not the romance
Iris: The romance was just really…empty and fake
Pokeninja90: I feel like this could have been a one route game with no romance
Iris: That^^
Pink: So….it was more of a friendship kind of game?
Cat: Just the true ending it would’ve been good
Pokeninja90: Just a social commentary
Iris: Or they could switch the routes
Cat: But with the other endings….nah
Loomy: Friendship with people who are forced to befriend you in a way lol
Pink: Because the romance really didn’t seem to fit anywhere into the story
Pokeninja90: It was doing too much at once
Iris: And give bad ends for everything except the true ending
Pokeninja90: The game was trying to be a romance and a social commentary
Iris: Like sure they married, and then the slave overthrows Neqtia or like takes over the nobility
Iris: Too many things at once
Iris: It had a huge plot hole too
Pink: If the MC did fall in love it become friends with the slaves, couldn’t she have just freed them?
Pokeninja90: What did ya’ll think of the art?
Pink: Art looked pretty good
Cat: The art was gorgeous
Loomy: the art was nice. I didn’t find it great but nice
Iris: In the romance ends only one person had to die, but in the neutral and true end 2 slaves or 1 noble had to die like what??
Cat: really warm and with density
Pokeninja90: She did when they married Pink
Pink: Yeah, I’m with Loomy
Pink: Wow.
Iris: I like the backgrounds
Pink: Yeah, I’m so done.
Iris: The character designs were interesting
Cat: She saved the one that she loved
Pink: But not all of his friends/family?!
Pokeninja90: Yeah, they were colorful
Cat: But not the other, because someone had to be sacrificed, and she didn’t know why not
Iris: Anyone find it funny how you NEVER see Neqtia’s hair?
Cat: yeah, Iris
Iris: Even when she goes onto the altar she’s still in her noble clothes
Pokeninja90: Technically being sacrificed made them free
Pink: She acted like she wasn’t powerful enough to stop the sacrifice….
Iris: There was only a veil to show that shes the sacrifice
Pink: Lol Naja
Pink: In a dark way, yeah.
Cat: no
Cat: it made their souls go to the goddess
Pink: Good for them, then.
Pink: Ohh.
Cat: To be with her/captured by her
Pink: NEVERMIND.
Pokeninja90: Exactly, they weren’t slaves anymore
Cat: Which was seen as a good thing
Iris: If you read deeper actually they never went to the goddess
Pokeninja90: It’s allegory for established religion
Iris: Because it was unwilling sacrifice they aren’t “saved” per se, just dead
Pink: Maybe Neqtia didn’t have hair?
Pokeninja90: Follow the doctrines
Iris: LMAO PINK
Pokeninja90: Blind faith
Pink: Hey! It could be possible.
Iris: Good point Naja.
Pink: One of the slaves probably scalped her in her sleep
Pokeninja90: The Egyptian nobility cut their hair off
Pink: I would’ve.
Iris: But like she even wakes up in the turban
Cat: Yes, in the true ending
Pokeninja90: Lol Pink
Pink: Lol, or that.
Iris: IT’S GLUED TO HER HEAD
Pink: *spits out water*
Pink: IRIS
Pokeninja90: Sigh… religion is scary sometimes
Cat: I just find the game offensive, and badly executed
Iris: YOU CAN’T TAKE IT OFF BECAUSE ITS PART OF HER
Loomy: She thought cutting her hair would prevent decapitation later lol
Pink: She is one with the turban
Pink: Lol
Pink: She gets decapitated?!
Pink: YESSSS
Pokeninja90: It was different, but idk if I outright hate it
Iris: She doesn’t Pink 😦
Pokeninja90: It was just problematic
Pink: AWWWWW
Iris: She stays alive
Iris: In all routes
Iris: Rrgh
Pink: Ugh
Pokeninja90: But I’m not a fan of slavery
Pink: Eww
Pink: Same here
Cat: YUP
[Lilli enters chat]
Iris: I think the question of slavery wasn’t addressed enough
Cat: offensive, and needed more length to actually make the content/themes justice
Pokeninja90: What did yall think about CT choosing to have POC characters in the game?
Iris: The family Neqtia is from is actually pretty nice to their slaves
Pink: I almost ranted about it.
Iris: Which is like 1% of the slave owner population?
Cat: if they were going to do this, might as well not have used POC
Pink: Why did they?
Pokeninja90: They didn’t say
Iris: What’s POC?
Pokeninja90: People of color
Iris: Oh
Pokeninja90: I checked
Pink: I guess apparently, whenever the topic of slaves pops up, people assume they’re POC.
Pokeninja90: But they didn’t explain the choice
Pink: Instead of the million other races out there
Iris: That, and I thought this was in a desert climate region? It’s only understandable that the people there wouldn’t be white.
Pokeninja90: Yeah, I was mad about that
Pokeninja90: Finally a game with an all poc cast and it’s about slavery
Pokeninja90: *sigh*
Pink: Yeah. But I’ve seen historical games like this where they just spray all over it with a can of whitewash.
Pokeninja90: I agree with Pink
Pink: I feel you, Naja.
Cat: hmm
Iris: :0?!
Loomy: I guess slavery was a good bait for a spicy romance
Pokeninja90: There are better ways to make a game like this
Cat: yup
Loomy: But there wasn’t any spice really
Cat: The story wasn’t all that good and the art was good, as was the UI
Pink: I think they tried to get in touch with the kinky historical BDSM nerds
Pokeninja90: Exactly Loomy
Pink: But this is too much
Cat: But, the story…
Lilli: i dropped it tbh and i forgot to pick it about up
Cat: really needed a full scope game
Pink: Ya
Lilli: back up*
Pink: Didn’t the story line feel a bit rushed though?
Pokeninja90: I commend the POC…just not like this
Pink: Didn’t the story line feel a bit rushed though?
Pink: I saw the Let’s Plays in like 2 hours.
Pokeninja90: Yeah, but they were on a tight deadline
Cat: if they were going to do it like this…might as well gone white
Cat: instead
Cat: THEN WHY PICK THIS ONE
Cat: FOR A NANOREMO STORY
Pink: Ahhh. So instead of giving proper endings….
Pokeninja90: CT tends to have pretty diverse games
Iris: Everyone remember that this was made in 1 month
Pink: We get shirty sacrifices bc they didn’t have enough time to finish.
Pink: Lol
Pokeninja90: Which is why I like them
Pink: Lol “shirty”
Iris: XD
Iris: THEY DIDNT HAVE SHIRTS
Pokeninja90: Lol
Pink: SO DEAD
Iris: One had a bikini and the other one didnt have anything
Pokeninja90: They sure didn’t
Lilli: those sweet abs
Pink: I bet MC girl got a shirt….
Iris: Nope
Iris: She literally
Pokeninja90: She had a tube top
Iris: Wore what she usually wore
Iris: + all the ornaments
Pink: Well, it is the desert….
Iris: Aren’t you supposed to be humble?
Lilli: and a sash
Iris: You’re being sacrificed
Pink: Ya
Pink: Oooh~
Iris: Whats with all the things proving you’re high class i dnt understand
Pokeninja90: Meh, the goddess doesn’t care about clothes
Pink: It would’ve been more interesting if MC had been sacrificed~
Iris: The people do
Iris: Usually
Pink: I could see that going somewhere
Iris: In their blind faith way
Loomy: Yeah it would have brought more tension and drama
Cat: It’d have been more interesting if she’d actually been sacrificed
Pink: Yeah
Iris: Actually in the true end
Iris: I wish the girl slave punched Neqtia
Iris: When she asked about how they felt about dying
Pink: And the slaves could’ve been conflicted over whether to save her and stay slaves
Cat: YUP ME TOO
Pink: Or let her die
Pokeninja90: Yeah, I was like how do you think they feel
Cat: I spent the whole game wanting to punch her
Pink: Lol Iris
Pink: Same
Cat: if they pick this type of theme and concepts for a one month game, then they gotta deal with the backlash of not doing it right or needing more time
Iris: I wished someone would punch her many times throughout the game
Pink: “Why don’t they see how kindly I’m treating them?”
Iris: Uhhh
Cat: PUNCHING
Lilli: MC was horid
Cat: I wanted to gut her
Pink: “You slaves don’t appreciate what I’ve sacrificed for you”
Iris: And then she did a compelte 180° with all the grace of an ignorant brat
Iris: “OoooOoOOOOOHH I DIDN’T KNOWWwwww”
Cat: It also felt prety shitty that she needed two slave sacrifices to actually learn about the way she was priviliged
Cat: LIKE F*** HER
Cat: GO OUT TO THE STREETS
Pokeninja90: Yeah…
Cat: INSTEAD OF THINKING YOU’RE ALL THAT
Pink: “I didn’t know the life of a slave was that horrible”
Cat: YUP
Pokeninja90: That’s usually how it is for those on top
Pink: And I’m just facepalming the entire time
Iris: They see but they don’t see
Pokeninja90: Not that that excuses it
Pink: It doesn’t
Iris: So I thought Neqtia’s perspective was done pretty accurately
Iris: The slaves’ though…
Pokeninja90: Same Iris
Pokeninja90: Yeah that was another story
Pink: If you really were as “kind” as you say you are, you should’ve been more caring and attentive.
Iris: I think they had good personalities, but the romance pushed everything into the fire
Pink: Yeah
Cat: Yup
Pink: Honestly, I think they set this one up to fail from the start.
Cat: and those romance ends… smh
Pink: As soon as they decide to have a master-slave romance
Pokeninja90: It won an award
Lilli: this game sounds like a hot mess
Pink: *sigh*
Pokeninja90: Best EVN 2014
Lilli: evn?
Pokeninja90: English Visual novel
Lilli: oh
Iris: It would have worked better if they put more time into developing relationships
Pink: Anything with poc slaves in it gets an award, Naja.
Iris: Like friendship relationships
Pink: Especially in movies.
Lilli: LMAOO
Cat: …
Cat: smh
Pokeninja90: Yeah I know girl…I know
Lilli: LET ME CHECK WHAT CAME OUT IN 2013 AGAIN
Pokeninja90: I did
Lilli: BECAUSE THATS A JOKE TBH HOW
Pink: *sigh*
Pokeninja90: The competition was light Lilli
Pink: I wanna get back to my Nobunaga game…
Pink: So sexy…
Pokeninja90: Final question
Iris: It’s a well done game with its Achilles heel being the plot
Iris: You can’t deny that
Pokeninja90: Would you play another Cyanide Tea game?
Cat: …
Iris: I can see why they got an award
Lilli: sure
Cat: no
Pokeninja90: Agreed Iris
Cat: from this one instance i wouldn’t
Pink: I have played one of them, and it was pretty decent.
Iris: Yes
Lilli: the shadows games is already on my system
Cat: but since i’ve heard good from their other games i might give them a second chance
Pokeninja90: Shadows is great!!
Pink: That’s why I was so disappointed in this one.
Iris: Taarradhin is like the black sheep of the family imo
Pink: YES SHADOWS
Pokeninja90: Lol
Pink: For real though
Cat: i think they got an award just for the pretty art
Pokeninja90: I loved Shadows
Cat: and the themes
Lilli: But tbh I’ve played two of their games and I dont really feel anything for their work but w/e
Pink: Lol Lilli
Loomy: If not all their games are done in one month yes, I like an original concept even if it failed. It kinda make you go “what if”
Pokeninja90: They write fun games
Pink: Yeah
Pokeninja90: Agreed Loomy
Cat: Their non-nanoremo games are paid ones
Pink: Yup
Pink: BACK TO NOBU-SAMA
Lilli: Good job ya’ll that did play u were strong
Cat: It was only 1h 20min
Cat: I wanted to see how much worse it got
Pokeninja90: And with that that’s the end of the discussion
Lilli: lol
Lilli: welp, laterz
[Chat ends]
That Game Club 