Parasite Black [v0.157] [Damned Studios]

Okay, first I wrote two comments in this post; and tried to be kinder and more focused on what works for Stat system in the second – with better suggestions for story in general. It DID NOT post correctly, so I will attempt to fix what fucked up here… Wish me luck, but I’m only half Irish.

Characters You NEED To Do More With:

Erika/The Princess Cecila/The Queen/Celeste and her teammate: You introduced a fucking Legend of Krystal rip off (while admittedly cool and with an interesting backstory – Though I would enjoy it more if Elena actually turned out to be the “stillborn” disfigured child, and the Curse was in general Lycanthropy… which led his wives on finding such out as it would happen eventually, to find ways to off themselves while pregnant. Because humans weren’t meant to give birth to werewolf children so the first one went out in labor badly and they all got scared on discovering that. The other daughter can be adopted, but the way you’re heading with her discription IF she is in Ramon it’s NOT going to end well for Elena. So don’t do that; or find a way to make her relationship with the MC only STRONGER if you do insist on being that grim dark. Point in case; you have 4 characters that have been mentioned. Not shown. There are no relationships yet to grow – and you want to focus on BULLSHIT fetish Monster Girls? You have a Cat-Girl quest in the adventurer’s guild (that’s only HALF the time a girl >….< – and SHE could have gained the second symbiote just as easily as he did… it would also make a LOT more sense for Markus to call the princess Mistress. Just saying)

What does work as far as I have seen in the stats system:

– Strength DOES give your characters more damage = Best stat to raise.
– Charisma only needs 15 so far to hit 100% success in pursuasion (useful ONLY to MC – as it should be)
– Agility only needs 15 to get 100% chance to hit the dremorai scouts in hunting
(You do miss way too often in the beginning: Should not miss AT ALL in the prologue –
There is NO STAT system to help you, and that last battle is ASSHOLISH)
* You really need to fix that. I had way too many reloads to win ONE TIME
– Endurance DOES give you Damage Resist (would be better if it was passive HP Regen)
** Would exemplify the Symbiotes' assertion that they actually HEAL MC's Wounds…
(It would also be both compensation for and an allowance of the fact the monsters SHOULD hit hard =
your balance for the creatures was a bit off: adding passive regen for HP would allow you leeway on both counts)
= Endurance + Dodge may work to create a True Tank character; but you probably won't hit anything for jack all damage
= Strength as a DPS character IS the Name of The Game here. The more monsters you can down in one hit, the less of them to damage you on the board next turn. It's the problem of most RPG's (skills that provide an AOE like Borris had would be useful to allow greater diversity in character builds by compensation)
= Strength + Luck MIGHT at some point be Monstrous for DPS, but again at 30 Luck I wasn't noting much difference in crit procs.

Note: In my Test Run playthrough up to Level 17 (which takes a LONG ASSED TIME WHEN THE ENEMIES ARE ONLY LEVEL 3 MAX) The two stats that matter most are Strength & Endurance. Strength to 35-40 is more than enough to kill every creature in the game so far with one hit. The Behemoth quest the rat mother needs 2. 30 Endurance or so makes the scout dremorai you face deal 0 damage if they do hit you. Go with either of those for at least your MC and you are golden [This may change in later updates as they add more skills and to the level cap – if there even is one] The MC needs 15 Charisma to pass all speech checks at 100%. 15 Agility is the point you will reach 100% ability to hit the scout dremorai and bandits. Which are the majority of what you're going to be facing.

As to health potions – you won't need them past perhaps level 10-13 depending on how you build your characters. However Nijah's Stall does give you the option to pay 20 gold for an item that your love interest (baby momma) makes for you as a "home cooked meal" that gives you 100 HP. Which is either better than the bigger health potion (that is more expensive than the smaller ones) or equal to. So it's BEST NOT to make Nijah your whore. [In a harem game I don't know why you'd go that route anyway. Thematically that's common in the area she's from… but it should NOT be an option – unless you sell her to Tarek, and at that point why bother rescuing her in the first place?] ** Do note: Both Elena and Myu gain skills at 15 that are based in damage off their Dexterity; so it may behoove players to up that stat for them. I currently am testing with Myu how viable the Crit chance is, so I have her strength and luck to 40 each thus far.

It may be smart at some update soon, to offer with the blacksmith at least, WEAPONS. It would make hunting the dremorai in the early game easier, and or at least more reasonably provide a goal for doing so to work toward. There's ONE equipment slot you can fill (and one character model improvement -if you can't recognize a near copy of Dragon Age's Blood Knight armor from the DLC that is – which does in terms of Stats, absolutely bupkiss) with armor that only grants you 5 to the stat. It's something, but not huge and a bit of a disappointment that you can't at least buy a hunting knife or a bow… or freaking anything that would help damage in the early game [Which again, you could try equipping the scouts in the prologue with actual gear instead. There's GOT to be a way you can make that last fight EASIER. No one wants to reload the game five or six or twenty times because RNGesus is an asshole!] The rings and the amulet could also be a good way to grant buff skills (without having to clutter the WAY TOO HIGH skill list – there's a reason most RPG's make the list Horizontal guys) which could help with HP healing before Level 10… or after, if you do actually add higher leveled monsters and Boss creatures that hit harder. Enchanted armor like the Dwarf scout had could be a thing for end game. So could enchanted weapons, but realistically I don't understand why hunting the dremorai is ONLY MC and Markus when you have Elena and Myu equipped to the team as well. Or why they can't be in their parasite armor? It's NOT that close to the city, which was the whole point of going out to the wastes to hunt them. It's why there's a two time move when you go to visit Vex; and why it sucks that it seems you can only do so every two days. Massive waste of time, for no reason. What she hunts routinely should provide ONE person, even an orc with enough food that she'd only need to hunt once a week.

Now let's see if THIS comment goes through properly. I'm not sure how it cut off half of the comment in general. Either way, I've made what suggestions I can. You could use Erika as a double agent in the Inquistors trying to protect both the mother she KNOWS is a dark mage, and her no longer quite human little brother. Find a way to work her into the game, and into the harem. Have the second siege beat the hell out of the city structure (without removing the essential areas thank you very much) and then have the Queen or The Princess ask for your help. Since MC has intimate connection to Arlena most likely, and might better convince the stubborn bitch to help rebuilding efforts. It'd also be a good reason to keep gaining bronze, and it would give a connective point to two otherwise inaccessible characters. Have the ranking system in the guild introduce Celeste and her team to the MC – and make a way to convince Celeste to be in MC's harem alongside the scarred elf (since you went out of your way to point her out…) Maybe Celeste could also help rebuilding efforts and be impressed MC will go out of his way to make that happen, as means to get contact with her OUTSIDE of the Guild. [Which again, is ONLY up to ONE freaking rank as yet…] There ARE ways to progress the story, which can BUILD to a greater war, without focusing on RUSHING the war aspect. The point of a Harem is that the MC WINS. The MC WILL RULE. Both kingdoms by the end, and choose whomever he wants to keep in his harem. That's the only ending. How you get there, and what cities and quests you'll focus on, that's up to you. By the rules of the genre however, there's ONE locked in end.