A not so small rant about the franchise
I wanted to throw my two cents before the: "I'm tired of the people complaining", "stop hating" and "let people enjoy things" people start complaining too.
(English isn't my first language so blah blah blah, you know why some parts might sound a bit weird)
So I actually don't remember why i started playing Obey me, I just knew that I enjoyed horror, darker stories and all that jazz, so it felt like OM was a pretty solid choice to try on a boring day.
The game was pretty generous at first, they basically gave you enough resources to get through a good number of lessons before running out of energy, which meant that I got to play a good chunk of the game and get pretty good cards from the beginning.
In general the game gave enough incentives to keep playing. The art was pleasant so you wanted to get the cards and also unlock the more romantic moments with the characters. They kept releasing events throughout the year, including birthday events for all the cast where you could also get special cards for each one, and even the mini game was simple enough where you could enjoy the minute it lasted, or simply ignore it if you just wanted to get it over with.
Was the story good? Kind of. They had a great foundation, but they kept fumbling the execution. All seriousness that the story could've had was quickly brushed aside so they didn't alienate the fan base. We're dragged into literal hell? We don't fight it nor do we show much discontent. We're constantly threatened by demons? It's portrayed as funny and not very serious. We get killed by one of the brothers? All is fine and well by the next lesson. The most you got were sassy responses sometimes, which I personally felt like were mostly there to be screenshots with captions like: "mood" and "that's so me", which fun, but also we're in hell and i want to feel it.
It was pretty obvious that the game was playing it very safe with its story, especially when you saw some of the players complaining about how "Asmo is too sexual", "Belphegor is too mean", about LITERAL demons in hell. But even then I did feel like a lot of players would've preferred a more mature version of the game.
I understand that the format doesn't necessarily allow for heavy storytelling, but the writing was definitely lackluster. I remember Mystic messenger and how the story managed to be pretty memorable while being told through mostly text messages, so I know a better writer could've added a lot of depth and layers without making it too dense for the more casual players.
By the time the game officially ended, the drop in quality during the last year was clear, but the overall sentiment around the game was positive. I feel like OM greatly benefited from the community and the creative works created by the players. Between the fanfics, fanart, headcanons and all the content that was constantly being posted, the game felt a lot more complete and complex than it actually was.
Then they announced NB, and while there was some skepticism, most people were excited to see what a whole new game would bring. After all, the developers had received constant feedback since the first game was released, players were vocal through all channels available, and the developers seemed to have at least read some of it, so this new game HAD to be better, HAD to improve...
But then it dropped and it was disappointing and somehow worse than the og.
Honestly I don't even have a lot to say about NB. It really felt like they wanted to get the positive reactions from the first game without improving the storyline. Instead of building the story up, they deconstructed it and tried to serve it again with minimal changes. It's just a: you're thrown into the past so nothing from the original story happened, everyone will treat you like they did the first couple of lessons of the first game, and overall you'll just have to do what you already did once but worse because the quality of the writing is still weak and all that character development you worked for is removed.
When they announced a third game I was honestly pretty checked out, but I'll admit that I wanted to see what they could possibly create after such a disappointing second release.
And like many have already expressed, this new not game has really proven that Obey Me cannot continue like this.
Opening the app had me somewhat excited for the concept, but while there's always a learning curve with new apps, this one had me a bit more confused than usual. I don't know what it is, but the interface is not very intuitive, something about it feels weird and not very fun to explore. The music is great like always, so at least you have some pleasant background music to enjoy while you figure things out.
The story again somehow managed to be even less immersive and memorable than in NB, while also feeling rushed and superficial with characters we have spent TWO games with. We're getting married but even then there's no build up or actual development, we just get super short scenes that feel superficial and forgettable.
The interactive elements of the app are way too boring to actually want to spend time or money. I'm a f2p so I know that if I want to advance the plot, it will not be easy nor very enjoyable seeing as there's no mini game, just waiting till I can get a box of materials. And honestly, getting socks while trying to get cards made me laugh out loud. The clothes feel very Disney channel adjacent, I could picture someone from Shake it up! wearing some of the items. And yes, I'll also say it, the sprites are a bit weird looking, for a game that is focused on the romance and the spending time with your chosen one, they really dropped the ball with the appearance of the guys.
And since a lot of people keep saying that it's NOT a game but a lifestyle app, well, that is even more disappointing, because everything it offers I can more comfortably get from my home screen without draining my battery or needing wifi.
They were probably inspired by Love and Deepspace, and if not, they know of it because it's literally one of the most profitable games of the last two years or so. They had to know they were going to be compared to them so they really needed to release something that could at the very least, hold its own ground, but instead we have the bones of something that has a pretty shaky record of quality but still costs a pretty penny to play (or not play since it's not a game). They could use that interesting setting they have to stand out, make the app look darker and more hellish with creepy elements. Belphegor reads your future so how about adding some sort of tarot, lunar or even horoscope inspired feature. Since they're going for a more mature tone, make it more risky and racy with the option to decorate the bedroom we share with one of the brothers instead of an altar.
I could continue with the complaining, with the rambling and poorly constructed paragraphs, but I feel like I've expressed my disappointment in this stupidly long post. I really think at this point it's a losing battle to wish for something great, it's not like they don't know what people want, and while yes, some will defend mediocre results, majority will not stay around to see if things get better, they'll just see the track record and assume the third time is not the charm.
