i played the freak circus
and i didn't like it all that much.
no it's not because i'm some purist that can't stand visual novels with raunchy content okay i downloaded stuff off itchio by the batch, i know my damn stuff
the point is it feels like the stuff the characters say is super generic for a game that's supposed to be all dark and stuff. like i feel like stuff about "being whatever you want (suggestive emoji)" and "wanting to make you scream" or whatever is really damn lackluster. like. i think i could get that from pulp fiction featuring alpha daddy ceo wolf and his little submissive kitten. or i could get that from a random tinder openings reddit post.
like omg the "wow i love you so much i'm going to kidnap you" trope is so overdone. "i'm overrun with lust/jealousy so now i must sexually assault you" is also pretty overused. i also cannot exactly get over when a character is immediately like "oh- um- i love you! wait actually pretend i didn't say that" and the mc has no reaction.
usually this is the part of the essay where you're supposed to suggest a change. and uh. here's my suggestions. now i'm not saying the freak circus should implement all these changes. i'm just saying if i wrote the freak circus these changes would be in place.
1. a different voice actor cus god damn. the "deep husky daddy voice" that visual novel companies use for every marketable male love interest is getting really really damn boring (i'm looking at the voice they cast for casper in adwd) when can we get cute, lighter voice in a male love interest. like okay dude "growl in my ear" or whatever. pmo.
2. show more actually interesting emotions from the yandere. not just "jealous anger" and "lovesick rambling" and the occasional "cute" for those screenshots on tiktok. can we get actual despair and self doubt and begging and crazy mood swings? why is every male yandere so confident. where are the boyfailure yanderes that beg and look pathetic and not fixate on sex?
3. idk man i just don't like Harlequin's design. he's not appealing to me. might be the art style. oh i guess i'm actually beefing with the art style then. i just don't like black line art with no difference in line width i guess.
i did my best to not shame anyone who enjoys these things so if you feel personally offended come argue with me some more i don't mind. i'm not calling the game cringe because cmon we've all been there and we've all played YB, alright. i still enjoy tfc fanart from time to time. i think pierrot's design is cool (looks great in different art styles). i'm also not expecting the game to suddenly cater to my tastes or whatever. i like submissive guys and this game just happens to not feature that. why am i explaining myself? screenshots of old tumblr where people get mad angry over any personal opinion expressed. do i think i could do better? no because i love procrastinating and would likely never finish a long project.
alright if you're reading this hope you have a cool day.
OMG OMG OMG, SAME!
My biggest issue was how weird Pierrot's love for the MC is. Honestly, it doesn't make any sense at all. Was there really not a single person in the past 1,000 years who ever stopped the bullying, even once? And somehow, if we do nothing, we die, but if we help him a single time, he instantly falls in love with us? By nighttime, he already knows everything about us even though he spent the entire day at the circus. He also uses the same terms he used for Columbina and constantly mistakes us for her, yet then claims he loves us for who we are.
The man who was supposedly so devoted to and deeply in love with Columbina falls in love again almost immediately. So if the MC dies, would he just move on and fall in love with someone else too? The whole point of a yandere is that they love someone obsessively to the point of self-destruction. They're not supposed to move on and fall in love again that easily. The entire concept is meant to be unhealthy.
If the MC were Columbina's reincarnation, or at least resembled her in some way, it would make a lot more sense. But that's not even the case. And some people actually call Pierrot a green flag? Like, hello? Did we even play the same game? I've played plenty of yandere games, but his love is genuinely one of the weirdest I've seen. Even Ayano Aishi has a more understandable reason for loving Senpai.
And don't even get me started on how misogynistic the fandom is toward a dead woman, as usual.
Not to mention that Harlequin basically sexually assaults the MC in one of the endings, yet he's still treated as a love interest.
Unpopular opinion: I hate the dialogue in this game. It's so cringey and unhinged.