Ryo. Ryo's been improving by leaps and bounds all version, which is pretty much usual for Shaun each and every version. Ryo could have gone down the same road as Han as just being an asshole, but Ryo not only got reasons and background for why he's an ass, but also got given a more human side at the same time. He's been interesting - if slightly unrealistic in his actions and backstory at times - and dynamic all version.
There's probably not much I can crit that hasn't already been covered in earlier votes, but what I will say is that I think the writing still needs a little bit more time to mature, ditto Shaun's characterisation skills, but I think that'll happen on its own, as Shaun has this habit of just drastically improving over and between every version, which I really admire about him.
Itsuo, then. Itsuo is a very well written character. The writing is intelligent without being condescending or over the top and it suits Itsuo quite well. In writing, Itsuo does automatically get the advantage over Ryo here.
As for in characterisation, I do admit that in pregaming I found myself a little underwhelmed with Itsuo as a character - he didn't seem to have anything interesting about him to make me particularly want to read him. However, the early posts did manage to make him both interesting to read and to hear about as a person, although still not really adding any... depth to his life. What does he enjoy doing, for example? Aside from studying, I don't... really know. Still don't.
Itsuo's early to mid game performance was really strong - I liked the meeting with Mami, for example, and how his entire time with her panned out in general for both of them. In general, I think his performance in game right through early to midgame was really good. Flashbacks are generally nicely written as well - although I admit to having little personal interest in the Fusane plot - but they could do to give a little bit more well rounded a view of Itsuo's life. Then... his later to endgame performance. The main problem with him now that I can see is as the version goes on, his behaviour and actions and the portrayal of said behaviour and actions are beginning to diverge quite dramatically, by which I mean that while his portrayal is still as a protagonist and a pretty strong one, his actions don't say the same in a lot of places. This, along with a few oversights in scenes and writing in general, have hurt Itsuo as a character. (The NPC handling of Seikou was probably an obvious one to bring up - while Kinuka's fault's already been gone into, Itsuo did handle most of the Seikou interaction throughout the confrontation. I didn't really buy that scene at all, not why Seikou would willingly wander off to his imminent death with the girl who shot his sister or why his supposed friend would let him, and the Miyuki scene was kind of unnecessary. Another one is the scene with the drug dealer. Let's be honest here. A fifteen-sixteen year old nerd in a sweater vest successfully intimidating the hell out of a drug dealer five years older? I think PC handling of Miyuki and general realism were massively lacking there. A third is in the last post. While intensely creepy, the subtraction bit added a whole new outright serial killer side to Itsuo's character that was never there before and I don't think it worked.)
So really, to conclude.... I like Ryo more, and especially lately, he's been the better characterised of the two, but Itsuo wins this by sheer force of writing quality and overall game performance. While his endgame performance is frankly slipping, his early to midgame can make up for it enough in this vote.
Ryo. Ryo's been improving by leaps and bounds all version, which is pretty much usual for Shaun each and every version. Ryo could have gone down the same road as Han as just being an asshole, but Ryo not only got reasons and background for why he's an ass, but also got given a more human side at the same time. He's been interesting - if slightly unrealistic in his actions and backstory at times - and dynamic all version.
There's probably not much I can crit that hasn't already been covered in earlier votes, but what I will say is that I think the writing still needs a little bit more time to mature, ditto Shaun's characterisation skills, but I think that'll happen on its own, as Shaun has this habit of just drastically improving over and between every version, which I really admire about him.
Itsuo, then. Itsuo is a very well written character. The writing is intelligent without being condescending or over the top and it suits Itsuo quite well. In writing, Itsuo does automatically get the advantage over Ryo here.
As for in characterisation, I do admit that in pregaming I found myself a little underwhelmed with Itsuo as a character - he didn't seem to have anything interesting about him to make me particularly want to read him. However, the early posts did manage to make him both interesting to read and to hear about as a person, although still not really adding any... depth to his life. What does he enjoy doing, for example? Aside from studying, I don't... really know. Still don't.
Itsuo's early to mid game performance was really strong - I liked the meeting with Mami, for example, and how his entire time with her panned out in general for both of them. In general, I think his performance in game right through early to midgame was really good. Flashbacks are generally nicely written as well - although I admit to having little personal interest in the Fusane plot - but they could do to give a little bit more well rounded a view of Itsuo's life.
Then... his later to endgame performance. The main problem with him now that I can see is as the version goes on, his behaviour and actions and the portrayal of said behaviour and actions are beginning to diverge quite dramatically, by which I mean that while his portrayal is still as a protagonist and a pretty strong one, his actions don't say the same in a lot of places. This, along with a few oversights in scenes and writing in general, have hurt Itsuo as a character.
(The NPC handling of Seikou was probably an obvious one to bring up - while Kinuka's fault's already been gone into, Itsuo did handle most of the Seikou interaction throughout the confrontation. I didn't really buy that scene at all, not why Seikou would willingly wander off to his imminent death with the girl who shot his sister or why his supposed friend would let him, and the Miyuki scene was kind of unnecessary.
Another one is the scene with the drug dealer. Let's be honest here. A fifteen-sixteen year old nerd in a sweater vest successfully intimidating the hell out of a drug dealer five years older? I think PC handling of Miyuki and general realism were massively lacking there.
A third is in the last post. While intensely creepy, the subtraction bit added a whole new outright serial killer side to Itsuo's character that was never there before and I don't think it worked.)
So really, to conclude.... I like Ryo more, and especially lately, he's been the better characterised of the two, but Itsuo wins this by sheer force of writing quality and overall game performance. While his endgame performance is frankly slipping, his early to midgame can make up for it enough in this vote.
Good luck anyway, Shaun, and really good game. ♥
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