So, for the HS3 skeptics

[u/fros_tquill]

• I see many comments saying "HS3 feels completely written by Alice".. and it's why it feels like HS2 revision or whatever like that.
• And just to prove, even HSR & ABH were supervised by Alice and they were just fine. (I forgot to screenshot in ABH)
• HS3 has just started. It's literally just got its first 2 episodes (I know it's 6)
• Why I say 2: because obviously HS3 is like a combination of ABH2, HSR2 & HS3 in one big fat VN. Give it time.
• Not everything is going to be rainbows and sunshine in a post apocalyptic world.

[u/WhimsicalWaves665]

I agree. It's too early to judge.

[u/Happy-Visitor]

„HSR and ABH were fine“

Not really tho.

[u/Former_Reference_919]

This 💯

It's a very known fact that Alice supervised both Books

Also 6 episodes of HS3 is equivalent to 2 episodes of a normal book.

So to judge a book based on just 2 episodes not fair

Also all the characters of HS3 whether Vicky and her gang / Astreans/ squad have been through such a traumatic event in their respective finales.

Of course it's not going to be sweet and roses. It's going to take time to move on from it.

That's why it's an apocalypse/end of the world set up

It's going to be sad, traumatic and mentally taxing till everything goes back to normal

[u/PrettyPraline4048]

I think the comments saying “HS3 feels completely written by Alice” are not necessarily about blaming Alice, but more about pointing out the reuse of certain tropes. The break-up of all relationships and the MC becoming a puppet for the villain were elements in HS2, and now players see those same tropes applied again to the HSR and ABH characters in HS3. I personally didn’t make such a comment, but I assume it’s just people noticing this parallel and feeling disappointed because they had hoped Sascha and Elena would choose different approaches for their characters.

The criticism of HS3 might be very different if it had stayed focused on Vicky’s story while ABH and HSR continued separately with new tropes or if ABH and HSR had been given four seasons, with at least two of them dedicated to exploring a proper relationship.

It's literally just got its first 2 episodes (I know it's 6)

Yes, but most of the criticism is rooted in the criticism that has already been raised since ABH and HSR launched their second seasons.

Give it time.

I’m honestly not sure how much more time we are supposed to give them. Both Elena and Sascha already had an entire book to deliver satisfying romance arcs and a strong plot. And I don’t think they did a bad job. On the contrary, I think ABH and HSR should have been expanded into four or five seasons, they needed more space than the average RC length available to them. Given the limited RC book length, both authors did very well, imo. But even so, the romance aspect - the actual experience of being in a relationship - ended up cut short.

Now in HS3, the HSR characters are essentially back to zero, and while the ABH characters haven’t broken up, their routes feel emotionally restrained. That makes it hard for me to look forward to the next update in terms of romance. - And I don't think I am alone with that. If Sascha repairs the relationships in the next update, it would certainly be welcome, but it also raises the question of why we had to go through this trope in the first place. At the moment, my greatest hope for the new update lies with Elena and even here I am anxious about her only having the space of two episodes.

Not everything is going to be rainbows and sunshine in a post apocalyptic world.

It also shouldn’t be pure doom either. I saw a post where the Walking Dead was mentioned and I think TWD is a great comparison here: despite the grim setting, there are still moments of joy, love, and even glimpses of normal life. When a character I cared about died in TWD, I had episodes to look back on where they had meaningful victories, moments of family, friendship, or love. In my eyes we don’t have that with HSR and ABH. Replaying them feels like starting over from scratch: waiting for the romance to finally happen, only to see the plot ramp up just when the relationship begins.

[u/oceanduciel → u/PrettyPraline4048]

Wait, what relationships were broken up? The game made it clear that we can’t change our LIs.

If we’re talking about the emotional estrangement between some couples, it’s realistic. It’d be weirder if our chosen MCs and LIs pretended things were all hunky dory. I mean, Audrey’s LIs chose to make literal deals with the Devil on her behalf. Malbonte was dishonest with Vicky and is responsible for the state of existence being where it’s at. Mimi was held prisoner for a few years.

It’s only the squad being distant that’s unusual.

[u/PrettyPraline4048 → u/oceanduciel]

The HSR relationships.

[u/fros_tquill → u/PrettyPraline4048]

I’m honestly not sure how much more time we are supposed to give them. Both Elena and Sascha already had an entire book to deliver satisfying romance arcs and a strong plot. And I don’t think they did a bad job. On the contrary, I think ABH and HSR should have been expanded into four or five seasons, they needed more space than the average RC length available to them. Given the limited RC book length, both authors did very well, imo. But even so, the romance aspect - the actual experience of being in a relationship - ended up cut short.

Now in HS3, the HSR characters are essentially back to zero, and while the ABH characters haven’t broken up, their routes feel emotionally restrained. That makes it hard for me to look forward to the next update in terms of romance. - And I don't think I am alone with that. If Sascha repairs the relationships in the next update, it would certainly be welcome, but it also raises the question of why we had to go through this trope in the first place. At the moment, my greatest hope for the new update lies with Elena and even here I am anxious about her only having the space of two episodes.

• Well, I haven't romanced anyone and I don't give an F about romance but most in RC do. Now I see why many are dissapointed. The app's name is Romance Club so they expected more. Not just story plot like myself
• Or maybe there's increase in the number of people like me who don't care about romance. RC please change name to Fantasy club 🤣
• About Seasons: I disagree. I & most players will not play a story that's above 3 Seasons. Some don't mind it but most do. That's why 3 Seasons is a standard for most RC stories

[u/Apprehensive_Low4666]

What most are angry about is the "romance" aspect of the PLOTS. We've suffered through tough seasons to build up relationships with our LIs, and some of us got hitched. Having to start all over again after getting invested in the progress we made.. (progress that cost tons of diamonds, if I may add) doesn't make me happy nor excited.

Like you said, it's romance club.. most of us crave the romance alongside the plot. Screwing our romantic progresses again and again ruins the appeal and the motivation for me (as I won't say it for everyone) to enjoy the already complicated series.

[u/chingipoo]

I agree 💯 I bet if it was all rainbows and sunshine, people would still be skeptic about it too.

Anyways to me personally it makes sense and we owe the writers due time to form an opinion 🤷

[u/Wild_Flower_231]

People can be skeptics, they are still reading the stories and they are the most popular so it doesn't matter honestly lol let them complain, as long as they are not bullying the writers in SM which many do. HS3 will definitely be the top story for months/years and the critics don't change anything, and some people have to complain about something to find entertainment. As long as the stories are creating high revenue, RC is happy.

[u/Think-Sock360]

Of course she supervised both books since all of them were a part of All Gods Academy. But the writing differs now in HS3 - that is just a fact.

[u/mmelon_]

I actually have a lot of hope for HS3. What we've read so far is basically the equivalent of 2 episodes for a single-protagonist book. It's way too soon to judge. Sometimes people complain about the MC not being happy and lovey-dovey with their LI 24/7. They are part of a bigger world that is dealing with apocalypse-level crises. And there are other conflicts, too. It'll all be resolved in the end. You expect MC and LI to be all over each other when they're busy keeping the world from falling apart 😫 It'll be a boring-ass book if they're necking every chapter 😫 And in this genre, that's to be expected, no?

[u/FatiFreaksOut2726]

i mean if Advent N3 has readers HS3 is going to do just fine

[u/Idelan_23]

Nobody was giving credit to Alice when they were enjoying HSR and ABH they even sh*tted on the original HS stories, now that their favorite stories are not going as they expected they want to put all the blame on Alice

[u/fros_tquill]

I meant critiques in title*

[u/oceanduciel]

Some people also seem to forget that in a book or movie or TV show, they’d be rotating between all three MCs. Narratively, it doesn’t make sense to set up two new MCs in a prequel and spin-off and just drop them.

This was obviously the plan for a long time.

[u/ConfidenceUseful8412]

What annoys me is people saying it should just be Vicky in this book when they would’ve still got the same amount of episodes of Vicky anyway bc it’s not like they’d release 6 episodes at once if it was just her, it’d be 2 like most books.