Official Yomi thread

{Beware, a rant with Shinobi Girl's Heart spoilers are ahead.}But with that said...I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in whomever wrote Yomi's Shinobi Girl's Heart missions.

Not only do they provide her with no character growth, they actually reverse the growth she's already had--to the point where Ikaruga was right about calling her a "bandit". Her character literally devolved into larcenous villainy for the sake of poorly written comedy (if you can call it that).

Yes, I'm a bit upset by this. lol I saved this SGH mission for last, and for her birthday. It's enough to say that I prefer to reject that mission, and instead focus on her growth and better qualities as shown in SK2 and the New Wave cards. Regarding her growth, an example is her correction of those flaws, especially with Ikaruga's help; it was appalling to see that even Ikaruga couldn't get through to her in that ridiculous scenario. Indeed, I do reject that series of missions. My lovely Lady Beansprout is better than what they show.

I truly hope that that letter to Takaki-sensei reaches him--and that the girls are properly developed in the future, not further turned into terrible caricatures of themselves (and, thus, forcing me to consider the sullying of my Lady's character canon).

{Response--potential SGH spoilers.}Frankly speaking, I expected such based on the name and how certain characters (e.g., everyone's favorite yuki-onna) at least got a story that matched their personality in at least a neutral manner, however humorous. Yes--however silly they might have been, some of them added more to the characters' personal backstories, which the main missions did not do well except for a few characters. Moreover, I expected humor, not regressive/overly simplistic caricature.

That being said, character development doesn't always have to be dour and dire. After beating the main missions, I thought that the SGH missions were there to give the girls some (lighthearted) spotlight time--an acknowledgement that they didn't really get much of it in the main missions--which were largely a drama, anyway. Even a silly story could add more life to a character, as opposed to leaving them two-dimensional--that is, with nothing to show for themselves but a basic character trait and nothing else. Take, for instance, Ikaruga's SGH missions. Fun and lighthearted, a theatrical production with some...unexpected guest appearances and serious ad-libbing action. It took nothing from her character, but added a cute day-in-the-life chapter for her: a tale taken from her days performing for the children in the slums.

Finally, isn't the fact that they (however many of them this applies) weren't well written the problem? Or is it something we ought to look forward to in future games? (I don't know about you, but when I buy a game, I expect quality. I would imagine that this is why that letter to Takaki-sensei was/is being composed.) The problem with Yomi's SGH missions was that they sailed far past "silly" and landed in "disparaging"; they could give a player with no particular feelings toward her a reason to hate her, and certainly give her fans no reason to actually want to play those missions. This goes for any other character who got this treatment, as well, though I speak for Yomi here.