Nefarious - Part 8 - Truce or Consequences
4There are three things an ongoing work of comedy must eventually parody: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Christmas Carol, and The Dating Game. Only one of these does not yet have a TV Tropes page listing those parodies, and this is the one Nefarious has chosen. As you might have eventually figured, this is not actually a stage, per se, but an extended cutscene important to the story. And as can be plain to see, my playthrough of this game includes the story, which is the real meat behind this game, since the gameplay is way less solid, frankly speaking. (Compare this to a certain other indie 2-D platforming game I've covered with the option to skip everything but the stages, as they know that game's story is weaker than the gameplay.)
Would You Date a Supervillain? places three supervillains on the left side (well, stage right), the subject on the right side (stage left), and Manfred Frowney in the middle. This time around, the featured supervillains are Crow, Malachite, and Malice, the last of which is a face we haven't seen prior. She is the head of the Syndicate of Malice; according to the sequel webcomic, it is named after her and isn't a "Legion of Doom" type of name. Malice is one of those cosmic-level sorceresses but hasn't really been involved with Crow's day-to-day activities much. (And this will be the last time you see her in this game too.) And yes, apparently, the bachelors can be either gender, which makes them surprisingly progressive, but at the same time, I figured they would ask the subjects of their dating preferences first. They got lucky that Princess Mayapple, as it seems, swings both ways.
Noblesse oblige, by the way, is a cultural concept that states that the wealthy and/or powerful should provide for those poorer and/or less powerful than themselves. It's a good concept, but one has to wonder how seriously that's been practiced nowadays, especially in big business.
After Mayapple is Becky. Now you know why she was pushing so hard for Crow to be on the show--she was going to be on it too! Remember the love letter Crow received from Kaptain Man back in Part 4? This is what it's for.
Lastly is Ariella. This is the major turning point for her as a character, as is Malachite. I won't spoil what that is, but suffice to say that Malachite softens dramatically as a character, admitting he doesn't really want to be a bad guy. But hey, as Zangief has pointed out, "Just because you are bad guy doesn't mean you are 'bad guy.'"
If you're wondering how interactive this part of the game was, to my knowledge, the plot would've progressed the same regardless of what choices youmake for Crow and how quickly or slowly you mash those buttons. I pointed out that it's a cutscene, after all.
After this will be a regular stage. Well, an optional one, but a stage nonetheless. Remember at the end of Part 7, how Farrah is low on energy? She's going to have to get recharged, and Crow has chosen a power core in the Ogre Kingdom to do that. The journey there, and the result, will make up Part 9.