Review + Discussion: Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue

[Kosakyun]

Review Link

Heya! I'm Kosakyun.

Last month, I reviewed Dreamloop Games' first visual novel title Inescapable: No Rules, No Rescue for Fuwanovel. If you're familiar with the title, it probably means you caught whiff of whatever drama was happening around its release. While some of the criticisms do make sense given the game's price and just a broader context of the overall situation, it's better if you still play it yourself to get your own opinion regardless, right? So given the opportunity, that's exactly what I did! 

For a quick look, here are some points I felt were important.

Pros:

• Vibrant cast of characters with their own quirky personalities (sometimes to their detriment)
• Creative setting for a relationship simulator
• Cool UI and miscellaneous features (minigames!)
• Routes with themes that play nicely into the game's setting
• Mia

Cons:

• It's incredibly slow-burn (felt lika a slog at some point)
• Limited saves
• The minigames lack meaning or replayability
• There is no "Extra" tab for CGs and Music
• There are no guides and I cannot find my last fucking achievement because the description is so vague

I'm curious to see if you guys agree with whatever I said here, so come at me with your worst!

No really, please. Talk to me about it. I need someone to talk to. 

Here's the Steam page if you're interested in taking a peek at it yourself!

Edited November 24, 2023 by Kosakyun

[Kirashi]

What were the dramas regarding this game?

[Kosakyun]

7 hours ago, Kirashi said:

What were the dramas regarding this game?

Things related to false advertisements of being similar to Danganronpa or other mystery VNs which led to unfulfilled expectations. In addition to that, it's also priced pretty high relative to other EVNs. Both those combined to form a kind of strong backlash when the game was finally made available in stores (or even before that, I'd imagine).

Granted I wasn't really aware of any of that prior to the release, so my opinion about it is secondhand. It's another whole topic outside of what it is as a visual novel, after all. 

 

[NookGaming]

14 hours ago, Kirashi said:

What were the dramas regarding this game?

As well as the ones Kosakyun mentioned, there were apparently some technical issues at launch.

[Kirashi]

Someone finished the game recently and could do a detailed summary? I finished the greed route and while I am curious, I am not sure I want to play the other routes

[Kosakyun]

17 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

Someone finished the game recently and could do a detailed summary? I finished the greed route and while I am curious, I am not sure I want to play the other routes

I have a bit of a summary in the review, but feel free to ask for more if that's not enough.

If you're looking for like an actual detailed summary though... I guess I could try? If you really wanted to be spoiled.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Kosakyun

[Kirashi]

I may find the courage to play the suspision route because it looks interesting. In the greed route, there are a lot of stuff still not explained, like, who is the mysterious person sending messages, what exactly is Issak relationship with the producer. From what I could read on your review, I'm still unsure if some mysteries are actually rushed plot holes or explained in some other routes. The greed ending was the biggest flaw the whole game had. I mean:

Spoiler

Really? Harrisson planned to just take the phone and the money of Gio and let him be? I mean... You rob a killer from everything and... That it? You just bind him and ask kindly to open his phone? Not expecting any retribution afterward?  I don't know where Harisson overconfidence came from but it was a very poor move. And chica betraying Harisson out of nowhere getting them killed mades the end looks stupid too. The writer probably wanted to target character's greed as responsible for this failure but there are so much flaws there was no way I could take this seriously

Can you make a detailed summary about what happen in the Lust route? I won't read it

Edited November 28, 2023 by Kirashi

[Kosakyun]

4 hours ago, Kirashi said:

I may find the courage to play the suspision route because it looks interesting. In the greed route, there are a lot of stuff still not explained, like, who is the mysterious person sending messages, what exactly is Issak relationship with the producer. From what I could read on your review, I'm still unsure if some mysteries are actually rushed plot holes or explained in some other routes. The greed ending was the biggest flaw the whole game had.

It's been a month since I finished the game, so bear with me if I don't remember it clearly anymore.

Spoiler

In most of the routes it's presumed that anonymous text messages will usually come from the producers themselves. I mean, who else would it come from? Unless explicitly stated as a function, their cellphones literally work within a closed network with their personal data tied to their devices so anonymity is kind of hard to achieve for the members of the island cast. Though I can't say that 100% there wasn't someone like that outside of the producers in the other routes.

As for Gio, of course Harrison had a lot of confidence because getting his cellphone would have essentially shut Gio down. The next step to getting his phone from him would probably have been house arrest, and without his phone, Gio won't be able to leave the room unless he breaks something to do so.  So there is a basis for that confidence, especially since they did have a way to threaten Gio's life.

I won't defend Francisca's actions at the end of the Greed route though. I'm pretty sure it looks and sounds stupid because it's supposed to be given the overall context. I mean, even the Chef Annika thing was downright ridiculous if you think about it logically. But Harrison eats it up because he can't think about anything aside from the money and moving up the ranks. They've been working against themselves from the start because of the value play they've been doing in their isolated world. 

 

4 hours ago, Kirashi said:

Can you make a detailed summary about what happen in the Lust route? I won't read it

Okie dokie.

Spoiler

The Lust Route centers around the introduction of a voting mechanic to the reality TV show system Inescapable has. Each member of the cast votes for what they think the ranking of their fellow participants are and whoever ranks the highest across all the voting sessions wins the entire show,. Along the way, Harrison gets intimate with a number of the female cast because, well, you choose to do so. The route is triggered by interacting with the characters who are overtly promiscuous or have a certain sexual appeal to them, and if you're successful, you basically live out a harem plotline where you chase skirts and try to warm up to all of them as much as possible.

There is no harem end; you'll have to choose who you decide to get into a relationship with near the end of the route. It's either Annika, Francisca, or Eva. All of them end up being pretty horrible though. At the start of the route, Harrison has favorable reviews and whatnot because of your actions in the common route, but the more the voting thing happens, the more Harrison tries to suck up to either the others or the audience he thinks is watching him (or loves him). The relationship becomes a vehicle for raking up popularity points because, well, sex sells? He even goes as far as to talk to himself to acknowledge the viewers lol. Of course it only ends up with Harrison trying to get more points either with the ladies or in the voting sessions, making his personality a lot more vain and self-conscious about his image than usual. The girls end up neglected one way or another even if they choose to stick with him after the show because he keeps on chasing the stardom he thinks he had.

Kinda pitiful to read Harrison like that tbh.

Hope that works out. All the other three routes are actually longer than what you got so it's hard to summarize everything that happened. Just note that the entire thing in the Lust route revolves around scandals and whatnot.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Kosakyun

[Kirashi]

Thank you but you summary brings up more questions now x).

 

Spoiler

Was his relationship with them "true love" or just sex friend? Because from what I was at least from Eva and Franchisca, I fail to imagine them seeking "true love", even less with a normal guy like Harisson. How far did they go? What was the point of the ranking? What did the winners and loosers get? Since there is 3 potential "love interest does that mean there are 3 endings? How does the relationship go for each? When you talk about "scandals" it was the NTR discussion?

I try to understand in detail this route and the character developpement because I would like to be able to compare this one with the routes I played (maybe suspision)

I don't think there would be any point for the producers to message harisson while hiding their identity, especially the first time they did it, it was not relevant, also why him?

Edited November 28, 2023 by Kirashi

[Kosakyun]

15 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

Thank you but you summary brings up more questions now x).

  Reveal hidden contents

Was his relationship with them "true love" or just sex friend? Because from what I was at least from Eva and Franchisca, I fail to imagine them seeking "true love", even less with a normal guy like Harisson. How far did they go? What was the point of the ranking? What did the winners and loosers get? Since there is 3 potential "love interest does that mean there are 3 endings? How does the relationship go for each? When you talk about "scandals" it was the NTR discussion?

I try to understand in detail this route and the character developpement because I would like to be able to compare this one with the routes I played (maybe suspision)

That's no problem! It's nice seeing someone interested in the game!

Spoiler

It was supposed to be one built out of "true love" because the catch is that Harrison sees them as tools or trophies but the girls don't. They genuinely think Harrison is a good guy that they can have a future with because of how he's been projecting himself for the voting sessions. You're given more context about that if you pursue the Trust route (since it kinda infodumps you a lot of their stories and backgrounds). As for how far they've gone, let's just say that they've gone all the way. 

The ranking system is your equivalent of the ranking by money system in the Greed route. Instead of distributing money equally and then allowing you to use it in whatever way you want, the rankings are there to determine stuff like extra prizes, punishments for the bottom x number of people, etc etc. The kind of things that spice up a show, I guess? They got things like being locked out of the room for a week, getting personalized care packages, being allowed to post on social media, and other stuff I can't exactly remember.

There are indeed 3 endings that are kind of like just attached to the overall Lust Ending. They're like epilogues that happen after the common one. For scandals, it's more "scandalous" than scandals I guess. Kinda like how "wow you really did that?" and all that gossip. Not necessarily of the romantic kind although there are (Valerie + Isak), but just issues that remind you of your highschool days, I guess? They weren't particularly heavy especially compared to the Suspicion route, but they sure are entertaining for viewers I guess.

 

15 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

I don't think there would be any point for the producers to message harisson while hiding their identity, especially the first time they did it, it was not relevant, also why him?

I'm inclined to agree with the first point because I don't remember it enough to refute it, but for why Harrison... Well, he's just so gullible, I suppose! You've probably noticed how easy it is to just string him along onto anything as long as you can convince him of its merits and whatnot because of his naturally modest or weak-willed demeanor. That's also like a big point for why he's the way he is in a lot of instances, but I wouldn't judge. Producers just probably saw him as the easiest target especially when compared to the rest of the cast.

...But it's not like he's the only one being forced to move by the producers.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Kosakyun

[Kirashi]

What happen in each of the 3 endings?

[Kosakyun]

5 hours ago, Kirashi said:

What happen in each of the 3 endings?

Here's a quick summary:

Spoiler

Annika - Harrison ends up treating her like a house helper, making her do the chores while drinking himself away in delusions of grandeur from their time in Inescapable. They were going to couples therapy sessions (with Annika paying the costs from her prize money since Harrison was last) but Annika got fed up with it and resolved to leave him.

 

Eva - Harrison goes around with the socialite and makes use of her already big fanbase to kind of latch onto her popularity. Although once encouraged by Harrison to pursue her fashion dreams (aka nail art and stuff), she realizes that Harrison is no different now from all the other men who've only used her and leaves him behind to become single and independent.

 

Francisca - Francisca ends up marrying another guy to sustain her kid, but Harrison calls her every now and then to ask for money and a hope that she'll return to him. In one final phone call, Francisca agrees but sets an ultimatum that Harrison cannot call her anymore because she doesn't want to be associated anymore to a bum who can't even find work for himself despite her trust in him while on the island.

 

Additional detail: Sasha actually has a tryst with you within the route if you pick the right choices, so yes, not only does Harrison woo them all at the same time, he also cheats on the three of them (besides the three-timing) by hooking up with Sasha first if you make it happen.

 

[Kirashi]

Spoiler

Harrisson won the popularity pool by fucking the three girls in front of the camera if I understood, but if "sex works well", how come he got last place?

 

Those three ending are quite terrible. I remember you talking about romantic relationship in the trust route, can you one get one there?

[Kosakyun]

9 hours ago, Kirashi said:

  Hide contents

Harrisson won the popularity pool by fucking the three girls in front of the camera if I understood, but if "sex works well", how come he got last place?

 

Those three ending are quite terrible. I remember you talking about romantic relationship in the trust route, can you one get one there?

I have no idea where you got that plot point, but it's not really anything as explicit as that.

Spoiler

More like her flirted with all three overtly then chose one at the end to sell the relationship thing to the audience. Well, not so much the audience at that moment but eventually it was the equivalent of that. He definitely did not win the popularity poll because of that kind of thing. Rather, the whole thing was him trying to actually win first place which landed him dead last since he kept doing stuff that was kind of unnatural or out of place for him.

For the trust route, there isn't really a romantic relationship. It's a whole lot of friendship.

 

[Kirashi]

10 hours ago, Kosakyun said:

I have no idea where you got that plot point, but it's not really anything as explicit as that.

  Reveal hidden contents

More like her flirted with all three overtly then chose one at the end to sell the relationship thing to the audience. Well, not so much the audience at that moment but eventually it was the equivalent of that. He definitely did not win the popularity poll because of that kind of thing. Rather, the whole thing was him trying to actually win first place which landed him dead last since he kept doing stuff that was kind of unnatural or out of place for him.

For the trust route, there isn't really a romantic relationship. It's a whole lot of friendship.

You said earlier that Harrisson use the girls as a vehicle for popularity and sex sells well. In the end what were the points that boosted his popularity if he didn't act like a dick and didn't fuck the girls?

[Kosakyun]

2 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

You said earlier that Harrisson use the girls as a vehicle for popularity and sex sells well. In the end what were the points that boosted his popularity if he didn't act like a dick and didn't fuck the girls?

I used sex sells as more of a general reference to promiscuous romance, so my bad for the confusion. But it's basically just him courting them and whatnot then making a spectacle out of it at some point (in his head, at least).

[Kirashi]

Sorry I'm confused, what do you mean by that?

[Kosakyun]

7 hours ago, Kirashi said:

Sorry I'm confused, what do you mean by that?

It's basically like in reality TV when you see two people get together, it sort of stirs a response in the fandom. Sometimes it's real, other times it's on purpose to make conversations or create attention.

Spoiler

That's what I'm trying to say when I mentioned the relationships being more of a spectacle for Harrison. It's not like he truly loves them (unlike the girls), it's that he enjoys the hunt/chase (courting phase) and the attention that comes with it. He's never really there to truly love them. That's why it's a Lust/Desire route; he feeds into his desires/ego by chasing all three girls at once and then settling on one to get it on with them on the next level of the relationship (sex) and to make the audience pay attention to him by giving them a relationship to keep track of.

It makes the entire thing more or less a calculated move.

[Kirashi]

I am in the suspision route right now and I am at the investigation part, I am at loss at the part where Harrisson learn that Mia is trying to get new/different contacts but it's helly vague. That info came out of nowhere and we don't know from who with what about who, I assume it was a deal with the producer but wasn't Mia always nagging about never making any deal with them? I am so confused.

Can you explain exactly what happenned? Unless we learn more about it later?

Edited December 3, 2023 by Kirashi

[Kosakyun]

56 minutes ago, Kirashi said:

I am in the suspision route right now and I am at the investigation part, I am at loss at the part where Harrisson learn that Mia is trying to get new/different contacts but it's helly vague. That info came out of nowhere and we don't know from who with what about who, I assume it was a deal with the producer but wasn't Mia always nagging about never making any deal with them? I am so confused.

Can you explain exactly what happenned? Unless we learn more about it later?

You'll learn more about Mia's actions later. I assume this is for the second investigation?

[Kirashi]

No just the first

[Kosakyun]

8 hours ago, Kirashi said:

No just the first

Ahhh it's kinda weird, but it'll make more sense as you advance I think.

Spoiler

Also don't u think it's funny you and Mia always end up in opposite sides even though you two are supposedly the first people to ally?

 

[Kirashi]

Just finished the suspision route, and it was good, even better than greed. I loved harrisson character developpement and his internal struggle. The last case was good too. But everything after that is exactly like the end of the greed route : rushed/flawed/full of contradictions. It feels kind of weird there is no further developpement after the last case (which left me a kind of empty feeling). I don't want to be disappointed further, this route will be my last.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Kirashi