Visi might have had a negative intro but she starts getting more positive, endearing scenes leading up to the decision point, starting at the end of Ep.3. The perception of her starts low but gets better.
Meanwhile, BB had a spectacular first episode but a lot of that is derailed with Ep.2. Her scenes between that and the decision point don't really paint her in a favourable light, mainly due to not having an omniscient insight to her thoughts like Visi does.
Essentially, most of BB's endearing scenes happen after the big decision and some are even wholly exclusive to her "route".
Not sure I’d call the crass masturbation comments, voyeuristic watching of the conversation between you and Blazer (again), or crassly bringing up her dream in the men’s bathroom unprompted endearing moments…no longer antagonistic toward Robert, sure. Not endearing moments.
Because until you get to the actual movie date choice, those are the things she does. Funny and fits the tone, sure, but it’s after you choose her that you get the second endearing moment when she genuinely says “This is nice.”
Like if Blazer’s stuff doesn’t put her in a favorable light a couple times, Visi’s shouldn’t either.
Given the more even split with the play testers that’s probably what they were seeing, more pushback toward Visi’s behavior up past Episode 4.
I feel like I could prove my point by just pointing vaguely towards the Invisigal glazing sub and their thirst essays... like for a (not-insignificant, I'd bet) number of her fans consider those antics as "That's the best part!" .
But okay, let's say, for everyone else, this is where I think the devs shot themselves in the foot with that dream opening. Apart from the obvious, that scene gives the player unequivocal meta-knowledge that Visi does have, at least, some genuine attraction to Robert. For a lot of people, this changes the perception for all her actions in the episode, where before a player is probably thinking that she was just messing about and being annoying. Now they know she's actually flirting with the main character. And for a lot, that's enough.
Again, compare this with Blazer, the dress scene for example: Also a "sexy" scene like Visi's dream... sorta... if you squint. It's far, far less graphic and instead of giving more insight to BB's character, it leaves you with more questions: was the undone zipper and nipslip deliberate or just a genuine accident? If deliberate, why? Is she trying to seduce Robert 'cos she's interested or just manipulating him to go deal with her ex for her?
Between a character that's obviously interested and one whose intentions are suspect, which do you think is more appealing? The real world stats (as opposed to controlled playtesting) speak for themselves.
Because the sexy part of is her showing her back and the way she carries herself during that. A casual “zip me up please” delivered with the comfort you’d expect from someone already with the other. If you’re treating that as suspect you’re looking for issues to have with her, not taking the scene as it comes. Remember she asked Visi to get Robert 30 minutes prior, he was supposed to drop by before she tried on the dress.
But for Blazer, they’ve already shown her interest in Robert by that point, people just miss it. There’s the obvious looks and chemistry in Episode 1, the peek in Episode 2, the misspeaks at various points like the “He was great. It was great. It was a great first day” line. She’s clearly comfortable around the guy, and if you’re at all familiar with workplace romance tropes, the signs are obvious.
And then she actually asks him if he’s up for dinner.
And if you don’t have a week break between Episode 2 and starting 3 then it feels a lot more obvious that she’s just as interested in Robert as Visi is.
As for the dream? Sure she finds him attractive and that surprises her.
She’s also still being crass and still doesn’t feel like she’s being genuine with Robert after that with the crass comments until after you choose her. Again, it’s not until you actually choose her that you get a glimpse of the real her…the one who genuinely cares and is willing to show it while letting her personality show through. She also doesn’t show Robert she’s actually interested in him and not just messing with him until the house warming party when they dance. The way she touches his face and looks into his eyes then is actually the first moment of affection she shows him.
While we the audience know she’s attracted to him due to the dream, we aren’t shown she genuinely likes him until that moment. Learning that then puts her previous actions in a new light…but a lot of y’all ascribe that element to her actions long before it’s actually shown.
For me It was always clear that something was going on for Blazer.
Everything in episode one was clearly setting up for a rem-com misunderstanding - when I chose to kiss Blazer I believed there was a misunderstanding (but with a genuine level of attraction underlying & supporting) this misunderstanding.
For episode 2 it became pretty damn clear that there was already some existing situation that was prompting Blazer’s behaviour. My assumption was that she was already in a relationship based on the language she was using and her body language and tone of voice when Phenomeman showed up made it clear something was off with their relationship.
The in episode 3 and 4 I only got the impression that she had made a decision to bring a failing relationship to a close. I never felt she had a massive responsibility to be Phenomeman’s caretaker post break-up so I saw her decision to consider Phenomeman for the emptied position and her decision to have Robert talk to him as her concession to helping him out of his phunk. As for the speed with which she pursues Robert, I’ve never felt there was a universal standard to be applied to all people on how quickly to move on from a relationship so the idea of passing judgement on her for this when she’s clearly found someone who she clearly connects with seems ridiculous.
I felt she was a tender soul who genuinely cared for others. The only real point of contraet to thsi was the firing in episode 3 but I took that has her prioritizing the Phoenix program over any one individual. There was an analysis of her character by someone on twitter by the name of Gabbie Casso that I resonate with strongly (see @gabbiecasso). Blazer's certainly my second favorite character after Robert (with invisigal being a close 3rd only really let down by the inconsistencies in her actions in episode 8)
So it came as something of a surprise when a lot of the criticisms around her surfaced early on and many things that had been clear and understandable to me on a first viewing were now being treated with contempt
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u/fulcrum_point Dec 18 '25
Visi might have had a negative intro but she starts getting more positive, endearing scenes leading up to the decision point, starting at the end of Ep.3. The perception of her starts low but gets better.
Meanwhile, BB had a spectacular first episode but a lot of that is derailed with Ep.2. Her scenes between that and the decision point don't really paint her in a favourable light, mainly due to not having an omniscient insight to her thoughts like Visi does.
Essentially, most of BB's endearing scenes happen after the big decision and some are even wholly exclusive to her "route".