(Whew...haven't been here for a while.)
I liked reading the comic novels. They remind me of Neil Gaiman's style. But just a bit though, because seriously, the great man's novels are UNIQUE and quite above us mortals. But the art is a bit reminiscent of his messy art, and the plot is similarly weird.
I like the audio changes. Thank god for that. Now I can just speed through it if I want. I'm up to the first book right now. I'll probably finish them all in a while.
Now, compliments aside, I saw some things that, though not necessarily bad, also don't seem to mesh quite well with the whole aura of the site, place...well, you get what I mean.
I like the narrator. He has an awesomely 'hot' voice. But apart from him, I'm not as enamored with the others. (Reading Chapter 2 now.) I'm kind of put off by the sudden change of tone of voice between the narrator and the characters. Here, you've got the narrator speaking plain speech. No rhythm, and no wants to make what he's saying sound like poetry. And then suddenly, you switch to the characters who talk poet-style. Which actually sounds kind of...iffy. For example, you've got a drunk guy (the Depressed Man), and he's downed like a dozen glasses of beer...and he can still think straight? and talk straight for that matter? In a way that is intelligible? And he's making his talk 'rhyme'? It's just illogical. Maybe you can change the audio to sound like he's thinking stuff in his head instead of saying them out loud.
So too with the other characters. They're all gritty, dark characters. But it's just weird that what they're saying... rhymes. I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone. But apart from this comic being very reminiscent of the Neil Gaiman Sandman series, it is even 'more' reminiscent of Sin City, and generally, people kind of have similar expectations. You've got the grit, you've got awesome monsters (which Sin City doesn't have...kudos for you), and you've got very depressing people. Even the colors promote the whole 'bad side of town, don't mess with the people' aura of the comic. And let's not forget the background sounds that accompany the characters. That was an awesome AWESOME idea. It really adds a new dimension to the experience.
There's all these details going for it, like the Narrator with his very deep, dark, strong tone of voice. I like the way he speaks aaaand what he's saying. The script is awesome for his parts. But then there's sudden switch to characters who sound...like a bad art piece mixed in with a gallery of greats. And I'm sorry to the scriptwriter, but the rhymee words are not of the same level as the words written for the narrator's part. They're just not as good, and they don't sound as good. That's all I can say.
Oh, and in Chapter 2, there's this part where the Ronin is running away, and there's a line saying that the weird purple creatures are 'staggering' after her. I don't think 'stagger' is quite the right word.
(Now reading Chapter 3)
Awesome!!! The words aren't rhyming anymore. So this is what you meant by a new direction? Now I feel bad about everything else I wrote earlier. That aside, the priest is a bit strange though. The voice doesn't seem to fit the imagery.
It's a bit lengthy...so now I'm having second thoughts about actually posting it. Since you're changing speech and writing styles anyway, this might not even be needed. But if it'll push you to change the script of the prologue, and first two chapters, maybe this'll be a good thing. Man...I think I'm sounding a bit like a know-it-all. But in my defense, I reaaaally don't like the rhymmee speeches. Ahhh...think of it as mild constructive criticism. If you don't like it, feel free to delete.
