Reviewed on: 2024/06/08
Score: 2/10, only because it's a finished game.
Playtime: About 6 hours for a single playthrough, much more if you're a completionist and are [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3263603160]stuck guessing the effects of choices[/url], and haven't [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3263536065]unlocked text-skipping[/url].
[h3]TL;DR:[/h3]
In all honesty, I'm having trouble finding words to describe this AVN that wouldn't insult the dev. So, instead of a TL;DR, I'll just let the game speak for itself (verbatim, except spoiler tag):
[i]"He wasted no time flipping [spoiler]Courtney[/spoiler] around and sliding his ♥♥♥♥ into her ass and ready to ♥♥♥♥ it like he had never done before. [Player] got the lube he had as you need lube to put it in anyone's ass. As he sldie the lubed ♥♥♥♥ in her ass slowly"[/i]
[h3]Gameplay:[/h3]
Dialog choices will change how Love Interests view the MC, but the effect of the player's answers aren't shown. Worse, most choices only affect the single line the MC says, with the other character always having the same reply/reaction. The dev has also disabled the ability of the player to skip seen and unseen text.
This is player unfriendly design. You not only have to guess what each LI likes (if you care), but also have to keep clicking to skip text when replaying and trying different paths. Luckily, the number of points needed to get the "good" ending is low, and players can luck in to it.
The game is divided in a prologue and 21 days, with a single-choice freeroam section dividing them. From reading the code, I get the sense that the dev's original plan was a lot bigger, with the MC having a stamina stat (limited amounts of actions per day). In this version, the freeroam's only use is to make the player navigate to a specific LI's room, to do that day's event.
[h3]Adult:[/h3]
There are a few renders of naked women, and lots of text describing what they and the MC do with each other. The main theme of the game (I think) is about dealing with grief, unresolved conflict, and coming to term with past mistakes.
[h3]Visual[/h3]:
During dialog, cutouts of characters are placed on top of a blurred background, slyly looking straight at the camera while talking to each other.
These cutouts will move their mouth while talking, and will sometimes change their facial expression, but that's it. They won't change their posture or move their limbs.
This background doesn't change often enough either. Text describes how the MC visits a different location, or takes part in certain activities, without it being shown.
Seeing how text-heavy this game is, this design seems like the bare minimum, if that.
Lewd scenes get special treatment. Bodies are actually posed, and one or two renders show the gist of what's going on. These renders are also accompanied by a lot of text, describing things we never get to see, usually foreplay and climaxes.
Some lewd scenes have a short animation. Sadly, I can't be very positive about these either. For instance, in the animations with Cheerleader and Lawyer, we'll see the MC thrusting, but his penis just remains static (as in, not going in & out). The animations also look as if they're cut together by playing a shorter animation in forward and reverse, then repeating this segment a few times.
Looking at some animations side by side, it's obvious the dev saved time by re-using the same scenes and animations, only replacing the LI's model.
Some animations are outright nauseating, like the anal scene with [spoiler]Courtney[/spoiler], with the camera bobbing in an X-shaped motion as if it's the bouncing logo meme.
[h3]Sound:[/h3]
There are no sound effects or voices/sex-sounds, yet the volume sliders are present for them.
The game has music, with scenes have their own track. These tracks usually contain lyrics and are fairly high energy, often not matching the atmosphere of what's happening on the screen.
Personally, I find this type of music distracting while reading and viewing.
[h3]Novel:[/h3]
This game's writing is unlike anything I've ever seen, and not in a good way.
Example: [i]"They make out with their naked bodies together with [Player]'s ♥♥♥♥ getting hard and so big. cheerleader is surprised he is so big."[/i]
Or, how about: [i]"Cheerleader kisses him passionately and they put each other's hands all over their hot bodies. She takes his ♥♥♥♥ into her mouth and begins to suck on it. It tastes salty and feels warm as his ♥♥♥♥ hits the back of her throat. she deepthroats it several times"[/i]
This isn't a translation issue. Even a machine translation would be better if the writer mastered their native language. Huge amounts of typos and spelling mistakes also betray the fact that the writer did write these lines, and not pasted them in from an external tool.
It's not only the quality of the writing that's bad, there is no common-sense progression to the story.
A certain LI will tell us she slept with her teacher to get good grades, later, we learn she was sexually active for years before the MC arrived. The MC also has penetrative sex with her, and somehow, a few days later, he'll feel her hymen break during another romp. And, to top it all off, at the end of the game we'll learn that [spoiler]the MC's dad had sex with all LI for years.[/spoiler].
By telling the story about the MC and his father in a segmented and sometimes anachronistic way, it becomes even more difficult to understand.
During my first playthrough, I thought that the pacing of the growing intimacy was relatively well done. However, on the playthrough where I made negative choices, everything still happened the same way, except for the ending. This is too bad. If LIs would actually react differently toward the MC based on his behavior toward them, at least the game would've had this going for it.
[h3]Conclusion:[/h3]
Despite my negative review, I do respect the dev for publishing a finished game, I think Dad would be proud. It's far from perfect, but the basics are there. Story concept, thousands of words, structure, renders, animations, ... It's clear some shortcuts were taken, and maybe playtesters didn't provide actionable feedback.
I hope the dev keeps at it and hones his skills, starting by polishing this game a bit more before starting on Episode 2.
For now though, avoid this game.
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