It's official: there is a plague of pop culture references in adult visual novels.
Chasing Sunsets is an adult visual novel developed by Stone Fox Studios, and, surprisingly, this broke a streak of negative reviews from my part, due to reasons I will detail in the next paragraphs.
The visuals for this game are really good, very detailed, with on point lighting and characters that look like real people instead of wax dolls (see my last review to know what I'm talking about), the sound effects are on point, the music is decent and it adapts to the context and the scenes nicely. The sex scenes are top notch, with fluid and sexy animations, spicy dialogue and achieves the quasi-FMV effect nicely. That being said, there is one sex scene where the animations are a bit stiff, but other than that, it's straight As across the board.
The gameplay is standard issue for a visual novel. There are choices that I won't see the consequences later in the story, but I wish some of those consequences had more impact in the story. There are two main metrics for the two main love interests, but I'm not sure what the "trust" metric does, because the endings don't change, regardless of how much trust I have with either character. The "love" metric has more visible effects on the story, and directly decides if you have a good ending or a normal ending. Bad endings don't typically rely on those two metrics, unless you're trying to have the two girls simultaneously (don't try it, unless you are an achievement hound). This is the first adult visual novel I've played so far that punishes me for trying to get both girls, and I'll explain why this is a good thing in my writing assessment. Lastly, there is a kind of after action report showing you how you're faring with both girls, a more basic form of after action report than what you'd see in AVNs like Acting Lessons or Being a ♥♥♥.
As for the writing, it's some of the best writing I've seen in an adult visual novel so far, but one of the only issues I have with the writing is the dialogue in several passages of the story, because the characters are very keen to use popular memes as lines of dialogue or constant pop culture references in their conversations. I think this is a bad thing, because overreliance on pop culture references and memes means that the people reading this story five years from now will feel like the dialogue writing is outdated, and won't take it seriously. My suggestion for the developers is to tone down the memes and the references, and if they really want to, use references that won't be outdated five years from now on. Other than that, the dialogue is mature and poignant in serious scenes, which is always welcome, because it gives consistency to the tone of the story. The plot was interesting, delving into genetic engineering and the clash between corporations regarding patent disputes. This is what Artemis (the visual novel, not the character) should've been, because the plot has direct ramifications into the characters, namely, the two main heroines of the story. There is also a bit of worldbuilding, accompanied by cameos from other adult visual novels, which I haven't played with the exception of Artemis, who has a part to play in the plot. As for the characters, I've a few problems with characterization, because some elements of the dialogue are interchangeable between Jaye and Mallory. Other than that, they're good characters, with clearly defined fears, flaws, goals and dreams, and, most importantly, they're both likeable, which is very important in a visual novel with romance. They have some degree of development, not amazing or compelling, but it's there, enough to invest in either of them. I also said in my gameplay assessment that this game punishes you for pursuing both girls. This is a good thing, because there is nothing in the worldbuilding that says that polyamorous relationships are possible. One could argue that one of the endings break that rule, but I argue that works because Mallory wasn't looking to formalize her relationship, which allows for a wiggling room to fit Amanda in. One issue I have with the game punishing you for pursuing both girls, is their reaction after they find out what you've been doing. I thought that their reaction was too dramatic and sudden, and showed immaturity by not being able to separate work from personal relationships, and can create a cognitive dissonance on the reader, especially that advanced in the story. The way I'd do this is to not trigger a bad ending, but lock both routes permanently, with no option to gain any more trust and/or love points, and they keeping a strictly business relationship with you.
In conclusion, this was a good experience. Reading this story felt effortless, and kept me engaged with the characters and the plot. Are there flaws? Certainly. Are they dealbreakers? Absolutely not. The devs made sure that they delivered a good story and exquisitely spicy scenes, proving what I always say about good storytelling and fanservice. If you don't mind the plethora of pop culture references and memes, you should give it a read, and even if you don't care too much about the story, the sex scenes are top quality, and you'll have a good time regardless.
