Chasing the Stars

The demo for this VN seemed promising, and I really wanted to like it, but the lack of editing and direction made it a chore to get through. There's some English voice acting, but it's sporadic (I'd even say randomly placed) and kind of bland. It seems to be an issue with a lack of voice directing rather than a problem with the actors themselves (case in point, I'm pretty sure they pronounce the name of the planet, Alaya, at least four different ways over the course of the game). The sound balance is also way off, with super quiet voice acting, some super loud music, and some music that gets too soft if you adjust the volume down for the loudest parts. The sprite art and character designs look nice, but clash with the style of the CGs. The art direction of the H-scenes was also pretty frustrating, because it seemed like the director kind of grasped the notion that you should vary your camera angle and use a mix of close-ups and wide shots to give the scene a sense of momentum even if you only have one CG, but didn't realize [i]why[/i] or how it works, so the scenes are filled with seemingly random close-ups of seemingly random parts of the CG with no apparent thought towards the overall scene composition and flow. The writer obviously isn't a native speaker, and a lot of the writing is grammatically incorrect or just awkward-sounding. It desperately needs an editor, and since the game was crowdfunded, that cost should have been planned and accounted for. I don't object to the fact that one of the love interests is basically a garbage person [spoiler](and that the protagonist has to sleep with him in order to romance one of the other two options and not get a bad end -- that's kind of unfortunate implications on a meta level, but it makes sense in the context of the story, so whatever)[/spoiler] because that can be interesting, but the conclusion and the way the story dealt with the themes of moral ambiguity ended up feeling pretty unsatisfying. It's just not a good enough story to make it worth getting past all the technical issues.

TW Sexual assault/coercion I liked it! At first... The aesthetic, world building, and for the most part, character personalities, were great, until it became a really weird manipulative and r*pey power struggle with underwhelming twists. Wholly ruined the experience. and on top of that, its a choice making dating sim...but you lose if you don't engage in a relationship with a specific character at a specific time. Definitely not gonna be recommending it to anyone. Which is a real shame because there are plenty of likable characters, designs, and moments. TLDR: gross twist and lack of choice ruins game

I absolutely loved the plot. I think everything was well done and the story was riveting. Also enjoy all the various endings that are available.

[u][b]WARNING[/b] - This review is spoiler filled and I’m too lazy to tag them all because I don’t intend for this to look like one of those alien document conspiracies from one of those BS tv shows I used to watch as a kid![/u] [i][b]Chasing the Stars[/b][/i] first grabbed my attention with its steampunk style which I utterly love, however, the next thing I noticed was all the negative reviews. I took a moment to glance through them and thought: “[i]it can’t be that bad. I’m sure people are just being overdramatic[/i]”; and it was also on sale. Oh was I so wrong! Starting up the game, you’re asked information on how you’d like to view the adult content throughout: all, none, light, etc. Pick your option and away you go. Stepping into the shoes of one [b]Tirs[/b] something-or-other you are instantly made into a crappy boyfriend who constantly makes his long-term other-half second to his desires and future career. Needless to say, Tirs isn’t the nicest person in the world but he’s a genius so who cares, right? Well, obviously his boyfriend did as he dumps Tirs’ sorry arse. This leads our MC to throw himself further into his career goals, leading him directly into the lap of one, professor [b]Marc[/b]... [i]Literally[/i] into his lap. Now, here’s where things get really interesting plot-wise; Early on in the game, Marc propositions Tirs to see if he wants to [i]blow off some steam[/i] casually. You can completely refuse – but doing so leads you steadily to a bad ending only! In other words, it may be consensual between the two men but as the player, you are forced into this act if you have any plans of reaching an ending with any of the three LIs. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2183693327 This forced choice happens again further down the line. If you want to get off of Marc’s route and onto one of the non-psychos routes, you have to once again, agree to shag Marc but this time, as a threesome. I can very much see why this… [i]interesting[/i] idea by the devs had caused a lot of backlash. The whole plot of this game isn’t much better. It is hugely ambitious but aims higher than it can deliver. Heavy topics such as blackmail, threats, accidental murder and kidnapping – just to name a few – are bland and lacking any real emotion. For example, the murder thing; there’s a single statement that he feels bad about it but no other mention until the end of a good route which, once again, it’s a measly line or two. There’s just no impact! The sheer amount of grammatical errors do nothing to help the situation either! The description clearly states [i]Key scenes have voice acting![/i] but it feels rather random. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that the voice actors were given their lines but with no instructions other than that. [i]Tirs[/i] the MC is sometimes called [i]Tears[/i] and other times as [i]Turs[/i]. At the very least, have everyone know how to say the damn guy's name! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2183836724 As for the art, as stated before, I am a lover of the steampunk style and it is what originally drew me in but even this was ruined. A select few characters just look weird while on screen together. I’m no artist but it’s like the LIs were given the most attention while the supporting characters weren’t given as much detail. The CGs are very well done but the contrast between the sprites and CGs is huge! Characters no longer look like themselves and it’s more as if you are seeing an older sibling or some such. Personally, it really threw me off. Overall, I really wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, even if it were on sale. Seriously – a [i]genius[/i], top of his class guy that somehow manages to constantly get himself into astonishingly ridiculous situations makes me think he’s clearly a moron and his classmates are completely brain dead. He is wholly self-centered, is angry when his best friend tries to reach out to him merely to check up on him, and is far too obsessed with space to care about much else! Let’s be real, this is an adult content game and even that is a let-down – it just felt like a chore after so long. I am in no way in an extremely long, loveless marriage with this VN so I don’t appreciate being made to feel like I’m just trying to push my way through our annual romp in a desperate and fruitless attempt to spark the fire of a long-dead flame! Hard pass really! If I’m super honest here, I just want to be done with this so yeah, I haven’t even proof-read my own review and I just don’t care! [h1][quote]𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33853800/]𝐎𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐢'𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞[/url] 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐑𝐏𝐆 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬[/quote][/h1]

[quote] Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote] [h1]Introduction[/h1] So, Chasing the Stars, another game developed by Ertal! I’d been super excited to play this game, and I finally managed to get it to work! I’d reviewed A Hand in the Darkness, another game Ertal developed. You can read my review for it here. Honestly, I am a little disappointed. I tried hard to like it, I really did. The first half of the game was really interesting, and the plot is amazing. However, it seems to have been poorly written. Some parts felt very rushed, whereas other parts that weren’t so interesting seemed to drag on which made it feel more like a chore to play. However, I did enjoy the overall plot of the story, the moral ambiguity and the fact that the villain was a romance option. I’ve seen other people irked by the fact that the villain was a route, but honestly, I loved it. While I dislike the villain as a whole, I like how Ertal still introduced him as a route. Along with this, I loved the little ‘mini-games’, where you’d have to actually click on items, rather than having the options presented to you. It made the entire experience a lot more immersive. The game starts off with Tirs Abril suffering heartbreak after his boyfriend of six years breaks up with him. Realising he’d thrown away a chance to follow his dream career for his now ex-boyfriend, he decides to talk to the professor who offered him a place, Dr Rossel. However, Tirs ends up involving himself in something much darker than what he expected... [h1]Pros[/h1] - An amazing plot, seriously. I love how Ertal always manages to think of intricate plots. Just like A Hand in the Darkness, Chasing the Stars has a mysterious plot, one that seems to have been really well thought out! - The option to top/bottom/skip the NSFW scenes! I think this is a nice touch as it provides different CGs and immerses the reader. - The little ‘mini-games’, where you actually have to click on different objects in the room, rather than just having all the options presented to you. This made the experience a lot more immersive, and it’s a nice touch! It’s something I haven’t really seen in other VNs! - Exploring moral ambiguity. I love it when characters aren’t exactly ‘good’, but they aren’t exactly ‘evil’ either, and they have to do what has to be done, even if it means potentially ruining a few lives in order to save an entire species. While I definitely dislike the villain in the story, I can’t help but feel sympathetic. He’s more like an anti-hero. - The pretty CGs. Honestly, I love the art style for the CGs, they’re so good! However, the sprites don’t seem to be as detailed as the CGs, which is understandable! But it would have been nice if they were. [h1]Cons[/h1] - Only one CG for each NSFW scene. I’ve played a few VNs with adult content, and they had multiple CGs during each hentai scene. Now I understand that making CGs does take a lot of time and effort. But I personally believe that extra effort and care should be given when making these kind of games. - The voice acting. While the voice actors were great, the fact that no one seemed to check whether their lines matched the script was what irked me. Voice actors would pronounce names differently each time, and also made several grammatical errors which should have been picked up on by the developers. Along with this, the volumes of some voice actors varied. Lowering the background music didn’t help, as some VAs said their lines louder than others. - The second half of the game felt rushed and wasn’t as in depth as the first half was. Some interesting scenes were rushed, whereas other boring scenes seemed to drag on. For example, there were a few timeskips which really shouldn’t have been there in my opinion. For example, Tirs breaking into the secretary’s office was completely omitted. I feel like this would have been something that definitely could have been explored more. - The random close up shots during the NSFW scenes seemed kind of pointless to me? I understand the developer was probably trying to tease the reader before revealing the full CG, but I don’t believe it should have been done in this way. [h1]Love Interests[/h1] [b]Pol Sans[/b] - Pol’s been best friends with Tirs ever since high school. While the whole ‘just a friend who’s actually been in love with the MC but the MC’s too oblivious to notice’ is overdone, that doesn’t mean Pol isn’t a sweetheart! Honestly, I love Pol, not as much as Biel, but he’s definitely second best boy! [b]Marc Rossel[/b] - Marc is… An interesting character to say the least. He’s the professor who recruits Tirs on in helping him build the dome that will cover the inhabitable part of Alaya. However, it turns out that there’s something morally wrong about continuing the project... [b]Biel Ferré[/b] - Best boy! I loved his route! His bad end almost made me cry, and I was so upset because I noticed the hidden message, but couldn’t do anything about it since I picked the wrong option. But besides all that, Biel is a very smart individual, who’s pretty gloomy and doesn’t seem to want to interact with others much. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] A very interesting VN that had the potential to be something amazing. Unfortunately, for me, the second half of the game felt lacking in depth and honestly, a little rushed. However, Biel’s route was very satisfying throughout the entire route, so I’d definitely suggest playing through his route if you do choose to buy the game. I’m definitely excited to see Ertal’s future games! [quote] Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

I thought this game is going to be my dream come true: romance, boys and steampunk? Sign me up! Unfortunately, with every hour of gameplay I realised how bad it is. It's not really steampunk. It LOOKS like steampunk but the world makes absolutely no sense. Steam machines are never mentioned in text, we only see some steampunk-ish clothing and decor but we also have computers, internet, cars - it's all over the place. Even the decor is inconsistent, there are cogs and copper in one place and then modern laboratories with flat-screened computers. I call BS on that. The artstyle is VERY inconsistent. The characters looks like they came from a different game. It's like watching a collaboration episode of South Park and The Simpsons. Some of the arts are really good, some are just plain terrible. And the sex scenes... oh my god, the broken spines, the balloon buttcheeks, anatomy is all over the place. But the worst part is the story. For some reason, they decided to focus on the conspiracy and it's really badly written. The whole group is acting incredibly stupid, they're going everywhere together even if only one person is doing an actual job and they're putting everyone in danger for no reason, and... acting like this is FUN. Also, this plot point is incredibly BORING. It looks like the writers wanted the story to be more ambitious than just something that focuses on romance and sex but they should have just stick to romance. Also, Marc is a manipulative rapist and you don't even get the chance to call him out on it. Yeah, our main character may at some point figure out that he's a bad person but he still desires his approval and body. It's sickening. I'm curious how it goes with different choices but I don't want to touch this game ever again.

It's gay. I like it.

i bought this game in January. and the result is : A BIG NO. this game is total trash, and so is the developer. (this probably is the most egoistic review but i don't care) the reasons are : 1. the developer delayed the game for about a month. i actually didn't care you delayed the game as long as you informed us everything matters in your social media or steam. but instead of made some quick info about the delay and progress (in their twitter), they just rewteeted some ♥♥♥♥♥ that didn't have the matter for the game. wtf? and for that delay, you only gave 10% discount? WTF?! AND WTF WAS THAT APOLOGIZE? YOU DIDN'T EVEN AOLOGIZE PROPERLY. 2. like other people said, this game is total trash. you became a student that you "don't have a choice but" have to ♥♥♥♥ your maniulative professor so you can go to Alaya. otherwise, it's game over. 3. most of the CGs are just porn. you think people play your game only for porn? 4. the voice of the VAs are too low even if I maxed it, and even i couldn't even set the texts speed. you wasted my time even more. now thanks for wasting my money and my time. enjoy your money bro.

Poprzednia gra tych twórców, czyli "A Hand in the Darkness", podobała mi się mimo pewnych niedociągnięć. Potrafiłam wybaczyć brak researchu na temat edwardiańskiej Anglii, bo gejowskie seksy były dobre (mimo iż kompletnie nie wpisywały się klimat). Dlatego liczyłam, że przy tej grze, osadzonej w steampunkowym klimacie będzie lepiej. Ale się myliłam. Steampunk jest tu wydmuszką, stylistyką graficzną, którą spokojnie można by zamienić na coś innego. Sprite'y można spokojnie wymienić na współczesne i absolutnie nic by to nie zmieniło w historii. Ja lubię kiedy realia świata przedstawionego wpływają jakoś na fabułę. Ale tu world building leży i kwiczy. Fabuła z resztą też, ale przecież jesteśmy tu tylko dla gejowskich seksów, right? Well... One też ssą i to niestety w tym metaforycznym, nie zaś dosłownym znaczeniu. Jak sceny erotyczne w "A Hand in the Darkness" były najlepszą częścią tamtej gry i quality fapping material tak tutaj... No nie porwało mnie. Niby jest więcej opcji i konfiguracji, ale brakuje tu tego "czegoś". Nie czytałam tego z przyjemnością. Rzuca się też w oczy niespójność graficzna całej gry. Sprite'y głównych bohaterów, erotyczne CG, normalne CG oraz projekty bohaterów pobocznych: każde były rysowane przez innego artystę. Czasem w zupełnie innej stylistyce i jakości. Rzuca się to nieprzyjemnie w oczy. Przydałoby się ujednolicić jakoś styl. A i jeszcze jedno! Anglojęzyczne recenzje powiedzą, wam że jedna z postaci jest #problematic. Mnie to tam nie przeszkadza, #problematic all the way. Co mi się nie podoba (oprócz tego jak w jego zakończeniu jego ścieżki cała ta jego moral ambiguity znika ale ciiii...) jest to, że musisz go zaliczyć żeby nie dostać złego zakończenia i żeby w ogóle odblokować inne ścieżki. Jak już mówiłam, ja nie mam problemu z takimi postaciami, ale rozumiem, że komuś może to przeszkadzać. Podsumowując, jak w "A Hand in the Darkness" mogłam przymknąć oko na niedociągnięcia ze strony twórców, tak tu już nie mogę. "Chasing the Stars" jest po prostu słabe. Nie polecam.

Can't believe I wasted 10 bucks on this. The hours listed above is deceptive. I've finished all the routes and have achieved most endings. The story is honestly not great. Characters are pretty trope"y" and one-dimensional, with the professor being straight up an ass. No character development in this game, and the smut scenes feature only one CG, which is not even the worst part. Apparentally the creator thinks that zooming in on random parts of the one CG somehow makes it better (it doesn't, it makes it even worse). This makes for some very odd graphics during most of the smut scenes. I am honestly having a hard time coming up with anything positive for the game, and I regret not listening to the other negative reviews I've read on here before purchasing the game.