College Kings - The Complete Season

Great game

After playing College Kings - The Complete Season for 87 hours, I think I can write a proper review about it. This game is only suitable for people aged 18 and above because of its explicit sex scenes, language, and violence (but very little to no blood). The game’s sex scenes can be turned off in the settings. This game can be played without an Internet connection. These are all the bad (marked with “-”) and good (marked with “+”) things in the game. - Things that made no sense: For example, during some meal scenes, the plates are empty instead of showing food, which feels unrealistic and disrupts immersion. Additionally, character routines like eating or brushing teeth are inconsistent and sometimes skipped without explanation, further breaking realism and making these moments distracting. There were also instances where a character became angry with me but seemed to forget about it afterward, as well as other lore issues. - Promise not met: Maybe I should’ve played the game when it was first released in parts on Patreon in 2021. Certain parts of the game had messages claiming they had voice acting, but I didn’t hear the characters make any noise. I concluded, based on my online research, that either the game had voice acting but was plagued by bugs, so the voices were removed, players didn’t like the voice acting, or both happened. I think the developer should remove those messages because they now resemble false claims. To be fair, not all visual novels have voice acting. + Good performance: The game had 1 bug that only occurred once (or maybe I didn’t know which button to press), but I solved it by restarting the game. Built on the Ren'Py engine, the game generally ran fine. The scene transitions and animations were smooth. + Good story, plot, and/or lore: I’m on my third playthrough of the game, and I plan to do maybe 2 more playthroughs. The story, plot, or lore of the game is so good. The different choices that I make can affect the game’s stories and how the characters treat and think about me. Picking different choices can also reveal a different perspective on certain stories and characters. + Good graphics: I played another adult visual novel for a few hours and missed College Kings’ art style. There are graphical issues, but I think College Kings’ art style is one of the best art styles I’ve seen. + Passionate development team: I’ve listened to Undergrad Steve and his team in YouTube videos. They are very passionate about making the College Kings series. Undergrad Steve even reads Steam reviews for College Kings. His team also tried to improve their game after hearing criticisms. + Plenty of replayability: There are so many possible pathways to go through in the game. The game has plenty of replayability. This replayability is helped by the large number of Steam Achievements available for the game. I also laughed more during my subsequent playthroughs. Maybe I finally understood the game’s sense of humor. + Well-written characters: I became invested emotionally in most of the characters. Every character has a unique personality. These characters made the game’s world feel alive. + Unique gameplay mechanics: Maybe other visual novels before Dispatch have it, but this was the only visual novel I knew that had QTE, also known as quick-time events. I also had to select choices within a time limit. This visual novel is more than just an interactive storybook with point-and-click gameplay. The QTE and time-limited choices made the game fun. These two game mechanics break up the monotonous point-and-click gameplay. I can also scroll my mouse wheel to go back to previous scenes or go forward to a scene I’ve already played. + Good music: There were some questionable choices regarding the game’s music. However, the music of this game generally fits the mood and vibe of some of its scenes. + Frequent support: The game received patches over the years. These patches addressed issues, including bugs. It’s nice that the developer still cares about the game around 5 years after its Steam release. I thought I would only play the game for its sex scenes, but I stayed for its stories and characters. I will give this game a score of 9 out of 10 for being a good adult visual novel despite its minor flaws. I recommend College Kings to individuals aged 18 and above who are seeking a relaxing single-player game.