Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme (GBDNATE) feels like a game of nots. This is NOT a Max Big Bust game (even if a few characters carry over to that series / universe). This is NOT a purely fetish game. This game is NOT trying to say anything about the experiences of being trans, or what that would be like.
So what is this game? Put simply, it feels like a collection of short stories set around a world where due to a gas explosion, several employees end up as girls, and cascades into people being able to alter their DNA on a whim. The writing is overall good, but clunky in places and it does have some stuff in it that feels liek the author was sticking a bit too close to tropes, for better or worse. The stories past the initial explosion also have a bad job of establishing a timeframe of how long its been since - it took me until the conclusion to realize the final two chapters take place a few years after all the other ones. That said, the humor is decent, although I feel the writer was maybe upset at the artist towards the end.
Speaking of... the art. Normally not top of mind for most VNs... this one has the look that someone did all the art in 2000s MS paint. I find it weirdly charming, but there are both backgrounds and character sprites which look off or cheap. Same can go for the CGs, some look fine enough but others have this unintentional off look to them. A lot of later chapters make repeated comments on some of the backgrounds and plot details... and I kind of don't blame them.
The story itself is also structured weirdly. I know this game was in Early Access... but the issue is that these stories struggle to make sense if you play them out of story order, and they aren't listed clearly in story order aside from the final two chapters. Unless you know beforehand, it can get confusing FAST. I will say the stories in later routes is good (such as Zara, Dan, and Aleanne), but there are some that just feel off (Dina, Bri, Yael to an extent). In addition, characters just... kind of appear in the plot randomly (the final route girl doesn't show up until ending Pt. 1), and it feels like a villain was shoehorned in at the last moment for some climax they realized they desperatly needed. I got some of what the villain's motivation was, but it felt half-baked and given the villain does appear in earlier chapters I wish their reasons were shown to be a result of more than just what it ends up feeling like.
...So why am I giving this a positive review, despite everything? I truly, genuinely believe there is some gold in these hills. Yes, there is a lot going against it, and the writer has since moved on, and I doubt he will see this review. But genuinely... I hope Lach comes back to this one day, and this could be a great game. I think this game needs a remake, as I can't say my time with it was bad. Maybe polish up some things, give it an overhaul, and it could be a very interesting game. All I'm saying is to give this weird, twisty, freak of a game a chance (though I'd reccomend getting it on a sale).
