Rent-a-Vice

A different CYOA of cyberpunk than usual fantasy and superhero genres. Narrative is dark and only appropriate for adults. A very good attempt with huge potential. Unfortunately for me, I felt the plot developed very fast with very less at stake for the MC to chose sides. As an outsider who just wants to do his/her job, only to be thrown into the political ring very fast. 'Why am I here? Oh I am the MC so I am important' is something that could have been avoided. Other characters also was not developed properly and felt a bit shallow. A little bit of motivation or character background instead of thats how they are will be better. Story also a bit short. Demo was convincing but left much to be desired in full game. Only recommended if you into cyberpunk or dark narratives. 5/10 Had a son. Named him. Called him 'boi'. Only few times. Disappointed. *Negative review seems harsh, I would have gone with 'Maybe'.

Started off well enough, and hooked me enough to purchase the game, but my excitement quickly tapered off as the story progressed. Characters aren't as fleshed out as i would like, and as some others have said, the actual Rent-A-Vice system was a plot device. Was disappointing, as I was hoping for a deeper in-depth level of world building. Was also kind of unclear about why I had to pay child support, when your ex spouse and you share custody(?). Romance could also have been worked better. At the end of my first playthrough, I was surprised when I ended up with a specific character, despite only having been polite and friendly (never romantic!!). Not the worst game I've ever played, but would give a pass.

I wanted to like this very much but the whole VE Pros and Cons thing felt forced and not all that contraversial. Also, the way the main character deals with and has relationships doesn't seem genuine and real. Another thing is the way the story unfolds... if we don't walk down a certain, specific route, our character's motivations seems strange and the story and choices stop lining up well making the whole story experience feel disjointed and uncordinated. A good idea, but should've just stuck to something simpler... maybe have a series of simpler cases going on at the same time, no baggage like an ex-wife or child to give the player a bit more freedom to mold and sculpt the main character.

[b]Rent-a-Vice[/b] - игра уникальная, игра, в которой невозможно выиграть и сложно проиграть, зато очень легко потерять всё. Ей плохо подходит стандартный формат рецензии: с плюсами и минусами, поэтому я буду писать по-другому. О том кому этот проект подходит, кто найдёт в нём частичку себя или даже свою дорогу, а для кого он останется скучной и циничной нуарной историей. И в качестве исключения, я начну с тех, кому игра не понравится. Если вы знакомы с другими проектами Choice of Games, вам не стоит судить Rent-a-Vice той же меркой. В первую очередь это история для тех, кто сейчас стоит на перипетии и пытается найти и понять себя, пусть даже такими странными способами. Иногда это срабатывает. Но не у всех. Если вы просто ищите просто интересное приключение, чтобы скоротать вечер, вам не понравится игра. Если вы не хотите погружаться в чужую сложную и надломленную душу, вам не понравится игра. Если вы хотите выиграть, выйти победителем, спасти принцессу, убить дракона и успеть домой на ужин, вам не понравится игра. Потому что суть Rent-a-Vice в выборах - тяжёлых и двойственных, серых, где никто не скажет, кто прав, а кто виноват. Но через эти выборы можно заглянуть вглубь себя, чтобы ужаснуться отражению... или принять то, что есть. Это игра, в которой нельзя, не выйдет получить всё и сразу, даже если очень стараться. Потому что нет человека, который легко и просто, без душевных шрамов выходит из тяжелого развода с совместной опекой над ребёнком. Не получится, если твоя работа связана с людской болью, уделять достаточно времени и ей, и своей семье, и остаться со всеми добрыми друзьями. Нельзя бесконечно требовать понять, если каждый раз удары за тебя должен принимать кто-то другой. Невозможно пожертвовать собой чуть-чуть, наполовину. И, конечно, никто не уйдёт от общественного взора, который наблюдает за каждым твоим шагом, и для кого ты всегда виноват. [b]Rent-a-Vice[/b] та игра, где нет возможности делать только хорошие, правильные выборы и не терзаться сомнениями и чувством вины. Здесь нет идеального финала, как нет идеального человека, но именно это отсутствие альтернативы заставляет ответить на главный вопрос - а как бы поступили вы? И ответ на него может оказаться важнее, чем кажется.

Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 485: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) I see the reviews are mixed, and I totally understand why. It's dark. You play as a semi-defined protagonist. The endings range from bitter to bittersweet. It's short. But that's why I like [i]Rent-a-Vice [/i]so much—well, everything except the last part. Even with its pacing flaws, I found myself thinking about this little IF long after I closed the window. For those not familiar with interactive fiction, most protagonists are "blank slate characters," i.e. you can easily self insert. They don’t have strong opinions, backstories, or personalities, so you can mold them how you see fit. In [i]Rent-a-Vice[/i], you play as the complete opposite: you are a grizzled detective with an ex-partner, young child, and a crippling amount of debt. When you’re approached by an attractive, mysterious individual who offers you a huge payout to solve a case, you already know this isn’t a simple cheating-spouse stakeout. Of course not. Why would anything be easy in this world? No, [i]you[/i] are going down the deep, dark underbelly of “virtual experiences”—a technology that makes VR look like a baby's first headset. Warning: I'll be discussing mild story spoilers, along with some potentially triggering topics. Everything will be hidden, of course, but below are mentions of self-harm, drug usage, alcohol usage, and depression. And a HUGE thank you to IndieGems and CoG for giving me a free copy :D [b][h2]Pros:[/h2][/b] ✅ The premise/worldbuilding. The old adage for writing—all writing—is that you need a hook to grasp your reader's attention. Well, [i]Rent-a-Vice[/i] has that in spades. Even in the store description, my attention was grasped. "Virtual experiences" are the name of the game (literally), and it's like virtual reality on steroids. (Or crack cocaine, whichever's worse.) VR allows you to experience anything you want in the safety of your own home. VE, on the other hand, allows you to experience anything you want—with all the strings attached. VE actually happens to the person called a "feeder." For example, there’s a scene where a feeder slowly works through buckets of fried chicken. Listen, I love me some KFC, but not when my eyes are dull, I’m chewing slowly, and I’m forced to finish the damn thing. There’s a scene where you get to choose a VE. I chose being trapped in a coffin underneath the ground, with the soil slowly weighing on me as I tried to scratch my way out. Not fun. ✅ Writing. A good idea crumbles without solid writing to support it. I found Natalia Theodoridou's prose effective, even though it's not my preferred style. I would describe Theodoridou's prose as clipped (?). Not simple, per se, but grim and restrained. Descriptions of feelings or observations are usually a one-liner that hits hard. He lets the unspoken linger in between the lines. I usually prefer the opposite; I like long, flowery language, à la George R.R. Martin or Dostoevsky. Gimmie the pages about characters just yapping, or what food is served. But Theodoridou's style contributes to the dark atmosphere/tone of the work. For example, when trying to convince someone not to self-harm, [spoiler] you can be angry: "That seems to cut him deeper than any razor. You can see it in his face. 'You have a right to be,' he says. 'But I still have to do this. I'm sorry.' He looks at you a moment longer. 'If only we'd met elsewhere, some other time.' 'Some other life,' you say. 'Yeah.'"[/spoiler] OUCH. ✅ Tone/atmosphere. All of the above contributes to a beautiful grim, dark world. In [i] Vice[/i], you can be as ♥♥♥♥♥♥-up as you want. You can choose to be a drug addict or abuse drinking or even self-harm. You can even choose to not even get better. And as strange as it sounds—I’m glad to have this choice. It’s different; it’s refreshingly real. If the world is so unjust, why wouldn’t it be reflected in your psyche? All of this folds together into a tone that feels grimy in a way most IF tiptoes around—where every protagonist is secretly two therapy sessions away from being okay, and every world politely avoids the kind of ugliness real people wrestle with. But [i]Vice[/i] doesn’t do that. There’s this thick, oppressive atmosphere: neon lights flickering over alleyways that smell like smoke, people running from their own ghosts, and a city that feels like it’s chewing you up. I usually bounce off bleak stories because they can feel edgy for edginess’ sake. But here, the bleakness isn’t misery-porn; it’s a mirror held up to a world where the cracks show ,no matter how much you try to paint over them. It’s refreshing to see a story acknowledge that sometimes the world is unfair, and sometimes your internal landscape reflects that unfairness. Let people be unhappy, damn it! ✅ Semi-defined protagonist. For me, I loved having an ex-spouse and a child. Again—it’s different. Having a pre-established family made my character more real to me. ✅ Ethical dilemmas. You get to choose if you [spoiler]support VE or not. [/spoiler]Usually, most IFs have one side that’s clearly better than the other. Not to mention the arguments rarely changed my mind. But in [i]Vice[/i], I was staunchly [spoiler]anti-VE[/spoiler]—until the narrative shocked me so much I switched allegiance to [spoiler]pro-VE.[/spoiler] That has [i]never[/i] happened to me. I’m impressed! ✅ Bittersweet endings. Again, I usually don’t like bittersweet endings, but I [i] do[/i] love the trope of “I got everything I wanted. But at what cost?” There’s something haunting about it. You can claw your way toward your goals, rebuild yourself, or cling to whatever scraps of happiness you can find, but the story always asks you to acknowledge the shadow trailing behind those victories. Did you trade your health? Your relationships? Your sense of self? [b][h2]Cons:[/h2][/b] 🟥 Short length. This is the biggest problem. [i]Vice[/i] is only 150,000 words, and while I love what we have, there’s some rushed scenes. [i]Vice [/i]tries to fit a whole psychological spiral, a mystery, a family drama, a cyberpunk noir plot, and an existential meltdown into that space … and the seams definitely show. The third act, in particular, has a lot of mega bombs dropped on you, but you can’t really relax and think about what happened. I kept wanting to pause the game like, “Wait, no, go back. We need to actually process the life-altering revelation that just got dropped on my head.” The story has weight, but it doesn’t get the quiet moments it needs to sink in. 🟥 Characters are flat. Because of the short length, you don’t get to interact with the characters. Even with your family, you only get a couple bonding scenes, not to mention with the other side characters. You’re told these relationships matter, but you don’t [i]feel [/i]them because the story never gives you time to actually be with them. There should’ve been smaller domestic moments, messy conversations, shared history—anything to make the eventual emotional stakes hit harder. The side characters were very much plot devices too; I can’t remember any. 🟥 Not stat-based. I didn’t mind this personally, but your stats rarely come into play. They reflect who you are, mostly, and your stats mattered only a couple of times. 🟥 Not for everyone. IF is already a niche of the “choices matter” category. But to have such a dark tone, as well as a protagonist with a lot of baggage? It’s no surprise a lot of readers won’t even pick this one up. [hr] If you enjoyed this review, please check out my curator page to find more: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45814768-Verdict-Play-or-Pass/]Verdict: Play or Pass. [/url] Also, please leave a like and visit [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Indie_Gems]IndieGems[/url] and our YouTube channel for more reviews like this one. [/hr]

Starts out great, rushes too much towards the midway point, and is too short. Overall, though, I'd recommend the demo over the full experience, as the best parts are there, in my opinion.

A lot of potential but compared to other Choice of games: [list] [*]The stat system was less malleable and used less complexly, removing strategy from the game. [*]The concept was less delved into. You don't really take part in the rent-a-vice system in the way that the summary suggests. It's more there as a plot device than as an actual game mechanic. [*]The choices made were less plentiful and less important. In one situation, I made a choice that burnt a bridge with a character, had no chance to defend myself, and in the next scene they accepted me back with open arms. It's not horrible, but it's not as good as other Choice of games I've played. [/list] It's not [i]bad[/i] per se, it's just not amazing. I'd say only play it if this trope scratches your sci-fi subgenre fix.

Not worth it. It feels shorter than it really is, and not in a good way. The plot is bad. It pretty much takes a possibly interesting topic, and then 100% handholds you (Feeds you) through it with no twists at all. The story is not shocking, not emotional, and to be honest just boring overall. It is the definition of moving from point A to B. That is all that really happens. The most interesting parts in this are literally only semi interesting at the very best. I gave it a 3/10 but to be honest that is the BEST rating I could give it. This should have been free at best because it is not worth the purchase. Story 2/10 Choices 3/10 Emotional Attachment 1/10 Romance 2/10 Character Customization 1/10 (You only get to name yourself/kid/ex) Overall score (9/50) DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

The writing had me for a while, but some of the paths don't link up that well. I put in a lot of time with one contact, then did something they disagreed with. I then had an interaction where that contact was cold to me, which is fine. I could see that. Then I show up to the contact in another scene and I'm lauded as a hero for the good decisions I made. The paths clearly don't sync up that well. Another example is with the ex-spouse, where mine got mad when I was unavailable but welcomed me warmly later becauseI set our backstory to be a breakup on good terms. One of the earliest options was so poorly written as well. I'll describe it in vague terms then in spoiler terms. Vaguely, I ignored a call from my daughter to pursue a lead in the case, and my ex got mad because it was urgent. [spoiler] My lead was going to slit his wrists and my daughter got beat up so bad at school that she had a fractured rib.[/spoiler] The situation just struck me as so over the top that I lost faith in the rest of the writing. Nowhere near the best Hosted/CoG has to offer.