If a certain famous deodorant advertisement was turned into a game, this would be it.
The Asssistant (Season 1) is an adult visual novel developed by BackHole Games, and I can't for the life of me understand what's wrong with the characters in this (I know, that was just a rhetorical question). To understand what I'm talking about, I'll explain in the following paragraphs.
To start this review, I'll start talking about graphical fidelity, or lack thereof. Environments are decently detailed, but the images are so low resolution than textures look blurred. Animations are also decent, but clunky and stiff in several instances. The UI is barebones, barely deviating from the stock Ren'Py UI layout, but I guess that makes the game ligh, even on low-end systems. Character design is OK, suffering from the same low res assets, and the music doesn't match the context, the setting and the tone in several instances. How does a track more fitting for suspense fit into a sex scene? It doesn't. Lastly, it's very apparent that the devs of this game aren't native English speakers, because the dialogue and narration read strange at places, and there is an instance where the text is in Spanish, despite having selected English as the language for the game (I'm not a native English speaker, and I can confidently say that my written English is better).
The gameplay is standard affair for visual novels. That being said, there are some metrics that doesn't seem to have an effect on the story. It seems like the "Trust" and "Lust" metrics only serves to track your progress with a certain character, and don't have any influence in future choices or in character payoffs. The only metrics that affect the story are the "Good" and "Bad" metrics, which is, at its core, a morality system. But, before getting excited, this is not like the morality system you'd find in Mass Effect, for example, not by a long shot, because what constitutes good or bad is not dependant of the overall consequences of your choices, but on whether it's good or bad for a specific character. For example, refusing to do something that you're not supposed to do from a moral standpoint will still count as a "good" choice if it serves the interests of the character involved, even when said interests are considered immoral within the context of the story. That's not how a good guy/bad guy system should work. This damages immersion and creates a cognitive dissonance in the reader, because it gives the impression that you're doing the right thing, when it really doesn't. Conversely, there are choices that can make characters go towards a dark path, and that doesn't even affect the morality system, when it absolutely should. Finally, there is an instance where you can alter the fate of a character if you have enough "good" or "bad" score, but the requirements are kind of low.
And the writing? Well, surprisingly, I don't have much problems with the plot. It's very simple, but it's decently written. The real issue are the characters. For starters, the characterization is almost nonexistent. This means characters don't have a defining feature and their dialogue is pretty much interchangeable between them, which makes them rather flat and uninspiring. Effective characterization means that the characters should speak and act in a easily identifiable way, so the reader can tell them apart by what they say and do, which doesn't happen in this game (I'm replaying Shining Song Starnova, and it crushes this game at characterization and overall character writing). Character development is just as uninspired as the characterization. There is no depth about them, which makes them uninteresting and forgettable, and don't undergo any kind of meaningful journey, they don't face fears, or overcome their own flaws. Dialogue is stiff and mechanical, like the people talking weren't humans at all. And the last thing I'll say about this story is... why in the holiest of hells all female characters are so horny when the main character is around? It's like the MC is spewing bucketloads of pheromones that makes all female characters to blindly want to have sex with him. Even when the writers try to set up some conflict, it's immediately resolved by how horny are for the main character. This is lazy writing in its most classic form, and I'm utterly disappointed the writers choose to forgo any character depth with cheap fanservice.
In conclusion, if you want a good story here, you won't find it. What you will find instead is a cheap attempt at a narrative, damaged by a bunch of porn fantasies which don't fit mechanically with the story at all. But, since I already have Season 2 in my library, I'll continue reading, just for the hell of it, but I don't expect things to improve. I'd be very surprised if it did. You should look elsewhere if you want a good experience. But, if you're a porn maniac and don't care about writing, I guess you could give it a chance, but, remember, there are better stories with sexual content on the internet you can watch for free.
