Ren'Py - The Null Hypothesis [v0.5a] [Ron Chon]

  1. 5.00 star(s)

    DonutMan

    Fantastic start! In fact, it is so great that despite it being a VERY close remake of the other game, it doesn't feel like a clone at all. Most of my issues are things that a game this early into development wouldn't have anyway. I'm giving it 5 stars out of hope for the future.

    My main complaint is that January Jones, ahem, I mean... Emma Frost isn't in the game. Very much hoping for both her and Kitty Pride show up. I do think it would be nice to expand beyond the women featured in the other game. Nice to have a wide diversity of characters and body types.

    Also, not sure why, but having Nightcrawler constantly pop up is giving cock-block/ntr vibes. Again, not sure why.

    Glad the clothing system is included but haven't found a way to make them wear the outfits you pick out. Not saying it's not possible, just that I couldn't figure it out.
  2. 5.00 star(s)

    Artbur

    Looks like another version of Rogue-like Evolution.
    But looks very interesting.
    Now need a bug fix. Too many bugs in code with clothes.
    And need more interactions options with girls and more options for phone.
  3. 5.00 star(s)

    1v0

    This is pretty good. Its exactly what I want rogue-like to be.

    It is a bit slower to get things going. But its overall better. Better art, better characters that are not the same in the end, better all.
  4. 5.00 star(s)

    RedPandaExpress

    Reviewing v0.2a.
    100% Storyline Completion
    1000 Love - 1000 Trust All LIs

    When the tech demo that was v0.1 was released, I knew that this game was one to keep on my watchlist. The aspirations of the Dev team for this title were epic and it was either going to be one hell of a game or one hell of a dumpster fire. There really wasn't a way for it to be anything in between.

    It is impossible to review this game without acknowledging its roots. Based on / Inspired by / whatever you want to call it - Oni's Rouge-like: Evolution. As a very addictive trainer, the plot of that game is a little thin. TNH takes that basic premise and not just develops a plot around it but expands upon it in a way that opens new possibilities.

    TL;DR Version: I love it and I'm going to pick it apart because I know the Devs want feedback.

    Game Play - 4.5/5

    The game play still follows the same sort of daily loop as one would expect, but with a vastly improved GUI to do so. There is enough variety of activities that despite having many grindy spots at times it never feels boring. The new coupled game mechanics of trust and love are a neat balance, especially with the choice being available not to pursue a romantic relationship with any of the girls. In a perfect world there would be even more conversation choices based on these stats and their relative values, but that's asking a lot for an initial release.

    The in-game tutorial is also incredibly clever. Rather than just relying on a hint box (which would still be nice in places), it is delivered as exposition by none other than Nightcrawler. The way it is delivered really gives the tutorial the feeling of Freshman Orientation instead of a tutorial level.

    The biggest weakness here is the ambitious nature of the design the devs have selected. While I love the phone interface idea, getting to the different menus can be really click heavy without the payoff. Likewise, some of the other menus (such as clothing and emotional state) have entire trees of choices with related symbols but no clear explanation. You can fumble through these for the most part, but it definitely needs a little more introduction. (Kurt, get on it!)

    Here I would have liked to see something akin to Calisto's chat, or at least more content on their in-universe social media Hum Hum. While this lacking isn't enough to ruin the game, it just feels like a missed opportunity for the moment.

    Story - 4.9/5

    Starting with the initial premise, the Devs have developed a much more rich backstory to the MC, code name "Null". While all of the background choices only make mild changes to a few conversations and the like, it is a good way to start off on a project like this. Additionally, each of the current LIs have their own background and challenges they are facing some of which only becomes revealed as you earn their love and trust to get them to open up to you.

    What I love here is that each of the stories actually makes sense for the respective LIs and colors their interactions with the MC. The overarching plot, however, is a bit light. In a typical porn game this would hardly be worth mentioning, however here they actually have the seeds of a really interesting storyline.

    Here I would say that the biggest weakness is that the Devs are victims of their own success. They have created a compelling story, but they haven't nearly mined it as well as they could. This is something that could be easily expanded on though and I rather suspect it was less of an oversight and more of a choice to get a strong working game out to us, the hungry masses.

    Artwork 5/5

    I am still not entirely sold on the art design, but I recognize this is simply because it is different from what I've been playing for so long. Everything from the background pieces to the clothing to the girls themselves is expertly rendered. There is even a feature which can be toggled which adds the comic book effect.

    The clothing really stands out here. With the higher resolution image files, the devs have the ability to really expand on the available clothing options for the girls. They use this to great effect, including a number of choices ranging from casual to cute to sexy.

    This lends well to the various undressing scenes where different styles of bra, for example, will be 'lifted up' differently. Its the little things like that which really elevate the art here.

    The Spicy Stuff 4.8/5

    Early on, its quite the slow burn. Many of the sex options are only unlocked by progressing the main storyline as well as completing the individual storylines for each girl. This only really stands out when you wind up with early makeout sessions which can go nowhere or don't allow for the possibility of both parties to finish.

    The payoff is worth it though, as once the choices begin unlocking there are quite the selection available. Too many, in fact, because the organization of them is not nearly intuitive enough. This leads to situations where you are trying to do multiple things (which is a great feature) but some of them are not possible in the position you are currently in. Some of these would be obvious (you can't really lick Rogue's pussy and kiss her mouth at the same time), while others are simply limitations due to current artwork. (One option of rubbing a girl's pussy is only while standing, IIRC).

    That really is the weakness here. The early release nature of this version means that some features haven't been fully fleshed out or tuned. Another example here is the remote control vibrator which is supposedly controlled by your phone - but there is never an app added to the phone for it. Yeah, not a game breaker but I'm nitpicking here.

    Coding - 6/5

    You are going to find bugs in a day 1 release. This is just the way it is and it isn't the fault of the Devs, who are already taking notes and working on the bug patch. However, having encountered a few of these bugs myself, I took the opportunity to peek under the hood and take a look at how the code was structured for this game.


    When trying to code something this ambitious, it would have been very easy for the code to transmute itself into a giant bowl of spaghetti. Different variables assigned in different places for the same thing, convoluted functions, you name it. That simply isn't the case with TNH.

    Essentially everything is coded in a clean, modular manner which makes the code significantly easier to parse and understand. The extra groundwork makes a huge difference for an in-development game because it allows for new features to be implemented with minimal effort. Clothing choices, for example, are just a handful of images and a few lines of code. Conversations, personalities, the works can all be expanded on individually without breaking the rest of the game in the process.

    This is incredibly promising. First, it means that the Devs are actually taking their time and thinking through their coding choices. They are applying forward thinking which is going to help keep them from hitting major delays in future updates, or at least as many of them. And they are considering the modding community and how they might bring things to the table. I could absolutely see a Modder starting an extensive costume mod and I could see some of these resulting in a fusion where old mods become new features.

    CONCLUSIONS

    If you are a fan of Oni's Roguelike: Evolution, or even just the X-Men Franchise, you should check this game out. The Dev team are clearly passionate about this project and that shows.
  5. 5.00 star(s)

    Olohele

    Version: 0.2a

    Okay. I hear the quantic potential crowd of people groaning because this is close to Rogue-Like : Evolution. 1) The game abundantly credits RLE. 2) While it does start with much similarity, it goes on its own story.

    The +:
    • I like the character's writing. Nothing feels forced and they are distinct from one another.
    • The art is good. There is a large amount of customization (few bugs here and there with interacting elements such as piercing).
    • Not too confusing; your quest log gives you a shopping list, you go through items A to Z, event unlocks - no secret mcguffin you need to figure out and look up on the forum after 2h of frustration.
    • The pace; it's actually "slow". You have to get your relationship to level up before the girls agree to some action. (and yes, I list that as a good point compared to other game where you go from shy girl to adult movie production).
    The - :
    • I had to RenPy it. It-is-grindy. A lot of action gives you Love/Trust points only on the first time they succeed. When you gain such points 4 by 4 and the end goal is in the 800... Well, sometimes, just giving yourself enough point to be two encounters away from the next step is a relief.
    • The kink system. Actually did not feel like it changed much. Told Jean about a dozen time that I was not into the "little sib' " thing, it keeps happening.
    • Some minor bugs (such as the aforementionned item interaction) but nothing that will actually stop you from playing. Should not negatively impact the development long term. I'd dock the note to 4.5 for that, but that ain't an option.
    Overall, will play again, will get the next update (insert Oliver Twist's "Please sir, can I have some more?" gif)
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    Green83rry

    Version 0.2a

    I feel the best way to describe The Null Hypothesis is also the worst way because while true, it doesn't nearly convey what has been done here.

    The Null Hypothesis does everything its *ahem* predecessor does, but better.

    The writing is better, the interpersonal dialogues and character models are better, hell the UI is straight up better. Any art style is subject to personal preference, but I personally love how detailed and expressive the characters are. The little things stood out as well. The Professor, though filling the same role, has gone from the hackneyed 1D cutout hindering force MC needs to subvert to a personality that feels like they serve an actual purpose forwarding the plot. The backdrops, usually an unimportant glossed over feature, look as if they were crafted with as much care as the character models.

    I have been loosely following this project for some time. Not enough to know what to expect, but enough to be aware of milestones. Finally decided to give it a try and am so glad I did. This is only a first step, but an amazing one. Devs hit it out of the park! I cannot wait to see where this one goes, especially after reading the planned roadmap teasers.

    Sincerely on behalf of my fellow degenerates, well done!
  7. 5.00 star(s)

    Atlas08

    I've been watching the project for a while now and I can honestly say, the team have poured so much love and care into this that it has become something special

    It has great potential to grow into an incredible game, the story and art is both fantastic. I love the loop of the gameplay and I can't wait to see what get's add in the future.

    Coming out the gate with a strong release, makes me confident the future will be even stronger
  8. 5.00 star(s)

    spsonic64

    Review is for 0.2a

    One of those games that you give a 5/5 early and don't feel too bad for it.

    It's impossible not to compare this to Rogue-like so I'll just note the differences:
    There is plot, characters have personality- both things sorely missing from the predecessor. The game is overall more polished too. It lacks sexual content, to the same degree, but not in any real tangible way. It's off to a good start.

    We have to note here; the plot and your relationships with the characters are spuriously connected by how much they trust you. To illustrate this- you only need to hit the stat cap in one of two stats on one and only one character to meet the relationship requirement to proceed down the story.

    I also have some longevity concerns. Essentially you do one of two things: you either blitz through the story and then make all these advancements to the relationships after a year when you hit the end of content and have the extra time- or you spend all this time struggling through advancing stats with worse options (things open up as you progress the main story which help building relationships) and actually have a sembalance of what seems like pacing where roughly 1/4th of your time is spent in 1/4th of an in-game year.

    This isn't the best- and it doesn't bode super well for future content where we get more girls down the line, who presumably will have to catch up to everyone else. Are they going to be accelerated somehow? Then they feel cheap, different and propped up to be a sex doll- which was the complaint Rogue-like had that we're clearly trying to be better than. Are they going to make you work for it? Then you're grinding again.

    That's when you realize the illusion starts to fade- this is actually just a grindier Rogue-like with a plot that is basically just 3 events right now. And while the romances are better and progress more "naturally", they likely won't when we start getting to the part of the game oh-so-conveniently outside the scope of this current build.

    There are solutions, sure. More events that reward stats with characters would go a long way to making baby steps that both flesh out characters as well as alleviate the grinding is one. Even just varying up the dates would be a (developmentally expensive) way to change as little as possible.

    That said, this is a 5/5 pretty easily on what we have right now, and it probably would be a 5/5 if this game just neatly ended after the content we currently have. So while there is stuff we can criticize, I enjoyed games I gave a 5/5 to way less than this game, so the score is what it is. But the bag is certainly there to be fumbled.
  9. 5.00 star(s)

    Dodgeek

    Finally, this comes out. I'm so glad to be supporting the developer because this game is everything I could ask for.

    I adore the interactions Null has with the other characters: be it Rogue, Laura, Jean or even your brudder from another mom Nightcrawler.

    The game is paced slowly enough for you to enjoy these interactions and to get familiar with the characters and enjoy the ride.

    I like this a lot.
  10. 5.00 star(s)

    rickpool98

    Amazing game, amazing art and story this may have started being a rogue like clone but this game far out-surpasses rogue like evolution by leagues. And i have played both Rogue like just feels like is limping along while this game is gracefully running to the finish cant wait for the next chapters and new women.
  11. 5.00 star(s)

    thejohnnysinss

    Top Tier! Cant wait what the dev has planned! Love the optic and everything! Great Visuals, buuuuut it does really take its time to get spicy, which is okay as the story´s still good but no good for a fast one
  12. 5.00 star(s)

    Nexymofo

    Easily one of if not my favorite game in its area. The art is phenomenal. The story is engaging, persuasive, and makes you consider the consequences of your actions while also allowing you to throw caution to the wind should you choose to. The sheer amount of content and detail is staggering. There is more content in the first release of this game than there is in other completed games. 10/10
  13. 5.00 star(s)

    PaleCorvid61491

    The DREAM X-Men fan game. Ultimate fantasy fulfilment, gorgeous art, incredible presentation. Everything I have ever dreamed of in an X-Men dating sim with such incredible promise and potential. Cannot wait for the full release and cannot contain my excitement. Shaping up to be the greatest game I've ever encountered on this site. <3
  14. 3.00 star(s)

    Kezza329

    an unofficial remake to rogue like evolution, but in a more capable engine that takes full advantage of making the game look more polished and shiny. this game is as mentioned, essentially an unofficial Fan remake, and a great one at that. Its incredibly early days with no NSFW elements as of yet. hence the three stars, as theres not yet much to judge, and i dont tend to hand out high marks flimsily.. however, this is definately something ill like to keep my eye on as a player of its direct inspiration..

    i however will say, do things that sets you on your own path too, cool copy the entire game, do what you wish. but make sure to copy how much of the sexual acts you can do, the poses, the actual deeds themselves, from licking, fingering, using toys, fucking etc. but expand and adapt on it. add different customisation features, allow us to choose pube options for characters etc. make sure the animations blow it out of the water too. make this the version folks want to play! also, add different characters, jesus even add male partners too, trans etc, so it gives the player an OPTIONAL choice of chasing who they want. rather than copying everything, copy everything you want, but add more choice, be more open to critique and suggestions, and better yet open up modding so it eases your load and allows the players to directly control what kind of experience they want too.

    open a discord so youre able to directly communicate with your audience, as if you did that youd already have the developer of rogue beat, as theyre none responsive...

    this demo is exactly that, a demo. A VERY VERY long way to go to catch up to rogue like. however, if youre gonna have EVERYTHING content wise in this, and not miss a beat with the sexual options and gameplay options the other one has, and also add better stuff and more stuff too.. then you'll likely get alot of their players coming here instead.. as already writing wise you're further on, its more enjoyable..

    wishlist: have EVERYTHING the other game has, as if you miss even the basics, folks arent gonna choose this over that, in order to succeed this needs to have everything feature and gameplay wise, but BETTER and more expanded upon. Bi sexual content, so id love to have the optional choice of also having male characters, trans characters etc. pube options, cause x-23 definately seems the type to be full on ape hairy, pits, ass, pussy etc.. she doesnt seem like the "imma garden scape and maintain this" type... more sexual options, more characters.. smooth animations with decent SFX. sleeping events, if a character can suck us off or fuck us when we sleep, we should be able to do the same.. and much more.

    summary: this is a very early concept, but if the mentioned above comes to fruition, i can see this being better than the original.. but if you even miss the slight bits and bobs, then youre automatically gonna put yourself against the original and likely lose, as thats further along content wise. but this is on my radar!


    EDITED REVIEW:

    Theres a story!? thats different from rogue like, and sure ive not been paying attention to the story much yet.. however it SEEMS you have the ability to be good or evil, with your choices during key moments, which is interesting to think of where it could lead and branch off into the story progressing, and the general gameplay loop.

    animations: the sex animations REALLY need some work, meaning MOSTLY the recieving character models during things like fingering and penertrative sex.. the details arent there of the hole expanding around your member, instead its a low rez morphing into their body, rather than it interacting with it.. the general partners body reaction details and animations are lacking, and need refined and more details added, as its way below Rogue like for its reactive animations.

    sex: it has a good few options tbh, most of whats in rogue like, and a few extra ones. however it lacks the positions, lay back, missionary and doggy is the only ones. no standing sex, no ontop positions? no options to change specifics of how the animations work during scenes, how they were in rogue like. aka standing sex, *look at me or away*, etc etc. it seems like rogue like evolution has most of the QOL features that are sorley lacking from Null, which sucks. as the sex is more enjoyable on that game, as you feel in total control in your dom based relationships in rogue, and also your sub based relationships where your partner basically uses you, thats nowhere to be seen here. i see the frame work is there in terms of dialogue, but x-23 and jean being the two where you can be the sub, other than dialogue, the sex doesnt reflect that. also, its lacking your partners craving your touch, coming to your room and demanding or pleading for sex, or just taking it from you, or you having the option to be kind and give them their fix, or manipulating them into sexual intercourse to get them their fix. its missing alot of the core elements that made rogue like evolution great, and overall the main arc of the characters abilities fun and relevant, its all missing from Null.

    characters: so far from my playthrough the partners are rogue, jean, x-23.. you have a male character there that has femboy qualities, but is wasted as souly just being a wingman, GIVE US THE OPTION to have him as a partner too, aka something to further diffrentiate you from rogue like, give us BISEXUAL options, trans/futa. or gender bender options as this is clearly an alternate universe, so why not give us options to gender bend the existing cast? aside from that, alot of the vanilla based characters of rogue are missing so far. the character remain true to their personalities from rogue, however due to the lack of the core fundamental gameplay elements missing in Null, they're merely just a gimick, that has no change to the sex side of gameplay, other than dialogue before sex takes place. we need more characters, bonus if giving us gender bended, or just male xmen students to bang too if WE WANT.

    gameplay: the gameplay element is mostly the same, and so is the cycle, however whats different here is not the horrible grind which still exists and has been designed intentionally that way, but in rogue you could alter your save file and enjoy the game, rather than the annoyingly tedious gameplay loop youre stuck in. building relationships in this game is straight forward, with having an easy to access journal, however the grind is repetitive after a while, and makes it boring.. as you often unlock the sex actions before you get to the relationships with the said characters.. so most of the time youll be stuck getting handjobs for an age and a half.. and ontop of that, your partners dont seem to initiate sex with you that much, which makes zero sense as your characters ability is supposed to act almost as an addiction to others once theyve touched you.. however i notice its mostly me doing the chasing or asking.. the grind needs tweaked, or add cheats, or allow us to alter our save files.. add the core missing elements to the gameplay, as it feels like the mc's powers are redundant and has no effect.. im level 5, i should be having them coming to me by now, but im always chasing them, even if its been a week in game time before our last encounter.

    summary: this shows progress, however lacks any unique differences that sets it apart from its inspiration (rogue like evolution), and very much at this present moment feels like a direct RIP off, rather than it being a clone, but with an abundance of fan service in relation to features, characters and systems.. this game plays it way too safely, and seems to be directly on the rails, slowly following rogue likes development, rather than building and expanding upon what makes that game great.. rogue like is still the better game so far, as Null lacks all the charm, and core elements that makes rogue addictive to play.. this game can copy its core fundamentals sure, but the hopes was, that it would do that, but also carve a path different enough to make this stand out as its own unique take, rather than an underwhelmingly under detailed fan remake. i have hope though, providing the dev actually works on the game and improves the animations, character model details, and features.. and adds and expands upon the existing rogue like forumla enough to make this game the better version, or atleast different enough to warrant playing them both, then great. but at this current moment, rogue like is still the better game. this lacks the basic core gameplay elements that made rogue like evolution a fun game to play, and takes away the player control with tailoring their personal experiences through save file alteration, so youre stuck grinding horribly to get access to basic features that was immedietely made available pretty soon into rogues loop.

    wishlist: BISEXUAL OPTIONS, ANIMATION IMPROVEMENTS, CHARACTER MODEL IMPROVEMENTS, QOL ADDITIONS, EXPANSIONS TO THE EXISTING GAMEPLAY TO WARRANT EVEN DOWNLOADING THIS OVER A MORE FLEDGED OUT ROGUE LIKE EVOLUTION..


    its fun, but its nowhere near ready. its got a good ass way to go, however from the limited time this has been available to the public, its added ALOT. but just not enough to drop rogue for this, or play both at the same time.
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    lygarx

    Loving the Art.
    the game play concepts are more developed than the original inspiration.
    everything so far seems to have its own personal touch. Has its own unique art style. So far, the plot has a lot of mystery behind it and is quite intriguing. This has a lot of promise.
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    twoEyedCyclops

    Version 0.1a review. A solid foundation to build on. If future releases contain this level of quality, TNH will surely become one of most popular games on this site!

    Also, fair warning, before starting the game, make sure you set the volume to low, or you'll be deafened by the opening theme.

    Edit- I played the windows version and haven't encountered any bugs yet, apparently the android version is slightly more buggy.

    Add Cassandra Nova as a secret character you cowards!!!
  17. 5.00 star(s)

    JeremyRenner

    The team is building something amazing with lots of potencial and it's really clear that everyone is putting a lot of love and care in each corner of the game. From the art, to the music, to the wrtiting, to the system of the game and even the way they have build a community with the fan base, they are making something really special in here
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    Farajure

    Man, is this game promising. The art (characters, ui and backgrounds), the animations, the oc music, the interactions between characters. It has some rough edges (various bugs and crashes, just rolling back and trying again seems to overcome the problem), but keep in mind it is currently a preview so these problems are quite acceptable in my opinion. Can't wait to see this game bloom!
  19. 5.00 star(s)

    YamiDigitalDev

    A fantastic story teaser! The art style is amazing and really catches your eye. Rogue's outfits look great and add to her character. X-23 is cute and interesting!
    Can't wait for the next release and to have access to the sandbox!
    In short, this game is a lot of fun and definitely worth playing. Don't miss out!
  20. 5.00 star(s)

    Crimx42

    On 05/09/23, We finally get our first release! May I just say its fantastic. its short of course, but the amount of work and polish that has gone into making the game is honestly beyond all expectations. Great feel, solid dialogue, interesting characters, everything is shining bright right now. I am excited for the next release that will hopefully have more content.

    On 01/23/23, game name changed from Project Redacted 0.3 to Null Hypothesis 0.1, weird name, but no new public playable version yet.

    I will be changing my rating based on additional releases. As of 0.3, 11/25/22 it's essentially unplayable.


    Here's some background information. This game started as a mod for Rogue Like Evolution, which is why there are so many negative reviews stating that this is unoriginal or a ripoff. The main reasons that were circulated as to why the mod needed to exist was because RLE development was moving slow and barely any features were being added over the years.

    However, any modder of that game will plainly attest that the code for RLE is insanely difficult to work with. So, despite attempting to work with RLE for quite a while, the small group of developers decided to create a new game. Now there was some controversy here and the projected ended up failing, but without any evidence it would just end up hearsay, as in 'he said, she said'.

    A little while later this thread appears. The lead 'modder' releasing this game. A standalone remake of Rogue Like Evolution. Featuring new art, ui, mechanics, etcetera.

    As of 0.3, this is still 'unplayable'. It's a proof of concept more than it is a ready product. As of 0.3 there are still a LOT of similarities to RLE which is why you see a lot of responses still saying this is ripoff. The developer so far does have pretty lofty goals on how to change the story and introduce mechanics. That remains to be seen, but I'm excited.