Ren'Py - A House in the Rift [v0.7.12r3] [Zanith]

Art is really good, Zanith puts a lot of time into it and is a perfectionist. He cares a lot about feedback and can be seen in the game itself. What we have at the moment is just phenomenal and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for it.

This game is absolutely amazing!!! Loving the characters (I like how they have such different personalities). It’s so cute watching the adapt to the MC’s realm. There are so many lewd options and the animations/models are very well done (sex related body parts are actually moving during the act. I was just getting tired of watching a dick thrust in to a female genitalia while pussy lips aren’t even spread if you know what I mean). I enjoyed reading every line. The story unravels at a very comfortable pace (there is a nice balance between the amount of the much desired scenes that you get to enjoy and the reading. The story itself is surprisingly good, it will make you wanna progress not only for them scenes but for it‘s content as well). I really hope that this title receives the amount of love it truly deserves! Please continue working on this and yes I will beg you if needed ❤ ❤❤!!!

It's definitely a good game. I think it has good story progression, good characters, and we get to experience a lot of progression in each character. Well made game, well made animations. Lets go champ!!!

Loved this offering and can't wait for more.

Is a true sandbox gem. The characters are unique and quirky. The dialogue options really allow a lot of freedom in role playing your character and the NPC's do seem to really behave in accordance to your play style.

There are NPC paths to unlock as well as main story. You also have to build up intimacy and lewdness with each character, on top of this you have 3 personal stats to grow. The nice part is none of them require grinding, just unlocking girls stories and main plot will give you most of the stats and the rest can be found in side H scenes or done alone in empty time slots.

Can be easily played without a walkthrough and in game hints for girls and story quickly put you back on track, yet it still rewards you for exploring and interacting with NPC's outside plot with lots of great dialogues and h content.

I know some of players didn't like the first person camera motion in scenes but I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the animations and renders and the diversity in the girls.

So far I only fully played a flirtatious but open and honest path but I did have a lot of fun just exploring some of different dialogue options and really had fun seeing NPC reactions. It really looks like there is going to be a real replayability factor.

The content options are really well integrated into the game so if you don't want to be more submissive to pirate or be her little baby its naturally avoided in dialogue choices.

There is some complaint about navigation but again I found it very easy and smooth and by walking through house you do get a lot of side encounters that room jumping does not allow.

The story is interesting with so much potential and its only just started. The delivery of story is smooth and relates to everything you doing, no pointless grinding or quests that add nothing to telling story. Even the hidden side events add to story or character development.

Man this is great! Such good personalities on the girls, good writing in the game. So often in these games I just hit CTRL but I like reading what's being said in this one. Hell broheim I'd say that's a big accomplishment on it's own. I think having that good dialogue and story gets people to stick around for the long term with ya.

I like that the chars have a fair amount of sweetness, it's not just complete whores. Even the succubus. Good stuff. Normally I find chars like a succubus boring due to how one dimensional they are but Rea is great.

Past that, you have these gorgeous models. When I first glanced at the screen shots I thought it was gonna be your normal honey select stuff, nothing to special but man was I wrong. The animations are good, I personally really like the movement during scenes. You did some smart stuff like the MC looking at Rea's butt =P

PROS

Boardgames in my porn game? That’s a star by itself.

LANGUAGE
The game has many typos, which is unfortunate, but the actual syntax is pretty good, and it sucks so hard that "pretty good" is rare enough in these HS VNs that I even have to point this out.

RENDERS
Excellent renders and UI. Some of the new HS tech being used looks fantastic; there’s no other HS game on f95 that looks this good. It is without competition here. Environment is great, as well. It cannot be understated how much effort has been put in to making this game’s look and animations. As someone that’s followed the HS mod scene themself, I can tell you this game is using some cutting edge stuff to great effect. If you're into the Honey Select look, your eyeballs will be pleased.


CONS


HOUSE NAVIGATION
Surprise, a renpy game with garbage world navigation, who’da thunk it? Twice as many clicks as there needs to be, but there’s worse out there.


SHAKYCAM
The disorienting camera compromises the use of the new HS tech for the porn scenes. Distracting and even a little nauseating at times, a lot of what could have been sexy time ends up just making me dizzy, and I have no history of motion problems in or out of VR. The camera work is clever from a technical standpoint given it’s HS, but effectively an experience destroying shitshow.


ILLUSION OF CHOICE
A huge amount of dialogue is locked behind multiple choice answers. I feel like to get the whole package and understand the characters, you’re forced to obnoxiously roll back twice every time there’s a choice, and it really slogs things down. There are many of these micro choices and the locked dialogue is always very short, so instead of feeling like you want to commit to a reply and go with it, you just feel like you’ve tripped over a shoe over and over. A narrative system based around constant rollbacks makes things feel very disconnected.


PACING
The exposition is paced very poorly, and characters throwing "we'll talk about it later" at you every single conversation for the first two hours is very frustrating. Instead of getting an organic flow of backstory, the brief, empty conversations that divide sex and lore give the game a jarring sense of “hurry up and wait.”


The sex pacing is also bizarre. If you’re into quick sex at the cost of verisimilitude, this point shouldn’t phase you, but the characters go from casual to throwing themselves on your dick and then back to disinterested so fast and so often, any attachment you might have to WHY the sex is happening is usually lost. Lady creature touch PP just because ┐(´ー｀)┌


BORING CHARACTERS
I’ll be more than happy to revisit this review as the game fleshes out more because I’m first to admit the game is pretty content shallow at present, but given the time spent with the game so far, there is some serious narrative problems with how the characters are written. One of the women feels so inconsistent she’s too unpredictable to relate to, while the two other main women are TOO predictable; flat, sterile, and ultimately boring in a fun porn game. I didn’t feel like my couple hours with the game made me emotionally invest in anybody, and by this point in many of these games, I definitely should start to feel something.


FOURTH WALL
The “this is the end of this route” screen begging for panhandle paywall bucks every time you get to the end of a route, which there are multiple of for each girl, looks desperate and happens too often. It sours whatever mood you had at the end of the scene in which it appears, and it appears a lot. Throwing up a “thanks for playing” note and a patreon link isn’t unusual in these games, usually at the end of the main story route or after all “end of route” flags have checked, but Rift does it so often and so brazenly (its own full screen UI element) that it comes off as kind of pathetic. There comes a point where this end of route nag compromises the creator’s artistic integrity and I think Rift definitely crosses that line.


CONCLUSION as of 0.3.4 (Oct 2019)
The game has too many problems, and too little content, to be worth checking out unless you have a very strong affinity for Honey Select.

EDIT: as of 3.7 (Dec 2019)
I won't be revisiting this review due to paywall panhandling on the part of the developer.

Fantasy is my favourite genre when it comes to most mediums, so I try to find stuff based on that and I also enjoy when its blended with modern elements. When I came across A House In The Rift, I was intrigued by the synopsis and renders shown.

I've been following this game for the last month or a bit, so I arrived to this project with a decent amount of content for a first timer.

The characters are interesting and all have their own personalities, without any of them feeling similar or such.

The writing/dialogue is pretty good and the humour is too.

Pretty good job with the sound/music selection. I find that a lot of games have obnoxious music that I usually have to mute.

Not a massive spoiler but something to do with the setting, so if you don't mind me expanding on some things, read ahead.

All in all, this is a project that's already top notch and has a lot more to come. I am very much looking forward to diving further into this world and seeing the characters/story expanding.

Highly recommend!

The premise of a House in the Rift wasn't anything special when i read the short description before playing. You're a dude living with some good looking young girls in a house, and get to have sandbox-style events with those girls. Nothing new there.
It's obvious it wants to add a touch of fantasy to keep things fresh, that's why you're not in a normal house, but in a house in the middle of nothing.
That also affects the girls you're living with. They all come from different worlds, filled with Magic.
So yeah, nothing too special. Renders looked okay and the reviews were good, so i gave it a try.

And after actually playing, i can say that this game makes so much more out of the premise than i expected it to do.
The characters actually do look and behave like they're from different worlds, obvious in their morals, their thought process and how they interact with one another. They also feel alive in the fact that they are changing slightly with their (new) surroundings. They start to settle in, getting to know you and the other girls living there, finding stuff to do or things to improve on.
You can also see and experience the worlds they come from through great useage of dream sequences. Don't want to spoil anything, but it does fit very well within the story.


As a summary, i'd say the strong point of this game is its writing.
I actually started liking all the characters pretty shortly after they arrived, and most importantly, i had fun actually reading the dialogue. So i'd say its a very strong point.
The pacing is kinda slow, but that fits the theme of the story, the aesthetics and the music SO well ! An incredibly relaxing game.

I had a lot more fun playing than i thought i would. And hopefully, so will you.

I really enjoyed this game! The renders are good and I'm really enjoying the storyline. I like the help mechanism and am very intrigued to see how this story progresses. I also like how the personality of the MC can be a choice, too. I'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

Excellent story setup and game with a lot of potential and a fair amount of content considering the version (0.3.4 as of writing).

Renders and animations also feel very well done.

Promising to see where it leads and updates seem to come fairly frequently.

Great game so far!

- What is particularly striking is the high quality renders, and can't forget the smooth animations.

- The characters are all wonderful thus far as well.

Definitely looking forward to more of this story.

(This game has an excellent focus on character and character interaction that I find extremely appealing. I found myself actually caring about the characters, and not wanting to be a jerk to them, despite how that's usually the route to sexual dominance and that's my fetish. Now, I rather hope there's ways to sexually dominate all of them without being a jerk, because I want to rule as Master, and make them happy. The point is, this game does truly well with the characters, and I enjoy them greatly. It's intriguing enough to earn the five star rating.

I am editing my review, though leaving the original section above. All I want to say, is that that review and the 5 Star rating was given on October 15th, 2019. A year, and nearly two months into development, and this game STILL earns that five star rating. It has met and surpassed my hopes and expectations, and has occupied the spot for my favorite game on this site.

Not because it necessarily appeals to my fetishes. There are some quality bondage scenes, however nowhere near as many as I would typically like, and I definitely cannot go all out on the girls like I would in other games where I play my bad guy. No, I enjoy it because I find the characters so compelling, and enjoyable, and full of personality. Because there's plenty of ways to just spend time with them. Because it's enjoyable to just INTERACT with these different ladies. Emotions and people and bond-building... it's all wonderful, and I love it.

And that's that, for now. Thank you kindly for reading, and simply let me reiterate. This game, is utterly fantastic.)

Top notch game. Usually these type of sandbox navigation/VN style games leave me frustrated or unsatisfied in some way, but not this one.

Here is why....

- I actually read all the dialogue. This is very rare for me in these types of games, but in this one I never got bored or disgusted with the writing. It's concise and to the point, yet filled with character.

- The girls. Each of the girls has their own very distinct and likeable personality (I especially like Rae). They never become a bore.

- Progression. This is a big deal for me. I hate grind and I hate not knowing how to proceed. There is almost none of that in this game. Almost every move you make progresses things forward smoothly and if you don't know what to do there is a simple checklist telling you what to do next. No fuss, no muss, no bullshit.

- NO DUDES. No male characters outside of the MC and no renders of the MC outside of POV renders. Who the hell wants to look at dudes while they're playing a porn game anyway?

- The animations. Some of them are good, most of them are great. There are a handful however which are just spectacular. Like seriously good quality you would not expect to find in a porn game.

There are other things worth mentioning, like the story (which is genuinely interesting), but you get the point. A 5 star game through and through.

This is my review about the game A house in the rift, developed by Zanith at its 0.3.3 version

The graphic is amazing, the art design is beautiful and the models used in this game is unique. The animation really flows here and I didn't see any glitch.

This game is a sandbox, you can progress with any girl in any order and the requirements are easy to accomplish. The navigation is good and it's not confusing, there's a point system (Intimacy and lewdness) to the girls and status system to the MC, but you don't worry about the grind because it's very fast and you can’t use the in-game hints to help you. There's an rng on the items you can take from the fridge, but you can use the "load" feature to help you, so I didn't have any problem with this.

The script is well-written and coherent, the pace is good, the characters are very charismatic (that applies to MC too) with a well-defined personality. In resume, the story very enjoyable to read and each element you can get from it (romance, drama, comedy, and action) has a perfect dosage.

There's a good amount of sex scenes and everything is well-animated. The scenes are very inspired and they fit with the story.

Great game and until this version, I don’t have any complaint about it.

A good game. The mechanics are quite easy. The hints very clear.
The girls are nice, each with her own traits. A good dose of humor in the dialog.
Rollback enabled, so you're sure to win whatever contest there is after a few tries, and that's a plus.
Not the game of the year but definitively one that is worth to follow

The description and sample pics can fool you, this project has a ton of potential. I wasn't really sure what sort of game this was going to turn out to be - to be completely honest I figured this was going to be yet another one that I'd get 10 mins in, become completely bored, exit, delete and never come back to. Holy s#!t was I wrong.

The Good:
-Very good plot and story writing. Feels like a lot of thought has gone into creating the setting/world as well as each character - and this is very important for a game of this nature. If the concept and the world hadn't been done right then this would have been a flop. There's clearly a good story brewing here, either with different endings or hopefully with each thread being closed properly and then a great finale.

-Each character has, so far, unique personalities and interesting back-stories. And the progression of the current characters (as of 3.2) is well thought out and smooth overall.

-Humor! I'm a sucker for a jokes and funny lines/situations/scenes as all of that adds depth to the character personalities, and this game definitely delivers! There were several sequences that elicited genuine laughter - and that's another factor that's sometimes overlooked.

-Solid renders. These aren't insane lighting and 4k images that some devs are producing nowadays, but that doesn't really seem to matter considering the uniqueness of each character so far. The best part is they're all realistically proportioned, nothing that's really over the top. I really like the renders here being what they are and can't really see this game being done with resources that would take forever to render (or require a server farm to do so in a timely manner).

-Intuitive play for navigation, the UI and for the mini-games. Sure, it's interesting when a dev adds complex features and spends a lot of time crafting a beautiful UI, but sometimes less is more! ZanithOne has struck an excellent balance with the mechanics, UI and the setting.

-Fun mini-games! The mini-games aren't overly complex (though in the Changelog there's indication one or two of them have been adjusted from older builds) and are fun to play. I lost several times but on the second play-through (not sure about the rest of you but I usually start over when new builds are released) I was able to figure out what I did wrong initially without having to spend time trying to figure out the systems.

-It's a good balance between sandbox and linear story. Open "world" type setting without having to bother with a map. The plot moves at the pace you want (you can ignore the quests/objectives) if you so choose. Or you can rush through the main plot and then go back. Or don't. Your choice.

The Bad:
-I'm not a fan of small updates, but this is a VERY minor point and honestly I was left searching for something to criticize. It's the devs choice how they make their game and, again, this is an extremely minor gripe. I know a lot of F95 users disagree with my opinion and I won't ever say they're wrong.

The Excellent:
-ZanithOne released this here, for us, on their own. And on top of that they're active here on the boards responding to us pirates! This, to me, is the most important point. It shows that ZanithOne believes in the project and based on their comments is actively listening to feedback.

Overall (aka TL;DR):
I rarely rate games unless I'm going to give a 5 star rating, and this is a project that is worth watching and playing. Excellent story, plot and setting. Fantastic balance on user interface, features, and ease of play. Humor! Solid renders that fit well. Give this one a try!

(edited for formatting corrections)

Good Points
+ We have good looking renders.
+ Our story is not so original but its kind of interesting.
+We have good looking animations with well maked physics.
+ We have hot/cute looking girls.
+ We have decent amount of story and lewd content.

Bad Points
- Even after that much update game still feels like need some improve about quality in general.
- DEV starts makes updates pretty short and its pretty disappointed...
- Orc girl could use some change, but i gues its not gonna happen... I told this and lots of people are not happy with this aswell but DEV dont care i gues? Anyways problem about her is about her face, while her body looks kind of good/hot her face is pretty unattractive, its realy need change...
- I dont know exact reason but new story parts are always feels like lacking someting and they are kind of boring...
- Blair's act about magic, how ignorantly not accepting facts, acting all stubborn and mighty like she knows the truth and everybody trying to trick her, and how he treats MC and other girls is darn annoying. After she had done the ritual herself things became better but until that point, her whole content is nothing more than an annoying chore you have to do.

For The End
Its good game i gues? But there is some bad points makes game little bit bad. They can be fixed but not sure DEV want fix them or see them as a bad point at all.

I did not know what to expect with this one, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The story has me interested and wondering what will happen next, the game play is fun and light, and the girls are sexy and fun. Some quick fun to wet the appetite, and some good slow burn teasing as well. Very eager to see what is next with this one!

Although there isn't many thing to do in current state of the game (0.3.0), I do enjoy this game and I think this game has a lot of potential to be really good game.

Pro
- Storyline is quite interesting and I kinda wonder what gonna happen in next update.
- H-Animation is really smooth.
- The girl has clear personality and characteristic. (i.e succubus, pirate, magician)
- There's some humor that make me chuckle

Con
- Navigate through the house is kinda confusing since there's no clear indicator for each room. You have to memorized.
- From my opinion I think the book (hint) need somework since sometime the book overwite the another quest.

Overall good game though I would leave this game a 5 stars unless, there is any change

PS. English is not my mother language soooo I sorry for mispelling or grammar error

Models might not be the most realistic, but the great writing and fundamental idea more than make up for it. I am very curious to see the other characters from the header image once they get implemented. I also enjoy the setup of concepts that will be explained later. The characters are not exposition factories but rather behave (somewhat) like they should in that situation.

Update (2021-04) - The models have improves a TON since this original review. The writing has only gotten better and the game has lost none of its luster.