Ren'Py - A House in the Rift [v0.8.04r1] [Zanith]

I am a longtime lurker and never write reviews - this is my first one. That should already tell you something. I love this game!

The plot is genuinely interesting and rarely can a game make me care about the characters, which are really well written and authentic.

Seriously, the writing is amazing, it's better than most Netflix shows.
And the animations are simply superb. I usually don't like this anime style(?) but this is obviously an exception.

Among all this rubbish on this website this game is a gem. 5 stars!

This game has a lot of merits, good animation, it is unique, it is fun at the beginning, and the story is good. I really like Rae, looks, body.

Where it falls flat is too much repetition, I am not a fan of the looks of most of the girls (Rae the purple-hair succubus and the elf girl are the only exceptions), the other characters are written well but not a fan of their character models.

At the beginning, I was really impressed. The story was cool, I never played another game like this and I like the mystery of the story.
Story: 5 out of 5

Character models: Rae the succubus is an attractive character, as is the elf girl. The rest of the girls have weird proportions and are not that attractive. There are also games using Genesis 9 models now, so HS models are falling further and further behind.
Models: 2 out of 5 there. If more looked like Rae, especially, 3.9 out of 5.

After playing a while, you kind of get lost what to do. It gets repetitious and the girls kind of come in and out of the story while you wander around. More variation on the repeatable scenes would have been nice, as after a while it gets boring trying to find the one thing that progresses the story and the girls do all of the same things or have the same scenes.

There are little side events (finding girls in their room, in the shower, etc.), but not enough to prevent the repetition. This is the single biggest issue of this game altogether, along with the character models just being meh.

Progression: 1.8 out of 5 stars

Replayability: Would likely be low, it would likely get even more repetitious. For me, I will likely be "one and done", I play through every update and want to play through the finished game when it gets there.

ZanithOne, the developer: Keeps updates coming, delivers on promises. A very good developer that I wish lots of success to!

I really like this one, simple power fantasy with happy home harem. I'm looking forward for more. I think the game play loop is really nice, the side quest are rewarding, and continuing the main quest when you feel like give a lot to the player's autonomy.

Not going to go into specifics, but I love the concept of dream walking as a way of expanding scenarios, first time I've seen it as a main feature in a story. It is also really exciting to unwrap the house bit by bit like an advent calendar. Also kinda like a box of chocolates. Cherry: tart and sweet dark elf, truffle: sweet and smooth pirate, milk chocolate: simple familiar smart girl, hazelnut : elf surprise tough but not really.

I didn't expect a porn game to be so enjoyable. the characters are all awesome and well written and i care more about what's going on with their story then the fun stuff most of the time. Beautiful work of art.

Awesome game with good characters and character development, keep it up. I like the concepts and how each character has to overcome both internal and external struggles. The relationship dinamics are both funny and heartwarming.

I don't understand how this game is SO SO SO overrated. It has for the most part unattractive honey select models, its open world (which is the bane of all VN) and its super gridny. Just repeat the same things, over and over and over and over until you can unlock a scene or two and then you are back at it again. The animations were the only thing that was okay, but they don't have much angles or interaction. The story is also pretty meh. I honestly can't understand why so many people gave such high reviews for this game.

TLDR; Don't believe the hype, this game is average at best.

Impressive game with beautifully rendered characters (another example of a game where Honey Select can easily compete with even best DAZ games), great sex scenes, interesting plot and well written characters. Usually I'm not into sandbox games because it wastes time but this is one of the rare ones where gameplay isn't tedious and each day we've got plenty of interesting (read: lewd) things to do and there's not much of a repetition unless we want it.

Pros:
+ Hot women
+ Great sex scenes
+ Interesting plot
+ Well-written characters that enhance the experience and let you immerse into story
+ Lots of content

Cons:
- I don't like minigames too much but they are extremely rare and aren't that bad (and we haven't got any new for quite some time) so it's a very, very small flaw
- It's a sandbox so there are some things we will have to repeat but if someone like me wasn't bothered by it (and I usually hate sandbox games) then it really isn't bad

All in all I rate it 9/10 and can't wait for future updates. Definitely recommended.

Well written, impressively animated, and great release schedule. The game has plenty slice of life moments, incredibly written story and characters, and plenty "psychical activities." The updates are always fresh and never disappoint to add to the above three categories. This game a masterpiece in the adult games genre in my humble opinion.

Game is awesome. I hate typical Visual Novels, but here plot and characters are awesome (well. Maybe except this orc), graphics are stunning and there is good balance between character developement and sex scenes ratio

Excellent game, far better than I was expecting, to be honest.
Very well written, internally consistent, nice world-building.
Unique animation style that puts you right in the middle of the action.

Overall one of the best of this type that I've played, and I've played a lot of them. Usually they get tedious after a few hours, but A House in the Rift has held my attention long beyond that.
When I finish my playthrough of the current public version (0.6.8r2) I'll definitely sign up and grab the latest.
Worth supporting or at least keeping an eye on.

PS: Also, I've encountered not a single bug in a couple of dozen hours playing, which is rare indeed for a game still in development.

Review for Android version 0.6.8r2
A very enjoyable experience so far. I've managed to finish all main and side quests for the current version under about 7+ hours of play in total.

The premise works well and the developer is doing something interesting with it to produce a cohesive story. The world building is also pretty good with its established different worlds and terminology.

I liked the girls and their personalities, loved the animations - one of the strongest aspects of this game along with writing. Though I want to note that sometimes lighting on models may be off but this is a minor issue.

I've also had some issues while playing the mobile version:

1) If the phone is turned off and then on the game becomes just a black screen with no sound and you have to restart the game.

2) There are only 2 music tracks playing for the whole duration of the game. I guess this is not supposed to happen because in the credits a lot of music tracks are listed with appropriate links to them

3) Some side quests weren't marked as completed after completing them for the first time. Just doing them again fixes it (Most notably two quests in the Naomi's route about her wanting to go to other places)

Overall, I would definitely recommend playing this game!

v0.6.8r2

This was very enjoyable. The premise is unique and executed masterfully.
The animations and angles were much better than I expected from a honey select game.

Not all the models are great though, I really like 3 of them (Rae, Lin, Lyriel) but the others I don't really care for.
Looking forward to future releases

This game is a masterpiece, and the dev is a hardworking, dedicated, and organized, delivering regular content updates and maintaining a high standard of quality.

Also the lewd animations are just gorgeous work. Its rare to find stuff with this level of detail and movement. However it *is* becoming more prevalent in recent games but thats because those devs have played this one and probably been influenced by it.

Yes, definitely a good one. Honest work. Great atmosphere in game, a lot of good scenes with sort of a choice, quality animations.

Gotta be honest, was searching for something like 'Harem Hotel', this feels like closest call.

Not really a fan of most girls however, but overall style is still pretty neat.

Absolutely 5/5

This game is a sandbox that has a lot of things going for it, the dialogue is excellent and because the sandbox is limited to one house it feels densely packed and easy to navigate.

Characterization seems pretty strong with each girl having a unique identity. The interactions and relationships between characters are also fun and plentiful. Some characters are more chaste and have a slower progression while others hit the ground running. I generally prefer the former so Yona is kinda a weak point for me, her model is also a niche taste (and we kinda already have Naomi for the tall musclegirl) and her face just isn't that attractive to me.

The world building and magic system are pretty good for a porn game, with etherwalking being an excellent means of shaking up the monotony of being in the house. I found myself looking forward to etherwalking events because they give a feeling of discovery and excitement.

The sex scenes are a cut above average for Honey Select but not the best of the best. SFX during scenes would improve them greatly. There is a total lack of group sex outside of dream sequences, though I assume that will come eventually.

'Till this day, its been an enjoyable experience. It feels self aware of its factitious setting. As much as that is, in addition to the dialogue, it feels grounded.
I haven't gone the pervy route, not forcing it and the dialogue has kept itself good despite it.
Very enjoyable game. I come back to it no longer because of the Porn.
More so because I want to see where the story goes. And for a porn game, that's something.
Definitely could use more activities to do or places to go and progress when not in a story section of a character.
Characters keep talking about doing and going places and asking the Player about it but you hardly get to do it. But does make it so every time we go outside the house feel like an event.

TL;DR/Anyways. For the 0.5% of the population who will read this.
It's actually a good game both on the Porn aspect of it, and just a nice story overall. Thought out characters and the dialogue and its setting. Doesn't feel like a game at all but also not like 90% of the NV in this site.
Would recommend.

It's really too bad, the plot and graphics are fine. Sex scenes are repeatable, at least most of them. But by god are most of the women ugly as sin. Only the elf and the purple hair one pass. Not recommended.

[Reviewed in v0.6.2.5]

A unique setup with excellent execution. The girls give a nice range of looks and personalities and are largely enjoyable to look at and interact with. The renders are great, and the animations look original and very high quality. Highly recommended.

I was initially drawn to this game by the unique setup in the description, though partially concerned about being stuck in a house with nowhere to go. While you do spend a very large portion of the game stuck in the house there is still plenty to keep you interested therein. And, there are plenty enough opportunities to get out and explore, just not as much as most other games, given the setup.

For a long time I put this game aside despite being very intrigued by the description because the sample images with the red-head looked like her head was very strangely narrow, and I feared the character designs would be too off-putting. I am very glad I did not let that stop me since largely I enjoy the girls' designs, and said red-head quickly became one of my favorite characters.

The first girl, a succubus, is easily the best, both in personality and design. The large muscular pirate captain I like, but she feels lacking in ways I can't really put my finger on, both in looks and personality. The red-head is endlessly enjoyable to chat with, and her head which initially put me off became quickly unnoticable. The elf is initially severely abbraisive, but eventually reveals a very cute personality and look (though she never wears the bunny costume in the banner). The orc initially girl seems far too passive and submissive, though her last interaction reveals that could change and make her much more interesting, and explains her initial disposition; and personally I wish her skin were just slightly less dark. And finally the dwarf, is absolutely perfect in my eyes, she's everything I've ever wanted in a romanceable dwarf girl and I cannot wait for more. As for MC, he's as blank slate as they come, and I continually wish he would do more to try and clear up missing information and misunderstandings, or try to learn about the situation himself, but it's not even close to a deal breaker.

If you're looking for something with a new and original setup, this game is a must.

One of the most interesting, Ren'py games with a simple story with very flexible sandbox mechanics, that isn't over bloated or complicated.

You play as a Nameless MC character, chilling at a park thinking about dirty thoughts. Suddenly a portal comes out of nowhere and takes you to a house in the middle of the rift. You're stranded and start having dreams of girls from different races and fantasy places and start to live in your house, and started the harem life.

The Gameplay is in mixture of Visual novel sandbox and runs in the Honey select engine. You make choices and it mostly changes the Intimacy and Lust of the girls. No girl is going to hate you, just be more open and more to sex scenes as you increase their stats. You go to dreams and get more girls and go a dating simulation with them.

The hentai scenes are great and fully animated. They range from Maledom, femdom, vanilla sex, anal sex, paizuri, blowjob, footjob, handjob, and other positions later in the future. You have many great girls, that started off confused to immediately loving and understanding. Many will have favorites, My favorites are Rae, Cait, Lyriel and Jennifer.

There is very few minor issues but most of them are nitpicks. Not all of the girls are your liking, you will be repeating the same (but varied) events over and over again to raise the girl's intimacy and lust, and specific quest not triggering even if you followed exactly what period drama quest said.

Overall a great game that I kept playing nonstop until I reached the recent version of this game (V0.6.5r2). Hours of content and tons of character development for everyone. Easily a great recommendation.

Ver: 0.6.5r2

A house in the Rift has became something of a comfort read for me. It was one of the first Ren'Py games that really sucked me into the story and made me a fan of the sandbox format. While the lewd scenes are top notch, the best part I would say about this game is that the story and character development has been great to read and has genuinely made me care about these fake waifus.

The only real complaint I have about the game is that a few systems in the game seem to be a bit useless, like the scavenging mechanic with the fridge and the RNG money thing with the closet. However, I'm sure that the author will make use of it later on.

Highly recommend if you are fan of sandbox games and (sorta) monster/fantasy girls. Good plot lines, interesting and varied character designs and overall, a very comfy play. Approxmately 6-12 hours long as of right now if you do all current main story activities and side activities.