Whelp, 4.5 stars isn't a thing so we're rounding up here. It's not perfect but I really like this game.
First off: It's not really a fap game (although a few of the animations are hot enough, if you're not so jaded that vanilla boy-and-girl-in-and-out no longer does it for you). It's much more "mood porn"; everything about it is just very chill. The theme bg music is perfect, it just has this sort of relaxed, almost lazy ambiance, like a murky day in that weird week-where-time-means-nothing between Christmas and New Year's where you have the week off but it's too cold to go out so fuck it let's just laze around the house.
Pros:
* Reasonably attractive renders for what it is (older Honey Select)
* Engaging characters. They aren't all waifu material, but a few of them are just delightful.
* MC is neither an idiot nor an asshole. (Imagine that!) He doesn't come across as an autist, or a Russian misogynist, or a weird genius, or a saint -- he's just a regular guy, basically decent.
* Not too many variables and points. You do have a couple gating metrics (the usual lust and love) but they are easy to grind up to the caps with minimal effort, so you can feel free to explore the dialogue trees without fear. And they are entertaining enough that you'll be glad you did. (On the flip side of this-- characters are fairly static, their personalities don't really evolve much.)
* Pacing is good. The burn is not so slow it's annoying, nor so quick you're rolling your eyes.
* World building is reasonable. Once you accept the basic silly premises, it all fits togethery in a satisfying manner.
* Low stakes (at least as of 7.17). No world-ending catastrophes that must be averted, just a nice placid environment with hot girls to play with.
Cons:
* This game has the feel of a novice programmer who got in over his head. What happens in the repeatable sandbox is basically independent from the story events; a girl who is disconsolately sobbing in her room every day might be cheerful and friendly at breakfast (but only breakfast), for instance. Gating events is tricky for people who don't structure programs well, and this one has the hallmarks of a project that organically grew with no real design work done at the start.
* Developer tries to cast a wide net, kink-wise. That's fine and I get why he does that, but it does mean that most people will probably find a few of the girls unattractive.
* The sex scenes are a bit too vanilla for such a long game; if seeing the "lewndess" variables makes you think this game is any sort of corruption/trainer game think again. It covers the basics (vag, BJs, and a little bit of anal) but that's about it. Look, I sure as hell don't want this to turn into one of those games that degenerates into a mass of weird shit, but I can only see the same guy reciprocate his dick into a hole so many times and still find it interesting. (Examples: Aside from one frame of a very minor repeatable event, the closest we get to girl/girl action is a side-by-side BJ where the girls politely refrain from touching each other. The long-anticipated "bondage potion" event has nothing of the sort. There is a bit of toying and masturbation but very limited. Etc.)
All in all it's a good game, worth the time. Not putting it in the rarified air of Great Games but it's better than most.
First off: It's not really a fap game (although a few of the animations are hot enough, if you're not so jaded that vanilla boy-and-girl-in-and-out no longer does it for you). It's much more "mood porn"; everything about it is just very chill. The theme bg music is perfect, it just has this sort of relaxed, almost lazy ambiance, like a murky day in that weird week-where-time-means-nothing between Christmas and New Year's where you have the week off but it's too cold to go out so fuck it let's just laze around the house.
Pros:
* Reasonably attractive renders for what it is (older Honey Select)
* Engaging characters. They aren't all waifu material, but a few of them are just delightful.
* MC is neither an idiot nor an asshole. (Imagine that!) He doesn't come across as an autist, or a Russian misogynist, or a weird genius, or a saint -- he's just a regular guy, basically decent.
* Not too many variables and points. You do have a couple gating metrics (the usual lust and love) but they are easy to grind up to the caps with minimal effort, so you can feel free to explore the dialogue trees without fear. And they are entertaining enough that you'll be glad you did. (On the flip side of this-- characters are fairly static, their personalities don't really evolve much.)
* Pacing is good. The burn is not so slow it's annoying, nor so quick you're rolling your eyes.
* World building is reasonable. Once you accept the basic silly premises, it all fits togethery in a satisfying manner.
* Low stakes (at least as of 7.17). No world-ending catastrophes that must be averted, just a nice placid environment with hot girls to play with.
Cons:
* This game has the feel of a novice programmer who got in over his head. What happens in the repeatable sandbox is basically independent from the story events; a girl who is disconsolately sobbing in her room every day might be cheerful and friendly at breakfast (but only breakfast), for instance. Gating events is tricky for people who don't structure programs well, and this one has the hallmarks of a project that organically grew with no real design work done at the start.
* Developer tries to cast a wide net, kink-wise. That's fine and I get why he does that, but it does mean that most people will probably find a few of the girls unattractive.
* The sex scenes are a bit too vanilla for such a long game; if seeing the "lewndess" variables makes you think this game is any sort of corruption/trainer game think again. It covers the basics (vag, BJs, and a little bit of anal) but that's about it. Look, I sure as hell don't want this to turn into one of those games that degenerates into a mass of weird shit, but I can only see the same guy reciprocate his dick into a hole so many times and still find it interesting. (Examples: Aside from one frame of a very minor repeatable event, the closest we get to girl/girl action is a side-by-side BJ where the girls politely refrain from touching each other. The long-anticipated "bondage potion" event has nothing of the sort. There is a bit of toying and masturbation but very limited. Etc.)
All in all it's a good game, worth the time. Not putting it in the rarified air of Great Games but it's better than most.