Version: 0.4.3
As of now, the rendering (+2) is the only saving grace of this game.
The game has A LOT of driest dialogue (-1) between erotic content, it can make the most horniness boy on viagra lose his boner.
You can tell the developer want to take those dialogue serious, trying to make it feel real and rich. But in doing so, forgot what make a story exciting.
I know developer want player to get to know the characters, but it endup feel like a family therapy session rather than compelling storytelling.
Also, the screenplays are too simple and weak(-1).
The game start with very little setup, the overview on the thread does more introduction than the game.
After a short cutscene, player immediately been throw into the world, no introduce of the MC, no explaining of the situation, and MC just start to acting out, it feel like you just turn on the tv and caught a mid season finale of some long running tv show airing, its very dramatic, but you have never seen one episode of that show.
Now, you can identify those character’s emotions, because you're a normal human being, you can sympathies, but at the same time you're very “out of it”, because you don't have any connection with them, thoughts and prayer is the most you can do.
Furthermore, at the start MC acting like a whining bitch, is kinda annoying, I want to slap him long before someone in the game does it.
Put it simply, bad first impressions or weak protagonist make people harder to connect with the story.
If you don't have a strong introduction scene or initial plot, you need a strong character or atleast a interesting one to lead. And a strong/interesting character characteristics are best shown by action not by words.
Other than weak writing, the camera language or the direction are also very simplistic(-0.4). It's always two shot back and forth.
Now, I know good rendering are very expensive, you want put your money where your mouth is, this strategy works for a lot of low bugget VN games, but in this game, where there are loads of conversations, is make those scene very dull and boring.
Basically, I'm saying you can use some closeups or cutaways, maybe some B-roll footage to spice things up a little bit.
It's not a big deal if you have some hot action waiting for you, but as of now, there not much arousing behind those Sahara desert of conversations.
I feel a lot of conversations can be chop up into gameplay, let player pick the topic up during gameplay section, let the plot concentrate on more "action" oriented stuff. Give the player the agency to dictate the pacing.
So... TLDR
I played this game for an hour, my boner is gone, and I have nothing to do but to vent those frustrations.
Game has potentials: 2.6/5
PS: Pia in some scenes look like a zombie. Kinda a boner killer.
