VN - Ren'Py - A Shot in the Dark [Ch.4] [ViM Studios]

One of the most well-rounded games out there and one of the best college-themed ones.

Pros:

1) Tons of great QoL features. How the devs care about their players' experience is commendable.
2) Good plot and decent writing. I love how the MC's psychological problems are shown and the mystery overall.
3) Good visuals, especially when the aforementioned problems are concerned.
4) Good selection of girls and no lack of sex with them.
5) Specific girl: Ashley. Love her model.
6) Decent branching. There are so many opportunities for the MC to meet Elly during that first sorority party, but I somehow got the one where they don't talk there first .

Cons:

1) The MC is stupid / naive. Andre has to explain very obvious things to him, such as how cooperating with cops may backfire or how a drug dealer may be lying and manipulating them (the latter he doesn't listen to)… ugh.

Still, it's just one flaw in an otherwise great game, so I wish the devs all the best with their project !

See MixQQ's review below - what I have to say about the game would almost identically mirror his experiences.

Especially the part about the threesome with Sara and Sophie. It was perhaps the most disappointing sex scene with three characters I've ever witnessed. No explicit camera angles (you only get to see the MC's dick). MC only fucks one of them (Sophie is the one I MOST wanted to get busy with in that scene, and didn't get to have). MC isn't allowed to cum inside anyone - they make him cum on Sara's face. And the whole thing was shot with a ~1 inch stroke length, slow-motion speed fuck. What's the point of a threesome again? That's right - sex between everyone, which this didn't have.

Most of the rest of the game mirrors the disappointment I felt watching that. Missed opportunities for hot scenes everywhere. An MC that doesn't have the first clue what's going on around him (and no spine either).

I finally shut the game down after that threesome - I just didn't want more of the same high-expectation, and low-payout that I saw.

Like many other games in this specific genre of AVN, it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel but isn't exactly standing out either. Lewd scenes are slow and stiff and really aren't worth your time.

The music is nice but I can't really recommend this to anyone because of how many problems it has, like the MC being a bitch for one.

I love this game, can't wait until it's complete and will 100 percent purchase. Love the girls, love the story and choices, highly recommend. Shame it hasn't blown up yet.

Animations are great, girls are amazing is this 200 characters yet?

Came for the Femdom but ended up enjoying most of the relationships. Character interactions / conversations feel a lot more real than your general porn game. Most of the progression is slow which might turn off some but the interactions with the LI can actually be quite sweet. Other LI move at a faster pace so you are not left wanting.

+ Diverse set of girls
+ Decent renders
+ Something sexy for everyone
+ Decent writing, actually has a story and some suspense
+ MC isn't an idiot with nothing but sex on the brain

- Choices are mostly just +/- relationship with girl

S'pretty good. for the most part!
Renders are top notch and I dig the UI.
Writing starts off fairly dry, but it eventually gets its hooks in.
I dig the bulk of the characters and the narrative is intriguing enough.

My complaints are few...

The animations are mostly fine, but I feel like a lot of them are perhaps slower than they should be. That and some of them loop in ways that don't look quite right

Sound and music is largely forgettable, which is fine - I'm used to muting these games anyway. But one sex scene in the last chapter threw me through a loop by having full voice acting. Now don't get me wrong - it was good!

But I am a stickler for consistency. That was the first and last instance of any voice acting in the game. Personally, with that being the case, I would rather it weren't there period. If the rest of the game is to eventually have voice acting, well that'll eventually be neat. For now I just find it off-putting.

In any event I dug the game a lot and while there's a little room for improvement it's still an easy recommendation for me to make.

+ girls
+ music
+ renders

- mc is very insecure, clueless in sex scenes - girls have to teach and explain to him so many things.. it's miracle/a new level of fantasy a guy like him got so many chicks
- too many cowgirl positions, mc is so fucking lazy.. all he do is lying on the bed and girls do all the work
- lewd scenes are boring, animations are too slow, they looks like "fucking in slow motion" im suprised girls don't fall asleep during them
- disappointing threesome with Sara & Sophie
- mc's conversations with girls, he is so fucking pathetic in them, this dude literally don't have balls and any life experience, which is strange if you consider he is in college
- story

one of the worst mc in this genre. Interesting girls saved this avn from 1 star rating

Seems like it might be a neat game but it quickly turns into a turd. I don't really like to put down peoples hard work, and there is definitely some hard work here, in particular the girls look good and the flashy menus and everything is cool. However, the writing is really poor. Especially for the MC who has one mode: Beta. There is no role playing here because you are a beta who loves taking pictures. That's it. While there are some branching paths with the girls, the paths are basically side with the sluts or side with the reserved girls. There are no real choices in how you deal with said girls, just whether or not you're on the path or not. Also, wtf is up with one of your LI being kidnapped and beat up right at the start of the game? There is zero reason for this to exist aside to create unnecessary drama. Overall, a dissapointing game.

A Shot in the Dark [ Ch.4 Beta ]

Pros:
+ Interesting and engaging story plot
+ Great story narration and pacing
+ Delivers suspense in a good way
+ Profession and clean user interface
+ Very diverse cast of characters
+ Dialogue is mostly well written

Cons:
- Suspense might not be for everyone
- Every chapter and update seems to end in a cliffhanger of sorts
- Story is mostly linear, but that may be a good thing to some people


Every update keeps me on my toes, wanting to know more. This is one of few visual novels where I want to know more about the main character as well, why he is the way he is, and what happened in his past.

Though admittedly, only one character (Ashley) catches my interest at all, the interactions between characters and their conversations are not bad at all. For the most part, they all feel mostly believable or well written. I do like that you can still hang out with the other characters as friends and keep interacting with them, even if you don't want to go on their love interest routes.

Overall, the story is full of suspense and I feel the way it unfolds, like through the therapy sessions or flashbacks or dreams, is well delivered. Definitely worth checking out and keeping on your radar. I think there are a planned 8 chapters, plus an epilogue. At the current pace of two chapters a year we can hope to see the end within 2-3 years, hopefully.

Overall Rating: 9.0/10

A very well done VN.

Visually it looks good with some nice models. A plus is not all have over sized boobs, there are some but not all. I'm not into the 3x boobs but still I found the aunt pretty attractive regardless. Some scenes the shirts look vacuum sealed onto the woman but I've noticed that is fairly common among models with the over sized boobs so this one isn't alone. Contrary to some reviews I thought the animations were well done.

The writing is solid and the story interesting thus far. Some reviews complain about the MC being a "beta" which isn't even a real thing, it's a made up concept as is the alpha thing and not actual personality traits, but they are off the mark any way so if you see anyone using those terms then you can pretty much take everything else they say with a grain of salt as well. The MC has some social anxiety which makes him a little awkward at times but it's not even that bad. Some people aren't happy unless every MC acts like an ass,

The game mechanics are good, almost too good. The dev made it easy to know which choices you might want, no guess work at all.

An entertaining VN that I would recommend giving a play.

Other devs have caught up on the render quality, so it's not as amazing as the first release, but they're still good. Story is typical college adult style that is all over this site. Most of the girls are unattractive to me but that is personal preference, and you have to give credit where it's due in their diversity. Many games suffer from samey looks, this game does not have that issue.

Information is presented for every choice, you don't have to guess or use a walkthrough or keep reloading saves, you'll know exactly what is happening with choices and what routes are available and where the big choices are. I want to give this 5 stars just on that, but I don't think that's fair either. I would definitely have given it one less star or more if not for how high the QOL is on this.

Of course it's a game and the girls throw themselves at the MC. At least this time he has some normal young men thoughts. That seemingly offends the keyboard warriors who sit on pirate porn sites playing adult games while calling themselves "alpha", so if you're one of those people, be warned. For everyone else who isn't a self-unaware loser, it's probably going to be a positive for this game, or at least you won't really care.

There is already some lewd content with a few LIs. I don't think the scenes are particularly great nor is there much to do in them, but that's not a fault of this game because all adult games are pretty much like that, you have to be a real loser to get excited over video game renders and live vicariously through said fictional MC, self inserting yourself into the game but hey that's the type of person that gets vocal on here. Are you that guy? Uh oh, I guess this might get you hot and bothered, dunno if you should avoid this because of that or get more lotion for yourself, I can't relate.

this reminds me about Being a DIK, College life and go YOLO lmao
the renders on the girls are so well done HOLY sarah face in particular so well done.
its a simple avn game with a bit of photography sandbox and its great.
you should give it a try



Story: 4/5
Render: 5/5
Gameplay:4/5 (Simple AVN)
Girls: 10/5
Potential: 10/5

cant wait for the updates!

came for the animated tag and I'm now in pain
why is there an audible gear squeaking noise whenever there's movement?
and the other parts of the game are okay but the animations are so bad wtf?
Also choices every 2 seconds choice choice choice choice all seemingly going in the same direction so is this some sorta trick vn that makes you think you're making choices? seems like it.

Stuck in the mind of, and subjected to the endless mental diarrhea of, a submissive mentally-challenged beta. Meanwhile a college hottie is tied up in a basement and beaten/abused on a long-term basis. It is obvious who is responsible after the altercation immediately prior to her kidnapping (that was witnessed by multiple people) but almost everyone acts like they are braindead and clueless.

The game is cringey and tedious and goes out of its way to waste your time. This includes a large number of memories/lewd scenes. Many of the characters are caricatures of women with ridiculous dimensions.

I only give it 2 stars because a few of the characters look good.

Writing this review whilst still on chapter 1 and already taken aback. Meeting characters with different personalities is always welcome and this game does that really well. Moreover, the game gives you more freedom over the kind of college life you want to live, rather than enforcing a specific college lifestyle over you. As a result of this, different LIs get attracted to you based on the kind of personality you want for yourself. For once, the size of yo meat aint becoming the reason for every character to be interested or falling for you

Animation: Above and beyond
Story: Well crafted, intentional, created with care
Scripting: Fits the people speaking and creates personality.
This is a well made game from a strong set of developers. I hope they are able to drive this one to completion because it deserves it. Which makes it all the more sad that I will probably never be able to fully play the game again! I am not equipped to deal with all the multiple choices, branching, missed relationships/content. Too anxious of a personality too deal with maybe making a not-real person unhappy! But my personal failings do not detract from the fact that this game has great potential. Maybe I'll be able to play this game when someone creates some kind of one-playthrough mod or something...

I have mixed feelings about the game so I will start off by explaining the pros and then the cons and my conclusion.

Pros
1.Music is solid nothing too crazy but its nice to have some nice music while playing

2 The women are well designed and very attractive also the renders are nice to see again nothing too crazy but definitely above average

3 Very few spelling mistakes and overall composition of the structure of the sentences is fairly good

4 Branching system gives you plenty opportunities to meet love interest that you might had missed earlier on in the game if you decided to skip them or go another route.

5 Story has some interesting moments of crime and mystery which I found interesting aside from the good old college plot

Cons

1 Characters lack depth to them most of them are forgettable and you will forget all about them after you're done playing

2 MC is one of the worst ever written he is not only cowardly but also super dense and has little to no awareness, so girls and other characters usually end up taking advantage of him easily the worst part of the game he has the personality of a brick and almost made me not want to finish playing the game at one point.

3 Writing is easily the weakest part of the game some relationships feel like they progress too fast while others too slow and while I do like the mystery aspect of the story plot I find the college/ classes side of things to be extremely boring

4 Animations look stiff they definitely could use some work on them so they don't feel like puppets having sex

5 Word bloat I felt like this is one of those games that makes scenes and dialogue between characters unnecessary long just for the sake of having more words there where time where I felt like characters kept rambling about unimportant stuff through the conversations.

Conclusion I think a Shot in the Dark is a game that is fairly average at what it does and doesnt try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to college themed games, while I do see potential in the game it would need a massive overhaul in a lot of areas which I doubt it will happen all in all, I would only recommend this game if you are really bored and have nothing to do since I think there are other games in the same college theme genre that do a much better job at it.

People are too harsh on this game imo.
There is plenty of content, there are characters for everybody. I'm very eager to see my favourite people again (Mai, Sara)
The story has some twists which are surprising, it's entertaining.
However, I'm unhappy with being forced to interact with everyone, including those that I do not want to see.
Regardless, it's a great game, I'm thankful for you devs.
I also like the Photogram app, how each character leads a life outside the story + bonus pictures! Thanks for taking the time for that.

Looking forward to the next chapter, good luck dev!

I have mixed feeling about this game, on one hand I think it's technically great: visuals are very good, animations so-so but still good enough, Ui is polished, every detail is taken care of (girls' profiles, apps, choices, points, gallery), the scenes have even too much images (it's great to see that many variations during a conversation, but I'm afraid it takes too much time without really paying off).
On the other hand it really lacks consistency:
- the MC might be interesting, he's supposed to be shy and his internal dialogue shows he is (some people seems to hate playing not an alpha male, but I think he's donequite right), but nevertheless nobody reacts to his shyness, every single girl falls in love with him immediately and for no reason.
- characters are not believable at all, they all have cliché personality, very dull and totally not realistic, yet each one of them immediately loves the MC and is very polite. Despite the game initial claim nothing seems to have consequences: or even better , there are also a couple of shy bombshell who, out of their shyness, practically immediately throw themselves onto you, there is an oddly insecure super hot milf, who in a matter of minutes hits on the childhood friend of her daughter which she hadn't seen for I don't know, ten years? Yeah, might as well happen.. I think that the games should take itself less seriouslyand try to turn into a lighthearted porn plot, or seriously review the character design and script in order to offer a more mature and interesting game.

Anyway there is clearly a lot of effort behind it, so kudos!

Great game so far, amazing score, renders and models. Story pacing is great too. Very Promissing.
Hope to see where this game and this dev could go.

The system of memories and photos is also amazing.

This game has the potential to become a massive hit