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

Have you ever played one of those "I was transported to a world with reversed gender roles" games where women are the dominant ones and men act like women? Playing this game feels pretty much like that, just that no actual gender roles have been reversed, it's just the MC being the biggest stammering pussy with absolutely zero control over what happens to him and the funny thing is that there are way too many choices, yet you still feel you have no control.

And for some reason, every single woman in the game wants to be with this awkward NPC that can't even say one word without stuttering if there's a woman around. Let's not even talk about the love interests and the clichés surrounding them. As you play this, you will immediately recognise every single situation, every other recycled cliché. Not all of them are bad, but again, it's just so jarring and utterly unbelievable that all these women want to be with the biggest loser in the world.

The game tries to justify the MC's personality via hints of past trauma and there's an overall dark plot going on, which clashes with the ridiculousness that you have to experience as you play through this game. I honestly don't understand how this gets so many 5-star reviews. The renders are nice, I guess? Instead of playing this game, just watch some porn and imagine whatever scenario you want to see, you will not feel like you are really seducing or attracting the LIs in any way.

The story is....not bad. The characters are interesting and the art is good, even if the animation is pretty terrible. I would honestly rather the sex scenes just be still images over what is there, tbh.

HOWEVER...the thing that really bothered me about the story is how predictable it is. And how much of a pushover the MC is. The story hints at past traumas that might have sculpted him this way, but it's still frustrating how many options and choices are out of your control, and a few of the ones you DO make that apparently have consequences end up being wrong down the line.

Anyway, it's a decent play through. Only a few chapters now, so about an hour and a half of content, but it is what it is.

I'd rate it 2,5 stars out of 5 at this point after Chapter 3). I suck at writing reviews, but somehow this game got me that frustrated that I need sort my thoughts a bit. A couple notes:

• The MC is very shy and lacks confidence. He keeps questioning himself about the smallest things. That in itself would not be a problem per se. However, imo, it's in stark contrast to how every girl/woman is immediately drawn to him, including some common porn tropes like the domme policewoman, horny prof, the aunt. Reading how he keeps questioning himself about what to say with girls while it's awfully clear he will say the right things anyway is quite frustrating, imo.
  
  It makes a possible character development pretty much redundant, when he has been scoring right from the start. Later on, we learn he isn't a virgin, which means he should have some experience to build confidence from, which in turn makes his excessive self-doubt hard to believe.

• The porny aspects and the dark story clash. You would think something potentially horrible like this happening would weigh heavily on the overall game. Instead, the officer investigating the case thinks it's appropriate to ask a potential suspect if he's into femdom.
  No matter who turns out to be the culprit, the currently obvious choice or someone else, I just wish it'd be over soon. At the same time, you wonder if that would be some kind of 'game over' moment and would be left of the game once the mystery is solved.
  So yeah, I can't really get into a potentially interesting story involving past trauma. Finally, a hint at the darker aspects of the game in the tags would have been nice.

• The renders are nice and the lewd scenes are good, also regarding dialogue. During the lewd scenes, the renders are very 'hard cut', though (idk how to properly describe it), which can be annoying.

It's good.
A user-friendly UI that explains shit to you.
Writing that's free of grammar and spelling mistakes for the most part.
Choice of music can be hit or miss but still good most of the time.

It's just that most of the character models look pretty mediocre. I can't really get into the story when they look like that. This is one of those rare games where EVERYTHING ELSE is on point except for the character models. It's usually the exact opposite these days. The only one that looks good is Ashley and it's so night and day compared to the rest of them that it's almost unfair. "Unfair" as if in this game's world, all the attractiveness went to one person and everyone else is just forced to look like an average person. It's an "adult" VN, people. Not supposed to be looking like real life.

Yet Another Awkward Boy Fantasy.

We've seen this all before. A kid goes to college—he's bland, awkward, and has few redeeming qualities. And for whatever dumb reason, women can't stop throwing themselves at him.

It's been done so many times and so much better, too.

Visually, the game is above average, but lacks an attention to detail. Renders are inconsistent. Some of them are done with care, others are just kind of slapped together. Composition is super generic. Lighting and shadows rarely feel like a concern. Pictures are almost always framed the same way, slapped against the same cookie-cutter backgrounds you've seen in a bunch of other games. There's a healthy dose of animations, which are generally appreciated, but they feel thrown in, or there for the sake of being there, rather than linked contextually. The actual moment-to-moment gameplay is not significantly enhanced by their presence.

Likewise, the MC is supposed to be some amazing amateur photographer, but all of the pictures he takes are bland and uninteresting. You'd think because they're supposedly professional level photos that they would at least be color-balanced? The developer could have spent all the time on pointless intro-animations (or blinking animations while they're posing for photos) into making some really, really high quality avant-garde renders and use them for the photography shots, which would add more to the game and fit the story.

Beyond the visuals, the game progresses in much the same way as plenty of games in the college life genre. He goes to a party, he goes to class, he meets almost exclusively women (who all want to sleep with him for reasons no one can understand). He bumbles and stutters and puts his foot in his mouth over and over, and for some fucked up reason every girl finds this endearing.

Speaking of the MC, he's beyond awkward and naive to the point of actually being cringe. He can't stop word salading every time he speaks to a girl (and then beating himself up for it). The first time might be humorous, the next couple of times might be cute. But it quickly becomes kitsch and annoying. There's no more humor or interest there, the act is worn so thin that it becomes annoying.

It also makes no sense in the context of the game because apparently he has great luck with every women he word vomits onto. You would think even Pavlov's dog would start to associate his "method" with success—or atleast get used to it via immersion therapy—and stop acting like the sky is falling when he sticks his foot in his mouth for the 37th time in the same 5 minute conversation.

Many lewd scenes are handled remarkably poorly. We're talking all the hallmarks of Patreon-milking bait-and-switching. Apparently Sophie now cums from giving handjobs, probably because the developer doesn't want to put in a scene where this weird, awkward ladykiller virgin fantasy man gets to have PIV sex yet. He gets rave reviews for his performance of... laying there? Obviously nothing else, because he later needs step-by-step instructions on how to finger a woman.

The lewd scenes are kind of awkward, in general. Rather than a fluid series of slides, we have a bunch of micro-scenes based on actions (kiss, grope, etc). Transitions between them are terrible, even on fully scripted events. It's like after animating a bunch of micro-scenes, the developer is rushing to conclude the scene as fast as humanly possible, because the continuation does not match the rest of the scene, to where it feels like there's a few panels missing in every erotic scene.

Even the choices are questionable. There's too many points-or-no-points choices, leading to an objectively correct way to play the game. Even beyond this, the "major" choices, considered irreversible, are just this girl vs that girl choices. It's understandable why they might be in there, but there really doesn't need to be 15 of these choices per chapter.

There's some overarching story about how one of the twins is kidnapped, but even this is done poorly and you're given little reason to actually care about it. The developer probably thinks that because you can choose which of the twins is kidnapped, that it's extra immersive to the story. It's just the opposite.

Because the game now has to fit one of two polar opposite characters being kidnapped, it's forced to be shallow and unconnected from the rest of the goings on. There's nothing specific about the investigation to either path. There's largely no difference in how the characters respond, if they respond at all. Hell, even the MC seems completely unbothered by it while he awkwardly bumbles between one girl and the next. You're left with the feeling like nothing happened, or that Generic Girl A or Generic Girl B is kidnapped, and it's painfully unfulfilling.

Ultimately, everything about this game just speaks to how mediocre it is. It takes no original ideas—from spending half the game staring at the phone app or swiping on a notTinder app, to being forced to listen to sixty pages (complete with 6 "choices" all of which have an objectively right or wrong answer) of shambling conversations, to a bunch of forced "basketball" scenes from a developer that doesn't seem to understand very much about basketball. We've seen the same thing from other games on this site, and many of them were done better.

It's purely a power fantasy involving an MC who is so awkward that he's surely on the autism spectrum. And if you're not that kind of person, you're not likely to enjoy this game. Everything about this game fits within that fantasy. It's a world where apparently athletes are on the bottom of the food chain and everyone goes for bland, nerdy, "tortured" "artist" types like the MC, instead. Yet no amount of flattery or attention or instant gratification can even marginally improve the MC's confidence or basic fucking social skills. The writing is beyond hard to justify.

It's about a 2.5-3. There's the bones for a good game, and the developer clearly cares, but it's hard to get through. Most love interests have few personality traits other than wanting to hop on the MC's dick. You get baited and blueballed because the developer doesn't want to lose the "charm" of the MC being a soulless, spineless virgin. The sex scenes you finally do get are often unsatisfactory because instead of writing a linear story you get a bunch of repeatable micro-scenes. And you have to sit through 30 slides of the main character furiously shoving his foot in his mouth every time there's a girl on the screen (which is most of the game when he's not chatting with the most annoying roommate). It's a challenge.

[Version Reviewed: 0.25]

What I liked about the game:

+ Story. The story starts off with an introvert MC joining college and his life as he navigates trying to be someone who puts himself out there more often. It leads to him attending a party which ends up with some bad consequences for the other partygoers. It's a relatively slice-of-life story at the beginning which becomes a little more complex each update. Our MC doesn't go out there swinging his dick despite us being told that he's an introvert. He tries to stay low-key, but slowly makes himself more well-known around his college. Also, he's a photographer which is pretty cool.

+ Character Development. I feel the character development both of our MCs as well as the other characters in the story has been handled well. While the girls are attracted to the MC, all of them have their own ambitions and their own struggles. It doesn't feel as though their entire lives revolve around the MC.

+ Character Interactions. The interactions between characters are a bit wordy, but I think it captures the essence of a MC who isn't the most social trying to change his ways. He rambles on often, but I find it somewhat endearing.

+ Music. The music (especially in the latest update) is top-notch and blends in well with the atmosphere of the scene.

= Romance. The romance is sweet and well-written. I love how it's not just the MC who struggles to get his thoughts out while discussing matters of love.

+ Re-playability. The best factor of this game. One could easily play at least two runs of each update. It would only increase more based on the combination of the choices made.

Indifferent:

= Animations. The animations are pretty solid, but too repetitive. The lewd scenes could show more 'impact' and the loop of animations should focus on the specifics of the scene. (For eg: in the latest update, the renders had shown that the LI had removed her bra, but the animations still allowed her to keep it.)

What could be improved:

- Art. The art is excellent most of the times, but it is obvious that some characters received more love (like Mai) than the others (like the art teacher). I do wish that the rendering detail is more even in the future chapters.

Overall I'd rate it at 8.5/10. It's a good game that should only improve as time progresses. Will be looking forward to the next update.

"A Shot in the Dark" is a captivating and thrilling erotic game that pushes the boundaries of traditional gaming experiences. This titillating masterpiece takes players on a sensuous journey filled with intrigue, passion, and unexplored desires.

The game's mesmerizing visuals and immersive storyline create an enchanting atmosphere that keeps players engrossed from start to finish. The meticulously crafted characters exude charisma, their magnetic presence igniting a tantalizing blend of romance and mystery.

The gameplay mechanics of "A Shot in the Dark" are nothing short of exceptional. The delicate balance between decision-making, puzzle-solving, and intimate encounters adds depth to the overall experience. The game's creators have skillfully woven together a tapestry of choices, ensuring that each decision has a profound impact on the narrative and the player's personal journey.

The tasteful and artfully designed erotic scenes in "A Shot in the Dark" deserve special mention. They are sensuous, yet respectful, showcasing a nuanced understanding of human desire. These scenes are seamlessly integrated into the storyline, enhancing the emotional connection between the characters and the player.

Furthermore, the game's soundtrack is a mesmerizing symphony of seduction. It heightens the tension, evoking emotions and enhancing the overall ambiance. Each note and melody flawlessly complements the game's captivating visuals, bringing the world of "A Shot in the Dark" to life.

While "A Shot in the Dark" primarily revolves around erotic themes, it also delves into profound character development and explores complex relationships. This adds depth to the narrative, making it more than just an indulgent experience, but a thought-provoking journey into the intricacies of human connection.

In conclusion, "A Shot in the Dark" is a remarkable erotic game that successfully combines storytelling, gameplay mechanics, and sensuality to create an unforgettable experience. It transcends the boundaries of traditional gaming, offering players a compelling and immersive adventure filled with passion, suspense, and captivating characters. Whether you're a fan of the genre or simply seeking a unique and engaging gaming experience, "A Shot in the Dark" is a must-play that will leave you yearning for more.

Unbiased A Shot in the Dark Review

Second VN to earn my unbiased series 4/5 stars.

Pros
-Good cast of characters, maybe not as fleshed out as games like BADIK or City of broken dreamers but it is right there.

-Wide choice of Li's and lovely renders.

-The milfs are amazing in this game. Easily Top 5 on this site.

-updates do take awhile but compared to the current trend of devs taking over a year for one chapter I'd say these devs are consistent.

-sexual acts actually make sense for each type of Li. Its not always a slow burn with everyone and its also not a fuckfest right out the gate, great pacing.

-Nice thriller mystery subplot that doesn't take too much from the college theme life MC goes through.

Cons
-Enough glazing, while I said the characters were great not all of them seem to be designed to the same degree, some have very clearly been made with the utmost care while other Li's look kinda mid even if they are an option.

-Milf action takes wayyyy too long, in fact in this update you barely do anything with the first milf they showcase.

-Sex scenes Do not flow very well at all. Once a scene is initiated you are given options on the right of how you want to view it or progress it, but as soon as you're done it cuts right back to the starting frame which is very unnatural and feels like you scrolled your game backwards.

-Useless dialogue at times and the overall writing isn't anything compelling or special but that's not why you are here.


Overall it deserves a 4/5. Its cleared the hurdle of having content that's engaging and not only 5 minutes long in just its second update. Truly something rare amongst VN's now. All the best to the Devs.

Another great game based on college life, done right. Choices which actually matters and lead to different paths.

I don't want to spoil anything, simply download and give it a try , no regrets guys.

Support the developer

(Review is as of v0.25)

Before you do anything else, save yourself some frustration and turn "Speed Up Texting" ON in the Options menu. You can thank me later.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, although a lot of that probably comes down to personal taste. This game does a few things a little bit differently, which is worth noting:

- The MC still fills the classic wish fulfillment role, with his monster cock and getting all the girls. He's actually a bit interesting, and his backstory is yet to be fully explored, but it means he actually has something to offer. What's kind of cool, though, is that he's more than a little bit awkward and it ends up working anyway. It's actually a nice departure from the arrogant ass MC who is just so cool and so damn awesome and he just knows everything is going to work out for him, which is the case with a lot of these games. At least for me, it's easier to enjoy seeing a socially awkward MC have things end up breaking his way than it is to enjoy an MC who should probably be greeted with a baseball bat and a Jason mask.

- Your choices affect who you meet, when you meet them, and whether or not you can pursue them. This may turn some people off, but the game actually does a pretty good job of facilitating future playthroughs by hinting at what choices you can make next time.

Past that, the renders are good and there's some intrigue as far as the story goes, although the story is teetering very close to falling completely off the rails. Here's hoping it doesn't.

this game is so good its like being a dik but different this is so hot personally my favorite is alexis and the milf redhead this is 10/10 how does this not have more reviews highly recommended if you want different girls in one game in a school setting

5/5 as of .25

I'll repost a bit of what was in my forum comment, but man this is just a top notch AVN.

Unique story with some different psychological beats. LOVE that in 2023 we're getting a trend of adult stories that both titillate AND can be unnerving/dark. Can't wait to see where it goes.
The models/women/scenes and animations are all top notch. Something for everyone.
As a femdom fan, I do say it leans a bit more into that angle from what routes I've played. I'm missing a couple scenes, but that seems to be more of a prevailing subcurrent, even down to the MC, while being an okay looking dude with some clear confidence, has that sub-ish look to him. But man it's just hitting all the good notes there. Pet names, light BDSM/restriction, positions of power, and now some hypno!?!? Probably one of the best representations of erotic hypnosis I've ever seen done in a game, and I've played a LOT. Legitimately impressed and was so turned on.

And the redheads. Fuck me. Ashley and Elly are top tier, stacked babes. Elly's freckles are to die for, she's just to die for. And love that she's not just your typical wallflower chick. There's deeper story implications going on here! And they're just the cherries (pun intended) on top of the other bombshell sundae's like Sophie (no content since Chapter 1 due to story but still a smokeshow), Natalie, Alexis/Sara split route, Mai, MOMMYNICA, and dommy Paloma.
Really worth a play and a follow, you won't regret it. Eagerly awaiting more.

Review for v0.2 beta version.

Most of the time when you read what the dev says about their own game it's just to sell you into playing it. Normally you have to go into reviews to really get a feel for the game. Here the dev has only made a few generic promises like compelling characters, choices matter and so forth... but unlike most games around here, they're delivering. It's crazy how far the basics will take a game when they're done right, and the dev does them so right. So if you really want to know what you're getting into, all you need to read is what the dev says.

I honestly don't even give a damn about the mystery part of this story, the characters are compelling enough to keep me interested.

My favorite part, though, is this, "The mystery is in the story, not the gameplay. You will always know what aspects of the game your choices affect, for optimal replayability. No grinding or pointless minigames to stretch out the content. Every mechanic is designed to move the story forward, not to slow it down." The story is strong and the characters are even stronger. I'd probably play this even if it were pg13. Thankfully it's not lol.

If I had a single complaint it's that I'm not a multiple playthrough kinda guy. Even though I really like this game, it's gonna be one and done for me, so I'm not going to get to experience all the other routes I'm locked out of for the choices I make. Games can have choices matter without the player being forced out of certain routes... I often opt out of routes of my own free will in tons of games, but being forced out feels bad. I don't want to have to choose between things I like... but that's the game the dev made and it's better than them making a poor game or a game they're not passionate about. Also just like I'm a one and done kind of gamer, there are plenty who find value in the replayability so while this is a con for me, it might be a pro for you.

The characters are looking good.
The story is well written and you have multiple branches for multiple playthroughs.
The music is well chosen.

But I don't like the font and the look of the text boxes.
The UI is a bit cluttered and overloaded.

Overall 4/5 stars

Nice start... right up my alley this one. And refreshing kinda "realistic" models, especially the MC.

the kidnap part is very dark though... hopefully it ends well, in my playthrough Natalie is the victim... which is even more depressing cause i liked her very much, which i figured is the reason that she got kidnapped in the first place, cause as i saw it the victim could have been her sister too?

Which is really interesting, shows that the choices matter in a really heavy way..

Overall this game has the potential to be a big time favorite for me... i prefer MCs who are not that outgoing, cause well.. iam the same way.

I can pretty much see myself in the MC out of this game, well my younger version that is.

Will watch this game closely, but ill wait some updates i think, at this state there is not much more than "meet and greet" overall going on, which is perfectly fine for a game i this early state. So i come back when the game goes more deeper i think, to really make up my mind about it.

For now... it is top quality, writing, start of the story, a good college setting (college is to much used in my book, but when its well made, it works fine, and here it is well made), renders, music and background sound...

Really, not that much of a downside to find... only thing, well the "phone activity" is a bit much.

But maybe... that is very realistic too i guess... lets face it, most of the people are glued to their phone and oblivous to everything else i might be an exception... most of the time i dont even have my phone with me.

Somewhat misleading tags (e.g. the only vaginal sex comes from watching porn). I also wish you could get through the tedious texting process faster; not a big deal in an initial playthrough, but annoying when playing again for different outcomes.

Yet another College Life Trope. You guessed it. Sorority girls throwing themselves at a socially awkward Freshman guy with zero experience with girls. I hate to say it, but I cant see how everyone is giving this story 4-5 stars. I really cant.

The renders look good for the most part but you can easily see that the dev used the same female assets for 5 or 6 of the girls and just changed up the hair, eyes and such. After a while you begin to get the feeling that you are looking at the same character over and over. As I said, the renders are good so I guess it at least has that going for it.

The only "potential" redeeming quality about this story thus far is the possible kidnap of one of the twins. You get to see 2 super brief sequences and for some reason the victim is about as lifeless as Christen Stewart in the Twilight movies. One would think that a shy, introverted girl would be in a state of panic, yet she spends her time evaluating what is happening. So much for redeeming qualities.

The scoring system seems useless. There are entirely too many choices to have to make. It is to the point that they are just annoying and distract you from the story. You could seriously do without about 50% fewer choices and be ok. Just how many is too many? I personally have 12 pages of saves even after I stopped saving all but the most important ones. We aren't even to the end of chapter 2 yet!! Most of the current Chapter 2 is spent with the MC in a "doctors" office (a psych doctor no less) and the scene just never seems to stop. You learn more about the doctor than you ever cared to and less than nothing about the MC. I found myself clicking through that whole sequence just to end up having the update end.

Pass on this folks. Seriously. Pass on it at least until ALOT more content is released. One can only hope it gets better from here.

The rest of the story so far is just one boring trope after another that you have seen thousands of times from other stories. I am giving this 3 stars only because it is too early to give it just 1 star. Trust me though when I say that a one star may be generous if things do not improve.

Quite often a title that looks good in the screenshots doesn't live up to your expectations upon getting into the game for the very first time..
I'm glad to say this is a title that literally 'does what it says on the tin'...
My first reactions to this title when it debuted wasnt as overwhelmingly positive as it is now after the 2nd release and several full playthroughs later..
Some may find the mc weak, pathetic, talks to much in his own head, annoying even.. Guess what.. I did too on my first play.. But this is a title where its deliberate and you as the player and controller pr the mc will have to guide him away from being like that.. But get real.. Nobody with social anxiety disorder is going to change with the click of your fingers.. and this is where the heart of the story comes in.. This isnt just a 'Gotta Bang Them All' title.. as it stands at the moment this isnt even a Harem game.. Its about guiding the MC through his college days and helping him be a better and more confident person, while navigating the hurdles that college can provide as well as the pitfalls.. As well as the main plot line that looms throughout the first two episodes.. How are we gonna save Sophia/Natalie...
The visuals are some of the better ones you will find in a VN.. Animations are ABSOLUTELY SUPERBE, some of the best and at the good for just foreplay scenes I'm looking forward to seeing how good they get when the 'juices really start to flow' PUN Intended..
Characters are well designed, each with what appears to be their own situation to help out with although if the teachers are going to enter into the romance/lust pool then maybe a bit of a trip to the beauty parlor for a couple of them..
Story is strong, well written and has enough interest to keep any fan of having an avn with an actual STORY.. as well as plenty of material for them to fap along to..
Great work guys and cant wait to see this title grow and find its true audience.. not just the typical horny bastards.. No offense lol

Good renders, good story, lots of teasing, no grammar/spelling errors to ruin my experience. I've been playing for the past 2 or 3 updates and this is off to a great start! I like the new LI characters introduced with the most recent update. So far not a lot of action but that's ok. This does not appear to be a harem game. You have to save scrum to see all content, but that's cool. The story is more realistic that those where all the girls just fall into MCs lap. More Mai please

Great pics and neat videos... feels very realistic, great artwork, and fun to play so far! Has a lot of potential! The story keeps moving not boaring or too much grind. Super start to what looks like a great game/novel.