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

Good renders and interesting story. Hope not all girls are slutty, hope that we can use more the camera to take sneaky photos, in the choices instead having 2 we could have 3 like that would be a little harder to know wich answers the girls would like. Overall the game has lot of potential.

Version: 0.15

Writing

• another college game sure but it's really one of the better ones at it
• the MC not being a chad works for the story so far
• natural dialogueexchange without walls of text
  • do expect lengthy conversations as the game is interested in you firstly getting to know the girls
• unique and natural personalities from each character

Design

• model renders are clean and have good skin details(like Caucasian models have reddening and freckles) that naturalise the characters
  • bad lighting on some bg models in classroom
• some animation loops are jarring - just have it end instead of loop if it isn't a fluid loop
• natural facial expressions
  • except MC who tends to exhibit very default model expressions and poses
  • some of the expressions are a bit overused though - removes the novelty of their reaction
• All LIs are hot
  • Spoiler: my LI tiering

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• In the incest patch, Ashley barely passes as an aunt graphically

Gameplay

• substantial branching paths- you are guarantee to not encounter certain girls
  • but will eventually meet all at a natural pace
• Spoiler: Technically speaking:

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Eroticism

• stacked racks on tight shirts accentuates nicely
• hints of areola and nip slips give great teases - gawd does Ashley tease me...
• ogling also adds to the lust tension build up
• steamy flirtation
• kissing looks okay
• tit groping was a nice touch... but if MC did grope Sara's ass it didn't look like a grope, barely a touch, more like a hovering hand

Low on sexual content right now but the pacing works well - if only it got more frequent updates

Top 5 start to any game I've played. The LI are beautiful and the choices seem to actually matter. I'm curious to see where the game will go and as long as it doesn't go crazy and make the MC all of a sudden a super hero it could be great. The transparency of gameplay is fantastic it's great being able to know what choices will impact and which ones will have a bigger impact.

Version played: Chapter 1, v0.1.1

Just wow, a really great start, I am currently marathoning through the VNs on this site and this 1 belongs on my high tier list already. The female characters are very nice to look at and the environment renders look great too.

The thing I like the most is the multiple current foreplay animations with 1 of the female character. I hope this game stays long enough to see what this would be like with the other characters.

Definitely recommended and I would check this out again in the future. Apologies to the devs as I only can leave a review here because I do not have a itch.io account.

Ch.1 Review. Interesting little story so far. The characters and dialogue are fun and read well, though the mc is a bit of a nervous idiot atm I think that is just part of his character arc. The models are smokin' hot, but for my tastes a little lacking in diversity of shape (all are perfect hourglass figures with big ol knockers) not that that's the worst sin, far from it. But especially for a first chapter there's not really anything I could point out that's a negative.

I'd call the chapter medium length, but I'd recommend giving it a try to just about anyone, even if its not your specific cup of tea, you'll still probably enjoy it.

Ch 1

Ashley is a fucking knockout. Bravo, dev. I LOVE I don't care if other people enjoy this much of a fixation or not, I very much appreciate the attention to detail here, and the MC's inability to "snap out" his own fixation on them.

Sophie, another hottie. GREAT tits. Wow. You expect them to be slightly smaller than they end up being, and I love that surprise.

If I end up playing through again to experience other substantive interactions with girls not mentioned above, I'll comment on that in an update.

I find Kevon to be a bit annoying, but I can't put my finger on it. I feel like the writing wants him to come across as a "bro" but he also doesn't at the same time. Almost like a tryhard. We'll see what kinds of shenanigans his character gets into I suppose.

Appreciate that there's music. Always in the plus column.

Visuals:

• Top notch. I'm genuinely impressed at how good pretty much every model looks. Their expressions, the angles, lighting, proportions. It's all good stuff.
• I love that there are animations, even subtle ones like a camera lens coming into focus or an eye blink.
• Do I spy some borrowed models from other famous VNs?

Story/Gameplay Experience:

• Let's be honest: conceptually, this is a knock-off of BaD or really any college VN in which the MC is supposed to be this shy, unassuming dude who's "finding himself". I have no qualms with that, especially when written well, and this one is.
• This one has us focusing on whether we want our MC to be daring and bold, or more reserved, or perhaps to strike a balance. To that end, I would say it's not in the dev's favor to assign "like" points in a static way (maybe they haven't, and there are multiple ways to snag like points with the girls regardless of your path). I think this tends to motivate the player to finding the "right" or "ideal" choices to get the points, even if we don't necessarily want to.
• The phone implementation is obviously under construction, but it is something I've grown to like in a VN, if built well. Mostly fluff, but it can be fun to see unexpected stuff in your feed or inbox.
• I'm a bit worried about the open-world elements, such as the party scene; this is really the only area I felt the graphics were a bit lacking (i.e. the hand graphic you click on to take a shot or drink coffee). This is in no way problematic overall, just an observation as something that stands out in an otherwise incredible visual display.
• There's really not much to say, yet. The "identical" twins not looking a thing alike is hilarious, and it really doesn't matter because they're yin/yang anyway. Sophie will be who most players gravitate to as the "fun girl", Natalie will be who guys like me gravitate toward because she's more apprehensive and shy. Will be interesting to see how their characters develop. But really, it's just Day 1 in the life of a college freshman whose roommate convinces him to go to a party and hit on girls under the pretext of freelance photography. I do hope to see more substance as the story progresses, and hopefully with minimal negative consequence.
• I will say that I think it's a mistake to lock the player out of characters/paths based on their decisions. For example, on my initial playthrough, I didn't even meet 1 or 2 characters because apparently some of my choices prevented this. I think this probably seems like a good idea from a development perspective, but from a player's perspective, we don't generally want to replay the same VN multiple times to experience every conceivable path. It happens, but only for the highest tier games (not that this couldn't be a contender).

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 because there just isn't much to it, yet. Not because it is materially lacking features or attributes that would make it a 5. Also, very few games should ever get a 5, otherwise it devalues the 5.

I'll admit, I was a little nervous when I saw that Omega was involved with this as I haven't been the biggest fan of their past work, but goddamn if I wasn't wrong!

Not a whole lot of content yet, but what is there promises quite a bit and I am here for it. My previous issues with Omega's work had a lot more to do with the mechanics and visuals than the game itself, so it's great to see a lot of that has drastically improved. The choices matter element and the way of indicating inflection points is nothing new, but is certainly done well (kudos for the explanation screen in the menu, that'll be very useful when coming back after an update) and really that's all I can ask for. Definitely going to need a guide or walkthrough eventually though, just to know what paths are available and how to get to them.

For now, I am very excited to see where this goes and look forward to getting to know the various characters that have been set up (very believably I might add) in the first chapter.

Well done and keep up the good work!

Unique Characters + Incest god yes !

My Impression for this game : I love it very refreshing

★ Gameplay : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Story : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Spelling : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ renders : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Animations: ✭✭✭✰✰
★ Potential : ✭✭✭✭✭
★ Overall : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Girls physique : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Graphic : ✭✭✭✭✰
★ Creativity :✭✭✭✭✰

Note :
I really love this game , i hope the animation will get better in future update , definitely u should try it .

* If we get a Mom-Son relation i will definitely support this game.

◉ All the best to the developer .

Rating as of Chapter 1 v0.1.1

Really enjoyable but a bit short for my liking.
Enjoyed the different take on the mindset of a college freshman, and glad it's not what appears to be the norm when it comes to games about college.

Also curious to see where the plot goes from here...

This is for v0.1... Renders are great. Music really helps the ambiance especially at the party. Animations are good. Appreciate the sort of built in walkthrough. Story is pretty good so far for the first version its mostly character intros. It starts off and ends more dark than the story would leave you to believe with what was in the middle but cant wait to see the next update...Good job dev

Promising new novel with quality that is pushing the standards to new heights, looking forward to content as story comes along.

Although it is barely an intro at this point, an obvious great deal of care has gone into every element of a visual novel game.

Amazing start with chapter 1. Unlike a lot of games that have choices which are effectively inconsequential, the choices made here unlock their own distinct branches to the story. Very cool. Love the writing, renders, characters and UI

This is a very strong start. It reminds me of the early chapters of College Kings. It's a really great dating sim with an interesting main story premise.

There is a lot of content for a first chapter. However, it's good to note that a big strength of the game is its replay value. That does mean you need to play it more than once to truly enjoy its content.

The choices not only feel impactful, they are! There are many paths and all choices are objectively equivalent in terms of accessible content. I really enjoyed that. You really don't need to "game" the choices to access content. Just pick whatever you want.

Furthermore, the production quality is high and the girls are hot.

I can't wait for the next chapter, though I do wonder how the developers will deal with all those branching storylines - it could get out of hand real fast after a few chapters.

This game is amazing! It's just chapter 1 and I have 7 pages worth of unique paths. I love the attention to detail and how it does feel like every choice matters. I'm heading to their patreon right now to become a new sub.

The renders are on a whole other level, The dialog between MC and the girls is good, There is a fair amount of choices you go through. The fact you get to take the photos is an extra in-depth touch.

Been checking out games on this site pretty regularly the past few year and this is the first time I've ever reviewed a game.

1. Engagement: I was entirely engaged during my entire playthrough of v.1. I realize it's relatively short, but there are more substantial choices in the first few minutes than so many of the other games that I've played. In short, I didn't want to hold down CTRL and jump ahead.
2. Character: The characters are all charming at this point. They seem relatively fleshed out, especially for a game at this stage. The conversations flow well, seem realistic and relatable. The MC feels real. He's not a Chad that is a complete douche, and he's not a whiny sissy either. He's just a dude, who is unsure of himself, and has some yet to be revealed issues. He's smart, has a passion, and is riddled with self-doubt, but not weakness.
3. Art/Renders: They look good. The women look different, and have different expressions. Animations are solid., maybe a little stiff, but still better than numerous other 3DCG games.
4. Story: It's developing and I'm here for it... The ending of episode 1 is good. It's dramatic, without being groan inducing, and it's nice to see your choices immediately having an impact. I'm curious to see how some of the planned tags will be implement while maintaining immersion and the relative realism of the story.

If this dev can keep up the quality in subsequent releases, we'll be experiencing something special.

Excellent start. Exciting story, characters, and a lot of choices. There are more than enough girls for you to find at least one you are interested in. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

Just finished chapter 1 and truly enjoyed this game. Story so far is good and intriguing. I really liked the interface on this game. It's unique to me and I enjoyed playing with the options trying to get the best possible scores. It's definitely worth a try if you're looking for something. As of this version there's not much Incest, so don't be expecting the MC to be rolling in the sheets with his mom. LOL. Enjoy/

What a great start, definitely one to keep an eye on. Can see that its going to unfold into a really engaging story. Already a few different "branches" that give you different content. Characters are lovely and i just love it when dev put loads of work into the animation characteristics i.e. blinking and realistic facial expressions (the blushing and lip biting is some of the best i have seen )
Great work so far, i cant wait to see it appear in the new update section again

Really impressive, even based on the initial release. Great art and character design, solid writing, engaging gameplay. Story (so far) seems to be a blend of themes (college, photography, etc.), but inventive enough to not seem too familiar from other games.