First of all, I hate it when I have to skip a good portion of the VN, because most of it is boring. This is a sign, that the writing, even though extensive, is boring and convoluted and not worth reading. I skipped most of the game and still know what happened (almost nothing of note).
Some creators know how to manage a slower buildup. They use some filler sex scenes with other characters while the main focus characters get mostly teasing scenes to make get you interested, but not "blow your load" too soon. And that was just one example. Others do it with humour or with sweet and heartwarming scenes.
This VN has none of it. The buildup is almost nonexistent, because it doesn't evolve. It's a constant unchanging line of nothingness. There is no curve. The dialogues are not interesting, because people are talking about stuff you don't care about or people you don't care about. And if there will finally be some even vaguely interesting scene, it will be a disappointment after all this waiting for some interesting content. The lack of porn content wouldn't be a problem, but there is lack of a story itself. Now almost every scene in the game is the same. Sofia encounters some random dude or dudes, he or they hit on her or her female friends, or at least make some slight sexual advances, if they are really aggressive, the go for a bit of groping, and then everyone goes their separate ways. And you don't see most of the people involved ever again. And why use a showers/bathroom scene with Sofia being shy in front of (always some different) men like 5 times with the exact same outcome? Come on, do a story, not a repetition of 1 scene.
There is too many characters who don't have much going for them, because they are tropes. "That sexy trainer.", "That sexy cheerleader", "That innocent girl", "That creepy guy.", "The Thug", etc. They don't have anything interesting to do, or even say. And the worst part is, that a lot of those characters show up for only 1 or 2 scenes. Where are the movers? The guys from gym? And why not use the already established characters in more scenes instead of some random ones? That could actually mean some character development, which is something the author probably hates, though... or at least forgot about.
Yes, there is a lot of pictures in different scenes and they are very well rendered. The characters look good, and there are some of the most attractive models I have seen in DAZ3D based VN. Even though a lot of them are not edited, but straight from the DAZ3D library, they are chosen well.
The problem is, that in those scenes, the dialogue goes nowhere, you don't learn anything important about the characters, and if you don't want to bore yourself to death, you skip the rest of dialogue, because the topic is not even important in the story. Hell, even the scene doesn't push the story forward.
There is a term called "Chekhov's gun", which basically means, you set up something and later you actually use it. Lust & Passion should look that up for inspiration, not make a hundred unrelated scenes that don't lead anywhere. Porn aspect aside, the story really needs to become a story, not a disjointed set of scenes. And the characters need to develop, not be a ton of random side characters whom you don't see ever again while the main ones stay the same forever.
Also a saying: Show, don't tell...
I wanted this VN to be good, because the initial setup and the character models looked really good. It could have been a 5 star game, because the setup is straightforward and simple, the renders are great, but the lack of actual story and porn drags it to the ground. It's just plain boring at this point. Occasionally I am stupid enough to waste my time downloading and then holding "ctrl" to skip the boring text, but...
P.S. There is a beautiful parody of this game in one other game. I won't say it's name, because it's against the rules. It's basically everything I have wrote here, but put in a funnier, shorter way. xD
