Ren'Py - Abandoned - A World Between Us [v0.2.7 beta] [Neo Nimaru]

Oh god, I have very mixed feelings about this one. First of all I got a bit interested in the story, the characters seems nice, models used are also rather pretty in the most part, but the screenshots... oh god... they're awful!! I don't know who praised the visials, but the developer has NO IDEA how to use Honey Select Studio. You can do so much more even on a weak rig...

90% of screens are total GARBAGE!!.. And almost totally because of the chosen point of view! As I see it developer decided that it would be cool to make 90% of the screens from the 1st person view. Maybe to increase immersion. But despite having its flaws in the idea itselft it is how it is implemented that makes it terrible. Almost all of the screens have totally distorted and ruined proportions because of it! You just see some terribly bended and squished model somewhere in the corner or on the side of the screen. I haven't finished all of it yet, so maybe later it becomes better, but the first 1.5 chapters - they caused me some visual pain...

You add to that total disbalance with extremelly overlighted or overshadowed (yes, you have both, only not the balanced onces) lightning - and you get "the masterpiece"...

And I don't get it: why? Because on some of the screens (1-5%) I can see almost normal pretty images like they need to be done! Plus its obvious that the developer put huge effort into the game, making several changing screenshot to show the scene in dynamic, but... the problem is that 90% looks like made from random photos on the smartphone where you are too lazy to bother about composition of the image and just "hit the button" on everything you see from your eyes.

And that's really disappointing. Instead of a dozen of random crappy views "from the eyes" - just make ONE (!) image, but with proper attractive and balanced composition.

So advice to the developer (though I doubt he would read this or even listen): Forget about idea fix of the "view from the eyes" always. You don't make it right anyway. Try to pay more attention how the image looks in the end. For example take your own images on your intro! They look like they need to look like! Why don't you make the rest 90% of your images this way?? Instead of these tons of bended distorted visial garbage because of the wrong perspective, frame composition and lightning...

Despite all the mentioned things will be following this one. And all that was said not to offend but to encourage to do better. Which in this case is rather easy to do (I use HS Studio myself, so I know what I'm talking about). Wishing the author well with the further development!..

I had my doubt but I pulled the trigger and decided to play it. Im glad I did. Typically Honey Select games are hit or miss, not sure why. The plot usually just fails to engage with me but this game was very entertaining. Despite the awkward english, the characters have their own personality and quirks, the story is enticing, there is a lot of mystery and a dash of horror, a good mix of banter and comedy. The girls are beautiful, sounds work well also.

Looking forward to more. Keep it up dev, maybe invest in some grammar quality control and you are golden.

Wow. Prime game. Many thanks to the developer. Huge fan of both the plot and the plot. Characters are well done and there's a lot of them too who are all great. Just wanting more!! .

Wow. Another game where I look at the reviews, and I'm just baffled.
How in hell could you give this game a 5 star review?

I don't blame devs for not being native English speakers, BUT if their own English isn't good enough for it, they need a translator or at least an editor who goes over the script making it readable and hopefully enjoyable, as long as that doesn't happen NO GAME can ever be worthy of a five star review.

People are being fooled by these high ratings, and it can only be a letdown.
Happened to me, after reading the reviews I thought "well, if the renders are as good and the story is as good, I can live with a not so good translation."
Except that none of that is actually true.
The renders are nothing to brag about, the story is neither good nor bad and ffs the translation is bad.

This isn't a bad game, but it also isn't a good game. It could become one, if the renders improved a bit and the writing/translation gets better, but I can't rate a game for the possibilities or because I think it should get more attention (even though about 50% of the reviewers on this site seem to think that is how reviews work), I can only rate what is in the game and point to it's potential.

Okay, now a bit of a rant, not entirely specific to this game, but rather to the whole topic of how to rate the writing in a game where the dev's first language isn't English, so I'll put it in spoilers as to not make this even longer.

Great game. Had a lot of fun playing it. Overall it felt like one of the top games here. There is of course some room for improvement, mainly the translation. I think running the text through DeepL Translator would improve its quality very fast. Nonetheless I want to rate this 5 stars so more people can enjoy this.

This game really surprised me, for version 0.2 it has a lot of content, Unique and fun story, no cursed tag like NTR (thank good), nice graphics and perfect visuals (just a little dark), it has to improve the scenes a little, create a menu with the girls' sheets etc, I hope you can continue with this excellent work, I loved it with all my heart.

Review for v0.2

More than anything, I just had fun playing this. It's certainly rough around the edges, but I found myself not really minding it. Probably a more generous review than what others might give, but hey, I liked what I played.

Sometimes all it takes for a game to outshine its flaws is personality, and that's an element I think this game has. It felt unique in some ways, which is a big part of why I enjoyed it. It definitely has some translation issues, but I was able to get immersed regardless. One thing I'd like to praise as well is that there are a lot of extra renders done for things as simple as characters walking around. While it may not seem like much, it really is that extra mile that adds to the quality of game.

To touch back on the translation issue, it probably is one of the biggest objective problems this has. I'll say while I was able to understand the dialogue, it's definitely pretty rough. I do hope the translation is improved in the future. Another thing is that some of the sex scenes feel a bit... static, for lack of a better word. They are all animated, but I think they could be improved upon.

There's a nice amount of postives going for the game despite that though. Its got a nice soundtrack, I liked a lot of the character designs (Lyne is easily my favorite), things are very show and not tell so you're left wondering as the plot moves along (in a good way), and I really liked the way the MC's ability is portrayed as well.

It's a game I'll have my eye on at the end of the day. Yeah it ain't perfect, but it captured me enough to want to see where it goes.

An excellent game, very beautiful and with a great story.
Pros:
The strongest point is history. Original, entertaining and with many charismatic characters.
It looks pretty good and the female characters are excellent.
Cons:
As is typical of honey select 2, the male character is horrendous. In all its parts.
The scenes of sex are good but can be improved.

Another fantasy VN in making that is worth looking forward to

Interesting plot with intriguing story aspects that really has great potential
I really dig the story and can't wait for what's gonna come up next

Nice renders with nice models and the settings are really convincing and make it immersive
Interesting characters that feel natural
Great story telling with good writing other than a few lines here and there not making much sense proof reading can fix it easily no big deal
Great dialogues that feel natural and make it engaging
Also there are choices to how you want to interact with people and an easy point and click system that also adds to that.
NICE music mate loved the music for a first release it rocks
Great addition of animations and transitions that makes it all the better

For a first release it rocks man decent amount of content and a great cliff hanger with what to expect in the future update
Hope it keeps getting better
Waiting for the future updates
Keep up the great work. Goodluck dev.