VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Acquainted [Ch. 1 v0.1.0] [Yuno Gasai]

I discovered this game while browsing through the Reddit group AVN_Lovers. I fell in love with the images of Paris, and I just had to find out what game she was from, which led me on my journey here.

I was excited to play the game, but I was disappointed at the end. The best thing about the game is the character models. But Almost everything else falls short. The story is abysmal and quite dull. I think it was because tons of potential LIs were introduced at the start and too fast; most of their roles were just to introduce themselves to the MC and then move on. Acquainted seems more like a sales pitch rather than a game. Due to this, why showcase all the girls if they currently add nothing at all to the story? Most AVNs with chapter releases introduce new LIs as new chapters come out to give them time to develop and for better pacing.

Sadly, the Acquainted was abandoned, so I have no idea where it was going, as you can tell. I am big on stories in any form of visual novels, and it was advertised as such. ~ 'Acquainted is an episodic adult VN centering around mystery, romance, corruption, and storytelling.' I personally, at this state, would not recommend the game, especially since it has been abandoned.

I remember when this game came out. The models are good and the writing (the very little of it that exists) is ok, plot is basic. This is a shiny teaser, never updated, and abandoned. Not worth playing, would give 0 stars if I could. An abandoned game that does not even leave the intro is the definition of a time waste.

It is unfathomable how this "game" still receives support. $400 a month... there has been no content in 1.5 years!

Renders are great.
Girls' models are custom daz model which is pretty rare in daz games, girls are very beautiful.
The story was promising if the dev had continued the game. He didn't release anything for a year and abandoned the project. The last patreon post is from May 28.
Sad to see

Don't know why it always has to be the promising one's that get abandoned...

There is not a whole lot to rate at this point but what is to rate is just amazing. Storytelling feels nice, the girls are all drop dead georgous, render quality is easily top 5 of what i've seen to this date. I have a feeling that this would have blown up like crazy, such a shame and a waste, i get a sick feeling when I think about that this never got the chance to shine......

TLDR; Dev has scummy practices. Don't support this game as there's been no updates after 10 months and dev makes renders at glacial pace.

This game doesn't deserve the hype it got for a single release in almost a year. Shit, creating 50 renders a month, after 10 months, while still charging on Patreon (Dev is only contemplating pausing recently). Honestly pathetic. Other devs at least get a few updates in before milking the shit out of patreons (obviously don't do this).

This game got review boosted by the dev's friends immediately after the initial release, and while the renders are great, it's honestly nothing to write home about plotwise. I'm pretty sure Patreon blew up to easily over $1000/month, based purely on hype.

Last, but not least, on discord, his moderators have mentioned that the dev doesn't plan to release Ep 2 for free, ever. Unlike most other AVNs with an early access period and a free release down the line.

Everything about this game screams money grab and it likely won't be finished within a decade. Good luck waiting that long; try out some other games on this website that don't encourage scummy practices.

Acquainted a Proper Review.

First off let's talk about the game if there's anything to talk about at all. Content is abyssmal as of this version which is the only version. That would be understandable IF this was 8 months ago.

Normally I would be able to divide a review into a (PROS / CONS) style but this game is so barebones that im actually going to have to try.

Pros
-Very good renders as Yuno (Dev) used to make renders only.

-Yes that was it.

Cons
-This might as well be labelled as an abandoned title.

-The story currently is about 20 clicks long.

-People giving it 5 stars are completely lying because there is literally nothing to rate.

-Reviews need to be about reviews not your feelings as to whether a game could be something it has no potential of achieving. That's like rating a dish before you ate it because the chef looks handsome.

-It only has 1 sex scene and establishes that MC has a bunch of women he's gonna interact with over the course of the game. That is it.

If you're waiting out on an update that's on you. But it can't be called a game at all at this current stage.

This is in a VERY EARLY state. There's literally about 30 minutes worth of content or something.

BUT, it has a lot of potential, though it's hard to judge with so little content. The models all look great, though i wish the roommate had bigger tits, but oh well.

I was going to give this 4 stars as a "considering the early state of this game, it has potential, and i'll give it 4 stars rather than 3 as a positive sign for this developer and the story as a whole, and so as not to discourage people from this project" but i see this story has surprisingly A LOT of votes and VERY HIGH ratings, so i can be honest with my 3 stars.

Because simply, it's got less than an hour worth of content. What's there is pretty decent though. The writing is good, and what little we've seen of the characters are interesting breadcumbs of personality. The story has a little intrigue. The sexual stuff that's there is also decent.

Overall though, this might have some good potential. Right now it's just far too early. But since i've played it anyway and i enjoyed enough of what's there to also make a review, that's a sign that there might be potential in this novel.

I have no clue why this game is so highly rated at this point. There is barely enough content to scratch the surface and everything about the game feels generic and uninspired.

Let's get the visuals out of the way. Obviously, the game looks gorgeous, the art is great but once you take a critical look, you quickly realize that 80 % of the girls are clones. Except for a couple of girls with maybe broader hips and thicker thighs, most of them look like carbon copies of each other with just a different skin tone, haircut or minor details like facial scar. It's even more apparent on the wallpapers in which the author changed the haircut. Maeve, Paris & Ella are basically triplet chicks. As for the so called "Milfs", they both looks like women in their mid twenties.

Similar appearances asides, several characters are awkwardly cartoonish. Maeve looks like a Nice Holystone's knock off and strangely no one seems to find odd that the blond mute chick keeps wearing a mask H24.

Of course, except for the Gary Sue MC and his traditional dorky & looser best friend ( who will probably never get more than a kiss on the cheek ), there are no other guys in the class. Which makes no sense. As for the rest of the cast with a shred of personality, they're all cliches : the sister/roommate with a crush, the hot mom/landlady, the Hot teacher, the hostile ex with a bad attitude, the cam-girl. But despite their differences almost all of them will just keep throwing themselves at the MC, like he was the last attractive man alive on the planet.

There's also way too many female characters and at this point, you're still not sure which ones are actually love interests or which ones are just side fuck.

Now for the writing, it's a mix of pacing issues, flat dialogues, boring premise, forced sex scenes and a lack of substance. I can't confidently endorse a single aspect of the writing. At this point, it’s a kinetic VN, it has no real options except picking your spank bank.

In conclusion, the render, sure are great if you’re into clones with different hair color, but if you want anything of substance to accompany them you're better off looking elsewhere.

Amazing art, renders, great looking LIs and an intriguing premise so far. Wish you luck with it dev and hopefully we will see a release on Steam. I would add it to my collection in a heartbeat. Will definitely keep an eye on this gem.

Really good game! Amazing graphics, great and the most beautifull models i have ever seen, I can even add that they are the best I have ever seen in VN games. Keep up with the excelente work and you will have great success for sure DEV!

The models are amazing and the professor is 10/10 for the model and the ex is also badass and cool. Well, for the story, I don't know much but. I mean I look at the characters and I don't even care about story being bad if the characters look like this but yeah. I mean we still don't know much about the story. So... Five star for sure!!

Sigh... It's abandoned. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

As of Ch.1 v0.1.0

A very beautiful game whose strengths are character models, animations and choices (a very good text to choice ratio unlike some games where you will forget there are choices). So basically it's the perfect game to me so far.

Some of the story situations happen a bit too quickly to me, but not enough to detract a whole star especially since I'm not here for the literal plot. Interested to see where this goes.

not that far in but so far, i'm loving all these character models. and damn, the dev sure knows how to do animations. simple but smooth. as for the story- its fairly generic so far but hey its just the first chapter. with the "paranormal" tag i'm interested in where it might go. i may revist the full 5 stars after whatever comes next but with such a solid start, its hard to imagine this game getting anything but better.

Normally I'd be more irritated by the grammar/spelling and all of the "OMG" and "WTF" but all the models for the characters look so damn good I don't mind as much. You even made the one with the scar look hot. How's that possible?
Especially Paris. Damn. Daaaaaaaaaamn. DAMN!
On a more serious note, there's an actual logical flow to a potentially interesting plot and there are no bugs to speak of. Still, more scrutiny when it comes to proofreading wouldn't hurt. If the dev got that down then I'd just be saying "Shut up and take my money!"
Actually one gripe I had was that I don't understand why that one transfer student had to transfer to a new college just because her dad moved to a new city. I'm not really following the logic there.
Anyway, I look forward to future updates and hope this can keep going and improving along the way.

Review as of v0.1.0

Visuals

• All the women are beautiful.
• Paris is especially pretty. Something about the way her eyes are big, and her eyebrows perk up. Her full, pouting lips. She's got my favorite face. Shame she has small tits.
• There are animations, and most are good, but some are a bit odd. For example, pretty much any time MC's dick is being played with it looks like it's being twisted in unnatural directions in addition to flopping around the entire time. On the plus side - and unlike many VNs with animation - when you have the option to go faster, it really IS faster. Not too fast, and not too slow (most animations are too slow IMO).
• I really like VNs where the dev doesn't make the mom unattractive. This is fantasy fiction, after-all. I like that MC's mom is scantily clad right off the bat.
• Pretty sure the "Mei" character in this one is hijacked from another Mei in another game. I'm not positive on the name, but definitely the face. The hair being different and her complexion make her almost pass as white, but it's still a pretty overused name/face combo. That said, she too is hot.
• *Filing under looks, but could qualify for Story as well* I really like that Maeve has a fake/glass eye. Maybe I'm wrong in my terminology there, but whatever it is it's unique and something creative you just don't see in VNs.

Dialog

• I appreciate the varied delivery of dialog in this one. You've got everything from straightforward, I-intend-for-you-to-hear-me dialog, as well as a more quiet/subdued element where necessary. It really helps you read it in your head in a way that you can envision it actually being spoken.
• No glaring issues with the English, grammar, etc. Always refreshing to not have to get hung up on that. However, since I am keen on pointing out any narrative/syntax issues for any others who may tend to focus on them or weigh their likelihood of interest on such things:
  • I don't like the juvenile reference to "boobs". We're adults. They can be "tits" or - ideally - "breasts", but not "boobs".
  • There are some areas of what I'd call over-narration. For example,
    Spoiler

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    This is overkill, as there's a subconscious presumption made by the player that pretty much all text coming up is new information or dialog. Not an explanation of what we can already derive from the visuals.

Story
*Warning - some spoilers*

• Typical young MC living with his family, college-age, rife with sexual tension and incestual undertones. Hell, even overtones. That's what you really want to know, though, isn't it?
• Some minor issues:
  • Paris mentions paying for a dorm with her allowance. There's no way a single mother makes enough to bankroll that, and even less likely that a college student still gets an allowance unless their parents are filthy rich (in which case they don't call it that).
  • Lyam is kind of 2-dimensional. He just has no personality and adds nothing of value to the story. He also looks like he was plucked from the 40s or 50s and plopped into a modern VN.
  • Plot issue: when MC first shows up to Mei's place, her titty is out. Unless you tell her, she doesn't notice, and yet the next several changes to the imagery in the scene have both nipples covered fully.
  • It's weird that the pizza delivery guy was so far off the right address. That doesn't happen with direct pizza orders that I've seen. Also, he wouldn't have the authority to give a rando a free pizza that someone else paid for. He would have to get his happy ass back in his car and find the right address.

Game mechanics/other notes

• I don't dislike the choice system, per se, but I do think the UI could use some...creativity. The font and overall presentation of the textbox and the choices is pretty boring.
  • Adding to this, it doesn't make a lot of sense to give choices that technically require a certain order to be followed (at least for 1 of the choices, where it must be selected last).

Definitely recommend, despite the short playthrough currently. I will be following this one and am excited to play more. The visuals are superb and the story is compelling so far.

A very promising debut. Excellent visual work--among the best on the site. The writing is competently translated and edited. The dialogue is pretty dry and declarative, but it works fine. Some tropes appear. For example, there's a clingy younger sister whose affection for us has gone inexplicably unnoticed, there's a mysterious girl with a face covering, and there's our smoking hot mom who we are just now starting to find sexy enough to peak on in the shower, hell there's even a hot younger professor who wants us to call her by her first name. Annnd there are at least two manic pixie dream girls. One is our real-life ex. The other is literally a girl from our dreams.

The plot gets a bit more exciting right at the end. All in all, the writing is just fine, and the renders are absolutely spectacular. The plot has me interested, and the characters have me interested. Visually the game is a 7/5. Really can't give high enough praise there. The rest is above average. All in all its a 5-star game so far. It'll be fun to follow!

I like it a lot at this stage, the renders and models are well made. The animations might be a little off but not bad. It's a little too early to say anything significant about the story but it seems to have plenty of choices already

And... I got to tell you, it was perfect. Perfect. Everything, down to the last minute details.

Although, jokes off this is a pretty good game even at the place it is now. I've never played any other VN on release that had this good writing, this many characters that are extremely unique and diverse from each other. This game has the most potential I've ever seen in games like these at a stage so early which can steer off to be based onto any theme, along the college theme. Really impressive writing, characters, visuals and animations for a developer that's developing his first game.

I also have to comment on the music choices, especially the dark music that's played near the end of the episode. It's really melancholic, has a powerful vibe to it. It's really suitable.

And lastly, the UI. It's a pretty unique design which you rarely see in other AVNs, even in the ones that are on the top. Also the side stories are really fun and engaging (particularly the one and only Mei's Perfect Morning).

Legit just needs more content, the renders are all excellent and I cannot wait for more :~) I breezed through it a little fast as there isn't too much yet but if this gets another update soon I'll definitely hop on over to supporting it financially

There's potential. Tons of it, actually. And by potential I mean there's a chance this one gets either super good... or goes down the lane of a basic AVN down the line. What I mean is, there's obviously more going on that your run-of-the-mill college AVN, but that's exactly what this first release is.

All girls seem like they're already love struck by the MC, or simply want to bang him. There's not much nuance, and per usual, the MC is an oblivious fool in every regard. Feels like the MC just needs to breathe to have these chicks on his pocket, though he clearly doesn't come across as some sort of alpha. For example, his vulgarity with Paris as far sexual encounters go is the perfect example of a bad build-up. So basically, the WRITING isn't especially good, as it does seems to check every single trope for the girls so far in a college-themed game, seen so many times. The girls that seem to have some sort of personality, that go beyond wanting to bang the MC (whom I dislike) are the ones you don't really talk too as of this release.

Aside from the very uninspired personalities, you do have great GRAPHICS and great models. Very good sound work as well. Some better than others, but overall this is the part that stands out from the rest. The graphics are nice and posed well done, the UI is fluid and looks good. The animations feel a bit jaring, not completly sure why, though. Maybe they go a bit way to fast, and the MC dong moves too much during the scenes, like a weird sausage. Its like a rodeo instead of an intimate scene. Speaking of the MC dong, thats the only thing in graphics that seem overlooked. Its too big, and the skin colour is off. Feels weird taking about it but its a clear over sight in graphics from what is otherwise a pretty well put up renders.

There's not much else to talk about this first release as far STORY goes, ence why I dont give it 4-stars as of now because outside the top notch work in graphics and UI, there's not a lot pulling me towards it, nor it does anything particularly well as far story goes. Again, there's potential, but tons of games like of potential of first releases and never truly capitalize on it.

OVERALL: If you're here for pretty models and graphics, this is your game. Otherwise, so far, its as basic as it gets as a college-theme game. The MC need massive improvement as far his character goes. If you're here for the story, I'd take 4 and 5-star ratings with a grain of salt. It hasn't reached that level of quality just yet.