First post here and I decided it would be fitting if I started from praising this game
I won't be original if I say that I came for sex and stayed for the story which was sgreat. The game hit me on so many levels that it was just crazy. I'm going to get personal because it was a very personal experience for me. I'm in my late thirties and I haven't really played VN's apart from two Japanese games when I was 18 (which names I don't remember). I guess out of boredom during lockdown I tried some popular VN's. Most of them were ok or meh but then I played Acting Lessons...oh boy. Before I continue I have a confession to make. For the last couple of years for reasons I won't go into right now I distanced myself from most people and didn't have any relationships. I still had a lot interests/hobbies but I just stopped sharing and didn't go out a lot and played too many video games. I kinda became lazy and apathethic, sometimes depressed. For the last couple of months I've been changing this, excercising more, doing what you may call spiritual searching and soul searching and then Acting Lessons came along. Usually you don't put porn and spiritual growth in the same sentence yet here I was - playing a game that kicked my ass and worked as some sort of catalyst.
Everything clicked. I liked the characters, the interactions were believable and I was able to put myself in MC shoes. I was able to immerse myself and care for the decisions that I was making, didn't savescum aside for one one or two choices at the beginning. The game has brought to the surface many things that I (in)conveniently burried inside. Or I should say, it accelerated the process of unpacking certain issues that I started earlier. I remember that when I finished the game I just sat in my chair thinking about love, compassion, value of friends, courage in the face of death or ilness, about my ex and some leftover anger I felt, about cheating, about the fact that I want to date and still have some crazy adventures, about the beliefs and ideas that are stopping me from doing that.... my head was spinning. Suffice to say I had a rough night. I had to face many fears. And it came by suprise (as it usually does) because I would never have imagined that I would be in that state after playing some game. No movie, book, YT video, music has pushed so many of my buttons recently. I guess sex and sexuality is just powerfull energy that gets to me and makes me reflect on many things
So kudos to Dr PinkCake for creating this gem.
I should also probably write about the things that I didn't enjoy as much. I already wrote a wall of text so I'll be quick. Two things stood out for me:
All in all, though, it's a great game and unforgettable experience for me.
And the best romance in this game, hands down, is bromance with Liam!
