VN - Ren'Py - After That Night [Ch.8 P2] [ATN Develop]

Decent effort with some fairly good writing. The renders aren't amazing, but are serviceable. What the game needs most is a bit more content.

Best thing in the game is the great banter with a likeable male friend.

I DNF'd somewhere around Chapter 3 or 4, which was a bit of a bummer as I wanted to play until the sister actually showed up.

The renders are okay, although some scenes are way too dark. Some LIs are attractive, some less so, but not much of a complaint on that. Even the English is 'fine.'

The real problem is in the storytelling, which is disastrously bad in my opinion. Flashbacks to war stuff I don't care about. Or years-earlier stuff that apparently was post-war but you can't figure that out at first. Decisions about LIs that you have to make before you even know what the backstory is. Is this a hardboiled police action story, a PTSD healing story, or what? I don't know if the developer even knows... and if they do,it doesn't feel like they have the storytelling chops to make it narratively make sense.

It's fine to create a character with backstory (even a shit ton of backstory) but you have to be deft in how you relay that backstory, and here, things happen out of order or at the wrong time. And then you have random scenes (even lewd scenes) that just end abruptly without any real payoff... you get a blowjob, someone knocks on the bathroom door, and the next thing the game shows is you pontificating on some random bullshit and segueing to an entirely different scene. No'hey, thanks for the BJ, let's talk more'. Just 'I, the developer am done with this and we're jumping to the next set piece.'

Frustrating. I started with 3-stars but as I wrote this review felt compelled to drop it to 2.

Pretty good so far, reasoanble plot. Likeable chharacters with some humour thrown in to lighten what can be some darker moments.
Nothing I can really complain about except perhaps a bit of predictability.
Looking forward to see haw this unfolds, I puit this as slightly above average atm .

Story seems pretty decent but the start is a bit messed up, it gives you a choice to go to bed or call some girl, calling the girl will ofc end up with a sex scene for unknown reasons, is she a prostitute or wtf? MC does talk to her about how he took her virginity some years back i guess? but who the fuck is she.....i dont like not knowing so ofc i just went to bed since it was just to weird, but atleast its not something forced on you.

But when MC then wakes up he starts thinking about some girl Hailey about her oweing him another blowjob? i mean what? still no clue who the fuck she is.....its a freaking mess....

And it happens over and over, like with Aria when she calls you out of nowhere MC meets up with her where she tells you shes leaving the country for good? i mean sure who cares? i mean who the fuck are you anyway? lol
then a short time after you get the option to go back and get her before she leaves or let her leave? still no clue who the fuck she is.....if you save her or not you will get the background story a bit later and she apprently left MC once before..... i mean dev does things way to backwards....instend of telling you the background of girls FIRST it shows it AFTER you are given choices like let her go or get her to stay.....how the fuck does that make any sense..... this is just a piss poor job writting the story, background stuff should Always come before choices that effect the relationship or sex scenes.

And thats what makes it a really shitty story, you feel like you have been trown into the middel of a story knowing nothing about the past or earliere relationships and stright away your ask to make choices on relationships based on knowing nothing what so ever....its just pointless and no fun.
When you finaly learn the backstory of someone you might want to reload and redo choices which also ruins it.

As for the girls they look ok, theres a little diversity in builds but not much, mostly average size tits, no real big ones and no small ones either.

Animations are pretty poor to say the least, they are short and low quality.

Musis pretty standard stuff.

Choices seems to work as in fuck this girl yes/no, no one is forced but some can lead to sex scenes without knowing it before hand.

As for content the chapters are pretty short really and you havent really gotten much progress in story yet and still only just meeting new girls like the younger redhead, which i tried to go after but apprently she feels like its the worng thing to do, not like MC was going after her friend she lives with in my playthrough so not sure whats worng about it but oh well.

I feel like im being a bit to nice giving this one 3 stars, maybe ill change it to 2 at some point, giving it a chance to become better for now.

I have followed this VN from the start but did not review it. I feel a lot of what others have said about the renders and some of the lines the MC has with the LIs. I also have one peace of feedback if the Dev reads the ratings.

Please put some indication of flashbacks. I got confused at one point..... I know I am easily confused but it would help to place like a black screen in the game with something like "6 years ago"... or something like that.

i'd probably give this 3.5 if I could it close to a 4 star but misses the mark

I love the banter between the MC and Liam

LI do seem interesting but for the most part the way the MC talks to them so far is almost like he doesn't have any interest in them, so it feels kind of hard to get to know them. Which makes their character suffer a bit in the character building department

Story keeps me interested to follow this game despite some of the flaws I have with this game

Renders sometimes look average, above average and other times they can look bit bad at times especially when it comes to certain character models early on.

MC doesn't take things serious enough when they are serious and when things do get serious he starts to lack urgency. Also it almost feels like this MC has multiple personalities at times , one minute he is being a bit of a perv / creep , then telling himself not to be a creep , then he is acting like Rambo then switching to a psychopath when he is saving some girl.

There is a decision to go on a Love interest path and stop her from leaving. However at this point we only know the MC hates her for something she did. Then only after that decision we get a backstory and even then it feels like there is something that wasn't told to the MC that is gonna be told to us later. So feels weird to have a big decision like that about a LI without knowing much of the details of the break up or about her character

Overall it's a interesting and enjoyable game that I look forward to see more updates and how this game progresses even with some issues I have with the game so far.

This is much better than I expected. The very few spelling errors and minor dialogue oddities didn't break the immersion for more than the time to move to the next frame. This is really well done. Very much looking forward to the next chapter.

While I overall enjoy this VN, there is some stuff that is... not so good.

1. You have to choose which girls you want to go after BEFORE you know shit about them. That was especially annoying with the ex, Aria. After you chose if you let her go or do something about her leaving you get shown how the breakup was and WHY it was. Why bother me with this AFTER I made a decision here?

2. The MCs badassness and every woman who glimpses him wants to jump on his dick doesn't really fit with how he looks imo. But ok, that is just my point of view here.

3. Many one choice choices. It's annoying: if I can only chose one option, don't give me an "option" at all. Why make me click it, just tell me what you want me to tell and let's get this over with.

I rate this 4/5, because it still is one of the better VNs here.

So far, so good! Writing ain't half bad, though it has its quirks. For instance, the author seems particularly fond of the question mark/exclamation mark combo?! So it feels like the MC is angrily inquisitive more than intended?!

And I feel like the aunt could use an older looking model. Really doesn't look any older than the MC.

Also the pacing feels a bit out of whack. When I saw there were seven chapters I expected a good chunk more content than there really is.

Granted I base my assumptions off of my expectations as a reader with the notion that chapters should start and end with some consideration to the narrative. Which is to say I think realistically, with those considerations, there's like three or four chapters, max.

But I'm sure in actuality chapters are dictated more by how much content you can crank out in a month or whatever the deadline might be. Don't necessarily blame the dev for that, it's probably the nature of the beast in this medium. But I did find myself bummed when the content ran dry quicker than I expected.

All that being said I am very much on board and looking forward to more.

In general, it's a positive experience with appealing visuals, though it does have some flaws. The plot takes a while to pick up, mainly focusing on introducing characters and flashbacks until halfway through the 4th chapter. There are also noticeable grammar issues, too much exposition, and rushed romantic elements. Despite these shortcomings, it's worth trying out, and I'll be keeping an eye on its potential for improvement.

English:..........7/10
User Interface:...4/10
User Experience:..7/10
Art:..............7/10
Dialogue:.........4/10
Story:............5/10
Opinion:..........4/10................
Avg:...........5.43/10 [2.71/5]

Currently (before starting) I don't remember if I've ever played this. All I know is I've avoided it every release for some reason. What I will say, upon opening to the main menu, you're greeted by a woman with miraculous breast expansion. It's supposed to be her breathing, but if this is an indication of what's to come.. We're in trouble. As per usual, it starts up in a dumb therapy session, where MC ogles his therapist. Can I ask for one original idea. I don't think I'm being greedy asking that, before I get too far into this. Just one. I will say, atypical MC model. He's a weird looking, bargain bin Haley Joel Osment, but at least he's not one of the three that are usually used. Too bad it uses the same school of writing in "Fuck my life, [INSERT MARVEL QUIP], Man she's so hot." And the dev chimes in with "Smooth" after saving a victim from potential rape. How shitty is your POLICE OFFICER MC to have no urgency beyond getting laid when a person is in a crisis situation? And how awful do you have to be to think using that as an in is "smooth?" I'm maybe five minutes into this and I already have a headache. Don't get me started on that compression in the first animation.

The story opens with MCs parents getting murdered for shady reasons. Then fades into his therapy session, recalling the event. Every line out of MCs mouth or mind is "I don't need none of this therapy junk." or "Wow she's hot, I'm glad my therapist doesn't have underwear so I can drool over it." That is his entire character. And he's told to stop over thinking but he's not. It's all this garbage dude-bro slop. Only, it's not really because he pushes out some "nerdy" reference any chance he gets. I'm tired of this character. Everything they say sounds forced and, frankly, kinda cringey. Emilia a down on her luck bartender that swoons over MC because he's an attractive alcoholic. Hailey, random booty call. Charlotte the aunt that looks younger than MC because editing DAZ is hard. Amelia, sister that reads? Asami, she works out. And Aria, the ex that did something bad. No one has any characterization. The chapters are maybe 15 minutes long and have maybe one conversation. Oh and when he becomes rambo, he's apparently a sadistic sociopath that enjoys torture. It's all 0-100 constantly, as a reader, it's whiplash inducing. It's not a fun experience. Then the English hits a wall? In chapter 4 or 5 suddenly all the proofreading goes out the window? Inconsistent quality all around. From the story I've gotten: "There's a mafia boss. MC is a cop and ex soldier.(That somehow got laid even in the desert) And every girl he meets froths at the gash for him." Two people have a personality, and that's being generous.

You get this "option" to have MC say he still loves Aria, but you the player know none of their history, what's going on, or ANYTHING. There's a scene with her in the bath for no reason and instead of playing soft music, like the popups show, it says *soft music playing* You gotta make up your mind. Like, I, as the player, don't know the first thing about any character yet, and I'm most of the way through to current end of content. How am I supposed to make a choice on a character I've seen twice, when I as a player don't even think I like Hailey. And she's a guaranteed sex scene. The writing needs a lot of work. And I mean real elbow grease put into this to make it seem like more than "Beat cop takes on mafia, girls like him." The English is almost there. Tensing and such just starts getting poor after the halfway point. The UI was started. Main menu and textbox got a change, but the menus and choices are pretty much stock. The art is also inconsistent. Grainy animations and dark scenes, but it's all DAZ stuff you see all the time. I've already said my piece on the dialogue and story. This is a story that exists, but next time it pops up, I don't think I'm going to remember what it was about.

The writing was a bit clumsy at times, but the women are pretty, and the story is interesting.

But the story doesn't seem quite consistent: one day you give shelter to a girl in danger, next day the danger is still there but where is the girl? And (as An_Able have mentioned) MC lacks urgency in his actions, which makes him look like a bored asshole or rather a fake detective than a real one. It doesn't help that the first therapy session and the crime scene dialog seem to be made a bit sloppily, not 100% veritable.

Renders are good. Animations are passable (it's weird though if during a blowjob the male figure is 100% still, not moving a millimeter).

And I think for 5 chapters there could be a bit more contents, unless there would be at least like 20-30 chapters.

Generally it's a good game, with some nice humor, many cute girls and a captivating scenario.

[Review for Ch.8 P1]

So, a year and a half later and I'm back to see what changed about this game.

If I'm being honest, my rating hasn't changed, but my decision to keep an eye on this game has. I still think the game's decent, but I can't get past how quippy and annoying the MC is. It's full-on Marvel humour now, the type that mostly feels inappropriate and dampens almost every emotional scene the game has.

I also dislike how a bunch of things about the MC's past are kept frustratingly vague (especially with Aria, we're asked whether we want to pursue her or not without knowing exactly how she hurt the MC).

Another problem I have is a bit harder to explain, but here goes: it doesn't feel like any of the plotlines are happening simultaneously. What happens with the gang has no effect outside that narrative, same with Aria, same with his family, same with Asami. They all feel like separate stories being told in bits.

Ultimately, I can say with certainty that this game is a level above the usual slop on here in terms of technical quality, but it just doesn't work for me.


[Review for Ch.4]

Overall it's a pretty good experience, the renders are nice as are the animations (though there was one that seemed overly compressed), but it definitely has some flaws.

The biggest one for me was the lack of plot progression. There really wasn't much happening until the halfway point of the 4th chapter, it was just the MC going around and talking to people to introduce them into the narrative interspersed with flashbacks. I'm hoping that it's going to start picking up now but I don't know for sure. There's also grammar issues, too much exposition, and, personally, I think some of the girls get horny for the MC a bit too quickly.

Also, maybe a bit nitpicky on my part, but the barista's rescue as a whole really pissed me off, and it was all because of the MC. While he's still on the phone with her, still at his apartment, he hears the thugs come into the room and heavily imply they're going to rape her. Yet while he's getting on the bike and going through the warehouse, he's constantly making dumbass quips in his head, sometimes even stopping his advance to do so. I mean, how about some fucking urgency or concern? Nah, bro, take your time; it's only an innocent girl about to be raped--go ahead and play the action hero, you fucking prick. It was infuriating.

If its flaws were fixed, I could see this game being worth 4 or maybe even 5 stars, but I think 3 is fair for its current state.

Still, all things considered, I think it's worth a try and will be keeping an eye on it.

It's still very short and early in Ch1, but it's a good start. The renders are good, and aside from some spelling/language errors it's a good base to the story. I look forward to seeing where this one goes.