Ren'Py - Completed - After the Inferno [v1.0] [Classy Lemon]

The story and the writing is really good. I did not expect that from the first impression I got (I think the MC looks just too boring and pretty to expect much), but it was really enjoyable.
The MC and the LIs (and other NPCs) are interesting relatable and likeable.

The (few) sex scenes seem a bit sober and matter-of-factly, but this suits the story very well
(it would actually have been off-putting to find the usual "oh my god I have never seen such a huge cock in my life and now I have my tenth orgasm already during the five obligatory positions let's do anal I have never done that before call me slut" etc)

There are "movie cut scenes" with voice-acting. For me personally they did not add much to the overall enjoyment of the game (while I assume that they are enormously laborious to make; so if the dev ever has to choose between "more cutscenes" or "more story" I would definitely favor the story. But I understand that for other players these cut scenes were important.)

A bit annoying was the pause before/after cutscenes, because the effect was that I sometimes was unsure whether I should click something to progress (but then when doing so skipped the scene, I think).


Gameplay: There might be real choices here (but I did not actually try alternatives, as anything other than the obviously "good" (kind?) choices would seem too wrong to me). The roam/sandbox part seems pointless, but was not particularly annoying.

The few negative points:

- I did not like the art style too much (MC looks uninterestingly pretty; LIs have weirdly huge eyes)
but that is a matter of personal taste and at least the style seems (to me) rather unique.

- It seems a bit weird that a hardened mercenary in a dark fantasy setting should be that traumatized by a military victory where some former friends are suspected to have died.

- The ending of the one arch I played (might be the only one currently available) seemed weirdly rushed and a bit disappointing, but maybe that will be expanded on in future updates. UPDATE: This seems to have been much improved in v0.2.3

[v0.2.1]

This is a strong 4*. First of all, I liked the unique art style that is displayed here. It is reminiscent of Alita Battle Angel or something. Sure, some people complain about it, but I think having a style that is different than the same DAZ/HS is a good thing.

The writing is a bit of a mixed bag. There are definite strengths and weaknesses. There is certainly a lot of thought put into the world building. There is a CODEX to go along with this. The introductory video is pretty cool. The overall story seems quite interesting as well. Unfortunately, the actual dialogues are a bit lacking. The grammar is certainly fine most of the time, but the characters come off very wooden and robotic. There is this terse and "matter of fact" style of speech present for pretty much all characters. I'm sure some of it is due to their personality, but I fear this might be the only style the dev knows. Plus, the speech patterns do not really fit the setting, as they mostly speak in a contemporary English that feels a bit out of place in a medieval fantasy. There is also some hiccups when it comes to properly getting the reader emotionally invested in the plight of the characters. Most noticeably, the MC's bond with his company of mercs is never felt. Thus, I had a very hard time empathizing when he was all torn up about a certain situation.

As for the characters, I thought they were mostly interesting. The weakest link was the MC, with his noticeable lack of charisma that would be expected of his station. The main girl was portrayed quite well. The other characters didn't get enough screen time to make much of an impact.

The other main issue I have is with the sex scenes. The animations were good, but that's all it was. It's just a series of animations with no dialogues. No build up. No sex talks. No foreplay. That's a huge meh from me dawg.

The final thing that has me on the fence is the gameplay or the way the story is delivered. Maybe half way through the game, some free roaming/sandbox thing is introduced and the pacing and flow is immediately disrupted. There is really only one place to go at any given time, so I don't even see the point. Still, this is very early, and perhaps the dev has something grand planned with huge maps and explorations, so I won't shit on this approach just yet. The end of the current build has me wondering how the game is planning on dishing out the story with the updates though. We see the "ending(?)" for the main heroine based on the choices we've made so far. How does the story move on from here? Will need a few more updates to get a clearer picture.

In summary, the dev does a great job in setting the stage and presenting the big picture, but struggles a bit when it comes to the execution and details. I guess I focused a lot on the areas that could be improved, but the overall experience was generally a positive one. I'd recommend it for people who like medieval fantasy settings.

Pro's :
Great animations, with a voice-over that is not too loud and in sync with the animations.
Story is well written, along with deep emotions and memories that set the plot for the story.
Animations are smooth as butter which is rare to see nowadays.

Con :
None

A game where girls aren't there only to jump into your bed is nice, especially in a medieval setting. Ataegina is one of my favorites for this as well. I love it when the objects of the MC's passion actually have character. That being said though I hope that the battles have more player input in the future. It doesn't have to be some crazy tactical battle system but having different results based on choices made would go a long way towards cementing this game as one of the best. The art style takes a little getting used to as women seem to have anime eyes but overall it's a lot easier to get used to than a few other games out there like Light of My Life. I loved the music as well because even if it was simple or absent in certain scenes it wasn't corny or overused tracks like we often get in other games. I prefer a smaller more original OST to hearing "Eu De Doughnut - The Scent of Justice" during sex scenes. So it was appreciated. Excellent entry and I hope the developer finishes this one and builds a fanbase on it.

Great first release, pretty hefty as well, should provide about 1-2 hours of playtime.

The occasional cutscenes stand out and do a good job of bringing the world and story more to life. They feature pretty much flawless animation with voice acting, lipsync, and facial animations that make it stand out from most similar games.

World building is good, even if you choose not to read the many lore entries that you unlock throughout. The characters explain the most important things well enough so you understand what's going on. I can tell that the dev really aims to create a fully fledged fantasy world with this, which I admire.

Music and sound is good, in both gameplay and cutscenes. The soundtrack is great and the songs are well placed so when they're played it tends to be impactful.

The story and characters are fleshed out. Looking forward to see where this is going, hopefully the dev can keep up the quality.

A very enjoyable game set in a medieval/fantasy world with a unique and well crafted art-style that is not the typical daz style.

Rated as of Version: "v0.1.3"

For me one of the most distinguishable feats of the game is its artwork, which is a welcome break from the average daz models which make up the majority of artwork here. I personally am a big fan of how the models look, though some may criticize that the female characters are all more 'creative' looking (particularly the big eyes), whereas the male characters look much more realistic. This is something I personally was not bothered by in the least though, I did quite enjoy the artwork and it's style.
The sudden switch after a very enjoyable VN setting towards a sandbox mode was something I was not extremely happy with. Particularly since really there is only one story line at the moment which you are chasing on the map now, I would have preferred a continuation of the original VN style. The Journal that helps the player orient is pretty straightforward though so that's a plus.
The story, which is set against a fantasy backdrop similar to human medieval times but with several fantasy elements, is very nicely written and developed. The MC is relatable and his self dialogues set him apart as a very thoughtful, moral man, who is not just all about the female characters but also has issues of his own which we can unpack along with him. A big step forward from average MCs.
In general a great project, I wish lots of success to the developer.

Gameplay: 3.5/5 | Renders: 5/5 | Story: 5/5 | Writing: 4.5/5
GRADE: 4.5/A-

Great game so far, and I definitely going to keep it on my watch list. The animations are nice and I like the style the dev is going for. At first I did not think I would like, but it's grown on so far. The only thing I wish is that you could name the main character. Other than that keep up the good work!

I am very impressed with what I saw.
The first thing that struck me was the animation and voice acting. There are also good characters, interesting dialogues and a rather unique UI.

But the main advantage of this game is the plot and its book presentation. Hence the special atmosphere and the constant feeling of despair and inevitably impending disaster.

For me, this is one of those games where lewd content comes second and is a tool that serves the story.

Of the minuses of the prologue for myself, as for someone who played on the phone, I would like to note a little inconvenient navigation.
But this is insignificant because I suspect that the author did not plan the game for mobile devices)

In general, I look forward to new updates, support the author and hope that he will stick to his vision.

It's hard to analyze a game in its first release, sometimes things happen later that make us hate having wasted time with it. that's why I almost never rate a game on the first release. But this one deserves it.

The story is very good, we have an MC who is not an idiot, which is already a big positive factor. The female models may seem a little strange (many are paying a lot of attention to the eyes a little too big), but in my opinion it's ok, the cut scenes are excellent work, the H scenes don't look like those weird loops, among other things that already talked here. The DEV is to be congratulated, and I am extremely looking forward to more of that.

This game has a lot of love put into it. If that wasn't made clear from the very well animated and edited cutscenes interspersed throughout, then take a look at the codex entries. The dev is creating a whole world with a world map full of different nations and cultures, each with their own codex entries. Even if you're not interested in reading any of it I feel you still can't avoid appreciating the work put into it.

The characters so far have potential, I'm interested to see where the dev is going with them. The mc feels like an actual character with his own goals and problems, which is pretty refreshing. I don't mind the Pixar-inspired eyes, but I can see if people aren't big fans of it, though I respect that the art has something different to it.

The music caught my attention already at the main menu, and it kept catching my attention throughout. Occasionally it's not needed, but it's mostly well placed and impactful.

The UI is pretty simple but it works without any issues, I especially like the journal which is pretty enjoyable to scroll through.

not really sure how i feel about this game but for now i like it, just worried about the direction the game might head, wasnt really a fan of the girl moaning a other guys name in the middle of sex but i can overlook it since its just the beginning of the game, that being said i like the cutscenes they are smooth and the voice acting is solid story looks good and i like the humor show so far mixed in with the seriousness the MC feels, anyway im curious to see this game develop further

Just one word. Telltale

That's what it reminded me of - especially the art style, and the choices that alter game play. Character(s) choose to join you or not based on your decisions, and we see that very early in the game as well.

The cut scenes are very well done, with sound effects, music and superb animation. Its an example of how to make the best with what is available. Its honesty surprising and refreshing to see this level of quality on renpy.

Another thing to admire about this game, is the amount of detail that's put into it. The rich codex entries with their lore, and the journal (especially with the sound effects, and the background - you actually feel like you are reading it in a tavern, or opening it up in a park. Absolute genius). Oh, and did i mention there is some pretty decent voice acting?

Hope this game takes off and gets all the attention, cause it deserves no less. One of the best games on this site. Period.

This is my first review but I figured this project needed some support.

Art - 5/5

What stands about most about the artstyle is the bigger than usual eyes. Though I can see why some prefer more realistic looking characters, I really liked it. It reminds me of Pixar, which is what I guess they were going for.

Renders are high quality, some of them are a little grainy but it's not that distracting. A lot of them are very cinematic and beautiful to look at.

Also, they manage to avoid the lifeless, staring eyes that most Daz games suffer from. Don't know if that has to do with the bigger eyes.

Animation - 5/5

This is where it stands out I'd say. So much work has been put into the scenes and honestly I think they blow most other animated games out of the water. All scenes are fully voiced and facial animations and lip sync are insanely good.

Story - 5/5

It starts out a bit out of nowhere but it hits its stride. There's a lot of focus on story and characters here. I think they're going for more rewarding and meaningful sex scenes by building up to them, which I am personally a fan of.

Also worth mentioning, the world building. The game not only starts with a well voiced and animated intro movie to explain the world, it also has a whole section of lore entries. Hopefully they will keep putting work into this world.

Writing - 5/5

I'm not really good at reviewing writing, it doesn't take much to please me here. What I can say is that the english is pretty much flawless, and I couldn't notice any grammatical or spelling errors.

Sound - 5/5

The music really stands out, from the beautiful main menu music to the fitting intro music, to the various piano tunes throughout the game. It's all very fitting and really manages to set the mood.

Sound effects are almost constant, mostly ambient background noises. Some sounds are clearly lower quality than others, but it's not so bad as to be distracting.

Overall I really like this game and I appreciate how much love they're putting into it. I hope they continue on this path and I think this could be a really great one in the end.

a very good looking game so far
the renders and animations are very good
...the eyes.. of Kyra ... scared me
i wonder if its a "race" trait - the codex dont mention this
(for now i think )
well - the codex : nice feature with detailed infos about people and lands
cant say much about the sandbox part (content)- i think it will be good
the story is plausible so far - lets see where its lead us too
the journal - well written , nice feature

4stars for now (4.5 if it would possible-may change it at time)