Ren'Py - Abandoned - Apartment #69 [v0.07] [Luxee]

+ great mc - assertive, he is not an idiot wimp
+ beautiful music
+ sandbox is nicely done
+ game is not boring, all characters are interesting
+ teacher

well written avn with awesome mc - which is rare these days

Definitely going on my list of favorites, I've just completed all the games content so far,and Nea's my favorite she's just so sweet, 10/10 best girl, I'm glad I found another game with a trans girl, as trans girls and femboy are my favorite, keep up the good work and thanks for making this game.

This Game has excellent pacing for the Dialogue. Usually With these types of games I get bored Reading Walls upon walls of Text. The Creator knows when a scene is important enough to extend the read time, and when to keep it concise.

I like this game. Its well put together with plenty of options/paths. It actually doesnt have a total horn dog as a MC. And the interface and menu is great. Thats about all I can say that makes it stand out. Characters are your typical archtypes- gf, teacher, sisters, etc. Most relationships are a slow burn save one or 2. Yeah I dont really have much to say; if you like the tags this game delivers while not really standing out like some other VNs.

Gotta say though- one con for me is the big sis.... just wtf is going on there? really unappealing model

Awesome game. Nea's arc is surely one of the best that any adult game developer has ever done . All the other characters are super lovable and have distinct personalities. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say it's Evie because she's so cute, and of course, Nea, what more can I say... The renders are great, the music is okay, and the writing is incredible, so yeah... it's a fantastic game and one of my favorites on this forum.

Apartment #69 is BACK baby!!

This game is excellent in every way and have so much potential going forward. I LOVED Nea's story arc and I was on the verge of tears several times going though it. She is the most precious cinnamon bun and I am looking forward to seeng her story arc conclude.

I will need to do a full rewrite of this review at some point, but will probably save that for next update as the v.0.07 one was not very big.

Excellent game. I am a big the creator other game as well. The environment and behaviors are consistent with the game. It is one of the games that you can stick with it. Keep up the good work and more updates in the near future.

I really enjoyed this game. Some of the characters are better developed than others, but I think a lot of that is based on how much content they each have so far. I am really bummed this one is abandoned because I believe it has a lot of potential that still wasn't unlocked.

The transgender content is handled realistically and with kindness and compassion, and she is the best developed character in the game.

I really hope the developer comes back and does more work on this at some point, as this largely just whetted my appetite for more of this game.

This game is simply excellent, the pacing is well done with the flashback nature that allows you to sort of choose-your-adventure style graphic novel the game. It currently does not appear that you can avoid relationships, which feels kinda shitty once you go the Nea route.

There needs to be some time-out system where if you elect to not select a memory for a certain amount of time it "fades from memory" and is no longer part of the time line. Naturally this sort of content-cutting is going to make downstream timeline handling much more complex, but using the "bucket" method of other games could suffice (e.g. 1) no other sexual entanglements but prime (Nea), 2) only family outside of prime, 3) one other outside of family and prime, 4) PC is a whore.

And as for the whole Nea thing, I personally think this game does an exemplary job of handling it. I have had some similar experiences as the PC, and I have to say, the internal dialogue and interpersonal discourse with Nea is remarkably good... to the point that I would have to assume the writer also has some personal experience with it. It is a complicated subject, and one that is simultaneously delicately, yet forcefully interwoven with sex. It somehow then strangely stands to reason that a porn game would get it right when very little can.

The only negative here is that Luxee abandoned the project when it felt like it could have a similar emotional and insightful impact as Acting Lessons, maybe more. Parental Love is an all-timer for a wank, this could be an all-timer for a wank and a cry, Acting Lessons is an all-timer for an attempted wank then only cry.

One last thing.... ahem, fuck anyone for not supporting this project because of Nea, if you aren't into it, that's fine, you don't have to be into it, just don't engage with that story-line. (which allegedly needs a better off-ramp) But any pearl clutching or bigotry, especially on a site like this can absolutely fuck itself right off a cliff. =) <3

Version 0.06

I see a lot of people writing half-assed review just to shit on the game without much detail, so I'll do one better and actually give some argumentation and reasonning.

Yes, I really enjoy this game.
Yes, it's the same dev as Parental Love.
Yes, it's a different style as Parental Love.
No, it's not a bad thing.

Luxee wanted to experiment with a different genre than the more kinetic feel of having one singular story going on with variations depending on your choices. Result is an attempt at a semi-sandboxey type game. Is it a perfect sandbox ? No, because it's not totally sandboxey, but at the same time, it is enough so as to avoid making you feel like you're just getting dragged by the story and can only wait for the next event.
It's not much, but you being able to go to different places, and sometimes see characters in different places, makes them feel a little bit less "only here for you" so to speak.

Now let's talk about said characters. The cast if fucking huge compaired to PL. Luxee apparently wanted to make a lot of options, or had a lot of ideas for a wide variety of characters, and decided to not hold off.
So far, not all of them have the same amount of content. The game is still early, keep that in mind. And as this game is less linear, it means (apparently, I have no proof to support this but as a creative person it seems that way to me) that Luxee works on whoever they have ideas and inspiration from, rather than being forced by a continuous story.
Some people will say it's a bad idea and Luxee should have done exactly like PL, but in my opinion they're wrong. The result isn't necessarily bad. It's too early to tell, really.

So far, the character that have some development aren't numerous, but what is there is interesting. They have different feels rather than all seem to have the hots for the MC without anymore personality like other games do.
For example, we have the younger sister's best friend having a crush on her friend's big brother, trying to act on it with gusto with relative efficacy, which is pretty adorable. We have a girl trying to have a boyfriend despite her asshat of a brother threatening whoever gets close to her. We have a young trans girl having lived a hellish life of parental abuse and bullying clinging desperately to who is essentially, in her eyes, her white knight in shinning armor.
All the characters are shaping up to have their own circumstances and their own story within the story, their own personality. Some aren't really defined so far, so some people might say they are uninteresting, boring, bland. The game is in fucking version 0.06 dammit.

Speaking of the trans character, let's adress the elephant in the room.
Nea is a divisive character. Luxee shows a clear interest for trans character, and not the ones already post-op and so already fully female (which would mean being barely a mention with no consequence whatsoever).
Nea is mid-transition, and is, so far, the character with the most developped story. A lot of people love her, a lot of people hate her, and some don't have strong opinion one way or another but tend to keep a low profile.
The truth is, wether you have an open mind, are transphobic as fuck or don't mind one way or the other, Nea is the character with the most care and thought put in her story, but also the one with the worst issue.
After some backlash full of ill-intent and narrow-mindedness, her story now has (and I will not sugar coat it or hide it as to avoid bad surprise for some) a really bad ending in the form of a suicide. And while it does make some sort of sense given her whole story and background (I've talked at length about it in the thread if you want to look it up), it's also poorly handled. Maybe Luxee got too heated at the backlash and wrote that part in a rash reaction, maybe not. Maybe it'll be changed someday, maybe not. The long and short of it is that this part is rather poorly executed and some might feel like it is very "manipulative" from Nea. Those also often try to push absolute realism in a game about a guy, ultimately, dating a dozen different girls at once. So... yeah...
If you have enough of an open-mind though, Nea is trully a very well written character, and becomes quite lovable, as the scenes with her can be very sweet.

And sure, some people complain about the mom being an absolute perv pushing her son to build a sexual relationship and harem with his two sisters...
But come the fuck on, it's a porn game about a douzen girls dated by the same guy, again. Complaining about a character being a perv in a porn game...

Let's switch to the next subject.
The renders are really good. But that's to be expected since Luxee has experience working on Parental Love before. Characters also don't look the same with haircut and hair color variations like some other games tend to have. Here, they all have their own style and clearly had care and time put into designing them, to further the variety even more.

Also, some of the stories interconnecting might be a shit idea for some (especially those who hate Nea and complain that she's part of other girls routes...), but in truth, it isn't. It actually makes the game more alive as it shows that the various LIs don't each live in a bubble of their own. It actually help the world feel more real since some people would know each other already without the MC having to appear for people to notice each other like life didn't exist before him.

Where the game does, admitedly, have issues, is that it's easy to get lost.
The semi-sandboxey nature makes it so it's not always really clear where (and when) you're supposed to be to continue a story, making Lain's mod nearly required. But again, the game is still young, and maybe that'll be improved later on. So far though, adding Lain's mod is not so much a hassle as to be that much of a problem.

In short, while the game has a divisive character, if you can stomach games that are early in development, this one is definitely worth a try. Characters are well written and set up some interesting personal story, and the variety in their personality makes is intriguing to wonder how each will develop.

Me mindfull, though, if you have anything against trans people. For you, I would honestly say that this game isn't for you if you can't accept that others might feel differently. (I will, however, reassure you : no, you don't have to do anything with a penis)
Otherwise, if you have nothing against them, like them or are curious, I'd encourage you to try to enjoy the game and Nea's story (rather than skip it), but keep in mind that it's pretty bleak at times. Just don't come on the thread to post trolling messages celebrating her suicide, like some did.

The others girls, though, so far, a mostly a delight, and are shaping up to be pretty interesting.

Graphics: Good but nothing to get excited about.

Story: None. Only follows characters

Characters: While the lolis were enjoyable, most of the characters are bland or annoying.

Overall, a typical harem game but some of the characters make it frustrating to play.

Review for 0.06

Not much to say really. Great game.

I like the story and the characters.
The Eric punching was especially funny.

The highlight for me though is Nea.
I just want to hold her close and give her the world.

I hope this gets an update soon so I can cuddle with her more.

Played v0.06. Too sentimental and emotionally driven, means the story drags on before any meaningful content happens, which there is not much in this version. Characters are ok, but none of them came off as significantly likeable to me. The sandbox setup is fine, but it is not for everyone. Definitely played better sandbox games on here than this one. Not worth playing until more content is added.

Wow, was diving into this one with low expectations, but oh boy was I in for a surprise . Absolutely amazing characters and models , I guess nae became my favorite character from all the Vns i played here, decent writing and a wholesome heart-warming story.

Keep up the good work luxee.

Great game, keep it up. I hope you'll develop more of the story with the MC's mother and keep the same idea with the other characters. On the other hand, I had a little trouble recognizing the characters at the top right (where there is a cross when the progress is over)
Anyway keep it up

Very good renders and fun characters. I really enjoyed playing this, keep up the good work developer. The writing is decent as well, some places my immersion got broken and the game has a few flaws but overall a solid experience.

Recommended

Review version: v0.06

Good attempt and could be excellent after more polishing.

Characters and Story (7/10):
The characters look pleasant and exciting. The personalities are shallow, and they interact weirdly to lead to sexual things (but that's not uncommon in porn games)
The story is generic but flashbacks with different 'memories'(scenes).

Sex (7/10):
Till this version, there is much sex, but still a lot of sexual tension and acts. The scenes are good.

Enjoyment (6/10):
This game has a sandbox kind of layout with multiple locations and different girls being at other places (which I don't prefer), leading to random things like the story feeling a bit disconnected. That being said, this was one of the better implementations of the formula; the story did connect, for the most part, did let us have a natural choice.
I chose to skip the trans content entirely, but I ended up missing critical plot points, and the scenes happened but were not shown to me. You could choose to see the scenes and avoid doing anything sexual, but I was unaware I would miss the main plot by selecting the skip option. In my opinion, the developer shouldn't have added this option as it results in missing major plot points.

Overall (6.6/10):
Overall good game. You should try it if you like the tags mentioned in the OP. It could be much better going forward, hoping for the best.

3.5 stars before you get to the trans characters story conclusion for v0.06 and drops to a 1.5 stars after if you don't like trans content.
Its a decent game with one really big issue for me which I think should be known before starting the game(It pretty much guilt trips you into seeing trans content), I'm not a fan of futa/trans characters and the character with the most content is trans, I actually really like them and wouldn't have minded just being friends with them which is an option initially, it later gives you the option to do the deed but spoiler: not wanting to do it gives you a dark conclusion to that characters story arc" a likable character", it pretty much says its too dark for the game and doesn't show what happens but if you check the answer where you accept them its pretty obvious what happens. so not wanting to see the trans scenes makes you feel like a pretty bad person.
also the trans characters scenes are very important plot wise and I'd say not being friends with them which skips all scenes with them would make the game plot wise rather unplayable since many characters are introduced in those cutscenes.
It would have been great if their was an option so just stay friends or switch out their equipment when their scenes come even if it doesn't make sense plot wise.

Version 0,06 of Apartment #69:

Story: The overarching Story is a very simple one: Big brother buys a flat and moves out while starting college. In that context, the MC interacts with multiple characters all with their own story - and some overlapping others. That overlapping is a big plus, and I hope as the author continues working on this game, he will enhance this mechanic.
I enjoyed most stories thoroughly, with one exception:

Mechanics: first and foremost, I enjoy the mechanic of setting the default age after the game started with everyone nicely above 18. It makes it clear what the author's intention is with this game.
Then there is the sandbox and memory mechanic. There is potential to do something with this. However, now it does feel like a VN with extra steps. I know it's not exactly that as you can choose the order of memories. But I haven't had much the impression that this order had much influence on the game (with the exception of NEA). However, as I said, it has potential.

Interface: The interface reaaaally needs work. I won't go into all the details, other review already did that. But I'm assuming you're aware of this.

Characterization: There are multiple characters, and most of them are clear, enjoyable and consistent with a couple of exceptions:
So in short, I enjoy most characters but it perhaps is not a bad idea to do maybe some editing in certain plots and conversations to make it consistent.

Art: Art is certainly above average. Enjoyed it all. Always room for improvement, but honestly, there's no need for that.

Verdict: 4/5, There are some weird characterizations and at certain points the story is wonky. It would definitely improve with maybe an extra script read. My advise is to stay original and quirky, give every character their own unique path and sensuality, and see how to overlap multiple stories. and be very attention with what you do with the Asian's little sister. a lot of potential there.

Apartment #69 [v0.06] [Luxee]

"Apartment #69" is a game that left me with a mix of emotions and thoughts. While it had its moments of intrigue and engagement, there were aspects of the game that, in my opinion, left much to be desired.

One of the most noticeable issues I encountered was with the game's navigation system. It often felt like I was fumbling around, clicking aimlessly to find the rooms and events necessary to advance the story. This sense of aimlessness gave the game a somewhat disappointing feeling of emptiness, which was quite surprising given the limited number of locations available within the apartment complex.

As for the story itself, it didn't quite meet my expectations. Unlike its predecessor, it lacked the initial wild excitement that had drawn me in previously. Instead, it started on a rather subdued note, which left me craving more intensity and engagement. The pacing of events further added to my frustration, as they frequently felt disjointed and failed to flow smoothly. To keep the story moving, I often found myself clicking on rooms and engaging with characters in a seemingly random order, which disrupted the narrative's coherence.

Speaking of characters, they were a mixed bag. While some were intriguing and well-developed, others felt underdeveloped and were introduced abruptly. Cha'relle stood out as a character I genuinely liked, both in terms of her aesthetics and her personality. However, I found her dialogue regarding the main character dating other girls to be out of character and superficial, which was disappointing.

Visual and character design also raised concerns for me. Some character models, particularly Seki, were off-putting, and the appearance of the main character didn't fare much better. The overuse of flash-bang lighting in certain scenes felt excessive and detracted from my ability to fully appreciate those moments.

One recurring theme throughout the game that bothered me was the constant emphasis on Nea's victimization and the main character's unwavering support. While I acknowledge the intention of highlighting important social issues, the execution felt heavy-handed and forced. It often detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game, making it seem preachy and less immersive.

In summary, "Apartment #69" has its strengths and weaknesses. The navigation issues and the feeling of emptiness within the game world can be quite frustrating. The story's pacing and character development could certainly benefit from improvement, and the visuals left something to be desired. Additionally, the heavy-handed approach to certain themes may not resonate with all players.

That said, it's crucial to remember that personal preferences vary widely, and what didn't resonate with me might appeal to others. "Apartment #69" might find its audience among those who appreciate this specific style of visual novel, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Ultimately, while it had its flaws, the game also had moments of intrigue, and I believe it has the potential to shine with some refinements in future iterations or projects.