Gameplay:
Point&Click, sandbox
The prologue is linear (and quite long). After, you raise stats and unlock scenes in different paths depending on the characters. So, yes, there is a bit of grind. No real puzzle or challenge, a bit repetitive.
Story:
Well, not the most original. The writing is not bad, but quite boring. Characters are very "cliché". The hot single Mom in need of a cock, the young candid daughter waiting to be corrupted, the "bitchy" daughter that nonetheless want what is in your pants. Well, you talk and seduce them through various dialogues.
Graphics/Animation:
Average for the pics, sub-average for the animations.
Overall impression:
The game is suitable for new gamers, but will probably disappoint experimented ones.
Bad looking models, annoyingly long conversations and virgin MC. After every conversation with girls MC is like "This is only our 6417th date, I should take it easy and give her time". I am almost happy that it is abandoned. Really, really boring game.
After the prologue the sandbox gameplay becomes boring.
The game logic is weird. For instance, why would I need to "Take a break Tuesday evening" if I want to talk to Alex? (And if I was with Julia at that time, because meeting with her also had to be Tuesday, then why would I need to wait for another week to talk to Alex?) Does that happen in real life?
Some events have so cryptic conditions that you hardly can find them without the walkthrough (e.g. going to gym with Alex). And even if all the conditions met, there are some bugs so the event doesn't happen.
The game says it lets you play as you wish, in your own pacing, but in fact the pacing is slow and boring, and the "free sandbox" seems to be designed for playing through the only one possible way. If you deviate a bit, you get problems:
(1) Messed up game logic. (For instance, Alex wanted to take me to the gym, but suddenly she forgets about it and doesn't do that. Or if I don't pursue Sophia, other girls' hints don't appear.)
(2) There are contradictions between dialog lines and what actually happened in the particular playthrough.
So, during the prologue I really liked this game, afterwards it's just a messed up grinding chore.
Story: 2/10 Plain and simple there isn't much of a story, it is not interesting, the same scenario has been done in at least one hundred others. Not original in any way.
A story needs to be emotionally stirring and engaging, this one is not.
Renders : 4/10 The character renders are pretty but plain. the overall look is pretty amateur nothing that keeps the eye.
Animations : 1/10 The sex animations are simplistic 2 second loops the usual no real effort or imagination stuff. Put it in move move bam its done. Come on there is so much that can be improved in that regard. Actually anything more would be an improvement.
Writing : 4/10 Although most of the wording is ok, there is nothing interesting in it. Some humor would be nice.
Playability : This game is a complete grind, i would say ninety percent of the whole game is grinding money and points. There really isn't anything else to do except do the laundry daily. As well there really is no actual options for the player. Some of the choices made in the game don't affect the way the story goes at all, example the panties. Even if you didn't look through the rooms for them, the story still says you did. As well as sex with the landlady, if you didn't make choices near the start of the game that get you into her pants. The story still goes on like you did later on in the game.
So some of the choices mean nothing, the story is still going to go that way.
Overall a complete amateur attempt at a story/game, with little in that is interesting in any way.
I loved this game during the 0.1 release, but now all I want is to get to the end of the update so I can do something else. This game has devolved so quickly and seems to be very poorly planned out.
The story has such promise if done well, but it isn't. A young postgraduate moves into an apartment with a mom and her two daughters because there are no other options. Decent idea, and they aren't related so I give it points for originality (though it wouldn't surprise me if they turned out to be long lost relatives). But now allow me to discuss the logical fallacies of the story, and trust me, they go beyond the suspension of disbelief that porn requires. The room you are renting is available because they kicked out the previous tenant for taking advantage of one of the sisters. Yeah, I'd kick him out too. But then they turn around and accept another male tenant. What kind of mother does that? There are no females looking for a room to rent? And then she almost immediately sleeps with the MC? Okay sure. Don't worry! There is an explanation. The MC is nice. Eyeroll...
Okay the gameplay is painful and tedious. Sandbox game that is based on day and time cycles where certain characters are doing things at certain times. You earn money by coding online and spend your money on an online shop for whatever you need. Events often times require you to wait a week in game before you can advance the story. You have to build your relationship with each girl one point at a time by spending time with them. It's painfully basic gameplay that is overused. A total clickfest with little to nothing to show for. The game is a slow burn after the initial sex scene. Hope you like seeing boobs but only boobs.
The renders and art style are great. I like the cartoonish look that is given here. But the game is again painfully basic. 98% takes place inside the apartment that has eight rooms in total. The women are good looking, but they have weird nipples. It almost looks like someone ties thread around the base of them. The characters have intended personalities that are completely betrayed when it serves the story. The MC is both strong willed and spineless at the same time. They are all frustrating.
The writing is good when grammar is concerned. There aren't a lot of eye rolling mistakes, but again, the characters are horribly inconsistent and the story makes no sense from a logical standpoint.
It's a fine game if you like endless clickers. The renders are nice and there is a decent amount of content. I won't say don't play it, but you've probably played something just like this before.
Thousands of clicks and childish lines for just one unskilful awkward sex scene and a couple of handjob and tits pictures.
Huge waste of time and tons of talking nonsense issues.
Renders are quite decent though.
Good images. I enjoy the more thorough progression and slower buildup. The characters seem to reacto to new situations in a fairly predictable manner. I'm not a fan of the change in the hair of the older character but otherwise the images are top notch.
A nicely polished package filled with nothing. At least nothing that makes sense.
It looks good, polished menus, nice UI, decent renders. But it's all it has going for it.
This game manages to be even more absurd than most of those Gary Stu type games. The milf and the two sisters already had a traumatic experience by accepting a pervert in their house. And yet not only they accept MC after that, but also seem perfectly fine with him also being a pervert! Makes you feel sorry for the first dude! At least he only tried to go after one of them. And while it's WIP you can tell they will eventually be perfectly fine with sharing him. Have to wonder how the last tenant didn't fit in since that family of weirdos seems to have no issue breaking any social norm.
A love story between a pervert, a milf and her two daughters. That's totally how romance works...in sex cults. And playing that type of MC would make more sense but you are stuck with the standard white knight that makes everything right so the chicks love him. That's how you get an entire family unit in your bed!
The game is the standard sandbox fare, boring money grind and door opening simulator. Its UI is helpful with hints and highlighted actions that make it somewhat bearable. But still boring with a good amount of "empty" days before you get to an event..
To conclude, I don't expect the pinnacle of writing in a porn game. But when most of those already have absurd situations, don't make it worse with that type of backstory...
Update: Adding a 3rd star as in a very recent patch the phone hint issue was resolved to be easier to find/use.
Reading previous reviews I'm chiming into what's already been said but...
It's new, it has potential, it's currently shooting itself in the foot with a money grind and lack of guidance combination which currently takes money cheats and finding a hidden guide to counter (when ideally grind and lack of direction should be minimal and their solutions more blatant).
As is now, a 2, resolve those issues, keep adding content, and 3 or 4 could arrive. There are just a lot of adult games these days, and this one isn't brand new it's had a few months now, and right now this game is still committing some game play sins it doesn't need to (and not the fun kind of sin I'll watch a scene of either).
Ps... and I know I'm not the only one that wants multiple scenes handlebarring the redheads hair if she's gonna keep it like that
Cute, fun, MC is a pretty reasonable guy. Slow-ish burn but a few good moments so far. Characters are quirky and interesting, not the most realistic but that's not necessarily a bad thing in a game like this. One to keep an eye on, definitely!
I've read a couple of rates before posting mine. The general consensus is the work process, and people getting stuck at not knowing what to do.
When i began playing, i felt all those frustrations, to the point where i was about to quit on this game. But then, two things happened which helped me change my mind:
1- Solving the work process by cheating money. I've added money through cheats. That way, i don't have to worry about that fact anymore.
2- Finding the friggin Hints button on the phone. That button shouldn't be invisible. It could prevent a lot of bad ratings. For those who don't know about it still, just open your phone, and scroll at the top of your phone, it should appear. Once i found it, i completed everything there is (37/37).
I'm glad i found those two helpers, because the characters are beautiful, different to what i've seen so far. The story is good, and the grammar is also.
Oh, and to those that say that the characters are too much alike, remember that we're talking about a woman with her two daughters. So it's kind of logical that they would look alike some.
In short, it's a good game, but the work process needs to be worked on a little to make it doable. And probably not hide the Hints button. That would prevent a lot of frustration from players.
I absolutely loved the prologue. I love the renders. I love the characters. I wanted to continue playing the game. And then, I was introduced to the work and money-making mechanic.
This grindy system causes all enjoyment of the game to go out the window. Half the time, you can't finish a job because you can't progress. Other times, you are working towards finishing, but the week ends and you can't. This clunky system forced me to cheat the money.
I thought once my money problems were over, I could get back to enjoying the story. However, I am on Day 46. I have maxed everyone out to 30 points, I'm at 20/37 scenes completed, and yet there is absolutely nothing to do anymore.
EDIT:
There's a HINT SYSTEM? I had no idea. Did some digging to figure out where it lived. Once I started using it, I knew when/where I had to do stuff. While not the best mechanism, it does let you progress and see scenes with the girls. Now that I know how to do things, I've updated my review accordingly.
Once a better works system is established, I could give this title a better rating.
I must say that I like this game. The promise of tentant(real) hooking up with Landlord(real) and her daughters sound convincing enaugh. Besides that characters are cute/sexy/realistic. We won't get over sexualized girls that hop on our MC.. yet. It might take some convincing to do. Work of our protag is nicely tought out.
The only thing I would like to be better is to lessen grind and make a hint system. There is not much or anything shown how to progress relationships with girls. Besides to talk with them.. or I needed to figure it out. To click on a TV or Fridge etc. Couse now they are clickable but before that they weren't. If thats all of the hints we can get.. its dissapointing. Hours of playing only to find those clickable bits is annoying af.
Its a good start for a great game. I hope for hint system and less grind. If we get that then this game will became much more enjoyable. Besides that an animation needs more work but its still good.
i had to stop playing this part way through content. Can't stand this game... the women in that apartment are just TOO DAMN FINE, goodness i nearly popped a nut when Sophia opened the door. i was right there with the MC crossing my fingers the daughters would be ugly.. Damn ... DAmn .. DAMN. i think i am in love .... oh and the writing is smooth and comfortable, story looks to be building and believable. did i mention the models are HOT?? and the environment is really nice. navigation is a little too tight. moves like a VN but looks kinda sandboxy. i Will see this to the end .... even if it takes a box of kleanex to so it.
Art: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Verdict: Outstanding, beautiful game. Great love for detail.
Don't play this! Julia's mine! Go away, you can't have her!
No, honestly - give this game a try. The guys at YTV Productions are a friendly bunch and obviously love what they are doing. The game bleeds atmosphere, the girls are among the very best - especially Julia is stunning and my absolute favorite!
This game has drawn me in from the start like no other. Yes, the sandbox mechanics can be a tad grindy, but I feel they are rewarding and we can expect a lot more to do when the next content update drops.
One thing those guys really excel at are the facial expressions in those beautiful renders. Combined with the writing this creates an incredible depth and immersion which is hard to resist. Very appealing. The tasteful soundtrack also contributes to the atmosphere.
Check this out. You might like this a lot. I certainly do.
Didn't really expect it to be such a good game.
The character renders are cute and scenes are really good. Game is not that grindy in my opinion as other reviews suggest. You can earn heck lot of money in like two in-game weeks and then just proceed towards story scenes without worrying about getting kicked out. I hope sandbox elements get more fleshed out as its seems bit empty for now . UI is also really well done. As far as story is concerned even though it's a bit linear but it's good. and it works for me.
Current state: Too much of a grind, repetitive gameplay for a very thin layer of story as of now (update1). Might be nice after a bunch of updates...
Teasered stuff: ...as the graphics are promising, as well as the the "features" of the game. Making decisions for the upcoming story branches looks technically good to me (just needs content).
The review is based on the Prologue
A lot of people compare this game to Apartment 69 because of the similar name but at the moment I think this is the better one of the two despite the other one having a well established dev who already produced a great completed game behind it.
Of course it's not perfect, far from it but I really enjoyed playing the prologue.
First the Title. I don't know why the devs went with this title. The number 69 has a clearly sexual meaning but since Apartment 69 was already taken they went with the next best? But the secondary, sexual meaning of 96 is not there or not as strong as with 69 and it makes easy to confuse the two games. In my opinion it would have been better to go with a different name.
The game is a free roam type but there is only one thing to do at any time except for one important choice which could have been done just as well via a multiple choice prompt instead. I don't hate more interactivity in the game like some people in this forum but I hope later on the free roam system will give us real freedom instead of this illusion either by giving us different routes based on where we go or at least change the sequence of the events based on where we go.
In the prologue we had highlighted items and locations to indicate the next step. Luckily I have to say because the story, dialogue or internal monologue rarely gave any indication what to do. This should be improved in the future so it wouldn't turn into a whack-a-mole game where you have to click through everything just to find that one thing or person that can progress the story.
The protagonist is very shy and seems over apologetic over everything and is generally a pushover and hard to connect with. Maybe that's intentional because of his background and we will see some character development. Also some times against Alex you have the chance to put down your feet and still progress your relationship so I hope later in the story MC will man up more and be more relatable.
The girls are super hot. Their personalities are also OK even if Alex is bitchy at the beginning. The story with the previous tenant is an interesting twist on the on the usual trope of innocent younger sister. The mother is a hot milf, finally free from a long divorce and needing some love. I hope we will further explore their characters and motivations later on.
At the moment there seem to be a lot of inconsistencies in the girls behavior. Alex offer at the end was a bit too sudden even if she started to warm up to us. And her reaction to seeing us masturbate with her mother's panties is the opposite of what I'd expect with their backstory with Martin. Sofia leaving out the panties and seducing us in the kitchen is the same.
If these happened after a longer period of warming up to the MC with some events to increase their trust towards him then in wouldn't feel so out of place as it is. Hopefully we will learn more about their motivations in future updates or maybe dev will make some additions to explain or correct these inconsistencies.
Update #2:
* Earlier there was a message from the dev saying the gameplay would change after the prolog... And that was no lie. It's become a sandbox with a grind for money and to get the girls to like you (if you're not put off by the situation) that becomes less tolerable and more tedious as the events become more spread out, especially if you don't play as a promiscuous bastard.
* Remember the polyamorous relationship the prolog ended with? Well, now both girls find you gross and they say so quite descriptively. Even if they kiss you or flash their tits right before the prolog ends. The next day you're not just a stranger, but an undesirable pest to them. It changes later on, but the personality change is clear. And suddenly kisses and nudity become a bigger deal than it was before. The girls reject you half the time and there's no point where Alex likes to be touched even if you max out her love points and you got all sex scenes. So why the option to touch at times? Weird, right? The game also still forces you into consequences of decisions you didn't make.
*
I'd hoped I'd like the game better after a few updates because the presentation is so polished, but for now it's in a weird state and the nonsense that tainted the prolog is still there. My best case scenario (conscious psyop by women luring young men into traps) was proved wrong so far so the confusing prolog really just was sloppy writing. Also turns out that Martin guy, vilified for wanting a BJ and more than a dead starfish in the sack, was the least unhinged person in the house. Not only that, but now there's a whole narrative disconnect on top of that in the updates... I may revise this later. Graphics and some good events with better dialog options are good elements worth mentioning though, but they don't make a good game on their own.
Original review follows:
Based on the prolog (first release) and contains a critique of the story, so obviously spoilers are to be expected when reading on.
There is a long-standing debate on what adult visual novels and adult games in general should be. On one hand, should it offer as many sexual exploits as possible, i.e., a vehicle for lewd renders with the aim of being a surrogate for porn, or should they be judged like any other game, i.e., story, graphics, mechanics, sound are all equally important and they just display sexual acts as part of any person's life that mainstream games simply opt to omit and pretend people are asexual in order to secure an age rating that's as low as possible?
This game at various stages pretends to be the latter while it's setting up the former. Exactly because it doesn't convey well what it wants to be, it confuses the player who cares about stories being told and characters to like, and simultaneously I'm afraid to judge this game for something the creators don't want it to be. I assume, judging by the overall audiovisual quality of the game and the truncated hints of intrigue, this game's story was actually meant to be something better at some point during its development and implementation.
So let's get into the nitty-gritty. This game's presentation is far above average.
- A non-generic UI that looks professional.
- Minimal but comfy and non-intrusive sound design.
- Renders that are ultrasharp but that don't have a lot of fancy lighting effects nor shadows (lots of overexposure), or filters in them. So the general look is more plastic than other visually stunning games that are made to look photorealistic or artistic, while it's still high quality.
- I scrolled back and one of the characters noticed that. A nice touch to say the least.
- No errors in my playtime. How many first versions by indie devs are released without bugs these days?
These elements score the game a few stars. But what about the story? Let's do a recap of the things I already wrote in the discussion thread. New tenant (MC) gets introduced to a family of which the mom is MC's landlady. She stipulates a few strict rules. He may not touch or hurt any of the daughters or well, the worst will happen. One of her daughters is unpleasant to say the least and acts frigidly and distrustfully towards MC, suspecting him of having bad intentions right away. The other daughter is introduced and she is the "way too cute, innocent and pure to be real" stereotype to bait MC. Clichés aplenty so far, but it's fine and consistent.
After just a few instances of contact the mom drops her rules and says her daughters fancy him (lots of gossiping and conspiring behind the scenes there). The whole conversation feels awkward to say the least. You help out the youngest daughter who's technologically illiterate (Windows and general software updates are too hard ). As expected with such a girl, any attempts at flirtation are met with awkwardness.
A few pieces of underwear are left in the bathroom and MC is interested in using them for self-stimulation. By now it turns out the eldest and frigid daughter is a voyeuse and these pieces of underwear in the open are starting to look more and more conspicuous (which, as a pattern, MC never picks up on).
MC finds a (planted?) diary, allegedly from the previous tenant, which states he had a relationship with the youngest daughter at the time and they had consensual sex a few times. The guy attempted to teach his girlfriend to be a bit more adventurous in bed (well, it was just about a BJ and not posing as a dead starfish ) which horrifies the MC who otherwise is perfectly capable of masturbating into a sock he stole from the girls. Things went wrong when the girl told her sister, who in turn told her mom and then the tenant had to leave. Because guilt suddenly came over her for being found out, not for what happened.
The dialog then tries to imply all of the preceding was traumatic because of the guy alone and there are motives of being short on cash and legal proceedings, i.e., the mom's divorce. This is all just an illusion of depth. It is at this moment the mom asks MC to put his penis inside of her in a scene that's not very romantic, nor hot or preceded by much escalation or believable bonding to make it so.
Shortly after this happens, a conversation with one of the daughters takes place and then the next day that daughter (it doesn't matter which one, the outcome is the same) will show up with the statement out of nowhere the two sisters have decided behind his back they want to engage with MC in a polyamorous relationship that won't exclude third parties, even the "pure" one that couldn't even talk about relationships or dating a few in-game days earlier and who's allegedly traumatized by the previous tenant's actions. Needless to say this breaks her character as established thus far and the hypocrisy is starting to kill me. The previous guy was bad for wanting a BJ from the recent inexperienced virgin which caused the other sister to become overprotective and cold, and now it's presented as a full-on Bangbros situation with the sisters and friends as the new normal. Neither the mom, nor the girls want each other to know of MC's sexual exploits with them and this sets up a clear trap for MC to get into trouble. That the player is smarter and more observant than MC is a recurrent problem. That's the end of the actual story that took place within about a week and you get a few "teasers" that allow you to pull up or down some of the women's clothes as if suddenly that's normal now.
I hope this recap convinces you that the story jumps to a conclusion that should been preceded by more plot and character arcs if these women's intentions are genuine, but otherwise the sudden change in behavior gives off the impression this is a conscious game being played by the women and they have lured young men into obvious traps before. The other explanation is writing the story simply wasn't that important and this game wanted to get to the stage of open, casual sex as fast as possible which is fine by me, but then the writer should have made one of the sisters a nymphomaniac who likes teasing and challenging men while keeping her activities hidden from her family members for instance. Add in something like a borderline personality disorder and a story of loss and Weltschmerz, melancholy or existential anxiety worth listening to that explains her nymphomania and look, you've already got a better story than the red herrings and angles that immediately got retconned before the prolog even ended. I don't want to sound arrogant but there's just so many ways to improve the script that one can come up with within a few minutes of brainstorming that makes the narrative currently presented look complacent and sloppy, and the skills expressed in the positive elements I mentioned above deserve better support from the writing department.
All in all, this game confuses and disappoints me regarding the matter of the very meat of the game (story and character development) and the material that's present there betrays a discarded potential for more. As such I can only give a score that's indicative of said confusion and wasted potential. The combination of a good presentation, more than good renders, but a failing plot and characters place this game so far around 2-3/5 in my opinion.
That being said, if you don't care about depth and only about eye candy and lewds, you may like this prolog, but there's not enough sex to make the juice worth the squeeze yet. I intend to play the second version and amend this review. There is the possibility my thesis that this is a conscious psyop or ploy being run by the girls is correct (or something else which explains the nonsensical narrative) and we'll get, for instance, a psychological horror story (I suspect there's something deeply wrong with these women as portrayed so far) that isn't shallow.
Beautiful character models and renders (and I mean beautiful). Top notch script and editing (there/ they're... well played). Decently interesting intro story. We'll see how the sandboxy-point'n'click resolves in the next release because I'd hate to drop the rating if it turns into a Pepe Silvia flowchart of hunt and grind. This one is looking pretty damn good so far, though. Well done so far YTV. Think I'll pop on over to Patreon.
