Overall: 3
I want to give it 3.5 or 4 stars for the effort put into making the animations at the beginning of the game, but unfortunately, I can't. I say this because at the beginning there is a lot of attention to detail in crafting both the sound design and the animation, whilst using renders captured in StudioNeo and HS2. Pretty neat trick! However, the renders (eg. scenes get to dark...maybe too dark) and pacing fall off after the flash back. Why are their eyes like that (Especially the granddaughter)? Also....HOLY the hairline on my MC after the time skip. It got pushed back into the North Pole!!
*Hopefully the dev takes these as positive criticisms and not as negative criticism and improve upon their product that shows some signs of potential.
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Writing: The complexity of choices presented seem too straightforward to be given to the player. Might as well remove them entirely. I keep saying this in my reviews so hopefully developers will take notice and understand the strength and importance of choice in VNs. VNs lack gameplay mechanics that are there to entertain and immerse their player into the world which are present in other genres like FPS, MOBAS, RPGs. VNs don't have the luxury of doing that. (Unless you're a god at Python or using Unity and other ENGINES). Otherwise, this might as well be another mindless VN where casual players like myself will find the skip unread text button on Ren'Py before immersing themselves into the plot. (I finished the game till the end before writing this review).
Pacing: It feels a bit rushed in my opinion, but others might like the straight to the point narrative, so I won't fault the developer for that.
Renders/Animation: At the start, great use of both video editing and HS2 Renders. Never seen it done in the recent games released using the engine.
Renders fall short after the time skip. Character design weird and awkward. Character's anatomy oddly proportioned, and shaders seem to be lacking on the characters.
- MC's tongue is too light.
- Lack of Shaders
- Scenes are too dark (Too much ambient occlusion (AO) .. probably developers lack experience in post-production tools)
- Hairstyle doesn't fit some (maybe most) the characters at all.
- Eyes are too emissive and have too much glow)
- Could list more but.... oh well
Nudity/Content: 1 scene (not a spoiler its already in the gallery)
Sound: Great!
Music seems to fit the universe, and I always appreciate when a developer cares about sound design in their game.
UI: Mediocre
Eh, the in the game HUD is really annoying, Thankfully the dev kept the option the reduce the opacity on it. Wish they also made it an option to turn off the backgrounds for the other Ren' Py buttons.
I want to give it 3.5 or 4 stars for the effort put into making the animations at the beginning of the game, but unfortunately, I can't. I say this because at the beginning there is a lot of attention to detail in crafting both the sound design and the animation, whilst using renders captured in StudioNeo and HS2. Pretty neat trick! However, the renders (eg. scenes get to dark...maybe too dark) and pacing fall off after the flash back. Why are their eyes like that (Especially the granddaughter)? Also....HOLY the hairline on my MC after the time skip. It got pushed back into the North Pole!!
*Hopefully the dev takes these as positive criticisms and not as negative criticism and improve upon their product that shows some signs of potential.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing: The complexity of choices presented seem too straightforward to be given to the player. Might as well remove them entirely. I keep saying this in my reviews so hopefully developers will take notice and understand the strength and importance of choice in VNs. VNs lack gameplay mechanics that are there to entertain and immerse their player into the world which are present in other genres like FPS, MOBAS, RPGs. VNs don't have the luxury of doing that. (Unless you're a god at Python or using Unity and other ENGINES). Otherwise, this might as well be another mindless VN where casual players like myself will find the skip unread text button on Ren'Py before immersing themselves into the plot. (I finished the game till the end before writing this review).
Pacing: It feels a bit rushed in my opinion, but others might like the straight to the point narrative, so I won't fault the developer for that.
Renders/Animation: At the start, great use of both video editing and HS2 Renders. Never seen it done in the recent games released using the engine.
Renders fall short after the time skip. Character design weird and awkward. Character's anatomy oddly proportioned, and shaders seem to be lacking on the characters.
- MC's tongue is too light.
- Lack of Shaders
- Scenes are too dark (Too much ambient occlusion (AO) .. probably developers lack experience in post-production tools)
- Hairstyle doesn't fit some (maybe most) the characters at all.
- Eyes are too emissive and have too much glow)
- Could list more but.... oh well
Nudity/Content: 1 scene (not a spoiler its already in the gallery)
Sound: Great!
Music seems to fit the universe, and I always appreciate when a developer cares about sound design in their game.
UI: Mediocre
Eh, the in the game HUD is really annoying, Thankfully the dev kept the option the reduce the opacity on it. Wish they also made it an option to turn off the backgrounds for the other Ren' Py buttons.