VN - Ren'Py - Back to the College [v0.4.0] [Gentle Wolf Games]

v0.4.0

The main plot is pretty interesting, but it has very little effect on anything. Yes, there is conversation options that are narrated by these supernatural creatures, but they could also be representation of conscience without any difference. There is no magic or hidden knowledge that clearly separates this from regular college drama.

Writing is ok, but as the game is bunch of random people with random boring problems, it is not that interesting reading.

Visually game looks good. I like the little AI snips and animations overall are good. Sex scenes are short and feel too generic. As the story doesn´t do its job to hype sex scenes, the regular sex scenes just don´t do it for me. Visuals are good, but not good enough alone.

It's not all bad, but too many small (and some BIG things) make this meh at best.

On the whole writing is fine. Plot a bit similar to the movie "Switch" with Ellen Barkin. Heaven and hell fighting over the MC's soul after being reincarnated, taking over the body of a braindead law student after being killed himself. A bit silly but premise in entertaining enough. And choices based on a angel/demon moral point system is something different.

But a big gripe I have is demon options are excessive being creepy AF. Evil options are essentially mutually equivalent to acting as a flat out A-hole. Most being black and white, very seldomly with any gray. Ultimately this rendered the entire choice system pointless and boring.

On the topic of renders, most models are OK, though a handful are flat out creepy. MC's facial expression even terrifying at times. And the MC's ex being the thing of nightmares. Backgrounds generally quite bland and lifeless. Too much use of pointless AI animations. And for those looking for adult action those scenes flash by faster than the Road Runner. Plus the MC's member is something out of some futa hentai material. There is endowed and there is ridiculous.

Most interesting parts were related to MC's law studies. Though those moments are few and far between. And overall plot of seeking retribution on the criminals who murdered him would have been compelling, if only it accounted for more than 1% of the overall content. Very little depth to any of the romantic interactions. LI not only look like waxy Barbie dolls but act like them too.

I can overlook many of the visual shortcomings but the narrative I found far too shallow for this to keep my interest.

Guy dies. Soul gets transferred to a college bully who is dying due to a technicality on his judgment day. Now a college kid who wakes up from a coma next to his "ex" who might also not be the ex and also one of the ugliest character models I've ever seen.
So this guy wakes up from a "coma", stays overnight for evaluation and then the very next day he resumes his college career.
But wait, guy is no longer a bully.... I'm all about a fantasy but this story just drags and I have a hard time staying focused with the amount of unnecessary jabber. The renders are great but there is a stupid amount of unneeded AI animations that don't help the story at all. Idk maybe it will get better but I can't help but put this one on the back burner for a while.

VERSION: XXX
SUMMARY: XXX
RATINGS: (out of 5):

NOTE: The following categories and scoring method are my own criteria and may require more context. Additionally, scoring is based on the state, and what is in the current version and not what may or may not be.

1. Model Visuals........................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. General Visuals......................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Animation Quality....................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Character (Persona)..................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Story Quality & Pacing.................. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Writing Quality & Dialogue.............. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. UI & Game-play Mechanics................ : ⭐⭐⭐
8. Playtime & General Quality.............. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Sounds & Music...........................: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. H-Content & Fetishes.................... : ⭐⭐⭐

Average: 41 of 50 possible points giving a 82% rating i.e. 4-5 stars.

PROS:

1. Very good visuals, renders are pretty damn good.
2. Animations are also equally good, but they are short, see cons. Though the short animations between scenes are a nice extra and the facial movements and animations are really impressive.
3. Writing is good, structured and reads well.
4. The dialogue is thought through, clever, witty, funny and professional IMO.
5. Story is not unique, but its told very well, its also interesting and keep the player vested. The pace at how things progress for the story is not fast, but good and things in between keep it interesting.
6. Characters are unique and have there own fleshed out background and interactions are dynamic and interesting.
7. Music and sounds are pretty good, lewd sounds are also included, however they could be a little more.

CONS:

1. Short animations, while not exactly short, the one animation would loop through from different angles but it would be nice to have some more options
2. Currently H-scenes are pretty vanilla and short lived, this is a bit of a let down considering the sexy characters in this game.
3. Ambient, environmental and lewd scene sounds are great, but they could be improved a little, some more of them would be nice for one. Also as lewd scenes are often "shortish" the moans and such are often not really heard before the scene is really over. Its not a train smash, but something that could be fleshed out more also.

FINAL REMARKS, OPINIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

NOTE: The following remarks are my personal opinions and thoughts, which may provide more context and could be useful to the developer.

• More angles and sex options instead of just a missionary fuck, maybe a cowgirl, doggy? Our MC does not seem to have a hell of a lot of stamina and scenes are short, it would be nice if we can get some more options.
• Speaking of options, are there any other tags coming? I mean some of these LIs look like that could be fun and into some not so vanilla kinks? Things like knocking up LIs would be nice also, many of these LIs look like they want it, it could also be a good point to add as a plot twist or some other dynamic.

TLDR:

This VN is really impressive, its not perfect but its 4 stars and more for sure. It has great quality on most levels, sounds, lewd, ambient and decent music. Writing is good and story compelling. Really one to keep an eye on and support.