VN - Ren'Py - Bad Memories [v0.9.1] [recreation]

One of my first favorites, the renderings are beautiful, certain sex scenes are among the best I have played, the story without being incredible is nice, unfortunately long update, the dev is working on 2 games at the same time

I only ever arrived at this game due to the truly low number of games that allow you to play as a female protagonist, and the nearly nonexistent number of games that allow that with a younger sister character.

However, despite this game checking those very rare boxes in tandem, it's just an awful experience all around. The primary two issues are the dialogue (with an emphasis on the MC's), as well as the absence of player choice.

Dialogue. It's bad. As stated, it's largely a problem with the MC, but all the characters just act exceptionally artificial. The only real reason the MC is the worst of the bunch is due to the lobotomy they must have undergone prior to the story to make them this incapable of functioning, and I mean that wholeheartedly. The MC is an absolute idiot, and a childish one at that. Sitting through their inner monologues is alone enough to drop the game, and their spoken dialogue is in no way better. They consistently forget story beats, tasks they're supposed to complete, and perhaps even to breathe.

Player choice. It's absent for almost the entirety of the game. There are choice-selections present constantly that alter exactly nothing, as well as sandbox sections that offer nothing. Kinetic novels are not necessarily a bad thing for telling a story through the visual novel medium, but the way it presents itself as being a choice-driven novel, as well as the breadth of actions you're forced to partake in, is not one of these instances.

Some individuals have pointed towards the lack of choice as an issue with the pretty rapey parts of the game, and I agree to an extent. Depending on the character, I might be more than happy to engage in this, but with some characters I simply have no interest in their pursuit, which I am not given a choice in. I, as my character, would like to be able to make those decisions, as there are a lot of different characters in the game. The lack of character choice also means that you are completely at the mercy of that aforementioned MC stupidity, rather than being able to manage it yourself.

The visuals are not particularly stunning. They're not bad by any means, and some places look quite good, but they're not in any way enough to justify sitting through the experience, as the characters are at large not especially expanded upon either, leaving it essentially as a time-sink sex animation. The one thing I do want to point towards looking rather poor is Ellie's face (this being the redhaired girl on the cover, and the younger sister character). She looks outright inhuman. Her facial features are too small for the size of her head, is what it comes down to, but it makes her look like a lizard person.

My overall conclusion is that this game is not worth touching without a complete rewrite. I do want to give credit to some interesting dream sequcences and allusions at the beginning of the story, but these later fall flat.

So, would give this game a 4.5/5 I really Like the game, Jada is hot, your sister is too, the therapist is just a tsundere and that is it for me. I love the story it felt really good and better written then I thought I love the twist with the co-worker too. ^^

The biggest problem with the game is that you can't really say no when you want to. Sometimes you can but other times you can't and the biggest example of this is the mom Rachel. I don't like her. Like I understand her and what happened to her really sucks but yeah our MC did not have it great either. I want to talk to her and keep her as a close friend. Maybe like an aunt but not the sexy kind that you want to fuck.

Like I want to fix our troubles but hate how you are forced to get more from her. Later part of the game is better but it still keeps going that you perv on her and love moms in games like this but not her and sadly you don't have the option for now to not go that route. You don't do anything with the mom at version 0.8.5 but groping, and stuff like that yeah. I just feel like too much bad blood is still left and don't know feel weird.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk on why I don't like this mom character in a porn VN

I played the female version and seriously no woman act or thinks like this.
It is written by a pervert with only lusty feelings and no empathy.
I was forced to take advantage of a drugged woman this is so stupid.

The writing I saw was quite good. The renders were good choices, the characters were largely attractive, and the composition was generally excellent.
Unfortunately, the programming repeatedly locked up my computer. I found the overall experience unplayable, having to repeatedly reset my hardware. I have uninstalled the game and deleted all files. Despite some good content, I won't be reinstalling this game and will be avoiding this dev.

This game is well written, with great renders, great characters, and great animations! The plotline has done a great job of keeping me interested. This is one of the few creators that I love supporting on Patreon.

Enjoyed it very much. My only problem is the incest content. Can we have a choice to not have sex with the sister. This is a problem in a lot of games. non incest game is not a deal breaker for people who are ok with incest, but incest content is a huge deal breaker for people who are not ok with it(in my opinion). Nevertheless, this VN is good enough that I was able to overlook it. 10/10

version 0.8 beta
- I've only played as a male so far.

Story - 5 - very good, some twists you don't expect.
Renders - 5 - I play the compressed versions, but the characters are lovely and renders are very nice, IMO. The characters are believably proportioned, which is very nice. No BoobZillas, which I can't stant so that's a bug plus.
Sound - 3 - Has mood music, but no other sound.
Playability - 5 - did not run into any issues.
Performance - 5 - no issues.
Animations - 4 - the scenes were very nice, but could have used some better angles or options on them.
Voice Acting - n/a
Grammar - 5 - I don't recall any issues.
Amount of content - 4 - always need more at this version though there are a good number of scenes/encounters and story.

Cons:
Not much, other than more content with some of the less used girls would be nice.
Needs a bit more explanation of why the therapist treats MC poorly and is such a jerk to everyone. Her attitude seems very out of place.

There are plenty of reasons to like Bad Memories. The plot starts out well, filled with twists and interesting turns. The bond between the girls is fascinating as it explores a depth that's not commonly found in VN's.

As for the animations and most of the renders, they hold a high standard - especially the animations. Fluid and crisp, there are only good things to say about that.

There are cracks in the facade though, as the longer to play the less it all holds up. Plot, characters and story are all sacrificed for cheap thrills in the form of sex with minor characters. It backfires rather badly as it makes less and less sense for it all. Not to mention that the story IS railroaded, you can barely turn to the LI's you don't like and sometimes the MC is so gullible and clueless that it makes me pull my hair out.

All in all, Bad Memories deserves a good rating, I'd give it a 4.5 if I could but... Well.. Yet It DOES explore nuanced and deep relationships, even if it bungles it up along the way. Many of the sex scenes make little sense but the ones that do? Well worth it!

While this isn't a kinetic novel it feels like it from time to time. It's rare that I really feel in control of the MC and I'm not entirely into how I felt railroaded into getting a some of the sexual options.

Having only played once perhaps I could and I just made the wrong choices, but it never felt completely telegraphed what difference certain choices made and in some cases the options to "do you wanna fuck" turn out to be just "yes" and "hell yes!"

Top notch, i highly suggest anyone who like AVN's to play this.
Just perfection.. And the renders are insane, BUT THE ANIMATIONS; WhOOoh! They are silky smooth, collisions are so satisfying, it feels like there are very REAL physics. Immersive as a mother trucker!

The storyline is such a joyful ride, as well!
To be fair, i came for the visuals, and all things sex, but got immersed through the storyline and plot. So badly wanna see how things are going to progress further down the line!

Love this VN, i really hope you continue!
And if you are ever in need of any help to do so, sign me up!

play v0.7.6 with french trad (which explains my poor written English, sorry)

story: 4/5 The story is very good and rather well written, the development is going very well, and there is a touch of humor very well brought

characters: 5/5 A very good variety and yet there is not a single character that I do not hang on to, the women are all really very beautiful

sex scene: 4/5 They are all very erotic, but are sometimes a little too short

renders: 5/5 Really really good, I think the mouths, freckles and breasts are incredibly realistic and perfectly done!

animation: 5/5 Again, it's perfect, in good numbers, the loops are well done and no fps problem

sound: Everything is very good, but one or two additional music would be good to vary a little.

gameplay: 4/5 Very sufficient for a vn of this kind, and a good point for the different angle choices that can be chosen

It is very interesting. The plot is deep, the characters fits perfectly. I don't see that much mistakes on the game development, is very well done. I'm not giving the five stars because the gameplay is not that good; I know that's not easy at all to do a sandbox VN, but it is supposed to be a easier way to reach different points that can be easily avoidable. In this game you can't do that, which hurts, because that means that you're going to get every scene no matter what you do, is a minor challenge, a minor inspiration for the player, maybe some difficulty and a variety of paths would work good - just like many other good games of the genre, the player don't want to follow one arc, the player should be able to build up is own arc on the game. It's just my opinion, the game itself seems solid, the characters, storyline and scenes are good, can be better, but for now is going well.

The story is very immersive!
This is one of the best lesbian content so far on a visual novel, the sexual scenes are not so far from reality as other games seem to portrait. Would be nice to add more strapon scenes. (I don't know if you can get the strapless beige model would be a very sexy scene.)

Don't abandon the game, keep going this game that as a lot of potential.
Love Jada jokes
Would be nice to have Ellie a little more mature.
Love the way you did the Katherine story with the MC.

Still need to play the male route but I needed to comment that the female route is unique and one of the best out there.

Congratulations on the project.

Good game with some very annoying flaws.

On the good points:

- Very pretty characters with plausible bodies and different size and shapes.
- Enjoyable environments that don't look like coming from a stock library.
- Nice work on the lights and shadows.
- well-defined characters with some interesting twists while the story is ongoing
- really well done animations.
- the multiple point of view during some scenes
- the full lesbian routes.

On the bad parts:

- very slow plot, some parts of it seems to be abandoned or at least left behind for after.
- but in the meantime all the female characters falling instantly for the MC.
- The most annoying part, the game is full aware of itself and keep reminding us it is while obviously falling in every trope of the harem/incest genre. It was a major immersive break every time because the game doesn't offer any surprises. And don't get me wrong, 4th wall breaking, awareness writing, and all that kind of stuffs are all legit way of writing, but you need to use it with a purpose, like playing with a cliché or leading the game in an unexpected way. Saying in game that all girls are falling for the MC like in an AVN while doing exactly that is pointless and annoying.

I still recommend the game, as the default are not strong enough to get the whole experience not enjoyable, and as I'm aware that I can be too picky regarding the writing.

There's a lot I didn't like about this story, but it's hard for me to let that influence my rating very much because it mostly has to do with personal preference and it is still an interesting story (that I stuck with to the end) with good renders aside from that, and I can see some people enjoying it for the same reasons that I did not. But I am writing this review to share my criticisms with the author and informing any readers of what they can expect from this VN.

This story is much more restrictive than any other VN I have played
By this I mean you will rarely have choices given to you. The MC is morally questionable, not particularly nice nor the smartest, and you just have to accept this. The MC will peep and have sex with characters and it is not your decision. You do get to make some decisions however, and as the story progressed in version 0.7.6. it does seem like you were offered choices more and more. If you already play your MCs as trying to have sex with everyone anyway, then the MC is probably doing everything you would have done in the first place.

Choices that have the same outcome aren't really choices
There are a few choices I tested in the game that had the same result. Nothing was different in the reply or the next scene. Every time I was brought to the scene where I could choose where to go within the house, there was only one area that resulted in anything. The illusion of choice is really cheap and I'm sure I'm not the only one that hates it.

The demonspawn, Katherine
I just hate her and I am confused by her, but I am happy I have actual choices with her. I have much more patience than the MC, but I think even I would lose my shit with this woman. I'm sure by the end we will get a full explanation for why she acted the way she did and she'll be a good person but honestly I don't think I could ever like her. MC is kind of a dick but is right that she is unbearably rude and not a very good therapist. I only hope that the author continues to give the MC choices with her and that one of those choices will be pushing her off a cliff. But seriously, MC should not put his dick in that because whatever is between her legs is forbidden by the geneva convention.

4 out of 5 stars

Pretty decent game. Loved the models and the variety of women in the game. Enjoyed the story as well. I appreciated the length of the game as well, never really dragged to much...and while normally I enjoy a bit more "game" as opposed to pure VN, I enjoyed this quite a bit. Worth a playthrough.

TL/DR: Rather shallow approach to some heavy topics, short animations/descriptions, and aimless plot make this a rather mediocre title.

Pros:
+ Somewhat interesting premise and narrow scope of characters gave the project a nice focus.
+ Some atypical character premises with fun dialogue or quirks.
+ Kinda interesting that you could play as either a Lesbian or a Dude and get different scenes. That implementation was rather elegant.
+ Had kinks I liked.
+ Hanna is adorable.

Cons:
-Music loop. Way too short to be played ad nauseam the whole game-play experience.
-Extremely annoying/boring MC inner dialogue. Definitely don't need to read "she is so cute" and similar like 200 times. The CGs are right there to let the player decide their visual attitude already
-False Sandbox. What is the purpose of a sandbox if the pathings / choices don't even matter a little bit and there is no game-play surrounding it?
-Conversations did not feel very organic.
-Plot was somewhat aimless
-MC was kinda a cunt.
-Many of the scenes were extremely short.- with very little narrative build up or tension.

I first played this game in the early days before any of the sex scenes were added and had always meant to come back to it at some point. The story is engaging and presented well, the characters seem to have some depth, but for me the best part of this game is the art-style and the sex scenes. It starts off pretty good, but towards the end some of the scenes are amongst the best I've seen. recreation's skill as an animator and a game developer are getting better and better and I cannot wait to see where this project goes from here.