VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Bare Witness [Steam Build] [AlterWorlds]

Review for Ch. 5
When I first started "Bare Witness," I was impressed. The game kicks off with an interesting and unique story, and the character models are very attractive. It really seemed like it was going to be a great experience.

Unrealistic Romance
However, the game quickly dives into the romance aspects, and this is where it starts to fall apart. The romance feels forced and unrealistic. All the girls seem to be immediately infatuated with the main character for no apparent reason. Take Valeria, for example. She wants to hook up after a short conversation in an empty bar in the middle of the afternoon. It feels rushed and makes her character come off as desperate, which really detracts from the experience.

Stellar Graphics and Sex Scenes
On a brighter note, the models and sex scenes are definitely highlights of the game. The scenes are hot and frequent, and the overall graphics are top-notch. This is where "Bare Witness" really excels, delivering visually impressive and engaging content.

Forgotten Storyline
And then there's the story ... almost forgotten about it. What started as a promising plot about witness protection quickly fades into the background. Throughout most of the game, you hardly feel like the events are connected to the main storyline. The focus on the witness protection plot only comes up at the beginning of chapter one and again in the last chapter. In between, there are just a few flashbacks to remind you of the initial story, but that's about it. It's a real shame because the story had so much potential but was ultimately underutilized.

Good gameplay
You might think that I really disliked the game but that is not entirely true. I just feel like a lot of potential was wasted. The gameplay in this one is simply perfect. Choices u make matter and there lots of paths to discover. So you can replay this game a couple of time to find different outcomes if you so like.

Conclusion
Overall, I feel kinda conflicted about "Bare Witness". It starts strong with a unique story and great visuals but falters with its unrealistic romance and lack of consistent storytelling. The sex scenes and graphics are definitely high points, but they aren't enough to carry the game through its narrative shortcomings. All in all, the game is definitely above average so four stars it is.

The game is interesting with various and beautiful girls, who - it's rare enough to take time to say it - change hairstyles many time (after some point, not before where they have 1 model only).
I liked how the "harem" option was in the story so it was good.
The story felt a bit quick/easy and there was no real plot after some point, it was just sex scenes after random little evens. I liked it but the pacing was off.

Heidi and Athena were really two gems, and I would have loved to see more of their interaction, more options, more variety in sex. As it is, the game is good but feels short.

Elite game, story is nice endings are satisfying and the characters look amazing, good variety in choices and characters lots of fun, 100% reccomend, athena bad af. cant wait for the authors next game.

A pretty good game.

The love interests are cool and the animation's nice.

The different paths available also make this game pretty replayable.

The different endings with each path really make the last chapter of the game rewarding.

My only complaint is that getting Mora's poly paths unlocked is pretty difficult.

All said and done, this game is pretty good.

I'm looking forward to AlterWorlds next game.

A pretty great game that gets better and better the further you delve deeper into the story. Graphics are great, and quality is pretty amazing. There are more than 8 different achievable endings that makes the game interesting. The story isn't something too far fetched from real life scenarios where it is relatable to many people, but has a hint of adventure in it. Overall, great game and would love to see the creator expand the game further, or just create new projects later on.

love it love it love it. unusual harem game where you can end up with four girls and two other girls induvidally. the story is full of suspense. The idea of witness prtection is genius, i kinda suspected something in the first chapter when he talked about where he was from or simply almost saying his real name. kinda sus. The girls are really adorable and lovable. also love the taboo with sadie, kinda kinky and i dont even need a patch for it. i am not really into Zenda tho to be honest she is kinda posh and pretentious. too classy gotta say.

This visual novel boasts impressive renders and models, creating an appealing visual experience.
The characters are well-developed and contribute significantly to the story's charm.
While the narrative is generally engaging, the ending feels a bit rushed, detracting slightly from the overall experience. Despite this, the multiple endings are mostly satisfying and provide ample reason to revisit the story.
Overall, it's a good visual novel and recommended for those who enjoy exploring different outcomes through multiple playthroughs.

Incredibly wholesome game with a good story, deep, interesting characters and a good narrative that results in meaningful relationships with the protagonists you encounter.

The animations and overall look are really beautiful and the intimate scenes are always meaningful and don't feel like they are in the game because it's expected.
Can definitely recommend this game as it has a lot of replay value and one of the best games on this platform.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Alright, where do we start….

When I laid my eyes on Bare Witness for the very first time, I thought it was probably just gonna be a mediocre game or something. Its description doesn’t help either. It sat on my bookmark for a few days but eventually I had to download it. I gave it a try anyway because I was bored at that time and people on Reddit also keep mentioning this game. Man, I was wrong. I am actually completely hooked with this game.

Let’s talk about the graphics first. It’s not the best, but it won’t hurt your eyes either. Typical DAZ made games above 2020. Good thing F95 provides preview picts so you can check it by yourself.

Now about the story. I usually start with a summary on my previous reviews but I’m just gonna get to the point this time. It’s decent, not that bad and not that great either. The entire WITSEC thing is just weird and silly, I don’t quite remember if U.S Marshals Service works that way in real life. The fact that Joey Smiles was released from jail and start killing some deputy and a WITSEC participant without his face being put in FBI Top 10 Most Wanted list right away is just stupid. But then I remember Far Cry 5, sending only six marshal deputies to apprehend a nutjob with armed militia behind him without a proper backup is way more stupid than this, so I just kinda let it slide (not really).

Silliness aside, the women are mostly gorgeous. Their solo paths are worth to try, not sure about harem paths because I don’t really like harem. Each women have their own story and struggles so choices matter there. Talking about choices, you’ll be given many of them it’s guaranteed not a kinetic AVN.

Their endings thought, holy shit this is one of the very few AVNs that have perfect endings. Most importantly, no cliffhangers. Heidi’s solo ending is probably the perfect one among others, a little bit longer than other endings too. I’m not sure if there’s a bad ending in this game but since I just finished 3 out of 11 endings, maybe there’s one. I think you can even go for a monk run but I’ll try it later (yes, you can reject or just avoid their paths entirely for that).

Overall, Bare Witness is a good game. I think it could’ve been perfect if AlterWorlds scrapped the entire WITSEC thing or made it less silly (try take a shot everytime I write the word silly). Is it recommended? Absolutely yes.

One last thing, I actually wanted to give this game four stars but because I feel really satisfied with the endings, I decided to give it perfect five stars.

Edit: Okay there's actually a bad ending, quite funny too. Just tried Valeria solo path and damn I think the ending is longer than Heidi's.

It's hard to say anything bad about this AVN, but there are a few things for me keeping this from a 5 star game so let's get those out of the way first.

For once, there is the right amount of LI's unfortunately, only half of them are worth the time. I am not going to go into detail on the ones I didn't like, because it is all a matter of opinion, but between arrogant, ugly and related, three just didn't make the cut for me, So really, it reduced the re-playability for me. I also was not a fan of Heidi going so hard at the MC.

Then there is the story. It was just okay. The writing was really good and the dialogue seemed to be spot on with good banter and playfulness throughout. The underlying story, however, didn't do it for me. The biggest problem for me was There were other issues with the story and there were a couple gaps or time skips. I don't mind a time skip, but more than one it just seems like there was not enough story to connect the sections.

On a positive note, the pacing, despite the time skips, was pretty good and as I mentioned, the dialogue was pretty good. Each LI had their own voice and it was pretty well done. Also, it was just about the right length. Sometimes I think devs drag out these way too long, and while this one could have been a little longer if felt right for the story. The dev time was also pretty good, I mean it has been 3 years since the launch and we have a completed AVN and the endings were all pretty good too. They were not rushed together in an attempt to just wrap up the AVN.

Plus the graphics where all pretty good, animation was solid, LI's, for the most part, were hot. Overall, a really good production.

If you are looking for a well written, good fapping and a complete AVN, look no further. It was a lot of fun to follow this from the beginning to the end and to see a well done project. I am hopeful the dev moves on to a new project.

Nicely done!

It's okay. Decent renders, mediocre animations, better than average writing, but that's not much to say since most porn games' writing is shit. This is merely a tiny bit less shit.

Suffers from writer-inserting though. As in every character is basically a mouthpiece for the author. The awkward references, the rants the characters go on about society and concepts, all of the make-believe dialogue between the characters, it's all the author using the characters as a thin veneer. Kinda like a guy forcing two dolls to kiss, there is a single hand behind all of the different talking heads and they feel less like separate characters. Becomes pretty obvious and kinda takes you out of the story, however minimal the story is.

Also, good god there is too much "i love you"-ing. And I say that as a guy who says that shit 24/7 when in a relationship. Author can't seem to find a way to show affection between characters lol.

Furthermore the main story is plain not good, not that I was expecting much from it but yeah.

The cons first:

• Main story is pretty contrived. Not especially bad for a porn game, but falls into a weird space between slice-of-life and fantasy / sci-fi / drama. Game kind of feels like it wants to do both and can't balance the two.
• Some strange time-skips, rather early in the game. Feels like the developers may have realised their original plan was too ambitious: can't do every day slice-of-life detail when the larger drama plot may take months to unfold, so we jump ahead to try and keep up with the main plot, which hurts the individual romance plots and overall character development.
• No real drama with the main plot. Despite all the time and effort put into it, it just doesn't pay off. Like a standalone In Plain Sight episode, but the timings are off. It consumes too much time whenever it just kind of gets brought up every once in a while, but no real stakes are ever established. It could probably just have been dropped entirely, as there's no payoff for the plot itself nor is it critical to any of the romance plots.

So why 5 stars? The girls. The girls in the game are unique, and not in a quirky, each-girl-is-a-trope way many games do. Each girl has a complex personality and different relationships with the MC / each other, especially between the harem four. The developer clearly has these characters fleshed out and cares about writing them well.

This especially comes through in the sex scenes. (Good writing? In a sex scene?!) Each girl's personality comes through in the sex scenes as well! You can tell they have different sexual preferences and proclivities, and again, these aren't just trope-y (i.e. one girl is into BDSM, one girl likes it rough, one likes it gentle, etc.). For example, one girl has difficulty orgasming and can only orgasm at most twice before being overwhelmed. These details come through in scenes that in many games would just be a generic rotation of positions for each characters. Another reviewer mentions disappointment that only one LI in the harem does anal. I actually found this a positive, that the LIs are sexually different and they're not all just the same slutty cliche or two. (Also a non-harem path has one of the harem LIs do anal.)

The sex scenes also have breaks and conversations, in a realistic way. There's even a scene in the HS path where one girl stops it because she's uncomfortable with the dirty talk, which prompts the characters to resolve the issue in their relationship. This then changes their dynamics in future scenes. The sex scenes are themselves part of the story, and not just inserted into the game by the developer to "sell" it as a porn game. The scenes are still quite hot too, despite these concessions for a little bit of realism in our porn game.

The endings are also mostly excellent. I can't say they're all perfect (Zinda's is a little bizarre) and the main-story resolution is rather poor - though props for it being resolved in different ways in each of the endings. What's really good though is the sheer number of renders: much of each ending plays out as a slideshow, covering years of life with the chosen LI(s). It is an extremely effective way to bring closure to these relationships, in a way that isn't overly tedious with hours of dialogue. We also see parent characters show up for the first time, and it is clear the developer has thought these characters through, as they seem like complex characters though they only show up very briefly.

The developer's care for their characters and for consistent, quality character writing makes this game stand out amongst others on this site. Putting aside the structural issues with the main story, this game is well worth trying just for the romances and I hope more developers take note of this excellent writing for inspiration in their own games.

BW has quickly become one of my favorite AVNs.

It has plenty of funny moments, plenty of sexy moments, and even a few tear jerker moments.

Each of the six LI's is compelling in her own right, and the poly paths, besides having plenty of sexy times, shows a great dynamic between the different girls involved.

The writing and artwork are great, obviously the more recent artwork is an improvement over the first chapters, but improvement over time is to be expected.

The different endings have been amazing so far. I've done HAM,MASH, and HA, paths so far. Each ending is unique. Sure they have elements in common, but its not the same epilogue with different LI's subbed in each time. Am looking forward to seeing all the solo endings now.

I had a very enjoyable time with this game with no major complaints.

Renders and animations are great, the characters are interesting and feel different to each other and it's well paced.

The fact that this has now finished is another HUGE bonus with how few high quality finished games are put out every year. The endings are well done also with a plethora of options for who you end up with catering to most people.

As for complaints I have very few and they take little from the overall game. The story at 2 or 3 points suddenly jumped to a new scene when one ended without explanation for why it was happening which was jarring. The big plot regarding the MCs history could have also been talked about in more depth as I didn't really know why things happened in the past or who was involved.

This game is a must play overall and I'm happy to give any completed game with this quality 5 stars.

Loved this game. The models are great, and the writing really good too. I always appreciate it when the LI I should like the least based on my preferences is one of the ones who stands ahead of the rest, as it shows great character work to achieve that.

One of the things I really liked about this game is that there seems to be a real focus on love-making rather than just sex. There's always so much love in any pairing or grouping, and it just makes the whole thing feel really wholesome.

Every path gets a satisfying ending, my only slight negative on that is that there are a couple of combinations that I would have loved to see but didn't (e.g., Athena/Sadie). But that's not an issue, only an unfulfilled dream.

Pretty good overall. It's mostly a dating simulator where you meet many interesting women, help them, have sexy fun and enjoy wholesome romances. The main story arc about the MC being in the WITSEC mostly sits in the background while he messes around with women.
Some constructive criticism as well.
1. The writing often focused too much on describing mundane everyday tasks in excessive detail that could have easily been skipped.
2. I think those time skips of 7 or so weeks were a bad choice. The getting to know and falling in love periods are the best thing to focus in romance stories and I think the skips were way too long and either left out significant parts of relationship developments or just made it seem like the relationships were on hold during that time.
3. The "final battle" was a very anticlimactic under 5-minute scene. The villain was practically some random dude with uncompelling and one-dimensional personality. There really wasn't any tension and everything went so conveniently well for the good guys.

Great game.
Beautiful models each with unique personalities, good writing and many satisfying endings worth multiple playthroughs.
You can choose your favorite girl or go for a harem ending(more than 1), so there's something for everyone

I actually enjoyed most of this VN. While most Harem games revolve around the MC being the center of it this one at least tries to make it more of a situation where everyone loves each other. Aside from that one of the best parts of the models was that the skin on the models as too often the same blemishes and/or skin is used for multiple characters. The models also have more variation in the shape and sizes as when placed next to each other. This and the personalities does make them stand out more. The biggest problem is the story and not because of the premise or setting. Rather the biggest problem is that it has gaps as an example when one of the characters is about to move in we don't see acknowledgement of the move happening until she has already been in the house for a while. This happens several times and feels like it could have connected some of the time skips better.

What a great game!!!
I started this game, because of the perfect looking girls, but later I played this game with growing enthusiasm. Sure, it is not really realistic that every girl is falling for the MC, but the story is a wonderful daydream and that's what I think games like this should give the player. A wonderful break from the gray real life. No bitching girls, no money problems, all characters are healthy and lovely.

My warmest thanks to the developer Slockie. You did an excellent job. Thank you. I look forward to your next project. Don't make me wait too long

Back when this game all start, there was certainly some measure of promise. Story was alright enough, the visuals were good, sex scenes were hot though blandish, and the characters were good as well.

However though, for the Chapter 5 to have taken pretty much two years to "build', the expectation would have been a true grandious ending of sorts, with all of the paths included and such, the ending of Chapter 4 to be a key build up in surprise. For what ever reason though, the story, and by proxy endings, fell flatter than a pancake.

You had the surprise of a possible gunman with the ending of Chapter 4, and yet, turns out to be one of the marshalls. Okay, no big deal, makes sense given the situation. But as we go into hiding with our pairings, we are forced into saving the Dean, yes the Dean. Who added no shock factor in terms of storytelling whatsoever. NOW, had it been Sadie, then you have more weight to the story and making it memorable, not to mention the more build up with suspense. But overall, the story and such is a huge let down, even after the 2 years of 'work'.

Endings wise, kinda hit and miss. Heidi, Athena, Mora, Sadie solos were good. Zenda's, while slightly better end result, was more pointless and text wall. 'Let's go to Iran, it'll be fine... Famous last words'. HaM ending was fun, however the gold certainly goes to MASH for taking it all. Val getting a one off event after you wrap things up seemed pointless.

So in short, I can't give this a 5 star, or even 4. While there are some good, memorable moments in the game, and the art work is there, specially later on, the story, and it's conclusion failed to meet expectations. Hopefully Storm and Slockie can learn from things with this and build up on things in their next work, with the storytelling and other areas. But overall, gotta give it a 3/5.