VN - Ren'Py - Being a DIK [v0.10.1] [DrPinkCake]

Balanced mix of sexual content and storytelling. Mini-games provide change of pace. Multiple paths/partners all with interesting storylines. Strong twists with foreshadowing that feel like logical conclusions of various character's actions.

I had to review this game although everyone knows by now how great it is because it's seriously one of the best visual novels I've ever gotten into! The story hooked me right from the start, evolving into this awesome and super fun experience packed with tons of choices to check out.

The music, character designs, and overall vibe of the game totally sucked me in. And that "karma" system they added? Such a cool touch! It opens up all these different story-lines and interactions with the female characters, making the game-play even more exciting.

I was totally glued to the screen, constantly trying out different choices to see where they'd lead. And hey, the adult scenes? Handled really tastefully, adding to the whole experience without going overboard.

If you're into adult games with a killer story, this one's a must-try. Seriously, don't miss out if you're after a wild and immersive ride.

It's no surprise that 'Being a DIK' enjoys such popularity, given its captivating storyline that elicits laughter, concern, and an insatiable desire to continue. The game boasts a diverse cast of characters, each meticulously developed with rich personalities that transcend mere stereotypes. Coupled with beautifully crafted renders and stunning animations, it's a feast for the eyes.

The initial chapters serve as an introduction to the world and its inhabitants, setting the stage for subsequent narrative arcs that unfold at an exhilarating pace. While I won't divulge spoilers, I highly recommend delving into each character's story through multiple playthroughs - it's a worthwhile investment of time. Credit is due to the writer for imbuing even initially disliked characters with depth, eliciting genuine care from players as the story progresses.

Despite its classification as a VN, 'Being a DIK' introduces innovative elements to enhance gameplay dynamics. 'Free roams' offer players the opportunity to explore various areas, adding a sense of freedom, while the inclusion of unique mini-games adds variety and excitement. The carefully curated soundtracks further elevate the gaming experience.

With ten captivating chapters already released, each offering substantial content, and more in development, there's no shortage of content to enjoy. Impressively, the game remains free from significant bugs or noticeable errors, ensuring a seamless gaming experience.

So, stop reading this boring text, grab some snacks, settle in, and embark on the thrilling adventure that awaits you in 'Being a DIK'.

Being a DIK is the gold standard of VN and I love it, but Season 3 not such much. The biggest issue I have with it is the number of Mini Games they have. They just went overboard with them and some of these are significantly hard. Thank goodness for internet that allows you to search for the answers. I really didn't see a need to shoehorn another girl into the mix but they do give you option of bypassing the interlude so I did that instead of replaying that. So while I was a little disappointed with Season 3 it's still one of the best VN's I have ever played. I played 5 different paths and in playing season it looks like there is at least 5 or 6 more paths that I can follow. That's insane that you have that many paths, so you have so much replay value its crazy. So while this is probably the weakest season so far it's still head and shoulders above any of the other VN and I would give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5 just because of the unnecessary mini-games.

The name was a turn-off, for sure. But I was so blown away by Acting Lessons, and I'd heard so many good reviews that I decided to give it a try.

Pros

• The humor is excellent. The running gags. The inside jokes. Most thing Derek says.
• The emotional hits. Each story with the girls contains something that tugs at the heart strings. I found this especially true with Sage, Quinn, and Jill, but all the others have their own emotional rollercoasters as well.
• The fantasy is fantastic. Dr Pink Cake does a great job of creating a wonderfully idealized version of frat life, but not so-much-so that it breaks the illusion.
• The mini-games are well thought out and I really think Dr Pink Cake must be pushing RenPy up against its reasonable limits given how few other people are being as creative as he's been.
• The soundtrack, which I usually ignore, is amazing. I'm not sure how much time was spent hunting down ALL the music, but damn is it good.

Cons

• It's not done yet.

Great Gameplay
Flawless Animation
Gorgeous Girls
Hilarious Dialogue

Definetly one of the best vns out there. I loved playing it. You can relate to some scenes in this game to some extent. All these Different Emotions and Thoughts that run through your head. MASTERPIECE. HIDDEN GEM.

and four Words:
DEREK IS AN ICON

A very good game! I would recommend even tho it's a little too simple with no taboo relationships. But the 3d is on point.

I would add that even tho I give this a 4 stars, it could be a 5 with the proper girls and relationship, its just alot of story telling with no much choices that affect the overall, but I still recommend to anyone looking for a premium adult interactive movie.

The fight mechanism do go out of that narrative tho, it's better.

The best adult game ever, no doubts every single episode are symphony on motion, inmersive great storytelling beautiful models, wholesome characters, well maded scenes every route are a perfect path to discover the only thing what i complain about it's the time to get a new episode but idk dr.pinkcake absolutely rocks and the magic needs time, effort and good care to get the right spot. Thank you F95, N7, Dr.Pinkcake for making me so happy playing some quality sht.

[Version reviewed: 0.10.1]

What is there to say on Being a DIK that hasn't been said already?

Visually it's a treat: high quality models, well animated scenes and clean UI for both phones and minigames.

Said minigames are pretty cool, if a bit repetitive when replaying the game. They aren't mandatory so that's that (take SanchoMod if you plan on doing several runs, it adds the option to skip them).

Usually not a point I put that high, but the porn's quality is stellar: high-res models and animation coupled with a variety of selectable poses allows for an almost custom experience and I love that.
Don't like doggystyle? Here's 5 other positions, cheers mate.

But the greatest selling point here is the story. It would be criminal to spoil you, so let's just go over the specs:

• Many different paths, with a wide array of possible partners who don't want/need the same thing from you (I hate it when games just give you a list and goes "select this run's main girl").
• Alignment system that opens/closes routes and changes some dialogues/scenes.
• Character writing that allows for intimacy, with that little something that makes you feel for them.
• Supporting characters! Lots of them! FRENS!!! Or maybe not frens?
• The FEELS man. Good feels, bad feels, all the feels! Many characters have a sad story to tell but they don't just dump it on you. It's hard to explain without threading into spoilers so I'll stop before saying too much.
• Quinn. Yes, that's an argument. Yes, I have issues.

You get the picture. This game has so much soul, oozes so much love and devotion from its dev that there’s a risk of being unsatisfied by other games of the same genre.

Try it for your self . This game is awesome. Story , art , characters everything is perfect ♥♥♥
The game is like the Red Dead Redemption 2 of Adult Visual Novels. After you play this, you cannot just play any other AVN. A splendid "Choose your own adventure" game. By the way, only %5 of the game is actually adult content, other %95 is feelings of anger, brotherhood,sadness, love etc.

I am Taiwanese. This was the first time I played H GAME in my life a year and a half ago. I enjoyed it very much and found it interesting. I even developed feelings for the girls . In the end, I didn’t know who to choose. It was so difficult! And because of this I was troubled for three days.

Sage, Bella, and Jill all have almost perfect bodies. They are exactly my type. I prefer Milf. Bella's body makes me crazy every time, and her performance in bed is very intense and overwhelming every time.

The animation, music, background rendering, and character details can be said to be very top-notch, and it can be said to be a very realistic experience. The only drawback may be that roaming time often requires spending some time looking for people to talk to. You cannot skip this point, otherwise Unable to proceed.

It's a pity that you can't choose harem mode or cheating, you have to choose, so you often need to replay the game.

The writer is trying way too hard to create "realistic" relationships, which just makes the writing more jarring because it becomes more evident that he doesn't actually seem to know how relationships work. If you can't write a believable relationship then you should just embrace the fantasy and let players embrace the suspension of disbelief like most other AVNs here. This game is like the uncanny valley of writing.

Renders have high quality but they have such uninteresting composition, the developer's entire strategy just seems to be to throw in a bunch of bright colors to please the eye. But if it works it works I guess.

This might be indicative of the age of the game but the girls just have such uninspired appearances. It's like they just took some Daz model and slapped a Daz hair on her and called it a day. No attempt for unique appearances or anything.

Final point, going back to the writing, this is just the AVN version of Reality TV/soap opera shit, creating drama for the sake of drama, with no actual progression for the characters. But I doubt the developer can keep coming up with new drama to keep the players engaged, as evident by the subpar writing I mentioned earlier.

Highly unrecommended

So very good. I play for way to much hours. All girls are really hot has few like sage and quinn who are dirty girls which I like wish had more a lot of fuck scene and women basic interests. Story is good I like main charakter he good guy but willing to fight not creepy or anything to he easy to like. Has lot choices from many girls to what kind of man main is.

Has shit parts tho. I turn games of so not problem but has open world part and not good really bad actually hard to find way around. But no problem is more here I like.

Should play 10/10. Loved it.

The best game, no other game comes close, the graphics are good, the music is good, storylines, choices are actually meaningful and there's a lot of them, characters are unique and have a story and personality and the replayability is very good.

The GOAT. One of my inspirations to create my visual novel. Everything about BADIK is perfection.

Characters

They are iconic. They really have deep layers and are not just talking 3d models. After a few replays, you know they already have a character from the beginning. Designs are pure perfection.

Animations

My favorite renders are in this game. Feels super realistic especially when you mix high detailed characters.

Story

Oh my oh my. This is a decision based game so you can replay many times and everytime you will see more details about the story. Even though you don't have to focus a spesific girl, that means another story. M/J, Sage, Bella, Quinn stories are something you can really feel inside.


5/5. Can't wait the new episodes.

While there are bits and pieces I don't like such as minigames or freeroams I feel this nailed the part of a lewd VN that REALLY matters; the girls. All five of the main girls are hot and interesting with their own routes and personalities. Then you have side girls that are great. Some such as Riona, Quinn, Lily, Nicole could genuinely carry another VN as the main girl.

Story-wise I mostly like it. I wish plots didn't feel like they got dropped only to reappear from the blue episodes later. Outside that it's a fun college story that shows the gamut of emotions people have at that age from horny, angst to anger etc. It's all about the MC growing up moving on as an adult and building his own life and support structure around him (family). I wish there was another mad run like hell week though where MC, girls and DIKs go nuts and have fun.

Visually outside the early episodes it looks great seen better but more often seen worse.

I feel the minigames and sandbox just didn't take away from the fact I was engaged and enjoying the story and characters. It's simply a fantastically made VN.

For adult games, I usually focus on the lewd content. This was the first adult game which made me skip the sex scenes for the story. The lewd content is the cherry on top of a satisfying journey in a dramatized college life. BaDIK is one of, if not the top game in F95 because it excels in all categories: renders, character development, storytelling, music, amount of content, and variety of choices. You could argue there are better games for each aspect, but ultimately the collective excellence is what places BaDIK at the very top. As a note, I was extremely impressed with the considerable differences both the CHICK and DIK paths and the associated love interests. The many other five star reviews before me are warranted!

This will be a short review, as I am not a fan of exaggeration. First of all, girls, all girls are very sexy from milfs to hot-girls!

secondly, animation, with every update it gets better and hotter!

and finally, this is the plot and narration of the story of each character, personally, I have never been a fan of many separate branches, i.e. sometimes it gets boring to go through every girl, but BaDik really surprised me, and I go through each branch with pleasure!

B E S T G A M E

Okay, so here's the thing.
This is probably the TOP western erotic/pornographic VN.
The story is told through its characters and your relationship with them. There is little time spent on them apart from the protagonist or outside of his perspective (there is some, but not much, it strikes a good balance and is mostly used just to set up some future interactions and spark interest), and therefore the game keeps your interest in the actual characters using sex as a motivator, while also mostly* not feeling like an overindulgent writer's attempt at realising his failed aspirations by baiting people with porn. It's an actual interesting porn game that you will not skip the dialogue of, and possibly get off in the process. You might even come to enjoy some of the side characters that aren't fuckable. The ratio of text to renders is excellent and the writing is simple and mostly delivered through dialogue, while the protagonist's thoughts represent his feelings towards other characters and service the story. It's not at all like japanese VNs that like to write 3 pages of flavour text and unnecessary quirky musings while keeping the same few drawings in rotation with a single background. The dialogue feels natural, has a nice pace and represents the character - it's not overindulgent. That said the first episode (or 2) is still shit.

The sex scenes have build up and foreplay with different renders/images, multiple animated positions and some dialogue between position switches. They're good, you can get off to this game. Not necesarilly to each one, but to a few spaced relatively close together.

All that said, there are problems that keep this from being the gold standard, I'll write them point by point for clarity. Keep in mind that you may disagree with some of my character preferences, but I think my points should otherwise still hold value.

• The first episode or two are terrible compared to the rest where the characters later undergo a major change. Almost everyone that you'll eventually come to like are at first insufferable, extremely rude and presumptuous, except somehow, for the characters that then turn out to be the least interesting. It really suffers upon replay when you realise the abuse the protagonist undergoes which you're supposed to just brush off. Don't let the first episode (or 2, can't remember) discourage you, they are bad and serve as a terrible introduction that actively discourages you from engaging and establishing relationships with characters, and it gets better.
• Body Types/renders - while the characters for the most part look good by weg standards, the author just really does not understand midriffs and women's silhouettes. It is really weird when you notice it. Everyone's waistlines are too thin, their stomachs are just too narrow from the sides - the hourglass figure is too exaggerated. The proportions make no sense, and the issue is with everyone. No one's thick or skinny, everyone's for the most part around the same weight with small differences in tits and asses, height, faces, skin colours, etc. - the general build is more or less the same. The variety comes from sex features, faces and age.
• Free roam events - I enjoy and appreciate the opportunity to interact with characters at my own pace/leisure, but there seems to be a specific order designed for those interactions that seemingly defeats its purpose. It becomes really clear on repeat playthroughs, which you will do. For the most part you follow the in-game objectives, and it becomes more of a puzzle of sorts, where the hardest part of the puzzle is finding your way around the terrible navigation and doing silly fetch quests. It does make parties and other events feel more distinct and separate, but the execution falls short. Dear god, please make a map.
• Mini games - I turned them off (I don't remember if you need a mod for that or not, apologies), although that doesn't turn all of them off, but most while simplifying others. Some of them seem really superfluous and feel to be more in the way rather than servicing the game. It feels like a chore you have to do to keep a good relationship with some of the characters, even though as of now I don't think there's any actual impact.
• Juggling DIKs/friends satisfaction/happiness minigames. Does it do anything? Are there any benefits? I genuinely don't know and can't tell. What is the point? There is a variety of which interactable events you'll get depending on your choice, but are you prepared to disappoint chud #3 and #5? Does it matter?
• *I said that the writing mostly doesn't indulge itself, but as of now (season 3, episode 10) some plot lines are being set up that seem to be out of the scale of a typical college life romp. It also feels like the game tends to be a little indulgent when it comes to maya. Every love interest has some problem going on, but maya's problem permeates every interaction with her and seems to take up a more significant portion of the game, making her tiresome. Likewise Quinn's seems to be the one growing far too serious for the game's tone, threatening on turning into a melodrama, but at least it's been (up until now) something in the background that didn't impact your interactions with her or other characters.
• I'm not entirely sure of this is correct, but I think you will in essence befriend everyone the game intends you to - there are choices for whom you are romantically or sexually interested in, but you can't opt out of interacting with someone completely. This isn't necesarilly a big deal, just thought it prudent to mention - it is still a VN.

This is an excellent game, it's just jumped the shark for me since Interlude.

I was a supporter of DPC on Patreon up till about 2022. He and Philly kind of defined this genre for me.

Full disclosure: I HATE open world, sandbox, and "roaming" sections. I see it as a crutch and filler in these games. Blatantly stating that you don't respect my time and see to waste it with time sinks to make up for a lack of genuine content. I also don't like gatekeeping story line branches like DPC uses, so really this game simply isn't for me, and they've really doubled-down on this with the updates since Interlude. And mini-games are annoying to me.

Usually, walkthrough mods let me skip mini-games and consolidate branching story lines into one harem/cheating play through, with generally siloed experiences.

DPC actively writes and structures against this kind of player. It's friendly to mods, but the game is structured to, even with the mod, force multiple saves/play through. You HAVE to choose between Josy/Maya and Jade, period. And to do that multiple save - I have to endure multiple "roaming" hunt and peck sequences. I cannot be bothered. It's a failing in me. So you have to do a CHICK Josy/Maya, a Jade, and a Quinn play through, at least, according to my list. I couldn't even get through the roaming sections even for just the Jade save. I didn't realize till this play that Quinn's story seems to need that you stay with Sage and the HOTs instead of Isabella. I don't know if Isabella's requires you stay with her.

Anyhow, I couldn't do it. I checked the missed scenes for Jade and Cathy, and all that work to create a forced branch and play really is like 3 scenes. This just seems so disrespectful of my time and effort, but I suppose if you see this as gameplay, then you're just smiling the entire time. I'm not.

And then he introduced the Cheater tracking stat. This is where I throw in the towel. I haven't even gotten to Episode 10, which has apparently triggered a few people.

DPC does a great job. We just are too much in disagreement with what the definition of fun and entertaining is. Much love and respect. I wish him continued success. But I just can't deal with the development decisions to rain more on my already rainy parade.