VN - Ren'Py - Between Humanity [v0.3.2] [DebatingPanda]

v0.2.1

Renders 5/5. Animations 5/5. Great work!

Spelling/Grammar/Punctuation/etc. 10/5. Ten points because competence in this area is extremely rare among VN writers. DebatingPanda doesn’t seem to understand the term “buck naked,” but otherwise he's got the technical side of writing down.

Eroticism 2.5/5. Although well-rendered, the girls are nothing special, and there's not a whole lot of erotic content yet. This seems likely to increase significantly over time.

Story 3/5. Could easily be a five-star story, but it's being mishandled. In the story, something's wrong/glitchy with MC from the start. Based on the news, MC and everybody else should immediately know more or less what's wrong with him, but here we are in Chapter 2, and everybody's still completely clueless. Doesn't make any sense.

Dialogue/Thought/Narration 2/5. DP has some rare moments of enjoyable writing, but generally speaking, the better moments are when the writing's boring. The worse moments are when it’s cringey. Like when MC walks in on his mom in the shower and spends the next three days apologizing. Like when MC simply offers to return the favor to a woman who's pleasuring him and then frets he was “too aggressive” for no reason whatsoever. Like when MC has an extended thought sequence which accomplishes nothing but rehashing what just took place two seconds ago. Like when there’s a Star Wars knockoff featuring Soda Yoda, Princess Layer, and Darth Tater. (DP doesn’t seem to understand there’s a world of difference between trying to be funny and actually being funny.)

Assorted complaints:

Based on the audio, DP apparently thinks sex sounds like “CLICK… CLICK… CLICK…" In my experience, it does not.

There is a very long, mind-numbing sequence where two characters are playing a video game. It provides zero entertainment value. Not sure what DP was thinking.

Do you like instantaneous text speed? Too bad. Text messaging takes much longer than it should, and some characters will speak slowly regardless of where you place this setting.

In the main (white) body of text, DP puts character names in colors that make them hard to read.

All in all, a good-looking VN that isn't particularly interesting or enjoyable at this point.

On a positive note, I enjoy how you can make a given render your cell phone background. Cracks me up when the phone rings and a cum-covered slut appears.

Really nice renders and a story that has potential to get even more interesting. The characters feel believable, and choices seem impactful. Definitely worth checking out if youre a fan of these kind of games

v0.2.1

It's okay. Decent story, decent writing, decent models, decent animations, everything is just decent. Nothing will really disappoint you about this game but nothing will blow you away either. The "choices" in this game shouldn't even be described as such. Every decision just boils down to "do you want to be a good person and see more content? Yes or no?" Boring as hell. Development time is really slow for such a simple game that is mainly just teasing up to this point.

I'd wait a few years and come back. Maybe this game will let you actually do something with one of the family members by then.

As of 0.2.1

Really good.
Now, don't get me wrong, it's not perfect, but it has immense potential. Good setup and the characters seem to have been planned with some depth to them. Definitely has strong hints, that the MC might get some major character development.
Gorgeous graphics.
Nice animations.
The only "problem" is that it seems it will be another game that has such a big plot planned, that it will take close to a decade to see the end of it. That said, I like it a lot and strongly recommend it.

Surprisingly well-written. Like I keep wanting to know more about the story and the mystery. Instead of working on building a harem or whatever. And it feels like I'm taking a route when I do certain choices. Instead of feeling like I take detours.

Everything in this game is excellent, the renders, animations, writing, storyline, all of it has the potential of being an amazing, completed game if they stay on track with what they've already accomplished. I am looking forward to the next update.

Simply put, WOW.

You can tell a lot of love and effort went into every aspect of its design, everything from each character being top-tier beautiful, engaging story and mysterious happenings, excellent use of sound design and effects, and fantastic visuals.

I was blown away by how many different renders there are, many times a slightly different one for each bit of dialogue which helps the characters feel like they're reacting more to what's going on around them. Heck, even a driving scene in the second half of what's currently available has a looping background animation through the window that really makes it seem like you're in the car as things wiz past. Additionally, often when you're talking to someone, people in the background are moving around and doing things as you advance the dialogue.

This is truly an exception game across the board, and is worthy of a thousand 10/10s. Don't sleep on this one, folks.

Very lovely characters and decent renders. Story is intelligent and well pieced together, now if only the writer could pay attention to word count because the sex is like 30s scenes every 30mn of reading through fluff details that really don't impact the gameplay much.

It´s okay very standart.

TThe story is boring, predictable and nothing new.

The characters are very boring and cliche, the MC is annoying.

The music is boring but mostly fitting.

The gameplay is bad, the choices are just so standart and mostly "want to peek? yes or no" or "be nice, and increase stat which doesn´t feel like it matters"

The models look okay nothing creative.

But the animations and quality of models both look very good.


I wouldn´t really recommend it, it isn´t anything special but I feel like a lot of effort is used in the development .

[Review for v0.2.1]
I find this game to be enjoyable but frustrating.

The premise is interesting, but the setting is very confusing because there's this mix of meta comedy with futurism that makes it hard to distinguish what's real and what's just a little meta joke. I get the feeling the whole thing is a simulation, but the MC's reaction to the meta elements is so mild that if it's later revealed as a simulation, it'll fall really flat.

The characters have personality (though they're mostly clichés), but they're lacking the agency and initiative that would actually make them people, and the glacial pacing at which the relationships are progressing doesn't really help with that.

The MC's kind of boring, passive and reactive, just aimlessly drifting through the story, passing out every 10 minutes, and being dismissive of all the weird shit happening around him like he's deathly allergic to plot hooks. When Naomi was describing him during his little unconscious episode where they fucked I couldn't help thinking "Can I play as that guy instead?"

In conclusion, while the presentation is great and the idea is interesting, the slow pace, passive MC, and general lack of progress make it a bit of a slog. I still think it's worth playing and will be keeping an eye on it, but for now I think 3 stars is fair.

This game is still in the early stages of the story/development, but it definitely feels like there's lots of potential to be had with what's been shown so far.

As of 0.2.1, there's enough setup here that the story can lead to several paths. I'm generally not a huge fan of stories that dance around mysteries for too long, but I think Between Humanity does it well. There's enough fun little interactions with each of the characters and weird happenings that toy with MC's perception of reality, that it keeps me captivated throughout its runtime.

To sum it up: You wake up from an accident and find yourself moving back in with your mom and sisters. From there, you keep having flashbacks on what happened before the accident and visions that overlap with reality.

I suspect that the story is going into the direction of androids/cloning and neural implants for its underlying mystery, at least from what context clues I've received so far.

The dialogue between MC and the girls is solid. They talk like actual people and don't feel out of place. I will say that they can seem kind of one-note or that they fit specific archetypes as of now, but we'll have to see in the future. As of this update, I just think they're cute/hot.

There's been alot of setup for your dynamic with what I'm assuming are the key players in the story. A total of around 10 girls iirc. None of them feel really out of place as of yet, but that may change in the future.

The animations is solid and serviceable for the sex scenes. On top of that, I think the models/clothing/environments look great. I will say it looks a LITTLE weird to see robots and outright mechanical people now and then in this semi-futuristic world, but I'll forego suspension of disbelief for now. If the dev continued to sprinkle in the futuristic stuff with each update, I could understand why.

There's lots of choices, and sometimes you can't get them all for each character - thankfully the game lets you know which choices you missed at the end of the chapter, alongside your relations with the characters. I think this is meant for multiple playthroughs, along with later chapters splitting off in many ways later on depending on your choices. As of now, there's nothing to really be missed besides some conversations and small scenes that give you more context to "what X person was doing at this time".

It's worth the 2-3 hour run time. I wouldn't go in with jaw dropping expectations, there isn't much sexual content yet, and I think the dev is looking to build up the world/story before it really gets going.

The game is a very nice experience overall, simple as.

Art is great and the world actually feels like plausible (not empty stages in ghost towns where no one lives). Then the models... Man, the girls are amazing, even the non-LIs are very easy on the eyes.

Story is definitely more engaging than the average AVN, and with plenty of easter eggs and clickables to enrich the experience.

Also, twins, Basil, twins. RED. HEADED. TWINS.

I played v 0.2.0

I quite like this game. A classic style visual novel executed competently. The art is good, the characters compelling enough, and the story is engaging. I'm curious to see what happens.

solid, great animations, great characters, interesting plot, even if some stuff is a little predictable, its interesting enough to work just fine, only issue is it ended too soon (me issue not game issue haha) instantly one im going to be checking on regularly, and added to the pile of ones to support when i have the money to do so

Awesome game. Can't wait to see what's to come from this one. Extremely impressive considering how early into development it is. Fantastic graphics and cast of characters. Really left me wanting more.

The renders are really good, but I honestly find the story kind of boring.

There's an attempt at intrigue, but it just doesn't hit for me. I can't explain why, I just don't care about Lilith or the mystery stuff pumped into the MC because, as of yet, it has only resulted in blackouts - nothing really meaty.

A clearer weakness is the girls. They look lovely, but none of them seem to be anything other than a collection of personality traits. Their wants are nebulous, and they have nothing they are pursuing that the MC might later come to help them with (except Lucy who seems to desire... The MC. Which is kind of an easy solve).

So my feedback to improve the game would be:

1: Absolutely start building out subplots for the girls. That's how you make people love them - right now, they are boring. They need to have goals of their own within the story.

2: Get to the "hook" point of the story asap. At the moment we just don't have enough to get invested - there have been no real consequences to fear or anticipate, and without this, you kinda think "whatever" when you ask yourself if you want to click to the next image and text.

Fixing these things could give another heavyweight AVN, IMO, but it's not there yet when it comes to the writing. The HS2 artwork is perfect though.

Just finished Ch 1, and grabbing the latest version. Excellent game so far. Cannot wait for more updates and development.

Models are very pretty, and the characters' personalities come across genuine and authentic. It's refreshing not to have an imbalance between inner monologue, outer dialog, and narration.

I do wish there were more lewd content, but with only one chapter so far that's OK.

Between Humanity is an exceptional visual novel that masterfully blends engaging storytelling with stunning visuals. The artwork is simply breathtaking, with every scene meticulously crafted to capture the essence of the narrative. The smooth animations add a dynamic layer to the experience, making each moment feel alive and immersive.

The characters are well-developed and relatable, drawing you deeper into the story with every interaction. The plot is intriguing and keeps you hooked from start to finish, with a perfect balance of romance and drama.

I am eagerly awaiting more content from this talented team. Between Humanity has set a high standard in the genre, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next. Highly recommended for fans of visual novels!

Beautiful renders, mega cute LIs and a cool story.
Story is building up but the few released scenes are very hot with very well done animations.
I will for sure consider supporting the project as soon as I can, as this is a dev that truly needs it. Keep it up DebatingPanda!

Figured it would be a nice habit to leave a review after playing through a VN I like. I played through it rather quickly though, I'll update my review at a later point in time, when I'll take more time for it (and w/o ipatch).

[version, env] 0.2.1 / PC/Win/mouse/ipatch
[play time] ~ 4.5h (estimate, fast playthrough w/ some skipping)

TL;DR: this game/VN provides a highly polished package, good stuff & recommended! Don't expect a lot of H-scenes, it's more of a slow burn with most characters (but not all ;-)), but there's some good stuff in there already (really nothing to complain about).

Story
Entertaining enough, but not going to rate this, as I played fast / skipped bits here & there. I did slow down on occasion, and enjoyed it / the interactions between characters.

Some dialogue I found hard to follow, seemed to make some jumps, but that could've been related to me playing with the (unofficial) ic patch (which is doing an okay job, but I wouldn't recommend it per se - still some things feel off, esp. with 'mom')

Characters 4/5
They're pretty much all sexy & likable. Reviewer below me commented how they're visually similar. I can see that, but I really didn't notice that much while playing / it didn't bother me, still felt different/unique enough.

I do find that, at the end of v0.2, there are a bit much girls already; when Mia entered the scene I felt a bit like 'really don't need another one'.
I dread a bit there will too much LIs to (properly) cater for? Like there are the main girls, and there's e.g. Larissa which I'd totally dig to pursue ;-)

Graphics, animations 5/5
Good stuff, nice renders, smooth animations, bouncy boobs.
Played on potato; still somewhat decent in performance, but it did totally choke on the checking-out-Anya panning scene (meeting her).

The Lilith hallway walk anim was totally cool and surprised me (felt like total quality; things like this sets this apart and above the gross of VNs).
The drive in the car with Jane was also nicely done, giving that extra polish.

Music, sound, voice acting 4/5
The whole package: bgm throughout, sfx during (H) scenes. No voice acting. A certain later scene has moaning sounds as well (awesome), whereas these are missing in earlier scenes.

Other, extras
The polish here is A-grade. Kudos to the dev! Things like the characters 3D view, setting your phone's background, how the gallery's done, the extra settings like text size etc.


Ideas/suggestions for improvement
[QoL] Make the (mouse wheel) scrolling through the list of characters faster. And/or remember your last scrolling position. Or, perhaps as an (optional) alternative, have a single screen (w/o scrolling) where you can quickly find & check on a character.

[fix] Make 'Clickable Hints' the default (shouldn't it be?) It's explained in the tutorial, but then, running with default settings, you'll only hear the sound, but there's no visual queue. (And in the game itself I believe the sound is only there when Clickable Hints are enabled?)

[wish/nice2have] Moaning sounds added to earlier scenes (Naomi).

[wishful thinking] Able to decide to have Raven or Venus on your side (I was more into Raven, and was like fuuuccck ;-)) (The bar lady is nice as well of course ;-))