VN - Ren'Py - Beyond Tomorrow [Ch.2] [Dream Games]

Let me start off by saying that I'm extremely disappointed in the dev for the rework. A story loses its purity when the dev goes back to change aspects of a story that people complain about versus telling the story that he/she wants to tell. In the previous version Sam was already the MCs GF. The type of gf that most men would consider a "ride or die". She's a wonderfully crafted character but of course people were bitching because "this feels forced and I don't like it". It was a cowardly move in my opinion.

With that being said this still has a potential to be one of the greats. The story is fresh and the renders are exquisite. The environment is beautiful and the soundtrack is fucking phenomenal. I'm a huge fan of stories with emotional writing especially with a bit of mystery which this one is loaded with. I definitely look forward to the future of this one. I wanted to give it 5 stars but I couldn't because of my previous rant above.

Giving this a 5 solely for the purpose of two reasons.

Grade A Writing. The Writing is so good I almost feel bad reading because it's almost like I'm watching someone elses life unfold as an outsider. All the private details, intimate, deep, dark, and depressing things, the ups and downs, the memories. It almost feels like a window into the soul. It's kind of crazy but its genuinely just so well done.

Grade A Renders. The Render quality is absolutely, out of this world. Everything is so crisp and clean, looks gorgeous. The environment has so much detail, the characters are so beautiful and well made, the characters even look mostly authentic (the males moreso than the females) but we always want beautiful girls, so I cant complain. Just an additional plus. Hell even the sister and sasha are beauties. Most of the models seem a bit molded off one another, but eh, its a good mold either way.

Theres a lot to read, a lot of chapters, world building, story, etc. I really enjoy it. It doesn't even feel like an AVN at times. In my opinion, this is what quality looks like. Animations, intimate scenes, etc. thats all just a bonus. I'd never put them under a scoring system because it just doesn't feel fair, animations are hard so all in all thats where I stand.

See where this one goes but as of chapter 2, definitely a 5 star in the works.

I can understand the bad reviews as they're looking for something a bit spicier, but if you're looking for something to genuinely read and enjoy that isn't pretentiously written and has some spice to it. This is a good option. The sister being a bit of a secondary main character also isn't my biggest cup of tea, but it makes sense in the grand scheme. The story is deep moreso than it is just perverse so that may turn alot of people off. I enjoy these kinds of stories personally though. I've read alot of smut equivalents, sometimes a good novel is worthwhile. I feel like the 1-2 star reviews are unfair, granted if you dont enjoy it, thats totally fair but rating it so extremely low for how high quality it is, is a huge disservice to the author.

A beautifully rendered AVN with an emotional story. the lewd part is practically non existent but if and when it will be good due to the high level of the graphics. The story is a bit slow but rather deep so it is not for everyone but i dig it.

+ renders, top notch
+ game has gallery
+ nice menu song, generally music is very good and relaxing
+ girl models
+ few funny moments. Especially one with Sarah

- no lewd scenes
- MC sister is not a LI and never will be. That means she is completely useless, but dev decided to force her as a little second protagonist and we must play and see all her lesbo-nonsense drama.. ugh.. total shit
- forced lesbo stuff.. another ugh..
- relationship development is poorly done. No romantic moments, no tension. Cmon….
- story is boring, also too much drama
- there is some choices but they are irrelevant
- MC with bland personality, few times he behave like imbecile. Thankfully he is not a total loser.. there is still hope for him

I feel bored playing this game, almost hit alt + f4 at some point, but wanted to see if something changes and become more interesting, well.. that didn't happen. 2 stars for now

Lets start on a high note: Everything in this game is beautiful. The renders, music choices, and weirdly all the characters. Doesn't seem to matter since our MC is a fucking eunuch, but I digress.

The story is mom has the spicey flu and its basically wrecked all the relationships around. Brother becomes the emotional punching bag for literally everyone and while every female prefaces every criticism with "I know this situation isn't totally your fault but......" makes me feel like every conversation becomes walking around the point for a year before we get there. There are scenes that add literally nothing to any of the stories being told here. Slow burn yada yada.

There is also no sex in this game. I don't mean no intercourse. I mean no sex. There's no flirting like there may be sex. There's no hint any of these characters even enjoy sex. This dude is around nothing but hot women....ffs his best friend is a hot woman and his excuse is he doesn't want to ruin their friendship. It's hinted she likes him but you wouldn't guess it with how just grating she is towards him. She also just thinks its normal to sleep naked with his lesbian sister. The one time the best friend's mom makes a pass at him he's fucking confused by it. Like I said, the dude is a fucking eunuch.

Lets point out this game's main problem. Over writing. Half of these conversations do not move the plot forward and serve no narrative purpose. I'd call it pretentious if it were poorly written but its not. Its just kinda the same conversations over and over until they get to the point and the scene can finally end. The lack of sex would even make sense for a slow burn but in this state I can name every possible love interest, but god do they not act like they are interested. The dev clearly has the drive to make a great narrative. The problem is the conversations wear thing really fast without one of two narrative payoffs: sex or plot point resolution. I mean ffs this dude treats his mother the exact same as he treats all of the females in this game.

The VN has a great set up but no follow through as of yet. Which is a problem when everything is dragging like a high school play. Gotta light a fire under this one and pronto.

I don't really want to shit on the devs work here, but I'm afraid I kinda have to. The game is just... extremely bland and cliche. It hits almost every cliche bullet possible. The cancer that affects the parent, the estranged siblings that will inevitably be fixed, the sisters best friend that hovers around the MC, the troublemaker MC in his youth but with a good heart, etc etc. Even the graphics are extremely cliche and generic. The girls look really similar, they all have the same color skin tone, and same styles. The crop top with piercings look and some hair dye. Even the MC looks generic, its the same dudebro looking guy with a few tattoos. I don't want to be overly harsh here, but this game takes no steps out of the comfort zone at all. It's very boring and bland. There's also basically no sexual content at all aside from seeing a few generic boobs here and there.

If you are brand new to VN's or you are extremely vanilla and just want a really laid back generic chill experience then maybe you will enjoy this, but for those who want to experience something a little refreshing or new then I'm afraid you won't find it here.

Ch. 1. From what I understand, it's a rework?

I swear, this is the first time I drop an AVN because it's… boring. No, it isn't bad in any sense, but it's boring!

As porn:
the MC meets a number of pretty girls and we see some of their tits, but his relationship with them doesn't go anywhere and he tells his friend that he isn't into dating right now. Considering what his mother's going through, it's entirely justified in-story. Okay, no porn for now, story it is.

As story:
Aaaand this is when we get into a trap.
1) The MC doesn't get any task he has to complete, but a task for the MC is something vital to hook the player if there's no porn. At this moment in the story, nothing really depends on him. The mother most likely dies, but even if she doesn't, there's no way for him to influence that. Not only do the players have to wait for an update, but the MC has to sit on his ass doing almost nothing. He just... lives, and that's boring. This happens because...
2) The devs really chose a weak point in the story to start the game. If they used the moment where the sister just had her epic conflict with the mother and the Mom first got into the hospital, it'd be much better. We'd get a bit used to their prior lives, and the mother-daughter conflict would mean much more for us as we'd see it in real time. Right now, I don't give a shit about the sister and her ex, because the Mom is dying from cancer! If I learned about the sister's drama first, I would actually care. Besides, that was the moment when a lot really depended on the MC, he had something to do! The tension of "get Mom to the hospital ASAP" could make for a decent action scene! But instead, we start at the moment where the MC's done all he could and just... waits.
3) I don't like the brother (MC) and the sister to begin with. The Sis used to be a sweet girl, but she is now an entitled brat. The Bro does his best now, but he was a jerk growing up.
4) Specific girl: Sam. I hear that she used to be the MC's pre-determined GF, but the players' outrage made the dev change that. Well, it was a bad decision: we lose the only realistic source of porn at this point in story, AND Sam turns out to be so deep in friendzone she's never realistically getting out of there, which ruins her as a LI. I think she understands it herself as she's right now going to sleep topless in a room with a known lesbian who's just off a bad breakup; is she onto something?

So, no porn, the MC does nothing (as there's no task for him to do or an intrigue he can actually solve), and he and his sister aren't really likeable. Nothing grabs my attention. Too bad, as the visuals are good (the video fragments are particularly nice), and the writing isn't bad. But the story and characters are boring, and that settles it.

AVN devs! Don't throw porn away! People like different stories while everyone likes porn, so, by throwing porn away, you take unnecessary risks!

the game itself is very cool and very pleasant, the plot is interesting, the atmosphere of the plot plus the musical atmosphere and all in one, the straight mental and emotional story of the game was very cool and pleasant, it was all a version of the game for me personally

This gets a star because the renders are high quality, but otherwise it's a swing and a miss. Hard pass.

Writing is long and cliché, and dialogue is very clunky overall. Lots of people talking about things that happened or are happening without you actually seeing them happen. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShowDontTell And when they do talk, conversation doesn't sound natural at all.

Choices are entirely irrelevant, they might as well not exist

There are no lewd scenes other than a couple of boobs which really have no reason for existing

I think the dev is too high on their own supply. Writing something *long* isn't a substitute for writing something *interesting*

SPOILERS

If you really wanted to explore the theme of dealing with terminal diseases and how it affects families, then *show* that happening to this family. Instead we go from mom being perfectly healthy, flash forward a decade and she has stage 4 cancer. Dad is only shown in some black-and-white memory type renders. I don't care about MC. I don't care about Olivia. I don't care about anyone. You haven't *made* me care.

I suggest taking up a course on creative writing and critiquing a few existing novels to understand what's missing here. Great work on the renders and lighting, but those two alone do not a great game make.

You could argue it's early days and the dev is going for a "story-first AVN", but if that's the case, why is everyone other than the token friend a super hot female? Why are most girls automatically smitten by the MC? Why should I believe it???

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClicheStorm
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TasteTheRainbow
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TattooAsCharacterType

Story wise: 3/5
I think there is a lot of potential for this game but in my opinion there is a lot of pitfalls that the developer needs to navigate in order to avoid cliches. Traumas like cancer and partner abuse are tragic but tragedy isn't new in this genre, of visual novels, so I am more kin on how the author will tell his story on it.

Animation: 3/5
Animation needs work but I can see the there is a real talent in the developer's ability to direct a scene. The intro was by the far the best part of the game, and with the game being so small, it's concerning but with time maybe other parts of the game will shine.

Renders: 3.5/5
It is nice to see more variety in the girls, who I assume will be potential love interests. But I had a hard time distinguishing the differences between Olivia and Samantha at times. It was a nice touch in detail on how similar Olivia looks like to her mother, but if incest is not intended to be a focus (which I am unbiased on) remove her from the banner as it can be confusing to your consumers.

TLDR: Story needs to break away from clichés. No NSFW content yet. The introduction was incredible. Potentially good game.

Great story. Cant wait to see what happens. Lost a good hour for chapter one alone. This is one that will be up there with the best as long as they keep to the story. Definitely worth your time. Great art and animations. Looking forward to the story and the extras

This review is based on the reworked version of Beyond Tomorrow, Chapter 1.

This is one of the rare games where you see the developer genuinely concerned with writing a good plot and creating amazing visuals. Lewds and porn will definitely be integrated into this game, but at the right time, not forced just because this is an AVN. The MC in this game is really well-made, likeable, and is growing through the hardships life presents to him.

The LIs are beautiful and I already have my favorite, but I am sure Chapter 2 will introduce 2 or 3 more of them. My only critique is that the most beautiful model is the MC's sister, but beauty is subjective and each person has their own preference.

In short, excellent renders and story, and good LIs. Worth your time to play!

As of the first chapter:
- VN has very good amount of scenes.
- Good writing and good flow between scenes.
- Good characters. To early to say if they will be great.
- Hot models, good angles and great visuals overall.
So why is it a 4? because for the amount of scenes it has, it should have at least 1 "spicy scene". I would understand a no full-on sex scene for the first chapter. But to not have a single "spicy scene" at all? That is blueballing. So it is a solid 4.

A successful start! Beautiful models, a calm pace in keeping with the theme, lots of hopes for future episodes and a very atmospheric overall picture. The highlight for me personally was the moment with Cece. My heart leapt for joy!

First of all, the renders are really, really good. Beautiful models, beautifuly posed, ambiance is cozy and overall this is a really good work of graphic and design. THAT SAID...


I feel like the dev aimed for an "adult journey", with serious topics, but this is still an AVN. When all you got going is a mother with cancer and a problematic, absent dad, paired with a depressed sister and some bad grammar, well guess what? The result is a boring experience that would be much, much more likely to be found enjoyable if read in a book, with better prose, grammar and story development.

I hope to, in the future, see the graphic work of the dev in a setting more fitting of an adult game.

Ch.2

Very good. Incredible potential.

Must warn you, it's a bit heavy reading. Tread carefully.

Usually I don't like when game has very few sex scenes, comparing to the text amounts, but for the first time I feel like it's okay here, in this project. In any case not gonna say no to more lewdness in future.

There's a split path in the mid of playthrough, when you decide to walk or to take a bus. Different characters met on each route.

I like posing in scenes a lot. All cozy cuddling etc. Cute.

Depth of field effect is okay, but when, for example, lower parts of the character model that in front are also blurred looks weird.

GL to dev, waiting for Steam release.

Still too early in the game's lifespan to give a proper review. But From what ive played. it's a really strong start. I dont dislike any of the characters yet, great visuals, story seems interesting and going to just get better as things get revealed. To me this game feels like it could be one of the next Big AVN's.

Negatives : animations while good some of them felt like they were low fps and some felt a bit janky. Not all
Potential forced relationship - not sure if she is a girlfriend or friend with benefits but either way she is close to the MC.

loved the game. Story centric games are always welcome here. if you are playing for lewd part there is not much here. but if you love playing story driven games you must try this. good visuals and models.
loved this one keep up the good work dev looking forward to next updates

+ story centric
+ models & visuals

- No incest ( I'm not that guy who says no incest no party. But sister is quite pretty sadly she won't be a LI )

Edit : with the rework story became much clearer.

This is truly a masterpiece. If you are playing this game for sex alone then honestly you shouldn't be here. This is a story driven game, one of the best i have played on here..story wise this honestly has the potential to be on par with the likes of Being a DIK or Leap of Faith. The only thing negative about this i could think about would be the lack of animations but like i said before if you were looking for a pure animated sex game this probably isnt for you.

This is my first review of any game after playin VNs and other stuff for 2 years, and i couldn't stop myself for writing a review of this game, no game has ever does this to me

I started the game, 5 min in I paused it and started searchin for this song, turns out it is " too soon to say goodbye", what a song choice that too by a not so well known artist.

I haven't completed the game, but this is the best slow burn game ever, the renders are good, the story breaks my mind, devastating story, MC is someone doin things and making decisions, that i will make, if I was put in his boots, this game feels like am not playing the character, I am the character. The game is better written than a movie or any novel, I have seen. Developer/ writer were clearly successful to instill that tragedy feeling,i only played the game for like 5 min,(Spoiler Alert) and I don't want mom to die finger crossed, no VN/novel/movie has given me this feeling that this game has given me. Writing at its best, and that BGM just amplify the feeling, these songs are goin in my playlist.