Ren'Py - Big City's Pleasures [v0.8.0] [Porcus]

GOOD:

The good: Arts is really very good. (Some animations seem a bit weird, though). UI is fine. LIs are mostly attractive and kind of interesting.

The neutral: The MC is kind of OK, but his naive-country-boy-ness is applied too thick. Writing is OK. Sound effects are a bit annoying. Story is meh. Behavior of LIs seems inconsistent (after having jerked of MC multiple times, L is flustered due to nipple slip in another quest progression, etc)

The bad: At some stage I ran into a bug (python exception) after which the game became unplayable.
Game mechanics is rather unpleasant grind.

Still, so far I would rate the game higher if not for the following:
The really bad: Unavoidable contents that I personally do not enjoy. I understand that this is a matter of taste, but I find it very off-putting to have the MC be subjected to being drugged and abused (the MC enjoys it, but it is clearly not consensual, and the pseudo option "stop" does lead to the same outcome). The whole philosophy teacher arch was really unpleasant from the very beginning.

(Edit: Just for completeness, the MC is also on the active end of abuse, with the usual creepy nightly visits to sleeping LIs without any reflection or internal comment. This absurd behavior is completely incompatible with any "nice" MC, and here in particular when the MC is supposed to be good-natured / friendly / honest / shocked by the big-city-lewdness etc.
However, this bothered me less; mainly because it seems completely avoidable (unless it would be required for progression later on), and maybe I am also already a bit dulled to it as it seems to happen in half of the lewd games...)

I think this is one of the better games I have found on F95. Its a pretty standard concept where you as MC live with two beautiful girls, your a student and throughout the story you`ll meet and interact with several girls.

The animation is pretty good. Some of the girls look very very nice and the renders is most of the time above standards.

There is a lot of games out there that is basically just a waste of space and time, but this one is defiantly not one of them. I do def recommend it.

I will make it short:
Pros:
- models are great
- in game walkthrough
Cons:
- everything else
- massive grind
- even more massive grind
- then even more massive grind
- and to top it off a bit more normal grind

Waste of time even with cheats.

Version rated: v0.4:

I love this game. It's impressive how much this game has improved, especially the animations. The girls are gorgeous, and the story is well written. The developers have put a great effort into the relationship between the MC and one of the girls. The scenes are really sexy

This is generally a pretty good game with a few annoying quirks.

Pros: Good renders, really good story, fun dialogue, really good character development, and decent catering to fetishes, including some sleep sex scenes.

Cons: Unskippable animations, some of which take forever to play out. Grindy game mechanics. Also they included the sound of a dude orgasming for some reason and the MC's dick has way too much screen time.

Bottom line: Worth checking out, but expect the animations to frustrate you after a while. It's not just animations of sexual activities; some of the animations are baked into the stat grind. I'd honestly probably watch more of the animations if I could skip them at will. Also seriously consider playing with sound completely muted; hearing a dude groan and moan into the microphone is really unpleasant.

The game has a lot going for it in terms of how the girls look and even the interactions with the majority of them, however. It is held back by a pretty convoluted side plot that forces you to deal with an insufferable character and that makes the mc unbearable by comparison. You also have to suffer through a terribly paced overworld that just has you spamming the day/time-skip on the map looking for character portraits to pop up, with an added stat system for you to get bored of grinding out on top of all that.

This game's Sandbox design isn't bad at all and the Story even though almost non-existent, delivers enough to appreciate the characters. Because the writing is pretty awesome in this game in my opinion. You can feel with the characters which I love in games. The MC's background is pretty cool as well. However, the enjoyment of actually playing this game left a very poor taste at the end which I'll explain further under Gameplay.

Render & Animation:

Overall almost everything was pretty nicely rendered and left a good impression. The Animation quality was very fluid and I'd call it even extraordinary. There were some exceptions regarding some render which had a worse quality but that's acceptable or even normal for a game in this scale.

Gameplay:

This is a Sandbox game where you have to grind to make some progress which is completely normal and that's also what Sandbox fans love. But the reason why making a good Sandbox is difficult, is because you have to balance it right. You invest real-time grinding and the amount of that time should give one acceptable reward to push motivation to grind and play more. That's usually how it's supposed to go.

But in this game, the character progression is extremely slow and the rewards you get are very unsatisfying. Mostly everything at this point is teasing interactions and you are grinding pretty much to get more of that... Some people may like that and I'm not sure if there is a fetish for it but ultimately it's just too much. After hours and hours of playing and grinding the MC unlocks a night interaction where the final thing he does is to touch the boobs with clothes on. After that, he runs back to his room like Speedy Gonzales. All the repeatables in this game currently are also teasing stuff and the only real thing you get is a pretty boring non-animated blowjob.

I'm not saying the teasing is bad but the amount of time you invest to grind and play this game doesn't balance with the rewards you get from it. It doesn't motivate one to push further due to low expectations.

Greetings Everybody,

Disclaimer: I Played the game and finished Version 0.31. I slept over it.
My honest Goals are to give Constructive Feedback. So the Games become better and better over lets face it the years to come. And to be honest to myself and you, get a bit of steam of.

The Gameplay (0 out of 5)
This is the Reason why I write the Review.
Gameplay wise it is free roaming but have a hint system and you have to work your way through that. The MC has stats himself the Girls have stats with him. Well and good but the grind, oh the grind is Horrible, Disastrous and mind-boggling mood killing.

You can't choose. There are literally no options at least you have to grind all the girls to progress and then, at the end, you can choose if you want to stay in a Relationship. Why don't give the Option before that.

Is it really that big of a deal? Let me give you an example:
Let's say you want the Fitness Women you have to train your running skill. What to do with the Rest of the Day. So you decide you go for the Teacher Woman as well, so you have to go to lessons every Day. (you need Running 94 and Study Point 15).
What is your Gameplay. (Don't read all of that, of course)
Click the Button Prepare Breakfast--> sea the Breakfast scene--> click the Button go to class-->click on the University Icon--> click on the Arrows to go left--> click on the first Arrow-->see the class scene--> click the button skip your break--> click on the second arrow to go to the other class-->click on the Button listen--> see the scene of the second class-->click on the Park Icon--> Train--> see the Training scene-->click on the Park Icon--> Train--> see the Training scene--> click on skip time-->click on skip time
You do that for the next 4 Days so
Click the Button Prepare Breakfast--> sea the Breakfast scene--> click the Button go to class-->click on the University Icon-->
Just kidding, I don't write that but if you play that game as intended you do that now for 90 min. Be Aware. You can't get the sates otherwise, and you don't trigger the new scene.
Calling that unbelievably repetitive and boring would be a huge exaggeration.
By the end of Weak 2 you get you 15 Study Point and you get your first sexual content with the Women you want to go. To get her second scene you need 50 Study Points. (You can earn 2 Points per Day excl. weekends)
After 2 additional weeks the Fitness Lady is ready now but no Sexual content so no rewards, but now you can grind her Affection Points and Sexuality Points. Get her up to 30 and 20. (you can only do that on the weekends) After 2 hours my brain was leaking through my ears.
After all the stat grind you have one sex scene and a lot of teasing. It's a paper chase with a lot off paper but with little reward.

You can't lose there is no deadline, so the skip button becomes you best friend. And because of that you can't lose the game. What's make the grind somehow irrelevant. You will get the point the only question is how long will you do that. My recommendation for you download the cheat mod. Use it!

Seriously it is so much grind that I forget what the girls have said in her last scene.

The UI is good but that dost save it.

Art Style (5 out of 5)
Let's make it short and brief the Renders are very Good the Animations work well enough. The Models are Beautiful. Pls both of you take my honest appreciation for that.

Story and Characters (2 out of 5)
Disclaimer again: There are usually and roughly speaking two Types of Audience. One who watches a Movie or read a Book and want to sit in the audience they wanted to be narrated (call them Watchers).
The others want to immerse themselves they want to see the Story through the eyes of a Main character. If the later one is giving a choice and some power over the Story he is called a Role player. Most gamers want to immerse with a Main Character that's why they play games.
I am one of these guys.

This is a Hard one for me and I have to give only two.

You need a great Potion of Fantasy when you rate this kind of game in genral. It isn't reality. I think we all agree. But are the Character believable in their on Universe and interesting.
The Women in this game are mostly standard. I really forget about what was going on because of the grind. You remember my brain smelting away. Standard Characters. None of them was engaging story wise good they look good but their Stories and Personality. You have your old friend. You have your Vamp. You have your Nerd. You have your Photo model, etc.
That would be 3 out of 5 because you know average. If this is a game for Fapping it would even be 4 out 5. They are ok. Cause to the grind it isn't. I never get excited let alone to an orgasm and let's face it we play sex games here.

So why 2 out of 5.

I think the writers see it coming and wanted to spice things up. To do that they come up with an Idea.
An Antagonist.
And here there are in a catch-22 Situation I would say. An antagonist is only as good as the Protagonist allows him to be and vice versa. First the Antagonist isn't well written because we see the thoughts we can read whats going on in the Antagonist. And the thoughts are plain and simple mustache twirling evil. Boring for me.
Second the Antagonist only is successful because of the plain stupidity of the MC.
This is one of the weakest MCs you can play. He is inconsistent. He is shy, bold as fuck, twisted minded, Mother Theresa. To make it short he hasn't a Character at all.
And when it comes down to the Antagonist he is so unbelievably dump and stupid.
Why is that? I only can speculate. I think the Story was long written before anything else or there is just there to get us through the art gallery. So the MC become nothing more than a plot device. He is written in a way nobody can relate to him.
Because of that I am powerless because MC is powerless because the writers need him powerless because otherwise the Antagonist could not work in any way, shape or form. Not a good experience.
As a rule of good writing the MC should not be legging so much behind the Audience. I knew what happens long, long before MC and can't do anything. It is like reading a book.

Statement like the Femdom is "very light". Aren't true at all. If you want to immerse yourself. I say so much. You will get tortured by the Antagonist. Tough for me.


So if you like a Mind control game where you are on the receiving end, maybe this is for you. A big Maybe.
Yes it is just the 2 scenes but for me these two take out the air of everything else. The rest was a light hearted joyfull ride. The other Women at least for me can't shine in the wake of lurking danger forced on the MC by the almighty presence of the Antagonist.

Conclusion:
I can't recommend playing the Game because it is hardly a game you have no choices and the grind is real. If you want to read the story use the cheat mod but even with it is a lot of grind.
The Stories become way too crazy. I mean crazy, crazy. (The only thing its missing are a mind reading Ninja clan on the hunt for the mighty boner of the MC, This was a Joke. You didn't lough. good) If you are a reader it could be ok but if you want to immerse yourself no.
You have no real choice and are Powerless in key elements of the story which should be at least be avoidable. This is normally standard i mean it should be. The Maledom part in the game (1 scene) is complete avoideble.
You get what I mean.
If you want to look at the beautiful CGs load a CG gallery. There are wonderful but still not worth the effort. Look at the Tags from f95 they are more correct than in the genre section, and they are in the Game.

I will keep that game on my watch list because I think these problems are really solvable. And I have this strange feeling that this game can be a 4 out of 5. I will make good intended suggestions in the threat. And I will change my rating to the better when this might be the case.

One of the best renders and animations in all games, I can tell the dev went with quality over quantity approach. Unfortunately, this could feel grindy to people who just want a quick nut.
Story and music choice were amazing too, defintely worth trying.

Overall, very solid game, and one that I am now backing because I like what I see so far.

Characters seem to have more depth than most other games, and the variety of personality types that they present is a nice departure from the cookie cutter personalities that we get in so many other games. You can actually empathize with some of them, and develop favorites.

Only thing I don't like is that the "main" story ending for the particular update stops the game, so you cannot progress any of the side content with the other women, but I don't think that's worth knocking off a star for.

Looking forward to the next update.

Not a bad game at all. Lot of clicking around, the game design is probably the weakest part. The art is one of the best around. Ladies look gorgeous, skin and sheen are beautiful.

To be honest, don't really care for the character models except Jessie and Gina sometimes. If all your girls look like big breasted bimbos, then they all start to blend in together. One is dark, one wears glasses, one has blond hair. All have big breasts and wide hips. I wish the world would get over Kardashian wannabe's, but that's just me.

The writing is there, so that definitely helps with the characters, just feel like a wasted opportunity of talent for such vanilla looking ladies. I'm only bitching because the renders are that good, and I'd love to see some petites in the same world they built.

Personally it's a 3 star game for me, but 4 star game at least in comparison to everything out there. A Special Mention to the GENIUSES who implemented the color scale in text box. So many games have mountains of text, but washed out by graphics. Why even bother? Almost gave you a 5 star just for that!

i wished i could avoid the ms.Cooper content, for me the fem-dom is half-cocked.
sometimes the MC is a wimp and then again his own master, come on so naive can a countryboy not be.
i know is fiction, but 4me it's Meeeh.
the character ms.Cooper is in my opinion immature written, either dom or obident...something in between feels half-baked.
this pseudo-blackmail and late, the content with mom,... come on how old is the MC?!? has he no ass in his pants?!?

i wished the game let me achieve the sex skill points and let me progress further differently(interaction with olivia,jessy or others).
as long as it was possible i avoided the msCooper content, but at one point or the other it was no longer possible to move forward in the game.

i don't feel much satisfied, only 3 stars from me.

i played femdom-games and was satisfied with the content, but this is badly written in my opinion.

Dry Hump The Game would be more apt title. Honest to God this game is tediously grindy & with no pay off in the end, its mind blowing that this has a 4.5 Star rating, Its a game where EVERYBODY gets laid but the protagonist. At 5+ GB in size you'd expect something more than what you get in the end product is a dull game with repetitive scenes that become a chore to get through

One of the best games ever play! Fantastic graphics, excellent story, and a lot of animations. Some of the characters are really impressive, for example, Jessy is fantastic, the plot is very complicated. The authors are very responsive to any suggestions or request

Very nice game.
Stunning graphics, smart dialogues, music "in the subject".
The music design supports the mood of the game.
The story is fascinating. The only comment.
I played this game a year ago.
Nothing has changed.
This is rhe same "old" game, just made on a different engine.
I didn't find anything new in this version.

The bad thing about this game is its sandbox part, the repeating scenes mechanic gets confusing, i found myself skipping scenes that i was repeating but suddenbly changed and i hadnt notices cause i was just bored.

That is a mood killer and hints are not helping.
The game has some sort of story but doesnt seem to rely much on it. Theres 3 subplots that are not oving forward as of 0.3:
Olivia and Scott, Ms cooper, the misterious first time girl, and you could add the sisters which is also presented but doesnt move.
Some of this may have moved but its so tedious repeating scenes that i may have missed it.

The visual part is ok, nothing remarkable, maybe Sandra, she looks awesome, some animations are worth. Olivia looks good and If you like redheads with corset thin waist you are in luck cause Jess has a loooot of content, insane amounts.
The rest of the game is the usual peeking, staring, sleep raping (way to love someone, premium narrative there) and a bunch of handjobs. For a 5GB game i couldn be more dissapointed.

For me this is another game that is gonna take 2 years to fix.

EDIT 1 year after:
Gina stays the same. Jess cant tell the diference. Charlene the same. Olivia cant tell tedifference. Sister stays the same. Jess "friend" the same.Shopkeeper cant tell.
The whole sex with Gina arc is retarded, adn the "we had sex but none of us remembers" still not fixed, so despite the fact that it happened, their behavior towards one another didnt change in termsof gameplay, so that sex is actually a disguised dream.

After 12 months i can say:
What a waste!

Version reviewed: v0.3

Overview
Big City's Pleasures started out well. The renders are good quality, the animations are fairly average (some were good, some were a bit janky), and the story is compelling at first. Very quickly, though, the dreaded sandbox drag started to take effect. My general playstyle is to avoid the tips section and just play the game the way it feels natural to play, the way a person would actually act, and go about his day. But, I quickly realized I was getting nowhere fast. After a quick glance at the tips, I realized the problem.

The game sets ridiculously high goals for the amount of grinding required. In this case meaning that, as a player, I'm forced to repeat actions over, and over, and over ad nauseum until an arbitrary level of relationship points or some other random stat is met. Sometimes in games like this, it is acceptable, but this game does not even change up the scenes. Meaning that the player is forced to watch the same scene per repeated task over and over again. And the scenes are not short, in fact, they are very long and have no option to skip repeats.

The result of this grinding is that the story, what little we see of it, grinds to a halt, then suddenly leaps forward when another goal is reached, only to grind to a halt again. Meaning that the overall experience of playing the game is boring and grindy.

TLDR Ratings
Overall appearance: Slightly above average
Renders: Good
Animations: Average
UI: Below average
Sandbox elements: Baaaaaaaaaaaad
Story: Started above average, became choppy and non-existent

Just a fair bit of warning for the new players. The very FIRST sexual scene of the game is the female main character (your friend) getting fucked by her boyfriend and being a slut while the other roommate is clearly a slut. And no, it's not avoidable. You may choose to not view the scene but the MC still watches them fuck with all the dialogues playing in the background. So non-avoidable.So yeah, you are living with 2 girls one of whom has her bf over almost all nights (obviously fucking) and the other who is hungry for any a dick no matter whose. Pretty much killed the mood right at the beginning! Still giving it 3 stars because I played for a while more and the game looked decent but when the start of the game itself kills the mood, I didn't see any point in playing on. Not my cup of tea but if others don't mind this, play the game right ahead. Might enjoy it. But yeah, you have been warned.

Forced rape, forced femdom and an idiot MC whom behaves like a 12 year old whom is going through puberty not as a grown ass man. No choices in the game, this game should be tagged as a kinetic novel. Renders are gorgeous though and is the only saving grace for this game.