Ren'Py - Blissful Sleep [v0.3.7a] [Toramizu]

There's a lot good here.

Art: The character art is solid, and even though the battle sprites are public, they are credited. Most sex scenes don't have dedicated CG at this point, but I didn't find this to be an issue once I got into it.

Gameplay: I'm usually not a fan of deckbuilding roguelikes, but this is really fun and well done, especially in Ren'Py. I did end up using the dev mode to skip fights after a while, which was much appreciated.
I will say that I was frustrated by the lack of signposting of what to do. I know this is a point of controversy in gaming, but when doing a full run takes a long time and a lot of concentration, I'd appreciate a little more heads up on whether there's any point to doing a full run. In a similar vein, I was annoyed at not knowing how to unlock some routes, and having the empty heart meters not show up until a certain point just exacerbated the issue - is there simply no lust route, or have I not unlocked it yet? Or did I disqualify myself at some point? Etc. And the game doesn't make it clear if any of the routes are mutually exclusive, as I was trying to do all the lust routes without the love routes, but some amount of love progress was sometimes required for the lust route to unlock... Even a hint in the dev notes about how to unlock each route would have made it much more enjoyable.

Writing: The writing was pretty solid, only a few minor typos, but by the end I had kinda soured on it. I'll call the issue 'picture-book lecturing' - the relationship questlines are set up around a perfect character with one flaw, which is carefully set up so the narrators (main character and succubus) can then use it to lecture about a principle of sexual health, which fixes that character. The sister is about learning about your submissiveness and especially the importance of standing up for yourself. The dragon lady was about consent in power dynamics and caring about your partner. Etc. 'Picture-book' because these seem like the kinds of things you would teach teenagers as they are exploring their sexuality, and each situation seems very straightforward and specifically designed to teach that principle, like a corporate training video. The dragon lady's even like 'explain everything to me about how to pleasure my partner in detail'. Once the narrator has given their lecture, everything is fixed. And 'textbook' because the narrators take every opportunity provided to list out step by step the ideals of sexual health and interject their thoughts to the player on anything that might not be up to their expectations, as though the writer is afraid that any depiction of something unethical might be perceived as their endorsement, and so they need to follow it up with a disclaimer.

If this is unintentional, part of it is probably just the natural result of having a nigh-omniscient sex-positive demon narrating half the scenes.

This didn't start out as a big deal but by the end of the content it felt a bit reductive and I'm less inclined to come back for future updates.

If you have played Hardcoded, it was kinda like that, although not as much (yet).

Overview:

I genuinely enjoyed playing this game. Are there aspects that could use a little help? Sure. But don't let the renpy tag fool you; it's not just some visual novel with some yes/no decisions. At it's core, is a genuine game with some seriously well-developed mechanics.

The Good:

I had a really good time with the gameplay. I'll try not to get too deep into it but briefly think of it as 'Slay The Spire' meets 'Yahtzee'. You roll a couple dice and then allocate them to take different actions, the flavor of which depends largely on your partner character. For example there can be an attack, but you can only assign a die that rolled 4 or less. Then you progress through the night fighting more and more enemies, sometimes picking up more cards. When the night ends you can build up relationships with your partner characters for more dice or more health or more cards slots.

It's a unique variation of a fairly established genre. The originality of the dev shines through with this game for sure. And then the balancing of the game is on point. Some cards have more difficult requirements, but yield much higher payout. And the building between cycles works well too, making it feel like you're actively building a more powerful... Deck? I guess? It's all put together quite well.

The Not-So-Good:

There's certainly room for refinement in some areas. The art can be a little simple, with several placeholder silhouettes for minor characters, and outsourced still images for enemy fights. All this gives off a bit of a patchwork type of vibe.

As of the time off this review, some mechanics are not entirely fleshed out, or do not seem to work as indicated. One example: there's a card meant to bolster your attacks, by giving you a temporary buff. But the buff fades by one every turn. The issue is it continues to fade by one even after 0, so you continue to weaken after playing the buff.

Wrap up:

There's a lot going right in this game. Even though the art can be simple, and there's a few bugs, and futa x futa stuff isn't really for me; I genuinely think this one is a diamond in the rough.

[v0.21d]
Junky, but pleasant.

-Story, Originality
I am still not sure what is happening in the game...
And I don't like to read a lot (except books).

-Renders
Okay art.

-Sound
Have mixed feelings about the sounds and music...
Felt somewhat uncomfortable.

-Playability
Played for 1-2 hours, but didn't feel any progress.
The plot h-scenes are behing grind and during "minigames" there are only some nice pictures.

-Performance
Runs like an average Ren'Py game (Or is it not?).

-Bugs
Didn't see any.

-Animations
A lot of still images and VFX.

-Voice Acting
Don't remember hearing voices.

-Grammar
Didn't see any mistakes.

-Amount of content
I played a lot and not even sure if there are a lot of content...

There are a lot of variations during minigames, but they just reset every time...

And plot events only happen if you grind NPC's stats over and over...

Good idea.
Good art.
Okay gameplay.
Too much grind.

Review of online version 0.2.3. Art is avg, story above avg, gameplay is a bit confusing, encountered a few bugs like when reading books at the library or after fight dialogue but neither crashed renpy.

The art is mostly static character models with a few full scenes sprinkled in. Some have placeholder silhouettes like the MC's father which was confusing bc it was explained later that your father is futa with feminine features.

Story is original and there is enough world-building between MC's backstory and library that it feels cohesive. Not currently a large variety of locations to visit and only a handful of characters. Still not sold on Margaret's intent for helping MC, seems benevolent only as a story driving force.

Gameplay is an area that needs improvement. From the onset you are strong and there's nothing you can't beat. Some of the mechanics are not intuitive and trying to explain them in 2 short lines of text is not enough. Some enemies I had no idea what their attacks were going to do or how to prepare. Melody's succubus in particular is convoluted. I still don't fully understand her 3rd card. Lots of the symbols for currency or in battle resources are not explained until after you have chosen to use them.

Overall lots of potential. Clean up the gameplay confusion and continue to add art and content and this title should be a success.

TLDR good game needs more content and mechanic clarity. 4 stars

Happy to contribute to the future of this project! Thus far, the art is good to my eyes (eye of the beholder takes precedence here, however, so your own mileage may well vary) and as stated in the developers Patreon they have their eye on commissioning for better art still in future.

A Card Battler it is, which is the only reason it is a 4 Star here since whilst personally excellent to my feeling I gather if you have played such beforehand, you will not be blown away with its gameplay.

Its early days as yet, however! And its bound to be fleshed out further.

Happier still I am to contribute in what small way I can to queer stories in indie strat games, card battlers though they may be <3

Do please take a gander and support in what measure you may find apt @ their Itch page for this game if you are keen on prospects for this title. Again, heartily commend this.