VN - Ren'Py - Chasing Sunsets [v0.9a] [Stone Fox Studios]

It's mostly very good. However, the entire story has one big problem: the protagonist's history is extremely fleshed out, and full of very stupid choices.
Normally, in this type of game, the protagonist is in a shitty situation for reasons not entirely in his control. Here, everything could have been avoided, and would have been if he had behaved anything like me at all, or like most people would have. As a result, all the romantic plots are heavily colored by that, in ways that are detrimental to the story. I'm not saying that a protagonist can't have mistakes in their past - if their past is going to be fleshed out then they should - but their past should have things in it that aren't mistakes, and the mistakes should be the type that people commonly make, rather than unique fuckups like these.

I came extremely close to uninstalling the game early on for that reason, but I just barely decided to give it another try. I'm moderately glad I did.
The girls are hot, and interesting, and the non-romantic plot is solid (if a bit predictable at a number of occasions). The sex scenes are pretty good, but if, like me, you're looking for first person POV, then they're a bit sparse on the good stuff. The writing is good, and I like how decisions can have consequences, up to and including basically losing the game.

There's little in it that I would say is amazing, and there's definitely some stuff that I think isn't well done, but overall it's probably worth playing.

Initially this was 4 stars, then I noticed two things in the replay gallery: you can't change the protagonist's name from "Alex" (which, for personal reasons, is particularly problematic for me), and Jaye may or may not be a virgin depending on... what, exactly? Either she did or she didn't, and it would have happened before the game really started. And it doesn't seem to be based on the obvious choices.

Edit again: I find myself really looking forward to the next update for this game, so I'm giving it back a star.

Finished this VN earlier on the day of writing this review, and I dont know how to feel about it. I am both uncomfortable and intrigued, disgusted and eager to see more.

In my infinite wisdom, I downloaded this VN just because people said it was good, without reading what it was about. So to say I was a little surprised about some of its contents is an understatement.
And the worst part is that I actually enjoyed it. Its actually good, so good that I am eagerly waiting to see how the story wraps up.
It aint no masterpiece, not that I expect one, but what it does, it does well and as it went on I wanted to see where the story goes.

I was thinking of writing a long ass post about what made me stick around, but instead, I just recommend you give it a shot, as in my opinion it is a rare example of an actual good work within an ocean of visualy boring, terribly written trash that floods this genre.

4/5

Great visuals, very advanced writing and somewhat engaging story with great dialogues and witty jokes.

The game relies too much on Jaye and Alex relationship, if you dont like Jaye it doesnt make much sense. Animations are also very bad compared to other top VN.

Aside from that its pretty good.

This is a really great game. The story is interesting enough to keep you playing, and the models are gorgeous.

Graphics:
The models are gorgeous (especially the LIs) as mentioned above, and the environments are nice as well. Nothing to complain about here.

Animations:
Mostly static images, but the ones that are there, are very well done.

Story:
It's interesting enough to keep you playing. We don't know how it'll end, but there are some revelations that I thought was pretty cool.

Characters:
At times they can be annoying and deceitful. But as I played the game they kind of grew on me. Not sure if it had anything to do with my choices.

Audio:
It fits the game perfectly. Calm and soothing. Melodic piano pieces.

Dialogue:
Nothing to complain about. It's well written, without typos or grammar errors. It's also very humorous at times.

Replayability:
Not sure, but I think it's pretty good considering you can choose to go solo or share. Also pick one to do it with. I went with the "share" option so I haven't tried the other paths. I'm assuming there are at least three paths available.

Verdict:
Chasing Sunsets is a game worth playing in my opinion. The LIs are hot, and once (if) you get to know them, very adorable.

Excellent AVN t he story is interesting. The models are awesome. This is a creator that tics all the boxes. I am not saying all AVN's should be this. Just trying to give Credit to a developer that did an excellent job. I really liked the interaction with Amanda and an Ai (can't mention AI's name because of review rules) i never saw that coming, but it was a nice insert and fit perfectly with Amandas awakening. Can't wait to see the rest of the story. Thank you for an excellant AVN.

Well, This game hit me hard - great story telling, with good language, and actual emotional impact. I love how deep and tragic history of main protagonists was, It just somehow felt real. Probably one of few games that can be loved for actual plot and character development, and not for being ultimate f-machine. I just had to drop my money for it after my playthrough.

An extremely well-written game where the story and not just the sex scenes make you want to play through again from the start. The scenes and animations are well made and not just some bimbofied characters

One of the best AVNs out there. The dialogs are whimsical and fun to read and the art is top notch. Jaye is for me the hottest LI out there and the other girls are also beautiful. I also like the sex scenes animations. It's nice to play a MC who does not act like a 13 year old. TL;DR: it's a great all around AVN and one of the best I ever played.

I make it short: if you don't like MC's stepsister - do not play this game.

All game built around MC and his stepsister relationship.
These are some other minor LIs, but you can't develop relationship with them, because it's kinetic nover and future already predefined

This game is pure bliss!From the gorgeous women to the great story and dramas that , i don't hid, made me release some true tears. dialogue, banter with sys,humor and some cameo\reference that i don't get.. are all great..maybe the prologue is a bit confusing..cuz i still wondering if what we are playing is before or after the bar prologue..
I simply can't wait to play the next chapter..cuz this is easly one of the best VN outhere

5/5

(v0.8a)

Most of the women in the game are beautiful, but the one that gets the most screentime has an unfortunate skin condition that causes her to look orange enough to be the bastard love child of Donald Trump and an Oompa Loompa. But looks aren't everything, and her personality can easily have you forgetting about her Jersey Shore pigmentation as you wonder why anyone would ever put up with this bitch for any length of time.

Jaye is selfish, manipulative, unstable, violent, deceitful, hypocritical, entitled, and a complete writer's pet. She's constantly pushed on the player, even when you've chosen to distance yourself from her. The only other primary love interest in the game is saddled with an annoying side kick who is also pushed on you in ways that don't fit the story. So there is a good chance you're going to be left wishing that one of the side characters were a full fledged option.

The game begins with a prologue that is understandably linear since it is primarily a giant series of flashback scenes. But the game fails to let you take full control over the player character once into the main game. There are tons of choices to be made in this game, but you are often railroaded into certain situations regardless of whether or not they fit with the character you are playing and the choices you made.

The game frequently undoes the character growth that occurs due to your choices in order to relentlessly stuff Jaye into the spotlight and revert the player's character back to who they were at the start of the game instead of letting them grow into who the player has been shaping them into. And the same goes for Jaye, who's actions have completely gone against her end of chapter summaries that I've read for the last four chapters. That's half the damn game. It's a big problem.

First of all, if you are a defloration (Female first time sex), pure love, wincest lover, this is for you. You will enjoy it.
Now...


Character Renders: Simply gorgeous. This kind of style is usually only available in those western VNs where the girl had 10 exes or a slut or something. But here, the dev made great use of the models and the ambience.

Plot: The main thing. As I have mentioned in the first part, this is a romantic, wincest, defloration game. That means no sluts, non-virgins or drugs, peeping on your mom and other whacky shit. Unfortunately, this still has casual sex but not too much. . Also, beware that . The romance is pretty in-depth. It isn't the usual "Girl you're hot, let's fuck". "Oh MC your dick is so big, I'm in love" type of 'romance'. It has proper romance with tons of emotional rollercoaster.


Others: It's made with Ren'Py so the usual UI that'll let you speed through stuff.


As a wincest romance game, this deserves nothing less than 9.5/10 in my opinion.

I have played this game once almost a year ago and left it, when I got to Sicili in prologue... I do not know why (probably, because at first I did not like the MC and his action in Sicili... I know, I know... ), but decided to give this another go as others really recommends it and this AVN being at top ever made... So...

As the story unfolded, by the second chapter I started to understand and finally saw why this is loved by many. I have immediately liked it and now I am sad I have finished it... The longer time you spend with the story and characters, the more you connect with them (at least in my case), so it is hard to have pause from it . But I am really looking forward for continuation of this, as this is also amongst my top AVNs I have ever read. (God, the list is already around 10-15 all time favorites, plus count this...).

Thank you Stone Fox Studios for making this wholesome and interesting story about sibling love. It was so cute, so funny, so adorable...
You gotta love ferocious kitsune .

Jaye is so beautiful, so... real, believable, so supportive and finally, so loving.

Mallory as a character is also endearing... Her story being sad, yet she tries to make it fun. And as a friend is very enjoyable to have, plus her friend Amanda - peanut is quite handful, yet amusing and great .

The story itself is interesting, gripping and greatly fitting for whole sibling relationship and just what they needed (after long wait and played strings of fate), for their beautiful bond to unfold and bloom.

The setting and scenes are well done and few had me on the edge of seat for being so damn nerve-wracking, dramatic, and thrilling, yet everything was in context and fitted seamlessly.
And I have not even mentioned other side characters as George, Tanaka, and many others who makes this story a bit more down on earth, real and much more enjoyable.

Every little mischievous action by Jaye, every loving moment with her and connection with MC were so endearing to see.
I love this game and am very thankful for being able to read it... So I can only recommend it for others. You will not be dissapointed.

There's a reason this game is rated so highly. I want to give this game something between a 4 and a 5, but I can't do that so I've given it a 5. It's rare to see a story this logically consistent and intriguing. The writing is great, and I never struggled to understand the information being presented to me.

The music is great, but I wanted more of it. The sound effects were also great, but I also wanted more of them, particularly accompanying the sex scenes.

Speaking of the sex scenes, they're fantastic once the animations begin. The first leg of scenes don't have great animations, but that changes later in the game. Very satisfying scenes.

The LIs are attractive and likable, particularly Jaye. Mallory is cool and all, but this should really just be Jaye's game imo, especially if we're going to be made to choose a path anyway.

All in all, very impressed with Chasing Sunsets. Glad I played what content there currently is, and very excited to see what comes next.

The prologue and first couple of chapters are excellent. I loved the narrative device of the main character telling his story to his friend, giving an unreliable recollection of events while we see what happened via flashbacks. I wish it would have continued like that with brief, meaningful scenes framed in conversation. Unfortunately after the prologue it shifts to a more standard method of storytelling, although I think the MC is still sitting there in the bar recounting events to his friend.

I started losing interest around chapter four as I became aware of some issues with the story. To be clear: this is not a bad game, nor is it "average." I think it definitely qualifies as "good." But I can't say that it maintains the excellence from the prologue either.

My biggest issue is with Mallory. Jaye is obviously the primary love interest of the game. The whole prologue is about her, and Mallory is an add-on to the story that becomes increasingly strange as time goes on. At first I thought she was just another side character that the MC gets to have some fun with before the relationship with Jaye is mended. But then she shows up on the chapter review screen right beside Jaye with her own full list of points. Several chapters later it becomes impossible to get all the points for both Jaye and Mallory, and it becomes clear that you have to choose one or the other. Of course I choose Jaye, and then Mallory drops out of the spotlight for a while. Then she's back, there's a fake-out scene with her, and the chapter review says that she's friend-zoned me. I'm not even going to address the weird plot twists about who Mallory is and her importance to the story.

Plot twists aside, why is Mallory here? To be an alternative love interest to Jaye? I doubt anyone would play through the prologue (which is all about Jaye) and then decide to be invested in a completely different girl. It's a hard binary choice too. This isn't a harem game, which is fine, but I'm not convinced that Mallory is a real alternative option to Jaye. She has fewer scenes, and just to drive the point home again, far less backstory and character development.

Mallory is the worst of the "side girls" in my opinion, but they are all poor additions to the game overall. I don't think any of them have more than one scene right now. Fiona, Linda, Erika, Lisa, Tara, Amanda, the flight attendant, etc. and at least a few more to come from the looks of it. Why are they all here? It's painful to try to get invested in these characters when they are clearly meant to be recurring but end up as text conversations that go "hey MC, I'm still here, can't wait to see you again and have some fun." In my opinion side characters in a non-harem game need to do one of two things:

1. Show up once and then disappear. Maybe show up again out of the blue later on, but not feign at having any significance to the story.
2. Be integrated with one of the main love interests. Amanda does this with Mallory, and if I didn't dislike Mallory so much I'd be really interested to see how she fits in. Tara kinda does this with Jaye, but she's only had scenes in flashbacks.

"Too many characters" seems to be a common pitfall for visual novel developers. I understand the temptation to provide variety and more content overall, but in a game like this one it really drags things down. I think that the best story here is the one with the MC and Jaye, and everything else is just a distraction.

What can I say? This game rightfully has a big following and the renders are up there with the best in pretty much any game.
I actually think the story is one the better ones out there, with an interesting and diverse arc spanning multiple locations over time.
Add in 2 of the hottest love interests in the AVN world today and you understandably have an AVN that shines amongst it's peers.
I am sure as the game continues to come towards it's conclusiom the game will only get better.
Stone Fox - make sure you nail the landing with the endings!
*Edited for several spelling mistakes*

Really good game with a good plot about biology and science, with beautiful girls, and a good sense of humour. I hope the ratio of 4th wall breaks, inside joke remains identical: more would be not good for the work itself.

About the girls, the main ones are really beautiful and I like their personalities. I hope the "harem" can be sustained until the end, because both main girls are charming but their path is not different enough to justify 2 playthroughs.

I'm quite curious about the final length of the game : there has to be a lot of things yet explained, but not too much to avoid unnecessary duration.

Chasing Sunsets is a wonderful story built on a foundation we all recognize - relationships. It is, at its core, a story about a blended family, the way love can grow and the unexpected damage that can come from what seems to be a small misunderstanding over communication and choices. During this VN, you will follow the growth of several key characters, the MC - who you get to name - Jaye, who becomes his stepsister - and Mallory, who we are still learning about.

For those who want a more category-based analysis, here is my subjective assessment!

(scale of 1 - 10 with high number = better)

Immersion = 8
Story = 9
Humor = 11
Imagery = 9
Animations = 9
Music = 9
sound effects = 8
Frequency of update = 7

If you want to know why I rate Chasing Sunsets this way, please read on.

There is great writing, with humor, sadness, acts of love, protection and sacrifice, painful loss and fateful choices all wrapped up against a journey in both the present and the past, using looks into the past to help frame how each of these three people have grown into the adults they are now. Each of these characters has dealt with hurt and great loss but still found joy and each carries hope for the future, all against the background of day-to-day life as well as greater world events that impact the story, be it war or major weather events.

Choices matter - and the MC has to choose how or if to build trust and love with either or both of Jaye and Mallory. Chasing Sunsets is now up to rev 0.8a, and the MC Can make Major choices that will result in the death of one or more main characters, obviously leading to bad endings.

This is not a harem game (based on the story we know up until now at least) and, while I am focused on the Jaye path right now, I will eventually restart this VN and focus on Mallory. These are complex adult relationships where your choices can lead to deeper and more meaningful interactions (perhaps culminating in marriage and family - though this is only my feeling based on how the story has developed). Conversely, consistently making choices that break trust and don't foster the growth of love and affection could lead to very bad results, perhaps even death, just as these choices would lead to endings from bad to horrible in real life. You choose how the MC interacts with the world and the people he encounters along the way. The MC is Not perfect, but your choices can create an MC who is admirable, dependable and someone others look up to and rely on Or they can create an MC who is self-serving, callous with the affection of others and one who chooses to leave some destruction in the wake of his passing.

Will you be bitter about the past, and let your losses cloud your perspective and dim your hopes for the future Or will you learn from the past, be a caring friend who puts others ahead of self and find the admiration and love of a spectacular woman as well as the stalwart friendship of worthy men and women?

Come take the journey, Chasing Sunsets, and see what you think.

PS - Take your time enjoying this story. Don't just click through each image but take the time to view each image, enjoy any accompanying music and watch how the scene changes as you immerse yourself in this story. If you treat this VN like a clickfest, racing to get to the next sexy scene, you will miss out on some of the immersion that makes Chasing Sunsets such a good VN. There are many scenes where one 'click' to advance a scene will reveal not just a static image, but an image that morphs as emotions play across the face of someone the MC is spending time with or offers the animated movement of a character as they wrestle with a difficult choice or situation.

FYI - I have supported this VN on Patreon/Subscribestar from early in its development and I have more than 100 hours of time spent enjoying this story through multiple playthroughs.

This is probably the most overrated game I've come across in this site. This is not a bad game by any means but it has achieved almost a "masterpiece" status in the community and I just can't see the appeal behind it. Let me start off by listing a few things that bothered me with this game.
1. The story is not that interesting, more than that it's borderline nonsensical and barely cohesive at times. There is no sense of urgency to the game, most importantly the story itself doesn't have any consequences for MC, at no point is MC in any immediate or impending danger(except a few flashbacks). Overall it does a poor job on immersion.

2. Lack of LIs. Basically you get to chose between 2 LIs, one of whom is clearly given more priority throughout the game, so at the end I'd assume most players end up going her route. There are a couple of side characters none of them particularly LI material. If you don't click with one of those LIs you might as well drop the game, because let's be honest they are the main focus of the game even more so than the story itself.

3. Lack of meaningful choices, it's not an issue in itself, it's rather a consequence of point no. 2. There being only 2 main LIs makes it so that there are no meaningful choices in the games, only "right" and "wrong" choices which make the game kinda stale and boring. Even if you chose the "wrong" choices, MC's motivation for doing things remain the same. For example you can chose to act against Jaye, which should indicate that he is angry at her but later in the dialogue it is still revealed that he ran away not because he was mad at her but because he was in love with her, the reason still remains the same so what's the point of even giving those choices in the first place. Might as well then it into a kinetic novel.

4. Annoying decision by characters totally out of the players control. First off the main foundation of the story is based off of a fucking stupid ass decision by MC, which is running away from home. It's not the decision alone that annoys me, it's the reason behind it. He ran away because he was in love with his step sis, like seriously bro are you that out of control of your emotions? That's your reason for leaving behind your family for 6 years? That always seemed so silly to me and that's actually used as a building block for the entire story.

There are also many other out of control things that happen which are simply annoying. Like Mallory kissing MC. It's an inevitable action, no matter what options you choose it happens and the only purpose it serves is acting as a catalyst for pissing off the main LI.


That being said, I did enjoy the game for the first few chapters, the dynamic with the sister is done really well and the end results with her are also very satisfactory.

This is a visually stunning game. My first thought was jealousy (I'm writing my own game and I want the programmer and artist). Then came the first animation and I was disappointed. However, that got better as the game went on and the animations became a lot better. This game is a story, with sex. If you don't like a linear story then you might not like this game. As far as writing and graphic, this is probably the best VN I have played. It's a well-written story and visually pleasing. The only thing I would say is to go back and fix the first few sex scenes to be as good as the rest of them. I am looking forward to more updates.