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

Wow wow wow! Play play you must play! Writing is top notch along with real life like characters. Renders are nice too. There's a lot of humor along with references to movies and such if you are into that. You will really enjoy it trust me. Goodluck to the dev and can't for new chapter(s) ❤

The review contains spoilers!

The only good thing I can say about this game is the graphics.
The story is boring, already during the prologue a red light went on for me.
The girls are boring and predictable, there are only two li in the game, one is in a lesbian relationship(Dev seems to know that he fucked up here because later he tries to undo it) and the other enters the game as if on assignment to meet the protagonist and it is not clear what her goals are(on top of that she want to enter in lesbian rel later xD), so both are red flags at the start, the side girls are uninteresting and in a stupid way trying to seduce the MC.
Variables are unclear, I played a solo game and died, probably because with a boorish Asian girl I didn't want to train, hard to tell because the variables are called bolo(number)
Protagonist - it's hard to like him, he shoots a furball because he loves his sister and runs away from home, he has sex with the wife of a guy who treats him like a son, he has sex with his sister's partner, he has sex with a newly met girl and she records it, well retard and on top of that he writes a diary and leaves it on his desk in an open room, let everyone read xDDDDDDDD.


I don't even want to dwell on this production, a very boring story with no interesting girls, the first game ever where i reject all the girls along the way.

English: 10
User Interface: 8
User Experience: 6
Art: 9
Dialogue: 4
Story: 7
Opinion: 5
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Avg: 7.0/10

I think I started a review of this the last time I played it, but for whatever reason gave up on it. And if I remember right there's an ENTIRE MIDDLE SECTION that just does not matter. (I'm starting this before playing again.) Where MC just lives at a ski lodge and has an affair with the wife, and/or daughter, because... They had a couple conversations? And it provides context for MC getting nudes intermittently. MC is a barely atypical Gary-Stu where his only quality is quippy-ness and "I traveled a lot." And none of the LI's are at all interesting beyond some backstories that are better than most of the garbage on this site. They all kinda act special needs (never mind the ACTUAL autistic girl later on) And another issue is the start. Listening to MC go on about the false troubles he's had up until this point, pretending there's even a chance that there's some negative ending to an AVN is laughable at best. And all the dialogue spouted here by MC is a bunch of fluffy cliches you hear everywhere, trying to sound profound. Which, if you've watched anything in the last 10 years, since writing has all gotten kinds of samey, you know exactly what I mean. Either way, I do want to say, this is better than most of the shovelware on this site.

Like I said, this starts with MC telling his story for no discernable reason... Going into a flashback about how his mom met his step-dad. And you get to watch a cringey, barebones, rom-com play out. Sarah, MC's mom, mentally notes to not bother with a marketing asshat that thinks he's charming, then falls in love immediately... Cool. And it goes on forever. All to try to paint a backstory to garner empathy toward MC and Jaye's tense relationship. Tense, mind you, only because they're step-siblings that became attracted to each other and pushed each other away to fight the stirring in their loins. Truly, the next Romeo n Juliet. Snark aside, I will double down and say the intro is weak. And all for it to take a turn to YET ANOTHER CORPORATE ESPIONAGE STORY. I can't tell you how bored I am of "I'm so rich, and OTHER big business wants to stop it now that parents are dead." The theme is dead, beat another horse, will ya? Back to the narration by MC, he's telling all of this to the dad's best friend, THAT WAS THERE FOR 80% OF IT. He knew all this. Why tell him? With ham-fisted references and fourth wall breaks too, it's grating.

And it kinda devolves from there, less rom-com, more trashy soap opera with the cloning and stuff. Between the time MC finally makes up with Jaye and the end of content, NOTHING important, story-wise, happens outside of the VERY END. You learn Mallory is the clone of MC's mother, there's a miracle drug that was created, Jaye's ex is working to steal company secrets, and MC "trains" to take over the company, and Jaye is ACTUALLY MC's half-sister. Everything else reads like a casual encounters or missed connections ad on craigslist. "What I really wanted to say, was written in my cheesy diary." I will say the writing is, at times, personable. But so much just ends up as references meant to be relatable or worse, jokes. References will never be funny and always feel cheap, especially when every other line is some nod to a movie, book, or show. And The characters lose a lot of quality once any sex is involved. Suddenly they're these innocent pure maidens that have never even heard the word penis before. It all meanders and skips a bunch of time saying "So much happened, and BOY you shoulda been there, but we didn't write that so you get a half assed journal entry about things that happened and you still won't learn about anything until later."

For me, this just barely hits the 4 stars (3.5 rounded up) And It's almost refreshing after the slew of shovelware, boring, broken English, zero effort, nonsensical garbage "games" I've gone through on this siteas of late. The English, in this case the spelling, grammar, wording etc. Is good, I don't even remember spelling mistakes and the dialogue never felt robotic. The UI is very much custom, but somehow it felt clunky. It would freeze up and more than a few of the buttons somehow didn't interact with the mouse correctly? It's odd, but the UX suffered for it, the game full on crashed for me for an unknown reason as I didn't even get a traceback. (During the scene with Rikki at the lake if it helps) Anyway, the art is great, the faces never look dead and the expressions actually express. Imagine that. But most of the animations are noticeably lower quality than the CGs so the quality change is almost jarring. I hate the dialogue. "Reference, reference, cliche, reference. Emotional moment. Reference, cliched writing. Story information. Reference." That is hands down the weakest part of this. The story is kinda interesting. It's not ground-breaking and incest literally does nothing for me, but I'm interested in seeing how it plays out if nothing else.

Graphically, aesthetically the game is well done. The developers tried to make a cover, packaging, and also thought out a positive-negative system, and that's where the pluses end.
The game is boring. Just boring. The variability is minimal. The history is not interesting. The characters and their reactions are flat and predictable.
Developers have great potential. In my opinion, there was not enough creativity, courage in ideas - the product was made within the framework, stuffed into a Procrustean bed. Sad.

This game is a soft 4. More like a 3.5 than a solid 4 but definitely not a 3. Can't say it's average and mostly it's a good game. I enjoyed and and the game kept me wanting to play and see the story through, which is a good quality but it's not without faults.

Firstly the humor will be hit or miss. The game and dialogue are LOADED with media and pop culture references, meme references, and other products and games even other VN characters will pop up in this game. The first few times are kinda cool, but playing it all through kinda breaks immersion after awhile as it just pulls you out. Idk I'm not really the kinda person to just meme all day so sometimes the humor just wasn't for me.

The characters are good and interesting and the story is pretty good. You're kinda a Gary Stu who every girl you meet wants to fuck you or is interested in you in some way or another but it's not as overbearing as some other instances. This MC is not insufferable and he does have chinks in his armor.

When the game is focused and taking itself serious is when it's at its best in my opinion. When it's just being goofy and memeing between the characters I could take it or leave it but that's just me. The LI's are pretty good in this game and a bit contrasting in personality. I don't think they're like all time greats or anything like that but they're serviceable for the story and it's need.

The attention to detail the dev put in the game is good. Spelling and grammar areas are VERY few and far between and the game is quite polished. If there were errors there weren't enough for me to remember them and they weren't as glaring as to break me out of immersion. A lot of effort went into this game and you can tell which is also what helped with its high score.

The game is incest based but not so much as to know if it wants to be full on incest or incidental incest and it tries to toe the line between them both and give reasons as to why this situation is acceptable and different. I know different markets have different rules on the taboo but I both commend the dev for how he handled it but also wish this game would just pick its lane and drive firmly in it. All the circling around gets kinda off puting at times but it's believable enough and is not just there so the game can be accepted by this market or another, it's a part of the story.

Scenes are decent enough. Not too much animation until the later ones and even then maybe like a position or two of animation. Not life changing or anything but it's okay. This game seems more like it leans more toward story and relationship building than it does fap material anyway.

All in all a good game, worth the play if you're into stories and building relationships, character development, and all that good stuff. If you're looking for quick sex, a god mode MC and getting sex scenes every few minutes this game isn't it. It's a well done story game with humor elements that may make or break it for you and characters that might do the same, but the game has a lot of care and heart put into it. 3.5/5 to me but too good to get a 3 so I have to give it a soft 4. Definitely worth a read.

This one went from being my preferred to I won't even downloading it.
It had a story that picked my interest and that is so rare that I was wow.
Renders are top notch.
After 3/4 updates it started introducing more and more woman just like most of the other titles that I had 0 interest in interacting with.
This one and almost ALL devs make their tittles/stories too long mostly by introducing new woman that want to fuck the MC from the moment they meet. Many here are fine with this kind of... fiction, I prefer more focusing on realiy. It's cheap and unnecessary and a waste of good and decent stories but that's my opinion.

v0.8a

Thanks and the best of luck.

Great Storyline -up to this point and probably from a writing standpoint the best quality in a Visual Novel for a long time,
Renders and Scenes - are top notch with outstanding quality
Normaly in VNs im sure witch Character im romancing but this game made it so damn hard and had to do several routes

v0.8

Wow, this game has it all. Story, rendering, and music are all carefully crafted into each scene with such finesse, I dare say it's perfect.
I could feel the dev really cares about this game.

Pros
- Story is very engaging. No stalling for content. Not too slow not too fast.
- Relatable reactions by MC(No cringe or WTF? moments)
- Beautiful girls. Even passer by waitresses are stunning.
- References. Very well placed and funny
- The music perfectly catches the scene's context and emotion
- Facial expressions. One of the best. I can FEEL their emotions.

Cons(sorta)
- Wish I could understand all the medical references.
- How am I going to fill the void when this ends?

V0.8

i am sure it has all already been mentioned and i can only reaffirm the justified praise of others.

though i do not rate this above or equal to leap of faith, i do consider it 2nd best just by the pacing alone. the sex scenes are better, with the developer/s showing sure signs of a deep understanding of the moment (see Jaye's hand placements during a scene in chapter 7) and able to animate the very real intensity of desire and arousal in a way many of us will no doubt see as obvious.
yet so many devs miss hand placement and body movement during scenes and turn described desire into mere fucking.

whereas L.O.F feels like a rollercoaster to experience, short but emotionally charged, this one seems more like having the day of days to remember. having the same experience but less intense and spread over a longer period.

i guess the real dividing line here is with the humour as this has only managed to make me chuckle instead of belly laugh, and that's a good thing.
i may favour the rollercoaster but, as this one is still developing, just as i described above, i suspect that chasing sunsets will be the memory we fondly trigger in future when talking/thinking top VN's.

One of the best games on this site . Has it all, story, writing and renders.

Pros
- Latest lewd scenes with Jaye is off THE HOOK.
- Best renders on this site
- Hottest cast of girls in any game
- Best looking MC - no homo
- Story is engaging
- Funny banter between characters
- Great looking UI
- Good replayability
- Quality developers

Negatives
- Animations are good, but do not have the same texture as the images.

Review after playing V 0.8

Absolute masterpiece! The characters are spot on, the pacing is first class and once I had started playing I did not want it to end. The writing is superb, it draws you in and the renders keep you there. Romance, love, hot sex, comedy and lots of pop culture references. Jaye is stunning, all of the LI's are worthy of screen time, and the icing on the cake If / when I have to make a final choice its going to be so goddam difficult.

5* game, one of if not the best VN on this site and highly recommended.

10/10 story, renders, animations, and for god's sake characterizations.

The story hits all the emotional beats it should without being extra about it. It even hit some pretty dark tones there. The MC is well thought out, has actually been through some shit, his mistakes weigh on him, but he's also got a really good sense of humor. Things from his past actually inform his actions instead of just being an excuse as to why he might be moody about something.

The jokes they hit in this are god tier. In some cases I'm just dying laughing at some of the jokes. Amber Heard's laundry day is a good one lol. Also you so far get to choose how you reunion with your sister will go. Anywhere from loving and wanting reconciliation to.......well being a bit of an asshole and really competitive, which both cases are completely understandable. That Jaye though........top tier hottness.

Did I mention the renders are really good? They're really good. If anything I think the game needs more Rikki scenes. Definitely more Rikki. Oh Tara too. Lots more Tara.

Probably the most likely thing that separates this from others is the writing. Very good writing, a catchy story, and the characters all have personalities that show through. It is very fun to read through as you play because there is a ton of great humor placed in it at just the right places. Not too much but just the right amount and it's timed well. You really find yourself falling for the characters... until you start to fall for another and then you find yourself juggling your emotions while trying to follow along. There are very low amounts of sexual activity compared to the majority of these styles, but it's absolutely worth the payoff because you have connected with the characters when things do happen. Not overburdened with choices, but some that actually matter placed in the appropriate places. Expertly crafted to fulfill fetishes of family, step family, some kind of related family maybe, and a little of the non family but taboo or just normal opposite sex attraction. It really does do this very very well without needing to fixate on the person being actually blood related or step or half sibling or whatever. It will satisfy those fetishes for you, I promise. Excellent renders, spectacular camera setup, gorgeous ladies. Even the supporting cast has a personality and plays a role somewhere so again, I go back to the writing. I am very envious of the writing talent displayed. VERY well deserving of your download space and even your financial support.
Lilly

I think this is likely one of and debatably 'the' best game on this or any site. It is amazing in all respects and likely why the characters unsurprisingly show up in so many other games. It is quite masterfully done with the most ideal woman both physically and most amazingly mentally in terms of personality and development. It is quite a clever game with cultural references and a humor I find a lot of warmth and comfort with. Overall just a wonderful game.

I've been doing my damnest in trying to stay away from this particular thread because, I didn't want to get caught up in all the spoiler talk about what the upcoming update will bring. But I'm ashamed to say I've failed. lol

I'll admit that I've been waiting for a few other titles to throw out some updates as well, but CS is the one title that has me going crazy in anticipation. Even though the renders are absolutely gorgeous. I wish there was a printed version of the story that I could pick up and continue on reading. Of course there are other high quality titles out there with excellent stories as well, but I don't know what it is about this particular title, but it's somehow got me so hooked, far more than other titles I'm following.

The cast of characters is very well thought out, very organic. The story arc is brilliantly conceived to let the characters grow on you in one form or another. The amount of detail brought to the renders to convey their emotions or intent is spot on. Even the villains either grow on you or you just love to hate them.

Once the slow burn start passes and the story picks up, you won't be able to put this title down. Somehow this title has managed to bring out the 'softy' in me (which only 1 other title has managed to achieve for me)

I could go on quite a bit about praising this VN. I highly recommend this adventurous story.
5/5 stars
2 thumbs up.

I've done the first 4 chapters up to this point. The story isn't really original, and the storytelling has holes in it, but unlike most VNs the focus is on the story and the lewd scenes are secondary. Even more importantly the characters feel organic as does the entry into the lewd scenes, which is most definitely not like the majority of VNs. There's a degree of verisimilitude in the relationships which is almost totally absent from some games, and there's no need for every single girl to randomly fall moaning onto the MC's dick. That alone differentiates this game from the average. There's things to like and dislike about each character, just like real life, without having to draw up characters by category (smart one, stupid one, funny one, popular one etc) and because of that the game is very engaging despite some story weaknesses. It is so refreshing to step outside of the VN stereotypes for how the MC approaches relationships and sex even if some of the standard elements are there, that for that reason alone the game would be worth playing. Add to that the the characters are mostly likeable and interesting, and that the story is engaging and has scope to be really interesting if the tale is told well, that the game is absolutely worth playing. The strength in this game is the approach to the people, and if you value that then you're really going to like this game. The writing is better in some other games, tbh, although it's really not bad here either, but there are less than a handful of games that capture the essence of relationships as well as this game does. Play and enjoy.

Oh, as an afterthought, for those who like pop culture references this game is absolutely littered with them. As soon as you see the Tommy Tutone reference at the beginning you know what this game is going to be like in that respect. It may even be a little bit excessive, actually, but for those who love this kind of thing then playing "spot the reference" is going to be a whole separate game in and of itself for you.

PEAK! Jaye is easily one of my favorite love interests of all time. Mallory is great too, don't get me wrong, but she doesn't compare to that red-headed goddess! Chasing Sunsets is one of my favorite AVNs, not because the story is fantastic, but because it's incredibly mature. There's some pretty heavy and serious topics in here and the relationship built between Jaye and the MC is so fleshed out and beautiful. Top ten romances of all time in AVN history.

VN is decent. Art work is top notch, but the story/dialogue is too much sometimes. Found myself skipping a few times.
Other reason to skip was also to get Lisa scenes.

i am getting a hint that Lisa is not really a LI for mc in this game. Will see what happens.
Will give this another try if there is an ending with Lisa


Edit - Just removed one more star, cos i just remembered Jaye. She is one of the worst characters i have encountered. I dont know why people swoon over her. Personal preferences but still. She has a very standard look and the character arc is just a mind fuck.

Beautiful girls, exciting story, excellent renders.
this is one of the best games in the whole AVN world. you never know where the story goes. The MC is clever, good looking and well equipped.
Not the usual rooms (infamous boutique) but individual styled surrounding

Most beautiful love story I ever seen in game or even in my life. Fantastic expressed emotions, top notch renders, interesting plot... It is definitely not another sex game where you try to get laid with every character you meet. This is story of one and only true love and everyone having at least a bit romantic soul should play it. Great job.