VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Chasing Sunsets [v1.10a] [Stone Fox Studios]

5/5 (v 0.3 Ch. 2)
Fantastic game. Sometimes I regret getting invested in a game in early development knowing that I'm now in it for the long haul (years) ... but this one seems worth it.

Gorgeous renders and characters. Best looking MC I've seen in any game, period. A long welcomed change from creepy pervs, shotas, and extra-chromosome MCs featured in so many other games.

Excellent complementary sound-track.

Very well written, though some inconsistency in the narration (this is supposed to be MC telling a story just prior to some kind of ending where girl(s) pick him up at the bar, but there are many scenes that go into detail well beyond what should be MC's knowledge).

Characters are a bit of mixed bag so far.

Will eagerly await future installments!

Edit: Removed 2 stars, now 3/5 as of v1.01
Removed two stars due to story decisions by devs that quenched most of the lewd potential of the game for me. Everything about the production is top notch from sound to renders to interface, but you simply can't tease taboo liaisons for years without payoff and you can't artificially dead-end one of the major routes. Should have used the trust variable to affect whether the open relationship route could work instead of forcing it to fail no matter what. Shame.

Edit: v1.10. Removed another star. 2/5
It pains me to give this 2/5. Renders are beautiful. But god damn the story writing in this is exceptionally poor. I don't mean grammar and syntax. I mean not jerking around your fan base. The epilogues are thoroughly unsatisfying. Lewd scenes are worse than the main game - action scenes are short slide shows and clearly not of interest to the devs. Girls with previous lewds are unceremoniously cast aside as if they are caricatures. All opportunities for steamy and daring scenes are eschewed in favor of vanilla love stories.

This game would be improved by removing ALL lewd scenes except those for Jaye and Mallory. At least then you'd be setting player expectations appropriately instead of constant failures to deliver any of the payoffs you set up earlier.

Frankly, I have ZERO interest in ever replaying this game. I did NOT enjoy the culmination of the story. That's my ultimate test for the rating. And poor just about sums up how I feel about my entertainment value and parting experience as the game wraps up.

I have no faith the writer of this game will deliver in their next title. I truly wish Kentyrr who is responsible for the beautiful renders would part ways and find another collaborator that can take advantage of his/her skills.

And with that, I depart this thread.

Wow, I'm so glad I decided to play this after seeing the cameo in Leap of Faith. For a dev team's first foray into an adult VN, it certainly doesn't show. This felt more like I was playing a movie than a Ren'Py game. The characters' models are unique, their personalities and dialogue are organic (especially love Rikki's accent btw), and their faces actually look expressive like actual people (which is a huge immersion point for me!). I'm caught up in the story and I love that the plot doesn't fall back on tired old tropes. What I'm trying to say is: I love everything about this, and I feel compelled to give it an unironic 10/10. Keep up the amazing work.

This game is amazing so far. The graphics and renders are on point, the story is believable, well written and the pacing is just right. I like the character development for everyone, the player gets to know all of their motivations and is really invested in the storylines. I very much like the fact that the MC is not some scrawny/ugly simp character and this makes it believable that the beautiful ladies around are attracted to him.
Keep up the good work Fox Studios, you quickly became one of my favorite game devs out there.

V0.3

The story, the characters back story, how they look, the twists and the turns. I'm hooked!

Although most of us here are here just for the NSFW part of the games. I personally like games like this. This has one of the best storylines I have played, the plot, mysteries and all the twist and turns are coming along and are placed so well.

All there characters have depth in them, the MC is not some stupid MC how thinks with his balls, he's also not some push over who gets suckered into every stupid thing he can get himself into. He's a proper MC. The ladies around them are also not two dimensional, they have their own identities. And every single one of them look so good and well thought off.

Kudos to Stone Fox Studios, amazing work you guys. This will be the 1st time I give a 5 star to an incomplete game. I really hope you guys complete this one.

After playing all three releases all I can say this is my favorite game.
Kentyrr and Stoya are a great devs.

Story wise:
Original story and well developed characters.
Learning more and more about the characters giving you a taste to know more and just keep playing none stop.
Saw pretty girls on F95, thought what a good fapping material and fuck me fell in love in the story and the girls.


Art:
AMAZING, girls look beautiful and unique, the locations and the renders are well made and given a lot of thought.
You can clearly see the amount of hours and dedication each render has been given. For someone who play around in Daz I inspire to get to that level.

If didn't play that game and you not familiar with Kentyrr and Stoya, please make the time and chase the sunset.

Thank you Ken and Stoya for that game.
(Mel best girl)

SUCH an amazing game! Great story, amazing renders. I am definitely vested in what's going on, so I hope nobody actually dies or have to choose between them. I want them all!!! This one is already on my short list and I'll be eagerly awaiting the updates.

Despite the CW drama on steroids narrative and a frankly kind of annoying narrative structure I really enjoyed this game. Dev does a really nice job with characterization and the relationship between the MC and Jaye is heartfelt and well written. Renders are great and the models are all really hot. Dev does an especially nice job with facial expressions which can look really janky in DAZ but are almost always nice looking and spot on here and that really helps sell the emotional aspect of the game's relationships. The sex scenes are almost uniformly hot, some animations would be nice but the game isn't hurt because they aren't present. This is a nice example of a story being told that has porn elements, but the porn doesn't drive the narrative, but enhances it. Overall a really entertaining and nice looking game that is definitely worth a look

I seldom rate games like this, but must give this one a highest rating. Story, renders, writing all are top notch, Seldom been this invested in a game this early in development. Am looking for much more, and hope this conitinues for a long run. Kudos!

I avoided this game as I thought it looked like another incest game, but I am glad I finally downloaded it. This is the kind of VN I wish I could create, and to be clear, it is a VN as there is not much of a game to it.

Cons:
The choices the MC gets, could be a bit better. I understand why the dev is doing it this way, but at the end of the day, the game is going to head in a certain direction and you are not going to have a whole lot to say about it. I think you will be able to eventually choose the MC's LI but if, for example, you wanted the MC to stay angry as his step sister, that's not going to happen.

Pros:
Great renders, well developed characters, original locations, cool animations and great story telling with a well developed plot that is easy to follow, not overly complex and yet still able to throw a curve or two. It is also well written. The writing is tight and there is not a lot of extra exposition. The MC is tough, smart enough and likable and while can be a bit of a d*ck, he is a decent guy at the core.

Pro or Con:
The VN is story intensive, so if you are just looking for fapping material, this will probably not meet your needs. There are some great scenes, but they are few and far between and not the main focus of the story.

All the women/girls are portrayed as tough, takes care of themselves and knows what they want... for the most part. There is no bimbo falling for lame schemes and no real kinks. So far the sex is relatively vanilla, but very well done.

I am looking forward to seeing where this goes and am hopeful the dev continues.

I only found this game yesterday and I can only say that I am very impressed.

renders are amazing
the story is catchy

looking forward to continuing

the only negative is a very positive character, this is somewhat implausible and spoils the overall impression.

Review as of v0.3. This is not a spoiler free review.

I want to like this game. I really, really do. The effort and attention to detail in this game is obvious. Characters are rendered beautifully (although the goofy switch perspective button on the Tara scene speaks to how similar Tara and Jaye's models look; change the shape of their bodies at least!). There's a unique attention to lighting and shadowing, to beautiful effect. And the narration really does its best to set up all the story points.

But despite how much I try, I can't really bring myself to fully commit to this game.

I can offer a bunch of small complaints that are all individually irksome in their own way...

... the Prologue sequence is way too long. You already have an extensive, obvious exposition dump about the character's (well, his parents') backstory. But then you get the most unnecessary bar conversation scene, featuring a bartender/owner that has yet to meaningfully factor into the story, and a bunch of wasted panels of pointedly unfunny 'banter' between him and the MC. I understand trying to give a backdrop for a big infodump, but when you're dumping a ton of exposition that early into the story, it's best to just get over it. Now you have a big exposition infodump, AND an extraneous, dragging bar conversation scene with some rando. Woo!

... both the MC and Jaye have terrible cases of one-itis, to the story's detriment. We as the audience never get to know why these characters are so hopelessly obsessed with each other. We don't feel the connection they have. We just have to assume it's true while they go around being toxic little shitheads to each other. Neither of them come off as likable in any of their interactions. The developers naively presume that the audience would feel the connection they envision in their heads. But we really, really don't.

... the MC's is apparently some kind of sex god with a magic penis, considering he can make women obsessed with him even if he just lays there. Which contrasts so heavily with his one-itis. Why is he still hung up on this one woman when he can seemingly get with anyone he wants? Jaye seems to have no special quality that makes her more engaging, interesting, or otherwise elevated above the rest. Yet we as the reader are beaten over the head with how the MC sees her in every woman he fucks.

... Jaye as a character feels more like a prop than a human. Her emotions, maturity, and situation seems completely suspended in time for us to pick up "five years later." You never really get the sense that Jaye is behaving like a real person with her own goals, habits, and challenges. She's there as an impediment when the story needs an obstacle, as a lure when the story needs a pivot, as a prize when the story needs a sex scene. Worse, she's presented as someone so obviously obsessed with the MC that she would completely succumb to him if he so much as made a move, which makes the MC look worse for waffling about for so long before, invariably, he tries something with her in a future update.

... randomly thrown in "lesbian" scene when neither of them are into women. Yay! I guess the developers don't want to somehow threaten some antiquated notion of purity of her character, and they somehow feel that it's better if she has a lesbian lover than a male lover. Which is convoluted, but a lot of neckbeards hate the thought of women having any kind of romantic interest other than the MC. So sure, let's give her a less threatening/more titillating interest. But the whole notion that she wouldn't be attracted to the person whose face is buried in her genitals is just bizarre. It just makes both Tara and Jaye seem less like relatable people and more like sexual props. Jaye's clearly reserved for the MC (even as the MC is off fucking a bunch of other women; which is fine if you want to play into the Alpha Male fantasy, but then why does he become so useless around his stepsister?) but then she's just used as a vehicle to give us a gratuitous lesbian scene.

... the MC is a privileged little dickhead. He's hopelessly in love with his stepsister, so he responds by... gallivanting off on his parent's dime for five whole years? What about getting an education? What about making a man of himself? What about not being a financial burden to his parents who still pay for his air travel and cell phone? And then he comes back five years later, armed with his measly high school diploma, and is in contention to inherit a billion dollar biotech company? Because all it takes is AP biology and some nepotism, I guess...

... Oh, did we mention they're explicitly stepsiblings? There's no law anywhere forbidding a relationship between non-blood related stepsiblings (it's merely atypical). There's all this over the top handwringing about something that's completely unnecessary.

... the Mr. Miyagi scenes with David are just weird. So this random gruff looking fellow saves the MC from getting seduced and kidnapped (obviously a common thing that happens to all men in Latin America), so our MC just... pals around him for the next few years in a totally "not gay" way? He conveniently happens to be some special forces guy who teaches him manly skills so the MC can be more of an anime protagonist. Then when he outlives his usefulness to the story, he gets killed of in the most hilariously over the top Mission Impossible scene.

... with the overwhelming, obsessive relationship between MC and Jaye, it's hard to see where Mallory fits. Ostensibly, she seems positioned as a primary love interest. But it's hard to envision her fit in the story or what an ending with her would look like. Given Jaye's predominance in the story, she's almost relegated to the same collection of secondary interests like Tara, Fiona, Linda, and Emily—all of whom seem a little TOO eager to jump MC's bones; thirsty seems to be their only character trait.

... Mallory just randomly turns up in MC and his sister's boat/attorney's office for... reasons.

... the storytelling is done via frustration. I personally hate the "making everybody act mysterious and shady so they can avoid telling the MC anything important so the reader can be surprised later" brand of storytelling. And this game is rife with it.

... there's a half-baked b-plot about Polygene and "Prizer" that promises some kind of corporate intrigue and maybe a proper antagonist, but it's so detached from the bulk of storytelling attention thus far that it's hard to care about it.

... it's hard to envision how this game could possibly even end. If Jaye and MC end up admitting their feelings for each other and end up together, it would feel like they wasted five years of their life when all of their issues could have been resolved simply by talking to each other like semi-reasonable adults. If MC and Mallory end up together, it'll always come with this hanging cloud of MC's obsession with his sister and her being the backup option.

— but ultimately, the game simply fails to credibly transport you into a new world, or occupies a character that's relatable or believable. You're apparently this idealized sex god who—only via his own self-centered dickishness—holds himself back, trying to woo (or rather getting wooed by) a bunch of "quirky" girls whose characters largely begin and end with their looks. It's nothing we haven't seen before, only with pretty renders.

The story falls short since it never settles into the pocket. It's like an idyllic house at the start of a horror thriller. It might seem fine at first glance, but it doesn't feel right. Angles are a little askew, proportions a little bit off. The authors try to create this beautiful sunset paradise, but miss the mark and crash land in the uncanny valley.

Chasing Sunsets is a story with beautiful bones, a great outer shell, but a very hollow emotional center. The authors don't give us enough reason to like or get invested in the characters' journeys (really, any of them, so far). None of them are particularly witty, or admirable, or interesting. We're left with a bunch of beautiful, but vapid and empty, facades.

Kalokagathos, that is how I would label this game. Stone Fox Studios brought together two development. One of them created great paintings with beautiful girls (kalos). The other inspire depth personality and virtues to the characters (agathos).

We can enjoy exciting cruise with the Sunset as a result. Expect that there will be some hiccups on your way, however more heart-warming outcome wait you on other side. If you want to enjoy story with characters who are beautiful from the outside as well as from the inside, then prepare your empathy and start chasing sunset now.

You'll find feisty Jaye and quirky Mallory, each beautiful in their own personal way; A number of other beautiful girls; series of jokes and references, whether to the world of pop culture or to other AVN. Elaborate renders, and opportunity to define the personality of your MC.

This is easily in the top 3 of VN's I have ever played. The renders are absolutely fantastic, not to mention that all the girls in the game are total smokeshows. Even the backgrounds of scenes are visually stunning. That is just the tip of the iceberg though. The writing in this game is amazing. The story is very compelling and draws you in quickly. The dialogue between characters is clever and witty and emotional all at the same time. I have laughed, I have stared in disbelief and I have even shed a tear or two. I literally can't say enough good about this game. I would rate the maximum number of stars no matter how high they went. Everyone should play this game!

Chasing Sunsets is an amazing game that does just about everything right.

The renders and character models are top notch and some of the best that I've seen on this site.

The story and writing is superb and well polished.

Excellent characters and character development.

There aren't a lot of sex scenes but the ones in the game are meaningful and fit in well with the story.

A minor gripe I have is with the breasts in the game. They look unnatural and a bit awkward with many of the character models. The main problem is that many look too flat (shape, not size) and there is no gravity affecting most of them. The nipples are often too high on the breasts like they all had a nipple/breast lift.

There are few animations in the game and they could be greatly improved. I dislike "click fest" animations.

There aren't that many choices in the game although the choices that are there are generally meaningful.

Overall, the MC acts and behaves intelligently which is a plus, however there were several times that I wish I could have said or done "this" and wasn't given the option.

The overall experience is excellent and I highly recommend giving this game a try!

I don't give out 5 star reviews like candy like a lot of players but it is well deserved!

This VN is some top quality stuff. I am to start chapter one after I finish writing this, so there will be some edits. Prologue lives up to the name. It gives you every single piece of information you need(you are not thrown into the deep end so to speak). Main cast feel like real human beings. To be frank there arent much choices in the prologue, and still those few you have feel meaningful. Butterfly effect isnt just a catchphrase for this VN, and as you will see through the playtrough one thing leads to another...and when it does it is....get ready for this....believable. If you want a quick fap there are around a thousand other games on this site for that. Only a handful of games roped me in with their writing and general feeling of class...this is one of them(for the curious(or not) the rest are Leap of Faith, Where the Heart Is,City of Broken Dreamers and Corporate Culture). Anyway chapter 1 awaits so enough rambling...will come to edit this later.

Played through chapter 1 and 2 and my suspicions are now confirmed, this game has serious fucking potential to be one of the classics...to the dev team:I wish you good luck and health , and dont cave in to the people rushing the updates...take it slow and steady. 8)

Wow absolutely love this game. Story seems very much like a real world scenario, renders are some of the best i've ever seen, models absolutely gorgeous. I am wondering about Mallory however, who is she and where does she fit into mc's past.

If you're looking for a quick fap, move on!
If you like a good solid story (so far to the end of chapter 2, version 0.3), then you may be in the right place. It is a slow burner, but there are a few scenes here and there to keep you going.
The models used are all top notch and the rendering is excellent, the male lead is also good without looking like a moron or a creep.
For a 1st effort this is fantastic, almost to the point of disbelief. It feels like the producers have been hiding their lights under a bushel.
One other review mentioned animation during the lewd scenes. There are the odd bits, but more would be better... hey I'm greedy.
My only thing is that this has been tagged incest, when it isn't in the US (which seems to be the consideration for this tag... for only Paypal knows why) and could well get them thrown off Patreon. Sorry, I know these details as I've written a story original published as incest and then after a bunch of research edited it to move to the same side of the line as Chasing Sunsets sits on. Now go to Spain or Japan... I'll stop now
Best of luck to the devs.

A rare mix of gorgeous assets, interesting characters and a really well written story that makes you want to her more. I have played a lot of visual novels but there are only a select few that make me want to become a Patreon after the first time playing. I really hope they can keep this up because I desperately want to know where the story goes next...

One of the best games in its class. Intriguing story, lively characters, very nice graphic realization. Definitely in my top 3. There is only one flaw - 3-month update waiting time. But... good things can`t be made fast... )) So praise to the game`s creators!!! Waiting for another part of this story.

[As of v0.3]

The Good:
- Intriguing story
- Good Rendering
- Girls are nice

The Bad:
- Lewd scenes could add some animation

Conclusion:
Game with high potential, can't wait for the next update.
4.5/5