VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Chasing Sunsets [v1.01] [Stone Fox Studios]

{v0.9a}

The story is half there, half not.
The start was really strong and interesting, even infuriating at times, but the later parts have become a bit stale.

The game has two lead interests - Jaye & Mallory. And I know she isn't average looking, but Mallory REALLY just looks very average to be an LI.
Unfortunately, it's one of those games where they expect you to date her, anyway.

Which is why, the mechanics of this game just annoy me to bits. After ending every chapter with your platonic best friend - Mallory, you're left to reflect back on what the two LIs think of you, based on your choices. Perfect, right? NO!

Imagine my surprise, to know that all Mallory, secretly, thinks of the MC is a - good-for-nothing nuisance. Someone she can't stand but has to get along with.
Even after all those times you platonically took care of her and helped her with the best of intentions.
Nah that doesn't matter. Why? 'Cause the game says so. If you don't date her, it must mean you're trying to stab her in the back! It must be!

Now either the game mechanics are incongruent to the story, or Mallory really just, secretly, a snake in the grass who can put up such a friendly charm in front of the MC whilst thinking in her head, "Look at this douche. Acting all smug with his trust fund money."

On the other hand you also get to read Jaye's mind, which again isn't often times congruent to how she acts around the MC. Another execution of the points system done incorrectly.

Romance, this game sort of those well, which is a plus.
There are couple of girls outside of LIs, that you can screw around with, but uh oh.. if you like romance, you gotta lie to the LIs about the other hoes.

Overall, this game may be worth a try for you, it has it's moments - especially the animations; but as of yet, this game isn't a certified classic!

PRO TIP: Choose the options that favor Jaye, in points, in the first chapter. Trust me.

I held off on playing this for a while, since it looked like a decently long read. I will admit part of that was thanks to numerous reviews with praise, as well as lots of concern, that threw me off.

Sunsets is a mostly on-rails AVN that's about a family that is super awkward about communicating and expressing themselves to one another. You play as the MC on his way back home from traveling all over the world for a mental break of sorts. Called home by the sudden death of his parents, your family's lawyer assigns you and your step-sister heir training to see who will eventually inherit the multi-billion dollar enterprise that your parents left behind. On the way, you get involved with a reporter, Mallory, who claims to be interested in you for an interview - but is actually looking for her own answers with your mother's scientific research that she kept under wraps.

There are two main love interests - Jaye, your sister, and Mallory, the famous reporter. Both are intriguing in their own right. I think many feel put off by Jaye's personality/looks, but I think the developer nailed her. She definitely feels like your sister - with how bratty, stubborn, and playful she can be. It's pretty realistic to how actual siblings would interact with one another if they weren't trying to constantly fuck the brains out of each other anime-style. Personally, I find her pretty attractive, though I do slightly agree that her skin tone could be dialed back a bit. Mallory is also adorable. The heterochromia can be off-putting at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly and it doesn't feel out-of-place with her model. She's pretty quirky and vulnerable due to her past troubles, yet it feels all the more rewarding when she eventually opens up to you in the later chapters. There's a pretty huge twist regarding both of these two, so I won't spoil it...but it's a little weird? In the context of the grounded setting it's bizarre/taboo, but if you're used to other depraved shit - it won't surprise you more than that.

There isn't much to the game in terms of "choices" and "molding your character". The MC is essentially already an established character that can choose who he ends up having fun with. I don't mind that, and I think many people are gassing this up to be the worst thing ever, but not every game needs ultimatums and life-changing choices.

There's 3 main routes with variation sprinkled. You can romance Jaye, Mallory, or keep an open relationship. If you pursue either of the main-love interest routes, you can still be in trusting/good terms with the other, which I found really neat. The open relationship lets you have fun with side girls as well without actively seeing any consequences from the main 2. I went for the open relationship, but will probably look to make separate saves for both of them, to see their respective endings, whenever the game finishes. I realistically only see a real happy ending with one or the other, not both of them, at least in the logic/context of this story.

The H-scenes are great. They're a little dull animation-wise, but I think the renders in this game are some of the best that I've ever seen on this site. There's barely any sound effects, which is a little disappointing. The music is calm and relaxing all throughout, it doesn't really hone in to cringe territory, fortunately. MC does look like a bit of a tool, but that's played as a joke through most of the story, so I can forgive it.

All in all, it's like a 4.5/5 for me. I would round up, but I hadn't gone through all the routes yet, and I also had a personal gripe on my end. Personally, I found that the dev really does write both of the main LIs very similarly in some aspects. And the whole, referencing random movies and videogames left and right works for a while...but after a good halfway through I kinda just filtered it out. I'm probably not "cultured" enough to get a good reference, but I do find it a little weird that they're both super geeky despite their pasts/background.

I just can't even begin to explain how much I loved this visual novel - it's seriously a masterpiece! There are very few stories that have hooked me like this. It's got all the feels, the suspense, and covers some deep topics like genetic manipulation, ethics in science, big pharma legal battles, shady politicians, etc. The pacing is perfect, you'll be hooked on every dialogue and interaction, totally invested in the characters and their relationships. It's just a rollercoaster of feels!

The character design is of a superlative level - they feel so real when you see them in all sorts of situations, from funny to super emotional. As you go through each chapter and make your choices, you can see this intense romance brewing between the main character and either Jaye, the red-haired step-sister with green eyes, and/or Mallory, the stunning brunette with different colored eyes. You get to decide if you want to keep things open or commit to one of them. At the end of each chapter, there's a recap of your choices and their consequences, scored to track your romantic journey with these two beauties. The side characters are just as captivating, like Jaye's best friend Tara, Mallory's childhood friend Amanda, and Lisa, the corporate manager.

The graphic quality of the renders is amazing - the characters look so detailed and expressive, it really brings the dialogues to life. The erotic scenes are memorables, so hot and overflow with passion, with very well-done animations. The music is perfect too, with a great mix of tracks and sound effects that really set the mood, like the sound of waves crashing or a storm brewing.

Overall, this visual novel is seriously impressive in every way possible. I can't believe the level of quality they've achieved using Ren'Py. After playing the latest version (v0.9a), 'Chasing Sunsets' has easily become one of my all-time favorites. I sincerely congratulate the developers of this outstanding work and I am looking forward to the evolution of the next chapters.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I just finished v0.9a a month ago and I don't know why I didn't write this as soon as possible. This game is truly something else, everything in this game is near perfect. I'm going to explain it one by one.

The Graphics:
Probably not the best, but definitely one of the great ones. I don't have much to say here, and I don't have any complaint about it either.

The Story:
Well, this is the most interesting part. If you ever watch the Succession series on HBO and read a book or movies called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you will love this game. This game has only two main LIs, one is your stepsister, Jaye from your stepdad's side and the other one is Mallory, an investigative journalist from 60 Minutes (it's a real TV broadcast btw) who is trying to investigate the whole strange lawsuit from a big pharma company called Prizer (mockery of Pfizer) against their parents' company. There are other LIs too but only as a side girl, so if you're into harem, this game isn't for you.

What I love about Chasing Sunsets' story is that nothing sounds cringy. The seriousness and jokes in this game are on point. You'll also find a lot of formal and specific terminologies so you gotta sharpen your IQ before playing this game. This game has two devs right? yeah I'd bet $100 that one of them is an attorney and the other is a neurologist.

One particular thing that I really like the most from this game is that its worldbuilding is using real life names and references. Few of them are mockeries, but most of them are straight up taken from their real names. A lot of AVNs won't touch this subject because they're afraid of getting a lawsuit or something, but I really appreciate any devs who did it.

Oh also, the MC isn't an idiot and he's also a proper adult (I think he's around 24 years old), not an 18 year old kid who couldn't handle heats from every side like many AVNs out there. Dude knows how to fight, negotiate, making corny jokes, good on bed, and many things.

Sex Scenes:
Just like my description on its graphics, probably not the best but definitely one of the great ones. It has plenty of sex scenes and all the girls are also smoking hot (especially Tara), so I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed.

Choices and Consequences:
Well there are many choices in this game, some of them related to how you will make up your own stories and the others are basically just affinity type of choices. Consequences matter here so don't get cocky.

Verdict: 5 out of 5, the writer of this game needs a raise and probably promotion as a top writer in Hollywood. Seriously, give the devs a donation, they deserved it.

Totally worth the playthrough!!! Also love to cameo and cross over nods to Leap of Faith and Artemis! Makes the world seem so much bigger! The characters are very engaging and I found myself caring what happens to them!

Great story, writing, renders, and lewd scenes backed by some of the best romance I've seen in any AVN. This game is for those looking for a solid love story with enough lewd scenes to not get boring fast.

Even though this is somewhat of a slow burn, it is incredibly satisfying and worth the effort to the point I heavily recommend enthusiasts looking for a new experience to try it out ASAP.

Definitely watching the development with interest and am ranking among my favorite AVNs.

Review of version 0.9a
TLDR: It's good but not that quick of a wank, but I think it's worth it.

Theres quite a few lines of dialogue that would make or break the deal for someone out there, one of the problems of reference humor is that it makes the script dated, some jokes may not land with you, also theres the fact that is a story about rich people problems, not the most relateable thing in the world, without diving to deep, the story will ask quite a bit from you to enjoy it, nothing wrong with that, but take it in consideration, I talk about the script first because besides the flaws theres a genuine soul here that catches your atention and keeps you reading all the way. For me, the way the Jaye story line was presented hooked me in very hard. Part of that was influenced by the renders, they are gorgeous, besides the main LI all the girls here have distinctive face and the expressions are very well done. The sex scenes don't take that long to come since as you play and read, you are presented with a few oportunities to get them. I usually try to go for the route with the most LI, but the atmosphere the game created entised me to go for what felt right to me. The music helped a lot with that, nothing is very outstanding or memorable, but it does a good job to pull you in.
You can find VN with a bunch of sex scenes, others that push the envelope pf story telling and character writing, Chasing Sunsets isn't quite there, but it's warm and nice, I had a big smile while playing, we need chalenging stuff, but also wholesome ones as well.

Finally finished through current version (Ch. 8 at time of writing). Took me a bit, but I did finally manage to break down all of the achievements, scenes, and photos. Online guides help, but even the best online guides seemed to miss one achievement--Noncommittal--that I had to actually break out UnRen and study the RPY files. But I digress, my story with this is not what you want, it's my review!

So what can I say? I love this VN. Renders are crisp, the animations are amazing, the audio makes sense in every scene. The story is tightly woven, there are a ton of choices to make, and the effects of choices are more than simply checks to see if you have enough points; though a point system is running in the background to determine if one of the LIs has a real interest, there are specific events that either put you on or take you off of an LI's path.

Additionally, there are a lot of smaller events that do not happen without prerequisite events. Some events require multiple prerequisite events, so getting most of the equation right isn't going to cut it if you're looking for a specific pathway to see all the minor events in this game... it won't hurt your position with a specific LI, but the path might branch out slightly differently and your love and trust points might be positively or negatively affected slightly by the specific pathing you take. Stuff like this make the game seem far more dynamic than it really is. Take two routes to get to a specific choice and that same choice will give you different effects, it's pretty impressive for a game in this genre.

Gotta be honest, I was really impressed. 5 stars.

PS: There are a million pop culture references in this. Books, movies, television, comics, games. I didn't expect it, but I loved to see it. Just know that if it's nerd-bait, it will come up. No cap.

I gave this game a conflicted 5/5. It's one of those, "it's really good but...."

I will start with why I felt conflicted. The reason for the conflict, really, is the incest. I don't intend to sound judgemental to anyone who has a fondness for that particular kink, but it's always been one that was never really 'my thing'. I've just never particularly enjoyed that sort of relationship dynamic, and no it's not lost on me that I'm complaining about a specific kink that is present in pretty much every erotic VN on F95 in some form or another, whether it's true incest or 'faux' incest (e.g. they're not siblings just childhood best friends, and they don't share a mom, etc.)

With all that said, I still gave the game 5/5 for a number of reasons.

First, the dialogue and storyline are both well-written. I'm still trying to unravel on my own the through line between Chasing Sunsets, Artemis, and Leap of Faith (a game that I haven't yet played) but clearly the relationship and the quality shared between the different titles are more than just superficial.

There was a lot of care taken with how relationship dynamics play out in Chasing Sunsets. The progression from being strangers to being family (with Mallory) and the discourse of what it means to be loved so deeply that it sears you down to the very fabric of your being (Jaye) was captivating.

The approach to the topic of personhood was also done really well. With both Mallory and Jaye's rather unique situation taking into question what it means to be your own person versus how much of your genetic "donor" influences who you actually are was a philosophical discussion I don't often find in adult VNs (and this is where this game is clearly similar to Artemis and its own questions about personhood).

The juxtaposition of one person facing questions about if she is her own person or a failed copy to that of another person suddenly questioning the truth of her entire experience really challenges the common sense about nurture vs nature that we often take for granted.

Is your sense of identity a lie because of how you were 'conceived'/'created'? Does it matter what the purpose your parents may have had for 'designing' you the way they did? Should you let your history before your birth affect who you are as a person? Do new revelations invalidate your lived-experiences?

Even if the shoes you walk in belonged to someone else, and even if your feet match perfectly to another person's, the paths you walked and in the manner in which you walked them are still wholly unique to you...right?

And then there's the question of identity that Amanda tackled. It brushes up with the idea of who we are and how much does our ability or disability impact that sense of identity. Clearly what we can or cannot do has an impact of how we view ourselves and how others view us. But if you can change it would you still be you? A person born blind would obviously be different from that same person in another universe being born with normal vision. How much of a person's gifts or condition at birth is just baked into who you are as a person? How much should that affect what we're worth and what value we have and how much of it should be part of our identity?

I'm waxing poetic a little long here, but I've just a couple more quick points.

1. I love the fact that trying for any sort of 'harem' ending actually has consequences. I know this is present in a lot of other VNs but it's the first time for me after great harem games like Once in a Lifetime, Eternum, and Projekt Passion kinda spoiled me thinking that we can have it all.

2. Again, the callbacks to Leap of Faith and Artemis are nice (though I question when exactly in Artemis' timeline was this cameo considering Artemis' current condition in the last update)

3. The models used are beautiful and the animations/expressions were well done. The quality and attention to detail certainly evoke similarities to Artemis and Summer Heat

Well done all around!

I think this game is pretty good but not perfect.

What stands out for me is the characters show some nice emotion in the still renders. Other games the characters are more doll like. The renders overall are very good.

The big weakness for me is the primary love interest is too orange for my taste, like trump levels of orange. In real life thats an immediate turn off for me. This has quite a big impact as she is a big part of the story no matter the choices you make. Hopefully the next game has better looking primary LIs.

Story 3/5, Originality 4/5 , Renders 4.5/5 , Animations 3/5 Grammar 5/5, Amount of content 4/5

Overall 4/5

Fantastic game. Great renders, good length, good variety. I have yet to play all the routes, but at this point the choices do seem to matter.

While I am usually no fan of this type of relationship between characters, ths game is one of my favourite games on this website. Five out of five stars.

I have played a ton VN's and this has to be my top or at least top 5. I laughed, I cried, I fapped this is really good . The renders are probably the best I have ever seen. The whole facial expressions and the eye movement is just astounding and the women are just gorgeous. The whole story plot is super good and will keep you guessing about how it will play out. The dialog is also really good I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at the banter between the characters. I left a couple hookups on the table because I was worried about how it would conflict with the two main love interests of the story so I will probably have to reload after my first run through to see how it plays out. You do have plenty choices in the story and does look like the choices you do make may impact the story. Right now it's at V0.9a and is a lot of play time, and I believe they said they are planning for 10 chapters so it getting ready to wrap up.

Wow! I can't believe I slept on this game for so long, for some reason I had skipped past this gem a few times but I'm glad I decided to give it a try.

The story is really good, in the description I thought it would be a little generic, and in some way's I suppose it is. Your rich billionaire parents die, leaving you there tech company, and you have an estranged sister that you have loved and both are vying (Or not) for the position to control the company. Where the story could be overlly generic, or overly complicated, it's instead well written and simplistic in a sense (And I don't mean that in a bad way.) There are a few twists and turns, a few heartfelt moments as your backstory slowly unfolds, and the options to either team up, or fight against your sister are very interesting. In my playthrough I decided to team up with your bombshell redheaded "sister" (Can't resist the redheads) With a few twists and turns to the story as it progresses, it really did capture my attention and I felt like I just couldn't put the game down, it was a great experience.

The characters in this story are wonderfully crafted, each having their own unique flair. As you go throughout the game you get glimpses into the past in the form of short flashback like sequences. While I worry sometimes that these flashbacks in games can take you out of the main story, I find that it is very much the exact opposite here. The flashbacks really help to flesh out the characters, and make you feel for them. It sets the characters into a really grounded and realistic viewpoint that helps to really make them feel unique and special in there own way, and I just couldn't help but feeling for each of them.

The twisting love interest in your "sister" over the years is wonderfully done with the game slowly drip feeding you important information about the MC and sisters past as you slowly get to know her more and more. Mallory's backstory is interesting and I couldn't help but want to know more about the querky girl, and damn I did not see that twist coming at all. I won't spoil anything, just play it and see for yourself.

Between the "artistic" friend, the crazy ninja chef, the snow lodge family, your one night stand, and the company CEO, the old friend of your parents, your sisters bestfriend. there are a ton of girls to play around with, and each felt unique in there own right. The only thing I would have liked to see more of is a little twist up in kinks. At the moment most of the sex is somewhat generic sex with all the girls. I can see some real potential to explore different types of kinks with the different girls. (Though perhaps this was just my playthrough and I missed out on a few kinky scenes, I have yet to replay the game and try out some of the different paths.)

The character designs are absolutely amazing and one of the places this game really stands out. The characters are masterfully crafted, even the MC (I know, crazy! An actually decent looking MC, even if he does have a boyband haircut.) and the animated are really well done, honestly some of the best I have ever seen in a visual novel. Don't even get me started on the facial expressions of the girls, they are absolutely hilarious! I found myself literally laughing out loud countless times throughout the game at the hilarious faces the girls give. Whoever worked on the character modeling and rendering did a phenomenal job! A++

Overall this game is a true masterpiece, a gem of the genre. If you are at all into AVN's (Which, I mean I would hope you are if you are reading this review) Then don't make the mistake I made and play this game RIGHT NOW!! You won't regret it!

perfect 5 stars for me, and I am eagerly awaiting the next update! I can't wait to see what happens between everyone.

This game puts the novel in visual novels. Not my style, but I appreciate a tremendous amount of work has gone into it.

+ high quality renders
+ thoughtful story
+ characters have depth
+ lots of polish on the UI
- LOTS of text to read
- little freedom to shape the MC with your actions at the start. Eg having sex with a random woman without your choice
-some models have that uncanny valley effect from being so detailed but not human.

[Reviewed v0.9a]

One of the best games in active development, and seemingly underappreciated amongst the top titles. So much well-developed content, beautiful girls and renders, and a unique story / setting. Heavily relies on incest tropes but done in a believable way.

The Good ()

• Gorgeous, hyper-detailed models and renders
• Some of the most attractive character bodies in the genre
• A number of love interests and paths that don't necessarily exclude one another
• Well-executed cinematography and visual storytelling
• An original story that has familiar elements but still feels fresh
• Hours and hours of content
• Charged, erotic H-scenes with smooth, seamless animation
• Unique-looking, attractive MC that is believable in his role

The Not-So-Good ()

• Some of the plot points / background aren't super sketched out and are thin (story-wise)
• Heavy reliance on incest (the story is centered on this relationship) -- may be a non-starter if that's not your thing
• Some love interest content is binary -- choose Door A or B, but can't have both. Not exactly a harem game.

Overall, an outstanding title with a lot of content and beautiful character models. Can't go wrong.

Let me start by saying I really do like this AVN. The over-arcing story is relatively simple: Rich young man's parents die, leaving their fortune and control of their company to the MC and his sister. There seems to be a potential Harem set up and the models are very attractive, just not bimbo-fied. Parts of the story are disjointed or unclear and some of the character elements are not especially believable or well-written, but, overall, the writing is above average. There are many flashbacks in the story where we are jumping around in time and location, especially any time the writer needs a deus ex machina plot device to explain how a character learned something. The early scenes and renders leave a lot to be desired but, as of the latest update, the render quality is MUCH improved. I enjoy this AVN, but there is quite a bit of room for improvement.

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.