VN - Ren'Py - Chess Game [v0.04] [Janus Paradox]

I played the game twice. The first time, I wasn't too thrilled because I didn't understand certain aspects, but something compelled me to play it a second time. I can confidently say it's the best game I've ever played, not only on this forum but in general.

The story is unique, original, and entirely unpredictable, drawing you in and making you eager to find out what happens next. At first glance, the characters might seem unrelated, but if you pay close attention, everything makes sense and is interconnected. Anyone in a rush or annoyed by the game's style might struggle to follow the narrative, and my advice to them would be to skip it. The game can be irritating for many because it deviates so much from anything I've played before. People often find it hard to change their habits, and the game seems to touch on this human inertia. This might be why I was initially put off. However, on my second playthrough, I approached it in a much more relaxed state and was thoroughly impressed. The rendering and animation are top-notch, and the music that accompanies them blends seamlessly into the scenes. Devs, please continue with this project; the game is unique. Don't let negative reviews discourage you.

Game has good amount of content for rather small amount of updates, but quality is lacking.
-Mechanics work poorly, even with the ability to skip cutscenes and mini games renpy have troubles to switching between cg and videos, so skipping is still pain.
-Huge cast. Like there is so many characters, why? You can just cut 80% of them, they don't bring anything besides mumbling plot, MC can't interact with most of them.
-Models look veeery outdated. I would get if it was game coming from 2018 with some uncanny honey select models, but in 2023? Jeez, stock daz models would do better work.
-LI are meh. You like tall girls? or petite girls? or slim ones? or curvy? buff ones? etc. Sorry, here you basically get same model but with different hair\ eye color. Very boring diversity - wise .
-Sound design is awful. I always set "voice" on mute, but was keep getting screams and moans. Music is silent in one scene and then it's fucking loud in another, and sometimes there is no music at all. weird and annoying.
-Having more POV's then your MC's is a hard trick to pull, having so many scenes where MC don't have a present just don't work as dev intended. I don't like MC but after 15-20 minutes i just start skipping scenes that were happening without him 1) plot isn't that interesting for me to bother 2) why should i care about something i don't have a role at?

TLDR: pretentious, poorly executed and look quite ugly. 2 stars just for quantity of content for 0.04.

The game tries too hard to make you notice details and acts like it's supposed to be a serious game when in reality it is a joke with a nonsense plot and filled with plotholes and failed attempts at trying to be original.

Pros:
Semi-decent renders + 1*
Somewhat attempt to have a plot 1*
Sex scenes are... meh +1*

Cons :
Very few sex scenes -1*

Overall a solid 2*

Okay... this is not a game about chess pieces, per say. It is a game of strategic mind manipulation. I kept stopping to think how much effort the developer put into game and still shook my head at the depth played out. If there is ever a game with the tag multiple protagonist, it is this game. If the player does not like fast role changes and unpredictable fetish orientations then they will hate this game but if the player can keep up with the fast pace and all the twist and turns the developer is asking you to stay tuned to, you have found your game.
I like it very much and only regret that it could prove to be too much for evne a team to substain. Good luck.

This game really likes to overcomplicate things. First off, I was really excited when I saw the game was about chess and contains femdom, unfortunately I would be disappointed. There is no logical storyline and everything is a little bit all over the place. (switching POV a million times, too many characters and half-finished storylines) Also there are a lot of unnecessary long animations, where sometimes you as a player just want to skip them, very well aware it took the dev probably hours to create them.
The dev should really focus on increasing the quality of the static renders (some faces even look scary tbh) and creating a more cohesive logical storyline, while not going overboard with too many protagonists.
I rate this game 3/5 because of the great potential I see, but as of right now I can't recommend playing it.

Initial premise is decent, before taking a hard left into scifi dystopian mindfuckery for no apparent reason, but nothing inherently wrong there. The real problems come from the inconsistent interfacing. Some parts are standard Renpy dialogue with the usual clicking on choices and skip functionality in place interspersed with unskippable video clips, which is a well tested formula for success, except that this time add in looping animations that are indistinguishable form the videos unless you click, which you absolutely must do to proceed. The clips and animations themselves have a serious problem with cinematography. I don't expect much from the kind of indie projects on this site, but this tries to do a TON and fails at nearly all of it. The better camera angles merely render the animation confusing, the worst make it downright disorienting and vertigo inducing. It would be far better served with static and wide angles rather than complex close shots that obscure all relevant scenery behind a less than stunning CG rendition of an ass.