[Review for v0.1]
I thought the 1-star was pretty harsh before I'd played, and I didn't want this story to be thrown out purely by one review, so thought I'd give it a choice. UItimately, I agree there's some pretty big problems with the AVN.
Functionally, it's a kinetic novel. Sure, you get some choices, but those choice's more just lock you into a girl rather than actually changing the story. The proof of that is once you're in that track, if you pick the wrong answer, then the AVN just stops. Another indicator about how kinetic the AVN really is, is that on the current path, everyone you meet becomes almost immediately irrelevant after you lock yourself into the girl's path. Like genuinely, everyone else but her friend just disappears, and eventually she disappears too.
For dialogue/characters specifically, this is also pretty flat. Because the AVN almost rushes you to the end, you don't REALLY get much of any kind of character development or personalities for these characters beyond the minimum just to skate by. I also imagine the disposability of the characters also lends to the shallowness of the writing.
I think a big anchor for the AVN is actually the overarching story, because I didn't really find it interesting at all; this feels strange because the AVN actually focuses explicitly on this story, and everything centers AROUND the story rather than it being a backdrop for character interactions, romantic connections, sexual exploits, or even the main character. What I mean by this is that on the first completed path, the world basically stops completely outside what is relevant for your specific pathway to complete the story. For the first path, most of it is experienced in the house of the L.I., and in most cases once you leave the house of the door, like that's it; you usually cut almost straight back to the house again. I feel like this writing strategy is what trickles down to everything else, and is why it all feels so rushed and kinda empty.
Visually it's not bad. It's not incredible work, but I feel like the longer the dev keeps working, the better it'll get, so I don't really see any issues for the project in that department. Really, if the writing was good I'd be giving this 4 stars with the expectation to raise it to 5 when the visuals inevitably improve, but as it stands now I just...don't feel any reason for anyone to experience it beyond satisfying curiosity.
Good luck to Gray Warden in this project and whatever they make next, I hope they see this as a stepping stone in their creative process over a be-all-and-end-all.
I thought the 1-star was pretty harsh before I'd played, and I didn't want this story to be thrown out purely by one review, so thought I'd give it a choice. UItimately, I agree there's some pretty big problems with the AVN.
Functionally, it's a kinetic novel. Sure, you get some choices, but those choice's more just lock you into a girl rather than actually changing the story. The proof of that is once you're in that track, if you pick the wrong answer, then the AVN just stops. Another indicator about how kinetic the AVN really is, is that on the current path, everyone you meet becomes almost immediately irrelevant after you lock yourself into the girl's path. Like genuinely, everyone else but her friend just disappears, and eventually she disappears too.
For dialogue/characters specifically, this is also pretty flat. Because the AVN almost rushes you to the end, you don't REALLY get much of any kind of character development or personalities for these characters beyond the minimum just to skate by. I also imagine the disposability of the characters also lends to the shallowness of the writing.
I think a big anchor for the AVN is actually the overarching story, because I didn't really find it interesting at all; this feels strange because the AVN actually focuses explicitly on this story, and everything centers AROUND the story rather than it being a backdrop for character interactions, romantic connections, sexual exploits, or even the main character. What I mean by this is that on the first completed path, the world basically stops completely outside what is relevant for your specific pathway to complete the story. For the first path, most of it is experienced in the house of the L.I., and in most cases once you leave the house of the door, like that's it; you usually cut almost straight back to the house again. I feel like this writing strategy is what trickles down to everything else, and is why it all feels so rushed and kinda empty.
Visually it's not bad. It's not incredible work, but I feel like the longer the dev keeps working, the better it'll get, so I don't really see any issues for the project in that department. Really, if the writing was good I'd be giving this 4 stars with the expectation to raise it to 5 when the visuals inevitably improve, but as it stands now I just...don't feel any reason for anyone to experience it beyond satisfying curiosity.
Good luck to Gray Warden in this project and whatever they make next, I hope they see this as a stepping stone in their creative process over a be-all-and-end-all.
