VN - Ren'Py - College Kings [Act 1 v1.4.18] [Undergrad Steve]

Let's keep this one short:

1. Bad mix of assets leads to funny and terrible looking characters.
2. Story can't keep you interested in the game more than first 20 minutes...
3. Badly written codes often leads to the game not being compatible with the next update (which in this case is horrible because this game is huge)
4. Dry animations, using a few images with some emotions, would be way better than a 2-second loop with characters looking like a fish out of the water.
5. Game size would've been much smaller with Sprites instead of Scene-Renders. I mean, there's like 6 images with the MC alone in a room from different angles each worth around 2.5MB not only that many small interactions which could have worked with 10 sprites now it's using more than 80 or more images...

I'm not trying to do this developer dirty, but it seems like he’s bitten off more than he can chew.

Better luck next time.

Review is written on version 11.0.1

For the first:
This game started great and had a lot of potential to be a great one.
The graphics are nice, why i give 2 stars.

But that's all positive for now.
After several updates, the dev added more and more bugs and doesn't even bother to remove the multiple times reported ones. The gameplay is MEH - and the storytelling is under average.
The character of the girls are not fix and they change from now to then from friendly to villant or vice versa.
There is no real continuation and everything seems just random patched together.
For me it feels like the developer has no clue what or where the story should lead and he just writes scene after scene how he feels like in that moment.

BIGGEST ISSUE:
The gamesize - for such small amount of content so far over 16 GB - i mean REALLY????
There is no reason for renders of that amount - the renders are not of such a quality each way to justify that storage consumption

Instead of listening to player's complaints, the dev is just ignorant and convinced of himself that he overlooks the simplest and basic needs and complaints.

I must admit, that when I started playing this game, I thought it was a diamond in the rough. But since roundabout half a year, the game and story somehow stopped evolving. The game started to contain bugs which amount increased and got worse, every update. Also the size of the game has gone completely wacko. As of version 11.0.1 it's 16.91 GB in size. People playing and supporting the game have been asking the dev to do something about this and the bugs, but he doesn't seem to care. In fact, he expects (future) patreons to pay for fixes, rather than fixing what they already paid for. So all in all, the game in itself had great potential, but the dev managed to screw it all up big time making the game more and more unplayable. It's a real shame, really.

I believe this is the first game in which I've bothered to rate poor. Normally if a game is bad I will just delete it and move on. I'll explain my reasons and why they can improve but need to act in the next update.

Graphics: The renders are great and will draw new players in. What I cannot understand however is why they are packed in a lossless uncompressed format. It doesn't make any sense to do this when you can reduce the size significantly by choosing a better format.

Audio: It has some sounds and music as an afterthought which is always appreciated. I don't feel it's necessary for all players but for some audience it enhances the experience.

Story: Meh, another college game with no interesting twist. The formula is tiring out slowly and there's only a few new teams that are making games in a different setting. If you like games where the MC goes from dork to chad as soon as he whips out his big cock then you will enjoy the harlem content. I don't have any complaints with this because it's personal preference.

Summary: The game comes with a small amount of entertainment but has a stupid file size that would make new players assume it is as packed full of content . I'm not impressed by the lack of structure for each update, some recent updates are a couple of scenes at most and don't expand on the story.

Every update comes with more bugs and confusing storylines with character of LI's completely ruined turning them from nice girls to whores who are done with mc after having sex with him (especially Riley) and I supported dev on patreon but realized writing a review or requesting him to work on issues which many players found irritating is of no use bcuz dev ain't gonna give a shit about the reviews . I am done supporting him from this month on.

Story is getting more confusing and their are LI whose character literally changed from good hearted to a little arrogant (riley) .
needs work on story telling and character's nature , specially riley , whose character is basically being ruined , let her be the good nice person she is

Gofile download attempted to install several malware programs. game is 18+ gigs ridiculous. Unless its packaged better with a better download source my rating will not change. Would not recommend...............

Version: 11.0.1

Playtime: Hard to determine. 3-4 hours for one playthrough but many branches.

Quick Review:

Visuals 4.5/5
Story 1/5
Characters 2/5
Gameplay 2/5
Technical 1/5

Breakdown (no spoilers):

Visuals: Overall good. The renders are high quality the models are nice and the animations are smooth (though choosing the position is weird and pointless because it plays in order anyways). If you want to be nitpicky the characters faces are almost always blank slates n ever smiling or showing much expression but still visuals is where this game shines better then 90% of games.

Story: Non existent to the point where its pretty much just sandbox now. They tease homecoming in one update and you think that will be a cute little arc and the next update homecoming just immeadtly happens and nothing about it mattered. Don't get me wrong I hate when authors draw out plot points but here everything happens and resolves instantly so it's like there is no plot. The MC goes from pledging a frat to becoming a full member in one update - one flipping update! They go from knowing nothing about fighting to kicking an elite fighters ass in half an update! There is zero progression at all in this story. There is no build up there is no tease there is no tension - there is no point to playing this game.

Characters: You have all your stereotypes the nerd the slut the jock the ex the sjw etc. Not a single originally written character and the dialogue is just uninteresting. Nobody is really interesting or worth getting to know as no one shows any depth beyond their breakfast club archetype (hehe I know the point of that movie is the opposite).

Gameplay: One of the worst in any game I've ever played. 2 Stars only because it doesn't have grind. Every choice is an exclusive choice between a girl. Not in the sense of "oh boohoo you can't go harem" but more like you have to exclusively date one girl - even if it's the slut - because she only wants to hang out with you at the exact same time as everyone else. Author has this huge file size updates with only 5 minutes of gameplay and the game is only 3 hours long because everything is locked behind another path. That's not fun. I don't want to play the same shit 10 times to experience the paths of the 7 different girls and 2 different frats and 9 different personality combinations. Maybe in 20 years when the game is complete (if its not abandoned) that sounds cool but right now it really stipples the game.

Technical: As everyone else has said the game is buggy as shit. Was subbed to patreon for one hot minute until I realized I was beign cheated to pay for a game on release only to have to wait a month for a patch to make it playable - barely.

So this one is extremely difficult for me to score.

So let's start with
The BAD.

The game is buggy, BUT not so buggy as to be unplayable making the bugs more annoying .

The UGLY
With the bugs comes a high level cool, but incomplete and therefore frustrating features like:
1) The phone messages bug that keeps on wanting you to reply on old messages.
2) The Kiwi App, that's so promising, but ultimately disappointing in the lack of use for it. The MC is on his phone all the time, but nothing happens on the Kiwi app, making it unrealistic.
3) The fighting minigame. I actually like the fighting minigame, as it's actually rooted in in a mechanic similar to fighting. (Tekken Style). BUT again buggy in some fights where the animation does not complete.
4) The whole fight night was pretty bad, with non-sensical events and skipped fights.

Apart from the above mentioned issues, the game was still pretty good.

The GOOD
Definitely inspired by one of the most famous games on this site,
The game is very ambitious.
There are lot's of content.
The pacing with the girls are good.
The decisions are very meaningful and actually makes lot of sense determining your personality(Loyal, Confident and Popular)
The girls are very pretty and non generic.
They have very distinct and consistent personalities (Feminist, conservative, popular, loyal, flirty, Friend, Friend With Benefits etc. etc.)
Not all the girls will want you and you can not get all of them.

So my conclusion (TLDR):
The game could be one of the greats, but the bugs, although not game breaking, does detract from an otherwise great game. I enjoy playing the game a lot and the bugs are something I could live with. A mild irritation that makes the game good, but not GREAT!

With all the negatives, the game is still a cut above most games. Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I give it 4 stars. I will review the game towards it end again. Hopefully it will be more polished near completion.

Man... It took me THREE (!) updates to get past that Riley/Lauren phone loop bug. Also, had to start a new game. Here is a little tip for those who stuck there as well: start a new game and try out alternative routes.

Anyways, been a fan of this project from the very first release. The novel gave me "Never Break Down" (2008) vibes. Watched the hell out of this movie when I was a kid. Everyone's in this college is into fighting and the fight king is the coolest guy to hang out with, who gets all the chicks? Count me in!

However, with few updates in, it got pretty rough. That phone thing really bugged me. I got anxious every time MC had to pick up the phone lol. The writing's pretty goofy at times as well. i.e.: When Lindsey slides her number to you, somehow she's the first one texting you. And the list goes on and on.

On the bright side, this game doesn't claim to be "the big brother". It is light, the plot is pretty interesting. A couple of girls are really cute. My favs are Chloe and Nora by far. The fact that they are polar opposites and have problems with each other, makes it even more compelling.

I've been thinking a lot on how to rate this game. It was either 2 or 3 for me.
At the end of the day, I'm pretty satisfied and enjoyed it. I'm also excited about what's coming next. So, if you're into college lifestyle/frat parties type of novels, you should definitely dig it!

Every single release is plagued with bugs, and for an 11gb download it's honestly not worth it anymore so great game, if it weren't the buggiest thing on the site. Hard to enjoy when you know it's going to be unplayable...

One destined to be one of the greats. Its also great to be in a universe where you are not the only man in a world of women !!! The fighting part ads that something extra .Great game cant wait to see where it all goes .5 STAR GAME!!!

I started with version 10.1 and I haven't had any bugs in my two playthroughs.
Great character models, good animations and scenes.
There are tons of characters. They're not all interesting, but there's something for everyone ! (and they're all smoking hot!)

The only disappointment came when I played a second time. In my first playthought I had the impression my choices really mattered (committed to Chloe almost entierely), but I realized that you can actually go after all the girls without any changes. Kinda disappointing !

Anyway, I'm looking forward the next update !

The game has very cute girls that are extremely good looking (obviously subjective). However, the story is lackluster. There's a lack of character development and building of relationships. There's also too many girls being introduced into the game, with some having literally less than 10 minutes of screen time.

Some of the girls seem fun, but I don't know how any would find them interesting since we don't really know much about them or their past. There's a lack of quality time being spent with any girl you can choose as a love interest, and they seem more like a one night stand than a relationship now that we've finished Act 2.

If you are NOT looking for a relationship but would like to be able to screw hot chicks without consequence, then this game IS FOR YOU.

Great game, if it weren't the buggiest thing on the site. Hard to enjoy when you know it's going to be unplayable. Every single release is plagued with bugs, and for an 11gb download it's honestly not worth it anymore.

The models are really great and original,I don't think I've seen similar in other games so that's refreshing. Sex scenes are really good and I like how they are done. However The story itself is not really that interesting to me.

Awful experience, I don't know what else to write because this site ask me for a minimum 200 character.

The story is nothing special, but i could handle cliche story if its good or at least decent but this game is not in that good or at least decent category. The girls are superb, love chloe and aubrey model. the progression of the story is not that great and left a lof question mark in my mind. Ohh yeahh and it is BUGGYYYY AS HECK

Now that is a combo

The very first few release were great and a 5 stars game in the making, that was what i thought at that time. I am glad i didn't give review and rating early on, because since the last 3-4 updates, this game went crashing down hard.

The dev be like ' Okayy there are a lot of bugs report, i will do it and fix it tomorrow' and then almost a year later, nothing got fixed. I don't know why the dev could release a buggy game and be fine with it, we are a pirate so i guess thats okay but imagine releasing these buggy games to your patrons, The balls to do that is top notch

The story was good early on but now ? i don't even know whats going on anymore... It is a shame its come to this, because the renders are great and the girls are hot

Since I played version 0.4, there have been a lot of updates. The game looks better, but that's not enough.

All the same bugs with the phone, creepy faces and not interesting characters.

The story is boring and has no development.

TLDR
Gameplay 2/5
Music 1/5
Renders (faces) 0/5
Story 0/5
Phone 5/5!

This was a really promising game but the moment when Steve started bringing more people on board to help him is the moment when the game died. It's a commercial product now and initial dev's vision is gone.

Story is boring. I don't care about anything at this point. MC is like an NPC. He is blank. Story in this game is meeting every girl possible throughout the day and hang out with them. That's it.

Sex scenes are boring. Yes, they are smooth and latest animations are better than before but they are not interesting. They are the same. Every update we have a sex scene with Aubrey - show me them and I wouldn't tell which is from which update. No excitiment.

And of course mobile phone which for sure has at least 1 bug every new update

At this point I'm just skipping through the update to see if anything changed but nah and I don't think it will.