VN - Ren'Py - Color of My Sound [Ch.3A v6] [Gallant Trombe]

Not a bad story

PROS
Story is interesting
Models are lovely
MC looks like an adult

CONS
Lack of story progression
Transition between some scenes is slow

Summary
So this isn't a bad VN, but it's not amazing either. I was hoping that there would have been way more content than what's currently available. With that being said, I understand that working on projects is time consuming and things happen that slow things down.
Transition between some scenes is met with long pauses. You click to progress and it takes it a bit longer than expected. I'm guessing it is set up that way for "pause and effect" to grab your attention a bit more.
The story has an espionage and cloak and dagger style to it, with a twist of drama. All are things enjoyable if done correctly.
Choices are minimal. I personally like to be able to choose what to do, and who to see/talk to. You only get that option two times so far.
Characters are dynamic. They have solid back stories that are believable. Also with some hidden secrets/agendas as well.
I recommend giving this VN a shot. Good luck to Gallant Trombe with this project. I'll try to keep my eye out for future updates.

I can sense that this game could have great potential given how much effort has been put into the game world lore already.

So far I quite liked the writing and overall uneasy atmosphere in the game world surrendered by challenging to predict characters' intent and motives. Really interested to see where it goes in upcoming chapters.

Currently there are no complete music tracks in the game but found the solution in Youtube by playing some sci-fi, futuristic intrumental musics in the background. It did really help to elevate the mood quite a lot.

Most noticeable downside of this game is animations.

A solid 4/5 rating may look a bit over for what it is now in technical and story completion stand point but overall experience is still worth it.

Ps: This review made based on [Ch.2 Pt.B v6] release.

I played through Ch.2 Pt.B v6 in a couple of evenings, and enjoyed the time spent. The plot is quite interesting, and I am eager to see where it goes. I’m not sure how well it works as an AVN, though: all the intrigue and foreshadowing aroused such a degree of paranoia that I was reluctant to let the MC get intimate with most of the potential love interests, fearing it was a ruse to put a knife in his back.

It could be greatly improved with a musical score, and animated sex-scenes, but I give it a thumbs up for the promise it shows to date.

This game has great visuals, but along with that comes the common irritating quality of the dev clearly jerking off to the quality of the renders more than the sex scenes. Extreme closeups everywhere, annoyingly slow transitions, every shot looking like its supposed to be a climactic setpiece. Like just chill and stop wasting so much time on all these boring dialogue scenes.

Speaking of the dialogue, it isn't terrible, but there's way to much tropey, anime inspired garbage dialogue and character traits for my taste.

Also I haven't touched this game in over a year and I got through all of the new content in about half an hour. I really think if the dev didn't pointlessly agonize over every single shot this game would be much better in a lot of ways.

Medium burn game and excellent pacing and mostly wanted to know what happens next and sex scene comes between her and there.
All girls look good and they are all onto something with main character which is making this game to feel the MC special which inturn in everyone's mind would be to fantasize themself in that situation. Good game overall.

Excellent Quality, Awesome Worldbuilding and deep characters with hidden agendas, this is a story I'm in for, and the perverse parts are just bonus on top of the cake.
Brilliant renders as well, and I do want to commend the dev for taking their time and letting the story unfold slowly without rush, this one's a gem in making.

After seeing this one getting updated more than once, I decided to give it a try, and I was genuinely surprised to find this one's a gem that I hope more people will find as well.

- The story is intriguing. Not only that, but dev clearly has a way with words, because the VN has a good chunk of text and information, but it's not tiring. Being a fan of scifi, this one's a solid. Some technology doesn't elaborate too much in how it works, but it also doesn't feel ridiculous or out of place.

- A personal mine, but MC is a decent looking young man, and all the girls models look great. Love the fact that they do not have weird facial animations (something that usually drives me away from other VNs). All the expressions look natural and subtle when they have to be. (For example, a blushing girl, eyes narrowing, slightly perking a brow, little smirks).

- The actions of the characters and their behavior are plausible. Some harem games make the girls immediately fall in love with MC, in this case the way they interact with him feels more real.

Don't know what else to say, this is a fine VN and might become one of my favorites. I can't wait to see the next update.

I think the Dev is off to a good start with this one, and his skills are only going to get better.
I liked the story a lot, and didn't mind the flash backs that helped to flesh the characters out and make them three dimensional. The relationship dynamics between the principals is great, and the happy-go-lucky Blanche brings in some levity into the mix.
Its hard to make a game that appeals to everyone, but this one is definitely worth a shot

One of the worst "games" I've had the displeasure of playing.

It's not even necessarily that the universe is badly written, or the characters incoherent or whatever. The renders look just fine, and the game runs well enough. It's *polished* on the surface, so why the low score?

The problem is that it's *soulless* and not a game at all. It's a kinetic novel in disguise. It's cliche after cliche, but no real *action* for you to get invested in. It's just TELLING you a bunch of story that happened in the past to these characters. I played for about two hours before giving up completely because they were STILL going on about shit that happened in the past to these characters and barely letting me have any *actual* influence whatsoever over the story. It's just annoying. I want to play *my* story, not hear about this jerkoff's past life, or whatever these sexy beautiful women did *before they even met me*. What's the point? I don't want to live vicariously through others like that.

If you're looking to jerk off to a book with illustrations, I'm sure this is fine, but as a *game*, it's not even worth trying out. Avoid.

Review for Ch.1 Enhanced Edition (Update for Ch.2 Pt.B v6 )
Interesting game, I gave it four stars but it wasn't far off five stars. Starting with the story, I must say it is a rather unique story. At the beginning of the game though, I found it a bit difficult to follow as it was all quite fast-paced. Lots of background information to keep track of. During the chapter, I did get more into the story and ended up finding it quite an interesting story.

In terms of romance, I do still miss some things as I currently find the romance fairly unnatural a bit awkward or even unclear. The characters and the especially the MC do have unique characters so who knows, more romance might happen in the future. Right now, it's mostly introductions between the characters and the story itself and not much romance has not taken place yet unfortunately.

Looking at the graphics, we can really be satisfied with that. The overall graphics are excellent and the ladies in the game also look good. The dev does not use animations so that is a shame for the sex scenes but I think they are still good enough.

As for other points, I do sometimes miss a bit of music in some scenes to create a bit more immersion because right now there isnt any. All in all, I do really recommend playing this game.

Good renders. Girls are nice and all although imo they lack facial expressions not to mention the MC...

My problem with this are the "absurdities" the devmentions in the developers notes. They make it impossible for me to forget for a second that I'm playing a porn VN. I just can't take it seriously.
I have the same issue with many VNs: I think that the first thing the devs decide when they think they are going to make a VN are the tags and then they make up the story for it. I prefer a VN that tells a story and PLAUSIBLY insert the flirting, the romance and the porn in it.

I knew the tags before I tried it so I'm not gona bash it with a bad rating but I'm not going to follow it either. (personal taste)

Thank you and the best of luck.

Version: Ch.1 EE

Good game.

I don't like absence of the animations, but oh well..

Despite the title of the game and the MC's explanation this game really needs music. It feels very awkward and unpleasant in complete silence. Not doing any good to narration.

Must admit, story is really intriguing and interactions between characters are bright and interesting. The writing is decent, no questions.
PS: Didn't check the Codex, but there're The Three Houses and eventually dev present you more houses inside one of those ? A bit confusing.

I love the visuals. The models, the environment, the clothes. Facial expressions are really nice.

A bit polishing aka music, sounds, animations and it will be 5 stars game. And the biggest downside - I want much more =P
Except these I have no questions.

I wish the dev(s) all the best and I would love to grab your game on Steam if it will ever be released there. I skipped my sleep to finish this so Imma go and do just that.

interesting plot so far. could use more action but I hope it'll pick up in terms of H scenes eventually. Backgrounds and art of the setting is amazing, so is the quality. There wasn't really a boring moment so far, despite the lack of H scenes. So far Mireille is the most interesting, followed by Elise, Hilde, June, Dizzy, Lana, and lastly Blanche in terms of attractiveness.

4/5 only because there is too much story and not enough in the way of H scenes, and due to the lack of music. However I've found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF4QRat9Alc this playlist to be sufficient, and especially cryo chamber's 24/7 dark ambient futuristic livestream on yt.

Let me preface this with saying I don't hate this game. I will give clear reasons for my rating, and they are only my objective opinion.

The Visuals:

- Pretty good, no the best but pretty good. There's a lot of inconsistency though, I hope that's something that will be corrected in the future. You'll have a really well lit one, than one that's totally blown out.

Animations:
-I'm not a huge fan of the eye blink animations I find them distracting. What's there is fairly well executed though.

Gameplay:
-I'm not sure if the choice have meaning or not, I've got girls falling all over me and this is just the first release. Which brings me to why I can only give two stars at this point.

The Main Character and Story:
-He's not very smart or at least not portrayed as so up to this point in the narrative. He's kind of lifeless to be honest. I'd like to see him have more emotions and feelings. Believe it of not I play these things mostly for the stories and characters. So far that element is just not present. The premise is, but those who live inside it are not.

Again , I don't hate this game, and I'd be happy to update my review in the future it things change.

Review Version: Ch.1 Finale v9
Overall Score: 97/100
Value: Extremely High

As is standard with all of my reviews I will break it up into 5 distinct sections each covering different aspects of an AVN.

*Beware: Spoilers ahead*

Story
“Color of My Sound” breaks the mould when it comes to AVNs with it’s heavy sci-fi setting and a plot shrouded in mystery. You’re thrust into a vast world with exhaustive lore that rivals traditional novels, and a clear attention to detail when creating the setting for an interesting conflict. The quality is unparalleled, even when compared to more popular AVNs as the developer shows a high level of care.

The plot follows the traditional structure outlined by Freytag’s Pyramid, but impressively manages to smoothly transition between each stage. The beginning of the story is paced rather well as you learn more about the world and experience the inciting incident for the rest of the plot. Impressively, the author avoids overwhelming the audience with info dumps as exposition is woven into the story itself, wherein you’re given key history when it’s absolutely required. This is the type of exposition that some renowned authors continue to struggle with even with years of industry experience.

The author manages to create a universe that feels unique despite competing with titans in the sci-fi genre, such as the Star Wars universe and Mass Effect trilogy. The level of technology takes the approach of being advanced enough to sell the notion of intergalactic travel, but grounds itself by following accepted physical principles (no Midichlorians or Eezo here). Overall it’s a refreshing take on a galactic civilization with the author bringing a unique style to the table.

The story is still early in development but still makes liberal use of political intrigue and subterfuge. At various points you’re led to believe one thing, only for the next few scenes to sew enough doubt as to whether something else might be unfolding. It’s shaping up to be a rollercoaster style experience as you try to unravel the mystery behind the rebel forces and governing bodies of the empire.

Characters
“Color of My Sound” introduces a wide cast of characters coming from various backgrounds, and you’re in charge of ensuring they all get along. As of this review there are a total 5 primary characters that form the foundation of Squad Nu.

Let’s begin with the character you will control: Vayne. The initial impression given by the author is that Vayne is a rather unremarkable musician who is trying to make a living. However, his life is upended when he witnesses a nuke being dropped on his city and enlists into the Imperial Navy. We’re led to believe initially that he joined due to his home planet being devasted, but it’s later revealed that his motivation is rather mundane as he needed a source of income. By the time we join Squad Nu he’s already an accomplished officer with a legendary record… that we don’t get to experience firsthand. While off-putting at first, this style of protagonist allows us to more effectively witness his growth as a character. As we slowly peel away the layers of his past we begin to learn that this larger than life legend is more relatable than he first appears, and gives more credence to future developments of his personality.

Lana Kihel fulfills a similar role to Vayne: she’s a legendary naval officer that has a similar track record. We’re introduced to her as the “Ice Queen”, an allusion to her serious demeanor and tactical assessments. However, as we slowly learn more about her upbringing we start to experience a softer side to her that also feels believable. The already apparent character development is a positive sign that we’ll see meaningful interactions between her and Vayne as she also begins to unravel his past, and apparent guilt.

Mireille Lowell and Blanche Aureus are polar opposite when it comes to personality. Mireille was raised as a corporate spy, calculating and deceptive, while Blanche was raised as in a more welcoming atmosphere to become a tech specialist. These characters serve as juxtapositions to each other, but as time goes on they slowly influence the other’s personality which could lead to rather interesting team dynamics later on.

Finally, Elise is the lady of a Frontier House who exhibits childlike adoration of Vayne and Lana. She serves as a temperance to the plethora of mistrust sewn by the other characters and events unfolding. She serves an integral role to the story as she breaks the already established distrusting atmosphere. While her character has received little in the way of development, her personality could have far reaching consequences on the team and be the adhesive needed to keep everyone together.

Visual Quality
I’ll keep this section rather short as the visual quality of each render is impressive. Each scene contains high resolution stills that serve to aid in telling the story rather than taking attention away from it. We’re given concrete visualizations of the universe we’re in and the technology available. More impressively is the micro-expressions we can see on some of the characters faces at various points which expertly convey their emotions and tone of the conversation. Most importantly, there are no placeholder textures to break your immersion into the story.

Lewd Content
One of the core pillars of a successful AVN is the lewd content that gives it the “adult” rating. “Color of My Sound” wastes no time thrusting you into a sex within the first 10 minutes. While it may appear as a throwaway scene just to keep an audience it aids in the plot later on as we witness Vayne using this exact scene as a coping mechanism.

Overall there are few sex scenes so at the time of writing, however each one is developed in such a way as to seamlessly fit into the story. There hasn’t been a sexual encounter that felt out of place or intentionally rushed, which is a refreshing change of pace from the plethora of AVNs that throw them out like pennies.

Conclusion
Overall this is an AVN that is expertly crafter and clearly displays the passion the author has. Every scene and each line of dialogue all aid in telling a story without excessiveness. “Color of My Sound” has incredible potential to rise to the top of the charts, even rivaling Caribdis and DriftyGames.

Keep up the excellent work Trombe!

This VN deserves much more recognition for what it really does outstandingly. There are hardly any science fiction VNs with that narrative scale that manage to create such a good atmosphere. The renders are very good, the characters are diverse and multi-layered. I think the characters lack a bit of facial expressiveness. On the other hand, this game is set in a universe where emotional outbursts are frowned upon or at least not recommended if you want to get anywhere.

Sexuality is not necessarily the strong point of CoMS from my point of view, because it's not really doing a good job explaining why certain characters have such a strong desire to service others sexually, i.e. what motivates them or why this seems to be such a weakness to a character that is otherwise considered cold like ice for instance. But maybe this is something that will be explained later in the plot.

These observations don't really affect my appreciation of where CoMS stands out though. The world building, the atmosphere, short action scenes that nevertheless pack a punch, convincing spy stories against the backdrop of intergalactic superpowers vying for supremacy. The feeling of being just a small grain of sand in the gears, and related to that the question of meaning: What motivates the protagonist? What is the endgame for all of this? Who can he trust?

This one gave me Altered Carbon vibes. Well, the good kind of vibes, from the first season. We have big and complicated world, MC with difficult past, we don't know much of what's happening yet and we see that we shouldn't trust anybody, even our own team. On the graphic side ther is alsn nothing to complain of - renders quality is awesome, playing this game was a real pleasure for my eyes. Well then.. nothing more to say, just keep it up with the good work

I like it. I'm always amazed when there's a lot of lore in these kinds of games. I don't even like sci-fi that much which is why I haven't tried this until now.
Renders look great. Story and dialogue are interesting enough to keep my attention. Though just not sure whether my choices actually matter that much.
I just wish there was sound. It just feels kind of "off" for some reason.

Review as of [Ch.1 Finale v8]

SPOILERS!

My Synopsis:
Color of My Sound is an erotic, sci-fi set in the distant future.
The story revolves around The Officer whom is an experienced, well-liked, and highly decorated army officer.

The Officer has been chosen to serve as the leader of a covert organization made up of members from each House. To learn more about the alleged forthcoming uprising following the Day of Infamy.

With such few information, does The Officer have what it takes to command this motley crew and figure out what occurred in order to put an end to what appears to be a raging civil war?

Read Color of My Sound to find out.


- - - - -

Renders - Models and settings are really well done; they don't resemble one another in the way that they frequently do in other VNs.

I should also point out that the developer places a lot of emphasis on lighting. Its strength in terms of renderings is its ability to focus and involve lighting in a way that complements the characters. It also sets the ambience for the current mood of the scene.

In addition, our MC has a nice flair for appearance as opposed to the more typical rather slender appearance.

Story – It's a chapter 1, however it's quite long. It is one of those AVNs that focuses a lot on the narrative. It currently concentrates on character development and world building.

I would say that I enjoyed the direction the plot was taking, with the mystery and intrigue, as well as where it may go, potential future conflicts, and perhaps some additional action sequences.

Animations – There aren't any animations yet. However, I believe that at this time, it is unnecessary. The VN has the impression of being carefully and slowly constructed for a high-quality outcome. And if the developer decided to do so, I believe it will be of high quality.

Sounds – Uh, sometimes when it's silent people claim it's tranquil.

Grammar – It's excellent and completely unbroken. I may claim that the developer spent effort proofreading.

Dev - Feedback has been well accepted by the developer, and modifications are frequently implemented as a result.

Conclusion:
Giving it a 5-Star rating and looking forward to the story's continuation and how the developer builds upon the strong foundation he has laid for it.

Really into this one after playing it, the story is pretty good and only seems like it will only get better over time, the mc isn't a bummbling 18 year old virgin, the Li all have their own personalitys that work well with back and forth banter I also like the fact that it's almost kinetic but at the same time it isn't, the story and scenes will only divert slightly and you may get a small variation but it links back up shortly after, didn't miss one h scene and only missed one small story scene but it was a small variation like I've said, I hope the VN remains this way but I guess we'll see, it's decently written with very detailed renders and I cant wait to see more now, good luck with the future Gallant Trombe