VN - Ren'Py - Companion of Darkness [Ch.9] [Berkili4]

Having a bit more 'time' with my girlfriend being away for a few days, I decided to give a game with some storyline a try.

An hour later, here I am with the explanation about the primordials.. And I was instantly hooked
I like the story, not too complex, not too simple, with mysteries and twists
I really like the music (very important for me)
I appreciate the option to have either a femdom or maledom scene; I wish I had this choice more often.
Those few hours left me with a bit of a void once I finished it
The characters are likable

A nice discovery, can't wait to see how the story unfold

Review @Ch. 8:
- Deadly but cute waifus.
- Story not trying hard to be complicated. Fuckfaces got dealt with swiftly when the chance arrives instead of being left alive to deliberately lengthen the story.
- Characters with depth.
- Bro being bro.
- MC not OP but unique.
- Reference to other games.
- Beautiful render, and there are animations too.
- Visual novel, not sandbox, so no boring stat grinding. Just make choices.
- Good mix of porn content and story content. And yes, the porn happens for story reason, and as a reward for making the right decision.
- Ch. 8 ends where MC and his most beloved reunite so I don't have to die inside waiting for that moment.
- Femdom content are gentle femdom. Yes, like what you would expect from Leaf Geometry's game.

Therefore, this game is 11/10 for me.

Pretty slow start but gets pretty good for AVN standards.

MC is decent.

Graphics are above average for HS.

Writing is above average for AVN

Characters are above average for AVN

I would recommend this game as the Dev is consistent with updates.

I was not as entertained as the other reviewers were, apparently.

Part of it is the setting and tone, which is quite edgy and anime-inspired. FATE is probably the closest comparison, since the story revolves about people teaming up with some magical superhumans in pairs of two and then fighting other pairs.
I don't dislike Anime and edgy as genres, usually. Here, i think the story as a whole is just not that well done.

Sadly there is nothing else to really pick up the pieces. The characters aren't given time to flesh out and interactions with each other are a bit stiff. The Visuals are okay-ish, although I've heard they get better as the game goes on. I didn't really check if this was true.

Still, this is a VN and not a sandbox or anything with actual gameplay, so i feel like i have to judge it mostly by its story. And there are just so many bad tropes here:
- MC gets always attacked and is kinda on the run after being discovered as partner of edgy, but nice spirit.
- Gets told he's weak, wins all fights anyway with the power of friendship plot armor.
- There's like 5 Actors that matter or do things by themselves. The rest is maybe on break somewhere. Who knows.
- The actions of all characters can be boiled down to: Either wants to kill MC because duh! or wants to fuck MC because duh! Sometimes both.
- Selective memory loss/Secretive for no reason. Like, of course the partner we get doesn't even remember her own sister, who she hang out with the day before. And only tells us relevant information if we needed it two minutes ago. Worst example is when she tells us that the whole partner of magical being thins is a secret and to tell no one. She does this not at the very start, but in a conversation with a friend who we decided per choice to tell a little bit. She then takes control of our body and freezes us completely, unable to say anything. Yeah, everything normal here.
- No consequences:
I could go on about the breakdown of society or the absolute lack of any morals by literally everyone in the story.
More importantly tho, i will circle back to why i think this game wasn't entertaining for me:
The story, setting and characters are badly written while being the main focus.

Good story and a solid attempt; the ideas are original and interesting. The female models are good. Plenty of plot twists and drama as well as comedic relief, a little horror and graphic violence to round it out.

Some glaring issues are that the translations are difficult to follow and jumbled. Some of the scenes transition abruptly and jarringly, leaving the reader confused as to what is going on when a new scene suddenly appears out of nowhere. The sex scenes with some of the LI's are very limited in scope in that either you have a fetish sex scene or no scene at all, creating dry spells and certain LI's you can't even have sex with if you do not want to see a particular fetish. It would be much better to have a fetish scene and normal sex scene choices for all of the LI's so that the player can see the LI they prefer rather than forcing certain non-choices. Not being able to "get them all" can be frustrating in a harem game where not every player shares the same range of fetishes. Some people will like vanilla, some will like tutti fruity if you take my meaning. (For example: Sex scenes with Ciarara are all domination of one sort or another.... what if the MC does not want domination sex of any type? No Ciarara at all?) The animation speed seems a little fast for the sex scenes and some of the sex scenes are a bit contrived and sudden with no real build up.

Review for Chapter 8
Right off the bat, "Companion of Darkness" impressed me with its creative introduction. It's always a plus when you notice the effort put into the introduction instead of just the usual "Are you 18+? Enter your name." This kind of detail really separates an excellent game from a good one.

The story in "Companion of Darkness" is quite interesting. It's a fiction with a very unique storyline that develops nicely, providing a nice amount of content already. However, sometimes things escalate too quickly for my liking. Romances or major events in the storyline could be emphasized more, as the rapid progression can feel a bit unnatural at times. The characters are well-defined, though some, like Amy, start of quite cliché and not very complex. Later she all of a sudden changes her personality and is more self-concious. Unfortunately, some characters and storylines, such as those involving Amy (has been restored), Jacky, and Abrere, feel abandoned. They disappear for several chapters, and I almost forgot about them completely.

The graphics in "Companion of Darkness" are decent; nothing particularly stands out. However, the animations are a pleasant surprise and among the best I've seen. The girls, in general, look quite good, which adds to the visual appeal of the game.

Conclusion
Overall, "Companion of Darkness" is a solid game with a lot of potential. Its creative introduction and interesting storyline set it apart, even if the pacing sometimes feels rushed. While the graphics are just average, the excellent animations and well-defined characters make up for it. Despite some characters and storylines feeling abandoned, the game still provides a compelling experience. If you enjoy unique storylines and top-notch animations, "Companion of Darkness" is worth checking out.

The Story is addicting and interesting while the females are sexy as hell. the Action scenes are amazing and the sex scenes are hot as well but they can be improved. The Main draw of this game is the story and world building, it will sink its teeth into you and make you unable to stop playing. Its Fresh and fascinating which basically makes this Goated.

Review for Chapter 8:
This is a good game and I recommend it to anyone reading. Definitely better than most games on this site.

Pros:
-The biggest pro by far is that the story is incredibly compelling and hooks you in. Every update will end with me eager to find out what happens next.
-LIs are mostly all interesting and likable
-UI is great
-It's very long already and still being actively updated

Cons:
-Dev, if you ever read this, please please please please please please please proofread your game. There are typos or spelling mistakes constantly and it's super distracting.
-Writing is mid. Not bad. But also not great. It's fine.
-Sex scenes are bland and the writing during them kind of makes me cringe.

A very nice novel, enjoyed the characters and the scenes, with distinct and interesting personalities and a fine world/relationships building. Coming for the horny, staying for the world. Definitely recommend trying out.

Honestly, this game is really solid and well worth your time. But its not perfect my main issues come from outside influences like me just not vibing with the protagonists model, the first main villain being fairly underwhelming and doesn't have enough build for his arc, or the fact that the fourth Primordial's theme is Deep Blue Jeer, which does fit her but it pulls me out since I really like the song.

But other than those "Issues" the cast is honestly pretty good, Noel, Naer, and Gab, are particular standouts in my opinion. The protagonist is also quite stellar as MC's are in this genre, the dev has been really good at correctly showing his emotions in the major plot moments, and after chapter 6 I can feel a rising buildup for him that I hope is pulled of right.

In all, really good and I cant wait for the next update to come out.

Tldr: Review as of chapter 8. Mediocre game that gets a little bit better in some areas as it progresses, but would not recommend unless you love the classic "ordinary guy finds out he has secret super powers, now he must save the world"-kind of story, in which case it might have some appeal for you.

Pros

• Some nice modells, especially the main LI Dark One. Also generally gets better in the later chapters.
  
  
• Music score that changes from scene to scene and seem to be original or at least uncommon (meaning, you woun't find them in every other Renpy game).
  
  
• Animated sex scenes, though many of them are not very well made. Gets a little bit better in later chapters.
  
  
• Men taller than women. A very low bar suprisingly many games struggle to clear. Though, this is probably more thanks to Honey Select than the dev. Still, credit where credit is due.
  
  
• Much, much content. But that is both a pro and a con, see below.

Cons

• MC has ugly boyish face deluxe (and the body is not much better, but that is at least partly Honey Select 2s fault). Irony points for a woman/LI in the game saying she doesn't find another man handsome, because he isn't "rough, masculine...manly" and that she doesn't like "pretty boys" anymore. Granted, the MC isn't pretty, but he is absolutely not in any way "rough, masculine...manly".
  
  
• Main LI is a giant spider in her true form. As are all the so called Dark Ones. Maybe this is a bit subjective, but I think most people will agree with me that giant arachnids are not sexy. Knowing that that is their true form is almost like knowing that their true form is male or something similar. Every time I remember it while seeing a sex scene involving a dark one, it turns me off. Also, it looks like the image is a scaled up small spider with really low resolution.
  
  
• Dark Ones are imortal beings that have been alive for billions of years, yet have no more gravitas than an average 22-year old. Now, I understand that pulling off what's supposed to be an antidiluvian immortal is difficult, even for a proficiant writer (which this dev is not), but if you can't do it properly, maybe find another explanation for them that doesn't involve them being immortal and ancient beyond comprehension? Also, many of the characters verge on the silly side and characters initially described as being inhumanly dangerous and uncaring are of course shown to be quite sweet and/or childish in many interactions. MC is also able to reach through emotionally to the core of these super powerful, immortal beings that have been around since before the big bang and are considered cold and unapproachable by everyone else, despite himself being a socially inept semi-autist (see below). Believable? Not very, no.
  
  
• Spineless sociopath simp MC. He murders left and right without any pangs of guilt. But in all choices, the best outcome is always to do what main LIs want. Maximum white knight simp ftw, so to speak, because sexually he's of course not calling any shots what so ever. He does what he's told and virtually never takes any initiative of his own unless the woman telegraphed from three miles away that she wants to have sex with the him. Despite being a vicious and empathy deficiant killer. The one time he tries to take a little bit of assertive initiative, he does so in autism deluxe style and of course fails it completely (see below). Also, did it because LI/Dark One told him he should have sex, so not really his own idea either, thought the moronic execution was all him.
  
  
• Pathetic vanilla handling of dark themes. So, there's a lot of brutal and cruel murder going on, encouraged by the main squeeze Dark One that the MC is a companion of. And fighting between rival Dark Ones and their companions. But the sex following a victory in such a confrontation is ridiculous (because of course, stealing the power of a defeated rival could be achieved through sex, which is peak porn logic, but that's to be expected). The companion has just been murdered in cold blood. But the defeated Dark One doesn't care. Doesn't care that all her power will be sucked from her and that she will be sent to limbo for ten thousand years. And is in fact welcoming and participating in the sex that will render her powerless. Not only is it ridiculous in itself, it is also a very missed opportunity. If you're making a game where you revel in gory murder and other dark themes, then why not extend that to the sex? Why not at least give the player the opportunity to wrest the power from the rival Dark One through rape or at the very least some heavy duty dominance (because you can choose to do it in a non sexual, but for the Dark One in question, very painful way, so morally, you can chose to be an evil fuck, just not a sexually evil fuck)? But no, it all has to be boring vanilla.
  
  If the MC is going to be a knight in shining armour when it comes to sex, I would much more prefer if he could also be a good guy in other ways. There's nothing worse than a porn game with a murderous bad guy who is so weak and spineless that he can't do anything other than the most vanilla and simping forms of sex. And to be overly clear: It is just the sex. He has for instance no problem having a Dark One secretly read the mind of one of the human LIs. What's hacking their computer and going through their trash when you can just read their minds directly, eh? So, definitely not a good guy. Despite that, limp noodle coward when it comes to sex.
  
  
• Socially inept MC. Example: Dark One tells him he needs to have sex. He responds by out of the blue grabbing the breasts of a woman who's expressed interest in him before. To the devs credit, this particular autistic move doesn't end well for the MC. But why make the MC an autist in the first place? Anyone with half a brain and a normal understanding of human interactions knows that you don't initiate sex with a woman you never had sex with before by out of nowhere grabbing hold of her boobs. Unless you're willing to do the rapey, rapey that is. But as we know, he isn't. Despite this, almost every woman wants him more than anything. Because of course they do.
  
  
• All consequential men but one are evil. Such a boring and lazy trope in many harem games. Also, despite there being lots of women in the game, when it comes to fighting and killing it's almost always other men who gets it. Also boring and stereotypical. Dare be different, man, don't be so predictable.
  
  
• Sob stories galore. Another tired trope, LIs almost always have one sob story or another. It gets tiring. Even the supposed bad asses known for brutality and insanity of course are shown to have sobby backgrounds.
  
  
• Mind reading and seeing whole episodes where the MC isn't present. Fucks with first person immersion as the MC isn't a mind reader for real. Made worse by central plot points unknown to the MC is revealed to the player. Why? It's as if the Dev couldn't contain his own excitement over all the plot twists he crafted and had to spill them prematurely. Would have been much better for the player to find out at the same time as the MC, would have been more of a gut-punch. Also, would mean slightly less time between sex (se below).
  
  
• Hardly any mdom. You're supposed to be able to be on a "Mdom path", but there is very little mdom and what there is, is very vanilla. And the MC is still a simp who does what he is told. Example: LI says she wants MC to be dominant as they're about to have sex (because nothing screams mdom more than having a woman tell the clueless man that he should be more dominant... ). He complies by pulling her shirt up exposing her breasts. That was it. But even on the so called Mdom path, you will encounter fdom, where the MC gets ordered around, forced down on his knees and outright controlled by the powers of the other companion. Go figure. Gets slightly better towards the end, but still very unsatisifying.
  
  
• Very low sex to time ratio. Particularly frustrating considering many characters are presented as already in love with the MC or wanting sex from the very beginning, like the main Dark One LI who can eat the MCs feelings and sexual feelings being some of the best to feed on.
  
  
• Sex interupted. As if the low sex to time ratio isn't bad enough as it is, the Dev throws in instances were the MC is about to have sex, but is interupted at the last minute. Haha, no sexy time for you. Now more boring and convuluted story and plot instead.
  
  
• Mostly subpar renders. Base build is a version of Honey Select 2, but many times, they are not posed properly and look bad. The backgrounds are generally speaking of lower quality as well. Of the different modells, most are nothing to write home about, only exception is really the two main dark ones that are used as promotion-pics for the game all the time. This gets a little bit better towards the later chapters though, so maybe the Dev is improving in this regard.
  
  
• Cameos from other games as something "funny". Just ruins immersion.
  
  
• LI is a gamer, so she figures out a strategy for how to defeat an uberpowerful foe, because of course real life is just a MMORPG with better resolution. Armies around the world should supplant their generals and commanders with twenty year old gamers, because clearly, they understand strategy and tactics in the real world better than anyone else.
  
  
• Akward writing, don't know if it's Engrish or just very poorly written by a native speaker, but never really good and at worst, it's really poorly written. Not full of spelling and grammar issues, but just poorly and akwardly worded. Also, the descriptions of the sex scenes usually comes across as cringe rahter than hot.
  
  
• Almost everyone is a virgin. Despite that, sex is always awesome, never any problem with penetration despite MC having a huge cock. Example: 30+ companion woman is a virgin because her Dark One makes her unable to feel desire. Despite that, she wants MC to take her virginity before she dies (because of course she does and of course she doesn't die). MC kisses her once, then shoves his cock straight up into her pussy, no foreplay. So, virgin without ability to feel desire (admits to faking it) and is rammed by a huge cock without being lubed up first. MC asks if it hurts (remember, sexually he's vanilla simp). Of course not. Please fuck harder. Proceeds to having huge orgasm due to nothing more than the MC sawing back and forth in her pussy.
  
  
• MC has magic dick. Example: prostitute explains to MC "for me it is not so easy to climax.". Goes on to come from penetration alone. And to be clear to all virginal players out there, who gets the majority of their sexual knowledge from porn and games like these, where women scream in orgasmic bliss as soon as the d enters the vajayjay, in reality, only a small percentage of women can orgasm from penetration alone, the large majority require clitoral stimulation to come. Also, see above.
  
  
• When having sex, main Dark One LI changes her looks to a more mundane version. Since her looks is one of the few pros of this game, that sure is a looser move. Also, the explanation for why is goofy. Because having sex with a Dark One can be dangerous for a human/companion. But if she changes into a human body, it is suddenly no problem. Like, wait what? The companions already look human in their human forms (remember, their real form is huge ass spiders), save for small things like pointy ears or a weird complexion. Also, since it all takes place inside a dream, how could it even matter? No one knows...
  
  
• Blonde men are evil. This game has quite a number of blonde dudes. All of them are bad. Dev mentally stuck in action movies from the eighties where every bad guy is a blonde german, russian or south african. This isn't exactly my biggest gripe, as, who cares, but it's emblamatic of the low quality in the writing/characters.
  
  
• Female jealousy unheard of. At least, the convenient "MC needs to have sex to build power" means we have a flimsy excuse for some of the harem, but that doesn't explain why none of the human women seem to have a jealous bone in their bodies. Unrealistic and missed opportunity for tension and authentic drama.

I totally enjoyed this one... (And this contains spoilers "kinda")

Amazing story, music, fight scenes, epicness xD and love with companion Noel, fifth Primordial Aspect of Fear...

I do not even have to say more...

This was like playing full blown anime or enjoying a really great story - AVN in this case and it is amazing and I yearn for more.
Chapter 9 pretty please Berkili4 and thanks for your work and passion, it shows in game ...

Whole companion aspect feels believable and thoughtout, and I really felt the bond we have with Noel and
All about the Dark ones and Primordial aspects feels so EPIC and damn good, and yet them showing emotions, particularly Noel to US and Nael to Rule B and such.


Lastly thanks again, I really love this AVN too and can´t wait for more...

I recommend it to everyone here to try it, it is well worth it...
And, after all, you have all eternity to go through it D_D

Review of CH.8
This is another good example of a story so good you forgot to nut, I think it's an understatement that a lot of this comunity likes anime, I know I do, and I can appreciate all the comon tropes CoD(hehe) has, the writing has the kind of charm and cheese I love, but regarding the romance and erotic aspects I feel it falls short more often than not, the LI's personalities make up for that but I believe a revision on the writing and script since theres a good amount of gramatical erros here and there, a more ample vocabulary (not like it needs a thesaurus but theres I find a bit simplistic a good chunk of the charaters dialogues.) and more drawn-out scenes where the characters get more development, in a story where feelings are very important not all the girls get to grow on that, I know advancing the plot is important, but this is already a slowburn so more conversations could be nice. My reason to insist in this is related to the models and renders, they are about what you expect from HS, good and get the job done, I especially like the use of more "average" girl body types since it's pretty normal to use the more bustier side of character design so girls like Emma, Noel and Clara feel more special. Although the sex scenes improve with each chapter, they're the weakest part of this VN but it's funny cause i'm more focused on the story to crank one out. Theres room for more choices to be made b y the player regarding dialoge options, a bit more flavor to the writing i believe!! Last there's the fight scenes, they're cool, that's about it, maybe more dinamic camera angles could help, maybe a few adjustments in the lighting... love the cameos btw!!!

This game is awesome. The story is quite good. I was always wanting more and more and more. The girls are all very beautiful I enjoyed them all. The whole story behind being a companion is actually very interesting, all the different factions also make me curious about all the different types and how they're run, we've only met 3 and don't really know much about them but hey looking forward to future chapters for this.

Noel and Ciarara are my favorites. I'm hoping something great happens after the Chapter 8 Cliffhanger.
All in All I highly recommend this banger. Great story, Great women. Great MC. Great world building. I just really can't recommend this one enough. This is for sure going to be one I'm supporting with the few I have already. Can't wait for the next update!

Developer is goated for this amazing game. Who knew Berki could collab with many devs. I can't wait to see how Rule B shapes the game and Noel's story in the next update.
ALL IN ALL GAME IS GOATED IN EVERY WAY, LOADING SCREEN, GRAPHICS, STORY, ANIMATION, SEX SCENES, WRITING AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. The wait is killing me. I love you, Berki, mwahh!

This has been one of the best games i've really been enjoying so far, i really like the character relationship growth between each of the other LI's, my personal favorites are Noel & Clara, I've only recently came back to the game with 2 more chapters added & i must say, it's been a blast & i cannot wait to see more of it.

That on was difficult to judge. On one side you have a really interesting anime like story about powerful beings and fractions that are fighting each other (won't spoil more) and on the other side this game rushes through most of its story events and sadly barely any character is really flashed out.
Also in the beginning the animations/composition/lightning are not very good, but the dev improves greatly on later chaps.

Despite the flaws, i really recommend you try out CoD ( ) yourself, because its a diamond in the row that's just keep getting better and better. If the dev give his characters a little bit more time to develop (maybe through some flashback scenes), i can see him rising to the top with other well known games. The music is okay. Two songs stood out for me. Rest does the job without getting annoying. Oh and that is only my personal opinion, but please make the MC Face look a little bit more badass. It always takes me out when i see his bland expressions.^^

3,5/5 (4 because of the rating system) after Chapter 8

ps.: Don't forget poor Jacky^^

This game is amazing. The story is compelling and the references and callbacks kind of feel nostalgic. The UI is pretty unique though. Not in a bad way but in a new refreshing way. The script could use some revisions. Although not a lot some misspellings and typos do get apparent. Still despite it being already a substantial amount of content, there are still so much more to be explained which means more possible content. I only hope that the quality doesn't drop anytime soon because the new updates where really good. Especially the scenes. It is a must play and totally recommend.

Great story, very engaging! Can't wait to see MC's development as the new Rule B! Hope as he gets stronger and his inhabitants power grows and he can occupy more dark ones. Surely he won't stop with just 3... right?!

Overall a fun and entertaining game. It does a lot of things well but doesn't excel in any particular area.

The strongest part of the game is the storytelling. The game also has lots of content to play through. The weakest park of the game is the poor English (and the author claims to have two proofreaders?).

I'm not a fan of Honey Select but the author makes the most out of an outdated rendering platform.

The sex scenes are done well overall with good animation. Some of the sex scenes feel forced and undeserved however. Porn logic is definitely present here.

Parts of the story are nonsensical and conflict with other parts. This is especially problematic in chapters 4 and 5.


Overall a fun and entertaining game that is good but doesn't excel in any particular area.

I recommend this game and encourage others to give it a try!