VN - Ren'Py - Confusion - Chapter 9 [v0.9] [AVNSnax]

Like others on here, I really started out thinking very highly of this game. There was a real sense of the struggle of the MC. The drama made sense.

Unfortunately choices early on for dom/sub didn’t mean anything for any significant plot points. You are railroaded through all of them beginning in Ch 4, 5 and 6. And what’s worse, the drama at this point becomes 1 dimensional. As someone else mentioned, the antagonists become comic book villains and the incidents become over the top. I'm not even considering sex/erotic scenes in this review, since this is story focused first and foremost.


Basically the drama is too over the top 1 dimensional melodrama, comics and soap operas aren’t even so flat usually. You can have dark without it being so extreme.

Pros:
Good renders
Likable MC, two younger sisters and aunt.
Early drama is done fairly well.
Begins as a realistic story of a trans person’s struggles.

Cons
Flat comic book villains
Point system seems to have no major effect on choices until Chapter 7 and then those choices seem too extreme, at least in response to Zoey.
Story becomes unrealistic after chapter 3 or 4.

I really hope the story can be revised some or at least turns more realistic going forward.

I never write reviews, but in this case I felt like I had to and it's a shame it has to be negative. How this scores as high as it does blows my mind however.

First of this is pretty much a kinetic novel (which is fine). The things you would want to influence are going to happen no matter the choices you make. There are "Major" choices later on but I'll get back to those.


This whole VN ends up being a sad, tragic, tragedy with yelling, crying, sad flashbacks, no relationship choices, no likeable characters and no fun. Two stars for effort but it completely misses the mark for me.

As of 0.7, I'm torn between a 3 and a 4 star. Dev clearly has a goal and a vision and it's pretty good. But there's too much moping about and crying which is why I'm giving a 3. I get it, things are sad, but it's too much. Also not enough boning either for an VN, and when it's shown, renders are too few. Can be fixed in future versions as the dev hopefully finds the balance this story needs.

This game is a waste of time we have a weak mc most cast are trash and the sex scenes are non existant also the choices are optional there because whatever you chooce the mc makes her own choice

Pros
None

Cons
Trash mc
Trash characters
no choices
no sexual content

This game is actually very sad
As for me I personally wanted to see Alex + male root. She is beautiful, fit, young and I can't get why there are only assholes around
Girls renders are good, as for the men, well, only overmarculin assholes, or dweeb assholes

I was in love with this game at first because I liked the concept, renders, and choices. However, the point system is pissing me off and I just quit in the middle of chapter 2. The fact that I have tried to be both feminine and aggressive/masculine and STILL can not get access to certain choices has left me sour and completely done.

This game is very different than what I usually play, but I was intrigued by the premise, and a lot of the reviews were great. So I took a chance. I mostly regret that, but let's come back to that later.

Pros:
+Setting seems nice, and looks good. The 3d environments do the job perfectly.
+The 3d models, while not the best I have ever seen, are good looking, and well posed/developed.
+The dialogue in most places feels like things real people would say* (Let's put an asterisk to come back to this one later).
+The trans characters struggles seem pretty genuine, and not handled like a porn trope just for the sake of it, but also doesn't obstruct the porn part overly either.

Cons:
I'm not going to make a bulleted list for this, because the entirety of my issues come from the latest 2-3 updates.
Basically, the "villains" of the story have gone from somewhat realistic (though also cliche) to cartoonishly evil in the last couple updates. Especially this most recent one.
Like, I can understand that the older sister is one of the antagonists of the story, but she has just become like mustache-twirling, Saturday morning cartoon villain, evil for sake of evil.

That also brings me to my other gripe with the game. Lack of player agency. I was under the impression, both from the title page and other reviews, that the player's choices would have more impact on the story, but after playing through the story and checking the gallery, it seems like most of it was just the illusion of choice. Unless there are going to be big changes going forward, it feels more like a kinetic novel.
Overall, I enjoyed the early part of the game, but the plot points in recent updates have completely pulled me out of the immersion of the game, and I doubt I'll be coming back.

Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend. Just what you want to be, you will be in the end…
Touching thought-provoking twincest, wrapping the struggles of a young trans woman trying to find her place in life.

I must admit, this one hit me by surprise, mostly for delivering what it says on the tin and then some: conflict, drama, pride, and predators. It's a very engaging slow burn, focusing on the gender affirmation and sexual frustration of its heroine, and in that regard does incest very well. As the supporting cast outside the family is mostly used as a vehicle to showcase different problems faced by trans people, they sadly remain somewhat shallow; which in itself may just be a perfect mirror of society.

The game's story is told novel-style with one general path to follow. That being said, it both allows for shaping the heroines personality and contains impactful decisions. And while the former works quite simple – in that being assertive enables one to be more assertive – I do hope for the latter to influence if not outright shape the ending chapters. Also, the quality of the writing is high, adding much to my enjoying the story.

All in all, it's very well done and absolutely worth one's time!
Review based on 0.5

V0.5 rating: 4.5*

This AVN get so many thing right. Its a really sensitive, kind, penetrating (heh) rumination on gender and identity, with some really hot incesty sisters thrown in the mix. Frankly, the family stuff detracts a bit from the story here imo, but I know most of ya big pervs love that so there ya go. The dev has some real insight into the whole trans-girl experience. Its all really well done. Her journey is halting and difficult (for her and everyone around her). Most, but definitely not all, of her family has her back and supports her, but the world around her doesn't. Much of it is really sad, and her depression really comes through and is warranted. The story is really just getting going and I'm really excited to see where it goes.

On to the relationshippy stuff. This is shaping up to be a real slow burn. The only sex is a HJ for the MC. There is some peeping/spying on a couple going at it, and one short dream sequence, neither of which are particularly meant to be sexy, so really just the HJ scene. That was super hot though. The renders are well done as are the animations which are mostly slide-show types which I actually quite like. The few full-on animations were... fine. All in all, its definitely NOT a fap-fest so if ya need your trans porn look elsewhere. This is not that.

Its rare to see realistic (except for the incesty stuff) kind and sensitive portrayal of the confusion of gender identity in the AVN world. Slutty futas with giant cock, yes theres plenty of that. The occasional transgirl in a smorgasbord of other girl options, there's that out there too. This is different, and different in a very very good way. Almost a 5* title, just a half point deduction because of the sister-sister stuff. Frankly, that could have been done better story-wise with a close friend or something, and would have been far more realistic. Well done AVNSnax!!

Nice character development and great render quality, definitely way above most games around here in both regards.

Also interesting the approach of showing the discrimination that a lot of trans people suffer out there in real life. Don't remember another game doing it with such intensity. Kudos for the dev for a new approach (at least to me).

Game follows a slow burn approach to thell Alex's story and of her sisters and mother, which is worth it because the story is quite interesting.

This game is absolutely nuanced, has an impactful story. The characters make you emote in response to their actions, the story itself is devious. Alex suffers from gender dysphoria and has to navigate her way through landmines seemingly growing in number with each interaction. Interfamilial drama laced with a dark underbelly that is left to the reader to as AVN said "It's vague on purpose--it's up to the player to reckon what they may." This game is definitely worth watching even if you're not interested in trans content the story itself will make you emote and have you connect in some way to one of the characters, having felt it yourself, been in a situation, know of a situation similar, etc. There is something here for everyone and I genuinely feel regardless AVN modesty in regards to the writing, it is an impactful story that leaves you anticipating. I wish nothing but the best for the dev and I will be following wholeheartedly to the final release.

So... This rating is gonna be short, because I normally wouldn't have played a 0.5 incest game. However, I had been watching the thread for a while, since it looked like it was gonna be an actually tasteful exploration of a trans MC, and then this week my notifications were blowing up, so I decided to take a look at what was going on and decided I needed to play early.

In terms of writing, your story is compelling. I genuinely had no issues reading through the entirety of the available game as it moved at a good pace, and provided just enough spice to keep it interesting in this early build up.

In terms of adult content, legitimately, this is one of the few games I've played that genuinely feels erotic. For games with the incest tag, in particular, feeling the actual tension in the relationships of the characters is something rarely done well, and in terms of MC being trans, i genuinely felt like I could empathize with her own erotic feelings.

The renders are nice, but there's a few things that bug me. First is the cartoonish expressions. This is a common issue with daz... people realy should play with those expression sliders more, because the expressions themselves undercut tension and heartfelt moments throughout the game. The second issue I had was with whatever you were doing for sweat. There was one shot that looked like the sweat caused the render's lighting to create a mirage. And there were plenty of shots with sweat involved where it just felt like the moisture wasn't reacting well with the light.

Overrall, great work so far on these core points. I have some criticisms dealing with some specifics, but I'll take those to the thread where they'll be better suited as feedback.

A legitimately good story that just happens to be an adult game. I was not expecting this but after having played it I hope this gets finished n fleshed out. It's rare to have a game with a trans character have any meaningful depth hence a 5/5 for me.

Sweet and nice story, a well paced erotic novel. The graphics are good and the characters have a few physical flaws that make them more realistic.

There is very little sexual content, but the situations are very erotic.
I hope the updates will provide further exploration of MC sexuality

Review updated as of v.0.7.1

This VN is fantastic so far. We get the perspective of a trans girl in a realistic and holistic way. Her backstory is clean, not overly-detailed, interesting, and believable. She struggles with her feelings about herself as a person, her sexuality, and her relationships seem to evolve right in front of you - all very satisfying elements of the story.

As the player, you're given the option to shape Alex's personality and reputation through reactions to various situations she finds herself in. You can make her confident, keep her on the shy and defeated path, or make her somewhat neutral.

Dev did a great job with Alex as the character model goes; she presents in a way that very much resembles a trans girl, IMO. Everything from her face and body shape, to her expressions are all well made.

A critique I have is that the above almost seems to bleed into how her siblings' characters were modeled and posed as well. She doesn't have any brothers, only sisters, and all of them seem to make similar facial expressions which are posed in such a way as to give them a more masculine appearance. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; if the dev envisions this as a common trait because they're family, I can accept that. However, if we are trying to mentally distinguish the trans sister from her other sisters, I feel it would've been better to make the other sisters' facial expressions and face shapes more feminine and distinguished.

I've observed near zero issues with spelling, grammar, or punctuation. This is a breath of fresh air, and something I weigh heavily when rating a VN.

Visually, I think things could improve, but at no point does it feel like an inferior experience. The lighting, renders, poses, and the minor animations are all good. I tend to play on 4K displays, and so many VNs tend to appear a bit grainy, as this one does.

We get the satisfaction that - on at least some level - we're all likely downloading this one for: sex scenes that involve a trans woman rather than the overplayed "futa". Don't get me wrong, I love me some futa, but they're naturally inferior in convincing the player of any grounding in reality. It's nice that we get to indulge our curiosity with the MC sexually, if only to a minor degree so far. I expect with how things have been written it'll ramp up quite a bit by completion of the story.

I originally rated this 4 stars, but between my rating on v0.4 and v0.7.1 it's been raised to a 5. I've given this to maybe 3-5 VNs total, so that should tell you something. The story keeps getting better with each update. Your choices: more important. Your actions: noted and reacted to by those around you in realistic and worldly ways. I genuinely feel like the author tells this story without any undue glamour, defamation, and rides the fine line between catering to one side or the other on the subject of trans women. Obviously, the big takeaway is finding comfort in one's gender identity, and yet we also see very realistic depictions of the standard-issue bigots trans people face everyday. I hope this VN paves the way for more like it. As an ally, I'm glad to see the confidence to build a story that isn't riddled with shame and bigotry.

I eagerly await further updates on this one, and will most definitely be playing through to the end!

Just found this VN, upto now I'm liking it. I doubt it but I kinda have a feeling Brad might be more like Alex than they let on. Also Just a little thing that bothered me, not all guys have a pronounced adams apple, I definitely don't and I wouldn't call any part of me feminine, also similarly, there are plenty of girls who have a visible adams apple.

How do you find your place in a world where you do not seem to fit in? Confusion is a story about a young transgender woman that is coming into an adult world that seems to do everything it can to deny her any chance of happiness.

There are hundreds of stories out there with Futa/Trans content, but none of them have given the sub genre a story that is grounded in a "plausible" story-line. Confusion side steps the stereotypical Futa/Trans conventions and delivers on a very relatable and human story that forces you to "see" the characters and walk in their shoes.

It is my opinion that Confusion is a story that is long overdue. The developer has taken a brave step forward by not only casting a female as MC but also a transgender MC! Many would say that the story already has two strikes against it but I do not see it that way. I see this as a fantastic story that has been long overdue!

Confusion isn't a perfect story. There are times when you feel like the atmosphere is just too negative. It becomes depressing at times and may even anger some people. I do think that the story could use a little bit more positivity to help balance the emotions but I fear doing so would diminish the emotions that the writer is trying to convey.

Perhaps the biggest (maybe only) complaint that I have here isn't in the story, but in the games "Mechanics". I found the transistions and the use of delayed slides and non dialog scenes to be annoying and at times irritating. I quickly found myself spamming the mouse button to get things moving. In my opinion these scenes and moments are greatly over done! If anything would make me quit the story and delete it, it would be these moments. In my opinion, they did more to hurt the flow of the story than anything.

Graphically, the story is pretty good. The renders are good and aside from some inconsistency with the look of the stories patriarch, all of the characters look good. In this day and age, it is hard to find a VN that doesn't use the same cookie cutter assets but Confusion does a good job of giving us characters that are fairly unique. You don't find yourself looking at the MC and thinking about another story which is good. The world within the story looks good as well.

If you are looking for gratuitous sex scenes, this is not the story for you. Confusion is a slow burn that takes it's time to flesh out characters and build a good core story. You get a glimpse of things to come while the story builds momentum and the flow of the story does a good job of building anticipation for the events yet to come.

Overall, Confusion is a fantastic story at this stage. It does a great job of keeping your attention and you can't help but be emotionally invested in the characters. Game mechanics aside, I still give this story 5 stars. Confusion is a story that has been a long time coming! It is a breathe of fresh air in a stagnant sub-genre!

This is my original review - While I have no experience with trans issues, I can definitely tell that the author put a ton of heart into trying their very best to make a believable trans protagonist. I'm ngl, when I put the "trans" tag in the search bar to find games, I had a more perverted intention in mind. Instead, this game makes you feel bad for our protagonist and feel good when others stick up for her.

Like others have stated, the one downside I can think of is that the bully character feels like he was ripped straight out of an R.L. Stein novel. One thing I do really like, however, is how the author treats depression. Unlike other series which have characters being sobbing messes, this series uses a lot of "slow-burning pain" type depression. The characters will just sit there in emotional pain. Not over the top, just genuinely hurt.

[UPDATE] - So I lowered the score I'm giving by one star. It's still a good game, however, the antagonists go from laughably bad, to insultingly horrible in recent updates. If this game had a less serious subject matter, it wouldn't be a big deal, however, the villains in this story are a representative parody of certain groups that I can't write because it goes against the TOS.

I just want to give advice to the author about villain motivation.
Most good villains don't exist necessarily for the detriment of the main character, but rather as a detriment to the main character's development.

For example, Thanos didn't attack the Avengers because, "grrr I hate the Avengers", but instead, because he wanted to fix a GENUINE problem and in his flawed mind, came up with an extreme solution that conflicts with the Avengers. Again, I have to be careful how I word this next part, but I'd rather Alex have a genuine goal that is nuanced and easy to comprehend that conflicts with others goals in this game.

This is off the top of my head but imagine if Alex wanted to do MMA. This would naturally cause villains with believable and nuanced goals that conflict with Alex's AND it would be socially relevant to today. That's just one example off the top of my head, and I realize that telling the author how to write is disrespectful, and for that, if the author reads this, I apologize but I'm only trying to help.

Even if you disagree with the side you are trying to make villainous, it's important to at least understand the motivations and concerns that lead to their behaviors. Otherwise, they feel "unhuman" and the work you painstakingly created begins to feel like propaganda.

Graphics = Good

Gameplay = VN so good.

Story = Give this a try, it is a great story, I cried on the intro cause that made me realize how much I wanted my childhood to be more like that of the parents supporting my gender identity (NB) instead of forcing me to appear as masc as possible to not get bullied, although in my case I did resort to violence, I loved the realistic approach to transition and so far I've really fallen in love with it, also I saw someone write about the asexuality thing somewhere, either a review or comment and though to clarify that besides sexuality being in a spectrum and being fluid trauma and mental conditions heavily influence it so it is perfectly reasonable for the MC to just start having sexual desires after starting to heal, also some asexual people do get horny (me for example) but sex is not a priority in their life and don't normally seek sexual encounters but don't shun them either, again it is a very realistic approach from what I gathered, or at least as much as a Adult VN would allow and that includes character interactions and what they say, and again I can't stress this enough, it is realistic in a AVN type of way, wich means that it will have unlogical things in it, there is a lot of story for a 0.4 really good because of that as well.

extra = mostly stuff that I don't like that much 1. It feels like it is more of Chris's story of dealing with her sister than Alexe's, at least in the very beginning (chapter 2 for better about it). 2. Not a fan of seeing the thought of the characters I'm not playing, it makes me feel detached from the character that I'm actually controlling.3. this is the one work where more time with the MC and their inner thoughts is needed the most as, at least from what I gathered, most people here are not Trans so they would need as much help as possible to understand the character being the sex and sexual thoughts. 4. The only reason I can't give this a 5/5 besides just not liking the review system of stars or numbers is the animations, I like being in control of the pacing and animations take that away, a good example of what I like would be terminus reach 2 and there I don't like how some scenes move on their own, I like renpy games because of the control it gives players but I know I'm probably on the minority here.

edit: decided to edit some pointed criticisms of mine here, mostly 2 right now, 1. the reason to work out should be because it normally makes people feel better and helps with self-image and mental health, but not pointed out as "you could lose some weight" that does come off as a type of prejudice but it fits the story if you think that it would be what a young woman that grew up in a capitalistic and patriarchal society would think, just think criticism of it would be nice really. 2. the bathroom scene would be better in a private setting as to avoid people using it in a bad-faith argument about the game. I probably have more but can't word it right now so this will do.