VN - Ren'Py - Corporate Culture [v0.7] [sqwl]

Corporate Culture 0.6

I've got mixed feelings on this one. For me thus far the story got split up into three identifiable sections.

In the very beginning, the MC is not only a loser but also really loathsome. IMO, there needed to be more of a show of some spark of humanity or kindness there in order to root for him to turn things around. Having the spitefulness in his inner monologues cranked up to a cartoonish level didn't help.

After a bit the MC does become a more interesting character, we learn about his background, and he starts to progress. During this section I felt things were generally paced well and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the MC and Elsa.

Things came to a grinding halt in my enjoyment sometime around the middle of the available releases (0.4 Dhaka I think). Some of the conversations with Elsa start to get to be unnecessarily tedious and incredibly drawn out. These conversations get to be mentally punishing and devoid of much feeling other than sometimes being annoyed as the player (especially when Elsa is getting away with gaslighting the MC into thinking he's being ridiculous for raising valid points and he just agrees). The sheer amount of things being discussed lessen any impact these back and forths could potentially have if they were more succinct and/or split up since by the time you get to the end of them you don't really remember a good amount of what was discussed let alone what the important parts might have been. Other than a few small moments there's very little to show that Elsa is anything but a nearly emotionless wise-beyond-her-years all knowing guide there to help the MC move up in the corporate world. She starts to seem more like an anime trope than actual character. I found this latter portion of the story to really slow things down and become an unenjoyable drag to get through.

I don't mind a good slow burn but this is starting to feel like a no-burn at this point. Things aren't really going anywhere with Alice yet and we barely know her making it hard to be invested in the MC's dream girl. Elsa and the MC do have some good tension built up but it's really hampered by the unnecessarily mind-numbing conversations mixed with her dominant arrogance and near-robotic demeanor starting to wear on me. Their relationship largely still feels like puppet and puppeteer. Lucy doesn't seem like a viable romantic interest and more of a sexual stepping stone for the out of practice MC to raise his confidence with (this could change, but wouldn't be a route I'd ever pursue). Best character atm is Tommy for being the only one to suggest the MC see a shrink (he should really drag him to the gym as well).

The writing for this AVN has been lauded in reviews thus far and it's the biggest strength and weakness. The story is an interesting one with lots of relatable elements but the writing style itself, while it has its moments, isn't anything spectacular. Execution of the story really starts to falter and get too drawn out after the midway point of what's been done so far. There are good moments and humor generally lands but is used very sparingly. There's really nothing else going on to make this stand out - visually it's decent at best, the music and sound aren't anything special, the choices make it hard to tell what's going on with them without reading through the script files (even with the WT mod), and the adult scenes which aren't really a focus of this AVN (only real ones are with Lucy the neighbor) are neither horrible nor particularly stimulating.

I'd like to give this a try again when it's done but for anyone else thinking of trying I would recommend waiting until a later version.

Yet another game I think is overrated.

I mean, it's one of those games which sacrifice lewds for story. Well, that is always a great risk: sex is one of those pillars on which an AVN stands, and, if you remove one of them, you better make sure that all the other pillars are extra sturdy, otherwise the AVN building will shake and eventually crumble. So, in exchange for sex being limited, I want a likeable MC, great writing with lots of humor, and, of course, adventure with tons of action! A good mystery, horror or thriller will suffice too.

And what do we have here? We have the ugliest and the most pathetic MC I've ever seen, obsessed with a girl he met once, and trying to change his life for her. Not because his life needs change, not because his self-respect awakened. Just for her, a person who barely knows him. What a stupid motivation for a guy his age; it'd be viable for a 18-year old boy, but for a nearly 30 y.o. man? Nah. The MC is so pathetic that I didn't even feel NTR-d when other guys were more successful with women than him. I mean, it's completely justified, I don't want this guy to succeed, and if I don't want the MC to succeed, what's the point in playing at all? The character of Elsa is interesting, but she's not enough to save this game in my eyes; to accomplish this, she should've been the MC, not Eddie.

To summarize:

Pros:
1) Good (but not great) graphics
2) Good (but not great) story and writing.
3) Specific girl: Elsa.

Cons:
1) Ugliest MC I've ever seen.
2) Most pathetic MC I've ever seen.
3) Sex is extremely limited, only 1 girl has it.
4) By proxy from p. 3, the selection of LIs is extremely limited too. A crush who'll never notice the MC, a smart friend who isn't really interested in the MC romantically (I mean, for good reason), and a fucky neighbour. That's it.
5) The story isn't exciting enough. Just office days, not much happening, and no details on what the MC actually does for work. I mean, if you want to concentrate on office, may as well tell us the gist of his profession to enlighten us! What, no? ... It's like grind without the grind.

So, just 2 stars, for decent overall production quality. The lack of sex must be compensated, and CC just doesn't handle the compensation.

Brilliant Game. I love the office politics. Great look and story for the game.

I can not praise this game enough to give an enough credit.

Just a great human story with good graphics and some good sex images.

Just a bit of pity that the games is not been updated in nine months. Hope for new updates.

Great story! So far the best game to have ever touched this corporate VN genre. The LIs are amazingly beautiful but the game lacks content as of now. One of the most promising games for me personally, and it's good for a wank.

phenomenal storytelling, i can't wait to read more.

would 100% recommend to anyone and everyone, it's so good. loving the non-US perspective too, you don't see that often here. please keep up the amazing world, i am so happy to support you

EDITED: I've actually brought this down to a 3/5 now after playing many more AVNs, which has lead some great titles to pushing this one out of the S-tier and into B-tier territory. The biggest issue I have with this game is pacing. It's taking so long to get anywhere the title looks and feels dated at this point.

Original review below.

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Long overdue review. This game is S-tier. Top quality renders, actual story in a non-generic amnesia / dead father environment, MC shows proper character development, other characters are much less one-dimensional than most other VNs...

Other than the flashback scene which was equal parts unnecessary, too long and boring, I have no complaints about this game.

One of my best ongoing games right now. Eagerly waiting for updates!

Go team Elsa <3

Very well written vn, it is really up there with the best vns like Dik, pale carnations,Unbroken etc.

Unfortunately, it doesn't have the recognition it deserves. If you wanted a game full of sex scenes this is NOT for you. However, if you love good writing story line, great characters with development, and some great looking renders-characters this is a match made in heaven.

Interesting storyline. Recommended.

I'm curious to see where the story is going - I agree with a previous review that it can be a bit indulgent and rambling - the sofa scene was was a bit tedious - but I think the author is experimenting with this as a work in progress.

Short summary:


I can’t believe the game is 4 years old. This adult visual novel is super heavy on the “novel” part and almost nothing on the “adult” part. Some people claim the writing is great, but to me it seemed boring and self-indulgent. Doesn’t help that MC is ugly and boring.



Good Things

• Realistic story and situations
• Some characters are written well

Bad points

• Girls are just ok, MC is terrible
• Very heavy on “alpha” vs “looser” choices, some pretty bizzare
• Not much exciting stuff happens here
• Most dialogue is very long sequences of text, with 2 frames changing slightly
• Only sex scenes are with a neighbor that I didn’t like
• Renders are pretty boring mostly, lighting and expressions are bland

An interesting game with beautiful renders. A lot of work seems to have gone into the story. The dynamic between Edward's obsession with Alice and Elsa's cunning intellect quietly propelling Edward upwards is something I would expect to see in a well-written novel, not an h-game.

Still, in my opinion the dialogue and the protagonist's thoughts both have a tendency to ramble. It's witty, intellectual, and sometimes funny but so much of it turns into psychotherapy and tangents. Considering Elsa's personality and the way Edward thinks, that's not surprising but it began to lose me after a while. The flashback sequence with the couch was especially boring, which may have been the point but it felt weirdly paced compared to the everything up until then.
Corporate politics don't really interest me either but I still think the world building is interesting enough.

The renders are really well done but I feel like some animation would make them even better. The focus on legs and feet is very nice. To me, there's a bit too much of an emphasis on narrative instead of sex. I was really hoping for something more with Elsa, or at least scenes with someone else besides just Lucy.

Very good overall but short of being one of the best.

i was baited into playing by renders suspiciously focused on feet and legs. ended up skipping through the game, but can still recommend it if you like those two body parts in particular. there is no sexual feet content, but the game does come with a number of renders showing feet and legs. some are very much focused on them as well, some have this femdom vibe too which is nice and like 95% of those few renders iniclude high heels which is cool. imo it's a bit suspicious how subtle they can get, almost as if the author himself was a fan too, but decided ro be very cautious in how far can he go in order to keep the game SFW.
still much better than many games that just ignore that stuff completely. worth to check out just because of that imo.

Story is absolutely fantastic. A bit dark but very entertaining.
I'd deals with a lot of darker part of life like self isolation but dose so in a way that keeps you entertained.

The relationships between the people in the story is done in a very believable way where no one feels like their part in the story is just to be there, but serve a purpose, to drive the story forward.
Also, the actions the MC makes in the story feels like they truly are affecting the world around him. It turns characters in the story from someone that is just black or white to someone that had ulterior motives or underlying feelings that was not made clear from the start.

Very happy to have stumbled upon this avn and I'm looking forward to seeing this story progress

This game is an adventure. It's one of the very few AVN, for which I have no idea how the story will unfold. Great dialogues, unique characters, good renders (and improving with every next episode) and interesting story. The only downside of this game is the development speed. All together - it is one of my most favourite AVNs

This has been out for 4 years, but there are still spelling mistakes in the opening scenes. The MC is a psycho who immediately fawns/obsesses over meeting a character in a brief acquittance situation, the MC is practically the guy in the show You.

There is a couple hours of content total, which is a small amount of content relative to how long its been in development and especially given that there are no animated scenes. Story feels like it just left the intro at the end of the last chapter.

Would give 2.5 stars, but factoring in development speed and this one isn't getting finished.

I've been considering giving this 4 stars, but ultimately I felt that it would not be fair to do so. It is objectively speaking an excellent game. Why the indecision, might you ask? It's because it lacks any eroticism or even romance in the main story.

That is not to say that there is no lewd content, there is, albeit with a peripheral character that (so far) does not influence the main story.

As you probably guessed, this is not a game you load up for a quick wank. Its main strength is the writing, perhaps the best I've seen in any game.

The MC starts cringe as fuck, but he does change over time. This is the main theme of the game, the MC's... development and his climb on the corporate ladder. Whether that will be an improvement or not, that's for everyone to decide, I guess.

The undeniable star of this game is not the MC, though, but the character called Elsa. Some will like her, some may not, but she easily carries this game through the more boring phases.

I guess all I can say is that everyone should give it a try, and see if they like it or not. There is a lot of content out that will keep you busy for a few hours if you do decide this game is your cup of tea.

Keep up the good work, dev!

Picture your favorite food. Then, imagine what it would be like if it kept getting better the more you ate.

That's my experience with Corporate Culture.

Some say it's boring, I think it's exhilarating. Most of the time there isn't much happening, but every scene is important and full of meaning.

If you know what you like, you'll probably figure out if this is for you after 30 minutes. If you don't know what you like, this is the perfect game to figure that out.

A lot of people have said that this is an intelligently written game, and it is. The dialogue is good, the story makes sense and isn't infantile, the characters each have distinct and identifiable personalities, which is great. The artwork is ok, not great but decent.

There are issues, however. The main characters are all unlikeable except for Alice. The MC, Elsa, the coworkers, MC's friend etc are all people you would avoid at a party given the opportunity. The story summaray indicates that the MC is just an ordinary guy at an ordinary job but he's not. He is both mentally and emotionally unbalanced to a certain degree and while this is an integral part of the story it makes him deeply unlikeable. What can be said is that he is going through a process of self discovery and change, much of which is being thrust upon him despite himself.

Another issue is the pacing of the story. It's glacially slow, and mostly lacking in humor. This makes it a bit of a slog going through, although there's no grinding. You can see where it's going and you can see the progress being made to get there, but you just want to kick everyone to make it go faster. As I mentioned before, the writing is very good and there's lots of character development, so that's where we got all the story depth from, but it's still a bit much. At the current pace it will be a long time getting where t needs to go.

So, overall the game is interesting. It's not fun or funny, but its a neat character study. If you have the patience to go through the initial part then you can see that there will be a reward for you as you go along, but you're going to have to invest yourself to get there. The game is very cynical, and a bit clinical, but also nuanced and rich. Definitely not going to be for everyone and it will not be for anyone who is lewd driven. This is 100% for people that are story driven. I don't even want to say slow burn, because that's not right. Despite the premise of the story it's less sex driven than it is about the MC's personal evolution. Blue ball alert for the lewd seekers.

Interesting story and dialogue that for once I don't just skip to get to the sex scene.
Same goes for the characters, I love Alice and Elsa, Vicky, even Emma I hope there are different path for all of them.

I was disappointed because after spending a few hours right now there is no sex scene except for the neighbor.
There should be at least something for Elsa or Alice path either in a dream or a little handjob because it's a lot of reading for nothing at the moment.
The issue is for the dev that you are setting up us to have high expectation after all those hours spend the sex scene that will come up eventually are better be perfect or else it's going to be a huge disappointment, that's why I think you should add little something here and there to manage that expectation from the player.

So that's a really promising game, one thing that you also should add is allowing us to rename the MC, I don't get why we can't.

Excellent game.
Intelligent, meaningful dialogue. Well-defined characters with believable behaviors. Credible goals.
I really like this title, finally a game for those over 18s.
I look forward to the update, sincere congratulations to the creator!

V0.6

As already mentioned, the art is fairly good and the characters/dialogue is well written. all round this is well constructed.

Unfortunately it is like one of those Novels you would return to the shop and demand your money back for. it is dull.
there is no real plot so it is just wallpaper. it really is just the humdrum of an office put into VN form. a couple of the females caught my eye and one has decent dialogue but is just not enough to break the mediocrity for me.
i found myself yawning a bit too much.
i guess the developer was aiming for subtle but overshot and landed in boring instead.

i gave this a middling rating as honestly, the developer has got some great qualities. just a shame they chose to showcase them in a bland way.
easily forgettable