VN - Ren'Py - Couples [v0.34 Full] [Neverlucky]

V0.18

ordinary is the word of the day

no surprise, just like this devs plots. their research needs work as the thing was never remade that i can find, as the 2011 movie was a direct prequel to the original movie. anyone who has seen both movies would know that, unless they ignored the plot. any remake of the classic would fall as flat as last weeks lemonade anyway as it would be all cgi greenscreen crap that looks as fake as a pornstars tits.

on a plus note, the dialogue is a step up from the teenage rubbish the dev pumped out previously and i find myself reading without my mind trying to kill itself. the dev is developing. nice
still stuck on the character dynamics though. practically their trademark now, which is neither a plus or a negative for me.

so with improved writing but non-improved plot, it is better than what came before. might be couple steps from being good, but it is mildly entertaining.
one to read when you don't want to think

Ah, Couples. A sequel 1000 years in the making.

I'm about an hour of playthrough into this and it very much feels like a modern reboot of A Knight's Tale (from here, referenced as AKT), a previous kinetic novel by Neverlucky. Yes, I will call it that. No, your choices absolutely, positively do not matter and will never matter. Stories from Neverlucky give you the illusion of choice by occasionally presenting options for flavor, but will then take your choice under advisement and either vary the next scene very slightly or the LI your character is speaking with, usually the SO--in AKT this was the wife, Cathy, while in Couples this is the girlfriend, Claire--will convince you to avoid either choice after the fact and go with her previously unmentioned option and will immediately return to the one path.

Here's an obvious proof from v0.19, but spoiler warning--if you haven't played v0.19, just know that the choice mentioned within changes nothing of the next event it supposedly influences: A partner swap depends on who wins the last poker hand in v0.19. You get a choice to call or fold the hand. In either case, Amy wins; the only difference is whether she beats you (call) or if she beats Claire and Katie (fold). Since Katie last spent time with MC during a swap, Amy is doing so this time. As usual, choice subverted.

If there is one thing I've learned about Neverlucky's stories, it is that the stories will be about normalizing the polycule. Write a story of polyamory so mundane, it'll feel like the most common thing imaginable. The polycule is the most interesting aspect of the story, but it's eased into slowly enough that it feels like the most natural thing in the world. If you don't mind the repetition required to make that seem the case--and there will be a lot of repetition in how the story is paced--then this is the game for you.

I'll start it off at 4 stars, just like I did with Neverlucky's previous entry. I may end up leaving it there or I may knock off the odd star depending on how old it gets repeating the same thing for hours of content.

For reference, AKT took me 3 weeks to go through, and I knocked off a star for how long it took. Knowing Neverlucky, I fully expect this to be how it goes, but we'll see.

Update: I went ahead and lowered my review to 3 stars:


Another Update: He did it, the son of a bitch did it. Four stars again, lol.

So let me explain. Neverlucky finally went and gave his story meaning... well, maybe he did. It certainly seems like a major plot point that could change the direction of the story. I'm going to give Neverlucky the benefit of the doubt here: he may be good at spinning the world's longest yarn with little buildup or drama, but he's pretty decent at capping his stories at some point. Now that he's given us an obvious exit ramp, I have to assume that's where we're headed.

Other miscellany:

PPS: We finally get our first real choice of the game in v0.24.

Your typical everyday - feel good game with no real storyline. Nothing out of the ordinary happens and pretty much the same as the other two games that I've played from this dev.
What sets this one apart from the rest (and not for the better) is the fact that the dev decided to hide most of the sex scenes behind a paywall now, so if you're not a patron you'll get like 10-20 dialogue boxes in front of black screens.
If you want a nice little game to kill some time I'd recommand to play the others.

About the only thing this game has going for it is the graphics. This story leaves me feeling this Dev's idea of a hot time is eating a bowl of spicy noodles.
There are plenty of people that feel Vanilla is too spicy for them, and this game fits the bill for that market...very bland and predictable storytelling.

my First rating a 3.5 but... after further updates now a 2.5, really hoped it would improve from a decent start but

Pros:

Started with Pretty good writing with a decent plot. Characters were relatable and look pretty good.
Scenes and settings make sense and the characters and story feel believable but...

Cons:
Becoming less interesting with each update, repetitive with no character growth.

A bit too wordy and bland, more intensity /risks needed.
Sex scenes are below average and seem short like they are not a priority.

This definitely could be better as the story comes off a bit boring and stale with no real intensity. Quite predictable unfortunately and not being rescued by the sex scenes which should be the reward for putting up with the wordiness but instead makes you feel quite bored.

Hopefully the Dev will spice things up a bit, throw some curves into the story-line. The characters swinging should have a bit more of a risk factor, new neighbours or introducing a main characters parents/inlaws into the mix would help perhaps. But gee make them more believable and less boring.

Definitely not ready to give up on this one yet as the Dev shows some writing talent and that seems more rare nowadays.

Based on version 0.10, it seems like this game is not for me. It features multiple protagonists, with the majority being your girlfriend's ex-girlfriend who is a lesbian. The game mainly functions as a visual novel with limited pseudo choices focusing on how the main character got convinced by his girlfriend to let her ex-girlfriend with her new girl stay in their apartment. Unfortunately despite having some enjoyable moments with the hot GF, the storyline revolves around the ex-girlfriend's life but also winning back your girlfriend and she will eventually succeed. Why is the game not tagged as NTR ? Because you can also have sexual encounters with both your girlfriend and apparently her ex-girlfriend at a much much later point, and that should balance it out ? Nah. A weird mix of elements.

I thought the main character might make a move on the ex-girl or her gal or they could've pursued the MC, ya know? It's supposed to be a chill situation, but it's just weird. I can't even explain it. Like, you still get to get down with your girl, but the lesbian couple is all about each other. Then the ex-girl snatches your girl, but you're cool with it but you don't have your time with these two. There's no pay-off or fun in it. It's just really odd.

Models look good tho.

The game is utterly boring.

At this point, I'm not sure who the dev is trying to appeal to either.

The characters are nice looking, but that's no surprise since they're the same as the previous game. So, this is not deserving of an extra star.

The choices seems all but meaningless, at which point, they might as well not be there, and the game going full kinetic novel.

There's a more lesbian content than straight, which might please some, but I personally find it boring, which for me, is not helping keeping interest in the game.

There's no story to speak off, nothing interesting happens... just... talking about their days and food.

Fap value wise, well, it depends on the person I guess. If you're into lesbians for whatever reason, it might excite you somewhat, if you're straight, you'll likely get bored very quickly.

This one seems like it'll suffer the same fate as the previous game: death by boredom due to fuck all actually happening, despite the many updates.

Good render
Kinetic novel
pretty women

shame it's a lesbian story with a 4th wheel male mc

the premise is your girlfriend is excited to move to a new town where her ex-lover is, this ex-lover of hers is conveniently in need of a place to stay because her dorm is being renovated, so you offer her and her gf a place to stay, the player has no choice, and for whatever reason, this dev loves making lesbian stories with a male protagonist, as I said before this is a kinetic novel so you have no choice and your gf will have sex with her ex whether you like it or not, there are people on this thread who defend this dev for being drama free but that's just pure delusion, this game is setting up the mc to get cucked but at least the lesbians will be willing to get dicked down coz that makes sense, I much rather prefer my lesbians with a female protag not a male one

I like the Game but their are some Things i woud Change.
Story is simple but ok for me. A Game like this doesn`t need a complicated Story.
Characters are acting like real People.
The Cameraposition in some Scenes are not so great. Only show the Back and Shoulders.
Also the Privatzones from some People look Fake, without any Privatehair the look like Puppets.
Katie looks good but i woud give her atleast a Little Bit Privathair.

In short, this is turning out to be pretty much another dragged out boring game from this dev.
His previous 'project', had tons of updates, but god, were that game a snooze fest.
This one, currently at version 0.4, is shaping up to be just as bland, uneventful and boring.

Latest update, 0.4, I kid you not, half the update was the characters just eating.
Start with breakfast. Then poof, suddenly two characters go downtown, where they have..lunch.
And nonstop talking 80-90% of the updates, talks about just everyday stuff, nothing exciting whatsoever.
Some people might like this, because it's a "chill" game or w/e. But here's a pro-tip, play "The Sims" instead. I promise you, even THAT game is more fun and interesting.

I cannot fully recommend this game to be honest.
The dev's previous game was just the same, veeeery dragged out and almost always putting me to sleep!
It's not a Terrible game though. No, it has some cuteness to it to be fair.
And yes, it does have some sex. Often shoehorned in at the end of an update to fill some quota or shut up whiners I guess.
Expect this game to have around 30+ updates before it's 'completed'. And I can promise you, you could easily use the skip function because you won't miss much. Not much that's interesting anyway.

Who is this game for then? Well I dunno. Probably people that has absolutely ZERO games, and tooons of free time.
Still, I suggest you play The Sims instead.

The characters in this game are basically the exact same models used in his previous game. It's VERY weird to look at these girls in this game, and all you see is really the girls from the dev's previous game "AKT".
The dev's game before that one though "Triangle" was way more interesting than this sleeping pill.

Seriously, 3 stars is a very high and kind rating. Don't waste your time on this. And if you do, wait til it's completed, in about 30+ or so updates(probably).
There's hundreds of better and more interesting games on this forum to be found.
0.4 is the current version, and also where I personally will abandon this game.
I gave it a chance. But this update was so incredible boring. And when half the update is them talking about food, breakfast, lunch, and then spending another big part of the update having breakfast and lunch..
Knowing how extremely tiresome and boring this game is. And adding in the fact that it is almost an exact copy of the dev's previous game (just different setting/scenery), this one screams "you dont need sleeping pills, you have this game!".

My verdict: Ignore this game. Girls are cute...and..well thats all the good things I can think of regarding this game. Props to the dev though for not being one of those that milks or abandons his games.
But at the same time, the last 2 games (this one included) could've just been scrapped as they're both very..veeery boring.

I first thought of giving it a 3 star. But writing this 'review', reminding myself of how utterly boring this game is, I realized that 3 stars would be a bit too high. So 2 stars. It avoids 1 star because I simply dont think it's a Terrible game.
And if it isnt obvious after this amount of rambling, this is NOT a game you want to fap to. You'll fall asleep with your dick in your hand if you play this

V0.3 SE is pretty well done. The ladies looks really cool. Their attitude are realistic so far. Claire's vocabulary could be a little bit be more informal. Amy from design to her attitude is overall the best woman in the game so far. Katie comes of a bit rude sometimes in her lines. All in all a good version.

Review v0.3:

The game is still quite new, but it seems to be very much in the same vein as Triangle, the devs first game.

No drama, no sudden plot turns, no strange lewdness, just wholesome interactions and romance.

I think such games are quite rare and to be cherished.

The girls are really hot with different faces and different (realistic) body types. I think especially Katie is great. They also have quite different characters and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

At this moment, there are a few sex scenes, just between the couples, so straight and lesbian. I assume that it will be mixed up in the future, increasing the hotness of the scenes but what is there is pretty good.

Renders are not mindblowing in their composition, but they are really well done. You can see the dev gives a lot of attention to detail. These details seem trivial but they do make the scene come to life.

All in all, this game stands out because of it's overall theme and does absolutely nothing wrong, therefore 5/5.

Edit v0.5 SE:
For clarity: one of the couples is male-female, the other one is female-female. The male MC is the only guy.

Regarding the progress: so far, there is not a lot going on between the two couples, they are getting to know each other and there is some flirting. Within the couples, there are a good number of sex scenes which I think are really well done. In many games, sex scenes are quite predictable, but here, they seem much more realistic. Great job in my opinion and quite "innovative".

I like the stories that this developer tells here.

No big dramas, no cheating, just nice stories with great women, just the right thing for gloomy autumn days.

The narration is always the same, the stories develop slowly and he gives time to the individual characters.

This is how the relationships between the individual characters develop.
Great excitement is not to be expected in the stories, but it does not always need it.

Honestly, there are enough other games on this site for that.

If you're just looking for a good story to enjoy a quiet afternoon or evening, this is the place for you.

boring. part of writing is deciding what to tell and what to skip over. important stuff that informs something about the characters or the plot is left in. meaningless details are ideally left out. not in this game they aren't. this usually isn't a problem in games with more traditional gameplay elements, but this game is a visual novel, so it does matter. i hope the developer asks someone to edit, or hires an editor or at the very least asks themselves, "what is the purpose of this scene?" before they waste time rendering it. hopefully it improves in time, but we shall see.

I like this creators work. His other two games are very good and I expect this to be the same. For now, there isn't a great deal to critique but one issue really sticks out. The minutia of conversation. Sure, it's realistic but I don't need to click through every conversation people have in an average day. It just drags the game out into a boring slog and seems like an attempt to make the game appear larger without actually adding any real content. As I recall, his other games did the same thing. Just my observation.