VN - Ren'Py - Crimson High [v0.39.0] [Vertigo]

to sum it up at the start, this game contains far too many walls of text for too little gain in terms of 18+ scenes. while the dev does warn you about porn being only one aspect of this game, and story being the main focus, i wasn't really expecting it to be so underemphasized.

the dev obviously thinks he has a cool story to tell (about "myths". now where did that come up? right, in a certain manor), which unfortunately is hardly original or interesting unless you're a twilight saga loving teenager or something like that. the inclusion of some meager lewd scenes very much seems to be an excuse to reach a wider population. we know how the "no sexual content" tag doesn't do wonders to a game's popularity, at least around these circles.

dialogs and especially inner thoughts of the MC drag on unnecessarily and we are offered an explanation to everything that goes on in the game from several different people at different times (plus the inner thoughts of course) in case we're too dense to get it the first few times. that of course means having to go through walls and walls of inconsequential, boring, unnecessary text.

as to the characters, with a few exceptions, they are mostly cliches. one character, jun, looks not one day older than 10 and acts like a 3 year old for a large part of the game. then at one point she has to tell about her personal story, her family, and suddenly starts speaking like a fully mature adult. duh! things like that never help with immersion.

graphics are ok, some girls/women are cute enough and many are not. the strongest point of this game for me is its music tracks, which fit the scenes they are played at and get introduced just at the right moment. yet for many, i can imagine this to be the least important aspect of an adult game. there are sound effects and effort has been put into them to fit the scenes too. so, the 2 stars i'm giving is more or less for the auditory aspects of the game. it has mostly been a disappointing ride for me, which btw dragged on for one whole week.

This is a good story so far. It has a good plot, and interesting characters. Could go for some longer updates though.

PROS
Renders are good
Story is interesting
Characters are dynamic and have backstories

CONS
Longer updates would be better
Adding actual renders to the lunch/dinner with Aki with conversation would be better than the black screen with dialogue.(Only my opinion)

Overall
This is a pretty good VN. It has a solid story that doesn't really veer off into craziness or into multiple side stories. As mention, it could use some longer updates, and some extra effort with omitting the black screens with dialogue but it doesn't take away from the actual story.
I recommend this VN, and even though updates are rather short, I look forward to them when they come out. Keep up the good work and good luck

Fantastic Game

1. The girls all great and there is a good variety of them. Some of them are shy, some are forward.

2. Story is pretty good. It is more unique than most.

3. The quality of the renders are good.

4. Wayy too many girls are forced, and you really do not have much of a choice with fetishes.

Overall, a descent, supernatural slow-burn, romance game.

Excellent game, great writing and visuals, the humor is good. Plot is enjoyable and I'm interested to see where this story goes.

I'll again emphasize the writing as well as the character development, as both are very good. This game is definitely worth a try.

It's really weird for me to start writing a review, and not be completely enraged at the "game" I forced myself to sit through. This time, I read a good story that didn't overuse humor and/or sex to hide the fact that they can't write. This is a decent little romp, an unintrusive story that, while a bit predictable, keeps you interested. I will say the scope of the story makes it feel like this won't be done until 2025, but that's to be determined. And there's 18 girls all with a love meter which adds to the idea that this might get drawn out a little. But I'm liking what I've read so far.

You play as MC, a detective that's been called to investigate the murder of a girl named Chika. Upon seeing the crime scene, it looks like she was attacked by an animal, but she was at a suburban school. After talking to the teacher and getting odd responses about the school as you search, you run into Miko late at night getting attacked. You rescue her and take her back to your apartment to fix her up before taking her home. You nod off for a bit to wake up to her deciding whether or not to bite you, finding out she's a vampire. The next day, you gather Chika's class to ask about the case and over time learn that the school is for mythical creatures. And realistically, that's about it in terms of story. At least without spoiling much. The Myths as they're called are getting hunted by an organization called POOP (people order our patties, not really but I can't remember the real words for the acronym at the moment)

Normally I'd get into all the characters, but one there's too many, and two this story's doing that thing where you meet up with someone then get one or two lines of exposition, then either something happens or they go "I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO DO" And you part ways. And that pacing is why I took off a star, it crawls forward. Which is a shame, but oh well it's not bad. The "main" characters at the moment are Miko, shy vamp that introduces you to the world of myths and the MC feels drawn to her. But as the reader you don't really feel that at all, so it doesn't translate I guess. Kana and Kagome, vamp twins you grew up with but the only hint was a picture on the MC's desk in the background and expository dialogue when you run into them at a diner. And Suzu, a tsundere vamp that is sort of at the center of this.

Those 4 are the prominent faces in the game, and you can see my headache when there's 18 possible love interests. The rest, outside of Nagisa, don't help with the case at all. But MC doesn't understand what she means. All of the other girls just kind of ogle MC and flirt. And there's two different overarching stories looming over this as well involving POOP and MC's past that are probably related and also a little predictable in my opinion but that's just me.

I guess I can comment on the sex scenes, in the fact that there's not a lot. Which in no way bothers me because I'm weird about all that, but if you want a bunch, this is not the story for you. My issue with it is the only "real" sex so far was a dream sequence which always irks me, and the event itself, all I will say to not spoil it, does a thing that makes future interactions with someone not make sense. Unless I saw things wrong, it's just a little strange.

I tried not to spoil things much and my big issue with it is it's slow pace, and that's coming from the one person on here that wants things to go slow. Just give this one a read if you wanna read something that's more R-rated than X, at least as of V0.9. I like it and hope this keeps up the good work.

I really love this game. It's an interesting story told in a good way. The MC is a guy that you really can like, a good guy but not someone that has to overthink everything he says and does. The girls are also very interesting but different which makes the story even better.

Some games it's difficult to start playing again after an upgrade, you have no clue what to do. Here it feels just natural to start playing again. I neever give a review until after 1-2 upgrades (if it's not a complete game ), this is the reason for that.

I came in search for NSFW, but stayed because of the story and characters.

The game is still in developement, but it shows great(!) promise! If you are interested in a wholesome Light Novel experience, than don't miss out on this gem!

As a avid Fan of VN and Koikatsu,this is safe to say one of the best story driven games out there.sacrificing sexual content for an actual functioning story and relationships is a big plus in my eyes and also grounds the game in realism.the horror tag as in"detective solves a case"was used for a few games i have seen,but none work this well and are this believable as Crimson High.

the girls seem distinct,cute,brash,flirty and everything in between.there is something for everyone,from a cute but bratty tsundere,to a shy and adorable handholder(looking at you jun hehe).their introductions and handling of the creator is also top notch,they dont jump on the MC´s dong after 3 words exchanged,and they also give the MC a realistic chance at conversations,decisions and whats going on in general.

the Story is the biggest plus in my book.funny,serious,heartwarming and or straight up terrifying,it has everything a good story in a VN of a porn game needs,id go as far as putting it up there to great games like Eternum and once on a lifetime in terms of atmosphere and story telling.

so good on ya Vertigo!please continue the game i love so much for a long time coming!

This is one of the best avn I have played so far, the storyline is so interesting and always ends up on a cliffhanger ! Can't wait for the next update! For people who looks for good story and not just seggs, I highly recommend this one.

Overall this is a really fun game. The models are adorable. You can tell there was time and effort put into each one of them. The story is interesting. It's something i can keep coming back to cuz it keeps my attention. The gui and menus look great. Easy to navigate and use. I highly recommend this game and i look forward to seeing how it progresses.

I never provide reviews of games due to two reasons: first it isn't really possible to meaningfully review an unfinished project and second there's generally enough reviews/general information about the game that adding mine to the pile wouldn't really cause a meaningful difference. In this case I think the comparatively small amount of reviews and overall quality of the project deserves more words written on its behalf.

What this game does well:
1. Character designs and dialogue is grounded and interesting. In most cases I can tell which character is talking based on their dialogue rather than the name on top of the box which is pretty impressive.
2. The story itself is intriguing and provides a backdrop for the characters to shine. I would go so far as to say this particular story has legs even outside of the context of pornography which elevates it head and shoulders above basically all of its peers.
3. The main character interacts with the world in a way that is equal parts realistic and tongue in cheek that I found pretty engaging. Your results may vary, but there were a couple moments of internal dialogue that totally caught me off guard in a good way.

What this game doesn't do well:
1. The main character's appearance. There's something really off about their face that I can't really put my finger on that's kind of disturbing to look at. The good news is that they are rarely seen since this is mostly a POV affair.
2. While the story is engaging it's definitely a little ridiculous at times. There were definitely points where I found myself scoffing about how amateur hour the protag is as a detective. Like, you really don't see a problem with getting romantically involved with literally every one of your potential suspects? No issues that two of your childhood friends are not just at the school but could be directly responsible? MC should be sacked, they are not fit to be a detective.
3. This isn't porn, not at this point at least. I think there's one sex scene about 45 minutes in if I remember correctly, but honestly most romcoms have more sex in them than this project. If you boot up this game expect head pats, flirting and that's pretty much it.

But is it even game?
1. No it isn't, this is a kinetic novel with choices that, to my knowledge, just slightly alter the specific scene they are included in. This could change in the future but see point one to why I don't usually review games.

So why Five Stars?
I get it, this review probably seems pretty negative considering how much I rag on MC and the lack of graphic content. Frankly, I wish I didn't discover this game so that I could have read it when it was finished instead of waiting for more updates and providing a review at that point. But that's basically the highest praise I could give any sort of media which is what lead to this review. This game is entertaining, well characterized, well written, well rendered and I can't wait to see more in the future.

Updated review for v0.18.2

The game has really grown on me. I've come to really enjoy a lot of the characters and have gotten more and more invested into the story. There's a lot going on, and I like that.

This evolves from a rather interesting detective story into something more complex as the game goes on. The biggest draw for me is that it's taking it's time to tell a good story. A slow burn for sure, but it's working so far.

I think one of the best parts of the game is the dialogue. As you would expect from being a detective, there's a lot of investigation and inner monologue trying to piece together new bits of information. But there's also a lot of inner monologue outside of that. I think it all reads pretty well. A lot of it is used to add little details that weren't rendered to scenes. A line saying what the MC ordered at a coffee shop, and then maybe something odd that he saw and then moves on to the next scene. Is some of it fluff? Sure. But I like the extra bits it adds and fits with the detective theme imo.

I don't think the game is without faults though. I find a fair amount of the character designs hit or miss, and while I don't mind lewd scenes being spaced out, a lot of the ones we do get don't feel that gratifying to me.

Something worth mentioning: this is a rather linear visual novel with a very large cast. That means you might be waiting a long while before seeing content from you favorite characters. I think it's done a decent job trying to give everyone enough screen time, but it still is what it is.

I think it's pretty enjoyable for fans of slower burns. Check it out if that's your thing.

Review as of version 0.6.2

Really enjoyable visual novel.

The storyline, cast and themes shown are amazing and I'm definitely looking forward to the next release.


Only problem I've got is that I found it before it was completed ^^' just thinking of having to wait for the next release makes me sad :3

Game would be really good if not for the fact that the main culprit gets revealed to the player in first hour or so of the game, making entire intrigue pointless and shattering any sense of immersion as we players are left to simply observe the MC trying to solve the case instead of doing it with them.
It's a single small scene that should either not be included in the game or should be changed in a way that player doesnt get to know who the culprit is.

Reviewing version 0.3.1. The game was in my backlog for a long time and I’m glad that I finally got to start playing it today. Really interesting story and characters, got me hooked in the first 20 minutes. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
Story:
10/10 Strongest point of this game. Suspense and build up is great from a detective pov. Really love the attention and detail put in to the dialogues and characters.
Art:
8/10 I find the art and the characters a bit rough but, assuming the characters are made by the creator himself, I can work with that. It’d be perfect if there’re plans to rework them in the future but again it’s not a deal breaker or anything.
Sex scenes:
9/10 It’s more a actual visual novel than a nukige and there’re many erotic content so far, not that I care since the story is good. I haven’t seen enough but what I’ve seen so far is good enough for me.

One of the best games I have ever played. Keep it up
The gameplay is fun, and the art style is pretty with very well made expressions and satisfactory. I like the way the story is told and actually this game is my type.
Over all 10/10

I'm enjoying it so far, I'd love to see more of Miko and her Mom and Yukari! I'd recommend adding a UI mention of clicking on the character's Icons in the heart menu to return the previous menu. The last time a game had me this engaged in the story was when I played Lust Epidemic, so I'm very much excited to see the direction this goes!

Crimson High [v0.2.2] review

This is a placeholder review. I want to really do this game justice by writing a good and proper review, but I'm too tired. I'll come back and edit this later.

What it is:
Multiple-choice VN about a slightly pervy detective at a girls' school. There's a murder mystery and the girls seem "special" for some reason.
It's light hearted and funny but also serious at times. It's also very sexy, going all the way from awkwardly charged situations and some upskirts to full on pr0n.
It's still short. Don't go in expecting anything close to a full game. We get character introducions, world building and a taste of some lewds, but not much more.

Just know that if you care at all, even just a little bit, about the quality of writing in your games then this right here is some of the best of the best, top of the line and you need to play it.
If you value high quality visual storytelling and are bored by walls of text and needless exposition then this is also a must play.

There is nothing I've ever been so hyped about as this project. I can't wait for more.

Recommended for everyone, even your dog.

This review is based on the first release of the game, v0.1.


There's nothing to dislike and a lot to like so far:

- The writing: an actual story (not just some random slices of naughty life), good storytelling (almost everything is shown from the MC's POV while he investigates a gruesome murder and meets cute characters ^^), a nice cocktail of genres (mystery, supernatural elements, romance, horror, drama, comedy... This is gonna be a wild ride! ^^), the overall quality of the English (no obvious and distracting mistakes...), believable and well-written dialogues and inner thoughts (why is it so rare to get a smart MC who is neither a boyscout nor an irredeemable creep? ^^), a noteworthy effort on characters' development (even the characters that we haven't met yet, we've got a little preview of their persona ), a mysterious story that allows the player to make the craziest theories while playing and a sweet cliffangher that lives you wanting a lot more!

- The art: even if I prefer well-made DAZ renders over well-made renders done with Illusion games, I don't mind Koikatsu! graphics (plus it usually means more content for the player since making scenes is quicker with Koikatsu!). They don't feel out of place with this kind of story and allow to use some tropes that we usually see in mangas/animes (some cute SD faces to accentuate charcaters' feelings for example...^^). Also, kudos to the dev who managed to add his own style to the mix. Indeed, there is a uniqueness in the character design which is greatly appreciated.

- The gameplay: nothing much to say there. It's a VN with a few choices to make here and there. No sandbox nor minigames which is more than fine with me since that leaves the focus on the story and the characters. The only game mechanic that could have enhance the overall experience would be some "point & click" elements during the two investigative scenes where we are looking for clues (it would be more rewarding to find the clues ourselves [especially if there is a naughty bonus scene/pic to unlock] instead of clicking mindlessly on each given choice ^^).

- Some add-ons that make the game pop: a great soundtrack that compliment the writing perfectly, funny Easter eggs that aren't standing out too much (much better than a dev breaking the 4th wall and interrupting the flow of the story ^^) with one of them promising a harem path.


It feels like the dev has put in a lot of effort to make a really nice first release. Both in quality and quantity, we were kinda spoiled

Needless to say, the dev has set the bar pretty high so I'm expected great things from this game!

Off to a very good start here. The story itself is intriguing enough that I want to see where it's going (even though I have a couple guesses). More importantly, the characters all feel distinct, and the protagonist has a pretty enjoyable internal voice- one that doesn't make him seem like either an arrogant power fantasy or a deviant imbecile. I like that he actually seems like someone who could be a detective- when the characters in front of him say or do odd things, he notices and wonders why.