An outstanding VN and a criminally under utilized genre. It was good since the the first release, but that second update really cemented both the quality of the VN and the dev's chops.
Setting:
The world of Cross Realms is expansive. It features both our mundane world and the magical realms where the story takes place. It starts in an Isekai fashion and it quickly becomes apparent that MC's circumstances are extraordinary since not even the powerful realm guardians know how to help him.
For cultivation fans, the system should be straightforward. For anyone else, the power system in this world is based on the individual's ability to cultivate the mystical energy known as Qi. The more Qi you absorb and the better you become at wielding it, you reach milestones known as levels. The higher your level, the stronger your body is and you can use/develop more abilities. Each individual has a set potential that determines how quickly he can cultivate Qi.
MC:
MC is a young adult, easygoing but with a difficult past. He is a good guy, ready to stand up for his friends and support them through thick and thin, with a penchant for self sacrifice and always willing to move forward no matter the circumstances.
So far things have been hectic for MC, so he never really had a chance to take it slow and show us a different side. He puts in the work to become the best version of himself and is reasonably observant and quick witted. He seems to be capable of putting together the pieces of his past and figure out his circumstances, but for all intends and purposes he is an anomaly and those in the know don't seem very comfortable to give him all the information he needs.
A relatable and comfortable MC for a harem power fantasy novel, with a healthy appetite for horniness. Someone could say that the characters tend to fall for him a bit too fast, but he does have a winning personality and his self-sacrifice goes a long way to keep things consistent.
Cast:
For the kind of story the writer wants to tell, the characterization is excellent. The majority of the characters feel like they belong and are driven by their values and emotions. Certainly there is an obvious imbalance of female to male ratio which is to be expected, but I think the story could make use of more worthwhile male rivals on MC's level. Chapter 2 features a mostly fair fight with another disciple but he feels like a stepping stone/caricature.
Visuals:
The backgrounds and female models look excellent. Male character models are mostly hit or miss but even with HS2, this is to be expected. The overall image quality is good but it could use some better lighting. Still the game looks better than how a lot of other highly acclaimed HS2 games started out so I expect to see a natural progression towards higher quality renders. Honestly though this is more of a nitpick because after all the images look beautiful and immersive.
The dev has a unique style when depicting combat that looks grant, but also a bit confusing at first. The reason is that there is no obvious correlation between the "size" of the visual and the intensity of the effect. Most attacks look like they would leave a human as a smudge in the dirt and even relatively weak characters can create such visual effects. Also there's the concept of physical and mental attacks which make things a bit more confusing. I'm sure that the more we learn about the lore and the more fights we watch, we will get a better sense of the scale.
Audio:
When I rate the audio I focus on how memorable the music and sound effects of a scene are. For the most part it's pop/slash/blam sound effects and soft chinese background music. If there is combat battle, I just can't remember it. I'm sure there is but I don't want to go back and check because it's besides the point.
This is certainly something that could be improved upon. Combat music's rhythm gives a sense of progression which can also be used as a design principle, not just elevate the viewing experience.
Again, the game is early in development. These are nitpicks that I'm certain the dev will eventually improve upon naturally, even without my input. I mention them mostly to bring awareness.
Sex:
So far the scenes are on the mild side. There's a lot of "figuring myself out" going around, especially among the females but you can also find some deviancy too. Additionally some sexual encounters seem to be setting specific (unless the character in question was lying out of embarrassment). So far, while the game mostly focuses on foreplay so far (and it's early), it thankfully doesn't seem to follow the usual "handjob -> titjob -> blowjob -> vaginal" formula. The progression depends on the character's demeanor. Some are innocent, others are more sensual, a few of them rationalize because they feel too old to bother with this stuff.
Technical things:
Congratulations are in order for both the quality and quantity of chapter 2. I was surprised to see so much good content. This speaks to the dev's talent and enthousiasm. He started out with Unreal because he was more familiar with the programming languages associated with it, listened to community's feedback and switched to Ren'py, learning it from scratch and remaking them game in record time.
A lot of times you think that something sounds a bit too good to be true. This is not one of these cases. This update was big and featured so many scenes, ever increasing in quality and complexity.
So bottom line, this is a great project. Cute girls, a great power fantasy story in an interesting and underutilized setting, a hardworking and talented dev who churns out content like nobody's business with uniform or increasing quality.
Best of luck going forward.
