VN - Ren'Py - Defending Lydia Collier [v0.17.0.2] [White Phantom Games]

So much of this is beyond amazing, but I believe there is an important caveat that can bring it down for some readers that must be mentioned.

Starting with the good aspects, which are all absolutely outstanding... renders, models, production value, storyline... amazing. I think most people will very easily agree with that assessment. There are also impactful gameplay aspects that are not a simple farming style rinse and repeat.

Quite simply, this is a novel that will impress anyone with nearly every aspect.

So, why my lowered rating? Only because there are a few people like me who will not be able to escape one huge hurdle, even though a lot of people can ignore this aspect...

Every single love interest is... at least in a real-world sense, a terrible choice.

While this is common in many AVN's, the entire taboo nature of hooking up with a person whom you absolutely shouldn't sometimes even being the central aspect to the story, this is not the central theme to this story, and I am unable to really hold off with my disbelief.


I'll explain, no spoilers here.

You are an officer of the court. Your love interests are; your assistant, a cop, a detective, your ex, and your client.

Any of these are fine on their own, but every time I attempt a play through I keep focusing upon the conflict of interest and how taking each one as a possible love interest can play out as harmful to the long term story.

I'm pretty sure that my feelings do not sync with the majority. If I am honest, I can easily see these taboo choices as being a huge positive for most readers.

Keep in mind, the story has been more than enough to keep me riveted through many updates, but over time I have realized that I am missing huge layers of content by not choosing a love interest.

Most of you need not worry about my review at all. You will like this. I only offer this to those who do get caught up with making 'real' style choices... you will still love the story, the production value... really everything, but you need to choose a direction that feels like it will interfere with the stated job..

White Phantom, you are awesome. Keep up the great work, I am so sorry that I get hung up on this aspect.

Story: 9/10
Renders: 8/10
Animation: 1/10
Sound: 7/10
Characters: 9/10

A very unique game, the story is definitely amazing; it has some dark elements to it, which you won't see in any other game, the visuals are good, and the characters are also interesting, although the animations are very bad. I think the dev should entirely remove these.
The most frustrating part about this game is the huge amount of bugs it has, which makes me wonder, how did this even pass the testing stage? I have encountered so many in my first playthrough that I don't even feel like doing other routes. Most of these happen when interacting with things like laptops, evidence, etc.
Currently I wouldn't recommend this. I think the dev needs to focus on fixing all these bugs.
I will definitely revisit this when it's in a more stable state.

For a long time I've had my doubts about this game. Especially since it splits up into many different story lines (which makes it hard to have enough content for the game to feel fleshed out).

But imo, the game has finally reached a point where enough of the story lines are developed for the game to feel complete. And although it does have some bugs and still lacks animations. To me at least, this game is now a top 10 contender.

Edit: I do agree with the post below. The whole research did not add anything to the game for me (so I just skip it). I understand the intention behind it. But I can't be bothered to read a wall of text in the hopes to find a clue.

This game is quite awful
while i wanna play with girls and doing moves in the company research
game demands me to constantly interact with my phone and with computer
instead of just doing this parts automatically
and let me focus on the choices in the game realm

some of the interactions and girls are cool, but because content is so unfinished once you progress 1 route you will have to replay whole thing to unlock other galery
some of the characters are quite annoying to each other

i ended up securing erotic dungeon 3some with 2 girls
yet got no more game to play after this W

game could rl benefit from no computer/phone clicking at all
and maybe some cheaty NG+ mode that don't close paths with characters
so you can see everything if you get the game to ending/end of content once
sex scenes are sad and have only statics
i don't know how money works in this game

summary: easy skip 0.17 is not ready at all

What can i say, Ive slept on this game a good while. tried it a good chunk ago, and didnt fuck with it. HOWEVER. i gave it another go, actually took the time to pay attention to the story. and found myself loving the choices, and story!

i wont go too deep into my review, but this is a great game with adult elements, rather than just being a porn game.

if you're here for a quick fap, THIS AINT FOR YOU. but if youre here for AN AMAZING NARRATIVE, GREATLY WRITTEN CHARACTERS, AND GREAT SCENES WHEN THEY DO COME ABOUT. THEN BUCKLE THE FUCK UP.

Story, top notch. i loved the branch of dating the cop, and fucking her daughter whilst on vacation. and i can only imagine how different my story would've been had i of ditched her for someone else.

this one has that replayability due to the numerous choices that you can make, which alter your entire journey along the main narrative.

I AM REALLY looking forward to seeing this to completion, in a hopes it continues on the amazing path its currently on!

So much to say about this AVN but so little words to say it : story is mid, LIs are mid, majority of the choices given makes the mc come off as creepy.

Honestly there's nothing this game does above average and a lot that it does below average, of course there's also to consider this game has been in development for 6 years now. All the actual attractive female characters have either been gatekept by the dev or thrown as side characters in other main LIs paths.

TL;DR - you play as a lawyer with a female roster of LIs that reflects all levels of the spectrum

Decent AVN set in London. Story is quite interesting, MC is a lawyer surrounded by lots of attractive women and defending Lydia Collier, as the title says.

The Dev does a decent job in giving the AVN a "London feel" with mostly DAZ3D assets, and that is quite impressive. Many of the female leads look good. The representation of the British Law system is interesting and quite well done, and it was a clever choice to have Ellie present to (optionally) enable narration of the Common Law to the reader.

Overall, I love the female models. They have character, and their appearances changes from scene to scene. With and without make-up, wet/dry hair, etc. And a female LI (Stephanie) even being insecure about sleeping with MC for the first time without make up. These little touches are very charming and make one want for more.

Another big plus is that the Dev includes realistic consequences and social implications of cheating, prostitution and stripping. I liked that approach.

In the later half the main story becomes a bit harder to follow, but I also must admit I did not have the energy to always read all the newspapers. It would help if MC could summarize what he (could have) read before a key decision is made. At one point, what felt like totally out of nowhere, MC has to make a huge choice of picking one team for an observation mission. While it is true that I may not have been the most attentive reader (who can blame me focusing on Ellie), this transition could be made easier.

The sound effects were mostly good. Except the tinnitus that was too annoying and loud (maybe that was the point).

My biggest grief: Such a missed opportunity: No Female Chavs
What I wish the AVN would have much, much more of is exposure to British Chav culture. That could happen through the bar and the underground team. Especially female Chavs is one of the hottest tropes that exist. There are some very limited things like the argument between Stephanie and the young woman picking up her phone in front of the night club, and I wish this AVN had much, much more of that. There is something incredibly hot and yes poetic about MC being an affluent barrister going for a labor class girl, with lots of cultural and class implications and potential implications on romance (My Fair Lady style). Therefore, this AVN desperately needs a Chavette main LI option!

Also, given the current modern day British politics could give a chance to feature some brown skinned beauties to enter the cast as well (with again lots of interesting social implications to explore).


In summary, 4/5. Good AVN, worth the download. If DEV ever sees this, please add a female Chav love interest and make it a bit easier to get the just of the story without reading the newspapers by summarizing the key content the player has to know.

==========DEFENDING LYDIA COLLIER ==========
Zac rating: 4.2 out of 5
Setting, Theme: City, Romance, Politics
Last Played: 2025

Length: 5
Originality: 4
Images: 4
Story: 4
Game Play: 4
Pace: 4
Characters: 5
Kink: 4
HOT!: 4

Review for v0.17 – Defending Lydia Collier

So I just finished playing through the latest version (0.17) of Defending Lydia Collier, and honestly… I’m a bit disappointed.

Let me start by saying I used to be really into this game. The early releases had a solid mystery, good writing, and enough intrigue to keep me coming back. But with each update, it feels like the game is just crawling to the finish line.

For v0.17, I decided to do a full fresh playthrough and went with Stephanie’s Bimbo Route. Up until the new content, everything ran fine—but as soon as I hit the 0.17 content, I started running into obvious bugs right from the jump. Not small stuff either—stuff that really makes you wonder how it got past testing.

Once I got past the bugs, the actual amount of new content felt super short. Considering how long the wait was between updates, it didn’t feel like much payoff at all. A few scenes, a bit of story, and that’s about it.

I was planning to try Ellie’s Dark Path next, but after checking the thread and seeing multiple posts about it being bugged to the point of being unplayable, I decided not to bother. That path being broken just adds to the frustration.

At this point, I think I’m shelving the game for a while. It still has potential—no doubt about that—but right now, the bugs and slow content releases make it hard to stay invested.

Rating for v0.17: 3/5
Started strong, but right now it’s running on fumes. Hopefully the devs get things back on track.

One of the best histories and also one of the best girls... Stephanie is amazing.

Models good, plenty of paths,.

The only bad thing is that depending of your choices you could lock up some stories for good.

VERSION: v0.17 Beta 1.6 (WTF WITH THESE VERSIONS )
SUMMARY: Was good once, but never went anywhere, 5 years later, still nowhere.
RATINGS: (out of 5):

NOTE: The following categories and scoring method are my own criteria and may require more context. Additionally, scoring is based on the state, and what is in the current version and not what may or may not be.

1. Model Visuals..................... : ⭐⭐⭐
2. General Visuals................... : ⭐⭐⭐
3. Animation Quality................. : ⭐⭐
4. Character (Persona)............... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Story Quality & Pacing............ : ⭐⭐⭐
6. Writing Quality & Dialogue........ : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. UI & Game-play Mechanics...........: ⭐⭐
8. Playtime & General Quality.........: ⭐⭐⭐
9. Sounds & Music.....................: ⭐⭐⭐
10. H-Content & Fetishes.............. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Average: X of 50 possible points giving a X% rating i.e. X stars.

PROS:

1. Relatively good looking models.
2. Good writing, structure and reads well.
3. Interesting and semi complex story
4. Good narratives and dialogue
5. Interesting and in depth characters or rather unique
6. Good kinks and fetishes, albeit mostly centers around one LI
7. Choices with impact BUT (see cons)

CONS:

1. Choices make this game good, but also annoying as you can screw your playthrough up if you not careful.
2. Tedious investigative sequences and quest line with more frustrating that good UI and navigation that brings nothing good and meaningful or fun to the game.
3. Renders are good but are getting dated and this applies more to the world and its renders than the LIs but overall its just not that good anymore.
4. Kinks are good, but many center around the LI you choose to persue and you also inadvertently can screw yourself with other relationships unless you follow the walkthrough for a particular LI.
5. Sounds, music and lewd sounds are few and far between or simply do not exist at all.
6. The main plot falls away easily as it doesn't feel like it driven well nor does it tie into anything else the MC has going on in any meaningful way. I find myself more interested in which LI to screw next than follow the story. Only Lydia has some intrigue and maybe her sister. The rest...meh

FINAL REMARKS, OPINIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

NOTE: The following remarks are my personal opinions and thoughts, which may provide more context and could be useful to the developer.

• If you just go in without a walkthrough, you can screw you playthrough up badly enough to have to re-roll a old save quite far back. At least thats my experience.
• You also get locked out of certain LIs depending on game choices, this is both good and bad, bad simply because it would have been nice to play the field long enough to get more content from several LIs but the game is split into at least 3 very specific LIs and their stories meaning you need to replay the game to see the other content. Which, ill be honest is kinda boring to me as it doesnt really change anything toward the main story or drive that story.
• I feel this VN should have rather thrown all its LIs into one linear story and playthrough where our MC gets to play the field for a while and maybe later start tieing himself down. The way the game plays now its content is very limited to the LIs you decide to persue and the main story has little going for it and does not progress in any interesting or meaningful ways. Which based on a game from 2019 is just very bad.
• I believe old reviews skew the actual relevant ones which will point out what I have said and more. This VN is just not worth supporting IMO. The only thing it does however that is good is its kinks, but even that is getting stale simply because its now old and renders are not keeping up with new trends and standards. At least not for what the game set out as which I believe was high fidelity renders.

TLDR:

I never rated this game, realised now that I should because waiting for it to actually return to the roots and get on with what made it good will never happen. This game/VN is so long winded and never comes back to the main plot or follows on the intrigue created early on. It tried to be more but couldnt deliver and this is seen through the investigation and the convoluted way it plays out. I had high hopes but its just not worth it, there are much better games out there that do better jobs at driving story with investigative elements that are strung together well. A good narrative with investigative concepts and ideas that is done well is e.g. Shattered Dreams Redemption that tells its story much better.

I very like this game. Dialoges during sex actions, visual, main plot, characters - everyting is rly good and intreseting.

But the main thing i apreciate in game is many kinky stuffs especially with Steph. Steph as a pervert girl covers so many fetishes that i love in porn (ATM, DATM, and different slave games like piss drinking, humiliation, spanking etc). And almost everything of them are optional.

Look forward to updates with Steph and it would have been cool if author add more similar kinky stuffs with another girls.

this visual novel is definitely in my "Top 10", great plot, multiple plaths, choices do matter here, if i have money i definitely would support this developer, this definitely deserve more patreons supporting than some other visual novels in this site that have less quality and still have lots of supporters.

Definitely a hidden gem. Updates have slowed down, but quality hasn't in every facet is still of the highest order. Stephanie is best girl and probably the kinkiest out of any game on here. I'm sure it would be difficult to implement, but if there's ever a "Definitive Edition" release then the ability to start from different chapters of the game would be great, because my only criticism is that there's too many characters now and basically 3 or 4 paths that lock you out of all the others. Have to start the game from scratch to see it all.

I've played hundreds of games on this site and this is so far the best I have found Sex and fetishes are really well done dialogue is more believable than most games renders are good. The mystery elements feel a little shoe horned in I'd rather they were just elements of the story rather than impactful choices but that's really my only criticism.

v0.17

Absolutely fantastic. MC is great, girls are gorgeous, varied and interesting.
Very rarely you see an adult game where both the porn and the plot are great.

There's a lot of fetishes, and you can be as kinky or vanilla as you like, provided you play your cards rights.

5/5*, easily.

I've played through one character and am looking forward to playing with the others. The first play-through didn't get far into Lydia's story. But the action was good and the women are ...interesting.

Really good VN i highly recommend. Hot girls, lots of kink and engaging story. Love that its set in England and is full of english references. A refreshingly good visual novel and i cant wait for more updates!

Boring game, the only postive it has is the renders, nothing else.
Story is unimaginative, writing, dialogs boring and cringe and everytime it is getting worse and worse.
Even like that it was a 3/5 game that you could play to waste some time but it seems that at some point something changed for the dev and started bringing the game in another direction, started adding voyeur cuck tapes, adding whore background for characters for no reason, so the little interest one might have for those already mediocre characters was gone, and thats not stopping. Another positive is that at least it has a decent amount of content.

Anyway: story: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
Renders: 4/5
Dialogs: 1/5
Makes for a 2.0 game that will only get worse with time so I take my leave here.

Engaging story, hot scenes, and well worth repeated playthroughs to see completely different things each time. I originally played the Steam version, and didn't realize half the things that were in the game before looking at a guide. Also 'Defending' somehow manages to be both down to earth in it's 9 to 5 kind of vibe while also having a large scale plot. A very good avn.