This game has one of the best "path crafting" I've seen on the site. Instead of simply branching out into different paths leading each to a different ending, it gives the player a lot of leeway to steer the story while aiming for a particular goal.
I focused on Kat, the wife, on sharing her and on keeping her in the end, so my review will reflect these choices, and what I got from them. Meanwhile, tried to fuck around as much as possible with other girls, paying attention to whether it would mean neglecting your wife, and avoiding that.
In the end, I got a pretty cool, loving ending, where sharing decisions didn't become dominant in your relationship. This is the best way to write a wife-sharing story, imho. In the end, it's still just you and her, implicitly enjoying memories of your "spiced-up" adventures, but not bound to a relationship where the sharing aspect takes up all the space. To be clear: in the ending I got, there's a final sharing scene and then, the MC and his wife retiring to a wholesome life in the village, with no further references to other guys. You can imagine they wouldn't stop doing it in the future, but it remains untold. I'd want to give this five stars, just for nailing this so well, where other games don't.
Importantly, in none of the sharing scenes, or the conversations leading to, or stemming from those scenes, does the MC come out as a "beta" cuck. I want to stress this, for those who, like me, are seeking games where this kink can be present, but are turned off by any suggestion that the MC actually "prefers" to watch his wife with others, than fuck her himself. Not wanting to shame anyone who enjoys it, just clarifying that this story doesn't go that way. You're always in control, in every single situation. Throughout the whole story, you can maintain a fully satisfying and meaningful relationship with Kat, where sharing is just a side-aspect of it.
The developer even avoided making the MC be the one pushing the wife for *his* pleasure. In Deliverance, there's a perfect balance, possibly not significant for many, but important to me: it's all about the MC and his wife taking pleasure in each other's pleasure, which, in my book, translates to a wholesome relationship. Even in the first chance you get to choose whether or not to engage in this aspect, it's a subject that seems to come around naturally, from teasing, not as a deep and inescapable fantasy of an "already corrupt" character. Kat is never portrayed as a slut who can't say no to any dick, but as a someone with a great and carefree sex drive, who wants to explore and channel it in ways that please both her and the MC. On more than one occasion, incidentally, they even use that as a path to further their main story goals, which brings a kinkier aspect to it, but never coming out of desperation.
By contrast, while the wife's adventures are all consensual and mostly witnessed, some even participated in by the MC, the player is allowed to "go all the way" with other girls, but the MC never discusses that with his wife. This may be one aspect where the game is not exactly complete - it would make sense for them to talk about it, but they don't, the MC cheats, and both the MC and others assume it and comment on it. I might take a star out for this, saying that the devs could easily have written in ways for the MC to engage with other girls with the full consent of his wife, and it would even be technically easy to add preambles and postfaces to each scene that made use of the same rendered material, but added the wife watching and enjoying herself, just like the MC does. But, then, it might have objectified the other girls a bit too much, if that path were taken. Maybe it's best that such a pitfall was avoided.
Additionally, as I found out upon reaching the final happy ending, their story seemed so perfect that the contrast with these "shadier" choices by the MC weighed in on my conscience, and I found it brilliant! It took some pleasure out of the bliss: the MC got a happy retirement with his wife, surrounded by friends, but you, the player, know that you betrayed her (if you chose to), your friends, your best buddy. Again, this is the way to do it, imho. I hate "crime and punishment" stories where "bad choices lead to bad endings", life is just not that way. Sometimes we screw up, and sometimes we get away with it. Our conscience is the ultimate judge, and this game, in the way it allows you to exploit opportunities without facing "fatal" consequences, confronts you with your choices in a much stronger way.
It made me want to play again and try all the "right" choices, not because the choices I made lead to a defeat scenario, but to see if I feel better about it in the end. This is as good a reason to replay a game, as I've ever seen.
So no, not a single reason to take out a star. This is an excellent work of creativity, one that lets the player engage with the story and prompts you to reflect on your choices, instead of passing judgement. Gets my wholehearted congratulations.
PS: As I noted at the beginning, these impressions come from my first, and, so far, single playthrough, so they likely reflect only part of what the game has to offer. Let them help others who seek the same experience, but not discourage those who would like to get something different from playing the game, as there are many different paths, different love interests to end the game with, and you can avoid the sharing aspect altogether.
I focused on Kat, the wife, on sharing her and on keeping her in the end, so my review will reflect these choices, and what I got from them. Meanwhile, tried to fuck around as much as possible with other girls, paying attention to whether it would mean neglecting your wife, and avoiding that.
In the end, I got a pretty cool, loving ending, where sharing decisions didn't become dominant in your relationship. This is the best way to write a wife-sharing story, imho. In the end, it's still just you and her, implicitly enjoying memories of your "spiced-up" adventures, but not bound to a relationship where the sharing aspect takes up all the space. To be clear: in the ending I got, there's a final sharing scene and then, the MC and his wife retiring to a wholesome life in the village, with no further references to other guys. You can imagine they wouldn't stop doing it in the future, but it remains untold. I'd want to give this five stars, just for nailing this so well, where other games don't.
Importantly, in none of the sharing scenes, or the conversations leading to, or stemming from those scenes, does the MC come out as a "beta" cuck. I want to stress this, for those who, like me, are seeking games where this kink can be present, but are turned off by any suggestion that the MC actually "prefers" to watch his wife with others, than fuck her himself. Not wanting to shame anyone who enjoys it, just clarifying that this story doesn't go that way. You're always in control, in every single situation. Throughout the whole story, you can maintain a fully satisfying and meaningful relationship with Kat, where sharing is just a side-aspect of it.
The developer even avoided making the MC be the one pushing the wife for *his* pleasure. In Deliverance, there's a perfect balance, possibly not significant for many, but important to me: it's all about the MC and his wife taking pleasure in each other's pleasure, which, in my book, translates to a wholesome relationship. Even in the first chance you get to choose whether or not to engage in this aspect, it's a subject that seems to come around naturally, from teasing, not as a deep and inescapable fantasy of an "already corrupt" character. Kat is never portrayed as a slut who can't say no to any dick, but as a someone with a great and carefree sex drive, who wants to explore and channel it in ways that please both her and the MC. On more than one occasion, incidentally, they even use that as a path to further their main story goals, which brings a kinkier aspect to it, but never coming out of desperation.
By contrast, while the wife's adventures are all consensual and mostly witnessed, some even participated in by the MC, the player is allowed to "go all the way" with other girls, but the MC never discusses that with his wife. This may be one aspect where the game is not exactly complete - it would make sense for them to talk about it, but they don't, the MC cheats, and both the MC and others assume it and comment on it. I might take a star out for this, saying that the devs could easily have written in ways for the MC to engage with other girls with the full consent of his wife, and it would even be technically easy to add preambles and postfaces to each scene that made use of the same rendered material, but added the wife watching and enjoying herself, just like the MC does. But, then, it might have objectified the other girls a bit too much, if that path were taken. Maybe it's best that such a pitfall was avoided.
Additionally, as I found out upon reaching the final happy ending, their story seemed so perfect that the contrast with these "shadier" choices by the MC weighed in on my conscience, and I found it brilliant! It took some pleasure out of the bliss: the MC got a happy retirement with his wife, surrounded by friends, but you, the player, know that you betrayed her (if you chose to), your friends, your best buddy. Again, this is the way to do it, imho. I hate "crime and punishment" stories where "bad choices lead to bad endings", life is just not that way. Sometimes we screw up, and sometimes we get away with it. Our conscience is the ultimate judge, and this game, in the way it allows you to exploit opportunities without facing "fatal" consequences, confronts you with your choices in a much stronger way.
It made me want to play again and try all the "right" choices, not because the choices I made lead to a defeat scenario, but to see if I feel better about it in the end. This is as good a reason to replay a game, as I've ever seen.
So no, not a single reason to take out a star. This is an excellent work of creativity, one that lets the player engage with the story and prompts you to reflect on your choices, instead of passing judgement. Gets my wholehearted congratulations.
PS: As I noted at the beginning, these impressions come from my first, and, so far, single playthrough, so they likely reflect only part of what the game has to offer. Let them help others who seek the same experience, but not discourage those who would like to get something different from playing the game, as there are many different paths, different love interests to end the game with, and you can avoid the sharing aspect altogether.
