Ren'Py - Desert Stalker [v0.16 Beta] [Zetan]

Ok so I will start by saying this game does so many things right that it deserves the high rating that it has. So lets start with the pros of this game.

Pros.
-Character models for the most part have beautiful faces. The bodies however are entirely subjective.
-Renders are done well.
-The ability to skip/pass on any girls you don't like
-The writing and dialogue are quite well done.
-The story is one of the more original ones.
-The world is interesting as is the setting. The dev certainly is more than capable of both world and character building.
-The developer is not shying away from some darker themes but rather jumping right into these themes. It is just my opinion here but there are just so few games on this site that are 3dcg and have animations that are about and or include the MC as a dominate personality who OWNS slaves. So this game is a breath of fresh air in that regard.

I am certain there are more pros than I listed but you can read other reviews for those with more in depth explanations now as for the cons.

Cons
-I am putting animations for this game under cons but not because they're poorly done quite the contrary actually the animations are imo very well done. The reason I list them as a con is because the game is tagged as animated but there are just so few of them in game atm and the animations are extremely short like 2-4 seconds short. That to tag this as animated makes it feel more like click bait than anything else.
-This is just personal preference here and I know I am in the minority for guys here but I am one who prefers smaller breasted women. I see many of the reviews here mentioning this game has so many kinks it touches on but apparently those must all be with the large breasted characters because I didn't see any of these kinks people are talking about with the few smaller breasted women unless all those kinks were hidden away with the one small breasted character I choose to skip other wise those kinks are all tied to either that one character or the large breasted characters I skipped because I'm not into that. But yeah if you are like me in this regard this game won't offer a whole lot of kink to you as it seems to cater the kinks to the large breast crowd apparently.
-For the same reason mentioned above this was the first game with a incest theme that I did not want to play. So that is a first so gratz there to the dev lol. The one daughter in the game that is attractive you can't do anything with except a butt massage... while the other daughter who is the big titted bimbo (which I'd say the only thing attractive about is her face) is practically thrown at the MC over and over and over and over again. So yeah first game ever to make me go you know I think I am just gonna pass on the incest part....

I would rate this game as 3.5 out 5 but this site doesn't allow that so I went with a 4 because to say it is just a average game would be a lie with how much it does right. Even with the complaints I have, those would not justify a flat 3 stars.

This is awesome. Finally someone created a desert dystopian adult games/visual novel. The casual incest is a great touch, Ain knowing her role as the breeding cow is excellent bit. I don't mind no animation, just use proper posing (learn from Y3DF comics, darklord comics or NLT comics) and hot dialogue. 9/10

The game is set in a really interesting world with lots of really hot characters so the only way the dev could screw this up is if was written really badly and it's not. I enjoyed what I've played so far and I'm really excited to see what happens next and where it all goes.

The biggest issue I have with this game is that it's not really animated. The reason I downloaded it was because I saw the animated tag and all the comments saying "it's animated!" then after seeing that the first scene was just a slide show of a couple images I just assumed the animation was coming later but it never did. At least it didn't in the capacity I was expecting. Throughout my playthrough I found a total of 4 animated scenes and 1 of the animations isn't even part of a sex scene. Also, I use the word "scene" very loosely since the reality is that those 3 animations are just thrown in to start the scene before it switches back to a slideshow.

I was leaning more towards giving this game 4 stars because an adult game not having animated scenes in 2021 isn't very appealing to me but figured that maybe other people don't share my view on that. I do still hope that the dev will add more animated scenes later on though

Great world building that combines an Egyptian theme with post apocalyptic fiction. Check out the unique morality for violence and relationships that is simply presented as normal within the context of the game's world. For example, while sharing is optional and can be turned off, if it is on, it actually seems polite to provide service when hosting guests.

The Desert Stalker is dominant and tough; he's presented as a role and players can decide what that means and how he treats people and solves quests.

Apart from that, it's a harem game so there are a lot of women, with the usual problem that it's difficult to provide scenes for all of them regularly. However, the game remembers previous women and occasionally revisits them rather than endlessly adding new women without any followup. Expanding the harem is usually obvious, either saying yes or no to adding another woman. Characters are varied, with some stronger than others. The wife stands out for her strong supportive and enabling role in the harem.

It's a gory (optional), violent, interesting game with beautiful women and a decent number of sex scenes.

This is kind of what you'd get if Mad Max and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R universes collided. Really cool setting that is guaranteed to pique your interest if you like post-apocalyptic vibes, violence, incest, and a very dominant male protagonist who has the potential to create a huge harem.

There are a few optional sharing scenes which I'm not a fan of and I think kind of detract from the ultra dominant badass that the protagonist is being built up to be, but to each their own, it doesn't really take too much away from the overall quality of the game. As of version 0.06 there is a fair amount of content, maybe 3 hours worth if you explore all of the dialogue, branching paths, and tidbits of lore. There's some animation but the majority of it is still images in succession instead of anything that is particularly smooth. Thankfully the scenes are hot enough for this to be tolerable. The sound direction is nice, the occasional effect adds to the immersion and the music is very fitting thematically. There are a few cutscenes which add a theatrical feel at some points but I honestly could do without those in favor of better animation during sex scenes.

It's definitely still in its beginning stages but it seems like the dev has some interesting plans for both the sex and plot aspects of this game. Hopefully development is consistent in the future, there's truly a huge amount of potential here.

Played 0.06b.

Amazing to play a dominant role.
Great models, textures and ambience.
Very interesting submissive characters.
A bit short at the moment, but showing a lot of promise, and there are a handful of sex scenes that I don’t get tired of playing. There are some repeatable end-game scenes, although it is worth keeping saves of some that are not.
Interesting, promising story that does not drag if you are feeling horny.

nice muice,pretty gril,and you can chose your game type,you can turn off "ntr"or"gore"
I really enjoyed every second playing Desert Stalker
English is't my fist language but i have to use my bad English say this is very good game for me

Desert Stalker is a great game, one of the best on this site. Unique and original story, the characters are interesting, good renders, nice music! I'm not usually into incest but here it's done incredibly well. Cannot recommend it enough! (v0.06b)

I played a lot of games here,
This one is not the best, but it's close.

The character models are hot asf, the diversity of visuals is good enough that you don't get bored from it, the characters personalities are entertaining.

There're a lot of h scenes in this game, it often annoys me because it tends to make the whole thing unrealistic and bland after a time, but not here, it fits the mood of the game perfectly.

Sorry for not making a better explanation for my rating, I just wanted to give it 5 stars so it boosts its referencing on the site because it deserves it.

This is the most original VN I am currently following.

DS has a great world setting that really brings something unique to the story, the complete loss of current societies "rules of conduct" in a way that feels completely authentic to the story/setting.

The graphics (both character and settings) are different from all other VN's I have encountered. DS has great music and a well rounded story, and a great balance between the story and repeatable content.

The only improvement I would like to see is better (smoother & longer) animations as well as more variation in the repeatable content.

Absolutely one of the top five currently running VN's in my book.

Keep it up folks, outstanding work!

This game was pleasantly surprising. Managed to binge play through it.
Currently has like ~4-5 hours of content
Finally a game that has a really original story, that is delivered well.
The models are amazing too. Not the same ones you see in most of the games.
Outstanding music! It's sets the mood just right. You have to play it with sound on!
The incest part is delivered also pretty well, as it has an interesting twist that one would expect from a post apocalyptic world.

TL;DR: One of the top games here. Check it out.

Ok, where to start? The game actually has in interesting setting, nice dialogues, plenty of action without having to click non stop and great characters. I especially like the very mature and cruel setting, it something different than most games on this forum. Even if you are more of a vanilla type player I still recommend the game if only because of the story. This game has been a very pleasant surprise.

[Review for v0.06b]
The best VN released in 2020 without any doubt
I can confidently say I enjoyed every second playing Desert Stalker
Its story is surprisingly deep with tons of potential
Its characters are lovely to look at and each have a unique personality
Its harem is done right
The sex scenes are super hot
The gameplay is not confusing and navigation system is easy to use.
I loved the library part where all the info about different characters, places etc. is written. It's suitable and necessary for a world this big.
If I have to describe the setting and the world of the game I'd say it's like Fallout and Mad Max had a baby together.
The only negative is that there are very few actual animations in the game which is understandable since the dev needs funding to add more of those. I hope the dev put the effort to remake the older scenes and add more animations to the game once the game received more funding.
Can't wait for more.

This is by far my favorite game on the entire site. It's so good I had to support it on Patreon and give it 5 stars. There are so many things I love about it. Not usually the biggest fan of incest, but I love it here. It's violent and dark but those elements are optional. All I can say is: More

It's just excellent,
The post apocalyptic setting is a nice touch, the world seems somewhat coherent. The story finds the right point between simple and complex
The entirely out of the norm social setting is what gives this game it's soul.

Otherwise you know, great renders, beautiful characters blah blah

This is a great game. Very well written and rendered. The story is interesting and it keeps you going. Can't wait to see what's coming up next. I'll definitely support this dev. Keep up the good work!

Great story with actually interesting characters. The renders are top notch but sadly not animated. Also sex scenes are rather frequent and not to hard to achieve and yet not too frequent something some other games struggle with. Really stoked for future updates!

Not really knowing what to expect before trying out this game I was pleasantly surprised. The art direction is very original for the genre. By combining elements of Arab epic medieval styles, sci-fi and post apocalyptical themes, the author has managed to create a fresh setting for their game. It is like Ali Baba meets Mad Max meets Fallout, yet it makes sense and feels authentic.
This being a fairly new game, the content is still rather limited and seems to be in the works. That said, what is here looks great and most the visual elements are top quality. All that is really needed at this time is a focus on more animations. For now, most of the images are individual stills or key framed which just leaves one wanting to see more. Best luck to the author in that regard since quality animations can take a loooong time to produce.
The sound design is done well and the music is engaging. Interestingly it fluctuates from epic middle eastern scores to industrial grind which is quite refreshing. Some of the sound seemed like the levels needed to be more equally mixed however but generally they are great.
The story is top notch being both entertaining and intriguing. I totally would not mind if the next Fallout game were set here with the contrast between old world and new giving the player something interesting to do on any given day. I genuinely found myself interested in what was happening with the various factions at play. The characters are enjoyable, even the less friendly ones and it is nice to get a generally positive feeling from the player's relationships.
Personally I hope to see more content involving the raider sisters and fully animated scenes for the content which currently exist for them since they were my favorite characters, both funny and enticing.
Overall this game is very promising and still in early development from the looks of it. Again, wish the author well and hopefully we will see more polishing on this game in days to come.

Where to even begin?

ART: 5/5
The art/concept is fantastic. Finally, there is a focus on models that arent the same bland color. The models themselves are beautiful and shapely made. Nothing too out of proportion, but instead a realistic version of a babe.

ANIMATION: 3/5
There are no animations, so far only 2 scenes that are partially animated. IF THE DEVELOPER IS READING THIS, please animate the game, as it would drastically improve the game to being a top game. The graphics are so good, that with the quality of the current 2 animations, the game fully animated would be elite.

STORY: 4/5
Not exactly sure where the story is going so far, as in there isn't much of a problem/climax yet. So far, its been more of an introduction arc, where all the characters are still being introduced. However, you won't be bored playing and reading into the game.

UI: 4.5/5
Game UI is good, not hard to understand at all, plus theres a questlog in RenPy which i dont see much often.

Overall: 5/5
Even with the lack of animations, I'd still rate the game a 5 because of the story and quality of graphics. Expecting big things from this game.

Man, I've been on this site for a decent amount of time, and I've tried every game that interested me thus far, which makes it hard to find new ones to sink into, so I was pleasantly surprised – and a little shocked – when I realized I hadn't tried this yet.

Now look, I'm not claiming that this game is perfect as is, but man does it have potential.

~ Art? 4/5

Just great, solid work. Everything is high quality; the different locations all look unique and well thought out and are pleasing to look at; the only complaint I have, and the reason it gets a 4, is that each location – namely in the city – feels very lifeless.

Now I don't make games, so I don't know how easy or difficult it would be to do so, but if the author could add in more background characters (they don't have to actually do anything, just stand there) to make the city feel more full of life, that would be amazing. Especially in the scene where Ain almost gets kidnapped, it felt a little odd that no one was around.

~ Character Models? 5/5

This was definitely one of the easiest 5's I've ever given. Zahra, Shani & Ain are so fucking gorgeous that even if they were the only three girls you had access to, I wouldn't complain for a second. To a slightly lesser extent, but still gorgeous is Emilia, Kateryna, Ivy, Merneith & Asani. Same with them, Asha & Kyra are a-fucking-mazing. Twin-tailed, psycho raider sisters, each of which loves to be put into their place by a strong man? A million times, yes.

~ Characters themselves? 5/5

I'll say 5 for now because while I don't have anything, in particular, to complain about, I feel like we don't really know anyone as of yet and thus wouldn't have anything to dislike, which is one of the only things I felt was lacking from the game thus far. I hope the author can add in some more personalized dialogue with characters when you visit them in their rooms, where we can learn more about them and their opinions on things.

~ Sound? 4/5

The game has music, something that a lot of authors overlook for some reason; more so, the music is actually nice to listen to and fits the setting perfectly. I'm only giving it a four because there aren't any other SFX in the game, sexual or otherwise.

~ Animations? 2/5

I would say this is the only area of the game that is particularly lacking. Animations are present, which is good, but they are rare. A lot of the game's 'animation' consists of just different images being recycled, an example being during a blowjob with Asha after you head to Adira with Kyra.

During the scene, it will cycle between a couple of images, one where her mouth is barely on your dick, and another where more of it is in her mouth, thus giving the appearance of an animated blowjob. And don't get me wrong, this isn't horrible; I mean, it's better than nothing, but when you have a game that's as fleshed out in every other aspect as Desert Stalker is, more so, when you have girls as gorgeous as the ones in this game, you just want to see more.

My only other complaint regarding the animations, and it ties in with the X scenes altogether, is the shortness of it all. I feel like my character will be getting blown for ten seconds, and he'll already be ready to burst. Same with sex, we'll thrust a few times, bust, and that'll be it. There's also no mention of the woman ever cumming. I hope our MC isn't a selfish lover, lol.

I feel like the author needs to add more interactive sex scenes with more positions that we can cycle through to make the scene feel longer and more realistic. Maybe give each girl some preferred positions and different reactions to them?

~ Dialogue? 4/5

I'm going with a four because, again, while there isn't anything specifically negative about it. I just wish the conversations were a little more robust and more options were given when talking to other characters. It just feels like there's not ever much to say, and what the characters do have to say is very brief.

~ Story and Worldbuilding? 4/5

It's super interesting thus far. And I'm really impressed with how well thought out everything is. The book in your library gives a brief history and summary of everywhere you go and everyone you meet, which really helps add to the believability and immersion of everything.

As for the gameplay itself, cave spelunking is never boring, and I look forward to seeing what locations we get to experience as a Stalker and the treasures we can find while also interacting with Zeta, Old Cairo, Adira and the Bunker, and the politics we can push, the story decisions we can drive through them.

~ Final Thoughts...

A couple of quick notes about some of the fetishes before I end it. I'm SUPER happy that swinging was added, but more so that we are given full control over it. I'm a big fan of the fetish, but most authors who give you a choice over whether or not you want it in the game don't also give you full control of which swinging scenes you see, and some will be forced on you, which is never a good thing.

Secondly, I'm a little disappointed by the lack of any foot fetish/worship content thus far, as I feel like it was being set up pretty perfectly. You have the femdom tag and a female queen who clearly loves being in control and flexing her power. Each time you meet her, you are given choices that either make her more dominant or submissive with you. Also, during the second meeting, she even has a couple of servents present at her feet, one of which seems to be doing some light worshipping.

I don't know how the author feels about the fetish or if there are plans to include it, but I would really love to see it, and I think it would fit perfectly as some exclusive content you (and maybe Shani) can do with the queen.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the game. I really love it thus far and can't wait for more!