VN - Others - Completed - Double Homework [Ep. 19] [Palmer/Love-Joint]

Interesting game. While the creator learned a few things from the previous game there are still few things to learn.

Gameplay:
- the engine used has it's flaws one of them being the necessity to load in game. I would expect that each chapter is already preloaded.
+ the flaw of the engine might be a plus at the end when you want to reach all endings, but is something to be tested first
+ I apreciate the Variable Editor that helps you go back on the game and
see more scenes
+ it will be nice for the next game to see another game editor used or a better implementation of this one

Story line:
- for me it look like a normal teenager drama and the events are something that happens a lot
+ it is nice to see that the characters presented are interconected and as story progress we find out about their previous interaction. Those are interesting little twist
- I played up to chapter 13 and I am still not sure if the girl split I did with Denniss in the first chapters really influenced the event in one way or another. As mentioned by others I expect that decisions I took to impact what happens


Characters:
+ the majority of the characters is that they have a backstory. It is
not just the MC that has a story, a past, a reason of doing some actions. Each and every character has a story and we get to know a bit about that.
- The only character I am not happy with is Dennis. I believe that he could have played amuch more decisive role in what happened and could be more of a genius. It could have lead to some blackmail, NTR scenarios if fans were interested in that, or it could have helped at MC development. At the moment he is just there, anoying, not very realistic.

Graphics:
+ The models are very nice. I still have quite vivid in mind the night when you fuck the teacher at school. She was so sexy and elegant and with an angelic face. The other girls are also beautiful represented and you have a bit of variety. The sex scenes are not fully animated, but it did not really bothered me.

this game is a real masterpiece, the story is so captivating and always keeps you guessing and feels like a real Crescendo, there are so many gorgeous characters with very unique traits and intresting stories, and overall the graphics and render are amazing i really have to recommand this game its a 10/10

Up to Episode 15, real rating is 2.5-star (below average) but I chose to go with 2-star (poor) than 3-star (average) because I feel that the bad is worse than the good. I'll also add that if you don't care about the plot, then it's a 4-star (good) because the girls are good.

To understand the bad, it's basically the plot and how the villain (Dennis) is one of the worst villains in anything I've seen. The main problem with it is not about how people don't like Dennis, but how Dennis is a villain that doesn't really do anything but somehow comes out on top just because.

For a game that has been up to 15 episodes (that's more than a year), it's really unsatisfying that MC has been on the losing side again and again and again. It doesn't feel good to play a game when you are given no way to win. Imagine if you're given a die and told that you win if you roll number 6. But when you rolled a 6, they suddenly told you that it's a joke that you still lose even if you roll a 6 anyway. That's the kind of experience you get from the plot in this game. There's no logic to it and it just feels bad.

It's really a shame because a good plot would instantly elevate this game into a 5-star worthy game.

Will give it one star only...looks like a good game really does and the feed back also seem good....but no matter where i get it or what i try do it simply doesnt f@cking load, want so much to give this dev a good rating based o renders...but without story to back it up wouldnt mean a thing

I have just been playing until chapter 4. I read some of the critical comments here. They make sense about the part that you can't make choices and I completely agree with that (someone said that you can from chapter 5 onward - I really hope so).

But to me this still deserves a 5 stars. First of all, the graphic is excellent - the girls in this game are beautiful and I love this style of art/model. Second, the story feels very smooth and real, with a fitting pace - I really like this slow-burn pace. And third, apart from appearance, the girls in this game are very lovable personality wise, like you can actually fall in love with some of the girls. The dialog also feel natural and sometimes touching.

Overall, this is a great VN, and therefore a 5 star for me.

Edit: Played to chapter 12 now, still think this's a great VN with in-depth story and believable, sometimes deep, character psychological analysis. As I play more and know more about the characters' circumstances, lots of the plot make more sense.

Dennis is not a very smart villain, for sure, but this is not an action movie and he does not need to be smart - else how can MC wins over him (or more accurately how can his plans fail most of the time). I honestly think his job is to be a story-mover, to create tension and many times humor to the story (because he fails so bad), and to be an ass that everyone hates.

The blackmailing over game hours also makes sense if you consider the characters' state of mind: Dennis is not very smart to see its validity, and MC is super fragile and insecure at that point (used to be perfect in everyone' eyes, the accident, just got out of his room after months etc.).

MC is a dick at first, but it's very logical given the circumstances and he becomes much nicer after a while. The character development feels smooth to me.

Other than MC, many characters in this game are depicted very in-depth personality wise, even Dennis. I like the girls in this game a lot, such as Johanna, Tamara and Amy. Especially Johanna, she's the sweetest thing ever but honestly she's so nice that sometimes it's sad to watch.

You do get to know what really happened in the incident in later chapters.

One major drawback tho is that you only have choice over who you would fuck, and the options are fairly obvious. I think DH is better than Palmer's previous work DFD in every aspect except this one.

Overall, IMO this is a great VN with interesting story and captivating plot developments, slow burn pace and great writing that needs to be digested with time to be fully appreciated (definitely not for a quick fap). The characters are gorgeous, well built and have deep personalities and backgrounds. The downside is that the story is pretty linear and choices are almost non-existent. Still, I would give this game a 5 star as the characters are really a 20/10 for me.

I'll try to review this objectively and subjectively, giving points from 0 to 1 per category.

Graphics - 0.7: They are good, much better than last game, yet without animation or even the illusion of animation it doesn't get full points. The illusion of 3d could have become fully 3d instead of just shifting the whole image while moving the mouse around. So 0.7.

Gameplay - 0.2: The illusion of choice is a very bad flaw when not only it's so obvious to see through, but the game continuously presents that to you and forces the character into the linear story parts. As far as I noticed, the only real choices are between girls (rarely) and if you are bedding someone or not. The skip button is the worst offender.

Story - 0.3: There's almost no suspense since it becomes clear very soon nobody is going to tell anything about the incident. It's so obvious it appears the writers didn't know what that was either, at least, not yet. At many points, independently of the play style, the bad factor could have been dealt easily by anyone who's not Henry, even permanently. Maybe that's the final plot twist, you are playing as Henry and sometimes just see yourself in the mirror and interract with him like he's someone else. The character's personality is seriously wacky due to the forcefulness of said illusion of choice. Although some characters are compelling, there's too little about them, they seem mostly superficial. Hence, the low score.
As of Episode 15, and considering there's not many episodes left, I call it the ending won't be that great either.

Music and Sound - 0.7: Some good sound effects mixed with appropriate music that didn't get downloaded from the first free-copyright website, with enough variety makes me want to put a higher score. Then again, missed an opportunity with the Death Metal movie.

Enjoyment and Scenes- 0.6: The transitions and moments are well directed, some nice effects although some are a little cliché. The "Dutch town" was portrayed well enough. Unfortunately the scenes are often too short, although the redheads ones are interesting if we ignore their personality and the story.

Total: 2.5 (or 3 stars, since the lowest is 1).

Charming little series, astonishing fantasy and that makes you a protagonist that suffer post traumatic stress but find escapement from psychological agony by loving that close to you. This is little unlucky story of finding a luck in life. Splendid indeed.

Having to download 12 games to play the full game has always been stupid to me, why not just make all those 12 chapters in 1 full game or at least every 6 chapters... The story and the writing is forced on the player with no choices because those choices don't matter, it should be tagged Kinectic since that motherbuncher Dennis blackmails the mc and you can't do shit at all, I really think this guy should hire a writer since is pretty clear he can't make an interesting story anymore.
If not for the Renders and animations, cute girls this game won't be having much of a fanbase, because that's the only good thing in the whole game.

I feel so sorry for doing this to you.To be honest, it hurts me to rate this game so bad. I really enjoyed the last game, but this is unbearable thanks to the story. I will not go into this in more detail because I cannot say anything positive about the story. I expected more. From act 1 to act 5 (I didn't play any further) it feels like an absolute Sh * t festival. Being blackmailed by Dennis puts the icing on the cake. And on top of that, you get choices that are no choices because you get forced by story anyway. Why put them in in the first place? That makes absolute no sense. The only reason I´m not only giveing 1 star is, because the rest of the game is high quality. I never felt so unpleasend in a story before, not even in Acting lessons. I can´t see why anybody in their right minds would enjoy anything like this unless its a masochist. But who am I to judge. I wish you good luck with the project and looking forward to maybe future projects, because I think you are cabable of more than that. (you showed that with your last project.)

This is a tough one for me to review objectively.

I have recently finished the 14th episode, zooming through them in one afternoon, and now I'm bummed that I have to wait for more.

I have developed a crush on the "main" love interest, Johanna. Not really (probably) as she is just some lovely images and a few lines of dialogue. But while I was playing, seeing her and "talking" to her made me happy (and sad, and guilty, and angry...).

Without wishing to violate the rules and cross promote anything, the last electronic character I had a real crush on was PB, and her game was trashed by reviewers, but I loved it, so really liking a character may be ruining my objectivity (I loved Ellie and Alloy also, but never in "that" way).

I could talk about the plot. It has a bit of intrigue, but it is really a convoluted reason for the MC to be surrounded by a beautiful harem of teenage school girls, as these games are wont to do.

I could talk about the graphics. The girls are all stunning, especially Tamara and Johanna. The sex scenes are brief but lovely, as the models are all quite gorgeous.

I guess if there is one criticism of the sex scenes, it is that the girls are all, well, very much like girls are in these sorts of games. There is not much variety from the neck down.

I could talk about the characters. I really like all of them.

The villains are suitably villainous.

The girls are well embodied stereotypes of various sweet and damaged teenagers that make you want to eat them up and hug them at the same time.

The MC is a whiny douche, but it is obvious to all that he is trying to be better, and this is enough for all the girls to throw themselves at him, and if you like that sort of thing, it is a bit endearing.

I particularly love Tamara. Not only is she hot as hell, she is clearly a fallen "hero" as damaged as the MC. Her relationship with "me" as the MC is the very definition of "It's complicated" and I enjoyed feeling all the ups and downs and emotional baggage that comes with that.

But holy fuck, Johanna. Just thinking about her makes me smile (and get sad). The designers must have said, let's make a character that is just the sweetest thing we can ever imagine, and then get the artists to draw that. And they all get top marks for what they have done with just a few lines of text and some stills.

This game is a slow burn. It takes a few chapters to get into any really sexy stuff. All the girls are delightful, so if you don't mind this sort of slow build up, romancing style, then having them all suddenly decide you are their one and only, you will like this.

Don't play this if you want something super kinky, or super realistic, or if you want an amazing plot.

But I have focused my play on romancing the exquisitely sweet main love interest. If you want a budding romance feel with a near perfect, innocent partner, with some unusual plot and some "self" created drama from the "complicated" relationship, hopefully you will feel as emotional as I have playing through the first 14 episodes.

TLDR: Beautiful looking game, if you don't like the tiny, perfect teen thing that is obvious from the first episode, you probably won't like the sexy stuff. The plot is OK (good for a harem game, but it is a harem game so it leaves our Earth reality early on). The characters are stereotypes, but nicely done, and easy to love. And if, like me, you love romancing the sickly sweet main love interest, you will probably smile and cry and laugh your way through much of the first 14 chapters. Hopefully the rest is just as good and "I" don't go crushing Johanna's heart.

I began playing this game after finishing Palmer's previous work Daughter for Dessert, a game that would be unfair to compare with this game given how we feel for their respective premises. Of course, this review was written after the release of Episode 14 and hence may become outdated after the series is finished.

The story has been pretty good so far. The story has been quite entertaining, emotional and a little heavy, with some foreshadowing sprinkled here and there. Setting can feel a bit fictional (it's not easy to find a guy who lives with two attractive classmates and good friends realistic, not to mention being the only guy in a class of pretty girls), but acceptable given this is an adult game (and something Palmer may address in later episodes). Dialogue can sometimes feel slightly awkward, but not enough to completely break the immersion and overall acceptable. Pacing is a bit slow, but good enough to keep me hooked.

As for the characters, MC was clearly defined as a character (with some choices for the player to somewhat tweak his personality), which in my opinion adds some subtleties to the romance choices. (this will make sense after this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6PUReOuHVw) MC's dark, traumatic past sometimes makes me forget to get horny, while MC's rival makes me want to smash my PC. The decent depth in the girls also helps me grow emotionally invested in them and guilty over sleeping around (but only for a little). The fact that the girls are characterized as people who could connect with the MC in unique ways also makes it believable that they would develop deeper, personal relationships. The girls are all likable (girls from Daughter for Dessert are likable, but I had little trouble in picking favorites), so I became a bit torn between courting one exclusively and gunning for a harem ending (which I'm sure is Patreon-exclusive).

As a regular Ren'py player, Palmer's gaming engine of choice is definitely usable but not the most user-friendly; surely other reviewers have mentioned the skipping problem at this point. However, I do like how Palmer made a Variable Editor (link available in the post on Online Version Links) that (possibly) allows you to quickly generate a save file and keep up with the latest episodes without grinding through earlier episodes (which arguably makes the gaming experience less enjoyable).

Overall, this game cannot please everybody and may not be the erotic game of the year. However, this game is something I would recommend to people who want to enjoy a story in addition to masturbating to pretty, fictional girls, but not to those who simply want a power fantasy or expect a game about slutty schoolgirls.

Thee story of a traumatized skier is of decent quality. It runs most of the time quite slowly, so it's not for everyone. Writing is solid when the author plays with words here and there. The main acquisition of the whole game is Tamara and Johanna, who are absolutely beautiful. During MC's doing of both homework, MC meets a number of girls of different looks and characters. Each of the girls has their own personalities and secrets. The humorous side of the game is then filled by MC's rival. The only weakness of the game is the engine. The slides switch slowly, sometimes skipping the text and you cannot returning. Engine has other weaknesses, but Tamara and Johanna are worth it.

It can be seen that a lot of work has been done. But the author is clearly not able to write an interesting story, a lot of water. In addition, a lot of technical problems. For example, you cannot skip uninteresting moments or roll back a story with the mouse wheel. Extremely uncomfortable.

what in the ever living hell is it with some game devs and slow fades that cannot be clicked past.

i think this is probably a good story (i'm in chapter 2) but goddamn do i hate slow fades. especially from this particular developer and in this game, where some of the fades are just painfully slow.

Having played Daughter for Dessert I came to play this game with the same expectation of emotional involvement, but this game just doesn't "tick". The verbal gymnastics are up to the same level, but even as a translator by trade I've had to open a thesaurus 3 times (which did not happen with Daughter for Dessert). Highly annoying, this is not the place to flaunt your vocabulary! These pretty sentences however, regardless how competently written, build a boring story. I keep rejecting the advances of characters in favor of my "roommate" who isn't willing to put out by episode 6. I'm virtually and "literally" blueballed by a sex game. Your porn intro is too long dear developers and writers, this is the equivalent of watching an hour long porn casting video and not even seeing a sideboob by the half hour mark.

Even if I disregard everything I've said so far, too much of the game is on autopilot, and even if I get to pick no, the game picks yes for me anyway (or pulls a Dennis on me, so I have even less choice). It was funny the first two times, but it quickly became a nuisance. I do not feel like I'm playing the main character of this story therefore I can not truly relate to anything that's happening around him and to him. I was once a high school student who squandered a semester because of tragic circumstances (my father was murdered a few months before my exit exam, exactly at winter time), but I never was a middle-aged diner owner with a daughter from a lost love... yet the latter story provided greater immersion for me. This game should've hit too close to home, instead it missed the mark completely. That's a clear indication that something isn't right here...

I got tired of the game and abandoned it at episode 6, but with an antagonist this annoying, I do have the feeling that I probably also evaded being cuckolded, fortunately. The game was good for a couple of laughs, but not much else, and I wouldn't have had to download a game for that, I could've just watched something like Mr. Bean on youtube.

This is a hard game to rate. It’s also a hard game to enjoy, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Short version: The models look fantastic. The engine is a tire fire. Hate the MC. The writing is good to great, in most places.

Long version: I really wanted to like this one, because I’ve enjoyed some of Palmer’s other stuff, and also because of how damn impressive it looks. But, even though I’m usually pretty patient and forgiving with VNs, especially when I find the writing to be of higher quality like this is, I really couldn’t do it this time around.

The game does a lot of typical VN stuff, most of which I wouldn’t’ have a problem with, but I found myself getting annoyed playing more than 1-2 episodes in a sitting. There’s a MC who doesn’t really know how to human, some exceptionally beautiful “childhood friends” that he cares about, a pile of other attractive girls who hit on the intrepid hero dickhead, and a pile of contrivances common in this kind of game. There’s an accident that scars the main characters, an asshole antagonist, some mystery bullshit the reader doesn’t get to understand even though it’s the subject of literally everyone’s conversation, a dozenish teenagers and not a parent in sight… typical genre fare.

What keeps the story from becoming an eyerolling stroll down Tropey Nonsense Lane is the ever-present something that Palmer does very well: damn good writing for some damn good characters. Most of them are complex, with interesting motivations (not that the MC usually can detect them, of course; as one of the LIs points out, he’s got the EQ of a radish) and interesting flaws. The MC does feel like a character as well, and not a boring, emotionless black hole. The game almost feels like an able-bodied, incestuous Katawa Shoujo, albeit one where Kenji is a raging cunt. [I know this is irrelevant, but I’m gonna humor this tangent. MC has just suffered a life-altering event that damn near killed him, and now he’s gotta break out of his shell of self-pity and self-loathing and learn to be a person again. All the characters are in this particular (summer)school because there’s something wrong in each of their lives. Some cope better than others, but all are incredibly fascinated with the MC, even though he shouldn’t be that interesting.] Still, it never feels like a derivative affair because of how good the writing is. And because the models are almost uniquely gorgeous. And because I found the pre-episode synopses where two of the characters explain (often with humor, often with horror) the MC’s actions to the reader to be absolutely delightful.

So here’s what sucks: it feels like an absolute chore to get through it. The engine is a nightmare, with frustrating, unskippable transitions everywhere. Seriously, sometimes there are multiple transitions where it feels like I’m fighting game and mashing Space as quickly as possible, but it still drags like hell. The transitions don’t take long, just a couple seconds, but they suckkkkk when staggered. Here’s an example:

Sparky and the redheads are heading off to school. Fade out from the kitchen.
Fade in to the front of their building.
Literally nothing happens because there’s no dialog here. Fade out from the building.
Fade in to the street as they walk.
3-4 Space taps worth of reading as the MC describes the girls’ moods and their conversations.
Fade-out of the street.
Fade-in to the school entrance.
Fade-out of the school entrance.
Fade-in to the hallway.
4-5 lines of dialogue as one of the girls goes one way and the other two characters head to class. Fade-out of the hallway.
Fade-in to the classroom.
EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. PRESENT. gets an individual fade-in and fade-out to show the reader who’s in class that day.

And these are, for some inane reason, not skippable. Sound like fun? Yes? Fuck you, you dirty liar, because no, it doesn’t.

This also ruins one of the most interesting parts of a game where you make choices, because it becomes an absolute nightmare to reload a save and see what happens when you make the alternate choice (don’t bother anyway; the majority of dialog choices don’t matter, and the majority of action choices just choose the order the MC does a list of options). After the first few episodes, I just quit worrying about it, because the idea of slogging through more of these outweighed the thought of seeing more of the writing. It literally ruined the VN for me.

I quit playing at the end of Episode 8. Even with only 2 out the 10 remaining, I had no desire to finish. Sure, there were some other annoying aspects, like: the MC could be an unaware twit, I hated one of the primary characters that was forced on him, the choices felt pointless, sometimes the tropes felt copy/pasted. But I really think the only reason these things irked me was because I was already spending most of my time going through the VN irritated instead of amused. It reminded me of watching “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for the first time; all the little things were annoying me because I couldn’t stop thinking “Holy shit, I paid $13 to watch a remake of A New Hope.”

I’m genuinely interested in the characters and storytelling, but I just can’t make myself keep playing it. There’s a positive experience here, but I doubt I’ll be making another attempt to find it until either it’s finished or the engine is overhauled.

Final score: Almost playable/10

Great game, horrible engine.

Pros:

• Beautiful renders
• Plenty of romantic options.
• The female characters, in my opinion are some of the most stunning of any game I’ve seen
• Plenty of lewd content

Cons:

• The most annoying antagonist of any game I’ve played
• Game uses one of the worst game engines I’ve seen. I’d say it’s unpleasant to use.

Had this game been on renpy I would have given it 5 stars, however the engine they use makes playing a chore. Loading takes forever and has to be constantly done between each scene. The skip function is horrible, once you start skipping it wont stop until you get to a choice or the scene finishes. The only good thing I can say about the engine is that it’s stable, doesn’t usually crash. However, the overall user experience is as bad as it gets.

I can only assume the reason behind the engine choice is to make it difficult for people to pirate the game (otherwise it makes no sense to me whatsoever). And though I can sympathize with the dev, it really does take a lot away from the overall game.

I can only hope that at some point (probably when it’s complete) this game will be remade into renpy.

This game is really good, the dialogue is exciting, the story is brilliant.I find the story completely original. I didn't find any bugs. The amount of the content was sufficient. There are no problems with playability. It can be seen that everything was given in when it was madeThe performance is on the top for me. With one word this game is perfekt. I really like it and I can only recommend!

Story:
The story is unique and intruiging. Like the previous game from palmer,DFD , it also focuses more on a 'slice of life' format, but it is not as lengthy (more and different things happen faster -> it feels more dynamic).

Characters:
The characters have all different personalities and are well designed. Especially the sisters (the redheads) get special attention.

The MC feels way more natural and like a normal human being, than the MC's from other games, which all seem to be without mistakes and weaknesses. I dont really know why so many reviews criticize the MC and call him weak and a crybaby. This is utter nonsense! The only episodes in which he is uncertian and doubtful are the first two. In addition, his behavior after what happened to him, is in my opinion quite normal or at least understandable. Nevertheless, after episode 2, he lives his life more and more normally and gains self-confidence.

Graphic/Art:
Not much to say, its excellent. The only thing that some people may miss are animations.

Erotic:
The erotic scenes are quite good, but there are not as many of them as in other games (which is fine because not every girl wants to jump your dick from the get go). I would say from episode ~3,4 onwards, if you play all routes, every update contains 3-4 erotic scenes (e.g. flashing, forplay or sex).

Conclusion:
The game is really good. It is not as fast paced as other games but with time you will 'fall in love' with certain characters. I think the current rating of 3/5 stars is quite laughable. There are so many worse games with dumb/simple characters and bad writing which have a better ratings... .

Don't let screenshots fool you.

It's one of those game where you have to suffer through literally hours of slowly loading poorly written crap that you can't even skip fast because engine needs to reload data every ten lines of dialogue. Then you get a HUG scene.