VN - Ren'Py - Driven by Desire [v0.3.0 Public] [KloppStyle]

A hard title to rate. I am typically not a fan of honey select but this one has pretty good models and a ton of animations, even for stuff that wouldn't usually warrant it. Very nice to see.

It is also clearly a translation but its not a bad one. There is no Engrish here as i would call it, though there is a lot of non standard word choice and strange phrasing. Its never enough to ruin things and many times it reads just fine, but it could really use a pass from a native speaker. As an example of the type of weirdness to expect, in one chapter it refers to an arcade date as going to a "playroom." In another example it called a mixed race girl, mulatto girl until we learn her name in game. Again not wrong but archaic and rather offensive, only knowing that it is a badly translated word excuses it. Very easy to see where a machine translator got the wrong words from but very different connotations.

If this got a decent editor, both to correct the verbiage and cut donw a bit of the bloat this would be an easy 5 stargame, and i say that even not really liking honey select as an engine.

Just started chapter 4. So far it's pretty solid. Some really nice effects and animations so far. The scenes so far have been pretty hot, but they're somewhat random.

The main character keeps jumping into new environments, towns, jobs so far and hasn't really had a chance to develop deep relationships with other characters yet, and that's my main complaint. The story seems to be about establishing the main character's new life, but his situation has been too unstable to establish much so far. For example, I'm not sure if any of the character from his previous job really needed to be established if he leaves that position.

Either way, great art so far and the characters are all distinct with strong potential at this point.

I agree with the general consensus that the models are too glossy, that is the reason that it's 4/5, anything lower would be doing the game a disservice. The game is good but I think it should focus on quality over quantity, I didn't see a reason for one of the LIs to be introduced other then making the MC change jobs, but that could have been done by an existing one.
Humor is decent and the dialogue is realistic, but sometimes the choices feel to obvious on what the "correct" one is.
Standard Good VN, 4/5.

Underrated game less than year in development and yet good amount of high quality animantions and renders really cant rate it lower than 4 stars even with present flaws. Story is not bad at all even prologue part was stretched too far for my liking.

So far the game is incredible, the story is nice and mellow, the MC is great, and the girls are all really cute. Zoe so far is my favorite of all the girls, she's adorable and sweet - she also has the childhood friend schtick working in her favor. I also really enjoyed the mini games. Are there flaws? Sure but, they're minor criticisms at best. I could really feel the devs passion for the game, he's having fun! I don't have enough good things to say - looking forward to more!

Overall 2.5/5

There is a foundation for a great VN, however, the setting and exposition really threw me off. Firstly, the MC's house is somewhat modern on the inside, but on the outside, it looks very out of place. A lot can be told through environmental storytelling, and I think the dev wasn't aware of this.

Moreover, the disjointed portrayal of the MC’s house continued to the rest of the other character's which made it difficult to immerse myself in the world. Consistency in environmental design is key, as it helps ground the story and makes the characters’ surroundings feel authentic. A well-crafted setting can do wonders for storytelling, offering subtle hints about the characters’ lives, personalities, and even the overarching themes of the narrative. It attempts to do so with a few of the LI's but hasn't fully fleshed it out.

Additionally, the exposition felt rushed and, at times, a bit heavy-handed. Instead of letting the story unfold naturally through dialogue or action, it seemed like the dev opted for lengthy info dumps that disrupted the pacing. A “show, don’t tell” approach could have made the world-building more engaging, allowing players to piece things together on their own.

The story is quite boring. Kind of stuff we always see, so nothing new here. It is not unique and it doesn’t even use that generic story well. Character models are unoriginal too. They look very similar to each other as well expect hair and height differences. Sound effects and music are almost non existent.

Very nice AVN that does have some minor writing mistakes and maybe isnt completely realisitc at times, but the overall flow is great. The characters are very good and the renders and animations are also really nice. It also is very polished in general and deserves some more attention

I struggled to finish Chapter Two of the story (before the MC even sets out to venture into the city life), which is already bad in my book since I'm pretty lenient towards harem games.
But first, to give credit where credit's due, the renders (especially the girls) are nice, and the animation is smooth, and ... wait, that's it?
Now, the cons:
First, in my opinion, if you give the option of renaming the MC, that means you are allowing the players to self-insert into the game. Alas, especially throughout the first chapter, you are bombarded with the MC's inner dialogue dump (and will continue to do so afterward), which reads like a tour guide overwhelmingly giving you the information he or she think you need to enjoy a simple piece of painting. It ALIENATES the players. We players are meant to discover these kinds of information gradually and seamlessly, but this game doesn't allow you to do so, which severely affects my immersion of the story.
Second, the Humors don't land for me AT ALL. This is highly subjective, so take it with a grain of salt, but between the goofy render of MC, the cringy interaction between him and other characters (especially his two best friends), and the forced humor insertion by special effects, the experience is so painful that I have to rewatch Conan giving Jordan Schlansky a hard time in order to recover.
Last but not least, Boredom. I think the dev wants to present the boring life of the countryside in order to set up a contradiction between it and the supposedly colorful city life, but sadly I'll no longer be able to feel it because you make the rural life too boring for too long! I was bored out of my mind constantly when reading the script, hoping that on the next page, things would get interesting, but instead, I was supposed to "enjoy" MC's boring daily life numerous times?? MC should leave for the city at the end of Chapter One! If the game can't get the players hooked by the end of the first chapter, it's really doing a bad job.
Oh right, and the point-and click mini-games suck ass. Even though you can skip them, I just don't see the point of keeping them at all.
Overall, this game is not my cup of tea, but feel free to try it since not everyone feels the same.

Review as of v0.15: Overall I liked the game and want to see how it continues, but there were a couple things that annoyed me enough to drop it down to a 3 star review.

The point and click portions that didn't seem to do much.
As well as the in a village except the village is half modern half rural af, like they have phones, but not an in house toilet? They have signal for said phones as well...
Some other things that don't seem to make sense like the girls leaving Elsa alone.
And how a couple of the "mc's thoughts" scenes seem to drag on or be about nothing.

Apart from those however, the visuals were good enough, the story was good enough, and the sound was good.

The game made no sens its just sex scene out of nowhere with people for some that you havent meet (sagasa i think) come from a dream or not clearly too confusing.
You do not feel like the game have any stories at all totally empty on that side even the synopis seem to been badly made.
It make you think or you go to the city or you rest at the farm.But no you have no choice
You kill someone for no reason clearly an idiotic games for people that love games than make sens forget this one.

The pace is very moderate, not too fast and not too slow

The designed scenes are also very attractive

The appearance of potential LIs is also a highlight in this 1.5 update

You are doing very well with the update rate, just keep it up and everything will be successful

Review for v0.1
Well this quite an interesting game. There is a lot to unpack here so lets get to it. The game has an interesting concept which I have not seen often before. The MC is from a very rural area and is slowely but surely finding out that he needs adventure and then moves to the city.

In the beginning of the game, the focus is mostly on his friend and his environment. I guess I can understand, it helps you relate to the MC a bit more and you become acquinted with the kinda boring life MC has been leading up to this point in his life. When he eventually went to the city he was immediately met with rude and toxic people, which is not the most realistic but okay. Up to this point I'm still very much into the story. But then... the MC randomly takes the gun of an innocent man (MC calls him a thug, but the guy was just standing there) and shoots him in the head. Whaaaaat???? That made literally no sense at all, like none. The so-called thug also was just standing there and did not provoke anyone.

The graphics are quite nice though, the sex scenes in the game are really good, like really really good. But that storyline though, its still early beginnings but that complete 180 does not make me optimistic about the future.

I do also feel like a bit more time could have been invested in the Li's. The focus in the rural area was mainly on his friends. Thats not necessarily bad, but the romances either escalated way too quickly (Patricia) or nothing really happened (Zoe).
Even after that weird 180 in the storyline, Im still invested in this game for some reason. So 3 stars seems like the right rating at the moment.

I’ve gotta give props to this game. It’s packed with potential and clearly shows the developer's dedication. You can tell he genuinely hopes the AVN community will appreciate what he’s built.

PROS:
1. For an HS2 game, the creator invested a lot of time into custom maps instead of sticking to stock options. He’s going the extra mile to make this game stand out.
2. The game has some solid interactivity and mini-games for anyone who enjoys that; if you’re not one of them, the “skip minigame” button’s right there for you.
3. The music and sound effects are pretty solid. While it’s not necessarily the best I’ve ever heard in an AVN, it’s definitely better than a lot of what’s out there. Bottom line: it’s good, it fits, and it doesn’t get annoying.
4. The render quality is top-notch. Every shot, whether it’s scenery or staged scenes, shows the effort put in; the creator definitely prioritized quality over quantity here.
5. The models look pretty good, though I didn’t spot the girls from the promo banner in the game yet. I assume they’re coming in future updates - can’t wait, honestly, they’re the reason I downloaded this in the first place!

NEUTRAL:
1. There’s limited 18+ content so far, but that’s understandable given this is only version 0.1. Still, gotta say, the scene with Patricia was on point.
2. The developer’s first language isn’t English, and it shows a bit, but it’s improving with each update. (0.05 -> 0.1)

CONS:
1. I wish the dev would spend more time on the LIs already in the game instead of focusing on the MC and his friends. I get that the backstory’s important, but I'd love to see more focus on the girls. Here’s hoping that’s where future updates are headed and we will see more boobs.

And as a side note, I don’t get why so many people think the first scene somehow makes the protagonist a cuckold. If you actually read the tags, it’s clearly voyeurism, not NTR or cuckoldry. Learn to use Google if you don't know a term!

I'd like to give it 4.5/5 but since this is dev's first game I will give it 5/5 for now.
Pros:
- Simple and easy to understand prologue
- Renders and animation is good enough
- Some nice friendship with the boys, that one prank really freaked me out

Cons:
- Too much minigames for this early in the story, I appreciate if you have the choice to skip those
- The LI doesn't feel like one (Zoe), I don't know maybe dev will develop her more because she doesn't interest me right now. Since dev is clearly a fan of a certain game in this site, I suggest he takes a look at how that game made some really cute loveable LI
- Yo What in the heavens name was that cliffhanger?! Did that really happened? Didn't expect that at all

the gameplay itself is very good and it's nice to read the musical component is a very pleasant atmosphere of music and plot wonderfully made characters in general very atmospheric and pleasant emotions the game evokes in you that the game further wants to play it

V 0.1

Good models, but: Engrish, poor attempts at comedy, minigames for everything to cover the lack of a plot, only 2 h-scenes: first is a (non ?) LI having sex with MC's father and the second scene is a forced one with the town bycicle.

This is it for me, good luck to the dev, you're gonna need it.

Another one foor the Ignore List.

10/10 so far Amazing Game

For me this Game doesnt have the most Creative Plot, there are a lot of games with the same premisse (most of them unfortanelly get droped), But it absolutely delivers in its Flawless Execution.
Being: Art; Animantion; Designs; Humor; (Shows a lot of Passion/Creator Personality)

Fantastic Game UI; Having a Hub to see the Characters Profiles is a Must Feature, for me in this types of games with a lot of charcteres.

Cant wait for more will follow this series very closely ,
Hope you can produce the story that you have in vision.

Gosh, that's what I was looking for! The game itself is very entertaining, has beautiful models, and has an interesting history that made me excited for more. It was definitely a great start!
Keep up the good work!

very good game. interesting story. interesting characters. beautiful female models. good quality overall, from the artwork itself to the animation, which is well done. good soundtrack. nothing to complain about really.

overall a very good game. thematically interesting and well executed so far.

good luck to the developer.