Ren'Py - DropOut Saga [v0.11.1b] [LazyBloodlines]

I wanna be the 100th review! This game is potentially one of the best on the site. At first I thought, expecially during prologue, that this game was quite corny with the development of the broody, but kind criminal who saves the damsel in distress. After a while I found that this conflicted character is one of the best things about this story. The game is great. Animations are awesome, Lis are hot, and I have to say the narrations is quite enjoyable. I'll follow this one closely. Congrats on the 100 reviews by the way!

Dropout Saga comes in two separate downloads - a lengthy prologue as well as the main chapters. The prologue is flawed and plagued by many issues ranging from game mechanics, UI to story logic... especially the nonsensical WTF moment with Ava's surgery. The main part though, is way better with significant improvements on all fronts as development matures.

For full inclusion, I recommend trying both, but be patient and don't judge by its prologue. Alternatively, if you want to save yourself from a choppy 3 - 4 hour experience, skip the prologue and you can still get up to speed with a summary recap of what happened in the prologue right at the start.

Story
MC is a violent gang member suffering from dissociative identity disorder (a.k.a. split personality). He wants to leave the gang and is tasked with one last mission - take up the role of a headmaster at an elite school and dig out dirt on the students' influential parents.

At least that's how it looks like at first in the prologue, but thereafter neither MC's mental issues nor the mission features prominently in the story. The main direction is on gang wars, MC's relationship with his two lovers and his friendship / potential romance with students and colleagues.

It has a fairly balanced mix between action sequences, slice of life moments with his girlfriends Sophia and Ava as well as a somewhat social critique take on the different challenges faced by students in the school.

In addition to dialogue, inner thoughts and third-party narration, Drouput relies heavily on subtle changes in facial expressions, body language and background details to drive the story forward. That means a lot of nitty gritty is unsaid and inferred from these subtleties, so you will miss out a lot of nuances if you do speed reading.

Game Mechanic
The prologue consists of two clunky experimental sandboxes that don't serve much purpose except to add unnecessary clicks.

Thankfully these were dumped in the main game which follows a visual novel flow with choices that either add love or corruption points. Interestingly, love and corruption here does not mean romantic or abusive paths like most AVNs.

From what I can tell higher love points with a LI results in them having a more balanced relationship as equals in both non-sexual and sexual situations whereas more corruption points means the MC views the LI as a weaker sex that needs to be protected and the LI looks up to MC as a guiding source of direction and emotional comfort.

This sort of subtlety permeates the entire game.

Background / Character Renders
Rendered in HS2, but with significant mods and shader to create a unique dark and somber atmosphere and vibe. All the characters are highly distinguishable and adorable in their own ways.

Character Development
Without a doubt the strongest aspect of Dropout. Out of the two main girls Sophia is head strong, passionate and street wise whereas Ava is a little naive, empathic and collaborative. The scene where Sophia operated on the MC was intense and emotionally draining. The developer made many convincing renders that showed Sophia in a physically vulnerable and yet emotionally resilient state, a level of detail seldom seen in AVNs.

The same goes for the school girls i.e. they are not your typical bimbos, innocent virgins or tattooed slut tropes. Notable ones include Julie who acts way more mature and guarded than her age due to her background, Lila though good-natured conducts herself with grace as expected of an elite, even the "normal" Ashley has depth to her character. Then there is the complex Asuna, another elite daughter who combines poise, political acumen and decisiveness who also acts as MC's ally in some dicey situations.

Lila's mother, Grace, who is every bit the pompous but cunning politician wife is brought to life in the family dinner session with MC - it felt more intense than any gunfight scene as the developer made full use of dialogue, BGM and little subtleties to convey the underlying intellectual crossfire under a facade of polite pleasantries.

Sex Scenes
A fair warning that Dropout does not do random sex scenes unless the story calls for it. So far there are only scenes with Sophia and Eva and not even a naked scene with anyone else. The developer is in for the long haul so the game ain't for you if you are looking for a quick release.

The scenes with Sophia and Ava are generally well done with loads of custom animations. Only feedback is for some reason BGM is always not available during sex and we get only minimal banging sounds without the moans, it kind of dampens the overall mood slightly.

BGM and Sound Effects
The developer is certainly a stickler for a certain genre with most of the music going for a deep voice, rustic, impactful and country flavour which might not be everyone's cup of tea. There are also way too many scenes with radio silence so the audio experience is choppy where there are long moments of silence punctuated by short intense moments of impactful BGMs.

Maybe the idea was to accentuate the contrast, but somehow it doesn't work too well. I think having more lighter BGMs at low volumes for contrast would be better than the long silence, hight impact BGM, long silence routine now.

Conclusion
Dropout is a very unique game among AVNs - it has a story setting and a suite of characters seldom seen in adult games. The heavy emphasis on a large number of renders featuring minute changes to drive narration, set the mood and emphasize character is innovative and effective.

The prologue remains troubled though I suppose it makes sense to devote resources to move the story forward rather than waste yet more time to rework everything at the start. The only concern I have is the pace which is very slow and draws concerns on whether this project can be completed satisfactorily.

I did like the story it is pretty good, but what ruins it for me is the lack of choices, Sophia/Ava/Ingrid are all forced LIs and i just dident like them and wouldent want to fuck em but your forced to have a sexual relationship with them and i just really dont care for forced shit of any kind.
Also the Ava character just dident make any sense to me, why save her in the first place MC isent a nice guy.....why not chase after the fucker that hit him instend....and why is Ava not even a choice wanting her as a LI or not.

What makes it weird is that you can turn down the school girls which dosent even make sense story wise since MC went after them to use em to get to their high profile parrents, so hes MCs crime group could use em.....

As for the girls i dident really like many of em, its pretty clear dev has a bit tit fetish or favor those that does, but i just dont so alot of the girls was a turn-off to me, i wouldent really mind that if LIs werent forced and i would be perfectly happy just going after the one or two i did like, but thats just not possible when having two bimbos forced on you over and over.
Theres just to little diversity in builds, you got one small tit, 2 normal and 8 with big so ratio is very poor.

As for the adult content there arent really any, one full chapter and theres only sex with 3 bimbos all forced and thats it.
The rest of the girls dosent get much screen time at all, its 80% with Ava and Sophia which i couldent care less about, so its going to be an extrem slowburn before getting to any LI i might like.

Animations are meh, not bad but nowhere near great either.
Atleast it has some good music.

Sandbox part is pointless, i have no clue why they even put it in there.

I just cant get my self to rate it more then 2 even though story is good, but it cant carry an adult game alone and theres just to much draging it down.
Not sure why dev desided to force those 3 girls on you the hole game, they could just as easily have been just friends all that would take is no sex scenes but they could still have been part of story, it feels a bit idiotic.

Also dont play prologue, it really has nothing to do wth the real game which is almost to bad since that was more fun then the real game, in prologue you had choices for love route or blackmail but that never got off the ground and dosent seem to be in the "real" game eihter and the hole headmaster thing isent really a thing anymore in real game either.

There are a lot of shit games on F95. There are plenty of good writers, and a few dozen excellent writers. There are maybe a handful of truly fantastic writers, and this writer is one of them.

The story is extremely compelling, with characters that are truly brought to life with their own interesting and unique personalities and problems. The writer is also not afraid to jump into the more grim realities of the world we live in, and it just makes it more authentic in my opinion.

I think the scenes are also done very well, and interwoven with the story to make them feel like they actually should be happening, instead of just shoehorning scenes in for fanservice.

This project is still early in development, but I will most certainly be following it in the days to come, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a truly great story.

Bro! This shit is so good. The character development in the AVN is top notch. The 2 ride or die LI pull you in so quick. And that soundtrack though! THAT SOUNDTRACK THOUGH BRO!!! If you haven't played this one yet you are 100% missing out.

So far I have only played the prologue but let me tell you, this game is way better than expected.
I initially downloaded DropOut for the blackmail and other dark content, but ended up liking the characters too much to do anything bad, which usually doesn't happen.
The writing is surprisingly good as well, having more complexity and depth than 90% of adult games, actually having managed to make me contemplate my own life at some points. Not only that, but this is probably one of the very few games I'm able to count on one hand that managed to make me forget I'm playing an ero-game and slow down to enjoy the story.
Seriously good stuff.
Edit: I had to add something after going through the prologue once more. Regardless of how accurate the jargon and niche concepts are (medicine, sports, etc.): it is apparent that the writing has a lot of thought put into it. This is also the first time I see an adult game where the MC has proper trigger discipline (if it was actually modelled by the dev and not just loaded in from a template that is).
The music improves the atmosphere so incredibly well too.

I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't really feeling this game when I started playing the prologue. The duality portrayed by the two halves (good and bad) of the main character felt a bit corny, to be honest. On top of that, the free roam mechanics were awkward, and the resolution was poor.
However, I'm glad I stuck with it because the game improved significantly during the prologue itself and more so with Chapter 1, especially in the aspects I mentioned earlier.
The duality concept works surprisingly well and it wasn't as invasive as I initially thought it would be.
The writing is very well thought out and adds substance to the characters, which is a breath of fresh air, at least in comparison to some of the other games I've played. There's also some use of medical nomenclature, which further shows the effort put into making cohesive characters and a compelling story.
Overall, it's a good game, and I look forward to the next update!

I'm going to keep this very short as I'm not even finished with the game. The writing is phenomenal.

I repeat: The writing is phenomenal. Any disappointments I've had with the sexual content (currently limited to only a couple characters) is completely outweighed by the quality of the story. Apart from the rare spelling or grammar error, the story is well-written, engaging, and keeps you on your toes. Scenes rarely play out predictably, yet don't feel pretentious or that they're pulling the rug out just to pull the rug out.

Character development is also exceptional. It's rare to see in this medium.

Anyway, that's it for now. Really really good storytelling, and this is coming from an English major.

The story, the choice of music and the narration were great, I am waiting for the continuation of the story. I am sure it will be worth your time.
The choices have not had an effect on the game yet, but I wish they had more. and there are a few more points that need to be improved that will not be considered important for now. I think it will improve over time.

I really liked the prologue. It is clearly a labour of love with fine writing, good pacing, great characters and strange tenderness to the alpha-male fantsasies that we all love.

As I'm playing 0.10.0b, I can sadly say that the game seems to favor quantity over quality. The tempo is all off, it's almost somnambulistic. The focus on Ava and Sophia is alright, but there is practically no movement, no character development. It became verbose. While the prologue tried to be somewhat cinematic, now it is just 'look at character #1', 'look at character #2' back and forth. Some scenes are just weirdly out of touch. The moment I saw smiling huggy-wuggy as MC's hatesona, I knew that something went seriously wrong.

Of course I do not know the process behind the game. Perhaps, it was decided that it is better to make a lot of content, even it it's very raw, and change it later. Honestly, I have no idea, but the result is no fun.

Still, I fell that 'DropOut Saga' was a very nice surprise and I'll be sure to follow the game.

(ver0.10.0b)

This game so far has really managed to impress me and turned out to be one of the gems to discover on this site. It is taking its time for world building, character introductions and just the storytelling in general. I for my part really appreciate it. Not having it feel too much of a slow burn through its meaningful storytelling - or feeling rushed through big jumps in time skipping developments which would feel weird. Instead it gives many hours of an interesting read so far already, with the outlook of much more to come. (Still at the beginning of building relationships with some characters and some story threads have just begun to be spun)

The characters come with individual, believable and multi-layered personalities giving the interactions a captivating feeling of depth. This also aids making the characters interesting, wondering what their background and/or motivations are. All this while making a noticeable effort of maintaining their individual traits in conversations which, imo, turned out well so far. Narration and dialogues feel natural and believable while flowing well and, paired with good use of music, maintaining and bolstering immersion.

Looking at the visuals, it's the typical recognizeable HS renders. The quality of them is very good as is the composition. In addition, the expressions of characters during conversations have gotten a lot of care for detail - adding a lot to the overall immersion. The animations are also on the higher quality end from what else I have seen here so far.

One thing to note though is, that if you expect some typical stereotype sex scenes or kinkiness every few clicks - then this is not the game for you. It wouldn't fit the story and storytelling either imo. And personally I'm fine with the current ratio of story to sex scenes - just enough to elevate the significance of some characters without being too deluting overall. I expect it to be a bit more when the relationships with other girls moves forward, but hopefully it doesn't become the main focus.

Another positive thing in my book is that this game belongs to my preferred type of settings, where the view on things and life is not bad or good, black or white but rather subjective/fluid, differentiated, facetted without attempting to hit the reader with some moral hammer about absolute values. It makes for way more interesting plots that tend to be more believable/realistic to me as well - if executed well. And here that's the case so far.

All in all I would definitely recommend giving this game a try.

My experience with DropOut Saga (0.9.1b) was split between the story, and the LIs/sex. As a result, it ended up a 3.5 rating for me because of the large disparity between the two: the Adult portion, and the Novel portion.

+ Chapter 1's renders were much better than the (-) Prologue's
+/- Some improvements overall to how mechanics work in Chapter 1 (but none of them were actually used in Ch 1)
+ Interesting and believable personalities to most LIs
+ Animation quality was higher than stills quality
+ Good English use in text, easy to read
+/- Somewhat decent music, but should be all instrumental (no vocals)
+++ One of the better stories I've seen - no time travel, or aliens, or overuse of humor
++ A really likable and robust main character to play

----- Only /three/ characters to have sex with for the entire current game (and none are the LIs that appear in the school). Additionally - one is dead and appears in a dream sequence, leaving just two total alive for sex.
----- Very few sex sequences at all through 0.9.1b, like count them on one hand.
- Frequent 'hiding' of private parts in sex scenes using some camera angles
--- Pacing of plot and development of story is glacially slow. It's a good story, but unveils itself only bits at a time over hours of reading.

If I thought about it more, DropOut Saga might strike me as a Novel trying to masquerade as an Adult Novel due to the scarcity of sex. You literally only have two love interests who engage with you in any sort of sexual encounters - all of the other LIs haven't even begun to interact with the MC (after what seems like 12+ hours in the story).

Make no mistake - it is a good read due to having a lot to like in it. But the sex comes off as an afterthought - there are so few love interests involved, and so few scenes, that 99.9% of what you do will be reading the story. For that reason, despite having a great story and MC, I can't give it any more than a 3.5, and if the frequency of sex scenes and availability of love interests doesn't improve, I'll probably end up dropping that to a 3.0 or lower.

Sidenote: I'm also very fearful for the game's eventual completion. None of the mechanics that were 'upgraded' for the school between the Prologue and Chapter 1 were even used in the current build of the game. Chapter 1 was far more story (kinetic novel) than it was interacting with the LIs at the school.

-Google trad-

I'm really happy to have found this AVN, it's just the kind of story I like. With a mature, cool and badass MC, beautifuls LIs with different personalities and the right dose of sex. The music sets the mood, and the story is interesting. Well written, despite the fact that English is not my first language, I appreciate the dialogues.
In short, I plan to support the author.

After kind of a rough start, this turned out to be a real hidden gem. The story is great, characters mostly consistent and interesting, no weird deus ex machina moments, great highs, worrying lows, tear inducing drama... all in all an amazing experience.

Amazing game. Deserves more recognition.

It is cool, badass and epic !

The MC´s struggle with himself adds to the depth of the story, brings realistic aspect of what psychical stress can do, but not in obnoxious or obtrusive way. It makes him more baddas xD. (Yet, I still prefer green eyes MC´s personality, yet sometimes situations require blue D_D)

I love both aspects of this AVN: the College and the Mafia one.

Love Ava, and Jasmine, Julie. Lila and Sophie are also cute and endearing :3

Music is not your typical AVN type, but is well executed and fits the scenes idealy (The song "That´s gonna kill me" in the halloween shootout was perfect).

Really hope you get more recognition with this one, as it is not stereotypical corruption (albeit it can be, but I went love route everywhere, heh :3), but offers a lot more.

So, we have: Badass MC, interesting, thrilling and gripping story, beautiful characters and great music, which together complements this into a whole, thought-out SAGA .

Thank you Lazy Bloodlines for this AVN and good luck in future.

Review for V0.9.1b
When I first came across this game I did not feel like playing it. I thought it was going to be a cliche headmaster story but after good ratings I could not ignore this game any longer. I guess you could say that I was proved wrong.

Storylines
"DropOut Saga" offers an interesting and unique story that is well-executed throughout the game. The general plot is engaging and holds your attention from start to finish.

The individual stories for each love interest are also very compelling. Each character has a defining personality, making them feel well-developed and unique. This adds a lot of depth to the game and keeps you invested in the characters.

Good Graphics and Settings
The graphics in "DropOut Saga" are quite good as well. The settings are well-designed and make sense within the context of the story. The love interests look amazing, and the sex scenes are decently animated, which is a plus.

Meaningful Choices and Replayability
Another positive feature of the game is the meaningful choices. You can play as two different personalities, which adds a layer of complexity and increases the replayability of the game. Your decisions truly matter and affect the outcome, making each playthrough unique.

Mixed Romance Quality
The romance in "DropOut Saga" is the only subject Im not so positive about. Some romances, like with Sophia, are very well worked out. Their relationship has a backstory that makes the romance feel wholesome and believable. However, other romances developed during the game are less realistic and lack the same depth. The romance with Ava, for example, feels extremely odd and unconvincing as she seems to be into the MC for no apparent reason. On the other hand, the developing romance with Jasmin feels much more realistic. It progresses slowly and naturally, with shared moments and made sacrifices by the MC that make the increasing romantic interest believable.

Conclusion
Overall, "DropOut Saga" is a game with a lot of strengths. It offers a unique and well-developed story, engaging individual love interests, good graphics, and meaningful choices that enhance replayability. While the romance can be hit or miss, with some relationships feeling less realistic than others, the game still provides a compelling and enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend giving this game a go.

Do you remember that VN that got you so hooked you were day after day looking forward to your playing time? This is one of those.

I am really enjoying the story.
The graphics is your usual HS, and the animations and scenes honestly nothing out of this world. But everything is made up by having super cute girls, with very hot relations with the MC that flow naturally and feel right. Nothing rushed, or nothing overly tedious where you feel you have to skip text.

The game has a lot of content. I honestly lost track of the amount of days I've linked playing. More than a week for sure.
But after playing up until 0.9 I am a bit confused as I feel half of the story is still missing but also it might only receive another update to complete and reach 1.0?
I hope it's not the case because I'd love to see the story developing with the rest of the students properly.
I will for sure follow this creator in Patreon and for sure consider supporting.

Ah, and playing the Prologue is a must.

I played through the prologue and the game up to v0.9.1b in a few evenings, and found it quite enjoyable. The dev has most of the skills needed to make a great VN, and with some more polishing perhaps this one could reach five stars. A few things hold it back, in my opinion:

1. The MC might as well be wearing a Guy Faulks mask for all the range of expression he shows.

2. The separate prologue with no way to import a save into the main game—requiring one to remember and enter their choices manually—feels really amateurish.

3. The pacing is often erratic, e.g. when a prolonged low-intensity dream sequence interrupts a high-intensity action sequence.

4. I think the dev falls a little short in the originality department. This game feels like a mashup of two or three other games one can find on this site. Everyone recycles ideas they have encountered before, but here it feels like the borrowing is in overlarge chunks, which then do not integrate well with one another.

5. The MC’s erratic mental problems make him less than enjoyable to relate to. It could be worse: at least he isn’t suffering from erectile dysfunction….

Overall I think this game is quite good, and I would recommend it to anyone who isn’t afraid of some psychological darkness and bloodshed.

seriously a phenomenal game! i honestly cant recommend it enough. An engaging and interesting story! Well developed characters and an awesome MC with a very cool and creative personality.

Obviously the porn side of the game is amazing, fantastic renders and smooth animations through out. Also the romance is believable and not too fast nor too slow. Cant wait for the next update. Ill play through this even if it had no porn at all

This is the first review I've done, so I'm sorry if I'm not very objective or if I'm wrong about something, apart from the fact that English is not my native language, so I'm sorry again in advance!! I loved the improvement in the graphics, the history of the world for now seems to be very well done, as well as musical taste that fits at the right time, the narrative of the story has me intrigued and I can't wait to find out how it goes!! . It's been a while since something like this happened to me with a game.