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.
+ 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.