Ren'Py - DropOut Saga [v0.9.1b] [LazyBloodlines]

I don't usually rate or review games, but this one just made me want to. Game is fantastic renders are good, story is a good interesting and a sort of thriller genre wise. Good stories are hard to find in these kind of games after all. The music selection for this title is a very good, the selection just fits could just be me though. all around a gem of a game so far.

Playing 6.9a

This is a game that has clearly improved with time. But throughout the entire thing, it's remained a masterpiece in storytelling. With a character who's his own worst enemy, and whose ghosts are haunting him constantly.

The girls and partners are not simply people to collect, they have their own motives, influences, and goals which affect the MC in various ways.

And a big congratulation has to be given for the music in this game, with specific tracks highlighting particular scenes or emotional tones in the story.

An overall excellent, if short at the moment, game which tells a compelling story and should be played with the music up.

Review for 0.6.9 - With spoilers so be warned

Overall impression - Very positive

Graphics - Decent level, nothing stands out, but I wouldn't say it's a bad thing.

Story - Interesting story, at least once in the game where we become headmaster it's not about scoring female students and we have an ulterior motive.
Gang involvement and the story of the rescued girl for a big plus.

Protagonist - At first I was annoyed by the split ego of the protagonist, but I got used to it and liked it after the bar fight, I like "playing him"

Characters - Diverse, interesting, well-run, nothing to complain about.

Very good hint system in the updated version, it is worth mentioning.

My rating - 5 stars.

Wish you good luck with next updates.

Probably one of the most interesting games on the site story-wise at the moment, offering replayability and a mass-effect morality system-type beat.
The scenes are great and the LIs' have tropes but usually, there are spins on said tropes that make characters feel decently unique.
Very solid.

Saw the high reviews and decided to give this a try since I hadn't ever heard of it before; while it does start slow and the gameplay loop changes a bit in the first hour or so it quickly gains traction and by the end of the prologue it became one of the best games I've read on this site in a while.

I quickly became attached to most of the characters after the second or third interaction with all of them, and my favorite character is still up in the air; which for a game with just a few hours of content being able to make 7 or so characters interesting along with a plot is pretty damn nice.

Sex, there's quite a bit of it, and while it currently (As of .6.9a) centers around only a few of the cast, it makes sense and it doesn't feel shoehorned in. Which I get a lot of people are only here for the sex but whether you are or aren't you likely won't be disappointed with what you find here.

If the rest of the game carries itself as well as the last half of the prologue this is going to be a damn good experience all around.

This game has excellent writing, decent graphics, a good plot, amazing cast of female characters with unique personalities, and I also like an idea of a MC who's coping with his past mistakes and also tries to deal with his split personality a.k.a. his "otherself," I just wanna know how the MC developed his "otherself." Sorry, if I'm going to deep on this.. but for now the girls should be the main focus lol

Review through DropOut Saga [v0.6.0a Alpha]

I'll be clear at the outset - I'm a big fan of this game. It's still quite early in development and there have been a lot of changes to the stucture.

PREMISE - mob-like character wants to get out of the game, but has to take over a school for wealthy youth and bend them to the organization's purpose.

STORY - Character is a very capable enforcer, but wants to turn from a life of violence. This results in a alternate personality who embodies the darkness within him (but, interestingly, not without standards or integrity). The basic premise is to become a 'good guy' (or 'not-awful') - the outcome will be determined by the player.

STRUCTURE/ART - It is still early in production, so the structure is both raw and fluid as the Dev adapts (and seems to be attentive to feedback). There has been a lot of rebuilding of tools and some aren't developed (grading, school resources, etc.). It's a little sand-boxy (less than it used to be), but with means to bypass unnecessary time-wasting through a neat device of consulting his alt personality.

Perhaps my favorite part is the internal consistency. The world-building is well done and not glossed over (although it's a slow reveal). The MC is very capable, but not God-Mode. Story elements get explained, although perhaps not immediately. Players will discover the world through the journey, instead of having it all thrust at the outset.

The art focuses on the characters and the background and environment are more muted and simple, but they are always present and appropriate to the scene. There is limited sound present in some scenes that will reinforce the scene.

MECHANICS - a strong point, which is odd because it's so incomplete. There is a LOVE/CORRUPTION (formerly Blackmail) structure, but it's more refined than "marriage/sex slave". The school has the seeds of DISCIPLINE/RESPECT that is starting to emerge. It's still very much in the development stage but already seems more thoughtful than the vast majority of games I've seen.

CHARACTERS - The PC/NPC are outstanding and appealing. The girls are all quite distin ct in appearance, and their personalities and emotions are extremely well portrayed. There is a lot of subtlety the the expressions - ex. from one frame to the next a stoic expression might change to a very slight smile. MC's eyes change color that often reflect the dual personalities.

The sex is pretty decent, if a bit simplistic, but it's noted that as girls' relationships develoop in one direction or another, so, too, will the sex scenes evolve. Fair enough.

WRITING - The writing is pretty good. It's never cringe-inducing and always appropriate to the scene/characters. It's a dark setting, but there definitely is humor, esp. in girls banter. However, it never takes over a scene. The English is pretty solid if not immaculate.

WRAP-UP - The dev is building a world and doing an excellent job of it regarding tone and story. The focus is on the characters and their personalities and the story. It's still very early in the game, and there has been a lot of changes, but every change seems to make it stronger. I thinki the key word is 'thoughtful' - the dev takes all aspects of the game seriously and tries to have it all make sense. I'm very hopeful for how it turns out.

As of v 0.6.0a
A really promising game , I played love route didn't try other one but I have to say the love route is well done and romance is great and female charecters are stunning . And like others mentioned bad ass Main charecter though his evil persona sometimes feels annoying , I enjoyed it overall . There is some sort of Sandbox / Free roam but it is not grinding and you can ask your other self what to do when you are stuck playing . I hope it says the same . Only thing that bothered me was me being a Medico , I found it a bit funny when MC did a craniotomy to save a girl but in reality you need at least 7 to 10 years of study to perform one . But I applaud the dev for the effort for trying and doing his research and how he handled the story from there and why that scene is needed for the story , Moving on music and sound are nice addition to the game . H scenes are well done . So to conclude really excellent game with a lot of potential , I hope it stays the same or gets even better with each release . Highly recommended if you're looking a bad ass protagonist with a good story .

Men...!
Very interesting story!
It is a pleasure to read and follow the development of the character.
Bad ass protagonist and who conveys the bibe of being the godfather
I hope you continue to work on this project...

There are a few problems with this game/story that detract from what it is trying to be.

1. The ui/gameplay was not thought out, and was not reworked. Old systems were abandoned and built over, which at first looks like there is no content until you get passed it.

2. The story doesn't know what it wants to be. A schoolcreep sim? A good guy with a bad past that liked schoolgirls? A vn about some criminal and his waifus? It's all of those, and none of those. Pick one, stick to it, and then make another. This was all over the place.

Story: 2/5
A little bit of a few story ideas.

Writing: 4/5
The english is fine. The dialogue is sometimes worth reading.
Kind of forgettable though.

Characters: 3/5
The characters are pretty shallow but not overly so. Some of them are a little... too plot influenced and less realistic.
What I mean is the story need x character to be something, so therefore... she just is. Rather than developing her via events and dialogue.

Sex: 4/5
The few sex scenes there are, are decent. Some ok animations, some ok dialogue. Almost zero meaning to it though. And
Sex Frequency: 2/5
Once you bang, you bang somewhat frequently.
Pretty dry til then though.

Enjoyment: 2/5

Review v0.5.9a

Cute models but the game is a mess. It goes in a million different directions and doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Is it a dating sim? A visual novel? A kinetic novel? A management sim? There are also two plots: in the first you've been tasked with getting blackmail material on schoolgirls and need to decide whether you want to do that or betray your gang while trying to figure out if the gang is planning to backstab you. In the other you're investigating a new criminal group that's entered the city. And they don't mesh very well so that it's like trying to read while switching between two different books every 20 minutes.

At the time of writing it's only four months since the first release so it's still early and the game could eventually be something great. It's very obviously under construction and if I could review without giving it a star rating I would. But I can't so 3 stars.

Not too many games with this style peak my interest but this one did. I love what I've seen so far.

Story:
A Grown up doing grown up things. I like that there's a struggle within for the main character. He definitely not trying to be some he's not, but again the dynamic between good versus evil is nice. I'm playing a criminal that's doing criminal things, slapping dudes around in bar rooms and in trains never looked so good. Ava is great but so is Lila and Ashley and when you add Sophia it shows variety in characters and personalities. Hopefully things stay interesting.

Renders/Art:
Looks great to me.

Animations:
Solid

Dialogue/Grammar:
Not perfect but what is?

Overall, this is on my radar.

Okay, a man of culture. I always appreciate devs who don't take game too serious. Still, i can see great effort was put in this game. Decent renders, entertaining writing. The gameplay does slow the experience down but it's not as bad as a full-blown sandbox. Also, regular update is a win in my book

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would for honey select. There is an actual attempt at a story. The fluid graphics are really well done. Characters are unique. Even the sisters. Hoping for more raunch and action soon involving all types of girls.

Game has everything I like tbh... except content. Way too short for a 0.5, but I digress. The MC is an absolute unit. Opinionated, schizophrenic and doesn't take shit from small time thug bitches. Performs emergency brain surgery on girls he just kidnapped for no apparent reason. Doesn't worship them like a simp, but still loves them and has a drive to protect and also deep dick them. Girls are really cute, expressive and so far have fairly genuine dialogue and personalities. Dev has a great eye for small details that bring life and soul to them. Soo... is there enough here for 5 stars? Probably not, but I'm giving it anyway since I'm pretty excited to see future updates...and that's becoming a rarity on F95 these days.

I will have played for less than 2 hours and these two scenes are enough to see what the level is.

1. The scene where you meet kayle and the boyfriend makes absolutely NO SENSE.

After rescuing her from the white-haired thug, she grabs the protagonist's arm, we walk next to the boyfriend, the boyfriend greets her and she completely ignores him, and goes with the protagonist to a building, far a bit weird, but ok I believe it, you can think that the girl likes bad guys, this is a sex-game and sex is coming...

She sits down, you calm her down and tell her that she is safe and that she can stay there and suddenly she has a panic attack? AFTER GOING TO AN UNKNOWN HOUSE WITH A STRANGER?



2. After fighting with a thug inside an underground train, the thug runs out, pushes a random girl that was there and the MC grabs the girl, puts her on his shoulder and takes her to his house (WTF?) it turns out that the girl has been hit so hard that her skull cavity is filling with blood, and the prota takes a drill and performs surgery on her.... ?????

I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY, it turns out that the game is a comedy or a parody of god knows what, but it doesn't say so on the labels, or in the game description, or anywhere, I'm astonished at how hilarious it all seems.


Not recommended

So far i liked it, off to a good start with decent story, game mechanics for the girls seem simple.
would personally like to have more explore options with areas to go to in the future examples, after work and on the school, even trips with the train with small events stuff like that.
would also like to see options to shift between good and corruption paths in the future
the mc is not bad like the way he is made so far

looking forward to see how this game progress in the future
good luck

Good game.
Pros:
+ Good looking characters
+ Every character seems unique
+ MC is not a beta
+ Story is quite interesting
+ Contrary to what someone wrote about v0.1.2, in v0.4.1 there is no grind or anything like that, it's hardly a sandbox either, no idea if it changed with updates or what
+ Girls are pretty easy

Cons:
- Girls are pretty easy
- MC struggling with "himself" could be a pain in the long term, we will see how it goes, for now it's all good so this con is just in case
- It's still really early in development so there is not a lot of content yet, enough to get a taste but not enough to be satisfied

Overall a good game, if further developed it could turn into something great if dev don't screw this up. Also, this game isn't vanilla in both porn and non-porn sense, blood is visible in many scenes and girls are not some pure virgins mentally - only mentally though, so far at least there is nothing to suggest otherwise.

Nice premise for a game.. I didn't play the earlier versions so no comments on that.. but.. looks like we have a DEV that listens to feedback so props for that.
Enjoyed the back and forth between the good and the 'bad' MC. Decent renders.. good hint path (talking to your 'bad' side) Hell the truth is I just enjoyed the game and can't wait to see it with more content.

Very nice game. I don't usually like blackmail themes so I'm not gonna comment on these part of the content, since I'm trying to be objective about this. The dynamic between the MC and the other characters are nice, well written, and are occasionally unpredictable, in a good way. I wish you best of luck, dev!