This could be one of the absolute top games here. Unfortunately, this dream of an exemplary AVN gradually transforms into an unusually painless sandbox and finally into a regular shitty sandbox with the typical frustrations that make sandbox games (and point-and-click adventure games) unplayable for me. Day by day, the only thing I can do is grind for stats with no clear feedback as to whether anything actually changes, and wander around again and again in the same free roam areas where I am getting signaled that something is still unexplored, even though there is absolutely nothing new to do. (Alice has a stat which apparently reveals hidden links in free roam areas, but I can't afford it and there seems to be no way to level up Alice.) Maybe I did some things in an order that the developer didn't expect and never tested. But it does seem that I have played through most of the current content (except with Mellory, the girl sleeping outdoors), and the game simply doesn't indicate this properly, because that's quite hard to do in an in-progress sandbox game.
The important elements for how an experience is remembered are the beginning, the end, the best moment and the worst moment. Unfortunately, here the current end and the worst moment coincide, which almost made me subtract one star from what would otherwise be one of the absolute top games on this site.
I must stress that the good part makes up about 90% of my gaming experience and is outstandingly good though not exactly original. The MC dies and some supernatural being gives him a new chance to experience life. Anyone who plays a lot of AVNs has seen this at least a dozen times. This time we usurp the body of a loser and, with the help of a supernatural catgirl, turn his life around by having lots of sex.
The previous reviewer compared this game to Waifu Academy and The Headmaster, and these are exactly the two other games I was independently thinking of while playing the first half. All three games share the school setting and the use of Honey Select. To those familiar with Waifu Academy, a lot of scenes will look as if you are playing Otaku (the fat voyeur) and slowly turning him into the MC of that game. The relation to The Headmaster is harder to explain. The MC here is a student, not in a position of authority, and there is no obsession with spanking. I think it was the water fight scene and the way in which the sandbox initially worked great because while there was always enough to do, as well as the great quality of the humor.
It's worth pointing out that the scenes that appear to be inspired by those other two games are actually shorter and less complex. What raises this game far above a mere copy is how everything fits together so perfectly. And of course there are other influences as well. For example, one scene appears to be inspired by Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.
Note: There is a universal gallery unlocker in the forum, but not currently linked from the main page.
The important elements for how an experience is remembered are the beginning, the end, the best moment and the worst moment. Unfortunately, here the current end and the worst moment coincide, which almost made me subtract one star from what would otherwise be one of the absolute top games on this site.
I must stress that the good part makes up about 90% of my gaming experience and is outstandingly good though not exactly original. The MC dies and some supernatural being gives him a new chance to experience life. Anyone who plays a lot of AVNs has seen this at least a dozen times. This time we usurp the body of a loser and, with the help of a supernatural catgirl, turn his life around by having lots of sex.
The previous reviewer compared this game to Waifu Academy and The Headmaster, and these are exactly the two other games I was independently thinking of while playing the first half. All three games share the school setting and the use of Honey Select. To those familiar with Waifu Academy, a lot of scenes will look as if you are playing Otaku (the fat voyeur) and slowly turning him into the MC of that game. The relation to The Headmaster is harder to explain. The MC here is a student, not in a position of authority, and there is no obsession with spanking. I think it was the water fight scene and the way in which the sandbox initially worked great because while there was always enough to do, as well as the great quality of the humor.
It's worth pointing out that the scenes that appear to be inspired by those other two games are actually shorter and less complex. What raises this game far above a mere copy is how everything fits together so perfectly. And of course there are other influences as well. For example, one scene appears to be inspired by Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.
Note: There is a universal gallery unlocker in the forum, but not currently linked from the main page.