Review as of Ch.4
To be completely honest, the game in it's current state depending on your personal tastes + objective flaws probably can't be higher than a 3/5 or 4/5. (Probably closer to 3/5)
However I think you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of this game regardless and there's a very good reason why It deserves 5 stars which I will explain below.
Graphics: In the initial part of the game, mainly the first two Chapters, the graphics leave much to be desired. Poor lighting, graphical settings, low texture assets. But by Chapter 4 and judging by recent practice renders/devlogs I can confidently say the quality increases to a level that is in the upper echelon of HS2 games and fast approaching what you can realistically squeeze out of HS2. And the dev is constantly improving. In short it starts off rough, 1/5 even, but will end up being a 5/5 for the foreseeable future. Of course it's HS2 graphics so your opinion may vary. I'm judging based on the general quality of similar HS2 games.
Story: I'll be honest it's not some literary masterpiece or peak fantasy worldbuilding. It definitely tends toward the tropey side. If you were really to dissect the magic system and setting I'm sure you would find more holes than a piece of swiss cheese. However having such rigorous demands for a porn game is unrealistic and I'm aware of that (as are the devs). There are even several meta/4th wall moments where such plot holes are explicitly made fun of. For the purpose of an AVN the setting is more than sufficient for drawing in and entertaining the player and setting up the overarching narrative. Plenty of opportunity for intrigue, adventure, and character development. Thus, aside from personal nitpicks I have no serious complaints here.
Humor: It's very on the nose. I can see it being hit or miss. It will definitely appeal more to a certain group of people. "Chronically online" as the game puts it. You definitely have to be entrenched in internet culture to fully appreciate everything. However I don't mind it (maybe because I'm also chronically online). At worst the jokes are bearable, there's nothing so egregious to the point it would turn me off from the game. Some jokes even got a chuckle from me. You could maybe argue the constant pop culture references are a bit too much. I'm inclined to agree but I feel like it fits the style of the game (I mean it is an isekai). In the end you can't please everyone. At the very least it's unique and the dev has passion. Can't argue with that.
Characters: This is where it might get a bit subjective and more based on my personal opinion. I'll split this into visuals and character traits. Visually the main cast doesn't pop out at me. Not to say that they're unattractive but they haven't reached a certain level for me (perhaps aside from Sophia). Of course this is at no fault to the devs since this is purely due to my own aesthetics. But it also hurts a little when I see some characters like Neira, Sahar, even a nameless vendor girl and they all look much more appealing to me than the main cast. When it comes to the character arcs/personality I find things much more palatable. While again it is a bit tropey and things naturally revolve around the MC (I mean it is a fantasy harem AVN) the characters still have personality. They have motivations and agency. They have struggles and development. They start off seeming superficial and one dimensional but like an onion all you need to do is peel back a few layers. This is primarily due to the dev constantly seeking to improve and taking advice and feedback. Some of the cliche porn logic plot points that kinda irked me at the start and will probably annoy some players are actually gradually addressed in a relatively satisfying way (in my opinion). Of course there's always some suspension of belief needed (as with basically every other game). But it's a porn game. If I really wanted that much realism I'd go outside.
Music/Sound: This is probably my greatest gripe about the game. It starts off bad with version 0.1, is the most egregious in 0.2, but slowly recovers to an acceptable state in the following updates. What exactly am I talking about? It's like the devs just decided to take their favorite OSTs from every game/anime they ever played and mash it into one incongruent abomination plus some. Here's a list JUST the ones I was able to catch: Halo, SAO, Minecraft, Mario, Stardew Valley, Naruto, Undertale, Hollow Knight, Phoenix Wright, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda (and not just one game but three: MM, OOT, and BOTW), Pokemon, Sonic, Chrono Trigger, Dark Souls. And then on top of that add your usual stock music, occasional random references like the kahoot or wii theme, and for the cherry on top classical music like Passacaglia and Clair de lune. Not that these songs are by themselves bad or that they wouldn't be able to fit the mood. But when you happen to recognize them and when it seems like every 10 renders the music just has to switch for no apparent reason it just takes you out of it so badly. And then after you just got bombarded with an entire spotify playlist's worth of music there's occasional stretches where there's randomly just 0 sound at all. In other words the music feels like its used haphazardly just for the sake of it instead of trying to fit the mood/situation. This isn't even mentioning the potential legal issues. When it comes to sound/SFX while there is a definite increase in later updates there's still potential for more utilization especially in fight/action/sex scenes.
Sex Scenes: Too short and not enough buildup. I won't go into the argument of porn vs plot here. The fact of the matter is that this is a harem porn game and I don't believe it's trying to be or advertising itself to be anything else. It's fine if you're making a plot focused game or don't care much about the adult aspect of it. As long as you're transparent about it and have realistic expectations. This game on the other hand is not one of those games. You're clearly here to have fun sexy times with hot girls in a fantasy world. But when you get constant scene after scene of teasing and then when its time to finally cash in? Pure disappointment. For example (spoilers for Ch. 4 Lewd Scene): You get sucked into a magical room pumped full of aphrodisiac along with Ravena. Oh boy cant wait for hours of nonstop fucking in every way you could possibly imagine right? Instead you get a scene barely 50 renders long. She sucks MC off for 5 renders. MC cums. That's it. MC doesn't even make her cum. But she is somehow completely satisfied and just goes "teehee lets do this again sometime". Still in a room full of aphrodisiac btw.
UI/GUI:The fact that it's custom and not stock Ren'Py already gives some points. However I still feel like the overall design, layout, fonts, etc. could use some polish. This is just my own opinion of course based on what I've seen in other games and personal taste. But I feel like there's at least some objectivity to this. For example the bio/replay screen is a little bugged at the moment.
Gameplay/Puzzles: There's some nice little puzzles and Quick Time Events. Nothing particularly hard and no walkthrough needed if you have a functioning brain. I don't mind them. Adds some nice little flavor to the game. If you absolutely can't stand them, the dev will be adding a function to skip them. No harm no foul. My only critique is that some of the clickable items that are small need their hitboxes increased/adjusted. Perhaps this is only on my end but it's annoying having to find the pixel perfect spot to click just to pick up a key or something. I'm interested to see the devs leaning more into this and possibly adding some more interactive/harder puzzles in the future.
Now why do I think this game deserves 5 stars? Because of the attitude of the devs. They're constantly improving, taking feedback from the community, and communicative. If you didn't know this game is supposed to be a sort of "experimental" game where the devs learn as they go so that they'll have plenty of experience once they move on to the future projects they want to make. Despite that this game is still plenty enjoyable and there is no definitely no lack of effort or care being taken towards its development. The devs are constantly striving to improve. They are even taking lessons from other developers. Despite being relatively smaller creators their patron money is already being immediately put back into development (better PC, commissions, music, etc.). 90% of the flaws I mentioned in this review have already been taken note of and will be fixed or improved upon in Chapter 5. They take advice seriously. This level of attitude and commitment is extremely rare in my opinion. So despite any critiques you have of the game, I believe the quality will only get better and better in the future. Up to the point where really the only bad things you could say about it comes down to your personal taste.
TLDR;
Game currently has flaws. May not fit your specific tastes. But it is still entertaining so far + has high potential. Amazing devs who are constantly improving. Highly recommend to play if you are a HS2 AVN enjoyer or even let it marinate for a few updates where it will be even better.
To be completely honest, the game in it's current state depending on your personal tastes + objective flaws probably can't be higher than a 3/5 or 4/5. (Probably closer to 3/5)
However I think you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of this game regardless and there's a very good reason why It deserves 5 stars which I will explain below.
Graphics: In the initial part of the game, mainly the first two Chapters, the graphics leave much to be desired. Poor lighting, graphical settings, low texture assets. But by Chapter 4 and judging by recent practice renders/devlogs I can confidently say the quality increases to a level that is in the upper echelon of HS2 games and fast approaching what you can realistically squeeze out of HS2. And the dev is constantly improving. In short it starts off rough, 1/5 even, but will end up being a 5/5 for the foreseeable future. Of course it's HS2 graphics so your opinion may vary. I'm judging based on the general quality of similar HS2 games.
Story: I'll be honest it's not some literary masterpiece or peak fantasy worldbuilding. It definitely tends toward the tropey side. If you were really to dissect the magic system and setting I'm sure you would find more holes than a piece of swiss cheese. However having such rigorous demands for a porn game is unrealistic and I'm aware of that (as are the devs). There are even several meta/4th wall moments where such plot holes are explicitly made fun of. For the purpose of an AVN the setting is more than sufficient for drawing in and entertaining the player and setting up the overarching narrative. Plenty of opportunity for intrigue, adventure, and character development. Thus, aside from personal nitpicks I have no serious complaints here.
Humor: It's very on the nose. I can see it being hit or miss. It will definitely appeal more to a certain group of people. "Chronically online" as the game puts it. You definitely have to be entrenched in internet culture to fully appreciate everything. However I don't mind it (maybe because I'm also chronically online). At worst the jokes are bearable, there's nothing so egregious to the point it would turn me off from the game. Some jokes even got a chuckle from me. You could maybe argue the constant pop culture references are a bit too much. I'm inclined to agree but I feel like it fits the style of the game (I mean it is an isekai). In the end you can't please everyone. At the very least it's unique and the dev has passion. Can't argue with that.
Characters: This is where it might get a bit subjective and more based on my personal opinion. I'll split this into visuals and character traits. Visually the main cast doesn't pop out at me. Not to say that they're unattractive but they haven't reached a certain level for me (perhaps aside from Sophia). Of course this is at no fault to the devs since this is purely due to my own aesthetics. But it also hurts a little when I see some characters like Neira, Sahar, even a nameless vendor girl and they all look much more appealing to me than the main cast. When it comes to the character arcs/personality I find things much more palatable. While again it is a bit tropey and things naturally revolve around the MC (I mean it is a fantasy harem AVN) the characters still have personality. They have motivations and agency. They have struggles and development. They start off seeming superficial and one dimensional but like an onion all you need to do is peel back a few layers. This is primarily due to the dev constantly seeking to improve and taking advice and feedback. Some of the cliche porn logic plot points that kinda irked me at the start and will probably annoy some players are actually gradually addressed in a relatively satisfying way (in my opinion). Of course there's always some suspension of belief needed (as with basically every other game). But it's a porn game. If I really wanted that much realism I'd go outside.
Music/Sound: This is probably my greatest gripe about the game. It starts off bad with version 0.1, is the most egregious in 0.2, but slowly recovers to an acceptable state in the following updates. What exactly am I talking about? It's like the devs just decided to take their favorite OSTs from every game/anime they ever played and mash it into one incongruent abomination plus some. Here's a list JUST the ones I was able to catch: Halo, SAO, Minecraft, Mario, Stardew Valley, Naruto, Undertale, Hollow Knight, Phoenix Wright, Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda (and not just one game but three: MM, OOT, and BOTW), Pokemon, Sonic, Chrono Trigger, Dark Souls. And then on top of that add your usual stock music, occasional random references like the kahoot or wii theme, and for the cherry on top classical music like Passacaglia and Clair de lune. Not that these songs are by themselves bad or that they wouldn't be able to fit the mood. But when you happen to recognize them and when it seems like every 10 renders the music just has to switch for no apparent reason it just takes you out of it so badly. And then after you just got bombarded with an entire spotify playlist's worth of music there's occasional stretches where there's randomly just 0 sound at all. In other words the music feels like its used haphazardly just for the sake of it instead of trying to fit the mood/situation. This isn't even mentioning the potential legal issues. When it comes to sound/SFX while there is a definite increase in later updates there's still potential for more utilization especially in fight/action/sex scenes.
Sex Scenes: Too short and not enough buildup. I won't go into the argument of porn vs plot here. The fact of the matter is that this is a harem porn game and I don't believe it's trying to be or advertising itself to be anything else. It's fine if you're making a plot focused game or don't care much about the adult aspect of it. As long as you're transparent about it and have realistic expectations. This game on the other hand is not one of those games. You're clearly here to have fun sexy times with hot girls in a fantasy world. But when you get constant scene after scene of teasing and then when its time to finally cash in? Pure disappointment. For example (spoilers for Ch. 4 Lewd Scene): You get sucked into a magical room pumped full of aphrodisiac along with Ravena. Oh boy cant wait for hours of nonstop fucking in every way you could possibly imagine right? Instead you get a scene barely 50 renders long. She sucks MC off for 5 renders. MC cums. That's it. MC doesn't even make her cum. But she is somehow completely satisfied and just goes "teehee lets do this again sometime". Still in a room full of aphrodisiac btw.
UI/GUI:The fact that it's custom and not stock Ren'Py already gives some points. However I still feel like the overall design, layout, fonts, etc. could use some polish. This is just my own opinion of course based on what I've seen in other games and personal taste. But I feel like there's at least some objectivity to this. For example the bio/replay screen is a little bugged at the moment.
Gameplay/Puzzles: There's some nice little puzzles and Quick Time Events. Nothing particularly hard and no walkthrough needed if you have a functioning brain. I don't mind them. Adds some nice little flavor to the game. If you absolutely can't stand them, the dev will be adding a function to skip them. No harm no foul. My only critique is that some of the clickable items that are small need their hitboxes increased/adjusted. Perhaps this is only on my end but it's annoying having to find the pixel perfect spot to click just to pick up a key or something. I'm interested to see the devs leaning more into this and possibly adding some more interactive/harder puzzles in the future.
Now why do I think this game deserves 5 stars? Because of the attitude of the devs. They're constantly improving, taking feedback from the community, and communicative. If you didn't know this game is supposed to be a sort of "experimental" game where the devs learn as they go so that they'll have plenty of experience once they move on to the future projects they want to make. Despite that this game is still plenty enjoyable and there is no definitely no lack of effort or care being taken towards its development. The devs are constantly striving to improve. They are even taking lessons from other developers. Despite being relatively smaller creators their patron money is already being immediately put back into development (better PC, commissions, music, etc.). 90% of the flaws I mentioned in this review have already been taken note of and will be fixed or improved upon in Chapter 5. They take advice seriously. This level of attitude and commitment is extremely rare in my opinion. So despite any critiques you have of the game, I believe the quality will only get better and better in the future. Up to the point where really the only bad things you could say about it comes down to your personal taste.
TLDR;
Game currently has flaws. May not fit your specific tastes. But it is still entertaining so far + has high potential. Amazing devs who are constantly improving. Highly recommend to play if you are a HS2 AVN enjoyer or even let it marinate for a few updates where it will be even better.
