VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Elite Garden [Ep.4] [A&K Studio]

Version: Ep. 4
Score: 3/5 (strong characters and visuals, but pacing and execution are flawed)
Playtime: ~5-6 hours with transitions enabled. Probably an hour less otherwise.

Note: This game is labeled as a slow-burn AVN, but it feels more like a delayed burn. A true slow-burn builds intimacy through deep, gradual character interactions, letting players connect with LIs over time. Elite Garden rushes weeks, skips key moments, and delays intimacy with casual encounters before meaningful bonds form. We learn more about characters through gossip than from direct quality time, which weakens the emotional payoff and makes romances feel unearned. It plays more like a college harem game than a slow burn dating sim, with multiple LIs offering casual fun amid linear progression.

TL;DR:
Elite Garden captivates with a flawed MC and rich character interactions. Kiara’s defiance and Meera’s vulnerability shine through stunning renders. But rushed episodes, constant time skips, and a reactive MC hurt the romance and narrative flow. It’s a visual gem, but it tries to do too much, which is reflected in its diminishing length each episode.

Gameplay:
The game is a linear Ren’Py visual novel with limited choices, like kissing Kiara or rejecting Mina. These feel impactful, but you can’t say no to things like Kiara’s fake date or Catherine’s dinner. The MC’s protective, trauma-scarred personality is unique, but he rarely takes the initiative to seek out an LI, except for Catherine. This makes other LI arcs feel forced, and the MC very passive. Adding proactive choices and more branching paths would help the romance feel real.

Visual:
UI:
The UI is custom but rough. White font on white-lettered backgrounds, especially in “Help” and “About” screens, is hard to read and needs an outline plus an opaque layer. The save/load screen has 12 slots, which is better than Ren’Py’s default, but the preferences screen adds nothing new. The cellphone icon blends into dark backgrounds and needs a gray outline. Scrolling the social media app triggers game navigation, and a crash in Mina’s Episode 4 scene (meera_date2 error) needs a fix.
The game features a cellphone app, but it's severely underused. After episode 1, all messages the MC receives are read automatically and the social media app feels useless. Getting a notification when a new post is received would enhance this experience.

Characters:
The 3DCG models are expressive. Kiara’s fragile elegance, Meera’s guarded vulnerability, and Suzie’s quiet longing stand out. The MC’s design is good, but his hair looks patchy from behind. His lip scar is odd in some lighting as well (too bright). Supporting characters like Sam and Dante add depth, but Mason’s crew feels flat.
Overall, I enjoy the character models. I like that there's variety in shapes and sizes, though the trope of "older or more powerful women have larger breasts" remains true.

Scenes/Renders:
Renders are stunning and sell the elite setting. Kiara’s tense dinner with her mother and Meera’s tearful montage hit hard. Moments where characters steal glances or show their thoughts in their facial expressions show cinematic skill. But auto-playing versus clickable renders, like in Kiara’s car scene, feel inconsistent. Constant time skips, like missing weekends, confuse the timeline, which could be helped by using intertitles or time/location notifications. This is especially noticeable in episode 4 where the week just flashes by and we barely get any context for when, where or why a scene is happening.

Sound:
The game's background music fits emotional moments, but the volume is uneven. The tracks that played at the bar during the fake date with Kiara and the following training scene were way too loud while others were too quiet at 100%. A balancing pass would fix this and improve slider control.
There are a few sound effects, like the MC's alarm going off, but these are rare. I think this is a shame seeing the high quality of renders and posing. Adding sound effects, certainly for key moments, would enhance the game even more.

Novel:
Synopsis:
Three scholarship siblings (MC Aiden, Ari, Fred) navigate an elite university in Paradise Town. They clash with rich kids, spearheaded by Mason, and bond with friends and LIs (Carlos, Suzie, Meera, Kiara, Emily, Mina, and Catherine).

Narrative:
The narrative thrives on character interactions. Kiara’s icy front hides her fight for freedom from her controlling mother. Meera’s nude photo scandal reveals vulnerability, but gossip about her promiscuous past overshadows direct moments with her. The MC’s trauma from a four-year relationship ending and a likely abusive father adds depth. But his one-time PTSD reaction at the bar feels too intense without consistent triggers. The narrative often feels rushed, with the MC teleporting from scene to scene. This gives players no time to process events. There’s little one-on-one time with main characters, and we learn more about them from talking about them with others than from themselves.
The MC’s passivity hurts LI arcs. He knows Emily is lonely but doesn’t reach out. Suzie, his longtime friend with a secret crush, barely appears despite being his neighbor. Why doesn’t she hint at wanting more time with him?
The narrative also pushes casual sex over romance. The MC flirts relentlessly with everyone, even characters players might not like. For example, he chats up Catherine and says he enjoyed their dinner, but players can have him lie about being too busy to see her again. On one route, rejecting Mina lets the MC say he disagrees with Fred’s “quantity over quality” dating view. But his flirty behavior doesn’t reflect this. Players can’t shape how the MC views relationships, and the narrative leans toward casual encounters over the deep commitments expected in slow-burn dating sims.

Quality of Writing:
The writing is strong for AVNs, with natural dialogue and visual cues. This developer understands cinematics, and won't use dialogue to point out what is shown in the render. It's textbook "show, don’t tell".
But. Slow transitions (two seconds per click), dropped storylines like Emily’s project, and missing context for off-screen chats hurt clarity. And the delayed-burn approach by rushing weeks and rushing casual sex, undermines the slow-burn promise.

Adult:
Adult content is light so far. Meera’s skillful BJ or handjob and Mina’s BJ/cunnilingus and intercourse are casual, with little emotional buildup. Kiara’s heavy petting stops abruptly due to her insecurities. These scenes lack the passion, drama, or longing typical of slow-burn AVNs. They feel like casual encounters between people who find each other attractive but lacking a deeper connection.

Conclusion:
Elite Garden’s character-driven narrative is a treat. Kiara’s struggle against her mother’s control and Meera’s pain after her photo leak shine through vivid renders. The MC’s trauma and sibling bonds keep you hooked. But rushed episodes, missing weekends, and a reactive MC, chasing only Catherine and ignoring the emotional needs of his friends, make romances feel flat. The delayed-burn approach by rushing time while delaying deep bonds, clashes with the slow-burn label. The unpolished UI, erratic audio volume, and an underused cellphone app add frustration. Mason’s antics need nuance, he too deserves a backstory if he's to be more than a cardboard cutout of a villain. The game is a visual gem, but its scope overwhelms its execution. The diminishing length of episodes (Episode 3 is half the length of episode 1, and episode 4 the half of episode 3) doesn't fill me with confidence that characters will get the development and attention they deserve in future content.

I usually go in with zero expectations, but for some reason I feel like they were not met after playing up till episode 4.


The renders are pretty good, and there are some really pretty models in the game. I feel like the story is kinda slow, which I usually like, but something is missing? I got one sex scene with Mina, and it was unfortunately really disappointing - pretty stiff pictures with no dialogue to spice it up.

Even 4 episodes in, I still feel like I barely know any of the girls, so I'm not sure I'll come back to this down the line. I at least wand to give credit to the writing which is pretty good compared to a lot of sloppy games on this site.

3,5 stars rounded down to 3.

What a nice surprise -- a new-boy-in-college game that doesn't suck! That even shines!
Seriously, this game is really well written, has an intriguing story line, you CARE about pretty much everyone except the dickheads, and the MC is actually likeable and sexy. Whaa?? (I WAS a wee put off by that weird haircut at first -- at times he looked like he had on a beret -- but it grew on me, and his personality won me over.)
The women, young and older, are for the very most part, delicious. Casual sex, personally, seems quite an oxymoronic concept muchof the time, and college (the land of sown oatery in the wild) has all the makings of an emotional House of Pain. This AVN deals, so far, with that whole Harem or Not Harem challenge/problem/truth/dare elegantly. So far..
Really, lovely game. Well done, dev -- looking forward to Ep. 5 and beyond!

It became one of my favorite games, i love the sibling and friendship dynamic and the overall story. MC is really cool, a polite and nice guy who isn't "Mr. Perfect". I don't know why but the last chapter felt a little bit weaker than the others, but i think that's because the older chapters are true bangers. Maybe they did it to finally put h-scenes in the game, i don't know, but i personally don't mind the buildup. The renders also really impressed me, especially one scene where you see the veins in Kiara's eyes, beautiful game. All the LIs are modeled very different and have a personality, the fashion sense of 'em also stuck to me.

The big problem is MC's barber, he's a goddamn assassin lol, when there's a backshot i feel unconfortable.

Really enjoying the story and the setting. The writing feels like its grounded and realistic. Characters are varied and interesting. The MC isn't a sociopath for the sake of porn logic, reminds me of Zagreus from Hades, just a nice person doing things to help those around him. Also I don't know if the MC model is intentially meant to look like a beefed up version of the musician Ren but I can't unsee it. Love the openness and sense of familial love from the siblings. One other thing I wanted to mention is that the supporting cast all have lives outside of the MC, they make plans meetup have inside jokes. It really helps sell the world. The art and models are gorgeous, impressive all round.

Well, that's refreshing. A game with a sister and NO INCEST? (?!?) What is the world coming to? How come no one (and I mean no one) ever thought of telling a story like that? You deserve 5 Stars for originality immediately.

But beyond that intriguing concept, this game features interesting characters that have their own needs and motivations AND believable (non creepy) interactions. It's as if it was written by a socially well adjusted individual. It's crazy.

So far, I love what I see. I hope, it'll feature relationships for the rest of the cast outside of the MC. I heard it happens in the real world too.

The art is good, but not great. The story so far is interesting because you care pretty quickly about what happens to the characters. Not sure if it'll go anywhere beyond that, but that's fine for me. Some of the bad guys are on the verge of caricature, but I hope they'll find better balance in the future. More nuance would elevate the story.

The MC is hideous though (personal preference) which regularly takes me out of the scene, but I am sure others won't have that issue.

Well... look at me giving 5 stars. That does not happen that often but this AVN hits my g-spot just perfectly.

The funny thing is, I went into this one, rolling my eyes before I even started. I was thinking this is just another entry into the multitude of college AVNs we have seen, so how can this be original. I am glad I stuck with it.

To begin with, all of the LIs are unique, and while there are a clearly some cliches happening, they are unique enough for me to look past them. IMO, there are three things that really set this apart from the crowd. First is the family. I am totally digging the sibling dynamic. They support each other, tease each other and you know they have each other's backs. Then there are the motifs. I love that they talk about just enjoying yourselves and seeing multiple people and also that the women can do the same thing. This is such a refreshing approach and I have been waiting for one of these AVNs to come along and do this. The third thing is the MC. I thought I was going to hate this dude, but he is flawed, tough, polite and can show empathy. This is so rare in these games. Most of the time you are dealing with some super douche who can do no wrong with the women throwing themselves at him, but not this game. Yes, there are a lot of women who are flirting with the MC, but you have to have the MC spend some time with each of them to actually get anywhere.

My only complaint, if you can call it that, is some of the LIs are a bit cliched. Kiara, for example, is an angry, spoiled rich kid, Sandra is the friend who has loved the MC forever and he never sees her like that, and Catherine is the lonely MILF (sort of) falling for a student. How many AVNs have these same characters? The good news is, the dev manages to make each of them unique enough I can look past it and just enjoy the game. The only other problem are the h scenes... they are a montage and there is no talking, moaning, spanking, etc. It's just a bunch of "O" faces and then it's over. I almost took a star away just because of that.

I will admit, I am not sure where this story is going. There seems to be something going on with the Mom and perhaps the Mayor. Plus, I am sure there will be some scholarship drama down the line, so not really a meaty story, but the relationships and the MC learning about himself keeps the story moving.

I am really looking forward to seeing where this goes. I just hope I don't see an abandoned tag on this too soon.

Good luck to the developer!

I would like more intimate content. And also netorare with Meera. I think Emily is pregnant, it would be cool if she hid it from the main character and started dating him. It would be an interesting outcome. Good luck to the developer, good game

[Reviewed Ep.3]

This has the makings of a top-tier game -- it's off to a great start with high production values and a compelling (if cliche) story. It is undeniably inspired by those other massively-popular, college-bro, multiple love interest titles and it doesn't measure up in overall quality, but there's not much wrong with this one -- if you don't mind a generic setting and relatively light action so far.

The Good ()

• High production values -- the game just looks great
• Gorgeous, hyper-detailed models and renders
• A diversity of love interests with different personalities, ages, and body types
• You can pursue multiple love interests without obviously excluding the others (so far)
• Well-executed cinematography and visual storytelling
• An original story that has familiar elements / setting but still feels fresh
• A good amount of content for three episodes

The Not-So-Good ()

• Has had only 2 updates in ~15 months since initial release, so this game is averaging an episode every 6 months.
• Some of the plot points / background aren't super sketched out and are thin (story-wise)
• Weird emerging relationship with the brother and sister -- it's not clear if the sister is meant to be a love interest, and the dynamics with the brother are strange
• Most the female characters are very quick to cozy up to the MC in a very accelerated way
• Few H-scenes at this point in development and not much "action" has happened yet.

Overall, a promising title with great initial content and beautiful character models. Can't go wrong.

Elite garden Ep.3

Yeah it's your usual college setting game. There is no fresh story plot here. But characters are nice including female and male characters. Since I'm a big sucker for college themed game I enjoyed it. There is also humor. Girls are pretty but most of them are usual models. In this game you can see many random bg characters. I actually liked a goth girl. Hope dev may add some interaction or scenes with her in future updates. This one is slow burn. So if you are looking for lewd part avoid this one. Also game suddenly jump from one scene to other. It would have been nice if we got some choices during that match. So the match would be more interesting. Comparing to episode one, two and three are shorter. Also there is no incest but sister character is nice. From the looks of it I think incest is sure no.

Overall I enjoyed the game looking forward to next updates

An enjoyable enough experience that has a roster of pretty girls and good writing, but isn't too eye-grabbing or presenting anything too compelling or interesting to stand out from the other AVNs that dive into the same trope.

I also need to note how the fuck some MCs get laid with haircuts like the one in this game. This guy looks like a repressed lesbian pretending to be a dude. Other than that dumbass statement I made I had a fun time and will keep an eye on development to see if it improves in some areas to make it unique.

It's okay. Just okay just so far, I'm not seeing the hype.


Story:

Middle class family(Is that even a thing anymore?) with the father being dead of course(So it appears) gets granted 3 full ride scholarships because apparently the mother and father(RIP?) produced 3 fine tuned athletes. This game doesn't force unnecessary incest which is great in my book but there's, of course, some of the same cliches I tend to stay away from.

1. Typical rich douchey antagonist.

2. Typical girls that throw themselves at the MC and of course have had a past with some of the antagonists so now you have them be extra douchey towards you because you're the new guy.

3. Typical hot girl that's ignored because the MC is too moronic to see that she has feelings for him.

4. The classic teacher or administrator that just instantly gives in to the MC's charm with no regard for anyone from the student faculty or administration finding out. Not to mention that it could get her fired and ruin her career IRL but I get it, it's a AVN. Just wish games with situations such as this was more discreet about the obvious.

There's more but those 4 stood out for me. As far as romancing goes... Kaira is okay, so is Emily, there's Katherine and of course the girl next door. Other than that none of the "love interest" really stood out for me. It does come with it's share of drama, from the revenge porn-ish plot with Meera. The Douche being the son of the mayor or whatever and being basically untouchable(Haven't seen that one before). And lastly the ending scene of the update with a female student puking in the restroom. Could it be due to drunkenness? Or perhaps there's a pregnancy storyline coming soon?

Relax, don't worry. I mean, it's not like it's the MC, he hasn't even gotten laid yet.

Models:
Decent. The sister model is cute though she has been in too many other AVN's already. I could say the same for most of the cast.

Dialogue:

So-so.

Renders:
Decent. Though I did think that the football scene was well done also.


Overall:

It can be enjoyable for some once you ignore most of the usual tropes and cliches. Best of luck to the Dev.

If it wasn’t for the enjoyment factor of this game, I'd probably rate this game something like a 4 because it does need more updates to judge it properly. To me this game has one of the better looking LI in the world of AVN’s. I got to be honest as well. This might be a bit of a biased review because I loved this game enough that i'm considering putting it in my top 10.

The good
Probably the best thing about this game for me is the wholesome moments of the MC with his family. It’s pretty unique as you normally don't see that in these games too often. Also yes this game has no landlady or roommate ( incest) content but it doesn’t need it either. That type of content would ruin the wholesomeness of the family moments.

I find the dialogue in this game comes off as pretty realistic and feels pretty natural to me. Even the drama that occurs doesn't really feel over the top just for the sake of drama , as it comes across a bit realistic so far. Well except for one time but that is more or less because of the setting of us being in a school / area meant for the rich. So one of the instances of the drama that occurs with one of the LI does feel a bit cliche or something you might see on a TV show. But because of the context of most of the people around the MC are part of some elite or rich family it does make sense.

The relationship building is one of the better things about this game as well. You actually feel like you get to know these characters and not just there to bang all the girls asap. Which is always nice to see in an AVN. But that means there are no lewd scenes yet for those that care about that.

The mixed or unsure

Because it’s still early on in the game’s development lifespan some characters are lacking a bit of love / content compared to some of the other ones. Some feel like there is too many LI or it should be a harem game with the introduction of the cheerleaders. I’d argue it makes it feel a bit more natural to have more than your 4-6 LI in your social group. It doesn’t mean that they all need to be a LI. But I'm a bit unsure how I feel about this aspect at the same time. For one reason I don't want it to take away too much content from the main LI in this game. I’m fine with them being SG’s that show up once in a while. But until more updates happen this part of the game I have mixed feelings about.

The bad
Well if i'm being 100% honest I can't think of anything I did not enjoy in this one. If I have to nitpick Emily looks a lot worse compared to the other characters in this game.

Subjective opinions ahead ...

I liked the game so far despite its drawbacks.
Those are in no specific order

- the generic setting
- the use of very common tropes
- the lack of actual sex happening (yes, I am aware that this announced right at the start)
- the almost almighty MC
- the lack of choices

Nevertheless I followed the story and each encounter with some interest so at least some of the writing is working for me. I did like the wholesome atmosphere in the family and some of the girls are really hot (like Catherine, gives me the librarian vibe). Is it great dialogue? Nah, but it's not the worst either.
It is hard to ignore the obvious inspirations from other, similarly themed games, but still I feel like hanging around and finding out what's the story with all the girls.
Keep up the humor, give me the beautiful girls and don't bother with animations. It looks like they eat up a lot of time and resources to create them but they don't add anything to character or story. As you stated this is one of your first projects, focus on story and characters. My recommendation at least.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, give it a go!

Story 3/5
Just one of those games that makes you go ohh shit every time you meet a new girl....and not seeing a harem tag....it just wouldent be possible to pick just one.....problem is that its a real slowburn and theres still no real plots just a few small secrets in a few girls backstory and MCs male friend is forced into doing something, it would be nice with more info faster since the story falls a bit flat when theres just nothing happening other then MC going to school and flirts with everyone, even those you dont want to flirt with...so it gets boring.

It reallllly needs more choices to say no, like lambo rich girl why not just let us say yes or no to the fake date or like the teacher or whoever asking MC out for dinner, why not allow the player to say yes or no....it only gets annoying and cringy reading idiotic flirting when you got 0 interest as the player....even more so when its not a harem game.

Then theres the 0 sex which is even more boring, so many hot girls and theres just nothing happening, even MCs brother has had more sex then MC which also removes a possible LI....so yeah not doing great in that area.

Girls 5/5
They are hot and there is a good diversity in builds cant really ask for more.

Animations ?/5
Well theres nothing to see still.

Music 4/5
Its pretty decent music that dosent get annoying to listen to in the long run, nothing special but good enough.

Choices 3/5
They seem to work fine and you can turn down or be with whoever you want or atleast almost since the brother to MC already took one, there is a bit lack of choices though i mean if a player dont want to be with a girl then dont keep forceing them to go on dates and constant flirting its idiotic when you have already said no multiple times, by then MC should know he dosent want the girl.

This might end up as a 4 or 5 star game once its finished, but as of chapter 3 there just isent much to come for, ill revisit and change my review later when there is something to see, game does need to pick up the phase though if nothing interresting happens people might give it up before it starts.

I like the story so far thru Episode 3 with, as the author warns, more emphasis on character backstories than gratuitous sex scenes. I was struck emotionally by some of those back stories even though my expectations are low for this genre. But this author team put some effort into this and it shows.

But it also has some lack of attention to detail in that I've seen letterman jackets with 3 different schools' logos including B&R obviously lifted from another game, let alone the opening American Football stadium having the team name Shockers in the near endzone.

And then there's things like an athletic scholarship athlete like the MC showing up as a walk-on and going to tryouts after starting the semester when American Football at the collegiate level usually starts team practice at a Summer camp for the team members, usually uncoached, and begins coached practice a month or more before the Fall semester starts in order to get the team properly conditioned and strengthened for the full contact sport that American Football is. This is not to say that American Football is superior to any other sport, just that physical conditioning matters due to the violence and the tendency to injury if not properly prepared. Australian Football and Rugby have similar requirements for conditioning the players to the violence well prior to the first games of the season.

And like many other alleged college environments, there's the trope of bells ringing to signify the start/end of class. And this is hardly the only AVN that does that. I've been on several college campuses and I've not heard a bell ringing between or during classes but for fire drills. Perhaps European and/or Asian schools do this, and maybe some JCs here in the US, but not any uni or college I've yet been to. I've been to a couple of campuses that had a carillon tower that chimed hourly during the day but weren't clearly heard all over campus.

Overall, the dialogue is pretty good with a few rough spots but fairly snappy and colloquial.

I liked the use of still montages to describe minor interactions - cutscenes if you will, that fill in between some scenes. They were reminiscent of reading an actual book allowing you to write your own dialogue in your head as the scenes played out. Hadn't really seen that technique used in other AVNs I've viewed before.

It's a promising start with a fair amount of rough edges which I assume will get cleaned up, and an interesting cast of characters. I think the authors have a vision of where the story goes and I hope they stick to it rather than be persuaded by donors to go in any different direction than their original outline other than to correct errors.

Looking forward to the next installment!

This is generic as generic comes. Sorry, but this ain't it chief. It's just non stop cliches, the most standard generic models for all the girls including the MC who also has one of the dumbest haircuts i've ever seen. The plot is cliche, the antagonists are cliche (the generic douchebag who tries to get under the MC's skin) and the writing is just so generic and cliche. This would normally confer an average review but dude this is 2024 and this stuff has been done 7 or 8 years ago. There's literally nothing here that would be worth playing, sorry.

It started really well but I just don't see where it's going.

First episode felt like an introduction to all the main characters and LI's who will mainly influence the story and I liked it quite a bit. Second episode was like a little aftermath of the events of episode 1 and how things will play out, building relationships with girls, learning more about the relationships everyone has on campus and so on and then a bomb gets dropped where *SPOILER* Meera's nudes get leaked. I'm thinking ok she's gonna be a bit more out of the picture but then she's literally introduced back into the story like 15 minutes in and later on you're saying the date is rescheduled. What was the point of her having the nudes leaked and scratching off the date then if she's literally back 15 minutes into the next episode?

Another thing which annoyed me with this update is you didn't have any real progress with any of the LI's or story. All we did essentially was set up dates with the girls. This episode felt like it was just telling us about things to come in the future like "You'll probably go on dates with certain girls later on, you'll probably meet certain characters later on, you're family will probably be more important later on".

I like this game but it needs a little bit of work. Maybe next few updates will be better cause we might actually get those things hinted at but this episode wasn't great as it felt like we didnt really progress the story in anyway.

The amazing thing about this avn is thats while its a "power-fantasy" aka mc being the skilled, funny, charming, "handsome" quarterback but it still feels super grounded and somewhat real.

I love that he has a normal family and dont want to fuck his sister/mother or the other way around. Its just a wholesome family where everyone cares about each other and is fun.

And i like that not all guys around are dumb cliche assholes or douchebags, some are of course like in reality but not everyone. I think the LI's are great too. Meera, Kiara and Susie are awesome and the others are good too, should be someone for everyones tastes.

All of it helps to make the setting more real and the best college games are like that , i dont get why evereyones whining about it here.

Keep in mind that a lot of the negative reviews are people being butthurt over not being able to fuck the sister ..

I dont mind harem or incest games but this strange entitlement to be able to fuck the mcs sister/mother/whatever in every single avn is just pure braindamage.

This game is one of my favorites, I hope I can stay with Arianne, but if I can't, the game is still good and full of interesting characters, it's rare to find a game that isn't just about sexual things, but about telling a good story story with good development.

The dynamics between the brothers and sister are great, I have fun watching the interaction between them.