VN - Ren'Py - Elysium [v0.4] [Xtudio]

This visual novel has incredible potential, though it has yet to be fully realized.

• Visuals: A perfect 10/10.
• Characters: The female characters are absolutely mind-boggling.
• Music: Good.
• Animations and VFX: Both are very well done.
• Camera: I noticed the camera angles improve significantly after the first few renders, showing that the developer is improving as the VN progresses.
• Story: Strong 9/10.
• Dialogues: A 6.5/10. The writing skills don't quite match the quality of the visuals. So he really needs to hire a writer but after seeing his patreon income ($2.5/month). I just can't bring myself to criticize him for his writing skills.

The dev appears to be building a very big story, which is an exciting prospect. Overall, I don't regret the time I've spent on this visual novel at all. It's a great experience despite its flaws.

Elysium (v0.4)

Imagine living with your beautiful, overprotective aunt and someday being struck with a new purpose. A land of fantasy, where you are the absolute chosen one needed to stop the spread of darkness in order to save the fair maiden of the land. Welcome to Elysium!

STORY
Noah is a sporty, friendly man who lives together with his aunt Lucy in a spacious home. He works at an office, has a great relationship with his brunette co-worker Alice. One day, her housing troubles are too heavy and Noah decides to save her day. Little do both women know Noah has adventurous dreams at night, where elves and orcs speak to him. Because Noah is special and has a special story.

Elysium's story is straightforward and a little sloppy at times. The characters are set up pretty well, but the dialog often doesn't fit the setting properly. Improper grammar aside, some situations sound tone deaf because the setting didn't impact the dialog. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's something that keeps you from being fully immersed.

What definitely helps is the way Elysium's fantasy realm is set up. Noah meets fantastical creatures like Lyra and Vanya, who help shape the idea of an Elven kingdom. The orcs on their part communicate direct and confrontational. So far, we have gotten glimpses of the struggle between both races and while more explanation is in order, developer Xtudio does show care for his fantasy world.

While I do feel the game has a good foundation, the story execution could greatly benefit from more work. I am pretty sure the developer will open up the fantasy world in new updates, but the core seems shaky at times and it needs to be addressed. Framing Noah's rapid age acceleration as Progeria is a result of this, which is thankfully later explained as more of a magic mana issue.

Elysium is still in its starting chapters, but shows promise. For now, it leaves something to be desired while providing enough of a story to be a good time.

PRESENTATION
Technically, Elysium is impressive. There's a bit of doll shading to the characters, but they all look believable and as humanoid as possible. The fantasy kingdom of Elysium is an alternate reality to Earth, so you can expect things to look Earth-like. While there's little that Elysium does to stand out visually, nearly all of the scenes look good thanks to the visual fidelity.

Camera angles and poses are high quality as Xtudio employs Dutch angles and layered compositing to create cinematic shots, and it works for Elysium's style. The intimacy looks good for feeling so sudden, and special animations are sprinkled throughout the game, but mostly saved for the sexy times. Noah maintains a well-trained body, which is explained in the storyline through his trauma.

This might be a personal issue, but I have difficulty reading the dialog fonts. They look good, but don't necessarily lead to better readability. It's nowhere near the point of frustration, but it's something that also took me out of the immersion.

GAMEPLAY
Elysium is a kinetic visual novel and has as of yet, no elements of gameplay other than having Noah pick between spying on Lucy or Alice in the same frame. It's a choice, but nothing that will severely impact gameplay yet.

OVERALL
Elysium started off with a wobble, but shows enough promise to be enjoyable. The updates get better with time, but a shaky start does harm the game considerably. My advice would be to strengthen the core story of the game in dialog so the foundation is there, and then build Elysium from there. Who knows what maiden can still be saved by our hero Noah?


Rating: 6.5/10
Developer: Xtudio

0.3 Review

The game is good, has potential and the models are very good looking, theres no much sexual content (1 scene). The only 1 problem i see is the story, idk if the Dev create the story while running but is very fast like theres no questions ask or anything just straight forward

Other than that you should try the game or bookmarked

VERSION: 0.2
SUMMARY: Pretty decent start, but will need some work to be considered good.
RATINGS: (out of 5):

1. Models: 4
2. Animations: 4
3. General Visuals: 4
4. Characters: 2
5. Story: 2
6. Writing: 4
7. UI & Gameplay: 3
8. Content (amount): 3
9. Sound & Music: 3
10. Fetish & kinks: NA

Average: 30 of 50 possible points giving a 60% rating i.e. 3 stars.

PROS:

1. Renders are impressive, looks like some AI filters/tech was used, which is not a bad thing, sometimes models just look "too" good if you know what I mean.
2. Small animation details during normal renders are a nice touch and show that extra attention to detail. This is important and shows quality and enforces immersion.
3. General animations are good, again works well with the good renders, though not many nor long animations so can't appreciate them fully.
4. Music is nice, though same tune on a loop its at least pleasant to listen to. Does change and get dynamic during intense event, which is another good point.
5. Writing is good, structured well and reads fine. There is some work to be done to refine it though.

CONS:

1. Some unrealistic minor plot details that throw me off are like the "aunt" looking younger that the MC who looks to be 30 or more with the crows feet around the eyes. There are other areas also (check suggestions)
2. Added to plot hole is the "aunt" can use tenant money but lives and looks like a model...eh?
3. Variable of MC name in some dialogue is not consistent, reverts back to John, even though the default is Noah and the player has set the name...
4. Could use some changes in UI to things like dialogue box opacity, sometimes the text gets tricky to read. Also buttons and better ways to interact or changes camera angles needs to be implemented instead of leaving a word above the NPC.
5. Added to UI, a gallery feature would be nice to have, even for small lewd moments.
6. More sounds would be nice, a vase dropping is a good touch, but more of those would be great, ambience is important.
7. Bit short, but not too bad, have had shorted first releases. Also at least it seems interesting, if the dream the MC has, has any connection to the ending of this version. VERSION 0.2: Shorter than first version it seems, is that even possible?
8. VERSION 0.2: Change in physics, WHY? This opens you up to so much scrutiny and for what?

FINAL THOUGHTS & SUGGESTIONS:

• Some nonsensical points like a grown man living with his "aunt", sure I can get behind that, but his aunt looks his age, doesn't seem to work and yet looks like a model and lives in a model house? Its not realistic or thought through on those details. Older or mature people should look the part, their living conditions should fit their financial situation...
• Another weird thing that I think is happening is the developer is focused a lot on the NPCs (LIs) to look beautiful, all the time when they dont need to and actually shouldn't e.g., Alice shows up at Aunts house as new tenant, but shows up dressed in a very luxurious and skimpy evening dress...that doesn't work, not for someone who got evicted and had to pack their shit, you would be wearing your shit clothes, be dirty, tired and sweaty. She looks like she is checking in at a hotel and going out for the evening.
• Per above point, even the Aunt is at home all the time but dressed to the 9s, immaculate and she is constantly watering the plants or making food. This adds to undeveloped characters and poor planning overall for your characters and story.
• Any chance of more kinky TAGS being added to the game? Much of them that are here are relatively vanilla already e.g. pregnancy, incest, urination, voyeurism etc.?
• REGARDING 0.2.: Alternate reality that has 2x Earths gravity, first alternate dimension that runs parallel to earth, is that not just the earth but in different reality? Should have same gravity then, whats more people would have evolved to the heavy gravity, be shorter, stockier more muscular and a whole list of things if gravity was so much more. The MC would also not simply have a pain in his chest, his heart will need to pump so much more to get blood around his body, it would take ages to adapt to such environment, if he even could. These NPCs look and go on the same as if its just normal 1G...so again WHY have this in at all!?

Overall its really not a bad start, I am fairly impressed. Also the story, while seems dull and uninteresting, which it is for the most part. The start and end do make you wonder what the game will ultimately be. Hopefully the next update has some more content and improvements.

Request, remove the whole 2x gravity bullshit please!!!