Review of Embrace - v0.1
Okay. It's a first release lasting close to 20-30 minutes. Minimal content in the current build so for anyone considering playing, keep that in mind. For full transparency, I have given some rounding up leniency and the overall rating would be close to around 4/5 without. This is because this is a new developer and first release. If and when more releases come out, I will revise this score accordingly. I have high hopes for you dev.
You're Arthur, a middle-aged recently discharged war veteran. You went to go fight for the greater good, served your time totaling five years, climbed the ranks, wallowed in the regrets of enlisting and got shot and almost died. Welcome home.
Now it's all over, you're returning to your life in suburban sunshine but also to the wife and the daughter you left behind. Choosing to go fight and do your part cost you and them a half-decade apart, it changed all of you but now you're back. It's on you and how you're going to make things right one way or another.
That the whole story so far. There's not so much a plot yet.
On to all the other features. It uses the standard HS2 scenes and backgrounds. The female character designs are attractive enough, with the daughter being the poster-child even if it's difficult to tell if this is an incest game (update the description or tags someone?).
The protagonist's face does also look a bit strange. It has a hairiness from his beard and eyebrows that tries to make him look older that really contrasts with his smooth skin texture and small face. His hair also has a bad interaction in a few scenes with top-down light sources where his forehead gets covered in greenish shadows. Not deal breakers but both stood out.
The sound design is normal enough. Sound effects and music exists for content out so far.
For the sake of reviewing fully, there's no NSFW content in v0.1 but this is more like a preview. Unlike what someone else mentioned, I don't think the dev really needs to necessarily rush to a have a sex scene this early. Every game available here has or is going to have spicy content eventually so the important part besides the eventual quality of those images and animations, is on story, writing, pacing, audio and everything else. Plenty of adult/HS2 games are available to get you off but the great ones have the rest too.
Ironically compared to another review, my opinion on the current introduction for the running girl is the reverse and that it actually hurts the pacing and tension that the story seems to be trying to build as you go to meet your family after so long. You're anxious but then you meet pretty girl so you can choose to flirt but now that's over, you're worried and anxious again.
Here are the easy to digest numbers.
Story: 4/5
Mostly covered but you are a veteran. You have returned. Open premise with prospects. We will see where it goes.
Grammar: 5/5
No issues.
Graphics: 3.5/5
It's nothing special but the parts are right. The developer admits he is new and has a potato computer so no expecting advanced lighting and geometry techniques currently.
Animations: N/A
Nothing yet.
Sound: 3.5/5
It has the basics of good audio design. Nothing standout.
Final thoughts. The cover image for this one has the daughter Emma in some kind of dark alleyway setting that hasn't consistently matched the atmosphere so far. This could change but if the story isn't planning to focus on the darker stuff associated, I would recommend switching it out. The audience gets their first impressions from the artwork.
Another builds on what others have mentioned. There's the scaffolding for something great here but nothing particularly memorable yet. Good dialogue has both fun and serious moments when it fits while building up the character's personalities and a well-written interesting story will have people coming back not only for any erotic content but because they are genuinely curious what happens next.
TLDR: Good first release. This game has a lot of possibility.
P.S. If the relationship with the daughter is incestuous, make a SubscribeStar and whatever else instead of advertising a Patreon first. It will not last there and future-proofing saves you future pain.
Okay. It's a first release lasting close to 20-30 minutes. Minimal content in the current build so for anyone considering playing, keep that in mind. For full transparency, I have given some rounding up leniency and the overall rating would be close to around 4/5 without. This is because this is a new developer and first release. If and when more releases come out, I will revise this score accordingly. I have high hopes for you dev.
You're Arthur, a middle-aged recently discharged war veteran. You went to go fight for the greater good, served your time totaling five years, climbed the ranks, wallowed in the regrets of enlisting and got shot and almost died. Welcome home.
Now it's all over, you're returning to your life in suburban sunshine but also to the wife and the daughter you left behind. Choosing to go fight and do your part cost you and them a half-decade apart, it changed all of you but now you're back. It's on you and how you're going to make things right one way or another.
That the whole story so far. There's not so much a plot yet.
On to all the other features. It uses the standard HS2 scenes and backgrounds. The female character designs are attractive enough, with the daughter being the poster-child even if it's difficult to tell if this is an incest game (update the description or tags someone?).
The protagonist's face does also look a bit strange. It has a hairiness from his beard and eyebrows that tries to make him look older that really contrasts with his smooth skin texture and small face. His hair also has a bad interaction in a few scenes with top-down light sources where his forehead gets covered in greenish shadows. Not deal breakers but both stood out.
The sound design is normal enough. Sound effects and music exists for content out so far.
For the sake of reviewing fully, there's no NSFW content in v0.1 but this is more like a preview. Unlike what someone else mentioned, I don't think the dev really needs to necessarily rush to a have a sex scene this early. Every game available here has or is going to have spicy content eventually so the important part besides the eventual quality of those images and animations, is on story, writing, pacing, audio and everything else. Plenty of adult/HS2 games are available to get you off but the great ones have the rest too.
Ironically compared to another review, my opinion on the current introduction for the running girl is the reverse and that it actually hurts the pacing and tension that the story seems to be trying to build as you go to meet your family after so long. You're anxious but then you meet pretty girl so you can choose to flirt but now that's over, you're worried and anxious again.
Here are the easy to digest numbers.
Story: 4/5
Mostly covered but you are a veteran. You have returned. Open premise with prospects. We will see where it goes.
Grammar: 5/5
No issues.
Graphics: 3.5/5
It's nothing special but the parts are right. The developer admits he is new and has a potato computer so no expecting advanced lighting and geometry techniques currently.
Animations: N/A
Nothing yet.
Sound: 3.5/5
It has the basics of good audio design. Nothing standout.
Final thoughts. The cover image for this one has the daughter Emma in some kind of dark alleyway setting that hasn't consistently matched the atmosphere so far. This could change but if the story isn't planning to focus on the darker stuff associated, I would recommend switching it out. The audience gets their first impressions from the artwork.
Another builds on what others have mentioned. There's the scaffolding for something great here but nothing particularly memorable yet. Good dialogue has both fun and serious moments when it fits while building up the character's personalities and a well-written interesting story will have people coming back not only for any erotic content but because they are genuinely curious what happens next.
TLDR: Good first release. This game has a lot of possibility.
P.S. If the relationship with the daughter is incestuous, make a SubscribeStar and whatever else instead of advertising a Patreon first. It will not last there and future-proofing saves you future pain.
