V0.5.1
3/5 as a kinetic novel, 2/5 as a game.
This game is an overrated and uninspired soap opera for the better part, which doesn't do any favours for the few good ideas that found their way in. Expect unfinished sentences, information not shared, interrupted scenes, dumb decisions, plot contrivances and drama drawn out by unnatural means among all other cheap tricks found in the book, presented in a mostly linear fashion where your choices don't exactly impact the story the author wants to tell.
The game's setting is a fictional, modern day world where men quite literally don't exist for some reason (which I don't remember ever being explained away, and also carries thematic problems but whatever), you got 3 sexes, you got chicks with pussies, chicks with dicks (à la "men"), and the elusive "duplos" who are chicks with both sets of reproductive organs, who are somewhat vilified and ostracized for being sex-crazed, cheating bimbos. Which the game unintentionally and completely validates through MC's behaviour...while also kinda invalidating it through the actions of other characters who act the same despite not being "duplos", because consistency, I guess.
The story is a largely kinetic slice-of-life which follows one such "duplo", the MC, living her post-highschool life focused on nothing in particular, filled with often easily avoidable drama. Her life, and thus the story is driven by clichés you'd expect from a porn game, such as massages gone erotic, doors left unlocked, getting caught, blackmailed, and the pervalent virgin MC who pops a boner at the mere mention or sight of...well, anything even remotely sexual regardless of context.
And while the twist that this time around it's a chick popping said boners is certainly underused and even interesting, it really doesn't make her significantly different from "one of those" MCs.
Oh, and there's also a forced pseudo"mystery" or two about MC's past which is brought up multiple times like it's a form of art, but the keywords are just blatantly omitted to invoke a feeling of mistery. No, it's not mysterious if the MC is literally explaining in an internal monologue TO THE PLAYER, how THAT thing changed everything, without spelling out what THAT thing is. It's an annoying waste of time inserted in the most inorganic, amateurish fashion possible that turns "not knowing about shit" to "not knowing shit about it" which shouldn't be confused with mystery or development.
I honestly do not understand people raving about how great the story is, because while certain interesting topic are definitely touched upon, directions are taken, and things are executed in a more realistic and/or interesting fashion, generally speaking every such scene is preceded and followed by multiple poorly done, uninspired, idiotic, cliché turning points, which collectively overshadow any greatness it occasionally manages to achieve, rendering the final product mediocre roller-coaster of quality at best.
Out of all the characters, MC is hands-down and by far the most offensive. We learn that her being a "duplo" is a close-guarded secret nobody except like 2 people know about, then we're presented a slideshow (that is the game) that really tests the limits of our suspension of disbelief, because MC is not only just the most submissive, spineless doormat who folds like a lubricated lawn chair at the lightest touch, but she is also the undefeated queen of stupid who's controlled by her raging boner, who constantly manages to get herself into situations where, among other things, her oh-so-closely guarded secret could be learned (which does actually happen).
But her secret coming to light is just one (annoying) outcome of many possibilities. Some of the choices she makes could easily get her physically hurt, imprisoned, or on the off chance, even killed, not to mention all the relationships that could be so very easily ruined, so despite seemingly trying to avoid trouble and drama, she dives head-first into the dumbest fucking situations and it's only thanks to the protection of plot armor that nothing ever goes horribly, irreparably wrong for her.
Now, there's a reason for this shit, but I honestly don't know if it makes it better or worse: Her dumbass virgin doormat nature is quite literally needed, so that she may decide, or be convinced by other characters to partake in the story the author has in mind.
Later on, based on the limited choices we got, we get to pick a personality path that puts MC on a more submissive (physically impossible) path, a voyeur path, or a "dominant" path which is what I picked only to be unsurprised by the fact that it still leaves MC as a babbling submissive idiot because the story needs her to be one.
Other characters are largely one-note and cliché (dominant asshole, best friend, loving mother, dumb jock, misunderstood rich, annoying nympho ect) but generally it's either executed at least reasonably well, or just isn't focused on enough to manifest as a significant problem. It's unfortunate that so often the only way the author could get MC's story and other characters (and their personalities/stories) to be compatible was by rendering the MC a socially inept dumbass who just jumps into it.
Choices are few and largely meaningless, and while I'd like to say they determine whether or not you get a scene with characters you're interested in while in the process of paddling through the shallow story, that's not exactly the case either. While occasionally it does do just that, more often the outcome of scenes is forced on the player regardless of the player's choice, if a choice is even given in the first place.
This includes a character who's head-over-heels into MC where the author went above and beyond to avoid addressing it because it will be, at some point, an integral part of a subplot,
there's an unknown and (so far) completely irrelevant character you end up losing your virginity to (something that was made out to be a big deal for this 20-ish years old virgin, so it absolutely should've been left to the player's choice) because it's necessary for a subplot,
and there's also the choice of bending over to the blackmailer being forced on the player which is still being dragged out as of 0.5.1 despite being blatantly obvious who it is from, but let's drag it out more for cheap manufactured drama.
Then there's buying and taking drugs of unknown effects, doing drugs in public repeatedly even after getting caught, letting be used repeatedly, jerking off right next to totally-not-mom and many, many others, because...sigh, you get the idea.
Adult scenes are frequent if you include MC rubbing it out (because, seriously, she does that all the fucking time...) but quite infrequent if you exclude it because aside from being sexually assaulted in non-penetrative ways (more than once), MC won't get any action for quite a bit. The lack of action the MC gets is substituted to the player by overly long, irrelevant dream sequences (but considering the story, that was absolutely not what I was interested in so it didn't win any cookie points from me), as well as a couple of voyeur scenes which are better because at least they're topical, but they don't really move the story forward either.
As for visuals: The renders look reasonably good, models were obviously made with care (though some ended up looking more like generic barbie dolls than others) and have a fair variety including most of the conventional body types/sizes.
Animations are nonexistent, which I don't believe should be an issue given a substitute of well-made renders depicting the act (which is given), considering it makes development faster and especially if the alternative is choppy robotic animations which I think do more harm than good, so I applaud the choice to settle for renders.
As for audio: Characters aren't voiced at all,
sound effects are few and far between but adequate and anyway, not really necessary in the first place,
music is generic but okay for the most part, more importantly it's befitting the mood of scenes, and the existing lewd SFX I immediately turned off before even starting the game so I cannot speak of its quality, sorry.
Spelling/punctuation is flawless as far as I can tell (then again I'm no English major), it's definitely proof-read and corrected, which is like a breath of fresh air.
Overall, it's truly one of the futa games of all time.
Aside the issues of overused porn tropes made to either force the story onwards or prevent it from developing, there's a serious clash between the player's (lack of) choice and the MC's (rather the author's) choice, and considering it's supposed to be a GAME that also has no other game mechanics to speak of, that's a bit of a problem. Especially if the character doesn't even make understandable (if not rational) choices.
It's an unfortunate conceptual miscarriage wherein choices are given yet certain decisions simply HAVE to be forced down the player's throat, whether they like it or not, and no matter how stupid or contradictory they may be, giving the (dis)illusion of being in control as the "player", because otherwise the entire story just falls apart.
If you believe you can put up with the game's flaws and shortcomings having read about them, yeah I'd totally recommend playing it, sure.
But if you want the player controlled character with at least an average-ish intelligence and confidence, or the game to give you some level of control over the most significant decisions, then you'll probably suffer because MC does not reach that high and the author wants to tell this particular story.
