VN - Ren'Py - Etlina's Principle [v0.02.1] [PipPoad]

Rating as of version 0.021
Good

• The story and theme is fairly unique. The story narrative is quite good but character is still is one dimensional.
• Good story premise and world building.
• Overall renders are good but slime/hybrid characters design still leaves much to be desired.
• World environment design is suitable for the story theme and not the usual generic environment
• Story elements are intriguing, mysterious but can come across a bit confusing at first play. It's good element to have players trying to find out more

Bad

• Music / sound effect or lack off. There isnt much of it to talk about. Need to improve in this area
• As of this version, choices in game have no impact. There doesn't seem to be a point system (might be hidden). For now, the path is still bare bone and this might change in the future.
• No spicy scene with any LIs at the moment.
• Release window - the long wait between episode will take away the interest from the game.

Summary
A game worth trying but not great at the current release - The current iteration of the game does not deserve 4 or 5 star rating as it is lacking in content and more of a introduction episode. Rating may change for the better in future versions. WIth the long development time, should only revisit this after a year or two.

I cannot express how much I love this VN, I've already played it from start to finish 3 times and it just gets better because it hypes up my expectation for what is coming next.

The premise concerning the Nox is unique and I am really looking forward to seeing how the MC and Another are going to act as the catalyst that helps solve the issues between humanity, the hybrids and the Nox.

As it stands it is light on the XXX which is no surprise since this looks to be a VN that is big on story telling with XXX being the cherry on top so it has to be properly built in to add to the story rather than being a distraction which takes you out of the gravity of what is happening.

I love the character designs, seeing the MC's reflection on Ivi's luscious bottom just goes to show the Dev means business. The girls have me invested; Ivi ( the lonely sweetheart you just want to carry home), Jex (the cold sarcastic beauty who is friendlier than she looks), Another (the other-wordly beauty with a mother's embrace) and Elina (the childhood friend we all deserve, sorry lads I avoid the siscon route if it is within my power at all times as long as it still fits the narrative) are all awesome. And I believe there will be other characters both human and hybrid yet to be introduced.

This is gonna be an awesome ride and I am really curious as to how the author is going to bring all this together since the MC may have at some point might have to choose where his loyalties lie, with the army or his new found friends who are victims of this phenomena.

Even though the game is short at this point in time (march 2024), you can see its potential:
The story has a nice setting and makes you want more.
The character models are really beatiful.
You could see it as negativ point that there is no/not much XXX content as of now. For this not a problem, as it does not fit the story in this point in time.
All in all, i can really recommend this game and hope that there will be regularly updates.

v 0.02.1i
A lot of potential with good renders and interesting setting. Still animations really could use some work. Its nice start but it is super short. Feels like half of the prologue then real prologue. In current version almost no "xxx content"

Excellent story can't wait to have the next update. Sex is not the big part, but don't care because really story universe and character are really great. I hope our choice will have impact on the story and the end.

Solid intro the world and story, much more yet to discover. Barely any sex scenes so far, but the female models are great so it's hopefully worth the teasing wait. Also, as interesting as the story is turning out, I hope the dev already has a fleshed out story in mind and not just winging it. A lot of directions this can go, and the "roommate" or whatever will be an interesting part in any path. Furthermore, the MC doesn't seem to be some soft, submissive pussy or a total incompetent, horny fool. I'm hoping he maintains his control of the situations he finds himself in.

Made at version 0.02 so it is subject to change once complete

I really like the premise of the game and the art,so far it builds up something a bit different than other games and yet there are many flaws in it,whenever this is a problem because its too early in development or this is how the dev is going to make the game from now on we will see in the future.

I give it 2 stars because there are many bugs and flaws,art is great but doesnt justify the 4-5 stars some of the hordes of simps give it,THERE IS MORE TO A GAME THAN SCENES AND ART!

The dialogue is very generic and boring so far,many typos and parts that dont make much sense,I can give the dev a pass since english isnt his first language but it should be fixed in the future,I didnt enjoy the "dialogue" much.

Choices so far dont have any impact at all,it is early but even so,it can keep going like this till its complete,one which to save that scavenger but its questinable whenever that will help,weird how leaving her is even an option. I personally think the choices are put at bad spots and not worth it,for example a choice whenever to scord or not the girl that saved your life,it should be a choice for how to attack the sniper or whenever to attack her or go away.

Characters are weird so far,the 2 you start with and the officer are very shallow in character,the hybrid that saves you from limax is way too "friendly" and "childish" which I believe means she is either mentally unhinged or lying. The sniper hybrid is too friendly and edgy,pretty much a cliche if I ever saw one in this game. Why is there a scavenger unarmed in such a dangerous area? Even if nox doesnt get her,bandits will.

Story: So far not bad,it builds up and has potential but there are many inconsistencies and things that dont make sense,why is the main character immune? Why arent there more who are immune? Why there had to be this whole "hybrid that will save humanity and her knight in shining armor" trope? I was hoping for something unique like actually fighting the plague or even having a separate path/spin off where you play as them.

Just my personal preference but I wish we had a female protagonist in such a game,usually its female but I can understand we dont.Maybe 2 protagonists?

Too many friendly hybrids,they are supposedly in the story hated and feared and dangerous but we only find 2 and both are extremely friendly,also very little combat/contact with bandits and nox limax enemies.
And many other gaps.

Audio not even music is repetitive (the same background thing I believe) for the whole thing and doesnt really fit,had to turn it off.

It is a VN so not much beyond story,characters,dialogue and choices,try to make things better!

(For 0.2 version of the game)
A visual novel that actually lives up to the word "Visual novel". It's a great novel, and it's got great visuals. Enough said.

Pros:
1) Great original story with a deep plot.
2) Great renders alongside great supporting renders
3) The girls seem to be personable enough. Also they got the THICC.
4) Fitting music
5) MC isn't a fresh 18yo creep

Cons:
1) Not many animations
2) There is a bit of Engrish, like grammatical errors, missing punctuation etc.
3) Some dialogue inconsistencies like, you can ask the same question over and over again while characters pretend they are hearing it for the first time.

With regular updates, maintaining the quality, and a bit of luck, this can go down as one of the best visual novels of this site

TL;DR = Nice story with a lot of mystery and drama.

Story: 5/5
+ This game has a good plot.
+ There is this living latex symbiotic infection. It multiplies and infects all organism (especially humans). Majority of humans turn into some mindless drones in living latex suits. But there are some hybrids who retain their mind. Main MC is working for military. Military sends units into infected zones to research infection.
+ I really liked the story, because it has a lot of mystery and drama.

Art and Sex stuff: 4/5
+ This game has really nice renders. Scenes are very well done.
+ Girls are cute.
+ I am not very big fan of latex theme, but in this game it is very well done. I liked it.
- Unfortunately the game is still in a early development so there is much sex content.
- Some sex scenes look good. But some sex scenes are very short and lacklustre and they still need some work. (Perhaps more details or some animation.)

Gameplay: 3/5
+ This game is a Visual Novel.
+ There are choices in the game. Some choices dont have any impact at all, some choices have a decent impact where characters can die.
+ The game has decent soundtrack. It follows "mystery" and "horror" theme.
- Unfortunately the game is still in early development and there isnt much content. I think I finished the game in 1 hour.

To sum it up:
I like this game. I am giving this 5/5 due to big potential.
I will recommend you to check this game and follow its updates.

This is awesome. Loved the character designs. Are the girls like spider man 3 suit only symbiotes or venom full body symbiotes? Would be cooler if they were like venom and could do cool things like regrow their head. Nevertheless, enjoyed it immensely. Hoping for quicker and bigger updates.

Very good for beginnings , really interested to see where this leads, a good mix of story and erotica is something I am hoping this Dev can aspire other content creators to make more of a effort. Thanks, this was actually refreshing...lets hope this hard work continues and I will support.

I'm wrting this review for v0.02 version.

The game doesn't have much content yet and especially doesn't have much erotic content yet but it already shows some nice potential.

It's a kind of sci-fi horror game with mutants and parasites in postapocalyptic world. You should especially love it if you are into BDSM fetishes like tentacles and latex suits. Buf if you aren't (like me) then it still remains an interesting, climatic story with good mix of pretty looking action and dialogue that makes actual sense.

The graphics are good and original, they certainly aren't reusing the same characters and location of the 100th time.

I'm giving 5 stars in advance, let's hope it will develop nicely.

Pros:

Artwork is fantastic, not just model and prop quality, but all the lighting and post-processing is fantastic. It is extremely good.

Cons:

Holy exposition! I know you have to cram in quite a bit as it is a sci-fi horror, but there has to be a better way than really awkward dialogue.

Thinking is traditionally shown by having the text body in brackets, people barely glance at the speaker's name on the text box. In this case, the convention aids the reader's comprehension, so please don't experiment with it.

Nox look like they're wearing latex, or a really tight bin(trash)bag.

Sex scene sucked. No animation, no visible creampie.

I know a lot about the world already, but nothing about the characters beyond the family relationship (I hope you plan incest or non-protagonist sex; because the sister's model is *french kiss* beautiful). This might just be a personal thing, but I prefer to know something about the characters before I get a lore dump because it gives me more opportunity to care.

very good story and well written (only a few misspellings). the models are top notch. this seems like a developers labor of love. I will definitely keep and eye on this developer. good job, keep up the great work.

Excellent renders and a very interesting setting. Not much of a story up until now but the setup has been good and fresh compared to many other games on this site. The writing(dialogue) though is bad, as in kinda immature and juvenile. The dialogues between the characters is kinda stiff and unreal. Also the military talk feels very fake as if the characters are not actually in the military but are actors playing the part of people in the military and this breaks immersion in the story. My advice would be to maybe talk to someone who actually has been in the military if you can or just simply remove it and make the characters talk to each other as if normal people would. Otherwise the game has a lot of potential and can easily be a 5 Star game as the story progresses and these issues are worked upon.

Good models, interesting story. Let's see where it goes and for the start it is really good.

Also for the first AVN you make you got way better quality than most other new Devs.

Exited for 0.2 keep it up PP.

extremely nice debut..
I'll be watching this one with great hope for its future
Nice characters and intriguing intro..
Good use of ambient music..
Story seems to serve the lewd unlike most other releases these days
Cant wait to see what comes

v0.01

Short but very promising release. One of the very few interesting new AVNs.

Graphics: Amazing. Nice dark atmosphere, nice character models, good lightning and effects

Nothing to complain about. I hope the dark/light horror atmosphere stays, very few games like that out there.

Story: So far interesting and refreshing but we have to see. I like the gritty/rough atmosphere (military etc.) I hate "goody two shoes" protagonists. Personally, I hope the story fits the dark atmosphere and allows me to play an anti-hero and not the usual savior of the day/world crap.

Dialogue: Good. Will have to wait for future releases. I especially like that there is no unnecessary dialogue. Too much useless dialogue is a problem in many AVNS. But despite the shortness of the dialogue, the characters were introduced properly.

Characters: Believable for that scenario and so far not annoying

Romances and sex: The tentacle scene was cool. Sister may be romanceable, but no incest tag so we will see. Sister so far is tough enough to be in the military, but not too tough or bitch for you to be repelled, so that's good. (because too many authors also confuse toughness with bitchiness)

Game design:
Thank god no Sandbox or hourlong dialogue.
There was one point and click tough. Normally I hate that because you always fear you missed something or you can't find the damn thing or it is buggy, whatever... But it was done in a good way. Only the two persons were highlighted and you were warned before proceeding.

Because in general for game design: Keep it simple, keep it good!

My biggest fear are that there will be too many sandbox/point-and-click events that slow down the story and are annoying or a too linear experience that either makes you feel detached from what's happening or goes down a route you don't like as a player. Also, the game will either fail or succeed through its story and dialogue. So I will have to review the game again in a later release.

For all the above points, however, I don't think there is much likelihood of them happening at the moment.

I have to congratulate PipPoad. If you did all of that yourself, you did an amazing job so far!