VN - Ren'Py - Fog Of War [Ep. 4.2] [Story Machine Studios]

Make this one into a fun drinking game; every time the MC mentions being a soldier, or something he did as a soldier, take a shot. Then be hospitalized from alcohol poisoning within 2 chapters. Seriously one of the most one dimensional MC's I've ever come across, which is a shame as this is a decent story with some promising LI's and quality renders. I don't even dislike the MC due to the whole'gigachad' thing, just wish he had something else to talk about than being a soldier, it was boring after 2 chapters, its unbearable after 4.

Current version is 4.2.

One of the most underrated games, in my opinion. This is like an old-school action movie with simple, but home-hitting morals, badass MC, and hot women. It was like returning to my childhood, watching all those Schwarzenegger and Stallone flicks. A great experience.

Pros:
1) The MC is a total badass; he's so awesome that you don't worry for him and can rely on him in all situations, which allows the player to focus on the girls' problems.
2) The visuals are great.
3) The girls are all likeable and very hot. Also, the dev subverted my expectations: if someone told me beforehand that I would prefer a streamer with fake tits and an ex to a hard-worker and a cookie-making kid lover, I wouldn't believe, but here we are.
4) Specific girl: Kristyn. She isn't my favourite here - Kendra still edges her out - but damn is she likeable! It's one of extremely rare cases where I like an ex - and I like her a lot.
5) The humour. 3 MGs out of 5 are very funny people.
6) The flashbacks to the MC's service are very welcome! They are well-designed and provide a great distraction from the relationship building.
7) Quite a bit of action, generally.
8) I like that the moral aspect of medicine is often discussed.

Cons:
1) Writing is on the weak side in the earlier chapters.
2) Unrealistic characters' facial expressions, especially in the earlier parts. It's as if they're constantly excited and shouting all of their lines.
3) Some unavoidable content early on. It's nothing to write home about, just some kisses, but it's there.
4) A sex scene here is typically done via one long animation; I would very much prefer several short ones to have better control over viewing them.

Still, 5 stars!

Pros:

• Nice renders
• Beautiful women, even if I don't care much for the tattoos on one of them.
• Decent amount of content.
• Lots of detail in the story - regarding both military ops, and medical practices.

Neutral:

• MC is a seemingly super-intelligent gigachad with eidetic memory. Seems more like plain old wish fulfillment nonsense. That being said, it isn't all that offensive, when compared to the absurdly huge numbers of beta spineless protagonists in so many contemporary AVNs.
• A missed opportunity with the story - having a traumatized veteran, one used to solving things through violence, learning to live and love again, would have been uplifting to see.
  The dev, in his usual manner of not knowing where to draw the line, decided to add:
  
  Spoiler

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Cons:

• Sex scenes : Among the most lackluster ones I've seen, in any recent VN. Barely any emotion in them, there's comparatively more (even if faked) in a garbage-tier Brazzers porno. Animations are also horribly lacking in these scenes.
  Being an AVN, this is a huge problem. It would like Doom Eternal with garbage gunplay, or a RTS with no strategic depth.
• As others have mentioned, the pacing is inconsistent. Sometimes, it drags on and on painfully, sometimes it rushes through what should have been important moments in the story.

This game deserves so much more credit than the average rating portrays. While i understand the criticism... The MC is the perfect "Chad." I guess some people don't like that, i get it. He's built like a tank, has a genius mind and all the women throw themselves at him. It's cliche but it's done really well imo.

Anyway, The renders are great. The women are all really hot. . They each have personality and it's enjoyable to read their story.

I especially enjoy the dramatic side of the story. There are moments that touches the heart and music really exemplifies the moment. It elevates it to more than just a "porn game". There's an actually good story to boot!

I wish luck to the dev... there are so many games with higher ratings that fail in comparison. The dev should really learn to pay for "fake" reviews that promote their game

(Ep. 4 March 2024)

The not so good:
Sometimes the talking between the characters gets into preaching. While I concur with many of the ideas being presented (how can a nation that calls itself civilized withhold healthcare from the citizens because of money?), it still comes off too strong.
MC does inject the "while I was in the service" lines way too often. They even lampshade it, but, yeah, too often.

The neutral:
I am not a big fan of long animated sequences. You watch them slightly bored like a task, because maybe something interesting or new shows up. But that's my personal preference.
MC is fucking overpowered, and the threat of turning his implants against him was underused.

The good:
I played the whole thing without skipping once. Storytelling works fine, even some jumping around does not break it.
Renders are fine. The ladies are varied and sexy, even if not all faces are beautiful to me. Which is kind of good, really.
The gay guy is accepted for what he is, and I love the nods to and citations from pop culture and other good VNs.

So, over all, entertaining and interesting, also, tits.
I was unsure whether to give 4 or 5 stars, but with under 4 stars it is underrated now.

This is a really fine AVN which I thoroughly enjoy. The MC is a MAN who behaves like it and not a juvenile delinquent and it's nice that he treat the LIs in a gentlemanly manner which is not common enough. It also makes sense that all the girls fall for him unlike many other games. The LIs which are all super hot are varied in looks and personality which is also welcomed. The romantic pacing is not consistent enough but i get that some women are more reserved then others or have more baggage. Waiting to see how it develops.

[EP3] - overall rating: 5.75/10

The name of the game is inconsistency.

THE GOOD

I like the idea of the young albeit already emotionally scarred soldier. The introduction was solid, giving you a glimpse into which values were taught and which were earned during their service. It's clear that the developer wanted to portray this seemingly perfect young person going through tough times because of how fate can play fickle games with one's life.

Another point worth mentioning is the music and SFX - there's a good variety of them and they're well-placed.

Also, kudos for some shots - pretty much every character (except Vincent ) has a render that you like to look at.

THE NEUTRAL

The instant text speed isn't my thing (and you sadly cannot adjust it in the game menu), but it's dev's choice so I can't really complain much here.

The UI is stylized, but I'm not sure in what way - there isn't one cohesive theme among the somewhat scarce GUI elements.

THE BAD

As mentioned in the title for this review, this game suffers from a terrible case of inconsistency on pretty much all levels.

Firstly - the renders.
As of EP3 there's a little over 4.6 K renders in the game - which is quite sizeable for a VN barely a year old - but, I kid you not, pretty much half of them are either extremely grainy (especially in the prologue and EP1) or they lacking proper focus (or sometimes even both), resulting in a disappointingly subpar presentation. In some shots character's scaling doesn't make sense (in one shot a girl reaches to MC's forehead, the next she's a foot shorter) or the lighting suddenly changes.

And sure, while this is Meat Shield's/Story Machine Studios' first game, the quality-to-quantity ration is way off. If I was the dev, I would come back to remake the prologue and EP1 to be more in line with later chapters - it's important to make a good first impression, and not rely on "it gets better".

Secondly - the characters.
After reading the synopsis for this title, I was afraid that the MC will turn out to be a giant, godlike twat, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him as the highlight of this story (so far). No over-sexualization of women or hurtful stereotypical comments about one's looks or way of being - just a normal guy with abnormal amount of muscle and brainpower.

But I cannot say the same about the others. Most of the (potential) LIs are borderline bland, not adding much to the table, especially the ex-girlfriend and your "tour guide" Angelica. Maybe they'll get better as the plot progresses, but so far they've been a waste of "screen time" in my opinion.

Thirdly - the pacing.
I have absolutely no fucking clue what is happening most of the time and where or why we are there. How much time passed since we started the new life? Days? Weeks? Months? I cannot tell, because the game jumps frantically between scenes like it's skipping rope. Add to it that most of the scene changes don't fade in or out so one moment you're at the campus, the next frame you're suddenly somewhere else, sitting by a fire and drinking beer.

Quite disappointing is also the amount of filler content we have - two girls playing a game, two girls talking about a guy, one girl making cookies, some girl from another game I have never played giving MC life advice, and so on... These would've worked as perhaps bonus scenes (especially the cameo), or removed off-screen completely - just like the whole "my special unit is hunting me down" or "some other assassins are hunting me down". Also, the EP2 ending montage looks like some soap opera collage of what happened thus far.

Lastly - the writing.
For the most part it's not bad, it's just... inconsistent. Some parts can have decent, organic dialogue between characters only to then fall off and sound almost AI-generated (the lab part had me completely lost, for one). The MC can be a young, relatable person one scene and some middle-aged grizzled veteran preaching some "above else" values the next. Also, the entirety of prologue has almost no distinction between what's a thought and what a spoken word, leaving you confused as to why is MC exclaiming that he and his lover had just concluded sexual act.

Speaking of sex - it's bad. I get that this is a story-driven VN (and a slow burn at that), but the ever-so-rare h-scenes feel like a chore, rather than pleasure. I believe that the loop of Kristyn (the ex-gf) drinking the soda in the prologue has more frames than any of the sex scenes. They feel forced yet somehow bland. Honestly, if you were to remove them from the game, no value would be lost.

Bonus one: Just like in "Whose Line Is It Anyway", the points don't matter. Neither do your choices, it seems.

I hope the dev can chill out with the quantity and focus on the quality - the game can still get good ^^

This game is certainly not going to be to everyone's taste -- some of the criticisms leveled at it are true, in that it's quite a slow burn of a game and lewd moments are very few and far between. But that's what I like about it.

The more AVNs I play, the more appreciation I have for games that take their time to explore characters and relationships before they get into the sex. Fog of War definitely qualifies -- though it's easy to get impatient for more to happen, I take that as a good sign, because it means I'm invested in the story.

While the writing is not perfect and does have some flaws, I think it's clear the developer cares about these characters and has a plan for the future. Kendra and Angelica are both terrific characters in my eyes, and I can't wait to find out what happens with them.

One double-sided feature of Fog of War is how detail-oriented it is. The writing has a LOT of detail, sometimes too much so, in an attempt to attain a certain level of verisimilitude. This doesn't always work in the game's favor; some of the biology lectures made me go a little cross-eyed, while the military jargon felt much more appropriate and impactful (I was never in the military, though).

If you're looking for quick gratification, FoW is not going to be your game. If you want something with a little more depth and a slower pace, consider giving Fog of War a try.

I'm giving it a 3 because there's hope. It's realistically as of the current content a 2/5 at best. Good renders, phenomenal writing but oh so predictable.

MC is a super Giga chad who was born and destined to be the greatest soldier that ever walked on God's green earth. Really? Even some of the most giga human beings have flaws and you could have showed that. I could forgive that, but even if I do, it already seems like every girl is interested in MC as soon as they meet him.

You then have the added issue where your ex partner literally shows up on your first day at school. You could have waited and introduced her down the line.

Dialogue's and interractions are mediocre at best as well. The plot in interesting, the idea of the story your trying to tell is unique and made me interested in trying the game, the execution of that story however is flawed at best.

I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm being honest because I believe if you could iron out a few of these problems you have a really good game on your hands. Please work on the writing dev, all the best in future development.

Its pretty early to give an accurate rating but the bones are there. I look forward to future updates. The pacing could use a lot of work though. Try it out, its not too long. I liked the drama with the ex but it feels kinda empty.I know they'll get together eventually.

Points with girls earned during the game seem to have no meaning.
For that they are variable, if at the beginning of the game you help a girl with weights at the gym you end up dating her and later kissing her, despite scoring minus points. I had to start the game over and not help her at the gym xD

The game from the graphic side is good while the story promised to be interesting, but it is very predictable.

The girls whose models I like are very uninteresting or even annoying about the ones I don't like I can't say anything because I started skipping conversations with them.

The introduction is very long and basically tells nothing interesting.

I did not find any character that interested me, I am unlikely to return to this production.

A couple of times you see scenes of other characters that have no relevance at all either to the story or to your person, like two girls playing lol, a waste of time to produce renders.

No option to change your last name so you play [your name] Richards, two lines of code to be able to name a player correctly is too much of a challenge for the dev.

The only good thing about this game is the music and MC, nothing else good I can write about this production.

I should probably start with this good... and that is the developer. They are definitely talented. The renders are great, the scene blocking and staging is well done. The writing is solid and the overall pacing of the story, while slow in some parts, is pretty on target.

The problem is there is nothing original in this story at all. The MC is a super Chad/Gary Stu who all the women fall for after meeting him, he is a bad ass at everything, super smart, ex-military and never makes a mistake. Plus, the former military unit he worked for is now after him. Sound familiar?

There is a little bit of drama with the ex, but we all know how that is going to turn out because the MC is perfect. Absolutely perfect, and if it doesn't work out, the next woman he meets will swoon over him and all will once again be right in the world.

Okay... I am being a bit snarky, but that's because I think this dev could do something really great. The bones are there, they just need to step away from the harem where all the girls melt and are fine with whatever he does. I know we play these games to get away from life, but this is just the dev selling out. Relationships are about drama. About doing what's right but also making mistakes along the way. About getting your feelings hurt or hurting others... intentionally or not... It's about falling in love or taking care of the people close to you and maybe letting them down occasionally.

Okay... I know... at the end of the day the dev should create whatever they want to create. If they are having fun and they enjoy what they are doing, then they should keep doing what makes them happy. I mean, who am I to judge anyone? But I am really not judging here; I am just trying to challenge the dev a little. They don't have to take my advice, and I am sure there are plenty of people who like this kind of game, but I think they have talent and I think they could create something really great.

Version: Chapter 2 (0.20)

Pros: Good music, nice renders, attractive characters, backstory starts out decently, and there are some interesting concepts and relatable elements to explore.

Cons:

-The pacing is horrible, scene changes are moved between rapidly enough to give you whiplash, and montages are used in place of letting us experience what could be meaningful moments. I'm constantly thinking I missed something in this game when I haven't... it just entirely forgoes showing us progression at various points. Some dramatic/emotional elements also already feel rushed as they're already starting to happen while we barely know let alone have been given a chance to care about the characters.

-The writing and the dialogue alternate regularly between bare bones and cringe-inducing (sometimes managing both at the same time). Aside from the occasional bright spot it's a strange mix of very cliche, overly reliant on pop-culture references, nearly robotic feeling, and sometimes what feels like just plain messages/thoughts straight from the author not bothering to disguise it well enough as something from a character. The story-telling often feels like being repeatedly hit over the head with messages and attempts at characterization rather than having it happen more organically. Almost nobody speaks remotely like an actual person in this game... it's like their main speech patterns all came from social media. When that's not going on, the dialogue ranges from bland to just plain strange or awkward.

-Most of the female LIs we know enough about have quickly become anywhere from insufferable to just tolerable already. Progression in getting to know any of the characters is almost non-existent and more like having a list of traits/tropes dumped on the reader than letting us get to know the characters ourselves (some things we're even just told flat out and never shown). Most of the girls have this strange shallow idealistic streak running through them which can be odd and often comes across as either self-righteous or just plain selfish in some scenes. While in most games I end up liking the characters more as I get to know them so far it's been the opposite in this one which definitely wasn't the intention.

-Animations are very basic and very little is done in the scenes thus far to make them at all sexy.

-I went originally went into this expecting more realistic characters and situations after the author stated "I am trying to emulate real world situations and avoid porn logic." There's very little in the way of realistic here (a lot of quite the opposite). I was expecting way too much and that's on me.

-The most criminal parts are we've got an MC set up in a manner in which he's incapable of forgetting the things that haunt him from his past because of his incredible memory but it's hardly ever shown/explored outside of a few references and every even possibly emotional moment, if one were actually given time and reason to be invested at this point, isn't even given room to breathe before being moved on from or ruined entirely.

Overall: So far this is an extremely shallow game that desperately wants to convince you that it's not. Any story-driven game that doesn't have good enough writing to deliver a decent story has a fundamental problem (I have the same issue with certain other games that are extremely successful and people love, so take that as you will - some may find the writing style suits them for all I know). I can tell the intention is there but the execution is just lacking in so many ways currently. If there's any hope for this game's narrative it needs to lean way more heavily into the internal struggles of the MC and the military intrigue... they're the only elements that set it apart from being a really bad college-style dating sim with pretty pictures at this point. There are some very relatable elements to this game but they're wrapped up in a package that make it very hard to care about. Give this game a try for yourself (it's still short atm) and by all means support it if you do enjoy it and want to see it continue... just set your expectations appropriately (and here's hoping it gets better... it's still early so I wouldn't write if off just yet).

As of Ep. 2:
In its current state, Fog Of War sets itself up to be an interesting narrative. The MC seems like a shallow character at first glance, but truly has some deeper struggles within him. The storyline seems interesting enough and already early in the story, presents an array of problems and struggles with each of the love interests. I will definitely keep my eye on this one!

It is not so easy to rate Fog of War, because it is very difficult for me to identify with a super chad like this MC. He is more of an action hero than a complex personality. The tragic war hero is probably the most used archetype there is for this kind of main character. And that's okay, you don't always have to reinvent the wheel.

The LIs are very handsome, if a bit stereotypical. The firecracker, the nerd, the wannabe womaniser nobody takes quite seriously, the trusted veteran friend, there's little originality here and some characters aren't explored deeply enough to see them as anything more than extras for the MC to pose in front of.
Everything is too much tailored to the MC for me. He is really the centre of the world and you wonder how all these protagonists could exist before he appeared, how they solved problems on their own, who they were friends with beforehand, every single woman feels immediately attracted and at ease around this huge and potentially troubled elite warrior. (Is he really though? He is quite the smooth operator.)
In short, I feel there is a lot of context missing to make the world really come alive and not just be a backdrop for the actual plot, which has not quite started yet.

Nevertheless, I played Ep. 1 of Fog of War in its entirety and had a good time. This is partly because various conflicts are slowly building up in the background and also because I know roughly what to expect from this kind of VN. The MC as a knight in white armour will have to give it his all, more perhaps than can be foreseen at the moment.
This is the kind of existential drama/action flick I like to watch. If it has to be a chad, then at least one who sacrifices himself for his friends.

Fog of War is not just a slice of life story, but also sifi, action and hopefully a dash of character development in the course of the plot. The MC has human depths that have yet to reveal themselves. And maybe in the end it will turn out that Fog of War is convincing as an action thriller. Then I would gladly overlook its shortcomings as a dating simulator.

Definitely one of the most original story lines I've read so far, and a breath of fresh air from the usual fare.
Dialogue has zero flaws.
Images are some of the best I've seen, on par with the professional ones who'd usually find in more mainstream galleries.
Solid start to a solid VN. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Giving this a tentative 4.5* now but rounding up. Its still VERY early days, but its as good as 0.10's get. Renders are terrific. Animations are... meh. but not bad. Story is... early but fine so far. If all this sounds like a decent but not great start, never fear

The characters are TERRIFIC so far. All the LIs are VERY likable. None of them are virignal maidens waiting for the MC to sve them with his magic dick. Even the -ex is likable and left the MC for totally valid reasons. They all look very nice as well. This takes place in medical school so no 18 y.o.s here. These are all fully grown women. I can see issues with models here though. All the ones available seem to lean to either the teeny-boppers or to the more mature type. Rendering actual adult girls seems to be a tricky balancing act. Some of the models here seem to be morphed and aged down from milfy types and kinda look it. This sort of thing can hopefully be fixed later though.

Oh, i know this will REALLY bother some folks, but this seems to be the slow burn type of AVN. Doesnt seem like there is going to be enormous amounts of H-scenes with LIs early, and the Dev has said that the lewds are going to be NC-17 rated. So don't expect any penetration. This doesnt bother if the story is good enough. I'm hopeful about that being true here, but that remains to be seen. So you horndogs should keep that in mind. No in-and-out and in-and-out here. Think game of thrones level of lewdness. No MC penis in site for instance. So ya YMMV here if that sort of thing is super important to you.

This is for Ep1... Renders are in the upper 1% of these games...not the greatest but almost there. The female models are nice. The story itself is very interesting. I think I saw maybe 1 typo and no engrish. It has a decent amount of content for a first episode. Very solid work so far

In its Current State i give the game an Overall: 6.5/10. I rate overalls based on 4 Weighted Categories: Story 40%, Sexual Content 25%, Renders 20%, and Character Models 15%.

Story 8/10: Another Great Demo for this year, honestly this game seems great the demo gives a great setup for the story and was interesting the whole way through. Little disappointed he dropped out and went to college but i feel like a college student vs cia seems intriguing. The MC himself seems like a bad MF, mans ripped. Honestly he looks like the typically College Jock. i like how this game doesnt try and paint the GF in a bad light. Im a little disappointed on how the call between the MC and GF was handled, it could have been written a little more emotionally. I hope we get to see what happened during those three months along with more details on his military career.

Sexual Content 4/10: So far there is only one SC scene, its not that good the animations are very simple but its a demo, hopefully they will improve in due time, most demos dont even have SC.

Renders 6/10, i debated between giving it a 5 or 6 i settled with 6, honestly they're pretty grainy but its nothing to complain about. Overall pretty average renders.

Character Models 7/10, the MC is kinda ugly, like i said he looks like a Giga-chad jock. Not really excited for any SC scenes for this game but thats okay. The girls themselves look great, we havent been introduced to them yet but they have been teased and im going for the runner girl.

A really great demo. Render quality is good, a great variety of characters, clearly an effort has been made to make each character look quite unique. Music and sound effects are paired well with their scenes and the animations are well done and work smoothly into the story. The characters introduced so far have clear and distinct personalities and interact with each other naturally showing a nice mix of comedy and serious moments.

Its nice to see an AVN with slightly older characters who have some life experience behind them rather than some fresh faced 18 year olds. The story premise seems new and interesting. Trying to leave one life behind while building a new one is no easy task and creates so many opportunities for engaging story telling and branching.

Really looking forward to where the story takes us from here and excited to meet the rest of the cast of this story!