VN - Ren'Py - Forbidden Passion [v0.12.0 Premium] [PPanGames]

Man, I can't believe I was actually looking forward to playing this game... The previews look nice and the overview seemed interesting, but HOLY HELL what a godawful story and stupid characters!

"But hey, it's a porn game. Who cares about the story", right? Well, apparently the dev cares, because he decided to drop you into some quasi-sentimental and 'serious' setting where you lost your home and struggle to cope with the consequences. And that's fine, but if that's the narrative then the rest of the game should also fit that narrative, and not become some bipolar porn story.

You can't make the mom look realistic and have the aunt walk around like a Final Fantasy character. You can't give the sister a proud and stubborn personality, and then let her work in a demeaning and slutty maid outfit. And it makes absolutely no sense to turn the aunt into some slutty seductress that wants to shower naked with you, and then suddenly make her awkward and scared when she sees your erection.

You have to decide beforehand if you want the game to be serious and story-driven or just some nonsense fuck fest. You can't just combine everything you like into one game. Otherwise you get... well, this:

Aunt: "Now I'm gonna be honest with you two. It isn't the biggest housing arrangement. The only thing you got is a kitchen and a bed."
Mom: "Don't worry, we'll be fine."
(Literally one minute later when you visit your new home)
You: "Oh my god! It's only a kitchen and a bed! Why didn't Aunty tell us about this..."
Mom: *falls down on the floor crying* "I can't do this anymore!"

Also the 'choices' you get are no real choices, since one of them is obviously the correct one and the other doesn't do anything. And finally, the only sex you have is during dream sequences. Which means that by the end of v0.2 all the suspense is already gone, since you've seen all your potential love interests naked and on top of you, without 'actually' having sex with them...

TL;DR:

• v0.2
• Really nice renders!
• Really stupid plot and inconsistent character dialogue
• Lots of teasing, very little sexy-time-content (yet).

So the renders look REALLY nice. I know the character-design is going to be a preference-thing, but I like it a lot. Animations are non-existent.
The plot kind of reminded me of "My cute roommate", which I really didn't like, and is quite stupid. But since I grew up with german porn, I've seen WAY worse ("Why is there straw everywhere? - Well, why do you wear a mask?"). Problem is: That doesn't make this one good.

I was really looking forward to this, after looking at the previews. But it's just way too stupid. The dev included a few text-screens at the end, explaining his motives making this game. And he thinks "It's Porn... who cares about story?". The dialogues are written as if the dev had an idea, then implemented a different idea, but didn't change whatever came before.
Best example: That Tifa-Lookalike tells them about the small apartment with only a single bed. Upon arrival half an hour later, they see their apartment has only one bed. Both are shocked she didn't tell them...

Biggest thing that's kind of concerning me right now is the amount of teasing. There is no actual porn-content (yet). But a lot of fantasies and dream-sequences that break off, as soon as it gets interesting.
I really hope this does not evolve into some kind of "TP: The Class next door" kind of game, that doesn't deliver actual porn for about 14 months, and only relies on Dream-Sequences to keep people invested.
I'd just wish devs would stop using dreams. They are meaningless to the story. They have no impact, whatsoever, on the characters. If I wanted that, I would just hop over to PornHub and watch one of those 30-second animation loops. Instead I'm here, playing a Visual Novel... cause I care for Story. So, for me, inconsequential dreams make games worse.

tl;dr: The story is terrible and the renders are mediocre.

I understand that the type of render might satisfy a certain taste (big boobed barbies), but the actual quality of the renders is not that great. Most of the expressions look plasticky. The shots don't match up well with the text: focus switches to breasts/panties and back to character in the middle of conversations.

The story is basic and really cheesy. Sure there aren't many spelling mistakes, but there is barely any actual content (character development, back story, actual story, etc). The three sentence overview already describes the plot, except as readers we're forced to click through many pages of nothing. I've watched porn movies with better plot and interesting characters than this game.

Finally, the build up. Basically there is none, and the bit that is done is subpar even for porn tropes, so it doesn't build excitement.

The girls are looking great. I know some people don't like these unrealistic proportions, for me both the realistic and these superhuman ones are OK. The sister and Aunt were really cute when they became embarrassed.
I'd be totally OK if game had only these 4 LI-s (I'd rather avoid granny, no matter how fit for her age she is).

I found MC-s character is somewhat inconsistent though. Sometimes he seems like a rather mature and cool guy but other times he acts like the usual perverted virgin MC we saw in other games. Him covering for his mother and trying to find a job to solve their financial problems is rather mature and cool in my opinion. But why did he wait with this until they were thrown out from their house? Also while it's unclear yet why his relationship with his sister is so bad, expecting her to let them move in with her, just because the flat his aunt offered them is a bit small and a bit worn down makes him look somewhat spoiled.

There seems to be some hints for something hidden in the background. I hope there really is something and it will explain some stuff, otherwise the family members immediately falling for MC like he was the second coming of Jesus or things like MC fainting because of a boner will make a rather lackluster story.

For now I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and believe there will be some explanation for these things in future updates and give it a perfect rating.

Chapter 0.2 update:
I've never seen a story going downhill so fast. It basically penetrated the Earth and came out on the other side.
Previously the story had some minor issues, now with grandma's "explanation" it suddenly became a huge pile of crap.
That hospital scene with granny was so cringe worthy I couldn't click fast enough to get over it.

I hope dev comes to his senses and rewrites this chapter.
The models still look hot and I certainly like the incest theme (except for granny) but I don't think I can stomach so much crap no matter how hot the woman are.

Result of chapter 2: 5 Stars to 1 Star

Everything with this game looks fantastics!
The art style, characters, history and of course the thicc design that Ijust love it!
If this game keeps this quality it's going to go skyrocket in popularity very soon

This 4 star rating is tentative, can't wait to see more. Also, imo linear is the way to go. I'm not a fan of maps on these. I think that the Tifa outfit is really random, but somehow fits in, like immersion breaking but somehow right.

So far, the renders are pretty good, while the story is a bit all over the place and cliché, the english is very good. It's only an introduction of each characters, so we'll see how it develops.

My favorite part of this is the Tifa cosplay, while slightly out of place it is very nice to see.

Can't wait for the gran!

i previously gave this 5/5 stars but after playing 0.3/0.4, i really don't want to hate this game but i kinda do.

0.5 update: seems like the dev is improving in real time and adjusting to the criticism or just dumb luck but 0.5 seemed to improve on the primary problems imo. so i'm upping from 3/5 to 4/5. overall i think it's like a 6.5/10. it's worth a play just for the visuals. dialogue is still bad but not so in the way of itself that it ruins the strong points of the game. i know it's hard to hire a writer that isn't just fluent in english but actually understands pacing/build up/pay off but i wish the dev would take a look at some games like resident x which is kinda the opposite of this game where it's strongest points are story/character/scene setup/pacing.

DESIGNS 9.5/10 -virtually perfect imo, maybe some of the clothes like the mom's yoga top in the grandma/mom scene could be better like having underboob would be better or just not having this weird stick-to-the-skin cloth that appears in lower quality rendered games

RENDER QUALITY 6.5/10 - it's not that best but it's good enough to let the fantastic designs shine

dialogue 3/10 - the dialogue is really bad and distracting. this is my biggest critique of the game. the dialogue is bloated and could easily be cut down by 30-50% in the right way (not cutting content) and the game would be a lot smoother. i also just don't understand what the game is going for as of versions 0.3/0.4. if the game is trying to be non-rapey then take the route of making the girls hyper horny and perverted themselves and have the taboo be the tether that creates buildup/sexual tension (which the game seems to suggest but then seems like it's very unclear to even itself that's what it's going for). if the game is going to indulge in consenual non-consent material, i personally don't like this approach of making the protagonist being kind of almost sanctimonious in a way that's actually contributing to making the game more blue-bally but then at the same time engaging in very rapey behavior which is very realistically written to a rapist irl in how they would explain away and justify their sexual assaults/rapes. "i just couldn't control myself. it's not my fault. i shouldn't do this but i just can't help myself." it feels too realistic in the worst way that don't add to immersion or the fantasy element of a sexual fantasy game.

OVERALL SATISFACTION 4/10 - this is pretty much being entirely carried by the design of the female characters and the core ideas behind the scenes. the execution, dialogue, and protagonist are points that are either an immersion break from the sexual fantasy element for me and/or detract from eroticism.

CONCLUSION: this is really one of those games that would benefit massively by working with someone who makes one of those anime-style erotic games that don't create their own visual assets but have a strong grasp on eroticism, story, character, etc. this game needs a lot of help and maybe this is personal but this feels too rapey in a realistic and douchey way. i'm not one who can't enjoy in good sleep or consensual non-consent fantasy content but this feels too real. i don't like it. it doesn't feel like a fantasy at all in dialogue even though having tifa from ff7 would suggest the game is a erotic fantasy game. i feel like the game just doesn't know what it is. is it trying to be not rapey? is it trying to be very realistic to an actual predator? i can't tell, or rather, it feels confused. maybe there's too many authors with conflicting visions for the game? maybe there's just one author and they just don't really know what they are doing when it comes to character and story execution for erotic games? i also want to say the general character personality concepts are fine. they're not particularly bad. it's the dialogue and execution of the scenes (like the blue-bally nature of how the scenes unravel) that are really a detraction from the overall experience.

Very, very, very solid start.

The renders are gorgeous, that they are. The characters are fun to interact with, and the story lends itself well the scenes, in that they flow together well. There's no weird mix-up you may find in other games where the text says something and the render is doing something else. Continuity points, +1!

The writing is nice! Grammar is there, which is a major +! I feel like there could be a little more dialogue to butter things up and maybe create a more natural banter between characters but other than that, well, you're smashing it, mate!

Seriously though, game is nice, and I really look forward to more!

Pros: The story feels fresh with no useless dialog that will get you to skip to the action part, the characters are likeable so far as the choices are usable and dosent make the game seems its to close of a kinect novel. Yea its another incest game but its different in its own way that makes it realistic for the players to understand and on a side note this dev is probably the only one on f95 that can transition over from 2d to 3d with great renders and a interesting story that have the readers hooked so he's definitely worth a patron thats dedicated to the community. The game seems to know what route its going in so it dosent trick any of the players. It dosent have non sense mechanics that will get you frustrated like minigames including the hard ones or sandbox with no walkthrough or useless clicking that could of been better use for players to fap. Its a worthy download to play and 100% has the potential to be one of the top 3ds that has a great team behind it. THIS IS A MUST GET ON EVERY UPDATE!! if your a heavy FAPPER like me then THIS WILL GET YOU TO FAP EVEN ON NON SEXUAL SCENES. As a first release bravo

Cons: the story will get you hooked in wanting more so cautious!! i recommend to slowly take in every conversation to make the lust last longer. The only real con will be if this game joined the abandoned genre with the other great games that could of helped the community so with me saying this means the game have something that the fans can appreciate