VN - Ren'Py - Friends in Need [Ch. 9 v0.60c] [NeonGhosts]

Decent writing, not that much cringe, and givin the recent rise and fall of crypto seems come somewhat grounded in reality. CGs start off a bit crude but have improved with every update. I am keeping an eye on this one. Looking forward to more.

"So, yeah. You're gay. *guitar riff sounds*"

This game certainly has something. At first I kinda cringed out, but it seems that developer's skills improved drastically over time. And this version is worth checking out with what content it has. And I think it's great.

Why 5/5 then? Well, because... this VN is kinda clever. Your choices matter in context of MC personality and his relationships. You may look at screenshots and set some expectations, and they will be met.

Good one. Hope to see future updates.

Played the Nice route, and found it a lot more wholesome than expected.

Some minor inconsistencies in art and some overly plasticky/empty locations, but overall a great, soothing experience.

I'll come back for the later chapters!

Friends in Need is really delivering a great story filled with very interesting characters.
The writing is very good and gives life to the situations.

But what impressed me so much with Friends in Need is how very differently the MC can be depending on your decisions/choices :
- a true saint
- a good guy
- a manipulative bastard
- an absolute evil piece of shit (though this one require a mod/patch)

with the story actually acknowledging the type of MC you're having and flowing accordingly.
And making the MC into being a good guy or a saint really provide a lot of "feel good" moments.
5 stars top AVN !

Here you will find a story carried well by it's complex female characters and it's abiliy to shape the protagonist according to your own will.

Rated as of Version: "v.0.4"


For me this game is another positive examples, that the sites games slider works. Let me start by saying I played this game on what I believe is the 'good' route rather than the 'evil' one, so my view of the game will reflect on this route.

This game, like the most successful games on this site brings a focus on story and on characters. Similar again, to some of these successful games, the focus on the protagonists development may at times feel secondary to developing the romantic interests in the game. And the characters that are developed are indeed something. They are, almost exclusively, complicated characters. So yes, the LIs are complicated people, just like real people are. Wishing for more simplified characers discards the reality that stories thrive by reflecting reality. That is how a story becomes immersive. That is how a reader can understand and identify with a character. All through entertainment you will find that successfull characters are not simple characters. That even the most escapist comedy shows thrive by confronting us with the flaws of it's characters. So while I concede the point that this story's characters are flawed and complicated ones, I would argue this is a writing choice that makes the story come to life in the first place. However, this also means that not every character might for everyone. And it is also a difficult path to tread. Flaws can help develop characters. Supporting these characters can build relationships. But moving forward relationships solely on the basis of a one-sided supporting relationship will, with time make characters grow insipid.

Arguably the only character in this game that is the least confronted with difficulties is the protagonist himself, resulting in a kind of savior that one likes to play, but as of this point is still struggling to communicate who he actually is and what is broader goals are. You can, to a much higher degree than in other games, shape the general behaviour of your protagonist, though this will be limited to a relatively binary distinction between good and evil, with both paths diverging significantly.

The graphics are quite good, especially once playing past the first chapter, though I'd argue it is not the main selling point that this dev is going for. You will find good renders and well crafted sex-scenes, but especially if you are looking for well animated scenes I might try my luck elsewhere.

If you are intruiged by the ability to shape your character, for better or worse, or if you are looking forward to engaging with complex female characters, give this game a try. But don't be dissapointed if you end up not liking some of the characters. I wish lots of luck with the further development.


Gameplay: 4.7/5 | Art: 4.5/5 | Story: 5/5 | Writing: 4.6/5
OVERALL: 4.8

This is a quality immersive game that gets better the more you start playing it. The renders are excellent, gameplay is fine with plenty of choices that suits to however you want the MC to interract with the female characters. Also I didn't expect the game to actually have some emotional moments but we see that with the first LI and it was written well. Some of the models are really hot as well, and the writing has been solid for the most part. The first LI Nicki went from unlikeable to likeable once she started living with the MC, so you know the dev is capable of giving decent character development to his characters. Dev himself is very friendly, engaging and active on here.

The only reason this isn't a 5 star for me is the lack of animations, music, and sound effects. I am assuming the Dev might implement this once the game is finished. We do see animations much later on in the game, but it's not enough for a perfect score. If I had to rank, it would be a 4.5, instead of a 4, but sadly that isn't a option in this rating stars rank.

Looking forward to more updates for Friends in Need

4.5/5 game.

Beyond the renders I have almost nothing positive to say about this game.

Admittedly I stopped playing before all the LI's where introduced, but the first 3 or so where enough for this to get the Alt+F4, delete, empty recycle bin treatment.

Starting with the first LI. The game starts with her and the MC working together, he's likes her but is too much of a coward to make a move. (yet later he became this super dominate guy and on dark path rapes women, yeah right.) . The LI then hooks up with the new guy at the job and gets into a world of trouble resulting in her coming to the mc and prostituting herself to him to get money. At this point she realizes she loves the MC but still goes home to her trash BF and later runs away to even worse conditions and eventually comes back to the MC when she's hit rock bottom and looks like a cliched washed out porn star. Why didn't she go to him right away? I would have had more sympathy for her then, than 6 or 8 or however many months later. All I wanted to do was slam the door in her face, but sadly there is no option for that.

The next LI is some stupid bitch spoilt brat. Again as much I tried to ignore her she kept turning up like a bad penny you can't get away from.

The 3rd LI was decent, but being forced to deal with the two previous ones despite having no desire to interact with them at all, she couldn't make up for it.

Devs seem to forget we play these vn's for escapism. If I wanted shitty flawed people, I'd go outside, there are enough of them there. It feels like the dev actively tried to make each LI as crappy as possible so we wouldn't feel bad about hurting them on the dark parth and thats what he was trying to push the player towards.

As a harem romance game, this one fails terribly. As a dark rape sim, it might be your cup of tea, but not for me.

great game, great renders. great story. the story with the girl you love but her ex abuse and the money part really gat to me as something similar happend to me in a way. she did come back. i forgave her and she went away agian. she said i let her slip out of her hands to tell it bluntly. and short version. so i can relate to the story. great feedback of the DEV love a good dev that takes q&a and asnwers and take notice of us small peasants.

cant wait for future updates. hoping for a steam realease at some point? <3 keep doing a great job NeonGhosts your having a great game with amazing renders and good story

Animation: Well rendered, realistic posing, and detailed scenes. Job well done
Scripting: Conversations carry and convey the personality of the characters saying them.
Plot: Perhaps a few hints of overarching plot but mostly dealing on a relationships by relationship level for now. But the plots seem genuine and thought out.
Typically I'm not a fan of games that have multiple paths (because I'm not patient enough) but this game threads the needle of giving a chracter multiple relationship options but not locking them out of all the content (unless you're being really thickheaded with your choices). Looking forward to more update, though I might wait for a few to drop so I get more content

Great story, nice girls, and lots of kink, if you like sex to be more that just put it in and out that game is for you. I loved dominating Nicki. Lack of animations is a downside. I hope someone will create a walkthrough mod, cause there's a lot of choices and story lines to choose from.

Good game with impacting choices. You can be an asshole or a gentlman .And the most amazing part is you can be evil for some character while being kind to another character in single playthrough .And the story seems good(not amazing though) .And their is not a single virgin character .Even 18 year old are not .So -1 stars from me.It is as of 0.4 and i have still not finished playing .Might change review later.

Friends in Need is an innovative game that shows that certain formulas can be improved to capture the attention of a public that would not normally pay attention to it.

Normally, these kinds of games are quite similar to each other and the greater the number of female characters, the less the difference between the models and their personalities. But this is not the case. The developer(s) have achieved, through a well-developed story, that each female character you meet in the game is unique and appeals to the player in different ways, making the experience incredibly exceptional.

For me it is a great experience that I recommend it to anyone, regardless of their personal kinks, since as each female character and each situation is so different and exciting, I am sure that most users will like it.

That being said, what would make this game a 10/10 would be adding animations to the sex scenes. The captures are quite good, but it is true that each player has their preferences when it comes to seeing the sex scenes, for example: there is a scene in the bathroom and I personally would have liked another angle to have been added where I can appreciate the girl's ass. Still a solid experience and highly recommended and if it comes out on Steam I will support the developer and buy the game.

I love this game and the ability to play as the nice guy or an ass. It adds to the replayability of the game and makes life a lot more fun. Being able to treat each woman like a princess or a slut just means it's a game I can keep coming back to

One of the best games because of a believable plot, choices that actually matter. Would be nice to have music, more animation and sound effects but as it is its a very solid game. English is good as well. For a reviewer who was complaining that "docent " in not a word in English, i suggest they check the oxford dictionary

At the beginning of the story I felt as I'm the MC. Maybe because I also went through MC's life difficulties. The game is very immersive, with exelent writing and decent visuals. Sex scenes are very kinky and BDSM/dom/sub fetish options for all of them. It seems a bit text-heavy at times, but that is needed for it to be highly immersive. Keep in mind that the many subtle choiced really DO matter! This offers you the added value of replayability.

What can be improved: Add Sound, or atleast background music. Translation. While most of the text is in excellent English, there are some figures of speech or words which are not even in English. Like "docent". Another was calling MC's dick "numbers" (I suspect author is from Eastern Europe). Anyway, that can easily be fixed.
Third thing is: MC's clothes are atrocious! Sweaters in the summer or in the bar? That certainly breaks the immersion.

Keep up the good work!

One of the better stories I've come across, with a plotline that isn't unrealistic. Good amount of characters, while still keeping each individual and unique. Only lost a point because their isn't any music, which would help the overall experience. Looking forward to further updates.

A hidden gem, worth of being up there with the big leagues. If you are a depraved scoundrel, the patched non-vanilla version will be the best non-con fantasy you'll find on this site.
If you love romance, the characters, especially Ashe, are really nicely written and there is plenty of content to explore.

Overall, choices really matter, but are also intuitive so you don't need walkthrough. And you can really make each playthrough your own.

Great game

Absolutely amazing game, the amount of choice you have to mold the MC to your preferences and complete autonomy about fucking and rejecting girls makes me put this game at the top of the pyramid of adult vn's. The MC has a unique model, although I think he looks a little older than they imply his age. I enjoy every character and while I find that some of them aren't great romantic or sexual prospects, I was given a choice to be friendly and relaxed with them. Games like this are rare on this site and everyone who enjoyed this game should support the creator, I will be a fan for every update.

Deserving of a 5-star rating as one of the few games here, Friends in Need has excellent, relatively mature, storytelling, excellent renders and excellent animation. The storytelling becomes ever so slightly long in the tooth from time to time but nothing problematic.
Generally, very well made and well-written, with a lot of nice scenes.

A bit too preachy but otherwise good. Maybe three star.

Strange bits:
The MC is ~30 and having sex with a really young looking teen. (you define her age) He keeps telling her to keep it a secret from her parents otherwise they wouldn't be able to keep having sex.
It gets too preachy about the lgbtqa+ charity. (Since he's rich he donates to different charities). The second time they're talking about this org it kept going on about how wonderful it is and so forth seemingly ramming it down your throat a bit too much. Doesn't do that w other charities asking for money, that I saw. But maybe it does later...I dunno as I deleted it.

The game really tries to 'force' Nikki on you. I thought she was gross and wanted to get rid of her but there wasn't an option for that.

The graphics are not fancy however they are really good. The colors are somewhat muted which is very nice and goes well with the game.
The girls all look good but for some reason several of them have their hair really tall on one sid of their head and no/very little hair on the other side. Otherwise the rest of the graphics/backgrounds fit right in.

It's been out for ~ a year and a half and had 6 updates, I think, so that seems ok. At least you don't have to wait a year or wonder if they abandoned it.
Like I said, I'd rather given it 2.5 stars if possible, maybe 3.