VN - Ren'Py - Friends in Need [S1 v0.95b] [NeonGhosts]

What can I say about the story? Imagine the dumb guy without fantasy suddenly becoming millionaire and what he can do with such amount of money? What's basically what this story about. This is also diluted by the details of the personal problems of the heroines who come to him, but that's not the most important thing, is it? It's about the approach that the protagonist chooses to help them and himself, of course. And this is where the main problem lies.
Usually I'm trying to write detailed reviews about bad and good in games, but here I just make a list of things about this game.

• Writing is decent (do not confuse it with plot and character design)
• The graphic and renders vary from person to person, their general appearance is fine, but characters facial expressions are often not only, I would say, weird, but actually even ugly.
• MC is dumb and lacks of creativity. Instead of suggesting girls to work for him: as maids, secretaries, catgirls or whatever your perverted fantasy is capable of, he's going in the simplest way possible and offer them 1(!) simple sex intercourse, that lack any creativity, for tens of thousands of dollars! For such amount of money, even the prostitutes would have to work their ass off for at least a week of nonstop sex. The main character was at the bottom, and he of all people should be aware of the value of such large sums of money, by not giving them away just like that. It's just a natural thought that comes to your mind, if yesterday you would have to work for several years for that amount of money, today these girls can get it in one night. Besides, it would have been much more interesting to watch the longer sexual relationship, where MC can actually enjoy the power that money could give, rather than having a transaction and splitting up with heroines in one night. But what the alternatives this game present? There is one, you can rape them. Yes, that is. You can't kick them out (if you don't like them, despise them, or whatever), or ask them to do some really daring stuff, like fuck behind husband back, go on leash naked on the street etc. There are only 2 options: rape and some long term romantic approach. The whole thing with the MC helping these poor girls remind me of this fake porn videos where guys hook "random" girls from streets for thousands € /$ just for some half assed service.
• That stupid harem trope with girls being dating with other guys, but don't having sex with them for some far-fetched reason. In this story it reaches even the higher level with one of these girls. The first one, basically already stepped on prostitution path, and even had sex for money with the MC, but playing hard to get with other guys, who are literally paying her thousands of bucks just to make nude pitcures of her! There is another girl who is married, her story is not yet finished, but I won't be surprised if she also doesn't have a sex life with her husband. Seriously dev, if you're adding other guys in the story, have at least the courage to carry it through and make it believable! Harem players won't forgive you anyway (there are almost no things they can forgive), just because you even mentioned other guys besides the MC. Instead, it could have been a nice netori setup (сheating on the protagonist's initiative), but alas.
• Lack of choices and somewhat railroading. It's often no matter what you choose, the result will be the same.
• The MC don't think about security and ways to increase his wealth. He's starting his own charity organization, and I confess here, I didn't fully understand the whole story with this. Maybe I missed something by being inattentive, or it was so poorly explained. But I didn't notice the hero trying in any way to increase his wealth, to buy shares in companies, to rent a property, etc. He also doesn't even think about security! I'm surprised that with his behavior, where he openly advertises himself as a philanthropist, he hasn't been murdered and robbed in his own home. Ah, yes, he also doesn't care much when he rapes someone, he thinks everyone can be bought for money. Which is true in some cases... But the MC walks on thin ice, just because he does it too often, too open and without protection.
• Unlikable characters. Especially the first one, after her second appearing I was done with this game. Her terrible excuses just made me cringe. Other girls would have been thinking they found a gold ticket for life and wouldn't even complain, but she tries to play innocent, but in fact she is just as willing to sell herself to the main character. The only girl I truly liked was the stepmother of one annoying loli heroine.

I only give it more than 1 star, because the story idea was interesting and the writing, if we're not talking about plot and character development, is decent.

I think this is my new favorite game, the sexual enconters are really good, the fact that you can go the extra mile with the characters when the sexual act in performed is something only the best games does, the character interaction are really good and fun to read, the only bad thing is how some of the characters don't have a good desing, like nickie but otherwise this game is really good.

Above avarage renders. You can choose to be good or bad without building up some point score, which means you can treat every character as you want. Will be interesting to see if your actions will have long terms effects.

Things have changed a lot over the years, the story got a soft reboot, I grew as a person so my initial review don't really reflect my current views also as I said the story got a soft reboot.


But the writing is very good in some places. If you act like a piece of shit, the game will make sure to remind you.

This is absolutely one of the best VN's I've ever read.
You can be such an absolute asshole Harvey Weinstein would tell you to tone it down, and you can be a saint.
The writing is so good, that both paths are satisfying, well-established from character motivations that comes from the writers excellent understanding of human nature.
Content is also perfectly balanced, and just so damn satisfying.
Sex scenes are actually sexy, the whole package is just great.
The pacing is excellent, the story isn't filled with mundane bullshit because everything that happens supports the story and the narrative.

The entire thing is just mwah *chef's kiss*

I usually like to give a game at least a couple of releases before reviewing it, so I'm excited to finally be able to review this one, as I fucking love it!

The basic premise is fairly simple. MC went from broke nobody to super rich and, after a fateful encounter with somebody from his broke life, gets the idea to set up a charity called Friends in Need.

How exactly the encounter with his friend goes, and all subsequent encounters in the game for that matter, is up to the player. This games seriously gives you a lot of choice in what kind of person MC is and how he treats people. Seriously, you can be a near saint or a genuine monster. Both have their appeal ofc. I also like that being a monster with one person doesn't force you to be a dick to everyone. You can definitely be a horrible, exploitative asshole with some and an angel with others. There doesn't seem to be any alignment or point system that incentivizes picking a path and sticking with it, and I love it.

The game is well written, and really fucking hot. The nice guy path is real sweet and heartwarming, but still hot af. The bad guy content is deliciously twisted and can get really fucking dark, and is obviously hot af too.

I'd say the writing is one of the game's strong points, while the visual side of things is maybe a weaker point. The game definitely does not look bad and I have no real complaints, but the renders also aren't anything to write home about. Perhaps it's biggest selling point for me is the replayability. There aren't just two ways for a scene with an LI to go, it's usually more complex than that. I've played through the game multiple times and only recently found a short incest RP scene with one LI, despite having played her scene many fucking times!

So yeah, a well written and complex game with a great cast, insane replayability and a high hotness factor. Can't recommend it enough!

edit:

removed darker content, removed ageplay, spending time to rewrite old chapters, longer time between updates. this game has gotten worse, unfortunately. No longer a 5 - down to a 3 rating.

This game has quickly become one of my most anticipated on the site for each release. The dev updates quickly and with decent sized chapters (try not to get too burnt out!) Each update, the dev shows improvement in his mastery of Daz and renpy as well. The story is only up to chapter 3 so far, but the plot has potential.

The best part about this VN so far, and the part that brings me back every time is the multiple paths that are viable for the MC (good, evil, or a mix of both) and the incredibly well written sex scenes. As a primarily evil or mixed path player, this game delivers some of the best available content in that market right now, but I've gone back and tried multiple paths, just because the scenes are so well done. You have a knack for writing smut - keep it up!

I don't recall if there were animations (don't think so), but again, that's not a deal breaker for me because the H scenes were still very well done. The dev is still improving in Daz, so who knows, maybe in the future.

No sound yet, but dev mentioned he'll add in future.

Review based on Ch.3.1:

This is an instant 5 star game for me for its dark route alone. I have long been sad that the AVN scene is lacking when it comes to darker fantasy fetish games, there is a few noteworthy ones but not enough if you ask me. This game is totally one of those few and if I may say so myself one of the top ones with its good looking and varied characters, a VERY serviceable story with just the right amount of plot between lewd scenes, awesome and hot lewd scenes and overall very polished with very few spelling mistakes.

I would highly recommend this game to anybody that are looking for a darker corruption type of game, but can also recommend it to those who like the milder type as the dev tries to cater to both, and that route is just as good and interesting.

Note as of Ch.3: The dev is reworking chapter 1 which some said had bad art and updating it to chapter 3 standards

Surprisingly enjoyable VN with a unique premise and no aliens with giant boobs. or superpowers It sticks to being recognizably "realistic" in its storyline, which really adds to the enjoyment. Cool power play elements if you decide to choose that kind of path. I am following and watching this game as it develops and been playing every update.

I'm always happy when VNs can still surprise me and Friends in Need definitely managed to do that.

When I started this VN, I thought it was a typical corruption VN according to the tried and tested pattern: a guy suddenly has money and abuses all the women he meets because he can.
Since I need my little dose of perversion every now and then, I thought, why not?

But when I have the opportunity to play a good guy instead who isn't just an off-the-peg asshole, I take it without hesitation. And there is hardly a VN that makes being the good guy feel both so good and so tragic at the same time.
The main character wanders through the world looking for his own place and never really finding true happiness. He compensates for this feeling of emptiness through his philanthropic work, struggling with temptations and inner demons along the way. What makes FiN shine is that it actually feels rewarding to resist the temptation to do evil by creating new relationships, bonding over non-sexual topics and potentially opening up paths that could lead to mature relationships in the future.
I think very few VN developers can pull off this level of maturity, and for me it would feel like a betrayal to act in any other way with this protagonist. In my view, Friends in Need is not a corruption VN, but a story about someone who resists the temptation and who creates meaningful relationships that are worth protecting.

v0.22

Quick note: Do not play this without installing the patch, it's a much worse experience.

Short review: Visual Novel where you play a guy in a dead-end job who lucks into being a multimillionaire. As people start asking you for money, you can be generous and charm your way into reward sex or demand sex in exchange for money (or just give people money cause you're a nice guy but why are you playing an adult game if you're gonna do that?). There's no superpowers or magical hacking skills, just a rich guy using his money to get sex.

The current content is two chapters long and about an hour of playtime but the third chapter should be out within the month. There are three women you can have sexual interactions with and at least 5 more introduced or announced.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. The renders are good and improve from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. The writing is solid but the plotting gets a little worse in Chapter 2.

This review is for Friends in Need v0.22
=== Writing ===
+ good dialogue, surprisingly; there's so much cringe autismo dialogue in the games on this site with people saying crap like "whom" "musn't" and so on.. people DON'T talk like this, so thank you dev for actually making a real effort with the dialogue
+ likeable characters for the most part; maybe a little cliche here and there (nerdy sci-fi girl that watches cartoon with you, for example), but good overall
+ great pacing
+/- no incest in game yet, but hopefully the incest will be properly paced; way too many incest games just go straight into the sex with not nearly enough buildup, and I feel like incest really needs build up more than any other genre really; so, hopefully the incest will be built up enough and the other girls can make up for the wait with their own content
+/- the premise is a little unbelievable to me tbh, but who cares really, once you get past the setup, the game sails smoothly
=== Graphics ===
+ good looking models overall, especially the two blondes (2nd girl and MC's sister), though the black girl's face looks altered to a fault, i.e. her face looks like a doll rather than a real person's face; it's not ugly or anything really, just would look better imo if it looked more realistic
+ beautiful environments
+ great lighting
+ good atmosphere
+ great animations, actually, though they're not that common (which is fine for me, but others might want more)
- basically every render in chp 1 except the sex scene is lacking in quality; models, textures, facial expressions, etc. aren't so great and the MC's hair changes from blonde to black in chp 2 onward; however, rest of scenes in game are great looking as already mentioned and thankfully all of the sex scenes are great looking
=== Audio ===
+/- no comment (I played without audio, sorry)
=== Gameplay ===
+ no mini-games, stats, or other things that weigh down fap games imo, entirely story & choice
+/- currently game's on chapter 3 and there's only 3 girls with one scene each, one with a much more limited scene than the other two, all of which clearly have more content coming along with a 4th and 5th girl that have been introduced who also have content coming; keep in mind that even though there's only 3 total scenes so far, they are very long scenes with a ton of choices and they are extremely satisfying; I mention this character/scene count as neither a pro nor a con only to inform reader how much content there is; I don't have a problem with slower content or lower breadth as long as the content there is quality, and I think it definitely is
+ there are basically three routes per character, one of which is provided by the game's patch; there's nice guy romance, bad guy blackmail, and deranged guy r@pe; so far, I've only played blackmail and grape and they're both very, very satisfying and well-executed; based on writing quality, I'm sure the good guy romance route is also good; there are plenty of choices to make during the scenes and they are built up to and last long enough to give you a good fap
- no anal grape for the 2nd girl hah, this won't affect my score, but hopefully author reads this and includes more anal
=== Playability ===
+ bug free during my playthroughs

I am surprised to find this game so... Nuanced. Mind you I've only played the dark path so it's what I'll be reviewing.

When games try to portray rape they usually overdo it, playing up the antagonist to comical or way too brutal levels. But in this game the MC is much more balanced. There's introspection and method to his actions. The girls fear and show layers of hate for their rapist but at some level they also blame themselves, that's a difficult thing to get right.

The story feels alive, as if we're following the MC living out days of his unusual life. What's weird about it is that it DOESN'T feel artificial, and that makes it all the more exciting to play it.

The dev does a good job of depicting atmosphere and personalities that are nuanced and complicated - just like real people. 5/5 would recommend.

Review for 0.22 version:

Great game I really enjoyed with rare fetish of "rape with blackmail" and "nonconsensual humiliation" from male POV. There are other games with the same theme - but they are much worse IMO. They are either just too brutal and lies more in pure rape territory or they try to whitewash the deed too much making the victim enjoy it or be very casual about it. I like this game shows more psychological side of relations between victim and rapist and not shy to feature girls fear, anger, shame and contempt towards protagonist.
With that said I strongly recommend to drop spending time and efforts on vanilla/decent guy path altogether. There are lot of games with such approach anyway - who are doing it much better because its their main focus. With such dark story and protagonist personality this path turns to something very artificial and making you cringe instead of enjoying it. I believe every person should do only what they excel at - and the author really shines making evil path.
Focus on only one side will make the progress much faster - and the story more consistent and believable - without need to squeeze in various events to the same global route. The less is the more as they say.
Also I really like focus on POV type of CGs instead of showing protagonist there. It's more immersive this way. What I don't like though is trend to make the only character with questionable age - as much ugly and old-looking as possible. Why the so-called teenager is looking like 25+ y.o. junkie? Disgusting. If you are going so far as making "customizeable age" characters - don't make it wear tattoos, piercings and shaven hairstyles, pls. It's not what people who likes such characters are looking for.

While it is still a little early to give this an honest review, I have to say I was surprised at this one.

To be fair, the renders and artwork are just okay. They are a bit grainy and uninspired. It does look like the dev is doing some custom locations which I applaud, but they are just kind of meh. I appreciate the effort and the hard work, but there is little to like with the renders. Some of the renders of the girls are just not good, especially the expressions, which is usually a sign of over modification.

The writing, however, is really pretty good. It is a very unique story for the adult VN genre and the choices the MC have a clear impact on the flavor of the story. Some may think it is too wordy, but for me any more, these adult vns have to have a good story and this one has it. All the characters have some depth and they are all very different.

I am looking forward to seeing how this story progresses. Solid start and worth a playthru.

A surprisingly well written game.

A whole spectre of playing around the financial freedom, domination and inequality - you are a suddenly wealthy man (for a well written reason), and can either abuse your power (directly rapey or more of coercion), or use it for good and fluffy relationship. A compelling set of characters react appropriately.

Every bit of dialogue is used later (if information is given to player, it will be relevant), characters that are introduced in the dialogue become relevant and appear next update, the most interesting and distant love interest (little sister now in a high school) is established from the start and slowly introduced in every update bit by bit, keeping player engaged and waiting for it.

Renders are fairly decent, hopefully developer will get better with practise.

I had a blast with this VN. it does let you shape the main character as a noble hero or a darker, cruel figure,sadistic villain. The choices are meaningful, and the girls are gorgeous and each one have a unique personality.

From an objective standpoint I'd give this game a 3 and a half star. The renders are good, the writing pretty good. From a subjective standpoint I'd give it a 1, so I settled on 3.

My reasoning:
I tried to play this game as a kind person, rather than an asshole/actual rapist. Typically that's how I like to play these types of games, if given the choice. I'm not above being the bad guy or anything, but I appreciate the opportunity to be the good guy when given.

This game just feels like it gives lip-service to being a kind person, but actually wants you to be evil. Pretty much every love interest in the game that I've come across so far (I have not finished the latest version's content, just had to put down the game about halfway through), every LI feels like a perfectly written character for an asshole/rapist to corrupt or bend to their will. They do NOT feel like a character that a kind philanthropist would pursue.

That's all fine and dandy if that's how you want to play. But don't offer the other option if you're unwilling to change the love interests. It leads to issues of the player feeling like "Wait, why am I being kind again to these people, when it's obvious their stories were made to be heavily exploited by a rich asshole, not helped by a kind one?"

I guess the most obvious example is Nikki. You're friends, she's dumb and lets her boyfriend get her into debt, and comes to the MC to ask for help. You're given three choices: 1. Just give her the money, no strings attached. 2. Ask her to prostitute herself. 3. Actually just rape her.
While I didn't click on option three because, well, gross tbh, I did try both the other options. And they end exactly the same. With the same consequences for the character. Even if you give her the money she still has sex with you, and still afterwards says she's going back to her deadbeat boyfriend.
And then she comes back later, tatted up after, again, letting her boyfriend ruin her life. And she's the first love interest (which most who play these games will agree is the "most important" love interest). She's the first love interest, and despite whatever 'choices' you made, she still fucks her life up in some unspecified manor. Listen, it's a porn game. It's not that deep. If I wanted to see that story, I'd go watch Forest fucking Gump.

Let the guys who want to be assholes be assholes. Reward them for their assholetry by having more fucked up stuff happen, be my guest. But if I guy wants to have a fantasy where he can just be kind and have loving relationships... don't punish him, maybe?

Again, I wanted to be fair in my review, because it's pretty obvious to me that this game is not made for the 'good' fantasy, just not made for me. And that's fine, just wish it wasn't advertised that way.

Review as of Version 0.22

Pleasantly surprised !

Writing was well done compare to many games out there. Nothing groundbreaking, just competently put together enough to care about characters and the story. Mc was given plausible enough scenarios that didn't break the immersion of the story. (And the Male Domination Tag was on point)

Renders were average. and No animation.

there were some notable bad cases where facial expressions look like someone pull the facial rig sliders to its maximum(not talking about the euphoric facial expression - Ahegao here ). Also one of the sunrise scenery looks like apocalypse(bad lighting IMO) .

Choices
Meaningful choices with differing outcome. Thanks to good writing each action seems to be presented in way that align with the Mc Character personality. both choices are presented as MC's inner monologue and present a true Devils advocate on each counter argue both choices. I've seen it many other games have done this inner-monologue- counter argument -Tip before picking a choice. But it seems here it was done better and more in more organic manner.

Hoping the Dev would keep this writing standard and improve upon the graphics more.

This one is turning into a surprisingly good game.

To be more precise, the first version was okayish. The dev made few mistakes with exaggerated facial expressions, the renders were a bit on the low quality side and there was a lack of Ren'py customization. However, I liked the replayability with a different level of bastardness and the writing was entertaining on each path.
The game was short nonetheless, thus soon forgotten...

Here appeared the v0.22, which added some significant routes choices for the next girls and fleshed out dialogs and relationships. A nice thing here is that MC can totally miss all opportunities by being too nice, which adds a bit of realism. It reminds me of the first dating sim apps, only with option to be a complete asshole.

The facial expression exaggeration issue is common for novice dev, and could be fixed in further releases. I remember some good games doing so. Let's hope for the best. This game definitively needs to be followed. (Nice cliffhanger, by the way!)