Ren'Py - Golden Mean [v0.5] [DrMolly]

so far it's perfect, I had to get used to the pointnclick gameplay once again but thankfully it's not as spaced out in terms of content as others in the genre.
The models are gorgeous, the poses and animations are passable, I can't complain too much.
I do wish the devs of these games would just focus on the main cast and not waste time on random nurses, cops, neighbours and Jane Does.

There are several things a like about this game. It stands in a line of dark fantasy games about succubae and incubi, that try to combine a solid fantasy story with erotica.
The premise is kind of the college game genre of fantasy adult novels. Add to this some sandboxes that you have to learn to navigate and it can get quite annoying. That's why I required three starts until I finally managed to play this VN to the end of 0.4.

What I like about Golden Mean is that the family is actually quite likable, and that includes the father who has actually some nice husband moves going on. So, to see his relationship with the mother unfold was quite fun to watch, especially since our MC acted quite reserved and didn't start out as a manipulative creep. His dynamic with his sisters seems genuine to me and I enjoyed the content. Lewd content takes quite some time to develop, which is perfectly fine in my book.

Now that I arrive at the end of the prologue (so to say) I realize however, that there is a huge risk that we fall into the popular genre traps. This could easily become a trainer-like, an abuse-focused game, a game with a superior MC who suddenly has everything and everyone under his thumb, maybe with some ntr-pathing to give the illusion of choice.

That's a genuine fear I have, because there are some occult characters that have been introduced that I genuinely liked. My absolute favorite is the doc, because her dry humor and sarcasm are rare among AVN characters. I'd like to see more of her, to see her have more influence, and to see options for the MC besides merely creeping out on his family one way or another.
I mean, this is a story about sex demons, so I don't expect a fairy tale, but offer some agency here, yeah?

Both in terms of visuals, atmosphere and character designs I am very happy with the result so far. This could become a great fantasy plot or degrade to a trainer-like corruption novel. But I'll adjust my rating when that actually happens.

Good Points
+ We have an interesting story with some supernatural details, the only downside is the translation is bad, and that makes the story far less enjoyable than it could be with a good translation.
+ MC looks kind of unique, and I can see DEV is trying to make all characters kind of unique, but can't say all of them look good, because trying to make everyone unique is not always a good idea and can make them look a bit unattractive. Still can see the effort, which is a good thing.
+ Art style looks good and most girls/women are quite hot, would say Amelia is fine AF, and especially her tits are perfect.
+ Sex scenes (most of them) look hot and have decent-looking animations, animations were looking less good at first versions, and become better with the latest one, but still there is still room for improvement, they can be better.
+ Harem Path scenes were well-made, kind of funny, and hot.

Bad Points
- The translation is bad, wouldn't say it's terrible, it's not that bad, but still better translation/proofreading is needed for sure, because currently it does break the immersion of the flow of the story, and makes understanding dialogues hard, and annoying.
- Visual quality needs improvements, art style (Aside from some bad design choices like forehead lines, etc) looks good, but both picture and animation quality need improvements, and honestly, I can see they have improved since the first versions, but they still can be better.
- Some design choices need changes, and the most obvious one is weird lines on MC's mother's/landlady's forehead, all they do is show her old and weird, she is our main MILF, trying to make her old and less attractive makes no sense, those lines should go, there are some different issues with other women/girls as well tho, but since they are not in main cast they are somehow tolerable.
- It's grindy, you have to grind relationship points, and aside from that opening certain things needs certain times of repeat as well like you needing to get a message from your sister in order to remove her bra, etc. It's pretty annoying for sure, and if it's not enough we even have RNG with the ''Hot Day'' thing... Seriously? There is literally no point in making this game grindy or involving RNG, seems a pretty bad move and needs to change.
- The Demon we called with the ritual being male and not female, is a big wasted opportunity, and makes most of the scenes, especially the first scene with the demon quite weird.
- The game is developing for more than a year, yet we have no real sex scene (Vaginal or Anal) with the main girls/women, and that's an obvious bad point.
- The balance between sharing and non-sharing content is bad, the non-sharing path has far more action and sexy scenes, especially Elisa's morning coffee scenes are a good example of this, in her non-sharing version we can't see her naked, not touch her, and she only gives MC dull and boring handjob, meanwhile in sharing version she gets half naked, you can touch her tits, pull her nipples, and she gives you handjob while she is half naked, it's pretty obvious this balance issue needs fix ASAP.

For The End
With all bad points fixed this game can be a 5-star rated amazing game, but even with translation, less grind, and adding real sex scenes ASAP with the main cast can change it to a 4-5 stars rate for sure, otherwise the game might go downhill at this rate, let's hope that won't happen and DEV will deliver what is needed.

excelent game i love with incest patch and ntr amaizing game please quickly update cant wait for the next update the graphics are outstanding please make story of swinger club include everyone that would be mind blowing

Game version: 0.4

Came for the fap, stayed for the story (well.. and the fap).
The story writing, the characters (and, for the very first time- the father figure / landlord is actually a NICE guy!!) are so well written, it's almost unreal.
The MC is no dckhead, quite the opposite in the beginning. And when he changes, he STILL isn't some shallow and walking dck, but a very unique character indeed.

The animation quality varies from "good" to "mediocre" - I see much more potential here!

I rarely give 5 stars to an unfinished game, but since I haven't encountered a single flaw that annoyed me so far... well deserved, Dr. Molly!

P.S.: This game needs a GALLERY O:

Fuck! That was nice... That NTR route was right up my alley. The renders/animations are beautiful and the women are fantastic. I don't care about sandbox mechanism as long as there are build in cheat functions. I cannot wait what will the dev bring up next time. That NTR onsen meeting was especially hot!

One of the better games out there. The blonde sister is awesome. There is a good amount of diversity with the various love interests.

I knew I liked this one when I actually read the dialogue to follow the story. Usually it's just like, "naw."

Easy to avoid the things u don't like. I vote to leave all fetishes on but the choices needed to avoid the father are really obvious.

Golden Mean is a captivating experience that left me torn between awe and moments of questionable character decisions. The game boasts an engaging story, solid writing, and breathtaking art, yet it occasionally stumbles in maintaining the integrity of its character arcs.

One of the standout features of Golden Mean is undoubtedly its narrative depth. The storyline is gripping, filled with unexpected twists and turns. The writing is skillfully executed, seamlessly blending elements of suspense, drama, and emotion. The characters are well-developed, each with their own distinct personalities and motivations, adding layers to the overall narrative.

The art in game is nothing short of spectacular. From the meticulously designed environments to the stunning character models, every visual aspect contributes to the game's immersive atmosphere. The attention to detail is commendable.

However, at times, choices made by the protagonist and characters feel rushed and impulsive, as if the developer is prioritizing player satisfaction over the integrity of the character arc. While it's natural for players to want sex in the story, the frequency and speed of these decisions sometimes compromise the authenticity of the character's journey.

It's essential for a game like this to strike a balance between sex scenes and preserving the narrative integrity of the characters. In the case of Golden, some moments left me questioning the realism of certain choices, as they seemed driven more by the desire to please the player than by the natural progression of the story.

On a positive note, the frequency of updates is impressive.

Banger all the way through. I respect the devs decision of releasing as its their game to do that. Always amazing renders. Always updates on their patreon. Always excited for new story. Never dissapointed.

[v0.4]

Warning. Spoilers below

I would definitely give this game 5/5, but there are some issues, which bog it down for me. The rating is "average", but the game would feel much better than that, if only some things were taken care of.

A quick rundown.

Pros:
* Animations and visuals in general are among the best of all AVNs here. Really top notch.

GRIND would be horrible, but is COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE with built-in cheats. Just open MC's folder while at home, and you can increase all his stats by double clicking on the appropriate icon (just have to click in the center of icon itself, not on stat numbers). You can raise money by 100, restore mana, and raise/add stamina to max (15/15) every time you do that.
Same also works on LIs with Affection (but not with Submission or Corruption).

Author mentions this in dev notes, but I read reviews here, which seem not to have read the notes.

* Premise is decent, story is sort of fine. Dialogues and actions are a weird mix, on one hand we are very sexual (AND got the power to influence minds!), on the other, MC is mostly blueballed by his household and has got up to approx only handjobs only at v0.4, plus, he is not really using his powers on his household, or almost anyone in fact, except in specific circumstances. So for some release he's got to go to a prostitute or become a sperm donor (nice scenes btw).

* Variety of models. Really you get a good variety of body types. Not everything, because there are not many characters, but you get younger, older, fit and somewhat used-looking. And the renders are very good.


Cons:

* It is a sandbox, and you can mess up paths, if you don't follow author's logic. For example, I maxed out Affection with all girls before going to Auction, and that seemed to break Diana path -- couldn't advance past doing excercises with her. After a replay I managed to finish off her path, but now I seem to have somehow broken Amelia's path, and can't get past her refusing to remove bra during massaging me. Also, while I have finished Diana's path, the game tells me I can trigger repeatable scenes in bakery and shower. But the repeat shower scenes don't work, I spent all day in shower, and nothing happened, except me being locked out of it whenever anyone else got in. Same unclarity about Elisa's continuation -- the game tells me just to "wait" (if I had shaved, which I did). No clue what for and how long. Waited a week without anything happening.

* It seems that as of currently you can mostly raise Submission only by choosing NTR or semi-NTR path. Since Submission (which can be negative) is a specific statistic and that implies a level of attention to dom/sub scenes, I would assume stuff can be done and happen by MC being more assertive. Instead he is somewhat of a wet blanket for most part. Domination score: 1,5/5. A great pity, the game's corruption theme is very close to dom scene, I was looking forward to it as I played v0.3.

* In general too slow burn. The scenes, which are done, are beautiful (if for majority a bit short and simplistic), but there are not a lot of them, and if we would assume a 0.4 version is almost half the game done, it does not really look promising.

To sum it up. For me it would change game to 5/5, if devs:

- stop blueballing him, and let MC be more assertive and start finally using his powers. After all, he's made the pact with the demon, let's bring it on.

- take greater care of sandbox, either by providing a bit more specific hints ("just wait" is a bad one), or taking greater care to make sure advancing in unexpected order doesn't bug you out of content.

- establish a dom path without NTR. First of all, as other forum member has mentioned somewhere in other game's comments: NTR and Harem are usually opposites for target audiences. Please make up your minds if you want for your game the people who enjoy being cucked or the ones who enjoy cucking others. As it is, while the demon tells you that your "landlord" is basically under your thumb, and he IS incredibly supportive of your actions, the same can't be said for Way and the other guy from the baths.

The money grind is dreadful, it takes for ever to purchase items!
The game mechanics use cum for power and it's used each time you interact with the women making it only possible once per day. Too bad for the dev that he doesn't manage to cum more than once per day!
So the game is "wake up", "do one thing", "sleep"
The end game area is the same, you can do only one thing per visit and you have to roll a dice for getting the hot weather...
Buying new clothes doesn't do anything else than change the clothes the women are wearing, it doesn't unlock some new scenes, just re-renders of the previous poses.
Sex is not existing at the moment.
The renders are flawless however!
The story got lost in very strange written text with pre-school grammar, but it wasn't any unique in any way but it worked.

I rate the game poor because the fundament of the game is flawed and won't be changed.

V.04

One of the best games on this site. The girls' models are unique, very beautiful. There are family resemblances between parents and offspring, a detail rarely seen in games.


Gradation in the plot is ensured through the use of a sandbox model it really makes sense here, although this does not suit today's impatient mentality of the majority of players.

There is no need to waste words on the quality of the animations, it's great.

The only minor complaint, which I put here so as not to be accused of bias, is: The relationship with the ex-girlfriend does not fit the concept, it seems to me that the author wanted to show his skill in creating animations in the first sequel in order to attract patrons. Of course, this is a completely justified tactic that does not spoil the story too much. Given that remakes and reboots have ruined many good attempts at game creation, this should not be changed. I hope and believe that the author will continue to bring many good continuations of the story and that the game will be completed.

We leave disagreements about piracy behind and wish the best of luck to the author and his followers.

I would give it 3.5 stars but not possible and it's not a 4 star as there's just too many things dragging the rating down.

Let's just get it out of the way. Models animations and premise of the story are all very good and the potential to be a 5 star game is here.

Now that, that is out of the way here's what holding this game and reason you might not want to invest time into playing it.

It is a game yes and not a kinetic novel but there's just WAY too much clicking and having to grind in this game. I'm not a fan of sandbox or different time of day event but it's decent here and sort of makes sense, there's just too much and it loses all meaning. Listen I don't mind certain events triggering in a specific place or hour like 3 times, max 5 maybe but here it's just unreasonable.

I can't remember if this was an issue in the previous version as it takes so long in between actual content but quest log is super not specific about what to do and what triggers there are. In the whole latest update the questlog just says that's all for this version when in reality there's like 12 more scenes to unlock.

I was going initially to put this at a 4 star or up because of animated orgasm scenes but then it seems like the dev got lazy. Commit or don't. Aniamted orgasm scenes gets a full extra star and flashing light eplepsy attack ones don't. Also a few scenes could be better and not just one animation where the option is faster or slower.

Plot is sort of slow moving if that will put some people of but sort of fit the game, just not the release schedule. I'm suspecting or hoping for quite the spicy anal scenes and puffy pussy action in the future but if you don't want to click grind 500+ times and wait 5 years for that to happen, maybe it's not the game for you.

Again, a "too much, too little" update, is more like that the dev takes more time redoing old renders for "quality sake" than actually advancing the story (again); after 0.2 the game advanced 0.

I told this sometimes after 0.3 and repeat after 0.4: if the game is not abandoned by the end of the year, it will have only one more update with "a lot" of rework from old shit and maybe 4 scenes, with 1 of than with a big MAYBE for actual sexual content (or even the dev will have and reloaded/reworked v0.1, like saw TOO MANY FUCKING TIMES on other games last year).

Don´t know if this is just a hobby for the dev or if he/she just want to milk some money; but don't get your hopes high on this (unfortunately).

nice game and graphics, history its easy to follow, animations are correct.
Its just a man for all womens, i like more voyeur and share, but love hairy and this game had. congrats for the game, and one last thing, updates are slow.

Great game ! the story is verry original, the renders are SO good also , can't remember seeing any of the faces of the characters in other games although sure someone will correct me on that one lol So far an entertaining story which will hopefully continue in this vein. Give this game a try, you wont regret it !

This game (v0.3) has done a lot of things right. It has great art, an actually decent sandbox where you don't need to grind for hours to progress, and a decent story.

The problems with this game are (1) the lack of repeatable content (and content in general) and (2) that the progress status is broken.

Pretty broken English. It feels like it was written in another language first and then poorly translated.

I don't even know where to start with this. Also, what's with using ellipses every other sentence? That and some other quirks make me feel like I could guess the original language but it doesn't mean shit if it's not in the script.

I think the only way I could play this is if I just proofread it myself, forgot about it for a while, then tried it again.

It feels like 9 times out of 10, I find shitty grammar like this. It makes me less incentivized to ever try anything new. The game seems interesting enough. It's just ... wow, that grammar is bad. Stuff like this is probably why some of the top devs can afford to be arrogant fucks. They know they're safe if this is the competition. Very few devs are competent enough in everything to really bring it all together and turn it into something people would actually pay for.

Great graphics and visuals, balanced work.

Romance and NTR in equal measure to those who want either.

Currently enough content for a satisfied run despite its relative infancy.

Shut up and take my money !

This is one of the best AVN out here I really love almost every ingredient in this AVN . It's 9/10 to me

Pro
- Sandbox are cool!
- Interesting storyline
- Goodlooking model and MC (not many AVN have good looking MC)
- The another man Felix in this game is loveable
- The seduction are really good
- The animation scene are smooth and looking really good
- Render are great
- VIctoria with her perky nips <3
- Alexis is really my type

Cons (My cons for this game is kinda subjective it's only my opinion)
- I wish Alexis is in family I really love her model
- The girl outside home kinda look better than the one inside
- If this AVN stories lie in 1900 or before that this will be the best in AVN industry

I really thank you for the great work not many dev make sandbox avn with interesting stories