VN - Ren'Py - Halfway House [Ep.10 - Bonus 7-8] [Az]

This game is really brilliant and what is really bad about it is nothing. Everything makes sense here.
You have to play it all the way through to get the best out of it. If you don't you lose everything.
The writing is excellent. Every single character has a clearly defined role in the story and plays it to the full.
Every relationship lasts. As mc, if you have a relationship with someone they never forget all that you did both for and to them.
There isn't one girl in this story who isn't smoking hot.
The graphics are fantastic. They seem ageless.
The animations are well thought out, supremely well executed and truly add a lot to the story.
There isn't an excessive amount of sex scenes, because the relationships are designed to burn slowly. When the sex finally arrives it really is always worth the wait.
The underlying strength of this story is its characters and their depth of character. Whether you love them or hate them they are all richly drawn and, playing the mc, as the story progresses, you really feel as though you get to know them almost like real people.

The game is really bad, but what is good about this game is really nothing. Nothing makes sense here.
You play EP1 and when you get to EP10 You haven't lost anything
Bad writing, none of the characters make sense!
If you have a relationship with someone, suddenly a scene later she forgets everything.
There is no hot character
Bad graphics from 3 years ago
No meaningful animations
There are no sex scenes, and if there is one, it's because it's not imaginative.
The characters aren't real, they're shallow to the extreme.

great story, with great character and graphic. too bad it is highly likely abandoned though i always looks back on the thread for the update. until right now 17 April 2023 it stuck in ep 9. I hope it will gets an update soon.

It amazes me how thoughtful some stories can be, with a grand purpose and aim to reach higher standards. Depiction of characters with traits like honesty and speaking of mind without fear and storylines that appreciating that instead of being servile, these are prominent points for story and is delightful to see that characters could have it.

Storyline is pristine, characters are very genuine and charming, artwork is beautiful and twists are adeptly implemented, there is plenty of determining choices given to MC, that is more than you need in to cling .
You can learn so much from this game, the way PO decided to dedicate his life to make a difference in other's is really praiseworthy.
Halfway House is an amazing experience ,I wish to see more stories like this.

Among the visual novel games I have played, Emily from this game is my favorite character of all time. I always look forward to interacting with her during gameplay, and she is truly adorable. I love everything about her, from her personality and clothing to her jealousy over others.

The story development in the game is also excellent, but the only downside is that there are relatively few erotic scenes. I hope that future updates will address this.

In conclusion, if you like girls like Emily, then this game is perfect for you. However, if you have no interest in Emily or want to see more erotic scenes, then this game may not be suitable for you.

Halfway House [Ep. 9]

Pros:
Decent Renders
Decent Story/premise

Cons:
Way too much filler
Boring dialogues
Not many girls
Having to choose between girls sucks
Characters incl. the MC get boring as the game progresses
No preferences button
Less to no Sex Scenes (You can miss pretty much every sexual scene if you make the wrong choices.)

I have no problem with “slow burn” games, but fuck me, this game has been in Development for three and a half years and still doesn´t pick up the pace.
There are so many scenes that are just filler and lead to nothing, which makes you lose interest in the game and it´s characters.
I like the premise of the game and the models, but it feels like the more the game progresses, you will get put through scenes with boring dialogues that mean absolutely nothing.
In my first playthrough I had 0 sexual scenes except a girl showing her tits and butthole, WOW.
The other reviews say, you´ll only see one Sex Scene and four BJ scenes and we are over three years in, and on EP.9.
Again, I don´t have problems with games that are slow burn or aren´t total fuckfests, but come on, this game just drags along, is terribly paced and you can miss pretty much everything of what is very few already, which is bad game design.
Even when this game has not much sexual content, the story is just not strong enough to keep you invested in playing this game.
Games like these just make you wonder if the Dev purposely tries to drag this game out, to suck on his customers as long as possible, and maybe then adds good content when it loses interest. Or if he really thinks that this game is any good, which it´s not.

TBH I've been wanting to try this for a long time but the lack of animations tag kind of held me back but I'm glad i finally tried it & honestly it did not disappoint at all.

What I loved the most is the interesting premise & fleshed out characters .Each LI has their own captivating persona which i found to be particularly alluring.Even our bro Luis might look like a Mexican cartel but is a big softie in the inside kind of reminds me Kung Fu Panda for some reason

Now let's talk about the elephant in the room the SEX & yes i mean the animations honestly at the start they were really subpar but as of 2022 i see animations have really improved & am glad that the dev is actually bringing it to modern standards which itself is worth the praise as I've seen some dev who still use the billion year old GIF animations even now.

As of Episode 9 there isn't an actual sex scene just a few bj & cunnilingus but i don't mind the wait cuz I'm more into the story & i enjoy the realistic approach instead of seeing a sex scene right after u talk to someone for the 1st time.Well except for the Ashley scenes which comes out of nowhere still in her defence she's 'unpredictable as fuck' as she will treat u like the shit that was accidentally stepped on & the next thing u know she wants u to treat her like the dirty whore that she is

Personally, the most lovable main heroine appears.

Although the update is quite late, it shows the result.

Wait while playing other games. One day there will be an update and it is lovely as always.

What a nice game if you ask me. The renders are made very decent quality and fit the plot perfectly, The characters are archetypal: Rebel-Rebel, Sulky Sweetheart, Big Bro, Mischievous Milf, and Daring Dude aka MC. But they are very well depicted, the more you know them the deeper character to emerge. What came as surprise, MC doesn't make me feel like despise him, that's rare nowadays, do love this smooth-talking bastard. The story is a mix of teenage drama and comedy, with plenty of twists and turns and a slight hint of porn.
The only complaint is that updates take too long, but that's the case with most of the great games here.

Halfway house [Ep.9]

Nice game enjoyed it. Good renders and graphics. Rendering of cars is an example for this they are well polished. Emily's cuteness is the main thing that kept me going. Jealousy between emily and doctor is very much enjoyable. And there is Ashley she's not cut but she is playful. Each girls in the game got their own characteristics. Overall I enjoyed the game keep up the good work dev, looking forward to next updates

This is really a good VN. The premise is unique, the characters are interesting and develop slowly, so HwH is basically a procedural VN. The inner and outer conflicts of Emily, Ashley and Samantha don't seem melodramatic which helps tremendously with immersion.

The renders are good, the music is rather basic but acceptable. I would rate the atmosphere as rather on the superficial side, HwH lacks some depth to be really special. There are moments of depth though, for instance when Ashley seeks alone time and opens up to you, with her inner demons on display. That's good cinema right there but HwH can't always maintain this level of meaningfulness.

It is also very difficult to play HwH without a walkthrough and that is my biggest criticism and the one and only reason why I can't give it five stars. I had tried HwH before but without a walkthrough you make too many wrong decisions and the game quickly reminds you of what you are missing. One checkpoint after the other goes down the drain and that's not enjoyable at all.
On the other hand, you have to behave very obscenely if you follow the walkthrough. Many decisions that are necessary to reach checkpoints seemed counterintuitive to me. For instance you have to be a bit abusive towards Ashley to corrupt her enough to open up other dialogue options. And so in the end everything becomes kind of kinetic, since the choices aren't really choices if you want to reach checkpoints.

Apart from that, this VN is a well-rounded experience.

Fantastic AVN. The storyline is interesting and the characters are great. Emily is a fabulous character. While the MC relationship with her is slow to develop, her personality makes it worth the wait. Even the housemate male character is a good addition to the game and serves his purpose well.

Good game, good characters, funny story. Development is a bit slow, but the quality of the game more than makes up for it, the art style is phenomenal, the characters are hot, and the pacing is good. You won't find many better than this, if you're looking for a new VN to try out, look no farther.

[Version reviewed: Ep 9]

Most likely my favorite "3D visual novel"-like game out of all I've played.

At each update I'm equally waiting for the porn and the continuation of the story. Although I regret that only Emily can be romanced, she's a very sweet and likeable girl so I do enjoy romancing her.


[Review update: Ep 10]
A year of waiting. For that. More than anything, I'm confused. About what the plot is even about. About where it's going. About what all this build up was for. About how slow things are going to progress in the future.

Simply put, while some pretty important story lines where opened previously, another big one was started in this update. This makes the plot feel, at this point, pretty messy and all over the place. I have no doubt it will all connect in the end but the process of "getting there" took so long that it kinda killed my hype. I sound harsh saying this, but I loved the previous chapters so much that I fell pretty hard after this one.

Most importantly, I was playing a romance/corruption game, with a bit of deeper themes involving abuse, trauma and healing, with a sometimes dipshit, sometimes great guy MC and his ragtag group of weird family members. The game no longer seems to be about them anymore. The romance route of Ep 10 is honestly the worst part of this game, as it feels rushed and out of place despite taking a year to develop.

I think I'll forget this game for awhile and play it again once a few episodes have been produced. Might be a long time, but I'd rather wait than be this disappointed again. Dropped from 5* to 4*, because the rest of the game is solid.

Review of EP9 (2022-08-21)
TL;DR: wholesome vanilla story with more dick than pussy (at least on the route i went...)

Gameplay: VN, with choices based affection points system.
Graphics: good images, with emotion and everything. Only since EP8 saw few animations. Not fond of the realism, and character design. And i really don't need to see MC's dick in shower and pissing scenes...
Amount of content: seen no sex, though there might have been some if you stick your dick in crazy.
Grammar: few typos, but easily comprehensible.
Story: not my life experiences, but mostly seem like a realistic story. Few clichés, but fresh enough to be interesting. Though it's English original, not Japanese translation, so that adds uniqueness in comparison to stuff i usually read.
Sound: nice BGM, conveying emotion, with few grating sound effects.
Performance: renpy game with a bunch of images - you only need a bunch of storage space, otherwise runs on a potato.

Excellent dialogue, storytelling, and renders. I really love how characters interact with each other especially Emily and the MC. Ashley's story is quite interesting as well.

This game is a must try!

. I really liked this game, because it has a good story and is not focused only on bitching, in fact my choices did not lead to much erotic scenes. I really like games of this type with a slow burn in that aspect. He's also a very funny MC. All the girls are really nice, but honestly I fell in love with Emily lol, her way is really fun and I like how the MC teases her. For more games like this. I'm looking forward to more. Az Congratulations on your VN I hope you have more future games to create after it's finished o "Halfway House" this is a work of art. amazing guys this is a game you have to play before you leave this life for another you will not regret it is a great game that will please all tastes in my humble opinion.

Edit 05/30/2023: Finished Chapter 10 after over a year of waiting and the content is... well it's awful. There's one sex scene that's barely passing. It's clearly using animations easily bought, and the dialogue bloat is horrendous. It's like the author thought, "Hey?! Why have them say it once when they can say it 6 times in a row in 6 different ways?"

They talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and nothing is really being said. It's all banal small talk going over the same idea over and over. Even the very beginning, where he's deciding whether to go home with Emily or stay with the other two girls, he goes over it and over it in his head. Over and over and over, then he talks to one of the girls and goes over and over and over it again and again. Completely unrealistic, and worse, it's just boring. I don't normally skip dialogue but it quickly became too much. The adults scenes didn't even work for me because they're just not that good.

I said in the review below that I might not give Episode 10 a try. Well I did, and now I'm quite certain I won't be sticking around for Episode 11. I'm still amazed this game is supported by so many Patrons given the quality.

I’ll keep this review short as there isn’t that much to say. Just finished Chapter 9 and not sure I’m going to bother continuing when Chapter 10 eventually comes out, which could take quite a while.

Pros:

• Decent renders. Love interests are attractive and varied and the locations are well chosen.
• Spelling and grammar are quite good. Very few noticeable errors.
• Decent world building. Places feel lived in.
• Story isn’t too far-fetched. It’s easy to suspend disbelief.

Cons:

• Too few love interests. There are currently only three with a handful of others who don’t rise higher than mild flirting.
• Three years of development and we have one decent sex scene and four oral scenes. Dialogue during the intimate scenes are good but none of them are all that well animated. Nothing wrong with a slow burn, but this is too slow for too little payoff, especially after three years.
• The plot got off to a decent start but quickly devolved into endless trips to and from random places filled with empty filler dialogue. There’s very little story and the romances are taking forever to get anywhere.

This is an adult visual novel. It’s fine if you want to develop the world before getting to the sex scenes but three years is just too long to wait for what looks like are going to be sub-par animated scenes, at least when compared to the other top contenders out there. The plot has been dicking around for several chapters now with no end in sight. The author should take a few weeks off and outline exactly where they want the story to go and figure out how they want to get there, otherwise we’re going to see chapter after chapter of pointless filler. Even a derivative story is better than no story.

This is just a nice game honestly! The render quality is superb and it plays a lot with the tropes you usually see in this kind of games. Didn't care much for the foster mom, but the two girls already were a handful so I didn't mind at all. The dialogue is pretty good as well I feel.
After a good lewd start it's a bit of a slow burn for several chapters admittedly, but I had fun all the way through. There's the feel like the story is finally going somewhere, but I can imagine the agony of people following this story for years with the progress being as slow as it is now.
+ gorgeous renders
+ gorgeous girls
+ not-so-classic femdom by somebody else than a milf - yay!
+ really well-done teasing
+ interesting story, albeit a bit cheesy at times, but in a kind-of good way!
+ protagonist is not an idiot!

- a bit more sex(y stuff) as of chapter 9 definitely wouldn't have hurt. There's some sexy stuff and orgasms, just not that much sex.
- the sex rn doesn't *quite* live up to the build-up I feel. It sometimes even feels like the dev doesn't *quite* know what he's talking about when it comes to lewd stuff. At least when it comes to anal.

This game is simply excellent.

-Scenario and story wise it is very solid and original.
-There is just the right amount of teasing.
-Female characters are hot and feel more natural than in many game.
-Each of the characters have a very unique and well developed personality.
-Dialogues are not boring and go straight to the point. No useless stuff.
-Relationship development is not too slow not too fast.


I have my reservation on only two points which I won't hold against the game :
-MC could stand out a bit more, I mean he fits perfectly the personality of Emily (which is probably why she is the only female character with not only corruption points but also love points). However I find him too mainstream for the grade AAA milf that is Samantha (and her two female friends) or the sex starving vixen that is Ashley. A more Alpha/stud like MC would have been a better fit.
-Different path and choosing between characters. This almost made me downvote the game. At one point, you have to choose between Emily and Ashley, the scene with Ashley is 100 times better but Emily is just so sweet to the MC that it almost feel like cheating or treason. When developing such interesting and good characters, you should not have to choose between them.
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