VN - Ren'Py - Halfway House [Ep.11 - Bonus 7-8] [Az]

A really great game with diverse characters and deep human emotions. It is great in the age of "throw the key away" to run into a game that treats young offenders as kids that need a break and someone that cares about them.

First of all, this is a great game and i enjoyed every minute of playing it. Sadly i encountered a spoiler that makes me to no longer play the game, but i wont hold this against the creator in this review.

That being said, we have a cast of likeable and lovable characters. The female protaganists are great each on their own. Samantha is one of the best mature ladys in any game i have seen. At least for me.

The male side characters are funny and lighten up the mood in a good way.

The story overall is really enjoyable and i cant find anything i want to complain about in the game.

So if you are interested in a a solid story with good characters and building up relationships, this is a great game.

Halfway House [Ep.8] [Az]

I recently played through "Halfway House", and I must say it was a mixed experience overall. The game offers a well-rounded package with stunning visual renders, a grounded storyline, and some moments of genuine humor. From the very beginning, it establishes a lighthearted tone that keeps you from taking everything too seriously, which is mostly enjoyable.

The game introduces us to the main character as he arrives at the halfway house from the Juvenile with his parole officer. This initial conversation sets the tone for what's to come. The main character, for the most part, is portrayed as a laid-back, honest, and somewhat naive individual, which fits well with the overall tone of the story. However, as I progressed through the game, one aspect of his character started to irk me.

The main character has a habit of incessantly verbalizing his thoughts. Initially, this was a quirk that added a touch of charm to his character. However, the writer chose to exaggerate this trait, making it almost insufferable. It felt like an attempt to make the main character more endearing, but it went overboard. Even when other characters called him out on his behavior, he continued in the same vein, often coming across as an unaware dunce.

As for the supporting cast of characters in the halfway house, they initially appear as stock tropes but quickly develop unique qualities that make them stand out. Among them, Ashley emerged as the most compelling character. Her assertive, sexy, and edgy personality, combined with complex vulnerabilities, made her interactions a true treat. She had the most captivating storyline, overshadowing the rest of the characters by a significant margin.

One concern I had was the pacing of the story. By the end of Episode 8, only a week had passed in the game, despite the supposed six-month duration of the arrest stint. I found myself wondering whether the story would rely heavily on time skips or if it would stretch out over an extensive number of episodes.

In conclusion, "Halfway House" has its strengths in storytelling, character development, and humor. However, the main character's constant verbalization of thoughts can be irritating, and the pacing of the story may leave players questioning how the remaining months will be covered. Despite these drawbacks, the game offers an engaging narrative and memorable characters, especially Ashley, who stands out as a true highlight.

This is an excellent game, with a creative premise, an interesting story and beautiful artwork (including animations). It has moments of real eroticism, as well -- not just dumb titillation -- which is a major plus for me.

Three warnings, though: (1) this is a slow burn title, so don't expect a quick trip to the fap zone, (2) with strict point thresholds, you're probably going to need a walkthrough to access some content, and (3) updates are very slow -- my sense is that the Dev is a perfectionist.

The characters are well fleshed-out, likable, and believable as individuals. Yes, the three main paths/love interests are all based on cliched types, but they each have a surprising twist or two that makes them interesting. The MC is a flawed but fairly compelling individual -- he has made serious mistakes but is far from a loser. Even the minor characters are well thought out -- there are no two-dimensional placeholders. Bravo.

The one thing that worries me is that the Dev's storytelling ambitions seem to have exploded a bit in the past two episodes. I just hope the plot doesn't get away from him, by becoming too unwieldy or complex, with too many characters. Don't get me wrong: I like the new characters a great deal, and find the twists in the story worthwhile... but given the slow update time, these new threads could take years to resolve.

Bottom line, though: this is a great game.

I cannot express how great this game is, my entire adult gaming collection has been completely demolished by this one game. It's literally set the standard in my eyes but I gotta say it is a little frustrating when I focus solely on one character but somehow manage to still not have enough stat points with the character to have a special scene with them but all in all I would definitely recommend this to everyone who seems remotely interested in adult games.

I don't think I have enjoyed the story of a VN since forever. This game has great visuals and a well thought out system but even with the well made nude and sex scenes (no actual sex yet), I found myself invested in these characters and their story. There are only very few games that manage to capture my attention to the point that I don't feel like skipping the text for the scenes and this is one of them. After playing, I immediately became a Patron.

I almost skip this game because the description is doesn't seem that interesting. At first I thought we gonna play as another delinquent horny teenage boy who go peeping and pervert on all the girls in the house. But it turn out the MC is quite mature and he have good reason for being in Juvenile. And the story is quite interesting. Not just another go around peeping on girls and fuck them all story.
The render is nice. The girl is beautiful and even some of the male character is likeable. Some of the dialogue is hilarious. Emily is super cute.
There is a choice system and so far you can avoid sex with the character you don't like I think.
This is just a personal opinion but the only thing I don't like is the MC whine too much for such a tough guy who got in trouble because fighting.
There is soundtrack so you don't have to play in silence or have to go open your own music in the background

First things first its not a VN its just another kinetic novel with loads and loads of do as i say or you wont see any sex scenes, pointless one choices and fake choices which really do nothing, example: choose not to apologize and the very same day the story overrides the "choice" and you get "i kinda like her and i want her to like me back" then forced to apologize, so if you don't like the characters you wont like the game as you cant not choose them either.

The story is nothing but tired Clichés over and over again
The characters are again all Clichés, you have Ashley an angry Dom prostitute and just a horrible person(someone you have to make excuses for their attitude just to be able to talk to them), Emily a love stuck young girl(who talks crap to you all the time) and Samantha a 40+yo probably ex-pornstar who is a huge tease all the time and then gets mad when MC does or says anything, and none of them are people you would want to be around let alone date and without that the game is nothing but boring conversations about regular things like what to eat, chores, games, etc...

MC is a very very creepy guy who tries to act like a playboy and cant keep a single thought in his head, if MC thinks it he says it which makes him really dumb and acting like a hyperactive 12yo the rest of the time dosent help.

As for sex scenes, playing it any other way than the exact way it wants you too(don't make your own choices) means you will see more naked men than women(which at 8 chapters is very poor for this type of game) which is what i got on my playthough and i didn't like any of the women enough to play it through again so i cant really say how much there is, all i can review is what i saw which was four incidents of if you reversed the genders sexual assault/harassment on the MC but it was done to a guy so its all ok men like it(sarcasm).

On the plus side the art is very good and the game works well, i don't know if you would consider it a plus or not but it is much more realistic than most other games, its about a halfway house and your life there which is what you get in a realistic way its just a little boring and really who wants to live out that situation but if you do then this game is the best at it.

Story 3/5 (ok if you like that kind of thing)
Art 4/5 (quite good)
Sex 0/5 (none on my play through)
Fetishes 0/5 (none)
Choices 0/5 (just point builders nothing that directs the game)
Characters 0/5 (nothing good about any of them)

This game has his high and low so 3 Stars for me.

I do like the characters even if you have not a lot of choices to make.

The story is the best part of this game so far even if you don't have that much impact on it (i repeat myself)

The worst part of the game: I play with no tuto or helper, and i didn't get a scene at all from chapter... i don't recall that's how it is bad!

Seriously you can't make a game where you must have a playthrough to see some sex scenes PLEASE!!!! According to the rare few choices have made this game is empty

I'm not sure but it seems that there is no middle road and you must made a choice about a girl and stick to it... or i don't know .

Chapter 8 was great about character development but wayyyyyy too long, especially with all the readings you got a double summary at the end. Save me god!!!

The aspect which save this game is the characters are well written and adorable! Even if i didn't see any progression since 4 chapters...

This game is definitely a slow burn, but so far it's been a good story. It's an interesting premise that pulls of the wholesome but dirty blend better than most adult game stories, and doesn't have the need like so many other games to force incest into the story. Characters are awesome, renders are beautiful. It amazes me how detailed some parts of the game are without having to rely on the same 3d models that so many other games use (like that park, you know which park I'm talking about that shows up in what seems like 90% of the DAZ games out there, might be a slight exaggeration). Story is intriguing and I'm curious how things will play out, but I am worried it's going to take a long time for this one to ever be finished. Anywho... Definitely in my list of top 10 adult games and I've played a few hundred or so now over the years (don't judge me).

Cool plot and characters. I love how creator didn't give the main girls giant boobs. He is trying to force us to perceive the character as a person, and not as a doll. And they still hot (especially Ashley ) I respect that. But, and there is a problem, I feel almost impossible to choose Emily to Ashley. She just too much better overall. Story line, dialogues, temper, libido... she even looks better.
And the problem is that in games of this type, story will throw Emily on you, cause she also needs screen time, and MC will have feelings for her... And you, as player, will be sit there and think: "Bro. You can't fool anyone. We all know who is the best girl. Stop wasting time here. We don't have anouth affection points so she won't even show us her boobs. Let's go. C'mon."

The very high rating is extremely deceptive.

Even though the "narrative" is cohesive there is very little of it considering ho long the game has been in development.

Also, it seems none of the choices are in regards to plot progression, but only in regards to lewd-progression, which is pretty meh (both content and choice-wise).

Adult scenes are very lacking for such a longterm project, but that would be fine if the plot was developed further - I think a snail would call this pacing slow.

Overall not a bad game with an interesting premise - but there's really not much reason to play it before it's complete I think.

Just the fact that the dev doesn't use pre-made poses and models is enough to win me over, but I have to say, the photography and characterization in this game are some of the best out there. I also like how the dev has a sense of sensuality and eroticism, it's evident by how they do poses and play with the characters' clothes.

Well, I played this game some time ago, when I really didn't pay much atention to the reviews at all, but right now I think this one here really deserves some kind of reward.

The game is awesome. Don't get fooled by other reviews that complain about minor issues... come on dudes, as an erotic game, this is one of the best in this site so far. The plot is ok, not really a cliche compared to the typical college games or stepmom/aunt type of games, and that's something really pleasant, feels fresh.

The renders are awesome, and the characters too. I don't really like the borderline type of girl, but damn, Ashley looks amazing. Same for the dialogues, really cool and on point. You feel immersed in the game all the time thanks to this, and not all the devs here know how to do that. Maybe it's not the kinkiest game, and the sexual scenes are'nt present in all the chapters, but when a game of this kind is this good... I don't really care. The train scene (not spoiling more) was awesome, for example.

Overall, really really good game. The last chapter feels like the plot will need more atention by the devs to not feel weird or forced, but I'm sure they will do it great.

Cons... well, I can't stand Emily, so I don't go for her path lol.

Great game with hot renders, a lot of paths and choices.

My only complaint is that I wish there was some more "extreme" kinks to choose from.

Throw in more extreme domination and humiliation options from Ashlyn it woudl fit her character.

Throw in bdsm and hardcore options to corrupt Emily.

Right now it's all extremely vanilla

A patch that gives hints on choices would be fun too. I replayed the game like 10 times to get different paths.

Great premise and story telling. Liked how the story is not going too over the top but is maintaining the fine line of a VN and a sexual one at that. Just want to see how things will end given how invested you become in the plot with time. Request the dev to please shorten the release schedule as the curiosity at the end of each episode is very torturous.

This was one of the first VN I've ever played and I can say, it was a good choice... this game is marvelous. Starting with very high quality of renders followed by nicely done animations and finished with absolutely gorgeous music. I'd even call it OST. It's suiting, calming, relaxing but mostly it gives this game it's unique atmosphere which is truly amazing. Next wonderful thing about this game is story. It's not that mainstream plot but rather unique, interesting and touching story with wonderful storytelling and characters development. Here I only can point out one thing that bother me a little bit and that's MC's partial behaviour. I know it's highly subjectional and it doesn't take anything down from this game, hell, it even fits into the story. That's just my subjectional point. Anyways, developer Az is doing really good job and I am looking forward to every new epizode and I've never been disappointed. This really is one of the best game out here. I can highly recommend this game for it's great visual, relaxing and fitting music and mainly for it's unique and nicely done story. Going full 10/10. [Ep.8].

I hope there aren't people going into the game for the first time and expecting to have multiple love interests to pick and choose from because that is ruined by there only being one real romance option who also happens to be the worst girl in the game, bland Emily. It has been confirmed by the dev that she will be the ONLY LI to get a relationship ending.

Maybe the game is for you, that's going to be up to how much you like Emily's character but its definitely not for me.

Ep. 7 v2 Review

I think this game looks good but not great, you have a very standard set of sexual/romantic partners as a cast (MILF, same age girl, a bit younger girl, you can do the math).

The story is pretty average as well, even if they try to re-frame it a bit with the half-way home theme.

Sex scene are very lacking and the progressing is sluggish, for a game that has 7 episodes. There ain't much going on, which to me is specially detrimental because you aren't making a movie or a play, its a sex game…lets drop the pretentiousness and stop pretending its an elevated art form.

I am kind of astonished by the review ratings this game has, its rather deceptive. I've found a trend lately in a lot of games in F95 (LIKE THIS ONE) that are ridiculously overrated. This I think happens because A) People rate the game not for what it actually is (like I am doing right now) but for what they hope the final product will be and that is kind of a fallacy. B) People have very low expectations and will give 5 stars to any game that has half-decent renders. Even going so far as to throwing the word 'Masterpiece' incessantly and unnecessarily.

This game is average, it doesn't have enough sexual content. So I am giving it 3 out 5 for now, and hopefully it will end up being as good as other people project it to be. (The mods really enhance the experience adding sound and music that this game doesn't have by default)

Excellent game, just wish there were more sexual scenes but I guess that would take the fun out of the buildup.

Came for the art, stayed for the story.

My recommendation:
Finish the game first in full, then replay with a walkthrough mod.