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

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.

Outside of the MC sometimes being downright annoying, this is a pretty top notch game. A game that can go 7 episodes without massive amounts of sexual content and still have such a high rating speaks volumes about the quality of the game.

Renders are above average, the writing is solid, and there is a surprising amount of depth behind each character that we're just beginning to uncover.

Looking forward to how the story progresses

Love everything about this. The story is good, you get plenty of choices which do affect the storyline or the scenes that you get to see, the characters are diverse and interesting and the models are incredible.

I need more updates!

This is right up my alley and I wish i could find more of this quality. Is there a downside?
Story telling was top notch totally engaging with an interesting setting (not just living with mum/sis etc). Nicely developed characters with some sort of background well thought out to make them different!! (yes not just hi my name is...shag)
The rendering/graphics were superb.. I especially like the small touches such the smoke in ashleys smoke scene.. these details make a difference bringing the scenes to life.. i think even the light came on in the bath scene!

The content for 7 chapters worth is 100 percent worth the download.. now its gonna be like waiting for your next episode of your favourite programme!!

tl;dr: in my opinion, it is one of the better ones VN on this site.

There is quite interesting non-cliche story. Right now [Ep. 7v2] it feels like we are in the early-mid game, not much sex, a lot of teasing which in my opinion is great. VNs with chicks jumping on MC's dick second they meet him feels just plaint stupid, so if you share this view with me then you are in luck with this game.
About the characters I have to admit that there are nice looking girls/love interests. Each is very unique: on the surfice it might seem that they are very stereotypical (like one is cuteness-overload virgin and other is rebel-punk nympho) but in truth there is more going on and it is fun to discover these layers and depths.
Game has also hilarious male companions/bros/friends. It's fun to have them around and it is shame that their screentime is rather short. Monroe's especially.
Worth to note is that there are good looking, high quality renders. Game is generally nice to watch.

Fingers crossed for this project.

Really enjoy the game. Characters are well designed and the renders are really good. The plot is also good. The game also has some nice music and some (few) sound effects. Animations are not the best, but it does not compromise the game at all.

this is amazing, its one of the best looking vns i have seen, the environments, really detailed backgrounds and the lighting of them, and the character models are just simply fantastic, then there is the writing which is really really good, i love the characters especially Samantha and Ashley, they are just amazing. The build up to their scenes and and the scenes themselves are extremely well done.
The only thing that i would say that bothers me is that some of the talking scenes drag on for too long, and there are 7 episodes but barely anything happened in them. There are a lot of interesting plot points brought up but barely explored and progression made in any of them. But these are minor annoyance of mine and i still enjoyed the game very much, looking forward for more.

Graphics = 10.0, if it improves it spoils.
Characters = 9.5, we could have developed the characters more, but the way they were made is not bad.
Bugs = I didn't find any during the 7 episodes, everything went according to plan.
Plot = 8.5, many of the dialogues were tedious and easily implied, could be summarized or be more direct.

General note for the game = 9.5 (but by rounding I will put 5 stars instead of 4), I particularly liked the game and I recommend to you who are reading this to download it, for the reasons described above.

A refreshing, unusual plot ; with well-thought out characters and dialogues, each having his own personality and acting/talking accordingly.

There's something for everyone : the warm MILF, the sexually liberated goth, the inexperienced tsundere girlfriend. As for side characters, such as the flatmate or the MILF's friends, they have their own endearing personalities as well.

These make for a story which I really enjoyed so far (ep. 7), it's pretty immersive with some funny plot twists.
Some complain about the dearth of sex scenes, but given that the theme of the novel is a coming-of-age story, it's fine IMHO. It's the hero's journey that's most enjoyable.

All of that is complemented with top notch graphics. It is notable that there are (non-sexual) animations which usefully serve to illustrate a scene ; making this visual novel more lively.

Can't wait for the next episode !

This game is definitely worth to play.
It kind of reminds me of Acting Lessons.
Though some might say that the game is slow-paced or too many teasing,
I think that makes the story more reasonable and enjoyable.

I really want to love this game; the renders are beautiful, the story is good, and the cast is diverse and interesting.

However I couldn't enjoy this game as much as I would have because of how unlikeable the MC is. I get that this is supposed to be a porn game and he was in juvie but does he have to be whiny and horny all the time. His dialogue and behaviour is pretty cringe especially how he behaves towards the girl who is supposed to be his main love interest.

This game got progressively harder to sit through because of the MC and the fact that there's little sexual content to offset how annoying the MC is meant that I lost patience with this game which is a shame.