VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Hard Times [Ch. 14 Fixed] [Kuranai]

Nice start, but stopped after some time. The overall review / characteristics for the novel is quite good - have a look for the details. Why three and not more stars? Storyline is written well in the overall information. In regard to the quality of the design and animation - starting with the way kissing scenes are handled - this is not within the top league, I've already experienced quite often. So I guess, overall it has a reason, why the novel was abondoned, could not compete any longer

Hard Times [Ch. 14 Fixed] [Kuranai]
"Hard Times in the Bedrooms of a Mafia Boss’s Daughters"

A cute and sweet visual novel with a mafia backdrop, You play as young man who is losing fight in his own mind but winning in the beds of your boss's daughters. It's a story focused slow burn with more emphasis on romance and gradual relationship, in contrast to the usual fuckfest.

Gameplay and Mechanics
Straightforward visual novel with options in dialogue to please one party over the other depending on the situation.

Story
Logic? Forget about it. The Mafia fueled story with unrealistically fortunate and fuckable twists. You go from a suicidal young man to a live-in bodyguard of an organized crime family. But no real depth to the story or the characters, but if you are in for a litte action and little cutesy romance with two sisters(Not yours, calm down, you incest fueled gooner)

Characters
MC is a normal guy with a tragic suicidal mind, who is saved by a random stranger. And now is a full time bodyguard of a Mafia boss, dont ask how.
The Sisters(again not yours unfortunately), Alice and Sophia, are cute, kind, and warmhearted, sexual stuff doesnt start for a while.
Alice is a conservative bookworm with eyes deeper than her pussy and Sophia is a kind gymfreak with mouthwatering abs
There are few extra girls later on in the story,a Japanese sword and a spicy Indian with great respective models.

Graphics and Sound
Good graphics and models, with details like freckles and scares and stuff. Good location design and overall the game is sweet on eyes.
Sound for the purpose of ambience and does the job.

Replay Value
You can choose how you act with each Sister, choose either or both of them. There are also options of making MC cruel or benevolent as the violent scenes give you a path selection, play nice or go full cold blooded.

Personal Opinion
Hard times was a good palate cleanser, not overly sexual, just cute and story oriented. I was waiting for it all to go south, a mix of Peaky Blinders and Mobland, in a violent turn of event but I will give no spoilers, I enjoyed the slow ride and Alice's sweet eyes.

Pros:

• Story oriented mafia game that isn’t just porn with excuses
• Cute, realistic girls, act human
• Realistic MC, not a walking erection(well thats unrealistic for some of us)
• Satisfying slow Burn

Cons:

• Lighthearted silly story for starting out on a suicidal MC
• Logic goes out of the window for the story to work
• No quick sex as the emphasis is on slow burn

Potential Additions:

• The thing that attracted me in the start of the game with mentally fucked MC, reminded me of MC of Sopranos, and how that played into the dynamics and relationship, MC could learn a little from that show.
• More depth to MC, instead of being a driver with a spare bedroom
• More layered romance instead of “stepbro who lucked out with sisters” energy
• Violence and gore, especially in the Cruel path.
• MORE MAFIA SHIT

Visually the game is lovely. The two sisters look like they have had the effort put in. They both look distinct whilst still looking like they could be related. All too often you have games where you've got sister 1 and 2 as being completely different models and you're left going "they're related... really?"

I think out of everything, the game has one main problem and that's the story's just........ weird?

So the MC is working in a bar, he saves an old boy from a doing and in thanks the old boy hires him. Now... that's kinda weird, but hey I could understand. The MC has shown he's got some mettle so why not take advantage of that, but immediately the game seems to do things which really wouldn't make sense in a normal situation. The MC is now living in the lad's house where he just... lives there? Eating food and going to the gym and everyone's cool with that? There's one bit where it's essentially highlighted as being weird but all that is there for is to showcase the MC knows how to handle himself in a fight. But the family the MC works for is shown to have a number of people on the payroll at all levels so...... why is this guy different? And like.... no one's asking the question?

Sure the MC's got a mysterious backstory which I'm sure will be squeezed out over 40 updates but as I play I'm less fussed about the MC's backstory and more just how he's even there. I mean hell, he has Christmas at their house like he's a long lost grandson. What?

Maybe it turns out there is a connection, but it seems there's no time or effort spent suggesting it might be that as a player I just assume there's no connection. And that's weird. Like as a comparison imagine you were walking home one day and got jumped. A homeless lad saw you and jumped in, helping you. To thank him, you invite him to live in your house. That's the plot of the game. It feels like the Dev wanted a situation, an outsider being brought into the inner circle of a mafia family but didn't really want to spend time wondering how to make it happen, so just ignored it and hoped you would too.

And therein lies the problem. Now that you are in the family, there's little time exploring that idea. Most of the time you're basically trying to get fired into the sisters, neither of who have the slightest attachment to the family so the game could probably have removed the crime family angle in its entirety and, at least in regards to the two sisters, you'd notice zero difference in how the game played out.

Story 2/5
Story seems decent but its to rushed in the way of MCs job since hes not supposed to be in "the family" but people tells him welcome to the family and hes shown waaaaay to much for someone whos not in the family, like beating people up and such, it feels a bit idiotic and there no way a mob boss would trust a new guy with so much when hes just an outsider.....

Also MC is supposed to be a bodyguard with no other ties to the mob but all he does is stuff with the mob? i get game will be about MC joining them but its done in a way that makes very little sense and in a way where MC isent really given a choice so it feels rushed and forced insted and the word given by the boss that MC wouldet be part of it is worth nothing, after just a few days MCs seen people getting beat up, came along for a shake down of a smaller gang that ends in a shoot out, which was also against the bosses orders to not put MC in any danger and it has nothing to do with what MC was hired for but MC acts like its a normal monday which also makes no sense....and the thing is the boss dont need just another dude under him but someone outside the familie to protect him self and the daughters.

But MC will become just another low lvl wannabe gangster like all the others, so its just really shitty writing that makes for a poor story with little sense, i dont even know why MC wants to be part of it or why the boss would even want MC to be part of the mob, he has plenty of idiots under him already, so if story should make any sense he would trow out MC from the house to get a new clean bodyguard for the family since no one else from the mob lives in the house with the daughters, why else hire MC in the first place when he could pick even stronger guys in the mob to be bodyguards....its just to weird a story.

As for the virgin fans there isent much to come for, no blood just an ouch, so not really a deflower scene even though she has some pain, so yeah its just meh like everyting else.

As for renders its pretty low res making it a bit grainy so not the best quality.

Girls 1/5
To me personaly they just look to old and to ugly, theres nothing even remotely hot about them and there arent much to choose from just 2.

Animations 2/5
At best they are average in quality but they are very short so not really much to come for.

Music 3/5
Standard background stuff nothing special but atleast decent enough to not be annoying.

Choices 3/5
Alot of choices dont really matter or do anything, the only ones that does is when you pick love/friend with a girl.

It's a surprisingly good project, especially considering that it's the developer's first project. For me, in both games and VN, the main thing is the story and well-developed characters.
Here we have both. Graphics are quite decent, everything is fine with immersion - it's interesting to follow the development of the plot, in general at the moment I can't make any serious claims to the developer.
I can't recommend this VN to those who are looking for porn only on this resource - there are plenty of other games and VNs for you.
But for those who are interested in the narrative component, I strongly recommend to pay attention to this project.
And for the first time I give the highest rating (5 points out of 5 possible) to the debut project. It deserves it.
And I want to wish the developer strength to complete the work on this project, I hope it will not be the last, the author has a great creative potential.

The story is good, somewhat realistic (well, mostly). It's more of a VN than AVN and I like it.
I would say it's one of the best story oriented games with mafia theme.

MC is not a stupid perverted stud, he is actually quite mature.

Girls (sisters) are gorgeous, and they are not former lesbians or BI how it usually happens in other games and it's amazing.

In overall characters are well-written, each with their personalities, they are not soulless NPCs, so you kinda believe them and feel for them.

Writing is, let's say it's finish, it could be polished, but it's nothing considering how many pros are in the game.

Really good dialogues and story.
The characters are all interesting and bring the story to life.
The visuals are very good and the action sequences are very well built.
Definitively a top AVN deserving of more following.
Only weakness is the very limited amount of choices and worse to me : the time it took to romance the LI from being a stranger into girlfriending zone goes way too fast to be believable and unfortunately make it lose 1 star for me.

But still it's a 4 stars AVN easily but with better writing for the women it would have gotten it into the 5 stars zone

Edit: Game was abandoned, so changing to 1 star. Another one bites the dust.

Game is really a 4 star, but giving 5 because it lacks the exposure it deserves and is well worth playing.

Writing isn’t superb but is above average. Entertaining plot, moves along at a good pace. The sex scenes are basic, if you prefer games that are more akin to porn this one is not for you.

This is a very Vanilla and wholesome VN.
The Harem is just starting and is being done right. The two Li's so far know about each other and are fine with it and didn't have to turn Bi-sexual for that to happen.
The story, writing and pace are good. It is a very good translation but it is obvious that the developer is a not a native English speaker. With a little bit of polish it could be perfect.
Nice render's and beautiful Li's. Good sex scene's but short and unavoidable if you are on the Li's route. The only non-vanilla sex scene so far was a footjob. There does seem to be improvement as he progresses and learns.
The MC is a badass and mature.
The music is good.
Of the 2 Li's so far only 1 is a virgin. There is no plot reason why the second girl couldn't have been a virgin as well. If she had then it would be more appealing to vanilla harem lovers. Absolutely no TMI.
Overall I rate his work highly.

Both the main character and the female characters are really good in appearance, style and temperament, there is never unnecessary drama in the game.

While the render quality was good at the beginning, it got better as the game progressed, but the animations are not very good, but it can definitely be improved

the story is a not so common story and with the main character's own life story the main story of the game is very interesting and fun

As +, the fact that there is a small harem in the game makes the game much better and interesting.

The game takes gangsta style seriously.
Give the player the choice of being cold or kind throughout the game,but the whole game simply and clearly carries out a story about cold.
The girl image is also very characteristic.so far, it's a romantic harem, but the story doesn't necessarily have a happy ending.
It's worth playing because the story and the relationship are rare.

English: 6
User Interface: 4
User Experience: 5
Art: 8
Dialogue: 3
Story: 5
Opinion: 5
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Avg: 5.14/10

I'm a little sad about this one, as for once I don't absolutely hate MC. Sure he's a little boring, with no stake in anything, but for once he's not god's gift to womankind, or some all powerful dogooder. Although the story is a bunch of boring nothings. Yes, he's suddenly hired into a crime family and given the world on a silver platter all for throwing a pipe? But why? A powerful man just says "Here, MC, live here with my sheltered daughters, and I trust your opinion on everything as well as let you do most anything you want with no repercussions." And this isn't some "porn first" game, it's really trying to write a story. But for some reason, it's boring. Yes, things are happening. Yes, there's violence, crime, and a tiny bit of mystery. But for whatever reason it doesn't pull me in. Be it the robotic dialogue, off English, or just pacing issues something just doesn't do it for me.

You play as MC. A guy about to commit suicide for.. reasons? And is talked off the literal ledge by some old guy for no reason. Then MC finds his way to a bar and is hired on the spot for yet again no reason. Two months flash by and MC saves some guy from a mugging and then the man MC saves, gives him a job, home, the greenlight to screw his daughters, and the freedom to leave at anytime for yet again: No reason. Do you see how boring and contrived it all is yet? Every person MC meets helps him out of sheer goodwill to all men like it's a christmas movie or something. But they're all supposed to be criminals too? Sure, "upscale" illegal casino criminals, but a crime boss just pulling in some depressed hobo doesn't make sense. Yeah I get the message "One good day could change a life" or whatever, but just about every day becomes a good day. And 3 of his first 5 days are days off? Come on. And so much of the dialogue for the longest time is "How are you?" "I'm good" "Oh that's good, how was your day?" "It was pretty great, how about you?" "Pretty great." WOW SO GREAT. I NEEDED TO READ THAT FOR DAYS. Followed soon after by a baked in xmas episode. And I feel like Dev over compensated "fixing" that issue when the drama starts. Suddenly MC is rambo, and all the crime families are active again, and somehow MC has the ability to be the bridge to everything. Becoming the type of MC I don't like, sadly.

And the "romance," my god. Alice's love story is "We read a book together and you work for my dad, please have sex with me." While Sophia's is "We worked out 3 times lets have sex." OH, but I'm sure your comment will be "No, she had second thoughts and it almost ended." But did you read what happened? MC got advice like "don't worry about it" and when he talked to Sophia, he said "Yeah I might die because this is dangerous but let's be together anyway." So they have sex. And it's not like either of the "paths" are paced differently, almost the SAME DAY MC tries to seduce them. And when the fighting starts they add Raveena and Tomoe. Most likely because the ADHD of the patreon supporters can't handle less than 48 love interests for MC to have sex with. Raveena already makes googly eyes and Tomoe was bested by MC and I'm sure the writer thinks that's how flirting in Japan works.

The English fluctuates a lot. And it's really stiff when it doesn't. UI and UX is stock with a font added in, so nothing to write home about. The art is pretty good, mostly atypical female models, but it's still lit very bright and has no noticeable post processing. And the animations are pretty grainy. The dialogue is either "That's great" or "I want revenge." And I can kinda tell where the story will go, which sucks because it's not terrible. If this had a better writer in terms of dialogue, and the story wasn't short and predictable, I'd easily recommend this. But it's a mixed bag. Even though I know most just play a game because the models look good but what can ya do?

Ayant testé ce VN, il y a un petit moment, je vais m'y replonger pour le chapitre 13.
Mais de ce que j'ai déjà pu voir précédemment, c'est un très bon VN.
L'histoire est plutôt bien mise en place, ce n'est pas trop exécuter rapidement et pour l'instant peu d'inconsistance.
Quant aux graphiques, je les trouve vraiment bien réussies, alors certes, il pèse peu et ne dispose pas d'une flopée d'image comme certains gros VN, mais ça reste très bon.
J'espère que le chapitre 13 me satisfera, mais je ne m'en fais pas.
Bon courage pour les prochain chapitre, continue comme cela et ce jeu sera un des meilleurs, j'en suis sûr.
_____________
Having tested this VN, a little while ago, I will dive back into it for chapter 13.
But from what I have already seen previously, it is a very good VN.
The story is pretty well put together, it's not run too fast and so far little inconsistency.
As for the graphics, I find them really well done, so admittedly, it weighs little and doesn't have a slew of images like some big VNs, but it's still very good.
I hope chapter 13 will satisfy me, but I don't worry.
Good luck for the next chapter, keep it up and this game will be one of the best, I'm sure.

I'd give a 5/5 but it really needs a proofreader. the game, obviously, is written by someone to whom English is not native. Do not let it detract you though. The storyline is great. The main character is interesting and so are all the other characters. Though they seem a bit too friendly for people who are in a crime family. Makes me a bit weary of their intentions. LOL. But that's just me.
The renders are great.
P.S. There is a redhead. Major bonus points from the likes of me.

This game was not very bad in itself but there were certainly some areas for improvement. The scenario on which the whole story is based is rather unrealistic. The MC encounters a mafia boss who is being robbed. The mafia boss is all alone and apparently unarmed, well that first of all doesn't seem very realistic to me. After being saved by the MC, he then introduces the MC to his house and to his daughter and offers him a job. Not knowing if he can fully trust him or what, he is allowed to come and live in his house where his daughters also live. Which is quite a risk for a mafia boss and not at all realistic.

The good thing is that there are some flashbacks about the MC's past, which gives his suicidal tendency some more depth and background. The graphics are fine and the characters look good too, but the build-up of the plot makes it hard for me to give more than three stars.

Great renders and and well written characters. The story is done pretty well. I do like the linearity of the story and the models are unique so that's a plus. Will be fun to see how the game expands further.

Hard Times is a story about a young man about to commit suicide, when a mysterious old man suddenly talks to him and returns him from the brink. The MC is then taken in by a friendly bar owner who offers the MC even a job. And a bit later the MC sees an older gentleman who is in trouble, he saves him and it turns out the older gentleman is some kind of don of a mafia family. MC is hired as a bodyguard, he also gets to live in the house of the don and there he gets closer to the two pretty daughters of the don... and the MC is slowly drawn into the world of mob families and gangsters, while things heat up with the two lovely sisters.

Hard Times is off to a somewhat rough start, things like the attempted suicide don't have a proper backstory yet. Early on there are too many convienient plot contrivances. It's, for example, very unlikely some mafia don would ever go out alone in the dark, he would have a bodyguard to begin with.

But once these early parts are done with the story greatly improves and the portrayal of the mob family life is actually pretty interesting. You also get a few important choices here and there, the don's son for example has a very different approach to things than his father, and the MC can choose to align with either of them. Things like that. And of course you get a choice in the romance department as well.

So far there are only two proper love interests, the two sisters, but another two potential love interests have just been introduced in the latest update. You can pick and choose here, so you can either go for both sisters, for one of them... or keep things stricly in the friendzone.

The sisters are in their 20s, one is the sporty type with a somewhat more muscular body (still very feminine though) and the younger sister is the archetypical nerdy bookworm and somewhat more shy and reserved.

Sophia, the sporty sister, opens up to the MC more easily, there are some hiccups inbetween that are soon resolved though with the help of Alice. As of chapter 11 the MC can have sex with Sophia a few times.
Alice, the bookworm, is of the "I am not ready yet" variety, but she's ready to do everything else of course. It's a tired trope... but fortunately Alice is not a super terrible tease and the MC can eventually have sex with her late into the current build.

Character design in Hard Times is good, you will encounter many, many male NPCs (none are rivals for the girls so far, so no need to panic). Alice and Sophia actually look like sisters, Both are similar types, only with Sophia having a somewhat more toned body.
Both are pretty, but more cute than outright bombshells. They also have normal body proportions with normal sized breasts. I appreciate it a lot, since I am no fan of overly exaggerated proportions.
But if you want milfs or super curvy women... you won't find them here.

The renders are really good here, however the (sex) animations are pretty mediocre, bordering on bad. You will not play this game for the sex, it's a story driven game with romance. There are sex scenes of course, numerous even, but they are all very short. There's not much movement, i.e. at times it looks as if the body of the woman is a static image which is merely animated to go up and down (when she's on top). Other scenes do have some more dynamic animations with some physics applied to the bodies, but everything is very short and so far everything is also pretty vanilla. I like vanilla, so I appreciate the approach here. If you want super kinky stuff though you will be out of luck.
If you are pursuing Alice there is a footjob scene, no options for that to avoid it. It doesn't bother me, foot fetish is probably the tamest fetish there is, but generally speaking I think that anything that is not stricly 100% vanilla should always be optional. So far it's a very minor issue, but should other things like anal sex actually be included (it's in the tags) I feel it would be best to make at least that entirely optional.
But again, you play Hard Times for the story, the romance, not for the sex thus the somewhat lackluster sex scenes are not that much of an issue yet. And the footjob is very short as well, so even if you don't like that you just need to click a few times and things are over very soon.

One thing about the story I find a bit odd is how cordial the don is, I mean it's nice that he's not a psychopath for a change, but he's either completely oblivious about his bodyguard hooking up with his two pretty daughters (very likely) or just ok with it.
I feel that this should be addressed sooner than later. The MC also never even addresses this potential major issue with either of the girls or in an internal monologue. One would think the new guy would be wary about getting close and having sex with both of the don's daughters at the same time. But he's not. Neither are the girls.
On the plus side this means the romance part of the story is mostly drama free.
However, I would wish the interactions with the sisters would not mostly happen in the house, the bedroom or the gym in the basement. Maybe more proper dates might make the don suspicious so that could be one reason for not really having proper dates here, but I feel proper dates with any of the sisters could give the relationships a bit more depth.
Later in the game most interactions with the girls are just about fooling around or sex. Let them have more conversations again as well. As I said previously, so far the fact that the don is (most likely) unaware has not been adressed and the Alice/Sophia situation is also something that has not really been adressed yet, if you pursue them both.
This game has a harem tag, so chances are everyone will be ok with sharing eventually, but so far the romances, even though you do interact with the sisters quite a few times, lack a certain depth. And adding two new love interests in episode 11 means the sisters will probably get much less screentime in upcoming episodes which may impact their arcs.
I would be good to see more sides to Sophia and Alice, other than one being a fitness fan and the other always reading books.

The game has a POV perspective for most scenes. In a few scenes you will see the MC, but his face is hidden by his somewhat silly looking emo hairstyle. Not a fan of this. I believe there are better options to hide the face.
Or just show the face, the POV approach does limit sex scenes a lot, oral sex with any of the two girls looks a bit silly. The girls also kiss air all the time and hugs just look awkward in a POV perspective. So in my opinion it would benefit the composition of certain scenes greatly if the MC was visible.
But of course many love POV games and don't like it at all when they can see the MC's face... and it's not THAT terrible, but maybe kissing scenes could at least show the mouth and chin of the MC as other games often choose to do when they otherwise have a POV perspective.

What else... the game has music and sound effects, everything is fine in that department!
The writing is ok, but there are a few mistakes here and there, both typos and grammatical mistakes are found in the text and at times wrong words are used. The MC greets the don or the girls with "Good night" when he meets them in the evening for dinner or so, which is odd. But it's nothing too major.

So... who will like this game? If you like the mafia / crime genre and if you like story driven games chances are very high you will enjoy Hard Times. If you are also ok with a very limited number of potential love interests, two fully realized romances with sex so far and two newly introduced potential love interests in the latest update who are both at the very beginning of their paths, then you may even love it.
The focus (in the first 10-11 chapters) on just two girls means you get to spend more time with each of them as well. Which means you can form a deeper attachment to them. Something that is often not possible in a game with 10+ love interests.

If you are looking for something that has a focus on sex, with good animations and a wide variety of love interests... then Hard Times may not be something for you. And as mentioned previously, there are no super curvy babes here, everyone looks more or less "normal".

But if you are into mafia games, games with just a handful of potential love interests and a huge focus on the story... then Hard Times is absolutely worth your time! The start is a bit rough and bumpy, but once the MC meets the don those issues are resolved. So keep going early in the game! The early parts are not representative of the actual experience once the MC moves into the house of the don and becomes his bodguard / assistant / helper and is slowly drawn into a world of crime and love.

One final word about the nature of the criminal schemes in this game... they are not of the super nasty variety, the don has a casino, so it's mostly about illegal gambling, there is no sex trafficking here, no prostiution, nothing extremely bad or super sinister. There is some violence though and especially in episode 11 there's quite a lot of it, people will get killed here. But always for a "good" reason. And at times you can also spare lives, the MC can be benevolent (as far as the situations allow it) if you want him to be.

Update for Chapter 14
Really loving this game. There are things here and there that feel slightly rushed, but considering the story line, I understand. People don't always have patience with VNs. The adult fun has kicked in a whole lot more since the original review a year and a half ago and the overall story has grown and added a lot more depth and intrigue. Love the new LIs as well. A bit different than the ones at home and add good variety. Looking forward to see where this continues to go!

Original Review
Such a beautifully crafted story and game, so far. The story is not your typical run of the mill VN you see a lot on here. It has an interesting story with decent depth and does not fill like a rush to get to some unbelievable sex story. The story is built strong first to give a great base for everything that is happening.

Once you get past the story you have some really great artwork. The models are all done well and they don't seem like copy and paste models that 90% of the stories use. The world is well crafted as well.

Can't wait for the next chapter.

Version Reviewed : Ch. 10

Renders are fine, music ain't bad, plot is vague but interesting and the MC is pretty good so far. My main gripe is that the lewd scenes mostly detract from the experience - I would like them better with no animation than these clunky ones - they seem tacked on to the rest of the game, an afterthought.

I get why they're there - but improve them or remove them. I would play the game even without them.

This is my review for Hard Times by Kuranai version Ch. 9

The good

• Renders are looking good
• Music
• Writing ok
• No errors
• Gameplay
• Animations are ok
• Scenes with both girls
• Big amount of content 3+ hours

The bad

• Story is a little rush

In conclusion, 5 stars worth playing.