VN - Ren'Py - Hero to Villain Remastered [v0.3.2 Public] [Izumii]

Story:3/5
Grammar/English:3.5/5
UI:3/5
Characters:3/5
Progression:3/5
Sandbox:3/5
Graphics:3/5
(No major spoilers below)

Story:
Story starts off with backstory, like a lot of games. Although the backstory kind of falls into a pit where its not long enough to get a comprehensive picture of the situation at hand, but not short enough to just be a quick summary of events. Going on from that the theme of the story seems to be one where the MC shifts bodies, from their original overly powerful body to a weak body, which is a trope that has been done a dozen times over so to keep it fresh you have to come up with some plot points that work well.

Story is still MAJORLY in progress, so not much to be commented on.

Writing:
The writing style seems to be rapid progression, with a linear story, getting from point A to point B without many sub points in between, which can work but kind of leaves the characters feeling hollow, with little personality shining through, since the interactions between characters is minor, they either have to give out their intentions directly in speech or in thought bubbles, so it doesn't take much to read through the characters and pick between who you like and who you dislike, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on your personality. From the language as well, there are some evident issues with English, at least in the start but it doesn't come too apparent in the game itself, but this could be that the start of the game is developed by someone else, who then abandoned the game for someone else to pick up. So the blame isn't so much there for the current developer since the game is new to them, I would suggest running through some of the script in the future through someone who speaks native English, so issues with it can be fixed before they arise as major problems.

UI:
The UI is decent, nothing special, but since this is a majorly linear story at least thus far there's not much need for a UI, the phone you get to use is a tiny bit redundant since there's no major reason to use it as of right now, the character screen where you can see the characters you see is okay looking, the only major issue I can see with it is that if you click through the different characters without closing the screen, to return to the game you have to click return many times, as the characters you went through will shuffle now backwards in order.

Graphics:
Models seem to be the standard honey select style, but there's enough expression between character styles to distinguish them from each other, however they suffer from major same face syndrome, so as long as you like looking at the same facial features you should be good, the environments you majorly spend your time in aren't much special but there's no real fault in them either, they're just kind of there, they aren't bad by any means, just a tad bit basic. Actual scenes in the game are okay, from what I saw there's enough expression between the cameras and point of views that its not an issue and they aren't just basic 2 image animations going back and forth either.

Last thoughts:
Not a very long game, but I wouldn't call it bad either, it requires some worldbuilding and major story points par from the ones that it has, and the characters just need a tad bit more moments to really shine their personality. But as its still in its starting point, all of those can still happen in the future. Good luck on more content

Only thing i like is renders and story
The chanche to be a villian in a super power game i somthing i always love
Story is good you where once hero and then you got betrayed you died and now want revenge you some kind of anti hero /villian
Sex scenes are meh
I expected more sex scenes with the amount of girls
No bugs
didn't play with sound

I like the story of this VN, and the characters are interesting enough to make me want to read more. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is the terrible English. The dialog seems to have been translated literally from a language that doesn't differentiate between tenses, forcing an English-language player to continually rephrase dialog that refers to events in the past in order to make sense of present-tense statements about people who are dead or events that happened in the past. Of the various possible improvements that people mention in reviews here, my vote would be for a skilled translator, or at least a good editor who can rephrase the tense of references to the past, so the story can be more immersive.

The girls look alright in this game but man every other part is just so flavorless. Was really hoping you'd get to go from hero to villain as the title implies but the MC basically gets stabbed in the back and acts like the exact same guy afterwards. Heck the story just started and I'm already given a choice to just flat out register as a hero once again.

Disappointing plot direction aside another irritating thing is the fake out 'choices' where you are presented an option and are instantly punished with negative points or flat out told No in a meta slide from the dev which also kills the immersion. Might as well just remove the 'option' and just let the plot go as intended at that point. Also noticed several choices just boil down to just agree with the girl or lose points. Its one of those games.

As for the sex scenes.. So far they are exclusively your character getting forced into sex by the girls. The first one of which has a girl just blatantly R word your character in a bathroom and you get an option to just go along with it. This game should definitely have the femdom tag at very least imo.

In summary. Good character designs. Interesting story concept. But not much else going for it yet.

Well, so what to say. This game is quite a mixed bag for me, now is it in a bad sense or a good sense. Let's see:

**Pros:**
1. The premise and the plot are the highlights of this game. It itches that edgy anime feeling that we all love. The premise is so simple yet very effective with some uniqueness to it.
2. The magic system has very high potential if developed properly, as I already said the action is missing, but the magic show that we got makes up for that. Very cool. But what to say, we want more, and the magic system could be developed more in detail and also explained.
3. The large cast, especially some of the top-tier villains. I really enjoyed them, their dynamics, and their conversation more than the good casts, including the main protagonist himself. Their conversation was the one that mostly hooked me into the story.
4. The perspective of Drakh was a really new thing, and it was impressive. I would like it to be developed more if that is possible.

**Cons:**
1. The English of the game, I mean, clearly, I think it does not need an explanation.
2. Less focus on male characters, in favor of female casts. Why did I say this? After all, this is an adult VN with a male protagonist. Well, because the potential of this game is quite good if some of the things can be tweaked, and among these tweaks is this, the story factor. Any game, whether it's adult or not, and especially because it's a visual novel, the story should be prioritized more than anything else, at least that's how I see it and want it. A game with a good story can be avoided to reduce to being a porn game by having a diverse, well-made cast including male casts. I have seen many games with a good or potential story line get ruined and feel very bland when they focus too much on just female characters. The world does not feel real.
3. While we, of course, would like to know what happened to the characters in the past or what is happening behind the scenes, there are better ways to depict those. I think the dev should focus on showing more than telling. Let me take a scene and give an example without giving too many spoilers. There was a scene where the relationship of the main casts has been shown in the past; now it was quite abrupt and very direct, which breaks immersion into anticipation of wanting to know what happened. This could have been implemented in this way, like without directly showing everything, it could have been revealed through pops while our boy was having a conversation with pops since he also predicted something like this could happen. Also, the scene could have been delayed more since this is one of the most essential revelations one can give to the story.
4. The personality of the hero is quite confusing because, as per him, he should have been morally ambiguous with a slight edge towards good most of the time. But other than him uttering the word, I don't see him living up to his words.

**Suggestions:**
1. I wish to see the hero go from zero to hero and feel the strength being earned slowly, as the vessel holding this body is not yet well-suited.
2. There could be more fighting scenes to make us feel, not just tell us, the bleak nature of the evil dominating the heroes. Also, since this is one of the unique features of this game in the sense it has been implemented way better than many AVNs. My suggestion is this feature alone can make it a top-tier AVN if implemented properly.
3. There could be improvements made on dialogue delivery and exposition. Because most of the places, it feels like the scene does not get a chance to develop. Also, I think this could be linked to my first point.

All in all, I can describe this game as a very high-quality recipe; you just have to find the correct ingredients and have to put them in the right amounts to give it the quality the recipe already has in it. Best of luck dev for your future works!

English: 2/10 User Interface: 3/10 User Experience: 4/10 Art: 7/10 Dialogue: 3/10 Story: 4/10 Opinion: 2/10
Avg: 3.57/10 [2/5]

This game's English localization is a significant letdown, garnering a mere 2/10. The user interface fares slightly better at 3/10, while the user experience and dialogue receive lackluster scores of 4/10 and 3/10, respectively. The art, standing at 7/10, is one of the few redeeming qualities. The story, however, falls flat with a rating of 4/10. Altogether, my overall opinion is a paltry 2/10, resulting in an average score of 3.57/10 [2/5].

The discrepancy between my assessment and seemingly positive reviews from non-English-speaking players is perplexing. It appears that either language barriers or a lack of attention to detail have skewed their perspectives. The translation quality here is so poor that it undermines the core experience of a visual novel, where reading is paramount. Investing in a proper translation rather than relying on haphazard Google Translate snippets is essential for an immersive experience.

The claim of "Remastered" in the title is misleading, given the continued use of default RenPy and standard HS models. This hardly qualifies as a remaster, which typically implies updated visuals, mechanics, or UI. It raises questions about whether this is an opportunistic move to capitalize on an existing audience without genuine improvements. The narrative, centered around protagonist Aiden's betrayal, death, and subsequent reincarnation for revenge, lacks originality and depth. A more skillfully crafted story could have elevated the overall experience.

Playing as Aiden is meant to provide a unique perspective, but the muddled translation makes it challenging to discern whether he's a snarky character or simply unpleasant. This linguistic barrier persists throughout 99% of the dialogue, detracting from the intended character dynamics. The progression of events, including Aiden's swift victory over the supposed penultimate villain and subsequent reincarnation, lacks coherence and emotional resonance. The poorly conveyed motivations and relationships contribute to a lackluster narrative.

Side stories attempt to add depth, but their execution falls short. Drakh's soul subplot is abruptly abandoned, while Katherine's backstory, intended for empathy, becomes unintentionally comical. The absurdity of her childhood friend falling off a cliff, her mother buying her a knife, and the family training in an alley near their home strains credibility. The attempt to evoke sympathy for the characters is hampered by the subpar dialogue and storytelling.

The English translation's quality is a major hindrance, often inducing laughter due to misspelled words, incorrect phrases, and grammar issues. The UI and UX, largely stock, do little to enhance the overall experience. While the art occasionally shines, it should not be the sole factor justifying positive reviews. Contrary to expectations, the game's content lacks sufficient adult themes to cater to a niche audience.

In conclusion, the subpar translation and unimpressive story, coupled with misleading claims of a remaster, make it difficult to recommend this game. A potential improvement in the translation might alter this assessment, but such revisions are rare in the gaming industry.

Edit: I just want to say, it's very weird that the review after me (see above) copied me almost exactly. All they did was try to make themselves sound like they have a superior vocabulary. So, that's a thing that happened.

English: 2/10
User Interface: 3/10
User Experience: 4/10
Art: 7/10
Dialogue: 3/10
Story: 4/10
Opinion: 2/10
------------------------------
Avg: 3.57/10 [2/5]

I cannot begin to fathom where these 4/5 or even 3 star reviews are coming from. Everyone who's reviewed this either does not speak English, or flat out does not read. The only time I've read a worse translation, was a game that had untranslated lines. But I might not have gotten to them yet, so who knows. And I don't know how many times I have to reiterate this: A visual NOVEL is something that's meant to be READ. If the reading experience is abysmal, the entirety of the the game feels terrible. If you don't bother to spend the money and/or effort to properly translate your game, instead of drip feeding it through google translate, do NOT force feed us this slop of a script. What's even worse is the "Remastered" in the title. Seeing as this uses default RenPy and standard HS models, I shudder at what the original must have looked like. As a "remaster" is supposed to mean updated visuals, mechanics, and/or UI. Or, this is just capitalizing on an established audience just to make a quick buck. Either way, the quick and dirty run-down is: The hero Aiden was betrayed over jealousy, and left to die. The soul of the villain he tried to kill reincarnated him in some kids body and now he's out for revenge. If this was written better, it might be gripping. But this is as default of a story as you can get.

As I said, no matter what, you play as Aiden. I think he's supposed to be a snarky ruffian who's the strongest hero? But, and I can't stress this enough, the translation is so unbelievably bad I can't tell if he's snarky or just a dick. And that's true for 99% of the dialogue in this. I will try to hold my disdain for the Non-English until the end. Anywho, Aiden fights Drakh and wins in about two hits. Supposedly, he was the penultimate villain, but his death was off-screen and pathetic. Then Risa kills Aiden because she's jealous he gets attention, and then Drakh's soul reincarnates Aiden in MC's body.... For reasons? As far as I can tell he did it because he liked Aiden. Why? No idea. But suddenly MC just wants revenge, and he proclaims it every 5 seconds, so, in case you forget, he wants revenge. The body Aiden takes over didn't have powers, and was bullied into suicide because of it. The first thing MC does is beat up his bully and sign up for the hero association. Or whatever it's actually called.(Hero Guild I guess) So, beat the bully, instantly convince someone he's Aiden in another body, then have a fight with villains for no reason? I really can't understand why it happened. Katherine just threw a knife at MC walking home, then he threw it back and pulled someone to the ground. After that, he proceeds to say the fight was tiring? Right. Soon after, MC goes to the Hero Guild, another useless Free Roam section that pops up randomly for literally no reason. It adds nothing to the game, for the people that like this, I hope it goes away. Just like the inventory and phone menu. You don't need to see what's in his inventory and the phone is COMPLETELY USELESS. YOU DO NOT USE IT AT ALL. Anyway, he goes to the hero guild to ask everyone about Risa, the top ranked hero. So, he's also a complete moron and thinks some nobody can talk to a celebrity. Though with the poor storytelling, I'm a little shocked he didn't get to fight and beat her immediately. But he leaves, fights his bully one more time, steals his girlfriends, and passes out. That's it.

As for side stories, there's two, at the moment. Drakh's soul(that disappears near the middle of current content) goes to the villains hideout to see what happened. Someone named Chris took over and Drakh's mad about it. The end. Then you get to see Katherine's back story and it's honestly the hardest I've laughed at a visual novel ever. She is out with her friend as a kid, talking about what they wanna be when they grown up, and the friend just falls off a cliff and she runs away? We didn't need to see that. It adds nothing to her character. Then some unknown amount of time passes for no reason, I guess to show that she is sad about her friend and her mother bought her child an actual knife? Her dad comes home specifically to beat his wife, then Katherine stabs her dad in the spine. So her and her mom run away. BUT they run to the alley OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE to train with knives? They were so close and so little time passed, the dad got up(from a spine injury?) started yelling and they could hear him. It was such a brain dead revelation I actually laughed out loud. I know it's supposed to make some empathy for this character, but the dialogue is so bad you feel nothing for any of these characters. This whole section was told because she was about to be hit by a car and MC saves her as some sort of false death flag and to make her like him.

But honestly this is such a terrible translation the whole thing felt like a joke. I don't know what else to say other than the English is so bad it made me laugh. Every time, the word "shit" is spelled "shjt," every turn of phrase is completely incorrect, and don't get me started on the grammar. No idea what the native language is, because I'm a dumb american, but keep it there or hire a translator. The UI/UX is stock, the art is fine. SOMETIMES the faces don't look static and boring. But you really shouldn't be praised for sometimes doing your job. There's not even much sex so the band of horny gamers shouldn't even be blasting 5 stars for this. The dialogue and story is hard to read. I CAN SEE where it's all going, but that darn translation is bad. If I haven't said that before.

I really don't think the translation will ever be even acceptable, for the people that like this, I hope it does. If so, I'll come back and change my rating, gladly, but I can count on one finger the number of games that have actually updated a translation. So I'm not holding my breath.

I have mixed feelings after playing 0.3. I found myself laughing for more than 30 minutes because your backstory is so fk awful. And the developer does a poor job of conveying the characters' emotions. However, I must admit that I'm disappointed with your writing level, which I found to be worse than 0.2. I would rather see Moon's backstory in the MBML game, which may be better than Katherine's in your game, although both backstories are so cringe. When I read the comment section, I noticed that many people were offering their support for your work on 0.3. I'm sorry to say that I found their suggestions to be unhelpful and even foolish. My advice to you is to take what people say with a grain of salt, as they may not necessarily be telling the truth. Remember, you are not their friend or relative for them to trust and tell everything at the first meeting!
Although I wanted to give it a 1-star rating, I decided to give it a 3-star rating instead. I would like your progress to continue smoothly. (that's a lie

It's actually a pretty good game, It sort of reminds me of "Once in a lifetime" which is what originally drew me to this game, I promise I'm not the developer but I am an enjoyer of this game. I think it's really cool, it has some faults but it keeps me entertained and engaged with the story so give it a try if you have time.

As someone who enjoys visual novels, I have to say this Story is a promising addition to the genre. Although it is still in its early stages, the game's story has already captured my attention with its intriguing characters and well-crafted narrative.

One thing I particularly appreciate about this visual novel is its attention to detail. The artwork is beautifully rendered, and the music and sound effects add to the immersive atmosphere. The writing is also well done, with believable dialogue and engaging descriptions that pull the reader in.

The game's characters are another standout feature. Each one has their own distinct personality, quirks, and backstory that make them feel like real people rather than mere archetypes. I found myself genuinely invested in their individual stories and eager to learn more about them as the game progresses.

Of course, as with any visual novel, player choices play a key role in shaping the narrative. So far, the choices presented have been meaningful and impactful, leading to different outcomes that make me excited to play through the game multiple times to see all the possible paths.

Overall, I believe this Story has the potential to become a beloved addition to the visual novel genre. With its strong start and talented team behind it, I eagerly anticipate seeing how the game develops in the future.

Quite a decent surprise, though not without it's flaws. Those renders are really good, well framed scenes, not boring to see. The writing is decent, well paced but the translation to English might not be so natural to read for the players. The story is not over the top but it's also not too silly either. Quite charming at times. It promises lots of actions so i hope it's true. The MC is not boring due to the circumstance but his character hasn't been standout yet so looking forward to it. The only reason for my excellent is because it looks promising. So please Dev, make it a harem, a yes or no action packed.

After 0.3, I have some thoughts to share.
Firstly, regarding the render, I'm sorry to say that there hasn't been any noticeable improvement in your skills.
Secondly, I couldn't help but laugh at the story you created. The backstory of Katherine being unable to save her friend because she was sitting on a bridge was quite amusing. And they talked about something like a dream and promised to do for her. HUH? WTF....
Seriously, I would suggest that you watch more movies to gain more experience and come up with better ideas.
Lastly, I have to say that the English used in your work is so bad. It would be best if someone with good language skills could proofread and double-check your work to ensure it is properly written.