VN - Ren'Py - Hillside [v0.15.1] [DarkBlue]

An amazingly well written, and well drawn, adult visual novel. But not a porn game.

(reviewed at version 0.15)

You are a bodyguard hired to protect a retired model and her daughter(s). As the story progresses you grow closer to your charges. and learn more about the plot that threatens them, and how that connects to your own past.

This is easily in the top percent of best written VNs on the site. The plot is well-crafted and engaging. The characters have distinct personalities and internal lives. The dialogue is natural and the scenes all hold their weight and push the story forward.

The art is also incredible. It manages the rare feat in adult games of telling you a character is beautiful, and then that character actually is beautiful. But even beyond that, the acting is a stand-out. When the game tells you what a character is thinking or feeling, it is clearly reflected in how they are posed, and when you're not told, you can still tell.

What this is not, is a porn game. There is a lot of titillation, scantily dressed characters arranged for us to ogle, and for the MC to feel emotionally conflicted about ogling. There are very rare sex scenes with side characters. But as far as the main love interests go, the game is, so far, at best PG-13.

Obviously this will change eventually as the plot reaches its climax, and I was conflicted whether to give the game four stars until I know if it sticks the landing, or five stars in the hope it does. I decided on the latter.

This AVN goes from good to great for me so I wish I could rate 5 stars but I just can't go there. It's close but not quite.

For the most part, this is just a classic visual novel and is perfect for Ren'py. There is not a lot of adult content and the choices are limited, but they all have a big impact on the story. And it's a good story with some well developed characters, a strong plot with a beginning, middle and end. The dialogue is good and the story moves at a good pace. It really is well done and it is an enjoyable story.

While I might be able to nit pick a bunch of things, there are really only two things, I think, are not good. The first one is the MC is a little bit too sweet. For a guy who was in the service and who has been through a lot, he is really in touch with his feminine side. I am not saying a guy like him can't love and be emotional, but it seems a too easy for him.

The other thing is a pretty big spoiler so be warned.

Regardless, it is an enjoyable story, just don't expect much adult content and depending on the path you are on, you might not see any. It is totally worth a download to check it out for yourselves.

I am looking forward to seeing how this will wrap up.

The game is very nice in terms of story and graphics, I like it a lot.
The sex scenes are a bit sparse, but they are within the framework of the story.
The tags are misplaced
The scenes need better endings, thanks,
I will wait for the next update.

If the main thing you want to see is sex, I would move on but if you're like me you're looking for a mature story driven game with likeable ladies and a good story and that's what you'll get here.

And the MC like the girls is really likeable and the story starts out strong straight away. There are four girls to romance all members of the Lloyd family. Also, it's not a harem so don't go in expecting one.

Hillside shows how powerful of a tool renpy can be for storytelling because I have laughed and cried while playing this game.

So do yourself a favour and give this wonderful AVN a try because it's one of the best story driven games around.

Well, I knew from the previous reviews that sex is pretty much non existent here so far, only one with a side girl. But the story is great, the plot is dark, and the characters feel alive. Every girl here has their own flaws which is understandable, but I really can't bring myself to like Suzi, she got some anger issues and simply hostile for no damn reason. I hope this won't be on hold for long, I'm loving the story so far.

Ignore the tags, pretty much anything remotely sexual with the exception of hugging is only being talked about as a bad memory.
Reminds me of a cheap soap opera with handful of protagonists and very few locations. They talk, think about what to say, think about what have been said, "analyze" their emotions, they do shopping, drive cars, watch movies... pure extract of boredom and uninspired VNs.
Eroticism definitely doesn't have to be hardcore sex, but everyone (with the exception of police officers though - it would have been funny at least) hugging everyone, few kisses on cheek and plethora of cleavages are far from enough. So many opportunities using pretty well sculpted characters, all wasted as my about 10 hours of keeping hope that something breaks and the story will use all the teasing and build-up for the satisfying climax. Instead it feels like someone had to rewrite erotic thriller to bad Disney movie according to a whacko psychologist guidelines. Let's talk about it!

Edit: The dark version about the bad guys from Hillside might have been great EROTIC game!

A very good game but without (or almost) sex.
The characters are good, the graphics are correct. The girls are attractive. The progression is good, the dialogues are correct but sometimes a little exaggerated, as is Emma's childish behavior.
I really like this game. A very good story. The characters are endearing. I just regret that Lucy (Charlotte's sister) is not more present and involved. For some she is a tomboy, but for me, she is the most beautiful. She seduces me and I love her attitude (for example when she shows her breasts to MC behind her sister's back - when she teases MC...). I'd like to see Lucy having a relationship with another girl in the game.
I can't wait to see the rest and I hope there will be a few sex scenes with her... but not too many.

This is one of those games that’s just a little bit different, and I think you need to know that going in, or you may find yourself very disappointed. It is, in part, a very sexy game, but it’s not a sex game – it’s not a game full of scenes with your chosen love interest, it’s very much a slow burn, but one that I think is done very well.

Hillside focuses on the relationships, and regardless of the path you choose, the relationships in question remain the same, it’s just to what level they might progress – purely professional, familial, or (potentially) sexual. The female lead is Charlotte, who I think is modelled perfectly to represent a supermodel at the end of her career. She is beautiful from a distance, and up close, while still beautiful, you can see the graceful aging as well as tiny reminders of a terrible past that will be unveiled as the game progresses.

The main story revolves around protecting Charlotte and Emma (her daughter), and becoming closer to them as a result. That’s not to say that your only options in terms of LIs are Charlotte (at present) and Emma (presumably upcoming), but this is not the sort of game where the main objective is to get the girl. So even on a side-girl path, most of the time will be spent with Charlotte and/or Emma, and scenes with your side girl will be minimal, although they do give a couple of lewd scenes each.

The graphics here are good, the game mechanics work well, and although some might feel the relationships with some of the potential LIs move too slowly, I personally feel the pacing is nicely done for the type of game this is. I’ve really enjoyed the story in the first part of Hillside, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next as the first arc comes to a close.

Honestly, I dont think I've posted at all before. But I genuinely love what you have done here. Thanks for your great work. Look forward to seeing more. I also want to send my condolences for your loss.

This game here is one of those cases where I don't even like the LIs as LIs (though they are great as characters), and there's next to no porn, but this game is still one of my favourites.

Pros:

1) My favourite MC in all of AVN world. He's a total badass, but he is very gentle with the girls. I'm very comfortable in his skin.
2) One of my favourite stories in all of AVNs. I like intrigues, and secret conspiracies, and badasses who fight against corrupt rich bastards. Don't make the mistake of assuming that this game is porn or pure romance; this is film noir in AVN form, and once you accept that, everything will fall into place.
3) The characters. I may not like the Lloyds as LIs and pursue Kaylah and Selena instead, but damn, they are great as characters!
4) In addition to the above: writing is great. I do feel Charlotte's and Emma's emotions when they are attacked, and I do worry about them as a friend. I hate those ******* Hollywood producers now!
5) Specific girl: Emma. Many people say that her behaviour is totally unrealistic and too childish for a 18-years old. However, it is actually very realistic for an extremely sheltered child. You see, I was sheltered too. My parents' word was law for me. By 18 y.o., my knowledge of relationships was extremely limited, and my experience was similar to Emma's. Now, I was slightly less naive, and if a celebrity made a move on me after I caught her fucking my friend, I'd probably get that something was fishy. However, if a pretty girl of a slightly lower social standing pulled something on me, I'd 100% buy it and behave just like poor Emma does. But it isn't just relationship inexperience that holds sheltered kids back. They are also very idealistic, believe in fairy tales and see the world in black and white. Their sexuality is also repressed, and, to them, every relationship is supposed to be a great romantic love, and they want it to be that way.
With all of those things, it's very hard to navigate through life until one has made the necessary compromises with their conscience.
6) Action. I always like it when there is action in AVNs.
7) Good renders.
8) Charlotte's model is very well designed as someone who's really beautiful and in great shape, but still showing signs of aging.

Cons:
1) Almost zero sex. It isn't as bad as in other games lacking sex, as because of how great the story is I only understood that all of my MC's sex was limited to that one time with Kaylah in late hindsight. But yeah, more scenes could be nice. Charlotte should give her trusted bodyguard more leeway for, er, carnal activities.
2) As mentioned above, I'm not a fan of the MGs (and they are all Lloyds) as LIs. Charlotte is a bit too aged and damaged, Emma is too young and childish (which makes her great as a character but bad as a LI), and Lucy is a tomboy.
3) In addition to the previous point: I don't get how anyone wants to romance Suzi. She is rabid towards the MC for half the game, even after any real suspicions towards him have come and gone, he saved her from blackmail, and Charlie and Emma got to trust him. I think her character development should've started earlier.

So, overall, this game is rather lacklustre as porn and isn't my cup of tea as romance, but the best MC ever and one of the best stories pull it to a 5-star rating .

Never has an AVN made me feel more emotion than this, honestly the amount of times that I was close to tears.
If you are some horny kid looking for a game to jerk off to, or someone with zero empathy then this one may not be for you.
The slow burn romance with Charlotte is honestly one of my favourites in the genre. How she goes from not wanting you around, which is perfectly understandable given her experiences, to allowing the MC to get closer to her than she ever thought possible. Personally I can't wait to see more of it. Watching the MC go from hired bodyguard to caring father figure of Emma was for me very moving and very well done.
I don't generally post reviews as I have trouble ranking some of my favourite games, but this is certainly one of them. And given the trend lately of trying to kick the developer while they are down, I felt like the time was right to post an honest review.
Thank you to the developer, keep up the good work please.

Its funny this had over 4 years of development already, what a mess.

The start is promising but it quickly falls off because of the characters themselves they are so cartoonish and over the top, it is ridiculous. We have a college aged woman acting like a very low iq 12 year old, and we have to constantly save her from herself and her stupidity, then theres the main love interest that is traumatized and some other very forgettable women that make for a very mediocre story. Theres barely any sex or eroticism even, and the little that is there is mediocre/bad
The renders are good, the only positive of the game but they arent good enough to carry everything else that is just so bad, plus they are only "good" nothing special.

The game fails in so many aspects, it is laughable. 1/5, huge waste of time.

Hillside [v0.15 at the time of this review] is an AVN that suffers from the classic "flew too close to the sun" problem, but even the "close to the sun" part is a gross overselling.

Let's start with the plot summary: As a troubled private security specialist, you reluctantly take on the job of a bodyguard for a young girl that is being stalked. Things slowly heat up as the stalker becomes bolder in his attempts to get closer to the girl.

Sounds interesting enough to set it apart from the rest, yes? And you would be right... if the entire mystery of the stalking wasn't "solved" halfway through the <v0.15 content> story. With the main perpetrators dealt with, the writer must've suddenly realized they don't have anything to move the plot forward, which is also why they pulled the ol' "always has been" card on us and introduced an Even Bigger Bad - the person pulling all the strings behind the scenes. And at this point is where the story really just falls of the cliff.

But the problems I have with this game started way before then. The dialogue is beyond childish. Actually, I've seen some reviews calling it "sanitized" and I couldn't agree more - they are just that laughable. People speaking like robots (perfect grammar & vocabulary customary only in official correspondence used everywhere - even for an 18 year-old), and very simple character posing (making every conversation look like two AIs trying to imitate human behaviour) that completely ruins immersion in a game trying to immerse you into caring for these characters.

The characters themselves? Two-dimensional.. in the sense that they literally only have two defining characteristics to set them apart from the next one. The "star" of the show is the world-famous supermodel Charlotte Lloyd that, due to her sexual trauma, is now openly hostile to every male member of the human species... but not when working, because she has "learned to deal with unwanted male attention as a model"... makes sense to me! /s
She is also the kindest and most humble person in the world, going so far as to completely cover the medical expenses of one of her studio hands. Which is pleasing to hear, since apparently she can also be enough of a bitch to have made it to the top of the incredibly cutthroat world of modelling - an advice she earnestly gives to one the up-and-coming models looking to replace her when she finally retires. Now, this doesn't make the character of Charlotte a Mary Sue, but it does next to nothing to make her an interesting character either. She has no skeletons in the closet, no shameful past that drives her in a world where every other model is portrayed as a naive coked-out airhead willing to spread their legs for a promise of getting french fries for lunch. But not our Charlotte, you see, she held her ground, resisted, and made it to the top regardless... because she is just that principled.

The MC is not any better. Wracked from guilt over the resolution of our previous job, MC is hesitant to accept Charlotte's offer to watch over her daughter. But, just like Batman & Superman, all it takes is hearing one familiar name:
, and the MC abso-fucking-lutely jumps on the opportunity to right the wrongs of his past by protecting this helpless lass. And oh, did I mention? Apparently our 30-something year-old MC was also in love with the girl that died on him, and guess what else she has in common with Emma? They are both 18 .
Not that this will affect the story in any way, because through his time spent watching over Emma like a hawk, our guy develops actual fatherly affection for the girl. Not even kidding: in the (very) few "erotic" scenes between the two, MC always awkwardly looks away semi-disgusted when Emma unknowingly does something inapropriate around him.
So not only is our MC a hotheaded fool (but also ex-military, in case you didn't pick up on any of the exactly 0 behavioural cues the writers dropped on us), he also acts like a dumb teenager, unable to understand or process human emtion and empathy, trais that are clearly not required to work as a live-in bodyguard. He is frequently dumbstruck by how women act around him, bending over backwards like a sick puppy trying to please his masters. I don't even think femdom enjoyers would find his persona here worthy of their time.

The story told here starts of good, but unbelievably quickly devolves into a house-sitting simulator where your choices don't matter in the outcome of the story - just the "relationship" you build with the women surrounding you. And to answer your questions: no, there are no real sex scenes in this game. Not even with the side-women that throw themselves at you because clearly, this imitation of Hollywood/Beverly Hills lacks "real men" (which apparently means men that are in shape and don't cry at the end of Titanic) and now you are the first fuckable piece of meat these women have seen in their lives. Seriously, there are maybe 1 or 2 sex scenes and I do mean scenes (no animations and like, 4 or 5 distinct renders of sex with some random supermodel that is never to be heard from again). All you do in this game is gather points with 3 different girls and like Drew Carrey said: "Welcome to another shitty Kinetic Novel designed to blue-ball you until your testicles perform a testicular-torsion harakiri - where the choices are made up and the points don't matter!" - because you probably won't see Charlotte (the only MILF and the main girl of this game) give up the goods in fifty lifetimes.

Seriously, don't waste your time on this. In fact, stop reading this NOW and just move on. You'd do better to browse F95's Abandoned section and give something from there a chance than this disappointing mess of an incorehent plot.

There have been a few observation from my end.
.
1.The dev is really creative and somehow found a great plot and setting but the time management and coherency suck big time. This is why suspense, Mystery, Thriller isn't possible for every writer. I haven't completed the whole novel but the MC is there over a month and he even didn't try to find or trace the person who is bullying over the phone. WTF is he doing there??? Then when he had a lead with a name "Jhono" or something he is stalling for weeks. WTH man!! You're not cop, you're private protection. You act fast with a little evidence. You're not a police who has a lot on his plate. As a protector you have only one job and you're slacking there.
2. I never hated slowburn, sandbox unlike many but if you want story focus then throw at least some decent story. If you don't have good story neither fan service then what are you good for?? He is pulling the story for unnecessary reasons. After reading over 100 of mystery/adventure novels I have come to realization that unless you're are a genius your mystery/detective story should not cross 50k word count safer to keep under 30k. Anything further than that needs genius planning of folding and unfolding multiple layers of mystery while keeping the logical sense and coherency.
3. You're not Shakespeare writing comedy. Try to focus on the time management specially when writing mystery/thriller.

.. the 2 stars for some good artwork. Overall the VN sucks.

SN: Personal Opinion, Emma is the definition of a girl whom I despise. Stil I didn't let this affect the review.

EDIT: Okay after finishing I feel like the execution and time management were poor and I still stannd by it but the overall plot sketch is really good. But Dev showed lots of inconsistency and lack of coherency just to interconnect the dots in the sketch. So, it's really enjoyable for those who don't notice things but irritating and disturbing for those of with logical sense.

This is seriously a good title. It's not something for people who are looking for a "lewd" VN this is much deeper than that.

I gotta start off saying, jesus, wholesome.
This VN has a lot of pain, darkness, and despair but also holds a ton of wholesome moments that kind of wash it away. Starting with the Primary point of focus Emma, the main LI's daughter. Emma is a delight, she's innocent like a child, and just overly wholesome in almost every way. She's written and designed so well it almost feels genuine. Gonna break off into some points now.

The LI's:
There isn't many, atleast yet, idk if theres a plan for more, theres routes you kind of follow it seems, but the LI's are all pretty good.

The Animations:
Eh didnt see much of them, mostly because theres not alot of adult content so cant really give a stable rating here.

The Story:
Great, incredible. Basically similar to RL events in Hollyweird, instead in Hillside following a human trafficking, drug & sex rink that blooms from aspiring young female talents that are severely abused by the rich elite. You play as a bodyguard MC that protects a family that got a little bit too close to this part of the hills, and overtime grow fond of them becoming a staple of their family & life in one way or another.

The Kind of Bad:
Theres is a more personal bias I guess as someone who also writes a good bit... Charlotte's attitude is inconsistent alot of times. I'm gonna mark this as a spoiler just to be fair. Thats just my take on it though. It just didn't fit her character norm in the way it was done in my honest opinion. Otherwise just a lack of adult scenes for how long it was which most people will probably dislike. Theres also a lot of points in the writing where the game tends to remind you of things that already happened but in a way that seems "new" to the characters, which I caught several times. It can be confusing and make you question why its being talked about as if the first time. (The story is great, but basically you can feel the writing drop off at times) Transitions are also rushed at times where it just jumps ahead in time, or a scene ends a bit abruptly was also a bit jarring.

Either way look super forward to the next part would say it was around a 9.5/10, stunningly solid. I crave for more. I see reviews that talk down about how every male is apparently a monster, which is kinda silly. In the world of the rich elite, most men are pretty awful lol, they have more money than morality. I dont like the demonization of men as much as the next person but its pretty fitting for this kind of story.

I guess the scene of the girl from Girl House is just the MC watching one of her stream. Also, could it be this "new" MC is actually the little brother of that other blonde girl from the first game too hummm...
After checking the old game he sure does look like the little shit in the first game.

After more than 4 years of development I think is time to make a review about Hillside current state.

While the game started with some promise back in the day, after all these years this is going nowhere and it shows. Some people criticized how the MC acted around the women and so on. The dev response was to sanitize the game to Disney levels.

Now we have a group of characters each one more extreme than the previews one. I'm talking about the main LI, so traumatized that having a male in front of her gives her ptsd. Or the younger daughter, supposedly a college student who thinks and acts like a kindergardener.
I mean, there is a general story about a bodyguard against Hollywood predators but the writing is so bad that hurts.

Renders are mid-ground, after 4 years there are avns with far better graphics but still there are some bottom of the barrel too. In any case visuals don't matter much cause the eroticism is non existant.
There was a nude pic years ago of the younger daughter taking a shower but that got scrapped cause it was not the right place to show her in all her glory or so the dev said.

Which brings me to talk about the sex scenes. I think there is one or maybe two, I don't remember cause I have seen only one with some side chick and it was nothing to write home about.

I know there are some slow burn games out there, but this doesn't have even the interest of erotic situations to keep you going.
Underwhelming.

I love it. its a great VN. Imcurrently following the charlotte and Emma Route simantanously, so basically nothing sexual happened yet, but i seriously coudnt give a fuck about that. the story is so immersive and fascinating that you dont even pay attention to that. The Characters are so interesting and full of background that i just cant help myself to be amazed by them. 10/10

Version 0.15 First Half

So want to start off by saying what an amazing story / vn to read and in my option very wholesome.

Pros:

• Story - I felt willing and wanting to read what was written. (Wasn't boring / filler dialog)
• Graphics / Renders - Very well done and flushed out.
• Progress - So don't want to spoil things but the way your character is more welcomed into his job / role.

Cons:

• Some scenes felt kind of rushed (I.E: Pool scene where MC is allowed around. You don't really get to swim and / or jumps to next scene / room.)

Only con in my option, I felt like there could of been some good renders during
All in all, 10/10 for me, it is in my top 3 for sure. Could possibly take #1 depending on the second half and hopefully more afterward <3.

story is absolutely idiotic, every male but the MC is a rapist or sexual assault perpetrator. Oh and there is basically no action on top of the stupid story. Gets 2 stars for rendering