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

(I thought I had already rated it - so I'll do it now immediately)

What can I say - in my opinion already a masterpice!

But: this game is NOT for everyone! If you are mainly looking for a game with lewd content, you will be disappointed. Maybe this will change later on, maybe not - for me this would be a bonus of course, but not more.

The story and the characters are well done. Of course it's a bit like the game "Lexi" or the movie "Bodyguard" - well, I liked them, too. And: I think Hillside is already better then both of them.

Technically the game is fine. Great renders (but no animations). Most (all) girls are really hot (Charlotte!! - ok, Suzi and Lucy are hot, too) or super cute (Emma!!). The game has some good sound effects, but no background music

I really like the game so far, but there is of course some potential for improvement:
- The behaviour of the MC at the beginning of the game was somewhat strange sometimes ("soft hands"...), but in the later episodes it's already corrected
- The renders are amazing, but it's still "only" 720p resolution


Summary for my review (game version v0.5):

Excellent:
– Story, storytelling
– Characters
– Models and locations

Good:
– Render graphics
– Sound effects

Neutral:
– Amount of gameplay

rather bad:
- No animations (but I didn't miss them)
- No background music (I've made a Mod/addon for that)
- Sex scenes - only some nudes/masturbation from Lucy so far.
(Funny thing: I didn't miss that either...)


Finally I would like to say:
I really enjoyed playing it and I'm eagerly waiting for the next update!

An unheralded gem of a game.

The comparisons to Lexi are appropriate but this one stands on its own merit. Professionally written with fleshed out characters and nuanced renders. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying the plot. It's refreshing to see a dev who knows how to tell a story and write meaningful dialogue, who doesn't need to rely on sex scenes to keep the viewer's attention.

The ONLY thing holding the game back is the lack of definition in the renders; it's about 720p in terms of sharpness. I expect a switch to FHD after he/she starts gathering more support.

Easy 10/10.

Great story focused VN, love the characters
Very well paced, dialogue doesn't get boring at all.

Charlotte's back story is heartbreaking... I just want to wrap her in a blanket and hug her all night.

Awesome work dev

Slightly taken aback by this game. Wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. I would go as far as saying it's (so far) one of the best games on this site despite having virtually no sex (yet, although you can see it coming so don't worry).

The writing, plot and character personalities and back-stories are so well done, fleshed out and believable that you find yourself totally invested in the characters and the story. Which for me at least is pretty rare with these games.
I found myself genuinely caring for the well-being of the characters.

Graphics are excellent with some really nice visual touches that give the models more character (tan-lines etc)

Very good pacing with a real focus on tension building.

A genuinely brilliant and well thought-out start to a real hidden gem that deserves to be front page in my opinion.

Very promissing title. Hope dev will continue with great work and even deepens the main virtue of this VN - story telling and rewarding build up of tension.

++ Renders
++ Story and premise of the game
+ Various interesting characters

[Reviewed v0.5]

I've been really enjoying the progression of this game.

The female characters are beautiful (really well-rendered) and the story is burning slowly but in a way that continues to hold my interest. The MC is someone you want to root for and get to know more about despite the slightly cliche backdrop so far.

Only con? I wish there was a bit more "meat" in every release -- it feels like there has been only 20-30 minutes of content in the last few updates.

Looking forward to the next release.

This game features great graphics in combination with an interesting story. Characters with enough of an background and a story arc that is not to transparent yet. The bodyguard theme is nothing to original but I still no don't see any simple copy-pasting of other games. Can't wait for the next update.

Amazing game with great story and characters. There are no sex scenes ( which is not a negative) for now but the game more than makes up for it in every other department. I hope the dev gets more support and the game grows in popularity. It is one of the best games I have played on F95 so far.

I love this game so far. The renders are gorgeous and the characters seem pretty fleshed out. The DB has clearly put thought into their personalities and motivations. My Favourite girl is Emma then Lucy ..There's a lot you can do with the set up of a bodyguard being hired to protect a young woman and I absolutely want to protect Emma and her family...The concept is broad enough that depending on how the story and characters are written you'll have a totally different experience, which, for me, is the case with this game. Definitely a game worth supporting.
Although Thank DB for this wonderful VN.................

I don't recognize the dev's name, but I'm impressed particularly with his or her ability to render a fleeting emotion. The poses are often timed exquisitely to a moment that expresses an emotion or character interaction that lasts irl fractions of a second. The dev captures those moments with subtlety and with a precision that most devs do not. Very effective posture and facial renders that highlight character reactions to other charcters within conversations or simply reflect contextual emotions as a reaction to a particular space or dynamic. Lighting also very well selected.

Regarding dialogue, the text contains not just spoken words but silent thoughts. The latter effectively conveying internal turmoil as an adjunct to the render on screen. The dialogue in general is above average for an adult VN. The author seems to be a native speaker and the text is naturalistic and believable. One or two times he/she uses British vernacular instead of American(rubbish/garbage or ring someone/call someone) which creates a slight disturbance in the immersion given the American setting.

As an author, the dev competently evokes emotions in the player. I found myself experiencing sympathy, horror sadness and outrage during many scenes. The most emotional scene thus far was however a result of brilliant rendering. An absolutely gut wrenching series of images which totally changes the players emotional response to one character and charges the game like electricity to a battery.

I would recommend the game to anyone who enjoys unfolding stories more than immediate sexual gratification. Although I usually prefer the latter, I'll be following this game. Its protagonists and scene setting are visually beautiful and the narrative emotionally evokative enough to keep me interested. No sex yet, but the tension seems set to build.

Consider supporting the dev if you like the game. He/she just upgraded their graphic card, hopefully there'll be more to see from the game soon.

This game has a surprisingly good story.A bit clichee at times,but good none the less.Compared to little lexi (or whatever the other one was called)this is miles ahead. Give it a try.Art is good,plot is good,updates come regularly. No sex scenes as of now.

[v0.4]
This is really good in the sense that it provides something different story wise even if it lacks in some other areas. It does NOT lack in the visual department though. That all looks great. Ran into some simple skip-frame 'animation' while playing. It's good!
The writing is a bit shallow for my taste and the choices you make come down to 'get + points with a girl' or 'get - points with a girl.'
For a Porn game it is more then enough, you wont need a walk through to figure out what to do if you want to focus on, or, spread your attention between interests. It is all straight forward enough and I hope it stays that way.

Absolutely amazing! The renders are freaking gorgeous and the characters each have distinct personalities. the Story is getting more and more interesting. There's a lot of good possible directions for this game to take moving forward. Dialogues are pretty good too. Highly recommended.

Man, sometimes i wish that i didn't knew about erotic VN's and just descovered then like in 2023 lol, because there is so many good WIP games, but they will take like forever to be completed, while there's only 3 or 4 top notch games that are already completed.

But why am i saying this? because this is one of the games that seems to be really promising, good writting, good story, good renders, good everything, but are in such an early development stage :I it got like 30/40 min of gameplay only, and i am already anxious to see this game completed. So, fantastic game, didn't saw any cons (not yet at least), but it seems that it's going to be a reaaaaaaally slow burn game, i don't like games that they just put up some excuse to have a sex scene, but it might be a little annoying if the gamee takes too much time to lead into some action.

So it's fairly early in the game for a rating to be taken completely seriously. That being said, the game is quite good so far. Some elements that are to come later, like sex scenes or further character development, may greatly affect the rating.

The story line is not the most original, but is still fairly interesting. This is helped greatly by some interesting characters that have had their back stories teased a bit, giving them some more depth than what you might normally see. I like this. I also enjoyed the character interactions. The character designs are also very well done.

So yeah, great work so far, hope to see more soon.

Hillside is definitely one of my favourite upcoming games. It's relatively new but has a lot of potential and can definitely see it becoming quite a popular game. I've been actively following the development of Hillside for a while now and am also an active member in the Discord and can say the direction this game is going in is fantastic and I can't wait to see more.

PROS
- Beautiful Renders (All the characters look fantastic and a lot of effort is put into achieving the quality presented. The renders look amazing and really draw you in to the game)

- Interesting Backstories (There isn't much regarding the characters backstories we know yet. The game is still pretty new so there are a lot of mysteries but from what I have seen, the backstories are very interesting and when they are developed more will give the characters and story a lot of depth)

- Fantastic Dynamic (The way the characters interact with each other is fantastic. Their dynamic reflects their relationship and definitely enhances the dialogue because the dynamics just work)

- Well Written Dialogue (The dialogue is top notch. The writing is consistent with the characters and I never feel like the way the character says something is something they wouldn't normally say. It's engaging and interesting and I can't wait to see more)

- Plenty of Mystery and Suspense (Like any good story, it has set up some unanswered questions that really hook you because they are interesting and are great at building suspense)

I can't comment on much else yet like romance and build up because it's too early to comment on that, but seeing this quality so far, I'm sure the game will continue to be great.

CONS
Honestly, I can't really think of any cons at the moment. From what I've seen so far, everything is amazing. When more content is released a con may be presented but for now, everything is positive for me

v[0.3]

This is turning out to be a good slow corruption game. The models are are really well made and the scenes are also good so far for an early update.

The choices have immediate consequences so you don't have to worry about constantly reading the walkthrough as you can just go back and change your choice, although it's not really necessary most of the times, the dialogue choices are very obvious.

I will reccomend playing this once for a taste of how well put together it is and then waiting for 3-4 updates to pass before playing again if you want a good chunk of new content as it is a slow paced game, unless you like playing every update.
Looking forward to how it develops, especially the mother.

I love this game so far. The renders are gorgeous and the characters seem pretty fleshed out. The dev has clearly put thought into their personalities and motivations. I've heard some criticism about it being a Lexi ripoff but there's a lot you can do with the set up of a bodyguard being hired to protect a young woman. The concept is broad enough that depending on how the story and characters are written you'll have a totally different experience, which, for me, is the case with this game. Definitely a game worth supporting.

I really enjoyed playing this VN so far. The characters have depth and it is well written. It seems like the dev has really tried to put effort into making this.

There is a fair bit of content already, but so far not many lewd scenes. However there is quite a bit of "implied lewdness" so there is a lot of room for interesting scenes. Personally I wouldn't mind if that would extend to action between the girls, but we will see what the future brings.

For anyone that is in doubt whether to play this, give it a try!

This game has much more going for it now then just a good start. The dynamic between the MC and Emma is becoming defined. The renders are beautiful. There are choices where you can lose points with no chance to gain them. Something I don't see that often. All characters have now been introduced. The story holds my interest. The unique image gallery unlocks are done in a creative way. There is tension in the plot. Something good writing must have. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this game. As a bonus most people won't care about. It is coded impeccably. Since I have nothing bad to say, I must give it 5 stars.