VN - Ren'Py - Hillside [v0.15 First Half] [DarkBlue]

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.

Good start so far.
The plot is interesting, and the characters have depth
The ladies are all attractive.
Over all it's a good VN. Story feels like its going somewhere and the characters aren't one sided. I look forward to following this one to see how it turns out. Keep up the good work

Extraordinarily beautiful girls. The renders really are just stunning.

I like the proportions and cloths, too. Built like real people, and wearing sane, real clothes a person could actually go into public with.

I like playing a MC that has self control and self respect, and doesn't make every action based on his dick, and that seems to be the case here.

It feels like it aims for a slow burn. The dialog feels natural. Playing it, you even get a bit of a feel for how sweet and innocent Emma is, and that is good, because it gives you incentive, as the player, to want to see her protected.

I'm looking forward to updates. This could be great.

EDIT: we are at version 0.7 right now, so I wanted to chime back in.
In short, my feelings stay the same. There is real, and understandable, character development as time progresses. There are several pieces of unique drama that you feel will all become interconnected.
This game remains exceedingly well written, and I look forward to each release.

In fact, this is one of VERY few games I play each release, for. I usually wait for several updates, so I can go back in and get more content. With this game, because of how easy it is to follow the story and characters, and return to it later without feeling lost, I always play the new updates as they happen, just to enjoy it a little more.

Yes, lewd content is SLOW to develop.
I'm 100% OK with that. I want story and characters too. And I get that here, and that makes Hillside a great game.

A promising, though very short, episode one. The premise is reused (bodyguard for a young, vulnerable girl) but the approach is new. This game leans heavily on the multiple protagonists, if you are looking for a game that features a Male Protagonist prominently, and dives right into the action, this isn't the one for you. As of the second update the "Main Character" (character you name) is only in the game for 5 minutes, at most, and doesn't do much of anything. The focus so far has been on building up the relationship between the mother and daughter, showing the audience how important that connection is to both of them, and that they are both keeping secrets from each other. Unfortunately, it will be awhile before we see any real content do to the size of the updates by the developer. The current amount of content is still that of a demo or pitch for a game rather than a game on it's second update. Many would be best served by waiting several months for the content to build up into a playable length longer than 30 minutes (that's a generous estimate of the current length).

Pros: Well done renders and relationships between the mother, her sister, and the daughter.

Cons: The daughter looks and acts much younger than 18, the MC is barely in the game and fails to have a mature and professional interaction with the Mother when he is interviewed by her. Minimal choices are currently available.