VN - Ren'Py - Hillside [v0.16.2 rework] [DarkBlue]

This quickly became my favorite game. When I play a game like this, I need a story and characters that I can believe in and this game delivers at a very high level. The developer has put so much thoughts into creating the story that this game would have been enjoyable even without sex-scenes. There is a variety of believable characters and they a presented in a good way.

The plot is very good! A single mother (Charlotte) contacts MC and hires him to protect her daughter from a stalker. This puts the MC in a place where he can slowly build a relationship with the girl that eventually will be his love interest (I assume). He lives with Charlotte and Emma (The daughter) and build a non-sexual relationship with them.

The MC’s intentions are good. He is trying to protect Emma and help Charlotte who struggle with anxiety, mistrust in men, alcoholism and being an overprotective single mom. It is nice to play one of these games where the MC is not immediately trying to seduce or corrupt the women or trying to build a relationship with the main female character and cheating on her at the same time. The MC is a good person trying to help this family and find out who the stalker is. In the prosses he needs to win Charlottes trust and build a friendship with Emma.

Emma and Charlotte are two characters that you as a player early start to care about. They have for different reasons had difficulties in their lives and they need someone like the MC.

Charlotte is a supermodel, but she has been through an abusive relationship, been raped and perhaps even been beaten up by a stalker. Her mistrust in men are there for very justifiable and it is easy to understand why she is not comfortable having the MC living with them or being around her 18-year old daughter. Because of the stalker situation that she keeps secret from her daughter it is still understandable that she hires MC to protect Emma. Winning Charlottes trust and help her with her other issues is therefor a big part of the game.

Emma is the cute and shy daughter that the MC is hired to protect. She is a very sweet girl but growing up with an overprotective mother who mistrust men have made her very insecure, especially when it comes to boys. She has a crush on a boy at her school, but she doesn’t know how to talk with him or get his attention. She is getting some advice from her older sister Suzi and Aunt Lucy, but it is clear that she needs some help and guidance from MC to understand boys better.

Emma is sweet, naive, and vulnerable. As the MC you just want to protect her. She doesn’t have many friends and someone is anonymously sending her hurtful messages calling her fat and ugly. This leads to insecurity and body-issues. Living with a mother who is a supermodel does not make things easier.

The MC is building a friendship with Emma and Charlotte and tries to help them with their issues and at the same time is doing an investigation trying to find Emma’s stalker. Sex-scenes with these characters seems far away at this point, but there are other characters in the story as well…

The manipulative Aunt Lucy has taken an interest in the MC and will probably be someone MC could have a sexual relationship with while he is slowly building a relationship with Emma and Charlotte. Emma’s older sister Suzi and her girlfriend seems also like a possible candidates even if Suzi does not really like the MC at this point. However since Suzi also is a victim of her overprotective mother their relationship might soon change if she get’s MC’s support in her conflict with her mother …

The story is exceptionally good! The characters are believable, and the drawings are marvelous. I really like that all the women have natural looking bodies. Beautiful women with normal size breasts. It is easy to allow myself to believe in the characters and in the story.

Some people will perhaps be frustrated because choices they make have very little impact on the story. The choices have some impact in the relationship with the other characters so at some point I guess it will impact the story or which characters you can have sex with. I personally prefer one great told story over 10 decent alternative stories and so far, this story is fantastic!

The best game I have played in here and I am looking forward to the rest of the story!

This one is really good, so far.

The renders are fine, the women are really good looking and this one is also written really well.

Yes, there are a few instances where Emma seems just too unbelievable innocent for anybody her age, growing up outside an Amish community.
But the trope of "extremely innocent girl" is widely spread through the VN world, so you either accept it or ignore it.

If the game continues in this vein, with this level of quality and shows no sign of not being updated regularly or having very small updates, I see it getting five stars easily a few more updates in.

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If your looking for a wonderfully crafted story that can bring a lot of emotional investment and attachment in the characters, give this one a try. It's about the dark side of the fashion industry, the unwanted attention of a stalker, and the elitists that think they can use women as they please. It's a very relevant commentary to the Hollywood and fashion scene scandals of late.

Charlotte's back-story is very dark and heart wrenching. You, the MC, are hired to protect her very sweet and naïve daughter. Not much lewd content yet because we're not that far into the story and frankly not needed at this stage. I find it refreshing that the MC will really have to invest himself into the lives of those around him and earn their trust and respect. If you're looking for quick fap material, move on.

I also love that the Developer is not trying to check boxes on lewd content that would be out of place and ruin the continuity of the story to fit a wider audience. (so far)

Review for V0.5: 5/5

Excellent:

• Game setting and style
• Story drama
• Character development and writing
• Character Models
  • Very realistic and unique.
  • No melon titted/bubble butts here
• Emotional facial expressions
• Scene development and lighting
• Model posing and art
• Details in render textures
• Developer Patreon only content and openness/responsiveness to supporter comments/suggestions/critiques

Good:

• Game render graphics - 720p but will be 1080p next update according to Developer
• Update size and content
• Update frequency

Average:

• No background music
• One minor screen flip animation, a couple of pans
• A few minor spelling or text errors in last update

Improvements suggested:

• Good musical score to enhance the experience
• Good animations to improve player immersion
• 4K graphics

This is a fantastic start for a new developer. He's already improving and making updates as he learns new skills and updates his equipment. I'm proud to support him on Patreon and expect to see great things in the future of this AVN and beyond. This effort looks to be a gem.

This review is for version 0.5

after playing version 0.1 of Hillside i knew this will be good... and i wasn't wrong. We are at 0.5 now and i look at this game as my new favourite TV show, i just can't wait for a new episode and see what will happen next to my fav chars

When we talk about renders, they look fantastic, the attention to detail is very high and facial expressions look great. Next step, 1080p baby

But as we all know, withouth the good story you have nothing and here you bet your ass it's good
We have some dark elements pretty early on but as i see it, those scenes will only bring us closer to understanding a character and trying to help them the best way that we can.

As of now we have 4 main chars and we found out some stuff about all of them but that is just the beginning of their story.
I love it because they are all so different in personalities but regardless i have the need to help all of them to be happy in the end

We are still very early in the game but with every new version i am more and more invested in the story and i can see that i am not the only one, so if you are reading this and still didn't play the game, go right now and do so, you won't be disappointed, i promise you that


and yeah, DB please give me my daily dose of vitamin C, i need it so bad

(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.