Ren'Py - Abandoned - Horizon Nexus [v0.1.1 Hotfix] [HorizonNexus]

I really like this game and think it has a lot of potential to be a great game. Right now, the game's main limitation is that it's fairly new and is mostly or entirely from static images. There's little else in terms of sound, speech, video, etc. to add to the game. The developer gives you background to let you know that something is going on, though it's not clear what or who is involved. Unlike many games that focus your attention on specific events as you go, this game continues to emphasize an overall theme and how events don't add up and might be related to whatever is causing all the issues the crew is experiencing. I just joined the dev's Patreon to support the game because I would really like to see this game succeed and see where it goes. While the game has some growing to do, I think it's really in good shape for being the dev's first game and only a few revisions in. Check it out and I hope you like it as much as I have so far.

Keep 'em coming dev!

I'm really trying to find good words for this. As a 'proof of concept demo' I feel that you should really be putting your best foot forward and from what I've experienced here, that wasn't that much.

It should be noted that I lost interest part-way through and that I did not finish this demo. I played for an hour and a half and that was almost entirely a kinetic novel full of convoluted socio-political commentary that left me feeling just as confused about wtf was happening as poor Parker Thomson. And I was feeling as bored as the characters looked in the game halfway through the time I gave it.

The game opens with a beautiful render and epic music and then drops almost completely silent after that.
Dialogue in game is very sterile and slow paced. The characters, while beautiful, act just as sterile as the dialogue. There are no animations at all, just gentle transitions as the game progresses like a slide show with occasional mouth flap transitions and all the characters look bored as hell to be in this game while discussing things like terrorism, governmental coups and being put to death. The entire cast feels like stiff robots, standing around and barely moving. The only character that shows any emotion shoots herself in the head with what was the only noticable sound effect in the game along with a sudden cut to black.

This game could seriously show potential if the developer would just give the characters some actual character...

-The ISAC bot? Have it change position or stagger its height between dialogue transitions, back away after it is done talking, make it pivot to look at other characters who are talking, do something to make it feel like a helpful hovering device instead of a 'friendly' Reaper eye that stays right in my face as it stares into my soul.

-The characters could change body stance or position between dialogue transitions, use arm movements. Smile, frown, DO SOMETHING! Parker Thomson was being accused of terrorism, having her life threatened and her dialogue had contempt for those she interacted with. Give some body language to go with that! Put some emotion in that face instead of having her just deadpan stare straight ahead the entire time! The only emotion she showed in several interactions was a look of surprise after the email. After that, she just looked uninterested in everything going on and like she was a zombie.

-You tried to show us some porn with having see-through clothes, having nude characters and even a blowjob at one point... but that blowjob was blurred out in the distance cause camera focus was on a holo-vid conversation happening in front of it. If you're gonna show porn, show it.

Doing just these few things can make the quiet game with dry socio-political commentary feel alot more alive and organic and more interesting and possibly get you the support you're obviously wanting because you're also giving us just a 'demo' of this game to entice us into supporting you.

I think we've just witnessed the upcoming rise of an amazing game.

TLDR: 5/5 Demo. Top-notch quality. Only issue the last interaction with another character in transition of frames/poses. Compelling story/setting thus far.

I don't normally play demos for non-adult games, let alone adult ones whilst in coomer mode, but the cover just pulled me in. Not in the utter degeneracy typically displayed in some games nor in the very descriptive names others have, but in the outright intense quality: the lighting, the shadows, the framing, the characters, their posing, the scene design, etc. The sample images are amazing as well and the in-game scenes absolutely delivered.

Especially the segment prior to the wake of the PC after your first major decision, the shots felt like a TV show in how they were framed and the ambient effects/music were just beautiful. It was a pleasant shock when we witness the first death occur, because holy shit that escalated quick! The dialogue leading to that point was already indicative of how high the stakes were, but seeing it playout in those few frames when the door locks was intense.

At this point I've rewritten how to approach this review numerous times to express my opinion that isn't just sucking the games' dick or in a way to exaggerate.

So to get it out of the way, I've only experienced one issue: the last part of the demo where you have the choice of having your character have sex with the first girl (blondie in the cover). In between the poses/frames during the scene, there is a quick checkered board screen that flashes before returning/moving on to the next frame/pose. With another potential issue being the pace of the moments where characters "auto-play" their dialogue/poses to express comedic moments. I don't think it's an actual issue, but I'm trying hard to dig up anything at this point to not seem like I'm slobbing on this game; it's just that good so far.

Fuck, this story/game is great so far and I can't wait to see where it goes!