I've now played this game through a couple of plot tracks. It has the potential of being a great game but it has serious problems that make it unplayable as a game without a walkthrough or cheating. There are just too many unexplained or random tasks, objects with no or unreasonable uses, and way too many random path blocking chat decisions. If your only recourse is to randomly wander around looking for something random to say or use to advance a plot track, it's no longer a game and you have no recourse but to use a walkthrough or cheat.
Some examples:
- A microwave that claims to be only for an unwritten tutorial but that is actually needed for the hot chocolate, yet there is no use for popcorn. Popcorn you do in the microwave, chocolate you do over a double boiler without water or you wind up with a clenched mess, and you put cocoa or hot chocolate mix into water not chocolate.
- When Vickie says you need to be on friendly terms with some of the girls. you have no clue that you might be able to make up with Ashley after helping Madison pull pranks on her. You have to randomly run into Derek's new chat choice to find that out.
- Giving a gift in no way implies that there is a red flower in the yard that you can pick much less that she would even appreciate one. As a please-forgive-me-for-parading-you-naked-in-front-of-all-Madison's-friends gift, it's absolutely pathetic unless you were given a solid reason she would appreciate it.
- There is no clue, reason, or even the suggestion of a hint that she wants the flower dyed blue.
- Worst of all, if you did the reasonable thing and tried to apologize before getting the make-up quest, you are permanently locked out from giving her the flower.
And that is just a few examples.
The graphics are nice and the UI is pretty good; Having to click door, choose open door, and having to do it twice on closet doors is just annoying. You should be able to just click on a door to open or close it, and double doors requiring both open for you to pass through should both open or close on one click. The inventory should be a list and not a Tomb Raider set of scrolling images because it takes too damned long to find the object you want to use.
The art is pretty good but does suffer from a lot of intersection artifacts and bland doll-stare facial expressions. Some of the animations are good. Patrick's drunk walk is great.
There is absolutely no clue that you must move your mouse during sex scenes to accelerate her orgasm meter. I still don't know if you are required to use the interaction hand or drag the mouse button. The sex scenes are unfulfilling You spend all that effort getting her orgasm meter to max out first and, not only does she not animate an orgasm, there is no reward for your efforts.
The interaction hand seems useless, clumsy, and redundant. The mouse cursor should just change when you hover over an interactable object and dragging the mouse button should then interact, as opposed to just picking it up with a click.
There are a few game-killing bugs like:
- Sometimes, Madison will just disappear from the party and will never appear again.
- Frank will be forever trapped in the unopenable closet in the upstairs spare room (It might be directly above his chair on the ground floor).
- Saves are not restored to the same state as when they were saved. Some characters will suddenly disappear from where they were when the save was made, sometimes never to reappear.
Like I said; This game has a lot of potential. It has an entertaining setting and plot line, reasonably likable characters while still allowing for different personality types and interactions, and nice art and animations. However, it needs a lot more fixing-what-is-already-there-work right now as opposed to adding new content. It also is in desperate need of a plot track overhaul to make it an actual game and not just a random click-and-poke arcade.