VN - Ren'Py - I Have Known You [Ch. 2] [Dotty Diaries]

To start a review of my experience playing this FN is difficult without repeating the most used statement in this section: it is beautiful.
The MC looks fine, the girls are unique to each other and all are really stunning.
Scenes and backgrounds are also well made and at no time did it feel out of place.

The LIs have also very unique personalities and backgrounds, which make them interesting and more than a few quite polarizing. Quick warning for those who care about these things: some of them have ongoing relationships of various kinds.

But thats it. I read a lot about slow-burn, character-building, mystery.
The thing is: that is true for the MC and HIS relationships. You as the player encounter so far almost nothing of any value, except tons of upskirt/towel/awkward-pose anime humor.
Half of everything is empty filler, empty because its devoid of actual interaction with (us) the MC.
But that is NOT true for any other guy and girl in this VN. They fuck your (future) LIs, other no-name girls, they have a life.
You are not. You're the most boring part of the whole story, because almost every action happens without you, or gets interrupted before it gets good.

The story so far is also so overly mysterious and exaggerated, the climax has to be gigantic. Because everyone lies to (you) the MC, even your closest friends, who claim to trust you deeply.

All in all there are fans of this dev who really enjoy their work. Good for them.
This is not a 5* masterpiece, its a overblown nothingburger, but it looks really really good.

no idea how someone can give this 5 stars and speak of some kind of masterpiece!?
the models and renders look good but nothing outstanding.

storywise...i have no idea where this is gonna go, MC is back in his hometown and gets from one situation to the next without much context or visible motivation.

lots of the texts are either poorly translated or lines that a 10 year old would come up with. plus all the plots with girls fainting, locked in bathroom then doing a gymnast stunt ending up between the girls legs...it feels like a satire on porn stories, just badly written.

so 4 stars for the graphics and 2 for the overall story...makes 3 stars for me

Absolutely fantastic so far! Small town drama mystery is always a great choice for plot. I'm loving how strange everything is as well as how beautiful everything looks. Everything here is high quality and I very much appreciate the effort put into it. I also am very appreciative of all the models. Everyone looks unique and the girls look stunning. I have very high hopes for this moving forward!

Seems I will be the first one that's not in love with this VN.

I have to say, this VN, is VERY heavy on text, ie. dialogues and whatnot.
And that's fine for some VN's. IF the story is actually really intriguing.
That's the problem here. This VN, let's just say I struggled to stay awake.
To be blunt, it's rather boring.
And no, it is not because the EXTREMELY few lewd scenes.
Which you really should know before playing this VN, it's SO FAR, definitely not about the lewd stuff. I couldn't tell you even what the story is about, because I lost interest after the millionth line of dialogue and monologues.

Only thing that saves this game from a lower rating, is the renders. The quality of the renders are really good. The ladies are almost all very attractive.
In fact, I can't remember a single female that wasn't attractive. Well there's this old lady, so probably her lol.
Animations are well made as well. Early on I felt there was an over-use of them, and you can't even click them away. You have to either yawn your way thru them, or go into settings and 'skip unread text'. Most animations, or at least thats the impression I got, are not even needed. A camera swooping around a girl. Wow. Adds like...absolutely nothing that 2 still renders couldn've have done.
I forgot what exactly one of the reviews mentioned, but it was something about "sex scenes". As in plural, as if there's LOTS of them. There isn't.
For the amount of renders, and 'game time', it's REALLY stingy on the lewd stuff.

Again, this is NOT why I rate it this low. I dont mind a good story, and/or slow-burns now and then. But this is neither. Story aint good. You're not really working your way up the ladder with any particular girl.
Sure you get to know some of them more and more, even the ones the MC knew prior to the game's 'story'.
And as mentioned, they're more or less all pretty dang attractive.

But I have to be sober when I write reviews, which a lot of people seem to fail at doing. Handing out 5 stars to left and right.
I normally dont review anything after a 0.2, but rather a few more updates.
But this review score is SO incredibly misleading.
Sure, I enjoyed Dotty's previous game too. But that doesnt automatically make THIS a "masterpiece". Nor am I someone that puts higher than realistic score just because I like the dev, or know him. Nor am I an alt-account (no, I do not mean Dotty does, I really don't, seriously, some devs actually do that, but I actually trust Dotty)

Is this a 1-star VN? No, but it's FAR From a friggin FIVE star VN.
Imagine, you have VN's like Summer's Gone, Artemis, etc, and then you have THIS. Is this even on the same level as those two examples? (note: I hate mentioning other VN's in a review, but I had to give this example)
No, not by a mile.
Yet, this one, prior to my review, has HIGHER rating than those games.
Speaking of SG, it's in my top 3, and anyone that have played that one, knows it's extremely stingy with lewd scenes - so again, this VN is not getting this rating due to lack of lewd scenes.

But I also think this VN could've scored higher from me, IF it actually had more 'fun stuff' so to speak. Because all that reading, that was far from interesting or captivating, just bored me. If there was at least a few more lewd scenes, then I would've stayed awake at least.

The MC isn't interesting, not one bit. Actually, he's simply boring.
I dont compare games when I rate them, but compare this to Dotty's previous VN, this one isn't even close to being as interesting. Was CC amazing? No, but it always made me want MORE, it literally made me long for the next update, it made me happy when there was a new update.
This one just fails at that. It fails at so many things.
But, IHKY does look much nicer though.


I'm sorry Dotty, sorry for this review score - I enjoyed your previous game. But this one, SO FAR, is just... not fun nor interesting. Sorry.

I meant to give this a 2-star, but I'm gonna give it 3 stars. I feel it IS mediocre, and thats what 3 stars is for me. 5 is a masterpiece, and there's less than 10 masterpieces on the entire F95, IMHO.
It's a very loose 3-star though, it could easily go up or down when I possibly edit this score after a few more updates.

I WILL update this review score after a couple of more updates, IF I can be arsed to give this VN another chance. Either way, this score I feel is honest and accurate for what we have , as of 0.2/chapter 2.

This is FAR from a 5/5 VN. But it could easily become one I think, eventually.
After all we're only in chapter 2, so we're still 'early' on - I guess?

Again, I honestly struggle with giving this VN this rating, mainly because I did enjoy the previous work from Dotty. But again, previous work has zero importance of the rating of the current work.
I do suggest and recommend people try this one out, mainly because I DO believe in Dotty - but be prepared for a wall of text for many, many minutes. But also several pretty girls and stunning renders.

I havent played it much ( 45 mins) but so far it has a slightly different plot than all the others like this but the one part I love is during the sex scenes there's sex sounds, which not a lot of game have soo that's a big plus

The name and description pulled me in, but it was the strong plot and great writing that kept me hooked.

This game feels like a whole new level compared to the developer's first game.

Content:

• In I Have Known You, the story is definitely the main focus.
• The plot grabs you right away. It’s got a darker vibe, but that’s what kept me hooked from the start.
• The character development is solid, and I really appreciate how well each character is written.
• There aren’t many sex scenes in Chapter 1... only one.

Visuals:

• The visuals in the game are high-quality, and what really stands out is how unique and custom-made the girls look. It’s a nice change from seeing the same female character models recycled across different games with just a new hairstyle.
• The only thing I’m hoping for in future updates is more animations.

Playability:

• The story pulls you in, and the characters each have their own distinct personalities.
• The background music and sound effects are also on point.
• Right now, there aren’t many choices...

Overall, this doesn’t feel like typical hookup game. The focus is on the story, and if the developer plays it right, it could become one of the top games in the future.

Played Chapter 1 and must say "Dotty suprised me again" with this new game.
The story is well entangled, catchy, exciting, thrilling but most of all, it will get you hooked and won't let you go (that is, if you set your mind on the story and not looking for a quick wanking).

The renders and animations are from top quality, even some chick scared the shit out of me, but that's the beauty about Dotty's games, it got every bits and pieces in it for a good game.
And the beauty of the whole thing is, the mysterie around some of the characters, what's their connection in MC's life? Why are they following MC? What do they want from MC?

Been playing his previous game Carnal Contract [v0.9 Rework] as well, and pointed him out on some minor issues/typo's which he corrected I hope. (Just kidding Dotty, I know you did )
Despite some negative comments I red here made by some players, If you don't like it, then don't play it. It's Dotty's project, respect the creator.
That project is on hold and will be continued after finishing this game, so keep an eye on it.

With this been said, I'd also would like to thank JefSound (Co-Dev for Princess on the Run) for his support on the proofing of Dotty's games. And last but not least, thanks to Dotty's Sis, the main writer of the story's.

Dotty Diaries: Discord
Princess on the Run: Discord

The female character model is quite distinctive and beautiful, and the opening story is told in an interesting way. I am sure that as long as the creators keep up the good work, I Have Known You will undoubtedly become an excellent plot-based porn game.

Awesome game with a very interesting plot. There is also a secret that keeps you in suspense. Playing such games is a real pleasure! I really liked the girls. Especially the stranger from the train. And I want to note separately that the game has become an order of magnitude higher in level than Carnal Contract.