VN - Ren'Py - Imperial Chronicles [v0.9.1] [Lazy Monkey]

Imperial Chronicles [v0.8] by Lazy Monkey

Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Fantasy fans, rejoice—this game is a captivating gem that’s hard to put down.

Strengths:

• Compelling Narrative: A richly crafted story that pulls you into its fantastical realm.
• Stunning Visuals: Gorgeous renders that bring the medieval world to life.
• Perfect Audio: Music and effects that seamlessly match the game’s atmosphere.
• Lengthy Gameplay: Packed with content for a satisfying experience.
• Plentiful Hscenes: A robust offering of adult scenes for mature players.

Detailed Review:
Story - 9.5/10

Imperial Chronicles casts you as a Western prince, exiled in youth and summoned back to wrestle with politics and power. The narrative shines with its gripping plot and impactful choices that split into diverse paths. A unifying main storyline ties it all together, while unique scenes add layers to explore.

Renders - 9/10

The renders score a 9/10 and are a feast for the eyes. They vividly depict a medieval fantasy setting with striking detail, immersing the viewer fully in the world.

Animations - 9.5/10

Animations earn a 9.5/10, shining brightest in Hscenes. They’re fluid and well-executed, though most stick to a single looping sequence. It’s effective, but extended play might reveal the repetition.

Hscenes - 9/10

With a 9/10, Hscenes impresses with quality animations and appealing character designs. Ranging from short to medium length, they begin with still-image foreplay before transitioning to looped animations. There’s a generous amount—side characters enjoy 1-2 scenes, while main characters and love interests get more, though some LIs feel shortchanged.

Sound - 10/10

The sound design is flawless at 10/10. Background tracks perfectly suit the fantasy vibe, and sound effects elevate gameplay and H-scenes, delivering a truly enveloping experience.

Playability - 10/10

Playability is top-notch, earning a 10/10. Choices abound and meaningfully shape the story, inviting multiple playthroughs to uncover every route. Technically, it’s rock-solid—no crashes or slowdowns to disrupt the fun.

V0.9

first off, that version number. it does not appear to be trying to tell a story itself, like days of old (2016/17 ish), what madness is this? it is almost like the developer wants our full focus on the actual game, rather than the showcase of inventiveness that pillocks....er....developers keep using. shocking!

secondly, there is a strong 'game of thrones' sense about this one, or for me at least. no winter king but still many similarities. court intrigue for sure.
of course we get to play as a lannister, incestuously. not an unusual kink as i keep hearing how we are all some God's children. the real world is just incest on a grand scale apparently.

thirdly, this is a Visual Novel. i make the distinction because many feeds carry the tag yet provide anything but. i have yet to read a Novel that has a point and click or free roam section. i have read a few game books but these are not Novels.
i also make the distinction despite sentences like " Is it a good day for the gods in her face today, isn't it?". i know, i too had to re-read before thinking 'er....what?'. there are even bits of dialogue hidden below the screen where the developer has added more text than can fit the text box, a sure sign the developer does not check their release before they dump it on their contributors.
but despite the poor translate at times, it does have a good solid story. plot is a little weak but it is delivered well enough and may well hold your attention beyond sex scenes. certainly i have not been skipping along like many alleged VN's.

if the writing (translate?) was a little better this would be an easy 4 star for me, but is also lacking something a little more. a decent antagonist? an actual reason for the character choice at the start? i don't know, just something as so far i have been reading and reading and it all just feels....single paced? no rollercoaster like a decent novel.

really worth a read, just not doing itself full justice in my opinion.

I don't get the overwhelming hype behind this one. The story and characters are good, but still fairly stock. Rough translation and grammar hurts it slightly, but overall I would say this game is good (but not great) as a narrative experience.

The visuals are my biggest issue. In fairness there are loads of animations and they are fairly high quality. If you weigh animations highly then this is a big deal, but I can take or leave them. The actual renders are detailed, but really grainy. Like distractingly so. Better care should have been put into the polish of these images because it undercuts the really detailed environments on display. I never feel emersed because I am constantly thinking "Oh, this image didn't go through enough iterations. That's a shame."

Outside of the environments everything else is either average visually or slightly below overage. The girls are ok but are clearly using older Genesis models. In particular the hair on most of them looks kinda bad. Posing is ok, but sometimes stiff. Lighting is hit or miss. Sometimes notably good, sometimes mediocre.

The sex has its moments. The writing is often at its strongest when portraying sexual tension and desire and that helps a lot. The scenarios are typically quite vanilla and dull but there are a few wider exceptions. Its the kind of game where I think you need to be really invested in the characters and situation for the scenes to really hit hard. That is usually hard to do for me in such a mechanically light VN; this is where gameplay intergration helps. Overall the sex is north of dead average for sure, but nothing truly great.

The technical polish also feels lacking. Like the gallery is buggy and doesn't automatically end the replay at the end. It just keeps playing the game from that point. A very odd bug that I cannot wrap my head around.

So yeah. Mediocre visuals, good but not great writing, good but not great sex. And not an ounce of gameplay or mechanical depth to be seen. I could see myself bumping this to a 4 at some stage, but right now I am just too underwhelmed to get myself there. Why is this game currently being lauded as one of the best on the site? It falls well short of that for me.

Simple summary
This is a very remarkable and thoughtful work.
It really deserves the audience to savor it carefully.
Why do you say that?

It mainly has the following characteristics:
First of all, it is more of a pure novel than a game.
Compared to AVN, which emphasizes visual content and performance,
He is more inclined to focus on and express the plot part. This description means
He prefers the plot novels that used to be presented on paper, which rely on the imagination of the audience.
To supplement the insufficient image content

The content is mostly static, static, low-frame images (but with good models, and the light performance is enhanced in many places)

So here is a special suggestion to add sexual intercourse scenes
Especially when inserting
(This is a very important and useful key)

2. He is a very carefully written content (even though many places here lack supplementary explanation and logic
This is also true from the perspective of the design conditions in the world view of this work)

Especially wrote about human nature, politics
So if the development and production team wants to fully display and emphasize these features
So I suggest you think carefully.
This is not to say that these contents are unpleasant.
It is precisely because of these characteristics that the main structural content
So it should be clearer, more cautious, more complete, and more fluent.


Three Next
Let me briefly explain the impressive part mentioned.

1. First of all... I like Oufeilia the most
He has a very attractive appearance and a cute personality.
Development and production team
PC has to catch the pro sisters' preferences
amazing
It's amazing

2.
Next is mom
He is my designated queen choice (what princess night, this must be the queen night

In particular, all kinds of stupid and low-level actions of the protagonist do not detract from her temperament and wisdom.
This is simply talent.
Noble
(Development and production team, you have demonstrated noble and worthy)

3.
The rest is relatively free color matching
Just like things
I like Spring's first impression, even if she is just a country girl... (It doesn't matter, in "We Go West", my mother also has a country girl look)
(Production block, please give me the follow-up...)


Lockhart's mother, (Does he represent the archetype of a Western woman?)
Val, I'm surprised that the opening character... doesn't have much screen time... (The Red Emperor appears more than him, right?)


There are many, many supporting characters...


4. I like it very much

MC chooses magic and travels through the wormhole with Big Sister
This is cliche (and relatable) but I like that the devs remembered to include this

But at the same time, many of the contents are too restrictive.
Like
Bookworm will definitely lose face in front of ISIS and won't be able to do anything more against Val
or
In the reunion banner (resistance to the coup) the MC didn't perform well enough... (at least I think so. A prince who has been exiled to the grassroots for 10 years and has enough knowledge and training
Even if the ministry is directly involved in military
You should also have at least a certain level of knowledge and understanding of negotiation, power struggle, and intrigue.



Four
1.
But I still have to remind you again
This work shows that the plot is well described
But seriously lacking performance

Notice that I want to see acting, taking action, not talking, imagining.
(This is not different from our traditional Eastern opera performance ideas)

2.
In addition, in fact, the main structure
Begins with linear (main structure)
This avoids the uncertainty and time sacrifice of multiple routes and cultivation.

3. There are many more even if they do have characteristics
But here is the part that I think is a pity

Get eyes from cass
I don't hate or repel obstacles
But there are too many obstacles.
Even if this is a problem of character design and structural design

So the production team can consider returning the eyes to Cass
Otherwise I would not have the heart to treat Cass badly.
Because you set the eyes as the MC.

4. There is some content
Due to limited development resources, it has been shelved.
Not yet complete


at last

This is probably the first and most complete review I have written here.
Looking forward to your guidance and suggestions

It took me a lot of time, seven or eight days, to complete the content of version 0.8.
Equivalent to 8*14 hours, more than 100 hours of reading and comprehension
(Both English and Rucia are not allowed here)

So, when can I take Aurora and ISIS at the same time? It doesn't seem to conflict with each other. Haha.

Imperial Chronicles [v0.8] [Lazy Monkey]
Overall - 9.5/10
Highly recommend for fantasy enjoyers.
Pros:
Good story, renders, sound and length
Good amount of Hscenes
Cons
Some choices lead to unexpected paths
Hscene distribution some LIs get almost nothing
Story - 9.5/10
Set in fantasy medieval times - you MMC are the prince to the west. Exiled at a young age but bought back in to deal with politics etc.
Interesting and engaging story with many choices that branch out -> still main storyline but many scenes to be found.
Render - 9/10
Animations - 7/10
Mostly for Hscenes, they're good but usually 1 animation that is looped
Hscenes - 7.5/10
Good animations + good models
short mid length - mostly still frame foreplay into repeat animation sex
Good amount - 1-2 for random side characters, most MCs/LI have a good amount
Sound - 10/10
Fitting bgm
Good sfx
Playability - 10/10
Many choices - good for replays
No crash or lag

Probably the best Fantasy AVN on the site.

Despite the poor English and blurry renders it doesn't take away from the game in any meaningful way, and it's just a testament to how great the story is.

The lore and world building are fantastic. There's just enough of it to make the world feel real, but without bogging the game down to being a chore to read.

There are no obvious choices. Right and wrong are usually just a matter of perspective.

Play the game blind and it'll keep surprising you on every playthrough.

5 stars is mean to be excellent its not excellent but between so its VERY GOOD game! The plot is interesting, good balance between story and lust content, its not those games were its 95% storytelling. I enjoy every update all the Li are beautiful and unique personality never saw those model in any other game. This game has minor replay value but still has some replay with 3 different path and it's true that some choise really matter! be careful =). Some sex scene angle should be better/ more polish . Anyway apparently its only the first season and its a very good game I think it will be excellent with the next season


PS :I add 1 stars because it is one of the very rare developers who release update every 2 months with a lot of content each update!

Cons:

• Some grainy renders and short looped animations.
• A few grammatical and spelling errors.

Pros:

• Plenty of different paths and choices; you can play as a decent guy or a complete asshole.
• Beautiful models and lovable love interests, especially the family.
• Very active developer with good communication and frequent updates.
• An intriguing story with solid development and exciting twists and turns.

Overall:
The pros far outweigh the cons. If you enjoy fantasy, incest and/or multiple paths, this game is a must-play!

Amazing game. The incest is great, likewise for the models, and animations. I usually hard skip stories, but this one is actually pretty interesting. There are a lot of branches, so there is a lot of replay value. Highly recommend.

Just as with his first game, the dev is cooking with this one. Great story, pacing and visuals. Hot kinks.

There is a decent amount of content already and the dev is super consistent with his updates.

All in all absolutely worthy of praise and support.

This game demonstrates an exceptional level of storytelling with its rich and captivating plot. Every character is vividly brought to life, and each scene seamlessly connects to the next, drawing players into an immersive experience from which they can hardly pull away. Even more impressive is how it masterfully weaves sensuality and passion into the narrative, striking a perfect balance between emotional intensity and atmospheric depth. The erotic content is exquisitely crafted—seductive yet sophisticated, bold yet seamlessly integrated—enhancing both the narrative and the player’s emotional engagement. Every intimate moment is designed with a level of detail that ignites the imagination, making the experience deeply immersive and irresistibly arousing. The integration feels neither forced nor out of place; instead, it heightens anticipation, quickens the pulse, and enhances the overall immersion. This is more than just a game—it is a dual feast for the senses and the soul, where passionate emotions and irresistible allure intertwine with the unfolding story, making every moment a thrilling blend of expectation and surprise.

Usually, I write my reviews long and detailed. But for this game, I'm just going to make it very simple.

Imperial Chronicles is a seemingly 10/10 game that has been ruined by its poor translation. Yes you heard that right, this game has a very rough translation. I can tell that Imperial Chronicles is being developed mostly for Russian audiences. I know how to read cyrillic alphabets, but too bad I don't understand the meaning behind each words. If I did, I would've volunteered myself to translate this game, even for free.

Also, the romances are quite.... unusual. It's almost borderline impossible to stay faithful for a single woman because of the choices this game provides. But that's just my personal opinion, still the bad English in this game is what makes me hard to review and enjoy other parts of Imperial Chronicles.

A prime example of a seemingly interesting and good game being ruined by poor translation (I assume it is created for another language).
The dialogues often make no sense as a result.
it's a bummer as there is alot of dialogue going through and it feels rather important to properly understand it when trying to deduce plots and intrigues by the various characters.
And this is where the story shines, I do like it but the poor translation is not doing it justice.

I also have a fear about this game's seemingly infinite branching, makes me wonder if we will get 1 proper update per year or if the game will simply be abandoned down the line and laid to rest in the graveyard of overzealous branching.
I think it's simply too much unless you have a big team working on the game.

All in all this has high potential and I will be back to check in on it and perhaps edit the review.

Easily best current game on the site. The models, plot, sexual charging of the scenes etc. filling up save slots every other scene

Dom content is phenomenal what a work of ... not art but like something good anyway

First 10 minutes on the game immediately my head started saying dude you just hit the jackpot playing an actual masterpiece game for fantasy vn, very well written, in-game text alone will impress you and motivate you to go back do some literature (letter arts). It's like if geralt live in an alternate dimension this would be it, it's like playing witcher and cyberpunk altogether because of the perk system. Lastly I wish the dev a great success, good health, more milf and hoping this will be in steam soon so broke people like me could afford to support you dev. 11/10 pls more milf and ntr hehe

A story which can rival Game of Thrones. I love the story. The adult scenes are not much or too frequent to make me get bored easily. I really enjoyed the character development and reading the conversations rather than keep pressing Ctrl. This is a kind of game I will be willing pay money for. I hope the developers keep this up and not mess up like GoT. I know this kind of development takes a lot of time and effort without being appreciated like mainstream games but my request to the devs is that please do not abandon this or make the updates so infrequent audience lose track of the story line or lose interest entirely.

This game is awesome! The story is really well-written and has just the right amount of complexity without ever feeling boring. There are tons of different paths you can choose, which makes it even more fun. The characters are super interesting, and the models are beautiful and unique, with plenty of diversity. Overall, it’s a fantastic game with a great story and amazing characters. The dev is super talented. Highly recommend it!

The game was very good considering the elements like fantasy and incest. The visuals are stunning, complemented by a soundtrack that elevates the emotional moments perfectly. The story was actually gripping and interesting.It’s a slow burn, but the payoff is so satisfying it’ll leave you wanting more. If you’re into deep stories with some spicy moments, this one’s a no-brainer.

Deus videt, this is some of the best dialogue I've read coming from an indie/solo dev. Characters make sense, their interactions make sense, the way they react and everything just makes sense. Sometimes I just forgot it's meant to be a porn game. Finally some good fucking humour that is appropriate for medieval setting and not just some reddit cringe. Pretty impressive replayability as well. Game isn't a 5/5 simply because it isn't finished yet, but I just felt like giving it a score anyways.

*deepest condolences to my English homies for chatGPT translation, I've played the Russian version, tee-hee

This game was one of the best I ever played.

Writing - One of the most well written games I've played. The characters are all very well fleshed out. The world details are extremely detailed and there it no confusing or over complicated unnecessary elements.

Render's - The renders are very well done such as the are. I say this because they may be very good renders, but it's made like games were made years ago. One render for so much of the dialog. This Game would be next level the dev up'd the render count per scene. The story is captivating but this leave the immersion lacking.

Animations - are good a little short, but I'm just thankful the game has them and has dialog during.

Girls - They are beautiful. This dev also understands the women come with a variety of sizes of boob's not everyone is all about giant saggy ones or gravity defying bimbo's. Some people like smaller or average sizes as well.

I would like to give it a 4.5 because I really think adding renders to the scenes. It would make this game truly one of the best AVN's to date. It would take longer but worth it IMO