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

Visual novels have always had a unique way of immersing players into stories, and Imperial Chronicles takes this to a whole new level. This masterpiece beautifully combines intricate storytelling, compelling characters, and visually stunning artwork to craft an experience that leaves a lasting impression. After spending countless hours engrossed in its narrative, I can confidently say this game deserves every bit of praise it gets.

1. A Captivating Storyline:
The story of Imperial Chronicles is nothing short of epic. Set in a sprawling empire rife with political intrigue, shifting alliances, and hidden agendas, the game weaves a tale that feels both grand and personal. The pacing is near-perfect, with moments of intense drama balanced by quieter, character-driven interactions. The branching narrative system ensures that your choices carry weight, leading to multiple endings that encourage replay ability.

2. Deep, Multifaceted Characters:
The characters are where Imperial Chronicles truly shines. Each individual, from the ambitious prince to the mysterious rogue, feels alive, with unique personalities, motivations, and arcs. The game does an excellent job of fleshing out even the supporting cast, making every interaction feel meaningful. As the protagonist, your relationships with these characters evolve based on your decisions, leading to heartfelt moments, shocking betrayals, and genuine connections.

3. Stunning Visuals and Sound Design:
The artwork in Imperial Chronicles is breath-taking. From the detailed character sprites to the lavish backgrounds of imperial halls and war-torn battlefields, every scene is a feast for the eyes. The use of lighting and colour sets the mood perfectly, whether it’s the warmth of a celebration or the grim tone of a betrayal. Complementing the visuals is an outstanding soundtrack that heightens the emotional weight of each scene. The voice acting (if enabled) is equally superb, breathing life into the characters.

4. Engaging Gameplay Mechanics:
Unlike many visual novels that rely solely on dialogue, Imperial Chronicles integrates engaging choices mechanics. These elements add a layer of paths, making your decisions feel even more impactful.

Imperial Chronicles is an extraordinary visual novel that sets a new standard for the genre. Its gripping narrative, unforgettable characters, and top-tier production values make it a must-play for fans of storytelling. While it may be a bit daunting for newcomers, those who invest time and effort will be richly rewarded. For anyone seeking a story-driven experience that stays with you long after the credits roll, Imperial Chronicles is an absolute gem.
Would I recommend this game? Absolutely. Whether you're a longtime visual novel enthusiast or a curious newcomer, Imperial Chronicles is a journey worth embarking on. 5/5

one of the best fantasy games i have played so far! So far I have played approximately 20 ish fantasy games including monster girls etc etc and even though the only "monster girls" in this game are elves its still a very good game which i have truly enjoyed and I think played through it 3 times in different ways due to the large amount of content and options

This is basically Game of Thrones, the porn game version. It is a breath of fresh air to play porn that has a solid story that affects all of the main characters, and each of them reacts to it in different ways.

This is the type of game you play for the porn, and stay for the gripping story. The synopsis kind of does a poor job of explaining things, so I wanted to go into further detail. Fair warning, while the story is solid its clear this isn't a native English speaker writing this game, so sometimes you'll have some "Englesh" moments but I didn't find it that distracting and it doesn't happen all the time.

I would recommend to the developer to allow a native English speaker to proofread and edit the final version of the game, though, since many people might get annoyed with it.

Story:
As the synopsis states, you are the exiled Prince of the King, who has decided to summon you back home. The Kingdom or Golden Empire is well explained, as are the surrounding nations. Before your birth the Empire was in a great war, rapidly explaining and conquering other nations. One of their biggest rivals was the Elves.

In order to finally have peace and stop the Elf Rebellion since the Empire had pretty much conquered the lands, the current King married an Elf Princess. YOU play as their son, half-Elf and half-human, from two great bloodlines.

As the only male child from the King, you have the strongest claim to the throne, but in typical Game of Thrones fashion, things are not that simple as everyone has a motive and desire for the throne.

Characters:

While their are many characters in this game, I'm listing the main ones, who are also your Love Interest. What's really great is that each of them have their own goals and desires. Forging alliances with someone feels natural and logical while at the same time allows for a good slow burn. Basically when these characters fall for the MC it feels earned.

Mom - Your mother who married your father in a political marriage. A seasoned political woman who wants to follow royal court ethics. With that said as a full blood Elf its also clear she has a deep allegiance to the Elf people and customs. She wants to influence the MC to embrace more of his Elf heritage but she also loves her children and wants to protect them from harm.

Cass - Your half-elder sister. Basically the Aemond (from Game of Thrones) of the group. As the eldest, she feels entitled to the throne, even though that was very unlikely due to her being a woman. She's ambitious, cunning, violent and a bit unstable. She wholeheartedly embraces her role as the villain of the family; however, if you ally with her and hear her backstory, you can't help but feel that she's the monster your parents created. After all your Elf mother doesn't even consider her part of the family and makes her know that, and your father barely contains his anger towards her. Is it truly any wonder she constantly lashes out and wants to see tradition burn?

Elin - Your twin sister. A powerful mage who doesn't care at all about court life. Instead, she just wants freedom, but sadly, as a princess, she can't escape her "duties." Elin is like you in that regard in that she finds herself caught between family loyalties and loyalty to her true desires.

Lia - Your sick little sister who is reaching a breaking point. What good is having a long life if she's stuck in a room with books all day? Will you help her gain freedom (among other naughty things) even if that sets you directly against your parents? Even if it ends up hurting her? What is happiness worth?

And again those are just the main characters There are plenty of interesting side characters who have their own loyalties and thoughts as to how the government should be run. Even your father, the King, has moments that make him more than the cartoonishly evil King. Human moments that make him feel like a normal politician.

Sex:
So this is a SLOW burn game. While the game does have sex scenes in it of you fucking women, it does take a minute to get any type of scene with the main LIs. In my opinion its worth it because the LIs actually have character and dreams worth reading about but that is my opinion and other people might feel differently.

Likewise this is NOT a corruption game/trainer. You are not turning these characters into whores......or at least not as of 0.6. Some characters have stats that influence how sexual they are, but as of now, it's too early to see if you completely turn them into whores.

What is nice is that even if you're pushing them to be more sexual, you're not twisting your mustache and laughing like a lunatic. There's still obviously love and respect in the relationship, you're just pushing to have a more kinky relationship vs. one based on more romantic gestures. Something I hope continues in the future.

You can choose to play a rapist for those of you that like that kind of thing. I haven't played that route nor is that my kind of thing so I can't really speak to its quality but it is an option in the game.

Likewise you can do a dom/sub play with two LI. Cass and a minor character. I do appreciate a game that allows the player to play as a sub MC, and what's really nice is that playing sub MC doesn't suddenly turn the MC into a whimp 24/7.

Yes they like to bottom and be humiliated in the bedroom, but that's bedroom talk. When the plot kicks in and the MC needs to plan and take action they still do and are treated with love and respect by Cass. Again I like this and its a nice change of pace from other games which assume that just because a player wants to sub in the bedroom, they like to be treated like shit 24/7 in the game.

The only sad thing is Cass is the only character with this system. I really wish that there was a similar system in place for Mom, Elin or Lia. The only other character that has something like this is a minor character called Isis, but honestly, I was disappointed by it. Like even though they're called "dom" points with her, they feel more like asshole points.

Instead of being controlling and teasing the player like Cass and most Dom/sub dynamics, her thing is just to encourage the player to be more like an asshole. Like she wants the player to be more ruthless and ambitious but she's not commanding like Cass is. Honestly, she comes across more of a backseat bottom, like that girl who wants you to top but she'll backseat your topping her the whole time.

For a Dom player I'm sure its fun to shut her up by doming her but as a Sub player its frustrating that she makes you top while also trying to control how you top. Hopefully, she gets better in more updates but I had to do a double take when the game said I was on the "sub" route with her since the sex scenes definitely didn't feel like it.

Other than that, though, there's nothing too crazy sex-wise in the game; I mean, it's Game of Thrones, so incest is the big theme. You have your standard BJ, footjob, peeping, dirty talk, groping and even an under the table BJ. It's all well written but as of 0.6 its nothing too wild.

Final Thoughts
Overall a great game. I didn't touch on the game mechanics but if it wasn't clear from how I described the story this is your standard CYOA game where your choices DO matter. The game remembers the decisions you make and what points you collect.

I already find myself wanting to try another run of the game as a different class and with some different decisions to see what changes. I can't wait to see more from the dev.

Impressive work. One of, if not the most interesting narratives I have had the pleasure to read on this site, and probably the best developed and realized characters. Additionally, choice really matter.

Not perfect - I would say the sex scenes are far less developed and realized than are the characters. However, it is harder to find a compelling story than it is to find porn, so this is an easy 5 for me.

Imperial Chronicles 0.6

This is an intriguing fantasy story with great characters, interactions, world-building, story progression, meaningful choices, and a branching narrative all of which make it a highly addictive game. Hit or miss translations along with a few writing issues are the only thing holding the story back even slightly. The character models and textures are great but it's not exactly the most visually appealing game. Unfortunately the sparse subpar renders, middling animations, and forgettable lewd content drag down what's an otherwise terrific AVN.

I still highly recommend this for anyone into fantasy-themed AVNs with a well built out world and heavy emphasis on royal intrigue, a rich storyline, and impactful choices with plenty of lighthearted interludes. At the same time I'd caution anyone that wants to see all content in a single playthrough or is looking for something to get you a bit hot and bothered that this may not do the trick for you. While the LIs and sidegirls are good here, most of the real excitement in this comes in the form of satisfying story progression based on choices made as well as plenty of entertaining character interactions. The visual presentation can be a bit disappointing but I ended up feeling the enjoyment of story made up for visual fidelity issues and I enjoyed playing much more than expected.

Great game. Animations are the only weak part. But the story and writing are good. I don't skim through texts while playing, like i normally do. Its just a testament on good the writing is. Legit branching paths too.

I never leave reviews the only games i tend to leave for are games that are very well written and/or games that get the adult/novel or adult/novel/game balance damn near perfect and this is a clear example of both, interesting and fleshed out characters a well thought out story wiht an over arching mystery that isnt subracted by focusing on the day to day interactions of the characters, you know a game is well made when you actually have to stop and weigh up every decison that you make, somewhat closing off paths, having different characters be antagonistic to each other means you actually have to put thought into your harem instead of just an i want them all fest, this increases the replayability and honestly makes you more invested beacuse you actually double down on character that you choose to prioritise even before you start to romance them, definitely give this ago, the Medievel intrigue is done well, the setting is brilliant, its very easy to make a typical fantay seem bland, and honestly even though i liked monkey business im simply mindblown that the dev has made and written a novel of this calibre, the improvement alone deserves praise, keep it going Dev, you've secured yourself a fan and supporter!, i will admit the translations are iffy in places but honestly that just makes me wish i could read russian. glaze over

Good story, tons of fun, and kinky too! Has three distinct paths that add to replay value. Characters are all pretty and well written. There is good world building that develops a decent lore but isn't too complicated.

holy shit, I was NOT expecting this to be as good as it is. I got to the end of 0.5 basically and stopped there for today (mostly cause the walkthrough I had stopepd at 0.5 content lol, but I will continue playing tomorrow. Can't wait.).

What can I say.... I VERY rarely ever post reviews, but I felt like I needed to at LEAST do something to support the creator, and since I cannot donate yet, most I can do is leave a positive review.
The story is great, characters are GREAT, MC is probably amongst my fav ones and Elin is BEST GIRL (cannot wait to hopefully have a happy ending at least with her and the MC ).
If you like incest, this game is PERFECT for u.

EDIT: I also just finished 0.6 content.... IT'S SO GODDAMN GOOD MAN. Everyone should give this a try

This game has a great story, great characters and great world-building. It also consistently gets a laugh out of me, just like the developer's previous game Monkey Business. The only complaint is about the poor English translation, but this is one of the rare games where the quality of the writing and story outshines that glaring fault.

This is a cool game with beautiful visuals and a rather exciting story. The palace intrigues turned out to be really interesting, and the opportunity to choose the "backstory" of the main characters is also nice. I literally finished it in one breath and now I'm waiting for the continuation.

Lazy Monkey

Now that's a name I love hearing. I adore this developer. Back when money wasn't tight, I used to even be a patron. Not because I wanted some goodie behind a paywall or to talk to the developer. Not even to vote or see where the game was going (previous game). But rather because this was a developer that simply HAS to continue creating.

I loved everything about their previous game. The characters, the setting, the story, the art (though man should learn how to denoise his renders). It was still rough around the edges. Default store bought hair that literally every demo game has. Character designgs changing as the dev is learning to use the tools. It wasn't pure perfection, but it was absolutely great!

What I think this dev does that many others fail is that he gives actual consideration to the world and characters. They don't exist in a void, but rather have a past, somewhat complex relations and somewhat balanced. But it's also porn. I don't care for flowery language and self important snooty stories. These are porn games. You need to choke your sister after she made fun of you one too many times. But instead of fear or pleading she just cums. Now that's the sort of stories I want to play! But it's not just nukige. It's not just people fucking for the sake of porn. There's a world and characters. But it's not faff either. You see someone hot? They'll be riding your dick soon.

The above might not seem THAT special. But it's also the way it's done. WHich is to say, rather well. High quality. Not cheap, not campy. Not high art either, but solid.

I could go in on why this game is good. But honestly it doesn't matter. The setting is nice. The political intrigue is cute. The relationships are just great. Fantasy is very apealing to many people. The mc is quite nice. Where I'm used to "barely tolerable at best" from most other games. But honestly none of that matters. To me, it's like reading a book from my favorite author. I don't care about the setting or subject. I just like the way that dudes writes.

Overall, the game pleasantly surprised me with its engaging narrative and character development. The story keeps players interested, and the choices the MC makes throughout have meaningful twists and real consequences.

However, there's one part that, in my opinion, could have been better executed:



Despite that, the overall experience of the game was positive and it is definitely worth playing for those who enjoy stories with meaningful choices and an engaging narrative.

Characters are great.

Writing is at times great, at others it needs a bit of proof reading but it's generally very funny and an entertaining plot.

The branching choices would be great, if they were properly executed, like the devs previous game this suffers from gamebreaking bugs where progress halts behind exceptions and routes forced by other routes being bugged.

So all in all a little bit of proof reading and more care with the programming side and this would be a true gem.

Good game
I feel totally free and every discussion make impact
old story but can make it better easy and can open a lot routes in future.
Every thing perfect except The animations more work that's why i give 4 star's

Decent story with some interesting story choices which is always appreciated, though I understand that keeping multiple branches updated and sensible is difficult. Though the choice of perk determines quite a fair number of scene that you do or don't see which can feel a bit meh considering the lack of forewarning.

I'd say that, despite the LIs being attractive and somewhat fleshed out, the dev could probably have done themselves a favour by reducing the quantity. As is, it feels like the story jumps between them and that there's odd and prominent gaps without some LIs present as a result, though there are some paper-thin attempts to handwave why.

Played the game and all three branches as of v0.5, it's really good !

Writing, dialogues, good humor, visuals, animations, variety of LI and scenes.

The only thing to that could be improved would be the audio in my opinion but that's a very minor point.
Oh and also some typos here and there but the dev is not an english native speaker to my knowledge (kinda hard to translate a game when you don't even use the same alphabet I presume).

I recommend !

This is a very well-made game—one of the better ones here. It is well thought out and beautiful. The sexual content is mostly vanilla, with occasional hints of something darker, and, in general, it works. The same goes for the story. It tries to be on the darker side of things, with court intrigues and such, but nothing overly complicated.

I don't think I'll be following the game to the further chapters. Still, I urge you to try it and take a mental note of the developers—they will surely do great with this game and, hopefully, with the ones that follow.

To be honest, it is a shame to give 'Imperial Chronicles' only 3 stars when you compare it to some zero-effort AVNs, but I can't say that it is perfect, so giving it the best rating seems too much, and it is certainly not my cup of tea. So... the best three stars in existence?

Or, and it is also incest-heavy!

Wow, this was a real treat—chaos, intrigue, diverse personalities, great music, and solid visuals. It's a really good attempt at bringing GOT-like politics into an adult visual novel. I love medieval themes, and the story alongside the adult elements totally met my expectations. The LIs are top-notch, no complaints there—honestly, even the side female characters feel "smashable." My one big gripe is with the English, but that’s something that can be easily fixed. Looking forward to playing the next part!

Wow, what an incredible game.. As many of the earlier reviews have mentioned, this game is truly amazing. The variety of choices and paths is impressive, and every character feels unique and fully developed with such attention to detail. I love how each route offers its own distinct flavor and personal touch, making it feel like you're shaping your own destiny. I can't wait to see more from this. Outstanding work to the developer.