Ren'Py - Abandoned - ISOR [v0.7 Bugfix] [Mystic CRO]

Good ideas executed poorly with some bad ideas kind of piled on. The girls look interesting but I'm pretty sure this is sposed to be a visual novel WITH choices. The promise of the overarching story is there, but the writing is terrible and the isekai elements are just bolted on. I assume to draw attention to the game. It lacks any kind of thought beyond see girl -> get naked -> put in ->waste time -> repeat from the player. It's just a dull loop, I'd have more fun if it was a slot machine game that awarded good pulls with sexy pinups. Ugh.

The first time I took a look at this one I figured it would get better with some polish, but mismanagement of the development cycle and frequent (suspect) excuses for lack of updates has me disappointed.

If you're looking for a good game based on the tags, it's not. It just doesn't meet expectations. Another promising project left to rot.

This is awful. I'm not sure how to start.

Graphics. You've seen the screenshots. Faces are pretty, if a bit same-y, but nude body models are boring. In many scenes where it is too bright, characters are completely washed out. Every graphics engine has limitations and a distinct look, but talent can still bring out the best in them. Talent lacking here. Other games using this graphics engine look significantly better.

Sex: abysmal. Little kissing, no foreplay. Every scene I've had, bar one in the intro, boils down to "get naked, dick in pussy, finish."
It's boring.

Story and characters: Every single character, bar the half-demon girl, is obnoxious, insufferable, vague, and one dimensional. The MC (which the game tries to remind you is a decently smart guy) is yet another of the "dumb as a box of rocks" variety. The story is hindered at every turn by it's truncated narrative and by a need to be vague and frustrating, simply for the sake of being such.

Sandbox: Sandboxes are generally hated anyhow. So, this dev took the fascinating approach of "let's make them worse."
Most times of day, there is nothing to do. In locations, there is only one thing to do. No random events, or farming, or other things to occupy the time.
Example: You have 4 locations you can go to, over 3 times of day. In one location, at one time of day, is the event you need. There is, literally, NOTHING AT ALL TO DO, except that event. So it is "skip time of day" and not even bother with other locations, to that event, and then repeat, then repeat, then repeat. As you'll likely need 3-6 of that character's event to advance the story, and there is nothing else to do.
Compounding this, on the RARE occasions there is more than one possible event, they're likely at the same time. Nothing anywhere in the morning. Nothing, anywhere, in the midday. Event A in one place and B in the other in the evening. So you're skipping through empty points of the day 90% of the time to finish one character's events, then the others. Painful, slow, not at all fun, and utterly pointless.

Choice: There is none. Click through the sandbox to the next scene you have to watch, and watch it. But the player has no input in anything the MC says or does. If we have to struggle through a kinetic novel with a moron of an MC, insipid characters, and a plot that is vague for the sake of being vague and nothing else, why bog it all down further with a sandbox?

Dialog: Oh boy, strap in! It's time for... 4-10 text boxes back and forth of dialog. mostly of the MC stammering and being confused, and whatever girl he is talking to being vague and probably bitchy, before the screen cuts to black and you get a few text boxes telling you "after that exchange, we talked again for a few minutes and then I went back to my room."
Fucking riveting.

I'm sorry. It's been a while since I left a review. I don't want to be a dick. But when I say this game has nothing going for it, I mean it. It has no redeeming qualities, save, POSSIBLY, a few underlying aspects of the meta plot as a whole, which might have been interesting in the hands of a better writer, in a game with some actual depth... but does nothing to earn even a second star in this game.

review based on 0.6 version
PRO:
- no bugs
CONS:
- bad cg. background from 20yo games(brushes, lowpoly elements etc)
- in my taste terrible story (just my personal tatste, not affect rating)
- terrible "sandbox"- 70% time be locked in 3 location, 30%- in 5 location with almost zero activity...
- again "sandbox" gameplay- locations have zero activity, except "skip time"
- game looks like "skip time" simulator
- ui. text menu in location activity- its verdict (90%+ time this menu contain only "skip time", so its deadly verdict)
- some end_of_content marked, but text "end of content for 0.4 version" in 0.6 patreon version... u know what thats mean.

CONCLUSION: by the rules im not allowed to compare this game with another games, but 95%+ any other games ll be better

Review of v0.6

Fine, I’ll do it myself.

Don’t know what game those reviews below have played, but ISOR is a little marvel, an enjoyable piece of media, and even with its flaws it stands out as a great experience, to be played with one hand or two hands (if you have PSI powers).

First of all, the writing is smooth and genuine, some lines of dialogues are rapid and hypnotic (Like the sister’s one), others are small pep talks, believable, and some of my favorites dialogues are from parody characters.
Yes ISOR, uses parody characters, if you are a man of culture you‘ll notice some, and Mystic is great at recreating their personality in the setting without totally breaking the immersion.
But this doesn’t mean that the original characters are bad, in fact they are likable and unique, MC is a fun naive weirdo, he has some bits of cliché lines and sometimes his actions are doubtful, but I am seeing him growing, and he has some of the most funny or relatable lines in game.

Romance is pretty dope, if you are a vanilla enjoyer this is the game for you, if you are an harem enjoyer this is also the game for you, if you are just here for banging the sister, You are a degenerate... (like me).
But this is definetly the game for you.
Descriptions during sex scenes and their conversations during it, are very hot, making the sex scenes more satisfaying.

Ok, now with the major con, the sandbox, the sandbox isn’t made in the greatest way.
It’s not grindy, but it’s a lot of clicking, and for the first chapters I would say it’s the most off-putting thing for the experience.
Thankfully it‘s getting better, with the lasts chapter, and if the story is good, the clicking is justified.
Another minor con are some weird transitions, and some black screens here and there, but those were few and are happening less.

The story, didn’t catch me at first, but it slowly grows on you, and it’s quite fun and engaging.
Expect Isekai with chosen heroes, magic creatures, fun shenanigans between two different worlds, and magic ladies.
It’s an anime fantasy style game, so if you are here for a realistic story or to pretend to be as realistic as possible, when the game clearly sets the mood, the themes that will treat and avoid, the characters and events, this is not the game for you.

There are choices, and you can avoid some romances by simply ignoring them, like avoiding that milf over there if you don‘t like milfs, but why wouldn’t you like milfs?!

Yeah, I liked, I am clearly biased since I replayed it two times, and despite its flaws I had a great a time, even if I can‘t give it a perfect score, I will surely remake my review when the game ends to see if something has changed.
I recommend it.

How in the hell does this have 4 stars on average?! My eyes hurt after every click the new render changes too much. There is not one thing that is even average. Everything is below average in every category.

The game is sadly, just not good. It could get better in the later half, but once I’ve reached chapter 3 I just didn’t want to play anymore.

The animations are fine, but nothing note worthy.

You have to open the quest menu to see what time it is during some parts of the game. In a game with three-time stages across the day and in which events are only accessible during a certain time. That is simply bad design.

It’s weird that the charactery you speak to reset to their default expression every time you talk just to change once it’s their turn

The English has some small hiccups, nothing bad.

The writing is bad. It services it’s purpose, but it’s very lacking and sometimes doesn’t makes sense and contradicts itself. A character works somewhere for one event, yet you learn later that the character doesn’t work at the day the event was happening. Someone asks the MC when his work shifts starts and he replies, yet he doesn’t work there atm, he did last year. He takes a half demon from a fantasy world back to our normal world and just goes shopping with her. While it was considered what a culture shock the demon would have, no thought went to the people on the street or at the shop, when they see a woman in strange clothing, with horns, pointy ears and a unnatural skin tone. Other example: ‚[…] I would tell you my name, but it’s not exactly wise to mention it.‘

‚I can keep a secret‘ (Without giving her a single reason to believe that)

‚I see. Retia is my name […] not that it matters you won’t be able to mention it to anyone else.‘

Why the fuck did you try to keep it secret then? And if it’s still not wise to mention it, why did you do this?!

This game suffers the same problem many other form of media do. Films, books and other games. The people simply don’t talk normally to each other, because that would solve or prevent problems and with that the plot from happening. ‚I found someone who can bring me back home and even bring the half demon with me that I’ve meet, but that person mentioned that I should be aware of what am I doing. I just say yes, even though I know what is wrong, instead of talking with that person about this topic!‘ ‚My half demon companion clearly has a problem with the person helping us. I‘ve noticed so far. The person even offers I’ve I have something else to do. I could use that chance to ask my companion what is wrong, it wouldn’t even take a minute. But I want do it, because reasons!‘


It feels like the MC is a bit racist, he doesn’t has bad intentions, but what he things. He is in a fantasy world and bothered by the fact that the very attractive half naked lady is giving him a boner, simply because she is a half demon, he doesn‘t have a problem with cute elfs. Then he calls goblins green midgets, to his defence in that case he was enraged because he cared about someone. He is also somewhat crude and ass at times. He gets teleported in a other world and wants to get back, when someone asks why he never mentions his sister or friends/lovers. When he comes back, after two weeks without notice, he is pissed at his sister, because she was worried. She is right with it, she should have called the police a long time ago too! Yet, she just accepts that. Wtf. He is also far to self aware about him being in a fantasy setting. I get it, he know elfs demons and more from anime and games, but you don’t have to ask a person from that world if they send you on a dungeon raid like in a MMORPG.

I only played it for a while cuz I don't play many games nowadays. But from what I saw the characters have unique personalities with dialogues that reflect it, the girls are pretty, the style is cute too (I don't know much about 3d so I can't say much about it but it looks like good stuff to me at least). Idk if it has music or not during gameplay, but a bit of it would be great for the game. Anyway, what I did play I enjoyed. Will play bits by bits overtime. Worth a try if the art already looks appealing to you.

love the game, it has a good story, enjoyable characters and has a nice music track, wish there's more content but it's still on it's early build so it can't be helped... keep up the good work dev i would like to see more of it in the future...

Sex with sister too easy. I know try to explain with story, but still, it too easy and don't feel like she is sister. Renders are pretty good, story is interesting, characters are nice. The grim reaper girl is cute. The bitch female character can suck my ass and I hope I never have to have sex with her, but have feeling I will have to.

V0.2

Quite nice tbh, short atm, but that is to be expected with early builds.
No real game breaking bugs, just some minor ones, which will already be fixed in the next version. (like very minor).
As for the characters, quite a variety of different types, won't say too much as to not spoil.
As for the story, it is quite interesting to say the least, but also doesn't get in the way of character scenes. (unless you skip them... like a madman).

Will likely be a 5 star at its completion I would say.

The game is under development, so it's too early to talk about the shortcomings, but what about the advantages, this is one of the most interesting characters - Rory Mercury. She is already present in the game and implemented quite well. I keep in touch with the developer and I can say that he is trying very hard on the game and is not going to abandon it, he is completely open to criticism and ready to listen to your advice about the game, so support the author of the game and stay tuned.

hey dev. just played it looking good from story perspective and with sandbox tag i thought it would be grinding but simple yet affective and models are good too so basically would waiting for next update ...

MysticCro is throwing himself at a new and ambitious project. He might not have a big backing but he sure has the passion.

This is an objective review and I'm reviewing content that is found in the Public Release while gladly endorsing the content in the Patreon Release (Extra smexy stuff that you don't want to miss ;P). Note that I will not discuss or spoil any of the content because it would be a disservice to the title and the people involved in this project.

When I review a VN I focus on four areas.

- Story
The premise of the story is ambitious and the complexity much higher than it's predecessor. In all fairness, this can go sideways as much as it can compete to become one of the best games in the international VN community. The writing is solid and the script is well enough without us having reached any true peaks in the narrative. I look forward to seeing how this develops in the future versions of the game.
- Characters
Aren't really that developed yet, but that is a progress in itself. When each character has had their arcs and we see more content that includes them released, will we be able to truly judge this parameter. HOWEVER! One thing is certain. The Milf and the Sister are my waifus!
- Setting
A contemporary slice of life setting in modern times, coupled with a fantasy ISEKAI setting! What's not to like? So far the introduction and use of the location scenes has been extremely well pulled off. I'm not a big fan of POV gaming, but at the same time it gives a more intimate experience of each location used in the game and attempts to tie the player to the MCs actions and consequences.
- Execution
The hybrid sandboxy feel the game gives me is a nice change of pace to the classic kinetic novel. With your classic action points depleting the time of the day forces you to think what you want to make out of each day and what events happen on what days, like the Nightclub only being open on weekend nights.
I also mentioned POV earlier and I did tell the developer that the DOF (depth of field) needs some fine tuning, especially to make the MC adhere to more masculine physical proportions.

Temporary Score for Public Release v.0.3
4,7/5 (Superb)

Temporary Score for Patreon Release v.0.3
5/5 (Who doesn't love all that juiciness!?)

I'll either submit a new review or edit this one as the game progresses with it's releases.