VN - Ren'Py - It's Just a Game [v0.5.5.1] [DigiDec]

It's Just a Game [v0.5.5.1]

So... I played through this game 3 times... Which can be good and/or bad. Once at my leisure, twice to check if my choices matter, and 3 times to see if ANY choices REALLY matter. It's good if you make me play twice, but bad if I feel like I have to check 3 times... And I still can't tell if they do or don't. Maybe it's too early to tell.

This one of those games that could be amazing, the ones everyone talks about and recommends, the ones with over 1000 pages of discussion. But this game falls into the trap of being bogged down by the "little things". Those small things that the dev thinks don't matter or is an intentional design choice that they think won't sour the whole experience, or don't care if it does.

When I first started the game, I was so sure this was going to be an easy 5-star game. Despite knowing the prologue was "virtual game", I was hooked by the narrative. If a game can make you care about something that doesn't matter, that's good writing. But halfway into ACT 1, there were a lot of things that wanted me to give it a 2-Stars. Then when ACT 2 started, I was impressed and interested again, but it then decided to tell the story in a peculiar way. That's when I realized this game is more of a mixed bag than I thought; great ideas, questionable execution. Not terrible, by any means, but a very "why did the dev go this route?" questionable kind of way.


Of course, this is all my opinion. I say this all not to be overly critical and tear the game apart, but to offer genuine feedback on parts of the game that I thought were bad or needed work. If this is the dev's first game, then it's a masterpiece of an accomplishment and I hope they genuinely feel proud.

And of course, some of this can't be corrected, not without starting over. But this is still stuff to think about moving forward, or maybe for a future project. No one likes it when a dev just starts over in the middle of a project. Either way, there are too many "little things" to give it a 5 and too many iffy design choices to give it a 4. The game IS above average and does A LOT of things right, but 3-stars is the best compromise I can do.

The MAIN reason I wrote a review this long is because the dev likes not just his positive reviews, but his negatives ones too; he's listening; you can tell that just from the subject matter of the game. And it's devs like that we should respect and be supporting. I will see this game through to the end and check out all of their future games as well.

This review contains spoilers, so read at your own risk.

I had to think and sort through my feelings for a couple of days to figure out whether I liked this game or not (mostly because of the latest update, but I prefer to talk about that last). After that, I came to the following conclusions:

You can see that the developer tries to incorporate several ideas into the story, but the game ends up being more of a mess than anything. Who is the MC? What does he really feel? I feel like all the situations are triggered by external factors, as the vast majority of sexual situations are generated by the LI themselves, for example. In one of the few moments in the game where a choice is given about what kind of sexual interaction he wants, sharing appears for the first time (which doesn't make sense with the story, btw). I find it hard to understand how a "Bull" could want to share a LI...

I think the main culprit for this confusion was the v0.5.5 update, which was a complete trip, and the developer must have been on some kinda of drug when he wrote the script. This update was funny because it reminded me of some old discussions where players would just press CTR to skip dialogue. That's what the MC wanted to do, and I would have done the same if I could, because it's clear from the beginning that everything is a simulation and that at some point the MC returns to the real world where the real story unfolds. So if the MC doesn't care about the simulation, why should I?

Anyway, there are plenty of good ideas, but they're wasted here because the protagonist lacks soul and the story has no clear direction.
I have the habit of waiting for the game to have enough content before playing, so until the penultimate update the game was going kinda ok and I would have given it about 3 stars if I had started earlier (average doesn't mean bad), but, unfortunately, the last update lowered the game's level a lot and I can't give it more than two stars this time.

One of the best out there. We have great themes and scenes here, from bimbos, to breeding, to femdom. There is plenty of good dialogue and the story is well thought out too, what's not to love? Give this one a try.

Game reviewed at update 5.5.

I've been following this game for the past three updates. There's a lot about it that irritates me.

Based on the content that is in the game so far, it appears that fundamentally this game is about helplessness. It looks like there's 8 main love interests in the game, and every single one of them is trying to gaslight the protagonist. The sister character drugs you; your boss blackmails you and threatens your family; your co-worker is engaged in corporate espionage and is trying to manipulate you with sex. There are only very limited ways to push back against any of this, and it's almost always ineffective. An example: a hacker, one of the main characters, is introduced to the protagonist by hacking his mind using his cybernetic implant. The game clearly wants you to indulge this character and listen to her nonsense; reacting negatively to her, i.e. doing the reasonable thing and telling her to fuck off, leads to her mocking you, you losing out on exposition about the plot and her altering your memories like she was always going to do. Then when she turns up later the game just expects you to know who the hell she is. The game wants you to be a punching bag for the other characters and not take any of it personally. I did take it personally. Introducing a character who threatens to kill you and your family, or erases your memories, or traps you in a simulated dream world, then expecting you be friends and lovers with that person without any sort of a reckoning, is bizarre and off putting.

The game has two acts so far, act two is still ongoing. At the end of Act 1 the game drops off a cliff. You're stuck in what is essentially an extended dream sequence made by a rogue AI. You have no control over what's happening. You're taken from one random scenario to another with no idea what the hell is going on. And the whole time the AI will not shut up about the philosophy of story telling. The sequence in general and the AI dialogue in particular is profoundly irritating and pointless. And again, we're expected to indulge this character; being justifiably angry about being trapped in a goddamn dream world more than 2 times appears, as of this update, to lock the AI character into their "bad end". At least the current update ends with the protagonist waking up from the dream sequence and back to reality, but with memories and their life altered by the AI.

Choice in this game is also something you have to struggle with. Essentially your choices are always "do I want to see this content or not?" And if you choose "not", the game will often try to make you feel bad about it. Don't want to spank the bimbo character? Derogatory comment. Don't want to let the sister character force you to have sex with someone after drugging you? Derogatory comment. Don't want to indulge your girlfriend's fantasies, which she appears to have been mind controlled to have by someone else? End sex scene, upset girlfriend. There also appears to be a hidden morality system that is never hinted at in game and can only be inferred by protagonist dialogue.

The game looks good. It's story, while frustrating, is memorable. But it really feels so far like it should just be a Kinetic Novel about a guy at the mercy of every woman in his life.

This game definitely have potential!And with adding gallery it became even better!
Is someone was looking for corruption,mom/landlady bimbofication scenes(with some),maledom femdom and other fetishes youre welcome here!
The game gave its issues of course but this can become a one of the best games in uts genere!

Really solid grounding upon which is built some really solid depravity.

The characters, setting, dialog, all work to make the world feel alive and believable. The game's main kinks all rely on them being socially unacceptable, which makes that believability pay off as things start to go off the rails.

As of 0.5, the game is in some unhinged territory and it's unclear how much your choices actually matter (eg, there's now a gallery and I'm not seeing any scenes that imply routes I didn't take - but it's possible the surrounding narrative is different).

So far I love the style and content of this game, but I do feel like choice payoffs have to start coming through clearly and soon.

The art renders are very well designed and drawn, the characters are well-defined and identifiable, the plot is set up for what could/should be a great AVN.

That said, Qai, the omnipotent AI controlling the MC, and therefore the player, is turning the narrative into a mindless nightmare, changing sims mid-scene, pushing sex scenes out of nowhere and with zero build to them. I may come back and revisit this game in the future, but as it stands this is a 5 star game slumming as a 3 star title due to mistaking "meta" for "engaging."

What a missed opportunity.

Pros:

- Renders
- Models


Cons:

- Story
- Gameplay
- Characters
- Faux choices
- Pacing of the story


This It's Cyberpunk, Matrix and modern day society rolled all in one and that's not a compliment. For the first 5 minutes I thought I had something but then it all went to hell. Where to begin... firstly the story is all over the place, constantly jumping frame by frame which is enough to give a normal healthy individual a seizure. Seriously where it be you trying to follow the story to the sex scenes everything is microwavable fast. The pacing of the characters is absurd. The choices don't matter as the story is already made up it's mind where it wants to head. The mother figure choices isa prime example, it's like no matter what she was going to bimbo herself up regardless of the choices. The looks of the characters are also constantly changing whether it's due to the Ai or the real world. How can anyone fall in love with a character like that?

The MC is a even killed imbecile, a smart dummy. Doesn't have any real depth to his character but then again none of them do. Other than the renders and certain models that were lookers I just couldn't enjoy this story or buy the hype. Anyway, I survived it and best of luck to the Dev.

Really enjoy the chaos that this game is so far. I rate it 3 stars but a 4th star is probably in its future.

Very story driven (a little on the heavy reading side). But I enjoy the random events of it jumping all over the place even if it is a little confusing.

The Different model renders are great because I get bored with the cookie cutter 10's in most games. I like the variety of model shapes/sizes/age and I am sucker for Thic girls so that was a nice bonus. The Futa content and Anal play was also welcome change of pace, some more bondage would be great.

Animation would take this game to the next level, it feels like it is not at its full potential but that maybe in the Dev's plans for the future so I will continue to keep an eye on it.

Good luck to the Dev, really good job so far I look forward to future updates

Version 0.5 played with the all sims mod. So this was a glitzy production that I really enjoyed the first parts of, and the later jarring skipping around not so much. I get its part of the plot or the game, but it is perhaps going on too long. The MC himself has a debate with the AI about player agency and choices, the dev should re-read that portion himself. The things the MC is complaining about are the same for the real world player, and it just has gone on too long.

That aside, amazing graphics, interesting story and very cool characters. Regardless of my take on the jumping around its a solid production with great english, excellent effects and interesting storyline.

Scenes are plentiful and I am invested and interested in what the future brings, really need to sort out what is happening in the sim world and settle things down, my brain was breaking - just like the MC.

playing this only for the plot , contrary to how suddenly many people dont like the switching and shifting, game itself from the start (and its own name) was shouting towards something like this occuring.
Waiting for more

what a huge pos this game has become, when he was in reality it was pretty good, but constantly being thrown into a diffent game every fucking scene is annoying and makes it extremly hard to follow the story. and the mom looking like an LA plastic reject is not hot, its disgusting to look at.

Best praise I can offer for this game is that I am very interested to see where it goes. However, I am slightly worried that the dev has bitten off more than they can chew. What starts as a relatively focused corruption-based game where your family and gf delve deeper into their own fantasies quickly changes track into something with seemingly much grander scope and ambitions. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the personality changes in the MCs family are so rapid that he looks like an idiot for not expecting something is up, so the first part of the game could probably do with a rework to let it breathe more. Other than that, I'm a big fan of the renders, the setting and the writing (and that the Mom actually looks like an older woman with kids). I also like that the dev is exploring many different fetishes that tick my boxes, I just hope that they are given proper depth and exploration as the game's development continues. Probably a 4-star game as it currently exists but a 5-star game for me for sure if the game lives up to its potential.

It was a relatively interesting concept. The use of time skipping was way too liberally used, it made the whole story feel foolish. Like the MC would have to be an absolute moron to not notice what was going on, or at least ask questions, check in with the people important to him.

The renders are ok, but not great. The lewd scenes are pretty sparse and not amazing. There are a few scenes that are hot kind of in spite of the renders chosen. Its really nothing special in this area though.

The limiting sim interaction does seem like a really dumb choice, so the mod is pretty much essential. I wouldn't even bother trying it without as you'd miss some pretty crucial plot points.

And thats where the good news ends. The writing missed so many opportunities to really engage with the characters and the changes happening before it decided to cut its own throat. Unfortunately, Act 2 which has just started is absolute garbage. The direction the story has taken is irritating and preachy. ||Whats funny is the dev makes this very point in the game.|| It kept making me want to quit, but i was determined to see it through to the end of current content so I could at least speak fully on it. The MC has let himself get trapped, the arguments are specious, and its just plain not fun. ||Its like this supposedly intelligent MC has completely forgotten that the AI is dependent on him and he could threaten to kill himself, or simply quit playing until his body withers and dies to force her compliance and let him out. Its fucking dumb. The force mindfucking of throwing him through sim after sim without giving him any good reason just doesn't make sense. ||

I can't see any reason to check back in as the dev has clearly driven this truck off the cliff. I wouldn't recommend spending them time to try it.

It's Just a Game, it's just a game, just a game...

And this is my review so there may be spoilers - just so you know. A review, expressing...

Anyway, the game is set-up in Acts and this build stops somewhere in Act 2. So, a decent amount of content.

The game is typical of porn logic, pace moves quick enough (which I generally like), you live with your family, you start a new job. You get the idea. But it does build on itself, the narrative progresses, it keeps moving.

The dialogue is terse, but uses the time well and is decently written. You're not going to get bogged down with prose.

All this equates to a decent Act 1, if I do so say. I actually became invested, which surprised me. The story ain't bad. There are some interesting themes explored here. And sex, of course.

I particularly liked how the sim was influencing the family members in the 'real' world and the fact the MC is working on a bridge as to connect two sims - I could see it as a nice corrupting tool.

Did I mention this is a review? It should give you an idea of things. Sorry about any spoilers.

Act 2 begins and things are looking sketchy, it raises a lot of questions - which is rare for a porn logic story. So far, so good.

And then you're hit over the head about what a game is, and then you're finally connected. Complete the game, chap, but it ain't your story(ies)???

I can tell the dev(s) understand the structure of story, but I can't help thinking they're going to have to pull something grand out of their arse to deliver the finale pay-off.

Especially as the H-scense ain't animated. This game could really do with animation.

I mean, the renders are fine. Some great looking bodies. Some ugly looking faces (but I like that in these games for some reason...).

All-in-all, four stars. I'm going with good. Despite no animations, despite being hit over the head with about games, this is a game, this is the villain.

This is either going to end as a cracking story, or they'll paint themselves into a corner looking like idiots, and we've all wasted our time.

The majority of the H-scenes need to return to the 'real' world, some good sheet was brewing there.

And that's my review.

It's Just a Review, it's just a review, just a review.

This is really good. Clever dialogue, creative idea for setting and world building. A bit messy but in a fun way. Oh, and good renders. Seems to have a lot of my preferred kinks as well so that's always a bonus. Looking forward to more updates.

I enjoy version 0.4.1. Very good skins, high quality scenes and make you think writing. Applause for characters. Act 1 set stage, Act 2 is yet to be finished so I give a break to creator. I look forward to reading more and having our way with rampant Qai. пасиб.

Very interesting.

I've held off on this game for so long it keeps popping up with high reviews but I normally don't like "game within a game" type novels because it makes your choices feel completely unimportant but I thoroughly enjoyed act 1 and while act 2 is a little jarring as long as it sort of gets back to reality soon like author has mentioned I'm definitely intrigued. It takes a neat approach and I'm interested to see how much MC's choices actually affect things. Just hope it doesn't get too 4th wall breaking.

Natalie is awesome. Cuckquean, Dd/Lg, breeding - she just freaking encapsulates so many of my favorite fetishes

Does't really hit the mark for me. The characters felt pretty one-dimensional, and the story just escalated way too fast without much build-up. It’s hard to get invested when everything feels so rushed and over the top.

1 for the renders.
A mess of broken narratives trying to do a meta game in a game style of story but it doesnt work at all. the simulation is boring, the characters dont matter because we dont know "the real ones" and whatever stake it it might exist collapse under a disjointed mess of a story.