Simple rating system; 1 star for each of the 5 categories. I round up in each category, so as long as the category leans hard towards positive, despite what I felt was lacking, then the category gets a full star.
Version .65
Story: There's a good story behind this game that progesses at a good pace. It's leading but it definitely keeps you guessing. The story is believable and not overly sensationalized.
Character Development: I wouldn't say the development was deep but it's sufficient given the game is story driven. There's a good variety of personalities and body types; ranging from young to old and from HOT to NOT. The characters are relatable and even the antagonists (light) are somewhat likeable. I say "light" because there aren't any hard core villains yet as of the current version, and the FMC has full control over the direction/decisions during the interactions with any potential antagonists. One of the things I like most is the lack of weak/soft characters. There's nothing worse than a weak, insecure MC or FMC lost in his/her thoughts that ends up being a door mat for all the other characters. They all seem to be at least fairly confident, none of which are getting run over by a bus. The only thing I'd like to see more of is character expressions, it seemed a bit lacking in this area. IMO... the more expressive a character is the easier it is to relate/bond with it.
Writing: The writing is solid. I didn't encounter any grammar or spelling issues, at least none that I detected. Most of the script is dialogue, very little "thought" monologues (which can be very annoying). The writing could be a bit more clever, and humorous, but that's just my preference and the lack of doesn't take away from the quality. There are plenty of choices and the player is in full control of the direction of the game. Sure, there's some sharing, lesbian and NTR content but it's all avoidable. I should also note that those paths seem soft, none of it feels bitter or revengeful by the FMC and a lot of it includes the MC... which I enjoyed. There are plenty of sex scenes and they're animated - although minimal. The animation is okay, not great, but it's good enough not to detract from the immersion.
Render Quality: Again, very solid in this area. The lighting of the images weren't under/over saturated and there's plenty of images to compliment/express the dialogue. There's plenty of pov and camera angles to keep the interest, and the scene environments changed often as well.
Immersion: The story flows well and stays on point. Nothing triggered and ejected me from the ride, I felt engaged from start to finish. There were a few moments where the dialogue felt like it was floating but no doubt that's due to a scene that could've been more fleshed out based on my path choice, so that's on me.
Final Note: There's a lot of Dev bashing in the thread about the time gaps in updates, and a lot of the comments are fueled with emotion. Clearly, if you're emotional then you're invested in the game. If you're invested in the game then support a developer that delivers quality content, even it it's not at the pace your comfortable with. If you're a unhappy patron then stop your patronage, it's that simple. If you're not a patron then you're getting free entertainment and you have no room to complain. Sure, I'd like to see faster updates too but I'm just happy to get quality content... which is very rare in the VN world. Nobody is inspired to deliver when they're getting hammered with insults and complaints. Nuf said...
