Leo Humilis
Well-Known Member
- May 4, 2020
- 1,087
- 1,458
Huh? It took me like 3 days to complete my first playthrough! There is certainly A LOT of content already.
- Thread starter Mr. Pengo
- Start date
How many hours would you say it took you? The 2-4 thing is accurate in my experience but mileage may vary.
Leo Humilis
Well-Known Member
- May 4, 2020
- 1,087
- 1,458
No less than 20 hrs net, I would say. But then again, I was reading all the dialogues quite attentively and rolling back a few times when I found myself on the routes I didn't find very desirable.
Noted.
In that case I am honoured that you guys spent so much time playing
Leo Humilis
Well-Known Member
- May 4, 2020
- 1,087
- 1,458
I've really enjoyed it too! Great plot and very well written story! Though I wish Duvessa would actually get more chances to dominate male characters sexually.In that case I am honoured that you guys spent so much time playing
Leo Humilis
Well-Known Member
- May 4, 2020
- 1,087
- 1,458
Buletti
Well-Known Member
- Nov 7, 2023
- 1,340
- 1,635
My estimate would be about 10-15h. But english is not my 1st language. So I am surely reading a lot slower than a native.
One point I wanted to add anyways which might fit in with this:
Duvessa, Dallan, Dedric, Dariusz are surely all different names. But as I said I am not an english native. I read all your dialogues, because they are well written and tell an interesting and gradn story, so imho deserve to be read with respect. But at the same time I also would like to get to the next sex scene, because - you know - it's an AVN.
So with the font you use and with all characters names having the same colour, It sometimes can get a little confusing who is saying what right now. So I have to scroll back again, actually focus on the characters name and reread the dialogue.
It would therefore be much appreciated, if you would not introduce more characters with "D"-names. Or maybe you could colour code the speech of the characters.
Maybe it's just me but I still wanted to add this.
Cheers!
One point I wanted to add anyways which might fit in with this:
Duvessa, Dallan, Dedric, Dariusz are surely all different names. But as I said I am not an english native. I read all your dialogues, because they are well written and tell an interesting and gradn story, so imho deserve to be read with respect. But at the same time I also would like to get to the next sex scene, because - you know - it's an AVN.
So with the font you use and with all characters names having the same colour, It sometimes can get a little confusing who is saying what right now. So I have to scroll back again, actually focus on the characters name and reread the dialogue.
It would therefore be much appreciated, if you would not introduce more characters with "D"-names. Or maybe you could colour code the speech of the characters.
Maybe it's just me but I still wanted to add this.
Cheers!
Colour coding the names was actually something I originally did in the script but went back on. I can see it being made into an optional thing for sure.
Every single Devereux has a name starting with D so the D names thing is def not viable
GreenDark
Member
- Jul 25, 2018
- 386
- 1,083
It's very rare that something has me so immersed and invested that an entire Saturday almost disappears from my life without me noticing. This is only the first chapter but it's a lengthy one. As far as I'm concerned, it was a Saturday well spent.
Am I insane in thinking that a visual novel, something with hundreds to thousands of lines to read, should be judged by how well written those thousands of lines are? As opposed to just how many times you can touch yourself to the pictures? Jezebel's writer seems interested in making its writing worth keeping your brain switch in the "ON" position. I certainly prefer it that way.
Jezebel is a story of a world of politics, manipulation and power often shaken up by deeply interesting and varied characters exerting their wills and influence in meaningful ways according to their situations, backgrounds and resources. It's largely believable and often makes efforts to keep its characters consistent with their established histories and traits while having them meet, interact and often clash creating juicy and satisfying drama.
I want to get into the details for the characters later. For now, I have to praise the ways the protagonist represents all that's good in this story. Duvessa is established from the start as the ambitious, ruthless and hyper-competent player who is going to shake the game and play it cutthroat with murder, lies and blackmail while not letting any of it come back to her. The ways she goes about it and the logic of the world, characters and schemes are taken into account and create obstacles she has to overcome with her charm, brains and money. Along the way, she provides her insights and opinions which reflect how interesting of a character she is, flaws and all.
I often found myself pleased to be able to trace an event's history and references back to previous scenes. Getting very fundamental here, but it's nice to be even able to say that about an adult VN when the standard generally seems to be to ignore everything except the current moment, breaking characters and plots in the process. Not that Jezebel is always perfectly consistent but it certainly does a far better job than the vast majority of other adult entertainment. All while telling a rather complex story with many names, places, alliances and conflicts. It gives me a little hope.
The choices. In some cases it can be difficult to tell how much they matter, with the story not being complete and many of the consequences being currently left up for future chapters to pay off. But they certainly were consequential enough to push me to spend several hours trying different choices to see the consequences. From different ways to deal with problems, to changing relationships with other characters, to changing the outcome of the "big event" at the end of this chapter, the choices are already important enough to make your save file feel unique. It seems there is enough care taken to allow the player to progress the story how they want, such as choosing which sexual encounters they go for or avoid where to spend money, while still requiring compromises to be made so that they can "win", preserving the stakes and seriousness of the world. Sex and money are, after all, tools in Duvessa's belt. Money is often the cleanest and most successful way to deal with a problem, but it obviously means spending a limited resource. It's an engaging dynamic as long as the consequences of many of the choices made here eventually bear fruit (or calamity) in later chapters.
Visually, it's far less impressive. By the dev's own admission, this VN currently uses AI generated backgrounds and it shows. The same generic glossy visuals you always find on AI art are very easy to spot for anyone who's seen enough of it. Hopefully the promise that these will be eventually replaced with hand drawn ones holds.
As for the hand drawn art, it's inconsistent. The images were clearly drawn by different artists with varying levels of skill and very disparate styles. It can be jarring when going from one to another and disappointing when the quality goes down. I know this is indie and a work in progress so this kind of thing is to be expected sometimes, but that doesn't stop it from being a little disruptive now.
As I write this, I keep reading this VN again not only to verify my information but also because I keep getting immersed in the story and thinking about it. I suspect I'll make another long post where I talk spoilers. I have so much more to say about the characters, events, choices and potential directions for them in future chapters. What I wrote here isn't precise enough to express what's so good about Jezebel.
TLDR:
Am I insane in thinking that a visual novel, something with hundreds to thousands of lines to read, should be judged by how well written those thousands of lines are? As opposed to just how many times you can touch yourself to the pictures? Jezebel's writer seems interested in making its writing worth keeping your brain switch in the "ON" position. I certainly prefer it that way.
Jezebel is a story of a world of politics, manipulation and power often shaken up by deeply interesting and varied characters exerting their wills and influence in meaningful ways according to their situations, backgrounds and resources. It's largely believable and often makes efforts to keep its characters consistent with their established histories and traits while having them meet, interact and often clash creating juicy and satisfying drama.
I want to get into the details for the characters later. For now, I have to praise the ways the protagonist represents all that's good in this story. Duvessa is established from the start as the ambitious, ruthless and hyper-competent player who is going to shake the game and play it cutthroat with murder, lies and blackmail while not letting any of it come back to her. The ways she goes about it and the logic of the world, characters and schemes are taken into account and create obstacles she has to overcome with her charm, brains and money. Along the way, she provides her insights and opinions which reflect how interesting of a character she is, flaws and all.
I often found myself pleased to be able to trace an event's history and references back to previous scenes. Getting very fundamental here, but it's nice to be even able to say that about an adult VN when the standard generally seems to be to ignore everything except the current moment, breaking characters and plots in the process. Not that Jezebel is always perfectly consistent but it certainly does a far better job than the vast majority of other adult entertainment. All while telling a rather complex story with many names, places, alliances and conflicts. It gives me a little hope.
The choices. In some cases it can be difficult to tell how much they matter, with the story not being complete and many of the consequences being currently left up for future chapters to pay off. But they certainly were consequential enough to push me to spend several hours trying different choices to see the consequences. From different ways to deal with problems, to changing relationships with other characters, to changing the outcome of the "big event" at the end of this chapter, the choices are already important enough to make your save file feel unique. It seems there is enough care taken to allow the player to progress the story how they want, such as choosing which sexual encounters they go for or avoid where to spend money, while still requiring compromises to be made so that they can "win", preserving the stakes and seriousness of the world. Sex and money are, after all, tools in Duvessa's belt. Money is often the cleanest and most successful way to deal with a problem, but it obviously means spending a limited resource. It's an engaging dynamic as long as the consequences of many of the choices made here eventually bear fruit (or calamity) in later chapters.
Visually, it's far less impressive. By the dev's own admission, this VN currently uses AI generated backgrounds and it shows. The same generic glossy visuals you always find on AI art are very easy to spot for anyone who's seen enough of it. Hopefully the promise that these will be eventually replaced with hand drawn ones holds.
As for the hand drawn art, it's inconsistent. The images were clearly drawn by different artists with varying levels of skill and very disparate styles. It can be jarring when going from one to another and disappointing when the quality goes down. I know this is indie and a work in progress so this kind of thing is to be expected sometimes, but that doesn't stop it from being a little disruptive now.
As I write this, I keep reading this VN again not only to verify my information but also because I keep getting immersed in the story and thinking about it. I suspect I'll make another long post where I talk spoilers. I have so much more to say about the characters, events, choices and potential directions for them in future chapters. What I wrote here isn't precise enough to express what's so good about Jezebel.
TLDR:
Thanks for the huge writeup! If you wouldn't mind dropping this as a review as well, it'd be much appreciated.It's very rare that something has me so immersed and invested that an entire Saturday almost disappears from my life without me noticing. This is only the first chapter but it's a lengthy one. As far as I'm concerned, it was a Saturday well spent.
Am I insane in thinking that a visual novel, something with hundreds to thousands of lines to read, should be judged by how well written those thousands of lines are? As opposed to just how many times you can touch yourself to the pictures? Jezebel's writer seems interested in making its writing worth keeping your brain switch in the "ON" position. I certainly prefer it that way.
Jezebel is a story of a world of politics, manipulation and power often shaken up by deeply interesting and varied characters exerting their wills and influence in meaningful ways according to their situations, backgrounds and resources. It's largely believable and often makes efforts to keep its characters consistent with their established histories and traits while having them meet, interact and often clash creating juicy and satisfying drama.
I want to get into the details for the characters later. For now, I have to praise the ways the protagonist represents all that's good in this story. Duvessa is established from the start as the ambitious, ruthless and hyper-competent player who is going to shake the game and play it cutthroat with murder, lies and blackmail while not letting any of it come back to her. The ways she goes about it and the logic of the world, characters and schemes are taken into account and create obstacles she has to overcome with her charm, brains and money. Along the way, she provides her insights and opinions which reflect how interesting of a character she is, flaws and all.
I often found myself pleased to be able to trace an event's history and references back to previous scenes. Getting very fundamental here, but it's nice to be even able to say that about an adult VN when the standard generally seems to be to ignore everything except the current moment, breaking characters and plots in the process. Not that Jezebel is always perfectly consistent but it certainly does a far better job than the vast majority of other adult entertainment. All while telling a rather complex story with many names, places, alliances and conflicts. It gives me a little hope.
The choices. In some cases it can be difficult to tell how much they matter, with the story not being complete and many of the consequences being currently left up for future chapters to pay off. But they certainly were consequential enough to push me to spend several hours trying different choices to see the consequences. From different ways to deal with problems, to changing relationships with other characters, to changing the outcome of the "big event" at the end of this chapter, the choices are already important enough to make your save file feel unique. It seems there is enough care taken to allow the player to progress the story how they want, such as choosing which sexual encounters they go for or avoid where to spend money, while still requiring compromises to be made so that they can "win", preserving the stakes and seriousness of the world. Sex and money are, after all, tools in Duvessa's belt. Money is often the cleanest and most successful way to deal with a problem, but it obviously means spending a limited resource. It's an engaging dynamic as long as the consequences of many of the choices made here eventually bear fruit (or calamity) in later chapters.
Visually, it's far less impressive. By the dev's own admission, this VN currently uses AI generated backgrounds and it shows. The same generic glossy visuals you always find on AI art are very easy to spot for anyone who's seen enough of it. Hopefully the promise that these will be eventually replaced with hand drawn ones holds.
As for the hand drawn art, it's inconsistent. The images were clearly drawn by different artists with varying levels of skill and very disparate styles. It can be jarring when going from one to another and disappointing when the quality goes down. I know this is indie and a work in progress so this kind of thing is to be expected sometimes, but that doesn't stop it from being a little disruptive now.
As I write this, I keep reading this VN again not only to verify my information but also because I keep getting immersed in the story and thinking about it. I suspect I'll make another long post where I talk spoilers. I have so much more to say about the characters, events, choices and potential directions for them in future chapters. What I wrote here isn't precise enough to express what's so good about Jezebel.
TLDR:
And, to clarify, the game uses some AI backrounds atm. A lot of them are made by real people. If the game becomes financially successful replacing them all with real ones is a 100% guarentee
Last edited:
GreenDark
Member
- Jul 25, 2018
- 386
- 1,083
I do intend to write something as a review but I'd like to have something concrete to reference before I do that, which would be this spoiler post I mentioned. I haven't rated something in a long time for several reasons so, if I'm going to do it again, I'd like to do it right by my standards. Though I'll say right now, even with a few issues, this deserves 5 stars.Thanks for the huge writeup! If you wouldn't mind dropping this as a review as well, it'd be much appreciated.
And, to clarify, the game uses some AI backrounds atm. A lot of them are made by real people. If the game becomes financially successful replacing them all with real ones is a 100% guarentee
Of course, I didn't mean to imply all the backgrounds are AI. I could have phrased that more clearly. I think you certainly deserve to be successful, so hopefully that happens and you can have hand drawn art everywhere.
GreenDark
Member
- Jul 25, 2018
- 386
- 1,083
As soon as I have enough timeLooking forward to the spoiler post then!