VN - Ren'Py - Jury [Ep.2] [Nickle3DArt]

A novel approach to the typical confined in a house with multiple girls harem setting melded well with mystery and court drama. Jury also features complex multi-pathing which allows for multiple reruns with a big cast of lovingly created LIs.

Story
MC is sequestered for jury duty to ascertain the guilt of a top celebrity who stands accused of murdering her husband. During the course of the trial, he will be staying in a hotel with other fellow jurors. Besides the trial, there appears to be a number of hidden agendas and secrets flowing amongst his fellow jurors.

Naturally do not expect the technicalities of being in a jury or courtroom drama to be accurate in an adult game, but I would say it's good enough to not fall flat immediately. Chapter 1 takes place before the trial and is focused on "harem LI introductions" within the hotel. It gets interesting in Chapter 2 when the courtroom drama starts and traces of outside influence within the jury start to surface.

The game is still in an early phase and there's certainly room to expand if the developer plays his cards right.

Game Mechanics
You get to make two types of choices here:

1) Deciding where to go during your free time in the hotel which will affect who you will meet and have interactions with.

2) Deciding which question to ask during the trial which will affect in which direction of the innocent-guilty spectrum your jurors slant towards.

As time is limited, you can only focus on meeting at most 2 - 3 LIs in the hotel within a single run. This allows for multiple replays if you intend to unlock all the scenes.

Background / Character Renders
Most of the action either take place in the hotel or within the courtroom, so the backgrounds are as generic as they come. But they serve their purpose so no complains here.

There is a huge cast of diversified characters including 14 LIs that are interestingly designed. Young, old, innocent, wild, black, white, blond, brunette, even disabled etc. - there's more than enough to have something for everyone.

One interesting call out is Alice, a sweet innocent artsy kind of gal that Daz3D usually has problems rendering compared to HS2 or AVN. Often characters designed in Daz3D end up too rough and jagged. Kudos to the developer who actually manages to design / buy a sweet and cute model to fit such a profile.

Character Development
Although the cast of LIs is huge, there hasn't been much of an opportunity to develop their characters at this stage. A few LIs such as Aimee, Alice, Jane and Layla have revealed some interesting back stories to date, but interactions with the rest remain surface cordial.

Personally, I'm not very hopeful that the developer can fully develop all the LIs in the story without setting back production timelines significantly, there are simply too many of them.

Sex Scenes
Very few as at Chapter 2 although there is a few teasing here and there. In fact, you might not even see any during your first run if your selected LIs don't have any sex scenes to date.

Overall, they are slightly above average in terms of dialogue, setting and animation but not exactly memorable. Hopefully we will see further improvements as the game progresses.

BGM and Sound Effects
Basic BGMs that complement the experience, there are a couple of sound effects here and there but the premise of the story doesn't really create opportunities for wide use other than some minor stuff.

Conclusion
Jury duty is not common material for AVN and it's creative how harem and mystery are welded in nicely within such a premise. The large number of LI permutations that players can select creates multiple possible paths ensuring replayability.

If you overlook some of the obvious unrealistic plot devices such as paparazzi attention on jurors, having a great time in a 5-star hotel, fellow jurors openly stating who they support etc., it has a nice story going and most of the characters introduced so far are interesting.

This game might be short if played in a linear fashion, but it truly shines when you explore the various branching paths it offers. If your goal is simply to play a visual novel with explicit scenes, this might not be the ideal game for you. However, if you’re looking for an adventure with an adult theme where the explicit scenes are just a bonus, then this game comes highly recommended by me.

I played Chapters 1 and 2 (Steam Version), and to achieve all the achievements, I invested about 20 hours of gameplay. In Chapter 1, I managed to reach four endings, and in Chapter 2, two endings, but I believe there are more. When Chapter 3 is released, I will explore the previous chapters even further.

In this game, every decision truly impacts your future progress. A kiss you give to a character, the choice of whom you meet, or even a book you suggest to someone can influence your entire journey in the game. And the most important aspect is in your hands; depending on how you guide conversations with the other jurors, you can influence the accusation or even the acquittal of the accused character.

To achieve all the achievements, I had to make 19 saved routes in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, I used 10 of these routes to proceed, leaving me with 14 saved routes available for Chapter 3.

This game can become complicated for many and even frustrating. As an old-school gamer, accustomed to adventure games from the 80s and 90s, I don’t see any issues with this. However, for other players, frustration can be a crucial challenge, especially when realizing that they won’t be able to achieve a goal due to a wrong decision made in the past, without having any idea which decision caused the problem. I recommend that the developer create an option for tips that can be toggled on or off, providing guidance on what the player missed and where they made the wrong decision when they reach these scenes. This way, when the player plays again, they can decide whether to change the previous decision or do what they hadn’t done before.

Good renders and good story. Tons of choices that have effects to the LIs that you go and to the story and make the game even better. Tons of LIs and each one has different personalities and its hard to who to choose because they are all interesting. Great game and recommend.

So many paths to choose with a bevy of beauties. The models are great and with all the paths, there is considerable replay value.

The story is good and am digging the sex scenes and overall lewdness.

This is what all VN should be like, choices that matter. Okay so you need a little Suspension of disbelief when it comes to the story, being on a real jury is boring so this makes it a little more hollywood style. Whats great about the game is time. there isnt enough time to do everything so the choices you make determine who you speak with, you won't be able to see every girl in 1 sitting.

Do all the girls want to jump your bones from the get go... well yeah kinda but again its a VN its supposed to be a little better than reality. If i wanted a game where all girls ignore me i would just go outside. I've played through it 3 times now and im still seeing things i didn't in the other 2 playthroughs and ive only changed up my choices in small amounts. There is a lot of content here already and i'm looking forward to seeing where it goes... as for the accused... so far i think she did it.

I love this! Okay, a couple of the LI's are familiar (Lily, Heather) but still, it's a creative way to keep us all in an enclosed space, and the MC is likeable (apart from a couple of sophomoric moments). I like the dynamic btw the female jurors and their harem king, and it's just fun to see what happens. Kudos!!

I am not sure what AVN everyone else is rating, but to me, this is just not good. First of all,... there is no way in hell any sequestered jury would be interviewed on tv. FFS... then the MC is the only dude?

The MC is dressed in a leather jacket and looks like some 50's reject who time traveled to the future; plus he gets an erection from being patted down by a cop. The LIs are all shallow and very typical. You have the agressive one, the shy fish out of water type with a "how to talk to men" book, a couple milfs for good measure, blond bimbo... should I go on?

Then there is the story... does the dev really think being sequestered is like staying in a 5 star resort? It's like a freaking vacation with a bar et al. It's just ridiculous. And of course, mr magic cock doesn't really have to do anything to get them to all want to jump on him.. Whatever. The only part I liked was the intro but once we got to the bus of jurors, it all went downhill pretty fast.

I am not sure what there is to like about this one other then the dev seems to have some talent as the artwork is pretty good but download it and check it out for yourself.

I did not expect to find such a complex game at random. First time I hear of it, it's a hidden gem. Really extensive. The models are nice, the characterization is great and every LI is unique. It avoid most tropes that we are used to.
It could use a gallery though.

Visually, is a feast for the eyes. The artwork is stunning, creating a visual experience that complements the narrative beautifully. The attention to detail in the design of characters, environments, and key moments enhances the immersive quality of the game, making it a true visual treat. The interactive element of the game is where truly shines. The choices presented to the player are thought-provoking and impactful, influencing not only the immediate outcome but also shaping the trajectory of the entire story. The branching paths and multiple endings add a layer of replayability, encouraging players to explore different choices and witness the varied consequences that unfold.

Somewhat unrealistic premise, but don't let that keep you from experiencing this game, which is promising to one of the all-time greats.

Renders, dialogue, characters & personalities are all very good to great, and there is enough variety for anyone. Also, replayability is high, but I would very much appreciate a walk-through

TL;DR: The idea is interesting, but the experience is not captivating.

Models are just passable. Only very few of them are more or less cute. For instance, MC says that pink-haired Lily is very beautiful... To me, she doesn't seem beautiful at all; besides, her model was used in dozens of other games. Aimee looks like a well groomed lady, but she doesn't seem like 27, more like 37. Maybe Katie has kinda pretty face, but her personality isn't very appealing.

The renders quality is just average, so why 13 Gb for only Ep.1?

The dialogs are pretty bland. Not much humor or anything remarkable.

The interface is rather nice.

Some music tracks are good, but some are annoying IMHO.

So it's not a bad game but it didn't seem attractive to me.

[Ep.1]

Really good first release. Tons of nice girls and routes so you will have to make multiple playthroughs. Sounds are decent, plot seems alright though its still early game, a few minor bugs but nothing major at all. The music is basic. The renders are nice. Unfortunately the game is MASSIVE its 13gb but the compressed version is like 900mb and like 95% of the original quality. Very promising start.