VN - Ren'Py - Kings and Pawns [v0.2.5] [ArchMoe]

This an many other games would benefit from a half star system as its currently objectively above "average" but a few things keep it from being "good".

You can tell by the previews if you think the renders are good enough (they should be) for example there is attention paid to lighting/shadows, the menus offer way more than usual in terms of things you can customize (fonts, opacity etc) which again show the dev cares more than "just putting something out", and the LIs are more than just the same 3 models in every daz game with different hair colors.

Somehow despite these positives the game "trying to tell a serious story" is its biggest weakness since it still falls into so many tropes of the AVN genre. Forced sex (via flash forward) in the intro to show animations, MC being thrust into a situation he has no right to be involved in (in this case the idea MC was even wanted at all is laughable), a "sister" who needs to be written in a way that patreon wont remove, forced "drama" that is on the surface weird and a bit illogical but when you dig into it any sense of in universe logic is tossed aside.

This game is good to "look at" but depending on how much you "read it" you can easily get into average or below average. Too serious (as in the story and amount of work dev has put in) for a "fap game", while falling into too many trappings to be considered a "game i for sure read for the real plot i swear"

I think this game has a lot of potential. It is certainly better than 80% of the stuffs that got posted here, but I don't think it earn itself a 5 stars just yet. If it can keep this quality all the way to the finish line though, I can definitely see it become one of the great.

What I like the most about this game is the story and the MC, it's surprising realistic. For example: likewise, MC is not some suave guy that no women can resist, in fact he gets rejected by most of the LI at some point of the story; he's not some super strong fighter that can easily beat up people twice his size, he can't fight two people at once and have to use words to solve conflicts. It's refreshing to see such a relateable MC.

Pro:
-intriguing and realistic story
-beautiful renders
-unique and interesting characters(except for the sister but that's just my opinion)

Con:
-not that many choices and most of them don't matter much

(Review of v0.2.5)

It is fortunate that every now and then you run into a game that brightens your day with a compelling story and excellent characters that lets you forget the thousands of overrated, yet poor attempts at an VN floating around this place. This is one of those rare gems.

Sex is scarce for now but what's in there is very well done and fitting in the story. Renders are awesome quality and flashbacks are brilliantly done; far from being boring they do fill you in with the background of the characters and explain why some things turned out like they did.

If I had $100 to spare I know where they'd go right now. Please keep up the good work!

okay, that game is most probably for me like 4.5 stars, so that's why I am giving 5 stars. I love your renders. Love that your morphs are different and behave not like easy girls. However I would recommend you to try more deeply focus on the story.

Too little to say, so its a 3 star for now, not bad, not good.

Pros:
Models are decent
Story is not bad either

Cons:
Too short, couldnt really play or experience enough to give it a solid review, so jury is still undecided.
Lewd scenes are few and far between, making review even trickier.

Will keep an eye on this one, see how the updates come out, size and content.

A very good one, good story, good characters, good and beautiful models. And a very good start. Still is short so far, but as it seems will be worth it in the next updates.

Story 10/10
Models 10/10
Renders 8/10