Review for v0.1
The writing is a little goofy/edgy/cheesy at a lot of points, but I've been so sick of games that try to play it safe and end up super bland that this feels a bit fresh in a way. Its got personality. Try not to take this too seriously and recognize the MC as being young, naive, and a bit immature, and I think this has some promise.
This first version is essentially a prologue working up to this "mercenary" premise. The orphan MC lost out on some MMA opportunity and now works for comically evil/shitty people at a shitty company. Everyone is looking to use you to their own gain, you're poor, don't get picked for a promotion you've been working for, life sucks. Then to top it off you get framed for a crime and end up in the slammer. Thankfully a couple girls you've come to know bail you out. It ain't over yet though as your aunt, the one person who's been caring about you, suddenly has heart failure and now you need to find a way to pay for it.
The next part moves a bit fast but essentially the MC finds his old coach, he gets you back with this company that wants to promote you despite his warnings, they throw you into an underground arena fight, and then somehow you are surprised when they ask you to throw the fight because they are also shitty people. By happenstance a group of mercenaries are nearby and their target is the boss of the company that you just signed under. Shit kinda hits the fan, and the version ends with them giving you an opportunity to leave the country and join them with the idea of earning money and changing the world.
You can definitely pick apart some of the narrative. Like I find it a little strange after not training for two years he hops right back into a bunch of fights, and how he kind of forgets about his sick aunt and would have completely jeopardized her situation had those mercenaries not been nearby. I probably would have cared more about the aunt if she was portrayed more than once before the whole incident. So far a lot of this feels very black and white as well.
As far as gameplay mechanics, there exists a paragon/renegade morality system that I'm not sure how I feel about yet. It says you can try to remain neutral, but I'm not sure if there's any benefit to doing so. It also seems some scenes/girls are going to be locked behind whichever path you choose. There's also a mini free roam section but it's mainly for a bunch of collectibles. I think free roams can be fun, but I'd appreciate say extra interactions with characters than item hunting. Extra little texts or calls with love interests for example. There's also a rock paper scissors system during a fight and truthfully I think it's kind of lame and takes away from the intensity of it. I'd prefer options that say 'Punch or kick" for example if anything.
A lot of the characters feel a bit eccentric, but I actually appreciate that they can give the MC shit and mess around with him. The MC isn't instantly some revered figure they all immediately love and don't dare to insult, because yeah he is young and naive and makes stupid choices because of it. Models and renders look nice, and the one sex scene was fine as well.
I'm more interested than anything to see with this game actually does with this team of mercenaries concept, and it only really gets to that at the very end of this version. I hope it gets a little deeper in regards to the plot, less black and white like I mentioned. Could be fun though, just have to see where it goes.