Sep In View
Well, September has been a bit of a weird one for me. My wife very kindly handed me a paintbrush in the middle of the month, reminding me that our bathroom needs redecorating. This small project soon escalated and took up a lot of time, so I didn’t play as many games as I would have liked.
I did have quite a full folder when I returned from my project, but I won't lie, I found my motivation somewhat lacking, so there were a few games I just couldn’t get into and were abandoned very quickly after playing. I didn’t even play enough for them to get a mention here. I might return to them in future, who knows?
Anyway, September seemed to be quite the average month for Games. We got a fair few releases at the start, but I seem to recall it being a bit of a dry spell towards the end. Or rather, there were no games that interested me. New games also seemed to be lacking this month. Still, I did get through a bit, so let's see what September brought us, shall we?
New Games
Glory of Holly – Well, this one could be interesting, we have a nice little corruption game that is told from the female's perspective, so already we are onto a winner here. The premise has been set in the first chapter alone, so I hope that isn’t a sign of the game's pace, as the story of a girl getting corrupted and introduced into porn is quite the interesting one and wouldn’t be done well rushed. The art here is more or less consistent, though it's not saying much as the poses barely change – though when they do, skin tones and hair does change. This one could be one to watch, but I doubt it will be up there with some of them.
Mina! NTR Phone Story – Man, I said I was done with them, and I honestly don’t know why I downloaded this one at all – anyway, it just seems like a Ren’Py version of Netorase Phone. There are a few differences granted, but a guy who wants to share his girlfriend… check… the girlfriend's hot friend who corrupts check…. The girlfriend's timid friend… check… the girls going out to a bar check… the similarities are there. The names are obviously wrong… not sure how you can tell an NTR story over texts rather than an NTS, but still. Probably pick this as and when, but I am not rushing to get the next one
Hot Property – Wel,l this one was a little silly, but I think it was meant to be, I mean, the premise is set up to be a wacky comedy straight from the start. There’s lewds for lewd sake and a lot of animations that look like they have been done by AI – this one isn’t going to define any genres… this will be one of those games that either works or it doesn’t, but it's hard to tell here.
Neon Vice – This was one of those short debuts that dedicates its chapter to being a nice info dump on the premise of the game. It's not exactly exciting, and the renders are just above average. It ends on a sort of cliffhanger, but if you’ve read the synopsis, you know where this is going. I suspect once it gets going and choices start to shape paths, this might be a good one, though I need a few more updates to be sure.
Journey Rebirth – This one was a bit of a win because it simply wasn’t a 5-minute wonder, though, saying that, despite having a bit of meat on the bones, I still couldn’t tell you what the game is about – I kinda have some ideas and I am interested to see if it goes that way or another. But overall as a nice debut into the market, this wasn’t bad, it's got some interesting girls and some pretty renders. It might be one to watch.
Alice’s Decent – I had to bow out of this one quickly. The renders weren’t the best, but it is the devs' first go, so I can be kind of forgiving for this. The story, however, I found very bland with too many inner monologues. It did nothing to grab me.
A Night With Neighbour – As AI goes, this one is pretty, very pretty, there aren’t many complicated images; instead, our Dev has chosen to go with a nice background with standard models in the same pose for the length of the conversation, though the dev has added some nice changes to the facial expressions – the story however, felt messy. At the game's end, the two characters seemed to be a lot more comfortable with each other, even talking about things about the previous night in a way I didn’t recall happening. It also got a little grindy at the end, which just included me clicking on random choices before I finally had enough points to move on. I wish the dev luck on this one, but I am out for now
In Security – Well, this was a fresh take on the NTS/NTR genre, there was some ideas I really like. I mean, having the guy as the security expert and seeing everything on the computer screen is a really nice take. The underlying narrative of some sort of conspiracy is a nice touch too, as a story is often what these games miss -what will happen when the sharing begins and as to if the hotwifing/cucking/cheating works, remains to be seen. I’ll watch this one for now.
Sinful Horizon – This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly good either, the sort of middle of the road game – the renders here are okay, but there are times our models really stand out from the environments, the story is nothing new to be fair, I’ve seen a lot of what is being told here elsewhere, but its done in an okay manner. Unfortunately, this game's not for me, though. I did start skipping earlier on, and that’s a telltale sign for me that I’m just trying to find something for the game to offer.
My Fendom Boss – This one was an accidental download, to be honest. I don’t usually care for Fendom games, finding them normally a little too extreme for my tastes – though this one could be at least interesting. We do get into the subject very quickly, though. I'd have preferred some seduction or at least “grooming”, but it didn’t do anything to put me off. I won't be rushing to download the next one, but I will at least download when I see it.
Aunts Secret Desire – I don’t think this is actually a new game, just new to f95, but its enough to get it in the New List – it is not exactly earth shattering, barely any plot at all – boy moves in with aunt, boy is attracted to aunt, boy does sex stuff with aunt – throw in a few hot cousins and you have the game – some nice looking renders, but the game is essentially how can we get these two characters to fuck
Updates
The Big Step – Well, this is becoming quite the regular on this monthly list, and this update was a bit wacky and really started to show the game for the kink fest it really is. I’m not quite ready to bow out yet, but I think I am close. While I like the game for essentially not being afraid to hide the fact it's a “wank game”, I think it’ll probably be best played as a completed project rather than in parts.
Wedding Roaming – This was a nice little update and I am glad to see it changed things up on the cheating side and hid things – well, blurred out some of the images giving our MC a little bit of “feeling in the dark” – I cant imagine this one has much to go, but I am excited about where its going to go.
Beginners' Guide to Hotwife – Well, it seems I missed the debut of this one last month, though to be fair, I don’t think I missed much. We have a, at the minute, bare bones NTR/NTS AI game. So far, the only difference between these and the others is the fact its told from the female perspective, which I have said for a long time is the correct perspective for these games. So far, this one does not seem impressive though, the art is sloppy; it’s AI, however, other games have shown a consistency with it, that just makes this look very amateurish. I think the story will be interesting enough, though. I’ll pop back in, but it needs a bit of content to make it worth it.
Layla Shattered Hopes – Well, this got interesting with a nice little path change. We can either go rock bottom whore or leave that world behind – they are two very distinctive routes, though, so I will be interested to see how fast updates come now or the quality of them updates. But the two paths are at least interesting
The Builder – I did think about reviewing this one, but in all honesty, there is nothing that could be said there that couldn’t be said in this little blurb – Story, there tries to be one, but it's ultimately a lewd showcase and full of porn logic. Renders, Average at best, stunning environments though. Characters, essentially all horny, broody women with a different shell. Overall, it's not trying to be anything special, and it shows. Probably one to dip in and out of every now and then.
A Man For All – This was the second attempt at this game. I bowed out at chapter one last time and didn’t get very far into chapter three this time. I ended up UGU’ing, and there wasn’t much in the gallery that made me want to continue on.
Mastering the Pink Box – I had to start this one again, mainly because in my loaded save it was referencing things I couldn’t remember happening – turns out it wasn’t my memory, but the game is coded a little wrong. It doesn’t take anything away from the game anyway, I was just mighty confused. It was a nice little update, well, if you are on a certain path anyway. But it looks like things have been dialled up to 11 on this one. I can't add anything to what I said here, but we shall see if that review changes now that things are happening.
My Bimbo Dream – A strange one this, I can’t help but feel this one is building to something, and I am not sure what. I’m liking the regular updates, but I think the fact that they are so short, more bite-sized things, is why I can't decide if it should be dropped or not – might need to give this one a bit of time to cook
Life Together – So this was a nice little update, but not surprising given how long the debut was back in May – I thought I had two paths at the end of the debut, but I continued them both on this one and they sort of converged so I am not so sure on paths now – I think this ones going to be a fun little family Harem game, but not sure – either way, the suspension of disbelief is already massive on this one – it lost me when the daughter was introduced. The MC's model is just too young to believably have a daughter. I shall give this one a few updates, but I don’t think it's the family harem I am looking for.
A Wife at Stake – I tried with this one, I really did, but it just wasn’t grabbing me. The use of real stock photos just made the less than average renders for the character models stand out even more – I found it very funny that we are supposed to be in Italy, yet there was what looked like a stock photo of Preston Train station and an Avanti West Coast train… Wel,l I guess that ones on me for being from the North West of England – The Dev also likes to do the split screen story telling, showing the scene from two perspectives at the same time. There was just a lot that didn’t gel with me here.
My Goddess - So this was one I accidentality stumbled across in June, and it did nothing to turn me off then, this update was rather short, especially considering we are 4 months after the fact and there are others out there that deliver more in that time frame. In all honesty, it's still one to watch, but if it's going to have short and sweet updates like that, I may need to wait a while between plays
Growing Things Up – I wont lie, this was a short update – very short, overall, it brought nothing to the game other than one scene – I can see it being good for patron numbers, releasing a game every month – but when they are short like this, its just bad.
Long Story Short – So this update has actually been out a while, but it's finally got the Ren’Py update – I could go on about it, but I finally got around to reviewing it
here.
Couple Lust Bound – The premise of this one is simple a couple is having problems in bed, enter the friends who are swingers to suggest that opening their marriage is the answer – add in a holiday for four couples and you have a swing fest – the renders are good, a bit above average, the script however needs work, there is a lot of errors, a few times the line appears multiple times. I need a few updates on this before I can decide if it's worth it
Falling Undercover – A nice little update, but it was generally more of the same. I understand this is a proper NTR story and our FMC needs to be stolen, but it feels like it's stalled now. I’d like things to pick up on this one.
Office Perks – Surprisingly, my saves were not busted for this, but it seems I do only have a save for one path now, as my gallery is looking ever so empty. It might be time for a fresh preview on this one. In terms of the game itself, it still feels like nothing is really happening. I mean, we are on day 23 of the gam,e and they’ve only just set up their office. I am getting a little bored with this one now.
Love at First Sight – Seems we have a nice little family harem game that’s not your mother or sisters. Instead, your Aunt and two cousins. There’s not much to this, which is shocking considering its approaching being nearly a year in development. So far, it just seems to have been focused to character introductions and premise set up. The renders are okay, few mistakes here and there. But honestly, I cant comment much as its essentially a 1.5 chapter game. This needs more, and it needs more faster than it's currently getting
The Awakening – I liked this a lot, until I didn’t. Mainly at the point it stopped being the rework and turned back into the older version – not only did it reference things that hadn’t happened, but it put in some silly sandbox style shit – shame really as it started so well – I’m not even sure if the sandbox is getting completely removed or not, but the story doesn’t need it anyway. Probably will be a hard pass on this one.
Urban Heat – Some serious Summertime Saga vibe from this one, which is good to tie me over, seeing as we are not getting that completed anytime soon. In all honesty, though, I checked the change log, and this is now the 5th update we have had since the initial release and while yes, this is a bit more complicated than most AVNs, I feel like the content was lacking. I mean, I blitzed it in an hour
Jason, Coming of Age – I actually thought about doing a review on this one, but despite being a four year old game we are not even out of chapter 1 – I was going to do a first thoughts too, but realised what I wanted to say could be summarised in here- this is an AI fest of a game – there are AI animations everywhere and its not okay – there is a distinct difference in style from the animation and the renders, so when they happen you venture a little far into the uncanny valley. The story is there, thoug,h as I say, chapter one – so we are barely scratching the surface, but the paths in this game are plentiful. The save system does a good job in managing those paths for you, so you shouldn’t miss any content you want to see. There’s a lot of ambition in this project, but at a 4 year dev cycle and looking where we are. I just wonder how log it will take to finish.
A Perfect Marriage – As noted last month, when I played this, I am definitely on the wrong path in this game. My gallery is just becoming more and more filled with locked scenes. As a result, the path I am left on feels a little stagnant and boring, it wasn’t a problem at first, as it was a slow burn kind of game, but we are well past the point of slow burn now. Boring shouldn’t be a factor here.
Between Duty and Love – So I returned to this one after first trying it way back in January – It didn’t exactly wow me back then, so I have never felt the need to go back. My friend Tony recently played this and gave me the impression it had improved somewhat, so I decided to delve back in, and while I will say Tony’s impression was correct, the game still didn’t grab me. I’m more interested in the game now than I was back then, but it's not the sort of game that makes me want to play the update as and when it drops
My True Desire – So we have crossed into chapter 4 and our main characters have only just started discussing the sharing aspects of their relationship – while a slow burn, its not been too slow to become boring. Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, this game can really get going. We shall see where this one goes
University of Problems – Ma,n it's like one step forward and two steps back with this one – for the past few updates it just feels like we are getting nothing but lewds lewds lewds and the story has stalled – it was nice this update actually mentioned the divorce or the massage business – but the other “problems” seem to have been forgotten about. SO much in fact, I think I want to do a full play through on this one next time just to catch up with what is going on.
Blast From the Past
Pine Falls – I decided to go with Pine Falls this month, and I was pleasantly surprised with the start. It seems our dev seemed to be in a bit of a rush to get this game finished and butchered the ending. I would love to know what happened behind the scenes in this one, as I still maintain we were going in a different direction for chapter 2, instead we get an ending that is very underwhelming and somewhat fustrating. You can read my full thoughts
here.
The Fappies
Best New Game – There wasn't a whole lot of new games to choose from this month, so I thought it could be a case of this one not deserving of the award, more like being the best of a bad bunch. But when I was looking at my notes, we had Journey: Rebirth, In Security and Neon Vice. They are all worth games to be fair, but just in terms of render quality and the amount of content, I think the nod goes to
Journey: Rebirth.
Best Update – This was one I struggled with - even when looking through my notes, no real game stood out to me, even though my notes were filled with games I have actively been playing - Pink box had its problems, My Bimbo Dream has problems, Office Perks has problems. I think, though, I'd probably give the Nod to
Layla: Shattered Hopes. That path splitting is going to make for some interesting and distinctive storytelling.
Best New 2D Game – There were only 4 to choose from this month, and they were all distinctive. I think the one I am most interested in is
Glory of Holly, so that's the one I went with.
Best Updated 2D game – This was a case of being the best of a bad bunch - I was actually thinking I didn't have any game for this category this month until My True Desire dropped, but reading my notes, I was reminded of Nox Falling Undercover. While I can't deny that Nox is indeed a pretty game that is deserving of the award, I went with
My True Desire as it felt like it actually moved the story along, whereas Nox was just more of the same
Best Girl in a New Game
Best Girl in an Updated Game
Best Girl from Blast from the Past
Worst New Game - This one felt harsh, but if I was honest with myself, I couldn't not award it to
Alice's Decent just because it was our dev's first game. History has shown us that devs can come out of the gate with absolutely brilliant first attempts, so as harsh as it seems, it is warranted.
Worst Update - It seems there are quite a few games that are appearing as candidates in this one. When I look back at my notes and think about which ones were bad this month, my mind races to Growing ThingsUp and A Perfect Marriage - both of which have had this nod before - but it was an easy choice to make, and it's for the same reason as last time.
Growing Things Up was simply an update of one scene. While I can appreciate the need to put out monthly content, one scene is disappointing.
