With the uninspired title of “Law School” and the common occurrence of a first episode being rather rough in more ways than one, or simply lacking in content, I can’t say I was expecting a whole lot going into this one. However, when it comes to VNs within this genre, I’m always happy when my preconceived notions toward a title are proven wrong. There is actually quite a bit here that is enjoyable, and by the end of the lengthy episode, I was left wanting more.
Story
Pretty simple premise. A dude wants to become a lawyer. Along with his childhood friend “Rose”, he is accepted into a prestigious law school, where he then pursues his goal while navigating through his studies, friendships and romantic interests.
As others have mentioned, the college setting is nothing new, but I’m of the mind that as long as the developer utilizes the setting in a manner where it compliments the narrative and its characters, then hey, what’s the issue? While there isn’t much meat to the story, I think “Law School” manages to avoid feeling stale despite its premise and lack of narrative complexity due to the earnest quality in which MisterMaya approaches his character writing.
The Main Character
The MC, in particular, I really enjoy here. He’s handsome, intelligent, and is not spineless. And not unlike his self-determination and dedication to his friends, he has an unwavering passion and drive for the justice system. I very much appreciate when MCs actually know what they want in life and make real efforts to accomplish those goals. It’s demonstrated multiple times that the MC has aspirations that extend past just having a good time and banging hot chicks. Again, very cool.
Additionally, as long as we’re ignoring the dream sequences (more on that later) there isn’t really a single moment in the narrative where the MC is a creep. Even in a moment of voyeurism, the scenario and resulting comments from the MC come across more as the MC being shocked as to what he’s seeing rather than him getting off to it. I appreciate the restraint here by the developer, and I really do wish more AVN devs would take notes. I don’t want to play as a pervert, but instead as someone that is a functioning person that has at least a modicum of decorum and understanding of social niceties. The MC is both polite and stern in circumstances where it makes sense, and he’s generally just a pleasant fellow to play as.
Characters
Outside of Jessica being a one-note bitch, the majority of the characters here are easily intriguing and likeable, with various personality traits and quirks. Some standouts are Aurora, Miranda (a mute), Olive, Rose, Alan, Taylor and Mike. Mike in particular is interesting in that I had anticipated him to be a douchebag, but he seems to be a respectful rival, which is mighty refreshing to see. I’m curious where that rivalry will go.
The character of Aurora has a lot of potential as well, especially in regard to a good “enemies to lovers” scenario (which I’m a sucker for), with MisterMaya doing a solid job of sprinkling moments of both animosity and fondness between her and the MC. With the way that I approached the MC’s outlook/decisions, Aurora and him seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum when it concerns their approach to the practice of law, and it’ll be interesting to see if Aurora can either influence the MC into shifting his principles, or if the MC can do the same to Aurora but in the opposite direction, or if they are both able to look past such things.
Visuals
The renders and character models are quite good, and the animations that I came across were smooth and well realized. Characters are more or less appropriately dressed, and female body proportions are thankfully relatively reserved/realistic. Although, Rose’s eyes are occasionally a little disconcerting, in that they look too large for her petite head. I will say that when her hair was pulled up, she looked more natural even with her abnormally sized eyes. But yeah, otherwise she does look a little odd. If it were up to me, I would scale her eyes down a bit to better fit with the rest of the character designs. Or keep that hair pulled up.
Complaints
* Dream sequences. You know what I dream of? I dream of a day when AVN devs actively avoid using this device. It’s often nothing more than a way to fill some kind of lewd quota, and for a VN like “Law School” where it’s successfully focusing on the introductions of characters and subsequently building relationships and friendships, these dream sequences serve to only distract and detract. I don’t need cheap lewds to be placed at certain intervals throughout the narrative to remain invested.
* There are times when the dialogue between characters is either redundant or too heavy on exposition. Having a character like Rose state multiple times (to both the MC and others) that the MC and her are childhood/best friends, or having the MC clarify many times over that he has aspirations to be the best possible lawyer, can be a tad grating due to the fact that these things were established very early on.
* There are also spurts throughout the first episode where characters can get stuck expressing their feelings not through actions, facial expressions or emergent dialogue and subtext, but instead by just outright stating them. It occasionally treads on being robotic, especially when interactions go on longer than they need to. Again, this tends to occur more often when Rose is interacting with the MC in some capacity, but it can bleed into other scenes and interactions as well. For instance, at one point the MC tells Aurora “I have empathy. I am a human being.” That kind of writing is a bit too on the nose for my liking. Show, don’t tell.
* While I do enjoy the MC, one could very well argue that he is too perfect at the moment, and that the introduction of some failures and/or personal flaws in future episodes would round him out a bit. And I think that extends even into his circle of close friends. Will, Alan, John, Lana and Rose all seem like decent people, and that’s fine, but it’s to the point where there is little to no conflict amongst them. A little tension can go a long way. In fact, at the moment, I would say characters like Olive, Miranda, Aurora, Taylor and Mike would be far better suited for group activities with the MC, as there would then be clashing personalities. Perhaps such things are planned for the future. I hope so, at least.
* Finally, I was disappointed to see that for all the curriculum that is covered by the professors, as well as the time spent in researching matters in the civil case simulation/exercise, that these things didn’t factor more heavily into any real decisions for the MC. I was actually jotting down notes here and there prior to the trial, thinking that at some point that I was going to be faced with certain options in how I approach things. But very little was of any consequence.
Minor Complaints
* Again, I did enjoy the overall visual design, but I do think the depth of field effect is at times a bit too strong.
* I very much like the inclusions of smart phones in games like this, as I think it’s a great way to provide additional characterization and meaningful character interactions through DMs and in-world social media, but there are a couple things that are slight annoyances. The first is that the font itself that is featured within the phone could use a change. I’m not sure what the font is, but it’s emulating a kind of handwriting style, which is a bit strange for a phone. Legibility can suffer as a result. The second issue is that the social media elements and texts in the phone are not persistent across the designated events that involve said phone. Which is to say that you can’t access your phone at any time you feel like, and with each phone event, the prior interactions with contacts and whatnot are no longer visible. Kind of a bummer.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my time with this first episode, and based on the general quality and polish of it, I’d recommend it to others that enjoy narrative-first AVNs. There aren’t a lot of lewds here, and if that’s all you’re looking for, I would say you’re better off avoiding this one for now. But if that doesn't scare you off, you could do far, far worse than "Law School".
I’ll be donating to MisterMaya’s Patreon due to him approaching the majority of the elements in this AVN with a level of maturity that is sorely missing in most AVNs. Again, it’s not perfect, but with some improvements here and there, this could be a top tier experience in the future. And even if it only progresses on the current trajectory that it set in its first episode, it’ll still be very solid. Five stars from me. Try it out.
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