I rarely rate games this early in development but this already has more than enough for a review.
It's a usual story about a man meeting a bunch of hot chicks and how his relationship with them develops. Hardly original but then again nothing is. This game seems to borrow, both thematically and mechanically, from another succesful weg. But since the mechanics used are standard fare for mainstream games, I wouldn't say it's a copycat. Especially since it's well made and seeks to add and improve with more stuff (like the intimacy mechanic).
The way you interact with the characters happens through dialogue choices that reward realtionship points. Some of these choices also develop one of three attributes (flirty, romantic, athletic). This allows you to roleplay your character a bit, depending on what attributes you choose more often. Again, the gameplay looks familiar but it's rarely done right. When other games just offer the illusion of choice, this one molds the story according to your decisions. You 'll see some scenes and miss others depending on things you have (or haven't) said and done in the game.
The story is interesting and the characters are believable (for porn game standards). With an ensemble cast of many, this dev did the smart thing and wrote each one in a way that makes them distinct. You will find yourself liking some over others purely on the way they are written, not just from appearance.
That's not to say the models lack in appearance. The game is well rendered, the faces are familiar but well made and the overall quality is up there with the best. At first I disliked the MC model, looking like a standard fuckboi, with his can opener chin. But he started growing on me and since in the game he 'll often act as a fuckboi ...you might look the part as well.
The game has good schedule cadence for updates. Dev is offering meaty updates at the time they are supposed to, which is something that has to be mentioned. In this era of Patreon scams and poorly made money milkers, it has to be applauded too.
My only gripe with the game is related to one of its strengths. Developing with extreme attention to detail, like this dev, is commendable. Noticing that MC's phone changed from smartphone to a nokia in flashback made me chuckle. But in some cases there is too much attention to detail. There are plenty of instances where I missed some obscure interaction, like not hitting the correct app at a very specific time. Missing those interactions has a cost in points which may result in missing scenes. And when some interactions are so obscure you'll probably miss them playing organically, you 'll end up needing a walktrhough. I like choices affecting the story but when minuscule things like that are causing me to miss scenes, it can be annoying. It might become a problem because people not using a wt could end up missing a good chunk of an update. Which can backfire, giving the impression of short updates.
Overall this has been a very enjoyable experience so far. A solid 4 star with 5 star potential. I hope devs creating complex and detailed games like this becomes a trend.
Update Ch4 0.4.1c :
As development of this game continues I felt I had to update the review. Two major flaws in my view that caused me to detract one star.
First is the way Steph is handled with a tacked in backstory that looks like it should be in another game. What was a perfectly fine sub-plot (with a netori twist) became something out of badly written Tom Clancy fan fiction.
Second is the fact that the game seems to railroad you into picking specific girls to settle for, too early in its life. Maybe it's a false impression because many of the choices are locked for later versions (also a major annoyance) but it looks like the dev wants to create separate routes for each girl and not allow MC to fuck around until he settles near the end. That should severely restrict the amount of content for each future update.
The game remains better than average bu t I can't rate it at 3.5 stars so 3 it is.
It's a usual story about a man meeting a bunch of hot chicks and how his relationship with them develops. Hardly original but then again nothing is. This game seems to borrow, both thematically and mechanically, from another succesful weg. But since the mechanics used are standard fare for mainstream games, I wouldn't say it's a copycat. Especially since it's well made and seeks to add and improve with more stuff (like the intimacy mechanic).
The way you interact with the characters happens through dialogue choices that reward realtionship points. Some of these choices also develop one of three attributes (flirty, romantic, athletic). This allows you to roleplay your character a bit, depending on what attributes you choose more often. Again, the gameplay looks familiar but it's rarely done right. When other games just offer the illusion of choice, this one molds the story according to your decisions. You 'll see some scenes and miss others depending on things you have (or haven't) said and done in the game.
The story is interesting and the characters are believable (for porn game standards). With an ensemble cast of many, this dev did the smart thing and wrote each one in a way that makes them distinct. You will find yourself liking some over others purely on the way they are written, not just from appearance.
That's not to say the models lack in appearance. The game is well rendered, the faces are familiar but well made and the overall quality is up there with the best. At first I disliked the MC model, looking like a standard fuckboi, with his can opener chin. But he started growing on me and since in the game he 'll often act as a fuckboi ...you might look the part as well.
The game has good schedule cadence for updates. Dev is offering meaty updates at the time they are supposed to, which is something that has to be mentioned. In this era of Patreon scams and poorly made money milkers, it has to be applauded too.
My only gripe with the game is related to one of its strengths. Developing with extreme attention to detail, like this dev, is commendable. Noticing that MC's phone changed from smartphone to a nokia in flashback made me chuckle. But in some cases there is too much attention to detail. There are plenty of instances where I missed some obscure interaction, like not hitting the correct app at a very specific time. Missing those interactions has a cost in points which may result in missing scenes. And when some interactions are so obscure you'll probably miss them playing organically, you 'll end up needing a walktrhough. I like choices affecting the story but when minuscule things like that are causing me to miss scenes, it can be annoying. It might become a problem because people not using a wt could end up missing a good chunk of an update. Which can backfire, giving the impression of short updates.
Overall this has been a very enjoyable experience so far. A solid 4 star with 5 star potential. I hope devs creating complex and detailed games like this becomes a trend.
Update Ch4 0.4.1c :
As development of this game continues I felt I had to update the review. Two major flaws in my view that caused me to detract one star.
First is the way Steph is handled with a tacked in backstory that looks like it should be in another game. What was a perfectly fine sub-plot (with a netori twist) became something out of badly written Tom Clancy fan fiction.
Second is the fact that the game seems to railroad you into picking specific girls to settle for, too early in its life. Maybe it's a false impression because many of the choices are locked for later versions (also a major annoyance) but it looks like the dev wants to create separate routes for each girl and not allow MC to fuck around until he settles near the end. That should severely restrict the amount of content for each future update.
The game remains better than average bu t I can't rate it at 3.5 stars so 3 it is.
