VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Leap of Faith [Ch. 8 v1.0.3] [DriftyGames]

After finishing it I feel like I should give it 4 stars, but then I go back to how I felt during the first run (there wasn't really other ones, didn't make sense) and if an AVN can make feel like this one did, it deserves 5 stars from me.

If you search by weighted rating, this is the fifth highest rated game in here. If you do a weighted>male protagonsit>completed search (which is, in my opinion, a very broad but a very reasonable set of criteria) this is the second highest rated game on this website. I passed over it many times, waiting for the right mood to do it in one go, and finally did it. So i had a lot of expectations for this, and i probably set them too high. If i could i give it 3.5, but due to how well done writing is i will settle on 4. Could easily be 3 however. Now for why it is, there is quite a lot to unpack here.

How much you will enjoy this VN will come down to what are you looking for. If you are looking for a complex and interesting story, a deep exploration of characters, or a lot of sex scenes, this is not exactly it. But if you want a simple, but truly magnificently written story where author actually understand what he/she is talking about, that one here is a really solid read. It does help that the project feels deeply personal for the author too, which only enhances the experience.

The single best part of the entire experience is just sheer perfection of the writing (not the plot, i will get to it). By writing i mean quite a wide plethora of things, ranging from variety of the language used, a perfect balance of humorous and serious, belieavable and lovable characters, actually humanly written dialogues which so many AVN's struggle with, fantastic narrative pace and by all criteria an author could write a solid book just on the skillful prose alone. Reading Leap of Faith is a pleasant endeavor from beginning to end, like sitting in a chair with a good book, time kind of flies.

And i only wish this impeccable writing wasn't the singular column supporting this game, but i have to say the rest of it is very dissapointing. For one, there is no central narrative thread at all. By that i mean events do happen, they are consistent, but there is no story hook, story conflict or actually anything in the story, you just meet several people and get familiar with their circumstances, then one bad thing happen and it's kinda it. This is not helped by the fact that the game is clearly written around Cece first and everyone else second, nor by the fact that this VN dangerously borders on kinetic and only several choices actually matter, while 99% of them is flavor. Episodic format that pretty much focuses on a single LI for an episode is kind of an issue as well.

Now i separately want to touch on the elephant in the room, which is a pretty dark and real topic of what Cece is going through, and as a person that actually lost a friend many years ago to similar circumstances, i can tell that author understand the issue and handled it with considerable grace and respect. That said, i almost feel like this game would be better if Cece was the only LI in it, because of how much her circumstances are kinda shoved to the side for most of it and the entire mentality of the issue, her own thoughts on it and how it affect people around is only touched on a surface level, while deeper exploration on 1 to 1 level would serve narrative better.

What was a constant annoyance, however, is the mechanical side of the game. While at the start i appreciated the phone, chatting and Nuke things and they added to immersion and fun, the absolutely nonsensical times of where you need to do certain things (like download Lexi music) without any nudge from the game were a constantly present sword over my head and i was afraid to miss something, which just ended up annoying me. And while photos actually do have a function once in the game, entire phone thing was just completely gone for the entire second half. Addind insult to injury, while i skipped the text for my second and third playthrough i noticed skip doesn't stop for photo opportunities that last a singular line of dialogue so you kinda have to memorize where they are, as well as for chat and Nuke and anything around it.

Adult scenes are severely rare, but when they do happen they make sense, they are sensual and unique so game got that going for it. Most love interests look nice, but everything surrounding Steph is ludicrous nonsense and is the only bad stain on the narrative and i wish her story was literally anything else.

I understand where people come from when they praise this game, i really do, but despite the truly masterful writing and overall satisfying experience it's not even remotely close to a masterpiece as it is lacking in so many parts that half of it left me just kind of annoyed.

Just know what you are going into, that it's a sort of messy kinda plotless borderline kinetic VN with excellent prose that carries entire experience, and if you are into this you will absolutely enjoy it.

Emotional roller-coaster! I've played through the Cece path twice and all of the others just once mainly because I was curious about the endings.
There is only one other game that has pulled my heartstrings as much as this one however it is still in its infancy.
LoF is hands down one of the best, if not the best, stories I have read through in my 36 years of life. While there are lewd scenes and they are very well done, you quickly lose focus from that because of the writing.
The way the girls are written makes them feel alive, they'll make you feel things most VNs fall short of. If you play through this and find out you don't like it, then you are probably an emotionless serial killer and should definitely be flagged. What a beautiful story!

A very good game that I recommend playing with "In Game Walkthrough/Extra material" DLC. This DLC explains certain things from the developer's perspective and gives you a peek at how the game was developed.

Story is a bit far fetched, but it is in-game referenced as "the summer when everything went great", so at least it is acknowledged.
There were a moments which really got to me, though I have to say at some points I was counting the minutes when this game will end.

Your choices don't really change the story, only basically which girl you end up with. This is understandable because of the branching problem, yet still it disappoints you that when you try a different route, nothing really changes much.

Overall I am glad that I played this, but I do not think I shall be replaying this.

This game hit me hard in the feels. Full on tears down my face. Honestly, I wasnt prepared for the emotional impact. I'm not the most emotional guy, and this left me shaken and emotionally wounded. I could only play it once with Cece. How could I love any of the others like I ended up loving her after this? Whatever I was expecting, it wasnt this. Bravo, and damn...

Fantastic character driven story telling, reasonably realistic, not really a fapping game. TBH game would probably have been better as some kind of movie. Clearly written with a specific path in mind but that path is exquisite. Developer really knows how to get you in the feels and expertly merges song choice and style to really bring out the highs and the lows of the story.

I confess I need to finish this one, but from what I played it's been great. I'm not much of a fan of branching paths, but this doesn't really take away from the experience for me, so that's a plus. From what I played, I can easily recommend.

Talk about a deep game. Thank you Drifty Games. I found this game at the right time and place. As someone who has experienced loss of what CeCe demonstrated, a few months back, I would not have have wanted to play this game Hell in that mind frame I would have given this game a negative review because of the theme and not actually played it through.
The animations and graphics with the characters on my 4k tablet were amazing and I was looking for what the flaws were in the community notes and Developer insights in the game with the DLCs of course gave this game more depth and made the hurt even more realistic.
As far as needing editors there is a saying "too many chefs in kitchen will ruin the dish". There were some flaws here and there but who cares. This one got me from chapter 1 all the way to the ending. Amazing VN game.
The last time I had feels like this playing a VN game was the game Melody.
I will be looking for game on Steam to purchase it.
Again amazing VN game overall. This story got to me.

To all the people thinking about Suicide look to your friends and family for strength. You are all loved.

We are all perfectly imperfect.

TLDR:
One of the best animated AVNs of all time, the story is deep and will hit you in the feels...
That being said, it is an incredibly frustrating game to play depending on which girl you focus on. First Two chapters are engaging as hell and some of the best you will find out there in AVNs, but steadily becomes more and more frustrating from there...

Explanation, with minor spoilers
I feel like this game needed a good editor to go over it at the end and help with a re-release of the finished product. Im currently in the last chapter and as it currently stands, Im finishing it because Im a completionist, not because Im enjoying it anymore.

This is not a Harem game, and that's fine, however each chapter only focuses on one or two of the girls, so if you are not on that girls path - expect to spend a tonne of time endlessly feeling friendzoned with no romantic content because the story is following someone you are not acively pursuing. By chapter 3 I had gone back to the beginning and created a save file for each path with every girl, then when it became clear who was the focus of that chapter - I play that person's storyline save. When that chapter is finished I go back and play the other romantic options, there are normally only around 2 per chapter. then load all the other saves and hit skip. This format does remove some of the satisfaction from the game, leaving it feeling more like a series of interconnected short stories than an actual AVN with one long plot line. A great deal of the game feels like unfinished threads - What's the deal with dad and the sister? Why is it in the game? What about the nemesis character that then pointlessly about faces? The teacher? The woman at the cigeratte stand? Is there a standalone path for Holly or not? If there is, god knows how you unlock it... Robin and Kira left me feeling less like we were a thruple and more like I was a third wheel to their couple and yet their stand alone paths make you feel like a home wrecker to an indifferent couple that don't know what love actually means and were never meant to be together to start with. On the flip side, Linda is a magnificent character and her storyline is 100% worth pursuing. Cece is soul crushing in the best way that can be written and believable in every way imaginable. I never felt any attraction to Lexi at all but her character is well written and engaging even though the premise feels a bit ridiculous. The Stephanie story is equal parts frustrating and great - I hate her being the EX because I just don't believe in giving those people second chances to crush you again, and I feel that following the story of her actually revealing her truths while you were together would have been an amazing story to follow, so it sucks to instead play the aftermath. But if you read through all of that you'll see that while 3 characters have fantastic stories, the majority will leave you feeling kind of empty, and the majority of the game will sideline you with characters who are not the focus of that chapter...

A challenging game to fairly quantify in the end.

One of the best VN you can play
Be aware though its a serious VN with mature story and its a VN you play for the story and not for the sex scenes.
The MC is quite good and the LIs are all unique with their own characteristics.
Though in my opinion the only true Path is Cece and i believe she is the Main Li and the other lis are optional alternative paths.
Moreover i have to add that this VN was the first VN who made me cry on a particular scene (no spoilers) ...
and i rarely cry....
Overall i enjoyed it a lot and i highly recommend it.
5/5 stars.

Listen, I came here to get my rocks off same as everyone else. I enjoyed the story so much that I simply forgot to do that bit. This is a romance game first and foremost and it's the best in the genre.

There's not loads of sexual content in this game. With a bit of reworking , removal of the nude scenes and slightly less obvious sexual innuendo this could pass a game from a major studio.

The girls are all stunning but the writing of them is the crown jewel of this game. Cece is the obvious standout here but all of the girls are written really well.

Special shout out to the soundtrack which is easily the best of any AVN I've played. The emotional moments are heightened tenfold by the excellent music.

The game will probably run you a good 12 hours, but on subsequent playthroughs skipping some dialogue I have finished it in around 3 hours.

v1.0.3

I am not a VN guy and this is literally the first VN that I finished despite many tries. Absolutely one of my favorite game across all categories and I will always remember this game. It is phenomenal and truly a masterpiece, the dev has my highest regard

4.5/5
Amazing Characters, tragic and beautiful.
prepare to cry if you see it through

Thank you for this beautiful emotional adventure I was led on.
PS: it was unfair that she is so damn likable while being the most tragic

Very emotional story, addresses some serious issues, it is crazy how much effort some of the AVN games gives to story compare to the AAA games these days. Great lovable characters, I atleast got two of my top favourite girls from this AVN. Has decent replay value. Overall I highly recommend it.

Let's speak first about the elephant in the room (Short Review if you don't wanna read): Is this game 5 stars as current rating suggest? No. But it is still quite good. Story is ok enough that it wants keep on playing, development detail is top notch and graphics are nice. If you don't know what to read and haven't give it a try, go do it. You will enjoy it. Unless you just wanna fap. Or a masterpiece. Then, move on.


Long Review (but trying to keep it short enough that is actually useful).

Writing/Plot: this is probably what you will my stand different than most. This is a game with not much plot. Yes, that is exactly what I said. Don't get me wrong. The story will make you read and you will be interested in the characters, but there is no "main conflict" in the plot. It is more like a sequence of interactions between the characters, that by the very own nature of the characters generate the idea of conflict. Overall, if you had to summarize it, story is:

1) guy recovers from broken relation
2) guy mets mysterious/special girl
3) guy mets a lot of "everybody loves me" other girls
4) small conflict happens
5) guy lives happily ever after

This out of itself is not bad, but as a drama/conflict lover myself, the lack of an actual plot and some real conflict going on just takes lots of points from me. In fact, super light spoilers ahead, the only emotional moment for me was not because of the story itself, but something else. You will understand when you get there.

Writing itself is not bad at all, actually. The author does manage to make for compelling dialogues and those sequence of interactions are executed in a very positive way, mixing drama with comedy and some unexpected elements.

Characters: Characters are not great but good. While some are particularly interesting (game is clearly written with Cece as main LI), some are cliche. Biggest critique in my opinion, as it tends to be, is MC. He is just bland. And if you know me you should know I don't mean that in the standard "he is not an alpha" kind of comment you see so much from some users here. I mean it in the sense of he is too generic: nice guy, kind of cute, no real flaws. I woulnd't go so far to say he is a Gary Stu, but I would say he does show up with some Gary Stu spectrum features.

Graphics/Music/Enviroment: Let's start with graphics. They are quite good. Most girls are cute, some significantly more than others (sorry Kira). Nothing to love or hate too strongly. I did enjoy the level of detail for the enviroment. You can see the developer put a lot of work here. In fact, you could say the enviroment is the highest point of the novel. Detail is all around, from the cellphone apps, to the music chosen to other features. Quality here is top notch

Sexyness: Kind of boring, honestly. If you are here for private NSFW time, you are in the wrong game.

Would this be my first recommendation for someone new to the genre? Perhaps. But it would not be my recommendation for masterpiece in the genre it is trying to be. Acting Lessons does a better job for that in the formula of the 5 steps described above. It would definitely be one I would give to a friend who just wants something nice to read without hits below the belt. Sometimes that is all you need.

I’ve played Leap of Faith in full almost 2 years ago, but I had to play it all over again a few days ago, and I cried again, and I laughed again, because that’s what this visual novel is about: emotions, feelings, all of them. Up to this day, Leap of Faith is still my favorite completed visual novel, there is no competition for me, DriftyGames is that talented. Don’t get me wrong, other developers and other VNs are super great too, but none of them can bring so many various emotions in just one game.

It all started in March 2020 and it shows a little (renders and animations get better chapter after chapter though), but as soon as you immerse yourself into the story and the characters, you just can’t stop, you can’t even take a break until you have seen ALL the 9 main endings (not counting Chris and if pregnancy or not). Talking about the endings, that’s where it hurts a little as most of them are super short (Lexi’s ending is damn funny but is not a real ending).

Thank you Drifty for such a wonderful visual novel, I can tell that you poured your heart into it, and I hope U4IA will give me the same chills, best of luck with it!

Great game, with incredible music, and some of the best-written LIs, one of the most emotional games made me emotional multiple times, but this is also paired with great humor, a true emotional rollercoaster of a game, very high quality everyone should play through this

What can I say, it made my eyes sweat. Constantly thinking about life and relationships the story resonated with me in a weird way. I enjoyed playing this game and would love to experience again for the first time if I get a chance.

The best game I've played from this site and the most emotional game I've played.

Several of the key elements of the story are pretty far fetched. However, the characters had the right amount of quirks and flaws to make them all interesting.

The dialogue felt natural and solid enough that this would have still been a decent game without the adult content. I played through the entire thing in only a few sessions and it was good enough that I ended up hurrying through some of the adult scenes to get to more of the story.

Your choices do matter which to me is a huge bonus.

The music is great. Normally music is only something I notice if it's on the poor side, but this game does a great job of picking the right music for the scene.

The events range from fun and lighthearted to about as dark as you can get. There is one point where you are warned about content and it's the only time I've ever considered a content warning seriously. I saw that message and my heart sank. What followed was a severe sucker punch to my emotions that I was not prepared for. I don't cry from reading books or watching movies. At best some of the most emotional ones might get a single tear from me. But this game had me full on dirty crying.

I do want to eventually go back for another playthrough to see how some of the other choices turn out, but that will have to wait until my psyche is ready to handle this again.

This is the only AVN that's so good I'd recommend it to people face to face.

Unlike most here i didn't go much on this game.

For me the women jump at the MC way too easily, no part of the game feels romantic especially with the never ending social commentary which makes most of the game feel like a lecture(nothing wrong with social commentary but it has its place and an AVN is not it).

There is no main plot, its all about the love interests which wouldn't be too bad but sadly the game turns into "Cece and the others" because even if you pick another girl Cece's story and mood clearly dominate the game.

The adult scenes are in a word terrible, there is nothing arousing about them, they are way too short and most of the time you cant see anything also the constant talking spoils the mood.

The characters all feel individual with there own personalities but they have a super amount of baggage which dealing with takes up most of the game.

Choices do direct the story which is good but they are way over complicated with a choice from early in the game locking out a choice much later on, trying to navigate them is like walking on a mine field.

On the plus side the game is more real than most others, the conversations are natural and realistic as is the setting and characters.

Story 1/5 (no main plot)
Art 3/5 (ok)
Sex 1/5 (not much to see)
Fetishes 1/5 (lesbian)
Choices 2/5 (over complicated)
Characters 3/5 (realistic but lots of baggage)