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

My notes, which I will formulate into a proper review soon.
Pros:
1) loved the story
2) loved the character depth
3) loved the emotionality
3) loved lexi (only really sensible choice)

Cons:
4) didn't like the change in pace
5) really wanted some "every day life" scenes with Lexi, like we had during the first few chapters with Linda and Cece
6) really wanted to see Lexi and MC in the not-too-distant future with a family, or at least pregnant
7) Because of 6 and 7, the ending left me somewhat unsatisfied, we went from a day-to-day pacing into something more abstract, and ended far too abruptly as a result

I'm giving a neutral 3 stars review, for this game is amazing and lacking at the same time.
What I hated the most is the "do this at this exact time stuff", it really kills the game, and there's a lot of it.
It is really lacking on the sex part, is more of a 'dramedy' story with some elements of erotic. The story itself though compeling doesn't make much sense.
Every character is absolutely in love with MC, and is deep, and emotional, but then you have to choose...
Dev really put a LOT of effort, and it really is well writen, a bit bloated on the dialogs.
My advice would be do one play throught without any guide, to see if it is for you. And then if you really like it put the work to see all the paths... but it really is a LOT of work. I'm giving up with about 9 hours played, it is not for me, maybe it will do it for you.

Loved the game. The story is so good and the subject of depression is so well represented. I cried, a lot in some parts because of the events transpiring at the time (not gonna say which, since they're spoilers). Loved it 100%

In terms of how hard a story has hit me, this is among the top. It is well written, I laughed a lot, I cried like a bitch more than once, and there were moments of beauty that had me smiling ear to ear. If you would like to play a game that is more than just lewds, that has emotional connection between the characters then you might find this as enjoyable as me.

The visuals are great as you can see by the previews, the lewd scenes are not that long but this piece of art would suffer from that so I am glad that it is what it is. You can still get off to it. Something that surprised me was how funny it was, and the choice of music was superb, not at all my usual taste for music but it worked so well in this game. There are meaningful choices aplenty, and I will definitely play this more than thrice.

This Adult Visual Novel is among the best I've played. The emotional story and excellent characters hit hard. But, there's a downside - too few lewd scenes, and the story is on the short side.
But this game was really special for me and influenced me in a way I didn't think was possible. Thank you, Drifty for this.

Rating: 99/5 - Undoubtedly the Best Game on F95.

I'll provide a longer version of this review later, but for now, let me share my thoughts.

Positives:

1) The game offers an engaging story and stunning renders that truly immerse you in the experience. You become the main character and feel a range of emotions. Finally, a game on F95 that isn't solely focused on nudity.

2) The choice of music is absolutely perfect. It effectively sets the mood and enhances the overall atmosphere of the game.

3) The renders serve a purpose in the narrative, making the story unfold before your eyes as you read and watch.

4) The user interface is simple and easy to navigate, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free gaming experience.

5) I highly recommend using Sanchomod for an even better gameplay experience. Trust me, give it a try right away.

Negatives:

1) The only drawback I could find is related to the choices in the game. It would be great if players had the option to pursue all the girls and not be limited to choosing between two (just played 2 chapters, maybe its no the case).

WILL COME BACK AND MAKE A DETAILED REVIEW.

Okay probably one the best story I have played. Gorgeous characters and beautiful backstories. Cece made me cry for real. Great narrative, excellent renders, detailed and relatable story, overall 5/5.

Going through some heavy anxiety and depression issues. This game hit hard. Nevertheless, I could feel so related to some characters that their stories and how the relationships developed kept me from leaving the game. Also, it so fucking helped in a time when I struggled to even get out of bed. I loved it.

I went back and forth how I felt about LoF, it made me feel some feelings that struck a chord a little too close to home that I wasn't prepared to handle. The humor was hit or miss for me, but Cece will always have my heart

One of the if not the best VN I have played ever. I have played many , many VN so far and this is so different from other VN I played. I only played the cece path so far because like I don't even know if I can choose someone else after what happened.

Great game in almost every way. It nearly ripped my heart out at a couple points though. Somehow this game manages to tackle very heavy subjects, but also be fun and witty. Almost all the girls have an amazing story and character development. There was only a couple very minor things I didn't like, but it doesn't weigh the game down at all. This one is a very solid game, and I have definitely beat it several times to see all the endings.

i will leave long reviews for other ppl all i will say is this game hit me so hard emotionaly legit tears by the end of this game i personally recommend to do a first playthrough with only CeCe route but that is largely personal preference all the girls have really good well drawn out routes do yourself a favor and go through this game at least once

This AVN is not a game, its an experience. It is art, I dont say this lightly, this story has elements that you should find on a streaming service´s library, movie theatre and book store if you have good taste.

Story: 5 Adamant-Hard Bananas out of 5
The story puts the "Adult" in the "Adult Visual Novel" on this game, not just for the spicy stuff like on your usual avn.
Its so hard to speak about it without falling into a spoiler, but I can tell you this: Are you looking for a mature story with depth and development arcs with the just amount of spicy stuff?, search no more, you found it.

Characters: 5 Adamant-Hard Bananas out of 5
Renders are gorgeous, most characters are developed, female characters are people too so its easy to understand their motivations and connect with their emotions.
MC is a man with his feet well put on ground, which makes him easy to relate.

Mechanics: 5 Adamant-Hard Bananas out of 5
There´s multi route, so enjoy the ride, but dont get too crazy there, because you´ll get put on a rollercoaster and theres nothing you can do to change it.
I usually dont like when things happen no matter what I choose, but sometimes, when is well-written, it can work, this is one of those occasions because Dev is telling us a real event here, and just as in novels as it is in real life, things can happen no matter what.
Enjoyed playing every route, and will do in the future, because this is a story you can re-visit from time to time, just like a good atemporal classic, because the problems these characters face are relatable, and always will be.

Endings: 5 Adamant-Hard Bananas out of 5
So far, I havent read a most satisfactory ending on a novel: You can be a super star-husbando, or have the faithful love of two women without having to lie to any of them, or make the unfaithful nympho change into a faithful woman, or recover a lost love, or save a good girl from an uncertain future, just to put an example.

Leap of Faith is a work of art that deserves to be revisited and approached with the minimum respect of actually read it.
Maybe the means to tell this story is not enough to make it justice, and that is the only sin I could find that is worth of mention.

Now this may just be me.

But it should be illegal to
1)write an indepth story like this.
2)Give the girls such solid character depth. Then
3)make the mc choose one or the occasional two.

I and probably a few or most of you come here to unwind and find some temporary happiness amidst horniness. We hope to avoid all unnecessary stress. (That is why certain groups can unreasonably die on a hill the rest don't understand or are annoyed to have to see their protest). This ending ain't happy and horny. It is admittedly wholesome. . . . but DUDE!!!

I don't know if this was your intention to be realistic. . . . but C'MON!

The bromance was very nice. And the crossovers were quite cool too. But seriously.
This is going to be shelved as a fantastic game. But I can confirm I will not return for replay value. To many good relationships turned down. It's easy to turn down a brainless lust-filled relationship in these games.
But a solid, deep, and good relationship? I didn't toss my hat in the ring only to win one battle out of the war. (each replay honestly made this game worse and worse for me.)
If I were to paraphrase the mc. When being miffed about his father having nothing personal to do with his upbringing. "Someone gets left behind." I don't need the mc to take issue to that, then do exactly that and leave quite a few some people behind.

[After playing Ch. 8, using both the version in this site and the GoG v.1.0.3+Walkthrough, having the patch for Original Music]

This is at the moment my favourite AVN, though I won't lie to you, this is not the one to watch if you're interested mostly in the porn (what it does is great, but it's never the focus), so you probably will prefer to skip it then. Also, trigger warning: suicide topic, depression, the topic is not treated lightly so if you're not on your best moment it could easily be too much).

Storywise, it was gold, the characters all feel awesome, the way everything flows... It's a deep story, the developer certainly knows the issues treated here
Graphics most of the times are great, artistic, composition always nice, characters are specially well done almost all the time, and considering this was his first game and he learnt while doing this and had at first a really bad PC to work, you just have to admire what he did, you realize it's all that he actually cares about what he does. The only thing that really sometimes seems too odd is how, coming from someone that takes so much effort at everything, sometimes it has some really horrible textures in the background, like there are pixels the size of character's fingernails, but anyway, overall, that's just more surprising coming from someone that does that than something that really has some negative impact (I guess most people that are not into the technical element won't even notice it).

Replay value: well, almost all girls have practically a clearly separeted path that lasts more than half the chapters in the game, so I'll say it has a lot of that, and there are many different endings for each one also. And any of them is great on their own.

Music is great, at least if you download the original soundtrack patch, I will play some day the new version after the copyright issues, but haven't tried it yet.

If it also helps you decide, just say that the first thing I did after playing it here for free was going to GoG and buying the special edition with commentaries and walkthrough, and replay it all again (not using "ctrl" to skip even, completely reading it all again and not even to change the path, just following almost the same one I did the first time, just with some small corrections to get 100% of the story for my chosen LI).

Calling this masterpiece a "game" would be an insult. It's not a game, it's an experience. This entire piece feels like a straight-up novel, written by a bestselling author. The plot does feel a bit, typical in some parts, like I'm reading a teen romance novel written for 15-year-old girls, but the way the plot unravels itself is absolutely amazing. There is a serious message in this entire thing that really separates itself from the other porn VN's on this site. This really puts the word "novel" in visual novel.

The dev's music choice is absolutely top-notch. I have genuinely been introduced to some bangers through this which I never would've stumbled across otherwise.

The daz3d models feel incredibly inferior compared to what this game is offering, and some characters felt like they were extremely out of place. The two main ones being the lesbians. They absolutely had no place in the story. Their plots were just thrown together without mind and they were ugly as shit ngl. Linda also felt out of place but I guess she had a reason for being there. But the two dykes had absolutely no reason to be there and were just thrown in there to add the feeling of a wide range of characters.

The only two main characters in this story are Cece and Lexi. Their stories were incredibly fleshed out and none of them felt lacking. It even looked like the dev put most of the effort into making their characters.

So in conclusion, this piece of art is an absolute masterpiece. I genuinely recommend everyone to give it a go. It is a bit on the long side considering it took me around a week to complete all paths, but that's alright. 11/10. GG.. Highly recommended.

What an outstanding game. This sort of game is why I am here, good quality erotic work, not porn trash.

Renders are great
Sound track is one of the best

The story is outstanding. The battle with mental health is very real and well handled.

I love that you can kick the lying ex out of the game.

My only criticism is you don't get an opportunity to confront Linda. MC brings her in to his house when she is desperate and she goes behind his back and reaches out to his ex. Not okay. Then they start dating and she starts keeping secrets from the MC like his ex did. Again uncool, but I'm being picky. Not enough to effect 5 out of 5stars from me.

Not gonna beat around the bush for long. This game got me ugly crying. Hard. Hard and ugly. That aside, it's a rollercoaster of nice, fun vibes, best buddies moments and then it sucker punches you and I loved every part of it.

I didn't try all the endings, even though the game makes it a bit clearer (with more scenes and emotions running wild) who would be the "main girl", but I enjoyed following other routes and still getting a nice ending, an absolute masterpiece and totally worth it to keep it around and play it every once in a while to experiment different routes.

If you enjoy some ups and downs the way life can be, I can assure you: You will like this game. Stop reading the reviews and download it now.

Warning: Slight Story Spoilers!

A part of me wants to give this 0 out of 5 for making me cry my eyes out two times (once in sadnessand once in happiness). But its a overall near perfect game. Robin seems a bit rushed, Kira character is a bit inconsitent. Otherwise the paths and characters are good. If Cece was the only main path I'd say this is a 11/10. Her story, character arc, the message about depression and suicide in a very relatable and realistic way. I dont see this as a porngame, this is just art, its a masterpiece I couldnt care less if there was no sexual content. I'm hoping Cece gets a standalone game like a prequel and sequel combined showing her traumatic event (razorblade event) and managing life and beeing a mom while beeing together with MC. Her mysterious personality and past but very likable and relatable character is one of if not the best I've ever seen in such a game. She's much like Bella (<3) from Summer's Gone.

If you are really interested in quality characters and romantic story and sexual content (which is still there) is not your priority it's most likely the best game out there. I never knew that a fictional story could impact me the way this one did.

Leap of Faith is your typical visual novel with a surprising amount of branching paths that will lock you out of content since here you can’t get all the girls. A mod to reveal the long term consequences is highly recommended. I don't have any problem with this type of vn but it's better to know the path you are getting, because I don't think vns are pleasant to replay. You are a good looking dude with a nice apartment and a non existing work that goes meeting random girls and starts progressing relationships with them alongside hanging out with your bro. Vns like this, for this genre, have the entire purpose of making the player feel emotionally attached to the girls while giving plenty of scenes covering different ground with different girls. It's not the case in Leap of Faith. The relationship part is indeed solid, there are plenty of talking and relationship progress with the girls that will make you care (or not) for them. The game has some very nice drama scenes, comedy scenes, emotional scenes etc, it's clear that care was put into making this. I was not expecting a scene with the guy cleaning the room with bunny slippers, but it made me laugh. Also, without a doubt Leap of Faith has the best bromance in a vn, Chris is just the best bro you could ever hope for. Sadly I think there are only two girls that actually look good, while the others are weird-looking or mediocre. Upon completion you get the scene gallery, and considering the game's size and eight chapters, the number of scenes with each girl is surprisingly low with very few different kinks explored. One would expect that a vn of this genre would be more focused on the genre it is designed for, but apparently Leap of Faith is much more about relationship and emotions than sexuality. It's a nice vn but I think it seriously lacks content for this specific genre, the models beside Cece and Lexi could be better, and there are huge sections about emotional drama that kills the mood. About the central element of a vn of this genre, killing the mood and spacing the “scenes” too far is a big problem, because the player will get impatient and start skipping the hundreds of dialog lines that are not teasing or predicting lewd actions, so albeit can be considered a decent work, Leap of Faith lacks the main purpose of being a vn of its genre.