VN - Ren'Py - Leaving DNA [Ep. 3] [Impious Monk]

I appreciate the depth of thought demonstrated in the writing. It tries a little harder than simply evoking familiar tropes and archetypes (which aren't by any means bad; honestly a lot of games on this site could be better if their creators understood how to do this more effectively). The protagonist and the people around him have rarely rivaled depth and complexity to their backstories and the relationships they've already developed with themselves, their objectives, and the people around them. I'm not going to suggest it's perfect but it shows far more effort and sincere interest on the behalf of the writer than I am used to seeing in modern AVNs.

My main criticism would be that it often meanders into some conversations that, while perhaps more realistic in their durations, can feel a bit tedious for a reader who has already ascertained the salient points.

As an autist I can relate to some amount of ignorance/selective intelligence on behalf of the MC, and I understand that it's one of the easiest ways to ensure that a story builds and maintains suspense, but I still find characters who are wildly inconsistent in demonstrating their strengths decreasingly sympathetic especially when their denial/improbable daftness becomes tediously repetitious.

I found the Friday evening exchange with colleagues regarding one of this site's key, disproportionately heavily represented, fetishes (whereby tenants are drawn into sexual relationships with their landlords and/or landladies and fellow tenants) very amusing and interesting since I absolutely agree with the points being raised about how profoundly unethical, inappropriate, and even unnatural the concept is and I imagine that exposing some of the less commonly cited reasons why such relationships are not just taboo but typically unlawful may prove an unpopular move in communities with similar makeup to the one in this forum. Nonetheless, as revolting as I find the topic I appreciated the boldness and novelty of discussing it in this format. Although it seems all but guaranteed that, depending on player choices, an intensely implausible instance of inadvertent, ignorant, incest may be imminent, or at least the suspicion of such an eventual situation is being very deliberately cultivated.

The admittedly thus far scarce scenes are quite well done, if that's what you're here for, the creator forewarns they may feel 'vanilla' but I am one who acknowledges that vanilla is the most popularly produced flavour of ice cream in the world because it's among the absolute best; it's everywhere because it's that good.

I look forward to seeing more of this game and, in a one of the better futures, more games like it.

LDNA seems like a passion project for the developer. It excels in the things it does well to the point it can hang on storywise as a sfw title, even if you cut out all the smut elements, which is pretty much the biggest compliment I can give a porn game creator.

Pros:

• (mostly) believable storyline with sympathetic characters
• overall writing and dialogue make the game world feel lived in; many funny/reasonably witty interactions
• if you are a law student/law practitioner/fan of legal drama shows/crime series, you'll likely enjoy the game's story even more, especially the various detailed conversations between characters
• renders and animations range from okay to good to great
• Jamie is as cute as a button, one of the game's highlights

Cons:

• limited replay value and decisions so far, flirting with the kinetic novel tag
• pacing issues; some scenes drag on and on
• the protag suffers from the well-known Gary Stu syndrome, meaning he's a very special boy, although not to an insufferable degree
• the non-threatening black best friend (usually not much of an issue, but here it stands out with the hilarious college background story)
• the update roadmap given for the latter stage of development, considering the slower pace of updates so far

Overall, I enjoyed it. It stands out as one of the more 'mature' and serious projects for the right reasons. I'll give it a 4.5/5 if I could, but the good far outweighed the annoying, so 5/5 it is.

On the one hand, I really like Jamie and Aghavni, and it’s great to have an MC that’s actually attractive for once instead of just inexplicably being a chick magnet, but on the other hand, he also seems a bit too good at everything, and that whole scene at the bar with Emmeline and her friends was absolutely horrible; being “random and quirky” doesn’t make you interesting, and Malena is a walking stereotype.

Will update as the story develops.

Review as of episode 3.

Story: 3/5
The game starts of strong with a dark event in the MC's childhood which probably scarred him for life. Some interesting funny conversations happen with Jamie that get my interest. However, the endless dialogue and not much happening gets boring quite fast. Especially when you have to go through a lot of scenes with below average renders.

Gameplay: 1/5
If you look at the included walkthrough you get some more questions. Apparently there is some sort of point system that controls the events, like assertiveness + 2 or whatever - which feels weird in a visual novel.
The walkthrough in itself is difficult to use too. It's split by LI - meaning if you want to follow the walkthrough you'll have to play through the game several times, or constantly switch back and forth between different sections of the walkthrough, which is a pain.
It would be better if the walkthrough simply followed the course of the game, and told you what the better choices are, or even better, if the dev wants to make this walkthrough available anyway - just have the option to enable a walkthrough mod - which highlights the best choice in green or something.

Renders: 3/5
It's a bit weird this game. Some renders are really good, some renders are really bad. On average I would say most renders do not really have a wow factor.

Characters: 2/5
There aren't that many characters in the game, which by itself it not a problem. The only problem this caused for me is that I only find one of the 4 girls attractive: Jamie. The game starts with her, with a pretty solid animation showing her in a pretty dress, great shots of her beautiful face, but then most of the rest of the game you're with all the other girls, and all of them I find ugly. Aghavni or something like that, the Ava Addams lookalike, is ok, but knowing the original, the model just doesn't look very pretty.

Animations: Quality; 5/5 Amount; 2/5
Most of the animations are with Aghavni, the animations are really good. The dev clearly put a lot of work in getting the animations look good. The unfortunate part is, for me personally, I was looking forward more to having scenes with Jamie. There are not that many animations or just lewd scenes for a game that's been in development for this long. There are two sex scenes with Aghavni, which for me do nothing as I don't like her model, and a couple BJ's with other characters.

Music: 1/5
Some scenes have some music, but a lot of the time there is none. When there is music in a game I enjoy playing with my headset on, but because there is so much dialogue without music, it feels very quiet a lot of the time.

Conclusion:
As I don't find the story very appealing for me this game is a pass. If there's ever a sex scene created with Jamie, I'll gladly extract it from the games folder to have a look, but other than that this visual novel doesn't attract me very much.

An incredible game, story feels really mature and polished.

Protagonist is really the highlight, he is really well written, and feels like a normal human being with his flaws.

Incredible looking characters too, really looking forward to more updates.

[Reviewed Ep.3]

This is one of the best narratives on the site -- the central plot is a gripping detective / legal procedural that could have come from prestige television. The game has high overall production values -- well-developed content, beautiful girls and renders, and considered storytelling. Its main knock might be that it is too story focused -- right now, it is pretty light on sexual content and H-scenes.

The Good ()

• High production value -- the game just looks great
• Gorgeous models and renders
• A diversity of love interests with different personalities, body types and kinks
• Well-executed cinematography and visual storytelling
• An interesting plot that has real stakes - the writing is generally excellent
• An MC with a well-developed backstory who is thoughtful, considerate and actually seems to show emotional growth over the arc of the game
• Hours and hours of content

The Not-So-Good ()

• Infrequent updates - averaging 2 / year over the game's development
• There's not a ton of sexual content / lewd scenes -- the ones that are available are mostly dream / fantasizing sequences or "booty calls" with one of the LIs that's on an optional path
• Some side characters are introduced that seem like potential love interests, but aren't (yet) available as such -- they are often more compelling than the available LIs
• The MC slow-plays the relationships with the more promising LIs, which fits with the story but is frustrating as a player

Overall, an outstanding story-driven title with great writing, an interesting narrative and beautiful character models. Can't go wrong.

Fantastic game full of depth and polish, not only in visuals but also in the writing. The characters feel real, the story in believable, and the relationships are natural. That alone is enough to put this VN a step above many others. In addition, the MC is interesting in his own right.

All of these combined is enough for the 4 star when I compare it against other games.

The only downsides are that I think the animation and H-scenes could be a bit better but generally, story and writing are more influential in my ratings. But the other issue I had with the VN is that I think there is some lack of direction in regards to certain scenes. Sometimes an interesting conversation, one where I could see some connection forming with an LI just fades to black for seemingly no reason. 'To save time or resources for more important scenes,' you would think but one of the longest scenes in the game has very little benefit to the general story or progression. Basically, I think the dev could do a better job budgeting their resources towards more influential scenes, or at least stop the jarring fade to black while an interesting conversation with an LI is going on.

The 4 star rating feels very harsh because Leaving DNA is so very good, but I can't help but feel disappointed in some scenes due to the aforementioned issues I had. I expect in time, I'll change this one to a 5 and I wholly recommend it if you like a good story.

Don't go in expecting alot of lewds, not sure how slow burn this game really is when it comes to LI as we only have 3 episodes. I say this game is more slow burn because it puts story first and foremost.

For me this is simply the best AVN out there when it comes to story I have played so far. All the LI are likeable and lovely that makes you want to play their path as they are good characters. The mystery of the story keeps you wanting more and more of this game. Animations seem really good too, it really feels like the dev takes his time every step of the way to make it a quality experience.

Tho depending on you the court stuff can be a bit boring and tempted to move past it to get to the better parts. I didn't mind the court stuff in episode 1-2 but the one in episode 3 was a tad boring for me.

Leaving DNA left a very good impression on me. You need to understand from the get go that this is a dialogue rich novel and you have to pay attention a lot to the details to keep up with how the story unfolds.

If you came here for basic dialogue to unlock the next lewd scene this novel is not for you. Now this does not mean there is no sexual content, it is but very rare and this is where it’s a good thing, because they are so well made and also so rewarding when you get to see them.

It took me a while to play all the content and I have to say this is one of the best and most promising adult novels out there. It reminded me of these detective books with where the character’s behavior and dialogues shine. On top of that the renders look amazing and the lewd animations are breathtaking to look at.

All 4 Lis have their own traits and distinct personalities that you going to need to make 4 separate saves moving forward to discover more about each one of them and it’s totally worth it.


As for MC I have to tell you I have high praise for dev for developing a mature MC that not only is very good looking but also very capable both professionally and on personal level. By no means this does not mean he is perfect, he has his flaws and a lot of baggage but I won’t spoil them.

Overall, I’m happy I played this game and will definitely keep an eye for the upcoming episodes because the dev is clearly talented and a very good storyteller. 5 stars for sure very well deserved.

This game is fucking crazy and I'm in love with it in merely 3 episodes at the time of writing this review.

Not only are the girls hot as fuck but the MC is a fucking gigachad without being comically Mr. Perfect to the point he is unconvincing as a human. The story is one of the most nail-biting and thrilling experiences I have had in any AVN and I don't think anything compares.

Will definitely be adding this to the watchlist because if I don't see how this story ends I will die unsatisfied.

Very well done. Good story and great art work. Can't wait to see more of these sexy girls. Very well done. Good story and great art work. Can't wait to see more of these sexy girls. Very well done. Good story and great art work. Can't wait to see more of these sexy girls.

If you play these games solely to bust a nut you might want to bark up a different tree. I'm sure other sex scenes exist depending on choices made, but the only one I've seen in my playthrough was between a lady and her teddy bear.

Fortunately the game is engaging enough in other ways to be worth a gander, namely in that the narrative is decently interesting.

My only real complaint is that some potentially interesting conversations get cut short, like they do a fade to black on 'em and others feel like they go on forever despite not being integral to the main plot.

But it's a minor issue - still recommend the game wholeheartedly and I eagerly await the next episode.

Story 3/5
I just had to hard a time to connect with this one, alot of lawyer stuff which i found pretty boring, the lack of music or i guess music going on/off constantly dident help things either and its mostly just silent.
I did finish the 3 chapters and it did get a little better after seeing a LI i could be fine with in a relationship but it took to long to get there and was close to quiting more then once since all you see in chapter 1 is big tits which i couldent care less about.

Story feels very kinetic since theres barely any kind of choices and the few you see means nothing, its only related to relationship but nothing story related changes as far as i can see.
Its about MC trying to find hes dad who he has never known or met and hes working with hes Ex on a cold case that could have some relations to hes dads military unit, so as for plot goes i found it a bit boring even with the "plot" that its some secret gang thing where hes dad will most likely be a big player and still alive after faking hes dead and how everyone around MC is somehow connected to it all has been seen so many times before and can be seen coming from miles away.
There are some ok stuff and even a bit of fun in the story as well which is why i have this 3 stars, but all the lawyer and court stuff i dident really care about.

As for the girls, it took a long time before i saw anyone i found even remotely nice, not being into big tits i really dident like the EX dident like her looks either, the childhood friend had a nice enough face but again huge tits, so it will lead you to think its all about huge tit fetish which it kinda isent since you will meet atleast one whos of a more normal build but not untill chapter 2 which is a bit to late.

It fails in the way LIs are introduced to you, first chapter only shows you 2 out of 4 so having to pick a path or close a path with not just one but two before even learning anything about other LIs is annoying and could force a restart, im a one playthourgh guy dont want to restart since its a waste of time, i know you see all 4 in chapter one but only saying hallo dosent give you any clue to who they are......paths should never have to potential to be closed before you meet everyone, which is even more importen in this being none harem.

Girls: 2/5
Its really not a true AVN its more of a VN, it only has 4 LIs and there is a little diversity consider the number of girls, 2 big/huge tits, one normal, one smaller.

Animations 3/5
They are good enough to enjoy but a bit short.

Music 2/5
When it has music its mostly just standard background stuff, but the real issue is that most of the time game is just silent which to me is just a bit boring.

Choices 3/5
I dident see or feel like it had any story related choices besides relationships, so it does feel very very kinetic and choices are rare.

I would say play it for the story and if you dont find that fun then just go to the next game, it is a bit of a slow burn which i dont mind i like relationship build up and none harem games where girls dont trow them selfs on MC.

Some great story writing and excellent example of character development in comparison to most titles on F95. Its not perfect but its darn close.
Its not loaded with sex scenes and is more of a story than most VNs, so fapaholics beware, but the few scenes I have seen were good enough.

A nice change of pace.

Nice artwork, there is plenty of humour to balance out some heavy emotional baggage and you do feel for the characters.

One of those VNs where you will likely want to play through several times with different choices.

Great story, great renders ,great characters and lis so this is a must play for mystery fans all around and play for fun on free time
Great choice of music too
My favorite after superhuman which I also recommend
Please play

A dark gritty law & order story with personal intrigue mixed into it. The dev loves to leave things on a cliffhanger which I do not mind because I know what comes next will wrap it up nicely. If you like a good mystery story that is well written and produced then this is the game for you.

This is super easy to give 5 stars. I could tell it was going there right from the start. The writing is excellent, the storytelling too. The plot revolves around a very well done murder mystery. The girls are interesting, attractive, and have fully-fledged personalities. This isn’t a game about putting your dick in as many holes as possible as much as possible; it’s a well-written story in which the protagonist can get some action with hot women. If that might interest you, then play this game.
The plot is heavy, if the warning, or the fact that it’s about a murder mystery, didn’t alert you to that. It’s very well done and respectful and emotional and yes I cried a few times already.
It’s also remarkable that a protagonist so different from me – tall, handsome, athletic, hard-working, charming, and emotionally distant - can be so relatable, but I think that’s a reflection of how well done the writing is.
Downsides? There’s not a lot of sex yet, only 4 canonical scenes + two dreams, but it’s only the third episode. The scenes are good, although (as always) I wish they had more first person.
It deals with very heavy shit, so it’s not for everyone, but you’re warned about that in advance.
Highly recommend if you care about writing or plot or anything more than a horde of random people fucking.

Damn, this game is really good, the work and dedication of the creators is clear.
Looking forward to the next chapters
Is it difficult for you to choose one of the girls because they are all so well written and have good chemistry with the protagonist and each one in their own way

¬EP.3 Review

Writing is amazing compared to other games.

Models are also very good, some unique from the usual ones we see.

Characters are properly written. They are unique to one another, and there's not an overwhelming amount of them to bore you.

An easy 5*, can't wait for the next episode.

Episode 3 update. Leaving DNA.

It is the easiest thing in the world to give this Virtual Novel (VN) a 5 rating.

It should be considered the standard framework for VNs.

The writing is good. As good or better than most TV format daytime soap operas, dramas and comedies in the past 60 years.

As with many VNs you are given paths to follow involving different love interests (L.I.), but not so many as to be unmanageable over the long haul.

The characters have real depth to connect the story. As a viewer you can connect with them: what they are thinking; their motivation.

The story makes you feel the history and challenges of the main character. Their victories. Their failures.

There is no reason the author shouldn't be able to create many more stories after finishing Leaving DNA. They have mastered this art form.

Leaving DNA: fun, entertaining and highly recommended.