VN - Ren'Py - Left Hand Magic [Build 16] [Novus]

I'm giving this game four stars because it's definitely above average but i don't necessarily think it quite reaches the fourth star.

There's a few things i really like about this game and a few things i don't. In terms of quality i think this is definitely a passion project, not just something to pay the bills, the dev has a story to tell and they're determined to tell it. However, i feel some of the actual structure of the game undermines that story.

Throughout the game you are essentially on a timer, you can only do 5 events a week and 1 or 2 on the weekend. This forces you to stick to a predetermined route, there are 4 couple routes, one for each girl and 2 throuple routes. The problem with this is that the MC is worked into the story as being someone who is finding their feet in the company and is doing that by going around and helping other girls with their projects, to have that and a restriction forcing you to focus almost solely on one girl is jarring, on my first playthrough i felt like a dick giving all my help to one girl and basically ignoring the rest. I totally get having 5 work days in a week but the weekend events are what truly clip the game into timed chunks, i'd have preferred the weekends with major events were spaced far enough apart to give at least 1 day a week to each girl and then have enough time to complete 1 or 2 girl's entire set for that segment of the game. But it is what it is, it's not really a solid criticism, just my subjective experience.

The sex scenes are... passable, the dev uses the forward-reverse method to create motion loops so there's never any inertia for example. None of them came close to doing it for me, but they were still some nice fluff to exhibit relationship growth and experimentation.

Graphics are mostly fine, quite nice in some places, but that leads me into my final point.

The one thing i truly love about this game is the world building. It's not exactly new to make a setting in the modern day or 50 years in the future but with magic. What's much harder to do is have it feel natural, having moments like, "of course that wouldn't exist, cause magic" and "oh, duh, if magic existed of course you'd have had that before this" are also not that hard to accomplish but to have them in a way and quantity that makes the world feel like it really did go through a technological revolution with magic rather than in spite of it or having it tacked on later is really not common, at least in my experience. I really enjoyed the world building in this game, it felt believable, it felt interesting, and i was constantly looking forward to more.

Dev said the game is about 70% complete at this point in time so i'll keep on with it till the end i think. Yeah, just shy of four out of five for me.

I was debating between 4 and 5 stars, and in the end decided for 5 as we need more lesbian protagonist games especially with heavy focus on bondage and sex toys.

Pros:
+ I really really like the topics this game covers. As stated above the female/lesbian protagonist (yes there is futa, which is fine for me and this is even avoidable). But also the bondage, sex toys, dom& sub, exhibitionism, and chastity topics are exactly what I am looking for.
+ The writing/story. I think the writing is good, to be more precise I mostly care about how the sex scenes are integrated into the game. And here I feel they fit perfectly into the story and are believable. Also the sex scenes are nicely descriptive and have very very intersting twists and ideas.
+ The setting is unique. A magic + sci fi world is something not done too often, so it feels fresh
+ Animations. There are animations, while they are not the best out there that is for me still better than still images
+ Same as animations, the Graphics are not the best out there, but are nice and clean and fully sufficient.

Cons:
- Personally I don't like the main mechanic of the game of siding with one woman. The idea of divide the scenes in different days is fine, but the choosing of with whoom to work leads to needing to replay the game four times. And I am not a big fan of replaying games, I will just skip to the scenes I did not yet see, which kicks me out of any immersion I had. (Also in the previews there are some threesome scenes I did managed to get, but maybe I am just bad :/)
- Game would benefit from more renders. I know game dev is hard and lots of effort, especially doing all the renders. But still at some scenes I would have hoped for more renders with some more details. Sometimes I find it just a bit to fast to fade to black or its too much nice writen sex details, which I also would like to see not only to read. (It is already way more renders then Heavens Port, so that is great)


All in all a great game, I hope we will get lot more content.

PS: I enjoyed the Arianna stroyline as a Sub MC the most, and was very happy with the possibilty to avoid dicks (perfectly balanced tension of beeing excited what she has in store for you while not beeing afraid she makes you do some dick fucking)

I'm gonna expand this one after the next patch, but I came to the conclusion that there won't be much changes to my overall verdict.

This is a 4.5 star game more so than a 5 star game, cause it lacks the little extra that catapults a game to a full fledged 5 star rating, in my personal opinion.

But it is closer to a 5 star rating, in my opinion, than a 4 star rating so I just can't go down that way. This game does most things very well, the writing is good, the visuals are good, the personalities of the characters are good, the premise is novel enough + interesting, the degree of player control is...well, 1 of the aspects that, so far, I think just are a tad bit lacking, but that is a result of multiple things. The fact you are locked into a route relatively early, the necessity to go through with weekend lewd stuff (which, to be fair, is the actual best part of the game, but not if you are put back or outright turned off by the specific themes of the character you are trying to romance. Most notably this goes for Arianna, but it's true for all characters. And because, in my opinion, the respective kinks of the romance options are kinda random it is a bit of an issue. Not enough of an issue to go down a full star, but it's 75% of what makes this a 4.5 instead of a 5 star game.

The Dev is a great person though, open for debate and also really trying to provide a game that people can simply enjoy, even if they have different preferences and overall interests. Long story short: This is by no means perfect and part of the reason I give 5 stars is the lack of a 4.5 star option + the fact I just want this Dev to succeed with their games, wish more people were that motivated, reliable and open minded, but I'm giving 5 stars with a clear consciousness. This game deserves praise and is quite a cut above most others.

This is one I wish I could give a 4.5. It's a bit to early for me to be willing to give it five stars, but none of its issues are really major. They are mostly the sorts of issues I'd expect to be ironed out with time and more content, rather than major faults. Anyway:

The Good:
Writing: This is the biggest standout. I've played two other games (Haven's Port and Chastity Quest) by this developer, and their writing was always good. But here, in a more Visual Novel format, the writing shines even more. The characters are all unique and likable, with some actual depth to them growing in the last couple of updates. I'd recommend this game purely on the back of the writing, even if it didn't have other good points.

Graphics: While the graphics are clearly Daz generated, they are some of the best I've ever seen sourced that way. Good quality, diverse characters, lighting actually done decently. And instead of the simple animations common to Renpy games, this one has what appear to be full blow 24+ FPS animations. Fairly smooth ones for the most part. Though there's a couple of sketchy ones mixed in with all the good ones.

Setting: Much like Haven's Port, the setting here is interesting. A sort of magical cyperpunk mix that I've never seen before. I'm sure someone has done it, somewhere, but the mix here is new to me and well executed. At least so far. I'm eager to see more of it.

The...Bad?:
Honestly, my complaints here are mostly nitpicks and I know it. For example, the Dom/Sub Points in the game currently don't seem to do much. But I imagine that will (hopefully) change in the future. Likewise, there are some rough spots in the interface that I hope get cleaned up in the long run, though none of them are really all that bad. Combined with the few rough animations (even if most of them are excellent), all the little things are enough for me not to want to give out a five star rating yet. But if some of those rough edges are ground down a bit, I think it could earn that 5th star. And it's a pretty damn high-quality game even as is.

There are precious few games that tickle nearly all of my kinks, and this is one of them! Novus has once again created a game that involves chastity while also organically involving all sorts of other fetishes, such as sub & dom relationships, futa, roleplay, with many more like mind control (quite minor and consensual) and more costume play on the way!

100%, would recommend!

Interesting world building with a magicaly enhanced industrial revolution and a resulting disregard of "bad" magic.
The characters are likeable and offer each her own more or less bdsm orientated kinks. The sex is respectful, consensual and fun.
The cast is female/futa only.

I'm normally not into lesbian games but this one is just fun and erotic at the same time. Looking forward to next update.
The characters are well portrayed, dialog well written and understandable.

The teasing of Trixie when your on Dom route are really something.

Do play test this. You will not be dissapointed