Ren'Py - Lessons in Love [v0.44.0] [Selebus]

The CG and most of the characters are pretty good, but where it falls down for me is the "horror" aspects. Both poorly drawn and way too existential, cynical, and depressing for a porn game IMO. I'm not here to be depressed. Also, and this is one of my main qualms with the game, the MC is a complete jackass. Absolute piece of trash of a person, and it makes the game significantly less fun to play. He's always going on about how he doesn't love anything or care about anything, and it's like, fucking grow up and go to a therapist you absolute trash fire.

I don't think I masturbated a single time when playing this game, and I mean this in the best way possible.

I initially downloaded this game when looking for something quick and dirty, and suddenly found myself four hours later cancelling my other plans for the day as I was so engrossed in the story. This game's writing really is its major draw, and this shines through both in the overarching plot as well as in the various backstories of the characters and the, most often hilarious but sometimes quite poignant dialogue. A particularly great example is the opening of the game. What is usually nothing more than a copy-paste intro to frame the setting that most players here probably fast-forward through is deliberately made to grab your attention to indicate to players that no, this isn't a standard porn game, this is an actual visual novel and you'd better pay attention to the writing as that's where the real meat of the game is to be found, not the meat you beat.

In terms of visuals this game is definitely a cut above the rest in comparison to most of the games on this website, which means its about average when it comes to actual proper visual novels. An advantage of the 3D model style is that it allows for lots of different shots of the same scene to get a sense of movement and dynamism across, something this game takes advantage of a lot more than many other games in its genre. On the other hand animated scenes are unfortunately lacking. Not that they don't exist, but that there are only a limited number of them. This is a deliberate choice by the developer to cut down on production time, and thus understandable, but somewhat disappointing nonetheless considering how even a few tiny animated scenes here and there could spruce things up.

Until recently the UI design was passable but not great, but I'm glad to say that a recent update has overhauled the in-game menu to be both pleasant to look at and functionally good to use. The various option and choice screens could still use some work, especially now that the menu has surpassed it in visual design, but this is no major issue.

The character design is something that I believe is quite deserving of praise. Rather than just focussing on the aspects most players will focus on (the face and other, well, assets) detail was also spent on the characters' clothing, overall body language, and the way their overall design fits in with their personality and backstory, rather than just haphazardly throwing various personalities, clothes, and body designs together based on what the developer thinks players might like in some sort of potpourri of pandering.

Coming to the story I have nothing but praise. Do beware that this is not a regular dating sim or slice-of-life story, but rather a horror game. Not in the jump-scare or slasher kind of way, but rather akin to a more subtle, mysterious thriller. That's not to say disturbing scenes and content will never appear, but the horror here is mostly contained within the writing rather than in visual form. This story is so far mostly a slow burn, with the main horror plot only surfacing here and there before lurking below the surface again for a period of time. While this does lend itself well to create an unsettling atmosphere where you don't know when—not if, when—things will go wrong as the story lulls you back into a false sense of security before pulling the rug to the pool filled with horrors out from under you, resulting in a sudden icy splash, this does mean the beginning of the game can be seen as having too slow a pace at times. Luckily the inclusion of real plot increases in occurrence as you progress through the story, as would be expected, and you could argue that the slow beginning is deliberate to establish a baseline of normality before the main plot begins to violently tear it all apart, but I feel it still could have been somewhat faster.

The characters so far range from good to great. Many of the characters have already revealed part of their circumstances, and some have even reached a turning point in the character development, but unfortunately some are only still in their introductory phase in the current version. And with the developer adding more characters in the foreseeable future this has me somewhat wary that these characters will have to wait a bit more still until they get the attention they deserve, but this is both the unfortunately reality of a serialised work as well as mere speculation about the future. Do keep in mind though that as of now not every character is as fleshed out as others, and you might need to wait a bit still.

One particular point I would like to draw attention to that I quite like, yet unfortunately rarely see people mention is the audio design. Great care has been taken to find a proper, fitting soundtrack for this game: no standard Kevin MacLeod here. Not only are the pieces fitting for the scenes they are used, the developer has also edited various audio tracks for the more... interesting scenes, creating a nice sense of immersion.

Now sadly comes the other side of the coin, as even a game as great as this one is not without its flaws. Besides the minor things I have already mentioned, I only have one major issue with this game, namely that sometimes the triggers to continue the story can be quite hard to find, being somewhat obtuse. Many times people comment in the thread here or on discord asking for help when they get stuck, and frequently they get stuck on the same events, indicating I am not alone in finding the game sometimes difficult to progress. To mitigate this the developer has added a link to the wiki in the game menu, to assist players in these circumstances, but in my opinion this is a mere band-aid which hides a greater wound underneath. No game should require the player to check a wiki or ask others for help in order to proceed. Don't get me wrong; this is not an argument to dumb the game down so that everyone can progress without issue, as every game will no doubt have players that get stuck sometimes, but when it happens to this large a portion of the playerbase, and in the exact same spots, this is an sign that perhaps there should be more in-game indication of what to do in order to continue the story.

That being said with this being my only real point of complaint the quality of the rest of the game more than makes up for this, and so it is well deserving of the high score I have given it. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing where this game continues to go in the future, as it is by far the game whose updates I'm most looking forward to on this entire website. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in something with more substance.

Played this game since version 0.2.0, i feel happy to found this game. At first, i think this is just an ordinary fap game. But after played it, the story and character are very well written. The character feeling like a real person, when the story are very interesting, with underlying things going on underneath our feet. The room with clock caught me off guard to be honest, but i don't read this game tag when i first played, so it's okay. One more thing that i like is bgm on this game, some of them are relaxing.

Used to love this game. Then, I slowly put the clues together and realized this game has you trying to fuck children. The loli tag wasn't always there and it was easy to assume they were 18+ like the game suggests. Then, they start talking about algebra 1 and you notice they don't have cars and most don't have jobs and a lot of the fans are sexualizing a character who is like 10 or 11 years old. It's fucked and gross and I regret wasting my time on this.

This is my very first VN and my first porn game. I originally came here for a good fap but I found so much more. I was completely not expecting something like this.. something this good. Saying the writing is amazing would be an understatement. I find myself caring for each and every one of these characters, so much so that I think about them and their actions/future actions when I am not playing the game. There are many other parts that get me thinking while not playing as well.. certain phrases, certain scenes that are very impactful in more than just a 'game' level. I look forward to playing this like I look forward to reading my favorite book series, it really means a lot to me. Thank you Selebus for creating something that has the power to affect me even when I am away from it.

didn't had to go this hard on the writingㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

As far as VN's go this is by far the one i enjoy the most.

The story is very interesting, some moments make you (the player, irl) perform some cyber detective work to understand more and it's always entertaining when that happens. The dev knows how to throw jokes and punches at you in a good way.

The characters somehow always find a way of making you interested in learning more about them and even characters i didn't like at first managed change my opinion the more i interacted with them.

There's a lot of attention to details and love put into this game. You should definitely give this game a try.

Quite simply, this is the best H-game I've yet come across.

The writing is top notch. I don't mean "top notch by porno standards", I mean it is legitimately really good writing. The game has aspects of an erotic hentai manga, a psychological horror thriller, and a comedy, and it manages to be above par in all the aspects. It masquerades as a fairly typical VN about fucking hot schoolgirls before you get deep enough into the story to realize it is far more than that, but even at its most superficial it still excels-- in other words, if you cut out all the great comedic dialogue and the deeper story, it'd still be a good game based purely on that outermost layer. Likewise if you dropped the sex out it'd still be a solid comedy and deeply interesting horror story.

In addition, the game has a lot of nice quality of life perks-- releases like clockwork, strong discord and wiki communities, better-than-average user interface, in-game help done in an innovative way that helps you avoid getting stuck without dropping spoilery hints, etc.

Can't recommend it enough. The game has little or no content in my top two fetishes and it's still my favorite.

This game has some of the best writing imo of any game on this site. The story is so good you'll forget you even downloaded it for the plethora of anime girls available.

Story: 10/10. Seriously, this game is an emotional roller coaster that'll take you from horny, to sad, to scared, then it'll fill you with joy and HOPE. All the characters are incredibly well written, each have their own flaws that keep them grounded and make you want to protect them for the rest of their lives.

Graphics: 10/10. All the graphics in this game are generated using Koikatsu, so you know that all the girls are going to look great, as well as the scenery.

Ecchi: 10/10. Not all the girls have sex scenes yet, but what we do see is some top notch scenes only made better by how fleshed out the characters are.

All in all, Lessons in Love is not just my favorite hentai game, but my favorite VN as well. Support this game on Selebus' Patreon, it's well worth it.

Lets start saying that im not into this Isekai waifu-senpai fetish harem thing. When someone says "sensei" i think about Miyagi and Cobra Kai, it doesnt turn me on at all.

Even so, Im inclined to like this game, i want to like this game., i mean, i live with my niece!
But So far there are only cockblocks, basically every scene so far, and the one scene that gets somewhere is a still picture with a change of face expression. Being repeatedly cockblocked is bad a mechanism, but its worst when you are finally not cockblocked and get a dissapointing scene.

Graphics are just avergae koikatsu i guess, so the girls look 10 and the teacher looks 16.

Text is a lot to read, and there are some funny momments (sort of) but after some reading, i can still not see the difference between the characters, its like the same person is speakng all the time. Theres is some exception but yet, the pattern its obvious, even in those over the top "personality" cases..

I lived with 3 younger sisters and took care of one niece and i dont feel the vibe at all here. Maybe im wrong, its a feeling after all.

The game is grindy but what i understand is that is milestone grindy, so you get some "reward scene" after reaching a number of points, so there are not any slightly different variations, which is good and also bad,depending on your tolerance.

Anyway, so far it seems there is potentially quite a lot to see and i havent seen much. If the scenes remain at this level of dissapointing, as i think they will be, its not worth the grind.

EDIT:
2 hours more of gameplay and sure There are way too much "or something" "and stuff" "or everything" "and shit" and most of the girls use them as much as the mc. They may have different backgrounds "or something lol" but they all speak the same.

Im seeing way to many "i dont remember" "its all fuzzy" moments. I get that is harder to make events that have any consequence, and make characters accountable for their actions, but going just a bit easier with it would be nice.
The writer reminds us way too many times that we are playing a game, no much room for inmersion here.
There are interupptions for every sort of thing, even pointless dialogues. In this world nobody can have a regular conversation wihtout the fear of being interrupted.

The more time i play the worst it gets, and still havent reached the payoff momments.

I really really love this game, I'm about 80% of the way through the current content and I don't want it to end. The writing is fantastic, the girls are all interesting and extremely loveable, sex scenes are sweet and romantic, humor is on point and had me cracking up on several occasions. The girls have so much personality that you don't even realize there isn't voice acting for them.

Sex animations are high-quality and super hot, though they are on the vanilla side which is perfectly fitting for the mostly pure girls you're romancing. The horror-esque parts are a nice compliment to the slice-of-life setting and I'm very curious to see where it will go in the future. Sensei can be more of an asshole than I'm comfortable with sometimes, but his intentions are never bad. Maybe I'm just jealous. Whatever consequences will happen later for his actions, I'm very afraid of. I never want to see cry again.

Best game I've downloaded on F95 by far, it's hard to believe this is 1 man putting out such fantastic and abundant content and putting 99% of VN writers to shame. I never liked gyaru girls before but Chika has completely changed my perception with how sweet and caring she is. Sana and Kaori are my absolute favorites and I can't wait for more events with them.

Selebus is truly a master of anime girl romance 10/10

1. Art 5/5
2. Sound 4/5
3. Gameplay 1/5

Gameplay is 1/5 because you have no clues or suggestions on how to proceed. If your just playing this game for the first time forget it. Only that have been playing since day 1 has any clue as they have already done all the past events but for someone that is just starting forget it! It's not possible unless you want to spend days and days in a single game when there is better games out there with goals built into the game. This is just a random guessing game that ends up no fun after hours of repetitive tasks.

I have not yet completed all of the current content, but I'm in the process of it, and I realised because I've loved playing it that I may as well write a review for it now.

The good points:

1. The story is compelling, and it's because of the self aware and creative writing style. It feels a bit similar to Deadpool in that it has humour and it likes to break the 4th wall quite often. It's quite intelligent, it has flair, and because of the long length of the story, it allows the characters to develop massively along the way. This makes the story feel very special. Both the main story and the stories for individual characters have been very unique, and a lot of it is down to the way it is written.
2. The characters are very relatable and very likeable. If you don't like one character, there will be one or more that you love, having said that I love pretty much all of them. Because of the good storytelling, it makes you feel very close to the characters in the story, and as well as that they're all very cute, which is a bonus point.
3. Topics that aren't usually inside these games, are explored in this game. For this reason it stands out when something happens, because you know it has more of a purpose that simply to get closer to eventually f*cking a character. A lot of games lack this, the topics of those games are bland and don't trigger your emotions, and every event has only one purpose, but for me this game triggered many happy moments in me. It makes you consider things that you might not think about all the time. And it makes you self reflect, which is something I love to do.
4. The music is fantastic. They have a lot of different songs for the game, and needless to say it really gives the game its personality. Each character has different music, different scenes have their own sounds, and overall the audio side to the game is very well put together.
5. The animations create some really good scenes. The still images are nice, but when you can replay the scenes with the animations they're top tier in terms of quality. The visuals are really fresh on them and the movement is smooth, it couldn't really be better.
6. The length of the game is fantastic, as well. I personally prefer longer games, because you can feel like the character when you play them. It's a much better experience than simply watching a random guy sleep with his entire family in the space of two days, I genuinely love how much content this game already has in it, and in reality I believe it's only been developed in this year so the developer needs a lot of praise for that. They've done so much already, and they have a long way to go. And that, brings me onto my next point.
7. The amount of updates too, is great. We've been blessed with a developer of game that both has a high level of talent, but also has a very strong motivation and passion for the project. I can't wait to play this game again when it's finished, it for sure I have no doubt it will be the best game of this website that I've ever played.

The bad points:

1. Honestly, none that I have discovered. I will say this, I was stuck on a part of the story and I thought I'd made a massive mistake and broken the game forever, but thankfully I managed to get through the stage and continue. I was wondering if I had to start all over again, but I suppose it was intended for me to feel like that. But other than that I've found no negatives yet within this game, and that wasn't really a negative anyway.

Summary:
I'm glad I waited a while to play this game. I say that because I wanted to play it when it first came out, but also I wanted to wait until it was further developed to see what the game was capable of. Needless to say, the games been a very good experience to play, and I'm glad I've got to see all of the content that I have. It is my favourite game on here, and there are a few others that I love. But this is a level above the others. Now, I can't wait to finish it and then wait a little longer for its next updates. In reality I hope this game can carry on forever, and maybe that would be selfish of me. But is that really so bad?

This is a very unique game in the way that the author has chosen to structure the story and world, and I commend them for that. It has an interesting premise and some sections that I believe players will either really appreciate or get turned off by, but I do recommend trying it out and making that decision for yourself. Before we dive into the full-on review, I just want to say that the only reason this VN did not get a perfect score (yet) is because the UI can be difficult and inefficient to navigate at times, and there are no hints or helps to help you figure out how to launch certain events, progress the story, or even unlock the next event with a character (sometimes this is intuitive but other times you will find yourself needing to consult the wiki page online).

With that out of the way though, this game is really interesting. It doesn't include elements like inventory management, currency, minigames, a formal map to use for navigation, etc... but I didn't really find that it was "missing" for me. There are plenty of characters and they are all well-written and defined. The author does a great job of breaking the fourth wall sometimes, but it usually does this in good taste. The addition of the "weebnote" for non Japanese players is a godsend, and I think more games should implement it.

The only part of this game I would urge the developer to update (apart from the UI, story tracker, and adding hints as I mentioned at the start) would be adding some options for the player to chose. This is very much a click through the dialogue VN experience with few player options (though there are some), and there were times that I really wanted to be able to do something differently (the MC can be a bit of an ass sometimes). It doesn't need to affect the story outcomes, but sometimes it would be nice to be given the option to actually fulfill someone's request instead of forgetting about them (ie. bringing Chika food). Also, sometimes events end without wrapping things up and it would be nice to just get that one or two lines of text two wrap things up (ie. when a girl you go on a date with bakes you cookies and you promise to eat them and text her about it when you get home, but then they are never ingested nor brought up again).

Overall though, very solid story with good writing. A 4 star rating from me means that the game certainly has things to fix and ways to grow, but it is still a high score still most certainly worth trying out and experiencing for yourself!


EDIT: The dev is really good at updating this VN and new content is added both regularily and it is substantial in length. However, it continues to lack the level of polish that a lot of other competing VNs have. This includes the UI (no visual indicators when an option you've selected a million times will trigger a new event, incomplete progress tracker, no ability to click through the girl's cards/stats, etc...), as well as the scenes themselves. They aren't bad, and the artwork is actually quite great. It's just that it reuses the same images over and over, and often leaves a single image for a long time (or just swaps between two) for long parts of the dialogue. I'd say that the level of polish and refinement land it at a 3/5, but the frequent updates and courage of trying to tackle so many characters with different personalities, needs, struggles, and issues bumps it up to a 4.5.

This is the best game i had the pleasure of playing. I got so emotionally involved with the story, the characters, the consistent funny/dark humor. This is a piece of art .

When i first started the game, i was lured by the cuteness of the characters and premise of the story, but soon i found myself in love with the ideas and the concepts this game presents.

For me this is much more than a simple porn game (don't get it wrong the H scenes are so HOT, but my favourite part is getting to them) It resonates with me and my worldview and i am glad i found this game. Praised be!

This is a really interesting game... I sort of love the mix of anime horror and anime ecchi going on here. Ok this isn't an original mix but this is really nicely done with some good and interesting takes.

I would have give this more but I feel the day framing structure is a bit of a let down which drains energy from this otherwise excellent game.

Here's my spoiler-free review for the version v0.12.0 Part 1
(I'm a busy man, so I won't be spell/grammar checking my review for a lewd game, I'm sorry to disappoint :c )

Gameplay: 4.75/5
Gameplay is the basic free roam RenPy experience, you spend time with your students to increase their affection. Based on a student's affection level and the character location, an event may or may not be triggered. There's also "Main Events" which focus primarily on the main story. It's simple and it works with the game.

Progression: 4/5
The current progression system of the game is it's only fault at the moment. During my first playthrough I wasted a good amount of time trying to find out how to trigger the next main story event in order to progress further in the game. Some of the Main Events require the player to find "Secret Events" which was confusing for me as a new player to the game. A few of the Main Events also required the player to progress further with a particular character/student in the game.

With all this said, I do however believe this will change some time down the line, so it's not really a big deal to me at the moment. Plus, the discord members were able to help me out whenever I needed it.

Art & Animations: 5/5
They're not that many animations in the game at the moment, but the ones that are look great.

The art in the game is fantastic, each scenery, character feels unique in the game. I'm not very good at art myself, can't even draw a stickman. So, not really good at describing it either. But, the ART BE PRETTY, you feel me?

Music: 4.5/5
The music in the game is not bad at all. Hell, I jam out to the current main menu song. The only issue that I have is during some events, the same song continuously plays for a bit too long. Some events in the game are quite long (which I love) which makes the song repeat itself a few times. Wouldn't be an issue if each event at it's own tune. But practically speaking, that would be difficult to achieve. Once again, music is great but a few tunes can get repetitive.

Story: 5/5
I will be including the writing for the game in this portion as well. Before we continue, let me just make it clear that although this will be my first review on the site, I heavily critique movies and games. The story and writing in Lessons in Love is near perfection. It makes it even more impressive the fact that this is a lewd game. The story is intriguing, confusing, and inspiring. The writing is comical, adorable, and caring.

Characters: 10/5
One thing that every great story has to have is interesting well written characters and in Lessons in Love almost every character is well written. As you playthrough the game, and start interacting with each character more and more, in your head (well at least in mine) you'll start to create your own "voices?" or tone in your head for that character's dialogue. That can only be achieved if the writing is consistent to fit that character's personality. Each one of the characters have a unique personality, some are cliché and that's perfectly fine. They're comical and serious moments with almost every character. Also, I never felt annoyed or displeased whenever you are "forced" to talk to a particular character in a Main Event. Mostly because every conversation was interesting and felt real in a way. It's hard to maintain a characters personality but at the same time have it slightly changing as time goes on in the story. The fact that Lessons in Love can achieve this is impressive.

I mentioned earlier that each character has "Character Events" which can be triggered as you progress through the game and keep increasing their affection level. Each character has a good amount of events, no student is unused or ever felt "left out" to me at least. All received the same level of passion and polish as the rest. There's so much more I could say about the characters in the game, but it's more worth it if you find out the rest on your own.

Developer: 5/5
Why does the developer have a section in my review? Because, a developer(s) of unfinished games is just as important. Some great games have been taking it's sweet time to finish their product on purpose. Personally, I do not wish to support a game like that.

The developer of Lessons in Love (Selebus) does not fall into the category I mentioned before. Selebus tries to releases two updates a month, with solid amounts of content, or addition in general. Not because he's rushing the game. But, because he enjoys it and cherishes the story and world he created. Also, he understands and appreciates that fans are willing to pay monthly on his work. He takes this serious, as his real job like more other developers (in the same situation) should. I don't know how long he works on the game everyday, but I'm willing to bet it's about 40 hours a week. Like what a normal job would have you work. I haven't been following the game for too long, but the hard work and dedication is what drove me to write this review, and to become a Patreon. I can't stress the importance of this portion of the review enough, many games on this site have uncertain futures, or deliver updates on a 6month basis which is absolutely fine if their content supports that long of a time-lapse from release to release. Selebus delivers the same amount of content in a 2 week span that others take 4 months to deliver. If I'm certain about one thing, it's that Lessons in Love has a very bright and long future (assuming Selebus doesn't change).

Overall Score: 5/5
This game has plenty of content at it's current state. I recommend playthrough the entire game whatever version the game is in when you read this review. If you enjoy, support the students (Selebus), join the discord and take a break with the game. I won't be replaying for a few months to allow the new content to build up.

If by chance Selebus ends up reading this review, I would like to thank you for making a great game. I'm sure you hear it all the time, but I really mean it. YOUR vision and execution of it is nearly perfect.
Good Job Homie

Wanking Score?: 3.5/5
I'm not going to include this score into the main review, nor will I go in depth with it. If you're looking for a quick wank, this game is not for you. There is a solid amount of sexual content though, but it will take a good min to reach it. This score will also increase with time.

I feel like it's really very difficult to write something here that will convey my thoughts and feelings about this game. Being on f95, I know I'm facing an audience of people who consist of a significant number of those who just want something to fap to. So I guess let me just save you and me the trouble and say this: If all you want is to blow another load onto your keyboard, then IDK why you're even here. Just go watch porn. Games as a medium are more than that, and that's the point I'm going to focus on for this review.

If you're still reading, I am going to assume it's because you want more than porn. For a long time, I've been playing H games of varying kinds. Most are pretty objectively terrible as games, being nothing more than an excuse for someone to make some personalized porn in an easy to use format like RPGM or Renpy. Every once in a while, something comes along which is trying to do better. They don't always succeed, but there are those who understand that porn in games does not change the fact that they are games.

Lessons in Love, from the perspective of development, set off to just make something enjoyable. Instead, it is forging a legacy. Never in my life have I played an H game with such depth. It is a compelling narrative game before anything else. A real visual novel. Before any of the sex. Before any of the jokes. Before any of that, it is here to tell you a story. That's where you have to start. If you are going to play this game, play it because you want to be told an interesting, perplexing, and compelling story. The sex is bonus.

You fall into a world that makes literally no sense right from the get go, seemingly trapped with nothing and nobody but beautiful young girls wanting your dick. Rolling your eyes yet? Hold on man, lemme dig the deeper hole before I show you the ladder. You get introduced to your ten students, all teenage girls, who seem to fall into neat anime tropes. Tsundere? Check. Relative with an incest fetish? Check. Rich girl? Got it. Tomboy on the sports team? Uh huh. You get the idea.

Right so it sounds like some shitty troped out harem anime doesn't it? Well.... yes. You will, and are supposed to feel like that as you get started. Your character will even go so far as to point these kinds of things out from time to time. That really doesn't last though. Those are just facades. They are what you see from a distance, but this game is about getting close. You will see the layers of a person's personality peel away one at a time, slowly revealing the nuances and complexities of a real person underneath it. Real people, with real problems, desires, memories, joys, pains, and all the othere things that make a person human.

But it really doesn't stop there. I would not be so quick to throw praise just for doing mildly well at character development. That should be a bare minimum. Real people, made up of real things like I mentioned above, also provide real actions and reactions. You start to become a force of causality in the world, be it for good or ill you don't even know yet. And the characters respond to you in kind. It starts becoming more and more curious as to why you are in fact as popular as you are, and it takes real insight on your part as a player to see it.

And I would be remiss if I did not also point out that this is all happening in tandem with a deeper story. Your story, your fears, your problems, your wants, your desires, your pain, your suffering, your growth. The story is first and formost about you. The girl are just there to act as mirrors. They are reflecting you back at yourself by showing the impact you have on the world. But how do you react to yourself? Do you choose to grow or do you choose to give up? Lessons in Love is a game about being a teacher who never teaches in school, and also one who teaches about life, but also one who is still a student. What will you learn from all this?

Selebus has raised the bar in VN storytelling. I've not been so compelled to read in years. Like many people here, I first downloaded this game because I saw some porn fetish tag I liked. I don't care about that now. Now I want to find out what the hell is going on in this bizzare town. I want to see the adorable smile of Sana when she feels accomplished. I want to see Yumi blushing because she's struggling to thank you for trying to help her out all year long. I want to see Maya's cold exterior crack away bit by bit. I want to read Chinami a bedtime story.

The real Lesson in Love is what you personally learn from it all. How will you grow? Not Sensei. You. How will it change you? Because if you actually take the time to pay attention, it will change you, just like it has changed me and so many others. I could go on for hours about community, or writing quality, or the hard work Sel puts in, but everyone else has already said those things. No, I just want to drive home the point that this game doesn't just do as it says on the box. It does it for a purpose. That purpose is you.

Game has an almost cult-like following and I dont get it.

PROS
The animated h scenes are great
Different character Models, Decent Variety
Dev very responsive
Frequent Updates

CONS
If youre not really into the Japanese Harem thing this isnt for you.
Not enough thic women and virtually no MILFs
Tries to take itself too serious
Even with hints, Navigating can be a chore. Almost grindy

Typical "Only penis in the universe game". I love harem games but I especially love them when the females choose the MC over another character. This game has no real threat to the girls besides supernatural elements. Nowadays tropes like this automatically make me check out of the game as far as investment. I still gave it a try but it failed to successfully hook me. This is a game for ppl interested in plot more than porn. Its also for Loli-lovers, which I'm not judging. Just pointing out

5 stars relative to what averages 4.5+ stars on this site. Relative to commercial VN's which it appears like it wants to compete with: 3 stars.

Pros:

• Excellent prose, possibly the best on the site
• Great graphics
• Interesting characters
• Good Humor
• Tons of content

Meh:

• Horror elements feel tacked on
• Sometimes feels confusing for no good reason, just to be confusing
• The only character who knows anything of what's going on won't talk

Cons:

• Takes way too much effort to figure out what content has not been seen and how to see it
• If you don't use the wiki, you WILL miss content
• The time-of-day event system is annoying and seems pointless since...
• You can't advance the main content unless you pursue all girls
• Pacing for the main plot is glacial: think LotR if Frodo hadn't left the Shire by the end of the third book
• Author is doubling the amount of girls instead of focusing on the plot