Ren'Py - Lessons in Love [v0.46.0] [Selebus]

Where to begin...

"Came for the porn, stayed for the plot" is an oft-used expression, and it is incredibly apt here.

I think that Selebus has, quite frankly, a gift. I'm not going to sit here and claim that they are the new Tolkien or Sir Terry Pratchett, but their characters are...alive. Plenty of porn-y tropes, but a lot of it is used exactly to juxtapose it with how an actual person would think or behave, without making it some meta "haha tropes are weird" joke.

Quite frankly, the way the characters interact with the story, the way the story interacts with the player, the way Selebus interacts with us and the game...it is an experience. They have managed to make me smile with little character in-jokes, made me think based on certain comments or events, made me tear up due to character interactions or merely by expanding upon character arcs.

This is by no means a happy game, there are a lot of darker moods and plenty to think about, but neither it is a sad or purely a game with horror for laughs...in many ways this game is a bit of all parts of life. With happiness and sadness, hope and despair, with jokes and tears, and I feel richer for having experienced the story so far.

[Review written as of 19p1, patron]
Lessons in Love is possibly the best adult visual novel I've played period, and it achieves that almost entirely through having phenomenal and evocative writing that elevate it above any other. Even the earliest "hook" scene, with some admittedly more edgy writing in general, still hits remarkably hard with the imagery delivered. The visuals for the game itself have also been steadily improving, going from sprites(that will likely be removed entirely in the future) to detailed in-engine renders with creative shots or chilling closeups, mixing surreal and grounded visuals to create a singularly impressive work. Past minute to minute writing or visuals, though, is an expansive and complicated web of relationships between the girls, the world, and Sensei, which we can currently only speculate on the true complexity of. The only situation in which I would not wholeheartedly recommend Lessons in Love is if you are intending to use it more explicitly as an erotic piece, as that is neither the intent or a particularly usable element of it. Either way, please do read it and experience all the joys Lessons in Love has to offer.

The writing is simply brilliant!

It's a mirracle, how Selebus manages to fill these girls with so much personality, that I really care deeply about all of them.

I came in search of a nice incest-loli-wank and found so much more. I often don't even care about the sexual content anymore (LIE!), at least this isn't the reason I'm still playing this game. I'm supporting on on patreon and have payed more than I have for any other game in my life. And I will continue to do so.

This game has touched me so many times, I even cried a few times. No other creator has managed to achieve similar effects on me.

PRAISE BE!

This is a really amazing game. The plot is very interesting and very engaging. The rhetorics, ironies and cynical mindsets of the game ai find very amusing, especially when they break the 4th wall. Though this is an eroge, I can confidently say that I am in more for the plot rather than the sex. The scenes have good animations and the fact that it us available for Android is amazing. I can't wait for the completion of the game and I hope for it to prosper and garner more attention. It's just that good. I hope the developer doesn't abandon this and continue to develop this amazing game.

[After playing 0.18.0 Part 2]

This is one of my favourite Ren'Py games. I had my doubts at first, but once you get into the story I have to say that storywise this one is gold. The characters are almost all of them great, the art is good even when it's bad (because it looks bad on purpose and it works). The variety of girls and acts is quite big and probably will be huge once it's done for what it looks considering the story. The sex scenes are also great, though maybe this is not a game you will enjoy just for that, so if you're not interested in story elements and come just for the porn, it won't get to you. Personally I play it more for the story than the (still enjoyable) porn.

I don't usually like manga, anime or anything Japanese-styled or influenced in general, but there's something about this game that dragged me to play it to the very end of the most recent update.

I'm not really any good at judging game design or any type of programming either, so I can't go into depth with that either.

What I will say though, is that its title is meant to be taken quite literal. In a both intellectual, spiritual and.. sometimes disturbing way, it will take you on an emotional rollercoaster. It will both be serious, and completely non-serious at the same time. A limbo between reality and fiction. Laughs and sadness.. and sometimes those two at the same time as well.

There are obviously a few times where I feel myself distanced from the protagonist, which I'm sure many will experience as well, but the creator really takes you through the story with almost no filter or regard for being accessible, which I find to be endearing and a breath of fresh air.

I don't usually get dragged into being emotionally invested into anything other than a few AAA games or very particular movies or TV series.. but this game manages to do just that so I'll give this my highest rating.

[Reviewed as of version 18p2]
I mainly want to talk about the writing style of this game which I like a lot.

One thing that stands out to me about this game is the dialogue. The game really does a good job at keeping the flow of dialogue natural by avoiding introducing a new topic of talk suddenly. If a character tries to make a tangent, it would always relate to any previous mention in the dialogue. A character event may start with the most mundane topic and manage to stretch out linearly to a 30mins worth of writing.

As for the monologue, though, there is a shit ton of it in this game and it may be off putting at first when we barely know the purpose. However, it will become apparent that they contain a huge amount of symbolism relevant to the plot as you progress the game, making them quite exciting to reread. Even if they don't contain any significant plot hints, they are still good read nonetheless.

The comedic lines are usually written in very few words and are seemingly low effort to make, but they're actually very funny. I especially like the MC's quick rebuttal to what the girls say; this kind of comedy really vibes with me.

Psychological horror stuff is a big part of the game but I think it's still too early for me to evaluate them. They were pretty unsettling when I first encountered them so I didn't quite focus on the writing, and I figured many others would too. Just keep going and you'll find that the horror writing also contains a huge amount of symbolism that relates to the symbolisms in the "normal world", and this may serve as a hint to understand what the fuck is going on. For now all I can say is that using symbolisms to explain the game's world is a unique approach as they say a lot about the world without giving us any definitive answers, keeping things mysterious.

Other stuffs:
Story (Character Events) : 10/10
-> The game really showcases well how people deal with different types of issues, and how people NOT deal with them and choose to ignore them. I relate a lot to some of the girls and can say that the writing involving them does a lot of justice in addressing my issues and how I feel about them.

Music : 8.5/10
-> While the musics themselves are amazing, I feel like some of them aren't quite suited to be BGM of a VN. A few of the musics have tones that go between weak and strong. Reading important lines while the music is at the wrong tone might ruin the experience a bit.

Art : 9/10
-> Character arts and expressions? top tier
-> Lighting? Posing? Angling? top tier, at least starting around the end of Ch.1 and it continues getting better
-> UI? looks fine, nothing special
-> MC? pretty sure he looked bad to me the first time, but after seeing the not-successes of many other male KK characters, this one actually looks very good comparatively

Legitimately the best written game I have ever seen and it's not close. There are lists of games I've praised for their writing and this just blows them all out of the water.

I was just trying too see all the content at first but I was a bad homie and that scene broke my heart to the point I deleted my save and started again.

Then I got to the same scene being a good homie and I cried. That's right, a porn game made me cry. Big up to the writer for being so fantastic. I'll be reading anything they write forever.

So, firts things first, this game is indeed pretty good, great writting, great humor, pretty and cute girls and interesting characters.

But to be honest, it just isn't my cup of coffee, i tried to play this game many times, but you being "reincarnated" in a body that you don't know, and that you are lost on what you have to do, it's a turn down for me, i find it boring and extremelly irritating.

Another problem is the "sandbox", i mean, i do prefer visual novels over sandbox games, but there are plenty of sandbox games that i played and really liked, but this one no, the days passes randomsly, you don't have any sort of hint to how to progress with the girls, no visual indications on where the girls are at the time, nothing, i think that this is the biggest flaw in this game, you are lost on what you have to do.

The third thing is....it has too many characters, something that i noticed in good sandbox games is that they don't have many characters, because you have to grind affection and lust points or whatever and this takes time and is pretty boring, now imagine having to do this with more than 10 characters on a game that doesn't have anything to easy your playthrough...yeah, it isn't for me, maybe some more "hardcore" players don't mind, but i certainly do.

As someone who loves horror and someone who loves porn games this was perfect. There are few "horror" nsfw games out there, and I think this one might be the scariest, there are a few scenes in here that genuinely creeped me out. Along with that though are great h-scenes (with haruka being my favourite), and in between those are a lot of events with good writing and funny moments, especially as an irish weeb i love the character of molly. Looking forward to where this game goes.

My only major critique of the game as it is would be that the progress mod is needed to get through some parts and even with it i had to look up an external guide to progress the main story due to one important event having a requirement that I would never naturally go through. So hopefully a more concise progress tracker or context clues will be added to the game.

THIS is a harem game done right! A few stereotypes from anime but it's clearly out of an appreciation for the genre. Where it differs from all the other games is the writing. Sure there's game that got a chuckle out of me, but several times almost laughing out loud in the first chapters? That takes talent. So yeah, if you're looking for a well written meta harem anime game THIS ONE is the benchmark for all others to strive toward. Keep up the amazing work!

This is game's story was probably one of the best things that came out not only in 2020, but in the last decade that preceded it.
With already 21 main characters (counting MC) + more side characters, every single one is not only clearly distinguishable, but compelling at the same time. They all have their flaws, some more obvious and downright (morally) unjustifiable, but even then, you can find something relatable in them to some degree.
I keep wanting to know the girls better not just because I have to in order to continue the main story, or because they are so well written, but because they can make your day a happier one. Simply put, they are cute as fuck, and them being happy is joyful, until missery unexpectedly rears its beautiful ugly head.
This game requires you to advance the girls' events in order to continue the main ones, but I think you should do it even if it wasn't the case. Never skip on girl's event or dialogue. Even if you didn't want to do her story for whatever reason, and only wanted to do the ones you liked, you never know when a hint or piece of the puzzle that is the main story will drop. Its never just the characters geting development or going on with their lives, but they are essential to even know what is going on below behind the scenes.
Without giving out spoilers, thats my review for the story part. For the gameplay part:
It works as a standard VN to a degree. After your first events, you get freedom to go where you want from the options. Of course, all these options involve calling them to hang out, inviting them home, or visiting a girl in either their shared dorm room or their "usual spot" (work/club/streets where they just... walk).
The more common is the last 2 forms of visit, since calling them or calling them to invite them home isn't available until you get the girl's phone number. You only get that in either the girl's event in question, or unexpectedly in an almost unrelated event.
Either way, the most predominant way to unlock the girls' event is getting 5 affection points each time by visiting them.
One important part is that there is not hint system. And since some events are locked not just by points, but by interacting with the girl in question in a specific way at a specific time.
For example, visiting a girl on Monday in her dorm room. or calling them on Saturday afternoon.
Thankfully (MC would disagree) those times periods are reduced to only the evenings from Monday to Friday, with only the weekends having Morning-Afternoon-Night time periods.
The problems to find these events is reduced by the fact that there are 20 main girls + the side ones, so you will end up circling around unlocking events for the other girls until you coincidentally hit ther giht combination.
If you just do as said, and progress with all the girls, you will rarely find an issue.

As of v0.17.0, the girls, our relationship with them and the world itself has changed. Some changes are more subtle than others, but they are there once you compare them to the first releases. And these subtle changes will keep on piling up for the next years as we get more updates.

Even if VNs, or adult content in general isn't something you particularly enjoy, you should absolutely try this game.

I've been following this project since its inception, and I have to say, I really do keep thinking about it even after I stop playing.

I think I did talk to Selebus about the way he wrote, and the way the music set the mood.
I've not seen a visual novel with this level of quality, rivaling japan's main export product.
We better keep him safe from the inevitable ninjas.

You might already know, or the other reviews might have already warned you, the porn is a trap. The character dynamics, cleverly written dialogue that isn't afraid to be serious or silly, the surreal bits that hint towards clocks something larger, these are the true meat and potatoes of this project.

I've been on this website for long enough to see pretty much all my favourite projects abandoned. I pray that the same does not befall this one.

Sel, I'm still waiting for the jukebox menu!

This game, this dev, and the community around both, take this game way too seriously. This game has flaws in the way it delivers content, it is a click fest and ultimately nothing but a kinect novel with very little in the way of decision making. The content is often cringy and reads like something straight out of a depressed teenager's tumblr, it would all be fine if it had a lighter approach to it but no, it tries to be dead serious.

As I have ran out of salt, this game is still a very good looking loli harem with a psychological horror twist to it, so to each their own.

The amount of content and quality of writing this game has pretty much puts this game at five stars to start from, so from there there's only a few complaints on which to deduct points. It's a good game, I don't know that it's worth trying to cover all of the good things it has, just take for granted that there's a lot.

The bad? A big one for me is that eventually you basically have to start using the wiki guide to carry you along. The event tracker is better than nothing, but the game's story has multiple bottleneck points where nothing at all will ever happen until you manage to figure out what obscure option you haven't tried yet. Eventually I started just having the guide open the entire time I was playing and that sort of thing always costs a point for me.

Another is that without Renpy's 'fastforward previously seen content' option this game would probably be unplayably grindy. You will have to replay scenes a lot and if you're actually sitting there clicking through the scenes then that's probably going to be half of your playtime.

My last concern is about the mix of story and porn going forward. The dark surrealism of the plotline seems to be getting pretty intense, and while that would be fine if the game was nearing a climax, almost half of the characters are still in their introductory phases. I'm a little worried about tonal whiplash as the game starts mixing up scenes of characters slowly losing their sanity and scenes of fun sex romps. It's a little hard to enjoy this game as a porn game when every other scene is some sort of mental breakdown. It might be better if the story chapters focused a little more clearly on "this is a porn chapter" and "this is a drama chapter".

Overall I'd rate this as a 3.5 star game that really wants to be 5 stars.

[Reviewed as of update 0.16.0]
This game is an easy 5 stars, but I don't think I will ever play it again or see it through to the end. I feel like that review deserves an explanation.

This game is rough. Not in the sense that it's poorly made, but in the sense that it's hard to get through the story because of how emotionally taxing it is. I don't care about the horror bits. Games and movies don't scare me and the TV static and weird faces never bother me even a little bit in this game. The horror elements of this game are really tame. But around the end of Part 1, the game starts to take a really drastic emotional dive.

You have characters
It's genuinely a little disturbing, and not in the way these games usually are. Normally, "disturbing" in adult games just means a little blood or creepy monsters, but the last few updates left me feeling genuinely upset at times, and I don't consider myself someone faint-of-heart.

I could go on and on about this but I'll leave it there.

TLDR; The game has great characters, solid art (if you like this style), and surprisingly good and engaging writing. For that, I can easily give this 5 stars. But it can also be incredibly emotionally taxing. I recommend giving it a try for sure, but don't feel bad if you decide to drop it for a game that you can fap to that doesn't make you feel like shit when you get near to the end of Part 1 of the story.

I'm honestly not sure what to say about this game. Normally the horror tag would have me running the other way, but I got pretty far before I noticed that, and now I'm too invested in the characters to stop, no matter where the story goes (even if I'm not sure I want to know where it's going).

Gameplay is leisurely, allowing you to focus on narrative over decision-making (although there are a few gotchas to beware of). Renders are solid, though the lewds are relatively few. This is a slow burn game, but very steady.

Easily one of my favorites on the site.

One of those that is more the VN side and less ‘Game’.
It’s also not pron-on-tap: Yes; there’s gratuitous and exaggerated smut, but it’s contained within a novel, not akin to list of linlks on an ‘adult website’..

Ultimately; it’s (currently) a linear storyline, with minimal deviation possible from this planned path. But then; the author’s stength is in this writing; both dialogue and events / arc.
That’s not to say it’s just clicking the <next> button for each scene, as there is control afforded to the order, through prerequisites of other scenes, stats, locations, days, times.
The point to keep in mind is that it is a single interconnected story with multiple characters, rather than having mostly separate characters / routes.

On my first playthrough; I made the mistake of simply focussing on the characters who most appealed to me (Sana/Run/Yumi plus a couple of others), which quickly results in roadblocks from the ‘ignored’ ones.
The simple way to play this game is to not grind, but just prioritise each unique event as and when they appear on each day. And pay attention to the actual story / plot.

I’m being a bit miserly with 4/5 as it’s still being fleshed-out, and can feel like some parts (eg. ‘Happy Scenes’) and characters have been used and then neglected.
But it’s substantial, interesting, promising, and keeps growing.

This is why I lurk this site, for gems like this. Porn games with a heavy emphasis on the story are few in numbers but definitely provides incredible experiences. I've only finished the first chapter of the game but I'm already sold. The game is pretty jam-packed with content and there's always something to look out for while trying to get all the events. The game offers both comedy and psychological horror that really got me engaged in the story. The girls are pretty much all likable and include many different flavors of personality (though only some of them can engage in ero while a good portion of the cast can't). I'm not really a fan of VNs, pretty much prefer scrounging up shitty nip RPGmaker eroges, but for anyone reading this, this is definitely a must try.

Honestly my real main issue here is the MC, who acts like a dick and thinks with it as well but its reminiscent to harem protags who actually dicks his girls instead of being a dense shounen harem protag (only issue here being the age difference but who cares anyway, Nothing is Real). Nevertheless, the MC is still likable enough for me to push through the events and story segments.

Cheers to Selebus!

So, this is actually a pretty good game. Sort of. There's a reason I've rated it three stars. Part of me feels that's way too generous, and part of me feels it's pretty unfair. So I suppose that means it's probably about right.

Basically, this is unplayable without the progress mod. Currently, it's not even listed as a mod on the main post for some reason. This might end up out of date, but - go to the Guide link and then check the attachments for the mod. Get it. Don't play this game without it.

The game is needlessly complicated. I mean it's a renpy game, it's not actually complicated. But there's all sorts of weird triggers hidden in all sorts of ways. For example, a main story event that will substantially block all progress is triggered by going to a location and then bailing without actually doing anything there. I wish I was joking.

So. Yeah. Play with the progress mod, or just don't even bother. It's not worth your time without it. Even with it, it's a fairly substantial time sink. The mod will only point you in the right direction, unfortunately. And it's UI is slightly better than the built-in trackers, but it's still entirely hidden by default and requires you to go looking for what to do next.

I won't blame anybody for not wanting to waste their time with this game even with the progress mod. The content itself is pretty good, but it's not quick or easy to get to.

And this isn't just restricted to this. The same mindset that lead to the above insanity pervades the whole game. It's pretty happy to waste your time - and that's true even with the progress mod and if you actually enjoy the whatever insanity that pops up from time to time. If you don't enjoy it, there will be large sections you may as well enable Skip Unseen Text for. It's an odd one.

Edit: Holy mother of crap. It's even worse than I thought. You can get on sub-optimal paths WAY before you ever get notified via event tracker (even progress mod too). The only solution is to restart.

This game gives zero shits about your time. It's very good, otherwise. But. Even the excessive multi-click "..." transitions between every scene are hardcoded. You can't even easily mod them out. And if you went to that trouble, you'd need to update the mod with every game update.

So, I mean, it's kind of a question of how much time you're willing to burn here. I don't think I'm alone in being interested in more games than I can actually play. I'd strongly suggest just going and playing the other games you're interested in instead, or finding a way to just view the events directly - such as a complete save and using the esc menu tracker to replay them.

And I'm the guy sitting there shaking my head when people complain there's not enough action in a game. The point of a game instead of trekking off to one of the many, many, many porn sites is that you can get a nice story and all that. So, yeah.