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.
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.