lewd island v1.00 review
It was a pretty good story up through the evening of day 10. At that point, it really seems like the devs got bored with the game and just wanted it over with. The game was a solid 2.5 stars before they decided to take a dump on everything that they'd built up to that point. I'm torn between rounding up to three stars since they at least finished it, even if it was garbage at the end, or knocking it down to one star for that reason. There was a lot of potential with the game, but it was squandered.
Early on, there was mystery surrounding their circumstances and a growing affection between the protagonists. There was some good lewd content and tension in the story. The biggest problem in the first part of the game was the inconsistency of the male MC. His archetype bounces between the competent man, the frustrated beta bitch boy, the calculating smooth businessman, the workaholic absentee father, the buffoon, and the earnest and loving father-figure. These aspects can, in theory, be woven together to some extent make a complex character, but the artistry of transitioning the character between these modes believably was noticeably absent. For the most part, the writer just made the MC into whatever he felt like in each scene. One can invent one's own headcanon to satisfy the incongruities most of the time, but from night of day 10 the devs start running too far with it, and everything else for that matter. After day 10, the inconsistencies then extend to facts established in the plot as well. We can invent countless handwavy explanations for the plot gaps and character inconsistencies by invoking the mind and memory altering drugs defense, but that also would require some skill and thought by the writer to make those believable and satisfying, which they didn't care to do. There was a clear lack of planning with the plot, at least after day 10 if not throughout, but the lack of care to make something at least a tiny bit consistent is no more evident than with finding the gun, which you are warned is an important decision. You hide the gun, hide the bullets separately, and can choose to not tell your daughter about the gun. She later fires a warning shot at you, and after that, the people responsible for you being on the island and all the materials there, are surprised that you have a gun. That can be justified as the dev forgetting about the decision made earlier in the game and development cycle, which is understandable, but also not a good excuse. However, even with situations within consecutive game days, there are inconsistencies like the shower scene on the yacht. The female protagonist suffered cuts to her hand and wrist leading to bloodloss severe enough to cause her to lose consciousness, take on a deathly pallor, cause fear and panic in all that saw her, and require stitches. The following morning those injuries can't be seen on her completely nude and unbandaged body. There is no effort to hide the injured arm from view. It is proudly displayed without any hint of an injury. It's like the CG guy forgot what happened previously and didn't care or have the ability to make images that are consistent with the plot.
On a positive note, the English is really quite good. It's a little stilted at times, especially in the finale, but much better than most Eastern European porn games. The still renders look good, and the animations are pretty good, but get worse and more jumpy later in the game. The description of the sex scenes often don't match what's being displayed in the images or animations. This is another case of the writer and the artist not being on the same page, but if you're not going to render images that match what you want to write in the scene, write something that matches the images.
If you insist on playing this game despite the warnings of this and the other negative reviews here, I highly recommend that you stop playing immediately after the sex scene at the end of the romantic date on the night of day 10. At that point, just close your eyes and imagine anything at all about the rest of the story and I can assure you it will make more sense and satisfy you more than what's in the actual game.