VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Lifelong Secret [Day 10] [MrgT/Nu'ar Studios]

Both incredible and yet profoundly disappointing to find that this is the secondary project.

A more sensitive, poignant, brilliantly nuanced story one could not hope to find. It is utterly engrossing and the lead girl performance, for me, strikingly evocative both in looks and style, of Natalie Portman, is absolutely enchanting. A performance almost equally matched by that of the brother, who seems the perfect match in his touching empathy for the inner struggles of his younger sister. Both are, to me, well nigh perfectly written as similarly, though far from equally, "repressed" siblings. Repressed is not the right word I'm looking for. Neither is introverted. It's somewhere in between the two, I think.

Anyway, under the circumstances, I eagerly look forward, in hope rather than expectation, to more of this absolutely fascinating masterpiece and should "Lifelong Secret" ever be allowed to step out into the sunlight from beneath the shadow of this creator's other title, then I shall, in full appreciation and adoration, be clamouring to lend my support.

I would normally have said "to the creator's Patreon", but I note that The Inquisition currently has the creator's webpage "under review", which nowadays seems almost inevitably to mean in line for the kiss of Death, so hopefully this creator will very soon be switching to Subscribestar.

For some reason, I put off playing this. I think the first few times I tried, I was put off by the English translations. I have seen this on other non native English speakers, they use things like "by the way" way to much. There are other indicators, but this AVN they say btw way too often.

Regardless, I finally decided to spend some time with it as I had nothing else to play and I was glad I did. It's not the best AVN out there and it is light on the H scenes, but the story is engaging enough to keep you interested. Also, the Anna character has a bunch of depth and is written well. I am not sure if it's a woman writing her part, but it is pretty believable.

On a personal level, my wife has told me stories of how men treat women in the workplace, and while I have not heard anything as dramatic as they show in this AVN, it does at least capture the plight women have to face. Between the mother, the salesrep turned model and Helen, there are some good examples of how women have to deal with some of the shit men throw at them on a daily basis. The dev has found a way of making the reader understand their plight and at the same time, make it kind of sexy. At the end of the day, it's an adult AVN, so the men are going to be more pervy then in real life and those awkward female situations are going to be unrealistic and over the top, but this is fiction/fantasy after all and the dev does a nice job balancing all of it.

The renders are pretty good, pacing is good, scene blocking is good... nothing to amazing and yet nothing too artsy. It's a solid blend of art and storytelling. All the characters are fleshed out and unique and they are thoroughly enjoyable to get to know.

On the negative side, I have a hard time getting into the female relationships. They don't feel organic. When Jill and Judy reconciled, it seemed out of the blue and a little forced. Same with the Miki/Anna scene toward the end of the last update. I am really looking forward to seeing that relationship blossom but it was kind of an awkward beginning. Admittedly, that may be the point as neither girls have considered the possibility of a relationship previously so the first actions towards it may, in fact, be awkward. IDK. It just seemed a little rushed and I would rather see it happen more organically now the seed has been planted.

Anyway, I could go on for a while about this AVN as it is pretty darn good. It falls short of the 5 stars, but it still is really good. I was sad when I reached the end of the current version and am looking forward to the next release.

Nice job and good luck to the dev!

Men of Culture, feast your eyes upon some of the most arousing animation sex scenes you will ever experience.

...now with that out of the way.

I do love great visuals and you can see all the renders are done with great thought. The character models in the game are beautiful and realistic. Facial expressions of Anna's innocence or Mikaela's wildness are portrayed well, and even their attire adds a lot to their personalities. The lighting and shot angles are well setup which make the renders excellent.

The plot is interesting, but what I enjoy most is reading the relationship dialog between the characters. The characters personality uniqueness is portrayed well in the writing like for instance, Abigail calling Mark "Mr. Mark" gives you that subtle subservient feel which is quite appropriate for that scene.

Overall fantastic quality with an intriguing story was a joy to play through. Hope to see more updates soon.

(Version Day 10)

TL;DR = This game is hidden gem. It has good plot and hot renders.

Story: 5/5
+ This game has really good plot. You follow the story by seeing different events from different characters. But main plot revolves around two siblings, where innocent younger sister has a crush on her big brother. (no incest, just platonic love)
+ Main character is the sister. She isnt some bland MC. You will find out her inner thoughts, feelings and conflicts.
+ Story gets more complicated by addition of mafia, abusive bosses at work, corrupt cops and FBI-like secret agency.
+ I really enjoyed story and it got me hooked.
- Only downside of the plot is one cringe plot hole: (spoiler ahead) FBI-like secret investigators need somebody to infiltrate the mafia. Whom do you think they choose for infiltration? Obviously they recruit this super innocent sister, who is shy around new people. Really?!

Art and sex stuff: 5/5
+ Renders are very good. Some renders are almost photorealistic.
+ Girls are hot.
+ Sex scenes are very hot.
+ Some sex scenes have animations.

Gameplay: 5/5
+ This is clasical VN with choices.
+ Choices has considerable impact on relationships with girls and some sex scenes.
+ Game has good soundtrack.
+ Sex scenes has voices of girls moaning. Nice.
+ English is decent.
+ Current version of game is quite long. I have played it for at least 6 hours. Good.

To sum it up:
I think this game is hidden gem. More people should know about it.
I will definitely recommend this.

Lifelong Secret [Day 10] 3.5-4*

Pros:
Excellent Character Models
Great Renders
Cool Story
Good writing
Moaning Sounds
Good Sex Scenes
Interesting Characters

Neutral:
Lack of interaction
Skip function doesn´t work
There was a small amount of text that was russian. Not sure if it´s the first time you meet the biker girl.

Cons:
Many Image loading errors
Lack of Animations
Game feels too long in certain parts with too much dialogue
The huge amount of Characters can feel overwhelming

I think the game is very well done and it´s one of the very few games, where the Characters and their conversations between each other feel realistic.
It´s definitely not a game for everyone, because it is a visual novel that can feel quite long-winded, and there is not much you can interact with.
The Story is very interesting just like the Characters who look excellent and some of them are from AAA Videogames like Resident Evil or Cyberpunk.
The Main Character is very shy and prude, and I hope she will develop away from that.
It will be interesting to see how the game continues and I will follow the progress closely.

I have not notice this game before,but after playing it i could say it has potential . Story is unique and i feel like i am watching some netflix series ,very good writing by the way. Keeps my attention and keeps me reading all most conversations between characters . Maybe you shoud include more interactions with players and give more triggering decisions for us to make. Graphics are good and smooth , reminds me on some good games here who i do not want to name. Animations are pretty good too. Keep it fresh always and dont rush . Anna looks a bit depressed ,put in some more hot scenes. I suppose that creator will involve mom into incest like the rest of the family together,i think he should do it slowly and spicy. Make us wait with desire next update. Keep doing good job.

3* and that in generous in MY opinion. 2.5* is more fitting.

There are way to many "protagonists" you follow. For some you can pick choices and others you just follow. But I don't think that these add much or anything to the game. At best you get way to much information and you bc you have no clear main character you dont know why that might be important.

Then there is way to much text. A lot of repetition and way to much thoughts of random characters. You get all the thoughts of random perverts along the way. Instead of just showing (with expressions and poses) the game tells you every thought.

e.g. the pervert in the bus - you dont need any text at all to understand what he is thinking. Its pointless text that add nothing and just makes it annoying to read the obvious - and that gets repeated at least twice.

Then there is the - I guess "main" character Anna. She is so boring and bland and what the writing underlines that every time.

I haven't finished the game, because it is a chore for me to work through that, but I guess I see what the game tries with her. She has low self esteem and thinks she is ugly and fat. That could be a great thing to explore, but the game is not able to really pull that off in an entertaining way.

The "map" icon on the side is a warning sign for me and might foreshadow something truly horrible ... free roam or some "sandbox" BS.

The renders are decent and the models look fine. None of them is really working for me, but that is just personal taste. I like the look of the "mom". All other characters have something that doesnt work for me. Even the "stolen" model of Judy from Cyberpunks doesn't look good here. Something is missing. But I dont like "borrowed" models in general. I am also not a fan of "fan games" that play in established universes.

Note @ animations: Some animations are not available in this version, only for patreons. That is not a huge problem for me - but maybe for some.

I stopped after the Judy scene - and dont think I will take another look - its just not entertaining enough for me to do that.

It is a high quality game It’s obvious that the dev is trying their best to create amazing photorealistic renders. Some mechanics you might’ve seen in TLE (like quests) are here as well. Can’t say a lot about the plot yet, but it’s a good start. It tells the story of one of the characters you can see in TLE, but the good thing is that new players will have no trouble understanding the plot. I really like that the characters are so lifelike. It’s a realistic slice of life story, which isn’t something I see in this type of games every day. So, it’s a solid start, and I’m looking forward to the next update

Found this game on itch.io. But this community seems active, so I thought I’d leave a review here.
It’s obvious that lot of work has been put into making the renders. They are like really, really good Their quality is enough for me to support the dev. I don’t see good renders in every game I enjoy after all. And I love the warm atmosphere. The MC has some sad thoughts, which is understandable, given her situation, but the game still feels kind of heartwarming.
The plot is about a young girl, and it’s quite realistic. We learn about her thoughts, feelings and anxieties, and she feels alive.
I also like that there are quests and codex entries in the game. They make it look more like a real game than a VN. From I’ve seen, the main project, The Last Enchantress, even has inventory management. So, I guess l’ll give this game 5 stars and follow the dev to get all the news about the next update.

Found this game today. I haven’t played many VNs, to be honest, so I didn’t know what to expect. I have to say, this game has definitely surpassed my expectations. It feels like a good book.

The conversations between family members and friends sound natural. And, you know, the plot is actually pretty interesting despite being a slice of life story. It’s only the beginning, but the MC is easy to relate to as I know what she’s going through. I mean, many of us struggled with our feelings when we were teens. I really want Anna to be happy

There’s also this new mysterious character I hope to see more of because she reminds me of certain someone. And she’s an amazing biker!

And, of course, the dev has done an amazing job creating the renders for this game. The colours, the poses, the emotions… Everything is top-notch

Can’t wait to play the next update, and I might become a patron as well.

This is an amazing game! I haven't played TLE yet, but I'll definitely give it a try. When I downloaded this one, I was immediately stunned by the loading screen. Have you seen many VNs with a loading screen? This one is unique. The renders are a great example of photorealism The game features life-like characters, and some renders even look like photos. I use several of them as wallpapers The main character, Anna, is a really nice girl. Playing as her feels quite pleasant. She’s not a typical adult game protagonist. She has a soul and a deep personality. And I feel that there’s much more to the plot than meets the eye. Looking forward to the next update. Believe me, something exciting is brewing

Might just have been an off-night for me, and I am not 100% sure I made it through all the content, but:

1. Looks beautiful.
2. The models are almost too realistic. I personally like my h-game characters a bit more on the idealistically attractive-side, but ymmv. (Btw, how old is the brother? From the story, I'd guess the brother is 20, tops, given that he's living at home, but he looks 40.)
3. Much like the character models, the MC's narrative is an almost too-realistic portrayal of the way teens are just amazed with themselves and the sheer weight of life. The soft, dramatic music and walls of text also make the character feel a little self-absorbed, but this might be intentional.
4. The character seems extremely (clinically) shy and inexperienced. Most corruption games do use the naivete trope, but she feels unnaturally timid for a game that seems to be shooting for hyperrealism everywhere else.
5. All the options during the sex scene were interesting. I think more games should explore sex encounters as moments with personality-defining choices, rather than simply a reward device to be executed as over-the-top as imagination allows.

Overall, I didn't find the main characters that interesting so far (as of Day 2) and the plot is a bit confusing and unbelievable (is the brother a kid with a suddenly exploding business? an established professional crashing at home during a rough patch? old or young? Why is the girl so shy? Why is the other girl so in love with the brother? I feel like I've overlooked key info). That said, there's a level of effort here that I respect, no matter how it lands, and perhaps the game will gain speed once the characters have talked themselves out a bit. (However, I don't usually see this level of effort sustained for more than a couple updates, so there's that to consider before downloading, as well.)

The game is only at the very beginning, but already has a good potential.

Pros:
1. The thoughts and feelings of the characters are written quite deeply and logically. And let someone say that it smacks of incest, which, most likely, will not happen. I will be pleased to see what will come out of this story of sister and brother, if, as the developer says, incest (direct sex between brother and sister) will not be in this game.
2. The second storyline, which, apparently, will not touch on the topic of incest and the relationship of the main characters to each other. After the appearance of Jill in the story, I got the feeling that there would be some kind of special storyline associated with her and the main character in the game. The scene at the end of the current version makes it clear that Jill wants something from Anna. I think it will be interesting.
3. Beautiful renders and animations. The quality of the renders here is on top, as well as the quality of the animations. I can't say more about it. Just super nice!
4. Realistic figures and bodies of men and girls. This is a plus for me, since I do not like overly curvy girls and typical beefy men. There are no problems with this, the characters look harmonious.

Minuses:
1. The emerging map and inventory. I am not a supporter of all these whims that lengthen the game and delay the long-awaited moments. I hope that in this case all these things will not confuse too much and it will be as pleasant to play as it is now.
2. I did not find any other minuses.

Outcome:
I can recommend this game to those who want to start a new story for themselves, which is quite interesting and of high quality, but at the same time is ready to wait for an update. Now there is not so much content, about an hour of play, if not winding, but ... it seems that everything is still ahead. At least I want to believe it.

Quite an enjoyable game with good sound effects (which is a rarity) and beautiful renders. The story started out quite interesting, although it's not clear where it will eventually go.

To a big plus, I can single out the quality of the characters, it is on the very high level here. Dialogues are also written very well and naturally.

The only downside is the size of the game, I guess. I would like more.

This is a great game!
The renders are very hot and tasteful, and I know the developer works very hard to bring content to it. It follows the story of a student that is discovering her passions and letting herself loose without the usual clichés.
Highly recommend!

This game is a side story set in the universe of my favourite game, The Last Enchantress: Revival (you should check it out ). I'm so excited to learn more about the lives of the characters from TLE I know and love and meet some new ones. And you know, this game probably has the most beautiful renders I've ever seen. The quality is simply stunning! You won’t be disappointed. And I love the way Nu’ar Studios included the quests journal and the character codex menus that are so amazing in TLE.

Lifelong Secret is very enjoyable even if you haven’t played TLE. The characters have deep and relatable personalities, and you can already make several meaningful choices, which makes the game even more impressive and adds replay value. I’m very excited to see where Anna’s story will lead her.

This VN looks like it has a lot of potential. The visuals are excellent and the MC seems good. There is a lot of content for an initial release/demo. There isn't much plot, but the characters are good. There are hints of some girl on girl action, and I'm looking forward to that.
The character models look great and the lighting is well done. The sex scene was very well executed.
The thing I worry about is the map section. It is not yet implemented, but a lot of games loose their pacing when they try to make the player search for the next story interaction on the map. It get tedious very quickly and kills the enthusiasm. I hope this VN doesn't fall into that pit.