VN - Ren'Py - Light of My Life [Ch.8 v0.8.2] [Naughty Road]

The second review I have done that gets a full five stars, and here's why!

The first thing a lot of people bring up is the unconventional look and style of the 3d characters. You may notice a lot of squirming as people attempt to describe the daughters as "not so pretty", but still pretty... don't give yourself the wrong impression with this though. The biggest shocker is that the two main characters are either original or so artfully modded as to seem original. You aren't going to find these girls just anywhere. They are also lovingly crafted in a number of poses and animations. Yes, a lot of the "tricks" are used to give this novel poses and animations but the attention to detail and production value is utterly amazing. Even though the loose interactions are made like a Paper Mario game with maybe six poses to choose from, both the poses and the simple keyframes are utilized perfectly. More complicated environmental interactions are built with gravity and with people having weight - a real nightmare compared to many other novels that simply turn a standing character 90 degrees to have them laying down. These complicated and weighted renders are then given tiny little motions for more depth along with camera travel which makes for fantastic scenes.

...Yep, play this novel and you can never unsee every other novel where characters have anti-gravity hair and clothing.

There is also the writing... oh my goodness, the writing! My apologies, but I have gotten so used to translated "Engrish". Look, it's hard enough to keep up the quality of writing when dealing with numerous branches to the story, but this stuff is amazing. It's not just a line by line recount of what is going on, the writing serves the production quality and the writer has a skill with using euphemisms and environment to further press the story. SOOOO many times I feel the need to point out to the girls (and the television they are watching at one point) that words matter, heh...

The writing also serves to make it all not feel wrong...

Look, I have a beautiful sister and I was adopted. That's a story seed for 90% of the VN's you'll find out there, but the truth is the thought of being intimate with my (not blood related) sister is pretty gross on a personal level. No matter how many times I search for incest porn, it doesn't change the fact that the reality is not so easy to make into something okay.

This VN though... The writing accurately builds the feelings that you as the MC has for his departed wife as well as the fatherly instincts for his two daughters. Simply discovering the depths of the heartbreak that these two girls have gone through is enough to make the choices you take as an MC make total sense. No guilt, simply a desire to love and protect.

Look, if you don't cry when both you and Macy talk about their individual perspectives of the mother's death, then you are obviously a soulless monster... go ahead and let it all out. Nobody will judge you.

So I eagerly await the next chapter, not just for the lovingly handcrafted sex scenes, but for some closure on these delightful characters suffering. Be prepared to care for a bunch of ones and zeros that have been made into people you genuinely give a shit about.

To me, as pornographic material, this visual novel does not "work as intended". That said, the rating of "poor" that I have given for this visual novel is based upon its merits as an adult visual novel, not as a visual novel in general.

In short, this is what it would be like if you took After Life and injected raunchy, morally questionable consequence laden narrative into it.

The quality of the renders is excellent, and while the stylization is novel and appealing in some instances, it is hideous in others. What is wrong with that? Nothing, from a perspective of realism. However, when trying to immerse yourself in an adult game, or adult visual novel, you do not want to be repulsed by the appearance of the characters you are supposed to find attractive, or to engage in sexual acts with. This sense of disgust also transgresses and permeates throughout the rest of the piece, although for different reasons.

While the writing is competent, plausible and thought-provoking, it makes you feel depressed and abhorred at the prospect of abusing your position. An example of this is in the opening, in which you are given exposition about the predicament you find yourself and your family in, it is a rather despondent and pessimistic one. Which, if this were intended to be a tragedian visual novel, would be perfectly acceptable, but as an adult visual novel? No, not at all. I should not feel disgusted and depressed, that is certainly not what I seek from this medium.

As a tragedian visual novel, with sublimating tweaks to the renders and writing, this could be a good, or excellent piece. Yet, as an adult visual novel, this is below average, or poor, because even the most average adult visual novel does not make me feel dejected or revolted at both the narrative and the visual characterization.

In closing, the developer is obviously skilled and dedicated, but I feel the core of this narrative would have been best told within a tragedian visual novel, devoid of the baggage of expectations that come with adult visual novels.

I dont know how i missed this one earlier but i am glad i found it.
The screenshots got me intrigued because i loved how the different ladies looked. Like people and not dolls with silly proportions.
I also appreciated the little details such as one the sexy ladies having a bit crooked teath and such imperfections helping me really immerse myself.
The only problem i have is with the "animations" that are pretty much just 2-3 frames.

Whle it works for breathing life into models by having them blink(loved that detail).
It was less appreciated and immersive when it came to the sex act itself. While i did still enjoy them they still felt a bit underwhelming
especially since i loved the renders(or should i say models?) so much.
I also enjoy how you can name pretty much everyone(although i only change MC's name) and even more so since here they use my newly discovered favorite of not showing the MC's face.
Which is incredible to my immersion which i am very attached to.

The sexy ladies drew me in but it was the writing that got me to stay through all content that is there right now(chap 4).
The polar opposites of the girls makes each day interesting or enjoyable and i love how they care for each other even when they argue.
Seeing that side of them makes me want to do everything in my power to love and care for them so we can all be happy.
I also enjoy the little daily things that both add to the immersion and heh, my enjoyment.
The atmosphere while being serious and dealing with grief and loss also manages to incredibly heartwarming and endearing.

I am definitely going to keep my eyes on this one and probably throw some many the creators way as another way to show my support and thanks this VN.
I also am having some nice fantasies of what the future might bring and this may be outside of the goal but the possibility of a harem would be nice.
They all deserve love and affection from the MC. But keep up the good work and if you can and also enjoyed this one please support the creator financially if you can. I really wanna see this one through.

Cheers!

Edit: Derp, just as i published this one i remembered that i also wanted to mention that i really enjoyed ALL office shenanigans very much.

The main issue with this game is pacing. While some will say that it's great how the story is slowly developing I'd say that it's the greatest weakness of the game.

The fact the game doesn't rush immediately into sexual content is not a problem, it's that over a year in development now and we still haven't gotten to any significant/major sexual content with the two daughters which are considered the main content of the game (the warning messages about locking yourself out of this content states as much).

While the writing is good as others have mentioned, it does have a repetitive nature that so many games/visual novels suffer from. The developer/writer has gone for a day by day breakdown which has repetitive scenes that slowly add new content/dialog, often not of that much value.

Having to select to knock or not knock on the bathroom door most mornings (which has no impact on anything to date) is just one example.

I also find for me personally the attempt at humour/comedy doesn't work with the overall tone of the game. The breaking of the 4th wall and talking about other visual novel games and the one office story line don't seem to fit the overall narrative.

The office story lines also seem more like a delaying action with sexual content to distract from the daughters than anything else. A tactic used by so many other games before this one.

This game could ultimately deliver in the end if it does an excellent job when it does start delivering more sexual content with the daughters, but it could just as easily be another game that abruptly gets an ending or gets abandoned altogether.

Perfect
Models are stunning, story progress slowly but surely.
The game is intuitive, no need to do and redo boring tasks.
The first time I see uncommon models like that.
Artwork is just genious.
Can't wait for story progress.
Congrats to the developper's work.

This is one of the Best written and most unique art style AVN that i have experienced.. It was truly a wonderful experience to follow along the story that the dev has prepared so far, and cant wait till his vision is finished!!

Light of my Life is in my top 5 AVN's this year...

A genuinely interesting game that- unlike many adult games, seems like it actually has something to say with its story. There are many people who seem to think it's funny to go off about the appearance of the characters when it's actually an intentional choice by the developers and plays into some of the game's motifs and doesn't take away from any of the story or the sex scenes themselves. I'm extremely excited to see where it's taken next.

Great game, good story with good character models. Hopefully there will be a lot more to come from the game over the course of it's development.
I'm not great with reviews so I am struggling to hit the word count, I just felt it deserved a rate from me.

• Real looking characters
• Art 100/10
• story line 100/10
• a mix of sugar and spice everywhere

Only visual novel I enjoyed reading line by line and the well fitting art to make it more beautiful.

Thank you.

The main characters remind me of stylized versions of Nora Attal or other women of Moroccan (and French-Moroccan, Pakistani-Moroccan, etc.) descent, combined with Spanish "gypsy" characteristics - really unique and georgeous looks.

The entire VN has stylized characters combined with unique and/or HD details; there was some real thought put behind the presentation of all characters and that does add a deeper level of identification with them for the player, IMHO.

The game mechanics are seriously top notch , including things such as simple eyelid and chest movements to impart a sense of living beings, subtle "live" background effects and rotoscoping layers. They have been very careful about clipping, believable poses, materials choices, lighting, scene quality, etc. and it really helps with immersion into the story. Even the use of custom fonts for each character label shows how deeply this work has been designed.

Wonderfully polished game with evolving personalities and extreme behaviors and actions that somehow stay contextually relevant in most cases (hey, it's an adult VN, so latitude is given). But, the proof of its greatness is in how we feel at the end of each chapter, IMHO: we want Denise's naivete to drive out everyone's inhibitions and somehow add to her confidence as a maturing woman, we are pulling for Macy to separate the deep love and passion that have fueled her inner turmoil and the MC is their grounding point who feels just as scared and lost - we want him to help provide the solid foundation for all of their growth, happiness and safety going forward ... despite pressures and weirdness around them (and behind them). They share a common history which defines their problems and path to happiness at the same time.

It's a fascinating story. It is very detailed with a lot of background but never boring or a lot of text to skip. And I love the graphics. You have to get used to the Appearance of the girls but it is very special and different from the usual 95%. Best game, I played here. Can't wait for chapter 5

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Edit:
Man, the wait for the latest update was excruciating, i almost gave up on it since it took a few weeks shy from a year, but damn was the wait worth it. Every character and story line got further developed, and in the best possible way. Macy and Denise are cute as ever, especially Macy, she is just too god damn beautiful, and her story was the one i was the most interested in, and the game did not disappoint, though it took some time to get there, and once it got there it definitely felt like the best was left for last. Absolutely amazing, cant wait to see more. If there is one thing that is terrible about the ending, it is the fact that the next update might be just as far away as this was.

What an amazing game and story, Macy and Denise are such cute characters, i was invested in them from the start. The writing is excellent, its probably the best i have seen so far, and im eagerly waiting for the next chapter because for now it ended just as things were finally getting interesting. Cant wait for more. I love the art style, especially Macy, she is so beautiful, she is definitely my favorite character, closely followed by Denise.

One of the best games out there. If you're at all on the fence, just give it a try.

The art style took a while for me to get into, but I quite like it now. The renders are excellent and it makes smart use of sprites which more games should do.

I quite like the recent addition of letting you choose options with the number keys as I use enter to advance text and now I don't have to keep moving my hand back to the mouse as I can just use the number pad. I hope this becomes a trend.

The story and prose are both excellent if you're into the daddy-daughter schtick.

My only real complaint is with the points system. If you read the walkthrough, it's clear the developer's intention is that you shouldn't need or even want one. However, I still feel like I do or I'm not going to get the results I want from characters where their points are more infrequent. I'd much prefer if the choices let me direct the story in a way which feels most interesting to me without making me feel like I have to make certain choices or risk missing content later. For example, why do I need to worry about love or anxiety points? Unless I'm a raging asshole, I obvious want to lower Denise's anxiety. And if I don't click that I want to avoid a character's scenes, I obviously want her love points. I think the game would benefit from removing all points entirely.

The only game that makes me always come back and see if there's an update for it or not. I really love the storytelling along with the slowly unfolding fabric of relation. The unique models of the girls also makes things different. So many generic models in so many games that it becomes boring and a stalemate after a while to look at. The characters of the girls are depicted very well also.

Great game with excellent visuals and storytelling. Anyone who values good writing should check this out. The dev is doing great work here. Can't wait for the next chapter. The girls may not be everyone's cup of tea but they weren't designed to be the cookie cutter model type you mostly see and that's a big plus in my book.

Probably my favorite porn game to date I absolutely love the models insanely unique, a very fun cast. I have played a lot of porn games and I loathe slow burns but this game might have perfected or the very least change my perspective on slow burn porn gams.

Finally, the sex scenes while there been a few sex scene not a single one of them were boring and the reason the fucking dialogue is hands down what makes this game so goddamn hot like the way naughtyroad handles the escalation of scenes in 100% the greatest way I have ever seen in a game it's not hj, bj, fj, then sex it's weird to describe but the way it feels in fun organic way makes this game. The first review I ever but I feel like I needed to do cause this game is fantastic.

It is an unique and great game. Character design is not the usual. It is kind of cartoonish which was strange at first but I used to it qiuckly then. Characters are good story is mysterious and engaging. Renders and animations are nice. Lewd scenes mostly teasing yet but it is quality work. I recommend if you want to try something new.

I almost didn't check this game out, Why? Because of the pic of the ladies involved. Not really up my alley I thought, not generic enough you might say. But then I did, because of the tags. Holy shit am I glad I did.
After three hours of playing I don't think I've had an erection yet (well, maybe a half-mast or two), and I don't care. This is nothing like the majority of games here (haven't played them all obviously, I do have a life), where you play'em for the fap and everything else is a bonus. This is a story. A REAL story.
With amazing artwork (those kinda unatractive girls on the frontpage? Shit, they're so beautiful once you get to know them, once you get to really see them) and an artstyle that looks like nothing else. And the dialogues ... they actually feel real! And the music - yeah, a bit generic, but it works, and when did you play a game of this type that actually had decent music and sounds in it? The exhausted dad ... the quirky girls, their situation ... I actually care about these people, deeply. I really don't want this story to end but if it does I sure it is a happy one. These characters deserve it. Please don't let this one be tagged as "abandoned" in a year or so, we all owe it to ourselves to see this story to the end.

Nice story, playable without a walkthrough. I like the possibility to remain in the two girls path only. The characters are a little bit "strange", but after some minute you are addicted to this game