VN - Ren'Py - Lost Solace [Ch.1 v0.1.1] [SakuraKage]

I want to give this a 5* for what is there currently, but the over use of animations hurts the playability bad. There is no reason there should be a 10 second long animation where nothing is happening for every couple lines of dialogue, it probably triples the playtime for no reason.

Regardless, well written, interesting setting (although could use a little more background, especially being the first chapter), models are good, and player choice so far is more flavor than story impact. I would suggest playing this

Tremendous quality so far!
I'm intrigued by how fast this story caught my eye. Eye-catching story (so far), beautiful models, good characters, good story pacing, and good main character writing. This one will be a great game to watch as the story unfolds. Let's see how the dev will build the upcoming update.

Really high quality game and for once with very well designed main character (unfortunately it's very rare in porn VNs). Renders are great, characters are intriguing and well written and all in all it's one of the best debuts I've seen. There aren't any spicy sex scenes as of now but we get enough teasing for you know what. All in all it's a game worth watching and I can't wait for the next update.

One of the best starts to any game ever. Super intriguing story, incredible writing, gorgeous visuals, and interesting characters. The pacing is amazing and it just pulls you into the story from the get go. Some LIs seem too interested in the MC at first glance but in the context of the story and their intentions, it makes sense. I really can't find one single fault with it. The wait for the next update is gonna be torture

Lots of promise. Some things are contrived for the sake of getting to the new setting and have things make sense.

MC is a pro-killer, but makes a rookie mistake, then...suddenly a bunch of armed men come out of nowhere to end the chapter...? Oh boy that was bad.

If things keep up, this'll be great. If it keeps getting more and more contrived with women just jumping onto him (like the blond at the start that went nowhere, the random glasses girl literally jumping on him, the waitress just suddenly warming up to him topless), this'll go downhill, very fast.

Let's count the number of potential organized crime groups in the future.

1. Find a good balance between plot and world building. More sophisticated background/setup would work.
2. Give characters their own voice.
3. Stop women jumping on this guy.

There's a few things that prevents me from giving this one 5 stars, first the lighting in some scenes looks a bit off, like it's cloudy and I don't know if that's the intention since other scenes look nice. The tiny burglar girl and the red head are cute but they could use a bit more time, specially the read head since she gave in a bit fast compared to the other girls. Putting that aside the writing is very inviting, the dialogue of the LI are believable and the camera angles used are dynamic, the music does the job nicely and there's seems to be a good amount of branching to get some good replayability for when it get's done, hope it does, this dev is a big promise.

Amazing stuff so far. Models look good. story is interesting. Characters seem distinct, Pacing is fast but not confusing or hectic. Just feels like a very coherent, well made project. I hope the future updates continue to show that.

For a demo, I think there's a lot of content here.
We'll see what happens next. There aren't many tags yet, but I wouldn't say that's a big minus for me .
The cons, perhaps, are more subjective. 4/5.
Great start.

Starts off with an absolute bang! Writing is very well done. Renders are spectacular.
MC is a mysterious character with a background not yet revealed to us, but clearly with some kind of militaristic background. We don't know yet what his goal is but along the way he is clearly here to slay the bad guys save the damsels. This one is gonna be a hit!

For now, the only gripes I have are that for one, the main protagonist has main character privilege where the LIs are attaracted to him like flys on honey. And there are a few cases where one character speaks and the wrong name pops up. Both of these things are minor and don't hinder the story in any major capacity. In fact, for some people, having the LIs fawn over the protagonist could be good since it means there is less wasted time before lewd stuff.
Now for the good. So far, the writing is decent. There are little to no spelling errors and having the protagonist be morally grey without him being a chode is also nice. I hope this gets more attention because I think it deserves more popularity.

Version reviewed: 0.1 (Demo)

Wow. So much more than a demo. Incredible start to an amazing story, with varied love interests (both personality and appearance).

Girls are attractive and many have a realistic look to them that is hard to describe. Makes them feel so much more believable as characters.

MC is mature, a breath of fresh air from all the college boy AVNs. He is driven and acts like an adult.

Renders are great. Lots of depth of field. Realistic backgrounds. Animations are good. Not amazing, but plenty good enough.

Story is well paced and hooked me immediately. Very well written, balancing character development with story development with a twist of mystery. Hints here and there, giving you breadcrumbs rather than spelling things out clearly.

I keep a personal log of AVNs with a rating and review. I've reviewed a bit over 170 titles, and this is one of 25 that I've marked as a "favorite." So high praise and hopes for the future of this AVN!

Lost Solace is an incredible game with an engaging storyline that kept me hooked from beginning to end. The writing is top-notch, and the pacing of the plot is just right. I’m especially impressed with the character development—every personality feels distinct and well thought out. I'm particularly intrigued by the mysterious woman with purple hair; there's clearly a lot more to her than meets the eye, and I can't wait to learn more about her background and motivations. This game is shaping up to be something truly special, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next episode!

An interesting story, incredible textures, waiting for more.
Visually, it stands out for its incredible textures. Each setting is carefully designed, and the details in the backgrounds and characters reflect the effort behind the art. There's a balance between aesthetics and functionality, and that's appreciated when you spend so much time reading and observing.

There's a solid amount of content here for a demo, and it's shaping up to be something promising. The plot is engaging, the renders are high quality, and the dialogue is well written. The love interests introduced so far are visually stunning, although most aren't deeply developed yet. That will likely change as the story progresses. This is definitely worth checking out.

Lots of content for only a "Demo" I'd consider this Ep 1 or a Prologue

anyways story looks interesting, LI's look decent. I'm intrigued and will be watching

starting with 3 stars for the demo might move up if Dev keeps up the good looking AVN so far

Lost Solace – A Demo That Feels Like the Real Deal

Wow, what can I say—Lost Solace really blew me away. Calling this a “demo” almost feels unfair, because it already delivers a level of polish and depth that you’d expect from a full release of the first chapter of the story.

First off, the renders are absolutely stunning. Every scene looks carefully crafted, with lighting and detail that really bring the world to life. But visuals alone don’t make a great AVN—thankfully, Lost Solace also delivers a compelling story. It’s clear and engaging, but still leaves just enough mystery to make you want to keep clicking, eager to uncover what’s really going on beneath the surface.

The soundtrack also deserves a shoutout. The music fits each moment perfectly, helping set the tone whether the scene is tense, emotional, or intimate. It’s a small detail, but one that really adds to the overall experience.

Sure, no story is ever truly finished or perfect—there’s always room to grow—but as far as first impressions go, Lost Solace comes charging out of the gate with confidence and style. Easily a 5/5 from me, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Wow, what an incredible start! This is a top-tier VN. The production quality is outstanding, every character is engaging and all the girls are beautiful. The story is full of mystery that immediately pulls you in and keeps you hooked. The MC is a total chad, but with depth—he’s got his own flaws and struggles, which makes him even more compelling. There’s never a dull moment. For a first release (v0.1), this is seriously impressive. I’m eagerly looking forward to more. Great job, dev!

This is an absolutely fantastic game for a first release. It says it's a demo but it's at least a couple of hours gameplay. The story is interesting. All the characters including the MC are intriuging, different and have depth. Visually it looks amazing with impressive animations and even the writing is really good. The conversation and dialogue feels realistic and flows well. Nice music. The choices I'm sure will have impact in the future. I'm excited to continue playing this especially with a wonderfully cruel nailbiting cliffhanger. Would 100% recommend!

I think that is the best Demo or first release i have ever played.
Regardless of the genre.
The translation into English is incredibly good and easy to understand.
The story is exciting and entertaining.
Your decisions have an impact on the story. And the mini games are well integrated, as are the tasks.
The main character looks a little too old, but that seems to be intentional.
The characters look very well done as well as the environments and animations.

VERSION: Demo
SUMMARY: Very Impressive, especially for initial game.
RATINGS: (out of 5):

NOTE: The following categories and scoring method are my own criteria and may require more context. Additionally, scoring is based on the state, and what is in the current version and not what may or may not be.

1. Model Visuals..................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. General Visuals................... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Animation Quality................. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. Character (Persona)............... : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. Story Quality & Pacing............ : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Writing Quality & Dialogue........ : ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. UI & Game-play Mechanics...........: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Playtime & General Quality.........: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Sounds & Music.....................: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. H-Content & Fetishes.............. : ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Average: 46 of 50 possible points giving a 92% rating i.e. 4-5 stars.

PROS:

1. LI's are pretty good looking and have good proportions, but...see cons.
2. Music is fitting to the scenes and well picked.
3. General sounds like gun shots are present, fairly impressive too.
4. Immersive ambient sounds are a nice touch.
5. Lewd scene sounds are very good.
6. General cinematic, those not of lewd nature are fairly decent and I like the little details like blinking eyes etc.
7. Animations are impressive, character interactions mesh up nicely and effort was clearly made. Effects are great, subtle but great.
8. Writing is structured and reads well.
9. Dialogue is good, solid script and writing.
10. Story is interesting and has me intrigued even if it has predictable elements.
11. UI interface settings have a nice unique but clear style, all the options you can want are there including opacity settings.

CONS:

1. I find the character faces often tend to look similar, the difference is not enough for the LIs, the first 3 or 4 you meet have similar faces and skin and kinda look a bit "plain" unremarkable.
2. Mini-games are not something I enjoy really in a VN, but the option to not play them is included at the start. So not really a CON but I am listing it here.
3. Tags need some updating, again not a CON, just something thats missing.
4. MC looks fairly decent, but a bit young IMO for an assassin and the skills we witness, this is not a CON either, again just listing it here as something I put a ? behind, but still well within tolerance
5. Some dialogue can use revision, nothing major but I picked up on at least one sentence where Gemma talks to the MC and uses you instead of yourself. Spelling bear instead of bare, simple mistakes but there could be more.
6. Some LI faces are a bit plain and lack complexion or could do with a little more make up. This is not a deal breaker, but its noticeable.

FINAL REMARKS, OPINIONS & SUGGESTIONS:

NOTE: The following remarks are my personal opinions and thoughts, which may provide more context and could be useful to the developer.

• Naming the MC is all good and well, but I couldn't help but notice the default name is, at least where I come from, a woman's name. Though I know there are cases where such name could be used interchangeably between male and female, its more known as female. Not an issue, just observation really, and it can be changed.
• I immediately disabled mini-games so I can't speak as to how good or bad they are, and I really couldn't care less about them. They usually end up as time waster or button smasher and have no additional meaning to the game. As long as the mini-games don't hold exclusive scenes or extra content (which I believe is the case here) I would safely ignore them.
• Regarding some LIs being very ordinary and boring in their appearance. As I said, not a deal breaker, but e.g. Gemma to me has a face that doesn't fit the body, her face looks a bit too plain maybe even "mousy" its compounded by the lack of complexion or makeup. I feel Dora is a bit better, but she too could use some colour, her face fits at least unlike Gemma. Again, my opinions but I like to think I have good taste The longer you play the more you notice the freckles and heart shaped face with similar features. This too me was rather noticeable and a bit unfortunate considering the quality of the VN.
• Eventually a walkthrough mod would be ideal for those who wish to follow the clear paths for the VN, I tend to like having clear lines of where I will end up simply because I dislike replays where I need to go back and forth to experience scenes and story I have not before.

TLDR:

I normally never give a 5 rating as that would be perfect, but this game I feel is a strong candidate to a 5 at the very least 4-4.5 stars. It has all the makings of a very good VN, ticking the boxes of most requirements (mostly mine obviously)

The quality and details and how its put together are top tier and this should be a standard that all adult VNs should try to measure up to.

The only gripe I have so far are the unremarkable LI faces, which are rather plain or too similar to one another. NOTE: Not all, but most.

I am hoping the developer keeps to the quality and we can expect fairly regular content updates i.e. more than once a year...
I highly recommend this VN and to support it if you can, I will review this in the future and see if there are any improvements etc. Well done!