Love or Lust: Divine Proclivity [v0.2.3a]
TL;DR: in the current version, there is not an awful lot to do and you’ll blast through the content in a couple of hours, but what is here is surprisingly wholesome whilst also having elements that are very kinky (albeit quite vanilla). Give it a try for a pleasant experience, and forgive the sudden “upgrade” in renders (which has its own story explanation) which might throw you for a loop
Gameplay - Sandbox (minimal grind)
In terms of the overall sandbox experiences, there is very little grinding to do in this VN. Currently, Luna, Sol and Alice are the only characters who require a bit of extra interaction before you’re able to progress through their story. However, the stories of each character overlap with each other, so you may find yourself blocked from progressing with a particular character until you progress along another one’s storyline.
It is not entirely clear what some of these stat points actually do (besides the level, which is for story progress), but this game is very early in development so this isn’t exactly surprising. Don’t be too put off by it being a sandbox in RenPy, as it’s more to allow the player some personal agency in whom they pursue and how the storyline progresses.
Story - Simple but Straightforward
As harem stories go, this isn’t exactly difficult to work with; two goddesses have an argument and then have a bet over which is more important in life, lust or love, and the MC is part of a created universe that will act as the deciding factor. This means that (in the future), the player/reader gets to decide if they wanna be a total horndog, a wholesome bean, or wherever inbetween, along the way interacting with an increasing (up to 10, excluding the Envoys of the Goddesses) number of characters (currently all female).
The storyline is easy to follow, is decently written (bar a few spelling mistakes here and there), and each character has their own particular story to tell as they start to open up (in more ways than one). I found myself becoming quickly attached to these characters, but I do have a bias for wholesome content, so your experience may vary.
Characters - Few (for now) but Diverse
As of the latest build, there are currently five characters in the harem, with one more having just been introduced (discounting side characters, such as the Goddesses), each having their own introduction sequence allowing one to familiarize with each of them. Whilst this isn’t exactly a lot, the game is still in early development and it makes up for this largely due to the fact that each character has their own story (with Sol and Luna’s story being interwoven). There is very little drama or conflict between these characters, besides some good-natured ribbing, and they feel very believable in their interactions with each other and the MC.
While the female characters who are added to the harem seem oddly pliable in their ability to adapt to the absurd situation of a “wager between goddesses that involves falling in love and/or fucking a single guy”, it is rather human to accept the absurd as normal when there’s no other alternatives (yes, it’s also human to lash out, refuse to accept reality, etc., etc., but we don’t need more of that shit in the things we do for fun in our break from our own reality). That is not to say that each character doesn’t carry their own baggage, lingering thoughts on those they left behind or a crisis of identity, which doesn’t necessarily feel as if it was added to drive the story forward and helps the reader sympathize and bond with the character(s).
Lewdness - Varying Frequency
In line with the story of this VN, how often you encounter sex scenes depends on your personal preference. There isn’t much in the way of this divergence yet, as currently only one character (Sarah) has the potential to be either lust- or love-driven, but it is implied for future women that will be added down the line. This is not to say you will completely be locked out from lewd scenes if you go down the love path, or locked out from wholesome scenes if you go down the lust path, but it will lock you out of certain scenes requiring a replay (again, very early in development, so currently not quite there yet).
There are repeatable scenes, all of which are animated, which can be done once you progress a certain amount in that character’s personal story. There are some unique scenes however that cannot be replayed/reviewed (a number of scenes with Lina, for example), so hopefully this will change in the future if/when the developer decides to implement a more universal replay/gallery function.
Artstyle - Honey Select (1 then 2) Renders
So currently this VN uses the first version of Honey Select renders and then later “upgrades” to the sequel’s version. Currently, the storyline actually explains why there is a switchover, as the established universe gets improved as a sort of favour from the Goddess of Creation. It is a little jarring, however, to have associated names with faces, only then for those faces to be almost completely changed and thus seem like entirely new people (e.g. Lina feels like a completely different person and loses most of her tattoos, although this is somewhat explained away in terms of storytelling).
As the VN is still in it’s (admittedly) early stages, it could be a way for the developer to explain their decision to change without having to go back and redo all the scenes instead of focusing on releasing new content (since I have seen a number of players be turned away from revisions/remasters early in development, as it’s typically a sign of stagnation). As such I would suggest any readers/players to keep in mind “it be like that, sometimes”.
Sound - N/A (as of writing)
The VN uses no audio of any kind, so whilst your eardrums won’t be blown out, you may want to find your own suitable background music for your reading experience.
TL;DR: in the current version, there is not an awful lot to do and you’ll blast through the content in a couple of hours, but what is here is surprisingly wholesome whilst also having elements that are very kinky (albeit quite vanilla). Give it a try for a pleasant experience, and forgive the sudden “upgrade” in renders (which has its own story explanation) which might throw you for a loop
Gameplay - Sandbox (minimal grind)
In terms of the overall sandbox experiences, there is very little grinding to do in this VN. Currently, Luna, Sol and Alice are the only characters who require a bit of extra interaction before you’re able to progress through their story. However, the stories of each character overlap with each other, so you may find yourself blocked from progressing with a particular character until you progress along another one’s storyline.
It is not entirely clear what some of these stat points actually do (besides the level, which is for story progress), but this game is very early in development so this isn’t exactly surprising. Don’t be too put off by it being a sandbox in RenPy, as it’s more to allow the player some personal agency in whom they pursue and how the storyline progresses.
Story - Simple but Straightforward
As harem stories go, this isn’t exactly difficult to work with; two goddesses have an argument and then have a bet over which is more important in life, lust or love, and the MC is part of a created universe that will act as the deciding factor. This means that (in the future), the player/reader gets to decide if they wanna be a total horndog, a wholesome bean, or wherever inbetween, along the way interacting with an increasing (up to 10, excluding the Envoys of the Goddesses) number of characters (currently all female).
The storyline is easy to follow, is decently written (bar a few spelling mistakes here and there), and each character has their own particular story to tell as they start to open up (in more ways than one). I found myself becoming quickly attached to these characters, but I do have a bias for wholesome content, so your experience may vary.
Characters - Few (for now) but Diverse
As of the latest build, there are currently five characters in the harem, with one more having just been introduced (discounting side characters, such as the Goddesses), each having their own introduction sequence allowing one to familiarize with each of them. Whilst this isn’t exactly a lot, the game is still in early development and it makes up for this largely due to the fact that each character has their own story (with Sol and Luna’s story being interwoven). There is very little drama or conflict between these characters, besides some good-natured ribbing, and they feel very believable in their interactions with each other and the MC.
While the female characters who are added to the harem seem oddly pliable in their ability to adapt to the absurd situation of a “wager between goddesses that involves falling in love and/or fucking a single guy”, it is rather human to accept the absurd as normal when there’s no other alternatives (yes, it’s also human to lash out, refuse to accept reality, etc., etc., but we don’t need more of that shit in the things we do for fun in our break from our own reality). That is not to say that each character doesn’t carry their own baggage, lingering thoughts on those they left behind or a crisis of identity, which doesn’t necessarily feel as if it was added to drive the story forward and helps the reader sympathize and bond with the character(s).
Lewdness - Varying Frequency
In line with the story of this VN, how often you encounter sex scenes depends on your personal preference. There isn’t much in the way of this divergence yet, as currently only one character (Sarah) has the potential to be either lust- or love-driven, but it is implied for future women that will be added down the line. This is not to say you will completely be locked out from lewd scenes if you go down the love path, or locked out from wholesome scenes if you go down the lust path, but it will lock you out of certain scenes requiring a replay (again, very early in development, so currently not quite there yet).
There are repeatable scenes, all of which are animated, which can be done once you progress a certain amount in that character’s personal story. There are some unique scenes however that cannot be replayed/reviewed (a number of scenes with Lina, for example), so hopefully this will change in the future if/when the developer decides to implement a more universal replay/gallery function.
Artstyle - Honey Select (1 then 2) Renders
So currently this VN uses the first version of Honey Select renders and then later “upgrades” to the sequel’s version. Currently, the storyline actually explains why there is a switchover, as the established universe gets improved as a sort of favour from the Goddess of Creation. It is a little jarring, however, to have associated names with faces, only then for those faces to be almost completely changed and thus seem like entirely new people (e.g. Lina feels like a completely different person and loses most of her tattoos, although this is somewhat explained away in terms of storytelling).
As the VN is still in it’s (admittedly) early stages, it could be a way for the developer to explain their decision to change without having to go back and redo all the scenes instead of focusing on releasing new content (since I have seen a number of players be turned away from revisions/remasters early in development, as it’s typically a sign of stagnation). As such I would suggest any readers/players to keep in mind “it be like that, sometimes”.
Sound - N/A (as of writing)
The VN uses no audio of any kind, so whilst your eardrums won’t be blown out, you may want to find your own suitable background music for your reading experience.