VN - Ren'Py - Completed - LustyVerse: Shackbang [Final] [Inceton Games]

This game, or at least this first part is about as close to solid as you can probably get.

All of the characters are incredibly distinct, the main character is likeable in that he has an actual backbone and is willing to ask questions of people/assume control of situations when necessary. The LIs are all unique and have actual personalities. I've seen other people complaining about the character writing and dialogue but honestly compared to the other games of this developer I've played these felt the most like actual people.

The renders and animation are top notch. Given who is making these games I wouldn't be surprised if voice acting is introduced at some point down the line, but even if not this game looks as good as you can get.

And most importantly, the plot. The writing for this game is the only time I've been genuinely intrigued by a story being told in a game from this site. So much so I felt compelled to write this as my first review. The concept is strong, there's a good amount of content and it's very well paced. I do agree that in terms of choices it feels somewhat limited at the moment but I don't think this is an inherently bad thing.

So why only 4*?

Now I can't judge the intention of this, and I hesitate to comment too much on it, but in the latter part of the current version, there's one moment that really threw me off and disrupted my enjoyment of the game due to what feels like NTR. I don't think this is going to be a thing going forward due to the circumstances (Ls phone) but it was completely unexpected up to that point and the reaction of the character felt very similar to cuckold plotlines. It is technically avoidable, but given the plot significance I don't think that you will be able to within the context of the next part, so for anyone that doesn't like this aspect of seeing the LIs with other characters this might be an issue.

I think it's probably nothing more than a plot point, but given the genuinely surprising inclusion of it I can't really tell what else the developer plans to do in the future, and there are no "planned" or future tags as of writing this.

"Meh" is the perfect word to describe this game so far. The renders are above average overall unless it's dark in the scenes then it goes downhill pretty fast. The writing is so dull it's actually quite impressive that someone managed to make a dialogue this boring. There are some random sex scenes with no build up that feel out of place and are just there because "you need to have sex scenes in 0.1 to gain interest" or at least that's what it feels like. This is just another cookie cutter Inceton game so if you played stuff from this dev before, you know what to expect. Also this dev has tendency to add "technically not *** because of some made up reason" kind of scenes if you know what I mean so I'd be carefull about that.

Worst Inceton game I've ever played by far.

Models are not that hot, writing is bad, plot is not interesting. Truly there's nothing good in this. Even the lighting seems made by someone who's making his first VN. Inceton Games may have some flaws, but in many aspects (as the ones I highlighted) they are usually great (not so much in writing I admit). But this just doesn't seem like an Inceton game, it's more like a side-studio project signed by Inceton.

It is as generic and uninspiring as 99% of the games in this forum. I'm really disappointed with this 'lustyverse'. Don't play this, it's not worth.

The mystery in the plot is really good, however of comic and lewd moments is terrible, the writer didn't do a good job at making casual conversations, jokes and flirting natural.

As for the characters, all of them look really good, the 3D modeling is excellent, same with the facial expressions, visually there is nothing to say about it. However, again the writing of the characters is bad. All of them are annoying, none of the girls had a personality I like, all of them are annoying, disrespectful and childish, and not just the girls, the protagonist included. Literally all the characters are assholes, not even the "roommate", who is supposed to be kinda the "main girl" is actually likeable. Also the relationships with the two girls are too artificial, they are not developed, they just start to bang all the sudden with no emotional development. They look good, but you need to have characters with relationship development and charismatic personalities, otherwise I would've gone to pornhub instead of a visual novel game, if I just wanted to see photorealistic characters having sex.

Another thing is that it seems that none of the few choices to make matter at all. You can't choosing who you want to be involved with and who you don't, you can't choose anything to say regarding the "body issue", you are just forced to go with the script, you can't choose how the mc will behave, so that kinda kills the purposes of having choices, and the gets even worse when the characters' personalities, dialogs and relationships are not interesting.

That's why I give it 2 stars, because even though it doesn't have a good script, meaningful choices or likeable characters, it has good graphics and good lewd scenes and a mystery plot that keeps you going instead of just quitting the game. I don't give it 3 because it was a pain to keep going, it made me want to keep most of the dialogs, and the only thing that keep me from skipping or just quitting was the mystery part, as I have already said. If I just wanted to see realistic figures and sex scenes, I would have watched porn, after all, real pornactresses are the most realistic graphics you can get, and it has way better sex scenes, so a Visual Novel should be more than that in order to be at least average.

I hope the developer actually puts more depth, development and charisma into the characters on the next builds. then maybe it would become a decent game and have more stars.

Review of Part 1

Art 4/5: The art is fairly high quality, as are the animations, even if some parts are still a bit too robotic. Also some clothes look a bit weird in some scenes.

Models: 3/5 It doesn't really have a stand out hot character, they are all fairly attractive but none very memorable. Except maybe the one with areolas that can put baloney to shame (not in a positive way).

Story: 2/5 I don't really care about the story, it's not good enough for me to recommend others to read everything. The only part that matters is: you go to a cabin with hot girls, then it is sexy time, then you go play in sand.

Gameplay: 3/5 It feels more like a kinetic novel than a VN because there are limited choices and a lot of forced content.
And unless you like seeing a LI naked with another dude, do not choose L's Phone, pick progress instead. (pretty much the only choice that matters?)

Scenes: 3/5 nothing really memorable, they feel unrewarding since they are forced on you. It has pretty hot fragments, but then usually also boring and skippable stuff. Also not really a fan of the porn star cum shots.