VN - Ren'Py - Lycoris Radiata [Ch.7 Public] [Kuro]

I'm gonna start with what i think most already got from the description, the screenshots, and even the name:
This one wants to be edgy.

And the start ticked every box:
Memory Loss? Check. Taken in by some master assassin / martial artist who's just training the next badass killer without ever talking about feelings? Check. Secretly Heir to some magical secret? Check. Is somehow always in danger due to that secret? Check. Decides to keep his identity hidden and do some secret agent stuff? Check. Rude to every guy and all the girls weirdly take his side? Check. I could go on.

Gotta be honest, i nearly dropped it 10 minutes in. The things above, coupled with a typo here and there, nothing creative happening, and just really nothing redeeming it.

So, if you're in the same boat as me, give it a bit more time. As evidenced by my rating, it has a lot more to give.
For me, it started when the people around our edgy MC who hasn't known Love or Friendship are made aware of this - and try to help him. This is not the usual Celebration of strength and power above all else. Everyone here has their problems, including the MC. And no one is able to overcome them by themselves. Which makes the Characters all the more human and believable.

The novel does a few other things right. Keeping the air of mystery, by feeding us snippets. That don't go anywhere yet, but are starting to connect. Slowly. Like it should. This also ties in wonderfully with the Characters, because they are being given time to flesh out. To take some decisions themselves.

There's also some creativity sprinkled in, at a place i did not expect it, and have rarely seen it so far: in how to approach the characters. We are not only given choices on who we want to pursue, but also how we want to pursue them. Which is ... ambitious, and great if it works out. I'm also somewhat worried this will impact the development speed negatively. But let's wait and see on that.

There's a couple more things i like here, for example how weird and stupid things somehow get with the "extended" family. Or the beautiful visual design. And i don't mean the characters here. The rooms, the emblems, the clothes.

But lets tie it all together. I went in, expecting something edgy. Something ... mid.
What you should be expecting is a weak, formulaic start, that pretty quickly gives way to something else. Something that's still a bit edgy, definitely influenced by anime, and something quite human. Something good.

I really love this game. It has a fascinating story and settings. And I like the humour in dialogues.
I also have something to say about MC's personality. From the player's pov, I have to admit that MC truly is a little rude and egoisetic. But he has his principles. He wants to be away from his family knowing that he isn't the right one they need and he will only bring them dangers. Has MC ever hurt any of the LIs out of his own volition? Never.
More than one person has said MC isn't worthy any of his LIs. But I have a different opinion about this. MC has no crush on any girls except Luna so far. Where does this whole worthwhile talk come from for someone who doesn't want to have a romantic relationship with those girls at all? Love doesn't come out of nowhere. That's why I'll be patient and let the story play out.
And from the writer's pov, I think an MC with more character flaws is more charming than an MC who is kind, polite and perfect from the beginning. I'd love to see him grow and overcome his defects with the love of his family and friends.

Review of the story up to chapter 3, part 2

I hate this fucking MC, he's such a big baby. He thinks he's so tough, but he's mostly pathetic. So, no, this is no game for me. I can stand, and really love, the MC being a devil in any sense, but this is so bad. I want to wanna be the MC in the games I play, but here I only want to kill him. Still there are a lot of others that like this, so don't feel bothered about my opinion.

Only good are the renders, but doesn't help to raise my 1* to 2*.

I still wish you good luck game and please try to make the MC a little sympatic. Now he isnn't worthy any of his LIs. They are interesting at least. But the lewd scene was really, really bad.

I have to admit I diidn't finish playing the last part but I didn't have any feeling that the story were getting better. So when I say Chapter 3, part 2 in the beginning it isn't excactly true because of the reason that I mentioned. I couldn't finish as there were some things that made me cringe too much.

This game definitely impressed me, I wish the author every success with it. The renders are good, the story is interesting, the characters don't let you get bored. Considering that the game is still in the very early stages of development it shows a huge, really huge potential.

Probably has the best looking MC in any honey select game. The girls look great. Lot of new assets I havent seen in a HS game before. The plot is pretty intriguing and interesting. The writing is pretty good. Looking forward to the future.

I am really enjoying the story and the plot in general at this point. The characters are developing slowly, but that is part of what makes a good novel. I anticipate this being fairly long. I hope the dev keeps up the good pacing and is able to ramp up the sexual content in a natural unforced way. Really good start for a second release.

Liked the start and story buildup. Keep the curret pace. I'm completely okay with no sexual contents. I want a good story plot. And the game got a nice plot but from the overview we may get the false assumption this is similar to many other games but it's not similar to them. I'm glad dev is making a good story driven novel. And he gives importance to character relationship buildup. So yeah really liked the first version. Hoping the game won't get abandoned. Looking forward to next updates

It may be better in the future, at the moment it needs a better script, the characters are still not completely convincing and the renders are somewhat grainy, but if it improves that we can be in the presence of a great novel.

I like the idea of changing the conventionality of the stories a bit, it is still very early but I will give it my vote of confidence. I hope in the next updates more concepts will be explored or those raised will be deepened.