VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Mad World [Release 4.1.0 WIP] [Smoke Mob Games]

Pros:

One of the best plots in the site, way better than it seems when you start it.

Really good renders/sex scenes, way better than what the game ''homepage'' makes you think it is

Enough content for hours

Cons: Very litte choice and consequence yet, besides flavor.

Strongly recommend it

Just, wow. I only recently found out about the game and figured I'd give it a go. And oh boy am I glad that I did! Not only does this game have beautiful and interesting characters. But it also has an incredibly deep story with solid dialogue. For anyone that hasn't had a chance to play the game, I'd definitely recommend trying it out. You're in for quite a treat!

This game is as good as a fantasy game can get. Great premise, story to follow that and great characters.
The plot flows at a decent pace to not feel bored, and the dev has written a lot of lore to actually make it interesting.
In spite of the harem tag, there is no mindless sex, so I respect that.
Really liking Eva as a LI, she is my fav till now.

this game is a hidden gem, its amazing, its something you do not even know you need until you boot it up. this isnt a generic porn game where you go around doing mindless tasks to get into someone's panties.

this game is an actual story, with amazing and unique characters you can almost see as real people, not just a pair of tits and a generic face.

i installed it thinking its just another smash sim with random people i wont be able to name 20 seconds after seeing them, but i ended up with a deep and amazing story, with a great potential for expansion, with tons of likeable characters. MC is not your generic guy either, there is no ass-pull everything ends up great kind of thing, he has a personality, makes mistakes, and understands he does. cant wait to see how this story ends, and the journey it takes

This game is awesome as hell, play the first 2 chapters, but don't expect it won't get better from there, for me it really started going from good to really great in chapter 3, i haven't even started chapter 4 yet, cuz i know it will be that awesome, so saving it for the right moment to play.

Try it and please support him if you like it. I will too ; )

v4.0.1
This game is great, amazing even. There's something I dislike though, the early animations. They could definitely be better, and I'm sure they'll be improved soon, judging by the quality on the last chapter's. I'd also like to point out the lack of flavour text while the animations are on the run. Aside from that it's quite the incredible.
I guess the slow release speed also qualifies as something I dislike, though if we only take into account the number of chapters and compare it with the amount of content, it's quite a lot per each of them.
The scenes themselves are incredible, the setups, mood, ambience and music are just way too good, only held back by what I mentioned above, the not so good animations that lack the flavour text to accompany them, they're in general short loops with little text that have a harder time getting you there.
The story, very well done as well, one of the select group that I can honestly say caught my entire interest. It has steady and well proportionate progress, you see the whole thing unfold slowly but surely.
Dialogues, no complaints, they're mature, interesting, with the right amount of funny to not be overbearing nor cringe, and the grammar is top notch, barely any errors.
The characters and the interactions between them feel real, they're unique, with tastes, dislikes, troubles and all, not just unidimensional dolls that barely emanate any semblance of life.
Really, it's an amazing game, I could four star this, but the good is just way too good for some less than good animations taking away one star.
This game is an absolute recommendation, truly.
I can't wait to see what's next.

Yeah, this game just isn't fun to play. The visuals are AAA-tier for this genre, the women are hot and the rare fuck scenes have good angles and such, the plot is pretty good....

But it just feels like a long roller coaster for elderly crippled people with dementia. Stuff just kind of...happens. More stuff happens, then there's a time skip for whatever reason, some more stuff happens, oh look we're having sex now....ok time skip...some stuff....oh no that's the end of this version. Nothing connects all the scenes together in a meaningful way and the worst part is that it doesn't go anywhere. There are all these gorgeous characters with good motivations but they're tossed into scenes that in no way make sense.

What takes this from "meh it wasn't for me" to "I actively fucking loathe this game" is when these random stitched together sequences start using extreme personal drama to trick me into caring when I actually don't. I do not believe suicide, burnout, depression, alcoholism, etc etc have business being used with anything but the utmost care and delicacy. And it's not in Mad World, at all. It's not fair to manipulate me when there's no solid ground to hold it up, and for that this game sucks shit.

I think eighteen years from now when the game is complete there will be more of a basis for these themes, but you can't inject this into an unfinished product that updates slowly. If you're going to do it, put the entire arc in at once or just don't release the game until you have.

5* !!! DON'T SKIP THIS GAME!! LIGHT SPOILERS!! CHAPTER 0-4!
Sorry if this is a mess, English is not my first language!

MAN, what a banger of a game, I skipped this for months, because based on some of the reviews I thought this is going to be a total loser of MC, and i gotta tell you, absolutely WRONG! DON'T read the reviews and just play it for the best experience, trust me!

I played the "good" guy, didn't try the other way yet!

The Weird thing is that the MC grew on me, I usually don't care about the MC and try to blend him out of my mind, and yet I really like this guy, he feels like a character that I want to find out more about, he does not feel like some passenger that is guided on rails, and the bromances are quite tight, the best part about the game tho, is the dialogue, it seems thought out, mature and very enjoyable to read, the dev didn't add fluff text for the fuck of it, and I appreciate that!

I rarely get the feeling I get by playing this game from other games on this site, it feels like you are part of a movie, but in a good way, it keeps you interested and wanting for more, the characters are not stupid, they have things that drive them, they have an actual past and so does the MC, it slowly but surely reveals more throughout the chapters, that in return builds emotions and I just could not stop playing for hours by now. (I have the game open in background...) I'm not even sure what girl I would pick if I really had to choose.

The whole story starts rather slow, and a little light on the feelings side, until you meet Robbie (for me at least), you get into a lot of trouble, as trouble adds up, the story opens up more and more. Won't get into it too much, will ruin the fun of the game ^^

The ambient sounds are very nice, the music is well picked, and the scenes get better and better. By chapter 4 I noticed the quality jump, or maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me.

The only complaint is the sex scenes are not the best, but i didn't play through chapter 4, maybe they get better! THEY DO!!

Closing words: Be wary of heavy topics, that shit hit me too close to home.
Download and try it, won't hurt, right?

EDIT: Scratch the bad sex animations part, Chapter 4 animations are LEAGUES better than up to that point.

this game is something you can call an adult game!! to me this is something fresh to digest! from the plot, the story, the actions, and all the characters i love it!! if only the fighting actions is in animation not in sequence or cut to cut it will be a whole lot of different levels, but even without it, its still freakin awesome and i enjoyed it every single bit! it seems there's something new developed in every chapters, and i do hope there will be something exciting to give!! i want more! never said it before and gonna say it now! I WANT MORE!! im a big fan!! hope to see more coming this year! kudos to you good sir!

Likes

-MC is a massivve tool, but when a big, angry, bald guy clocks the shit out of him, I spit my drink and forgot all about it. People love calling the MC out on his BS, and it's great, haha.

-MC is the biggest puss of the century and has the baby ass, trust-fund, frat boy face to prove it, but when you pair it with all these other, serious badass characters, they make a good combo. What would have been insufferable in any other VN becomes funny simply because the competent people keep calling him out on it.

-Going again with how lame the MC, the resulting bromances that come from it are glorious. Funny to watch the MC grow on the cooler dude's in this VN until they got a little bromance going on. MC is straight-up like a puppy all the characters can't help but adopt.

-The reviews that said this is like a TV show are right on point. At no point did this really feel like a porn game/AVN. Felt more like I was watching a badass supernatural TV show.

-Remember how I keep saying how much of a puss this MC is? Well, it's executed in hilarious fashion. All the scenes make me laugh to the point where I'm laughing during the sex scenes instead of fapping. And who's ever heard of that?

- Like how it's kept the number of main lead girls so small. There's effectively... 3? Hard to tell who actually is and isn't, but the number is kept small and manageable -- no harem, keep-track-of-twenty-different-girls bullshit, and I love it.

- Every girl is badass, and all the characters in general have their sarcasm skills maxed out as well. Always makes me laugh.

- Some of the more interesting scenes actually happen when you decline to have sex. In fact, I'd say I've solidly enjoyed 90% of the scenes more when I decline the sex and get to see the alternative scene instead.

- Just to reiterate, It's really funny sometimes in the way characters rag on each other. Probably one of my favorite parts.

- Didn't even know AVNs could have action sequences until this one, and let me tell you, those actions sequences were AWESOME!

Dislikes

-Some of the chapter transitions are really jarring. Like, in on chapter the MC wakes up with what looks like a completely different face, and I got so goddamn confused until he 'shaved' and went back to normal. Wtf? Was there a timeskip? Why did he let himself get like that? So confusing.

- Chapter 2 was probably the worst at this. People dying? Skipping to the future? The past? Felt like that entire chapter just came out of left field and was very sudden. I didn't like it(not very constructive, I know).
- Our MC -- probably the pussiest dude on the face of the earth(Is that considered a inappropriate insult these days?) -- spends a lot of time in the beginning chapters running from girl to another trying to solve their problems when he himself hasn't found out the first thing about his literal superpowers or the fact that a secret organization of people might be out to kill him. Yeah, it all just feels kind of dumb. But hey, maybe that will girl will be able to make rent!

- The use of superpowers by the MC sucks. In fact, the MC might as well not have any the usage of them sucks so bad. Like, even his training is all about fighting and using fists without a lick of actual magic. Also, it's suggested his powers about information and reading people, so... he learns how to fight?? Just don't expect his powers to have any sort of relevance to the actual plot, that's all.

- "Good for a laugh, not for a fap." - that's my description of the sex scenes. Legit had me laughing my ass off, but that doesn't mean anything was managing to laugh itself off into my ass either.

- Red and blue choices feel so completely and utterly meaningless that i'm not even sure why they're there. Do they actually do something besides change 1 or 2 lines of dialogue? Seriously not sure.

- Romance just sucks. He just has a lot of good friends. In fact, I've already pretty much internalized all the female leads as friend-zoned in my head it's that bad. They legit all feel like sisters more than romance options, and the ones I could see as romance options are either described as off-limits or get zero screentime. Wtf?

- Again about the MC's power, it really does read like there's no concrete direction on where it's going. First it's about information, then it's about hypnosis but never actually gets used as hypnosis; Then it's a power that's somehow making the sex better but we're not sure; Then next thing you know, the MC's jesus and he's walking on water.
??? wtf? Where are we going with this? Feels like it's all being handled pretty poorly considering literally no other character is having problems with consistency regarding how their power works. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

TLDR?
I think a lot of the dialogue and what not is funny enough to give this a read, but if that doesn't do it for you, the action scenes should at least give you something to come for. You like supernatural assassin/mafia badassery with a hint of X-men? Cool, sign yourself up.
But don't expect good sex, romance, or use of MC's powers in general(Great friendships though!).
Also, the MC's entire schtick is being a loserdepressed and perceiving himself as a loser, so if you're the type that gets upset about that kind of thing, do us all a favor and just skip this one completely.

[v4.0.1]

I played this VN on release and recently came back to see all the new content added. It was five stars then and it's five stars now! While I understand the sentiment of 'it's a porn website, don't expect more than porn.' I find that way of thinking to be.. uninteresting. The rise of games/VNs with actual plot and much more diverse casts has really raised the quality of things. As standards climb, so do the games!
Mad World is no exception to this. Calling it a porn game would be lying. This is a TV show in the form of a visual novel. The plot is incredible and the world it builds leaves you wanting to learn more. I could understand an argument against its' graphics, but I feel as though they give a more gritty/real feeling to the overall tone. While I'm not sure what girls are planned to get an ending, the current roster looks great!
I look forward to seeing how the story progresses!

Great, a bit over the top story with the right amount of complexity and humor, good renders and great pacing. The sex scenes do not feel forced or two far in between. One of the best VN:s on this site. Looking really forward for more.

Review for v4.0.1

Without a doubt, the best thing about this AVN is the story. A good blend of intrigue, action, interesting characters, drama, the whole nine yards really. It kept me engaged, and it only got better as the game went on.

Now, I'd argue that the first 3 chapters of the game are the real prologue. Had I only played those three, I think my rating would have been 4 stars.

But holy shit chapter 4 was something else. Everything I felt the game was lacking in the first 3 chapters was more than present in the 4th one.

To elaborate, one thing this game does a fair amount is time skip. Not by huge amounts or to the point where it's jarring, but I still feel as though it's a detriment to the game. The MC meets a lot of new people at the start of the game, and we essentially form a friend group. My problem is that a lot of the "getting to know everyone" phase was basically skipped. I found myself wishing the game would slow down and actually explore all these relationships more instead of being like "hey it's one week later and we are all friends now." I want to watch the MC get to know everyone, not be told it after a time skip. The inclusion of small and even mundane scenes can go a long way imo.

To be fair, the game still does a good job of making it feel natural. The characters feel rather deep with their own struggles and such. There's emotion present here. But after playing for hours, I still had felt like I'd barely seen anything from a lot of the love interests.

Then chapter 4 comes around. The lighthearted beach scenes, emotional moments, and what was maybe the best action sequence I've ever seen from an AVN. I feel like the game has really went to the next level, and it's left me very eager for more.

I think the only other thing to note is that a fair amount of the earlier chapters could use touch ups to match the quality of the latest chapter. It's definitely noticeable.

Regardless, this game is a real treat for the people that love a good plot alongside the lewd stuff. A very easy recommend from me.

Seeing the high score rating, I would have thought most reviews would have been positive, that's surprisingly NOT the case, which is why I felt obligated to give one of my own.

It feels like one of those good books or shows that you can just sit down and enjoy, completely losing track of time, and I love that. MC is also relatable, maybe abit too much, and that hits abit too close to home. This is the kind of stuff you wish to find on netflix and really just binge it.

There's not much scenes as of chapter 4, but the story more makes up for it. Action scenes seems well made and choreographed. Characters are good looking and realistic, with most of them having issues of their own, reminding you no one is perfect. You really get attached to some of them throughout the story.

People seem to think the story isn't going anywhere, or that the MC needs more purpose, or lofty ambitions, but I personally understand why the MC has no such motivations. Sometimes you're not really living, yet you don't want to die yet, just in a funk waiting for things to work themselves out, or wishing you were dealt a better hand. Chapter 4 seems to be different, with the MC probably starting to change, and beginning to see that he needs to get off his ass and grasp his own fate.

Some of my little gripes for this game, it needs a walkthrough and a gallery. It's hard to play knowing you will miss stuff, at least for me. For that same reason, I usually dislike compounding branches. It slows down development and I can't really get immersed in the world building of the writer. Certain choices like yes or no to characters you like or not are important of course,(crazy gravekeeper) but at the moment it really feels like poking around in the dark with no idea what will happen.

Since this game DOES have the mulitple protag tag, I assume someone will eventually get together with someone, depending on your choices. I don't have strong feelings on that, since I enjoyed the harem start. What I didn't enjoy was being eventually shoehorned into Chloe's route without warning. (I picked the most positive interaction for all possible LIs.)

Also,
But with all said and done, this was a game I really enjoyed, recommended to anyone who's not here for just a quick fap, and people who appreciates amazing storytelling.

You know reading other comments im really confused, do you guys bothered that much seeing a sex scene of a girl you didn't choose? Why so much rant about choice when MC himself don't get a choice in the first place.

The story of MC's inner struggle is what captivate me and his past. I want to uncover his past trauma, his deep secrets. Overall i can't say much for relationships cause for early chapters it was harem. Hopefully the next update brought more choice as MC also already choose his path. I guess this vn focus on primarly on mc struggle because there's no triangle love thing. Side characters have decent backstory i say except Ivan and Leon i think need more story as MC get closer to them

Madworld v4.0.1 review -
Starting with positives - story is unique and it involves superpowers genre which I like . Renders are average and girls are likeable . Moving on to negatives the game forces you to play as a harem game , if you decide to ignore any girl , eg . in this game , I chose to keep eva as a friend and the game after a chapter shows up her having sex with a NPC , why do I wanna see that ? she can have her own life and relationships but that doesn't mean I wanna see them and worst part is showing her having sex , so game forces you to play as a harem or you'll see your rejected Love interests having sex , what next in the futue if i ignore Fiona and next she'll hook up with vincent or cheng or so on . I used to love this game but now this game just forces relationships or shows sex scenes of the girls you rejected . So on a whole story started of good but now forcing relationships or showing rejected LI having sex ruins this game for me .

Ok so, I may update this review later after I play a bit more. I've read a few reviews saying that the story is unfocused, and after playing the game, I think I know why. Here's some advice for anyone who wants to become a writer.

Give your protagonist an overarching goal. A story can feel unfocused for someone if they can't understand what the protagonist's driver is. That isn't to say that some stories can't get away with having a protagonist not have a defined goal, but for VN's it's usually very crucial so that the story follows that clear goal.

So far, it feels like the protagonist of this game gains several small goals depending on whom he interacts with but doesn't have a BIG goal that overshadows the rest. Something simple like him vowing to get good at being the tech guy, and then putting in work to make that happen over the course of the game gives focus.

An example of a great story that uses this is Artemis. After his fiance betrays him and he loses his job, the protagonist hits rock bottom. After getting help from a childhood friend, he has the new goal of building himself back up and reviving Artemis.

A Christmas miracle indeed. I am not very good at writing reviews, but very few games on this site are as special as Mad World. The king of all hidden gems.

Beginning with the characters, this MC's inner struggle is one that I believe many can relate to. His struggle comes from a very real world place of self doubt, and the willingness to change. To just be better than the day before. To even render a small silly scene depicting the struggle to get out of bed spoke volumes. The various characters in his life feel so genuine, due to their own backstories and struggles, and motivations. This world is not kind and you can really grasp that with the writing. You can really breathe in all this because of the writing, which is the best part of this novel. Conversations read very naturally, along with the relationships that are slowly formed.

With Chapter 4 arrival, the craftsmanship on this VN has reached a whole new level. You can really feel the love Capella has for this story. The renders maybe aren't on par with the heavy hitters on this site, but each render feels so purposeful, small details that displays the absolute artistry this developer has.

For all its heart, Mad World is also gruesome in its violence. The action scenes are rendered beautifully, and Chapter 4 has one of the best final acts I have ever seen on this site. I do not know how, but these fights are FELT! You can feel the damage being dealt. The sound design is very well done. Music overall is also a bright spot, the way it dances the various moods in every scene. Animation in the first few chapters was not the best, but in Chapter 4 it has very much improved.

All in all, I understand game development is grueling, especially in this space where it seems the only profitable ones are where you try to bone your "landlady" and "roommate" and build a whole harem, like an isekai protagonist. No shame on what others enjoy, it's just a shame when projects like this aren't funded. Mad World is one I truly desire to see the completed tag for, and I truly hope this story never fades away.

Another one of those games I forgot even existed, due to the long time since the last update, but I'm happy to see it is still alive.
Don't get the complaints about the story, it obviously is going exactly the way it is planned.
It is a multi-layered story though and yes, it isn't always told in the most efficient way, but the reviews that shit on the stoy, IDK if the people just don't get it, or if it is simply a way of storytelling they don't like, but this IS defnitely a good story, and it is pretty well written as well.
Even though there are no animations in this latest update, I was completely absorbed in the MC's fight scene in the server room with the three thugs. I honestly don't remember when I last saw a choreography this well set up in a VN-action sequence.
You constantly knew exactly what everyone was doing and why, and it was pretty awesome as fight scenes go.
Honestly, I can't say this enough, this was an awesome fight sequence, like in a really good comic or manga.
The relationships I'm not so keen on so far. I don't even know if we are supposed to see the MC's former GF again, but she plays a large role anyway.
Three love interests seem possible, but it's slow-going, and I am not sure how much I like each and would want them as a romantic partner. I mean, as friends they are all just fine, but beyond that? No clue.
Also, going from the pictures in the OP and elsewhere, there seem to be even more possible LIs, but with some it is indeed hard to imagine fe. Fiona.

The renders are fine quality wise, even with the compressed version, and they are set up excellently. Much better than in most games.
The visual storytelling is something this game really excels in.

This is very close to a five, but I have to detract one star for several reasons.
For one, the MC is too whiny. Yes, his is a hard lot (chuckle...), but that doesn't mean we constantly want him to mope around depressed.

Secondly, I'm coming back to the ladies, both them and the MC are too wishy-washy. With this much time passed in-game and out of game, I would at least like to know how serious this COULD get.

Last but not least, I don't think complicated automatically means good, and convoluted definitely doesn't.
It wouldn't hurt to make some things clearer and cut back a lot on meaningless back and forth between characters. As well written as it might be, if it is ultimately basically banter, at least cut back on it a bit.

very good story,good renders and awesome girls. Hope in the future updates we get more choices, hope choices matter and have impact on the story and the relations with the girls, hope there is more choices to choose (instead of 2 to have 3) in the future,hope to see more girls on the game. It has potential to be a great game.