Ren'Py - Making a Mark [v0.18.00] [Fasder]

Renders are good
Nice background renders
A cheat for energy and grind skip
and thats the only thing i liked
Story is just skip time until you see a ! next to a woman to get a event
Somtimes it takes days of skip to get a event
Story is good nothing special
There lesbians in it
Sex scenes are good
I know the game name is Making a Mark
And you play as mark But i wish we could rename the mc

Interesting with an autistic* MC, that's a first for me. Still, he's such a good and likeable guy that you want what's best for him.

(* I have certain autistic traits that clash with my HSP and 100 % extrovert nature!)

The sister is so sexy, maybe her balloons are a little to big, but I'm not one too complain about that. The twins are sexy too Helen is also a nice and sexy girl, I would have loved to have her as teacher when I was at the Uni.

Renders are really good, the animations is Ok but not more.

The reason for 4* and not 5:

1. I didn't want too see a certain sex scene but it wasn't avoidable. That should have been a choice.

Now I'll try the next story by the Dev. Hopefully as good as this.

+ Content complete (kind of, as of v.0.18, there's an ending)
+ Nice Daz models, nice renders, no shitty background
+ Thank god the dev includes a cheat mode to bypass all the stat grinding and the energy mechanic
- Unfortunately, the game overall just feels kind of flat. The story is pretty bland, and so is the sex (even tho there's a lot of it)

The developer is extremely proactive on the board and, per my experience, strives earnestly to address and answer any question that is posed. I enjoyed the complexity of the game, the quests to be done and the overall steady progression of the game.
I do wish the developer would change the areola/nipple of the females. Just so it did not look like a cut-n-paste type of model asset. However, that did not detract, for me, the overall enjoyment of the game itself. I also wish the MC was a little more assertive in the beginning like he was in the end. It reminded me too much of Summer With Mia. Again, it was not a big enough issue.
Overall, I think that Fasder is a very talented developer and I look forward to the next adventure.

Version played: v0.17.00

1) I played the grind mode of this game (with no faster settings enabled ) and yes it is as the dev said, there is a small amount of grind, up to a few hours if you take it casually.

2) Balloons tits? I have no issues with it since I find peta jensen tits to be hot so I am cool with it.

3) Because of the slow build up between the mc and his sister, the bulk of the sexual content only happens after a certain incident which I will not spoil here. Before that, most of the sexy stuff is about the other 3 ladies in the banner and only sometimes involves the mc.

4) The MC is not as 'strong' mentally or physically (although that is covered by the game mechanics of stats building). He constantly monologues in his mind and questions himself. One can say he might lack some self- confidence or assertiveness . if this type of MC turns you off, you might not like this game.

5) The story is linear and kinda average and that includes the sex content. The choices that pops up at times only presents you with a slightly different render.

On another end, the renders are better than most and you can tell effort has been put into them. The story female characters are all sexy and there are a few sfx but no ambient music. 1 motivation that would make me come back to this in the future would be some actual sex content of MC with the twins and maybe build up the story more.

Forgot to add: Dev i would advise, please don't put your story text right to the bottom left of your game, it is feels out of place and makes it hard to quickly connect to the changing renders. I encourage you to adjust your text more towards the middle .

ok sandbox
-sufficient qol: ingame tips, scenes tracker, skipping, accelerated stats gaining
-no bugs, no lags/delays while navigating
-ok renders (half of faces are good, other half is ...tolerable. balloon boobs is no good ofc)
-about 2hours of gameplay if avoiding text
-story? (who cares. i was skipping hard and cannot say that the narrative was intuitively clear. in some games it can be. )

Love the content, nice to see when developers leave the comfort of the classic vaginal sex tag
Not too much story but not too little either, nothing is more annoying than when skip option on all the time

Renders: Good
Animation: Good
Story: Meh
Gameplay: Meh/Boring af
Girls: OMG KILL ME NOW!!

Now I went into this game with a open mind. Saw the girls on the poster and I was all in... Then everything came crashing down. I don't know what version the game is on at the moment but the last time I played I was forced (repeatedly) to watch the two hot twins lez out on each other... Now normally I wouldn't really mind that. But the fact that its like 95% of the lewd content is outrageous! Then there's the fact that the MC doesn't even get involved! The dev actually cuts away from the main story to focus on some random sex scene between the twins!

The amount of times I had to watch the two of them go at it made me sick! I might even be off lesbian content because of this game! And to make it even worse, the MC is basically a bitch. Not saying he needs to be an Alpha or anything, but Jesus Christ does he need to stop giving these girls (twins) handouts! Like within days of meeting them he's letting them into his house, use his pool and sleep over. Now you're probably thinking that its nothing to rant over. But its the fact that they do it without his permission! They litterally walk all over him and show up to his house when he's not there just to fuck on his bed and piss in his pool!

Can't describe how much hate I have for this game. Anyone rating it a 4-5 star obviously hasn't played a good VN before. The game is barely a 2 star if not for the graphics and animation. Don't waste your time on this trash.

I've been following "Making a Mark" back when it was still called Life & Fasder's work is a thing of beauty!

Story - 7/10

A fresh take on a tired cliche of incest games with a very unique twist. What I enjoyed was the slow burn romance between the MC & the primary love interest (Sarah) allowing their relationship develop while having an interim relationship with your teacher (Helen). Making computer science/programming part of the game was quite fascinating. What I like about this game is that there's no parental role models which is rare for incest games & I enjoy how big of a cunt Diane is which is a refreshing experience. The only things I didn't like is meeting Helen drunk in her apartment drinking her urine out of a glass, I'm either fine or enjoy the encounters of piss-play but that instance was just wrong & silly.

Writing - 9/10

The only issue I have is slang in narration, the rare misspellings & weird wording. Besides that, the writing is fantastic, I applaud how the writing made tiresome cliches such as lesbian twins fresh! A lot of the dialog is either humourous, erotic & seem quite realistic.

Art - 10/10

I have told Fasder time & time again, Sarah is one of the most beautiful characters I have ever seen & I stand by it. I understand that certain people aren't a big fan of plastic surgery-esque character design but I love it. Every single character are absolutely beautiful.

-
Another thing I'd like say is, the walk mechanic is kinda unnecessary, pointless & just kinda strange.

Average renders
Poorly organized
Lack of good storytelling
Grindy
Wierd body shapes
Unsatisfactory sex scenes

Balloon tits?
Yes, feel free to play something else if you don't like them. (lack of respect for the customers)

And the fact that you cant bang Diane is a big bummer.

I hope developers do a better job on their next game.

TL;DR: An average game in every sense of the word. Sometimes boring, sometimes fun, graphics are alright, 2-frame animations, some grinding, but not too bad. The writing is very inconsistent and varies from emotionally gripping to sterile and distant, sometimes within the same sentence. I had a bit of fun playing it. Won't replay it though. 6/10 -> 3/5 stars

Review for [v0.16.01].

First off, I'd like to applaude the game's creator, because it seems they did exactly what they they had envisioned and how they wanted it. I respect that a whole lot more than devs who bend themselves over backwards to satisfy everyone's suggestions/complaints until they don't like their own work anymore.


I struggle with my usual division in GOOD and BAD or PRO/CONTRA, because in this game almost every part has good AND bad aspects.

Let's start with GRAPHICS:
- The renders are good. Not great, but good.
- I don't like the proportions (porn size mega phallus & monster boobs), but it's the dev's sytle and the size is within the borders of "I can ignore it."
- The women wear extremly heavy makeup - don't like that, personal preference - that unfortunately stays perfectly intact no matter what. Sauna? Perfect makeup. Tears? Perfect makeup. Rain? Perfect makeup.
- I like animations, and as far as 2-frame animations go, these are very well done, but still... 2-frame animations. In an earlier update there were some 4- or 5-frame animations and I was hoping to see a learning process which would lead to smooth state-of-the-art animations, but unfortunately the dev reverted to 2-frame animations, probably because of the workload.

SOUND/MUSIC
- There is some. That's really all I can say. At some points dev wanted some background noise or some birds, at other points there is a lot of silence. The menu has music, apart from that I couldn't find any pattern. So the best thing I can say about it is, it didn't annoy me. Missed opportunity.

GAME DESIGN
- Some grinding. Almost too much, but I don't mind a bit of grind, so it's alright. There's a faster mode with less grind and you can turn off the energy points system, but I didn't do that.
- In-game hint system is a big plus in my book!


STORY/WRITING
The background story is a bit thin and implausible and the characters have no depth whatsoever, but I don't mind that in games, as long as the writing is good enough to make up for it. Here it was only sometimes.
- The story is obviously written for a specific target audience: People who are interested in computers and networks. It is probably the dev's area of expertise and following the advise "write what you know" he does exactly this. Not a good way to arouse people who don't work with, don't like or don't care for the inner workings of computers and networks.
- Sometimes the writing can be quite emotionally gripping, but it's the exception, not the rule. More often you have a mix of words like "whore" and "cunt" that the dev seems to use in an attempt to convey a sense of depravity or vulgarity, followed by sterile and distant phrases like "semen erupted from his urethra and landed inside her". I am not sure that the dev has as much experience with actual sex as he has with computer networks.

This strange mix sometimes leads to arousal, which is immediately interrupted by some phrase that destroys the mood.


Summary
Not a bad game, but too flawed to be a good game. Average in the best sense of the word. Don't expect Shakespeare, don't expect high art. It's a solid game. Try it. If you like or can overlook the monster boobs you'll have a bit of fun.

Fasder brings a unique style and humor to adult gaming. His work is fun and you might even learn something. Yet there is also depth to the characters with real reasons for the way they behave. I highly reccommend this game even if the boobs are not your style, it just wouldn't feel right without them!

Game version: [v0.15.01]

This game quickly took a top spot on my "most annoying MCs of all time" list. I give a lot of games shit for writing their MCs as shy schoolboys, but this game turbocharges that concept and takes it to a whole new level by literally making you play as an asexual autist. Because that's just what you want in a porn game, right?

Since there are sex scenes later in the game I guess he "gets over it," but I really can't be bothered to stick around. Apart from the typical sandbox grind bullshit, reading the MCs interactions with women or even his inner monologues is so fucking painful that it makes me physically cringe.

I'm not saying you can't do a game with a "weird" MC, but the rest of the game has to be written with that fact in mind. Apart from the MC, everything else in this game operates on porn logic, complete with every other character being a bimbo with huge tits, so it leads to a weird clash of themes.

The whole game just comes off as a juvenile wish-fulfillment fantasy for the dev. From the fairly standard "I inexplicably live in a million-dollar mansion with my hot sister" to the oddly specific "she doesn't just have huge tits, she's also a genius programmer" or the baffling "now let me ask you IT trivia questions as a game mechanic because that's super neat, right?"

Also, despite looking like a porn star his sister naturally doesn't have a boyfriend, or friends even. Because she's "not like the other girls" and really only needs her brother's dick. At least I assume that's where it's going.

Lots of games deal in these types of tropes and usually I don't have much of a problem with it, it just sticks out a lot more when you make everything so highly specific and obvious and then have an MC who feels like he was transported into the game from another reality. Usually "write what you know" is pretty good advice, but this feels like a game that took it a step too far.

Review as of v0.15.01 21/06/2020

My highest compliments regarding the networks tests. It is much more entertaining to learn about networks through a visual novel than through netacad courses (although intelligence doesn't seem to help at all in the exam; I had a lot of intelligence points and still the answers would not be trivial for someone without real life knowledge on the subject)


This game has 2 saving graces:

• The aforementioned tests
• Helen

I know that as a creator you have a certain vision for the game and for the story but I have to say I'm quite disappointed about the handling of the relationships.

I honestly don't care at all about the sisters and the sister (I don't even remember their names… Sandra? Julia? I don't know).

I only cared for Helena (since her model is extremely cute and that's the most important thing (not the only important thing tho) in this kind of games) and really wished I could have avoided any type of romance with the others.

Now, I know the game is not finished and I also know that you (the author) probably already have a certain plot in mind. I'm hoping that one of the endings involves getting alone with Helena and no more although I'm worried since both the MC's thoughs, the relationships with the others and the overall mood of the game specially after the whole academic fiasco, but here's hoping for a happy ending between the MC and Helen

I'm giving 3 stars now since I don't know if I'll like the ending or not.

PS: Also, saying that something is impossible because Google or some other big corp hasn't done it doesn't seem very believable. It can still be impossible though.

Version: v0.15.01

PROS:
- Regular renders of female character models
- Regular/poorly sex scene
- Move to recycle bin

CONS:
- Grind
- Repetitive
- Poorly organized
- Awful background and scenario
- Waste of time to play
- Unsatisfactory sex scenes

Review:
I don’t know how this game has so many likes that most of many good games and some reviews show that the game seems to be wonderful, but when you try to play, you will know that you were fooled. I don't want to discuss taste, because everyone has their own, but in my opinion this is one of the worst porn games I've ever played.
History:
You live in a house with your sister Sarah and your mother for the most part is not there. The story of the game is not attractive and therefore, I came to a point where I started skipping the dialogues and not following the story so as not to waste time.
Gameplay:
The gameplay of this game is quite bad and you will wonder why you wasted time downloading this game of approximately 2.5gb of download size. It is a sandbox that will make you spend a lot of hours if there was no cheat in the game. This game is very poorly managed and the background of the scenarios are bad. At the beginning of the game it seems that things don't progress and you get stuck repeating the same thing, I can't imagine a person playing this without a cheat, it must be frustrating.
Graphics & Sex Content:
For starters there are no good or great graphics and the renderings of the female models I thought very regular. They are beautiful models, yes, hot, yes, but if that's just what makes you interested in playing, well, feel free.
The sex scenes are not satisfactory, I don't know if you will enjoy it, but the scenes only happen when you move to another house, so while the MC is living in the mother's house you will see almost nothing of the scene. The animations are terrible, I consider it as not having. Overall, this game is quite weak and bad about sexual content.

So, why I did gave 1 star?
Impossible to like this game, maybe rework would be more appropriate, but I don't think that would be the solution. The story is not interesting, the gameplay is not good, is awful, generic characters, you are not attracted to twins (fetishes like pee exaggerated/ I do not like it), for example. The sexual content of the game is not good, grind, repetitive cycle, poorly organized and poorly managed, so, there are so many things that makes me wonder why the hell it has a 2.5gb download size. Anyway, the game seems to be attractive until then when we are going to play, and we realized that it is not what we thought it was, so, I have nothing more to say, as I do not recommend playing this and it was one of the worst games I played.

Played this game more than 6 months ago and really haven't seen a whole lot of new events happening at the "new" house. The number of main events and side events hasn't gone up a whole lot either. Maybe in another 6 months to a year if the game is still being made the rating could reach 4 stars. In the current state of the game I can't justify making it a higher rating because of lack of new events. If new characters would be in the game besides the MC, Sarah, the twins, professor, and Mom it would be a better game.

EDIT: Just finished the "main" events and still nothing new from 6 or more months ago when I last played. Maybe the dev took time off from the game, but nothing new has happened event wise that I could see. Probably won't be playing the game for at least a year now. Hopefully new storylines will be developed in the mean time.

Review of v0.14.09

Judging from the screenshots I wasn't sure if the game would be of interest to me, but I'm happy to say I do like the story. However it's about all that's kept me playing...

The characters:

• Mark - I like Mark for the most part. Although it may have been better to have the ability to input your own name. There is some speculation in the game of Mark being on the spectrum, but it's never confirmed. I know a few people on the spectrum and they couldn't care less about sex, even after they've experienced it. So if Mark is supposed to be on the spectrum I'm not sure how realistic it would be for him to turn into a slut for his sister after they start fucking.
• Sarah - I liked Sarah. She is probably the most realistic character in the game.
• Helen - Helen was okay. Instances of professors fucking their students aren't exactly rare.
• Jenna & Jenny - It was hard to tell them apart at times since the only difference between them is their hair color. I liked their backstory. Jenna was a physicist, but their relationship was discovered and they were forced to leave destroying Jenna's career. It's a shame that as the story progresses they devolve into single minded sex fiends for each other. They even fuck while they work out in the gym.

Pros:

• The Story - I like that Mark and his Sarah are in the IT/Multimedia field since I do that myself. I like the slow build of the relationship to the surprising discovery to the progression in the aftermath.
• Graphics - Everything looks gorgeous.

Cons:

• The Grind - While this isn't the worst grind I've seen in a game like this, some of the goal thresholds could stand to be lowered. For example; Instead of having to work at your thesis 10 times it should be more like 5 or 6. The grind needs to feel as if it were a natural progression instead of a chore.
• The character models - While the character models are fine for the most part, they all have the exact same comically large tits. It feels like it's the same character model for all of them just with each having different hair.

I would have liked to have rated this higher, but as I said the story is about the only thing that kept my interest. I'm not a fan of comically huge tits, and with every character having them it was kind of a turn off for me. I wanted to like it more, but it had a lot of elements that didn't appeal to me personally. I understand why others would like it a lot more though.

The title says it all..... the game simulates life, and the real struggle and effort required to build meaningful relationships, but enough with the philosophical discussion. I'm not a fan of sandbox games and while I do love balloon tits, I often make fun of both. Not this time....
The game is nicely crafted, with an easy to follow "quest" system...
But we play games for the ladies! So I'll say a few words about Sara.... the blonde with her own air bags.... YUMMY!!!!

Let's see now, a game where when you (MC) woke up, you got the chance to have breakfast with some stunningly attractive balloon characters as your daily routine ...... what could have I asked more...
in all seriousness tho, I'll start with the Cons since they are not too many of them (at least for me) to mention here

Cons

-Grind: yes there is some grind, but yet again it can easily be solved by enabling the faster mode....so not much to complain about there
-Diane: the only thing that saddens me is her not having an explicit content .....but hey she got a story arc...so better than nothing (by the way she is my favorite character so don't hate me for that )
-The hard feeling of getting lost: since the game is built around stats you might experience getting lost when you play ...YET AGAIN ....thx to the FAQ and the walkthrough you surely get a good idea on how to play it properly and never experience that feeling again (pro tips: you can always use the console commands if you wish to finish faster...although I don't recommend you to do so since it will take away all the fun from playing it )

Alright now let's move the Pros...and boy where do I even start ....
Pros
+THEME is unique not too many games have this kind of theme (or maybe i didn't play enough)
+THE RENDERS are stunning
+CHARACTERS two words to describe that they are simply a Work of Art
+STORY is good and entertaining, I know it's not the most original one but the dev has made such a good job to make it enjoyable
And last but not least
+THE BALLOONS CHARACTERS seriously tho do I need to explain why...
LAUNCH ROCKET FOR YOU (mc) TO SEE EVERYDAY AND TOUCH WITH EVERY DAMM INTERACTION, IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS...

VERDICT

well, here we are now, when I first come across this game I wasn't really all that hyped for it , the least to say I was very skeptical about it, but then again I give it a chance and tried it , and I just found a glorious masterpiece.

my advice here.....just play the god damm game and I hope you'll enjoy it ...cause I know I did ... I mean we are talking about VOLLEY-BALL BALLOONS BEACH HERE...... who doesn't want that in his life .

I read through a dozen (or so) of the most recent reviews and thought I would add mine as well. So, here it goes:

AS many have said, this is a super-grindy game. No more than many others but it feels long. I did not use cheats or anything, and it took me about 6hrs to complete. You can skip hours, as well as days, and that is handy. Later on, it is all I did while building points to trigger the next scene/dialogue.

The story is pretty good, truly. It is unique that I have not seen another MC with social issues presented like this. It was an interesting and appreciated difference from the norm. Will it blow your mind? Probably not, but if you sit back and appreciate the little details I think it may surprise you.

Models and renders have already been addressed by others, but they are neither great nor bad. Everyone has different tastes and as the developer said so eloquently - if you don't like it, move on. (paraphrasing here)

One thing I have not seen anyone address, and I feel is the highlight of the game is this: the build-up and teasing, the mental/moral dilemma of the MC and his sister is extremely well done, I think. There are a couple of weird moments but overall, I think it is well done. The inspiration of the twins, and the little battle that goes on inside the heads of the MC and his sister are interesting to read. You kinda feel it.
When they finally get together it is akin to a dam bursting and it was not only sexy to see, you could kinda empathize with them and feel a weight being lifted from them as they finally began their experimentation and journey together into incestville.

All in all, it is a solid 3.5-4.0 game.