Ren'Py - Onhold - Manila Shaw: Blackmail's Obsession RenPY Remake [v0.28] [Phalzyr]

animations are comically bad, I can't believe i'm saying this, but might have been better with just hot still pictures and description.

but aside from animations the game is very good with a lot of choices and replay material. i dont think i can give less than 4/5 with this many meaningful choices despite how much i hate the graphics and how much miss potential is in the story/H-scenes.

this renpy remake is better to skim through choices and galleries, but actually having to fight the battles(and sometimes lose) have its own charm in the original.

Great Game!!! Tons of layers and options available, Multiple paths and if you don't see or have the need or time to be running around this version is for you! The characters look fantastic especially Manila! Cannot wait for additional updates!

The renpy remake is a saving grace and the only reason to bump it to two stars.

The graphics are ok but the animations are subpar. The blackmail tag is butchered here, there is no depth or development to it. Just plain 'do this or else' situations which might as well be replaced by 'a gun to the head' scenario.

The story was so bland that I kept blasting space through it. I just plain stopped after a week or two of in-game time. Not going to bother finishing it.

Depending on what path you chose this game is either 1/5 or 4/5
Common with the two paths is that the renders are kind of "meh" in today's standard but they're hot.
The animations varies from 4 keys to fluid which brings down the quality feel of the game. (needs to be remade IMHO)

Otherwise it's flying the pregnancy tag with the honour, both visible and sex scenes with preggo bellies!!

The unfortunate thing with this game is the sound FX which are just hilariously stupid...
And the interaction with the inventory went away from converting this previously RPGM game to Ren'Py

Rated: 4/5
Based on: v0.28c

Here are my thoughts after playing v0.27 of this game.

I liked:
-everything that Manila does is optional, whether to kill or arrest a villain, which I always go for the kill, or to have any form of sexual scene with someone, in which case, I only let Lt Storm have her, as he seems to be the most decent among the other males, maybe I'll let Jason have her instead if he happens to have more scenes or maybe Simon.
-fighting story, not that it is very impressive but it has it's certain appeal
-it is nice that it is made with renpy instead of the original RPGM
-no more grinding and clicking away to move to different locations
-no unavoidable sex scenes for Manila so far and I hope that it remains that way to the end
-renders and animations are good but there's a huge room for improvement

I didn't like:
-the story, with all due respect to the onw who wrote the story, but I think that it was written by a misogynistic virgin who watches too much porn especially hentai, the integration of the story about Manila being a fighter is good but the story has too much influence from unrealistic porn and hentai. It can be improved especially the dialogues which are too misogynistic and unreal
-there are some glitches when transitioning the dialogues or scenes

All in all, it is an entertaining game up to some point and will appeal to certain players. For me, it is just having full control on Manila's actions and character growth that made me stay because that is very rare on games that I've played and makes me curious on how the story will end, however, the misogynistic theme together with the absurd sexual scenes really turns me off and makes me laugh and slowly eats away my interest of the game. I'll give it 3 stars for the effort of the devs.

My Rating for this is:

Pros:
+ Graphics Nice
+ Characters Nice
+ Nice Action
+ Good Playing time
+ Crime Story
+ No Grinding
+ Fast Pace

Cons:
- None

Conclusion:

Must Say I Love this Remake, the Original is also nice, but I,m not a fan of walking all around the screen to trigger something off.
Back to this Game, it hast a clean screen with no bullshit,and it is a fast pacing remake,there is always something new around the corner and also some nice hot action that you also see in the Original.
Everything else it is like the Original, so it is really only the choice between Engines you like to play with.

Overall:
A Hot Story, Great scenes.
Definitely worth the Download.

Dear god. This game reads like it was written by a horny 13 yo virgin with remedial English skills. You can't get any sense of immersion with a plot and dialogue this bad. Plus, what's with the hair on some of the male characters? Definitely a game for the bobs and vagine fans.

I enjoyed the RPG, much to the RPG this is a great remake, with tons of choices, with lots of good scenes. Wish we could spend the money we make. Although it don't matter much the money spending and buying stuff to use would be nice.

The game is awesome!
Plot, models. Oh, the plot is excellent guys!
Do you know how far STILL the plot will go?
Everyone in this "wretched" world wants to impregnate the police. Drinking milk from her breast and pulling it on your "penis" - it's okay, I myself, seeing one, would only think about it.
What's interesting is how in real life, a beauty (a police officer in this case) refuses love and he immediately wants to impregnate her for his dirty purposes ... And there is a lot of this in the game.

Initially, it is not clear why the game was made on the RPG maker's engine, its plot is quite linear, there are deviations, but not critical. In general, the choice towards the RPG engine is not clear at all, however, thanks for this excellent adaptation for the VN engine, F95 and its creator are simply gorgeous.

Would recommend this game to anyone who likes police uniforms, seduction and filth.

Big thanks to Phalzyr for converting the game.
I would have never played it, as I am kinda allergic to rpgm.
I haven't tried the original, but I am pretty sure that this version is much more enjoyable.

Also I don't want to criticize the original without any insight, but I stand by my statement that this is true for most, if not all rpgm games:
-open world, but completely lineal story:
there is nothing more boring than going from A to B, especially if the game itself gets boring as well, and on top you skip the boring texts and then, if there is no journal implemented in the game you could load and older save and sit through the texts again to have an idea where to go next.

In short I think you can never make things in rpgm as elegant as in renpy.

And I think the conversion of the fights was done in the most ingenious way,
after all it is a ryona (the mc gets hurt and when loses gets abused, point of the game).
I bet the original game has a turn based battle system, which could be fine, I don't know, but in my opinion, if it has a surrender button and an insta win button it would be still not as elegant and simple as a yes or no question.

I could go on for days what I don't like about rpgm, but the review should be about this game and I will keep it short:
If there is an update rolling out, the chance of me downloading it right away is pretty high.

I love the original Manilla Shaw game and I actually do love RPG Maker games (RPGM) but only when done right and I feel like while Manilla is a game that offers plenty of branching storylines the game is in any case linear and RPGM is not a format that suits linear games well. Renpy is simply a lot better for it.

With linear games getting around in an RPGM game is just very tedious and feels like an unnecessary step taking you away from action and the story. Combat can be done just as well in Renpy as in RPGM as well (at least if using the vanilla combat system in RPGM).

As Manilla features no custom combat system and no side content/exploration/non-linear gameplay. The RPGM engine just ruins the experience and makes the game play longer and makes you absolutely dread doing multiple playthroughs to see the consequences of different choices.

In Manilla especially as the consequences of your choices often come much later after you've made them! Which is awesome but means multiple playthroughs are definitely great except the RPGM then ruins the additional playthroughs.

A great example of how RPGM games should be are games like Claire's Quest. There you see why RPGM is a great platform for h-games when done right as you have a linear main storyline but you can approach it in many different ways and can explore the game world to find different events and stuff. Rather than just having h-scenes on one end of destination A and then using RPGM to traverse to destination B to get the next story/h-scene moment. This is just tedious and boring.

This is why Claire's Quest for example would be horrible in Renpy and probably even impossible to achieve in Renpy as exploration and its non-linear gameplay is a big part of the game.

Thus why I have rated this project 5/5 as playing Manilla in Renpy is just a vastly superior experience in every way.


As a side note;
When making games it is always important to have the right engine for the purpose. This doesn't just apply to h-games but even normal games. Think of Dragon Age 3 and all the issues the devs encountered because EA forced them (and BioWare execs did not prevent EA from forcing them) to use the DICE Frostbite engine.

Frostbite was developed for FPS games like Battlefield and such. As a result, trying to get the engine to work for a complicated RPG game like Dragon Age 3 created many unnecessary development challenges and is why the game released in such an unpolished state as they ran out of time and money to properly finish the game due to the delays caused by trying to develop it on an engine not suited for the game.

Respawn for example were asked to use Frostbite for Jedi Fallen Order but the execs at Respawn refused EA's request and instead went with the engine they thought best suited the planned content of the game which was thus the Unreal Engine 4

Let me start by just saying I love this game! Manila is drop dead gorgeous and hot enough for most girls to embrace their bi side. Her model is just so sexy.

Anyhoo, the story content is fun and good old cheesy nonsense but it just works. Manila has lots of challenges to overcome and enemies. If she loses a fight, it usually results in her being molested by the bad guys. Her character can go through the story as strong and honest or corrupt and a total slut. Corruption allows her to use her body to resolve things as well as execute bad guys instead of arresting them.

This is a great VN that lets you play Manila as an honest or corrupt cop which in turn can affect the story. Well worth checking out.

it was a good game, the story was intriguing and absorbing, there were different element in the story. we were managing the course I don't like RPGM games but Ren'Py remake is good, I hope the story continues and we have fun

370/5000



Excellent! This is how the original should be. Basically, you don't waste time getting around. It is true that it removes the rpg but, personally, it is fine. It is better to go straight to the action than to spend more time moving around the maps. Although it would be good to change the gallery (h-scenes), i mean that gives the option of changing the risk of pregnancy.
Anyways, best game xd

Another shining example that unequivocally shows how RPGM is trash. Don't get me wrong, the original game CHOSE to make itself grindy, which can be done in any engine or game. But still, remove the grind, remove RPGM, and what you are left is the bare essence of Manila Shaw. It used to be a horrible game with great porn. Now, and here, it's just great porn.

All the scenes you've been battling/investigating for without the grind! Already caught up with the current RPGM version! With all the different branching paths that are required in Manila, this is a godsend for people who want instant fapmission.

Bravo Phalzyr. Truly, the nice egg we need in these trying times.

What makes this renpy port really shine is the added gallery which is not in the OG version and because it removes all the rpg elements in the game it makes this game more easy to replay to see the different route.

Not trying to downplay all the great work done by Abaddon, but really, this is how Manila Shaw should've been from scratch, it's excelent in this Renpy remake. 5/5.

Everything runs smooth, you have exactly the same choices and well, no more menial tasks and running around wasting time.

Fantastic porting job by Phalzyr.

Great port, Made one of my favorite games even more enjoyable by trimming away the excess 'fat' of repeated actions and the wait time of the original RPGM version. Still in early stages but looks very good going forward

I cannot see any downsides (besides those imbedded in the original game, which were almost none to start with ). Please keep up the good work Phalzyr!