Reviewed on: 2025/01/25
Score: 4/10
Playtime: about 3 hours
Version: 0.1 Market (Steam preview copy)
This game isn't for me. It indicates a heavy slant toward cheating, netori (MC seduces someone else's partner), and netorare (MC's partner cheats on them). It's possible to play through the story as either a male or female MC. Neither of them are renamable.
Alex, the male MC, is as dumb as they come. He gets uncontrollably horny when seeing the smallest glimpse of a woman. His constant cheating was discovered by Emma, his wife (and supposed love of his life), making her want to divorce him.
Circumstances entice them to stay married for a year longer, and stay at a mansion they hope to inherit. While Alex often expresses remorse, he never tries to make better choices, even going as far as second-guessing the player when they make sensible choices for him.
Emma, the female MC, suffers from a Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the current content, she acts like a meek and demure housewife/artist, at least until her alter ego takes over, and she casually decides to suck off Alex outside the player's control.
The main issue here isn't necessarily the content/kinks themselves, but the story and characterization. If Alex were an unapologetic cheater who'd express how much he got off on the thrill of it, that'd be fine. Instead, he constantly flip-flops on what to do. He'll briefly consider Emma's feelings, before acting like a horny 14-year-old seeing his first pair of breasts. Likewise, Emma's condition doesn't make for a compelling MC either. Why would I want to play as Emma, and make choices for her, when the game can just wrest that control from me and have her alter-ego act out the dev's fantasies?
The story itself isn't told well either. The player is never told about what's at stake, what the rules of the 'game' are, and even fails to introduce the main cast adequately. For instance, we're first led to believe that only Emma and Alex will have to stay at the mansion, until suddenly Daniel and Isabelle show up. If you decided to play Emma's route first, then you'll encounter characters who aren't introduced at all, while they are on Alex's route.
The game's style of storytelling doesn't sit right with me either. There's an inconsistent mix of the MCs having thoughts, the narrator saying what they're thinking, or describing what's happening. Worse, these aren't styled consistently. Sometimes Alex' thoughts will be colored, other times they won't. Additionally, the narrator often describes things that aren't shown on the screen. I don't need to read "Or maybe it was your persistence, (she said, rolling her eyes playfully.)". This is an AVN, show me rolling her eyes instead.
"Mansion Affairs" also goes out of its way to make characters unlikeable. Alex is a borderline sociopath. Daniel is manipulative and shows his true colors when verbally abusing the staff. His wife, Isabella, likes to put people down to feel superior, and so on. All of these people deserve each other, in the worst way possible.
One positive thing I can say about this game is about its animations. These show skill and attention to detail. Some are more basic than others, but still of a decent quality.
Some suggestions that (subjectively) would make the game more enjoyable to me:
Score: 4/10
Playtime: about 3 hours
Version: 0.1 Market (Steam preview copy)
This game isn't for me. It indicates a heavy slant toward cheating, netori (MC seduces someone else's partner), and netorare (MC's partner cheats on them). It's possible to play through the story as either a male or female MC. Neither of them are renamable.
Alex, the male MC, is as dumb as they come. He gets uncontrollably horny when seeing the smallest glimpse of a woman. His constant cheating was discovered by Emma, his wife (and supposed love of his life), making her want to divorce him.
Circumstances entice them to stay married for a year longer, and stay at a mansion they hope to inherit. While Alex often expresses remorse, he never tries to make better choices, even going as far as second-guessing the player when they make sensible choices for him.
Emma, the female MC, suffers from a Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the current content, she acts like a meek and demure housewife/artist, at least until her alter ego takes over, and she casually decides to suck off Alex outside the player's control.
The main issue here isn't necessarily the content/kinks themselves, but the story and characterization. If Alex were an unapologetic cheater who'd express how much he got off on the thrill of it, that'd be fine. Instead, he constantly flip-flops on what to do. He'll briefly consider Emma's feelings, before acting like a horny 14-year-old seeing his first pair of breasts. Likewise, Emma's condition doesn't make for a compelling MC either. Why would I want to play as Emma, and make choices for her, when the game can just wrest that control from me and have her alter-ego act out the dev's fantasies?
The story itself isn't told well either. The player is never told about what's at stake, what the rules of the 'game' are, and even fails to introduce the main cast adequately. For instance, we're first led to believe that only Emma and Alex will have to stay at the mansion, until suddenly Daniel and Isabelle show up. If you decided to play Emma's route first, then you'll encounter characters who aren't introduced at all, while they are on Alex's route.
The game's style of storytelling doesn't sit right with me either. There's an inconsistent mix of the MCs having thoughts, the narrator saying what they're thinking, or describing what's happening. Worse, these aren't styled consistently. Sometimes Alex' thoughts will be colored, other times they won't. Additionally, the narrator often describes things that aren't shown on the screen. I don't need to read "Or maybe it was your persistence, (she said, rolling her eyes playfully.)". This is an AVN, show me rolling her eyes instead.
"Mansion Affairs" also goes out of its way to make characters unlikeable. Alex is a borderline sociopath. Daniel is manipulative and shows his true colors when verbally abusing the staff. His wife, Isabella, likes to put people down to feel superior, and so on. All of these people deserve each other, in the worst way possible.
One positive thing I can say about this game is about its animations. These show skill and attention to detail. Some are more basic than others, but still of a decent quality.
Some suggestions that (subjectively) would make the game more enjoyable to me:
- Do away with the male & female MC and create a single narrative, ensuring all events happen in a single timeline. (For instance, Emma doesn't visit Daniel's room when playing as Alex.)
- Allow players to choose if they want to control the male and/or female character's choices
- Create a canon path for both. If the player doesn't want to control any main character, the game could play out as a kinetic novel instead. If they only control one, the other MC reacts accordingly.
- Decide on the identity of your game. What is it about? What are the goals of our MCs? How do these goals align or diverge as the story progresses?
- Additionally, allow players control over these goals. It would be a small adjustment to cater to a cheating-loving audience by making Emma possessive, and a harem audience by making her not care anymore. Likewise, Emma could want to move on and explore different relationships and her sexuality in the same process, she might want to restore a loving and monogamous relationship, or become a manipulative femme fatale who wants nothing more than to use this year to torture Alex.
- Let the MCs act with resolve and forethought. Playing as Alex, a man entirely enslaved by his lust, just isn't compelling, enticing or sexy. The same goes for Emma, whose alter ego is outside of her (and our) control. Whatever you do, please stop letting an MC flip-flop on their position to then let them do it anyway without a second thought given. (Eleanor)
- Clean up the narration and let characters expose information in conversation. Don't let a narrator describe what characters are thinking, that's what the characters are for.
- Actually listen to a player's decision. If I'm not interested in Eleanor, I don't want her forced on the MC either. And I certainly don't want to read how the MC worships the ground she walks on because her breasts are humongous.
- Ensure there are actual motivations and temptations for the characters to act the way they do. Emma and Alex are at the mansion, keeping up appearances, to win the inheritance. How much sense does it make for Alex to sleep around, potentially angering Emma? She was willing to divorce him before the inheritance was mentioned, she can still leave at any time. Why doesn't this factor in for Alex? Why is he regretting his actions and trying to improve things, while still chasing every skirt?
