VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Melissa's Studies [v1.0] [Drakus Games]

Having played this twice I felt compelled to write a review.

I am not going to delve deeply into the quality of the graphics, animation or writing as these elements are extremely subjective in any game. Everyone will have differing opinions. For me they were good enough to not detract from the game.

The story trope is pretty much similar to other games of the same ilk. If you like that kind of concept, then you may enjoy this.

All is not perfect though.

I didn't really understand the heart score, as it didn't seem to have any influence on choices.

There were errors in some conversation parts appearing before events had happened.

Exploration, such as it was, was unclear and confusing at times.

There is a lot of grind and repetition from start to finish.

Finally, story pacing was hit and miss, especially the ending which came as a bullet out of no where.

One plus for this game is that it is short. Easily playable in one sitting.

This game is the epitome of the Shit female Protagonist have to go through in most game where the MC is female. Melissa's situation goes from bad to worse to horrible. The only "good ending" is right at the beginning when you fail to even reach the school and go back home. Everything from there is a nightmare for Melissa. There is not Justice or happiness for Melissa in the game. Only corruption and abuse. None of the people who did horrible things to Melissa get any Karmic payback. Unlike the MC THEY live happily ever after. I'd give this game a negative review if I could.

The following review is based off my personal experience with playing this Game/Visual Novel... I try to be as brutally honest and detailed as I can, and these are my own opinions and thoughts, from one or more play throughs... The version this review is based on is v0.2...

The visuals of this VN/Game are typical low to moderate quality Honey Select Asian style... Some of the models look very similar to ones I've seen before in other VN/Games... The backdrops are also very basic, and some are unoriginal... There are some extremely short animations, but nothing spectacular...

The script is a mix of ok English along with broken English, and some occasional spelling/grammar errors... This is more or less a corruption grinder, where the female protagonist is the one becoming corrupted through outside sources beyond her control... It is an EXTREMELY basic and rushed plot, where she gets accepted to a college (looks more like a high school) in another town, free of charge... But right away, almost immediately, every situation and every character conspires against her... Every male character pervs on her... One of the girls is aiding in her corruption, as well as the school staff and student council (yet another High School thing and not something usually found at a college)…

Everything that is happening to her is over the top, cliché, completely out of touch with reality, and a complete stretch of the imagination... And the whole game is just a repetitive and annoying grinder, with most content (what little there is for the moment) gated behind money and her corruption level... Sure, you can select to go to different locations, but because the gameplay is very basic, it's a bit linear, with no clue-in once you've seen all you can see... Only way to know, is when in-game weeks go by with nothing changing or opening up, at any location, at any time of the day...

Overall, this game is pretty much a low end porn fest corruption grinder, with a female protagonist that is destined to be screwed over by everything and everyone... It is highly repetitive, and has slightly annoying navigation... Do not expect any real story, with any kind of substance, or depth, or even meaning... No character is believable, or has any substance to their personalities... Every event is ridiculous and over the top, to include the amounts of money the female protagonist becomes indebted with... It's still early into development, with very little content... I don't see anything thus far that is either promising, or that would endear me to give it a retry at some later date...