Rating based on v1.00 Extras
First of all, I have to say that I don't think the rating in a 5-star system is accurate enough. I would give the game a 7/10, so 3.5/5 stars. I think three stars is too low, but then again, neither are four stars. I chose three stars because I always find too high ratings more useless than too low ones.
All in all, I enjoyed the story. There were no major plot holes, but there were some inconsistencies in the behavior of the characters. That bothered me a lot at some points. It's just illogical that MC is in a committed relationship with Melody with obvious sincere love, but on the side is screwing around with her BFF and a masseuse who is also a friend. He doesn't seem to have any real remorse, although MC is presented to us as someone who always remained faithful to his last partner, even though the relationship had obviously broken down and he no longer felt any love for Bethany.
The graphics are still very good from today's point of view (2023), but you can tell they are from a time when you were much more limited in using DAZ. It would not be fair to evaluate the graphics from today's point of view. You have to see them in the context of when they were created (2018/19). For the time, they were really very good. Melody is really beautiful and most of the other characters are nice to look at as well. What goes for the graphics must also go for the animations. For the time, it was good work and even if they are not outstanding, they are nice to look at.
What really bothered me about AVN, however, and had a lasting effect on my rating, was the mass of one-choices. What's the point? That has no added value for the player at all. It simply interrupts the reading flow and is annoying. That alone gave me a whole star deduction in the rating. The same goes for the fact that it is virtually impossible for the player to make optimal decisions in the long run without a walkthrough. Best example: Melody would like to know which song she should play best. The possible answers are "#1", "#2" or "#3". For the "correct" answer you get points. But there is no clue at all in the whole game which answer would be the right one. So it is a pure game of chance. It's the same when Melody asks which movie you should watch or if it's about musicians. It's fantasy names that exist there as possible answers, and there's no conversation in the whole game that gives you clues to help you choose the right answer and get points for it.
Another minus point is that the sidegirls Becca, Amy and Izzy simply disappear from the game after a certain point and no longer play a role. However, they are presented to the player as LI's, so the player should also be able to follow their routes. I do realize that Melody is the main character and the game literally revolves around her. But if you bring other LI's into the plot, they should play a role as well.
My last major criticism is the fact that Melody's development in terms of sex is not comprehensible. First, she is a virgin who is sexually open-minded and masturbates regularly and also experiments with her BFF. So far, so unspectacular. She is correspondingly reserved towards MC at the beginning. Typical slow burn. That's okay. But as soon as you have popped her cherry, she turns into a maniac and apparently wants to do it always and everywhere. This does not fit together. Of course, there are women who develop from a shy duckling into a sex-hungry beast. But that doesn't happen overnight. One got the impression that the dev just wanted to accommodate as many sex scenes as possible. Probably to satisfy the players at the time, who probably complained about too few scenes. I don't know if it was like that, but it's been seen more often in other games, so I think my guess is likely.
All in all, though, it was an AVN that I enjoyed. At least from the time when I used the walkthrough and also held the code on my second screen next to it myself from time to time.
I can only recommend this AVN. My three stars should not obscure the fact that it is a good piece of work. As written above, it's a 7/10. I'll definitely play it again at some point. It was fun and a nice change of pace. I did, of course, pay the dev accordingly for his work.
Please be fair and support the dev with paying for the game if you can. Even if my review doesn't look like it if you only sees the rating, he deserves it.
First of all, I have to say that I don't think the rating in a 5-star system is accurate enough. I would give the game a 7/10, so 3.5/5 stars. I think three stars is too low, but then again, neither are four stars. I chose three stars because I always find too high ratings more useless than too low ones.
All in all, I enjoyed the story. There were no major plot holes, but there were some inconsistencies in the behavior of the characters. That bothered me a lot at some points. It's just illogical that MC is in a committed relationship with Melody with obvious sincere love, but on the side is screwing around with her BFF and a masseuse who is also a friend. He doesn't seem to have any real remorse, although MC is presented to us as someone who always remained faithful to his last partner, even though the relationship had obviously broken down and he no longer felt any love for Bethany.
The graphics are still very good from today's point of view (2023), but you can tell they are from a time when you were much more limited in using DAZ. It would not be fair to evaluate the graphics from today's point of view. You have to see them in the context of when they were created (2018/19). For the time, they were really very good. Melody is really beautiful and most of the other characters are nice to look at as well. What goes for the graphics must also go for the animations. For the time, it was good work and even if they are not outstanding, they are nice to look at.
What really bothered me about AVN, however, and had a lasting effect on my rating, was the mass of one-choices. What's the point? That has no added value for the player at all. It simply interrupts the reading flow and is annoying. That alone gave me a whole star deduction in the rating. The same goes for the fact that it is virtually impossible for the player to make optimal decisions in the long run without a walkthrough. Best example: Melody would like to know which song she should play best. The possible answers are "#1", "#2" or "#3". For the "correct" answer you get points. But there is no clue at all in the whole game which answer would be the right one. So it is a pure game of chance. It's the same when Melody asks which movie you should watch or if it's about musicians. It's fantasy names that exist there as possible answers, and there's no conversation in the whole game that gives you clues to help you choose the right answer and get points for it.
Another minus point is that the sidegirls Becca, Amy and Izzy simply disappear from the game after a certain point and no longer play a role. However, they are presented to the player as LI's, so the player should also be able to follow their routes. I do realize that Melody is the main character and the game literally revolves around her. But if you bring other LI's into the plot, they should play a role as well.
My last major criticism is the fact that Melody's development in terms of sex is not comprehensible. First, she is a virgin who is sexually open-minded and masturbates regularly and also experiments with her BFF. So far, so unspectacular. She is correspondingly reserved towards MC at the beginning. Typical slow burn. That's okay. But as soon as you have popped her cherry, she turns into a maniac and apparently wants to do it always and everywhere. This does not fit together. Of course, there are women who develop from a shy duckling into a sex-hungry beast. But that doesn't happen overnight. One got the impression that the dev just wanted to accommodate as many sex scenes as possible. Probably to satisfy the players at the time, who probably complained about too few scenes. I don't know if it was like that, but it's been seen more often in other games, so I think my guess is likely.
All in all, though, it was an AVN that I enjoyed. At least from the time when I used the walkthrough and also held the code on my second screen next to it myself from time to time.
I can only recommend this AVN. My three stars should not obscure the fact that it is a good piece of work. As written above, it's a 7/10. I'll definitely play it again at some point. It was fun and a nice change of pace. I did, of course, pay the dev accordingly for his work.
Please be fair and support the dev with paying for the game if you can. Even if my review doesn't look like it if you only sees the rating, he deserves it.
Recommended only to connoisseurs of saccharine, lovey-dovey, watery eyed love novels... For me it was stomach churning and cramp inducing as I drink my coffee über black 
