VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Melody [v1.00 Extras] [MrDots Games]

I absolutely adored this game! This one was well put together by the developers. Melody is without a doubt the most beautiful 3D rendered model I've ever seen. They made a lot of great original character-oriented music that is worth hearing on its own. Fantastic game with excellent storytelling and plenty of opportunities to try out different paths. It's pretty enjoyable because most things or situations appear to be natural. I had a lot of fun going through the different endings and seeing how they all turned out. The whole thing was a lot of fun for me.

Preface: When it comes to Adult Interactive Fiction (AIF) I look for more than just masturbation material. I, generally don't even do that. The primary thing I'm looking for is a story that draws me in and makes me care about the characters, first and foremost.

Review for 1.0:

Story: Melody is, by far, the single best AIF visual novel I have ever played. It has a very slow paced story, focusing on the growth of the MC and his student, Melody.

The MC is a thirty-ish year old session musician who has just had a breakup with his girlfriend of ten years, Bethany. After being kicked out of the house, the MC takes his things, including a guitar he gave her as a gift that she never used and stays with a friend of his, Tim, to lay low. The MC lists the guitar online where a woman named Amy quickly contacts him to inquire about it. She is searching for one for her niece, Melody, who has had her guitar stolen by her ex-boyfriend. They meet up and she offers the MC a job as Melody's tutor.

Melody is a 19 year old college student with aspirations of becoming a singer-songwriter. Her mother, Melissa, passed away four years prior and the guitar Melissa gave her is the only thing she had to hold onto. She is a rebellious young woman who is prone to speaking her mind and making things difficult for those around her.

Over the course of the novel, the MC's relationship very slowly goes from student-teacher to being friends to being her manager to becoming her lover. If you want some action quickly, you will not get that here. You slowly grow her trust in you. It would take in the area of five to ten hours to get to the point where he and Melody start exploring their lust for one another and another couple of hours for them to start having sex.


Gameplay: Your progress is measured on a scale of 0 to 400, with seven piano keys being specific points where their relationship changes.during the course of the story, the MC has the option of pursuing a handful of women. Tim's sister, Izzy; Melody's aunt Amy; Melody's best friend, Sophia; the MC's neighbor, Rebecca; and a young woman named Xianne whom he meets during an evening out with Melody. Interestingly, the game sometimes has you making choices for the girls when you are in pseudo-control of them. Examples include Melody taking tests or her choosing to be intimate with Sophia.

I have only ever played through Melody's route so I cannot speak for the other relationships. Regardless, the story is extremely important and highly satisfying to experience.

Visuals: The renders are top notch, in my opinion. The characters look great with the women ranging from large A-cups to C-cups. There aren't any outlandish proportions and the girls feel natural. The MC is of average build. No outlandish penis size, nor is he walking around looking like Adonis. The female characters actually have a wardrobe. Every new day, Melody has a different outfit, as do the other girls. I found this very refreshing and immersive as most VNs have characters wearing the same outfit all game long.

The story is told from a first person perspective for 90 percent of the story, with it moving to a third person perspective for sex scenes, several kissing scenes or when the story pans to sections with the MC not being present. You never see the MC' face with the back of his head or his mouth and chin being all you see. Your romantic progress with Melody heavily hinges on your choices with other women. I tend to always go with the faithful to her route.

Audio: I tend to play video games muted so I cannot comment on it here.

Content; The content is pretty tame with standard stuff being the most common. Male/Female, Female/Female, Male/Female/Female(choice dependent) , Vaginal, Masturbation, Cunnilinguos, Analinguos, Handjobs, Blowjobs and a lot of foreplay. Exhibitionism also happens infrequently. Anal happens extremely late in the story and there is some footplay but that is minor. You have standard positions including doggy, missionary, spooning, cowgirl/reverse cg, sixty-nining and standing.

Overall: Melody is most certainly worth the time for at least one playthrough. I have, personally, played it four times and I love it. The character interaction and build-up is top notch. So much so, that it is the one VN I always have installed. I vehemently encourage you to give it a go, especially if your looking for a story-driven experience. If I could give it more than five stars, I would. It will take some time to complete if you don't skip dialog. If I had to guess, you would be looking at fifteen to twenty hours of story.

The game was great, I enjoyed most of it. The story was good and the characters look great. The game's biggest flaw is the writing. The grammar was very good but the language was weird and felt old in a way. I'd give the game 4.5 if I could but I'm rounding it up to a 5.

• Render : Great
  • not the best but still good
• Sex Scenes : Good
  • they're animation so don't worry about playing stiff scene that is filled by pictures but you need to pass many dialogues
• Model : Not too unique
  • some characters having a same face
• Story : Well-made story
  • if you are looking for a game by story wise this one might be suited you
• Control : choice based game
  • so you can play it easy but chose wisely. the mini-games are trivia question so internet will be your bestfriend

I don't know why but to me some of the conversations are low key sharing stories from Being A Dik. Thanks MrDotsGames

Sometimes I seek some extreme emotions from the game, some new experience. That game is not like that. It is a pretty simple story of true love, but the warm feeling from the game is so good, that I felt sooo good playing the game. Sometimes you just need a simple kind melodrama and it is that kind of a game. If you are feeling yourself bad and want something bright in your life, play that game.

The game was great despite the cgi not being the best the story make it worth playing, I think one negative is that it's main focused on Melody, there was so much effort on her that most of the times you don't feel like going with the other girls. Overall it was a great experience and I definitely recommend it if story is your thing

I definitely enjoyed this gem. Beautiful character models, Gorgeous sex scenes which are very well animated, interesting story,Memorable cast. Definitely 1 of the best so I highly recommend it.
My most memorable scene was when I was dating 2 of my fav characters (Melody & her aunt Amy, well actually 3 women if u include Rebecca also) at the same time discreetly obviously . 1 day Melody says she got a surprise for me & takes me out to lunch where, upon my arrival I realise that the surprise is none other than Aunt Amy where Amy reveals that MC is dating her then Melody also says but I'm dating him & both of them look towards me & I'm like "oh SHIT I'm definitely Fucked!!".
So friendly advice choices have consequences here so choose carefully.
PS almost forgot to mention I'm glad I finally found a game where the MC has a normal dick for once(this makes it more realistic hence a more immersive experience) . Every other game I tried the MC is bestowed with a giant horse dick that almost extends upto his knee.

Loved this VN game!
Great story with beautiful girls and excellent music.
Took me almost 2 weeks playing a couple of hours a night to finish.
You never actually see the MC's face which adds to the overall immersion of the game.
Worth playing first without a walkthrough to see what kind of ending you achieve using your own decisions.

Honestly, the sexy bits are a sideshow to the amazing writing and effort that was put into this game. I couldn't bring myself to stop playing it. Sure some of the dialogue, particularly the inner dialogue, can be a bit cheesy or repetitive ("We should go to the car to go to this thing we're talking about. I better get going to the car now" kinda thing), but the story that it tells and the relationships are second to none from all of the VN's I've played through. The models, renders, and animations are top notch. Don't know what else to say; it's definitely worth at least one playthrough if not multiple. Props to the creator!

I fucking loved this game! The creators did a fantastic job putting this one together. Melody is possibly the most attractive 3D rendered model I've ever seen. They created a bunch of excellent original character oriented music that is worth listening to on its own. The supporting cast is equally engaging. Maybe someday creators of visual novels will bring in some voice acting.

Wow, what an experience this game!!
I guess I'm at half of the content, but I can say this is a very different game from the most in this site. There are fewer lewd scenes, even if there are anyway many, but it's more a "romantic story with lewd".
Almost all the Love Interests are very likeable (I could absolutely fall in real life for an Amy, or also for a Becca), and the story is at the same time funny, interesting, and makes you think.
Just in Acting Lessons I had spent almost all afternoon playing.
I hope the DEV will work at other projects like this one, because he's really good at telling a story.

You probably heard that phrase: "it's about the journey, not the destination". Well, Melody defies that, here is about both. A great game from start to finish; if you're a story lover like I am, this is a must play.
It's freaking inspiring too, goddammit, I've became a better person because of this game. A lot of times I thought I was playing "A Star is Born".
The only downside I would think of would be that the other girls narrative falls short in comparison to the main storyline, but nothing that would negatively impact the game.. it is called "Melody" for a reason.
The second VN I played and kinda ruin them for me, because inevitably, I'm comparing other games to this one and it's avoiding me to enjoy much of this site's content.. screw you, MrDots.. damn.

One of the best. Choices are meaningful, character developments are great. The story has some beef to it but not super lengthy. One of the rare few games where you don't get a bunch of misspelled words.

Wow, just wow!
Melody is by far the VN I ever played. Sure, it has sex with beautiful ladies, but what puts this game far above the others for me is the story. When I first played it, I got a bit more emotional than I'd like to admit. The reason is that I know someone very similar to Melody (character and appearance wise) and she is a very important person in my life. We always shared a connection, but we never hit it off due to bad timing on both sides. We moved on, but the attraction is still there and playing this game was like a window to another reality where everything worked out for me and her.

Ah, sorry for the outbreak of thoughts
The game is superb! Enjoy it!

Fantastic game that has great writing and a lot of replay value to play other other paths. Most things or situations seem organic so it's quite fun. I really enjoyed playing through the various endings and seeing how they end. Hopefully the creator of this game creates another one like this. I really enjoyed the whole thing. (Multiple times)

I don't really like this game. It sure has mrdots written all over it; the extreme amount of text, the older guy-younger girl corruption relationship, all the loose women surrounding the "main" girl, the myriad choice text boxes where there is only 1 choice to.. what? simulate action?

I don't like the story, I find the relationships of the women besides the main woman badly written, the choices are bland and most of the time don't have any effect, and it just comes down to grinding enough REP with the main girl so she lets you do everything you want with her. Also I hate that facial expression where the girl purses her lips together, totally overused here like in DMD.

But its impossible to give this game a bad rating. Because the game is so competently made in other areas, the renders are very well done, the animations are good, the level of care they put into creating the scenes and the care put into the writing is very high.

To me its a 2/5 game, but rise to 4/5, +1 due to sheer care put into the game and competence, and +1 cuz its an actually finished game with alot of content.

This is a game that you will definitely fall in love with. The main thing is that the story is going in several directions, based on love, which makes the sex scenes more exciting and passionate. The models are very gentle and beautiful, the sex scenes are very exciting, the game is very easy. 5 stars from me.

Great story. Characters look good especially Melody and Amy (Amy is hot, I just wish there were more scenes with her). Character development is nice. Soundtrack is also good. Grammar can be better (but it's not bad). All in all it's a 5 star for me.

Been meaning to write this one for a while. Melody is one of my first, and still one of my favorite AVNs.
Only reason I can't really give 5 star is it has some real technical issues, but Melody and her story are a real gem.
The Good
Melody, Melody, and Melody. She is by far the star of the show.
You can tell some real love and care went into the crafting of her character, and her evolution through the story.
The MC is honestly not the best MC I've played, but watching Melody grow and mature, with his influence and support, is very rewarding.
The music is great. Should be in an AVN about music, but it does a great job there, especially the bits with vocals, very nice.
Renders are quite good, especially for an older game, and still hold up pretty well. Animations are not amazing, but still pretty good most of the time.
The not so good
Because of how well crafted and fleshed out Melody is, the secondary characters suffer a bit. They seem a bit shallow and one dimensional at times, but they still help to move the story forward.
Reused poses, and expressions over, and over, and over. That can get a bit distracting, and definitely needed more variety.
Dialogue can get pretty verbose, and tedious at times, especially with the never ending dates. This didn't bother me too much as I was well enamored with Melody, and happy for the time I got to spend with her, but it was noticeable.
Even if you are not a huge fan of MrDots other games,(I'm Not), Melody is well worth a try if you enjoy a pleasant heartfelt story, with an adorable love interest.

I love this game for some beautiful girls (Sophia, Becca, Melody), good idea, feeling engaged, decent size, renders and sex scenes.

But there are too many faults to give it 5 stars:

• Dialogs often are pretty much bloated. A simple farewell, even when people are in a hurry, can be an exchange of a dozen sentences. Melody seems to always ask permission to use a bathroom or a shower, even at her own place. People say "sorry" a bit too often. It all hits realism and immersion.
• Characters: For instance, MC is a shitty person - liar and cheater (unless you play as a monk). He is also boring, spewing out patronizing banalities, especially during Week 7.
• Models: Girls have those scary asymmetrical smiles when their mouth is slightly open. It's a serious turn-off. Also, for instance, Melody has inconsistent hair color (sometimes chestnut with blonde stripes, once almost black, sometimes pure ginger, even almost bright red).
• Choices often have random consequences. For instance, how does Koko decision depend on MC being monogamous? Choices for improving relationships seem random very often, or even contradicting. For instance, sometimes you need to kiss and sometimes to hug to improve the score; there is just no logic in that. Is that because the developers wanted to sell walkthroughs? Moreover, in Week 6 MC mentions that he toured with the band "The Lone Rangers", and in Week 13 they say such band never existed.
• Ideology is kind of forcing monogamy. Most girls get automatically removed from relationships. She has a great job offer in another city, she leaves. That repeats for 3 girls, the exact same scenario!
• Inconsistencies of the story and the characters. Becca studied as a psychologist, having passion for psychology; suddenly she becomes an historian. Sudden changes in Beth & Stove. And, as some other reviewers already pointed out, contradictions about Melody.

So, just 4 stars. And it's a pity that MrDots repeats the same mistakes game after game.