VN - Ren'Py - Milfy Cases: Damsels in Distress [v0.22] [Big Chungus Productions]

Review for v0.22

I think the central premise of the game is cool. Though I wish the game actually explained it better than me having to go into the lore section to figure some of it out, we play as a fresh and prestigious graduate from a magical academy. We work for "the agency," whose job is to protect both the magical and non-magical world. During our first mission with our former instructor we find out she used us and went rogue, stealing precious artifacts in the process. We then masquerade as a detective in pursuit of her. All that sounds nice, but the game itself feels very mundane so far. There's not really any details in particular that make this unenjoyable, but more a case where it just lacks enough detail in the first place I think.

The characters don't leave much of an impression. Our former teacher we are tracking down feels kind of amateur from the opening scenes with her, and frankly just not an interesting villain/target. The game tries to give an impression that they had somewhat of a deeper relationship and longer history, and they even bang before she vanishes, but it just falls flat. You meet a character later who is your new partner, and you try to relate with her about "both having trouble with former partners" but the MC just doesn't seem beat up about it I guess. I feel like I run into this issue with AVNs sometimes where the MC doesn't feel like an actual character and more like a plot device, and I feel it here. He looks a little goofy too.

That brings me to the rest of the cast, and again I just don't have any interest in them. There's a rich lady who is hosting us as a favor for investigating a robbery from her vault, and I probably like her the most so far. But I think that's mostly because she's hot and forward. Our new partner is presented as this hardass "I only like to work solo, don't get in my way" type, but she's just annoying really. The rest of the cast feel like side characters who show up occasionally for lewd stuff.

The sex scenes are alright. Dialogue during them is nothing to write home about but the animations are fine. It's not on the level of some other AVNs but game looks nice enough too. My big nitpick is I hate a lot of the goofy sound effects this game uses at random moments. I do like some of the goofy animations though.

Past that I think I've just find this boring so far. A slow burn is fine, but so far nothing has carried these slower moments as to get me invested in wanting to see how it all plays. Not a horrible experience, but one I'm not sure I'd feel like going back to.

Milfy Cases (Remake) (v0.20) (7/10)

Milfy Cases was once one of the silliest, but also handicapped games I played. Developer Big Chungus remade the game and wrote an entirely new story, that actually fits the characters much better than the original. Who's up for playing detective?

To clarify, in 2024 I reviewed the original Milfy Cases. The original review for it can now be found here. While handing feedback to the developer, he expressed a strong desire to remake his game after completing the remake of Her Hearts Desire. In response, we chose not to release the review for the original Milfy Cases at that time and wait until the day the remake was far along enough to produce a new review. You're reading that new review right now.

STORY
If you experienced the original Milfy Cases, you definitely remember its whacky and silly tone. That's all removed for the remake. No talking animals, no silly meta comments. This game builds a pretty strong world, full of magic and technology for its characters.

As Scott Thunderstone, you took tutorship to become an active agent from Zara Virelle, one of the Agency's finest agents. There's in-game lore on the Agency, but suffice to say the organization trains magic users, so they can eventually safeguard the public and the use of magic as a whole.

You are selected to go on a mission by Zara, and that mission doesn't go according to plan. Pretty soon, Scott is tasked with investigating the small town of Hope Springs in response to the failed mission. There, he meets a colorful cast of women that the agent subsequently takes care of. It sounds shallow, but there is an actual plotline behind all of this, driving Scott to handle business.

While most of his investigation seems to be into women and I hope we do get more 'mission' moments, the story is a nice balance of story and flirting interactions. Detective Jenny and landlord Mary hold the same positions, but are written with more care this time around. Characters reference each other and a choice made elsewhere could pop up in a later conversation.

Milfy Cases is still developing, but the new story style makes for a more polished, professional product. With a better main character and support characters filling new roles, this game has me far more excited than last time around.

PRESENTATION
Just like in the Her Hearts Desire remake, the developer upgraded his visuals considerably. These are not updated renders from the original. Instead, an entirely new story is rendered. The graphic style sits between a shadowy, cartoony look and outright asset rendering. It works for the game, also because texturing helps take the blandness out of it.

Shots use far more depth of field, overviews and the main character was given an upgrade as well. This might as well be a new game. If you can stomach the clean, doll-like look, you are easily going to play through this game.

In the original, animations were janky and resource-intensive. This time around, even more (non-sexual) animations were added and none of them crunched my system. As a pet peeve, the lip licking when you become desirable to a woman is still in the game, and it still looks as silly as it ever did. It's a Big Chungus meme at this point.

With Alice and Sally now being written as maids instead of roommates, new maid costumes show off their best assets while the new house is an extreme upgrade to what the original game had. More facial detail helps express emotions better, while the original game didn't look exactly bad. Detective Jenny is however still as boring as she ever was, but that totally fits her character.

Presentation is an upgrade from the original game, with more animations and especially facial expressions looking far better.

GAMEPLAY
The idea of having multiple responses to a scene is still here. Milfy Cases is a typical visual novel, but depending on your answers you might get locked out of certain scenes. Responses are either funny, aggressive/dominant or inquiring/curious. Each situation requires a different approach and approaches change as the story progresses.

Giving the right responses might get you a hug with Alice, while being an asshole to her might get you an achievement. At this time it doesn't really pay off to explore everything, but you can see the potential here. We can only hope the developer keeps opening up these paths that push for exploration.

In addition, Big Chungus added a scene selector, lore & character databases and achievement lists. You can now read up on stories, figure out your progress with a character and look at what achievements you missed. It's great and as the game progresses, a great way to keep track of the shenanigans Scott gets himself into.

OVERALL
WIth the remake, Chungus definitely revived the spirit of Milfy Cases. Although the silliness took a backseat to the new characters of the game, it retains the typical charm Big Chungus is known for. The game is working up to it's story, but for now the game feels like a step up from Her Hearts Desire. We can't wait to see what Brosef comes up with for the adventure of Scott Thunderstone.

Rating: 7/10
Developer: Big Chungus Productions

As of v0.017:

So I'll be honest: There's a lot of potential here that the dev is not taking advantage of.

Animation/Artwork - 4/5

So the models are lovely, and the animations are good... but the simulated breathing affect is weird. To be honest, it can probably be dispensed with. It's awkward and doesn't contribute in any way except more work for the dev.

Storyline/Dialogue - 2/5

So as others have noted, this game feels forced. I, too, enjoy a story, yes with lots of sex, but a build-up is nice. These ladies just start lusting after the MC immediately. Also, others have mentioned a customize option for names and relationships; I did not get that. Everything stayed the same for me, and I started from the beginning. No option was provided to me. I'll have to take another gander. But yeah, poor story, and the relationship references are borked. The Mom referred to her daughters as Sons several times, and throughout the game, they act like total strangers that just met each other, even though they're apparently related. The whole thing needs a serious review before further updates are pushed.

Gameplay/UI - 4/5

Not much to say here. Pick the choice that gives you points for the relevant girl. Some of the options that give points kinda don't make sense to me, but that may be a "me" thing.

Anyways, the game isn't terrible. If you're looking for a fap, I can recommend, but if you're looking for a good story to go along with it, without some work, this one can probably be passed.

Cheers,

Radical Dreamer

No build up at all with the characters. It's sad.

It's just BOOM! Right off the bat the women are thirsting after the MC. Zero lead up in the slightest.

Story is bland, and seems to be an after thought to the sex.
The women are eager to jump his bones straight away. It's just one inuendo after another.

Women are all attractive though. That's the only plus side to this VN.

It is only my opinion, and probably not in the majority either, but I actually enjoy a story to go with the sex. Helps bring more of a realistic feel to what I'm being immersed into.
Is there a plot, yeah there is. Rental house is blown up, and that's about it. Then you walk through the woods to your landladies house just to be questioned by the cops. Then you're hit on by the women. Just point blank with no effort. The MC takes a shower, and all 3 are just there watching you. Then one of them just askes to take pictures of your junk.

I forgot I even had this VN open. I found videos elsewhere more important for like an hour.
With saying that, I'm going to pass on this one. No substance to creating a relationship with anyone, and just not very interesting to me.
Good luck to Big Chungus Productions.

Nice Artwork!

That was the only good thing I can say about this.

The rest of the game the Dev should have included the number of his/her dealer to make sense of it all.

Talking animals? The dumbass landlady/roommate crap that you can't change but their name you can? The choices that are connected to a point system (with no indication which of the poorly written choices do what) The horrible choice of attire in this game. Sorry but there was just way too much ignorance slapping me in the face repeatedly to continue playing.

Hard Pass. If it was meant to be funny, sadly it missed its mark by a mile.

This is a small review of version 0.1.

The story introduction is hilarious.

There is a possibility of customizing the role of the 3 female companions as well as the names for the MC and the 3 girls.

Pros:
- There's a mystery to solve that will probably be the connecting thread of the game.
- There's some obvious care of the writing. The dialogues are quite good and out of the ordinary.
- The women behave in a way that isn't the common trope, it is actually quite refreshing and interesting.
- The graphics are nice enough, they suggest a fast update cycle, or, at the very least, that they will not be a limiting factor.
- The music and sounds are quite good and interesting, IMO.
- The pace so far seems appropriate, it feels that things will escalate fast, but not precipitously.
- The emulated "breathing" effect is really interesting and a very good idea.

Cons:

- The emulated "breathing" effect needs to be toned down a LOT. Everyone feels and looks out-of-breath. It will work perfectly if the effect is LESS pronounced to the point of being barely perceptible, as a respiration is, and at the same time be able to turn it up when excitement or other factors make sense.
- The customization of roles feels forced and undeveloped. The dialogues don't support any other role but the default. To my eyes it feels an unnecessary feature in this state.
- The over insistence on the suspicion gets old really fast and seemingly comes out of nowhere. Needs some fine tuning of the dialogues.
- There's a points system, but no way to check them. I feel that when you have a system controlled by points, it is a good idea to have some form of way to let the player check it's progress, it may be immersion breaking, but it gives some illusion of control to the player.

Some considerations:

I enjoyed this introduction to a new story. It wasn't perfect, which gives hope for improvements. There was obvious care put into the crafting of the story. The suggestion of the girls being interested in the MC and each other is quite seductive and promises many interesting interactions.

I will await the continuance of this story with much interest.

Peace