Ren'Py - Monster Girl Dreams [v26.4b Alpha] [Threshold]

Monster Girl Dreams has amazing writing, ideas and art to go with it. Doesn't have too much content yet but the content in it so far is by far the best I've seen in a pornographic game in a long time. Is still being updated every now and then from what I can tell and has a lot more potential.

Shit, I wrote an in-depth review, but clicked outside the message window by mistake so it disappeared and I lost everything. So I'll make this one a bit shorter instead.
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Update: Looks like I utterly failed at that
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Anyways... Game is fucking great. Great writing and surprisingly good art for a text-game. Especially, great choice in not allowing race/body options. Those things always results in shitty lewd scenes with an incoherent mishmash of useless customization information. Having a single generic MC in mind makes everything a lot more fluent and coherent.

That being said, even great things can be improved, so here's a few suggestions. All (or almost all) similar games suffer from the same problems I'm addressing so it shouldn't be taken as a criticism for this particular one.

Suggestion 1: Kill All Battle Repetition
If I use the same butt-fuck attack 37 times in an encounter, I don't want to read through the same text each single time. You can't possibly make 37 unique descriptions so just give us the ones you got and then whenever I use butt-fuck attack again, simply write an effect summary like this:
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Butt-fuck Success
Monster +42 arousal
You +9 arousal
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Suggestion 2: Kill All Other Repetition Too
So I meet some red slime chick a second time and half-way through the text I start thinking "did I read the exact same thing an hour ago". Now half my brain is occupied with that question. A bit later I realize the question is "yes" and start clicking to skip, but what if something new comes along? Well, I can use the ren'py "only skip seen text" option (if it worked), so I don't click through unseen text by mistake, but then I don't remember the context.

More importantly, all this shit removes focus from the story and breaks immersion. If there's a situation where dialogue would be repeated, then write it away. If I meet red slime chick again and it will ultimately lead to battle, then just start the battle immediately. If it leads to a decision instead, then make the dialogue short so I remember what it's about but doesn't waste time. Oh, and make it obvious which choices I've already made.

Suggestion 3: Kill All Unnecessary Clicks
If I've surrendered to the red slime chick and things are getting hot and dirty in a lewd scene, I don't want to click every 3rd-10th second just to read the next few lines. Make 60 pct of the leftmost screen text, place the picture on the right of it (or vice versa) and remove all other visual distractions (buttons, stats etc).

Suggestion 1-3 aren't just "nice to have". They're absolutely critical for how a game feels. Imagine a 4 hour movie that constantly repeats the old scenes and stops every 3rd-10th second until you click. Sure, you can just fast-forward and click when needed, but you're not really enjoying the movie the same way anymore. The writing in this game is goddamn great and it is a shame I can't enjoy it fully because of these technicalities.

Bonus-suggestion: Lewd Content Accessibility
If you relentlessly murder all repetition like a rabies infected hamster on meth, then what if you want to experience a particularly hot scene again? One way is to simply make it available as a specific dialogue option or an even easier (but less immersive) option is to "dream" about them in the inn.

Regardless of the choice, I can't see a reason to keep content from the user. For instance, I beat the red slime chick on the first battle, but then read in the wiki that she had a loss scene that is now inaccessable to me. Naturally, I immediately began crying hysterically and then just felt empty. Incomplete. This seemed like the only rational response instead of, you know, re-loading an old save.

Not only do the player miss good material this way, but he's also forced to repeat the same battles. Some encounters even have several lose scenes depending on how you lost. Then you have to repeat them each time to somehow end in a specific position and if you fuck it up, you have to do it again and again. Better to just unlock all relevant content when you beat a specific monster girl. In red slime girl's case, I could ask her "what would have happened if I lost" to which she'd say "let's find out". Or I could, as mentioned, just dream about it.

I don't want to end on a negative note though, because this is a great game compared to the rest of the genre. Yes, I know I'm repeating myself, but hypocrisy is an important aspect of being a leader, and if writing shitty reviews of porn games for free is not the physical embodiment of true leadership then I don't know what the hell is.

I love it so far with v19.6 alpha and i really want to see this game go places. It is pretty entertaining and going full on masochist may even hurt your progress with is more than enough to encourage you, the player to make a mixed bag of choices. A lot of monster girl stories that involve a male protagonist tend to lean toward the shota angle, but not this one. This one is clearly out of mandatory schooling as well as elective schooling (training academy, [akin to college]) and the player isnt afraid to get dirty (in every sense of the phrase). This is definitely a game to check out, even if you arent a fan of text based adventures. Come for the lewds, stay for the almost* D&D style game play.

I'm not a fan of text-based games, but this one is quite fantastic. There's a ton of content already, and there is a lot of variation in the type of events that happen (not to mention the writing is quite good, barring a few infrequent typos). In it's current state it's definitely worth playing, and definitely a game worth checking up on when some more updates roll out.

It's also of a rare breed of eroge that actually has a gameplay component with could reasonably stand on its own merits.

This game is a text-based sex adventure with DnD elements and good fap material. If you enjoy text-based games but don't want to read too much, this game is for you.

Pros:
+ Good writing, no broken english
+ Good sexy stuff
+ Good amount of content (as of Alpha v19.2)
+ Plot is good enough
+ Awesome use of the Ren'Py engine, I'm honestly surprised
+ Monster girls with different personalities and traits

Cons:
- Too grindy for a sex game

Review fo Alpha v18.5

A game that target a very specific community of monster girl quest players that were somehow disappointed with monster girls in other text based games (like CoC or TiTS): No futa, no transformation, just female-male stuff. Due to the lack of any other game for that audience, the game automatically starts with a good impression.

Everything is their to create a unique and good game: original combat mechanics, based on sexual stances; A clear game progression zone->combat events+roleplay events->quest; Illustrations to help picturing some girls; Devs that encourage the community to share their opinions.
In my opinion, the game is good as it is but I certainly hope it will get better in the future.

There game rely on RPG elements--stats, passives, skills. However the story is linear and neither you nor your stats really affect it that much. No real companions/waifus/harem members/slaves, the NPC that share a story with the player are restricted to specific zones and events which limit the roleplay element. Fetishes are also there but it's more for the player to get rid of them. An obvious solution would be to write more events, but the game being in Alpha, this can not count as a major issue.

The modding option is a huge plus, as it may attract writer and help the game grow--and maybe add the hidden scenes/facultative elements the game lacks for now. It's a bet and I can't say for sure it will pay off.

When it comes to grading a game, the question then is: what game is better than MGD that I would rather be playing and which could serve as reference for the devs? Well, nothing really. So 5 stars due to the lack of competition and the game being good already as it is--only in alpha.

Having played text based games before, I was used to and enjoy these games somewhat more than those that have images already, even though there are some here as well. The intro is great as to how it basically lets you know this is a sex battle kind of game. It may take a bit to grind at first, but there is a nice bit of strategy to the game as well. It helps with the text being in one box at the bottom during combat, and the combat can unfold in quite a few ways, with a few varied lose scenes depending on your choices. It only crashed a couple times on me, but this is definitely a game worth trying.