VN - Ren'Py - Moon Shard [v0.7.1] [KimchiDev]

I know this is still early in the development, especially as it is a rework, but while it has potential, it also needs a lot of work.

This game really needs a better writer. The dialogue is so unnatural sounding and all over the place. The characters don't speak like a normal person would, and it goes further than just if the dev was not a native English speaker. The story needs to be better written cause it just skips around without any good transition. Also there's no character development for the reasons why the characters change their minds on what they want to do with their lives. You see a scene of Eva arguing with her mother about working for the mob and she is defending her choice and speaking like she really wants to keep working for them. Then there is a scene where she is working and she seems happy making the money. Then suddenly the next scene she, out of nowhere, is wanting out of working for the mob and has completely changed her mind? There is no indication or event that shows why this has happened and it's so weird. The scene of the MMC meeting the FMC is also unnatural and weird in the way it was written. Really the bad writing brings this game down a lot and needs to be a lot better.

Now on to what I liked about the game. I do like that, so far, any interaction that could lead to a relationship or showing interest in someone is up to player choice and hope it continues to remain that way. I was also pleasantly surprised that Eva seems to have a female LI possible as lesbian is not in the tags for this game. Whenever I play games with a FMC, I do tend to make them lesbian, so I was a bit disappointed when I didn't see the lesbian tag. When the elf character showed up, I was happy, and I hope that means that Eva can have a lesbian only route. I also am a fan of the artwork and, despite how it may have seemed, am really interested in how the story will progress.

I really can see the potential in this game. Like the choices, artwork, and the story. I just wish that it had a better writer who could make the dialogue sound more natural and there be actual character development and better reasoning for why the characters change their minds. I really want to come back here and update this review with a higher rating.

Edit 1: Lesbian tag has since been added so that's good news.

Another game where acting decent leads to 0 sex scenes, most of the male characters are creeps and honestly unbearable.

The art style is actually good, but gets overshadowed by Eva's incel brother, personally i dont see the point in Eva staying with a creepy brother who tries to be creepy and sexually harass her.

The gameplay of the main character is actually quite ok, but choosing the decent (and not choosing the options of a porn-addict) leads to 0 sex scenes.

Overall its a decent game but plotwise this has lost me. I can see others enjoying it though!

New Review - Feb 2024:

Well, I am not sure what I would rate this at the moment. The story has been cleaned up a lot, I still like the artwork, however the conversations, even though they have been improved, are still a bit odd and lacking flow.

The story rework has clearly improved the game, gone are the 75 different mysteries, there is a very fast explanation to justify the inclusion of non-human characters and also a lot of exposition to introduce the characters and the world.

I think my main issue with the game at the moment is that the characters do not speak like normal people, not only due to the exposition, but also the conversations feel rushed and forced.

I am still upgrading this to a 3 for now, I think this rework is definitely a step in the right direction and hopefully there will be more content and the improvements continue.

I am leaving here below the old review I wrote in October 2023, way before the rework. It had 25 likes but I think it doesn't accurately or fairly represent the game any more.