VN - Ren'Py - My Bully Is My Lover [Ch.1 Ep.4] [NiiChan]

[UPDATED] [CH 1 EP4] - 4.9/10 (up from 4.75)

Too much, too young, too slow.

THE GOOD

The game's art direction is solid and only improves as time goes on. The biggest jump can be seen in the animations that get progressively more complex, while retaining good camera work and overall smoothness. One of the best in the HS2 sphere.

The character models are detailed and distinctive enough to offer a good variety (with some exceptions - Freya and Moon).

The game's mafia plot line is interesting (when explored), cutting through the somewhat samey slice-of-life parts.

The GUI is nicely customized but still retains enough of the "vanilla" flow that using it isn't a chore.

The music fits the scenes well and improves the overall experience.

THE NEUTRAL

The release schedule is pretty consistent, but with the developer trying to juggle two games at the same time, one of them will get discarded in favor of the other.

The start/prologue is a little too slow, but also worth the build-up - hence the neutral rating.

The game has TONS of content, but I as describe it later, it's a rather double-edged sword.

THE BAD

The roster is simply too big.
There are currently 9 8 LIs, and the game struggles to give everyone enough screen time. Sky, your childhood best friend that occupied most of your time in the prologue, hasn't had a sex scene since the island update (CH 1 EP 1), which was in August of 2022 - even if you're on harem or Sky-exclusive path. As of CH EP4, there is a small fan service scene with Sky that directly addresses this point.

Same goes for Lily, a character that NiiChan has no fucking clue what to do. She appeared early in the game, and as of latest CH 1 EP 3 P2 she's being moved off-screen. And hopefully forever.

Or Emma (since her Solo Ending). Or Klara. Or Freya. (Sorry, but being a bland loli copy of her older sister isn't a particularly alluring personality trait.) Not to mention all the secondary characters that are important to the mafia plot, but aren't LIs.

The game's pacing is terrible.
With the sheer amount of love interests and other side plot lines, the game progresses incredibly slow with each update. The amount of content is substantial in each release, but it's spread so thin that sometimes the core plot of "I'm being hunted by a powerful mafia, and I need to find out why." takes a back seat until the next update. In other words - if you're not going full harem route, you're left with substantially less content and that sucks.

The writing is headacheingly bad (at times).
To be clear, the game has a lot of good and organic moments (whether in dialogue or inner monologues), and I gotta give NiiChan credit for that.

The problem is every other moment. All in-game characters are supposed to be in their 20s (except for Freya) or older, but they speak or think like actual children. Importantly, MC is the epitome of the most bland and indecisive "good guy" there is, who despite having a decent sexual experience (and a foot-long dick), acts like a hormone-bursting teenager seeing boobs for the first time. This, unfortunately, gets progressively worse as we get more content, and I'm afraid it won't improve.

The narrator.
The game LOVES to describe everything we already see, or add so much actual walls of text that it ruins the experience (I, for example, learned that vaginas can expand to accommodate the dick better. Or that deflowering your fiancée makes her act like a nympho on crack...). There is so much unnecessary bullshit and exposition that the grand sex scene with Aine has literally dozens of lines of meaningless descriptors between animation or render changes. I have never before lost a boner mid-scene because bro keeps yapping like a wind-up toy.

There is so, so much more wrong with the game's writing, but I don't want to you bore with examples.

To sum it up - I used to be a fan of MBML (an easy 8/10 back in the day), but as I play more great games and as this production expands, I feel like the developer has no clue how to fix the core issues. And unless something radical happens (e.g. half of your LIs disappear forever), the game will slowly devolve into an overexposed and painfully slow, yet good-looking mess.

Chapter 1 Episode 4 Update:
The storytelling gets better, and there is some solid action, but the whole grand reveal still feels incredibly drawn out - the words are correct, there are simply too many of them.
Case in point: I felt the most (if any) emotion when we axe off a character we barely know anything about. Their story was short, but well-told, and with a satisfying ending. So, yeah...

There are 2 is 1.5 sex scene in this update. The 0.5 is for the Sky fan-service. The other reminds me once again why I gave this just two stars - this game has either good, sharp writing, or the most cringe-inducing verbal gymnastics ('your mushroom stamp of approval') I've seen in a production this well-known - there is nothing in-between sadly.

If you like the game, you will like this update.
For anyone else, it's a chore.

It's usually a bad sign when the dev has to spend the time and effort to render an intro warning the user that the game will go a different way than they may expect. I GET the need, the name of the game will surely lead to some being a bit confused or put off but at the same time it's worrying that dev and fan expectation may not be in line and if it's not at the earliest point.... it's only going to get worse.

It's not a BAD game but it's a game which suffers from the occasional attack of something all players dread, "the stupid". Players will give a dev a lot of leeway but usually you have to get some credit in the bank first. The Dev hammers home the point the game is influenced by anime so perhaps I'm being too critical but I've barely got my foot in the door to this game and I'm very conscious about how stupid the MC is. The whole premise of the game is that the MC got bullied by troop of lassies in school and then got his act together, moved on and bettered himself..... except it's painfully obvious he didn't do all of those things. He talks about moving on but whenever he talks about Aine he still comes off as very simp like. Now I'm not saying he should grow up and be vengeful and hateful at Aine (as he alludes to himself in game).... but perhaps some acceptance of the situation and moving on would be healthy? Instead at times it feels like all he's done is accept they bullied him and forgiven them for doing it. Like... wat? I'm not going to let her boss me about....... but my god she's more beautiful as ever. Take a shower my dude, go ride Sky and just chill a little.

There's also a small issue about Emma's plan. She over plays her hand somewhat. Her plan has to work so they can hide Aine but either Aine's family are so powerful they can make her do whatever they want..... or they're not and as such her plan isn't needed. It can't be both so the main plot is a bit sus.

One of the BEST games I've played on this site. Had me laughing, crying, sad, and happy. The characters are well written, the comedic timing is pretty much spot on, and there is just enough mush and cringe that it makes the emotions feel real instead of a typical collect all the girls harem game.

Honestly this game is up there with the Top rated ones, the Rating this game gets is not even close to how high it should be rated, yeah the Start is a bit slow but Trust me sit through it and play the game, its 100% worth it.

Don't make the same mistake as me:
Like a R-word i thought that the "EP 3" on screen meant it was almost finished and i quit out because i hate cliffhangers, thats SO wrong tho, its just the Prologue and once continued there were HOURS of more content that just gets better and better.


Pros:
-VERY hot girls, 90% of the time i keep switching my mind about Fav Girl
-Music even if basic gets the Job done and very fitting
-Sounds are well-placed
-The Dialogue feels good to read, almost never had to Skip which is rare
-Lighting is fitting and does not look like they just threw it in
-Pacing is good, even if a little slow which i like
-Sex scenes are hot
-HUGE amount of content, game is 8 Gigs and it shows
-No Sandbox (thank god)

Cons:
-The start is slow, but it gets better and better
-Some of the girls i don't care about at all (like lily)
-Honestly not that much Sky content
-Some girls are just plain annoying sometimes, but it gets better
-The MC is a bit dense when it comes to girls but once he is cornered by them, he gets the job done

100% Recommend
Give this game a try, good game and good Dev (Or Devs dont know if solo or not XD)

Good luck Dev

Man this game is so good from story to renders everything is just perfect , people who have been this game for a long long time can really get attached to it and what i really like is their always some curveballs in a good way at the end of every update which maintain the flow of story very well. This is one of those games which is very hard to predict what will happen in the future updates. Thank you good sir for such a masterpiece.

MY GOD I LOVE THIS. I am so glad i found this. After elternum i was in need of another masterpiece like that. And this is it. All the characters feel so real and sooooooo full of life. I love it. i am sssssssssooooooo glad i played this. I can't wait for more.

At first..I was very.. meh. I ALMOST decided to not go any further. Then Emma's story hit. And it was like.. a new writer took over. Now, you might not like the story, it may get to convoluted for some. This isn't a simple dating sim. If that's not your thing, its not your thing. However. Since that moment I mentioned above.. I've been glued to the game.

If I was in any position to give advice, Id highly recommend doing some edits to the first few chapters to match the quality of the latest content. Writing wise that is. It was.. very cringe-worthy.

Graphic Is good. I can't say it's great cause we have really nice games on HS2.
But man the plot is just idiotic. There no logic, there nothing.
The whole conspiracy is because people can't say what they need to Sat.
Characters mostly 20-23 years old behave like they 14.
Pretty much all girls still virgins somehow.
Seriously that's like shitty anime about guy who have no guts to stay for himself at least it was the case in the past, but now MC often behave totally like 14 years old.

Seriously, like creator, just change the plot you can have same pictures and make this game great.
I just can't do it anymore. It's constant facepalm.

I gotta tell you something. It is perfect. Perfect. Everything. Down to the last minute details. Cannot even say which character is my favorite. They all so "alive" and lovely. I just want to play this game 24/7, be inside this game, talk to girls, just let me be reborn here in my next life, oh almighty god of pixels

It's a great game, truly, I prefer adult game that focusing on the story aspect than "Ugabunga Brutal Seggs 24/7".

The starting episode of the game may somewhat cringe and cliché, but don't let that fools you. The plot will get more interesting and addicting the more you play:

1. The story is not just the journey of the MC to admit the girls to his harem, but it's also the journey for the player to understand the girls, as well as seeing the dynamic/chemistry between them and MC.
2. Also, we will get to see the grow up of the MC (Mentally), to witness the guy who seek nothing but peace to his life slowly turned into a GigaChad that willing to sacrifice his life for the one he loves.

I highly recommend giving this game a try if you can. And you know what they always say: "Don't judge a book by its cover".

I'm thoroughly convinced that NiiChan must have watched too many Telenovelas and Anime, given the surplus of moments seemingly engineered to tug at the heartstrings. The consequence? An abundance of characters who stubbornly refuse to communicate, like the mother who bizarrely receives praise for concealing her son's identity. It's hard to ignore the fact that straightforward honesty and early preparation could have left him far better equipped for what lies ahead.

Then there's the issue of characters like Moon, sporting the infamous "anime crazy eyes," supposedly signaling trauma and badassery. Yet, her character tends to overshadow the others, asserting an exclusive claim to suffering even calling everyone else's problem "drama". And what about the seemingly pointless characters like Shu, aka the awkward boner? He appears to exist solely for comic relief and as a convenient source of money, leaving me questioning whether he serves any purpose beyond being the butt of a joke. Perhaps it's time to consider adding him to the waifu list (I'm not even into femboys), but no, the developer insists on subjecting him to humiliation.

However, the crux of the matter lies with the protagonist. It's impossible to ignore his indecision regarding whether he wants to lead a normal life or embark on a warpath. Despite choosing the mafia path to solve the mystery surrounding his father, there's a glaring absence of any tangible effort to prepare himself for the impending challenges. Vague plans and a reliance on others, namely the waifus and Shu, to do the heavy lifting make me question whether the dev has a clear overall plan for the story.

I love this game so damn much, harem team forever, and I loved Emma's ending, it was very emotional. Besides, the story is surprisingly good for an adult game; I think it could easily be a recognized story in a comic book publisher or a web novel. You can feel the effort and care the developers put into this wonderful game.

<Ch1 Ep3 Part1>

@NiiChan, a great game which I am happy I had the privilege to play.

This is one of the best games in this site in terms of Story telling. I really loved the story and how it keeps us in toes about what would happen next.
The link between the games is really great too. The cross overs the references and all the other things that bring the 2 stories, MBML & Sicae together is really good.

I really am eager to see the MC in Sicae and how he becomes like we saw him in MBML. Great story telling and one of the high points of this game.

I really don't have to tell anything regarding the LI's. Each of them have a great back story and how they all are interlinked with the MC, is just perfection. I really can't select a single favorite one since all are great and the characterization is extremely superb for each and everyone of them. All of the girls are breathtakingly beautiful.

The scenes are not in abundance but I think what we have here is Quality rather than Quantity, since each scenes has an emotional connect.

Really great game, as told before one of the best I played in this site. And I have really played a lot of games here.

This game and Sicae are really MASTAPIECE'S in the making.

All the best for your future projects and your current ones @NiiChan , I will be cheering you on as a fan of your games.

The story starts off well enough but then starts to loose it's way. Visually it's fine though the animations are a bit jerky. You can tell where the loop starts and stops.

The MC comes off as a little sanctimonious and condescending at times which can be a bit annoying.

As the story progresses however it tries to add too many elements becoming too ambitious for it's own good. This causes some glaring plot holes.

The Dev made Emma Aine's servant and also a private investigator which was unnecessary not to mention if she was a private investigator as stated then there is no way she would be allowed to take part in an active police investigation as the story had her do. Also there is no way a child her age would have been allowed to live alone after her mother passes without some agency stepping in.

The whole thing with Gwen loosing her company she supposedly owned was more than a little vague not to mention where was her father during this as he is supposed to be a wealthy company owner himself.

There was also the addition of characters who weren't needed and served no real purpose or who could have been done without such as the Shu character.

The whole Mafia thing might have been fine if handled properly but it wasn't and then the addition of the assassination clan thing with ninja elements jumped the shark. Also there were far too many interpersonal relationships between characters which took it's a small world to a new level.

The Dev also seems to have a cat girl fetish, not my thing really and he also throws in Japanese honorifics at times where not needed nor do they fit. If speaking in Japanese or to a Japanese character it would be fine otherwise it comes off as weebish which isn't a compliment. For those who don't know a weeb is a non Japanese person who tries to appropriate Japanese culture as their own which is never a good thing to appropriate anyone else's culture.

This is a case where the Dev would be well served to pump the brakes, take a step back then look at the story line. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

Any game that actually manages to tug on the ol' heart strings enough to make you wanna cry is a good game. The game is not perfect, none of them are. The overall conflict could have been fleshed out more or baked a little longer to be more engaging. It felt kind of silly at certain points in the game, especially early on. The quality of the character development of the girls does manage to iron out most of those early wrinkles thankfully. Overall this is a great game that suffers from a few early growing pains, quite similar to other games like OIALT did, but is an enjoyable story that is very hard to put down once it manages to hook you .

What's up with the bad reviews lately? They are blowing the flaws of My Bully is my Lover waaaay out of proportion.

Cant help but think its mostly guys looking for the usual boring incest family slice of life harem games with lots of meaningless h-scenes. If youre looking only for that, this maybe isnt the game for you. (yet there are still a lot h-scenes and they are good)

The LI's, their designs and their storys are amazing, the main-story is decent. The MC isnt a full blown badass like the one in Sicae but he's on his way and has a nice progression.

The Gwen and Emma romances are amazing. The humor is great esp if Klara is involved. I usually hate mother/landlady LI's and always skip them, but i cant skip Klara, shes way too hilarious.

The connection to sicae feels great too, a great balance, it isnt too much but the bits which are there are great.

I am a big fan of this game and especially it's writing and it's LI's

The dev clearly has a nack for character building and story building, giving each LI's an unique backstory and creating great character arcs.
One of the only games where I like all of the LI's, and thats because of the characters backstory and relationship building with the MC.

All LI's are really good looking and the renders and animations are top notch, among the best quality out there for Honeyselect games.

It might not be a perfect 5 out of 5 starts with it's occasional cringy dialog, and the mafia stuff is weird, but the positives out weigh the negatives, and I believe that by the time this game is completed (with all endings) it will surely be worthy of the 5 out of 5 stars (just look at Emma's ending).

NiiChan clearly has a nack for storytelling and it shows with how great this game is.

Really nice job dev, can't wait to see where the rest of the story goes.

Ok so I'm 100% biased here. What most reviews say is true. There's a lot of cringe dialog, the mafia stuff is all over the place and I personally don't like the whole 'supernatural' stuff, I would honestly prefer if the game focused on the MC relationship with the LIs and thats it, no mafia and no supernatural stuff. HOWEVER, the relationship with Emma, Aine and Gwen is so good that I honestly don't care about anything else.

Emma's ending is amazing, however
I would also love an ending with Aine solo and/or Aine+Emma but anyway. As I said I'm biased so 4 stars might be too much, I still think its a game worth cheking out tho.

Keep in mind a 3/5 is still above average. The game is decent, but a lot of the writing makes it hard to give it more than a 3.

Positives -

Lots of good LIs with decent models if you are good with HS.

Animations are well done.

Negatives -

Dialogue... just so cringe. It feels like someone asked an AI to write a slice of life anime.

Music is very boring and doesn't fit most of the scenes.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, but the cringe is pretty strong in this one. It does get slightly better as it goes along, but not by much.

(Full disclosure: I wanted to give this a 3.5/5 or a 7/10. Unfortunately this site doesn't do that shit, but I also don't want to give this a 4/5 so...3 will have to do for now.

Also this is for the current version of the game (Chapter 1 Episode 2) and since it's still in active development then yeah, score is still pretty much subject to change in the future)

Pros:

-Character writing is good. Not perfect, but decent enough. The dramatic moments though...I feel like those are the moments where Niichan's writing prowess truly shines the most. I mean, that Emma Solo Route...ooooff. Right up there with the likes of Clannad, IMO.

-Solid lewds/sex scenes. Again, not perfect, but at the very least most of the characters have good reason to quickly jump on Kei's (MC's) dick and not make it completely feel like they're simply doing so because porn logic.

Cons:

-Character designs feel...mid. As in they look like they came straight from a HS2 card sharing site or straight from the game's presets and just had a little work done to them. Definitely a Roentgen 3.6 (Not great, not terrible).

-Music selection is just flat out atrocious in the non-drama heavy sections of the VN. Like, music is supposed to match the mood of a scene but most of the time I just find it unfitting with what is happening on screen (so much that I've turned it off except for moments that look drama heavy, to which I turn it back on because those are the only times when the music seems to fit).

-Had I not known beforehand that this game takes place in the same universe as "Sicae" (haven't played that one yet but I've read the synopsis at least) and another in-the-works project (which seems to lean on the fantasy side if the ending of the Emma solo path was any indication) I would've docked more points for the part-of-a-bigger-universe-that-has-ongoing-storylines moments that permeate throughout the story. Hated that shit in Marvel and DC Comics where you're forced -sorry, "encouraged" - to read multiple titles in order to understand what's going on. At least this one doesn't completely go in-your-face about it (though the Hera confrontation really felt like it would work in a different title and not...what this VN started out as, anyway).

-Lily. With the current direction of the story I just...don't see why she even exists as a character (I mean you could've just mixed her character with Freya...but I'm not the author so...lol). But hey, this is just me being extremely nitpicky I suppose...

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Overall...an above-average experience. I didn't outright hate it...but I'm not in a hurry to see where it goes (unless it's a Shu - June reunion chapter...boy needs closure, dev). Will probably wait for a decent chunk of updates before diving into it again, I think.