“My Time With You” review — Chapter 23.
This is a hard game for me to review because I went into it with the wrong mindset. I usually play AVN that offer the player choices with impact on the main story, or at least the love interests he considers. So far, MTWY doesn't offer this. While there are choices, for now at least, their impact is very minor (except one).
So, my advice to you, dear perverts, is to go into this game and expect a kinetic story, with mostly kinetic character interactions. And if you truly want to enjoy it, try to interpret every action by the MC and all other characters as well-meaning and good-natured. The MC will put up with much, and is very forgiving, so the player has to as well.
MTWY's story is about a man who discovers a woman in his home. This woman claims to be his wife from the future. She's there to prevent a 'bad ending', by starting a harem for the MC. The 'love interests' we meet throughout the game, will almost all be a guaranteed part of it.
Personally, I suggest adding the 'TrueStory' mod, which as its name implies, changes the story somewhat. In this case, it changes some Platonic bonds to familial bonds. Be warned, though, that this change adds much more gravitas to certain events, out of the player or MC's control.
This game's strong point is its writing. Many of the events in the early chapters are tied together in Chapter 21, making clear that the developer has the entire story planned out. This is rare for episodic content, certainly for games of this magnitude.
Personally, I think characterization needs some work. It's challenging to get a handle on the MC at first. And some characters are full of contradictions. An example of this is Hikari. People will remark multiple times on how she has matured, then a few scenes later we'll see that she's been playing games instead of taking care of important documents. Or, she'll come up with yet another way to push MC and an LI together. At that point, it's unclear if her maturity is compared to events in the game, or from before the game started. I was thrilled, near the end of the current release, to see her taking (some) things seriously.
Iroha, Hikari's best friend, has the weakest characterization so far. Her history with the MC is left up to the player to infer. Things with Iroha escalate fairly quickly, possibly leaving the player with many questions. If, like me, you try to play an MC who's not promiscuous, but romantic, these events can be jarring.
On the other hand, Hime and Akemi were handled masterfully. Akemi and the MC have a few beautiful moments together, before things get really intimate. And Hime calling on the MC for emotional support was a breath of fresh air. It allowed us to get to know Hime, get a sense of what she stands for. It gives us, the player, a reason to be interested in her.
Looking at the thread's poll about favorite heroines, I think it matches up quite well with the amount of characterization each LI received. Hime, a character we haven't romanced yet, is more liked than Hana and Iroha.
All of the above, I'd consider an opinion. Your interpretation and experience will, most likely, be very different from mine. On to the actual criticism, of which I have only two.
There's too much reliance on flashbacks. I'm not talking about flashbacks to the (distant) past, or Chapter 21.
There are flashbacks to current events, that the MC took part in, but the player didn't get to see.
An example: Hana and the MC have a conversation, the scene cuts away. Later, Hana gives the MC the cold shoulder. Then, we get a flashback to what was said during the conversation. Another example of this is when Hana asks the MC about his relationship status, and a flashback goes back to the previous scene, continuing a discussion that happened there.
Then there are flashbacks to current-events that expand on scenes that the player witnessed, but the MC didn't. Many of these add nothing to the narrative, the player could've been shown the entire event the first time.
Until chapter 21, where the writer really proved his mettle, I was thinking many of these flashbacks served as hooks for new story beats, or even retcons. While I can't know for sure, I no longer think that's the case.
That said, I'd love a 'New Game+' that puts all the flashbacks in chronological order, allowing the player to more easily understand and follow the chain of events. When a flashback in a later chapter changes how we perceive events in an early chapter, it can be challenging to put everything together, or even remember what exactly happened so many hours ago.
My second, and last, point of criticism is the use of global variables to keep track of choices. If the game was entirely kinetic, this wouldn't be an issue. However, there are choices, and choices do have consequences, however minor. There is some replay value, mostly because of one choice that heavily impacts the interaction with a character. But, replaying and making different choices, could invalidate another playthrough. Your new choices could carry over to a save from a previous playthrough, and vice versa. An argument in favor of this method, is that it allows the player to correct past mistakes; however, I think it's unlikely that players will know where, and which choices to change, unless they're relying on the walkthrough.