VN - Ren'Py - Neon Vice [v0.2 Beta] [SodiumAndInk]

Idk what's to make of this game. The writing and the themes explored deserve commendation. Although sometimes it borders on being cliche, surface-level criticism of capitalism that you've seen in plenty of other places already, a few of the lines genuinely hit you in your core and make you think. Overall, I found the writing and the overarching themes intriguing enough.

However, the quality of the writing is made weaker through horrible, lazy worldbuilding. You don't really understand what's going on in this dystopian city, and who exactly are all the corporations. The developer just does these random infodumps and expects you to have a clear picture of what's going on in Vesper City. A solid worldbuilding would boost the writing and the explored themes, while also turning the surface-level criticisms of late stage capitalism into an actually solid fictional case study. I recommend making a glossary menu covering all the terms and corps, and rewriting all the infodump/worldbuilding parts.

The female characters are very hot. More importantly than that, they have their own personality and their own lives. They aren't just designed as fodder girls whose sole purposes are to be tallied into the MC's harem one by one. They have their own agendas and motivations for what they do. Some of the sex scenes so far feature the girls with characters other than the MC. However, these scenes were well-written, very hot and also consistent with their characterization. They added to the game.

Another thing I'll say is the developer actually seems to respect sex work as a profession. I like Nora a lot, looking forward to more scenes of her (both with the MC and other NPCs).

That's all. If the writing is polished to be a bit less... pretentious/flowery and the worldbuilding is tidied up, this game has a lot of potential. Wishing the dev all the best.

EDIT: Adding another thing. The AI-generated animations look horrible; I don't think there's any need for that. The renders by themselves without adding animation are just fine.

The AI components are done pretty well, but overused. I would cut back on throwing in animations of facial expressions when meeting characters. Its not really a first episode though, more like a teaser intro. Given its a few minutes of content, I would wait a few releases before bothering to play. Leaving 3* for now because it seems a bit rushed - the world building was kind of just text dumped and its not very clear what is going on.

Will check back on this one down the road, but its off to a solid start

Neon Vice – First Impressions & Thoughts

What do I say about Neon Vice… that’s a tough one.

I’ll start by giving credit where it’s due — the developer has already mentioned this is their first AVN and acknowledged some of its shortcomings in the notes, so I won’t dwell too much on that here. I genuinely hope the quality improves as the story progresses, because the foundation has potential.

One thing that stood out (and not in a great way) is how the animations are used. It feels like they’re sometimes thrown in just for the sake of having an animation. I don’t mind the AI-generated animations during the sex scenes — they actually fit fine there — but there are several moments where the story flow just stops to show a random video, and it breaks immersion.

We’ve met a few women in the story so far, and I think it’s pretty clear who the potential love interests might be down the line. In this release, there are three sex scenes: one involving the MC (if you choose to take part), and two that don’t. Naturally, this raises the question of NTR.

Here’s my take: I don’t really consider the prostitute scene as NTR — it’s too early in the story and doesn’t feel emotionally relevant to the MC. Tessa’s situation is a bit trickier. I do think she’ll be a love interest later, but at this stage, she isn’t. You’ve barely exchanged a few lines with her, and there’s no indication of mutual interest or relationship yet. So, for now, I wouldn’t classify her scene as NTR either. If later in the story you can pursue her, and she continues sleeping with the boss after that, then it becomes both cheating and NTR. But as it stands, people have lives before we meet them — and I think that context matters.

As for Sofia, I suspect she’ll become a love interest too, especially since she’s applying for a job at the same place as the MC. If future updates show her getting involved with the boss, that’s when we can start having an honest discussion about whether this is going to turn into a full-on NTR story and decide from there whether to keep playing.

Now, moving to the technical side — I actually appreciated the inclusion of AI-generated music. A lot of AVNs skip music entirely, and that lack of atmosphere really hurts the mood. Even if it’s AI music, it adds to the experience, so I give the dev credit for that.

For future releases, here are the areas I’d like to see improved:

• Sharper images — the visuals could use more clarity.
• Better sex scene animations — smoother and more natural transitions.
• Remove random mid-dialogue animations — they disrupt pacing.
• Improve character expressions — at least have their mouths open when speaking; closed-mouth talking looks odd.
• Less “inner monologue,” more real dialogue — it’s more engaging to read characters interacting than just the MC thinking to himself.
• More content or stronger impact per chapter — even short updates can feel meaningful if the pacing and narrative are solid.

Overall, Neon Vice isn’t a bad start — far from it. It’s a first effort with plenty of room for growth. With improvements to visuals, pacing, and character interaction, this could turn into a solid story worth following.

v0.1 It's quite short and I think the premise of the job is interesting but hopefully there's more to this relationship wise than the direction the sample given suggests. I can justify the scenes given, if it adds value to the story but I can't really see how it does here with the prostitute, maybe it does with the office intrigue/rivalry scenario later. However, it makes me cautious about continuing with this VN due to the fact you had two similar scenes in one short story, even if they were optional. I think you could have had the MC just hearing the sex in the flat and the two men coming out the door, with the option to see it and it would have had the same effect story wise and appeal to more readers. I hope it's not the only thing offered but what we have here is too short to judge.

I would like a lot more dialogue in plain English and less job related jargon. It makes the pace of the story too fast. It feels like we are rushing through the story and it will get boring eventually. There's time to explain things, particularly as it's the start. We the reader are new to this world and we want to find out about it and the MC's life, so we can be immersed in it. I would also like more choices. Straight out of the box the MC says Nora looks like "one of the hottest women I've seen in my life", she isn't. A few pages later with Tessa its the same, are you serious, she isn't. Give the reader a choice; do you think she's beautiful yes or no. We are all different and have our own ideas on it. Please let the reader be in control. I couldn't care less that she's blowing the boss. It's meh and go get on with your report. Why would we even be in the bathroom? A better reason if you don't watch would simply be we need to piss from the coffee! The overreaction from the MC is ridiculous, running to the bathroom and washing his face. We have had no time in the story to build that much emotion. It's completely misplaced and makes no sense.

Looks wise it falls down a little, both in terms of the models chosen, the execution and the animations are poor and don't really add anything. But to be fair the story presents an ugly, shitty world, so it's not surprising there's little hope for a good relationship, just ugly, shitty ones. I don't have an issue with that if that's the intention. A grim outlook can make a good story but just don't say they are beautiful if that's the case.

Let’s be absolutely clear: this game isn't just hinting at NTR (Netorare); it’s the main course. It's not a side route you can avoid; it's plastered all over the walls. If you’re playing this, you need to accept that theme as the central, unavoidable point of the narrative.

Setting the controversial content aside, the game needs serious work. The animation is a mess—stiff, jerky, and genuinely distracting. It breaks the flow and reminds you constantly that you’re watching something that hasn't been polished.

Then there’s the pacing. Episode 1 is a joke. It feels like a quick splash page or a five-minute prologue that barely introduces anything before it cuts out. It doesn't give the story any room to breathe or a player any reason to feel invested.

The overall feeling is that this is an early access product. While the core theme is set in stone, the technical flaws and lack of substantial content scream "unfinished." Hopefully, the developers recognize these massive issues—the janky visuals and the missing narrative depth—and can fix them as they continue developing the game. Right now, it's a very rough draft.

I think it's an interesting start. There's very little content, but the quality is good. Like others I've seen, it immerses you in a world where everything seems corrupt or at high risk of becoming corrupted, and it has a drama-like structure, which isn't what I'd prefer to read, but despite what I've said, I liked it. I'm left wanting more.

The game has a lot of potential I just wish they were more consistent with the use of AI and had a bit more content but otherwise it's a pretty good game and with a bit more time I'm sure it'll get its footing