VN - Ren'Py - Nephilim [v0.5.0] [BuuPlays]

Nephilim could be great, but the Devs apparent obsession with piling in more and more mediocre Lis at the expense of the story and the player being able to make meaningful choices is killing it. It has the potential to be a five star game, but the Devs tendency to value lots of sex scenes and collecting “allies” who seem to have no value to MC over telling a good story currently leave it at two stars.

Story:

After the events of the prologue, when MC loses his family and is escorted away from his village to train – he ends up with Eliza, who is the games main Li and the only really strong one in the story. But unlike Between Two Worlds, for example, the developer isn’t content with you staying with the one li or even having polyamorous affairs with a few Lis, he brings them in by the boatload and the story is contorted in often nonsensical ways to give you more time with all the new Lis. The MC is also completely inconsistent – treating betrayal by a friend as a crime worthy of death and suffering in one instance, but a harmless misunderstanding a little later – and with no apparent reason why the situations are different.

Characters:

The MC is a strong character, the main Li (Eliza) is a strong character and the main baddy who MC and Eliza want revenge against is a strong character. After that it sort of goes off a cliff, with a few ineffectual and not particularly likeable male characters and a horde of mediocre and not particularly likeable love interests, all of whom seem to love the MC because he exists … and for no other obvious reason. All in all, beyond the big three, the other characters add little value to the game and some even detract from the overall quality.

Art and Animation

Most of the characters, settings and scenes (including the lewd scenes) look pretty good. Not the best, and a bit repetitive at times, but definitely above average.

Gamification / Choices

Definitely closer to a kinetic novel than "meaningful choices". There aren’t a ton of options given in the game and most of them aren’t particularly meaningful. You get the option to kill some people, but only people who are insignificant to the story anyway and you get to choose who you do and don’t want to fuck. There are also a few fake choices where you can take option A and be on the “Light Path” or option B and be on the “Dark Path” but even if you chose option B you end up doing option A anyway.

Let me summarize this game - Gary Stu and his harem of manic pixie dream girls meet and live happily ever after....

Game is just boring. MC is supposed to be a half angel which is an interesting concept yet is the most boring uninspired hero imaginable. And his harem members? Well lets just uninspired. The sex scenes don't even make this game a good fap and it's just... boring.

So far the story is really great. I like that there is not too much information and not too little. Just enough to understand the plot and get curious. Visuals are nice. If there is anything i could suggest is that i have no idea what the benefit of being rebel or not. if there is a way to put hint what each route enables or disables in the game without spoiling the story that would be great. Otherwise great job dev!
I would love to see more!

Great story, starts off slow and builds as a good story should. Introduces the MC and LIs in a way that builds. For most of them it's not "I met you 5 minutes ago lets get to it!" and for the ones that are that way you can choose the option to avoid them and remain friendly.

Only complaint currently is that the world is set as poly, yet the only poly relationship is the MCs. I think I understand the direction reason for the king's monogamy, but the mentor and the father were also monogamous. The LIs are also not open about it, some of them are supposed to be really close to each other but don't even discuss the MC? Notably Eliza and Alice know that they're both in love with the MC but despite the fact that polygamy is the social norm and not just accepted but expected they don't talk to each other about it?

Some complain about the pirate arc but I personally enjoyed it, felt like a golden fleece type of journey. The bad guys are well written, with the exception of a couple of the young noble asshats, but tbh them being shallow characters makes sense as pawns.

Hands down this is my second favorite VN that's currently in development. I always look forward to the latest updates even though the content is typically pretty short. But with the completion of chapter 5 it felt right to leave a review.
The background characters and LIs are wonderfully written. The relationship with Eliza is ridiculously cute and I love the chemistry there and the lengths MC has gone to protect and love her.
The villainous characters that are written for this story are very well done. I'm so glad they aren't cheesy. They're genuinely evil and I love it.
It's a well done story that doesn't require the same old tired ass incest story to keep people hooked. It's damn good and if you play it and don't like it then we can't be friends.
Also, this is one of the few developers I support on Patreon because I believe the content is *chefs kiss* quality.

Here is my review (google translate) :
Nephilim has a nice story, a little messy at first in the order of things, but it gets better as it goes on. The MC is badass, but a little too common in terms of dialogue. The bad people are pleasantly detestable, and the dramatic events turn out in a way that I like. The girls are all georgous, Luna and Sylph are my favorites
A very good AVN

I think this is a borderline 5-star game, but I will give the author the benefit of the doubt here.

The game starts off pretty slow, and I think the dialogue is rough at the beginning, but as the game has grown and the author has gained more experience, the writing, pace, and overall plot are better.

The models are great, there are definitely favorites but the girls look very unique from each other, my only issue is you kind of just get these girls throwing themselves at you, besides Eliza and Kelly who you save from horrible fates, bu I know it's an adult game so you can write that off.

All in all, a good game, 5 stars for the effort and the improvement throughout, can't wait to play more.

While I do, truly, appreciate the decision to publish new updates on a 1-2 month timetable -- this is quite an investment in time, energy, work, etc. -- I do feel that the original story, when MC found his seemingly forever LI, has been somewhat lost. I don't feel it's gone wacko-lost -- the story (which is PRIMARY, IMO) has kept its integrity... Barely.
And now I am dead set on MC being hooked up with Amelia, the princess of my newfound joy -- and, unfortunately, the earlier LI who we'd been introduced to as MC's Everbabe, the Vampire maiden who I've even forgotten her NAME, that's how boring that LI has become.
And when did that "Yu-up" thing become a thing with Sylph? makes her sound retarded, sorry. I get that a voice, like ACTOR would make that work, but written? "Yuu-pp." Y-iii-ke.

This game is a must-download! It features an incredibly well-written storyline that keeps you engaged from start to finish. The characters are dynamic and interesting, each with their own depth and personalities that make them memorable. I appreciate that the game doesn't rely on cheap tactics like excessive a "fuck fest" but rather a mature, thoughtfully crafted experience.

The artwork is stunning, with vibrant visuals and detailed environments that truly bring the world to life. If you're looking for a game with substance, compelling narrative, and beautiful design, this is the one! Highly recommended.

I'm really enjoying Nephilim ! The story has me hooked, especially because the characters are so interesting. All the girls are definitely standouts, they are gorgeous.

Graphics:
The models are gorgeous, and the environments are nice as well. For me 10/10

Animations:
The animation is smooth For me 9/10

Story:
The story has me hooked.( I like harems and pregnancies. lucky Dev not pure evil. I hope he doesn't make the characters infertile. ) For me 10/10

Characters:
Characters are beautiful For me 10/10

Overall 9.5/10 For me
Nephilim is a game worth playing, in my opinion. I really recommend. All the girls are definitely standouts. they are gorgeous.

The game started off strong but delves into madness after the main LI gets badly injured. The whole pirate story is nonsensical and downright boring. The MC has a long love affair with a certain pirate which I have little interest in. The whole island storyline drags on for literal eternity!

The character models are done well overall and the renders are above average. The story is interesting but gets tedious the longer it goes on. The writing is far too verbose for my taste.

I enjoyed the game until the main LI gets badly injured. I wish I would have stopped playing at that point instead of wasting so much time on story I wasn't interested in after this event.

The animation is done poorly through all but the last several releases. Barely anything is moving with the animations through the first two thirds of the game. The sex scenes with most of the LIs are uninspiring and anti-climatic.

The animations and sex scenes are the weakest part of the game IMO. There are several sex scenes that are so dark that I couldn't really see what was going on (not good). Player experience would have been my choice here instead of realism (sex in the dark).

The game is 98% story and 2% H (sex) content. Overall, the sex scenes are very short and not a focus of the game. The game would probably have been better suited as a non-adult title as the "adult" parts of the game are severely lacking IMO and written in as an afterthought (based on my observations with this game).

Sex with the main LI is done as an ending event to the story. I strongly dislike when authors do this. So the player is teased with basic blowjob events for most of the story so far. Stories don't have to end with the MC and main LI having sex.

If the game would have kept its roots I would have enjoyed it much more. The game losses focus the longer you play it. It's sad because the dev did an amazing job with the story and main LI until she got badly injured.

I can tell that a lot of hard work and effort when into this game which I am thankful for. Unfortunately, only the first half of version 0.4.6 was enjoyable for me.

Well, how do I say this without it sounding mean? First of all, the art is really good and it's proficient technically and... I like the premise and... uhhh...

Ok, the issue with this is that it plays like a twelve year old came up with an amicable adventure for his D&D group on a sunday afternoon. It's all about the heroic manly Protagonist of course. All the girls love him, blablabla. Only him. No one else. Ever. EVER! All the "adventures" are completely basic and uninteresting. The story is as generic as they come.

So they walk through the props and say mostly cringy lines to each other. It feels like the perfect pre-puberty vision of romance. So they love and pout and kill a monster here and there and we all know it's going to be sunshine and rainbows in the end.

The Dark/Light route really only means that you get to be comically evil or decent. Not like it matters.

It is a work of love though, so I really wanted to like it. I just... can't. But you might, right?

VERSION: 0.4.5
SUMMARY: Very good all-round, not perfect, but since 4.5 stars isn't available 5 will do.

PROS:

1. Gorgeous Models, models are very well designed,
2. Renders are amazing and animations are pretty good also.
3. Story is rich, deep and intriguing and written very well, many profound moments and strong emotions are well conveyed and shared among characters and ultimately the player.
4. Pacing is decent and while some characters have their relationships escalate quickly to physical others have a slower approach which does at least give some variation and show forethought.
5. Characters are well developed and each have their own motives, predispositions and agendas though our hero does draw a group that shares the same core principles, they are all unique.
6. Choices do have significant impact though I will be honest and say I did not yet try the dark path during my play-through, but did dabble to be able to say it seems very different.
7. Scope of the world and game in general can be very big if so desired, the lore, map and world is and can be vast, with numerous characters and potential threats that can give this gave a significant shelf-life if done properly. This may require the MC to step away from known love interests for some time to pursue others in foreign lands or even combine them with new adventures and adversaries. The potential is great, it will just need more of what is here, but carefully done.

CONS:

1. I am a bit of a stickler for aesthetics and historically accurate settings, environment and characters, while the former are all good the latter with regards to the MC I am annoyed about. The guy looks like a boy, in a world where there are no real means to shave, one would expect the guy to have some scruff and hair on his chest. Even the dwarf doesnt have a bear! WTF. I can understand the females looking smooth and pretty as the game is focused probably more on the straight heterosexual males, but for crying out loud, can't our MC look more manly and less like a man-child?!
2. Too many love interests could be an issues considering the amount of emotional investment the MC and certain LIs have for each other. It is hard to believe that "harem" route would work especially with the amount of LIs.
3. Relating to above point, the MC does get to choose early on his LIs while not having the full scope or measure available of all potential LI's in the game. This can make it hard to choose who to pursue, also making harem route the natural default for most players.

TLDR: Great game, story, designs, characters and scope for much more. Well worth the play and support. Hopefully the developer heeds some of the points mentioned and can churn out even more and better content. Well done!

Just Falls short of a 5 star rating

Lets start with the obvious positive... active developer, with fairly stable and regular updates... thats worth a star just on its own regardless of the quality of the game!

Onto the game itself, this is a "gotta get them all" style harem game which gives the illusion of game changing choices. If you like Harem games where you are the obvious only LI (which i do tbf) then this ticks most boxes.

Visuals are good, story is predicable however i like the fantasy elements of the story and it is fairly engaging in a basic sort of way. I found myself reading large portions of the dialog and am invested a couple of the story arcs.

As i say it falls short of a 5 star for the following reasons...

1) Lewd scenes althoguh they are plentiful are pretty much all the same just with a different character. There is little to no variation in them at all.

2) the LIs are all decidedly similar.

These are only minor negatives and this is still a very good game which i am enjoying playing.

Great game with romance that has build up and not just jumping into the sex. Majority of the realtionships are slowly poressing towards the intimacy. The story overall is verry interesting and is well established and has lot of potential to be very fuffiling and fun. There is a lot of stuff happening and can be explored in future.
The renders are not amazing or absolutly out of this world but they are very nice.
Another positive is the music.
Negative for some people might be the lack of choice. I do not care about that I enjoy reading the story and do not need any choices if its well written which it is.

This AVN started out great! If I had rated this a few versions back, the rating would have been a little higher, but the story has degraded as time has gone by.

For me, the story started to slide when the MC starts interacting with the pirate LIs. To be generous, they are just silly. The entire story line with the two of them is just silly, but I could have let it ride a little bit until one of the LIs gets turned into a vampire. I mean wtf? From there, the story just slides into lazy writing and the story starts to lose focus.

It's like a TV series... have you ever noticed how around season 3 or 4 the show starts to slide into mediocrity? It's like the show runners had a great idea to start with but once they got to season four they realized they were not sure where they wanted to go and how they wanted to wrap up the story. This feels like that. The dev had a great idea and a really solid start, then at some point lost their way and are now trying to make something from nothing.

The other thing that drives me nuts is all the freaking options for LIs. I mean, I turn down one and yet a few scenes later, I get another option for romance. I tell them the MC is not interested and they still act like there is something between them. How many freaking times does the MC have to shoot them down before they stop? It's nuts. One of the pirates I can't stand, yet she's clingy and touchy and naked most of the time... At least 6 times the MC tried to shut her down. It's stupid. Lol... No means No... ffs.

On a positive note, we have an active developer who produces regular, significant updates. The production is good and despite the story problems, the writing is really good so we should support talented devs like this. I keep downloading the updates so I am vested, I just hope they can right the ship and get this back on track.

[SPOILER ALERT]

I'm just gonna keep it short (not really and it will be mostly about my personal rambling).

I liked this game, seriously. This game is basically like John Wick or Daniel Craig's James Bond but in the fantasy setting, so yeah no guns. Btw, the thing that I like the most from Nephilim is that it has this two "Light" and "Dark" choices along the way. It's more like about being evil or not, but I'm glad most of these choices aren't just an "illusion of choice". They do, in fact, matter to the story. Anyway, the renders are nice, the sex animations are a little bit underwhelmed but overall it's fine by my standard.

"But why did you give this game only three stars if you like it?"

Truth to be told, I was this close to give this game five stars (while making finger pinch gesture). The story was good until that scumbag Taron(?) crippled my future wife for months and I had to sail across the seas for months to find a cure. Well in the end, the cure has been found with a lot struggles. Is there a catch? of course there is a catch. The cure makes its consumer to become a pureblood vampire. Listen my friend, I slayed thousands of them in other games. I showed them no mercy. Remember Serana? the Daughter of Coldharbour in Skyrim? I even managed to convice her to cure her vampirism. But then in this game, the dev put me in a very tight spot and I need to embrace her "new shape" no matter what. Come on man, you can't do this to me....

Yeah sure this review is more subjective compared to my other reviews, but what can I say as a professional vampire slayer? This is a blasphemy!

i got to say the Dev really does know how to tell a story and make it so good i feel like when i play his VN i feel lm either reading a book come to life or a movie or tv show or something it really is something else if they had which i wish they had a VN awards he should get one of the top 3 to 5 of the awards hands down he is that good and talented im sure for some their maybe flaws with this VN but for me i see none i see it as near perfect story telling and renders and everything is top notch and worthy of a sub if any dev on here is worthy of it is is him dude got some serious skills/talent . when you play the VN you can feel the emotions of the characters and the sensations in the dialouge it is really captivating and something else

It took me several evenings to play through v0.4.2: there is a lot of content.

Nephilim is set in a medieval fantasy world with the usual panoply of mythological creatures. One thing that sets the scenario slightly apart from similar titles is the direct involvement of gods in the story.

The MC (I named mine “Creepy-eyes”) is your typical overpowered male-power-fantasy character, that all women love and who can always power-up enough to defeat any opponent. His back-story is told in a series of flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks).

I liked the game. It looks very good, has an interesting story, and great world-building.

There are a few negatives which hindered my enjoyment somewhat:

1. Inconsistent pacing. It starts out as a slow-burn, outright telling the player that it “won’t be a wank every five minutes type of game.” It also seems to be pushing the MC towards a monogamous relationship to start with. Then at some point it flips that script, and all of a sudden there are love-interests throwing themselves at the MC left and right with no penalties in sight for pursuing all of them at once, and wanks start coming so thick and fast the MC might as well give up on wearing pants. This feels like a change of course that over-compensated.

2. Continuity errors. I suspect the dev is creating this from a fairly loose outline, as I noticed numerous points at which a character’s actions didn’t quite make sense, or they knew things that they shouldn’t have known (or visa-versa). There were also cases where the same explanation for something was given more than once: though this might belong in the next category.

3. Writing quality. There is always a balance between an author’s prowess as a wordsmith and how wordy their dialog is. A master can keep the audience eagerly reading page after page in a single scene, while someone lacking that skill might barely manage to make the most laconic characters palatable. This author uses too many words for their skill level. I ended up skipping a lot of the dialog, except when it seemed to advance the story.

4. Current Year. Although not as bad as many titles, there was noticeable leakage of modern dialog and standards into the story. A previous reviewer commented on the point at which the MC gives another man a lecture about ‘objectifying women.’ That was probably the most blatant example, but there were other cases.

5. Sex scenes. While the game occasionally features some fully-animated cut scenes, the sex animations tend to be very basic, and these scenes are far too wordy. They were also sometimes repetitive and annoying, as when the MC is going to leave, but has to return to kiss his girl goodbye...then do it again...then again...then again, with each kiss being the same series of images, but the player is forced to keep clicking and clicking to finally escape out the door.

I think this could be tightened up and polished into a five-star game.