VN - Ren'Py - Nephilim [v0.5.1] [BuuPlays]

This is the best Avn I've ever played and believe me I know what I'm writing because I've played most of the gems available (leap of faith, becomearockstar, , eternum, melody, the entrepreneur, a.o.a-academy, nursingbacktopleasure, onceinalifetime, long live the princess, price of power, project-passion, summer heat, halfway house, intertwined, ripples, bare witness - these are just from memory). Man, you are creating a legend before our eyes, you fuc*ed up the system with this game, in a positive sense. Eliza in my opinion is the best girl who will become a bigger cult than Cece in community, definitely the best romantic character for me. The plot is very interesting, you can feel it is slightly based on great games and films such as The Witcher, The Lord of the Rings, and even Harry Potter. I really didn't feel that good and had fun reading a book or playing a game or watching a series or a movie for a long time.
One request from the heart, please give players the opportunity not to kill Eliza's charm. I genuinely love this fictional literary character, I think players would pay only to maintain this one character purity and grace. Anyway, the best avn available today from me. 5/5 . Keep it up! Regards

I want to start by saying this is the first review i've ever left despite completing probably 75-100 VN's by now. I also want to say that I really want to give this one 5 stars but there are just a few things that drive me crazy.

Lets start with the good-
Firstly, i love the story. Well written and proofreading was clearly done. I'm no english major but nothing once stood out to me as bad. The story is great and even if similar to some others in ways, I really truely enjoy it.
The girls are all pretty great both personality and looks wise. Yeah the troupe is in full force and everyone will pretty much instantly want you dick but I kind of give that a pass as you are half Angel and that seems kind of believable.
I am honestly excited for more content and if I could base the game on 95% of its content and the story only I wouldn't hesitate to give 5 stars.

Yea I agree with some of the others and I really don't like how Eliza has changed. I do think the premise is cool and could make the two of them an pretty badass force but on a morally good path at least she needs to be able to better handle her urges to where we shouldn't feel that she is now a liability. Being able to quickly get what is likely the most powerful entity in the universe to control himself, she is absolutely no match for this new thirst...I get it but just wish it wasn't as extreme that she goes from a favorite character to one that i'd rather not be in the game anymore.

But thats not the most aggravating part...
And I can't believe I would ever say this but at this point I nearly wish the Lewd scenes were not in the game. I haven't played previous versions of this game and apparently judging by the opening dialouge maybe it lacked some lewd scenes previously, but now its just too much. HEAR ME OUT!! lol I like them just as much as the next person but 2 things bother me. First, to much! It seriously detracts from the story and second they are scripted so long that I nearly rage quit the game on multiple occasions...DURING A LEWD SCENE.

There is one scene that I went back so I could count how many mouse clicks it took to get thru the lewd scene....243! That is insane. Well over half of those are lines of text, no one needs nearly 200 lines of how much someone enjoys what the other is doing etc. Even kissing scenes that do not turn lewd at all can sometimes be in excess of 45 mouse clicks and lines of text explaining how their lips taste or how they enjoy.... OMG come on already. There is never once a time when MC is leaving and gives a simple kiss and says ok be back in tonight, nope have fun reading for 10 mins about the softness of their lips again.

The Lewd scenes themselves are even ok. Animations are pretty good, not stellar or anything but the scenes are good, but they just carry on and on and on and then once they are done 3 mins later here we are again its painful. The writing is super well done during those parts too, but its way not needed. Maybe its ok to drag along a first time, first kiss, first encounter whatever, a little bit, but every future encounter afterwards doesn't have to be an entire sub story that takes 10 mins to read thru.

I wouldn't spend so long on a review if i wasn't passionate about the game to begin with. It has the potential to be excellent but as it is I really feel like i'm being very generous with 3 stars.

Edit: Very grateful to BuuPlays for being open to feedback regarding Eliza. While my preference would still have been to avoid vampirism entirely, I am grateful that changes have been made to avoid some of the worst outcomes of the at choice. For that reason I'm rating this five stars for having a conscientious developer even though its probably more like a 4.5. Some of the dialogue and prose can be overly dramatic or long winded at times, and theres also some occasionally cheesy stuff like the scar scene early on. But a responsive dev and great characters mostly make up for the occasional shortcomings.

I'm enjoying every minute of this masterpiece and interestingly the enjoyment increases with every update.

That's why it's high time for a feedback.

About the story: It is an exciting, emotional and mesmerizing story. It's fun to immerse yourself in this fantasy world and take part in the adventures of the MC.

About the MC: A cool and trustworthy MC with whom you can identify without having to struggle with embarrassment. This proves once again that it can be done and raises the question of why so many games still fail to do it.

About the Girls: Beautiful, sexy and interesting females with character and their own peculiarities. Beautifully rendered and perfectly staged. The fact that some of them are borderline crazy is exactly what makes them so special and loveable. Never stick your dick in crazy? Nonsense, do it and enjoy the extra fun.

@BuuPlays: Superb job! Keep up the good work! I am looking forward to the next update!

There is a large amount of content relative to how long its been in development. Not too many player choices, most of the choices are whether you want to see content with a girl or not. Writing can be a bit cheesy at times, and unfortunately its one of those where every girl in the game instantly wants the MC. There are some wrong character identifiers in parts, but spelling/grammar mistakes are minimal/non-existent.


The story line is progressing at a good pace, it would take most developers 3+ years to get to the same point in the story as this one has in one year. Overall a 4*game, could see it going up to 4.5* in future

A story with such promise. Beautifully rendered with an intriguing story line. I found this to be an engrossing story at first. Eliza and the MC's love story was beautifully told and explored. It really surprised how much of the romantic it brought out in me.

Then you are forced in to a romance with a pirate who I had no interest in at all. I found her obnoxious. The other LIs are okay but there is little content to get to know them and become attached like there is with Eliza. Then finally united again with our total sweetheart Eliza and she is turned in to a murderous monster. No thanks.

Some will see her as redeemable, but for me the horse has bolted. I would have been more interested in overcoming her bloodlust, not her giving in to it so easily and then trying to redeem herself. Then the murder gets covered up by those around Eliza. Now our growing group of allies are no better than the "bad guy" they are trying to stop. A shame, I had high expectations for this one.

Good story, good renders, and lovely ladies all over the place.

The only serious issue I had with this VN is that it needs a stats screen. There is a ton of points flowing around, but no way to actually see/track them at all.

The story is good. There is a good ebb and flow with the drama and humor. Keeps things interesting and on track.
The MC can either be light or dark. Which makes for a good revenge story.

Tons of women around as well. Each is different and unique. Character development and depth to their personal story makes them interesting.
Don't expect to jump straight into sex scenes. There is a build up of trust between characters and the MC. ( Hence the need for a stats tracker)

Overall
I feel that BuuPlays has a solid plan for this VN and I look forward to where the adventure takes us. Slow sexual buildup is a bit tedious, but doesn't hinder the story at all.
I recommend giving this one a shot. It's well thought out, and has a purpose driven story.

Man, this game is a great surprise for me. I did not expect to get so much invested in the characters, which I feel are its strongest suit in how they are written, portrayed and don't behave like your standard one dimensional caricatures.

Even though the story so far is nothing that you've not seen before but its the characters and their interactions that hold it tight together. I don't even care if the story stays on the rails throughout but what keeps me interested is the all the thoughts and reactions of the cast.

MC and Eliza romance gave me diabetes.

Overall i think there is still a lot of room for improvement to flesh out characters more with their background, motives, flaws etc.

This is a solid 4/5 for me right now upto ver3.5.

I just played this for the first time and wow I love this game. It' easily in my top 15-20 for sure. I do however have a few things I worry about for the future of this game. Would of given this 4/ 5 but I enjoyed this one to damn much so it gets 5/5 for me

Story - I Really liked how story focused this game is . The entire time playing I just keept thinking this game really feels like a fun adventure like when I play one of my favorite Fantasy RPG's just with the added adult content.
Renders - The renders are never bad they are either really good at times or decent never bad for me.

MC - Normally I don't judge a MC in these game as I play very discconected from them so a MC don't matter a whole alot to me compared to other people as long as I enjoy the character or story. However I will say I felt more immersed into the MC in this game for once maybe because of how much I was into the story and how it felt like a adventure to me / it's one of my favorite settings. There was a few times at in the beggining of the game where the MC did feel somewhat weak at times for being overpowered or just overly cocky that made him feel weak. But he never puts up with any shit.

Romance / characters - The romance between the MC and Eliza is probably one of the cutest and most wholesome romance ive seen in an AVN yet. Even his childhood friend is decent but needs more deveolopment there. Even the progression of the romance with Kira feels really well done even tho im not into her as I felt like she likes the MC to fast and too easily for my personal taste. But at least it does feel a little bit natural for it moving so fast.

But there is also some issues in the character / romance department as well for me. Other than Alice and Eliza I feel like the romance options currently in the game get attached to easily to the MC or like him for no real reason. But at least there still seems to be a sense of some romance progression / developments with Kira who falls into this category.

Also playing a solo path feels weird because the pirate chick ( Kira) forces kisses on the MC and really forward alot and the MC is never given the option to tell her you are taken / in a relationship despite always turning her down. At least you are givien a choice to break off of the kiss so it never leads to more than that with her/

Concerns : It's about the "change" Eliza is going to go through. One one hand I dont mind it because it means she can keep up with the MC now once she gets in control of her "change". However said change does feel like it came out of nowhere for me and I do worry about her personality and the way she acts might get changed to much. That is the one thing I dont want as she is perfect as she is in my eyes.

I also worry a bit on how choices are going to be handled in the future. In one of the earlier chapters we got to kill Selena's sister for betraying us it was great. But then when Pearl betrayed us is nearly as bad as way, granted she has some fear for the why she did it. Still there seemed to be a lack of choice with Peral instead we forgave her almost instantly. Where Selena' sister we got to kill betrayed us out of fear as well. So because of that it makes no sense to me why we shouldn't be given a choice to be hostile at least towards Pearl and not forgive her right away. Hell she even says she doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

this just keeps getting better with each release

renders are great

story is good, keeps me involved

the writing makes me feel for all involved, each has their own personality, which makes it seem realish(as real as a fantasy story might be)

hope to see this develop into a complete game/vn

UPD.
Apparently the dev decided to stall, and i'm talking about seemingly getting to the point of having sex with Eliza, but then turning 180, and it's not even the first time iirc. I've seen too much of that in some of AVNs to recognize it unmistakably, and i'm this close to abandoning it if it continues. Don't get me wrong, i'm not even playing those games for the porn, i look for the decent enough plot but the amount of beating around the bush is unbelievably frustrating. Either do it or fucking don't. Changed my mind, it's not a bit of an overkill with the sweet-talk, it's a damn nuke. I don't mind it, but there should be balance... -1* for stalling, if this continues with future updates i'll drop the rating down to 2* and stop playing. Would be a shame ofc, it was good until travelling point (looking for the cure).
One thing that also is a mystery to me is what the game wants to be. The main LI is Eliza, obviously, but it's possible to fuck around anyways while being on her route. Is it a harem game? Is it not? What is it? Harem tag is missing but why does it feel like a harem game? Why can i be a cheating piece of shit and not face any consequences? This doesn't make any sense, and it's annoying. Well, there it is, the tag that should have been added long ago, harem.

Oh and another tsundere chick incoming, apparently. Yeah, the princess, entitled spoiled little bitch that is overly hostile for some reason. Such a joy, like redhead pirate wasn't enough...

UPD 2. Well, the game is complete fuckfest now, but we get some action with Eliza (finally). Briefly addressed cheating, altho "let's not talk about this" is lame af. Ig the dev subtly hints that fucking around is okay with no consequences. I leave 3* 'cause it's fair imo.

UPD 3. Cringefest. No more, no less, it's just that bad i can't take it anymore. Everyone's fucking stupid cringebags *chuckle* hii *soft moan*. Ugh, i've not met a single adult talking like characters in this pathetic excuse of a novel. Bro. Like literally bro. This is so bad that i don't think human came up with those dialogues, more like cringified AI. Dark or Light paths? Thrown out of the window. Bipolar pirate twins are back, bipolar princess is still there, oh and guess what. There's another bipolar "admiral" of the royal fleet, or whoever the fuck she is. One second she fights MC to the death, next thing you know, they end up in the same bed together. Huh? How'd that happen? The crew of the royal fleet clearly saw that their commander was fighting MC, so they didn't think of anything better than put them together in the same bed. Lol ok, makes sense. And then the booby trap commander falls for MC, like almost instantly. But not really, 'cause she's bipolar. Come to think about it, it's actually funny. First, there were only unreasonably lovestruck bunch of groupies out for MCs dick, now they're polar opposite. Or should i say bipolar? One second they're spewing cringe cheesy bullshit, then something snaps inside of them and they're pretending to be offended/angry/uninterested. Fucking. Dumb. MC is spineless and pathetic, with no self-respect, apparently. Some skank violates his personal space like they were fucking for years but in fact, they've just met. Yet MC doesn't seem to mind it and acts like they're the best friends since before they both were born. The good question is why the fuck MC is so kind if i chose nothing but dark path choices in my entire playthrough? Should this affect MCs behavior? Guess not, huh.

This VN is my guilty pleasure..

Many reactions and interactions are unnatural, the battles are very otakuish narutoish, the game breaks immersion constantly (for example when we can know what are the LIs thinking without reason), decisions don't matter, etc.

But still I enjoyed the story. It's like that silly song you liked when kiddo and now makes you laugh as a grown ass adult.

MC is a roller coaster, his character is inconsistent: sometimes resolved and powerful; sometimes easily downed by a lv1 chick. But I like to see him like a puppy learning his powers and nightmares.

Girls are okay, I can say the first one got all the thinking because she is the most valuable and agreeable. Next ones are stereotypical and are just there for you to have lewd scenes.

I would say that even if this VN has many script holes and conveniences, it's enjoyable, at least for me at the moment.

I'll put it on my "we'll see ~ ~ " list and I'll check it when it's complete..

v0.3.4

One of my favorite games in recent times. Great Story, gripping characters and some good scenes.

I would surely saw the high point of this game is the story. It really is pretty good. There are not a lot of games in the Fantasy genre here. That makes this a rare commodity and it surely lives up to it.

The MC is really well written, though he is a typical OP MC who hasn't realized his full potential, the duality of his character is pretty good.

The LI's who are there now are pretty good. Each having there own trials and tribulations to solve.

There are not a lot of lewd scenes till this version but they are good.

I also like the few action sequences present throughout the game. But I really hope there will be more in the upcoming versions.

A really good game for those who like Fantasy + Harem with a gripping story,
Much Recommended.

I was really enjoying the story and romance with Eliza since she's such a lovable girl, but meeting and interacting with Kira took a lot of the enjoyment I had for the story. She's the classic tsundere that's annoying from the first interaction and it just doesn't change. I turned her down or acted indifferently every chance I gotbut MC still out of nowhere considers her his friend after the only thing she's ever done is being insufferable and betray him by turning him in to her father. After repeated interactions with her, I don't feel like my choices matter at all.

I played the first chapter of 0.3.4 and stopped, because for me it felt boring and a waste of time. I can see, why other players who like simple straight romance end enjoy overly described, easy to understand social relationships might enjoy the story, however. The renders are very well, the story so far I played, was not bad in general but for me much too slow and focused too much on simple relationship details and situations rather than presenting a captivation story with progress and action. This is a game, maybe some female or sensitive male players would enjoy - for me, this game is just a chick flip. For example, the picturing of the mc's parents is just in one color: The perfect parents with oh so much love and caring and happiness and idyllic. This goes on and on to paint this picture till it's brutally obvious and hurts, but on the other hand, the picturing of the mc’s inner reactions and feeling after the incident just fall short. Or the picturing of Eliza: Every single thought of Eliza in the conversation is described in such a fashion till the game feels more like visual novel about a romance from the girl's perspective, the mc just taking side roll up to the point, that for example the ridiculously overpowered abilities of the mc are just only another aspect beside him to be good looking to make the mc attractive for Eliza. In my opinion, the game feels like a hollow “perfect boyfriend simulator” with no progress. Sofar in the first chapter for several hours there was just relationship bulding no erotic, no nudity, and I just lost interest to play further.

I loved the story in this one and there is plenty of good looking LIs around as well and you arent forced to be with anyone which is really nice, music fits the game nicely, the animations are very short but good quality just to damn short....but they might bet better once its more then just BJs...

I wouldent say its truely a choice driven game as promissed from the Devs the main story feels very kinetic and the only choices i see that matters are who you want a relationship with, but even that part fails a bit since,
no matter how many times you show no interrest in a girl she will still trow her self at MC or think about how much shes fallen for MC and it gets really annoying in the long run, you also get choices constantly with each LI to romance or not, slap her ass or not even after you show no interrest....so when you get the 50th pop up asking to slap her ass when you dont care about her it gets annoying.

Like with Kira one i personaly dont like and that ive turned down every chance i got, still ends up sleeeping almost nude on top of MC she even starts licking hes face..... i mean what the fuck...get the away from me....
it really feels like no choices matter at all.
It feels like no matter your choices it changes nothing not even the text LIs keeps acting like they are lovers, same goes for MC....

Even MC constantly thinks about wanting to fuck the girls you turn down its just to much, heres a hint for Devs remove those kind of thoughts when you show 0 interrest in a LI, allow them if you do show you want her since anyting else makes it feels off and stupid.
Like with Kira 2 seconds after you pick "friendly route" in the cave MC looks at her ass thinking "i see something i´d love to explore right now" i mean really? why?

I have mixed feelings about MC some times he acts great and can get pissed at people but other times hes to forgiving and trusting.

There are a few parts of the story i see as a total fail and also why i cant give the max points for this game...well that and MCs thought process along side the LIs thought process, its truely awefull.

Dont really like when story fails like that.

As to virgin scenes they arent really great ive only seen one and since she does feel some pain it should be a deflowering scene but even with animations showing it upclose theres 0 blood, so doset really feel like deflowering.

Theres also a lack of diversity in builds, every girl has big or huge tits theres nothing for those that arent into the big tit fetish, even the fae girl has big tits compared to body, and 90% of all females has the same build which makes it boring and fails to deliver something for everyones taste.

I can only give it 2 stars even though its a game with good graphics and lovely girls and it will get a harem and pregnancy tag at some point, but the story has to make sense and it just dosent anymore.

I will revisit and adjust my review as game comes along, hope story dont have to many things that dosent make sense later but we will see.

Dull, boring, straight line power fantasy visual novel, where you play overpowered character. Could be biased against VN but it does not feel like the game, and more of a skip button content.

On a positive side, renders/models are high quality.

"Choices Matter"
This is toted as an important aspect of this game. This may be the case in regards towards the light/dark path of the story. However, for the romantic options your "choice" is all but ignored. If you are not interested in Eliza, too bad. You have an initial prompt that would insinuate to be romantic or to be friends. Trying to be just friends feels impossible. Even after turning her down you are BOMBARDED with romantically charged moments. I went from annoyed to resenting her and finally to outright hating her character.

I really wanted to enjoy this game. The premise is intriguing and the MC is interesting enough. However the illusion of choice being constantly ripped out from under you is infuriating. Especially when the dev is toting "choice" being an important part of the game.

It is the devs game and if they want a forced LI, that is fine. But don't use choice as a selling point if its a lie.

+ great music ( especially one song - Justify the Lie)
+ Eliza is the best written girl i ever seen in this genre, her romance with MC is top notch
+ all girls are awesome, you can see a real connection between them and mc, a lot of feelings, emotions.
+ game has really sad and beautiful moments, it's hard not to have tears in your eyes
+ mc is not a wimp, idiot etc. Finally avn with a normal guy who is likable
+ renders and animations, kissing scenes looks amazing
+ relationship development - everything looks natural, we can see how every girl slowly fall for mc

- too many BJ scenes, I would like to see more scenes where mc pleasing a girls

Damn, i can't remember the last time, when i had tears in my eyes. Eliza is a real gem and i hope to see more content with her. Great job dev

For those who prefer a good romance and story over lewd content this is probably the best VN out there!

All the standard requirements are pleasant:

- Renders are good looking
- The story is interresting
- The dark/light path mechanic is pretty cool
- MC is likable and relatable
- All Characters are enjoyable and add to the experience

Now to what makes this game (imo) top every other VN:

Eliza...

...is easily the most lovable, beautiful and interresting LI out there. It's hard to describe or list what it is. If I had to describe what perfection means I'd say nothing is perfect, but Eliza is as close to it as you can get.

This VN isn't just another pxrngame, it's a well thought out story with the best romance and LI I know to exist. It's the type of story that gets you attached to its characters deeply and It will get you emotional. It can hold it's own against the greats like LoF (which is one of the best compliment one could give imo). BuuPlays really created something special here and deserves all the praise in the world and this story hasn't even reached the end yet. I'm really looking forward to continue this journey to it's end.

Rating: If it was possible I'd give 9999 stars but since there's only 5 to give it without a doubt is 5/5.