VN - Ren'Py - New Antioch [R0.5] [TheRedMyst]

Gritty, witty...and, um...titty? Welcome to New Antioch city!
Your arrival will be in 0.3? 0.4?! Dunno, but it'll be cool.

TL/DR: Sadly, most smut stories with a strong masculine protagonist have the narrative clout of a tuna sammich. New Antioch bucked that trend harder than this protagonist is going to buck some needy holes. It features a refreshing genre medley of sci-fi , fantasy, vault-dwellers, lost city of Atlantis, 7-kingdom's (except there are only four), Rome, and tabletop gaming...yep tabletop gaming. 0.1 came in swinging like mike Tyson if you insulted his tiger, his speech impediment, and doped him with 60 mg of Methamphetamine.

0.4 Update. The progression sexual content in the game has knocked it down a star for me. The MC is a shower and not a grower, was hoping he had a mega cock, he does not. . The chicks are all too busty, and there is too much cuckoldry netori themed stuff where the NPC cuck male is there for the content for my tastes. The added profiles and map are awesome UI additions though!

+A lot of the characters are funny as fuck- including the MC's hommie.
Dante was funny as hell. Giana was funny as hell. Stavros was funny as hell. The only character that wasn't somewhat charismatic is Ollie- but he was supposed to be a duplicitous little shit.
+ The real talk UI conversation (used for Dante) where the MC deduced tells about him is rather fun.
+ There are a bunch of non-typical tensions to play around with in a smut game. Its not like a typical AVN where most of the struggle is the MC overcoming being a fucking wimp. He struggles with concepts like duty vs morality. Making sacrifices for the greater good. And very, very soon- crippling trust issues?
+ Looks like a bunch of the LI are going to be starting as enemies. Slow burn enemies to lovers arcs are beautiful if done with nuance.
+ MC looks great. He is what would happen if you force fed Adam Driver testosterone and he was from Biggus Dickus' bloodline.
+ The gals are hot.
+ UI is clean and moderately customized.
+SE and Music fits the setting. I've heard a lot of it in other content- but works well with the themes and is coded in smartly.
+Fast paced, but not overly fast paced.
+Rice-wine as a tell was cool. MC aint a dumb-ass. Plenty of little moments where he got to shine for more than brawn.
+ Sea-gull kun is a chad.
+There is a dog.
- you cannot pet the dog.
+...yet. Pray it is an actualized story arc
+ The Map and Ui elements are robust and aid immersion.

- It has been 30 minutes since I played 0.1 and 0.2 isn't out yet.
- reproduction crisis can be a pretty uncompelling plot device that serves just to front-load sex scenes. Hopefully, it is something cooler here with some lore behind it. (I.E. the Necrophage in Mass effect)

Spoiler: Nit pick about 0.1 ending.

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- Netori where the cucked dude is present for the scene. Gross.
- The scene content isn't all that hot.
- Wish the MC has a megacock like the plot implied.
- No petite or short LI.
- Mc looks stupid with his short haircut.

(Note: This review is for 0.1 release. Entire thing is subject to change later down the line or after 1.0 releases)

Okay, my dumb comment on the OT aside, I liked this one overall. Setting and lore reminds me more of "Degenesis" rather than "Fallout," what with society regressing to a somewhat fuedal state (complete with "magic" and cults) in a post-apocalyptic future but with futuristic tech hidden under the earth and just waiting to be uncovered (with the results varying from beneficial to potentially apocalyptic). And I quite like the former, really. Still wonder how that's all going to blend in the future though (like will we be seeing computers and robots and other futuristic tech side-by-side with people wearing armor and swords and guns as we delve deep into the story or once we reach the titular city? Time will tell I suppose).

Also give props to the storytelling. Expository dialogue doesn't sound too "as you know-y" and feels more like a natural part of conversation between characters (at least to me). Sequential storytelling is also on point. Some of the shots really make me feel immersed in the setting and can be a bit cinematic at times (which is a plus). And speaking of shots, the location render choices are just...wow. I appreciate it when devs actually take the time to render/utilize locations in their settings that make you as the VN reader WANT to go there. So...that's a plus to me I suppose.

I think my biggest gripe with this release is the length. I know it's early days and this IS the dev's first game so I can understand why the dev might not want to bite more than he/she could chew. That said, this release could've been supplemented with at least SOME sort of adult content (other than seeing Mateo's (MC) magnum dong, anyway) to whet the appetite and also add a little to the runtime. Seems only fair, IMO, especially since this is supposed to be an AVN I believe.

As for everything else (character render quality, music, sound ambience, MC design)...they're all...okay. Not much of a standout so far but...they're all okay. MC design for one is cool (though the hairstyle really could use some work IMO...like I'm fine with long hair in fact I dig a character with long hair...it's just the style that bothers me, but I feel like that's just a "me" problem). But every other character...yeah they all feel "just" okay, I suppose.

Overall, gripes aside, it's a good first release, and I'm curious to see where this story leads.

(Also how much will I have to pay the dev to just make an after credits outtake in 1.0 of the main cast just playing Magic and Manticores? Just...just asking)

I'm not a "story-driven" porno gamer but can appreciate a good story. This is the first update, there aren't any h-scenes yet, but it's one of a handful of examples on this site of something I can read for more than ten seconds without blanking out. Gfx are p good too, didn't see any anims.

Anyway, 4/5 for the effort and wish dev the best.