VN - Ren'Py - New Horizon [v0.3] [KawaiiSukebe]

Review for v0.3

For new players; don't judge the game by the banner or the preview images, the dev has reworked them in v0.2. It looks way better now, lighting better, girls prettier, etc. Also, make no mistake, even if the game is only at v0.3, the game is very lengthy and has lots of contents.

Renders: Very good , one of the best-looking Honey Select game for sure. More importantly, some of the prettiest HS girls. Actions scenes flow quite well. Animations are fluid. Most lewd scenes are hot.

Girls: All very hot. The main main girl, Ayase, is objectively the hottest Honey Select girl ever.
She has tons of screen time and is very likeable. I also really like the childhood friend, Miharu, who has the second most screen time.
Chika is the most controversial one and I still like because she makes haters mad. The 2 other MGs don't have enough screen time yet but they do have potential.

Main character: More likeable than I thought. My least favorite trope is the lame anime harem protagonist, so tough luck when playing HS games. The MC in this game never outright irritated me though, which was a high bar to clear since I usually dislike those kind of MCs.

Story & Writing: Very anime. The humor relies a lot on meme culture. This is where personal taste comes into play.
The main story is about rival gangs, evil corporations and some mysterious dissapearances. The worldbuilding is often done through people dumping exposition to each other and could use more "show-don't-tell".
I would say the writing of the story is okay overall. I prefer the writing of the interactions with the LIs. Those are very good.

Now, you may be wondering: Why are people hating?
There's two main reasons and I think both are dumb.

1. Some hate the main main girl, because she starts off a bit antagonistic with the MC, which hurts the fragile ego of the deep self-inserters. Sorry if she's not on her knees right from the beginning I guess. She actually becomes a very cool character very quick.

2. One of the potential LI presumably does sex work and you probably know how rabid anti-NTR fanatics get. Her story is not actually meant to evoke jealousy or whatever ntr is supposed to do, but rather "Oh poor tragic character that I'll save from scorn and misery". Criticisms of the execution might be legit but the lies about the intent of the dev are not.


Overall, much better than my first impressions. I would give it 4 or 4.5 out 5, but I see the vision, so it gets 5 stars.

Good renders are the only positive part of this game. Choices have zero impact, there are too many memes, most of them outdated (haha, the attack helicopter joke, welcome to 2025). The protagonist seems brainless, buuut as always in these kinds of games, the girls fall in love with him for some reason. The dialogues are childish, and describing every action with ** shows poor writing on the author’s part.
Don’t even bother trying it unless you enjoy pressing the skip button nonstop.

A visually stunning anime-style VN with a split personality, divided between a compelling slice-of-life core and a messy, hard-to-take-seriously main plot.

+ Spectacular Visuals: Universally praised for its top-tier Honey Select renders, beautiful character models, smooth animations, and a polished, vibrant aesthetic that stands out in the genre.
+ Strong Slice-of-Life Core: The game shines brightest in its university life segments, featuring well-written, slow-burn character interactions and chemistry, particularly with the main love interests.
+ Memorable Cast & Atmosphere: The main girls are designed with standout personalities, and the game successfully builds a charming, immersive atmosphere complemented by a well-received soundtrack.

– Cringe-Worthy Execution: The humor heavily relies on forced memes and fourth-wall breaks that frequently shatter immersion. The main gang/cyberpunk plot is widely seen as poorly executed, lacking tension and feeling like "people roleplaying."
– Divisive & Problematic Writing: Chika's storyline involving sex work is a major point of contention, criticized for its poor justification and execution, sparking intense debate over tags and creator intent.
– Weak, Passive MC: The protagonist is repeatedly criticized for being mentally weak, overly submissive, perverse in awkward moments, and largely reliant on the female lead, making him unbearable for many players.

New Horizon is an easy recommendation if you can tolerate meme-heavy humor and a passive MC for the sake of gorgeous visuals and charming character moments. However, steer clear if you're looking for a gripping plot, a strong protagonist, or writing you can take seriously.

Adorable mess

We have an action anime setup here. Story heavy. With one(kind of) main LI. MC is a real gentleman who is just waiting for females to make a move on him. Developer have a problem with lewd scenes before an established relationship. Scenes feel forced and out of place. On the strong side we have a bearable story describing mystery events from the past. I would say friendship building aspect is done right.

Pros
- Engaging story
- Good visuals
- Characters. Dev at least tried to make something different.
- Slow burn

Cons
- Starting scenes are poorly directed
- A lot of typical anime moments
- Childish (naive) approach in some aspects

I'm giving this a 5 star because of strong LI's personality and visible chemistry between characters.

Review for v0.3

I'd say this is one of those games where the key to liking it is to not take it serious in the slightest and instead just enjoy the ride for what it is. If you wanted to sit there and break down the plot and writing, there's actually a lot of issues I myself could point out. But for all the extremely cheesy and ham-fisted moments this game has, there's also a lot of things this game does surprisingly well.

The overview of this game gives it a poor representation to be honest. New Horizons is a 60/40~ blend of university slice-of-life style events with love interests, and then a sort of, if I'm being honest, half baked story about gangs and a shadowy terrorist organization.

The MC is essentially just living life as the game starts. You're a student at a seemingly nice university, you live in your own apartment, you have some friends and a stepsister, the only real notable thing is that your dad went missing a few years ago. One night after class, you happen upon a girl being harassed by thugs and step in only to kinda get your ass kicked given it's three on one. Good thing a girl with a sword shows up to help you, but oh no there's some misunderstanding, blah blah long story short the good girl school goddess is actually a gang leader and you kinda get forced into joining it. Which may sound a lot more exciting than it really is.

This is why I say to not take the game serious, as I'm not sure it even really does it itself. Every single scene involving gang/shadowy organization stuff just feels like people roleplaying. Action scenes, mysterious powerful individuals, other gangs, etc. etc. never feel like they have literally any tension, risk, or potential consequence associated with them. You can very easily pick it all apart if you want to. The game uses a fair amount of meme humor, often during these scenes too, that kinda furthers that feeling. You come to learn your father has a role somewhere in here, there's a weird chip giving you special abilities in your head, there's an element of what's essentially magic added to the mix, and there's a terrorist organization you're trying to stop or something. Honestly, I don't really care about any of it that much.

Now the games biggest strength is the bigger 60% that is those slice of life events. I like Miharu, your girl best friend, and Ayase, the good girl student by day and gang leader by night, a whole lot. Genuinely their characters are a lot of fun and the game gives you a lot of time with them. It's honestly strange how much better the events of just hanging out with them are versus the more plot centric moments. Miharu for example, you're both slowly exploring this friends to lovers dynamic that has many cute moments and doesn't just jump the gun with the relationship. A lot of the girls are pretty fun honestly, even the side ones, with a few big exceptions.

What's going to be the most controversial thing is Chika's story. She does sex work to stay afloat, which does not involve the MC. Now if you're still here let me tell you that in and of itself isn't necessarily my problem with the character, but rather just how poorly it's all written. She puts on a very tough and coldhearted act often lamenting how people are horrible, life sucks, you shouldn't be friends with her, you get it. Why? She has a shitty dad and her mom passed away when she was young. Why this has resulted in sex work I honestly couldn't tell you. She has to get by I guess. Once the MC learns of it he tells her he wants her to stop and is going to fix her life essentially, only to kind of forget about her until he runs into her again leaving a love hotel with a client. "Hey I want you to stop this lets go visit your dad" Surprise, he is indeed a piece of shit and the MC tries to drop some cheesy wisdom on him while doing nothing else. Potentially alright idea for a sweet girl underneath a tough shell experiencing happiness for the first time in ages and such, but pretty bad execution so far. Kaho is another girl who I felt I was really going to like off the first interaction where she teases you with a sort of big sister dynamic, but I'm not liking how all that kinda gets forgotten when she really gets introduced and the MC is all put off by her for what feels like weird reasons. Just kinda annoying.

I never really thought I'd say this about a game, but I'd almost prefer if it stepped away from this overarching gang plot and just went with being a slice-of-life university game where you just do fun stuff with the love interests. Because it's when the game is doing that that it's at its best.

TLDR - The game has problems. It flows weird sometimes, the plot is very hard to take serious and has no tension to it, some of the character stories are not great, and lot of deeper moments don't really hit with the cheesy dialogue. All that being said, it does a lot of good things too. The two most prominent love interests are great, the models and renders look great, the sex scenes are pretty good and well-animated, the soundtrack is actually banging, and there's a lot of really good slice of life moments if that's your thing. Set your expectations low and you'll find this is actually pretty fun overall. That's what I did anyway.

Review is as of Chapter 3.

Pros:

• Beautiful characters
• Good animations (outside lewds)
• Pretty decent lewds (full on sex, not just handjobs/etc)
• Some characters are executed very well
• Interesting atypical male support cast

Neutrals:

• Lewds that aren't full sex can be hit or miss
• The magic/cyberpunk element makes sense in theory but doesn't come across well
• Some characters at the moment have no screen time
• Meme comedy while entertaining to some can be annoying to others.
• Chika situation (Per person, will explain why its neutral later)
• Some LIs are very cliche while others are well done.

Cons:

• Main plot feels like its adding to much to fast at CH3
• Meme comedy while it holds up now will be dated in a few years
• Infrequent Dev communication
• Longer updates (Dev has another job)
• Hard to get decent feedback due to the CH3 LI situation taking up to much discourse.

The elephant in the room:
Before the summary I want to discuss the elephant in the room with this game, namely the Chika route and the NTR/NTS discourse that has widely dominated both F95 and itch for this game. I personally trust the developer to expand on the current route to further flesh out the character and her issues, and I have faith that when the MC ACTUALLY gets into a relationship with Chika she will drop her job. But as it stands they are just friends and she has rejected most forms of help with him, she has no reason to quit her job and honestly the discourse around her having to stop because she is a main LI or somehow the "player's girl" is worrying at best.

This also leads to the negative, its hard to actually hear objective opinions about the game because it seems there is a dedicated group out there downvoting comments not taking their side on the tags issue or not slamming the game. Did the author overreact? Maybe. But I also cant blame their reaction when all it takes is to look at Itch to see persistent vitriol that STILL hasn't let up when the game can be dropped and forgotten if you dont like it.

In summary:
New Horizon is an AVN I would recommend to give a personal try if you haven't already at chapter 3 if the cons don't alienate you and the Pros appeal to you, take the neutrals as either. Personally I find the story best when it focuses on the personal stories of each LI and their motivations over the broader gang and magic plot. The author can expand and fix these elements but currently I find the story is just far worse when its not focusing on characters.

Finally, If the Chika route bothers you and you aren't willing to wait till chapter 4 and 5 to further expand upon the situation, that is fine you are more than free to drop the game. There is more to life than hate, take some time to enjoy other games.

EDIT: Spelling.

Great work! I especially like the renders, they are high quality and the female characters are attractive. Would rate it similar with eternum for now.

Update seems a bit slow but I guess quality update takes time.

Ngl this game had some quite funny moments, that got a chuckle out of me. It has high quality renders and so far, a decent story. That being said, all the girls have the same sharp jaw, small chin look and only differ with hairstyles or make up. So more variation would be nice, good experience, would recommend.

New Horizon [v0.3] [KawaiiSukebe]
I really liked the game at this stage at least, excellent visuals, very detailed with nice Japanese atmosphere. The storytelling and setting are very good.
H-Scenes have some nice details and very well done setup and composition. Not too many in this version though, the focus is more on the story and characters.
The story has two weak points - Chika and Kaho. The first one seems to push into kind of darker tone, but in a not well justified manner nor it is very convincing. The second one just feels kind of forced and blunt, it might somehow develop later, but at this stage it is not as good as the rest,

This game contains a great story with great artwork featuring a diverse cast and packaged with some light humor in all the right moments


This leads to an overall great time and a full recommendation from me!

the gameplay itself is very good and it's nice to read the musical component is a very pleasant atmosphere of music and plot wonderfully made characters in general very atmospheric and pleasant emotions the game evokes in you that the game further wants to play it

My Honest Review of New Horizon

Dev Meltdown Over Criticism
Honestly, one of the biggest issues with this VN isn’t even the game itself, it’s how the dev reacts to feedback. Instead of taking criticism and improving the game, they lashed out at players who had legit concerns. It’s frustrating when devs can’t handle criticism and just double down instead of listening to their audience. This kind of behavior just turns people off from supporting the game.

The NTR Debate – It’s Definitely Heading in That Direction.
Look, I don’t care what the dev says, this game is heading in a direction that leads to NTR. Netorase (NTS) is still a form of NTR, and just because the dev refuses to accept that doesn’t make it untrue. If they had just been upfront about it, I think a lot of players wouldn’t have been as mad. But instead, people went in blind, thinking they were getting one thing and ended up with something they didn’t sign up for.

Tagging Issues – Would’ve Saved a Lot of Drama
If this VN had been tagged properly from the start, there wouldn’t be as much backlash. People would’ve known exactly what they were getting into. Instead, it wasn’t labeled correctly, and players were caught off guard. Nobody likes feeling like they were tricked into playing something they wouldn’t have chosen otherwise.

Visuals Are Absolutely Stunning
I have to give credit where it’s due, the visuals in this game are amazing. The character models, backgrounds, and effects all look top-tier. The shaders in the renders especially make the game feel really polished. Visually, it’s one of the best-looking VNs I’ve played.

H-Scene Animations Are Just Okay, but They Got Better
The animations in the H-scenes are kind of mid. They aren’t awful, but they’re nothing special either. That being said, they got a lot better in version 0.3. The improvement is noticeable, so at least the dev is putting in some effort to make them better.

Story Is Good, but the Humor Feels Forced
The story itself is actually pretty solid. It’s well-written and keeps you interested. The problem is the humor, it feels like it’s trying way too hard to be funny. Sometimes it lands, but other times it just feels awkward and out of place.

The Girls Are Drop-Dead Gorgeous
No complaints here. The character designs are fantastic, and the girls look amazing. Easily one of the best parts of the game.

Choices Are Too Subtle
One of my biggest gripes with this VN is how easy it is to miss choices. It’s not obvious when you’re making a big decision, and it’s way too easy to mess up and end up on nobody’s route. I had to play through multiple times just to figure out the right choices. A little more clarity would’ve been nice.

Chika’s Path – Definitely NTR
Chika’s story is another big issue. With how her story is currently evolving it'll eventually leading to NTS. She’s a prostitute, and the MC is trying to romance her, and even accepts that she is a prostitute. No matter how you spin it, this is a form of NTS. The dev saying, "Well, you don’t have to be on her path" doesn’t change the fact that it’s in the game. If it’s there, it needs to be labeled properly. Simple as that.
For those uncertain, here is a quick rundown of what 'NTS' is; "In Netrorase scenarios, the partner or suitor may willingly engage in romantic or sexual activity's with another character with the protagonist's knowledge or consent."

Final Thoughts – 2/5 Stars
While the VN does some things really well, like visuals and character designs, it has way too many issues to ignore. The dev’s attitude, the lack of proper tagging, and the frustrating choice system all bring the game down. The story is good, but the humor feels forced, and the H-scene animations are just okay. Overall, I’d give it a 2/5. If the dev was more open to criticism and fixed the labeling, it could have been much better.

Note: Realistically closer to a 3/5, but it fits my tastes.

The good parts out of the way: The scene composition is charming. The character models are all good. The music is great, though they're copyright issues waiting to happen.

The story is... not too interesting, not too bad. It's got bad pacing at times, particularly early on with a lot of flashbacks and cuts to other parts and dream sequences and all that normal stuff you often see in VNs that rarely ever work - well guess what, they're here too. The rest of the plot has been feeling very standard; you're not breaking new ground here, but there's nothing bad either. The story rarely surprised me, but it didn't bore me either; good, easy reading.

There is some issue with the dialogue, particularly when it comes to actions. There's a lot of dialogue boxes that are just things like:

*Get in the car*, with the renders of the character getting in the car
*Go home*, with the render of the character going home
*Locks eyes with X character*, with the character looking at...

These parts are a bit grating and do become quite annoying and the author should definitely apply a bit more of "show, don't tell" when it comes to character actions, particularly because his rendering and scene composition is actually quite great. Leaving these actions implied/shown only through renders would elevate the experience.

Choices are also entirely meaningless, or at least sure fucking feels like it, and they're really sparse, so no idea why we really have them anyway. The humor is a bit hit or miss, and to me it was definitely more on the side of miss. Some characters try too hard to be too humorous to the point that they sometimes fall out of their perceived trope and become kinda weird - Ayase, the main girl, is particularly guilty of this, because she breaks her trope in really absurd ways sometimes. For example, when she's sitting inside a fucking shopping cart in front of 20 other classmates, right after she's spent the several last few hours of the visual novel talking about how she must maintain a certain reputation and attitude. Very conflicting, absolutely breaks your worldbuilding, and done just to get a chuckle out of the reader - not good. Some people have complained about the fourth-wall breaking by the dev commentary but there's literally a toggle in the options for you to disable it so if you're bothered by it yet continue reading it that's on you.

Speaking of characters, there is a very big positive here in the side characters, which feel well utilized despite being generic tropes/not too profound.

All in all, the game is what I'd call above average. This story isn't going to change your life or something, and if you're not into the anime-esque style of mystery indie VN story telling, you're going to rate this between 2 and 3. If you're into that, like I am, the score already goes up to something between 3 and 4. It's hard to justify anything higher with the previous issues, at least to me.

PS: Dev, if you're reading this, please fix your tildes showing up at the top of the dialogue box instead of in the middle. You want them like this~ at the end of the sentence~~ not like this ˜ ˜

New Horizon [v0.3] [KawaiiSukebe]

It's my second time trying this VN. First time was right before ending of 0.1.5 and I forgot almost everything by this point. (except for dumb fight scenes and that's there a lot of boring weeb cliches) I won't replay it again, it just feels like too much of a chore. From what I remember, it's not worth it.

"Picture" quality wise is way better than your average HS game. Kiiiiiiiiinda okay anime story, a lot of dumb situations and cliche, ~1-2d charcters, mostly 'MISS' humor and memes, bad fourth wall breaking, (personal bias/bad experience) dumb "we are filming movie/real story here frfr, with """real""" actors!" after every update, pretty good HS models and animations... That's pretty much it.
Take everything with salt, I'm too biased and subjective after finishing this update.

Story - 0.5-2.7/5. If you are older than ~18 and you've read/seen ~general share of anime, manga, novels in your lifetime, then there's NOTHING really interesting for you here. Nothing. You'll know every twist, every cranny, every sentence that is gonna come out of characters' mouths, cliche is so f real. (Sometimes, you can even see the thought process that author had at the moment of making a scene) I've seen few posts of the author/dev had made here and how high his "horse" was... it was obvious, too obvious.
To make it short, don't expect anything and just turn your brain off, things will be way easier then.

Gameplay - VN with points and time events, meh.

Choices - Points! Points! Points! Sit with notebook or just use mod, choice is yours~

Characters - ~1-3/5. Mostly one-dimensional, with some passable ones and with some that are trying to be more than they actually are. (tho, they are just a pile of adjectives and words) You won't care about them that much, it's not like they can even pass for a character that is worth to dive into.

MC - 1/5 Generic "OG story" MC. Nothing interesting.

Models/animations - ~2-4/5. It's HS. Plus, dev spends a lot of time to make everything look good. Strongest aspect of this VN.
Grammar. Good, I guess. Eh, whatever.

Try it if you feel like it, it looks good and story is ~okay-ish... ish.
To reiterate, it's just another AVN on this site, but very good looking one. Maybe, I'll try it again some time in the future.

Great Models, Interesting characters, good story. So why 3/5?

Because of overused memes and bad protagonist. every next scene is meme which breaks flow of story/pacing/mood. And protagonist? he is horrible personality wise. too week mentally, unnecessarily pervert in some situations.

This game could be one of the great ones if not for this two big minuses..

The story so far is pretty interesting.
The renders are very good and the animations are good as well.
I like the look of the main girls.
My only complaint is that some things feel a bit forced and some things drag on too long.

It's sad that I have to rate this 1 star, because I thought the story and character designs were really good. But sadly I have to give this a poor rating because the constantly fourth wall breaking is unbearable, the constant memes that reference real life situations or products, really is a constant reminder that you do not have that freedom to feel like you are immersed in the world of an AVN. Additionally, the MC is quite unbearable at times, and is portrayed as immature. One example, is he will treat his childhood friend like dirt, spends the whole novel saying she underdeveloped because she has breasts that are not huge bazookas, but he will treat another girl he just met, way better and with way more respect.

I already decided if I see one more meme, I am dropping this game. I'm writing this review at the time that you see a skyrim reference and a elder scrolls 6 not coming out yet as another reference. That would be how far I am into the AVN.

Hardly giving it a 5, but i had to cause the renders are too good, top tier for sure.
Story a bit cliche, dialogs are not that good, like coming right out from some outdated Romcom, but author did improve in recent patches.
Sex scene are amazing, just wish author make the dialogs to be more interractive, quirkier and shorter, not every dialog need to be a story and lasted for a whole page and MC keep giving the girls every kind of praise possible. Characters need to talk like some normal person, we will know their intention, no need to explain everything. I find myself dragging through the first 2 chapters just because of the renders.
Also need to be more choices that matter more between long scenes to keep the game a "game". Constants clicking is really anoying.

This has improved so much from what I initially expected from it, Update 0.3 was a good time.

The narrative is simple and straight forward but it is shrouded in a lot of mystery which is slowly opening up bit by bit. There are elements of Sci-FI and the supernatural in this and I love how it is being presented at the story unfolds.

I like the MC but I am hoping for more development on the training front since he is way over his head as things stand. I would have preferred if he had at least some prior martial arts training to help cushion his descent into the underbelly of criminal life he has to interact with. I do like the fact that he is experienced which doesn't make him awkward in intimate scenes.

The character designs are a serious high point, the girls are beautiful and so far they are well written (I only have complaints for one heroine). Funny enough I currently don't have a favourite which usually decided by this point but that could be because some of the characters haven't yet been fully fleshed out and I happen to prefer their look.

All in all, it is a good time, a solid 8/10.

Now for my gripes with this AVN:
1. Some of the convos are too long winded, not everyone needs to be a philosopher. It destroys some scenes and this is coming from someone with a pretty high threshold for melodrama since I watch a good deal of anime. Some of the scenes will do good with a simple meaningful statement which conveys the emotion the character is communicating.
2. I have issues with Takezawa Chika's route. I would have personally liked for Takezawa Chika's situation to involve the father owing so much debt that loan sharks/gangsters use that to force her (considering how beautiful she is) into prostitution which would force the MC to ask Tsuki (Ayase) to look into helping her which could open up into a whole new mission where they have to breakdown a prostitution ring by one of the gangs that targets vulnerable women from such families (falls right into what they do already, helping people).

That would make for a more compelling story which could branch into other parts of the story and it would explain why she has no hope in leaving the profession apart from her wanting to help her dead beat dad. As things stand, her actions are dumb, if she is making so much money it would make more sense to move out, drop her dead beat dad who sees her as nothing more than a means to an end and then gradually shift professions that don't leave her feeling empty inside (easier said than done) and find a new path. Her father is a lost cause and I would loved for the MC to beat him up when the opportunity presented itself, or perhaps come back when he is alone for much needed justice. I still like her as a character and intend to follow her route to it's sweet end.

Thanks for this AVN.
The story is quite gripping so far, and the characters are interesting and varied. The atmosphere is very pleasant, music, decorations varied and rich. Humor present, even if unfortunately I am not sensitive to it...
This is my main concern actually. The dialogues are a bit simple. It seems to get better with time though, so I encourage people interested to push the first few chapters a bit.
Second negative point, the Lewds scenes. The MC seems to go about it like a rabbit during the first scenes. Again, this point improves over time. I therefore remain rather positive for this title, which I would follow with pleasure.
Sorry for the auto-trad.