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

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 in the Game
Look, I don’t care what the dev says, this game has NTR. Netorase 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. She’s a prostitute, and the MC is trying to romance her. No matter how you spin it, this is a form of NTR. 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.

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.

My only complaint is some issues with Chika, and why she chooses to stay with her father.

However,
Visuals are great
Storyline is good so far and seems like it will continue to be interesting
Characters are both good visually and have good personalities and stuff

If you enjoy visual novels that mix anime clichés, questionable humor, and constant fourth-wall-breaking, this game might catch your attention – though not always for the best reasons.

Positives

Engaging Atmosphere: The setting is well-crafted, creating an immersive experience for fans of the genre.

Unique Soundtrack: While it leans towards being "edgy", the music stands out by avoiding the generic tracks commonly found in other AVNs.

Character Models: The LIs are incredibly well-designed. The HS2-based models are visually stunning, offering a real treat for fans of this style like me.

Negatives

Disastrous Protagonist: This is the game’s biggest weakness. The MC is simply unbearable – a weak, submissive protagonist entirely reliant on Ayase, who feels more like the main character than he does.
For players like me who prefer protagonists with confidence, strength, or who are at least likable, the experience is frustrating. The MC ruins any potential the game might have, and his constant submissiveness only makes things worse.

Slow and Annoying Relationships: The development of the relationship between the MC and his childhood friend is so dragged out that it becomes exasperating. The "climax" during the beach date – where their hands don't touch – is a breaking point, highlighting how much the game unnecessarily prolongs situations that could be resolved quickly.

Poorly Executed Sex Scenes: Even in the sex scenes, the MC manages to be even more submissive, which, instead of being sensual or exciting, turns comical. For many, these scenes only reinforce how pathetic the main character is, further damaging the narrative.

Long and Prolix Dialogues: While some might enjoy lengthy dialogues, I found them tiresome and overly detailed, making the experience feel dragged out and tedious.

Conclusion
While the game has visual quality and an interesting soundtrack, it’s heavily undermined by its protagonist. For players looking for a satisfying experience with a likable and charismatic MC, this game will be a disappointment. With a better protagonist, the title would have great potential to stand out in the genre.

I thoroughly enjoyed New Horizon! The storyline had me hooked from start to finish, especially because the characters were so compelling. All the girls stood out in their own way—they were not only beautifully designed but also full of personality.

The visuals were stunning. The character models were gorgeous, the environments were immersive and well-crafted, and the animations were incredibly smooth, enhancing the overall experience.

Renderings: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Storyline: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Animations: 10/10

About Shika, I genuinely empathized with her situation. Like the main character, I wanted to help her and never felt anything but understanding for her struggles. However, I felt the main character could have done more to support her—whether by offering shelter, food, or even a little money. Since Shika is one of the main characters, it would have been great to see her receive more tangible help.

Overall, New Horizon is an incredible game! The characters are captivating, the story is deeply engaging, and the gameplay is seamless. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an unforgettable experience.

Rating: 10/10

A fantastic game that I almost missed due to the drama in the comments, luckily I trusted my instinct and tested the game, definitely five stars.

It seems that the criticism here is that some were expecting a vanilla game, so let me make it clear here, it is not vanilla, the theme of the game is serious, all the characters have their problems, there are gangsters everywhere and people trying to kill each other, so there is romance, drama, mystery and action, everything for an interesting story.

I liked all the LIs, they are all interesting and attractive, and you are not forced to have relationships with them, it is the player who decides.

I read a lot of criticism about the character Chika, who is a prostitute, a big exaggeration in my opinion, her situation is bad but common at the same time, she is a broken person who has been abused all her life and cannot trust anyone.
At no point did I feel disgusted by her, I understand her situation and, just like the protagonist, I want to help her, she was literally forced into this situation, which is why I am upset with the harsh criticism I read here.

At the time of this review, the game was in version 0.3, not all the girls had much screen time, only two, Ayase and Miharu, the others only had an introduction, including Chika, who was so criticized, she had very little screen time, and the sex scene with her was a test for her to see if she could trust you, if you have sex with her at that moment, you will show yourself to be someone who does not really believe what you say and who is not worthy of trust.
Remember that in this game you play as the hero who helps and protects people, don't forget that!

The quality of the game is immense, story, characters, design... I recommend that everyone play the game or you will miss out on something incredible.

I just don't like the jokes and memes, memes that even though I've disabled them, still appear; and as for the jokes, I wish the protagonist was more serious, he can't have a conversation without bad jokes. --"

PS. The cover and preview images in the OP are outdated, the current quality of the game is much higher than what is shown in these previews, and some events shown in these previews are no longer in the game, so, once again, I recommend that you test the game.

As of v0.3

In short: A well-executed project that'll give you several hours of fun.

There is only one way I can describe this game - anime bullshit. Every trope I've seen in the few mainline anime series I've seen is here and in full force. Seriously, if you hate that style of storytelling, you won't like this game. But if you like it or like me find it entertaining, when it's well-executed - then just download the game and go.

The cast is pretty huge and a lot of them are... well, not very original. Cute little step-sister, who is all nice and warm? Check. Childhood friend who actually refers to herself like that? Check. Tormented noble lady? Check. Assassin that needs to learn to be normal? Check. The no-nonsense broken bird? Check. Ok, I admit the fiance threw me off, but I suspect I just haven't watched enough anime to recognize that trope.
Most of them are the standard cliche with a small or big twist attached to them. I think the only one missing is the ex, returning with a dark and tormented story.

Yet... I like them. I like them a lot and I'm gonna be honest, the dev has some major balls with how he portrayed some of them (Especially Chika, who I must say might be my favorite LI for now).

The story is... anime bullshit on steroids. Stupid humor? Yup, the game is out right comedy, especially the school parts. But some of the character moments are not only serious, but almost though provoking.

This is also where I took 1 star, sadly. The extensive flashbacks were a chore and a bore, they could esily have been re-written to be 1/10 of the length. Felt like filler episodes, except there is no need of filler episodes in a VN, since you aren't waiting for the manga to get further. The lore dumps are way too much and are trying way too hard to justify stuff that doesn't exacly need justification. Still, the dev is clearly improving with time, so I hope in further releases the problems won't repeat.

Visuals are... well, good. It's an HS game and not the best looking one at that, but they do the job and the overal style of the visuals is great, consistent and thematic. Animations are nothing special but are there.

Sex is... ok? Nothing really kinky, nothing especially hot or perverted, but it's early days, so... here is hoping.

Overall - good game, deserves a play. Slow, but decently sized updates.

(V0.3) this game is AWESOME. I love every second I played. ART style, Character personality, some joke here and there. Wow jsut wow. each character have their own life, their problem, their like or dislike.

the sad thing is it's take abit long for each update.

IDK what makes a game great. Usually I don't like this types of games. Like walls of text just to go from girl to girl in the Harem.

As of 0.3 the game is absolutely fantastic though. Will this game become one of those mindless endless games where nothing happens in the story and it's just an excuse to farm Patreons? Maybe.

Right now the story is interesting, it's still slow with it's share of slice of life but I found it very interesting despite the low density of sex. Which is rare for me. So in that regard the game is unique.

I honestly don't know why this game has 4 stars and a game like Eternum can be the highest rated game on the platform. I don't think the games are much different in terms of quality.

I wouldn't rate this below Eternum at all. I think that if you liked that game; you should like this.

Having said that, if the new update introduces yet another love interest. I'll have to change my review to 1 star. As it would signal a start of the patreon farming.

I just wanted to say that while this game has its flaws, it also has real charm. It just feels genuine rather than a rehash of tired AVN tropes.

I think the biggest flaws at the moment are the pacing of the relationships with some of the LIs, the number of new LIs being introduced, and the sprawling story which may become hard to maintain, making updates even more demanding and therefore slow to release.

But I really, really like the characterization of pretty much all of the characters. They feel quite real and the world in which they exist feels lived-in despite all the fantastical sci-fi stuff. Congrats to the dev for putting out such a solid game.

People bitching about one of the LIs should calm their titties and let everyone else enjoy the game. It's easy enough to drop her path if they want to. I count at least two choices just in the last update to not continue that path. I think it's OK to complain about forced relationships, but players who complain that some character doesn't match their own expectations and try to guilt trip the dev into changing the story should learn to be less entitled and enjoy the rest of the story.

First time reviewing anything on this site but in the hopes the of the dev seeing this, here I go!
Have been following this AVN from the beginning and have been enjoying it with every update, it's honestly in my top 5. Renders are great, good humor and intriguing storyline. I remember the dev saying they had no idea where they were going with the story and seemed lost but wanted to still try to pull it back together, so with the .3 update im glad to see there has been great progress there. All the characters are pretty solid and there is a decent variety. My biggest complaint though is with the Li Chika. Before the .3 update she was probably the Li i was most excited for, up until you decided to have her admit to being a prostitute. With just speaking about it, okay i'm sure most people can be okay with that and just put it in the back of their minds but when you have said many times that your game will never have ntr and its a solo or harem game then actually follow through with those words. Now I don't want to argue about the "technical definition" of NTR, MC got a cool power and the story has been suggesting he is going to grow stronger as the story progresses, this is obviously an MC power fantasy harem game. So when we get a scene where the MC watches a love interest walk out of a hotel after getting railed by some random old dude like WTF. I decided to just go back and make every possible choice to avoid this character now, its so disappointing. Seeing as there isn't much content with this character please for the love of god either change her from being a hooker to something else like drug dealer or something or just remove Chika from being a love interest because that nearly ruined this otherwise fantastic VN for me. If its a harem game any Li should never be sexually involved with other people, its literally AVN 101 if you have never read a comments section before. I really want this story to continue and not have to miss any content because a Li is a damn prostitute. I truely believe many other fans of the harem genre completely agree with this.

Considering I prefer Daz over HS, I can safely say I enjoyed this game quite a lot. The renders are nice, the story is cool, the jokes are good and the lewds are extra spicy. Never a dull moment with this game. 10/10 would play the next update. Not to mention this game is actually free!

Go support the dev, you scrubs!