Ren'Py - Norika's Case [S2 v0.15] [Staxxik]

subpar story, shitty UI, aimless gameplay, it's not great.
this game feels like the most pretentious game i've seen, trying to be this complex detective mafia story, but it feels like the game itself doesn't give a shit about it, quickly moving from character to character as it just feels like a slog just to get to the next scene.
Hell, even then, if you pick a wrong option you may lock yourself out of an entire character route. Fun right? all of this coupled with the disgusting and confusing AI hud means that you'll be fumbling around trying to attempt to maybe progress the routes, if you don't give up altogether and go play something that doesn't feel like trying to bite a brick.
the character designs are very pretty but animations are premade as far as i'm aware, and the characters aren't exactly fountains of characterization, they're all defined by their trope, the sister is the sister, the cute mafia boss is cute and a mafia boss, it feels like you can perfectly predict everything they'll do. Hell, by the end of season 1 the story starts taking an interesting turn, only for s2 to dump you in the middle of nowhere to be with your sister because for most of the game the only interesting thing was incest. which is fucking tragic, by the way.
I have not played through s2, i started it and saw how every piece of UI was AI and gave up. dev can't even make a doodle of their poster characters or look up a map? it's embarrasing

This game is a horrendous slog to even get through. I can't say how far I actually made it, but it had to have been a couple hours real time. The dialogue is just horrendous; It's like reading a book that went through google translate four times over to end up back in English. To boot, it's incredibly rushed to get you forward in the plotline when clearly the author's intent is to get you hooked and on the edge of your seat. There's no thrill in this thriller/crime VN. It's just rapid-fire discovery and then characters get randomly horny?

Are the girls hot? yes. Am i going to spare a star for that? no. you created a visual novel, not a hentai movie. i think we need to learn the distinction between mediums.

I don't know how they got too season two, there are game breaking bugs in season 1 that aren't fixed, hitting the go home button just repeats a running scene and won't go home stopping all progress. walk-through is free but they force you to join there free patron account to get it. I don't do that is just so they can get their numbers up, when help could be readily available on this site like others. also the mechanics of game are ruff. Content not finished. If you can't finish season 1 what do you do with season 2 there is also a lot of grind for little content.

I'm giving this game 2 stars. Although the character designs for the girls are very good—some are quite attractive—the gameplay fails. It's repetitive and tedious, and you have to use codes to get more money, more relationship points with the girls, etc., just to advance. This is based on Version 1.1.

The Good:
-The girls are attractive.

-I like the story's premise.

-There are sexual sounds, which aren't the best, but they help.

The Bad:
-It's very repetitive. It's not at first, but it reaches a point where you're just doing the same thing day after day until something happens.

-You have to use codes found on the game's forum to improve your stats.

-It's too tedious. For example, to advance with one of the girls, you have to wait 50 days to continue.

In summary, I know the game isn't finished, but I won't be eagerly awaiting the next update. Give it a try if you like these kinds of games

As of v1.0 the MidnightKing's review is still very much relevant, as the game is an absolute slog to suffer through. Boring grind with no redeeming qualities for the sole sake to motivate players to give the dev more money, I mean half of the UI elements are literally patreon ads, like come on. I was struggling to bring myself to finish this 'game' as it's designed to be incredibly boring and irritating on purpose, and I barely had enough patience for this torture, so here are my impressions of the 6 hours wasted here:

• Sex scenes so far are absolute horse shit: disjointed animations with no direction or context, half of which feature almost no movement, on top of all. Sure later on animations become much better, but overall sex scenes are still bad, I mean they last like 10 seconds, bruh.
• MC is an unlikable playboy, who just sleeps around with random sluts that he picks up for one night stands. Sure he can change a bit with time later down the story, but the aftertaste lingers.
• Characters are just not interesting as there is not enough dev time dedicated to build upon their personalities. So all interactions with them feel more like a CG collector than a dating sim or romance VN.
• The sandbox with dubious conditions to trigger events, just to sell walkthrough to patrons can go eat my ass. What a waste of fucking time.
• Pay-walled content. Don't know how much exactly, since I'm obviously not paying for this slop, but it's there.
• Stupid instant gameover/mission fail choices, that serve no purpose whatsoever. Classic amateur AVN game design.
• Lots of RNG, but there is rollback to re-roll infinitely, so pretty weird design choice tbf.
• The main story line is not worth it either. It's not engaging at all. There is one plot twist, but by the time you get there, it does not feel impactful. Game ends on a cliffhanger - there is a sequel in the plans .... god save us all.

If you have infinite time to mindlessly grind for zero payoff then go ahead, otherwise not recommended.

To start off, I’ve been following this game almost since its release, but I just never got around to writing a review. I’ll try to describe in detail all my impressions, starting from the earliest versions up to the current one (0.9). I’ll be using + and - to indicate pros and cons, as well as +-, which means I have mixed feelings about that particular aspect of the game.

Let’s begin. I’ll start with the positives.

+ First and foremost, the biggest plus is the character models and (new) animations.
The girls look absolutely stunning. In the early versions, there were issues with lighting and shadows—characters sometimes looked a bit creepy, especially Emily—but in the latest versions, things have greatly improved. The same goes for the scenes. Normally I don’t care much about animated scenes—many games manage to convey passion without looping animations—but here, it’s clear how much the animation quality has grown. The developer clearly took feedback into account, and that’s great to see. I know many people value animation in these types of games, so you should definitely take note of the quality leap. The lighting and shadows are now beautifully done.
If we’re talking about KK-based games, I’d say the graphics here, especially in the later versions, are simply excellent. The girls don’t look alike, which gives each of them a unique feel. I originally checked out this game because of the models, although the game itself didn’t grab me at first—but more on that later.

+ Side events and storylines for the girls.
Yes, the side events with the girls are very well done. When sandbox mode was first introduced, the events felt very raw—especially interactions with the girls. I really didn’t like the very first main event; it felt like a pointless quiz with no real context. But surprisingly, as the developer started adding separate side events for the main girls, I was impressed.
Each girl is unique—not only in personality but also in their storylines. There are GIMP-style games, magical combat, and more (though I do wish this tech was explained somehow). Katie’s events with her sister, Monica’s charity and new job—each girl has her own problems, and while at first it seemed like a typical “main character syndrome” where every girl instantly falls for you, they each get developed in their own way and you start to understand why things happen the way they do.
So this is definitely a strong plus, especially in the recent updates.

+- The main plot.
On one hand, I found it interesting. On the other, the developer started pushing the story forward too quickly, making upcoming events (that aren’t even out yet) very predictable. It’s nice that the game is broken into seasons, but I suspect that by the end of Season 1, we still won’t know anything significant.
It’s a mixed bag: there are plenty of twists and it can feel gripping, but the rushed pacing makes it hard to fully enjoy. I personally prefer stories that unfold gradually and are explained well, but here it feels like a chunk of the story was cut out just to finish Part One in time. I’m not sure.

+- The business takeover mechanic.
When I first entered sandbox mode, I saw this dumb mechanic where you just “capture” businesses—it was terribly done. No events, not even a picture—just a placeholder.
So why mixed feelings? Because takeovers of jewelry stores are starting to show some promise. Now, each takeover comes with a small event, and you’re no longer just mindlessly clicking and spending mercs. There’s some story attached. If the developer also replaces the placeholder images, this feature could actually become decent.
Still, about half of the takeovers are just grindy, meaningless placeholders. The idea itself is interesting—but not for a detective game. More on that in the next point.


- This is not a detective game.
Yes, the game claims to be a detective story—but the only case you’re solving is the main plot. That’s it. You heard me: all you do is work for the mafia and capture businesses.
When we hear “detective game,” we expect to solve multiple cases, right? Apparently the dev had a different idea. I don’t get it. The business takeovers could easily have been reworked into investigations. That would have made it more interesting and added more cases beyond the main one. (And no, fans, I don’t count a money grind where you get one picture for catching a dog as a “case.”)

- And now, the cherry on top: the grind.
Grind, grind, and more grind. The whole start of the game is just farming money. Only after hours of playtime do you finally get some relief, because—oh, thank god!—after like 5 or 6 updates, the dev decided to give us $15,000 per week from Azumi after you capture all the casinos.
Thanks for that, but still, the constant need to farm mercs just to take over a casino—with no extra events like I mentioned before—was nearly a deal-breaker. (Good thing I know how to use a save editor, heh.)

Final Verdict: 4/5
I liked that the developer listens to the community and keeps improving the game, but a lot still needs to be reworked—starting with the early grind.
You should play this game if you're interested in compelling side stories and, of course, very attractive ladies.
I hope the developer hears me out and reworks the early sandbox mechanics—because that definitely needs attention.
Wishing you all the best!

Review for v0.4

I feel like the dev story-boarded a basic mafia plot and instead of doing anything to expand it they said "yeah this is good enough" and started making the game. Just about every aspect of this is subpar.

The MC is annoying, the characters are puddle deep, and the story has almost no intrigue because it reveals what could have been an interesting plot twist about ten minutes into the game and then puts you into the sandbox.

And what a boring sandbox it is. The basic idea is that you're given a map where you slowly take over businesses from the mafia. What does this entail gameplay wise? Spam work to make money -> buy a bunch of mercenaries who are literally just numbers -> click on a business icon and click the takeover button -> repeat. That's it man. The dev did not bother creating/rendering out literally any type of interesting event for any of this. My reward for taking over a business was being able to click on a girl within a gallery style menu and playing a strip trivia game with her.

As someone who values good writing this game just doesn't have much of it. I think the premise could be good honestly, and the one bit of praise I have is that the models look nice, but there is nothing here for most people I'd imagine. Even for the people who like to hold the skip button I can't see this being super appealing. I'd maybe be a little more generous on the rating but the icing on the cake was seeing it already having a "DLC" locked behind a paywall. That rubbed me the wrong way.