VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Now & Then [v1.00.0] [ILSProductions]

I am hooked!
I have only recently started this game and it is head and shoulders above most of the games on this site.

The story writing is griping and well paced. It has drawn me in. I am really looking forward to seeing where it goes. I have great expectations.

The graphics are good being suitable dark and gritty when appropriate. I find the MCs inner dialogue realistic, logical and convincing.

I haven't got to any sex scenes yet so I cannot comment on them.

For once I haven't found the need to use unRen.bat to view the images to give me a reason to continue. What I have read and seen so far has me hooked.

There is no reason not to try this.

While not a fan of the zombie genre, I am enjoying this game.
The renders are good, except for MC's hair, and the girls are attractive.
The initial build up actually developed the characters in a way that made me care about them.
The downside is the zombie apocalypse. At the end of the current update it's starting to feel like any generic zombie movie.
Pro:
Nicely rendered and designed characters.
Good character development
Nice sex scenes.
Characters have pubic hair

Cons:
Generic zombie genre

This is a really good game. The apocolyptic backdrop is very well thought out, not just a slap-dash excuse to create a harem. The girls act in very believable ways, and are easy to fall in love with. The main character is cool and heroic but in a believable way; he acts like your cool veteran uncle, not like some implausible superhero.

I'm not a huge fan of the engine used for the renders, but it does suit the mood of the story.

The developer is responsive to the community and releases in a stable, steady manner.

Be warned, this is *not* a "fetish stew" sort of game. Yes, there is a little anal, a little lesbian, etc, but the developer does not stretch his plot into implausibility just to create sexual situations. If you want to see a 5-way pregnant zombie futa orgy this is not the droid you are looking for.

I really love this game. You can tell that the Dev really has his heart in it and for that I gave it 4 stars. I only took one star off because while i appreciate the story and the writing, and the dev does a good job with both, the narrative dialogue sometimes is cringy and makes me facepalm.. It's insulting to your players/readers that you think they wont get your meanings if you are not literally explaining every tiny aspect of the behavioral spectrum. I get more anxiety reading through the feeling deconstructions than the characters do fighting zombies. For example, when Sydney asks "how is Carol" after a death event, all you really needed to say is "she really took it hard, she's resting now, she was exhausted after all that". You don't need to write a paragraph about her current psychological profile.

Just sayin.

UPDATE: ver 26.

Story took a nosedive, not any better at this point in time, but appreciate the effort. Nice work

Completed Version: Revised analysis

Unchanged. Game is immersive, story is interesting, however the dialogue makes me want to stab my eyeballs rather than read any more of it.

Writing is unusually good with relatable characters that happen to luv luv luv the D. Hookup sound effects while OK at first get repetitive and tiring fast but the visuals makeup for that short coming. A Dev to keep an eye on.

I love the game, and although to be honest I have a soft spot for almost every type of apocalyptic game, the truth is that it is one of the best games I have played on this page, if I had to complain about something it would be that no matter what which I choose I can't seem to reject Sydney, at least in the version I played (0.14.0), but it will probably be fixed in later versions

This is by far one of my favorite games on this website. Not only because the story is really interesting, but also because they actually regularly update the game. The characters are all great, the development is at a good pace the people writing it actually know how to write proper sentences and there arent really many VNs with a setting like this

impressive game.
Great EOW story. A good page turner.
Really great character stories and development .
Art work is simple but good to look at , way better than many out there.
One of the few that i keep coming back for the story not just the H scenes.

Really looking forward to future updates.

He could probably double his earning by making Carol & MC blood related but he chose not to because he has his own story to tell and you gotta respect that, I think I found a hidden gem in this. A little criticism tho, maybe avoid making four line worth of dialogue in a single still, makes it such a chore to read.

I thought this game was a low-key hidden gem because of its slow pace but in reality, is just very amateur writing that wouldn't be a problem (Lot of games have that issue) no the problem is with the self insert MC and the setting.
The MC always has a reason and never does anything wrong if he might be wrong well there is a reason which Immediately contradicts something.

Example: can't make noise to save a girl so he leaves her cool typical zombieish but he drives a FUCKING CHARGER cause I'm guessing it's cool author self insert badass car and to me, many more issues with the MC just makes him kinda Meh(Not as bad as Haley's Story MC but bad). Also, add lame conscience type writing aspect and it's just so eye-rolling like of course

The setting is a wannabe Walking Dead but the survival aspect feels like Zombieland which doesn't work but I honestly believe that if it was a more dark comedy type game it would be a 4-star game but no it's TWD without the gritty, dark, Survival by any means and the characters.

The one thing I did enjoy was the present and past type scenes in the story that shows the relationship between the MC and daughter but even this just basic ass porn game writing (Horny friend wants to fuck dad and tells daughter so she will also be interested) and when this game is trying to be a legit Zombie Adult Visual Novel it just doesn't work. Sex Scenes are basic Honey Select without good erotica. 5/10

Awesome survival/romance game! The story is very interesting and packed with suspense but also calmer scenes where the characters have time for introspection and closeness.
The game is very focused on the few main characters who we get to know intimately. The love interests are cute and likeable. The player character behaves in most scenes like I would want to in his position so I could identify myself very well with him.
The worldbuilding is well done. I look forward to see how the characters will handle their continuously changing situation and deal with the incoming threats.
My playtime with Version 0.14 was approximately 15 hours for a single, very enjoyable walkthrough. That's pretty awesome for a game that is only one year old.

this one flies too far under the radar for its production quality. i suppose it doesn't cater enough to the sexual perverts; the emotional perverts must be fewer in number, or at least less vocal. excellent writing and visuals create a top-quality soap opera experience within the medium. plenty of player agency for a rigid narrative (even if the payoff is minor difference in dialogue/scenes, choices never feel superfluous), rapid and regular releases, dutch angles everywhere. 5/5 i wonder how portishead is technopop masquerading as triphip.

A really great game. I'm not a fan of incest but nonetheless this has a nice and consistent story, it is well written and all the characters are well rounded and believable. The graphics are carefully crafted, really hard to find real flaws in this game. You gotta give it a try

Good game all around. For once a game that benefits from "fake" incest by building a good story around the adoption of the daughter. Between the great story structure and overall treatmant of the characters, the game is far better than your generic zombie game in the site, and I wanted to talk about how it accomplishes that,

First of all, well written, competent characters. Except for a little realism thrown out the window in order to work some porn in, the dialogues, scenarios and overall writting on the characters is great. Mc isn't a generic hero, none of the female characters are generic damsels in distress. This greatly facilitates the group dynamic and allows for good emotional engagement, that comes from interacting with the dangers of the "zombie" world. That danger is mostly fake though.

As with most zombie novels on this site, the danger the group is in is just for show. Dangerous situations that create drama and spectacle, while still letting you know everything will be fine. You may count this as a negative, but that's just how it goes. I, for one, am glad not to worry about having to sit through a rape scene. The danger does create stakes though, and ways to keep the story moving. You know they'll be fine through the attack of the infected, but that doesn't matter, because it's still interesting to see what happens, and how the characters are changed by it.

And the characters do change. Sometimes in drastic events, dometimes slowly as the pressure of the world molds them anew, and that's just great. As the mc has to take more and more responsabilities, so do the girls, and that alters the way the group functions. It gives some much needed variety to the storytelling, contrasting some of the most repetitive parts of the story.

The repetition comes mostly in the exposition of the characters relashionship from before the game started. The flashbacks are overall great and well structured, but many of them do fit the same purpose. The story would be lesser without them, so the repetition isn't bad, but it does give the fresher parts of the story a bit of a contrast.

If there's one thing to complain about, the start of the game is a little lacking. A short narration of the events that led to the current situation is a bit of a slog and were it not well written, would have been a quick reason to drop the game. If you stick with it though, it improves a lot, taking it's place as probably the best zombie novel on the site.

the story is good. the character development is also good. the reason i put 3 star is because i didn't like the constant flashback it's like watching naruto shippuden all over again. hahaha kidding aside flashback is ok, but do it once in a while not every time since it's disrupting the story flow.

Somewhat new to the forum. I have to say finding this game was like finding a gem. Well written unique and thoroughly worth the download and the 5 star rating.

Well worth subbing to which I have to support this very well made VN

v14 Now and Then

Now and Then has really grown on me. I like the methodical pace as it sets the tone better; the story is more about emotions and acceptance rather than beheading enemies. The atmosphere (settings, light and music) is really effective and plays a huge role for a VN that is currently about only four characters. I also appreciate that outside unknowns and potential dangers haven't always in the fore-front of the story as it isn't required... yet.

I would have liked to see Carol's and Naomi's relationship developped more (and I am not talking sex here)... more depth and colour would be great.

But my one true criticism is the female "voice" duting the sex scenes. Ugh.

Now and Then is a fabulous project and is easily worth the 5 stars.

N&T succeeds by making a number of highly intelligent choices concerning the use of narrative (judicious flashbacks) and characterization.

Its greatest success is in building an emotionally resonant and believable harem situation. Most harem games feel bogus to me -- people do not like to share partners, and quite a lot of harem games just ignore that fact. That makes them feel unreal. N&T doesn't make that mistake: partly because of its setting/situation, and partly through the creation of brilliant characters.

This is the very rare porn game that works on multiple levels: as a narrative, as a setting/emotional context AND and as fap material.

Good story, nice girls, good animations, match my fetishes... Nicely pace updates and hot sex conversations. It's nice to see a good build up between the characters and how they starts to have sex and talk about protection and what not... until later, when there's no need for it anymore. One of a kind.

Excellent adult visual novel set in a zombie/pandemic world where society is breaking down and people are adapting, some just trying to get by, some becoming bandits, etc. I skipped this one for a while because it looked depressing, but really it's well done, worth trying, and isn't relentlessly bleak.

Relationships have excellent development and make good use of flashbacks to fill in history with a sense of nostalgia. Writing, characters, and conversations are great. The world is a bit limited in what stories can be told, so a lot of interactions are built on top of daily chores, survival, and some danger. Still it kept me engaged the whole time.

The art is not particularly unique, but it's good enough. Sex scenes usually have good animations although can be a bit off sometimes. The scenes usually have great buildup and interactions which significantly improve them.

There's a lot of text so this really is more of an adult novel than a porn game.