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

(I didn't catch up with the last updates and I'm not sure what update I'm actually at so some things I say might not be relevant anymore)

Love the setup and the characters. Even tho I wish the MC was a little darker at times. Not pervert kind of dark but like desperate, and that he would get over it when he realizes how happy he's to be with Carol and how in love he's. That would be so cute.....(re-reading this, what I may actually want is actually more romance I think or a more convincing one)

Renders are good enough to not be a turn off nor to make the setup look ridiculous.
-contains few spoilers-
I enjoy the plot. it was getting a little boring when MC & Carol began to have sex and then the timelapse.
But it got interesting again when MC found Naomi. It made things move, differents emotions/problematics etc.
Carol is my favourite tho don't get me wrong I'd never trade her.

Anyway, try this game out, I'm sure you'll like it !

Very well written storyline. I like how it drags you in like a novel really should not having to deal with 30 choices and 30 women all at the same time barely being able to keep up with it all. Sometimes has you sitting on the edge waiting to to if something bad is going to happen because you become connected to the characters. Not all sex all the time but enough to keep it believable in the storyline and plot. Love the characters and the renders and animations aren't too bad, will definitely be looking forward to the updates.

I've been following this game for a few releases now and I think it's time to write a review.

PROS

- Amazing Honey Select renders. I've used HS myself quite a bit and have played many other HS games too and I can safely say the dev has done an amazing job with getting his renders looking of this quality. The characters and environment look great and the dev has done a great job with showing the post-apocalyptic environment.

- Fantastic characters. We haven't met a lot of characters yet (which makes sense since a lot of people are dead), but the characters we have met are fleshed out well and I assume will continue to be as the story progresses. The MC is written well and has the traits I like in an MC, especially for a post-apocalyptic setting. Smart, Leader, Caring, Resourceful, etc. Carol who is my favourite LI has a great personality, design, dialogue, etc. So the characters are very well done.

- Well written dialogue. The dialogue for this game flows and immerses you in the story. It's coherent and makes sense as well as balancing a lot of key elements. Post-apocalyptic survival, romance, intimacy, interactions, daily life. I also judge dialogue based on whether I think what the character said aligns with their personality and I can say that the dialogue in the game does. All the characters have a unique voice and personality which perfectly correspond with what they say.

- The overall story is great. It is very interesting and appealing. It balances all the elements involved in the game perfectly and is seriously engaging. The premise behind the game is interesting and so far all the scenes in the game have been fun to read. I have high hopes going forward with what is to happen and I think the story will only get better from here.

- Great choices. You don't really make many choices in the game, but the ones you do make, matter. I like that the choices we have to make carry weight and aren't purely pointless. I also like how you're not forced to be with other girls, but can choose based on your choices who you end up with which was something I wasn't sure would happen.

CONS
- There are a few minor things I think can be improved but I wouldn't consider them enough to be a con so I don't have any cons for the game.

OVERALL GRADING
Story 5/5
Characters 5/5
Graphics 5/5
Dialogue 5/5
Overall 5/5

Cliche boring zombie story.
Girl has no personality, pretty much an empty sex doll with a small talk.
Main character is a creep with no redeemable qualities except every woman finds him sexy for no reason, since hes also a bland self insert. We know nothing about him, except hes a typical westen "progressive" simpleton and had lost a wife(which is only there so this adoption premise isn't even more creepy and unrealistic).
Lives in a city full of bandits and looters, doesn't even bother to board his windows, stands around on a balcony every day like a retard and lets everyone in the mile radius know that hes living there for months, by openly burning light out of his windows every night. Doesn't bother to secure his apartment in any way for MONTHS. Goes to look for supplies with a tiny girly backpack. Has a gun and ammo, doesn't bother to shoot a couple of times to save a girl from certain death because hes such a coward, but isn't afraid of riding in a muscle car around the city or run around looking for a
bra.
Sex is typical incel fantasy where every girl wants his dick(big dick naturally) for no reason.
Renders are below average.

Captivating storytelling, beautiful characters, nice music, good dialogues.
Great usage of Honey-Select, great atmosphere, great H-scenes.
Absolutely well-made game.
Highly recommended.

Not a big fan of the art style (honey?), but the storytelling is amazing. Enjoyed the dialogues, pace, etc. Not much is known about the apocalypse, would like for it to go scifi style slowly (but fine with slowburn as well). Also like that it's not open world, but I'm open to it. Looking forward to the next versions.

The storytelling and plot in this game are excellent. The art and animated scenes are also quite good. Definitely one of the most enjoyable games on F95Zone!! Do not miss out playing this one and please support the developer if you like the game. I definitely want to see how this game ends.

No criticism on my part, Now & Then is simply one of the best VNs I've ever played. Very realistic and likeable characters, if you don't like them, you're prolly an ass. Slow paced but never boring, the perfect slice of life in a post-apocalytic environment.

If you like true romance, this is the game for you!

Best plot I've played through by far. Great character development throughout, which instantly made this game stand out from so many others. Remarkable game made me forget I came here to fap, not to feel

Here my opinion so far :
The premises are well set. The overall atmosphere stay interesting enough to keep a eyes (or two) on this game.
Few illogic behavior but that still stay acceptable according to the script.
My more precise note: 9 / 10

[v0.10.0]
A very good game overall, but it can get quite boring at times.

Story and dialogues are the strong points about this game, with the former not presenting anything truly original but it's well structured and told.
Dialogues are fine, everything looks and feels genuine and believable given the thematics and environment.
Even though the dialogues are good, they tend to be a little too descriptive/uninteresting, most of the time the characters are talking about everyday stuff that could have been omitted for the sake of this game's overall pace.

Story: 7.5/10 - Good, but I think the pace can be improved
Characters: 7.5/10 with an ok female character and the classic mc acting like a creep whenever the opposite sex falls inside a 0.5m range to him. After chapter 5 he starts to behave like a normal human being, though.
Graphics: 8/10 Average to above average, this is mainly due to the engine used. However, the dev put a lot of work into scenario making and it shows.
Sex: 6/10 - Sex scenes are pretty much vanilla with stock animations, what really shines here are the dialogues, once again.

Do I recommend this game? It's a slow burn (but not too slow) so if you're ok with that and don't care much about the graphics, then it's a go-ahead.

A good game so far with good story, good characters and has great potential. A little bit too much of stories but i understand why. The game has a fairly limited action, so it's normal to have more stories of the past. It would be great if in the future you could choose different patch (Single love, Harem love, NTR single or herem as well) eventually in a bigger house. That would mean he can reduce the past story with much more action in present. Very important, the developer to be able to do it in such a way that so you can select at any decision what patch you want to follow, what characters you want in harem, what characters of your harem you want in the NTR patch. In this way much more people would be interested in the game because it would cover a wider range of tastes. I hope my ideas help the developer in the future of the game. I look forward to future updates.

This game has some of the best writing on this site, and it's definitely worth checking out. It's not without the occasional grammatical or spelling error, but the English in it is quite good, and you can tell that the developer really cares about making a quality product.

The game requires a bit of patience, as you don't just immediately start fucking every girl you see. I can appreciate a slow pace or a fast pace, and this game definitely pulls off the slower pace well.

The first "true" sex scene in this game is one of the best out of any VN I've played. The buildup to it is done well, and that helps the entire scene to be more emotionally engaging.

The models aren't bad, and the main girl is cute, but overall the graphics are pretty standard for Honey Select. From my personal experience, good environments are hard to find for HS, but the dev has done a good job with the environments he's worked with.

As for negatives, sometimes the lighting isn't great, and as I mentioned before, there are occasional spelling/grammatical issues. The MC's pubes can be distracting in certain scenes -- I don't have a problem with pubic hair, but the mod that the dev uses for them on the MC is pretty ghastly.

Overall, this game stands apart due to its writing. The characters are likeable, and the story has been well-told so far. It's definitely more emotionally engaging than most games on this site as well. I'm enjoying it very much so far, and I'm hoping for a happy ending!

It's a story first and porn second. That alone makes it stand out here.

The writing is engaging and on an almost professional level. It is one of the games that are actually worth reading rather than clicking through.

And what really made me write this review:
I have played a lot of games here and 'Now and then' eventually has by far THE best, most natural and realistic sex scene of all of them. It is extraordinarily well done.

5 stars. Easy.

An excellent excellent game....there's no other word for it

-The progression of story is good,
-The pace of the story isn't rushed or slow,
-The characters are unique and lovable,
-The scenes are hot as well (though may need some refinement as sometimes frame drops happens randomly in my pc),
-The music supports the theme of the story or what the mc has in his mind and,
-English is very good

Overall, I have no complaints about the game and want to see where the story takes us. Also hope the game and the dev get the recognition they deserve

This VN is the best adult game on this site that no one is talking about. The quality of story and writing is second to none, this game deserves better recognition and awareness.

The Good
- Outstanding story, while a zombie Apocalypse is hardly original, the story and characters certainly are.
- Top shelf writing. The story moves seamlessly between current day and flashbacks (Now & Then). It's never jarring or irrelevant, each flashback builds nuance and depth to the two main characters.
- The pacing of the story is excellent. Nothing is unnecessarily rushed or drawn out.
- The adopted daughter is exquisite. You feel a natural desire to protect her, as she is both sexy and vulnerable. Possibly one of the best and most real female characters written in an adult game. The MC is so relatable it was like I was reading about myself.

The Bad
- The artwork is not the greatest, but certainly not the worst. Carol is beautifully drawn tho.
- Although there are several in game choices, it's hard to tell if any are truly meaningful at this stage. Will have to see how it plays out.

The Ugly
- Some of the images are very dark and can be hard to see.

It would be easy to draw parallels between Now and Then and the game The Last of Us (not TLOU2 thank fuck). And that comparison wouldn't be unkind. I can't recommend this game strongly enough.

One final point, if your thinking this game would be better with an incest patch, you would be wrong. Carol being adopted is integral to the story, if they were blood related it just wouldn't work or have the same impact.

Now stop reading reviews and download it already.

Oh wow, what can I say? This is an unexpected gem of 2020. The narrative on this game is slow, layered, and yet, the style is done so that the game's narrative background always keeps the player on their toes with anticipation of a pending threat, which is always just beyond arm's reach.

The layered approach deserves its own analysis, but it really draws you in with how the flashbacks serve a narrative purpose, and are weaved in and out of what is happening in the present, much like how people actually think and behave psychologically.

The characters actually have their own individual desires and beyond that, their own struggles. Some of the other reviewers have mentioned it being a "slow burn" in the narrative style. I can't really put it any better, but instead of reading "slow burn" as negative, one can think of it like an incense candle, where as it is burning slowly, the layered complexity of the scents slowly drift into the player's consciousness. The characters will make you care for them.

Lastly, though it's a short game at the moment, with the quality of the writing, each of the 4 releases has not felt short so far, and this is a developer whose support is definitely worth considering.

I really like it, good writing, nice art and the use of "now and then", combined with dream sequences really work (for me). But as usual, when something is really good - the chance that it will not be finished is so much higher than it will. I played 04, and that was great.

Not your typically written zombie apocalypse. If you enjoy a slow burn and smooth, intertwining flashbacks this might be your cup of tea. Couple that with some of the best writing I've seen on this site and you get a deep immersive.... masterpiece(in the making) Maybe masterpiece is too strong of a word but that would only be because we are at the early stages of 'Now & Then'.

A hidden gem waiting to be discovered.

Pros:

• Story is very well written; you feel emotionally invested in the characters
• Despite the post apocalyptic setting it’s a very sweet story
• In my opinion the characters look special, they stand out a bit from the standard hs models
• An unlockable replay gallery (in my opinion every game should have it)
• Great use of flashbacks when expanding the story

Cons:

• None so far

The game is a bit of a slow burn, but the dev manages to get the perfect balance of lewd content. Any less and you would be disappointed (at least I would) but any more and it would feel forced.

I recommend everyone to give this game a try. It may not be to everyone taste but I’m certain the vast majority are going to love this game as much as I do. It deserves far more recognition and support than what it’s getting so far.

Fantastic job dev. I eagerly look forward to more of the story