So, I have largely finished most of the game, all that is left is the final boss fight pretty much so I can give a solid feedback now.
Things that particularly stood out:
- great audio tracks(are they copyrighted? AI generated? I likd the audio so much that I honestly would like to download the tracks to listen to in my spare time)
- consistent art style despite use of AI
- writing was alright for the most part. I feel that Raven was very nicely written. The weakest link is definitely Mel, honestly their plotline doesn't make any sense, it's pretty confusing. Maybe it's too early to make this judgement, she just drops on the protagonist out of the blue acting all mysterious and whatnot. From her behaviour I would imagine there should be some hidden agenda, I would rather not think that the author just wanted to only present this cheap sentiment of closed off girl falling in love with her visions, it doesn't feel very serious. I have read hundreds of novels in my time and seen many characters like her, that kinda reasoning just doesn't hold up and feels forced. Usually characters like this are manipulative and calculating. She is also older woman clearly, having some sort of outlandish puppy love would be somewhat acceptable for a young teen but not mature woman.
- I liked the creative setting and overall the world of Shift cleverly leveraging the shortcomings of the early AI models.
- The gameplay loop is pretty ok, I find the stuff balanced and you can explore at your own pace, collectables are also very cool and interesting mechanic
- combat is just alright, not that great but not bad either
For the bad things...
I am sorry to say but...the animations have been disappointing for the most part. Very disappointing, all the heat in the scenes comes from the accompanying text you wrote, the visual part is very lacking and just doesn't mesh well with what you write. Animations in particular are very underwhelming. Honestly they kinda feel copy pasted not sure how to describe it, but like, actors change, positions change but the impression is always the same. Also don't like the that you don't really have control over animation loop and they just keep repeating ad infinitum. The climaxes are also underwhelming, I liked that there is a lot of cum and stuff but that's it, also just my personal preference. This is probably the main reason this game never took off, just visual part is key for real success. Everything else was nice and engaging.
Also, there are too few scenes with the main leads, the build up is nice and great...but yeah, my main feedback is that visual department at this ero company needs a lot more practice. It's not about the art style, purely polish and execution.
On subject of audio...it probably never passed developer's mind, but visuals, text and AUDIO are all part of the scene and equally important. You can change audio for the given scene to change the vibe and also give it better momentum. Some scenes would have benefited from changed and dedicated audio tracks, according to intensity etc.
Post scriptum: Honestly the game doesn't need to have animations. You can make very hot and erotic static visuals. Just generate more and make more transitions in accordance with the text and happenings. But I get it, it probably wasn't done because you can't really generate the same stuff consistently with only minor differences. I guess that's the biggest hurdle.
Personal wish list:
- since he cums so much where is so called cumflation
-maybe more x-ray sometimes where it's warranted. But the good x-ray, not the shit and exaggerated one. The good stuff. If you are a man or woman of culture you understand.
-oh yeah this reminds me that the text never really goes into the sensations much, unlike most other ero games we cannot really read the sensations of the heroines nor the protagonist that much. The best they do is just remark how big his cock is and how much he cums or how tight the *orifices* are, that's all. Dont quote me on this but this part does seem mostly nonexistent. Do you even understand the Heart of Man?? You think everyone else is doing this because they are silly and too perverted? Some doubts here. I know many games excessively exaggerate it sometimes, but maybe it would be nice if some raunchy thoughts of heroines were incorporated into scenes. Giving those encounters more personality and spice. We never know what they are thinking, everything is from the POV of MC. For this reason the best scenes are ones with more dialogue
- if you ever wanted to extend the game, maybe make it so that breeding isn't so easy, all of them seem to get knocked up on the spot every time. Also it's pretty plain how all women are so easy, even if males are almost extinct and world is shit with Unmade and all, it's simply not very realistic that every woman is like that, just think about it, would every member of the society in the world like that really behave in such a way and with such attitude? This part really gives impression of cheap breeding fantasy. Seriously developer, you are really an amateur breeding enthusiast. Now that I have come this far writing all of this I suddenly dislike you.
TLDR
6 out of 10 on the breeding scale. I got pissed at the end.