Ren'Py - On Distant Shores [v0.17] [Professor Amethyst Games]

This is a game with an interesting plot, but not a good adult game.

The underlying issues the MC faces and supernatural mysteries behind it all are quite intriguing; that said, sex is obviously a big part of the plot with the girls being drawn to the MC due to a higher power's intervention, but I feel that the "adult" portion of the game just feels tacked on, with no buildup of sexual tension between characters. It's like one second they're chatting about something, the next she's on her knees giving him a handjob for the 3rd or 4th time in a row. The dev also decided to add in a nun that swore celibacy and a girl that apparently can't lose her virginity or she loses her powers. In a porn game. To me, that just feels like a cop-out way to stall sexual development and add unnecessary obstacles to relationship progression.

Most animations in the game currently are just foreplay, and none of them have any accompanying text. It's just a default animation with optional different camera angles and an X to end the animation. Personally, if all I wanted to see was an animation loop, I'd go watch a porn video.

Solid game so far- the writing is mostly good, the story is intriguing, the girls are cute. The renders are decent; nothing exceptional, but they're generally above average.

The first problem with the game is related to pacing. Scene changes are very abrupt and sudden, when something as simple as a fade from one render to the next to indicate movement from one place to another would be nice. Pretty minor, but obvious and persistent enough that it annoyed me.

The second, more frustrating issue, is how little effort seems to be put into the sex scenes. The animations are pretty smooth, but portrayal of sensations and emotions are all but nonexistent. One frame a girl is telling you she wants you to finish, next frame she's covered in your jizz. Sporadic display of decent buildup for both the MC and his partner really takes me out of the scene. As a result, the scenes are mechanically descriptive, but not remotely sensual. Put more effort into making sex scenes sexy- show us the characters' emotions, their buildup, their crescendo.

EDIT: Also, the fucking saves are limited to 6 pages of 4 saves each. I tend to make one save at the start of each scene- sometimes in the middle, too, especially after long winded exposition dumps- and this limitation really fucked my enjoyment of the game. I'd give it a lower score now that I remember it, except the dev has stated in the game's thread that he intends to implement more saves, and I'll probably start over from scratch to get all the saves I wanted from the start. Here's hoping he allows unlimited saves like it should ALREADY HAVE.

7/10- despite annoyances, looking forward to more.

Review for V0.4

I liked this game a lot at the moment m it's one of my favourite VN, I don't know how I missed the first two releases , I'm glad I played it now the story of this VN is top notch and well written . It started as slow pace at the end v0.3 it's okay . Loved all the characters and art is nice and I personally hate Grinding SANDBOX but in this game it's not all grind it's more like using laptop and phone which is nice instead of maps , location and money, I hope it stays the same and I love the personality of the Main character who genuinely cares for all the girls . I love Harem games where I am not forced to choose one girl at the end , it's a harem game so it's nice to not worry about that . Overall it's an amazing game nothing is bad in the game , with lots of promise in the future , Kudos dev for this amzing game . This game is highly recommended if you love a good story and harem games .

I liked this game a lot. A bit of a slow burn and the current version came to an end just as things were picking up steam. Story seems like it's well thought out and there's a consistency to the world building.
Animations are well done, but I'd like the scenes to be a little more varied with more to see.
Definitely looking forward to more. If there was a Patreon for this I would sign up.

Okay so i played a lot of adult games so far and i do have to say few things, firstly i prefer the games where the girls are more curvy or should i say with bigger features i guess.
That being said, this game maybe doesn't have the best models out there but they are above average however i have to say the story so far one of the top 3 ive played so far, did i mention the game had like 3 updates so far and ive been playing it for the past 4 or so hours?
I'll say only this keep up the good for dev you are amazing and so is your game. keep up the good work man.

This game is AMAZING to whoever reads this you should play this game 10/10.

Nice little surprise this one! This can become really good with some tweaks but it's early days so we will wait and see.

3.5 stars really (based on version 0.3)

The storytelling is very good, better than in most games. Pretty natural dialogues as well. It does jump forward quite suddenly sometimes,and there is my main critique of the game at the moment:
I respect the devs vision for the story and the the speed and order in which to tell it, however I would really like some more agency for my MC.
Most of the girls are cute and no bother to interact with at all, but there are few who I am not very interested in. I get that we need these interactions but there's a few sex scenes I would have avoided if I had been given the chance.

The renders are decent, nothing special but most girls look nice and not very generic so that's good.
Not a fan of the dick though, it's too big and has hardly any texture , there's a lot of room for improvement there.
Animations are basic, serve their purpose I guess. They do get better later on in the game.

So all in all it's been a joy to play and I can't wait for the next update!

P.S. one little thing, please make the elevator go faster

I almost gave up on this early into it, so very glad i didn't. It's a wonderful story with a diverse character list. Cute girls as well. Very much looking forward to seeing where the Dev takes us on this ride. Highly recommended, well done!

P.S. If your one of those peeps that want every girl to be a virgin and hopelessly in love with the MC because he's...there, maybe avoid this one, just sayin.

Guys, just read it, don't skip, it's not mindless block of texts put just because.

I'm on it since a few hours I don't remember how many, however what I know is that I'm hooked in since the beginning and I didn't get bored or wanted to skip at all, not once, it's the opposite it made me feel many different things.. and I'm always happy to stumble on games like these with quality writing like this. I'm sure Dev is not on their first try.

Let's talk about renders now, the background and stuff are ok, the characters shape are ok + (I feel like their skins lack of grains, if that's the right word, it's too uniform)
Also I think MC's penis is a bit too weird-looking, it set me off a little bit. I'm here for the females what do I care about dicks right, but still.

But I'm not very bothered by the renders, I really love the story and mostly am here for it

This game is good and I mean really good. Starting with the quality of renders, it's fine, let's say average but it's not what this game is about. Animations are OK as well, must praise for multiple angle feature. But what is truly perfect is the story. I've been devouring every scene. The characters are so perfectly written, I love those inner monologues, self thoughts, simply everything, also story telling is nice. Fact that story isn't so mainstream-ish is pleasant as well. I can definitely recommend this game for its interesting story, catchy writing, nice character design and development and even a music. 9.5/10. [v0.2].

This story realy struck my heart right in to the core of my heart.
I only read to day 6 and i have tears i my eyes of recognision.
I diddnt lost my family but i can feel the sorrow as it was my own.

Great animation
Great caracters.

Keep up the good work.

Lots of content, extremely original story, beautiful models, immersive scenery. The sandbox space could use sprucing up, since we keep coming back to it, but not that important, I am glad not much time is wasted on sandbox.

Some choices don't matter, and that is OK, I think a bell rings when they do?

Animations for sex scenes are a little kludgy, but detail is fantastic. Would love to see a short animation when you click the 'x' at the end of each, to transition naturally to the static image that follows.

Probably too many characters, but without any points system, it is fine since we don't know if the MC will ever do stuff with some of them. There is room for a LOT of fetishes to get developed here, hopefully the dev keeps things spicy without getting in trouble

Really looking forward to more

Very solid first launch with a lot of content.

I really enjoy the fact that you're playing an older MC with normal human proportions, which is a stark contrast to the barely pubescent tripods running amok in so many other titles.

As the dev stated, this is a story-heavy game, so quick shot artists be warned. That said, just like our MC, this is a more mature storyline than is found in most lewd games. It's a refreshing change of pace.

The best part of the game is the music and sound, which the Dev kindly listed in a credits file included with your download.

The renders are good, and again, everyone is pretty realistically proportioned. The interiors and characters used are pretty fresh compared to many of the same recycled sets we see over and over (how many times have we seen the same coffee shop, dressing room, and park + bench?).

Hope the dev will find lots of success with this, and continue to stay motivated.

[v0.1]

Really a great game. Lots of contents for an early version. The writing is really good and at times very amusing (mainly MS's internal monologue, and his dialogue with several LIs), the story is interesting and engaging, the art is fine, music is OK . The MC has issues but is surprisingly relatable and likeable, and this applies also to the numerous LIs.

A few times the whole story gets into kitschy-pretentious waters, but this is done sweetly and earnestly so that in the end I did not mind.

I really liked the story and I hope the character of the story will not change too much There where jsut two points that irritated me:


And: The final choice in the current version seem to indicate a mindboggling number of branches in further updates? I am a bit suspicious whether this workload is realistic...

★ ON DISTANT SHORES REVIEW
I'm writing this review after playing Version: 0.1. Here's what I liked and did not like so far.
+ THE GOOD | +/- COULD BE BETTER | - THE BAD

+ THE STORY:
Original and interesting.
+ WRITING:
Well written, the pacing is good too. Dialogues are interesting enough to keep you engaged.
+ MC:
Looks: He looks about average.
Personality: The game really makes you feel for the MC. He has a complicated personality to say the least.
+ CHARACTERS:
Looks: There’s a girl for everyone. I found most of them attractive, some of them not so much.
Personality: They all have different unique personalities.
+ MUSIC & SOUND:
Suits the game perfectly. The ear rape came out of nowhere though. I advise keeping the volume low if you are using headphones.

+/- VISUALS:
Renders are okayish. Not the best but not bad either.
+/- CHOICES?
Some matter, some don’t make much difference.
+/- THE SEX SCENES:
Fappability – 3/5 Short animated loops.

- UI:
Looks very cheap. Not visually appealing.

VERDICT:
One of the best first releases. If you play for the story and not the visuals you will love this game.

For 0.1

I would give this a 9 so far. First of all, this initial release gives you a good amount of play, at least 3h if you dont skip dialogues like a monkey. It is very well written and can also stir up some emotions. Like the dev says, its a very slow burn but the story and events are well put in front of the players, and in many moments you forget you are playing a fap novel, which is a good thing if its done right.
It has some touching scenes, paranormal, weird (in a good way) events, it is definitely worth playing if you're not here for the fap.

This was the most refreshing v0.1 I have seen in quite some time. Probably because I like a good story which happens to include smut. It is as described - a slow burn, story-driven VN.

I found the story to be engaging and entertaining thus far, and was left wanting more ... always a good thing, in my book. I felt the dialogue was well handled and in several places was relatable enough to draw my emotions close to the surface.

Graphically, I have no issues with the images, models or animations. They were clean and consist throughout the version so far as I noticed. I did appreciate the simplicity of the interface for the multi-animation sequences.

It's in its early stages, but I believe it shows promise. One to keep an eye on.