VN - Ren'Py - Completed - One Lie [v1.0] [Wooden Donkeys]

I'm just so tired of VNs where the MC is acting like a spoiled brat.
So, you have a life-long friend, someone who is just as important to you as a sibling would be, if not more. Then she screws up one time (and tbh it was just a cat fight between girls, not even serious, I mean if the girlfriend broke up with him over that, she's exactly the bitch she appears to be) and that moronic MC completely denounces her and runs away.

So, while the premise of best friends who in reality love each other and one screws up and then tries to re-forge their relationship can be fine (though, let's be honest, it has been done before), it starts off with something that I find unbelievable or rather if someone reacted like this in real life I would just think he is an idiot and an immature brat.

Sadly, it doesn't stop there. It just continues on this path with characters making ridiculous decisions and acting like no one with a braincell would in real life.

I don't mind the threesomes with both girls being involved, on the contrary, I am always up for some lesbian action between LIs, but it all just happens too fast, in absolutely unbelievable ways.

I know this is the first VN for this team, and I applaud them for making the effort and creating something.
They are obviously still learning and so the game might improve significantly later on, but as it is now I didn't like playing it.
It was a chore to play through, and that was due to the motivations for the characters actions aren't working for the most part.
Understand it isn't that the reactions aren't possible, but they are not motivated in a believable way or just happen way too fast.
You don't go from never having romantically kissed to an instant threesome and some lesbian tomfoolery.
You don't end it with your bestie because of one fuck-up.

Maybe I'll give this another try in a year or so, depending on how many updates there are then and if it has improved, I will change my review accordingly.

Just started playing and lost interest pretty quickly once Julie and Anh decided to share MC and then kiss after their first interaction with each other even though MC hasn't even gone on a date with Julie yet and Anh was only one date followed by proceeding to fuck in a group. Both of the females are virgins but immediately become sluts. One of the weirdest parts during this is Julie still hasn't kissed MC but makes out with Ahn, takes a finger up the butt and rides MC like a pro. Thought this wasnt suppose to be a fuck fest and be based more on relationship building and story. Best of luck Dev but seems like you started a story then said screw it here's a fuck fest.

Interesting start with a childhood friend betraying MC. But it could have been better with some more storylines and cgs with ex-girlfriend to start with. Cause it is difficult to follow with a few sentences from main heroin.

The childhood friend who seems to be the main heroin is not sexy on the other hand there are a few pretty ones around MC. I hope developer add more contents for them in the future.

overall great writing and graphics.
Look forward to playing next version already.

It's a good game, but it's rough and it really could do with a polish.

The game feels like the Devs first attempt. Now, that's not criticism because as a first game it's actually damn good, but there's a few bits which are kind of weird.

The premise is interesting, two best friends are joined at the hip. One loves the other, whilst they're clueless. There's an incident, words were said (the lie of the title) and there's a "break up". You start the game a few weeks after the event.

That's fine, the dev should get plaudits for actually trying to give the plot some thought. All too often devs throw it under the bus so they can focus on the sexy time scenes.

As mentioned it feels rough. There's a very early sex scene which kind of feels weird, it doesn't marry up with the story at all which kind of felt like the Dev baiting the hook to get people interested but truth be told I don't think the story needs it. It's sufficiently interesting that it could have done without it. However, before the scene starts there's a straight up disclaimer stating the dev couldn't get the tattoos or something on the model to work so they're not there..... that's....... weird. I've played a lot of games and I've never had to be warned going into a scene that something doesn't work. I initially thought this was a 0.1 version released yesterday but it's been out a year and it's still throwing a warning? Very odd. If something doesn't work then either fix it, or go back and remove the tattoos from the model in the earlier scenes.

Secondly, some of the character models are a bit odd. Nothing major, but it seems everyone goes to bed one night and then wakes up with different hair. It changed one of the models so much I thought they'd straight up replaced her. Again like before if you wanted to change the hair styles why not go back and redo the previous chapters? Maybe it was a poll and the change won out, I'm not sure but it seems everyone has some change from the slight (MC goes bald for some reason, female friends hair goes straight and the parting changes) to the extreme (other female lead straight up looks like a different character.

None of this detracts from the game, it's interesting. There's rough bits that could do with some love; the dialogue at times feels a bit wooden and as I mentioned there's decisions the Dev has made which suggest he's learning as he goes, but none of that takes away from the fact it's a game worth keeping an eye on, it's certainly got the potential to blossom.

Really enjoying this VN . The LI are all likeable and interesting. The Dev's give the players a lot of choices with path choices and kinks. Nice to see other characters in the game who are friends with the MC /LI's , but are neither a point of drama or just a set piece since they have their own relationships in the background. Now that the drama of the MC and Julie is over, curious to see if Alex's past comes back to haunt the group.

I enjoyed this. I played through twice, first time for Ahn and then for Julie. While I did feel there was somewhat of a mechanical aspect to the dialogue I didn't feel compelled to skip any.
I will likely return to this title at some point. Definitely worth a play through.

So there is a scene when Alex and the MC are sitting under the tree. I got the same dialogue twice before it continued. That is where I stopped to write this review.

This story is pretty good. A bit different than what is usually out there. It has anger, and humor. Saying that, there are some serious issues that need to be polished up. Especially with the models.
Alex- she needs her face smoothed out. She looks like she has a second jaw line from the side, and her nose is weird
Julie- Couldn't really pin point anything to serious with her
Anh- In the coffee shop it looked like her tits were sliding off her body.

Writing seems pretty good. The story pulls you in and is good. The plot is different. Can't really remember if I've come across anything like it here before, but I could have just forgotten about it. LOL

Renders are good. They aren't 5 star yet. I figure as the dev(s) get better at their craft they will improve a lot.

The reason I'm giving 3 stars is because of the models that I listed above. Yes it is a bit harsh because I said that everything else was good, but if the models are looking like worn out sneakers it drops the rating down.( my opinion only). This doesn't take away from the work that the dev(s) are doing. Polishing the models up should fix this.

On another note, I do recommend this VN.
Engaging story
Some emotional rides
Sprinkled in humor
Models are decent, but need some attention to detail.
I wish Wooden Donkeys the best of luck with the continuation of this VN.

Average vn, and I'm being way too generous here because i liked the premise. (2.5 at most)
>Dialogues and interactions are childish.
>Couple of choices which mattered to some extent. Mostly kinetic linear novel.
>You as a male protagonist going to choose the sexual preference of female counterpart (whether she should involve in some lesbian action or not) and i absolutely hate that. More so in her case.
>Animations aren't there.
>npc around them acts unbelievable most of the times.
>general idea behind the story is good but the execution is bad.
>mc behaves way to confused even for the guy in his situation.

As of v 0.4.1
This AVN has a solid base for the story and has some heart in it, meaning that you can feel the tension. The graphics are solid and the models are well done overall.

I feel like this is a game that has a chance to be really solid despite some early hiccups, which have been resolved for the most part.

This is for v0.4.1 Pretty damn good so far. The models and graphics arent the best but far from the worst ive seen in an AVN. The writing is decent...it's not top tier but it also isnt close to as bad as it gets on this site. On the plus side its in 100% understandable english and not engrish. The misunderstanding/lie/cause of the drama was dealt with in a timely manner which made me happy. It looks like 2 love interests and both are pretty and not bad as characters so all in all its like a 4/5 which is not bad at all considering graphics and writing. Keep up the good work man. Looking forward to the next chapter

Not sure why this has lower than a 4 star rating. It's a good story. Drama from the start. There are too many AVN's that start out with no story. Sure it doesn't have any the tags that people go wild for, but I can't spend time on ones that don't have at least some semblance of a story.

0.1

Great setup even more since it's the first game form this dev. The only thing I really didn't like was a sex scene without the player consent but the dev gave a couple of good explanations for it so I won't take it to heart. He even made the cunt gf ugly af.
So yeah I was thinking 4 starts but I'll give 5 to keep him/them motivated. That and the beers.

0.3.15

I don't think I like where this is going. I feel like I'm have no say in what's happening as it is in this version. All the choices I made with Anh only gave the relationship one point as it was unavoidable and yet I see no results. Choices don't seem to matter atm.
The MC is being pushed into a relation that I as the player don't want. It's not really about wanting her or not, it's about not having a choice. That's how I see it and I don't like it. I'm sure the dev will give the player the choice to decide which girl to be with, I just hope it's sooner rather than "latter".
Renders and the rest is all good.
I'll keep following it and updating this if needed.

Thank you and good luck.

P.S. I feel that I should point out that in current version the MC is in no relationship yet. He's unsure of his feelings, I'm not.

P.S. I stopped playing it when I saw it being tagged Harem. Downgraded again.

1.0 (i would say this is a 0.1)
I was about to give it 5 stars, i was waiting for a scene to end because storytelling is quite good, maybe i dont understand how the best friend for like 14 years or so doesnt know things she should know, and those things are known by her aunt, but I was just this close to irgnore this and the rest of the "average" or poor elements later, BUT this free sex scene came out of nowhere, and after reading the "disclaimer" talking about how this is not a game about honry people, i felt like i was betrayed for the sake of patrons.

The guy is sad, he lost his girlfriend because his best friend betrayed him, and he will inmediately fuck a third girl. From the begginig this guy is a womanizer. And after the scene there is not even an afterthough, some regret or something, only a "2 weeks later" message.

Its obvious that this is a free patron fishing scene, but in the process you destroyed a guy that was a saint, and turned him into a piece of shit and a hypocrite. (And in the process also the Dev lost all his credibility).

This scene is nothing spectacular by the way,and in the end he even caress her face. What will be the differnece between this random bartender and the girl he loves? Cause otherwise this is still about horny people.

And after this scene ,i also remembered this earlier free render of the MC fucking the mainLI and i understood that this dev cant keep his word. (yeah he gave a free render of the MC penetrating the Main LI)

And now its me who has to play as this project of a man, who seems to be as horny as those which the game is not about ( devs own words).

PLEASE FIX ASAP.

Great start! Story is good and beautifully written, the renders are great and the Character development. But above all it has Emotion ! (there are very few games that ever manage this) especially at such an early stage of development ! 5 stars from me (and that is very very rare) Well done Dev keep up the good work

v 1.0 Review
Got to say I like the premise of this story and it has a lot of potential paths. The models are good for the most part, with the exception of a couple. However early versions are rarely perfect. The story has a good base. Looking forward to see where this all goes.

The start of this is just what you are looking for a true love story situation. one "mistake" is all it takes to ruin everything. a relationship bulid from childhood ruin by romantic fealings is perfectly relatable for many of us, and is part of the magic this game is exploring. because is so early obviusly models have something off and the expressions of some images are exagerated (a little bit annoying not gonna lie). expecting a really good story line with mc and the main female character (and some variation like solo ending to give it more realism). LOVE the start, expecting fireworks and waiting eagerly. break a leg!

Well, the story is solid, different let's just hope it goes in the right direction. For a prologue the length is ok. The sound is adequate. Choices, we'll see throughout. Only the renders, the light in them, well, it is. Besides, sometimes you can see the "grain", I recommend some denoiser. In addition, more to experiment with the light. There is a lot of material, don't waste it!

Decent start in my opinion. The images are kinda low quality, and some of the models are a little funky. But overall not bad, better than a lot of things out there in game land. The story seems like its gonna be interesting, I'm hopeful the plot will continue to evolve and stay like a more down to earth story. Good luck Dev!