Ren'Py - Abandoned - Our Bright Days [v0.1.3] [keyclap]

This is a tough one.

Absolutely beautiful renders. A lot of time spent on UI.

The writing is decent, some inconsistencies and can tell it was translated but one of the better translations I’ve seen.

The problem with this game comes from inconsistency between the overall tone of this VN both as advertised and as written until we get to the controversial scene at end of party. It comes across as a beautiful slice of life game until this point. Somewhat more of a slow burn than I'd like but nice. Some handholding, hugging and kissing. Then bam, the MC can rape the one girl. Yes it’s optional. Yes no one has to do it. But it completely goes against everything this game has been showing and advertising as. If someone wants to write a vn with a heavy rape theme, fine, same with people that like to watch that, but then it should be advertised and there should be more indications that the game can go down a very dark path. This was not the way to do it. Comes across as a total bait and switch that the only sex scene is rape so far.

Edit: Changed to 3 stars. Really wanted to give 2.5 since this one scene is so discordant whether optional or not. 2 stars may be unfair though since almost everything else is so good until this point. Hopefully some changes will be made and I can review higher later.

This VN at a technical level is incredible, a lot of details, a lot of work, the characters feel alive, everything is well above average, I give it a 2, because it is not acceptable that the only sexual scene in the game is a rape, that scene is very out of place, it breaks with everything in the game, It is true that it is optional, but even so it does not justify that the MC goes from being a normal young man to a rapist.

It is not about morality, it is about building the character and logical decisions, his actions need to behave with his way to act, I was surprised by the scene in the bathroom, I didn't expect it to escalate so much, simply because it didn't make sense, and the other criticism, the developers of the game should stop selling the fantasy of the incest, it is obvious that they will never materialize it, the game is on Patreon and has no unsensored patch.

They had the opportunity to give a sexual scene with Suzy, which was logical, or an incestuous encounter with the sister (which I know they are not going to do), I think a VN with this technical, visual degree and to a certain narrative point, there are very few, and the development of the MC is a complete disappointment, I didn't know that I was playing with a rapist, as a reader they never gave me an indication of that behavior, That's why I give it a 2 out of 5, and the false promise of some incestuous interaction, well maybe he also raped the sister when he was drunk, who knows.

It is good, I guess. First off, the renders are incredible. The UI looks beautiful and even the special effects have effort put into it. Overall, the presentation is spectacular.

The characters are nicely balanced, I'd say. One of the LIs is pretty rude and annoying, but at least you know she can take as much as she gives. You can literally slap the hell out of her in one scene and she doesn't bitch. Probably would've written her off if she did, but she didn't. She's also the only one who has a sex scene, but unfortunately, it is non-consensual.

The other girl Suzy is really cute and the sister is kind of bratty, not a lot to like about her, yet. She's almost always demanding something or complaining about something or just berating you, which is a bit of a turn-off, but I guess we'll see how she progresses.

The MC is kind of bland, unfortunately. I guess he at least can play the guitar and has a pretty decent voice. Usually, when MCs sing it is almost always a disaster, but nice to see a different side to it. You get a choice at the beginning where you decide your taste in music and you get different buffs and supposed personality, but I haven't seen any differences. I'm guessing that's to be implemented later on.

I think this can be a great AVN if the dev gives more personality to the MC and gives us more chances to interact with the LIs based on personalities and not just right or wrong choices.

I want to preface this by saying that the alarmist takes by some of the low scoring reviews are in bad faith and not telling the entire truth.

Let's clear up any misconceptions: The rape scene is completely optional.

Edit: One review suggests the scene might have been changed to be optional due to some reviewers lying that it was forced. Nope, this scene was never changed. There are no different versions of the scene as of writing. It was always optional.

The people whining about the optional rape scene here went through multiple stop and go checkpoints and went through with it anyway. (Are you sure? Are you sure you're sure? Are you really fucking sure?) So in otherwords, they willingly chose to plow her themselves, and after feeling guilty about it, decided to review bomb and reprimand the dev for the completely avoidable inclusion of a scene that they themselves partook in of their own volition. Any review saying the dev forces you into it are straight up lying, and are simply malding over the fact that the scene wasn't what they wanted it to be, regardless of what smokescreen they try to put up as an excuse.

I completely understand the disappointment with this being the first lewd option given in the game. I agree that it shouldn't have been the first. But it's optional, doesn't happen if you don't want it to happen, and therefore is not a valid reason to try and sabotage review scores in response. I would be singing a completely different tune if it was forced, but it's not. Case closed.

With that PSA out of the way,

Pros:

• Renders are top notch and beautiful. The girls are gorgeous, and all the characters feel like they have life in them, not just dolls with glazed over eyes that don't even look at you when you're talking to them. Care was given to make the background renders, such as the rooms, and other locations feel like anything but an afterthought. They look lived in and realistic. Feels professionally made.
  
  
• Menu and GUI polish is next level good. Creme of the crop UX design. This was my first playthrough and I immediately had to check back in my folder to see if this was actually a RenPy game. I thought it was using a 3D engine. The transitions, animations, and features added to something as simple as RenPy deserve some serious recognition. To date, I haven't played a RenPy game with this much care and polish given to the feel of the UI, map, and choice system. Seriously, the amount of customization is really impressive. Superbly done.
  
  
• The MC so far is likeable. Nothing too crazy, and not a pushover either. He can be a bit bland and "dude-bro" at times, but nothing strikes me as over the top just yet. The girls have cute personalities, with one being a bit annoying at times, but this is offset with some playful "punishment" that is pretty satisfying.

Cons:

• Not much content as of yet. The game is in its infancy, and there's not much here at the moment. Story is just okay, and character development could be written to be less contrived and artificial in execution. The game is gorgeous, but I hope that doesn't mean that releases will be far apart with less content as a result.
  
  
• Now, I think the optional rape scene should still remain in the game, but I also think it should not have been considered a priority for being the first lewd content of the game. It's something you add as a complimentary snack with an acquired taste, and not really as the main course.
  
  
• The UI is so feature rich that at times it feels overengineered. The dev would do well to remember to keep things simple and not overcomplicate the menus.

This game has the potential to be among the top. I haven't seen this level of polish in a long time. Frankly, I don't know if I've seen more polish than this. However, given that it's early in development, there's not much that can be said as of yet when it comes to release schedules. It seems right now the dev is ironing out the game systems. Only time will tell on whether the game lives up to the quality impression it gives off as of current. For now at least, it's more than worth keeping an eye on.

Great game, would recommend playing in it's current iteration.
If you're looking for:
Great renders, Cute characters, Beautiful set pieces, Amazing music, Professional UI and UX design (user experience is great), then you will be in for a treat.
The story is in it's infancy, but what is there is great.
Support developers like these if you want games like this, Professional and Cute, to continue existing.

It was cute at first but I think my interest in this game has reached it's peak, sadly.

Story:

Russian immigrants moving to America for a better life I suppose and so far that's it. There's no story, I was patient up until now but we're what 4 updates in and I still don't know what's the story other than we threw a birthday part for your sister. I do know that Suzi, half of the twins is your love interest, I can't really say if your sister Mariya or Lucy is one of them. Anyway, back to the lack of story. Your Mom or landlady isn't in the picture much due to work and again so far all we know is that there's a birthday party and this a been close to a year now. The main character is cool or was cool for the most part. I don't like that after all this time the only lewd scene was your raping Lucy in the bathroom. Like where did that come from? The main character, if anything seemed intimidated by her or at least annoyed by her. I had actually missed this scene but I realized that I missed out on the first H-scene and it's that of a rape scene.

If you want to get off on that then that's on you but at least give players who have been waiting months for something another option. Forcing players to go through a rape scene in order to see lewd activity is very lame to me and again, it came out of nowhere. There was no real build up to it, the main character wasn't thinking of doing it, he was having any inner dialogues, he just decided to "help" a passed out Lucy to the bathroom and rape her. I thought the writing had potential but after this and seeing the ending of the update I don't have too much faith in the Dev now.

Gameplay:

The sandbox was actually smooth for the most part.

Gui:

It was difficult to navigate at first but it's gotten better.

Dialogue:

Same as the Gui, it's gotten better over time.

Models:

Well made.

Renders:
Okay.

Animations:
Okay.

Overall:

This update left a bad taste in my mouth, I don't know if the Dev felt pressure to add sex but there's plenty of other options he could've went with. It also doesn't make sense for the story.

There seems to be a great story plot being developed, Characters are very interesting so you have more desire to know about them. The renders are also very good and even the music songs caught me by surprise, I did litery search for them later

This game is amazing. Sound, Music, Dialogues, Animations, Characters, and UI Everything is so smooth and so pretty. Really love that UI it pretty it so clean, look FrungFring. It is Really Super Rare to find potential game like this.
More surprise all the whole game is make by one person. that Dev so much skill. how awesome he is. Really impressive.
And again this game is so much potential. And this game is should deserve more. Even dev should deserve it too.

Please keep going and I wish you a good luck.

Im fairly blown away by the originality of the tech used in this title and as i've been playing it, its clear that it will (hopefully) be a strong title going forward, support allowing..
The characters are quite loveable, even tho the mc seems like a grumpy bastard most of the time despite the choices trying to make his decisions be otherwise.. The story is VERY well written regardless of any translation issues and I especially love the fact you can see the journey of these main characters through pivitol moments of their early lives to set a well needed backstory.. while lack of content is currently a thing i hope over time to see this title get the attention it does deserve.
Its fair to say that as someone who just found this title ive fallen for it already.. I tend to pref the stories that the college game types fall into be it Summer Gone, Being a Dik, AoA (RIP) etc but mainly those that have that story first direction.. While im still early going on the current amount of content i'm looking forward to the possibilities provided in this fresh title.. im a fan of mini games in these titles, a fan of having the college sports team - pref one that actually has content to support such a activity.. as well as the fun aspects that come from college life and the relationships..
I dont know what exactly the dev team have planned but it would be fun to see this fantastic ground up build to explore more aspects and games even if its as a fund raiser means for spending cash in the game.. ie a bare bones pool/snooker game.. darts when at a pub etc.. or even more actual lesson material (BADik style) just without the over educated Q and A's that some games try to add in there..
Its defo a game i'll support via review and patreon as its obvious just how much love and work has gone into not only its set up but the characters as a whole as well..
Long live and hopefully a title can can be a worthy pinkcakes time filler

The game got a upbeat vibe which is I like it very much. I really hate sandbox type of game but this time it is really good. This is only the first time I don't hate sandbox.
Story 5/5 - could change story still very short to decide
Characters 5/5 - Really like the each one of them they have distinct and unique characteristics.
Dialogues 5/5 - It is good not the boring type.
Models 5/5 - nothing more to say but the models are perfect
Music 5/5 - nice very upbeat music
Sound Effects 5/5 - nice addition to the game

Overall 5/5 - very deserving perfect rate to the game.
I highly someone recommend someone to play this game.

Let's start with the interface. I have never seen such a beautiful and smooth interface. This is the first thing you see when you enter the game and it immediately hints that the game will be beautiful with smooth animations, I especially liked the city map. The plot is no worse than the interface, the characters behave the same as they look, everything is balanced. I liked the scene with spinning the bottle, which not hardcoded, next scene depends on how you spin bottle.

I am not being hyperbolic when I say that this is one of the highest quality VNs that I have ever played.
Everything is well thought out from the UI, to the minimalist animations, to the interactions between MC and Mariya, everything is just about perfect. The story isn't anything specifically new, but it feels fresh anyway and everything is done very well. The renders are absolutely gorgeous and all of the characters are attractive and have their own personalities. Mariya is obviously best girl, but the rest are great in their own right. I highly recommend.

the game is very high quality, made a good impression
i was surprised by the minimalistic and well-thought-out UI it's worthy of separate attention
in general, high quality renders, interactive gameplay, music and sound effects, realistic family relationships

Definitely a good start for a game, but it has some minor issues (nothing horribly wrong, just small things detracting from the enjoyment.

Let me start by saying that I like a lot of the girls. The MILF is not my type, a bit too haggard and dour for my tastes, but the pregnant soon to be MILF definitely is. Younger girls are all nice to look at.
The story isn't original, the characters aren't either, but that's not really important, as long as it's done well, and apart from the Engrish issues (which are already being worked on, as the dev states), that does seem to be the case.
I do think it is a bit too full of mechanics for a Ren'py game, it's still basically a VN, but you need to make way too many clicks to get to the only interesting thing, the character interactions and the story.
And even if you tone down the complexity, the menu is still quite slow and unnecessarily complicated.
Alas, that's me and my personal problem and bias against Sandbox games, and it isn't the worst sandbox. The hint system works, and if the dev got rid of a few unnecessary clicks while trying to do anything, it really wouldn't be much of a problem anymore.
Overall, I had fun with it, despite some minor issues (more about them in the spoilers) and look forward to seeing more.
I can't give five stars, because for that, those issues need to be mostly gone, and I would have to see a few regular updates, with a good amount of content, before going that far, but I think four stars are well deserved, even with those small issues.


While I was playing it, there were a few things that I find annoying in regard to VNs, but most of them are really minor, and I don't want to make it seem as if I have more of an issue with the game than I have. It is a fun game, well-made.
So I'll just leave it in spoilers, if anyone does WANT to see it,they can.

a lot of unnecesary things, but execusion is top notch
animations, ui, sound effects everything is perfect or nearly perfect

dialogues are good and funny
no tipical quick seduction
although dev introduces a lot of parametrs and i cant imagine him use them properly but in any case best ongoing development so far

This game does not have adult content. I don't support adult games without adult content.

The extent of the content is light baby kisses and hugs. The darkest thing you can do in this game is pathetically reach for ass during a hug, which is immediately punished. The closest thing to a sex scene is a view of some random dude's ass as he fucks some girl that's not even visible enough to be sexualized.

This game is building up it's foundations with very soft and cuddly themes, which doesn't play well with the incest patch here. It may be trying to feel realistic and grounded but it really struggles to feel anything but soft and plain. The characters are small titted, innocent and doe eyed so they just come off as bland. I have doubts darker themes like sleep sex or abusive, incestuous themes are going to happen, and I'm certain this is going to a be a slog of a slow burn tease into average, vanilla sex scenes with lots of hesitation and trepidation.

The renders are high quality, but high quality exposition won't get you off.

There's a cool user interface with a lot of transitions which will get annoying over time. It feels like a lot of the work went into it over the actual game, and using it would be easier if it weren't overdesigned. Things like notes shouldn't be in the phone screen, they should be viewable at any time right on the UI.

Being a sandbox Ren'Py game, I can imagine the absolute nightmare of navigating through all of the expository scenes just to get to the sex scenes. These are 3d models, and I expect in games with 3d models to be able to do things I couldn't imagine doing in the real world. Ultimately, this is not a world I'm very interested in exploring, and the game seems to agree, since there are very few choices you can make other than be along for the ride.

2 stars. Poor.
If the content continues on this trajectory I'll give it 3 stars for average, because that's what the game's content is. Average.

the art is amazing, the story is fine as things considered. would like to see more of suzy romance path and would like to see romance with marsha. the fact that this game has a phone that actually shows posts like instagram is mad. Props to the dev and keep going youmad lads. still can't get over that this is a ren'py game, i guess that's what happens when there are so many bad graphics game on ren'py, just make you subconsciously think that any ren'py games are graphically disabled.

A truly unique and wonderful game. It's undoubtedly one of the most promising game released this year. If I were to evaluate the game under some headings:

Rendering and presentation - The game has very clean, saturated and realistic visuals. Presentation quality is very good. There are some pretty unique points in the presentation. The rendering and presentation are good enough to separate this game apart from most other games.

Story - The game has a casual storyline. I like games with a casual story, and this game also has a very entertaining narrative. Also, the relationships are very realistic. The MC's relationship with his family is developing as it should be. I hope the dev continues along that line.

Gameplay - Another good thing about the game. It has a very simple and successful sandbox gameplay. It can also please people who don't like sandbox. The gameplay isn't very complicated at the moment, but I have no doubt that the developer will make great additions for the future. In addition, the unique features of the phone and the map design were other parts that I liked.

Interface - Normally a part that isn't important to evaluate for most games, but it would be a lack not to mention the interface for this game. It has a really elegant, simple and many settings interface. One of the best I've seen so far. Really awesome.

Music and sound effects - The developer obviously cares a lot about music. Ambient sounds, sound effects and music are used very well. None of it feels artificial. The developer has given so much importance to the music that the game has an easter egg where we collect music tracks like collect pokemon.

As a general evaluation, this game is very successful in making the player feel vip. I didn't feel the need to rate each title individually because this game definitely deserves 5 out of 5 in all aspects. I'm pretty impatient for the future of this game. I wish good luck to the developer, he should definitely keep going.

A true masterpiece.

Man, what can i say, the HUD is pretty cool, and because of that, this game made me like sandboxes for a change, which i don't really enjoy playing. Besides that the story seems pretty wholesome, with pretty good renders, i can really recommend this one.