VN - Ren'Py - Our Red String [Ch. 12.3 FULL] [Eva Kiss]

[Version reviewed: Ch10]

Yet another great game by EvaKiss. I loved Good Girl Gone Bad, and although this one isn't finished yet it's been amazing 'till now.

I must start by paying hommage to the technical side of things. Simply put, quality improved a lot (not that GGGB was bad, far from it, but you get me): art is better while keeping the style, and UI/phone is perfectly organized. I played so many games with messy UIs that made things tedious that I'm always thankful when I see one that is so clean.

Now onto the game itself... You alternate POVs between Lena and Ian, sometimes 'repeating' events which gives you both perspectives and I must say it's both immersive and very well done. However if I'm being honest, I'm enjoying Ian's side way more than Lena's.

It's not the characters themselves and I love a good female POV in my games, but it can be summarized in 2 points:

- Ian's friends are very likeable despite their flaws, and overall looks like the people I'm friend with IRL. But Lena's friends aren't (except Molly, she's an angel and we better be able to save the cafe). Even if most of them have redeeming qualities, I can't get over the facts that
- This one might be due to my choices, but while I could improve Ian's life substantially (book, gym, better job, hooks-up/gf), Lena's situation still gets worse all the time and the only 'improvements' I can find seems to lead her down the corruption path.

And the crux of these 2 points is that it gives this game some sort of alternating tone, giving wholesomess then unease when the POVs switches. I would have been fine with Lena's sad story if not for Ian's side that kinda... breaks that mood ? Anyway it's a weird thing to explain, and while I'm kinda rambling, I love this game.

Now about the sex parts (funny that I'm only talking about it now), there seems to be lots of possibilities but I'm focusing on romance atm so more on that once I did those routes.

I must warn you that just like GGGB, this game is pretty long. Also there's a walkthrough available to help you, and it's very useful. I'll conclude by saying that I was glad to meet a certain tattoo artist that seem to be doing pretty well. Also take Emma's drug. And don't panic, there is no bug.

Edit: I've been diving into the sex parts of the game and it only reinforces my feel of double tone I was referencing earlier. Ian's sex scenes CAN be very basic "dick-in-hole" style but there's always some romantic possibilities, even with girls that are only interested in getting in his pants at first. For Lena though... it might be me, but the only genuine connexions seems to be Ian, Holly and Stan. Sadly, I ship Ian and Holly, and Stan is very unattractive to me personnality-wise.

This might be the best game on this site.
It has a very unique art style and solid dialogues.
Decisions matter and the characters and story develop with your choices.
Also there are no extreme fetishes like rape or loli, not even incest. Very refreshing.

After playing GGGB I knew this game would be a smash, the art is even better and the writing is amazing with so many different alternative paths with different kinks. The only thing missing is some foot fetish scenes, with StalkFap being a big plot device it's a bit unrealistic with no one asking for feet pics just saying , also the stan storyline could certainly explore it as well. Other than that it's perfect , can't wait for more.

I didn't really know about this masterpiece and I don't know how.
This is one of the most well made game I have played.
Great art
Good story
No Bugs
One of the best game-play experience.
100/100 recommended

One of the best games out right now.
Not for everyone since it has a female protagonist, but if you are interested in those type of games you have to try this. Our Red String is another masterpiece in AVN by Eva Kiss. More mature compared to GGGB and deals with themes such as personal realisation Our Red String will go down as one of the best AVN if we get new chapters in a reasonable time. Fingers crossed.

I do not usually do a lot of reviews, but this I would give give more than 5 stars if I could!
The story is so enveloping, that I was completely sucked in, so many different paths, and the two I completed and one path about halfway were all highly enjoyable. i so look forward to more of this, and will probably play through many of the paths.
This has both slow-burn with plenty of hot material, while the Art took a minute to get use to, it grew on me and is so beautiful. The text wow, I don't often many games that can get into a girls head space like this one did for me.
The Dual protagonist is fun, but I can really relate to the female protag.
As I said I don't typically give reviews as is probably obvious but my haphazard attempt but I had to for this game.

This one is definitely not good as the first game. Its narrative is very difficult to follow. I was expecting to find something like the first game where the direction where the game is going was very clearly visible. But this one is not not like that. You can try to make a pairing , and it just doesn't work because the stat system sucks . You need to know before hand which attribute to choose if you want to chase a certain character. And now there being two player characters , you have no clue how the other player character will react , because you are supposed to fill their story. But the fact that now there are two of those character . Defies the very basic structure of a Choosing game. for example :
if you make 1 character naughty and other nice. then their choices do not reflect my choice . They reflect the one which author decided. so now instead of 2 character you have 0. because now both characters have their innate character filled by dev , which I do not like , or opposed to immersion of my story. Very confusing really.

V 0.10

Our Red String, a very catchy name for the term romance.
But despite having the romance route, it is not the strong point of the game.
Yes, the romance even has a base, but the game encourages you to play the routes of depravity much more.
Even if you try to follow the route firmly and avoid the dauxuaria side.
The corruption option always appears.

So what I mean, is that the name of the game, the summary of the game.
It was supposed to be a romance game.
But the game pulls much more towards corruption and betrayal.
An example of this is that you are encouraged at all costs to make Cindy cheat on Wade.
Either with another guy or with the MC.
Even though there is the possibility of their reconciliation, we have to follow the route of this to not let it happen.
That is, if you want to focus on one (Romance) we also have to be careful that the game does not become a game of corruption with the other characters.
And that's awful.

It really is a game to be split in 2.
because he took something that could be very good.
Which was an excellent FMC. To become another corruption game like the others.
Only the others don't try to disguise the bizarreness.

I'm definitely dropping this.

Eva Kiss is easily one of the strongest and most thoughtful writers in this space. She has an eye for character and a mind for sexy situations that spring quite naturally from the people involving them.

This is a more complex and ambitious project than Eva Kiss' earlier game and I can't help but wonder whether the forest might have been lost for the trees. The earliest builds suggested that this was a game about two people (both protagonists and viewpoint characters) who meet quite early on and hit off. Not yet ready to be exclusive, their lives progress while they continue hooking up, meeting people, and evolving. Then, come the end of the game, they drift back together having both changed and grown.

As of 10.0 Beta, I would say that that narrative string has kinda disappeared. You still have the viewpoint characters, they still change as they move through life and have different experiences, but the 'Red String' binding them together has been somewhat upstaged by all of the other characters.

This isn't helped by the fact that the game-play is still the same as in Good Girl Gone Bad (Eva Kiss' first game) in that you run through the game and hit an ending, you then run through it again and see the endings you missed, you then keep doing it until you've unlocked all the scenes.

As a dynamic, it still works really well HOWEVER, in good girl gone bad you really got the message that going after different people and different outcomes involved you becoming a different person and here it's more implied than anything else and so some of the thematic force of the game is lost.

This being said, this is still a really good game that features a load of interesting characters and some really hot scenes. My only really substantive complaint is that I kept wanting to see various relationships unfold and that's just me wanting the game to go on for ever and that's neither practical nor possible and is really just a reflection of how much I love and admire Eva Kiss' work.

Fantastic stuff.

I really love the game and its characters.
The story is well written and the dialogue choices matters in the long run.
Preferred it better than GGGB. The art have also been improved.
Update takes a while tho but i think it's worth the wait.

Okay, Eva Kiss made me eat my own words with this latest release. I was just complaining to my girlfriend a couple of weeks ago about how these creators can just not release content for 10 months and still get paid. I went on and on about it. I may have been a little angry because I was one of her subscribers. However, the content of this latest release was fantastic and almost made up for it. This game is one of the best as was Eva's last game. The only reason I am not giving this 5 stars is because of the 10 month hiatus, which is unacceptable for any monthly subscriber games like this in my opinion.

Excellent game!
The art and the story are top notch!
We can find interesting and lovable characters.
There are multiple meaningful choices which lead to distinct routes.
This is the game that brought my attention to the VN world.

In Our Red Strings you control two different MCs (a young man trying to become a writer and a young woman working as a model) and you decide how their life will unfold.
The cast is full of interesting people with engaging personalities and not too clichè (with few exceptions) and the replayability is crazy high.
Choices always have consequences, even if those are not immediately obvious.

It's kinda strange reviewing a game like that here, since it's so damn hard finding quality erotic games nowadays. I know that we are all here for a quick fap, and this game allow you to do just that, but it offers something more for everyone who likes to dive a little deeper in a story.

Gameplay: -/5 (there's no gameplay. Just pick-your-answer)
Graphic: 4.5/5 (everyting is hand drawn in a very recognizable style. Very high quality drawings)
Music: 3.5/5 (some OST are inspired, others are a bit bland)
Story: 5/5 (the shining point of this game. It is impossible not to root for Ian and Lena once you get to know them)
Fap Material: 4/5 (lots of different fetishes explored. Some scenes are a little bit repetitive but overall hot)

Best girl: Emma. Obviously.

Its meh. Less trashy version of ghetto femprotag game GGGB.
You have two main characters that meet each other, then end up banging a whole bunch of other people as well. It tries to be this kind of gritty dramatic thing but it just ends up feeling trashy. And there aren't even that many sex scenes.

As the dude you basically get to pick: whore redhead or whore tan woman. This choice affects a lot of the narrative. If you go for redhead=>you dont get cucked by a black guy. But if you go for tan woman, then the black dude will have his way with your childhood friend. So pick your poison, sex with a woman you dont want to have sex with to avoid getting cucked or sex with tan lady you do want to bang. Oh wait, the tan lady is hungup on her ex so she doesn't want to get serious with you. Kill me now.

Then you decide if the female MC and male MC hookup. If they dont hookup, the male MC is going to suffer as he wont get as many points as he should. But on the other hand if the MCs do hookup it becomes difficult for Eva to be a bi/lesbian.

If you care about the dude MC then you cant have female MC be a lesbo. Ofc logically this doesnt make much sense but thems the rules.

Also all LIs are sluts. every last one of them. Even the nerd redhead is a secret slut. None of the women are particularly likable. Everyone is either in a relationship or hungup on their exes. Wife material for sure. Female writing everyone!

But whatever everyones a slut and everybody dislikes each other and emma is a disgusting filthy feminist roastbeef harlot. It is a miserable existance. There are no fun times or parties of everyone having a good time, nope just shocking twists and turns and everyone is miserable. YEY!

Make no mistake this is a depraved Femprotag game even if you have two main characters, not some kind of interesting narrative where you truly control two people in the same world to their own ends. Nope. Depraved sluttery will ensue. The cake is a lie.

If you want total balls to the walls whore action GGGB or katies corruption etc. do it way better. Those are terrible as well ofc but I imagine women and cucks would love visual novels like that. It is like a dream come true for these people. Here you will only get a slight amount of debauchery.

TLDR; the game is fantastic but some of the (optional) content is not for everyone.

Unless you intend to play a vanilla romance route, this game is a real trip since you have to play as both Ian and Lena interchangeably and the story is written from their first person perspective.

Choosing to play Lena as a gorgeous unapologetic slut who fucks everything that moves without shame is a lot of fun but then by contrast playing Ian as a average guy who is getting cucked is not fun unless you're into that.

The story is well written and immersive which means that if you start fucking other people as either Ian or Lena or both, you as the player will eventually start feeling jealous because you chose to have sex with someone other than yourself which is a very bizarre experience.

So why 5/5 then? Because the game is a masterpiece and hating on it is unfair even if I can't appreciate some of the content.

The story is not bad but it seems to go in circles forever without evolving much and the releases are taking forever to come. The kinks are less straight and harder to find. Sorry but GGGB was way better game so far

This game has the best immersive gameplay, the story is interesting and doesn't make you feel bored, pacing is good, and your choice ACTUALLY influence the storyline.
What i can say i'm really hungry for more, can't wait for the next update !

Way to many characters, with too little original content shared between them. Two playable characters *female and male* who can date each other, and you are forced to play both (you can't skip female POV). Pretty much every single storyline connected to female love interests ends and revolves around the instagram/onlyfans/erotic influecing.

The only somewhat original storyline was from the male POV when you can try and date girlfriend of your old friend behind his back, while also pushing (or not) her into the onlyfans territory. It is good, but only a tiny chunk of all content.

This game is truly a labor of love, with nice vibrant visuals including UI, and character designs. Impelling and dynamic story with the way you split between both characters and the choices you make actually matter in the long run. Great game, keep it up!

I really enjoyed GGGB and expected to have a fun time with the author's follow-up game.

I did not finish the game. I got bored of it after a while and had no desire to continue (a very bad thing to happen in a story driven game).

There was nothing new for me here. Perhaps I've played too many adult visual novels but the story and writing feel overused and stuff I've seen dozens of times. The game never pulled me in like I expected it to.

The art has improved but literally everything else is worse than GGGB. In terms of story and lewd content it's a big step down from GGGB in my opinion.

I also disliked having two protagonists. Reliving the same experiences through a different person wasn't a good move. It added nothing to the story and slowed down normal story progression.

The game just wasn't my cup of tea. I was expecting to have an awesome experience and perhaps all the hype and perfect ratings got my expectations too high. I am disappointed in this game overall.