The graphics and scenes aren't the best, but I got into the story and enjoyed it well enough - -would still recommend this game if the tags are something you are interested in and you don't mind that the story can jump around a bit.
VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Outrun [v1.0] [Tataugas]
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AlexMpog
The story, I mean the whole premise is cool, but the way it was delivered - not so cool. Writing could have been better, mildly saying. I mean dialogues are really really bad, some standalone cliche phrases, dropped just out of nowhere, closer to the end it becomes even worse, characters literally start speaking in riddles, you have no idea about wtf is going on, what they imply with those phrases.
Characters are more like empty NPCs with strange behaviour, MC is a bit of bipolar, one moment he is a tough guy, kicking asses, another one he is like a rapist, and after a few renders he is a doormat being pushed around by 18th year girls, other characters have flaws as well, Bianca, for example, what mother in her own sanity will give up her baby to another woman under absolutely normal circumstances, I mean she is not dying or struggling with money or whatever, Nia - one moment she doesn't talk, another moment she talks out of a blue, what happened, why? Yeah, anyway it's all just too surreal. In general it felt like exaggerated far-fetched parody with all those cliche texts and chars behaviour.
About positives: renders are great, girls are beautiful, all are are readheads (i like gingers, hence 3 stars just for that).
With a good writing it could have been a decent kinetic novel. -
PinkDaizy
I enjoyed the porn pics. But other than that, what is... what, how... when, how... I can't even... WAT?!
Some dudes try to rape your sister. There's a fight and dude A accidentally kills dude B. Then you're in the locker rooms of some school and your sister makes you cum by dry humping you. Then you're in your house and a corrupt cop kills your parents. Then you escape and work at a coffee shop in the woods. Then your sister brings you a hooker to fuck, who calls you daddy and says it's her first time. Then your sisters tell you they're yours and they want you to fuck them while the mafia wants to kill you.
What is even happening? I can't even... I can't even even. Wat?
I won't spoil the rest of it, in case you wanna give it a try. The above is only the beginning. But believe me, it stays like this until the end. Everything is so rushed from scene to scene with things "just happening" and virtually zero explanation, you don't really know who the fuck anyone is. Your sisters feel like two random girls you just picked off the street. Basically, this feels like you playing only snippets of some larger VN that had 95% of its content removed with only bits and pieces remaining. The rest of it you don't get to see. You only get a short paragraph here and there giving you a short description of what happened. Like "and then for the next couple months we did this and that and we're now closer than ever!" Sigh.
Apparently the author seemed to actually understand that the pacing is so frantic that the scenes have no impact at all. If you're being bombarded with things happening non-stop, they stop registering with you. So he tried to force the issue by having many of the scenes be over the top, trying to shock you. But it doesn't work. The only thing that does is making everything feel like a confused fever dream wet nightmare.
But that pales in comparison to the ending. Believe it or not, the ending is all of the above, but amplified ten times.
I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here, but you get the impression he wrote this while high on adderall and mushrooms.
I think what happened here is that he had a idea in his head, a vision for the VN, even, but the translation of his thoughts and feelings into actual words just didn't work out at all. Now I wouldn't say this VN is absolutely terrible. There's way worse out there. Way worse. But it's still below average.
The renders on the other hand are great. I just wish the dev's storytelling skills were as good as his render skills. -
Bill Temple
I normally write overly lengthy and verbose reviews. I'm gonna be brief (for me) with this one, because if I go into detail it's going to make the game seem worse than it is. I've read some of the dev's comments here, and he seems like a nice enough guy that's trying to do something he enjoys. I don't really want to be too harsh, but I don't think disingenuous white lies will be useful for potential readers nor for the dev in creating great VNs or kinetic novels going forward.
I'll start with the positives: The girls are cute... physically... if you like redheads with freckles, as the entire cast of LIs are gingers. I'm not really into freckled reds, but still they're attractive models. Even if I do usually like them even curvier than these three, they certainly aren't twigs by any definition. Next, I liked that the MC is neither a pushover nor an angsty siscon. I mean he's definitely a siscon, but just not a nervous guilt-ridden wuss about it. That said, the pendulum might have swung too far the other direction here. Him being some kind of badass, jacked, preppy-when-not-shirtless street tough that lives in his parents' very nice upper-middle class house when he's not rescuing redheaded girls from would-be rapists clues you in that this is going to be a Gary Stu fantasy. Apparently, other than cringy banter, that's his deal. He hangs out near alleys after school in case a redhead is being sexually assaulted, so he can deliver his signature surprise head kick to save the girl. Finally, I like that there's another underlying (or overarching?) plot involving organized crime and corrupt police. It's not a unique feature, but we've all played games where the only point is to build a harem by saying nice things to earn love points until MC can get a handy, then a beej, then sex, then anal with 15 different girls, so I'll give credit for having an actual story. This game's other plot doesn't take center stage often, but it's integrated with the rest of story throughout. It's most importantly invoked as an inciting incident to "get rid" of his parents (i.e. get his redhead sisters alone), to move the cast to new locations, and occasionally to remind the reader that the MC is, in fact, an alpha-as-fuck badass gangsta muthafucka... as well as a loveable softie with an epic cock and sub-7% bodyfat.
The negatives, which I've already hinted at, are the plot and the dialogue... oh and a noticeable number of the renders could benefit from denoising. The plot could be good, but it needs an editor. Not because the grammar, spelling, or other technical aspects of the writing need much work. It needs an editor because dev needs somebody saying, "These plot twists are too abrupt or unjustified", "This character's behavior is inexplicable and unbelievable in a world without high-fantasy, sci-fi, or other excuses for bizarre behavior", "There isn't enough information or foreshadowing for this part of the story to make sense to people that aren't privy to your unwritten head canon", or "That random plot twist that made no sense and needed more explanation at some point: remember that? Yea you forgot to explain it, like... at all... ever. You just forgot about it and rushed into a bunch of epilogue sex".
However, the biggest and overwhelming problem I had with the writing is without a doubt the dialogue. I wouldn't say it's always cringey, rather it vacillates between cringey, irritating, and tedious an inordinate amount of time. I like banter, teasing, and witty dialogue. Many games are woefully dry in the dialogue department. It's hard to get right, and few excel. This one fails hard. The banter is damn near constant, which can be done to success as it is in Dr. Vibes, but it has to actually be funny and clever for that to work. The ball-busting from the twin that talks needs longer breaks to keep it from getting tedious. Then there's all the Gary Stu dialogue about MC being their "king" and how he's the only man any of them have ever wanted. Reading that stuff once or twice is good, three times is okay, but it comes up a lot more than that. There's a so much time spent telling each other and the reader how much they all mean to each other. It's too damn much.
It would be a 2.5 out of 5, but honestly it was enjoyable as long as a I didn't think much about anything or expect satisfying explanations for any of it, so I round up. -
m0us3r
The story is just made of far-fetched elements, like a random dream, but definitely nothing like any kind of real life. That lack of logic, inexplicable events, out of nowhere twists... Add to that bad jokes or just weird phrases during sex scenes and dialogs, often poor grammar... And you'll understand why I found it boring and just skipped the most part.
There's just one cute girl, Bianca. I add one star for that cutie. But still her behavior is cringeworthy, so a few pretty renders with her don't justify playing this game.
As other reviewers already said:
desmo321
I would not recommend this Kinetic Visual Novel because it is full of really bad jokes and a worse story. The worst part are the grainy visuals
Well not all the renders are grainy. So for me the worst part is the clumsy story and ridiculous weirdness of literally all characters.
An_Able
The plot is really simple, yet somehow feels both convoluted and poorly explained. Things just sort of happen, there are constant references and callbacks to things that we're never privy to...
...the main conflict just gets resolved out of nowhere with no satisfying conclusion to make way for a short slice of life finale. Mind you, all of this executed quite poorly.
Can't agree more. -
An_Able
Right, as an experimental first step into making a VN, this isn't as bad as it could be.
I like the renders, especially the main character--the small boy or pasty ass vampire body types never really appealed to me so it's good to see more VNs that have men as leads. I also have a particular predilection for redheads so I'm entirely biased.
Unfortunately that's about it for the praise, everything else was kind of a mess. The pacing starts off kind of slow, with flashbacks and long-winded dialogue, but quickly speeds up to constant timeskips of several months and things being resolved through barely set up contrivances.
The dialogue is weird, full of grammatical errors and constant attempts at humour that only really made me roll my eyes so hard I feared they'd pop right out of their sockets.
The plot is really simple, yet somehow feels both convoluted and poorly explained. Things just sort of happen, there are constant references and callbacks to things that we're never privy to, and while I get that the author was trying to set up his next game, this one still needs to stand on its own two legs if it's to support the sequel.
Ultimately, I came away thinking the game couldn't figure out what it wanted to be. It's trying too hard to be comedic to just be a straight up drama, and even though there's some attempts at a more gritty story the main conflict just gets resolved out of nowhere with no satisfying conclusion to make way for a short slice of life finale. Mind you, all of this executed quite poorly.
A shame, but I'm sure the developer will take this experience to make his next game better.