Ren'Py - Perfect Pitch [v0.7] [soundsommelier]

CLearly a work of love. The story is still quite short and it's limited in mechanics (as in, it's a run of the mill dating sim mechanics-wise apart from choosing which class to attend). But what story already exists, the characters within, even the backgrounds, are all unique and well thought out. It's a shame the dev is not accepting donations because this game warrants them. I can't wait to see what this looks like a few updates from now.

Honestly a hidden gem. The story is interesting, the character's have unique and likable personalities. The interactions between the characters are enjoyable. Very much looking forward to future updates.

Despite what some other reviewers have said, I actually would say Perfect Pitch falls further from the "Famous Koikatsu VN" branch than a lot of games more clearly inspired by it. It mostly just shares the ideas of a school setting, denpa elements (though much lighter on the "horror" aspect), and sandbox-lite gameplay.

The story picks up with the 18 year old protagonist, a musical prodigy who has performed around the world (seems to be loosely based on Jacob Collier), joining a (now formerly) all-girls music school in 2020. COVID is used as a plot device for problems faced by many of the characters (including the protagonist), and the school itself which is losing funding. The protagonist joins to escape from his hectic (and recently stressed due to parents being hospitalized) life. The school's premise for bringing the protagonist in is a bit contrived - the Head Mistress asks the protagonist to form strong and "intimate" relationships with as many of the girls as possible, which she believes will help them perform better for a big annual showcase where the school gets most of its donations. Not the most convincing of initial premises, but it's a harem game, so it is what it is, I guess.

The writing is somewhat unique among most visual novels I've read. Dialogue from many (though not all) of the characters is what I'd describe as "flowery" on average, with lots of descriptive sentences and artistic terms thrown in - this is especially the case when the characters talk about their interests and passions, as well as many of the the music lesson scenes. Depending on the characters and scene though, it can be more standard conversational dialogue, or get more joke-y/meme-y.

As someone who went to music school for a bit (and spent time around people who ultimately were much more passionate about it than I was), there are definitely some relatable moments in the game, especially around the classes/auditions/similar events. There are a lot of references you will get if you have had some musical training, or have delved into classical and/or jazz music in the past. I feel that some of this VN's charm may be lost if you don't have some level of musical background.

The game has a bit of a slow start, but it does eventually find a comfortable groove once all the characters are introduced and their core personalities have been established. Progression is largely slice-of-life, with interest coming from learning more about the girls' dreams, fears, and other issues. Without spoiling too much, there is also a backdrop of figuring out what is going on with the denpa-type events the protagonist sometimes experiences.

The models and renders are above average for Koikatsu - they avoid aliasing issues, but they tend to be a bit on the blurry side compared to the best-in-class Koikatsu VNs. The character designs are all very cute and distinct however, and the backgrounds and effects used are fairly unique and diverse. Pretty sure the other reviewer a few below mine just hates Koikatsu games in general, frankly the models in this game look quite a bit more mature than the typical VN inspired by "Famous Koikatsu VN". There aren't too many H-scenes yet, and they range from being quite unique and interesting (some of the heavier story event scenes), to being just basic (the repeatable events). Several that take place during story events are, like a lot of the writing, very colorful/flowery in their designs/situations. All the animations are just default Koikatsu, so nothing special there.

As the name and premise of the story would imply, this is a very music-focused VN, and it's quite unique and well done. There is a bit of separation between standard background tracks (which are all solid, matching the tone of the scene, and aren't the super common/overused VN tracks), and music actually being played by the characters, which can range from performances, to listening to them practice. The latter can be interesting to listen to, but likely not to everyone's taste.

The sandbox-lite gameplay is a mixed bag. The options available for a given time are based on a "class schedule". This means that there aren't too many visiting options for most times of day, and on average this actually makes it a bit easier to find and trigger new events. That said, it lacks hints, and the event menu is a bit difficult to navigate.

Overall, I like the novel, and look forward to see where it goes, but it is a bit more of a hesitant recommendation than some - as mentioned above, some of the charm may be lost if you have no musical background.

Not your usual western style VN, this 2D Koikatsu VN is one you cannot appreciate without listening to the music.

It shows some well-known tropes, but it was a very enjoyable experience (at least for me, those who don't like classical music/literature may have a different opinion).

I'm just gonna be honest with this, it feels gross. Like, hooray, you know about music terminology. But all the love interests look like adolescents, and the entire premise is "The headmistress wants you to groom them." And there are two other games about being a teacher this feels exactly like. ALSO, there's one really made screen, the computer, but then the rest of the game is default Renpy. And outside of the first intro, none of the girls even make an impression and you're immediately greeted by a scene where they're all together but you don't know who anyone is outside of the one with a southern drawl.

Very good so far, the character interactions are great and the MC is incredibly likeable. The author clearly has a story to tell, and while there are a couple of sex scenes so far, the writing comes first, which is excellent. The character designs are all good, there really isn't a bad pick in the bunch. Every character feels distinct and well-thought out, enough to where I want to know more about all of them. Leaning on COVID as a framing device may date the game at some point, but the author clearly has plans for a payoff in a future update. This game was absolutely written by someone who is a big fan of music in all of its forms.

Review as of v0.5:

"A game about music, romance, and the covid-19 pandemic as a convenient plot device" does summarize this AVN up pretty well. I was pretty surprised to see five updates and no reviews, and then I played it. I can see why people would have just dropped it. I will be honest... the beginning is a slog, and the use of COVID hits you like a sledgehammer. Contrast that to, say, Now & Then, which played with the traditional zombie genre during the COVID era by evoking themes of isolation and the destruction of old norms.

Get past the first hour, however, and it gets much better. It fits within that Lessons in Love/Sensei Overnight category of Koikatsu harem games organized around weekly schedules, a cast of LIs, and event triggers. Instead of a mentally broken teacher in Japan, you play a prodigy teenage musician brought into an all-girls music conservatory in rural Midwestern US by an eccentric Headmistress to act as a mentor/object of desire to her pupils of great potential. The stakes are... the conservatory is at risk of closing during the COVID era economy, and the last chance at survival is impressing a billionaire investor with a Spring Showcase of all the students.

Over the course of the next few months, the MC attends classes with the star pupils in A-wing, and slowly but surely a few of them warm up to him more than others. The love interests don't fit the same anime archetypes as in aforementioned comparable AVNs, but a few of them are still one-dimensional this early on. But as typical from this "genre", most of the developed LIs have faced hardships in their lives, and much the romance involves the MC relating to them by listening, consoling, and giving his own background. The quality of dialogue writing is excellent, and I would be surprised and impressed if the dev is not a native English speaker.

Unfortunately, the writing fails in two places: the MC, and the plot. The MC is a Gary Stu with no discernable flaws, and the Headmistress spends the entire AVN talking about how wonderful and talented he is. He is humble and recognizes how good he has it, but the lack of flaws ultimately makes him merely a vessel for the reader and not an interesting character to root for. When he speaks of his parents suffering in the early days of COVID, it falls flat. Speaking of COVID, you could completely remove all references to it and make it simply about living isolated in the middle of nowhere at a conservatory and the plot would be unaffected. As someone without musical talents, experiencing life among these young creatives is interesting, and constant reference to COVID feels pointless and does not seem to be relevant to anything moving forward in the plot.

Within the character-driven elements of the plot, the romance is extremely well written, especially in the last two updates. The emotions of the LIs feel genuine and heartfelt, and I found myself rooting for quite a few of them. I was heavily concerned early on that it would become a catch 'em all harem game when a lewd scene popped up with a LI within the first 30 minutes, but the writing for that character since that event has been realistic within this world's logic. These are eccentric girls, with one boy, in the middle of nowhere, encouraged by a (somewhat creepy) eccentric Headmistress, but they are also inexperienced and anxious girls. Their actions reflect this reality, so progress toward lewd scenes is slow but purposeful, and lewd scenes are awkward when they occur, except when involving the more experienced more depraved staff members.

Perhaps an artistic choice, perhaps a limitation of the dev, but some of the models are not very appealing. I suspect part of it is an attempt to make the girls appear less Japanese in the Koikatsu engine, but it has mixed results.

In overall, I played this out of curiosity, but I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Its quality across all releases probably justifies 3 stars, but with the strength of the romance dialogue and the improvements in recent updates, I will give it 4 stars.