VN - Ren'Py - Powers That Be [Ch. 24 - Styling] [Burst Out Games]

TL;DR:
- v0.4.2
- Renders are questionable
- story is interesting
- writing is bad
- characters and dialogues are annoying
- humor? You call that humor?

So... imagine you had a passionate moment with an important person in your life, that lead to the two of you finally giving in and start having wild sex. Then she starts to blow you and... you suddenly start singing "Hey mister tally man, tally me banana!"
No? Not good? But that's LITERALLY what happens in this game.

The characters in this game are all ... mentally off. I don't know if this is the dev's idea of humor, but for me it just destroys every mentionable moment this game offers. The jokes are bad, the characters are flat, the models look weird.

The Teenagers talk as if some 40yo went to 9gag, wrote down some memes, and thought: That's gonna make authentic dialogue! No, it doesn't. It's just hard to get invested in this since I spend more time physically cringing over the dialogues or be taken aback by the sight of these character's faces, than to think about what's happening in the story...

I wish the dev all the best, but those attempts at bad humor just ruin everything for me. Maybe I'll check back in a year or so...

Powers That Be- is a nice and fun game, I really like it. You play as a mc man I gave him the name MAX like all my mc. MAX is as an advertisement for milk, drink milk you will be healthy (probably he has super-ability; his brother-daughter knows mind control) Dev of this game is learned, wise, or can use the Internet well, or everything, he has a great sense of detail, creates fun situations and dialogues in different languages .. play and enjoy the game ;-)

Solid game.

Characters look good, the plot is the right side of mysterious to be worth following as opposed to being kept vague to keep the players from dropping it and all in all it's fun to read.

Game suffers a bit from that "MC has a woman tamer" issue where the MC's got such a fantastic dick that everyone wants a piece but it's not that huge an issue that you have to just roll your eyes. The set up for the attraction is at least implied to be built on feelings which have been there for a while as opposed to the classic "ok I wasn't really on board but then I saw his dick that one time and now I'm all daaaamn"

Interested to see where it goes, certainly worthy of your attention

Powers That Be [v0.4.2]
This game is really short right now, not worth playing in its current state. Its decent but average, the tags and the name suggested super powers but at least at this early juncture they are barley mentioned.
3/5

I come back to this game for one character and she's hardly in it. There is a little intrigue that lures me back in as well. But if I'm being honest, I hate most the characters.

The story is semi-unique. Uncle takes in "gifted"(not in a mentally challenged way, that would be messed up) niece. They have a concerning chemistry that kept them apart in the past, but events bring them together again. The MC also has a hyper-horny and hyper-hyper-annoying step-daughter from a failed marriage. I can not stand that girl. Her writing is like that Steve Buscemi "how do you do, fellow kids?" meme. She talks like urban dictionary if it was read in random order. Anyways, there is some superpower stuff going on and we slowly unravel what it is. That's pretty much it outside of the questionable relationships. I've tried a few different combos of choices, and it seems like it all pretty much leads you to the same place. I turned down the step-daughter at every chance I got and I still got stuck doing sinful things with her. I mean I really tried to avoid her. The only one I really want some time with is the least represented character in the game.

The renders are okay. Most the faces look really weird when they are put in any sort of non-neutral expression. The only model I really like is the boss, the others are okay. I like the MC model, it looks a tier above the rest though so it makes the lesser models look ever weirder. Again, I can't stress enough how I do not like the step-daughter, her model does not make up for her personality. The most interesting is the russian girl, personality wise. The others are just annoying in one way or another. The niece is whiney and manipulative, the step-daughter is like nails on a chalkboard, the ex-wife is just pouty and desperate, and the boss isn't in the game nearly enough.

Like I said, there is very little that brings me back to this game. I always download the new updates but it is never the first I play out of a new batch. The writing is decent enough, but the characters are so over the top sometimes and I feel like my choices don't matter all that much. If I were to give it praise in any way, I'd say I appreciate the variation on body styles represented in the game. I won't say don't play this game because I can't say I haven't gotten at least a little entertainment out of it. It's just not my favorite, not even close.

Very fun game with a lots of humor! Graphics are nice, although models could be better. Unfortunately I really don't like the niece. Some angles make her look very ugly and much older than she is. Plus, she's too developed for a teen. Story is not that original, but still interesting. Translation needs more work. Some Russian phrases are translated as they are. However, they are non-existant in English and you might never find out what they mean, even with the help of context. Ingame music is very nice and helps to create the proper mood. What can be improved: Story can envelop more gradually; Female models can be improved a bit; better Russian->English translation.

Good luck to the authors!

Well, the main LI is just ugly. Super super ugly. Someone might like her, but not me, sorry. Which would be fine, if I could just avoid her. However, you know how the game has the whole "do you want to resist?" in it's tagline.

There is no resisting. It's bullshit. The entire game is filled with your god daughter emotionally manipulating the MC, and taking advantage of him.

The MC and the player have no free will, and are just there for her sexual and emotional pleasure, and to get tossed under the buss as the "guilty party".

I was excited for scenes with the boss, and maybe the ex-wife. I was hoping I could simply have a normal relationship with the god-daughter and resist. Pffftt. Not a chance.

Edit **
To clearify I wish the developer good luck. However, I think the marketing is very misleading. The tagline is a complete lie. Furthermore, tags like rape would be more than justified, and enough to keep me from playing the game. You can't actually resist, she will literally torture you to do her bidding, this isn't consentual.

V0.4.0 ipatch and walkthrough mod installed

What would you do if you suddenly developed the power to read and manipulate human emotions? If you’re like most of us on F95, you’d probably corrupt your family, build a harem, and go out and take over the world. But what if it wasn’t you who developed this power but someone else. Someone close to you. Someone who may have an obsessive interest in you and may be manipulating your emotions as well. Would you fight? Would you just give in and enjoy the sweet ride? Or would you try and use what little power you have to change things for the better and protect those you love and who are close to you? But is that love real? Who has been manipulated and how long has this been going on? Is there a plan or is this being driven by external forces?

There are five love interests in the game with affection stats and one male character with a similar stat who may have a role to play later in the game. There’s also a counter for one character that measures good/neutral/evil development which may be the most important stat in the game, and will probably have a major impact on the eventual outcome. I’d recommend installing the ipatch, because the family (genetic) relationship may also be important for plot purposes and clearly the story was originally written that way. (and I cannot countenance turning a brother into a “godbrother” so your niece becomes a goddaughter)

Much has been made by some negative reviewers of the use of memes in conversations in the story. You may not recognize all of the references, but in order to understand what is going on you do need to pay attention. References to the Xmen and Nietzsche are not in there by accident, and the concept of the Ubermensch (or Ubermadchen) is important to understand what may be going on here. And frankly some of us do talk with memes, our family conversations on messenger often include references to King of the Hill, LOTR, Family Guy and others, so I find it more realistic than some.

Character models are generally pretty hot (Val!!!), and sex scenes are well handled. Breast and butt sizes are anatomically appropriate (realistic). The family characters are not corrupted, they start off in love with you, but it’s an open question as to whether some of them have been emotionally manipulated to create that state. The cheating ex-wife may have been manipulated to do so, as she has been wracked by remorse ever since and is available to be romanced and brought back into the fold. A willowy blonde classmate of your niece and daughter is hiding secrets and is much more than she seems, but we haven’t explored her arc yet. The MC is mature, stable and no horndog; in fact he hasn't been sexually active in the two years since the breakup/divorce (and interestingly neither has his cheating ex wife).

Unexplained and mysterious accidents and deaths/disappearances indicate that there may be sinister outside forces, so it looks like an antagonist may be on the horizon or just over it. This is more than an incest harem wish fulfilment story (not that there’s anything wrong with that…), it has some meat on those bones.

UI is fine. Walkthrough mod is helpful, but may not be showing some hidden stats beyond affection and morality, and it does provide gallery replays.

I entered the game not expecting this much and ended up becoming a patron. 5/5 and it’s still in fairly early development, but I’m looking forward to see where this goes.

v0.4.0
I know I'm beating a man that is down rn but I gotta say. The vague movie quotes (is someone called Wanda in this...?) and slang/zoomer talk has got to stop.

(To Dev):
I really feel the need to emphasize the fact that while the slang was cringy enough (ironic), the constant movie quotes was far more sigh inducing, seriously, Write actual original prose that you expect to hear from human beings.

Just cause everyone looks cartoony doesn't mean it has to be written as such too.
Speaking of cartoony. I'm not one for dissing CG since imo what VNs should look like should be up to the Dev, as long as it looks well made.
But man... Main LI does imho not look good, at all.
She's supposed to be young, but looks like she's pushing well past 30.
The shorthaired redhead is much cuter and kinda looks the part at least, so if dev decide to stick with current designs then I hope we branch away quick from miss butter-everything, and start to focus more on the other ones in the game.
Images in general could be better but as I said it's not that important, to me at least.

Choices in the game is a plus though as dev has made it fairly easy to make the "right choice"when faced with different answers, on account of the very telling facial features the women make.
Premise of the story is intriguing as well and I am curious to find out what will happen.

All said and done, as it stands now I'm finding it difficult giving it more than 2 stars.

Disclaimer: This review is opinion-based and not a technical review.

It's nice, I guess, a lot of people already mentioned that the dialogues are not really good, there is too much slang and references, I'm guessing to try and make it funny(?) but it ends up just boring and really annoying after a while, this last update was basically only references and although it tried to have an "intellectual" dialogue it went as deep as a spoon, yes that shallow, if you want to have intellectual talks in your game go for it don't just put some shallow concept and move on to the other shallow concept and even more importantly put different lines of thoughts in, even stuff you don't agree with, put that there or at least actually talk about it and expand upon it, otherwise there is no reason to put it in there at all, and again the references, this time it was even more music and some movies way too overused, we had almost zero story progression, the only important talks took 10% of the update, the rest was reference and very bad jokes, yeah I don't know, the dialogue killed this game for me, it has a cool concept and some nice graphics but I just don't think I can go through this dialogue again.

I thought the premise of this game was interesting so I gave it a shot. Alas it just did not work out. I used the I&D patches and the dialog was still freaking annoying to the point of distraction. I don't mind some pop-culture references, and I don't mind if you want a slangy character (like the daughter) but it was just insufferable and too much.

Finally, the "main" LI is just...not attractive. I'm normally pretty open to different types but she just did not do anything for me.

I had rated this a 4 star back when it was still around v0.3.8, early in its development. But now, the plot has devolved into a convoluted and confused mess, it doesn't know what it wants to be. There are too many time-jumps back and forth. The characters are even more insufferable. The cringe-inducing zoomer slang is ever-persistent. What started as an over-dramatic but decent Incest story with some likeable characters, has turned into just the worst possible thing it could. I dropped this game a year back, and I'm just here to change my review. Because the original 4 stars are clearly unwarranted and do not correctly represent the content and state of the game.

look i gave it 5 stars, But i still say the slang is TOO much. mods like the evil "I" patch, dialog, and wt can really help but i wanted to use ALL of them but they don't work together well. if at all.
i said it my comments and will say even more so now. this has Hollywood Potential. ) obviously not the 'girls' getting ... what was it they said ... shipped?
but the premise and scope of the story are great. the writing is good, even with the 'foreign languages and speak', the dialog moves fluidly but almost to quickly. there is a lot of humor and wisdom.
characters seem real and believable and .. fun... and they look good! real good. lewd scenes were well done.
there are a lot of plot secrets and possibilities that i would like to be followed through with. as a game there are some tough choices to make and some mundane ones. i like the possibilities with Nika but no matter the 'nice guy' choices with Stacy i really Don't trust her. as cheap a plot twist as it might be i dread the idea that it is all an experiment. that would kill it for me.
But an all new supermutant universe.... i could get behind.....

I JUST started the game, so this may be premature, but...

With this dialog, I find the game nearly unplayable.
Some slang words make sense. But they are so overused that it is obnoxious to the point of unbearable.

I read other reviews and how the dialog seems to be the single biggest issue people have. And people seem to, otherwise, be interested in the game or have positive things to say about it.

And I saw that the Dev has read these reviews, and even left likes on some of the negative ones.

So, Dev, PLEASE?
The way you write the dialog is so heavy handed with the slang and lingo that it makes us GIVE UP on your game.
People, like me, are turbing away from the game for that single reason. Not even because of "not liking the characters," but very specifically, not liking how the characters talk.
That means you have people who would otherwise ENJOY a product you are obviously putting time and effort into... even people who might otherwise choose to show how much they enjoy it by going to your Patreon or other sources, who are, instead, leaving a very low review score, and then deleting the game.

There must be a way you can re-write the dialog. To maintain the characters personalities, including some use of slang, while adjusting the script from being like the reading equivalent of nails on a chalk board, to something that manages to balance realistic dialog with something pleasant to read and digest.

If you put out a dialog patch youself that overhauled the dialog, so people could choose to play as originally written or a "cleaner" script, or if you just re-did the dialog wholesale, I'd imagine almost everyone who rated you below 3 stars would be HAPPY to come back, play again, and revise their reviews and their star rating, and give you a well deserved boost.

But as things stand, I can't play this. And I think there is proof that many people feel the same way, and that we are all disappointed by that fact, because we see a lot in this project that we really like.

Conventionally speaking, this game is a nice departure from the standard dialogue. That is to say, I appreciated that there was an obvious attempt to make it humorous and relatable within the context of modern pop culture.

Unfortunately, this is also one of the two elements that brought down the enjoyment for me. There's such a thing as too much when it comes to clever and witty dialogue, especially when it overshadows the substance behind it. The daughter and niece spend so much effort making witty, over-the-top references that in the real world they most definitely wouldn't get let alone make themselves. The timing is also an issue;
I read someone else mention they really liked the models/renders, and granted I have no clue what it takes to make them...but I just didn't care for them. The daughter seems to have limited expressions, only a few of which were flattering. The niece....well, she's ugly. There were a few renders - like the one in her nightie - where she actually looked quite good, but overall she has an odd look to her. I think it's mostly in her mouth shape.
The story is good, it definitely has potential, and I will continue to follow the game for that. Anyone reading this who has yet to play the game should expect to be hit with an avalanche of references, sarcasm, and an overall unrealistically diverse vernacular.

Its not a very long game, and theres nothing that hasnt been invented, but the script is funny, the story is simple, but with its interesting moments.
Maybe theres an abuse in the usage of slang and culture and pop references, but it has hilarious moments.

Doesnt look exceptionally well and theres not much sex scenes, or anything right now. But it has fun, some drama, and some tension buildup, so its worth playing.

An Unexpected surprise

Edit:
The poor "niece" could need smaller eyes, or better pupils, i dont know, other eyes. cause being that uglyish, sometimes its creepy as fuck. The shots where her pupils are dilated look better. I dont know if its too late for a rework, but she needs some fixing. I mean Alita has also big eyes and she is cute, so its not the issue.
Maybe she looks just old.

After finishing 0.4 the only complain i have besides that ,would be a little overdoing with slang in moments that seem to be serious, cause that slang feels forced and gives a bit too much of a comedic tone for my taste..

The not enough sex scenes are quite good, despite not having many renders in some parts, but there are things that dont exist in any other games, or where it manages to keep a better balance than other VNs.
MAny games want to go all in in certain sex scenes, but they overdo, and DAZ just cant take it.


The 10th episode, from the sex point of view, was kind of boring, but writing is still good and all the movies and artists stuff was interesting.
There are maybe 2 or 3 games that i have played that can compete with this one.

So overall despite small flaws Im increasing to 5* in this second attempt.

Edit:
From Episode 10 onward the game becomes trash, losing time trying to explore things that were never there and in the process killing any trace of porn or erotic for that matter.
The character development pushed the brakes pedal to the metal and all is left is drama that goes nowhere.
You can not make a entire episode to explain i think the past whihc is unnecessary, and make people have superpowers out of nowhere.
If you have time to write someones past, you should have time to explain why people comes with superpowers out of nowhere.
Adn taht's the problem, introdcing stuff taht wasnt there requires time, and that time, either is sex scenes time or yoy just dont explain it and leave it there, cause mistery boxes work well for JJ Abrams...

After 3 or 4 episodes of nothing even erotic besodes some groping for 3 seconds and i guess fanservice sex with some sidecharacter that you have to Reject in the msot rude way possible, i dont see how this is gonna be fixed when after 14 episodes the pattern is clear.

Many good things the game had are gone, and the lewd is gone, at least with main characters, so the things i ignored in previous episodes for the rating now are being added to the negative count. Thats why my previously 5 stars went down to 2.

My Rating of this Game is:

Pros:
+ Fantastic Renders
+ Easy Playing
+Active Play
+Nice Closeups
+Beautiful Women
+Long Game Play
+ No Bullshit

Cons:
-Nothing

Conclusion:
The Story is great,the ladies look lovely,damn long game play,and as a bonus
you get Great Sex Scenes.
Great Fab Material here,without running around all the timeand wasting time.
Lets see what the future brings us with this game,but it stays this way,
you would be a fool not to support and follow this Dev.
Damn worth the Download.......

Lol...This game is LEGIT a masterpiece.

Not because it has a good story or animations/renders, but because of the writing. This looks like a game that was created by a bunch of high school kids behind closed computer lab doors. Its funny, Cringy, has a lot of pop culture references and utter downright disastrous writing. Its so bad that its actually good. Kinda even feels like a spoof. The overuse of some words like Legit kinda tend to break your head, because this has to be one of the only handful of games where I didn't skip a single sentence. The verbal fight between the cousins was hilarious. The game has a decent enough story and average kinda renders. The porn part on the other hand is very limited.
Overall a great game to lighten the mood and laugh your ass out.

I know that we are all here for different reasons, but this is the kind of game that really appeals to me, where:

- Buildup is slow, making the sex scenes something to look forward to, rather than something to fast forward through. I mean, seriously, if I want to fap, I don't start a game, I start a porn clip instead.
- Characters have some depth (in this game they actually talk about their emotions!), and their actions are somewhat relatable. Even though the story in many games are incredible and full of magic, you want peoples actions to have some substance, otherwise you stop caring.
- Characters are allowed to be not just good or bad but something in between or both. I especially liked that the "bitchy ex-wife" didn't turn into a trope, but could show some other sides.
- Renders: Posing, lighting, and scenes are very well made. The two major "interests" are not the most beautiful girls in my eyes, but on the other hand, it just adds a flavour to the story. Since you have started feeling for them (see above), they grow on you and you start to see the beauty in them

I really loved the washing machine scene! I was both hot and funny at the same time.

v0.3.8

I love the game. Unique story (as can be in those kind of games, reminds me of the show Heroes), unique writing style with good humor (though it seems it puts some people off) and unique characters models (not your typical top models, so not for everyone's taste).

The humor tag is there for a reason, the general tone is quite light even though it tackles heavy subjects. I don't mind the slang, I like the meme references even though I don't get them all, and the banters.

The renders quality is very good, the environment assets are rather rare, didn't see them a lot in other games.

All in all it's a very unique game that don't appeal to everyone, but it's quality work.