VN - Ren'Py - Profiler [v0.2.1] [DiveBar]

I came here after seeing the promo poster at the end of Astreon, and what a pleasant surprise!

10/10, four stars, room for improvement (the rendering in 0.1 was a bit rough, especially compared to 0.2)

(No spoilers below; this review is based solely on 0.2.1 content.)

Since this is an early version, the story development isn’t fully realized yet, which leaves me with questions about many foreshadowed elements or scenes. But I’m really looking forward to seeing the main storyline unfold. It’s clear the dev put a lot of thought into this project from the very beginning, and I hope the story will develop in a steady and coherent way (don’t let me down, buddy)

Though there are some small grammatical errors in the English, the overall story pacing is really well done.
As a fan of novels, I’d definitely buy Profiler if it were written as a book, but I’m even happier to see the characters come to life right in front of me.
Each character is vibrant and multi-dimensional; the dev has done a great job with character design, and I’m not just talking about appearance, but their personalities, flaws, mannerisms, and reactions (interesting, right? Flaws are also an essential trait for characters).

The dialogue between characters is truly excellent, showcasing their wit, humor… or foolishness at all times. Even beyond the LIs, the male characters are well-developed, and I genuinely respect the dev for that.

Actually, fuck those grammar mistakes. Some metaphors in the game are unlike anything I’d see in typical AVN stories, and that alone makes it worthwhile.
Seriously, ‘Arachne’? Are we getting Greek mythology references in an AVN?

I also noticed some classic quotes referencing movies like 007, Spider-Man, etc. I have no idea how many Easter eggs the dev has hidden in here, but honestly, this game needs players who understand the joy of reading and have a rich background.


About Music and Sound Effects:
I’ve heard a lot of AI-generated music, and most are terrible, but I have to say the Profiler dev has a knack for music selection. I took some time to listen closely, and these lyrics actually add a deeper layer to the scenes. This might be one of the most unique details I’ve come across. I checked out the dev’s Patreon and noticed he mentioned that sometimes he writes lyrics specifically for special LI scenes and creates theme songs. I have great admiration for that.
The sound effects in the game further enhance immersion, and I love them.

This project is pretty amazing, and I don’t understand why Profiler hasn’t gained more attention yet. But maybe that’s a good thing—when the next update finally opens up the world, people will be astonished by the story of Profiler.

P.S. Don’t let the massive workload overwhelm you. Rest is essential to
go the distance.

Short Review of v.0.2.1





Pros:

- Story
- Writing
- UI
- Graphics

Cons:

- Text effects (at least reduce them to 10% of what is now, or make it possible to turn off)
- Minigames (Just NO - or optional)
- With the combination of excessive text effects and overuse of graphic effects it is too tiring to read.

Conclusion: 3/5 (because the story is good, but the text effects take 1 point and the mini-game another)

Recommended for now, if no change in next version, moving to avoid.

V 0.2.1

This VN has a nice concept, but then implements it badly.

Same old models with different hairs (at least), choppy and or laggy scenes, unskippable sequences and all those effects like screen-tearing/tremors when you peek on you friend in the bathroom are just obnoxious.

Many choices have no effect, change no variables nor the story.

Lastly the angles and lighting of the only h-scene are just bad. "bUt mC iS DrUnK" it's not gonna cut it.

The story has potential, let's just hope that dev will improve.

Game might look simple at first, you will be surprised by the visual of this game, lots of unique visual effects with sound effects.

I like it MC isn't our typical wimp, writing is good too, you won't feel much bore, obviously like every games there will be some scenes you will feel little bit bored, but only a bit.

Renders quality is good too, you can tell every lis looks kinda fine.

Animations a bit laggy as always but it doesn't feel much laggy, so I'm fine with this.

One thing I don't like there was a forced sex scenes, but there's no kinetic novel tag, that's why I don't like it.

But it was really enjoyable, if you're reading my review don't forget to give a shot buddy!
You will end up liking this game for sure!

Well, here ends my review, good luck dev, I can't wait what's next to cum!

Rating 0.2.1
Quality is better and better. Keep working and you will be more successful.
Music is good enough to hear
Renders are good but need to improve more and more.
Need to add more transitions.
UI is very creative and fun to play with it.
Good work Dev. Keep working!

Profiler is a good trip to memory lane with the good ol' Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The game takes huge inspiration from Sherlock Holmes stories. Albeit, it is AVN set in that timeline. It's a story of its own. The developer is looking to aim something different. His approach to his renders and choices are different than your other AVNs. Some may take it the wrong way as it could be annoying to some, still I could say he has the guts to try something different which does look remarkable if done properly.

The music is beautiful. You can see the efforts the dev put into the music. Every music fits the respective scenes. Sex scenes are implemented well and good. The game is humorous so its does that part well at times.

Where I think the dev could improve is at camera angles. Some renders are too focused on the surroundings meanwhile the focus on the render is the character, so camera angles could improve. The story is done well, and im excited for more.

All in all, 10/10 would recomment

Here I have passed this game, and what can I say.... The game is wonderful, you can see that the author worked hard when writing the plot, lore, and character characters, dialogs are written as well at the level. Separately I want to emphasize the music, it was something unforgettable, I even at first could not believe that it was done with the help of AI-generator. As for the renders....
The renders, they're.... Wonderful, better than most other visual novel based on hs2. And updates are coming out quite often, with good spacing, and you don't have to wait for years, which I think is a huge plus. I'm just worried about one thing, is Abyss blind, or does she just have white pupils?

Not really used to writing these long feedback but here goes, first off.. i really like the whole 'MC being driven by his tragedy and trying to seek the truth' kind of plot, I would expect the story would explore many way in which the MC confronts his fears and begins to trust others in pursuit to reach his goal at which would be great for the character development. It is important that the players are able to feel connected with the character or feel motivated to follow his journey. Really excited to see what's there to come for 0.3.

As for the nit-picky stuff, well they may too early to tell much since the game is pretty much still in an early development, but if i have one thing to say about the gameplay then its probably the distorted and erratic animation for the text/images, while the effects can be a bit unsettling, it’s clear that the intention is to immerse us in the character's experience, while this problem may have been addressed before. I trust that the 0.1 remade would be fixing all the apparant issues that it was having. (really love the soundtrack btw)

As for the MC.. well yeah it may seem that he's the antisocial type of person as given for most of his respond to everyone he has talked to (looking forward to his character development), and im sure that it has been given as an option but im really glad that we got to choose something casual for the MC to wear (he's literally a walking shawarma having to wear that everytime).

As for Abbys/Celestia (heh, get it?) she's a great artist and.. its kinda hard for me to get around her judging by her mere appearance as she seems to be quite plain compared to the other girls, while i'm also guessing that she's going to be the central enigma of the story. As for Skye.. well she's definitely the flirty/playful type of girl, although she can be quite arrogant and definitely doesn't take 'no' as an answer, it would be great to see more depth and layers to her character beside what we've got for now.

As for Wen, i really wished we got to see more growth of her since to me, she has always been seen as the generic 'childhood friend' character to the MC, at which i really hope there's more to her in the future <3. (!Tsundere alert!) Well here comes Val, the tough cookie. i really like her feisty and superiority attitude, it really adds up to her being a rival to the MC. Overall, i just love the dynamic between them. As for the other characters.. well i haven't exactly got any opinion about them (yet.) but i definitely looking forward to more of Skye and Lily.

And Ruri as well xD

This review is for version 0.2 so bear that in mind.

PROS:

A very interesting start. I'm a fan of Detective stories, especially Sherlock Holmes and it seems this game is going for a modern Sherlock with some of the old school elements (clothes and dialogue). This was a bit jaring for me at first as I was wondering why the MC is dressed like he wants to beg me for more porridge. lol

The renders are pretty good and the Lis are very sexy . I'm still getting a feel for the personality of the Lis so I haven't formed a definite opinion on them yet. However so far they seem complicated and I can't fit them neatly into a cliche Li type. Which I like. The first sex scene was very hot and visually appealing with sound and music used well.

The story so far has certainly captured my interest. The 0.2 update escalated the action, the tension, the mystery and pushed the story forward in a really strong manner. This feels like it could become one of my new favourites.

CONS:
My concerns so far are:

It's hard to determine the MC's personality as his behaviour varies and seems contradictory at points. Is he angry and traumatized by his past, is he detached from people because he doesn't know how to socialize and incredibly arrogant or is he something worse ? However it seems as if some the answers to his behaviour lie in the mystery that is being built , so I think it's worth being patient.


The first sex scene is a forced sex scene. I understand the reason behind the forced sex is that it is a flashback. It is a part of the MC's past and serves a purpose. I hope that any sex scenes going forward will be a choice for the player. As a player I want to control who I say yes or no to with respect to Lis.

The visual effects are really disconcerting. I don't have any seizures or eye problems, but even for me some of the red effect flashes and the blurry shaky effect of the text is almost headache inducing. The story is interesting enough and the visuals are good enough that you don't need to use fancy tricks to catch the eye.

CONCLUSION:
Really good game so far. it's definitely worth checking out and I look forward to seeing more.

Review 0.2
I don't know what to start so
Positive:
Know how to make the effect on the choice.
Nice Lis (Well only the Abyss girl, needs to improve every Li)
The story talks about Sherlock Homes but hope can work well with it
Cons:
- The developer seems unsure about the direction of the story.
- There's too much dialogue that players won't care about and will likely forget in the next version.
- Lots of cliché dialogue that seems meaningless.
- Sound effects are used, but they are misplaced (I saw the code, so please don't act like you know what's going on, like the previous reviewer. The sound effects are in the wrong place. I wanted to give this 2 stars, but the previous reviewer makes me want to give it 1).
Abuse SO MUCH DOF.
At version 0.1, the developer needs to work on many aspects, including characters, Render, sound effects, UI, and story. I won't critique the render because I know the developer didn't spend much time working with this engine.
I will revisit this game later to see if the developer addresses these issues.
It's a good game overall, but it requires a lot of effort.

Review as a of 0.1


Pretty good start. Good enough that it compelled me to write a review for the first time, so that should tell you something. No sexual content as of right now, but clearly the developer is choosing story over quick fap, so I have no complaints.

Renders are above average, some of them have custom animations. The models are in fact very good. I'm more of a face guy than an ass/boob one so I can appreciate a dev that takes the time to make the girls pretty.

The story and characters are all pretty decent so far. We haven't seen enough for me to fully judge yet, but what little we have shows that the dev has thought things out. A darker tone that the one we're used to here, with some good memes sprinkled to light things up a bit.

Music is on point.

If I had to say something negative:
- Its a bit too short. (Around 15 mins of read time as of this review).
- UI is a bit clunky. Pretty, but renpy is optimized as shit, so having this many text effects makes the experience a bit awkward for people who read ahead of the text, as there is always that one 0.1s delay between lines, making things uncomfortable. Oh and before you say anything I have a 4090 and a 7950x, so it's not me. Not the dev's fault, its just Renpy being a bitch, but annoyed me enough to mention it.


Pretty solid overall anyhow, hopeful to see where it goes.