VN - Ren'Py - Project: S.P.E.S. [v0.12] [6Rairyu9]

A game with intriguing story and awful main LI's.

The story’s premise is pretty good, you’re kind of a lowlife who suddenly gets a chance to study at a school full of powerful people’s kids. The mystery behind why you got that chance is interesting. But…

MC is an ultra-passive guy, just a tool for the story to move forward. Dev mentioned that this is more of a novel than a game, and that’s true. You have no choice in who you interact with or not.

And that's a problem since main love interests of this game are awful. Can't reject them, can't choose to talk back, nothing. No agency.

Why do I say LI's are awful. You have this childhood friend who is obsessed with you. She hates every girl you interact with, even if they're her friends. Obsessiveness is a kink and some people like it so it's debatable if this is a con.

Problem is, the other LI you spend a lot of time with, has the same character, but additionally, is a tsundere. In a way they are the same characters but in different models (Even MC states that they're very similar in character). So author made 2 brats who are always around you.

If I had the chance to reject them, this would easily be a 4 star rating (Graphics are servicable and I also noticed that scenes do not loop correctly). However, being forced to read through all of schenanigans those LI's go through with MC brought it to what it is.

Well, that went better than I thought at beginning.

I was looking for game with MC who have hero complex and world settings in this story give access to plenty of LIs who really need help. Not just princessess whose family lost their money or have insistent boyfriends like in similar games with hero complex MC. It's full of slaves, abused servants or people with lower status and it needs the change. Hopefully, with plot advance, MC will be able to do something more for the system, not only for single units, but now it's far away for something bigger as game is still in early development. Writing is a bit dry sometimes, don't sound natural and is written with a simple words (ok, this one is actually a plus for me). Worst is that it have some mistakes that are visible even for someone like me, whose English isn't on the highest level. Dev wrote at the beginning it's not his native language, but for me it's not an excuse for mistakes. It can be excuse for poor vocabulary, but not for mistakes or sloppiness like confusing pronouns. I'm glad it's better with game progress (still happens though, even calling a guy "she" 5 times in 2 sentences in a row), but beginning was very disappointing and if I didn't get this game as recommendation I'd think of dropping it after first hour. Well, I'm glad I didn't. At the beginning MC appears a bit like a pussy. Bad at cooking, lose focus, is indecisive, easy to tease and sometimes also act like an unmannered dick. I started hating him after how he treated Sara when Sofia got kidnapped. I understand he didn't like Emilia attitude this moment, but Sara was only kind and trying to help him. He's also a fast thinking "problem solver", but sometimes is missing very simple things. Zaida wanted desperately to talk with him (2 approaches and it was obvious it's something important for her), he was hurry, but still needed to have a walk. Why not suggesting to come with him. She could refuse, it would be her decision, but at least she'd have an option. That's just dumb. He's making progress, but sometimes I think it's 3 steps forward, 2 steps backward.

There are various LIs with different characters. They seem a bit stereotypical, but you'll find some pearls here. Two girls need special mention, because I've readen some bad words about them in reviews and it unfairly put this game lower on my list-to-play.
Starting with Emilia. I don't understand why people call her as so annoying. She's just a tease and it's not her fault that MC was afraid of playing her game at the beginning, maybe that made few people hating her, but for me it was quite funny. Later when MC adapted a bit and started teasing her, she became quite adorable and cute little tsundere. Not too original with too many shut ups, but still cute and at least without long lasting tantrums. Ngl I a lil bit miss her teasing attitude from the very first days, with MC also teasing it could create amazing dialogues, but it would double with Hikari and two teasing girls in college could grow tired fast.
However, I understand comments about Sofia. Every second sentence there was shut up and her mood swings is a thing I don't like in porn games. At the beginning she wasn't really a tsundere, she was a total bitch. But to those who started hating her and skipping events with her: she develops and her jealous is quite funny instead of harming and sometimes she can be really sweet. I also understand her defensive position, she really can feel as a lower sort, while being surrounded by rich, smart girls from most important families in country and feeling insecured is very natural, so as long as she only wants to build boundaries and not throwing tantrums too often, it makes her more real. LIs can't be only lovey-dowey while accepting everything, it's boring and they need some attitude. Later Sofia has right proportions between being sweet and angry. Her relationship with Sara and Rebecca is perfect example of how can she be later. Bad start, but progress may be very interesting.

Faces and LIs bodies are very diverse (except majority of big boobs of course, but how could it be different. HS game without teenagers who looks like they all had plastic surgeries? That'd be refreshing, but you won't see it here) are pretty and animations are smooth, maybe sometimes unnatural, but there are also few dedicated creampie animations and that's rare. Speaking about unnatural, there aren't many face expressions. Most of LIs have one look and sometimes something happens on their faces like wink or mouth shape changes, but don't expect deep emotions. Maybe they just had botox injections. There are some flaws. The biggest one is game just jumping from one scene to another without any info, additional characters movement or at least regular transition and it looks very unnatural, confusing sometimes - is it the same scene or new one started? Until now I didn't know how much I appreciate just a simple frame like "next two hours passed slowly, I was enjoying my time hugging X and watching TV" and looks like I wasn't alone in this, because just after I added this note, game started doing it. Not always, but these notes started to appear and be prepared for about 10 ingame days without it. Generally visuals are good. Not top, but also not below average.

My rate is a bit increased for encouragement. Few of things I mentioned are getting improved meantime and it looks like dev is trying her/his best. It'd be a tough job changing most of game, so I don't expect it, but I like that I'm seeing progress not only in characters, but also in job that's done. This game is very far from perfection, but I can certainly recommend it to everyone who wants to play a harem game with MC who have hero complex.

Another pleasant surprise! Produced using Honey Select, the characters sometimes lack realism. Proper mastery takes time, and the result can be excellent. There's real progress in the character development despite some mistakes and inconsistent quality.
On the other hand, the story is good and the characters are endearing; be careful, however, not to fall too often into childish responses and redundancy. Once, twice, or three times the same thing is fine, but 5 or 6 times in 10 minutes of story... The slow burn is fine, but at some point you have to move on. Jealousy is fine, but it shouldn't become the main driving force when you have protagonists so open to relationships. On this side, you have to be careful not to fall into exaggeration or overly exploit the MC's naiveté at times!
The content is substantial, which is a big plus, and I give this AVN a solid 4 because I feel the developer will continue to improve graphically. I can't wait to see the full sequel, and I have a feeling there will be future births in the story to follow.

Judging from some of the reviews it seemed like a bad game. Thankfully I didn't listen. I really find the game interesting.
The MC is a good combination of passive and active, especially considering his situation. I also like the female charas a lot. It was honestly a very interesting surprise.

Annoying. There's decent world building in there and the foundation of a good story too. But there's also a lot of things that are hard to overlook:

- Sofia. Goddamn, she is getting on my nerves. She's completely one dimensional and all she does is gate keeping with her constant jealousy. There's very little chemistry between her and the MC and the sex scenes with her are therefore mostly trite and soulless. This would be a better game without her. It's so bad that I skip all of her screen time and there's unfortunately a lot of it.

- I really dislike games that flirt with dark themes (slavery, forced sex) and then make it all go away in a puff of pink clouds. Everything in this game has plot armor. OF COURSE nothing will ever happen to anyone the MC likes and consequently the story never builds any tension. It's all a lukewarm, consensual soup of mediocrity and pouting love interests.

- It doesn't help that the MC has no spine. He talks a lot about how he will protect everyone and pretend to be all dominant, but when it comes down to it, he's a push over with just about everyone, including Sofia and the other LIs. It's painful to watch.

It's ok(ish), but it could be a lot better if the Dev (and the MC) had a bit more spine in their story telling.

As of version 0.10, this kinetic novel is just over a year old and already has a respectable length. Another reviewer criticized the language, but I disagree. Most likely the script got a recent copy edit by a native English speaker and most problems are now fixed. Apart from two instances of he/she confusion and one instance of "kiss goodnight" instead of "goodnight kiss", I couldn't detect any Engrish and actually found the English quite respectable. I noticed only one case of "Mc" instead of the main character's name.

Setting: The story seems to be taking place in a post-apocalyptic civilization that is very similar to today's industrialized countries except that social stratification has been formalized to the point that even slavery is now legal and normal again. The MC is a very young lower class man with a lifelong girlfriend who is somewhat slutty, has some tsundere traits, and has no problem with the MC's numerous side love interests.

Plot: Out of the blue, the MC gets a scholarship that pulls him out of his native environment. He moves to a rich district, where he is supposed to live in a large house along with his mysterious rich benefactor's daughter, and attend the same classes in college along with her. Despite the different background, she is quite similar to his girlfriend, and it appears the two will be the core of a large harem. I think this is headed toward a 'Cosy College' plot, except there are maids and slaves instead of restaurants and spanking, and the dangerous environment makes it harder for the MC to protect himself and his girls. Part of the problem is that he is not himself a member of a powerful family but merely important for a mysterious reason that seems to have to do with his sperm. So he must tread very carefully. I found the story more intricate than average but at the same time 100% clear and not confusing at all. That's quite an achievement.

Art: The computer graphics are produced with Honey Select, which is my personal favorite because the girls tend to be really beautiful. Only the slutty girls in Honey Select are often a bit weird, and here this affects the MC's original female entourage. But most of the girls in the college are outstanding. Many expose themselves to the MC in ways that feel natural in context. There are plenty of explicit scenes and even more nudity, but not as many as to turn this into pure porn. This is a harem adventure story with adult scenes.

Overall, this is a very high quality adult novel by a new developer. It seems to be improving in quality as well as in length, and at a good pace. I hope it will become one of the top games on this site, in the same class as the more cosy competition and a certain fictional VR game. It is not quite there yet, but close enough to definitely deserve 5 stars.

I will start by saying I understand this is a first game, and it's better than I can do, so I respect the attempt, the work put in, and the stones needed to share it in a public setting. However...

The women in this are written very poorly. Through the dialogue, 95% of them seem bitchy, rude, self-centered, narcissistic, arrogant, selfish, nasty, hypocritical, manipulative, and abusive. I wouldn't even want to talk to most of them, much less sleep with them. The Mc isn't much better, his character is yet another doormat. Why doesn't he question the "doctor" about needing a sperm sample for testing for diseases? Why not straight up refuse it? Does he have zero basic medical knowledge? Why does he not have a backbone and strip in a room full of bitchy women he doesn't even know, just because he's told to? There's a truly massive difference between being a good person that's kind and helpful, and being a doormat with no spine or boundaries. There's many, many other examples in the story of him being this way, just chose those instances because they were particularly annoying and infuriating.

Beyond that, I understand English is not the first language here, but get a proofreader. If you have one already, get a new one. There's a boatload of problems with spelling, sayings, phrasing, etc. Don't try and use phrases or sayings you don't properly understand. I also encountered multiple spots where the dialogue says "Mc" instead of the character's name.

v0.9
I would prefer to have given it 4.5 stars.
My only real complaints are: meh translation, especially during the h-scenes ("Slam me"), The h-scenes are inconsistent with the animation as some angles/positions are more fluid than others and the scenes themselves I feel are too short. I am not a fan of how the mc reacted during the scene where he had to go back home. All in all I think these complaints are nitpicky at best, which is why i only took half a star for them.

The story however is really interesting and has me hooked. Excited to see how the story continues!

i would have given it 5 stars coz i really liked it when the story lead it to the college/uni/school, but as soon as sofia came back and her attitude made me drop it 3 stars she made me press the skip button so much i have no idea what has happened in the story since the parents visit if she wasnt so unlikable i would have given this 5 stars if you ever have the option to remove her from the harem let me know and il be back to continue playing this

I've really been enjoying this game over the updates. I always like a story in which the protagonist has abilities unknown to him and his friends, then is drawn into an unfamiliar setting by people looking to either use his abilities for their own purposes or to support him in finding his true destiny. Until now, it's been unclear which of these situations our MC finds himself in.
I also like the development of the tsundere character as a more three-dimensional person than just the spoiled rich girl who never learns better. It will be interesting to see how the situation evolves into a full-blown harem, particularly after his childhood friend (and first LI) moves from the zone he lived in originally to live with him in the privileged zone he has been moved to.
The character development has been subtle and progressive, in the case of the maid who was provided to him, and is more loyal and attached to him than she might be simply out of duty.
In short, I'll continue to follow this as long as it continues to move forward with and intriguing group of characters living through a complex evolving story.
I'm afraid I can't really pass judgment on the graphics, since I pay far less attention to them than to the storytelling and character development.

Started following the game at the first moment and liked it immediately. Interesting to follow the story and characters. Maybe 5* is a lot at the moment, but the reviews that people leave are not deserved. I recommend trying the game and not listening to what people write about Sophia.

Well, I tried with all my might to read this VN, but with the 0.9, I alt+F4.
I hate tsundere to the core, when it's light it's passable, but here we don't have one tsundere, but two!
When they were separated it was my mental limit, but now in the same house I want to be done with them!
Not only does this create useless dialogues, but we end up with a miserable mc who does everything to please them.
At this point I'd call it masochism and unnecessary pain for the brain!
It's bad enough that we're not making any headway in terms of the plot, but the problems the mc encounters are also giving us a headache, in short, the balance is broken, I'm no longer enjoying myself, I've deleted the game!
I vote to rename the game “The Familiar of Emila and Sofia”.

It's a shame, I liked the basic story, it was interesting, I was curious about the story of several characters, but unfortunately spoiled by two tsundere!

Really liked the backdrop of a dystopian class based society where rich families rule absolute and a guy (MC) from a lower class district surprisingly gets the chance to attend an elite school. The mysterious circumstances of how and why are slowly revealed as the story progresses. Interesting & varied cast of characters & LIs that have plenty of personality in addition to their sex appeal, and some great sex scenes. Not much in terms of branching choices, basically whether you pursue some relationships or not. But honestly i don't find that problematic for this type of game.

Giving it 5 stars might be a bit much right now, wish there was a wider spectrum of stars: imo it's more of a ****-game with some upward potential right now.
But i'm glad i didn't listen to the rather unfair 1-2 star reviews & would definitely recommend it.

Ok It is probably a 3* right now, but I want to compensate a little the really low reviews that didn't give it a fair chance.

For me the story is interesting enough, and it shows a lot of thought by the developer. In fact, the story and the beautiful girls and nice wholesome moments are the things making me stick to the game.

However, the erotic scenes are a bit disappointing. The animations are nice but in general are a bit boring, and they could use with some more description of what’s going on or dialogue, and some kind of leading to it. Right now they are just there, like an addition just to make the game and Adult VN. With a little more though put into them this game could be a great one.

Also there are some grammatical mistakes in the dialogues, for example in this last update there is a whole conversation where mister Himmell is a “she”, instead of a He. But the essence is clear enough, at least for people like myself that are not English native speakers.

Keep up the good Work. I will follow the game closely.

The conversation was terrible.
When a person is angry at another person for something.
The worst thing is that after handling the matter.
To ask for forgiveness in a frivolous manner.
This is the worst text I've ever seen.

Game version: 0.7

Pretty boring game, to sum it up.

The story begins interesting with an MC that both respects AND uses women. Women fall for him, because he has a big dick- that's where the game shifts into another generic game with generic scenes, characters and made me skip to 99% of the future text/ story until the end.
There are dozens or similar games here, with either the same engine, same animations and/or similar story.
At least some of them have much more sexual content at the same development stage; Project S.P.E.S. has way too few scenes.
Nothing sets this game apart, sadly.

I lost my last bit of interest in the latest version of 0.7, because the story continued to be boring af.

Not recommended.

This AVN isn't terrible, but it just can't meet my expectations for a story-focused AVN. The English translation is pretty bad, which doesn't help the fact this is supposed to be story-driven. Personally, I found the whole "he's just a friend" aspect to Sofi's relationship with the MC to be annoying and unrealistic. The MC is having sex with multiple women Sofi knows, even though every female seems to believe Sofi is completely in love with the MC, which is kinda crazy. It is so unrealistic and a tired trope of anime, manga, and AVN fans. Of all the women that are obsessed with the MC, that one who just sees him as a "friend" is the one he is most interested in. It's silly, especially when you consider what else he could have or do.

Beyond that, the models are attractive and the render quality is not bad, but there isn't a ton of sex scenes, which the writer states up front. I just couldn't overcome the language barrier within the writing.

Overall, my rating reflects the poor dialog and writing in an AVN that is focused on story and dialog. I sincerely hope the writer finds a suitable translator to help write it out.

Version 0.4

A decent well-rounded game with a high 3s rating. The only thing to note is the main LI is a semi-tsundere so players who prefer a MC that goes around dominating girls or at least have girls throwing themselves at him will not like this game.

Story
MC lives in a country where citizens of different social classes stay at their respective zones. MC starts off in a lower middle class slave owning family who then receives an invitation to study at an elite school and stay with the daughter of an elite senator and a house servant / slave.

So far most of the interaction takes place either in the school or at home with the daughter Emi (your main tsundere LI) and centered around studies and club activities with some sci-fi mystery as a background.

The game is currently in a neither here nor there situation. It hints at some deeper sci-fi plot in the future but yet most of it plays out like a generic high school / college AVN. I hope there’s clarity in future versions.

Game Mechanics
More or less a kinetic novel, I haven’t seen any choices that branch out the story at this stage.

Background / Character Renders
SPES is a Honey Select game and with most of the story taking place at home and in schools, so it isn’t surprising to see large amounts of HS stock backgrounds deployed.

However the character renders are pleasant with evidence of detailed effort so they are much more pleasing than generic HS models. The main LI Emi is very well-designed and fits the expectations of a rich slightly spoiled brat with a generally positive character.

Character Development
This is a controversial area and source of most of the negative reviews. First off, at the start of the game you are led to believe that the MC’s childhood friend Sofi will be the main LI only to find out after a while that she’s just one of the many girls in MC’s harem.

Then comes the main LI Emi - she’s sort of a like her or hate her character. Players dislike her because she calls MC a pervert and sometimes disrespects him and get frustrated when MC does not “do something to put her in place”, others like me find her quite adorable because of her often conflicted disposition and attitudes towards MC.

Personally I don’t think it’s too much of a deal - the pervert thing lasted only a day and started to dissipate to the point that it only pops out rarely thereafter. I also disagree that MC is being a total wuss in not confronting Emi - their relationship is along the lines of squabbling long time friends or siblings and sometimes MC lets her have the last word out of deference to her father and/or being a gentleman.

Sex Scenes
The sex scenes pacing is a tad weird if you ask me. Players are treated with a deluge of them right at the start of the prologue involving Sofi and the slave that the family owns. Once MC moves to the school it trickles into a slow burn involving the Sara, Emi and other school mates.

Story wise it makes sense - after all you don’t just move into a totally new environment at the charity of an unknown powerful politician and start fucking any girl you see, but from a gameplay experience POV it sets expectations very high and then have things crash down which is not ideal.

Scene wise I would say they are so far above average. The animations and dialogue are good but camera angles are odd in some of them making some potentially steamy scenes look bleh.

BGM and Sound Effects
Decent BGMs that complement gameplay and minimal / no sound effects so far.

Conclusion
I like this game mainly because the LI designs are pleasing and unique, the relationship MC has with various LIs is enriching and varied, the relationship with Emi is quirky and entertaining at the same time and of course the sex scenes are good enough though not stellar.

However it also has room for improvement in terms of story direction (developer needs to decide whether he wants to focus on a school slice of life story or a sci-fi mystery one). The camera angling of some lewd scenes can be improved, sometimes it’s better to just learn from legends than reinvent the wheel.

(Review written at v0.5)

Decent-ish soundtrack, and nice renders. The story is... middling; it's somewhat interesting but it also progresses at a snail pace and the dialogue does it no favor (English does not seem to be the first language of the writer as it is filled with weird sentence constructions and small grammatical mistakes).

The characters are somewhat interesting but some of them are definitely a bit too forward without any reason, and some characters tend to lean too heavily into their tropes that they end up becoming considerably annoying.

As a detriment, the game is being touted as a 0.5, but honestly, that just means it's the fifth release, and it's clear the game is not going to go into 1.0 after 0.9 and reach a completed status. There's barely any content and I also cannot say that the choices we have so far do anything of relevance to the story other than one that immediately diverges you into an alternative ending.

With how short it currently is, there's also not much to comment on the story itself so far. It's not interesting, not groundbreaking, but might eventually prove to be good enough. Since none of the mystery undertones have been revealed it's rough to say whether it's got a positive future or not.

At the very least, it's not bad, but there's also nothing quite good here to look at just yet.

This game is like a fun, breezy ride through an entertaining, its not a groundbreaking story. Don't expect any major twists or deep character arcs—but it's enjoyable enough to keep you engaged. What really makes it shine is its humor. The game doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you. There are plenty of cheesy lines but all in good fun. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.