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

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.

I felt mostly disengaged throughout my playthrough. I didn't feel like my choices matter or if there was anything it wasn't too memorable. Most of these games tend to look over the power of choices when developing VNs. AVN's a more than just yes or no choices (go with(A) or go with (B)). That's why most new VNs fail to draw a passionate audience because they fail to grasp the concept of making your players feel involved. If you want to be a hands-on creator and control the entirety of the story; make a kinetic novel (add the tag), but if you want to make a memorable VN focus on interactivity and choices.

v0.4 A well-constructed KN and a poly harem in the making

The Good:
-The best HS/HS2 models and visuals that I can remember. Teens, matures, and milfs all look stunning. A wide range of body types but no freakishly distorted proportions.
-Intriguing mystery underlying the action. Why has the mc been plucked from obscurity and given this opportunity.
-Minimal (and avoidable) info dumps explain the underpinnings of a society where poly harems are the norm (at least among class 1 citizens)
-Female characters have personalities and agency, I want to find out more about them before we end up in bed (romance is on the menu).
-The mc is neither a toxic jerk, nor oblivious virgin.
-Early consensual sex with childhood friend (with benefits) and slaves/servants but a slower burn with other potential harem members

Neutral:
-Big non-magical dick

Negative:
-Patreon only thus far, so future plot development may be restricted by censorship, or delayed due to time lapse for Subscribestar approval

Who should play this:
People who like poly harems and don't mind Kinetic Novels (at least thus far). People who like female characters with some complexity and agency. Tsundere fanciers (although there are plenty of other personalities on display). People who prefer romance over domination and exploitation.

Who should not:
People who hate Kinetic Novels, People who want monogamous relationships. People who fear catching lesbian cooties from their harem. People who think acting with kindness, politeness, and consideration towards a LI is being a simp and a doormat.

Still pretty early but solid story so far, very cute characters with decent personalities and good variation. Standard HS renders and animations well done, no bugs that I noticed. Looking forward to see how the relationships and story work out.

3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 to try to balance the reviewers that don't know what a kinetic novel is.

[v0.3]

Interesting game, the story is interesting so far, more of a slice of life with the true plot not yet known.

The script is a bit light, and the beggining feels a bit messy but it improve with time and I started enjoying it. Even felt a bit frustrated at the end of the current version as I want to see and know more.

Girls design are good with variety. i would say it's an average game but gave 4 stars because I enjoyed it.

Keep the good work.

Yet another doormat/illogical MC. First we get the mysterious scholarship for the MC to join a prestigious school. This leaves you with the only choice in the game where you either choose to walk away from the shady scholarship opportunity and live a happy life, or you choose to keep on going despite reservations. The only problem with the walking away ending is that the generic evil rich guy clearly has plans for you, so I find it hard to believe he'd just let you walk away. Then there's the special privileges given to the MC, which include a house, a hot maid, cohabitation with the rich guy's daughter, and some spending money. If your mind doesn't scream red flags with this then you're a moron. Also clearly there's no respect for the MC because rich guy's daughter calls you pervert and is a "tsundere", which all fine and good if you like that but that's not the case with this MC. Instead he just takes it all with no dignity. It also doesn't help with his image when he clearly aims to please at all turns helping at all times to all the girls. There is a fine line between being kind/gentlemanly and going into simping territory and this guy crossed that line. Finally, this last update with a servant that isn't willing to explain her motivations and gets away with basically saying "you won't force me to explain because you're not a bad person" was the last straw. Even if you want a servant the least you should do is be thorough and make sure they are loyal. The only reason it gets two stars is because the renders are decent enough to justify it.

version 0.3
well this was hard ,halfway i saw the kinetic novel tag ,and that stop me from enjoying this game,.
yeah the kinetic tag means that you cant choose who to fuck so,thats takes 1 star form the beggining,.
another star bcs same problem with choices....there isonly one in 30 of play and it was a ending...
graphics are standard for hs2 not the best not the worst,half star there .
mc is a semi doormat,with too much question and semi spinelees to ask the right ones....another half star,
i could take another 1 bcs well alltogheter is bad,.but i will leave the 2 for the dev to think about put some choices at least to choose the Li's

p.s: edited to version 0.6
ok the mc still goes all doormat till the event with sofi...and then oh shit sorry again.....but no plot hickening here like at all.we all waiting for the meeting with mr himmel,and dev is ranting ,....
on one scene sarah told him to dont question her,who is the fucking servant ?you or her? and why she give a answer that "you can focus on sofi or want the details to how i know the details?
ok the rating is still pretty the same without change but seems that the train is not moving forward.....same kinetic novel for us...

[Played Version 0.2]

Story and length is good for a second release, Luckily a decent MC and no beta MC like in other games.

While playing I got some "Hunger Games" vibes with the difference districts and that you not allowed to travel in between them. The Story with his sudden scholarship and going to a richer district has the potential to be good. Especially with the true intentions of Mr. Himmel and potential politicals games in the school.

All Love interests have somthing uniqe, looking good and are not just a copy of each other.

The renders are good for Honey Select, the sames for the charterers, in some renders you can see clipping but nothing annoying.

My playtime was about 2h and my rating are currently 5 stars.

Why 5 Stars?

• Very solid Game for a second release
• Played the full release in one go
• Funny characters
• Good quality HS renders
• Story has potential

I can't wait to play the next relase