VN - Ren'Py - Projekt: Passion [v0.14] [Classy Lemon]

Finished Version 0.7 i.e. Season 1 and I would say it's a slight disappointment as I was expecting close to a legendary experience for a 4.7 star game. Though it has 7 chapters, each one is quite short and all in should take no more than 5 - 6 hours to finish under normal reading without skips.

Story
The common lineup of MC gathering a smattering group of female crew to go on a space adventure in search of a mysterious amulet. Interesting enough premise though not particularly innovative.

I would also classify this as a comedy with a sci-fi setting rather than a real sci-fi story per se. The pace is good and the story prods along nicely, but personally I find the comedic elements repetitive and tiring after a while.

Some of the dramatic and emotional scenes were also not given enough time to be immersive before yet another wisecrack and funny plot rears its head.

Game Mechanics
Typical Ren'py visual novel mechanics linear in nature. There are a lot of choices but majority of them do not matter other than slight variations in dialogue / scenes.

Background / Character Renders
The characters are gorgeous and there is some use of lighting and shades to create a more natural feel of things. Effort has been put into background like starships, base interior, cockpit etc. and overall it was a good visual spectacle. You also get a suite of races like demons, sprites, skeletons, orcs, jellies and androids for variety.

The short cinematics are good and rare amongst VNs so kudos to this feature as well. However the accompanied voice acting is obviously not professional and feels awkward at times. Luckily there aren't a lot of lines in the first place.

Character Development
Good but rather uneven.

Ashe's back story and development was pronounced and touching whereas Kaylee's, Emily's and Elysra's were lacking. Sandra and Ves had boring perfunctory backstories that I suspect were put in simply as fillers.

Sex Scenes
The animation and modelling is definitely very good, but I did find the overall experience somewhat let down by boring dialogue, forgettable music and strange choice of camera angles that make the whole thing stale.

BGM and Sound Effects
BGM is very generic, but credit must be given that there is a good mix of sound effects especially in space and during firefights. As mentioned above, the voice acting during cinematics could do with serious improvement.

Conclusion
I would say the overall experience is a solid 4 star one, however it is still somewhat disappointing for me considering the many raves I've read and also a very high aggregate score of 4.7 at F95.

I guess I was looking for the WOW factor but didn't quite find it in the end.

I will grant you I've a memory like a sieve but I think I would be hard pressed to think of many, if any games that are as great as Projekt: Passion is regardless and I mean that right across the board.

The writing is top notch and the overarching narrative engaging. Big props for managing to write scenes that were genuinely funny WITHOUT being, for lack of a better word, cringe. A true rarity in this medium.

The renders are stunning and the animations are also great. Nice and fluid. Not jerky and poorly looped, as they often tend to be.

Even audio gets high marks from me and more often than not I usually mute it, but this might be maybe the only game I've played where the music and sound effects actually DID enhance my experience.

My only complaint? The game boasts a decent amount of voice acting and most of it is anywhere between good enough to actually good. But man, the MCs voice... I wouldn't say it were bad, exactly. But I don't think it suits him AT ALL.

But that is one very itty, bitty teeny fly in the otherwise scrumptious and hearty soup that is Projekt: Passion, a game that in my experience might well be totally unparalleled in its space.

Not that I often have occasions to talk about such things, but if someone had asked me to recommend them an adult VN I would have to hesitate before recommending this - because it might well ruin other games for them. I do believe it's THAT good.

This is definitely a game worthy of 5 stars

- It's original
- It's story rich
- A wide variety of characters and personalities
- Renders are excellent
- ... and so much more

I don't need to go into detail, many others have already highlighted why this game is so great. Try it for yourself... you won't regret it

This game for me is very overrated. I stuck with it because of those ratings but as of 0.11 ended up disappointed. This is not on the level of the top tier games on this site.

The graphics and animations are no higher than average, same with the story. The girls look very similar somehow despite there being many alien and even android variants.

Story 3/5, Originality 3/5, Renders 3/5, Playability 4/5, , Animations 3/5, Amount of content 4/5

[SPOILER ALERT]

Man, why didn't I play this game sooner? heard about it few months ago from a subreddit and I just tried it two days ago and bro, I'm actually having a blast. I've been looking for a good AVN lately and I was lucky to came across this one.

Okay let's go back to the topic. The graphics are great, one of the best out there. I was thinking about typical DAZ graphics but nope, Lemon definitely improved it. The characters are mostly (or all?) look original, I don't quite recognize them from other games so that's a plus from me. Projekt Passion also has voiced animated cutscenes, definitely something that I never seen during my tenure in the AVN industry, another plus from me. "Well, what about the sex scenes?" oh man, this game has some of the best sex scenes compared to most AVNs out there. You want a lot of voiced 60 fps sex scenes? go get this game!

Now let's talk about the storyline. You start as a bounty hunter or outlaw or whatever with a cybernetic implant who just lost a very valuable yet mysterious amulet because your newfound girlfriend stole it. It turns out she works for SAC, the biggest company in the galaxy. In the order to get it back, he manages to recruit his childhood friend, Kaylee whose parents are part of underworld criminal, Ves, a disgruntled bartender, Sandra, an android who was owned by a SAC's lieutenant, Ashe, the poker face assassin, Emily, a former SAC marksman who was left behind, and Elysra, a failed spaceship pilot. During their journey to get the amulet, it turns out everything isn't according to plan, meaning a lot of big troubles ahead.

Sounds familiar? yeah... a proper parody game of Guardians of The Galaxy right here. I can tell that this game also taken some references from other games such as Mass Effect and The Outer Worlds.

I said the word "parody" before, right? yeah this game has a lot of jokes that can make you laugh (I laughed too, to be honest). Every jokes are on point, none of them are forced. But this game also has sad and tragic story behind every characters, so yeah this game can make you laugh and cry at the same time. Sounds like a classic trope of standard RPG where every companions you have are between life and death and you need to solve their problems as soon as possible. But hey, I actually don't have a problem with it.

Projekt: Passion has a dialogue tree mechanic that matters a lot during your journey so choose carefully. It also has a response mechanic like the one in Mass Effect, you know the renegade/paragon thing?. One more thing, the LI system is pretty similar with Eternum, you can fuck every girls you want but you can also close their romance paths. Don't worry about the harem tag, it's not like your typical harem games (I'm looking at you, NLT Games) so this game is suitable for everyone.

Overall, this game is a must for you all. Easiest five stars out of five. Just a little disappointed that there's no "we'll bang, okay?" line in this game, well at least I can bang the girls for real this time lol.

Oh one more thing, if you have a plan to buy Starfield, use your money to support Classy Lemon instead.

Very enjoyable game. Very funny. The interactions between the MC and the other characters are hilarius. The girls are all amazing. Ashe and Elysra are my favourites, but the rest are very good too. Five well deserved stars.

The story is interesting. At first you might think it's just funny, but as the story progresses, the dev explores more varied storytelling. My favorites so far are the tension at the end of 0.9, the twist at the end of 0.10 and the relief at the end of 0.11. I can say that every recent update has surprised me.
You won't find its models in other games. While models don't affect the story, the unique characters do enhance the experience.
And I can say its animations are the best done of all DAZ games I've played. Characters' action is smooth , and the expressions are natural.

Pleasantly surprised, this is a great game. This game has good models, good writing, and a interesting plot. There are plenty of player choices, but so far the choices seem to impact the side quest endings more so than the main story. Well balanced dialogue/story ratio to sex content. There is a lot of content given how long it has been in development to boot. Each character has a unique voice, which is also a rarity.

Let me start off by saying this is probably the funniest VN I've played with Eternium right behind it. Its spot on. The writing is good. Not just the comedy either, but the overall story and lore as well as how the characters connect to everything going on. Even without the sex I'd still play this. You understand why the heroes are doing what they are and man, is the villain relatable. You know why he's doing what he's doing and the way its explained sounds crazy.......until you're in deep space and out of nowhere see "it". Then its like ohhhhhhhhhhhhh......holy shit....he's right. Its good when a story can be funny and deadly serious at the drop of a hat without being jarring.

That being said the relationships are good. Really good characterization. Really good interpersonal drama. I think its pretty well accepted that the MC isn't running a harem, but the characters are okay with the general fuckery with each other. Also said fuckery isn't pointless. In fact a lot of times you'll see something weird happen and then when the end chapter bonus scene happens its kind of explained how awkward of a situation it really is. Also a lot of it is built around the relationships the MC has with the crew. Well paced and they're all pretty excellent. Also I dont thing a single one of the models is ugly and thats a first.

All in all a must play.

10/10: Would Buy Again

Projekt: Passion holds a very unique place in AVNs, in my experience. The first thing I noticed when I started the game for the very first time was that there is voice acting in the cutscenes. Normally, this would have me rushing to the preferences to disable the voice channel, but this title's VA is superbly executed. It's not overdone at all, and the mouthing of words looks about as normal as you could rightly expect from Daz-based animations.

And that leads me to the second, immediately noticeable fact: The animations are superb! It's generally accepted that animations in Daz-developed AVNs are likely to be mid at best. Here, however, we see animation that essentially raises the bar for what devs should be doing in Daz. And a high bar it is.

Continuing onward, the foley, sound effects and music used in the story really add to the experience. I find that foley/EFX can be hit or miss. And, again, it's just superbly executed here. It seems pretty obvious to me that a great deal of thought went into the sound design. I find it all to tremendously add to the story.

Ah, yes. The story. Now we finally stop discussing things from a technical perspective and get to the real meat and potatoes of why you'd want to read the story in the first place: It's funny as all hell and the characters are well developed. Now, humour is a very subjective thing, but I think the writing and development of each character is charming. And our protagonist of an MC is written from a number of perspectives that enable the player to experience the game in a manner that matches their own choice of behaviours.

If you lean towards being a harsher, more aggressive team leader, the game enables you to express that via the choices. The same applies if you're more of a chill/friendly vibe. Flirty? The story's got your back. You be you and the story will play out somewhat differently depending on the alignment of your choices.

The rest of the characters on MC's ragtag team are all, to a person -- or to a Demian in Ves's case -- very well written. Each has a credible backstory and each character brings with them some sense of trouble and growth potential. Each of the girls are, I think, very cute. And each evokes a remarkable sense of balance for the skills they bring to the band versus the personal issues they face. In other words, this is a well balanced lot.

It's probably correct to say that it's a harem game in that you can be with all the LIs. That said, it's not orgy city and at least one of the characters later indicates that she's not at all interested in anyone other than MC. That said, there are no indications that engaging with all of the LIs will present a problem. That remains to be seen.

It's a delightful game. I think the environment designs are extremely well executed and nicely unique. They have a comfortable cyberpunk/sci-fi feel, but nothing feels as though it's already been seen a bunch of times in other VNs. When I take all of this into consideration, I can only give a full recommendation to give the game a try.

Rarely does one play a game that feels like it was made by "one of us". A lot of titles sadly turn to fetish milking and plotless messes.

Happy to say that is not the case with this game. The game has decent plot progression, very likeable and unique cast. The humor lands most of the time.
And that for me is pretty important because I actually play these games for the humor and plot. I pretty much CTRL 99% of lewd scenes

I am still not up2date with the chapters, but it is clear to see that this game is made with love and care.
The dev is enjoying the ride, so are the people.

Looking forward to the rest.

Will give a detailed review once the game is complete(like I usually do).
It's just such a rare gem deserves support along the way.

P.S. The dev is a swell guy too. He treats people on F95 with the same amount of respect as on his own server. And he bas been a delight to cooperate with on some artworks along the way.

Amazing VN. Love the story and sense of humor throughout. There are also a variety of female LIs to choose from. I have enjoyed watching the arcs for the women evolve. The last update was very well done for Vesnia and Elrysa. Very touching and led into their scenes very well. Can't wait to see what CL does in the next update.

could not finish the game, was too boring

maze of choices, questions answers which dont seem to make sense without walkthrough

very generic scenes

girls ranging from android, to alien, to some d..mn devil spawn,

just boring

Story is great, characters are great, the balance of serious story beats and humor is on point. Animations? Great as well, if I had to complain about something is that I want more updates faster, but even that is not a real complaint as the update cycles are very good and always bring meaningful content.
This game deserves it's place in the first page on weighted ratings and in my opinion is one of the best games in the site.

An absolutely incredible experience.

This is the game that got me into AVNs, I found it on Steam but had to make an account here just to support the creator.

Everything about this game is so enjoyable, the characters are all likeable and interesting. The story is simple but intriguing. The humor is amazingly well written. All of this make for a narrative that's more enjoyable than what you'll find in most AAA games these days.

I absolutely ADORE this game! I've seen it streamed and played it a bunch of times at this point and loved so much of it!

I'm an easy guy to please admittedly and if a game can make me laugh, it's already doing better than most others. And boy, does this game make me laugh! Comedy on point, characters done well with a cast that really captures the motley crew type of adventure!

The writing is solid, the music was well done, and the pacing of the story was also fairly good too. Oh and we can't forget the voice acting, a rarity in the VN sphere but always appreciated just for the attempt! Now, I'm not saying it's perfect, the story does have some moments I wish that picked up and slowed down and the VA wasn't always perfect, but it didn't detract enough from the experience to grind my gears.

All-in-all, I would suggest Projekt: Passion to anyone who's interested in VNs as a great VN to put on their "Must Read" list!

Review of v0.10

This is a hard one for me. There's a lot of good in this game, but I had a really tough time with it. I acknowledge that some of that came from my tastes, but there's no such thing as an objective rating; I can only tell you my experience.

I'll start with Projekt Passions's main strength: a strong plot. Despite my struggles in other areas, I was compelled to get to the end of the game in only about 3 sittings. It's not the most novel thing concept ever - another "guy who recruits a crew of hot girls to accompany his adventures in space" story - but it's told well, and even though none of the characters have received enough character development yet, I was still excited to see their progression (except for the mc). There's a really good villain who's a bit but not too sympathetic.


The game also has great visuals. The quality is great, the animations are smooth but still dynamic, the models are cute, and the art direction is great. It even makes the typically bland spaceship interiors look (relatively) interesting.

But. I had to skip through the sex scenes. The only times I've ever had to that before are when the dialogue is cringe-inducing. That's not the case here: while the dialogue isn't especially hot, it doesn't contain any distracting jokes. The problem for me was the mc. I couldn't stand looking at him having sex. Why? It's hard to say exactly. But the problem was worst when he took off his mask. He wears his mask almost all of the time outside sex scenes, only taking it off when getting intimate with girls he's especially close with. Now, normally mcs are given masks because seeing faces can turn players off; this is the same reason some people never watch porn where you can see a guy's face. I confirmed with the dev that the mc was not given a mask for this reason, and indeed it makes some narrative sense to use it as an indicator of when he's close to a girl. For me, I'm fine with mc faces being shown, but (apparently) only if I've gotten used to them outside sex scenes already.

This might seem like a minor problem, but this created a disconnect between me and the mc, which bled into the rest of the game. Projekt Passion has a really interesting dialogue system which gives quite a lot of leeway for roleplaying, but after the disconnect I was no longer as interested in his character.

A noticable though not so important problem I had was the bad voice acting. The mc sounds like he can't decide whether he has an English or American accent, and as characters in the game remark, it doesn't suit his character model. The girls almost all have generic American accents which don't match them either; the pitch, depth and tone just don't sound like they look. In real life, of course people's voices don't always match their looks, but in animated media, we have come to expect a certain variation from reality. However, there isn't much voice acting in the game, so it wasn't a major issue. Though this also hurt it in that you get used to reading the dialogue in your internal voice, only to be shaken out of it occasionally.

Finally, there's a very annoying narrative contrivance with one of the girls as of v0.10 which I hope gets resolved soon.


TL;DR Good story, good visuals, bad voice acting. And if you have a problem looking at other guys' faces during sex, you're gonna have to skip some scenes.

There really isn't much for me to say: This is one of the best games out there and rightfully deserves all the attention it gets. It's immensely high quality, has great funny moments and the writing with each individual characters is just so good.

That said, the creator is also an amazing being and I highly recommend engaging with him and the community.

Ashe fans eating good with the later chapters.

I don't know what I was expecting but this game passed with flying colors. Plot is funny and well constructed, graphics and animations are good and acting is professional. Character design is superb as girls have natural proportions and their background is interesting. Main character is charismatic and cool.

For me, this is a solid 5/5. This is what I expect for an entertaining adult game done by a sci-fi lover.

Awesome, one of the best games I played

Story is awesome, never laughed so much in any visual novel

Girls are beautiful with realistic bodies for once, no huge breasts or ass here, and with good personalities and backstories

Music and sound effects help the immersion a lot, especially in the season 2 updates