VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Pure Heart Chronicles [Vol. 1] [Arkamsoft]

I liked it. I remember playing it on my phone maybe a year ago. But at the time I played others and I remember them much better than this game.

It is just a really funny game. Story is seemingly short and linear but who cares. There was alot of choices to make but they didn't seem to change anything. I personally think for a long time about the consequences of my decisions (not in life), and when these decisions do not change anything, it does not get better.

This "game" is a bare bones picture book "premise" with aside from the background art, interface art, and some of the gallery images only passable at best art. The writing quality is quite bad/forget able both in terms of how the story unfolds and just what the characters are all like in general. (I know this is supposed to be a volume 1 but doesn't feel like it, feels more like an idea pitch)

Story Impression
A good natured mentally handicapped boy unrelated to anything in particular, accidentally ends up bound to a powerful artifact due to the heroines incompetence/ill-natured personalities (black girl not clearing the perimeter/caring to actually help the lost boy, and purple hair trying to get him even more lost/to kill the guardian of the artifact). Afterwards when the heroines realize they can't just kill him and take the artifact, they decide to take him along with the artifact(they make a show of not realizing that one of them would try to kill him but it feels like a farce), afterwards he becomes they're lackey and they say that several more interesting "adventures" take place(honestly their adventures are just quick fight scenes), they detail the pirate fight but it's really just a fight not an adventure, the end... (oh, and there's one "really" forced development in which you can consent to sex with the purple haired girl, once at the very end).

Character Impressions
MC - A good natured mentally handicapped boy, that has unwittingly been the target of bullying by literally everyone in his life, without his ever realizing it, until a particularly mean girl, goes out of her way to torment him by pointing it out, after that he gets bullied(now mainly by the heroines) conscious of the fact that it's happening.(I can't really describe his role as anything other than a mentally handicapped kid that no one cared about/that was pushed towards a profession that he wan't qualified for, that would probably get him killed, whom now holds a dangerous artifact that the heroines want, the only reason they took him in instead of giving him to a group they knew would genuinely care about him was of the artifact.)

Purple haired girl - The greedy two faced bitch that is the main heroine of this "volume" that the story tries to make her seem sympathetic, by making her feel jealous since she's the only girl in the group without giant breasts,

Black girl - The stoic uncaring uptight totalitarian that's just kinda there to get derailed discussions back on track, and propose the obvious solutions to situations. She's supposed to be a cool silent character but she's honestly just behaves like a snob.

Blonde girl - The violent character, she's supposed to be a nice caring onee type character apparently, she keeps trying to give off that impression to the MC(player) describing herself as such, but honestly when it comes to her actions she's just a really violent person, with a mostly passive personality.

Long dark haired girl - The queen bee mary-sue character, she's an OP know it all, with a generic male scumbag personality, the story tries to gloss over it since she's female and one of the heroines, but it's pretty jarring seeing that personality not get persecuted given that it typically is, in even far less extreme iterations, especially if it exists in the heroes group.

This game is both satisfying and extremely disappointing.

The art is pleasant and fun, and is well matched to the story setting. The characters are a bit stereotypical but there is good interplay between them. They are mostly likable even with their own personal quirks and problems.

The story setting is interesting and fun. It presents a great wealth of alternative route possibilities that are just right for a Visual Novel.

However, the story implementation is not a Visual Novel. While you are presented with many alternative choices, a look at the underlying code reveals that there are flags set for each of those choices but none of those flags is ever checked. This means that the only difference your choices make are to the scene that immediately follows and none of the choices have any long-term impact on the story at all. There are no actual alternative routes.

The narrative constantly bashes and belittles the MC to the point where the player playing the MC can get very annoyed that their efforts in playing him get so little reward and so much abuse. This greatly detracts from the story telling.

I hope to see a lot more focus on the impact of choices in future chapters. I would like to see this first chapter rewritten to better reflect the choices made.

It was a good short game the only issue was only one sex scene for the MC. The art and story was really well done!
I do hope the make some more chapters!

Art 9/10
Story 9.5/10
Sex 6.5/10
Characters 8/10

A great start!
The plot is funny and interesting.
Memorable character characters, with each of which will be interesting continuation of the relationship.
The main character is beyond praise.
We are waiting for the continuation!

The following review is based off my personal experience with playing this Game/Visual Novel... I try to be as brutally honest and detailed as I can, and these are my own opinions and thoughts, from one or more play throughs... The version this review is based on is Complete...

This is a complete version of Volume 1 of this visual novel/game series, with more to come according to the end credits...

The visuals of the characters are 2D hand drawn, and designed to look a lot like comedic Japanimation... The backdrops are the same... You get a slight hentai feel as well now and then, especially with the Nia character and her facial expressions when angry and so on...

The script is pretty spot on, as I don't remember running into any spelling/grammar errors... The plot revolves around a virginal, naïve, and very clumsy male protagonist, who is a white magic mage... He desires most to be a heroic adventurer, and just so happens to stumble his way into gaining a magical item, that in some chaotic ways enhances his abilities, and protects him somewhat from physical harm... He then joins a party of 4 women, all with varying extreme personalities, and sets out on quests... Of course the whole story takes on a lot of comedic tones and dialogue and behavior for the characters and events... It's very much a satire in how things occur and play out, while adding in some nudity and the occasional short sexual activity...

Most of the sexual activities are short lived, with more text about what is happening then actual pictures... Which pretty much follows suit with how typical hentai visual novels usually play out sexual encounters... Which was a bit disappointing... Plus the story plays a lot on the fact that the protagonist is a virgin, and while this current content does tease a tiny little bit at his eventual corruption, he is so clueless and naïve, that it feels like it'll be a slow trudge before we ever see him actually get very far... This first volume mostly revolves around story introduction, character introductions, and the first quest...

Near the end, after the pirate quest was complete, it sort of teased at a possible male rival/competitor to the protagonist... I really hope that further story, in future volumes, does not have cuckold and/or NTR occurring... But who knows... It was just teasing at the moment... Also, there does seem to be some Player Punishment dead ends, not many, but a couple... And although I understand they are used to not allow the player/reader to go overboard, I'm still not a fan of their use... They are usually a sign that the author is trying to push the reader/player in slightly linear directions... Why even bother offering those choices if you don't want the player/reader to select them? So be aware of their existence, and save game accordingly...

Overall, there is a lot more story then erotic material in this VN/Game... I found it funny at times, silly at times, and sometimes a bit rushed, especially with the erotic content... Even though I enjoyed the overall story, I did feel the protagonist was just a clueless idiot, and he wasn't improving much in that arena... The focus on this VN/Game is very much over the top comedy value... Will I revisit future volumes? Only once they are completed, as piece mailing this type of VN/Game would just be annoying...