Review as of v.0.1.2
Pros:
+ Potential?
Meh:
~ Visuals are decent, but nothing more
~ Character personalities are inconsistent (if not explained later in the story, may consider this a serious minus, otherwise the little psychos may be a plus)
Cons:
- Sound design
- Surprisingly weak writing
- Working on multiple projects at once is always a worrying thing
In-depth:
I'm trying not to be too harsh on this game, because it's an early release, but still, can't help but fill a little disappointed.
The models are alright, although a bit generic. Not a fan of the very basic body types, stretchy textures and super generic hair choices.
I like the backgrounds though. They have some weird bugs, for example, the kitchen stretches as the character emotions change. But that's more hilarious than anything. Also, that was the second tiniest pizza I've seen in my life.
Nevertheless, overall the backgrounds look good.
The animations are short and a little awkward looking. Not the worst I've seen, and at least they try to play with facial expressions a little, but still, not great.
The gameplay has a lot of potential, if they manage to make their current system work. I'm genuinely intrigued by how different the routes may play. But that's for a far, far later release, I'm afraid. At this moment it's all just empty promises. We'll just have to see what becomes of them.
The writing is surprisingly weak, considering the author's previous work. It's especially noticeable during the sex scenes, they are incredibly dull and uninspired. Well... by "they" I mean the only one we've had so far, so there's not much to go by. But it is what it is.
The everyday scenes are also far from great, or even good. Many dialogues are cringy at best, the annoying "narrator" strikes back and since you can hear other characters' thoughts (you as a player, not as a protagonist), it takes away all the possible tension.
That said, the story itself seems nice so far. So maybe it's not all hopeless.
The characters, as in, their personalities, are a bit... odd? Creepy? Except for Maddie, she's great, love her. But Allie is definitely creepy, and Olivia is surprisingly bitchy. Hopefully, it will either get better, or be explained better later on. Buf for now, they are somewhat unlikeable. Again, except for Maddie.
The sound design is also pretty bad. The music is fine, albeit a bit (scratch that, A LOT) cheesy (couldn't help but roll my eyes when that generic sobby melody started playing during your talk with Olivia in the kitchen), but the sound itself, I'd definitely recommend turning off. It's sloppy, bad quality and mostly just ruins any moment.
The UI is nonexistent. On one hand, it's good, because the less stuff clutters your screen - the better. On the other hand, if the game has stats, I want to be able to track them. Still, can't say it bothers me either way.
The game is also extremely short right now. Again, you could say that it's the initial release, so no big deal. And I kinda agree. Plus it ended on a decent cliffhanger, so if the updates will be at least this wholesome, it's a good thing. But it also says a lot about the developer's impatience, if he couldn't even wait to get some content into the game before starting to monetize it. Just saying. We'll see what future updates will bring.
In all honesty, I would usually give a game like this a lower score. But I see some potential in it, plus there is some credit in the author's previous work (that is also ongoing and in an early stage, mind you, but that's a whole other can of worms), so... I'm cautiously optimistic. Hopefully, they will give me a reason to update this score soon enough. And hopefully, for the better.
Meanwhile, in its current state, this is not a game I would recommend to anyone.