VN - Ren'Py - Realm Invader [Ep. 2 P1] [Invader Gary]

Review for Ep. 2 P1

This game has potential to become top 15-20 best games on this site in the next two year or so of development.

However it needs two vital things imo, first taking a step fordward with sexual scenes, so far we have zero sexual scenes with penetration in maybe 5 hours of game. And second, tone it down with the comedy. I will get more concise on that later, but first thing first, pros and cons.

PROS:

• Renders in 4k with really good animations. Good visuals.
• Likeable cast of characters, this includes main LIs, secondary characters such as the swimming team and the professor and the mc.
• The mc feels really like a young adult, it has a very realistic personality of what a lot of 18 y.o are like. He is not a Gary Sue, neither an stupid fuck. He is smart, laidback, cares for others and sometimes he is bold an inmature, really a relatable 18 y.o mc.
• The writing is pretty good, such a shame the dev doesn't want to do a more serious story so far. It has it's moments.
• Cool sound effects and nice soundtrack.
• The game made me laugh instead of just cracking a smile at some scenes.

CONS:

• WAY. TO. MUCH. COMEDY. This is mainly why I substrack one of the two stars in my review. The plot losses itself between comedy, sometimes it is well received, like the professor and the mc interactions, or the mc just being silly. But it painfully fucks up serious scenes, like there's one moment in which you discover that certain LI has childhood trauma and a fucked up thing happens, next thing is the mc comically hitting the said LI. Mc is having a heart to heart conversation??? Wait for the running gag to ruin it. It shorta remind me of the tv show "The big bang theory" where the writters were uncappable of doing a serious scene without it ending whit a joke. Like I said in PROS it is a shame that the dev does not use a more balanced approach, because they are capable of creating good writing.
• Two years of development, 5 hours of content and very little sex scenes, that's the other star substraction. In fact mc is still a virgin, and I feel like dev should quit the exagerated slow burn at least with the character outside family.

Like you can see the game has more pros that cons, but those two cons made me had to power through the game when I was maybe a the 65% of the total content. Specially the first point. If the dev intends to make a more serious story and give us some more lewd content than a few bj I will change my rating consequently.

But nonetheless I think this game is going to be a big thing if the dev doesn't fuck up and updates regularly. I will try it again in the next update or two and edit my review.

The animations are hands dowm the best I saw. There are a lot of those, and I mean A LOT. The story is nice and characters are very hot. Interactions are interesting and most of all this game is actually very funy.

Best of luck for the dev, this game is one of my all time favorites now.

Review for Ep. 2 P1

Realm Invader follows the story of [insert your name of choice here], a loser boy who ends up with lots of free time for his newfound friends, love interests and family after getting sorta kinda Isekai'd into an alternate "realm" where magic has existed since almost always (and Jesus' surname was Greg); Enjoy his time learning about his newfound magic powers and all the fun that they may bring, find personal bonds there where always meant to be and enjoy yourself while kinda sorta ignoring the looming possibility of very serious consequences for slipping into a reality that isn't "yours" (...and also ignoring the Chad Developer self insert but not really).

Overall, the characters are hella lovable and the atmosphere is absurdly funny, with almost too many jokes per second (which is perfect to my taste but YMMV). The renders are simple but get the job done, while the animations really shine and are a cut above your average AVN. The overarching plot isn't very developed for the moment, with some sections still feeling disconnected - but it's already possible to see how the writer intends to intertwine everything into a cohesive mess mass of text.

The only real complaint would be that, sometimes, all the characters end up sounding "too similar" - the MC and his newfound slave have some scenes on Ep. 1 where it is almost impossible to discern who is the one talking if not for the name above each sentence, for example. Also everything is hella verbose - which may be either good or bad - again, YMMV.

... IMHO, It's one of the most promissing games released here in the past 3 years.

Animations: 6/5 (really superb stuff)
Renders: 4/5 (good, but we've seem better)
Plot: 4/5 (cool, yet contrived and secondary)
Characterization: 3/5 (style compromises it)
Jokes: 6/5 (most land hard: made me ROTFL)
Sexy Times: 3/5 (~half a dozen no-sex scenes)
Entertainment Factor: 5/5 (a really good read)
Route Branching: 5/5 (dialogue/scenes "respond" to choices)

Overall: 4.5/5 (rounding up to 5, as there is no half star rating)

Review for Ep. 2 P1

Seems like I'm going to be a bit controversial here, but I am incredibly conflicted with this game. Generally speaking, AVNs are at their best for me when they can get me immersed within them. If I can get captured and locked into your game, you're probably doing something right. What is probably my biggest problem with Realm Invader is that despite my genuine effort to get into it, it is NOT an immersive game. Why is that? The comedy. If you're like me and the comedic parts of this game don't 100% work for you, getting through this becomes a chore.

Now the game starts well enough with the intro. We are a sort of aimless post-highschool graduate that the game puts as "a total fucking loser." Suddenly some magical hoopla happens and we find ourselves transported to a sort of alternate reality where things like magic and fantasy races exist. We still live with the same family in the same house and all that, but now the world has a new history to it along with everything else. I have no issues with the premise, it genuinely was an interesting enough hook with how it played out.

But then our life resumes in this new world, and here is where I'll elaborate on the comedy stuff. This game takes the comedy dial, turns it up to eleven, and then fucking smashes it so you can never turn it down. The MC, for like the first two hours of the game, feels like a comedian who never stops telling jokes and trying to be funny. It's not only him though, but it's quite literally baked into almost every single scene. A lot of it is fourth wall/immersion breaking too, which is why it's so hard to be immersed in the first place. Every single moment has to be sandwiched by jokes and it just never stops man. Some of it is honestly funny or made me smile at the least, but then for every one of those times I laughed there was another five I clicked past as fast as possible because my patience ran out.

Now of course the comedy is something very subjective and everyone will feel different about it. So now I'll try to get to the more objective parts of this.

I don't think the game knew what it wanted to be until around a couple hours in where we acquire the slave girl. Ignoring the comedy really does cut out a huge chunk of this, but when I'm taking a look solely at the more "normal' events that start to characterize the love interests I realize the game almost never spends enough time on them. I think each of the main girls so far do exhibit some endearing personality traits, but there was only one girl I felt actually somewhat invested in. That was our youngest sister, the scruffy gamer girl shut in. She's great and very cute, but the entire reason I feel this way is because the game gave her more focus than anyone. In hours of playing, I feel like I got absolutely nothing from the mom, barely anything from the athletic sister, and maybe just under what I needed to start really liking the older sister.

It's the same way with a lot of the plot moving events. The game just blows by them so fast man. It's missing fluff, it's missing transitions, and ultimately felt lacking in direction. I felt like shit was happening almost at random sometimes. But then we get to the slave girl and it felt like the game finally had some semblance of where it wanted to go. The MC suddenly flips a switch to turn off comedian mode and actually displays... intelligence maybe? And it feels like relevant shit is actually happening without delving into spoilers.

So those are my key issues, and my review probably reads like I hate this. Honestly though, I really don't. There is something good here with the plot. Some of the characters are genuinely endearing in ways that make me want to see more of them. The renders are phenomenal and it is especially rare to have a 4K version (which I used and appreciated). The animations are very solid. Despite the "average" rating I give this, it's not an average game.

I can genuinely feel that a lot of effort going into Realm Invader, and I think the dev has a certain talent you don't see often. However upon reaching as far as the end of the first episode, I just couldn't find a desire to keep going and play the next one. Some day I probably will try the next episode to see if my opinion shifts, but I'd be forcing myself if I did so now. Still, if you do find yourself enjoying the comedy this is probably a game you'll love.

Cute and sometimes funny. But after 2 years of development, it didn't even get to sex, just a bunch of foreplay. It would be better to have no content at all than these ridiculous teasers that expose the MC mindset of a 13 yo girl, who afraid of sex. There is no interactive content either.

Top 5 AVNs
- Both the h and non-h animations are excellent
- Superb music choice that wonderfully complements the scenes
- humor's subjective but I find it funny
- diverse character personalities
- story's good so far

First off, the graphics are fantastic. Everything looks so good, lighting is on point, animations, just really really good looking game.

Second, the story is very entertaining and I am genuinely curious to find out what is going on.

Third, characters are great. They all have their own personalities and quirks, and most of them have really funny moments as well. Grace is best girl for me, but really Chloe and Noelle are very close seconds.

The humor really hits in this one and I found myself laughing out loud more than once.

Amount of content for two chapters is already longer than some devs with 5-6 chapters.

Long story short, this is one of the best AVN that I have ever played and I highly recommend it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I didn't have high hopes for it when I first started it because it adheres to the anime style of storytelling, sticking close to its tropes and conventions, which I honestly hate, but this one surprised me. It's really funny, with good production value. You can tell there is serious effort put into it.

The one thing I didn't like was the relationship-building aspect of it. The MC is a good character and it's one of the main reasons I like this one, but he's too passive when it comes to the relationships. His relationship to his slave can be summed up as an exchange of favours. He goes to her when he's horny and she blows him. She drops hints that she wants more, but the MC is perfectly content with just asking for blowjobs. That felt too shallow, plus, the one time he decides to do anything other than allow her to suck his dick, she completely overwhelms him and again he does nothing.

He was also way too passive with the other LI. They got to the point where they were fooling around all thanks to her efforts. He literally did nothing. At least, this time, when they were fooling around he became more assertive.

Either way, great game except for the relationship building aspect. I think if we get more choices and more control over how the MC interacts with the LIs, this game can easily reach the level of the big AVNs.

Yeah, this one's really good. Easily one of the best AVNs I've played and it's only two episodes long (it's still surprisingly long tho, took me a while to finish). Story's great, so are the characters, the renders are beautiful, writing's nice and I love the music. It's actually funny as well, without trying too hard. Just play it, it's worth it.

Welp this instantly is going on the short list of best VNs currently out there. Animations, art, writing are all top tier. Having a bunch of custom animations woven in really helps to connect you with the characters. Love the chances the game takes on alternative sexual routes. Most VNs we see are far too vanilla wish just different faces on the same 3 sex scenes. Hopefully the updates keep coming.

[Ep. 2 P1]
I'll be brief, as you can find extensive reviews from others already - it's a masterpiece, a must play.

The only negatives I can see:
- Breaking the fourth wall. Some people like it, I find it annoying, but it's a matter of preference and there's not a lot of it.
- It's a slow burn, but the story is actually really good. Far better than 90+% VNs you'll find on this site and I've played hundreds by now. Just don't come in with the expectation of a quick fap.

I applaud the dev for his bravery on including traps in the game. I hope it's gonna be a deep and interesting route as the rest of the girls. Can't wait!

A truly fucking incredible VN, this one is going to be huge i can already feel it, this bad boy deserves to be up there with those 4.9 star games when you sort by rating, a year from now it'll be there im telling you. Beautiful production quality, sound effects, music, plenty of high quality animations, comedic timing, all of it is *chef kiss*
The characters are fascinating and the premise is extremely well done, the story strikes the perfect balance of endearingly light-hearted with tense and dramatic stakes, keeping you invested and amused. It's a pretty impressive feat to have me actually laugh out loud while im just sitting alone at my desk.
For those invested in it there isnt much lewd content as of Ep2P1 but what DOES exist is pretty fucking hot.
For any and all Visual Novel Connoisseurs (read: horny shut ins) This is seriously a great game and i guarantee you'll be hooked just like i have been.
Can barely wait for the next step of the story Gary, love your work, peace Xx

Someone *really* likes Caribdis, although can't quite reach the highs of their inspiration.
It's clear a lot of work went in to this project, with custom animations and camera work right from the start. I'm giving it 4 stars based on that alone. The writing is...fine. If we're using other porn games as a metric, "fine" is actually the best you could hope for. There are lots of attempts at humor and a lot of failures. The models look nice, but the sex is not really at the quantity I'd want after spending 3 hours with the game.
It's got a lot of promise, but perhaps wait until a few updates drop before checking in on this again

Version Played : Ep. 2 P1

In my opinion, this game has potential to be one of the GOATs. Inspiration from other such games can be seen, but it does have it's own spin on them and doesn't lack in comparison - main thing is, it's fun.

Good story, good dialogues, good comedic timing, solid music. Good but still early stage lewds.

And that's my main gripe with this game - pacing.

Sure, there's quite a bit of content so far, depending on your reading time at least 4 hours, and the lewds are good. But, and it's a big one:

The game's been in development for almost 2 years, and this Part 1 of C2 took ~10 months if my math is mathing - considering how far along in the story/lewd department we are, there's 2 main options :

1) The game's story/lewds gets crash coursed which would be sad.
2) The game takes ages to complete, and maybe gets abandoned in the process, which would also be sad.

I don't know which would be worse tbh. There's an another option though, which is unlikely - the dev manages to speed up his process and retains the pacing of the game but speeds up the releases.

It feels we've just scratched the surface of this world and its narrative.

In any case, what's there is great fun to play, but where will it go and how long will it take is a separate matter.

Really good quality models and animations as well as funny dialogue. The Story so far is intriguing and well presented. The female characters are varied in body types and styles. Very much looking forward to future updates.

What a top tier VN!
Where else can I get a MC that has a disdain towards kids and can thor's hammer a pan, whos haunted by an omniscient chad god.
And dont forget about the cast of submissible women with stories that has layers. Will continuous look forward for the future Xx

Wow, actual good animations and models. What a strange combination these days.

I wish you could skip the long transitions or opt into skipping short scenes that link two other scenes without having to rewatch all of it to see the end picture.

I decided to wait till the second update to rate this one, just to make sure it remained consistent. I'm tempted to just slap 5 stars on this and call it a day, no explanations needed.

Updates:
Before saying anything else, I have to congratulate the dev on the quality of the updates. I'd go as far as saying that he raised the bar on what is considered a "good update". Ep2p1 has sizeable content considering how long it was in development, extremely polished, without bugs or grammar/spelling mistakes.

Gameplay:
It's a fairly straightforward VN. You mostly choose your attitude towards the love interests and gain relationship points with them. The dev has implemented a system that flashes color to let the player know if a choice is important for the future, or if the current scene is a result of a previous choice.
There is a currency system that allows you to buy things which may unlock scenes or be relevant to the plot at a later point.
There also exist choice driven games/events, where you try to navigate through a problem and make the best out of it, with various results depending on how well you read the situation. They aren't really distinct from the rest of the choices and they seemingly don't have any special mehanics though so don't expect something ultra specific. I expect to see more of them in later updates.

Setting:
While it's too early to understand the scope and the prologue is a bit confusing, this is a modern world with high fantasy elements, including magic, fantasy races like elves and anthropomorphic animals.
A significant percentage of the population is magic users, magic itself is a scientific discipline taught at universities, with well documented history, types, effects and limitations.
There also exists slavery, or indentured servitude, which is enforced by magic, binding a willing recipient to the caster.
The mythology is expansive, with many races, a lot of detail concerning magic and mysteries yet uncovered.

Story/Dialogue/Writing:
The story follows a young adult fresh out of high school, who is talented and fairly easygoing, but has no defined goals in life. He lives in a mundane modern world, similar to real life. While out to buy some medicine, something happens to him which makes him see a vision and seemingly transports him to a magical parallel world.
From there on he pretty much finds a new purpose understanding magic, tries to understand his new condition, explore this new strange world and get in some peculiar trouble seemingly related to the event that started this whole mess.

There is a lot of humor here with tasteful use of memes. My highlight has to be when a girl is lying on her bed using her phone, and the phone drops on her head. I'm ashamed to admit how often this happens to me and that scene was a shock.

There's also a fair ammount of commentary. I appreciate that the MC is mature enough to at least think of some issues before sticking his dick in the hole, it adds to the fantasy if anything. There exists some hyperbole and big words thrown around, mostly for comedic purposes.

There exists drama but it's on the backburner currently. I expect that it will progressively become heavier as it's obvious that a lot of characters have emotional baggage and will eventually have to face their demons.

Visuals:
Exceptionally high quality HS renders and the sex animations are a whole new class. While the game still doesn't have much sexual content yet, and what it has is mostly foreplay, I guarantee that you will never see a better titjob animation anywhere and I don't even care about titjobs. These tits are alive. I know you are skeptical right now, but the experience will humble you.

The backgrounds are detailed and the characters are beautiful and proportional. Don't be quick to judge the looks of the girls from the first scenes. The dev constantly changes hairstyles, make-up and clothing depending on the occasion. The differences between the various versions of the characters are profound.

Audio:
A lot of whoosh sounds, meme sounds, comedic ambience, mystery ambience, epic ambience, metal. The sounds are mostly used for dramatic effects and impact. You will find a lot of switches between dramatic and comedic music that attempt to create a semi-horror/gotcha moment, to various effects.

Generally speaking, a lot of care has been given for the audio to have a clear and important role in the game. Hearing the intro of "The only thing they fear is you" can leave a lasting impression.

The only feedback I have to give is that the stronger scenes could use some stronger music. Right now they are mostly forgettable. I can't really recall the music during sex scenes, or the Leliana scene, training segments and the few action scenes the game has. I had to replay the scenes just to confirm that they had music for this review.

The Girls:
The foundation is built on the common incest family trope. Absent father no one talks about, repressed mother and quirky sisters. MC doesn't really have friends of his own to pursue but he makes a few along the way.

MC's relationship with the various characters is well founded and organic. Certainly some characters are harder to approach romantically, others are still in the "getting to know them" stage. The incestuous desires kind of.. exist. There is no good way to explain this but you won't really find the classic "but he is my brother I shouldn't think about him that way" monologue. I can't tell if this is a design choice or it's just too early, but at least one sister doesn't seem to care much.

Currently the cast contains 7 girls with confirmed romance routes and a femboy that you can increase your relationship points with. I expect at least double that by the time all the characters are introduced.

It doesn't seem like any relationship is mandatory. As far as I'm aware you can opt out from all of them if you want to. I'm not sure how it affects the content though as this type of playthrough doesn't interest me, so I never tested it.

The MC:
MC is an odd fellow. At first he sounds like he is going to be a directionless loser, but almost immediately we see that he is actually fairly competent, goal oriented, a quick learner and surprisingly savvy. He feels like a much older person in the skin of a younger one. Pair him with a generally good disposition and enough power to outshine any conventional magician and you get a semi-righteous and well-intentioned beast that doesn't take shit from anyone.
I wouldn't call him very realistic, but he is relatable in the aspects that matter I guess. It feels like he is going to completely dominate whatever competition he enters which can be a bit boring. Hopefully I will be proven wrong and the stakes will be enough to give him pause and drama.


Closing Comments:
Don't be fooled by the lack of tags or how new this game is. There is a ton of high quality content to go through relative to it's development time. If you enjoy Harem games with a formidable protagonist, great banter, great visuals and a splash of supernatural/fantasy, this game is for you.

If I had unlimited time, there is absolutely no shortage of compliments I can give this game. The writing, the audio, the animations, the characters, everything is TOP. TIER. Invader Gary has begun creating a legit MASTERPIECE and I'm not at all unwilling to say it ranks as my #2 best ever HS AVN so far, just behind the current #1 HS game. The amount of content in the 1st and 2nd releases (Ch1 & Ch2Part1) is astounding, given the quality and care put into them. If you want a good laugh (and I mean at times, loud, obnoxious hyena cackling), and also GREAT eye candy, PLEASE give this game a chance. As of Ch2 Part 1, there is no "sex" as in traditional penetration, but there is PLENTY of spice. This isn't a "fuck'em'all", but it is a harem game with a solid pacing that makes sure you're invested in these characters before MC puts his dick in them. The buildup and payoff is worth every second, and I've already played through this new update 3 times, and will absolutely replay it at least several times more before next release.

Rating: 5/5

Realm Invader is a mesmerizing journey that defies convention and leaves an indelible mark on the player. Boasting a captivating storyline and remarkable character development, it stands as a testament to the heights gaming can achieve.

What sets Realm Invader apart is its narrative intricacy. Unlike many games that follow predictable plotlines, this one offers a refreshing twist at every turn. As players progress, they're drawn deeper into a world teeming with mystery and wonder. The characters, each with their own unique stories and motivations, evolve in tandem with the plot, creating a rich tapestry of experiences that players won't soon forget.

Complementing the captivating narrative is the game's breathtaking artwork. From sprawling landscapes to intimate character moments, every scene is a visual treat. The attention to detail is evident, with each environment meticulously crafted to immerse players in the game's world.

Having embarked on this enchanting adventure, I eagerly await each new episode. The promise of what lies ahead fills me with excitement and anticipation. Realm Invader has set a new standard for storytelling in gaming, pushing the boundaries of creativity and immersion.

In conclusion, Realm Invader is a triumph in every sense of the word. Its compelling narrative, coupled with outstanding character development and stunning artwork, make it a must-play for any gaming enthusiast. With each episode, the game continues to captivate and inspire, earning it a well-deserved 5/5 rating.