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

[Ep. 2 P1] Review

Randomly decided to take a chance on this and was utterly blown away. Definitely one of the better games on the site, and it was pulled off in "2" episodes no less (quotations because I still can't believe it's only 2). It's shocking this almost fell by the wayside for me because of its quality, but I am so glad it didn't.

There are so so many good things going for this game right now that it scares and excites me to think that the rest of the game has to live up to it. The renders and quality of the game is sublime: I played in 4K and it was phenomenal. The many animations to flesh out scenes made the game feel so much more alive and grabbed my attention so easily every time. Nothing felt out of place in terms of the imagery and the music complemented the scenes immensely well. There is also so much content for not even an episode 2, but episode 2 part 1. I was pleasantly surprised by how much story there was; I kept expecting the game to end several times but it continuously delivered. Hopefully that doesn't become a negative with update frequency though.

The plot is very well written as it progresses. The intro sequence was a bit confusing, and it was followed with a bit of a lore dump, but most of extra info is optional content, and the pacing adjusts very well after the exposition. I absolutely love the story, its a spin on classic OP protag narratives, with lots of humor and gags mixed in. The game definitely draws from its contemporaries in the comedy department (*cough* Caribdis *cough*), but it does have its own charm and I only see it as a positive.

The characters are very well thought out, there's a good mix of personality and LI tropes to satisfy most, and some optional non-vanilla stuff seems planned, which will definitely be a plus for those who enjoy it. Each character is fleshed out well, will some good wiggle room for subplots and overall development. Personally, I'm on the Cadence and Noelle train, but Chloe and Stella also super adorable.

As for the current lewd content, there is quite a bit more than I was expecting, which parallels my feeling about the overall length of the current build. Some of the early scenes are not as delivering as I would have liked, but just because I wanted more. They only get better though, and I can't wait for when things start heating up with some of the LIs. Scenes are animated well and are super hot by the end of it, and I can only imagine what it will be like in a few updates from now.

Overall, it's clear that this game will be near the top of the best games on this platform if things keep going like this. It's almost criminal how underexposed this game is because I fully expect the majority of this platform to love this game. Super excited to see how things play out! Good luck dev!

This was a very nice episode. I would say its one of the top-tier games up there with the big boys. The humor is exceptionally good. I hope the story arc proves to be good as well. @Dev Please continue making this. You have a talent for this. Very few people do. So do continue if you like doing this. The money will eventually come rolling in, if you are in for the long haul.

Also, I love the premise. There's a lot of possibility for some nice juicy dom and sub dialogues. I personally don't care much for the physical depiction. The dialogue and the chemistry between the characters is what makes any work of adult fiction satisfying.

Wow. WOW. That's what i could muster after finishing the first episode. I have never ever seen a debut with this quality. This is genuinely on the same "hall of fame" quality level as Eternum and Pale Carnations.

The dev is so talented that they can make even an utterly vanilla scene interesting by their camerawork and dialogue. This is a very rare talent and I'll be following the development with great interest.

Amazing game, the quality is great. The use of all the non-lewd animations is amazing. The humor is fucking fantastic, first time an AVN has made me laugh. Not lacking in story either got me hooked right away. And damn the girls are hot.

Really really good so far, good writing helps elevate it a lot, and the jokes landed quite a bit - more often then they missed, which is a great sign.

If output of episodes is steady I can see this being a big hit.


One minor complaint is the odd texture on the male MC's... uh, dong. IMO at least.

REALLY good game:

• Funny, fast paced writing
• Engaging plot, good pacing.
• Interesting world building and magic system
• Story has mystery, comedy, action, drama
• Lots of sexy girls with distinct personalities and character traits.
• Fairly well written and concise - not overly wordy like some games on here.
• Mostly great models, with really solid animations, lighting and camera work.

Only three sex scenes in the first episode, definitely leaves you wanting more!

I'll be keeping a close watch on this one. Very recommended!

I just finished playing the first episode and I can confidently say that, if the quality I've seen from episode 1 is the minimum to be expected going forward, this is definitely going to be one of my favorites and alongside the big names of the industry in the future.

The characters and story are extremely well written, the comedy is pure gold, the music and sound effects are on point and the animations are incredibly smooth.

I love the magical theme combined with the modern world, elves and animal people (I just wish there'll be a fox girl somewhere in the future). MC being op in the making is also pretty in line with the kind of narrative I enjoy. The girls are also very lovable and Chloe is super adorable.

Developer Gigachad cracks me up every time he shows up and although I was totally expecting that first wallpaper, I still laughed my ass off when I checked the folder.

I did not expect this game to be as good as it is.

The writing is top-notch, with well-crafted dialogue that kept me engaged and entertained throughout. The game's humor is spot on. The characters are lovable, and seeing them interact with each other never felt boring or drawn out.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience and recommend this game to anyone looking for a fun and entertaining experience.

Pros:

1. witty writing
2. lovable characters
3. Interesting plot
4. perfectly placed sound effects and animations,
5. perfect selection of music during critical parts,
6. Humor is on point

Cons: renders could definitely use more polishing but it wont be a dealbreaker for me cuz its already above average. Otherwise, absolute Golden.

Verdict: Go play already!!

(Insert Palpatine voice) We will watch your career with great interest...

Edit: Upgrading from 4 to 5 stars as of the release of Episode 2 Part 1. My complaints have been rendered moot, and the outdated parts of my review will have strikeout text. The game has been improved drastically with the new update. By and far my favorite game on this site now, and sets a new bar for the genre.

Very well-written and funny game that unfortunately doesn’t quite make it in the “fappability” department.

STORY - 5/5
Exceptionally well-written. The story doesn’t drag and is very well-paced, characters ooze with personality, and dialogue flows naturally. Humor is subjective, ofc, but I found this to be genuinely comical, as the humor almost never felt cringe, quirky, or forced. The dev character is a bit hit or miss, and I considered docking half a point, but the game is just too good otherwise. The dev character is appreciated when explaining game mechanics, but is shoehorned into the story in a couple of small places. The big thing here is the directing. Yes, directing. The dev does an exceptional job of utilizing camera movement, sound effects, and my favorite, music choice and timing. The dev has taken a trope-tier premise and has made something truly magical out of it.

FAPPABILITY - 5/5
Worst part of the game, by and far. There’s 3 total scenes in the gallery, one of which an optional gay scene I’ve opted not to experience. The animations are serviceable, but the scenes still aren’t that exciting, even by vanilla standards. Only blemish on this game.
The Episode 2 Part 1 scenes knock this shit out of the park. Upgrading this from a 2 to a 5. Sex scenes are much, much longer with music, different angles, and really great animations.

“GAMEPLAY” - 5/5
There is, of course, still some interactivity here. Pursuing each girl is optional. There is also a currency system here that still doesn’t seem to actually do anything. You can lose a lot of it early on, but there still doesn’t seem to be any consequences yet, making the whole system rather pointless in current version. As of part 2, you can actually run out of currency, and fail to purchase everything, making the decisions a bit more meaningful. Furthermore, the new episode adds more side options during main story content that unlocks a scene if you play it out properly, while still being entertaining for options where you miss out. Dialogue options are much more varied and add a lot of flavor to the game even if some of them don't change outcomes; they're not meaningful in the long run, but def fun in the moment.

Overall, I’m giving this a very strong 4/5. I am eagerly awaiting episode 2, and heartily recommend the game to anyone reading this.

Like others here have stated, while this game is really early in its development, the content provided in just episode 1 already puts this game pretty high up there in terms of quality.

Pros:
- Great renders with good use of lighting and quality models, though the preview images are pretty good at reflecting that
- Great animations, honestly some of the best one's I've seen outside of pretty heavily financially supported devs
- Interesting story with pacing to match
- Good soundtrack, fits the scenes well
- Interesting cast of characters, not much is revealed about all of them yet and they fall into some general archetypes, but overall it's done well and there is already quite a few possible LIs that have been introduced so far.

Neutral:
- Game development time seem to be pretty long as it's a solo dev, however all things considered I'd say for the amount of content we're getting and the quality it's released at I'd say it's pretty fair, though for those who want to play the finished product they may have to wait a while.
- For those who like a pretty straight forward VN experience, some possible sandbox features are being considered, though from the glimpse of the framework we were given in episode 1, it's pretty minor and may be optional as a continue button was provided, seems to be there more for the sake of replayable scenes.

Can't really provide any cons as of yet. Not a lot I could even point out at this stage of production which could be a red flag, hence most of the "controversial" aspects I spotted pretty much fall under neutral. Dev has done a pretty good job at handling it and their plans seem to allow players a decent choice as to what content they would like to see and avoid in a way that makes it pretty difficult to "accidentally" come across scenes which could pit a fandom against them. Excited to see where this game goes.

Surprised to say but this was Eternum Levels of good. Maybe too high praise haha but the story was good, the render use was abundance and flowed well into the pacing. Also a fan of the supernatural setting without it getting ignored or too clunky.
The episode was an introductory without too much explicit content but I'm personally not a fan of shoving scenes just to have them. Prefer to learn about the characters and their stories which the author seems to want to do here.
My concern I guess would be the 5-7 month gap between releases but if it's going to be this level of quality, I can understand it.
Bravo.

Rare that I'd leave a review after what is basically the introductory chapter, long though it is.

Pros

• Quite well-written. Knows how to diversify the characters enough while keeping a fun comedic tone and execution.
• Premise isn't particularly unique, but is explored moderately well.
• The pacing also leans toward the slower side and properly pushes the right buttons to keep you moving.
• Scenes are handled well with decent music choice.
• The renders aren't the best in the world, but the model choices were picked with a clear idea of the characters in mind, giving it plenty of, well, character.
• The characters feels easy to bond with (including the MC), because they don't feel convoluted (yet), nor are they without common sense. A close enough approximation of somewhat quirky people.

Cons
- As mentioned, the renders aren't *spectacular*, but I'm only putting this as a con for snobs who must have god-tier rendering or something.
- The game claims to have 'meaningful' choices, but the 'walkthrough' is behind the patreon, which is fair, but leads me to suspect that it's really just losing out on scenes for not picking right, given this is a harem title. (THIS IS STILL JUST SUSPICION, NO PROOF)

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Conclusion
This is pretty neat and it's shaping to be a non-cringe harem title, which, on this site, is like trying to find a needle in a haystack of other needles.

Review for Episode 1

This game is an absolute gem. It's goofy in the best way. I hardly ever see many HS 2 based games with this much care and attention to detail. I like to put a good amount of details in my reviews, but this game left me stumped. Everything is good so far and have literally no complaints. Hope the rest of the game stays consistent with or improves on the quality of work seen in this first episode.

Wow. This game is good. It's really, REALLY good. I'm not sure how I managed to miss it for an entire year.

Episode 1 review, and so far it's got an excellent story (and lots of it), great models and render quality, excellent humor (including a somewhat disturbing homo-erotic gigachad self-insert by the developer), terrific music, and a well done and perfectly functional UI.

I'd rate it 4.5+ stars if I had the option to do so, because it's not finished, and not perfect, but as there are only 17 reviews to far and a 4 star rating seems like it isn't good enough and would bring down the overall rating I'm going with 5.

Genuinely looking forward to updates. Hope you keep up the good work Invader Gary, you've got a gem here.

Just finished my play through. The story is good and the caricatures depth are getting there. The thing with the Dev will get a bit much if you continue it as it broke me out of the story to much. The funny parts are funny and the good parts are good. The MC needs a little less 3rd person maybe but over all the story is great, the graphics are good, and thank god you removed the sandbox stuff. I hope the next few releases are as good as the 0.1 then I might even consider changing to a 5 star.

Goodness gracious, can't renember last time I laughed this hard.

Great comedic timing, beautiful renders, cool concept, sounds and tracks are on point. I'm trying to find some cons to this release, and it's hard.

An amazing first release, a lot of content as well. It took me about 2.5 hours and I'm a decent reader. it's well-written, funny, has a great soundtrack, several lewd scenes already as well.

The story is that the MC is teleported into a parallel world where mostly everything is the same (home life, family, friends), but many people in the world have magical powers and it is part of normal life. The MC is figuring out these powers while coming to grips with this new reality. There is an element of mystery and it seems clear this is headed towards "awesome fantasy adventure story" territory.

Only potential downside I can think of is that there's some 4th wall breaking that I think occurs a little *too* much. It is well-done, but I wish the author would not make it as frequent as it is right now.

It's still early but this has potential to be one of the greats on the site.

Ok I always go into these with no expectations at all because there is a lit that are bad or just ok. This was definitely amazing. Great moments of comedy, at times some things were almost too much. And you can tell there's a bunch of places to fill in the story that were missing. Cant wait for the next update!

This is straight up magical man. I came into this with almost no expectations having just come across this randomly. Less than a minute into playing it and I could already feel it was gonna be fire.
Animations: great
Music: great
renders: great
character design: great
world building: great
comedy: great
Everything just feel so well done and polished.
It has the magical feeling you get playing eternum which is just incredible to see again (though I actually prefer this game's setting).
Anyway. 9/10. Will watch your career with great interest.