This game is actually amazing.
I've been playing games on the site for three years, and this is the first AVN that actually made me laugh. Humor is often such a hit or miss for so many games, and it's because it works off of subjectivity. It's especially hard to convey humor in games because you're working off of an audience that's there for something else than laughing their heart out. I think this game is genuinely one of the funniest games I have ever played. The writing in this game is simultaneously smooth and great at invoking dumb humor. It feels like banter you'd actually have with your best friends in real life, which is crazy to say for a VN. Almost NOBODY, ever, gets this level of back-and-forth dialogue right. One of my favorites is in Episode 2 part 1, where you have an amazing dynamic with a character you've only met and talked to ONCE before in the previous 8 hours of story. It feels like the MC and that character have known each other for years even though it's their first time talking.
The story and characters are decent to great. The story might be a miss for some, because it's more of like a suggestion. The MC gets thrown into some sort different world/universe where magic and fantasy is normalized somehow. The worldbuilding isn't top tier or anything, but it's fine as is to serve the purpose of including elves, dog people, cat people, drows, etc. Imo, it's there to give variety and eye candy for the audience. The story beats aren't really extending towards anything specifically. The main character is still figuring out what the hell is going and why he's even here in the first place. Put simply, when the game is serious and tries to advance the plot, it's done very slowly, inch by inch. Many may find that agonizing, so I won't blame anyone for dropping it. It sort of lacks direction, but in a weird way it also makes absolutely amazing use of it.
That's when we get to the characters. Some people might find characters jarring and a victim of "dude-bro" fication. There are some scenes where characters sort of break from their personalities and go into thought-spirals. That's where some of these scenes might put people off. I personally find it entertaining and realistic in some sort of messed up self-aware way. Rest assured, the variety in characters is there, every person is individualistic and has a HEFTY amount of meat to their personalities. I'm actually impressed that the author managed this level of characterization in a game with the "harem" tag. It's to the point where I actually regret putting this game off until now.
The designs and visuals are wonderful. The first episode looks good. The dev managed to put a unique spin on these characters and their details. I love every single design in the game, with my favorites being Grace and Stella. Some areas that are used as backgrounds and set dressing are a little bland or plain, but the quality just skyrockets once you hit episode 2. Episode 2 is where everyone gets drastically improved models. You get the feeling the developer wanted to emphasize their traits and make them stand out far more by the 2nd episode (as well as obvious technical improvements being present). I think the only kind of weird thing to note is that everyone has INSANELY glow-in-the-dark eyes by episode 2. I didn't know whether to chalk this up to the dev emphasizing their eye colors, improved lighting, or the fact that the MC is playing around with magic and getting stronger. I find it completely fine though, because there are MANY scenes where you just wouldn't be able to appreciate if the eyes weren't as bright as they were. Lots of darker scenes in episode 2 (as in lighting), so I can understand why they went down that path.
The sound design is actually astounding. I'd say if you play this game without sound, you're taking away almost half the experience. Every single track is so fitting, every sound effect is so on point, and they all combine with the visuals to create an amazing blend. The comedy in this game wouldn't hit as hard at all without the sound. The sex and the erotic scenes would be dead in the water without them. I'm actually flabberghasted. This game just proves that sound design is an essential part of the experience, and it's a huge shame that so many games just give up on it.
Animations and sex scenes are just wonderful. There's so many animations that I'm actually questioning how this game was such a small file size to begin with. The sex scenes are fine for now, but I feel like they get way better in Episode 2. That being said, there's not much in the way of "penetration" if that's what you're looking to jerk off to. There's just so much time crafted into making these relationships feel sincere, that I'm completely fine with that. If you're looking for a fapfest with tons of filler sex scenes, don't play this game. But if anything, I'd argue that some of the shenanigans that happen throughout the game are actually sexier and more erotic than those types of scenes anyways.
I can't recommend this game enough. In time or writing (Ep.2 P2), the game has 4 parts (2 parts in Ep.1, 2 parts in Ep. 2). Don't be fooled into thinking this is a tiny amount to sit through. Each of these parts took me 3-4 hours each. They are actually longer than multiple patches of other games. It's like sitting through a movie and you think it's going to be over and it keeps going for like 2 more hours. The unfortunate drawback is that because of the insane production quality, you'll be waiting extremely long between updates. But with a story and cast as interesting as this, I think it's worth the wait and your time. Again, I can't emphasize how amazing this game is, the screenshots don't do it justice AT ALL.
