VN - Ren'Py - Rebounding Life [Ep.4.1] [SuperWriter]

I'm surprised that a number of reviewers said that the writing here is good. Actually it's bad. Mainly because the narrator is so talkative that it quickly becomes boring. Best AVNs hardly ever use narrator at all. Here its text is way larger than dialogs. It would be much better if the developer used the principle "Show, not tell". Instead, it says even such pointless phrases as "You smile at her".

It breaks the immersion, because when I play AVN, it's "I smile at her". It feels very distant when they tell me how I react. And I actually don't want to be told how I react playing a game.

Then the first sex scene, I mean, WTF??? Having sex while the partner discusses her business shit on the phone??? Or reminiscences about the past? I mean, it could be a literary device to show how sex with MC's wife goes, but I really don't want to have sex like that (or to play that).

So,

- Sex is shit not enjoyable.
- Writing is shit hard to bear with.
- Models and renders are OK, but the faces often look weird due to sloppy work on expressions and lighting.
- MC is dumb and annoying (e.g. in his first talk with Tony).

ATM I'm not sure if I want to play the middle of the first episode.

Even if it will get better (I hope?), the dev seems to show some basic deficit of understanding of how to write enjoyable AVNs.

AVN's concept is quite simple but makes little actual sense IMO. The plot is leading towards a likely harem which is missing from tags

LI's are pretty hot, not that complex however IMO.

MC & Narisa seems to be wearing the same clothing in MOST (not all) scenes, not a massive issue but comes off as lazy.

MC looks older than he should IMO. Also the hair on MC's balls looks terrible when the rest of him is hairless. So does Jr.

Its alright and worthy of keeping interesting in but its not close to one of the bet out there at all either. 2.5/5 would be more appropriate but I'll go 3 since this one feels super safe from garbage kinks and gameplay

Gosh, that's what I was looking for! The game itself is very entertaining, has beautiful models, and has an interesting history that made me excited for more. It was definitely a great start!
Keep up the good work!

I like the concept of being an ex-professional Basketball player, then going on to become a coach... of a *slurp* female College Basketball team.

Amazingly enough there is actual sex in the first three episodes of this game which is a massive plus, also it is sex which will drag you over the line and get you to your destination, not scintillating stuff but good enough to get the job done if you so wish.

This isn't really a game for me due to the female characters, if you have a particular fondness for College girls and suburban housewives then this will be your jam!

For me there's submissive and then there's submitting, that's the difference, I want women to submit to me, in this game they're very submissive.

You're essentially a former professional athlete who's also got Davide Ginola good looks, so it's understandable as to why women would be so submissive towards you and desire your superior jock seed.

The women are in my opinion very cut/paste and don't really have much about them, it all feels very comfortable and suburban so I'm cumming in everyone. I think that doing anything less would be hard to explain away, we live in a rational World and it'd be absolutely understandable for such a coach to do such a thing. There's this option whether to cum inside your own wife or not, why would you not? There is this weird feeling that your wife will cheat on you so cum inside all you want, isn't that is the logical choice?

I am a man of logic! Three stars, well worth a go but I'm not sticking around for more, a solid average.

+ Girl models
+ Animation
+ Diverse characters
+ MC doesn't start from scratch, but has its own history and story
+ Story writing

- Opening up the "legal" possibilities of other girls (harem) felt a bit forced to me
- I'm a bit worried that this will gradually degenerate into a fuckfest where the story gets sidetracked and the MC will just hammer everything in sight

A different reviewer said that they enjoy the fact that the MC has lived his life before the game takes place, he's married, has kids, was a professional basketball player, has a child with his ex, lots of juicy stuff that happened in the past.

....You can see how I'm a little perplexed at why we didn't get to play that guy? Instead we start off the game with a guy who's past his youthful prime who has gone on the adventures the players would want to go on, instead we are saddled with baggage right off the gate. There is a reason a lot of protaganists in these games are young without a ton of baggage, it helps the player feel like they are dictating and controlling the path their character is on.

I don't want to play as the guy AFTER the most fun part of his life, I want to play as this MC when he was younger.

The game is written well, and the models are nice, I just, absolutely wish I could be playing as 20-year-old MC instead of 35-year-old mc or however old he is.

As someone who enjoys older, more mature protags in their AVNs Rebounding Life has been a gem. MC is married, has kids, and a boatload of life experience and it leads to different relationship dynamics that are a good change of pace from the usual fair. Add in Superwriter is a reliable, proven dev and its an easy recommend from me

Story:
I gotta say, the writing’s pretty dang good for an early release. The MC feels like a real dude in his 40s, not some horny kid, which I vibe with. His past—crap dad, career crash, messy love life—gives him depth. The stuff with his wife, Nasira, and ex, Faith, keeps you on edge wondering how it’ll all blow up. Only thing is, sometimes it leans into cliches, like every hot chick seems way into you. Also, the wife being super cool with everything feels a bit too easy, you know? Still, it’s got heart and doesn’t drag, so I’m giving it a solid 4/5.
Characters:
The cast is awesome. Nasira’s dealing with all this chaos but still feels real, not just “wife #1.” Faith’s smart and gorgeous, and you can tell there’s history there. The girls on the team, plus this new housekeeper, all bring something different—no cookie-cutter NPCs here. Only gripe? Some names are weird and you can’t change ‘em. Oh, and pairing every hot girl with a less hot one feels like a trope. But yeah, I’m invested. 4.5/5.
Graphics:
Holy crap, the visuals are fire! The renders pop—great lighting, smooth animations, the works. It’s honestly some of the best I’ve seen in a VN lately. No glitches, UI’s clean, just a slick package. Easy 5/5.
Gameplay:
It’s a Ren’Py VN, so you’re picking dialogue to steer the story. Choices seem to matter, like who you get close to, and there’s a couple spicy scenes if you play your cards right (nothing too wild yet). I like that it’s more about the drama than just smut, but if you’re here for tons of adult stuff, you might want more. The wife’s chill vibe makes me wonder if choices will bite you later or not. Maybe a throuple’s coming? I’m curious but not blown away yet—3.5/5.
What’s Not Perfect:
I’ve heard SuperWriter sometimes fumbles the ending in other games, so I’m crossing my fingers this one stays strong. A few bits, like the MC looking kinda old or some preachy dialogue, bugged me a little. And the school setting could go generic if they’re not careful. But honestly, these are small potatoes so far.
Overall:
Rebounding Life is legit one of the better VNs I’ve played lately. It’s got drama, heart, and looks amazing. If you’re into stories about messy relationships with a side of basketball, you’ll dig it. It’s not super heavy on adult content, which I’m cool with—it’s more about the feels. I’m stoked to see where it goes, just hoping it doesn’t trip at the finish line.

Closer to 4* at the moment but will leave 5* for now, some of these reviews are unfair - especially seeing as how AVNs typically get rated.

Better than average writing, with an interesting and unique storyline. Semi realistic background as opposed to the MC screwing everything that moves. There is not a ton of content so far, but it has only been out for 6 months.

This is a good one to keep an eye on, especially since the developer has a history of actually finishing games.

Rebounding life [Ep 2]

This one got nice start, got pretty girls and nice writing. Also Mc is not a horny teenager but middle aged handsome man who knows how to control his sex hormones. Enjoyed the pace of the game it's not moving too fast or slow. Enjoyed the plot. Unlike other games which adds sport elements just for the sake this one's not like that sport element plays a key role here

+ Pretty girls
+ Story
+ Writing
+ Sports
+ Pace

Overall i enjoyed this one keep up the good work dev looking forward to next updates.

Overall poor but some good elements.

The good:
- A lot of very pretty models have been chosen
- Writing is generally good quality

The bad:
- Absolutely awful girls' names you cant change
- Some of the dialogue is just lectures
- Every attractive girl is always paired with a gross one
- Every girl throws themselves at this gross mc, without cause
- You have kids
- You look around 60 even though you just ended your basketball career...
- MC is also afraid of anything involving women
- Loooong boring scenes trying to sound knowledgeable about sports

I am not one to hand out five stars to first releases of a game, but I was seriously tempted, because some of the early reviews here don't seem fair, so I am myself inclined to be more lenient.

I did decide on four stars though, because if the game continues in this vein, it will earn enough high rating s from reviewers who mostly judge a game by its potential and not what is actually there at the moment they write the review.

And believe me, this game has a lot of potential.
But it doesn't just have that, it is by far the best start to a game by the dev so far.
Strong writing, unlike other games with a sport-centric MC, you actually have the sport topic presented with the weight and knowledge it needs to have, without making it boring and dry.

The women are varied in look and character and actually seem like different people, not just hot woman type A with body and face type B, if you know what I mean.
And it's a nice amount of content for a first release with sex scenes and good character introductions.

Genuinely impressed.

If this continues as strong as it started out, this will easily be a five-star one or two more updates in-

I didn't have high expectations after reading synopsis, so I was positively surpsised by the first few scenes: Interesting perspective from the experienced NBA player, great renders and first very good looking LI. So far so good... uhhh I now wish I stopped playing there, the other LIs seem not only annoying, but also shallow. Locations are empty, the MC is a tough guy, but pretty boring, the facial expressions in this game are weird, the dialogues are below average: you enter college and yet I felt like I was listening to the kids interacting. Tony's character is terrible and I can already have a good guess why he stopped playing basketball, the ex - she is so uniteresting, I already forgot her name - is a hybrid of some blond sexbomb and Nami from SG's and as a result she isn't even attractive. But the worst part is storytelling: I already feel like playing one of those naive games from DanielsK (I think that was his nickname): the inner monologue supposed to show the MC as clever and experienced player, but it's so tedious I started skipping after a while; the storyline: college team's coach posing in her lingerie to the students' pictures, MC's son planning the vacations for fis family + his father's ex and his granfather's spouse; 2 vs. 2 game going exactly as you would expect it. No, this game is just a big no-no to me and I cannot see any original ideas from the dev to keep this project alive for too long

the game itself is cool, the plot is good, here is the surrounding world, the picture could be made beautiful and the surrounding world where houses shops and all that would be nice to look at such beautiful characters, but what the game still lacks is music

Review for Rebounding Life [Ep. 1]
This is undoubtedly a fantastic 0.1 version. Writing, story, characters, visuals, it passes with an A-grade. Are there issues? Kind of. They aren't issues currently, however there are things that can later become issues.
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So, initially I was actually surprised about how much was actually in here. Not particularly in terms of sexual content (there's two scenes if you play your cards right, and they're easy to achieve), but in terms of writing. Each character has a clearly defined personality and understandable goals. You can see the MC's future goals, you can see the steps that (you assume) will be taken. That's a good set up. The dynamics are there. Are they kinda cliche? Yeah. Some cliches can be beneficial in immediately getting an audience comfortable in the environment quicker. The difference is whether we ONLY get further cliches.
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The visuals are great. Really no question here. Models, lighting, water reflections are all great, backgrounds are well done (a few things are a bit off if you pay attention, like the idea of a giant carpet with the school's logo in the middle of the college entrance instead of being in the floor), really nothing additional to mention. Although, I WILL say I hope we get some more diversity in terms of female love interests. I may be in the minority, but I like seeing women of different ages that LOOK like they're different ages.

Now, I wanna side-track a bit to ages specifically. The ballpark retirement age for an NBA player is their mid-30s, so that's the age I'm ASSUMING the MC is in, and that leaves some room to have an 18-year-old kid if we assume the MC retired in his late 30s. Nasira and Faith look quite young, so I first thought they'd be in their late 20s, but then they have older kids so you'd assume they're in their late 30s? This can work for rich people where you assume they get all this skincare done, but I want to see some older or older LOOKING people. Obviously a bit of a nitpick, just I'd like to see older women to help make the world more believable, whether it's the principal or Auri's mother or someone else. A whole game without a woman with a grey hair would be crazy.
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An issue I see possibly appearing, is the lack of choice. An intro being largely kinetic is forgivable, but there's a lot of stuff which restricts the player. An example is the MC wanting their son Troy to play basketball. What if, perhaps, I don't want to be fucking LeBron James making sure my son plays? The MC acknowledges his son has no desire to play, he acknowledges his son has skill in art (one we don't really see atm, more told), but we don't get a choice. If I have to sit through 10 episodes of the MC figuring out the son doesn't want to just do what his father wants and the MC accepting that, I will go insane. That would be intensely reptitive. If we get the choice to either push him or accept his choices, at least that'd give us the ability to just focus on other things.

I'm also curious how much time will actually be spent with the sons. I like that the MC has more supporting characters, but keep in mind an NCAA team has 15 players. FIBA has 12. WNBA has a minimum of 11 on a team. How many love interests will we actually have? It worries me that the story might bloat like numerous others and we'll lose focus and/or it'd be absolute essays between sex scenes.

Great start to a game!

The story actually matters in this game and deals with life and all that comes with it.

-Renders 5/5 Excellent use of lighting and the dev has his own style he sicks with, which is cool to see. Models are very appealing.

-Characters 5/ 5 Each one we've been introduced to so far has their own distinct personality, which is refreshing. It's not copy and paste sort of stuff. They feel like real people.

-Story 5/5 So far everything is well fleshed out and it has a clear direction.

-UI/Production 5/5 It's very clean and fits the game perfectly.

-Animations 5/5 They are quite good, it's clear the developer has put in real work on this part of the game.

People should give this one a try. It's a gripping slice of life game that actually has some real emotion in it, which I find lacking in a lot of other games.