VN - Ren'Py - Reclaiming the Lost [v0.11] [Passion Portal]

What starts off promising ends up getting lost. The renders are top notch and even the dialogue and story seem to start off well. However, that quickly goes downhill.

There are several issues with this game:
1) The pacing and transitions from scene/event/location is a discombobulated mess. You start getting into what is happening at that particular location and then all of a sudden you're somewhere else for some unknown reason, trying to figure out what is happening in the story. The restaurant scene is the worst offender. Zero build up to it. I felt like the game glitched and I lost a whole chapter leading up to it. It was also kind of a dumb idea anyways and should be scrapped.

2) There is no real explanation of the stats and how that may affect what you're interested in doing, just that the tree will update with notes every once in a while. To be honest, I dislike most games that use points to open up paths. Just let it flow naturally in the writing.

3) The game is a cock tease. Seriously. It's one of those games that gets you going and then all of a sudden shuts it down. I don't mind long drawn out escalation and build ups leading to the pay off. But don't sprint to the payoff and then do a complete 180 turn around. It seems to be a trend in the game.

This game looks like it could have been good. The art is really nice. I love that there is actually an older woman (who may be a LI in the future) who actually looks older. Different ages and body types are so important for me in these games.

However, with it's current issues I just don't thing there is any way to reclaim what was lost.

Pros:
-Renders are decent
-UI is nice
-The premise has potential

Cons
-Pacing is terrible
-Not nearly enough set up/build up
-Characters are hard to believe
-Dialogue is often cringy

Edit: it seems like it does get at least a big better after the intro bit.

I think the basic premise of the game sounds interesting enough, and the renders are pretty good. I especially appreciate the fact that the mom character actually looks older instead of looking like a 35 year old supermodel. But that's about where my praise dries up.
I'm really trying to like this game, but there are a few things that are consistently taking me out of it.

Firstly, the pacing is way to fast. Too much happens too quickly, and it the relationships develop way, way, too fast. And the second is probably a consequence that poor pacing - the characters are unbelievable and flat.

Take Emily, for example. The way you meet her is by approaching her in a coffee shop where she is sitting alone, looking nervous, directly after she had rebuffed the waiter. Being the completely not creepy dude you are, the first thing you do is go over to talk to her.
Then later that day, continuing your very normal, not at all unhinged behavior, you happen to drive up along side her while she's walking down the street, again alone, at night. Of course, in a not alarming at all way, you roll down your window and offer her a ride, which, in defiance of all common sense, she accepts.
Now, as if our credulity was not already being stretched dangerously thin, we are suddenly informed that MC is looking for a secretary, who he wants to accompany him on his impromptu road trip to his home town, the following day I might add, and he offers the job to Emily. And somehow she misses the massive pile of red flags from this strange man she'd only met that morning, and accepts the job. Girl, I'm sorry, but you're just begging to get murdered.

And the game continues in that vein, with the familiarity between her and MC seemingly coming out of absolutely nowhere. It's clear that the game is trying to set up a romance between them, but there's just no foundation for it. The only real set up it gets is, in fact, my third issue with the game: the dialogue. Oh boy, is it rough in places. Particularly the MC's dialogue.

It's pretty clear that the dev is trying to write him to sound clever and thoughtful, and charming, but it comes across more like what your average 15 year old thinks all those things mean. A good example is when you're in the bar with Emily and you start telling her about your oh so interesting and original passtime - watching people in public places because, oh, just what could their stories be? Guess what? Every romcom made in the last 100 years called, they want their quirky personality trait back.
There's nothing insightful or interesting or charming about anything the MC ever says. It's just the same cookie-cutter, cardboard nothing that hollywood has been tossing in their bargin bin runoff forever. The kind of stuff that filters down into the psuedo intelectual minds of overly self-serious 14 year old fanfic writers, and will make them shudder with embarrassment when they think back on it later in life. It's just cringe and it completely take me out of the story.

So, that's where I'm at with this game right now. I'm trying to enjoy it, and maybe things will pick up once we're through the, "set up" bit, but I have to say, I don't have high hopes.

0.6

Only 3 stars because it is really broken with the restaurant scene that comes out of nowhere.

It is a bit to obvious who the daughter is .... mmh, we named 2 characters ...

The renders are great and the potential "targets" are well placed and nice looking. The pacing is quite nice, and I like the buildup, even if it is at times a bit chewy.

When the game logic gets fixed, this might be a 4 star game.

Beautiful renders and art, coupled with good writing and a compelling story. This game is truly beautiful, even the menus have this really nice flowing abstract art on them and the colors blend wonderfully. This really is one of the best looking games I've ever seen on here, it's great. However, despite the great art good writing and compelling story, this is definitely a story focused game and not a sex game. There is almost no lewd or sex content yet and I don't think there will be much by the time the game is done. That can be seen as a positive or negative thing depending. Also, the characters have 4 different stats that can be tracked, Love, Friendship, Lust, and Submission. However, the choices are not clear at all in what you should pick to pursue a certain type of "stat" with a girl. It would really help a lot if it was shown what these choices do. Some choices will also be greyed out I assume from not having a high enough stat for the girl which just compounds the problem. Also, it's not really shown what these stats will exactly do. Will they change the story, the way the girl talks? Is it just to access certain choices? What do these stats do. This is not explained at all. This means that the game can be a confusing mess when choosing choices in dialogue because you never know exactly what happens. Overall, it's a pretty good game with some of the best art and renders I've ever seen in a game. It's simply beautiful. Highly recommend you play it if you are looking for a good dad daughter detective mystery game, but not if you are looking for sex content.

Great game so far I'm enjoying it, the mystery about the whereabouts of the protagonist's daughter is still a mystery but I'm thinking that I don't know about Ashiley out of nowhere, she appears in the protagonist's life but it's not yet confirmed, just what awaits us from now on. of history.
Chloe is really fun, I love her as I see her relationship with the protagonist here and if they're going to take the next step.
Emily is breathtaking very provocative on her part, the protagonist also has his way, his friend apparently and that husband who cares more about his work than his wife if he continues like this and is capable of losing her to the protagonist, the way she was looking at the protagonist almost every moment, let's see what her relationship with the protagonist will be like from now on but also the husband doesn't pay due attention to his wife ends up becoming a cuckold in the end

reviewed against v0.6. The game is good but I found it.... confusing. There's a few plot threads going on and it's kind of difficult to understand what is what.

The game is missing a HUGE amount of exposition. It needs help setting the scene better. So there is one thread where you get a letter saying your old flame had a kid and put them up for adoption. There's a thread about meeting some random girl and you offer her a job. There's a thread about your business partner and finally there's a thread with some old friends you knew but there's a criminal lack of explanation over what all these are.

In a scene with the girl from the coffee shop you offer her a job and I genuinely thought it was just a line to chat up the girl cause I couldn't remember seeing anything to suggest you were in a position to offer anyone a job. You could work in McDonalds for all I know. Perhaps I missed it but it could have been clearer.

There are other examples, the scene with the dad leaves you feeling whether it's worth the hassle, the random encounter with the girl in the hotel, which reinforce the idea that sometimes the games feels like random scenes bolted onto each other. So the plot could do with some simplification and some clarification.

It also seems to suffer from an issue where choices will block you out of content. Which is fine but experience has shown that never tends to end well. You end up with releases which don't touch on what you're playing so you either need multiple simultaneous playthroughs or you just have to hope you remember the plot for when a release involves what you're playing.

On the flip side it's pretty, there's a style there which reminds me of another game I won't mention but it's certainly easy on the eyes. It could be good but I think it needs more time to cook. If it continues then in a year or two it could be brilliant but right now it's just confusing.

[0.6] - overall rating: 3/10

A kinetic novel in a trench coat.

THE GOOD

The premise behind the story is genuinely interesting and I'd love to see more games explore the "already established" main characters. Having the existing baggage of life experiences makes the story feel more grounded and focused.

The UI is an upgrade over the default one - simple but effective, though more customization options are welcome.

The renders, for the most part, look good. Bonus points for the grandma.

THE NEUTRAL

The music and SFX are there, but they are nothing special - they are just alright.

Faceless MC is a bit of an "eh" point, but the shots with him aren't jarring.

THE BAD

Renders.
Whilst most of them are good, they are still tons of issues with how that aspect is handled.
Firstly, the artist opted for the "mouths closed during dialogue" renders - which is acceptable if it wasn't for the lack of consistency. Some scenes are more "animated", some completely static (at times even the transitions disappear), but my favorite is the shot of one character smiling for ten (10) consecutive renders for no reason. The author focuses on so many odd or unnecessary details that I'm finding it hard to believe they couldn't animate the lips for the dialogue.
Secondly, I've spotted numerous instances of drastic and illogical lighting changes within the same scene (e.g. MC gives a woman a ride home and it suddenly goes from midday to evening).
Thirdly, the renders very often focus on female body parts in a borderline creepy way (more on that later).

Characters.
Let's start with the MC and how people react to him. Our protagonist is a middle-aged man, a person of success and authority. His ex-partner was apparently infatuated with him until her very end. You are supposed to play as someone with distinct personality and established role, but no interaction seem to indicate this. Your mind chases after every young women you see (who, for some reason, trust you on the spot), describing them in detail reminiscent of a complete deviant. The language used in this game can be undoubtedly beautiful, but I felt physical discomfort where a man in his supposed forties (or fifties) fantasizes and sexualizes every little move some girl half his age does in front of him. All this would makes sense if we could go the route of dark fantasy corruption, but we can't - MC acts like he's scared of young women...

Then we have Chloe and "The Girl With No Name" - two main female protagonists.

The former is a young girl that you apparently grew up with - it's not particularly clear. What is clear is the fact that all of her in-game content is bound to her being a streamer. Not a generous up-and-coming streamer, but someone who will only interact with your "internet persona" when you donate an absurd amount of money to her. If you don't go that specific route, your interactions are pretty much non-existent. I'm sorry, but being a glorified gold-digger is not a positive personality trait.

The latter is a young girl that you meet in a cafe. She has a first-ever job interview and she's stressed about it. The problem is, you cannot get rid of her. Even if you decide not to engage her in a conversation and just leave the coffee shop, you will still meet her, you will still offer her a job at your company, and she will still accept going with you on a road trip. Her entire personality is just being hot and young - there is no substance.

Pathing and plot.
Perhaps the most egregious sin this game has committed. The developer tries to convince you that their game has this intricate branching system allowing for complex relations and outcomes. Yet there is no obvious indication that a single decision made in the first thirty minutes will lock you out from major scenes in the future. Furthermore, that decision whether you decided to lie about going upstairs to see the girl streaming somehow influences the possibility of the one (and only) sex scene in the game. A sex scene with a character that has nothing to do with the girl from the game's intro!
And the best part is that the developer knows this - their patch notes literally say what you have to do to get to the content they put into the game simply because the PATHING MAKES NO SENSE.

Oh, and the game spoils the entire plot by allowing you to the name the young girl from the cafe whilst everyone else has an established name (aka she's your long-lost daughter). Well done...

Also, this game needs a proofreader - there are tons of major punctuation omissions and oddities in the game's walls of text.

Overall, I cannot recommend this game as is. If the plot and branching were to get a revision, the game would be great.

This one of the top tier for me
The story is really interesting and the character design is one of the best

Pro
- Every character is looking really good and the face proportion kinda realistic though
- Olivia look kinda like Emma Myers and that's on fire!
- Render are stunning
- Story is really interesting
- Little bit slow burn is perfect on this avn
- Not a lot of mens here and no disgusting one
- The mystery feels

Cons
- Stat are kinda confusing
- Still short though

You guys did a really great job and I love it
Thanks a lot for good work and can't wait for more!

This game looks amazing, the female character models are top tier. The lighting/shadows captured in the renders and shot angles shows the artist has some excellent visual skills.

The main story has mystery element and is interesting enough to keep you playing.

I enjoy that choice influences character stats, giving you different outcomes. Hopefully there will be more content soon so we can see more variety of these changes the choices make.

So, what I played just now is 0.5 the character models are good for sure. I also like the choice options for most of the choices. Like,for most choices there is no right or wrong. It just different, with different choice add to different stats. I like that more than just one choice is right and other is wrong. Or like two different choices but everything continues the same, nothing changes. And as for the story... I mean, I chose most of the wholesome choices. So, it's a wholesome story?? I think. As for the main story, it is good that there is a ending goal and the road to that but I kinda hope the story don't go to dark. Or the story don't go to dark based on my choices. But I would say I like it. Just hope that it doesn't become abandoned like every other good story with goodlooking characters and graphics.

Graphics are great and story may be good, but it is too early to already be getting greyed options because of irrelevant choices being made.
This completely destroys the experience since you would need to do choices you wouldn't choose, but you have to get to x content.

I do understand thinking this adds replayability or depth to choices, but in reality it just creates exact strings of choices that you would need to get x content, ruining what would be an immersive story. It may have potential, but this type of choice system is just too bad in my opinion.

Do give it a try though, despite this making the game impossibly unenjoyable to me, if the above didn't tick you off

This game really shines when it comes to storytelling and graphics. The story is engaging, and it feels like diving into a captivating book. The characters are well thought out, and their conversations are interesting, making it easy to connect with their journeys.

Graphically, the game is impressive. The attention to detail in the landscapes and character designs is evident, making the visuals a treat for the eyes.

However, I do hope the game continues to receive updates to expand the story. The current narrative has left me wanting more, and I'm eager to see where it goes. Adding new storylines and characters while maintaining the storytelling and visual quality would keep players like me engaged and excited for the future.

Reclaiming the Lost [v0.5] - Contain some Spoilers.
The renders are good, the females are attractive and the main story is good so far.
What are my problems with this game?
First the font size, too small.
I love games that give players meaningful choices, choices that actually changes the outcome of a situation, and this games has it....the problem here is that is done in the wrong way, here you will not have a clear vision of how your choices will affect the game as choices you make with one character will affect how a unrelated character will react in the future...
example, you sneak into a girl streaming, you watch without her noticing, then you can tell her later if you saw her or not...if you say you did see her then this will block you to let a girl stay in your hotel room later, a girl you didnt know when you saw the other streaming, the two girls dont know each other...but if you say you didnt see her streaming this will enable you to see and give money on her streaming, this will lead you to have te option to let that other hotel girl stay in your hotel room and this will end up in a BJ....this doenst make sense. I chose all the same choices and changed only the part where you can say if you saw her streaming or not...so this is actually the trigger.
So this leads to other problem, how im supposed to care about the dialogue if i cant even have a tiny idea of how a choice will affect something.. we have a bunch of characters throwing a bunch of information that we cant use. There was some choices i couldnt pick that i still have zero idea of the trigger, and i just dont care anymore, the outcome at least have to make sense with the choice, and this doenst happen with this game.
Someone said all characters are likeable, c'mon...this streamer chick shows a bit more skin depending of how much money the person gives her...at first it was her joking with a female friend saying if the money was enough she woud think about it, but later depending of your choice MC can watch her while hiding his indentity and make a huge "donation", then she gets so happy that shows him a fair amount of skin, she changes clothes in front of the camera, wears a more reavaling outfit and shows off to MC (in her perspective he was only a unknown dude), so how exactly this girl is likeable? Im not saying you cannot like what she does, but be likeable???
Funny enough, later, we can choose for her if she will take off her bra in a photoshoot or not...then she can take pics without a bra under her white t-shirt... this game should have a multiple protagonist tag as we have to make a choice for other character, even a female protagonist tag.
Content wise the game is quite short for a V0.5.
The blonde main girl is quite beaultiful but for me she is bland and her interactions with MC with no chemistry.

This update was great, I really enjoyed it, the teasing scenes were very strong

The previous update disappointed me a bit, of course, it was a system rework, so it can't be faulted

But this update showed that this game is still powerful and full of potential

I hope that slow burn and high tension will continue, which means that the females in the game will not turn into boring sluts soon

Positive points :

The renderings are great

Animations are currently few in number but quite satisfactory

The appearance of the families is very attractive, their faces are great, their bodies are great

The writing is very strong. You can find very few games with the writing power of this game

The story is relationship-oriented and very attractive

Strong atmosphere

MC's personality is great

The personalities of the families in the game are great, I really fell in love with them all

The story goes logically, the characters have logical resistance

Etc

Fantanstic VN so far

Storyline is decent

All Characters are likeable

MC is also likeable

Wording/Dialogue is really good and doesnt feel wierd

All girls are gorgeous and sweet (but Chloe is just unparalled in every aspect)

Renders are stunning, among the best I've seen so far

The story feels like It will have a lot of depth, especially relationship building seems to be a big part so far (which I really like).

The dev really didnt lie about the movie night beeing the highlight of the v0.5 update. If the work and love put into this sequence is what we can expect from future content, then this is gonna be a masterpiece for sure.

If the base story would be just a bit more unique this would get a perfect rating so far, regardless this is a must play!!!!

This is quite awesome.
There is a good character build and the renders are great.
I'd say that you shouldn't listen to all the forum "prophets" about the plot.
It's still too early to make guesses.
9/10 from me, I'll be coming back to review future versions

I would also like to do a review for "Reclaiming the Lost".

Story: Introduction to the story, dialogues and the different scenes and the so far implied entanglements and connections of the present, whose origin is to be sought in the past. MC and all the NPCs are so far interestingly written and credibly enacted. They have their strengths and of course their weaknesses. MC has made some decisions in his past that we will have to deal with in the near future, be it the consequences or the collective damage that comes with the flashbacks. Main story is really exciting and makes you want more, can't wait to find out more of the MC story. The side stories are also well implemented and interestingly written, we get to know our LI or our best buddy better.

Graphics: This one is, of course, in the eye of the beholder first. I personally like it very much. What I really like is that the characters seem so alive, in the course of the dialogue we experience different facial expressions, poses, etc. from the said chars. Unlike many other titles here in the forum, a clear plus point for me.

Music: Music and sound effects deepen the experience with this title. There are different pieces of music for the different scenes, I find these are appropriate for the scene.

Choices: In this AVN, first of all, there are roughly 2 paths to follow. Lust/Dominance and Love/Romance. With the respective LI, such interesting and clearly separated paths are possible. Theoretically it is also possible to mix love and lust with each other, but certain decisions and thus whether I can continue to follow the respective path taken, requires a minimum value (zb Lust). So certain events and also spicier scenes become missable, because one does not have enough in appropriate categories. In the same way, there is the further branching, that the story continues with a small variant (choice between 2 locations, with the next update we will see how they differ).
It is possible to play a boorish and dominant person as well as a friendly and romantic one. Let's see how the developer develops and expands all this in future updates. In any case, this is an interesting game with a lot of potential for great playthroughs with an erotic component. So far there is a lot of teasing and erotic sizzle, story and its unfolding is the clear focus. Really well done, developers!

Thanks Passion's Portal for this great AVN and the fantastic experience so far. I look forward to future updates.

There is barely anything to write for this game given how little content is in it for a linear kinetic VN.

I do not understand these 5 star spams when it is misleading to so many just because you are faithful in its potential to be a big game.

As of now I can't even do a proper review because you only meet 1 manic pixie dream girl at a cafe and then try to flirt with her at every chance you get while some other side chick throws herself at you. That is it.

The renders are good but the content and story is none-existent. I've said it time and again, first releases should always be more beefier than your updates. It's your shot as a dev to strike out.(As of 2025 this game is still in the blue ball gutter nothing new except more teasing and its had 9 updates but plays in 10mins )

I'm sure all of you have heard people saying "Show, don't tell." It's used in writing and it's a way for the writer to paint a vivid picture of what's happening instead of stating it. There's an interesting aspect to this in this AVN. Firstly, the writer understands this to a certain extent and he has a decent vocabulary. If this was a book, he'd be spot-on with his showing game, allowing the readers to form their own judgement of what's happening with ease.

However, this is a VISUAL novel and many of the things that are being described are actually on display for us to see through the renders, we don't need the redundant commentary. It's not always this way, but it's seen often enough.

Aside from that, when authors are advised to "show, don't tell," it encompasses more than just describing places, people, expressions and actions. It extends to all aspects of storytelling, including the portrayal of a character's personality. Why am I telling you this? Because there's so much inconsistent characterization that it becomes annoying and jarring to see. It happens with probably all characters in this AVN, but the main problem is the MC.

We are told he is someone who carries himself with confidence and exudes authority. We are told he is a successful businessman and this paragon of virtue, so good that the mother of his lost daughter grieved him until her death, however, we are TOLD, not shown. What we are shown is a timid man who blushes and stammers when girls that are his daughter's age flirt with him. He is not confident. Even if you do not drive the MC towards the path of debauchery, he will still deceive and flirt with vulnerable little girls. No paragon of virtue.

There's only one sex scene that only includes a blowjob and you will most likely miss it in your first playthrough since it requires you to make all the right choices, with no room for mistakes. During that scene, the MC acts like a sleazebag, but not as much of a sleazebag as he acted that same night, but now he's feeling guilty apparently and needs the naïve young girl he tried to prey on to make him feel better about it. Now, if there's anything more unlikeable than a sleazebag is a closeted sleazebag, at least own up to it, dude.

In summary, he does not have any outstanding qualities nor does he take action to back up his supposed characterization. This makes the entire experience unenjoyable because there's a big disconnect between what the game is telling us and what we're seeing and it's the main reason for my low score. Of course, this game does some things right, like build-up and sensuality. The build-up to the sole sex scene was quite sensual and I believe the dev has the potential to create many more good scenes, but all the good-will created by the sensual build-up is thrown out the window in the pathetic way it ends, with the MC lying back doing nothing and lasting two seconds with the girl's lips on his dick. Even if the sex scene was amazing, a game can only be carried by its sex scenes if it's pure porn, which this game isn't.

Perhaps in the future, the dev can better represent the MC and all its characters whilst advancing the plot, which would easily triple the enjoyment of playing through it and I can revisit my score, then, but as of now, I simply cannot recommend it.

TL;DR - It's decent, but it has potential.

The storyline is nothing you haven't seen before. It sets up some twists and turns but they're pretty obvious. The writing itself ranges from good to bad to unusual. It randomly gets academic, like the dialogue came straight out of a textbook about whatever subject they're discussing.

The renders are nice. All the girls are good looking, especially Grace. She looks believably aged, and not like a 30 year old pretending to be 50. The lighting is sometimes wonky but overall good.

My biggest gripe is that the MC can not stop ogling girls. In his conversations with his "sidekick", he checks out her body nonstop. He's supposed to be middle aged but he acts as horny as a 13 year old hitting puberty.

A smaller issue is that this game needs a proofreader. Random spelling errors, grammar issues, and uncapitalized words abound.

Overall it has potential and is worth a play, just expect a lot of porny cliches and an MC who needs to work on his wandering eyes.