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.
