Ren'Py - Completed - Reclusive Bay [v1.0] [Sacred Sage]

review based on 0.24.1 version
PRO:
-good cg
-not bad story
-quests have hints
-not bad ui (navigation ui better than in most sandbox games)
-end_of_contenr marked
-good code. i mean also code quality progression
-animations present
NEUTRAL:
-lack of content. near 3-4 hours if u can read eng lang with good speed
CONS:
-some minor bugs like: on map i click on location and bang "wrong time/closed/lalala", then- second click and its work normaly.
-for what reason dev added "skills"? only for money grind? for gameplay- its just littering interaction menu
-normaly sandbox games have "side" activity, but not in this game (random morning events not count)

good game, not a masterpiece, but i got good emotions.

Reclusive Bay [v0.24.1] review
PROS
Nice models and renders were okay for most parts .
Decent story and sex scenes .
CONS
Grinding sandbox . The game is full of unbearable grind with having to earn money , free roam and even with hints which you are given in the game , you can't figure out what to do next and the game is filled with bugs in each release being a sandbox .
Despite of being a decent story with good looking models , Grinding sandbox totally ruins this game for me so in the end 2 stars .

Pros:

- NIGHT SCENES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Excellent layout
- Renders that start off decent and progressively get better and better
- Lots of pretty girls
- Reasonable rate of progression through sexual scenes
- Sandbox, no boring VN crap. You actually have agency and freedom.
- Built in hint system (walkthrough)

Cons:

- Grindy. Not unbearably grindy, but grindy.
- No easy way to find hidden images / the search for hidden images is too much.
- Hints aren't always super clear
- Progression through the monetary system slows down, it doesn't speed up


All in all an excellent first effort. I'll be watching this one.

Meant to post this 8/20/21
I recommend it. The renders are good...and getting better. The HINT makes sense and having to find hidden items is a welcomed twist. I think it is a good added feature to break up the monotony.
The grind is not so bad and you get to see the fruits of your labor instead of speed clicking to progress the story.
The grammar is 95%+ correct and flows like a normal conversation.
Lastly, the rating is based on the game renders, flow, challenge and developer, although relatively new, is extremely proactive on the board and appreciates feedback and suggestions.

Long version: Way too grindy imo e.g. job and money. I've still no idea why devs make games like this in this "category" of games where by the end of the day most are looking for thrills and not endlessly doing the same thing and looking all over a map with amateurish UI to guide your way.
(Edit: Forgot to mention that there is a $5000 button that you can cheat with, but it says to not press if you want to experience the full game.)

Story and writing are imo a sub-standard take on the MC-with-amnesia cliché suddenly finding himself drowning in fortune and attention from the opposite sex.

The images and models are what they are and I'll leave it at that.

Short version: Dev seems like a nice and helpful guy, but game is really not for me so I'll just say good luck and take care.

Shortest version: Thanks, I hate it.

a good number of typo and a couple error in the text but nothing seizure inducing or that would make some "engrish" comment be reasonnable, personnaly i don't like the yanno ... but i'm not a native english speacker so my school and game english may not be up to the level needed to make it feel ok ^^

the game have an interestng story and is not rushed with girls throwing themselves at the mc to get railled because he told them a couple compliments ... they still throw themselves at him a bit easily but it's a game and i don't think anyone would like to play through years of courtship and brainwashing to make them ok with the idea of polyamory >< so nitpicking would get us nowhere i like the pace and progression of the plot in this interesting story

i found no keyboard life threatening bug and god know there are quite a good number of those bugs in the games we get around here ^^ only "bugs" i found was with the barista, she speack of a meeting we never had a couple of time :S (while her profil say i did not miss any event with her) and after having gone through all map at all time they are accessible ... there is a few event i can't see, no scene in those if i believe the gallery, speacking of the gallery, i can't seem to acces the night creeping/crawling scene for the sexy cop

i'm a nitpicking maniac so i still find think to speack about, some eye candy scene are just too much of a pain in the ass to find some of them even with the hint had me close to either use the cheat mod to unlock them or just straight up abandoning or ignoring them, finaly got the idea to just look closely while using H key to see where some object was apearing when coming back to the "game"

even with all my nitpicking, i really enjoyed the current content and will come back eagerly for more, good job dev and thank you

I'm tired as of writing this so I won't give a huge review.

To the point: I loved the preg content. Really, I did.
Around the point right before changing locations, the grindy clicking got boring and annoying.
It happened again in thenew location, especially once I learned I needed $5000.
At that point I was done. Grind is not gameplay, stop it.

H stuff: 4/5
H kinks: 5/5 (personal likes =p)
Grind: 1/5 and the reason I stopped and will not continue unless changed.

Good luck and thanks for the game.

Although it is a game developed by a new (and beginner) developer, I must say that it is not bad. The story of the game is a little cliché and predictable. In addition, the characters begin to trust each other a little quickly and act as if they have known each other for a very long time. But I love the way the girls look. Especially Lily is hot. The girls ' personalities aren't bad designed for a beginner dev. And as far as I can see, every girl has her own fetish. And that's a pretty nice detail. I liked that Paige's personality was quite compatible with her appearance and realistic. The Sandbox is good, but I believe it will be made better by making additions in the future. I think there should be minor changes to the monetary system, but it's not a big problem. I was thinking of giving 4 stars with all this in mind, but I want to support a new dev. So I'll give you 5 stars. If it was a game made by an experienced developer, I would definitely give it 3 or 4 stars. But this guy has a lot of potential for a beginner.

A Not For DEV: I know that with future updates, you will make this game much better than it is. That's why you deserve 5 stars. I've counted all the negative and neutral parts I've counted to help you improve yourself in these areas. There will be people who humiliate what you do because you just started developing games. (Because they don't realize how difficult it is to develop games.) Please don't listen to them. And keep improving. Because there will be people like me who are aware of your efforts and support you.

-Edit: This was a review of Version 0.21.3. I believe the dev is actively improving the game and reducing the grind (that got me so triggered) in future versions.-

I feel a little bit like I'm kicking a puppy as the dev seems really nice but I guess if someone is going to ask for support on Patreon then I'm going to give an honest review, I think it's fair.

The game has a very amateurish vibe immediately. The first thing you notice is that the perspectives are all totally off when navigating the locations, it's like you are playing as an oompa loompa or tiny child. Also there isn't any logic to which arrows send you to which parts of each location without having to read them every single time. Otherwise from the start it seems like your stock standard amnesia story made in RenPy with Daz models. No surprises yet although there's some mystery about your Dad (and I have to assume, being your average RenPy game on this site, at some point down the line you accidentally bone your sister or mum or something haha).

Obviously I found the ui stuff and perspective annoying but I could overlook it if the game wasn't so mind numbingly grindy. I really don't understand why devs insist on making their games like this, I've completely lost interest in the story once I've found myself clicking the same few icons over and over again to get money for 20min, only to discover I only have $1000 and still need $4000 more to unlock the next bit of the story. I understand a little bit of grinding to add a feeling of achievement but this isn't what is happening. All interest I had in finding out what comes next has dried up. And that isn't even talking about the lock picking and hacking jobs.

So lets take the lock picking skill for example. To level it up you need exp. There are 8 levels of perks you can get. To get one perk point you need 100xp. You get 10xp with each success. Success isn't gauranteed but lets ignore that for a moment, to level up and get all your perk points you need to, bare minimum, do the job EIGHTY TIMES. But of course it will be more than that because you can't succeed every time. Not only that you can at first only do the job 3 times a day. It's insanity. Your restaurant job nets you a little more money but with that you have to deal with navigating the green arrows everyday and that just adds insult to injury, making it about the same amount, if not more mindless clicking.

When 80% (conservative estimate) of the game time is clicking the same couple of buttons over and over seeing the same couple of scenes over and over to get to the actual content, I'm out.

Ps. why 2 stars and not 1? Because it might have redeeming features you can get to after an hour and a half of grind but I'm not willing to give up that much of my time to find out. Sorry if this seems unreasonable dev but grind like this absolutely triggers me, I think I find it disrespectful of the player or something. I'm definitely willing to give the game another shot if grind is drastically changed at some point in the future.

Had a blast with the lockpicking and making money! Love being able to upgrade your crib! The girls are nice to look at and the game overall has a unique feel for a lewd game. Developer is constantly at work fixing bugs and expanding game which is nice to see in todays day in age where devs often drop the ball and leave games unfinished. I would like to see more tiny chicks with small boobies In any case if you are interested i would def give it a try cant go wrong since its free to play atm and I also recommend being a patron of his so you can help with the process which is always a good thing to be part of something. I gave this 5 stars because of it's uniqueness and because of the devs dedication and willingness to listen to his fans.

Nice work so far, dialogues feel dynamic cause of different facial expressions (yeah we all know these VN with just 2, like talking to carved stone).

The included "Hint" system isn't flawless but does the job, so no hours of guessing what to do next.

Characters are good just the overall "random" population at the background is missing (e.g.noone at the park)

The movement via "arrows" is sometimes a bit "strange".
And: you own a restaurant...to earn money...it's a trap!

So i'd say 3.5/5 (as it looks like the navigation will be reworked, i round it up for now)

(v.15.5.4)

Really great game with lot of woman lot of sex scenes .Navigating around the town and house is easy now really good and exciting story

Renders are good
Story is good
Lof of sex scenes
A gallery to rewatch scenes
Woman send you pictures
Not a fan of the mail option .