VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Reunion [Ch. 4 Bugfix] [Mr Georgie]

A rare, somewhat wholesome male MC game, where the MC doesn't exhibit pathological degrees of sociopathy,

PRO:
- Good diversity of characters
- Within scene facial expressions really sell the dialogue
- Tension and buildup
- Acceptable writing

CON:
- Slightly lacking in depravity.
- Certain conversations get a bit stale and feel like overly drawn out expositions

TLDR: Want to cleanse your palate from the depraved slop that is 95% of the content on F95zone with a taste of genuine romance, somewhat realistic sexual tension and vanilla sex? Play this! It's short and sweet.

Even though I find the stories of the different LIs overall interesting, I think the format of this VN is too short for the complexity of the conflicts in this plot. Mental illnesses are more or less cured in 1-3 dialogues, through the power of love, class conflicts dissolve in record speed, bullying is only a sidenote. This is all quite nice and doesn't make for a bad gaming experience, but it doesn't do justice to the topic in itself and therefore feels rushed and superficial at times.

Reunion is entertaining, don't get me wrong. It just lacks a bit context and patience so that I can really empathise with the characters and not feel like I'm going through a checklist.
For instance, why not have the MC deal with Johanna directly instead of having netorare flashbacks? Why not make it a lingering conflict until its resolution within the story? Instead it feels more like a talking point with other LIs, it's not really serving any other purpose. The obesity of the MC is just the same, was it really necessary to make him "less fat" as part of his redemption? Couldn't he have found love as an overweight adult?
Having him return as a famous author and sporty person seems like a similar "solution" to a shy girl getting silicone boobs to find success. Is that the message you want to send in a VN that is supposed to be emotionally deep? I don't think so. It is the AVN standard however and so it's more a criticism that I wanted to express but not strongly influencing my rating of this adult novel.

It is a good AVN that creates interesting personalities with complex motives and relationships that do not always revolve around the MC but goals of their own. That's probably one of its most charming qualities. I like the art too, especially the focus on facial expressions. There is not really a great amount of different poses and renders, so I found it helpful that facial expressions got the most attention.

[This review is of the completed game, Chapter 4.0, English]

If you're looking for an AVN focused primarily on emotions and character dynamics, you would be hard pressed to find a better example than Reunion.
The game is relatively small, but still packs a a respectable amount of content in by sticking with a simple premise and allowing us to explore the various permutations. Each of the four LIs has their own story, and all of them were thoroughly enjoyable (though Melissa was by far my favorite). The supporting cast - mostly the MC's extended family - was also put to excellent use. (We even have some options to 'cheat' and date multiple girls at once, but I'll admit I didn't have the heart to explore those paths very far.)

I was particularly impressed by how well the game explored the nascent relationships and all the potential hurdles they might face. Longtime colleagues acknowledging their feelings for each other, or student dating his former teacher are basic tropes, but this game spends the time to contemplate what those tropes might actually mean in practice, which was a real delight. Even the topic of severe depression was handled with unusual sensitivity here.

As far as art and lewd scenes, the 2D animation might not be to everyone's taste, but I loved it; it conveyed the emotions very well and seemed plenty sexy when it needed to be. Granted, the focus is kept on the story so there aren't really any side-girls or wild kinks (though Annie's path does spoof a threesome scenario rather mercilessly). If that's your thing you'll probably be disappointed, but personally I'd much rather keep a tight focus than dilute the product trying to be all things to all people.

There are a few minor flaws in the game. The most antagonistic characters are rather one-dimensional evil assholes. That makes them feel a little out out of place in an otherwise nuanced game, but they're in very minor roles so it's not a serious problem. I did run across a handful of untranslated Spanish lines here and there, but it was pretty easy to work out what they said and presumably this will eventually be corrected. And the short timeframe of the game does make Ivonne's path feel a little rushed; the character dynamics work fine, but unlike the other paths they needed another in-game week or two to compensate for the fact the characters had no pre-existing relationship.

Still, those are very small complaints in a game that really delivered on the most important aspects. My tastes tend to be a bit eclectic, but I give this game my highest recommendation.

What a charming game. A game that has it's heart on its sleeve. I'll gladly look forwards to anything else by this dev.
The art is nice, it has a sweet and compelling story. It's well written. It's worth a go for anyone who wants story and to care about the girls.

One of the best written games on this side.
The game is a bit short, but less is more sometimes.
There could be more sex scenes also, but I prefer quality over quantity.
I really liked the characters and enjoyed the story.
I would like to play a successor someday.

Really enjoyed the overall presentation of the game.

The visuals are very pleasant with interesting and well-designed characters and a simple but interesting story focusing on character relationships. Though obviously, the dev's first language is Spanish so some sentences feel kinda off in the English version, but still enjoyable to read.

Overall if you like a traditional romance VN set in everyday life with lovely characters and some bitter-sweet moments check this one out, it's simple but well-made and fun.

This is great its a very slow burn game. If you like slice of life type of games that some of us can probably relate to then give this a whirl. The art is top notch the girls there is none of the usual yoga, shopping, changing room tropes. The story is good and it feels like the choices are weighty, by that i mean they feel like they will have repercussions.

keep up the good work looking forward to seeing where this goes

[Chapter 2] Wow, what a sweet, brilliant little game!

There is so much heart in Reunion, and it tackles serious problems in a very adult, very human way. Everyone has their own flaws and insecurities, and they're doing their best, sometimes successfully.

It's still early days for the story, but there is already plenty to love, from hilarious highs to depressing lows. I'm really looking forward to what comes next!

P.S: The love interests seem varied and interesting, though I don't see how one could pursue anyone but Melissa

This is a fantastic, highly romantic, character-driven game.

The dev has created four compelling, distinctive LIs, who all have a claim on the MCs affections and a great deal of depth.

_Reunion_ is old fashioned (in the best way, from my perspective) in the sense that it gives you the freedom to pursue parallel relationships... but also foreshadows serious angst and heartache if you do not choose one LI and behave with integrity. Given the emotional depths the story has chosen to explore so far, I expect pretty spectacular highs and terrible lows... depending on the player's choices.

We're two acts in to a four act game, so it will probably end up as a relatively short narrative... which is great, since that should reward (rather than punish) multiple playthroughs.

It's not a perfect game: there is some Engrish. But this is an overlooked gem.

[Reviewed version "Chapter 1" (or 1.0) updated to "Chapter 2" (or 2.0)]
"Sweet" -- that's how I'd sum up this game.

All the visuals are hand-drawn and are nice enough, although all the women seem to have a very similar bodies (other than Mom). So far, there's just one animated bit, and it's the only lewd scene.

The text is clearly not written by a native English speaker. It doesn't sound like the usual auto-translated language to me; I'd take this instead to be how a native Spanish speaker who's fluent in English would talk. As such, there are awkward phrases and the like, but they don't overly detract from the sweetness of the story being told. I would encourage the developer to give it to a proof-reader/co-author to tighten it up. Also, this feels more like an introduction/prologue than the actual first chapter of the game.

[Chapter 2]
The story continues, with branching based on choices you made in the first chapter. Even if you tried to get romantic with all (or nearly all) the potential love interests at the start, you're encouraged -- sometimes with potential routes just plain shut down -- to narrow your focus. Regardless, you get deeper into the backstory for each of the LIs, some of which can be fairly sad, and can continue as friends with those you aren't focusing on.

There were a couple of lines of text in my play-through that were in Spanish, and there were also a few times when there were uses of inverted ! and ? characters. (I actually think that written English would be improved by making use of these, but in this game they're quite likely leftover punctuation from its original text.)

I continue to be looking forward to the chapters that will follow. I've given this 5 stars for the work so far. Keep it up!