Ren'Py - Reya the Elf [v0.6.4 SE] [Yooshi]

Such potential being completely wasted and buried underneath this obnoxiously grindy excuse of a game. How this managed to get such a high rating is honestly beyond me...

This is a bit of long one, but let this review stand as a warning for those who have even the slightest dislike towards grindy sandbox style games. If that's you, don't get fooled by the high ratings. Do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY!

The majority of this game is literally just rewatching the same uneventful shit you've already seen a million times... Want to progress with this customer at the massage parlor? Okay sure, but first sit through this same scene where fuck all happens 10 times over.
Once you've done that, surely something satisfying will happen right? Wrong.. Now you get the exact same scene, except now you get to choose to not move away when said customer touches her leg. That's it, that's all you get. After that, it's right back to watching the same scene over and over to grind more corruption points. This has to be a joke, right....?

The entire damn game is like this... Done grinding 10 more corruption points? Great, you get one more click of "progress" for this scene at the bar, now fuck off and watch the same scene 20 more times to earn another 10 corruption points, maybe you'll get another click of "progress" for your trouble.
Not to mention that half the game is governed by RNG, and even if you have the required amount of corruption to "progress" the scene, it might not even happen regardless, because why wouldn't you make it even more difficult to progress on top of the ridiculous grind. Try again the next day, or reload until the scene does show up, good luck!

Oh and as a cherry on top this developer has the audacity to implement a character (to my knowledge there's only one, but I'm not 100% sure) you actually can't progress with after a certain point, should your CORRUPTION GET TOO HIGH.
Not even joking here, this game that is all about grinding corruption points for hours and hours on end, has a character that straight up refuses to talk to you anymore should your corruption points exceed a certain amount.

Normally I'd say "Hey, fair enough, to each their own". But nearly 5 stars for this..? Come on people, have some damn standards. Sure it looks nice as far as Honey Select games go, but there's barely even a game here, all you do is spend hours clicking through recycled crap just to unlock that sliver of a scene only to then do it all over again for another sliver.
Designing it this way adds nothing of value, and I'll never understand why some developers are so willing to turn their game into a huge chore. It quite literally benefits no one, unless you're a masochist I guess...

The game has some hot scenes sure but I'm rating the game as a whole here, and what an absolutely horrible experience this was... Since you can't go lower than 1 star, let's pretend the game earns that star because the main character is cute and it has some decent scenes once you've spent hours unlocking them bit by tiny bit.

might not be a fan of 3D games and lean more toward the stylized 2D artstyle, but...
1. The renders are high quality
2. There are multiple renders that have been REDONE by the original author that change the clothing, so it's super high quality in regards to that
3. The models used aren't, that bad, and I can see how someone that prefers 3D would love them
So all in all, it's quite impressive and if you like 3D art this is definitely something you would enjoy.

This is feels like the worst parts of old-school dating sims mixed with generic modern VNs. It is impossible to progress without referencing the built-in guide, which is not even accurate, for example, it says talk to Laura when you actually need to talk to Nadia. This may be due to updates, but it highlights the major issues of the game. It wants to be a sandbox and a VN at the same time without committing to either. While there might be a way this could be done well, it isn't here. Everything is a grind of clicking the same buttons and skipping through the same dialogue in order to unlock the next part. The grind mixed with poor writing (your dad is referred to as "her" in the prologue among other myriad typos) makes for a snooze fest. If you suffer long enough you get some decent scenes, but they aren't worth it. There is also a lot of clipping with the models which is put front and center for you to see, whether it be a ballsack poking out of pants or ears jutting through locks of hair. The premise isn't terrible. The story (if you can withstand the grind) isn't that bad. Are there choices? No. Well, yes. The choice to progress the story or not. There also ought to be another time frame available between afternoon and night (i.e. evening) but there just isn't enough content to warrant it despite the game itself implying events taking place during such time.

TL;DR: Not quiet a Sandbox, not quiet a VN. Worst of both worlds. The grind holds back the story/scenes, the story has no real player input.

Really enjoyable pace of corruption that's not too fast or too slow. My only complaint is that I want more of it. Not that it's particularly sparse on content, but some areas I think could do with fleshing out, like unlocking more lewd massage options as corruption increases (instead of just unlocking a sex scene), assuming those expansions aren't planned already.

Reya the Elf is a time management game about a cute elf girl who goes to the city and becomes a complete slut in about two months.

I jest, but only a little. After all, Reya the Elf is a corruption game. You start the game giving very tame massages and end up a naked exhibitionist on the streets, fucking cocks in a glory hole. The corruption slide is annoyingly slow and repetitive in the early game but accelerates (maybe too much) as the game progresses. I suppose the game scaffold itself is fairly decent, but the numbers could use some tweaking or at least some event diversity in the early game.

Unfortunately, the corruption is very free-form as there's little in the way of milestones such as a first blowjob, first time seen naked, etc. I feel like these types of events offer a more granular corruption that lends itself well to an overarching plot. As is, the corruption feels haphazard instead, where Reya's firsts aren't very significant and can happen any number of places.

On some level, I don't think I have too much of an issue with this fast and loose style of corruption, but when it goes hand in hand with an almost complete lack of a story it causes problems. In order for a corruption game to feel corruption-y I feel like the person being corrupted needs some kind of a push. It could be a need for money, it could be a person trying to nudge them down the road to depravity, it could be drugs, hell, it could just be an inner slut finally let free after a lifetime of being a good girl. Reya has very little of this.

There are side characters who want to see Reya being corrupted, but they interact with her infrequently and mostly insignificantly. Reya does need money, but there's no time crunch or risk to her if she doesn't get it. Neither of these things are enough to launch Reya into the spiral of corruption found in the game in my opinion.

Regardless, I complain about the story and progression because of how otherwise good the appearance of the game is. Reya is gorgeous and features in a lot of sexy scenarios all over the city. I (naturally) have a strong love for the exhibition scenes, though there's sadly only two locations as of now (0.6.1). I have no complaints about the game's appearance and look forward to future patches.

Overall, Reya the Elf is a great looking game hampered by a lack of a story. As is there's maybe three events that might be part of a bigger story, but the rest of the game is just general lewdness and grinding. I think the game will be good if it continues in its current direction, but really needs an overarching story or a more concrete corruption arc if it wants to be incredible.

Really enjoying this game and looking forward to the next update. A bit repetitive on the massage tasks in order to complete them all as well as the bar orders but men will always get more hands on as time passes by.

Good game, a bit grindy and once you're at high corruption every scenes is great. Beside, dev kinda kind and friendly. Looking forward to seeing how this develops further. A bit wonder how this game gonna end

This is a good game with room for improvement.

Pros:

• Slow corruption, decent pacing. A lot of people mentioned the grind, but honestly, without it, a game of this type would suffer.
• The scenes, visuals and animations are good. MC is cute.

Cons:

• Story is mostly weak, cheesy, short and pretty vanilla. The idea of a shared world between different races isn't fleshed out.
• Corruption at some point feels rushed and unnatural. In my opinion at the end of the grind phase should be more story to push Reya to try something new. There are no specific milestones for corruption at the moment, it just happens at some point between grind.
• The side characters in this game are pretty basic and don't add anything interesting to the story. In my opinion, it's not important for a game of this type to have unique side characters, but the inner thoughts and motivations of the main character should be the compensation, but they aren't.
• The illusion of player agency and bugs.

In my opinion, the visuals and the pace of corruption are the main selling points of the game.

The worst part is that some parts of the story and events feel completely disconnected from each other, and corruption is mainly just a grind stat. As for my taste, I would mention the lack of the MC's inner thoughts and also the lack of "random" story events like the one with her uncle barging into her apartment.

-- Review updated to version [v0.5.4 SE] --

Pros:

- Watching Reya slowly give in to her desires is very satisfying.
- The main character (Reya) is very lovable.
- Animations: They are all over the place and are of superior quality (Seriously, it's very well animated).
- The scenes are very hot, and hand in hand with the previous point, they take them to another level

Cons:

- The gallery only shows the animations, but not the full scenes.

Despite having an anime style (not my style) I gave it a chance, and thank goodness I did. RTE is a very good game with a very lovable (but very sexy when she wants to be) protagonist.
The idea of a shared world between different races is interesting, but maybe Reya's story itself is not its strongest point. Even so, in version 5.2 a new mission was added: “Undercover” which opens a very interesting new plot, and that's what I think the game needs the most. That's why I would like that in future updates this plot is given importance, because it's the first time that the story left me really interested in knowing how it continues.

The corruption is slow at the beginning, but as we progress, it increases faster. Now comes the critical point: the grind. Yes, it's heavy, and more so at the beginning. But just like the corruption system, as we advance, the grind becomes lighter and lighter. And seeing how Reya is gradually leaving aside her shyness, makes the player feel well rewarded.

Maybe some revisions would be needed in the dialogues regarding Reya's virginity, since in my game, she lost it twice, haha (once in the massage parlor and once working in the spa). Anyway, this is not something I consider urgent.

What I do find annoying is that in the gallery you can't play the full scenes, only the animations. This means that if you want to see a scene again, you have to save it at the exact moment and load it later when you want to see it again...

Now the animations, they are EXCELLENT! Very good quality, and smoothness. I understand that some people don't care about animations in games, but personally, I think they add a lot of life to it. What do you prefer, Quality or Quantity? In Reya the Elf, you don't have to choose, as there is Quantity and Quality.

The scenes are great and very hot, and make it a very pleasurable experience to see how Reya is opening up to new experiences (sex... I'm talking about sex). It is also appreciated that in the help menu and missions, the requirements to access them are clarified, so that the user knows what to do and not get stuck without knowing what to do.

In summary RTE is a very good game, it's not perfect I know, but personally I found it a very pleasant experience. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4,5/5 (With potential to be 5/5)

Fun game, a bit grindy and once you're at high corruption the reused assets from the low corruption state are incongruent with the MCs willingness to be lewd.

Understand why the assets are reused, just something I noted. Looking forward to seeing how this develops further.

Didn't bother getting very far in the game. The pacing at the beginning of the game moves at a snail's pace. I genuinely looked up the renpy skip text hotkey after seeing the same massage work text 10 times. Quality wise however, still would make this bearable to some people though. The animations are smooth, and I was surprised to see idles for main characters I came across. So that's a plus.

Personaly, too much grinding in this game. The charater design is great, that's the main reason I give it 2 stars. But spending days and days clicking every morning on feet, back and neck massage, with almost no content after that (at least after 30 minutes of game time, with skipping repetitive messages thanks to ctrl key ^^). It's really frustrating, the grind is not rewarding enough IMO.

Reya is very hot and sexy, and if you only see her, this game passes five stars,great body and face.Τhe animated sex scenes are amazing,the best I've seen, this game has become my favorite and I look forward to updates more than anything else.Please keep this up.

One of the (if not the) most pleasant surprises of 2023 for me when it comes to adult games.

MC is fantastic. Great, unique, innocent-looking, shy girl with a really enjoyable corruption arc. By 4.2 she's giving in to temptation and engaging in hot encounters at home, workplaces and in public.

I particularly enjoyed how she gets new (hot) lines of dialogue once past a certain threshold, reflecting her level of corruption. You'll notice how, at first, she struggles to let go of inhibitions and makes up excuses in her mind to do sexy stuff but repeating the same event later she's comfortable with it and welcoming any male(s) present in the room that can provide her with a fun time.

I'm normally annoyed by sandboxes but I think it works in this game. There's not much in the way of hints but you'll eventually find your way. There are only a few locations as of now and you get to choose which activities to do and in which order to tackle them. You may keep grinding on one job only if you wish and not do the rest but I enjoyed all the activities. You'll also get to choose who you wish to be the MC's first, the game gives you plenty of opportunities to back out of a sexy encounter if you prefer another partner for her. The dialogue will also adjust to whether or not an encounter is her first time having sex.

Regarding the grind, I 'd possibly increase the corruption speed only by about 15-20%, which you can do through cheats, in order to achieve what I would consider a perfect pacing.

Reya is now on my top 3 on the fem protagonist-corruption games which is by far my favorite kind of games and I say that having at least tried most of the games on this site containing those 2 tags. My favorite among those being Downfall and Fashion Business. Can't think of a way to give it higher praise than that.

Pros:
-MC is a hawt Elf
-Scenes are decent

Meh:
-Corruption mechanic is very binary. You either have the corruption points to proceed with a lewd scene or you don't. There's no gradual in-between scenes or dialogue as she gets more corrupted.

Cons:
-Grindy grindy grind grind. This might have been fine if the corruption mechanic had more gradience but it doesn't. I strongly suggest using Universal Renpy Mod to modify corruption and relationship variables.
-Could use a unified hint system

Conclusion:
Quite fappable. Decent but nothing noteworthy.

Gotta say, this game's kink is doing it for me. Reya is super cute and the lewd scenes with her are really good. I don't have any complaints at the moment but I would definitely like to see more outfits for Reya to wear (maybe ones from the fashion show?!) I really enjoy games that allow some sort of customization. Please keep this up! Thank you Yooshi

I've been playing since 0.1 and the game is better and better each update. IMO Yoshi is on the right way.
Pros:
- The game has a beautifully crafted world.
- Reya is one of the best female charaters in AVNs. She is interesting and well-developed.
- The scences are engaging.
- Animations is just also great.
Cons:
- The game has a little much of grinding at the beggining. It was pretty difficult and kinda boring for me.
- There are always some bugs at the initial realease. But each release they are less.
- It would be great to have some guide or walkthrough inside the game or at least some kind of pdf guide instead.

Overall, this is a great game that I would recommend to everyone. It is a well-thought-out and well-executed game that will provide alot enjoyment.

Very good game, very beautiful female protagonist, the corruption is slow but very realistic and the graphics are very good, this game has many possibilities and the developer gives us frequent updates.
what else could anyone ask for from a game? everything's Alright.

Well there is not much to say, grinding is never ending and repeated af, i guess you can go on for 30 min with out anything new at all, unneccesery slow, even if you skip all dialogs the progress is way to slow.
The models are good the 20 images of them that you ll see about 200 times each just to get to version 0.2. I cant imagine what will it be like to play version 0.5.

This must be the most grinding game in this site without anything to show for.

The protagonist is very beautiful,very sweet and shy, her movement is amazing with very good graphics.if you expect quick sex scenes this game is not for you.The very good thing about this game is the slow corruption, and that's what I like about this game.
This game has huge potential and has become one of my favorites,please dev keep it up and don't give up on this great game.