Why are there so many high ratings?
Ratings are a reflection of opinion most of the time, especially on a porn site. There are plenty of high rated games I didn't enjoy, and more than a few low rated ones I really liked.
I've put a lot of time and effort into this project, trying to make it the best I can. I address issues players have (to the best of my ability), to make a game that is enjoyable and has minimal issues. It will never appeal to everyone, but to those that enjoy it, I'll do everything I can to improve it.
I think part of that effort is also reflected in the reviews. Most games on this site are not published on this site, they are uploaded here, with minimal to no interaction with the dev.
As far as I understand, the game doesn't even have a decent storyline and features a lot of repetitive dialogue and also mediocre art based on the original cartoon.
Art is always going to be a preference thing. When I first started playing the original Unity game:
Rick and Morty A Way Back Home (by Ferdafs), on which this renpy~ port? adaptation? mod? (whatever people want to call it) is based, it took me a LONG time to accept the character model changes (that were vastly different from the show). Now it doesn't bother me at all, but I did find it jarring. Eventually, the style grew on me, and now I really enjoy it.
To storyline, I do agree the main through story is not the best. But, again, adaptation of the original, there is only so far I can deviate from the original game. In fact, I've had to add the story back in to a fair bit of the game where Ferdafs seemingly forgot his own story existed. At the end of the day though, it is a porn game, and most of it's "story" is one off, self contained, scenes about having sex with various girls. It's not ground breaking storytelling, it's porn, with a story.
To repetition, I (and several other contributors from this forum) have worked hard to cut down a LOT of the dialogue repetition from the original. BUT, this game is over 400k+ words long, with more than 200 sex scenes. There is only so many ways to describing "fucking" without using language so out of place that it ruins the scene.
I think the "repetition" complaint mainly comes from how the girls react with Morty cumming inside them, which doesn't have much variance each time. Which, I agree, can be repetitive for some, and I could most likely do better.
The only thing that might appeal here, then, is, as I understand it, the fact that you're a fan of Rick and Morty—is that right?
Does it even make sense for someone who hasn't watched Rick and Morty to play this?
Several players have commented (in fact just above) that they played this game without watching the show. In some cases, players watched the show after, and the game got them into it. In others, people have enjoyed it without touching the show at all.
It is a parody, so you will miss out on some things if you don't watch the show. But, no, I don't think the show is required to enjoy it. If you understand the basic idea of Rick and Morty (they go on wacky adventures in other dimensions), that should be enough? There are several other parody porn games out there that I enjoy, but either hate or don't watch the content on which they are based. Again, to each their own.
If you're on the fence about playing, I'd suggest just trying it? It's free, costs you only a bit of time to download and play. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll hate it? But, it doesn't cost you anything to try.
But regarding the engine, I’d say you’re mistaken, because all similar tools have their shortcomings, and no matter which engine you bring up as an example, there will always be people who criticize it)) Also, Unity itself seems pretty good, it all depends on the skills of the developers.
In this case, they mean the original game on which the renpy game (this game) is based. It was originally made in Unity by Ferdafs, and not~ very well. It certainly could be made better. Unity is a great engine with a lot of power. But, the renpy version of this game exists, because the Unity game has SO many issues.