VN - Ren'Py - Ripples [v0.7.0 Public] [Jestur]

  1. 5.00 star(s)

    Moffer88

    Loved it so far! Perfect combination of lewdness and a good story. The characters are also so good in my opinion. And even some sense of humor that I've enjoyed.

    I'm really expecting what Jestur is going to bring us in the next updates (more 3some action please!!)
  2. 5.00 star(s)

    weirddude94

    Well uh, shit. I'm not saying I'm picky, but I don't put this lightly: This might be the best VN on the site. Episode 4 is the end of the content at the time of writing this and, aside from a couple things I'm personally not "into", I don't think I've ever skipped less in a game than I have here. Let me get into this a bit deeper.

    I'll go with the first thing that made an impression on me: the characters. Right off the bat, you're introduced to probably my favorite character in any game on this site, Darci. She's your typical childhood friend character but written wonderfully. She's foul-mouthed, headstrong, adorable, and immediately establishes a fun back-and-forth rapport with the MC by way of just fucking around with each other constantly. It's already been stated that there's harem stuff in this game, but I'm about to play through the entire thing again just to keep a solo save on-hand for future updates. Unprecedented as far as I'm concerned. That said, it's really not an easy choice. The rest of the cast is filled with similarly likable characters. The prospect of going back through and turning down Krystal, Skylar and Alyssa is one that I sorta dread, as each one is a fantastic girl in their own way.

    Moving on, the story is surprisingly well done. I always get a little antsy when a story looks like it's about to get bogged down with some grand scale plot that takes over and dominates the entire playtime of a game, ruining the interesting interaction between characters. This game does indeed have a big plot like this, but it actually feeds into the character drama really well. I recently criticized a game for ruining its pacing with inappropriately used flashbacks that provided little information and seemed to exist solely to seem "cinematic", not really changing my perception of the characters or events. In Ripples, the game uses something similar to recontextualize a character mentioned off-hand at the beginning and make them one of my favorites in the whole plot. On top of that, it adds a lot of really interesting questions to discuss and debate about in discussions, primarily because the author clearly realized what information to give away and what information to tease.

    I don't know what else I can gush about. The developer clearly knows how to write an interesting story and characters and deserves to be applauded for their efforts. This game jumped straight to the top of my watchlist and I'll most definitely be financially supporting it in the future.
  3. 5.00 star(s)

    RockyBalboa1985

    Amazing game and very unique :love: :love:
    - The mc is super cool and the chicks love him
    -amazing animations
    -amazing renders
    -nice music
    -back to the future vibes(man I love those movies)
    - the chicks in this game are hot
    - some very funny moments
    Downside of this perfect game is that I can't travel to the future and to play the final version:p
  4. 5.00 star(s)

    JimmyJazz69

    This is an amazing Visual Novel: good plot and pace, well written, great renders and animations, (although based on Honey Select 2 Studio and, because of that, a little "dejá vu") and very hot sex scenes with beautiful girls (and women!).
    Also, unlike in most VNs, both the music and sounds are actually very good and contribute to the overall ambience of the story. Well done!
    I can't wait for the next episodes!
  5. 4.00 star(s)

    Assassini

    Based on the (as yet) unfinished v0.4

    My usual disclaimers when writing reviews on here are that A. I am here for the "plot" not the plot and B. I am very picky with visual novels and think broadly they can be very subpar. So, take both of those into consideration for my review when thinking about this game.

    Pros
    • H-scenes designed to suck my soul out through my dick – Not much more to say about this. I love my sexy content in H-games and Ripples fucking NAILS it, dude. Not just in terms of having really hot sexual scenes as well, but it caters to a lot of my favourite kinks (and also as time goes on begins leaning harder into rougher territory, which I’m a fan of). Plus, there’s plenty of teasing content happening around the actual H-scenes to remind you what sort of mood you should be in. Jestur actually also isn’t afraid of adding in a dash of humanity to the porn, it’s not all just perfect camera angles and blowjobs, but sometimes characters stumble, there’s awkwardness and nervousness, but not so much that it kills the scene, and it just works.
    • Writing and premise – Absolutely rock-solid writing. There’s some overarching mystery which we are still in the early phases of learning about but not only the broader plot scenes but even individual character moments are all pretty well written and believable, with dialogue that flows. Don’t get me wrong it gets “porn-y” with occasional scenes of bumping into a girl and her almost instantly wanting to jump your bones, but I can forgive that in a game like this. Honestly, I would put Ripples on the same calibre of writing as Once in a Lifetime by Caribdis, which ought to say a lot about my judgement of its quality.
    • Fun and hot girls – The game plays around with some of the standard tropes from H-games, like the yoga scene with the step-mum, but then it isn’t afraid to also have you verbally sparring with your childhood friend, who actually doesn’t have tits the same size as her head. All the girls are basically pretty believable individually.
    • Kinks my guy – Just had to reiterate that I very much enjoy that the game allows you to be fucking KINKY

    Mehs
    • VERY porn-y – As much as I personally don’t mind this, and have already said as much in this review, I am aware that others might not think so. And even I will admit that sometimes it can be a bit outrageous how some of the individual H-scenes basically start like something out of a porno (stuff like the classic yoga scenes, girls admiring the protagonist’s cock, the best friend “practicing” kissing with the protagonist, etc etc). Again, I personally enjoy all of this, but I just wanted to acknowledge that it’s not like it’s the most realistic of situations.
    • Setting shift – At the beginning of the 2nd chapter there is a huge shift in setting and introduction of a whole “new” swathe of characters. This not only interrupts the standard high-school drama from the 1st chapter, but then it actually forces a second round of being lurched around as we spend a bit of time with the new cast but then go back to the original cast. In a game where just ONE of the two settings has about a dozen different females to keep you occupied, the prospect of having to alternate back and forth between two different settings (with only limited interaction between the two) suggests that it could take ages for the game to actually go anywhere. It hasn’t quite consumed itself yet, but I’d be somewhat worried about the scope of it.

    Cons
    • Time travel – I was trying to find a better way to say this without spoilers, but as it happens early on (at least as far as the overall story is concerned, even thought it happens at 1/4 of the way through the current existing content) it isn’t a huge one I guess. Essentially, you travel back in time in the course of solving another central mystery of the game, and this becomes one of the major plot points. Already I am somewhat nervous about this because I feel like time travel can be a very finnicky thing to play around with. I’m basically somewhat concerned that maintaining continuity with multiple timelines will quickly become a bit of a challenge. But we have to wait and see of course. The other problem with this is that it means there are now two whole sets of female characters who are TOTALLY separate from one another. So if you happen to particularly like one of the girls and then we get a chapter set in the other time period, you’ll be shit out of luck good buddy.

    So, I said in the pros that I think Ripples almost has writing of the same calibre as Once in a Lifetime and I am aware that’s a pretty outrageous claim given that OiaL is one of the highest-rated games on F95. However, I don’t think it’s untrue. In fact I actually feel like Jestur has been taking a lot of inspiration from Caribdis because not just the writing but the style of Ripples seems to mimic OiaL.

    To clarify, they both have a broader overarching story which at its heart is fairly simplistic. The overarching story is also a bit slow burn with gradual increments in each chapter. We’re introduced to the key plot driver pretty early but even as of chapter 4 we don’t really know an awful lot about what exactly is going on and the mystery of the death of the protagonist’s father, the mystery surrounding the nuclear station and even the time-travel itself is all still in the early days of being revealed. This feels exactly like the early chapters of OiaL. Likewise as well, despite the semi-serious nature of many of the plot elements, Jestur is using the plot as a framework for lots of super sexy porn. It doesn’t matter that there’s some shady mystery going on that concerns you and your family, you can still go and bang a few babes senseless in the meantime. It makes time for some serious stuff but for the most part it’s light-hearted and simply enjoyable fun.

    I do think that Jestur’s writing ability isn’t QUITE on the same level as Caribdis’, which I might put down to experience. It’s tough to put my finger on exactly what the problem is, but I feel like the dialogue suffers occasionally from “book writer’s curse”. There isn't much on the level of "normal" and "boring" dialogue. Instead, there seems to be something of a compunction to use more flowery vocabulary which always feels a little out of place in actual conversation. Stuff like saying “Oh, the weather is exceptional.”

    I realise it feels like a ridiculous complaint, but I think this is a somewhat minor thing that is actually moderately common amongst less experienced writers (I mean, I know for sure I probably couldn’t write natural sounding dialogue to save my life). The slight overuse of more elaborate vocabulary makes dialogue just feel that tiny bit more unnatural. However, this is a genuinely very minor nit-pick and I only pick up on it because the rest of the game is so high quality.

    As stated already, the sex itself is fucking BANGING dude, but Jestur also has pulled out all the stops to make the game feel more cinematic and interesting to play by adding small cutscenes and animations all over the place. A lot of which are often just very high quality. In fact a lot of the visual design in general, particularly where the girls are involved, is super high quality and shows a great level of care.

    I think my single biggest complaint about Ripples is something I actually touched on in my “mehs”. I actually wrote that prior to playing v0.4 and I feel absolutely vindicated in writing it now. Jestur seems to be struggling a little bit to stick with a group of girls. Every single episode so far has introduced new women that the protagonist can fuck… That might not sound exactly problematic, but it somewhat is when you realise that this is at the expense of not improving the existing relationships.

    We now have: the childhood friend, the slutty friend of the childhood friend, the EVEN sluttier friend of the friend of the friend, the step-sister, the friend of the step-sister, the step-mum, the cougar friend of the step-mum, the grandma of the childhood friend, the hot lingerie store owner cucking her husband, the absolute batshit crazy ex-colleague of your dad (my personal favourite) and all of these characters are JUST in the modern time setting. Because there is then at least another 4 or 5 in the past as well…

    If this were a time-slot game like Harem Hotel, this would already be a pretty excessive number of girls to deal with and getting to know each one of them would be a long exercise of patience as we wait for the game update that lets us play with our favourites.

    And it’s NOT a time slot game. It’s a linear, decision-making VN. I mean I haven’t even touched on all the characters. There’s also the super-rich, ice-queen bitch that you will (most likely) show the error of her ways and knock her up too and then the super-shy, weeaboo girl who you go on a random date with to watch anime (and then promptly forget about for the entire rest of the time).

    I’m saying all this to make the point that the fact that Jestur is STILL adding in new girls as of the most recent update (one you can bang, and then a handful where you lay some groundwork) is just a tiny bit concerning. There’s just so bloody many girls at this point and we’ve barely gotten to know most of them and now that they’re in the game it’ll be a bit shite if we don’t see them again… Especially if you took a particular shine to one. But like I said, spreading the development time between all of them will just take foreeeevveeeer.

    This level of ambition in character number also has another issue that has yet to rear its head properly. Basically, you’re going around fucking loads of girls, some of whom are starting to fall for you (in traditional VN style, despite the fact that so far we’ve played for 3 days in-game). However, the realism lent to the characters by the writing means that it doesn’t feel like it is going to be a harem game and rather one where you’ll be forced to choose… And honestly at this point that would just be massively unacceptable given the style of the porn so far.

    Maybe this isn’t a problem, maybe Jestur has a long-term plan in place here that will allow equal attention to be spent with all the major girls. So, for the time being I’d say we can just leave it by saying that it’s nothing if not ambitious. I just hope those ambitions pay off. And I also hope we get to keep all the girls…
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    I_Only_Support_Real_Onez

    This is for up to ep4. Easily one of the top1% of adult VN's. The story is well written. No engrish at all. The sex scenes are fire with some of the best animations Ive seen in a Honey Select game. The characters are well put together and there is enough xxx to match the amount of quality story we are getting. The music is good and the sound effects during h-scenes match up pretty well. there is well over 6 hours of playtime so far. If you enjoy time travel stories with lots of humor jump right in.And if your old enough to remember the late 90's be in for a nostalgia bomb
  7. 4.00 star(s)

    Angelray

    First i'd like to say that i find the girls very attractive. I don't know the engine or models used (i know nothing) but I like it.

    Second, the situations are arousing, and in an AVN it's good.

    Third, the plot is good, the pacing is good, the story is captivating.
    There is sex, but it's well timed, in short, it's a great experience.

    The twist of episode 1 i didn't see because i was too much in the sex thing :D but i really hope it will not go against the sex and girls pleasuring part, because that would be bad.
  8. 5.00 star(s)

    MySexSymptom

    Those animations are sublime :love:
    I mean god this is really a impressive work from the developper
    Plus the storyline looks interesting
    I have done a small portion of the game so far and I'm quite impressed and looking forward to more content
  9. 5.00 star(s)

    yahzee

    Honestly one of the best VN's on here. A story and plot that is actually interesting, engaging and pulls you in. You get the faps, as well as a quality story that makes you come back for more. The animations are really well done and overall it's a phenomenal experience.

    Characters all have their individual storylines with an accompanying background story that keeps you invested. The writing in this area is really well done and it's not like the other games on here that have a half-assed story. It seems like the creator really cares about creating a cohesive world for us to be drawn into.

    Honestly, can't go wrong with this one 5/5.
  10. 5.00 star(s)

    Bruno3

    Absolutely deserves a 5 star rating.

    This game is another level, a really unique game i ever encoutered.
    This is some new engine i think, havent seen it in other games.
    Everything is sooo smoooth and beautiful.
    The plot itself is really good, i can see other people liking it for sure.
    Music is great.
    There are so many funny moments its so good.
    I say everyone try this game for themselves
  11. 5.00 star(s)

    nemo0015

    Really impressive visual storytelling. I haven't seen many developers doing a better job with camera angles and using small animations beyond the sex stuff. The story is certainly interesting - time travel has its pitfalls, though. Looking forward to learning more here. Really hot sex scenes are the cherry on top.

    Keep up the good work!
  12. 5.00 star(s)

    IRONSHADOW

    WOW...Fantastic story telling and art! It keeps you wanting to go on and find out what is happening. The relationships being built have me going back and forth who I’m rooting the MC ends up with, as well.
  13. 5.00 star(s)

    GeneticOpera123

    This keeps getting better and better Jestur already knows how I feel but damn the little details in everything makes this game top notch. Its in my top 3 on this site.

    The music in every track makes the game feel more alive, the background sound is crisp and makes me. I keep finding myself stopping to listen to the music the scene direction is amazing I can't wait to see chapter 5. The girls are all so funny and heartwarming.
  14. 5.00 star(s)

    Vonred

    Very good story. Not the usual harem story but there is certain thing that make you very interested in this.

    Very good render and animation. One of the best render.

    The quality of the sex scenes is very high. the way it presented is very nice.
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    MikieB

    Wow, this game surprised me in the best way. The models are great and the animation flow is just the way I like it. But the best part is the story. The writing is really good so that it feels engaging even though it isn't a new concept. Really good mystery story going on.
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    Dicleon

    Frankly this is incredible, amazing scene, (sex or not) great and varied character, superbs model and incredible animations, the writing and pacing is top notch, i don't know man, i just wanted to keep playing, ahh one of my top three, probably second, I'm hoping i manage to forget it and come back to a finished product because in the mean time, it's all gonna be tasteless! See ya!
  17. 5.00 star(s)

    Coaxmetal

    This game is laugh out loud funny. Great personalities for the girls and hot scenes, beginning from their setup and ending in great (HS) graphics and some of the best animations available. There might be a girl for everyone in this one. Great, varied cast.

    As of v0.3.6 well over 6 hours of steamy and intriguing content and a great mystery-story to go along. Can't wait for more.

    Can't think of a single bad thing or an improvement to suggest. Gotta support the dev.
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    vehemental

    Ripples is home to the single funniest conversation I have ever read in any AVN, involving strawberry jam and an omegaGILF who can - *sip* - fucking get it.

    Sure, the main thrust of the plot has been done before, but I don't care, it's still compelling. There isn't a single thing this game lacks, everything from the animations and visual design (for Honey Select) to the character writing to the plot to the humor to the music selection is all some of the best in class.

    And especially, if you're into Tool references (I counted 4), headbanging to Opeth, and the opportunity to cuck Bob Seger, this is the place for you.

    There's a good amount of content as of 0.3.6 so no reason not to give it a shot.
  19. 5.00 star(s)

    Kaze4506

    Excellent renders! A lot of time has and effort went into the environment, and it shows. I was impressed by the by all the background action like cars on the street, and people walking past during dialog scenes.
    I especially liked the models used for the girls, very pretty choices on most, and some were downright stunning. Thanks so much for not doing like every other developer on this site seems to do and filling the screen with 3 foot wide asses and 36 triple k tits.
    I want to support this project, and will be signing on to do so as soon as I finish here.
    Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
    P.S. How did you get such great render quality on the models skins? What mods are you using?
  20. 5.00 star(s)

    Deleted member 216358

    Brilliant game that is a near masterpiece!

    Pros
    • Excellent writing
    • Excellent storytelling
    • Excellent humor
    • Fun characters who you grow to love
    • Likeable MC
    • Excellent lewd/sex scenes
    • Excellent animations
    • Good use of sound effects

    Cons
    • Honey Select game - outdated graphics and outdated character models
    • Writing gets a bit verbose or drawn out, mainly just a couple of places in the game such as when the MC enters 1999 (beginning part). The game pace can get a bit slow at times (between events).
    • Few meaningful choices in the game (I understand that this is a visual novel).
    • MC needs more character development. The MC is likeable but I still don't really know who he is at this point aside from mundane facts. We know a lot about his quest for finding out the truth about the power plant disaster but we don't know very many defining characteristics about the MC aside from this. Some of the love interests in the game have the same problem. To the author's defense, many characters are still in early development.

    I generally frown on Honey Select games because of the outdated and below average character models but there are a few out there that make up for it with superb writing and stories. This game is a real gem among Honey Select games! The visuals and character models are passable enough to not distract from the story, however there are plenty of games out there with much better visuals and character models.

    One bonus for authors using Honey Select is that they can develop much faster due to lower rendering time. They don't have to have a PC with monster specs to render at a decent speed. I've followed a lot of developers and games on this site and those rendering in DAZ usually produce 50% less content per release as opposed to those rendering with Honey Select. There are tradeoffs either way.

    The past two winners of the Christmas Developer Contest were Honey Select games. So using Honey Select isn't necessarily a bad thing...

    I'm guessing this game was originally called 'Nipples'? The author's F95Zone profile says, "Nipples Dev". I'm guessing Patreon made him change the name to Ripples to fit their guidelines.

    Jestur (the developer of this game) goes outside of the normal Honey Select animations and creates unique ones of his own. This is hugely refreshing as I get tired of seeing the same Honey Select default animations over and over again!

    Jestur also makes good use of sound effects. It is extremely rare that an author will have excellent animations, writing, and sound effects! This makes the sex scenes something unique and special!

    There isn't a lot of sex scenes in the game but the ones in it are done exceptionally well. I greatly prefer games that have good stories AND plenty of lewd content. There was enough to keep me satisfied. I was not disappointed.

    There is some porn logic used with some of the lewd scenes but it is done better and is more believable than many other games I've played. The dev puts one foot in reality and one foot in fantasy (which I greatly prefer). The author doesn't take all reality and jettison it into space like I commonly see in other games. Thank you for keeping the game believable and real!

    The thing that sets this game above many others is the excellent humor throughout the game! The humor feels natural and not forced which is rare. Too many games out there try to force the humor and you can tell and it often falls flat. This is not the case with this game. The game had me laughing many times! Thank you! It was a big stress reliever.

    I'm hoping that there will be a harem option with this game. The author makes you fall in love with all of the the love interests in the game. It is a testament to the brilliant writing but will be very painful if I end up having to choose just one of them!

    Thank you for not having a zillion love interests! The game focuses on four girls which gives the game more focus. This also allows the player to form deeper relationships with them.

    One common pitfall I see with authors is their inability to develop deep and meaningful relationships with characters in the game. You see this in games where the author continually adds more and more pretty faces (new characters) into the game in order to keep things fresh and interesting. What you end up with is a ton of shallow characters with next to no character development. This author appears to be the opposite of that. Great authors have the skills and talents necessary to develop deep and meaningful relationships!

    All the pieces fit together near perfectly in this game. It is well polished and a near masterpiece! I thoroughly enjoyed this game!

    I highly recommend this game and encourage others to give it a try!