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

Review of Ep. 3 Part 1...

I love this game! The women are all gorgeous with a diversity of body types, and there isn't a single character I hate. I especially like Darci.

The writing is excellent. I didn't notice any spelling or grammar errors, and the story has me hooked. The character motions and animations are also superb. I let out an audible "Fuck!" when I hit the end of the build.

Will you be able to save your father and aunt? Who are these people who seem to want to stop you? Who was the ninja who beat your ass in the school corridor? These are things I must know.

I appreciate the detail of when the MC gets home and meets Scarlett in the present time she recognizes him. That was the one thing that bugged me about Back to the Future. When Marty returns home how do his parents not recognize him?

This dev deserves every ounce of praise they receive. I can't wait for this game to be done. I can't recommend it enough.

Amazing. I can't help but compare it to Once in a Lifetime (this is a good thing). The humor is... similar. But not entirely the same.

Ripples gives me the happy, cozy feeling I also get from Once in a Lifetime, but with a story that takes itself much more seriously, and with characters that I think are being given tons of development. This is one of those rare games where sex scenes are actually well placed, and serve as ways to advance the relationships between the MC and the horde of women who want his dick.

Idk, I'm not a writer or a critic. I'm just saying this game kicks ass. It's hilarious, endearing, and the story is something I found myself becoming extremely invested in. Not to mention the various characters to interact with... they're all great. I love them all. That's really incredible considering that this is an adult game in a sea of games that are nowhere near this level of quality. Love it, keep up the great work.

A good mix of likeable characters, lewd scenes and story makes this a very good game for me. It also has animations, music and even moans during the lewd scenes which is something extremely rare.
The girls are quite pretty and attractive and it may not be easy determining who is 'best girl' But that's a good thing of course, and there are also some kinks which I really like such as swallowing and spanking.
I'm also playing with the incest mod and the relationships with the sister and mother seem to have a good pace for me (not rushed, not feeling it would take ages).
I highly recommend the game and am looking forward to the next part!

Quite well written (as a non english native speaker i didn't have difficulties)
huge potential with the main event happening in chap 2 (can't really spoil due to all the consequences it can lead to)
Quite belivable temperament for the girls, even if sometime a little pushy but funny .

only one thing to say, wait for more and continue

Really good, surprisingly good animations with tiny details and not just one second loops, interesting story and characters, it has some slow and exposition heavy moments, and the inner monologues can be a bit much at times, but overall it is enjoyable and a recommend.

Ripples

Review as of Ep. 3 Part 1 Public Release

Ripples is a stellar example of a visual novel that builds its premise on your typical porn game setup, but then flips it on its head with a layer of intrigue and mystery. More than anything, what makes Ripples stand out among the tide of lesser games is a clear, consistent, and ever growing level of polish. The developer has made a considerable effort to give the player a fully realized product, sparing no effect on the minor details that make a visual novel sing. Namely, it makes good and extensive use of sound effects to better place the reader in the story and the music selection departs from the usual arrangement of just Kevin Macleod tracks that you hear in the majority of visual novels.

More than anything, Ripples' greatest strength is a pervasive sense of movement and expressiveness. The developer imbues even small moments with flourishes of animations and that extends all the way to the most important aspect: the sex scenes. Oh boy, the h-scenes in Ripples carry a real sense of kinetic energy, owed to a marriage of animation, dynamic and frequently changing camera angles, and conscientious sound design. Nine times out of ten, I find animations in visual novels detract from the overall experience by either making a scene feel flat or limiting the developer's options, but that is not the case here. It is a primo example of a visual novel that makes use of one of HoneySelect's greatest assets: its animation tools.

Plus, there's a smokin' GILF in the story.

Game version: [Ep.3 Part 1 - v0.3.1]

This is a genre-defining work that should be talked about for years to come. It is perhaps the first Honey Select game ever that manages to completely transcend its limitations and in the process surpass even what great Daz games are able to accomplish.

What it lacks in terms of raw render quality it makes up for with artistic direction and unexpected cinematic flourishes. The amount of non-sex scene animations and creative camerawork transform this game into something more breathing and alive than your average static-render VN with the occasional humping animation. Even the soundtrack is carefully chosen and enhances the experience further. The sex scenes are beautifully choreographed, with well-chosen angles and inspired camera movements, the writing during them doesn't quite make it to that high level, but it still manages to be hot in places.

The dialogue is snappy and comedic, without ever being obnoxious. The characters are somewhat trope-y but are allowed their own voice and enough depth to feel authentic. The Back to the Future-esque plot might not win a prize for originality, but it's incredibly well-paced and executed, so it never manages to become boring. The narrative is peppered with foreshadowing and time travel related payoffs that make you go "oh shit" or simply smile in satisfaction.

The characters are well designed and offer a wide variety of looks and personalities. Extra points for the good amount of promiscuous/slutty girls that are allowed to exist outside the usual duality of inexperienced virgins who have to be corrupted by the MC and experienced "landladies" or MILFs. The young woman who's actually been around the block and not shy about seeking sex is too often a rare animal in these games because it's too spookily NTR-adjacent if your dick isn't the first one in there I guess.

The one area that's lacking is choice. You regularly get choices, but most of them only change the dialogue somewhat without actually affecting the plot, or they're "no, I don't want a sex scene with her" choices. I oftentimes wished the game actually gave you more agency to express a preference for a girl, besides just straight-up rejecting the others. Maybe an area for future improvement, but with the overall quality and presentation of the narrative, I'm just happy to go along on the ride.

This is one of the best games i have ever played.

The characters are absolutly lovely, with a very different personalities and very, very sexy.

Of course, there is some cliche here and there, but the story is very nice overall. (Specially and thanks to characters)

Looking forward to next content!

The animations are absolutely top notch, These aren't just 3 second loops, folks, there's movement and variety in each scene, the characters actually move naturally...even !hair! in some scenes and an odd thing to say about most VN is the fact I love the camera work. The zoom ins, the scrolling, even during static scenes....This is what A+ Game/VN is supposed to be like....PLEASE CONTINUE

This was a pleasant surprise. The conversations at the beginning of the game were a little confusing to me (characters being talked about that haven't been introduced yet) but it quickly expands and sets up a really interesting story with a bunch of sexy women.

HoneySelect can make a game lose its uniqueness, but this is similar to Harem Hotel and others which utilize these type of graphics in the sense that a lot of effort and polish has gone into customizing each girl, so it's very easy to look past the cookie-cutter feel that can sometimes arise when you see the same type of graphics across many games.

There's a lot of teasing but also a fair amount of satisfying sex scenes, which is complimented by distinct personalities in every character and some well done animations - there are even some animations outside of the h-scenes that are tastefully put in and really add to the professionally polished feel. Certain situations and dialogues can be really funny. It's rare that h-games make me actually burst out laughing, but there were some scenes that are genuinely hilarious.

Overall, definitely worth checking out. There's a nice balance between story and sex that very few games are able to pull off.

Generally I have a rule that I won't start a game until it has 4 updates. I broke that rule on a whim for Ripples and hot diggity I do not regret it. The writing is clever, the story is intriguing, the characters are engrossing, and the scenes are the best animated I've seen in a HoneySelect (outside of A House in the Rift).

Review as of Ep3 part 1

What a great game. Dialog is one of the best parts about this game. I had a blast playing through this game. So many good characters here. I am very interested in what is really going on and what happened to the MC father. It has been a while since I laughed this hard playing a game like this but the developer has such a great sense of humor here. Worth every moment I played it. There are some real unique animations here, and some really sexy girls. Plenty of good lewd content too. I can't wait to spend more time playing this game in future updates.

Simply excellent. Play and support this immideately.
Story, humor, characters and super lewd scenes.
I am in heaven. You can see the effort behind this. This is one of the games you dont want to skip any text.

I blame myself for not discovering this sooner.

An absolute pleasure to play. Love all the different girls, and I'm enjoying the attention to detail, especially in the animations.

Can't wait for more.

FUCK ME!!! This is really good. Going into it, I didn't think it would be that good especially with the graphics (models) being used. The writing is incredible, even though the first few scenes feels like it isn't going to be. Every character has character. The story is secondary for me as I am more interested in the character relationships, but it is there for those that are into it.

Now lets talk about an area where this game really excels and other developers should sit up and take note. The sexual scenes are very intriguing, have a build up, and make you drool. They are that good. The animations are top notch too.

Lastly, I'm playing Ep 3 so I wasn't sure how much content there would be, but lordy each episode is long. There is a lot of content so I'm confident that when an update happens, it will have a lot to it. Not sure how often updates happen, but if they are regular, this game is a top contender on this site for game of the year.

This is turning out to be one of the best written games I've ever played. It's funny, has intrigue, and good character interactions. The characters feel like more than just sex dolls, as is so common.
To top it off, the character designs are actually really well put together, and the animations are the best I've seen with Illusion models.

There's a decent bit of content so far, and I cannot wait to see where this goes.

Current version played: v0.3
Wowsies! What a fantastic game. Great stuff.

Best points:
1. Amazing HS art which I really like. Top notch renders with great attention to detail. Dev put extra effort to have his own unique locations and graphics!

2. Wow. One of the best, if not the best animations in a HS game. Especially episode 3! Very cute poking the dick scene.

3. Very likeable characters with charming dialogue and funny moments.

4. And most important of all for me, really interesting mystery story and really makes me look forward to what is going to happen in future. I'm sure many twists turns and surprises to come! And lewd scenes are well sprinkled around the plot to ensure we get our fill of sexy times.

All in all what a fantastic piece of work and definitely a top game around!
Eagerly anticipating to see what happens next.

This is a nice game.

It has nice artwork, with a nice, engaging story behind it, nice animations and nice music. Most of the time while playing I have a great big smile on my face, and not just because of the great sense of humour that this game has. I think it's incredibly impressive what Jestur has pulled off using Honey Select (modded Honey Select, but still wow).

So far, it's very much a 'sleep with every girl you meet' type of game, which is fine, but won't be what everyone is looking for. As of Ep.3 pt1, there are no consequences for just fucking every girl, however it looks like there might be some coming up in the future.

If I had to come up with some criticisms, sometimes the animations involving a moving camera can be a little bit janky, and there are a handful of typos (nothing too bad though) that seem to have slipped through the cracks.

I played this not expecting much. But I am liking the premise.

Characters are all attractive even Jackie despite being 50+(Other games have really older ladies that really turn me off.

Story-wise, the pacing is great but there are some points when the internal monologues shift from one topic to another even when unrelated. There was no section where I was bored and actually made me pay attention to what I was reading (especially towards characters I really like). None of the main characters' personalities were obnoxious and some were really interesting.

Choices mostly decide the flavor text and whether you want an h-scene with the character or not. I tried this on different runs and it seems that saying yes to everyone does not impact your relationship with the other characters. I understand that divergent paths are hard to code but this makes the decisions impactful and the h-scenes earned. A bit ironic, especially since the story so far is weighted on going to the past and still not be able to change anything.

I really like the animations and transitions though. The frame rates are excellent. Though I would like different angles on some scenes but I can't complain.

There is also a decent chunk of content for reach episode with roughly about 3-4 H-scenes per episode. It is a game I would recommend and that I'll be watching out for.

This truly is an excellent sex fantasy game. It’s practically a masterclass on how to implement story and character in a way that’s sexy and erotic. Honestly, I think its weakest point is the visuals which after you get into it, gets the job done still.

STORY - 9.5/10 , it’s actually really dirty and really perverted but interestingly I think it hits a key note with a lot of porn game users that it sorta “feels vanilla” even though it really is quite perverse. It does however manage to create a very pleasant/fun sexy world as opposed to a lot of porn games which can feel predatory or scumbaggy which, even if the game itself is somewhat aware of itself as a fantasy, I’ve noticed turn away a good portion of users. Also it might help that a lot of the really perverted aspects are more suggested so far. It also really understands how to implement story into eroticism. How the mom character is written is an excellent example of this. Most importantly, the erotic content feels inspired. It's not "going thru the motions" like a lot of porn or porn games that kinda land flat. Like the best porn games, it feels like a sex *fantasy*.

CHARACTERS - 9/10 , they are distinct, have sexy dynamics with each other

PACING - 8.5/10 , has a good sense of pacing. There are parts that feel like exposition but they never go on for too long and they’re scattered thru the story in a way where you’re never going on for too long or far off from either sexy story elements or scenes. I recommend actually reading thru the game. It’s not bloated story and even the non sexy story elements serve a function of adding indirectly toward the eroticism of the game. If I were to guess, the game feels like about 40% non sexy and 60% sexy overall. I also recommend engaging in all the storylines (saying yes basically to all the character paths) for best fap results as they compliment each other in the overall eroticism/dirtiness, particularly the order of events.

VISUALS - 8/10 , this is actually probably its weakest area but still good enough. This game also makes some key successes in making sure things like the visual appearance of vaginas and semen got sufficient attention to detail which many games that might actually look a lot better in a frame or in the models of the face/breasts/body make the mistake of not doing. It's kinda a testament to the importance of genitals/vaginas/semen appearances in erotic games, and also expressions.

ANIMATIONS/EXPRESSIONS - 8.5/10 , there are some games that have fantastic renders but suffer from mediocre expressions or like a penis that looks like it's not moving and interacting with the vagina, it's just going thru it. This game has some nice attention to detail in that department that successfully adds to the eroticism of the game that you don't see a lot.

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OVERALL FAP RATING - 10/10

Honestly, it really feels like someone who understands what makes something sexy or erotic. It's early and who knows, but I kinda have a feeling if subsequent games are made after the completion of Ripples, the following games won't get stale or uninspired. Maybe there'll be a sophomore slump or something but I don't think this game creator is a one off. There's the elements there of someone who understands what makes for good eroticism. But I do hope at a minimum, the visuals will improve in quality to better match the very high quality standard of overall game and story direction. Something like Paralogue Operation Lovecraft that is more of a higher poly version of the same 3D hentai style for example. However, because of the style of setting/dialogue, I do think a more western AAA style visual production would be more ideal and would really match the story styles and make this unquestionably an all time greatest porn game. It already is strong on its own but I do think visuals in porn games are so core, people will play a shitty storied porn game with mediocre eroticism and characters just because the visuals look fantastic, even if the cum/vaginas looks off. The story also doesn't really feel like it's a hentai to me. It feels like a really good porn story that was put in a japanese style erotic game to tell a story it doesn't really fit into. I don't know if it's a team making this or one person who had a vision for a really good erotic/sexy game and just needed some reasonably decent way to express that vision while not being a visual specialist, but I'd really like to see someone comparable to NLT or lewdlab who are very strong visually in production, produce these storylines/scenes.