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

I don't usually write reviews, mostly because it's not my mother tongue. But I couldn't pass up this Novel! , It has an incredible anime style, with characters with their own very marked characteristics, it causes thanks without the need to put jokes at all times like other novels on the site, a quite refreshing plot for 2020 (trips to the past). If you told me that this game is produced by a company that has made eroges I would believe it, the quality is quite impeccable.
CHARACTERS 5/5 Quite remarkable despite the large number of characters for a 0.2 Love Darci <3
Story 4/5 A funny and quite bearable story, well set in time travel and understandable jokes. It has to be approached carefully or it may ruin the whole novel as it is a complicated subject to carry.
Soundtrack: 5/5 For a novel at such an early stage it has a suitable soundtrack for each situation, the music fits perfectly. I clarify that I am not a specialist in the subject and I am taking into account the limitations of the game.
Content: 5/5 An absurdly good amount of content for a 0.2. If I remember correctly, it is about 5 to 6 hours of impressive play.
5 STARS OVERALL

An intriguing story supported by an interesting cast of characters. With smoothly animated scenes and choices that reward you, especially with how the story has progressed. This game surprises at turns and has the potential to be greater. I look forward to future releases.

Good visuals, great writing, and overall a very fun game with an upbeat tone. The story starts off simple but gets interesting and intriguing with time and has easy to read well-written dialogue that has multiple choices and fun distinct characters that make it a really enjoyable experience, as well as having well-constructed and written intimate scenes.

So in short there's no reason not to at least try the game out, it's fun and has already a good amount of content.

Review after episode 2.

So I found this randomly scrolling through, hadn't heard of it before but I loved every minute and i'm surprised it's not mentioned more often.

Visuals
It uses honey select so the characters are pretty anime, I personally love HS games. This has to be the best use of it i've seen though. The renders are gorgeous and I absolutely love the character designs. All the girls are stunning and unique.

Story
This surprised me most, really interesting plot idea I don't want to spoil and I look forward to seeing more of it. The characters are developed really well so far, I especially like Darci's take no shit attitude. The game manages to keep the balance between developing characters and plot with erotic content just right. Too many games swing to far in either direction and I'm finding it difficult to find games with the right balance but so far this has been exactly what I want.

Content
There is a surprising amount here in just two episodes. A good 6 hours maybe?

All in all definitely one I will be keeping track of and possible funding on patreon, I really want to see where it goes. Recommended.

What and amazing surprise this has been.I usually dislike Honey Select games.The art is too Japanese for me and there are some amazing games that the honey select engine is ruin it for me.But this been a riot as grandma whould say!Amazing music,amazing writing with great english that makes sense.The renders are gorgeous.The story seems interesting so far and the charecters are good.A must play in my books!.Keep up the good work dev.

Best art in a honey select game that I've personally played and the dialogue is well done. I haven't played through it fully yet but I usually forget to review things once I'm done and was particularly impressed with this game.

EDIT: Have played all the content in version 2.1 now and still think it's awesome. The people complaining about the scifi elements being unrealistic in the main thread are knuckle draggers. It is a porn game and I think the story makes more than enough sense to enjoy.

I'm not that good with writing reviews so I'll just copy/paste what I said on the thread.
Bloody hell ! This game rockets towards the top of my favorite list, here I was enjoying a good slice of life with interesting and funny characters (Darci and her grandma are a riot) and then BAHM ! Plot twist !
I'm so glad I didn't read the thread before playing and just went with my guts based on the decription, previews and high reviews score, it would have been a shame to spoil the twist for myself. And that's just with Episode 1 ! I'm going right back for Episode 2

Art is really well done for a creator that doesn't have much funding on patreon yet. Then my personal preference but I like how they don't have you wait to long to get into the sexy scenes while also keeping up a pretty intriguing story while all of it is going on. It's the perfect blend between the two.

What a lovely surprise this one is, well crafted, both in story and in design.

I've picked thus far, quite a few interesting... easter eggs if you will. And that's the surprising part to me, not only "wrench" (lol) is my favorite band, so is "Obscure" one of my new favorite batch of somewhat recent shows (wink wink, trying not to spoil here). I wonder if we'll get a BSG or "Stranded" references down the line...

Anyways, easily my favorite game in here now, can't wait for more content. Keep it up Jestur and spiral out.

I've just finished my very first run of Ripples and since I'm more of a lazy writer I can only fully agree with Batman187's post in the thread. Rarely played such an entertaining VN and I also fell in love with Skylar, I mean how can you not fall in love with a headbanging metal chick even if she is not a redhead (giving a broad hint Jestur how about a little hair dye for her ). The MC is wonderfully normal and not, as usual, a perverted selfish asshole, that can't be emphasized enough.

My conclusion: very nice graphics, excellent animations, good background sound, great story, very pretty girls with all kinds of body types and a pleasant MC.

In one sentence, I'm (aside from wishing for more redheads) perfectly happy with Ripples.

Thanks a lot Jestur for making the game and to Naxos that he pointed it out to me.

This is the best game I've played in 2020. I was skeptical at first due to the preview images, but decided to give it a chance once all the feedback started to pour in. I'm glad I did.

Simply put Ripples has it all: incest, animations, harem, threesomes. Want NTR? Not only there, it's optional. Hell, even the Grandma is a total GILF. Lots of variety of women to go for.

Story's pretty decent. The MC is investigating on what happened to his father's death at the power plant. Side story opens many roads to multiple endings where harem is highly likely to happen in future episodes. As of now there are no hints of pregnancy (or birthing) happening, but that could change in 2021.

Character models is what made me skeptical at first. To be honest all the women look like they have the same faces. Eyes, hair, and body is the only thing different in each of them. Speaking of eyes I find Skylar's to be big. She has alien eyes. I can't ignore it. I don't mind it too much, felt I had to point it out since I'm reviewing this after all.

Good news is while their appearance may be questionable to some, they all make up for it by their personalities. The MC's BFF is a girl called Darci who has pale skin, in terms of look is a borderline low-lolicon, but also has a temper, is a skilled fighter (despite her size), and she's also the type of girl you can hang with without it being awkward.

Darci has known the MC all his life and managed to transition from The Friend Zone to F*** Buddy (take notes Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones ).

The other (minor) issue I had is all the girls instantly have a crush on the MC. The Big Dick Syndrome has once again showed itself. Even when he traveled back to 1999 there were 3 girls that wanted The D while barely know a thing about him. One of them was basically a Holler Back Girl & On The Rebound at the same time. On the other hand "it's an Adult Game, just go with it, and start fapping" also comes to mind.

There's music in this game. Good variety of music that matches the scenes, and blends in perfectly with this game.

Finally there's the animation. This is the best animation I have ever seen in a Ren'Py game. During the dialogue their expression changes constantly to match the text, it's Fap Worthy during sex, and extremely smooth. The skateboard animation scene is top notch. Well done Jestur

Pros
- animation is S Tier
- good story (including dialogue, and progress)
- time travel
- multiple road paths including threesomes, harem, and NTR
- GILF
- Fap worthy sex scenes
- How to turn Friend Zone into F*** Buddy

Cons
- Darci (just her appearance)
- Girls are too easy for the MC
- "Another dead father game"
- No time travel sex
- Game's on Patreon instead of Subscribe Star

Verdict: This is the first time here I've handed out 5 stars. In terms of new games this is a 2020 Game of the Year candidate. If later on we manage to get 5-10 episodes out of Ripples then down the road this becomes a gem here on F95.

Chapter 2 review

This was beyond expectations.

Art: 5/5
There was nothing lacking here. Well done.

Animation: 5/5
The motions were well made and the camera work made the world feel alive sometimes. Good use of space.

Sound: 5/5
All of it was really fitting.

Story: 4/5
The story is interesting but nothing highly unique, yet anyway. The story is not bad, but nothing that I'd bother summarizing.

Characters: 4/5
Almost 5/5, but there isn't quite enough variety of characters. They're all on very good terms with the MC and cheery. All of them. But that isn't bad, just not 5th star.

H stuff: 4.9/5
This was both visually stimulating, well written, well set yup scenes, had a few different kinks here and there (nothing crazy).

Overall: 5/5
I don't give 5/5, because thee is always something better.
If there is something that has better than this, I'd love to see it.

Ok, bad things. I think there was too much (internal thinking instead of dialogue. Man they think a lot.)
And this one isn't bad just... heh
I can't wait for more, but with this production quality I expect it'll be ages til I get more.

The greatest quality of all Honey Select games. I really like this game. The story is fascinating, and the characters are unique and likable, I love all of them. Each character has his own personality, approach, and beauty! Never seen beautiful honey select girls like the ones in Ripples. From Skylar to Jessica, all are incredibly hot, Is really hard to refuse their love Writing is good, It's understandable and simple. Animations are amazing, lewd, and no. Oh and don't forget about sounds, very top especially in this update with the rock/metal sound \m/ during the Skylar event . I'm sure this game will be one of the tops on this site and for me already is one. My list of favorite games and girls increased thanks to your game! 5 stars and 200% recommended.

Renders and animations looking smooth and beautiful.
The caracters are well developed and looking hot af.
Content are surprisingly lot for a game with Ep 2.
The story looking interesting and well written.
Overall, the quality of this game is simply amazing! One of the best in this style.

One of the greatest quality of all Honey Select games.
Renders 5/5 great quality
Story 4/5 interesting story. just the beginning part so we have to see what's going on
Animamtions 5/5 the strongest point of this game. tone of good animations, smooth and hot lewd scenes
Characters 5/5 Every character is beautiful and really hot.

This is a first rate game.
It has a great story line that has me eager for the next chapter. The characters are good looking and the dialogue is great.

I'm a big fan of VN's and find sandbox for the most part a grindy pain. This one, being a VN, is perfect for my tastes.

The options for choice are not fake like a lot of games and it allows you to select or reject most of the girls. There is no blue balling for the MC but the game does not rush things and allows a nice progression of action.

Episode 2 has heaps of content and I really hope episode 3 is not too far away.

This was an easy 5 star game for me and I wish the dev. lots of success in the future

Good Points
+ We have good looking renders with decent quality.
+ Animations have pretty good physics. Espacily Krystal tits shake animations was mesmerising... And they are long enough. They are not like 1 second loops. Lots of them have at least 3 second loops and its pretty good.
+ Sex scenes have lots of position and their angles looks quite good aswell. Espacily scenes like Cindy's feels pretty hot. And i realy hate when games add only one position/angle for sex scenes.
+ DEV spends time for details like manga/anime collection inside of Alyssa. Those was looking great and they were like inside of context it wasnt like he just copy and paste some png's to there. Or eye and lip line details etc.. Lots of thing have pretty little details and thats gives immersive part to game.
+ Story seems interesting and storytelling wasnt bad either. We have some serious mysteries and I'm looking forward to learn them with new updates. Plus we have some good sense of humor in story aswell
+ We have enough content for main story and adult story.
+ Stabby Mike's cameo in update 0.7 was damn funny

Bad Points
- Some of girls need little bit improve/chance. Because while some girls looks pretty some of them looks little bit unattractive and just little bit change for their hair can fix that. For example Krystal was looking little bit unattractive with her current/original hair but in v0.3.5 we saw her with cosplay hair and espacily lust demon cosplay hair was amazing. This hair literaly fixed her unattractive vibe and made her perfect. DEV should change her original hair to someting like that. Secondly we need different hair for Jessica aswell, her current hair dont look at all... And lastly Darci's tits could use some improve, im not saying make her like MC's mom or someting but for example young Jenny's tits was pretty decent, you could give Darci little bit big ones like young Jenny and you could even explain that with growing up and being sexsualy active which is quite normal thing to happen. She is one of main girls, she have pretty interesting character but her body? Its far from being attaractive...
- Riley's sex scene in 0.6.0 was unlogical I would say. Because in her latest sex scene with the MC, we had the option to choose to be dom or not, yet in the 0.6.0 sex scene we have to accept femdom first to see the whole sex scene and dom variation, and that makes no sense at all. The scene itself was funny for sure, but there is no point in having dom-sub paths if you are not gonna let people choose it and take away the whole sex scene from them and place the dom scene after the sub/femdom one.

For The End
Well this is all i can say about this game. Its pretty good and i hope it will became better with every update, and I can see the game is getting improvements here and there.

Ep 1 review
So the game is still in the early phase but i can assure anyone who is going to try it that it has very nice story and lewd scenes. Ep 1 is very promising and would recommend others to play too.
Renders are very nice and cute and so are the personalities of other characters in the game. My fav is darcie currently due to her awesome character and it looks cute when she tells about her stories. The main plot of the game quickly changes after the school visit and investigation part starts. So for main story the game got it good and the animations are also very good for this first release.
It may compete with others like Once in a lifetime, waifuacademy, my realdesire etc once it gets the attention it gets. May the 5 star rating motivate the developer not to abandon the ship in mid game.
Renders 5/5
Story telling 5/5
Animation 4.9/5
Suspense 100

Really impressive game:

The narrative so far is top notch, even if it may look too grim right out of the gate;

The character models are simple and clean, which is actually good for a timely release schedule and to give more focus to how the story unfolds (instead of going for complex renders that take way too much time and effort for little result). Everything looks gorgeous and fluid, striking a good balance between plot and eye candy;

The choices so far seem to matter, as there is this feeling that the player can't make everyone happy on the same play-through. There is depth to the characters, and the girls "sound" like actual people with their own agenda - even if said agenda is sometimes dictated by their raging hormones (...but hey, no one would complain about that on an adult VN, amirite?);

The sound design is eerie and alluring, and I would love to get a taste of a certain licensed song that plays quite the plot role on this first episode... The late 90's seem to play a big part on how the story will unfold, so even if the creator can't get a hold of the rights for a lot of music right away, my Spotify / Deezer playlist surely changed a bit after the game.

Overall, keep an eye on this one and back it up on Patreon if you 've got the spare bucks, as the author is just starting out and seems to be quite talented!

Entertaining characters/dialog, attractive models, and very impressive attention to detail in the animations (lip and cheek physics during blowjobs, for instance). That, plus the fact that the initial release gave me over an hour of gameplay, makes this a must-watch game for me.