First review of version: 0.5 on Aug. 20. 2023. Review updated to 0.7 on Sep. 02. 2024
Pros:
- Good looking animated sequences used for character introductions, outfit show-offs, episode beginnings, etc. Kinda feels like watching episodes of a tv show.
- Darci’s swearing is highly amusing and she’s a fresh breath in terms of avn heroines.
- Very diverse characters in terms of personalities. Less so regarding clothing style and body types.
- It’s very exciting to speculate what changes you may or may not have caused in the present, due to your actions in the past
- Using Grisaia as the catalyst for starting a relationship with Jessica, interesting choice and one of several good examples of a cultural references being done right in Ripples.
- Shit-ninja….enough said.
- Very natural sounding dialogue.
- Soundtrack proved more diverse than expected. Only a few loops were a bit repetitive.
- Characters remain themselves during h-scenes, rather than turning into the same inexperienced, yet very experienced generic female porn star.
- H-animations are smooth and the highly diverse positions seen are well set up.
- Some of the best social chemistry I have seen in the AVN sphere.
Mehs and hit/miss:
- MC’s face hidden due to ugly?
- I suppose it is a little unfortunate how all the heroines so far uses the same skin texture. They have been morphed into their individual and somewhat unique body shapes but look at the navel and you will realize it is the exact same. The same might apply for nipples/areola which I guess is an inherent weakness of the HS engine.
Cons:
- Potentially ridiculing of cucks or merely free-spirited males/husbands. Not too bad so far and it was used mostly for comedic effect and not in order to emphasize MC’s alpha-ness like certain other AVN’s have done.
- Progression and development of story and relationships are too fast paced. Especially the relationships in the present (2019). Partly improved upon by time-skips happening in the latter updates.
0.7 New remarks.
Intro: So, having just completed the 0.7 content on a fresh playthrough I have gotten a few new remarks to write out, as well as a couple that I left out when I wrote the first edition review for 0.5. It has also become clear to me that a rose-tinted glasses effect was in play during my first playthrough. Most of my new remarks are Cons or Meh moments, but there’s a few new pros as well. That being said, Ripples retains a solid 5-star rating by F95 standards. In my personal review rating document, I have downgraded it from A+ to A and 8.8 to 8.5.
New pros:
- Animation quality has kept rising.
- The second H-scene.
- The rescue mission represented a significant change in tone towards something darker. I personally liked it. Felt as if venturing out in the deep end of a pool, after having stayed in the shallow kid area for a while. But the deep end was always there, so to speak. I always thought there were hints of something more serious lurking under the surface.
- Nice melee fight choreography, not just the animations, but the actual fighting moves and reactions.
New Mehs:
- I didn’t really care much for the first H-scene in 0.7. Felt too porny for me.
- I would like to see more male characters in neutral or positive roles.
- Too much reliance on reading the inner thoughts of people, especially the LI’s. Lots of telling, little showing. It can get very In-your-face from time to time.
- 0.7 felt perhaps a little short in terms of main story progression. I get that much dev time went towards the numerous and still improving animations. And character development was fairly on point too. Still, thought it worth mentioning.
- The bad guys of the update felt a lot like cartoon villains who decided to be really damn edgy. A bit overdone.
New Cons:
- During this second run I increasingly felt that LI’s are simply a little to fast and eager about throwing themselves at MC. The way everything regarding the LI's seems to be lined up well in advance for MC is a little too strong. Much is given, little is earned.
- Overemphasis on MC’s wang. The size of the model itself isn’t actually that extreme relative to most other AVN's. But i definitely got tired of just how frequent the size becomes the focal point of any dialogue in the lead up to the H scenes. Too much wish fulfilment and ego strocking here.
- This started with the earlier versions, and I didn’t mention it in the original review. I am getting increasingly worried about how the harem shenanigans will be handled once things starts getting “official”. I fear a scenario where the less promiscuous LI’s will just shrug their shoulders and go “Hmmm, well, it’s okay because it's you MC”.