VN - Ren'Py - Riverside Cabin [v1.3] [VisualNovels]

Hmmm...it is difficult to grade this VN. First it is really a Kinetic Novel, at least so far. There are some things done quite well juxtaposed with some really poor aspects.

What's good:

• Renders - high quality, certainly above average
• Scenes/Setting - very good, excellent attention to detail. Overall good immersion.
• LI - the daughter is attractive in an unconventional way which I found appealing. Don't recall seeing the model used very much in other games. She has a natural look - no outrageous boobs or ginormous ass that is so prevalent now. There is underarm hair - be warned. Not my thing, but I could look past it. It is in keeping with the setting and time.
• Animation - Above average. Fluid and enhances the sex scenes.

The not-so-good:

• Writing is simply ghastly. I mean truly cringeworthy. I don't believe the Dev is a native English speaker. It is not so much the grammar, but the content. No one speaks this way.
• Story - The story structure is poor and very rushed. This carries over to the LI's relationships. She is mighty quick to have some "chocolate" (Dev's words, not mine) despite professing her love for her stepfather. There is strong porn logic at work and best not to view it for historical accuracy. You have to just go with it.
• Stepfather - he may be a stand in for the crypt keeper. He is just so creeping looking. I get keeping it real for the timeframe, but yikes!

Overall, the poor aspects of the KN would sink this one...yet, as mentioned, what the Dev did well, he did very well. The refreshing stepdaughter (LI) carries the entire thing. You just don't see that model and the realistic renders are quite good. So, to be fair - three stars. View this as more of a picture book - just don't concentrate on the words overmuch.

I normally don't play or rate or play new game that just came out, but this one looked interesting.

It's not quite a 5-star game, and it's still very early days, but the concept and content that is already there is very intriguing and interesting.

If you are into incest, the concept is very interesting. The game is short, but there is already 3 very hot and sex scenes.

Not a lot of choices, so I'm not sure if it will be more of a KN.

All and all a very good first release and looks very promising.

The choice of models is good, especially the daughter's. The father's character leaves a mediocre impression, a little prematurely aged but still good.
If only there were some choices here, the opportunity to influence the course of action or situation.
I was only interested in the relationship between the daughter and the father.

Review of Riverside Cabin, release 1.3 (first release here).
What a great first release. I like the story idea, the unusual and carefully created models used, particularly the stepdaughter. They have their imperfections and plenty of body hair, which is to be expected for the time portrayed, and this makes them actually a lot more realistic and attractive to me. Please keep them dirty, unkempt, with scars, bad teeth and realistic body builds. Nothing more irritating than 21st century stylized character models used in historic settings (unless it's a time travel story).

There's charming little details, like the voyeuristic mouse perspective of their love making or the flowers and butterflies Clair perceives after the scene.

The cabins of Marcus and Mr. Smith and the town tavern also come across as authentic. The tavern could be a bit darker and smaller for realism. The town house the step dad is about to purchase is probably a bit too much on the fancy side. A normal peasant like Marcus could never afford a house build of stone like that. Also the chocolate reference is not really realistic, as chocolate at that time was far from being popularized. It was only known to very small circles of traders and noblemen who could afford it. But these are unimportant details.

What should be improved is the English language dialogues and internal monologues, however. Even though I like most of the content, it's a bit irritating to read the incorrect expressions used. Like for example just before the incest scene "I finally made it", should read "We finally did it" .

I gave it 5 stars nevertheless, as the quality of the images, the story idea, the intimate scenes and the new character models created and used far outshine the shortcomings by far. It's really a great start.

VERSION: V.1.3
SUMMARY: Not bad, but not that great either.
RATINGS: (out of 5):

1. Models: 3
2. Animations: 3
3. General Visuals: 3
4. Characters: 2
5. Story: 2
6. Writing: 3
7. Pacing: 3
8. Content (amount): 3
9. UI & Sounds: 4
10. Fetish & kinks: 3

Average: X of 50 possible points giving a X% rating i.e. X stars.

PROS:

1. Being able to set relationships is always nice.
2. Models look fairly good, fitting for the time the story occurs
3. Renders are generally not bad.
4. Animations are not bad either, not great mind you but not bad.
5. Game sounds are decent and includes lewd sounds that are not bad.
6. Writing is fair, but unmemorable and simple. Least it reads fine and there are no typos that I could pick up on.

CONS:

1. Story itself is not great, the way its done is built/designed in a half-baked way to drive sex with the MC (female) as often as can.
2. More kinetic novel VN because there really is no choices. The MC get nailed down and has no choice who the LIs are. Public use with no option to opt out seems to be the theme.

FINAL THOUGHTS & SUGGESTIONS:

• This game is a fair deal better than the developers other "Midnight Terror" in most respects. So its an improvement.
• That being said, this game still feels cheap and its story, if you can call it that is really so simple and clearly drives fap material, which is not bad per say but the entire game is not done well enough to drive the player to feel aroused really, its not bad, but its not nearly as appealing as it could have been with a bit more effort IMO.
• Due to the game being fairly unmemorable and uninteresting I pretty much sped through it. The MC is not interesting or reserved in any way, there is no real story to any character or any depth, we don't know what drives them, all that is there is lust with no reservation, like its the most normal thing ever, which I am certain would not have been the case in those days, at least not so simply. There is no lead up to anything, not anticipation, its all just thrown at the player how the MC throws herself at any cock.

Review for Riverside Cabin [v1.3]

The premise of the game is really hot. The visuals and animations are good. Story-wise there isn't much but this version has 3 sex scenes and all three are good. There are no choices until this version of the game. The sex scenes seem to lag before the beginning of each animation. The rating provided is solely for the sex scenes and graphics as I thoroughly enjoyed it.