VN - Ren'Py - Romance Bytes [v0.11] [Dr.Penguin]

While I can agree that there are many clichés from other VNs, I still find the game quite promising. The female characters' are beautiful and their personalities seem deep; they also have real life problems. The main plot thread doesn't look very interesting to me but at least it is quite original.

The main strength of the game is its mechanics, it has a lot of choices and it looks like they're going to be important: we will be able to shape the MC character and impact the relations with girls.

It's an early stage, so let's wait to see how it all really develops. For now (v0.11) I would give 797/1000 points.

The game is machine translated and needs to be proofread to fix the grammatical and translation issues, and a native speaking editor to correct idioms and sentence structure.

Once you get past that, the writing needs some help. A nearby review went into detail about how clunky the dialogue is so I don't need to repeat that, but in addition some of the characters are very two dimensional.
- Kevin the "best friend" is supposed to be an extrovert foil for the introvert MC. If you go through the chat history on the phone and watch how he talks to the MC, you'll be left wondering why this unsupportive, condescending, and dismissive asshole is considered a friend at all. Didn't make a single choice in his favor and at least one of the choices against him gave me -2 RP with him, maybe he'll stop talking to me soon.
- Kendra, MC's "landlady", is completely unsympathetic. She is always at odds with her daughter and is unreasonable and constantly overbearing with her. I sided with the daughter in every choice, and otherwise disliked Kendra enough that I didn't even choose things in her favor that weren't opposed to Myra.
- Esther is supposed to be the wild child with a tragic backstory, but she's more like an annoying caricature of a rebellious teen or something.

I can't comment on the quality of the animations. As of v0.11 there are five lewd scenes in the gallery, but I didn't see any of them because none were with LIs I was interested in (Myra, Luna, or Emma.)

The models are all beautiful though and none look like anyone from other games (as far as I can tell) as often happens. On the other hand, this game conforms to the AVN tradition that women's boobs never stop growing, so if the character is over 30 her breasts are huge.

Its a decent concept release on what can be a good game with some polish and better translation. The women are attractive. The porn is porn. I don't actually think this game is gonna be a 5 star blockbuster like some people like to pretend on an initial release or that its overly original, but the potential is there and I hope the dev sticks with it.

My advice to any non native English speaker is to get someone to do the translation for you instead of using a bog standard translator. They never come out 1 for 1 correct and the dialogue comes out janky.

Mostly just endless yapping at this point. A typical first-chapter university dating game, in which about 25 characters all get introduced. Dialogue is engrish-y and unnaturally stilted, with characters announcing to the player the goal of the dialogue, in many many unnecessary lines.

Here's an example of some simply brutal dialogue, sounding like it came from an language textbook:

Prof: And who is this handsome man?
Prof: This isn't your first year, right?
MC: I'm MC. I'm also enrolled in your course.
Sister: You do?
MC: Oh, by the way, it was the second part of my surprise for you.
MC: I'm taking History again so I can get a better grade. I took this course from Mr. Bradly last year and got a B.
MC: My goal is to get an A in this class.
Prof: Oh great. A student aiming for an A.
Prof: I already liked you, MC.
Prof: You might not know this, but our whole class will be in the simulation this year.
Prof: I am optimistic that this will be beneficial for students.
Sister: I just learned this and I'm so fascinated, Ms. Albury!
MC: I already knew, that's why I decided to take this class, Ms. Albury. Looking forward to it!
Prof: I was hoping to have enthusiastic students like you for this class.
Prof: We'll have so much fun this year!

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Another example, clearly laying out one character's moral dilemma:

Char1: Uhm... So if MC makes it, my brother's out?
Char2: Yes. That's the way things are.
Char1: God... this is not lovely at all. I like MC, but if I do this, I'll feel like I'm betraying my family.
Char1: I don't know Gloria.
Char2: Think for the team. Who is better? Do you prefer someone like MC, who is kind, good, and really determined, or someone like your brother, who is selfish, bad, and arrogant?
Char1: He's still family to me. I need some time to think...
Char2: Okay... I really hope you do the right thing in the end.

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For wading through thousands of lines of dialogue like this, plus some awkward mini-games, you get 3 sex-scenes with random side-characters. The scenes are largely uninteractive, do have a couple animations, and features boner-killing dirty talk:

Random Girl: Do you like this [MC]?
MC: Yes. Your hands feel so good. They are so soft and warm.
Random Girl: My hands are tiny. I can hardly wrap my hands around your cock.
MC: Yes, so hot!
Random Girl: I was thinking about something until I saw your dick...
MC: And?
Random Girl: And now I don't think I can handle it.
MC: What were you thinking, you little minx?
Random Girl: I was thinking about you fucking me in the ass.
Random Girl: (thinking) Doing anal means extra points for me!
MC: Wow. You're so naughty!
Random Girl: But now it's too daring for me. I mean, look at this monster.
Random Girl: Even in my pussy it was way too big. It is stretched.
Random Girl: I don't think I can take this up the butt.

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Even putting aside the Engrish and the filler lines, the dialogue sounds like it's coming from a radio play, with the characters each announcing what they're doing and thinking,
one.
line.
at.
a.
time.

In total, the game feels like a low-budget ripoff of many of the other games in this genre. Everything feels subpar, the writing, the models, the minigames, the UI, ... maybe if you're done playing all the good ones and are really desperate for more from this genre, then give it a try. Otherwise, it's absolutely not a good use of your time, go play any of the other games this one is a clone of.