Ren'Py - Completed - Sanguine Rose [v4.1] [DuskyHallows]

  1. 5.00 star(s)

    longjohngold

    This was amazing.

    I really love the sort of trapped house thing, like that Hateful Eight movi ... everyone is trapped in there will they go stir crazy and what kinda stuff will happen. It was also really well written... I thought initially the prisoners over sexed kinda stuff might be a bit too much but it plays out well. I also loved it wasn't full of big silly boobs, there's a weird inclination in games for beachball tits for some reason. In fact the art is super well done and conveys what's going down really well - I ended up super into crow (one of the characters). It was well paced too, often in games I find myself growing bored and wanted to skip the text quickly to get to the next decision or scene but I read every line in this.

    The only minor downside I can think of is there's one bit where 4 of them is in the room and the camera seems to feel the need to pan left and right a tiny bit when each person says something and it really interrupts the flow compared to if it was still and the text pops up but as I said I'm a bit impatient ... and this is a very picky minor downside.

    I've been through it a few times and don't think I've seen all the scenes, I'll probably give it another whirl again later (even though I know it's completed and nothing will change) as it's that good.
  2. 5.00 star(s)

    popabear

    This is a good one! The art is gorgeous and hot. The story is interesting, with many branching paths all leading to different endings.

    The story centers around a kidnapping gone wrong. The people who ordered the kidnapping aren't showing up to pick up the prisoner, who is both powerful and rather resourceful. Keeping her locked up is proving more and more difficult. What to do? Let her go and hope she forgives you? Try to strike a deal with her? Use her? Trick her? The choices are many and all lead to distinct outcomes. If you ever wondered how a branching story is supposed to be done, this is it! Nobody does it better than DuskyHallows. Although it's pretty short, the replayability of this game is crazy high. You'll need at least 3 playthroughs before you've experienced most of the story.

    Recommended if you like a well thought out story with well written dialogues. And absolutely gorgeous CG art. I just wish there was more art and animations.
  3. 5.00 star(s)

    Duncanidaho

    Thats an example how to do a great game with only few locations and characters. The game has a great fantasy atmosphere due to realy good writing and beautiful artwork but might have been more picture. The situations always clear however the little details only imaginary because there are things that only apears in text form. First two gameplay was very exciting for me but as I see there are lot of content after that so I walkthroughed all route and it was interesting too. Choices has deep impact to story and there are quite a lot route and endings. All ending connected to an epilogue story where you can know more about characters fate after story adventure which is depends on different routes.
  4. 5.00 star(s)

    tmathis

    Holy shit, did I enjoy this game. Although a rather short entry, the completed tag is a welcome addition. The writing and art style of this game was top notch. I found the world building to be quite interesting alongside the very erotic and tempting situations built out over the course of the game. I hope to see more from this author in the future!
  5. 5.00 star(s)

    StrangeName

    Great art and good story, the characters are well written, its has multiple endings and a to get a most points of view it has to be played multiple times. I really enjoyed it. the problem is that many choices can lead to the same ending, this makes me wish for more, different endings but thats just me. If the game wasn't this good I wouldn't have cared.
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    Faceless0ne

    Normally, the art style is absolutely not my taste (although, in my opinion, story is way more important than graphics - why I gave the game a try in the first place), but in this fantasy (or maybe because of it) setting it works extremely well.

    What surprised me the most is the writing skills displayed by the developers! The story is indeed relatively short in terms of a single playthrough, but very engaging and animates to another playthrough and after that yet another one.
    The characters are, the right mix between "over the top" and "normal". I don't want to write any more, because otherwise I would have to start spoiling the plot and nobody wants that!? Right? (It is really hard not to spoil anything...)
    I'am also impressed by the endings, in the way that no matter which of the "good ending" you choose to be canon, most that is said/done in all other endings, isn't contradictory to "your" ending. Exeptions are there but all in all, everything fits nicely together...like a real novel.

    The background (world) lore is suprisingly fleshed out for the lenght of the game, so another job well done by the developers.
    I wouldn't mind seeing more/other storys in this universe.

    As much as I try, I can't really think of anything negative... Well maybe, that there is one character which didn't adds much to the overall story and could be scrapped but in the way the story is told (you do play someone but there is no MC... It feels much more like a D&D session) he has a right to exist. :cool:


    A personal note for the writing team: You dudes/dudines should consider to start writing true novels. Just saying... :sneaky:
  7. 5.00 star(s)

    Carefree247

    Dive in blind on the first and second run. It's better that way ,or it would ruin the story , and you would feel cheated from the amazing twists.

    These people know how to write a good story, not great but good, that means room to grow, it's been a while since I played a game and felt so satisfied with the story, not to taxing or cumbersome.
  8. 4.00 star(s)

    johnytherocket

    great story and lore. Interesting characters and dynamics between them. Visuals were cool for majority of the game (some were definitively better than others). Choices actually had impact on the story and characters for the most part. Top quality stuff.
  9. 5.00 star(s)

    Rambling

    This is a vn with great drawn art, a well written story, and multiple paths with choices that matter. My biggest complaint is how short it is, but is that really a complaint at all? Highly recommended.
  10. 3.00 star(s)

    Tokoy

    PROS
    - The art is pretty good. There're some (i suppose the old ones) that feel more as sketches, but it's okey.
    - The story is kinda interesting for me(too much dialogs)
    - Multiple endings
    -Your choice actually leads to different paths of games

    CONS
    -I didn't feel like the choices gives any clue to what "path" you will be lead.
    -Most of characters don't actually have a personality, they just exist.
    -Many people are talking about Carmen, well i'm with them. Punch this b*tch to see if she can control all the situation like she thinks so. The protagonist is too passive with her. Letting her control all the sh*t.
  11. 2.00 star(s)

    tonny

    Just tried this for the first time and wonder why there is animated tag, only one shoot was animated and when the girl gets drugged. Then why even bother? so dont expect much animations here, cause there is non.
    and the story keeps being told even tho you are else where on the screen and some sex scenes you only get one frame, I think its terrible...

    In a sex scene the image dont change, but all kinds of different things during the sex are done, by the story telling. but you dont see much. and if we dont see what is being told, well thats just crappy work in my mind.

    The art looks good tho, but thats it and thats what my 2 stars are for. the story was good too, but still not worth more than 2 stars.
  12. 4.00 star(s)

    Air Space Frame

    DesignVN style game where your choices matter, and will result in different routes (not a kinetic novel). The way the story is presented is reminiscent of Asian-style horror cinematography in which not limited information is presented to the player at once. Several playthroughs are required to understand each characters motivations and background. The player is also allowed to play as various different characters from time to time. Writing is mostly compelling.2
    ProgrammingSome users have mentioned bugs in earlier versions of the game locking certain scenes in the gallery, but according to the developer these have been patched. The game ran smoothly with no bugs and smooth transitions, and the gallery unlocked appropriately.1
    Level creationInitial few playthroughs were fun and unlocked more of the story for the player. However grinding for 100% gallery will require multiple playthroughs with judicious use of savepoints. The developer has provided a helpful summary of route paths that will greatly aid in such an endeavour.

    Certain actions in the game hard lock the player onto certain routes, which may result in the player character behaving in an unexpected manner with little control from the player from then on.
    1
    Art productionArt is provided by Duski and is pleasant with a brush-on-canvas style art giving a nice touch to the medieval setting. However, there could be better consistency between scenes as the body proportions of characters varies from scene, or perhaps from one drawing session to another.2
    Audio productionBackground music is a nice touch and varies according to scene.2
    Final statementThe overall package comes together nicely as a marriage of talents between Duski and Hallows, creating one very decent game instead of two mediocre ones. The influence on game design from both developers can be felt through choice of script and art in the various routes.8

    Game edition reviewed: Sanguine Rose [v3.6.0] [DuskyHallows]
  13. 5.00 star(s)

    apsentibus

    In my opinion, above those erotic games just for relax and fap, the art of erotism has two major direction to go, one being love, the other being power.
    This game is exactly a masterpiece in the latter, which is pretty rare in the erotic genre. It's a story about desire(not only sexual) and power, about loyalty and betrayal, about scrambles and uncertainty. Extremely well depicted characters, extremely well written dialogues(even if some wordings can still be improved), and most outstandingly, the choices&consequences are incredibly well designed to present the theme of this story. Be warned: the consequences of your decisions might yield unexpected results that can be very realistic and tragical in certain cases.
    It's a good choice-based visual novel even without the erotic elements, but it's even a brilliant one with them. "Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power." Quoted from Oscar Wilde, well demonstrated by this game.
    The artwork is also very charming, but if only some of the sex scenes could be further elaborated. There are certain artworks that seem painted in a hurry with some pretty unpolished curves.
    P.S. For those who complain about the bad endings, please note that only games that majorly provide you with sense of accomplishment give good endings when you do "well and correctly" and bad endings when you "make mistakes". However most VNs are stories that the author want you to read and experience, not games that rate how well you do for accomplishing your goal. There's no "wrong choice" or "game over" in this game.
  14. 4.00 star(s)

    ariKira

    My opinion about Sanguine Rose

    Pros:
    - Art is different but good
    - Multiple endings
    - It's actually worth playing again to unlock more endings

    Cons:
    - Story is okay but I think it could be better
    - Not really a "con" but I would have loved more CG/complete sex scenes

    Rating: 4 out of 5. Give this a try.
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    Ankhesenamun

    → Fantastic art, reminds me of late 80s/early 90s comic book art;
    → Carmen is absolutely gorgeous and vicious;
    → Short but very dynamic storyline;
    → Choices matter and have a direct impact in the ending of the game contrarily to some triple A productions (yes, I'm still judging you ME3)

    5/5, hope to see the beautiful General again.
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    izzipizzi

    I'm glad I found this game. If you're like me and hate all of the generic rpgm and 3d visual novel games then you should give this one a try, it really stands out. I nutted several times to this game, the art is so good.
  17. 4.00 star(s)

    SkyPoem

    1. good quality cg but ugly faces in total (IDM though actually helps too)
    2. story is not bad not great and touchy but do the job ( it really could be better by some events but game is short that is why i'm not forcing it
    3.you don't have choices like other games i got 2 ending just for the final choice and i feel the choices you have wont matter it just fill your gallery
    i need to admit though there are some good quality pics.
    4.the games have some animations but 1 or 2 ( i found only one)
    and some mouse moment effect but still only 1 or 2
    i rather not having it than having it for very time
    i can feel he tried though and i thank him for this
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    swiezak1988

    Extraordinary. This is an adjective that should sum up the game and its creators. While you may not enjoy this game at first playthrough, it's a loss to play it only once. It's short, but very wide with all the choices you can make. While some of them are not obvious, you may leave a lot of content unnoticed. Ok, did other reviewers mention you the art behind this game? It's not only beatiful - that's achievable nowadays with some tools letting you play with 3dcg models. This is more, because every scene shows a passion of the artist - Duski - that makes this game a subtle, mesmerizing and remarkable experience.
  19. 2.00 star(s)

    Alfred the Fallen

    Sanguine Rose is a beautiful game with an awful story.

    The main plot is about four mercenaries holding a captive for ransom. The mercenaries are led by a witless rube named Roman who is easily manipulated by the imprisoned Mary Sue. The game is completely unintuitive. The more careful you are with the prisoner, the more likely she is to kill everyone and escape. I've played the game multiple times so far and have yet to find a single decent ending. Maybe there's still one hiding somewhere, but it's looking less likely all the time.
  20. 5.00 star(s)

    Ninjaman2

    This is probably the best VN style game I've come across. I really love the mystery and how different paths will uncover different parts. The characters are all multidimensional and your choices matter.

    The scenes are *HOT* while I would have loved to see more foot related femdom/foot fetish content there was definitely enough power exchange to make me happy.

    The only people who will probably dislike this are those who prefer their porn without any plot. Because yeah, this is a VN you will do some reading.