VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - SC4LES [Ep. 1] [Pandalin Studios]

As of V.01 this seems like an interesting game. The dev takes time to setup storylines and it seems like the game will be more than some people fucking. There seems to be groundwork lain for multiple relationships depending on how sleazy you want to be. The MC isn't a twink 18 y/o, so already a bonus. So far there isn't incest thinly veiled as "housemates" which is also a change of pace from like 90% of games on here. The renders are nice, character models are mostly well done, and the writing/translation/interpretation doesn't hurt my brain.

Well done, dev.

I personally seek out the story aspect and not necessary the gaming aspect of AVNs and further I don't try to nitpick the creators vision; just like the books I read. So with that said, I very much enjoyed SC4LES' Chapter 1. I think Pandalin Studios - while new to the AVN space - has the talent to deliver a quality story enhanced with great visuals. I've been on their Discord for a bit and seen what they can do and know they are working hard to bring their story to life.

Since it is just Chapter 1 (and the prologue) characters, motives, etc. are still being established but already Pandalin is making you love\hate certain characters...at least on the surface. I'm curious if those feelings will still be the same at the end of the story. For example, I'm in Jen's camp right now and wondering what is really driving her actions.

The visuals are very good and love seeing new environments \ assets being used to bring some freshness to the presentation. Again as Pandalin gets more experience under their belt they will only improve.

This AVN may not be for everyone...rarely does such exist...but I'm excited to see where they take things and plan to enjoy the journey with them.

Written following the release of Episode 1.

Summary:
A game with a great idea and premise, that leaves much to be desired in execution.

Story:
At the outset I was quite intrigued by the idea of the story - based on music (which I love), and relating to slightly older/more mature characters. I was expecting and hoping for a mature and relatable story. Instead, what we got were twins who are in love with the same guy, the guy can't even tell them apart, and is given permission for a free-for-all with the twins by the one he is married to.

I also felt the quality of the writing left much to be desired - the conversations had very little depth, and it gave the distinct feeling that the author was trying to rush the story along too quickly (more on this later). The dialogue was unnatural and stilted, characters spoke in ways that were completely unrealistic.

One of the most jarring parts of the story was during a scene in a club with 2 minor characters (MC was not in this scene). Out of nowhere, the player is given a choice to be made by one of the minor characters. What?! Where did that come from?! It's a bizarre narrative choice, and one I would recommend the author to avoid in the future (unless the intention is to create confusion for the players and completely destroy any semblance of immersion).

Probably the strongest character development happened with the blonde who wants to succeed independently of "Daddy" - but ends up being a thirty chick who tries to bang a manager and then calls over a random to bang her. Despite this, it's good character development, and we actually learn something about the character. By far the most skillful writing of the episode was done with her.

Every other character, I believe, was not developed well at all, and still feel there is nothing memorable to tell apart the twins, or the redhead and blonde in the club.

Renders:
Understanding that the dev is quite new to DAZ - maybe gives a pass on the quality of the renders in the game (which are generally quite poor) - but very little improvement was seen in the quality of the renders between the prologue, and the first chapter (6 months later). This does not leave one hopeful for future improvements in the art without the dev spending some pretty serious and dedicated time on honing their craft.

Some of the biggest issues with the renders had to do with the posing of the models - often we see renders where characters are in quite unnatural positions, especially in their facial expressions. The facial expressions, especially, look like they just have sliders dialed up to 100%. The dev would do well, in my view, to help incorporate some subtlety into the character poses.

Sound:
Given this game is about music, was disappointed that music has not been in the game. Believe the dev has noted they will add music, which I am looking forward to.

Animations:
None whatsoever as of chapter 1.

Playability:
Competent coding and use of RenPy - did not run into any playability issues.
The biggest playability issues have to do with the aforementioned story details.

Amount of Content:
Extremely short - maybe 15-20 minutes of play time, which is maybe enough for a prologue, not a prologue AND a first chapter. Too much happens in the story for the amount of playtime - gives the feeling that the author is just rushing through the story.

Overall:
There is a huge amount of room for improvement here. I probably will give this game one or two more chapters to keep me with it, but the bar is very high.

Just bad really bad,

Writing is meh, renders a litle above average,
Mc can't even distinguish is wife from her sister really?
A scene controlling what right now are random npc out of no wheere, maybe in the future that 2 girls npc will be someone relevant in the game where you only have 2 choices that are to see lesbianism between the 2 girls or give a pissed off response to a random male npc but then immediately jumps to a scene in bathroom where one of the girls is fucking the same random male npc.
Then another character is a girl that offers to blow her boss to get up on her career but the boss refuses, next scene with her is she calling a random male npc to have a release.
Wife didn't like what her sis had do but then says to mc he can "explore" whit her sister, really? Contradicts much? And in a game where you just can have one chick.
Bad writing .
Sex scene are just awful, sex scene with wife was just one position without foreplay for the longest duration of 6 clicks LOL.

So yeah, many things to get better and dev to decide the direction of the game, if its to see every potential LI to have sex with random males or actually about mc, wife, sis and so on, and trying to not contracting himself that much along the lines.

So 1* is more than deserved

I can't really give more than 3 stars. There's only like 15 minutes of game play

PROS
Renders are crisp
The few ladies shown look sexy
Good flow with the scenes

CONS
Super short for a demo

Overall
Not a bad start, just not memorable. I'm pretty sure the dev will add some substance to this in future updates. It's just not there now. Give it a try if you want. Good luck with the future updates.

Teaser review. Not really much to this. Yet. But, it's good. The renders look good. The story, what we got of it, seems pretty damn good. One of those games that you know isn't written by a 12 year old.

So, for what there is of it, I enjoyed it. Can't wait to see more of this unfold. You just got yourself another patron. I hope you don't drop the ball on this, it has a lot of potential.

EP0 reviewed.

We need more Visual Novels that feel like they're built around believable and relatable life events. This one certainly fits the bill, based on what I've seen so far.

Renders are solid, if not a step above what I've seen in most new releases lately, and the dev has clearly poured some love into the characterizaton.

I look forward to seeing more from Pandadrummer and hope to see this story develop in further updates.

I will also say the dev was very approachable and interested in feedback, and that goes a long way with me.

Keep up the great work!