VN - Ren'Py - Secrets and Promises [v0.04] [badbod]

This is an interactive visual novel, and I hate that, the 'Point & Click' tag isn't included in the thread, but it should be.

I respect this dev, and that's why I kept playing even though I didn't like the fact that it was interactive, this will certainly affect my review, but I'll try to be fair.

Interactivity in this game is extremely important, you'll miss most scenes if you don't interact, I had to restart my gameplay half a dozen times before I figured that out.
I had disabled 'Auto Focus' and 'Auto Highlight' in the preferences, I thought that because it was possible to disable them, they wouldn't be so important, but they are!
I wish the developer would add a mode that removes this need for interactivity, and the native walkthrough seems to hinder more than help, I don't recommend using it.

The interactivity took away my enjoyment of playing, it was a huge distraction, and being FORCED to peek and ALWAYS getting caught doing it is ridiculous, this happens in basically every scene, the game literally pauses so you can click on a detail of the scene, you can choose not to click, but you'll miss most of the scenes.

The story is simple, nothing new, but that's certainly not a bad thing, I even prefer it that way, less chance of messing up the recipe.

The protagonist couldn't make any important decisions, the choices are only related to LI's and sexual content, the plot is linear.

Something that bothered me is how every LI always smile and spread their legs for the protagonist even when he's not doing anything, he's not attractive, he's not friends with most of them, he'd barely be considered an acquaintance, but this is ignored, they do everything for him.

Forcing Cara to be the protagonist's daughter also bothered me, it was totally unnecessary, but it was included anyway, I would have preferred if she remained just the friend's daughter, sleeping with the friend's daughter and his wife would have been more exciting than an extra incestuous scene, after all, there's already incest with Millie, the protagonist's daughter; when it was revealed that Cara is the protagonist's daughter, I lost interest in her.

There are many LIs, I didn't count, but there are dozens, and that's subjective, but of those dozens, only two seemed attractive to me, the dev doesn't seem to have put much effort into this area.

Everything is so easy for the protagonist that it takes away the pleasure of playing, for example:
Sarah gave the protagonist, a stranger, a hitchhiker who acts mysteriously, a ride, she even took him to her house, shared a bed with him, and even had sex with him, without knowing anything other than his name.

Mary, the granddaughter of another character who gave the protagonist a ride, even though she had only known him for a few minutes, went to his room, undressed, and masturbated in front of him while he watched, and that was her holding back, she did much more after that.

His wife and daughter, who supposedly hated him, were overjoyed to see him, inviting him to spend the night, with both of them flirting with him the whole time, I didn't pay attention to them, but I saw in the gallery that there are at least six scenes for them up to the version v0.04.

I haven't played all the routes, I didn't like the game, but there are many scenes with the LI's.

I liked this dev previous game, it was simple and straightforward enough that I didn't expect anything beyond the premise, but this one is very different, the scale is much larger, the protagonist is always meeting new LI's, there's also drama, crime, and mystery, it's natural that I expected more, but unfortunately, it's all linear, just an excuse to meet new LI's, the game is boring, and combined with the forced interactivity, I really didn't enjoy playing it, and I tried almost twenty times.

What a gem !

Great-looking girls, good pacing. The story and the dialogues feel natural.
Already a lot of content with many different girls, I don't mind that there are not many choices as long as the quality is that high.

Wow I didn't expect this game to be that good.
Great story, good atmosphere, good-looking girls, and everything feels realistic. The MC has a normal-sized cock, not a 30 cm one, and the girls don’t have the huge boobs and big asses you see in other games (not that I would mind that).

The only downside I see is the lack of music.
If the developer adds some music to the game and improves the renders quality, it will only be a matter of time before this game becomes one of the top 5 games in history.
Easily 5 stars
I can't wait for the next update.

Very good! This Is Golden.
It is a game that is already in development and is going quite well. It needs a little more work on the interface and a little on the effect that our decisions cause. (I'm not saying you don't already do it in this game) it's just that I compare it to boxed. It is very noticeable which one they put more love into (I also feel that the appearance of the characters needs to be worked on a little since there are some that look good but while others that appear in this story are quite behind) the rest seems very well done to me, it has a different approach but it is more original than many games. greetings dear keep it up!

So this is very-much a kinetic novel, no real deviations here apart from 'sex' or 'no sex', and that's actually fine. This is a really interesting story, sorta reminds me of Long Road Home only without the constant barrage of porn.
Ironically, throughout all of the available game, I didn't choose the 'sex' option even once. The characters are interesting, and the MC feels very-much like a Pater Familias type. I appreciate his bonds with the girls and women more than I do their potential naughty bits.

Technical-wise, the LIs are all unique and cute, the art leans pretty 'realistic' but not quite super polished, and there's no animations that I saw. It's a fairly basic space bar simulator, but the story makes it feel and play bigger than it is.

And that's enough, sometimes.

Honestly the game could straight up be summarized as "good". There's nothing overly groundbreaking, but nothing disappointing. There are no "great" elements, but there are no bad ones either. Definitely a solid game with more content per chapter than most, so would recommend for sure, just not something you're probably going to remember too vividly in a few years.

Really good one so far. The Li models are great, MC is likable and believably trying to make amends for past mistakes/misconceptions. It's amazing what just sitting down and having a conversation with people can do instead of sneaking around and keeping secrets all the time. Plus even though he has a few lines questioning his attraction to some of the ladies he gets over it quick enough. Looking forward to more updates.

An excellent game, well written and the images are great. I would like to give kudos to the team who put this together. I especially liked the sex scenes where the emphasis was put on the females needs. Most games go straight from sucking cock to fucking, this game does it right. Never stick it before you lick it..rule number one.

Hats off to a dev who knows how to plan and tell a story. They've honed a visual style in their first AVN, the short-but-hot Boxed In. Some of the models and the themes (not the characters) recur here on a more ambitious, extended scale. 'Realistic' lighting is darker than usual, but not a drawback. MILFs and even GILFs are likewise pleasingly but not distractingly realistic.

Our muscle-bound, ex-military MC is a man of few words but with enough faults and quirks to make him plausible. Ultimately he's setting up your classic incest harem, across several households and locations. He doesn't know that yet, even if we do, but he doesn't spend too long tiresomely resisting the opportunities to develop it (well, you can turn down one or another LI, with the aid of the built-in walkthrough, but that's not the point).

The pacing of story and sex is good. And the updates come just about quickly enough that you haven't forgotten who's related to whom (as in Boxed In, just about everyone, one way and another) even if the how gets a bit complicated. One impressive feature is the use of dialogue, type size, angles and pacing to turn up the heat on what might in context be a vanilla sex scene, and often make it tender and loving (as well as kinky). Bonus point for nun action.

Oh, and names! So many AVNs let themselves down on this most basic feature by using names that are either random letter salads or irritating misspellings. The names here are just right. Everyone (well, every LI, because in the land of the AVN, the NPC male is of course either dead or vanished, and S&P is no exception to the rule) has a name that belongs to them.

There aren't many titles that come through on this site that I can say I honestly go "Holy crap! A new update!" but this is at the top of that list.

The slow burn, but not too slow, helps bridge gaps between the story points and figuring out just what happened to get you to where you are today and why it is so important for you to finally start piecing together your old life and take the blinders off.

It's almost like My Name is Earl in a sense of "making up for bad decisions in the past" and also coming to terms with things that you had put behind you for so long.

So many people today are hung up on animations not being in their beloved titles, but this one hits the sweet spot for me: not AI and not clunky as hell. With updates roughly every other month it's well worth the time and investment in it.

My only "gripe" is: There are so many "potential love interests" that I hope they're not all used as it would bog all this down. But as of 0.04 there are a good number that are used for sexy time and even more that aren't.

Well done and can't wait for the next updates of this one! This is even better than The Box and I loved that game.

Masterful, captivating, morally questionable, but I love it.
Although the game is still in development, it has already shown us so many integrations and rich elements in its narrative that it is simply masterful. We'll have to see how it develops in the future, but looking at the developer, I know that the project is in good hands.

Damn this is a really good VN. Renders and animations are good but like most VN's they are only as good as their story and how well that's written, have to say this is good. Its like Jack Reacher with more shagging, what more could you want. Also thankful to a dev who doesn't design the MC with a cock the size of John Holmes and likes a woman with a little more hair, kudos! Keep up the great work badbod!

Ive said this on his prev game review and i'll say it again, badbod is one of the most talented developer you can find on this site, and considering the dude isn't even getting any financial support makes him all that more awesome.

What makes his games so good:
1) Sex scenes I really think badbod is the best at sex scenes, while you dont get to pick the positions within the scenes, the way the poses are done, the no of positions, and the variations for each positions make them feel really dynamic and hot.

2) Incest - this is a huge part of badbod games if you love this genre you really need to play this dude's games. For me badbod games are everything i want an incest game to be.

3) Writing - I am always very much engaged in the storyline of badbod games. There's no grinding involved, Yes there is some porn logic going on yet you don't get the sense that char relationships seems rushed and the progress are believable.

4) Models -while they may not be everyone's cup of tea, i absolutely love that the characters have proper body types and shape (they dont all need to look like plastic bimbos), looks (the models aren't classically beautiful but they look attractive and cute in their own way), age appropriate (eg: hate when mothers look as young as daughters, old ppl and no wrinkes and perrky boobs, supposed teens which look more like grown women with full curves, MC with 18yo daugther looks like a 20yo, etc.), believable family relations ( my biggest peeve, eg: dark haired parents with tanned skin has pale skin blonde haired and ginger children)

5) Replayability - There are storyline variations based on choices made during the game and you cant get all scenes within a single playthrough.

6) Updates - badbod game updates never seems short or unsatisfying to me, they are always worth playing. With the quality and amount of play of these updates, what impresses me the most is the consistency and time at which badbod releases these updates.

There may be better quality games out there, certainly more flashy ones. and of cos everyone has their own preferences.
But considering, badbod is doing this with no financial backing, no obligation to put out updates of good quality and at a reasonably fast time frame yet the dude just does, this has to be a 5/5 recommendation for me.

This game is so GOATED, great great story, great characters, i like the 3d models, i really love it, very good taboo content, this game has so much potential and is going on a great path, love it, and maybe the best part of all is that the developer gives us a lot of content everytime, this is a MUST!!!!

V0.04

having been a member since this site was only a month old, though i'm fucked if i can remember what that first account was called, i am of a mind to remember a certain dev who created a decent game first time out. it was a success and created much hype.
the dev took that hype and went way too far by attempting to create an entire game from scratch, which then had them crashing into every hurdle they built for themselves. it was an unmitigated disaster of anal retentiveness.
the reason i am of mind, for those not seeing the parallels, is this dev ALSO created a decent first project that created much hype....except they did not take the anal route.
instead they took a step up that is manageable and i think many of us are glad about that as they are growing in their craft slowly instead of bounding, which is a better route that is much less prone to mistakes and bad reviews, to my mind anyway.

not very often here do i feel encouraged by a developers work, but badbod is one of the very few looking to be consistent AND interesting AND showing growth as a dev.....a trinity ALMOST as good as the 3 hole trinity....okay maybe not almost....but still damn good.
i see a nun getting her hamster mouth getting tea-bagged. i'm a little excited
the future...this mind, that writing, improved visuals? i may have to try for reincarnation

a doth of the hat good sir

This is not a high felocity AVN. Despite themes like criminality, violence and optional moral degeneracy Secrets and Promises is a very slow and thoughtful novel.
The biggest strength in my opinion is the dialogue. It's very considerate and each individual behaves in a way so you can tell them apart. The MC is the centre of gravity though. Like in many of these games he is a former special ops soldier turned superhero.
I'm also not sure if it was necessary to involve so many questionable peeping tom moments.

It's definitely worth checking out for those who enjoy rather simple 90s movie narratives with good dialogue and varied and interesting character arcs that have room to develop and surprise.

I didn't like the previous game of the developer but this one I do.

Great game, characters, story, images & animations. First class. First game (Boxed In) was excellent as well, but this is next level. Each update has been large and advanced the story appreciably. Looking forward to the next chapters.

Here we have a developer who delivers like a machine, and so far without asking for any financial support.

+ The story is quite good. It's no Shakespeare, but above average for a porn game. I'd give it 3.5/5.
+ The renders are well done. There are also certainly better games, but also significantly worse ones. 4/5 from my side.
+ Because the developer doesn't receive any financial support, he is completely free from any requirements imposed by support sites . This makes him one of the very few developers who can create their game exactly as they envision it, without any constraints or patches. 5/5
+ And in my opinion, the biggest plus is the characters. It's one of the very few games that features girls who seem natural and not like they came from a Hollywood printer. 5/5

- One of the few things that I think could be improved are the animations, which I find rather stiff. There's room for improvement there. Thankfully, though, there aren't any two-render "animations". 2,5/5

One of the best games on F95. Different in many ways, mostly the models. No perfect bodies, but natural ones. Story is well written and good to follow. H-Scenes are at some points something completely new. If the concept and quality will go on like this...we will get a perfect game, worth to ply more than only one time.

The characters' diverse expressions are captivating, and the story development has significantly improved compared to the previous game. While the version is still low, the future is even more exciting. The main story progression is truly captivating.