Ren'Py - Shattered Minds [v0.17] [eXtasy Games]

This review is from someone subbed to the Patreon.

Shattered Minds is a conundrum. On the one hand, it's a game about my favorite genre: Mind Control/Hypnosis. On the other hand, it's a fake sandbox game with almost no content outside of the main story, with several places to visit but nothing to do in those places you visit.

A sandbox SHOULD have things you are supposed to worry about outside of the main story, whether that's relationships with characters to maintain, chores to complete, or even an actual job the MC needs to work for spending money. All of these activities you complete as the player culminate into something that we call a JOURNEY, and to paraphrase a famous quote: "A good story is about the journey, not the destination."

That being said, the game is an empty corridor populated with "things" that repeat the same lines back to you with no variation. There is no interacting with characters outside of quests, meaning that as the player there is nothing in the game to make you care about any of these things called characters. There is essentially nothing to do in the game aside from doing what the guide in the phone tells you to do and grinding XP in the mirror world, even playing 0.08 which came out a couple of days before the writing of this review there is nothing to do once you complete all of the quests. You can technically make 2 characters go to the MC's room to play 'hide-the-sausage', but it's not implemented in a way that complements a sandbox game. It just instantly happens as if they just phased into existence at that very moment.

Even the whole mind control part of the game isn't all that enjoyable. The main character just waves his metaphorical magic wand and BAM they're mind-controlled. There's no struggle, no corruption, or coercion. Just like with the rest of the game, you watch what happens in a scripted scene, then go back to clicking around in an empty and fake world filled with entities that have not changed since the very first release.

To wrap up and summarize this rant, Shattered Minds is a VN pretending to be a sandbox with nothing to do outside of the quests, and currently has nothing in the game to make the world in the game "real". Fake characters, and a fake world. There might be a point in time where the dev fixes and fleshes out everything, but based on the roadmap I saw on the Patreon I'm not convinced that they're worried about anything but racing to the finish line and making this journey as forgettable as possible.

Fun quests and hot characters. It could improve by building upon + adding to systems and features already in place, although it's a very good game already. I wouldn't mind seeing more interactions in free roam, as well as some more side quests for existing characters. They're good characters who I'm eager to interact with more!

Extremely promising with an excellent groundwork and solid models. The story is not obtrusive and there is infrastructure for stuff like pregnancy in the game already so if this is consistently updated it will end up as an extremely good finished product, I think. It's definitely one to watch.

Reviewed Version: 0.07 Hotfix 1

I will focus my review on one point where the game stands out - in contrast to other sandbox - and that is build-up. I am sure everyone has their own opinion on how fast things should be moving but for me it is just the right amount of progress. While I do not get the Ava concept (yet?), limiting the mind control powers of the MC is beneficial to the game as it keeps thing interesting. And while you don't have much choices with consequences you do have the freedom to chose what (or who) to pursue next.

I really like this game so far. As a sandbox it doesn't feel grindy as you always know what you are supposed to be doing (and are making noticable progress).

I'd say it's just okay in most regards. Nothing to make the game really stand out in terms of content.

You get a nice interface, it's easy to move around, conversations are a little stilted but mostly fine. Yeah, it's all neat and tidy. The women are decently attractive but I think a bit bland. Mind control and corruption is always nice.

The only slight twist on things is that MC's mind control powers unlock a second personality in his brain. Why his subconscious would be a woman isn't really explained. She doesn't really add much other than that somehow MC's brain knows more than he does.

There's not much grind. At least not if you realise that blackjack with uncapped bets breaks the economy of so many games. Spend a couple of minutes save scumming and exponential growth is your friend. Then discover that aside from buying energy drinks money isn't much use. But you will see that the other mini games give such paltry returns they're worth avoiding.

Otherwise I don't have much to say. It all works perfectly well, there's some quest to sink your teeth into. A few blowjob and a couple of sex scenes. It's all fine. I'd just like to see a game like this take a risk somewhere and try to stand out.

Solid game with some great scenes and animations. So far Dev seems to be added at least 2/3 scenes a month and is not ignoring the immediate family.

The actual hypnosis points are not too grindy and can be easily done. Game is not a visual novel which is great, so it avoids that monotone pitfall where you are just clicking the screen forward.

Honestly not sure this game is reviewed that low - feels like a mid-4 star game especially since the dev is still active a ~8 months from initial launch

Story had a good base for a great game but it just lacks in freedom and feel kinetic, i personaly hate big tits so would never go after those LIs and this game is full of them, but it did have some i liked so thought why not aslong as there are some right.

Next i find out one of the few girls i did like is a full blown lesbian that wants nothing but being friends with MC, so with a little brainwash with mind controle to turn her into MCs best freind it just got weird, now she wants to be nude at work with MC due to her bucket list, it dident really make much sense, she even mastubate in front of MC not sure why since she dont like guys at all when it come to sex but i bet MC will change that at some point....its just poorly written and LIs personalitis just feels

Make no mistake that MC is pure evil in this game, or at the very least being forced to it by hes own brain, this will make sense if you play it, MC him self is brainless and gutless, where hes other part just want to turn everyone into sex slaves, so you can say MC him self has split personalities and one of them is forceing MC to do stuff he dosent want like making hes male childhood friend forget everything about him, you again ofc has 0 choice in anything in this game, like MC your just forced to follow orders instend of showing some backbone and put her in her place its after all MCs brain, well maybe it isent anymore, its just stupid.

Girls break down mentaly, split personalities going from wanting to jump out the window for having sex with MC, to cant get enough of MCs dick, at that point MC will just totaly rewrite the girls brain to become a full blown sex slave/doll, i just couldent get into this so clearly game isent for me.

It might just be me but i truely feel the rape tag should be up there as well, i mean if you mind controle someone and brain wash them into having sex you cant really call that concent can ya. and that is what MC is doing and the girls crying after they think about it sure dosent feel like concent either.

It started out good giving the player a choice if they wanted to mind controle someone or pick another route, but that freedom vanished very fast and went all out kinetic story instend, same for questlines you cant avoid anything since some are connected with one another so wont be able to go on with the game without buying horney lotion crap for the mother even though i really dident want to, so yeah 0 freedom 0 choice.

Its also yet another game where MCs thought process is like a 12 year old with a big tit fetish, hes personality is just way to cringy for my taste, like with hes mother, MC starts by thinking its worng that hes mother wants hes dick then a min later he thinks "she will be begging for my dick soon enough" and "i want her" i wouldent even want to get anywhere near her so its just annoying to read this kind of thought process with everything that walks and again you dont have a choice.

Story also just gets worse and weird, make a dude into a slave where you can make him cum from watching MC have sex or just by telling him hes allowed to get horney......just to weird for me, also you can turn your best childhhood male friend into a girl....or just make him forget he ever knew MC, what you cant do is tell Ava to go fuck her self and make up your own mind, you dont even talk to your friend before hand which could have been a fun conversation to hear what he would deside given the option, but they seem to miss any chance of making something fun.

Also making him forget all about MC has to be the most brainless idea ever, i mean the "men in black" already knows that Bill and MC are freinds, so Bill forgetting all about him would raise one hell off a red flag to them, which would let them figure out MC has powers very easy.....and Ava is saying do this to be safe from the "men in black"......idiotic.

Renders are good, animations are pretty short but decent, music is and effects are good.

Sandbox is a bit of a grind, its not the worst but it dosent really add any fun to the game.

this game was out F95 Feb 2023! content is Meaty! i am shocked!! i recommend if player into PORN/superpower(mind caster).

Story; my god start of story i thought gonna be boring.. but can see a lot plan been put into story.. no just another porn game that fuk mama sista(sis is hot! melon boob) im not into incest.. but(to wank why not ) story pull you into void.. feel like superpower is last minute, eh what i know.. fast implemented but Good story written into it.. got Humor.. school/college setting.. (really wanna fuk SCARLET!! dam u dev!!) i can see story MC power grow/evolve to Godhood.. feel Ava suspicious AF! i don't think she there just for MC.. i said mc need Slave her up ASAP...

MY opinion! i Love this game December join Dev subscribestar!(for month) progress story cum out by Game dev is impressive! KEEP UP! love your game!! is GOOD

Review on 07v and Model sound is GOOD!!

This game hits the right notes for me, I like it! At the time of writing, it's a bit short on content, but it's easy to see the potential. I hope to see more presence from the characters throughout a day, for games like this it's nice when one can meaningfully interact with the NPCs outside of the storylines

The game is well writen and the models , retenders & annamation are good. Bad senerio, Why go though hiring a Prostitude Escort only to get a blow job??. total waste of the time and effort. The landlady want to have sex but ends up just brain teasing ; Adding quest that has to wait 2 to 3 updates & end as not available Honestly why start something that cant be fufilled in one or two updates ?. I would agree and wait if it was some kind of adventure how ever this is just day to day activities,
Best have short QUEST than have it wait for another year to update.
Not my kind of game

Updating rating after v.0.09 with the rehauled intro writing.

The writing, while still shaky, is leagues better than what it used to be. A very rare example of a dev going back and improving on what they've already made for the sake of quality.

And surprise, the ideas at the core still carry the story. You now do more with the superhero premise, plus the introduction of characters like Sarah make the world fall more lived in. I wish these character interactions were more fleshed out so each slave gets more personality that distinguishes them from each other, but at its core there's some solid work here. 4/5.

Great Artwork, okay story but that's about it.

You jump into the fame and get given a bunch of Quests which are unachievable and are just marked with "coming in a future update" type of thing.

I Initially bought several of those spy cameras to find out that I actually couldn't use them for anything as of V0.05

I may update my review to a higher rating in the future if the dev sorts out the quest system but I'm not holding my breath.

I tried... I really did. I even went in with no expectations but if you're unable to completely turn your brain off (or aren't working with much in the mental capacity dept. anyway) then this one will be a slog for you.

This is one of those games where you could say a lot went into the aesthetics of the game, the look of the game, or the game is style over substance. To get this out the way, the main piece of the game it the graphics. The girls look good, the characters have a lot of attention to detail. It's mostly a big proportion game, so if you're looking for girls with "realistic" bodies you'll be in for another disappointment.

It's one of those games that puts stock in animations of the mundane things as well as the sexual content, so kudos on that but unfortunately I can't help but wonder if the rest of the game had to suffer because of it or if it's just a writing flaw.

So firstly is Immersion. Yeah, you ain't getting immersed in this game unless you LOVE the fourth wall being broken. The game starts with it, and be prepared to be reminded that you are a PLAYER many times by the MC that you're "controlling". I say controlling in air quotes because while you can pick things to say, do, and sometimes places to go, the story moves on the way it wants to, with very little impact from you the player.

Another thing that sticks out is the dialogue. Well it's not that great. It could be worse, but it's not really good either. The people here mostly talk like teens and I don't mean older teens, I mean like newly minted teens. They think and act like teens as well though you're all supposed to be older. Also the dev/writer loses points for laziness or lack of maturity by having characters actually say "Lol" and "wtf". Like unless the game is a parody, this is not acceptable in any game that wants to be taken seriously.

I couldn't really get too far to start judging characters for their... well character. But from what I did see I was unimpressed. The MC is not one that is gonna inspire a lot of people to like, and neither really are those closest to him.

All in all a lackluster game. Those looking for a good story and well put together game, ehhh... Your time is probably better served elsewhere. For those looking for something pretty and not thinking too much if at all, then yeah this is probably something you might want to check out.

Well written story that has an enjoyable sandbox mode... a rare combination.

Graphics and animations are also really good. Ost and sound effects support the scenes well.

Nothing to complain about, 5/5.

this isn't a game per say but more of a visual novel with some actions. I did edit this but the story is good especially the beginning, like the story isn't what I have a problem with. I'm going to finish the story and might change this but this is yeah... -> Nothing is really up to you as you don't make any real choices. Art is good and everything, but that's not enough to save the game completely. I play mind control games so that I can control people, not watch others control people. If I was going to read this as a story it's much better to just read a corruption story than this, because they are more entertaining. Also the MC is dull and has no balls. He can't really do anything and doesn't really want to try. You have to RELY ON OTHER PEOPLE to give you quests in order to even use your powers. Like wtf, at that point what's the need to even have these powers in the first place.

Currently i have to give this one Average.

Positive parts.

Quality of text.
Quality of Image rendering.
VN with Sanbox freedom of movement with currently low/easy grind...
And the girls themself looks quite nice...

But that all petty much

Navigation at the house is pretty bad...

Current interactions amounts etc are just as sad...
this is added with the low amount of locations for a game being 0.05? I say considering it is supposed to be a Sandbox I would have thought there would be more locations at least
like a coffe shop or a restaurant or a bank or something?...


Story type, guy gets powers and wants a harem.
Being specificly Mind powers doesn make it any more special or different... And the guy is a basically looser and simp in every sense.. I mean he does not really even 'try' to figure out things on his own but he runs to another guy who 'figures things out' but is in a sense even worse simp...

2 The 'guy' in questions have been used as a girl in other games.


The first thing that would immensly improve the score by 1 whole star would be this...

So since he's using that kind of 'best friend male character' he could just have put him up as a girl instead. And made them 'best friends' since childhood. She could have had a story being an 'outcast' from the other 'populare girls' and be like oh revenge. And later on his 'friend' with power could have been given the option to use his power on his(female) best friend... Hell, he is 'offering' already in the beginning to let the MC use his power on him... So imagine if it was a girl? He could have asked her to strip or kiss him or better yet, give him her panties or bra?

And about the revenge part... Example Kim Possible and Bonnie Rockwaller... from D***** welll...
The difference between Kim and this character in the story I mentioned, is Kim is the cheerleader captain and she sort of popular in her own way. + Saving the world and shit...

This one if made into a girl like I said could have been 'frozen out' aka no friends maybe even slightly bullied by the other girls. And her one and only friend getting 'mental powers'=revenge... by making those girls his sluts...

Hell The MC's best friend could even been bisexual
or just a lesbian and MC could have turned her 'bisexual'
parts to be interested in him...


And before anyone starts saying sexuality is not just in the mind or something, well this is a adult porn game it doesn have to work like our reality or whatever...


The 2 thing i would do to the next update is focus more on the world building. add more characters and places,
it doesn have to be a girl or only girls to add to harem. But add more stuff to make the world 'feel more alive' so to say.

examples below...
A beautiful park.... A theme park?
A restaurant? A cafee?... A clothing store?
Bank? Beach? Flower shop? Jewel store?
A Big-Market building with many things mentioned?
Police Station?

A Train/Bus station with option to mby visit to a small mountain village?-mby for more girls or a place to 'earn' 'get' more mind powers?... U know a mountain a monk-meditation training?... I could go on all day and bit more...

This review is on version 0.05.

I'll give the game this: I certainly walked away with my mind shattered.

At this time, "Shattered Minds" commits just about every sin of its genres in spades, with very little in the way of redemption.

Let's get this out of the way: The renders and most of the characters are overall quite good looking.

Something many developers can't seem to understand is what "mind control" is all about. I don't think it's a very difficult concept, it's right there in the name, "control"...so why do so many of these games feature such a lack of it?

"Shattered Minds" is yet another game which presents itself as a power fantasy, yet strings the player along without input. Unless this is meant as a meta commentary on how lust controls the player, willing them to go along with whatever the game fancies, there is no "control" in this "mind control".

This aspect of the game is heavily emphasized by the next sin on the list: the main character. I hope you're prepared to insert yourself as the wimpiest, second most obnoxious neanderthal in the universe, because boy does "Shattered Minds" require it. The main character is insufferably cowardly and dumb, only a possible second to his sidekick, who is also insufferable and stupid but...not as bad on that second piece, to be honest. Actually, thinking abut it, it's more like the main character is the sidekick, considering who makes the calls in the relationship. Spoiler: It's not you. I can't stand either one though.

As a third sin, let's take a look at the gameplay systems. Sandbox, huh? Not a bad call for the genre, to be honest. Sandbox games can be tedious, but giving the player the option of what to engage with is an oh-so-important part of that "control" mentioned earlier, so it works out quite well for this genre...but wait? It's actually linear? Yes, "Shattered Minds" is a linear experience disguised behind the sandbox tag, and yes, it does have all the grindy stat elements you've come to fear from sandbox-style games.

Look, sandbox is not always bad. Sometimes, it's very good, but it needs a reason to be present, and the best possible reason in a "control" game would be providing that control.

The challenge of writing a "mind control" protagonist is in the power they have. If they can flick their wrist and someone is theirs, where is the conflict of the story? There are many answers, and "Shattered Minds" primarily chooses the one where the protagonist cannot do this because of an apparent mental shortcoming. Here's an alternative: Opposition. Instead of the MC not doing so because he's too stupid, have him not do so because doing so would be stupid. Mind control powers are not going to save you from an uncontrolled sniper 2km out. No matter your super power, you need to be clever about it, something this game is not at all capable of.

The last thing I want to touch on is what I said near the beginning, "most of the characters". There are many elements that simply look weird, but given what else I've said, I think you know where I'm primarily targeting with this: it's the main character again.

Look, all of these pre-rendered ren'py harem male protag games sort of share this issue, of the main character just being visually really low-effort and cringy to look at, but "Shattered Minds" blows many others out of the water here. He's supposed to be a college kid but looks like a middle-aged Ken doll. I'm sorry, there's no other way to put it. Nobody wants to look at that and he's plastered on the title screen.

I've given out one stars rarely for games, and it's usually due to some major technical shortcoming or misleading advertisement of a game...but "Shattered Minds" is the first one that was just sort of...bad. It looks pretty for the most part, but as a game? No, the writing and gameplay systems are either incredibly lacking or absent at this time, and while I want to say I'll revisit it to revise my thoughts in the future...I don't really have much desire to do so.

Other than the renders and character models, everything else sucks. The plot is cringe and cuckshit even tho Dev said no Ntr (lol, then why do MC feel like a cuck?), Unlikable girls and best friend. (Dude why even add him?) While kink is probably about corruption but the pacing sucks so much pretty sure it would give vanilla harem a run for it money lol. Honestly, if there was a better writer. I would probably enjoy it and honestly without the cuckshit.

A sandbox game that doesn't let you go where you want and do the things you want. It's told in a linear fashion, so why make it a sandbox at all? Maybe the dev will transition into a more full sandbox experience, but honestly I hope that isn't the case. The sandbox interactions are all short and generic, "How's your day?" "Good." type of stuff. This game is at its best when it's telling the story. You don't have to be sandbox in order to pick and choose which LI's you want.

pros:
solid foundation
good visuals
diverse characters and body types
interesting premise

cons:
grindy as hell
waaaaaaaaay too obsessed with minigames
bland as hell dialogue
mild case of 'porn protag disease'