VN - Ren'Py - Sicae [Ep 6] [NiiChan]

Coming into this game I had played NiiChan’s other game in My Bully is my Lover and while a plot focused story which I like it never really gripped me (Personal preference) obviously good erotic scenes so I would’ve given that a 4. However I think the positives I found in that game got me interested in this when I heard it was a remake with a good amount of content I could indulge in from the get go. (Didn’t play the original one) Also after I learned about the plot got me even more interested. I will say going in I was hopeful but it even exceeded my expectations. First let’s get the visuals out of the way. I like all the character’s unique styles, not only them looking great but making most of the characters memorable. I also got to appreciate the creator for even trying to sprinkle in animations such as fight scenes to bring life to the game especially when you think about how this more than likely is made by a single individual and probably took some effort to get done. And let’s get it out of the way obviously erotic scenes were good but that’s what I kind of expected going in due to his other game.

Now talking about the writing which I think is the vocal point at least for me. There was a message from the creator saying that some things might come off as cliche but honestly it never was overly apparent or bothered me at all so in my personal opinion that isn’t an issue. The overall plot is what made me write up this review to show a bit of appreciation this way. In the realm of erotic visual novels this is a really interesting story which will bring me back for each update moving forward. Read a comment saying it was set two years before the events of MBIML makes complete sense with the cameos from that game in this one as well. When NiiChan makes a erotic game version of the MCU universe then what. Jokes aside, I love the characters in the game. I find a lot of them very unique and a lot of the interactions/scenes a lot more realistic and natural in comparison to most games in the erotic game genre. I genuinely enjoyed the sprinkle of comedy thrown in their with the interrogation scene the story not taking it to serious keeping a good balance. I don’t want to get to into the plot of the story and spoil but i’m really looking forward to what’s coming next. Even with the possible bro character in Ken who had a reveal on how he’s connected to the overarching plot. Looking forward to future updates!

I am positively surprised.

Went into this game expecting nothing, just to try it, turns out it's actually quite good.

Character models are good, girls are fun, story is interesting and...wait a second, this storytelling and art style really reminds me of utterly horrible game about bullying being ok because others are bullied worse...give me a sec...

Oh, it's same dev.

Well f*** me.

After (and I swear I didn't know before starting the game) noticing this is from same dev that did that bully game, I'm even more impressed by this one.

No horrible life advices, no philosophical topics (badly done), just a good story, great girls and exciting H scenes. Kudos dev, I like this one. Definitely staying for the ride...or until MC decides to forgive a girl who did unforgivable because she's hot.

I was now able to finish Sicae. I did remember some things from a former playthrough of LCC, but that was quite a time ago. Because of this and knowing there were some changes to the first 4 chapters, I played through everything from the beginning. And I do liked it again! Man, what to say, it was quite eventful until the end of chapter 5. Not many devs here are capable to write a decent story and pair it with decent renders. Most of the time one side lacks or both, and in some cases there is drama added for the sake of drama without making any sense. But NiiChan, well, NiiChan is on top of that. Not only are the renders top, the animations, too. You can argue it's just HS, but take a look at other games, not every HS game has such clear renders and animations. They're often grainy and feel empty. Models often look unnatural, girls with overly big proportions and MCs and other males look dumb and ugly and would be better left out of the picture. Here we have a decend looking MC and the girls vary in looks, too. Some with a slightly bigger some with more petite proportions. And then the story, man, we have everything: drama, violence, love, sex and a fuckload of beautiful girls. And the most important part for me is, that it feels organic, not forced. And no forced love rival or atagonist "to spice things up" as many other mediocre (and below) writers try. As we can see, there is no need for such thing. For everyone, that played the latest installment of MBML, we have quite a few characters, that are already known, but in their younger selfs. I found myself quite a few times looking at the "Who's Who" guide, that Bacienvu88 provided, to refresh my memories. Thank you for that guide, very good work and very helpful!! It shows how dedicated the fans of the NiiChan games are and how good the games are. Nothing we see all to often. Last but not least, the story is the main focus, and that's very good in my opinion. I would even go as far and say, this isn't a porn game/VN, it's a story driven VN with some lewd elements. Something that keeps people including me to come back and enjoy the journey. After all that is possible because of the big updates everytime and the good writing. I look forward to the next updates of MBML and Sicae! Keep up the fantastic work everyone involved and thank you for sharing these captivating stories!

Plot is 10/10 - the story building is very good
Characters 10/10 - the characters are very good
Art 9/10 - The girls are all very good, could have been 10 but the mc face sometimes looks like a butch tomboy, though i like his face when he was younger he looks like levi from SnK
Music 10/10 - very good
Animation 10/10 - very good, this is my first VN that has actual animated fighting scene, not only that it's very smooth and cool af

Overall - 10/10 EPIC easily my top 1

Reviewed version: Ep.5

Great world building with lots of interesting background detail. There are several different factions battling each other in the shadows with shifting loyalties. In addition there are factions within factions as well.

Good story that is well written. Great attention to details. Good story structure with lots of twists and turns.

The game can be pretty violent at times with rape attempt, several murders, battles and so on. Combat is so far mostly hand-to-hand martial arts. This is nicely shown with fairly long combat animations, making the combat sequences exciting.

So far there isn't much of actual romance with dates and flower-giving and so on. Instead it is mostly for the LIs and MC to come to a point where they can acknowledge that they love each other. What is really good however is the backstories of the LIs. They are all well fleshed out and tie in neatly in the main story making. They are also mostly independent from the MC and have their own strengths and goals. This makes the LIs belong in the game setting.