VN - Ren'Py - SnowStorm [v0.11 BB] [GleenX Studio]

Some of the best art I have seen around, lots of choices, great writing and character development.

I was pleasantly surprised by Candrid's plot, but... Nox got to me first. She will stay as my favorite.

Where do we begin?
So this is the same developer as Sandstorm that contained nice dialogue and created fantasy with standard models (manually made).
This is something Snowstorm is failing to emulate while the story is great with the fantasy setting, it took a huge hit in terms of animation, models and is somewhat impacting the story telling.

This started after the switch to incorporate the usage of AI ( I still don't understand why the aicg has not been added) but you had some models with unnatural poses, missing fingers, weird facial alignment that you can obviously tell its AI, misaligned breast positions and etc.

The way its bleeding into the story telling aspect is by making dialogue that just does not hit right especially concerning the MC and their corresponding LI. An example of this when the MC becomes smart all of a sudden with historical references but then fizzles out and claims amnesia.

The score is the way it is due to the Plot inconsistencies, the usage of AI that results in weird poses and some dialogue choices that does not make sense in the overall story.

I really enjoyed this game until recently. The writing isn't great, but it does have it's moments. The models are good. There was obviously a lot of thought gone into the branching, which is complex, thorough, and offers something for everyone. The story develops better on some paths than others.

The reason I just can't hold truck with it any more is that, after missing a couple of updates, I downloaded the latest one to find a load of AI generated stuff just dumped into it. Aside from the fact that there are now scenes that are aesthetically inconsistent (and I would argue inferior) with the rest of the game, AI is problematic in so many other ways. Super offputting.

One of the best porn games there are, definitely in the top 3. It has the best female models I've seen in any other game, sex scenes are great and they vary (they range from vanilla to really kinky ones, including rape which fits the setting very well) and most importantly all of this is wrapped up in an engaging story with very well written characters.

There's also an occasional humour here that actually made me laugh (which is extremely rare), the writer has a real talent to weave it into the story and make it better (I've seen many writers/devs trying the same but usually it didn't fit, here it's perfect).

Snow Storm has also an insane amounts of available paths (the most I've seen in any other game), all of them of highest quality which makes this game very replayable. This might be the only one where I really can't decide which path I love the most and which woman I find the hottest or most interesting because they are all so sexy and desirable. Hats off to the dev who created such a masterpiece.

The only flaws I can think of are below average animations (sometimes I think that it would be better if there were no animations), some occasional typos or grammar mistakes (very rare) and some occasional AI renders which stand out. These are not significant in my eyes though and all in all I rate this game 10/10, a true gem among porn games.

Pros:
+Game with best renders I've seen - period. Female models are out of this world and I love that dev often shows us a different side of each character (starting from hairstyle which really make a difference and ending with nuanced character traits that we get to know throughout the story).

+Sex scenes are super hot and they vary from vanilla to really kinky ones.

+Writing is one of the best I've seen and characters feel authentic. You can tell that someone has really done his homework. It's really rare to see such intelligent approach in a porn game.

+Occasional humour is really spot on and it fits the story, it's there but it's subtle enough that it doesn't break the fourth wall or anything like that (no fart jokes here or anything as primitive but an intelligent humour).

+It's highly replayable, with insane amount of available paths and it's still quality over quantity game. Can't think of a game that does it better.

Cons:
-Animations are underwhelming and below average.
-There are some typos here and there.
-On rare occasions there are AI images included (only few renders that really stand out).

But as I've said, the fun I've had (and am having) while playing this game makes all the flaws insignificant and I still consider it as a 10/10 game. I only wish that the dev would focus on this game and polish it and finish optional paths like "sisters secret path" or "fair Mathilda" path but with as few patrons it probably won't happen.

Either way it has become my favourite game and I can't wait for the next update.

This game is outstanding in so many areas and would be easily 5 stars if it weren't for a few very strange shortcomings.

The story is excellent, which is unsurprising to anyone who played Sandstorm. It's ambitious, imaginative, intriguing, and the branching is so significant that as of the end of chapter 6 I have 12 different saves for different routes and variations of the end game, and I'm still not certain I will be able to achieve every possible ending.

The LIs are great too, a wide variety of characters who are generally well designed and mostly pretty well written (except for occasional lapses which feel like the dev got momentarily lazy or impatient with the project).

The visuals are also very high quality... most of the time. There are a few bizarre choices made with body shapes and character posing, particularly for the animated sections of the lewd scenes, which are sometimes so wildly awkward that you can't help but laugh.

There is also quite liberal use of AI for backgrounds and peripheral characters, particularly in later chapters, which I think suggests a dev who has realised the broad scope of the story they have planned and is trying to cut some corners to enable the completion of that vision in reasonable time. I can understand that impulse, but the creepy, uncanny, liquid feel of the AI images and animations is not a pleasant inclusion, and really does sour the otherwise impressive visual experience.

I'm still invested in the characters and the story, but I do wish that the dev had the same patience and attention to detail for all the characters and story routes.

I really liked Snowstorm and I was very hyped for Snowstorm. It seemed very interesting at the beginning, but then the sandbox elements started to spoil the whole fun for me. Fortunately that was made more bearable in the latest udpates, but I must say this game is very uneven. For example Bloody Bears and White Wolves paths are a masterpiece, while dark ravens + Yrsa's path (which saddenes me a lot as she used to be my second favourite in the game) are really weird and remind me cheap harem sandbox stories. I am giving it 5 stars as the two good paths have still got a lot of content and enough routing within them to make the palythrough really enjoyable.

Pros:

• some great LIs
• good writing
• great main story twists
• complex routing
• nice renders
• nice music
• WV and BB routes are fantastic!
• I liked the references to the previous game from this dev and how the player keeps thinking that the chosen girl from that game may appear in SnowStorm

Cons:

• what the hell did the dev think when added a story about the entire fairy land?
• Yrsa's path got wasted in my opinion
• some kinks and story elements were just too much. Thankfully majority of them are full avoidable
• a lot of background renders look like the background in the 70-80s movies

Game looks amazing and by this latest version, it's worth playing for the adult content too. I don't usually like games that force you to choose between characters or paths and lock you out of others, but this game makes each of the paths very engaging and fulfilling regardless of which you choose. The story is engaging and the characters are distinct and interesting. No complaints with the latest version.

Disappointment. That's the great summary of SnowStorm, especially coming from the previous game, SandStorm.

We find slow plots that do not end up working, most of them boring as hell and the sex scenes are even worse than in the previous game.

Incredible as it may seem, not only does it not fix the problems that already had the previous game, but it makes new mistakes.

This is a game with really high potential, good looking Li's and with variety in looks and personality.
Altough some subpar dialogues ruin immersion in all paths i've tried.
The story is where this game shines, it's intruiging but also suffers from the dialogues, could have a much greater impact on the reader.
The sexual scenes are probably the worst i've ever experienced in a game with such good renders however, this combined with the dislogues makes me unable to score it higher then an average game so 3/5, with potential to be a strong 4 atleast.

I played the dev's previous game which was OK if not memorable, so it took me a while to try this one. It's better. Story thus far (v0.9) is fairly coherent. English is OK, although I'm not sure whether the writer is a native speaker or not - some of the grammar is not idiomatic. Character models are good and varied, with not too many characters from DAZ central casting. Scenes and lighting are fair to good. The Norse theme is reasonably consistent, if you are prepared to accept female characters wandering about in the snow in skimpy clothing and high heels! The key judgement is that at the end of each chapter, you do actually want to know what is going to happen next, so definitely worth a look.

This one suprised me it's a lot better than the Dev's previous game tho some of the bigger problems still remain.The mc at the start behaves like a creep who has never seen a hot woman lol and this sometimes happen randomly too and he seems incompetent but somehow some chapters later becomes a master lol.It would be better if he didn't behave incompetently earlier,that way it would make sense for him to do so good.Also please give the guy some muscles he has been with the Vikings for a while and he is still puny even with all the work he does.
Now why is this still 4 stars?
The branching it's great it really suprised me with how much branching there is.It was great most of it and my favourite girls are Astrja,Nox and Sonja .It sucks that Sonja is a side girl but she gets almost as much care as the main girls so it's still great.Tho there is one thing that isn't good about the branching Mc barely changes the outcomes the only Major thing he changes is on the dark Ravens path with Nox but other than that on bear path and fighting for Sonja doesn't make a difference, things happen the same way regardless, similarly we do get a lot of lore in WW path but we don't change much especially the Archery girl part imo Mc just leaving her felt wrong even if she was working for Candrid.Candrid didn't have much of a hold on her compared to Mc.Lastly my biggest worry is the WW path being Same even with Mc.It would zero sense for Mc to let Astrja, Sonja go fight for the king when he knows the outcome and played the WW on the Candrid Route Mc here should stop Astrja and WW from fighting for the king a Mc who has enough affection should be affecting her and most importantly she knows he is from the future she would believe him and on paths where Mc joins the WW with Sonja high enough affection Check with Astrja should happen.So imo Mc being with WW should 100 percent change the outcome for WW because unlike other things this is all on Mc.
Still this is a great game with lovely characters and plot the only weakness being the MC.

For writing this mediocre, there is way too much story going on. From what I remeber the writing was much better in Sandstorm, so this was confusing.
Also the routes are so different that it it's not really recognizable in a single playthrough, in a sense that it still feels you don't have a lot of choices except a very major one at the start. This just seems like a lot of wasted effort.
The scenes are also not really good.

A really good surprise.

I was not convinced by its prequel, "Sandstorm", but this new installment caught me by surprise. The Dev(s) obviously improved a lot, from the renders looking sharper to the style more defined and grounded (fantasy elements mixed with modern clothing always bothered me on 3D models).

The writing, while sometimes a bit too blunt, is quite serviceable. I wish the MC "thoughts" would try less humor, especially since they often revolve around breaking the fourth wall, undermining the immersion. Which is to say something, because the strongest selling point of this game is its narrative. I was stunned by how quickly I was drawn into its story, which I must confess, I often skip on Renpy games.
The characters feel very different and diverse, and a few of them may take actions that would surprise the player. They also cater to different tastes when it comes to "Love interests", from their looks to their personalities and relationship dynamics.

This game I believe, also delivers the most when it comes to player choices I've seen on this site. You'll want to grind stats to get more options, but there will eventually be choices to make for every playthrough, and those will branch out the main plot drastically. Suffice to say, who you choose to bed will matter beyond your expectations.

I shall spoil no more, but I encourage anyone who enjoyed games such as Desert Stalker to try this one out, it is in my mind its closest competitor now.

Fun premise, a whole lot of historical potential, gorgeous art, hot and varied LI's... I'd say 5 star -- if only there wasn't an MC in this one! Or a different one. Or just -- ANYONE but this totally selfish, ignorant, puerile little know-it-all of a narrator/guide. It makes the otherwise very capable and lovely women look quite stupid. *sigh* oh well, nothing to be done, I guess. Unless maybe he got killed (as he should have been by the 2d day!) and someone bearable takes his place? Dreams...
SO too bad.

SnowStorm in a nutshell:
-Animation (it varies from 5-8 stars)
it pretty much as it was in Sandstorm, hit or miss.

-Photography 7-8
It got better from the last , but it´s still missing lighting and camera work storywise.

-Sound 7
Sufficient, but... is it? it has more than many, but...more later.

-Music 10
it overcome its predecessor, nothing to add here

-Story 9
Mysteries entanged with history and new takes one vikings folcklore, and keeps you wanting to know more and see what is going to happen next.

-Characters 8-9
they are Interesting, engaging, caring, lastly alive.

One point I left behing in the comment before:
REPLAYABILITY:
EXCELLENT. 5/5

-POV 6-7
Another hit or miss, sometimes it is interesting, but... sometimes is "WTF"?

-UI 7
Still needs some polish, as Sandstorm. UI is always left behind, and is the face of the game, it should be consider more... Sandstorm has also this problem, in later versions it has received some love... but I don´t believe it conveys the full potencial and the quality of the game. Sound here should help.
-Dialogues 7
Some are intriguing and enganging but others are written by a teenager.

-Clothing & Character designs 8
Special care here and it shows. Always appreciated.

-Action sequences 8
Some are Excellent, but the ok ones, I think that, with some love and animation + camera angles they could be improve a lot.

Overall, a big step foward from Sandstorm and a very pleasant, funny and interesting game to play.
Actually, it´s one of the "few" I really play and don´t skip.

I love the game so far, but the animations in the sex scenes need a lot more improvement, more animations and many more cameras.
Renders 98%
History 95%
Script 95%
Sound 95% (with moans it would be perfect )
Clothing and setting 99%
Animations 75%
Sexual animations 20%

V0.9 dr

why no religion tag? this VN is filled with it. the gods talk is pretty bloody constant. it is more prevalent than sex.

having read much english history, especially surrounding the dane invasions popularised in bernard cornwell's last kingdom book series, i will skip by the whole viking fiction.
they make have a wiki but so do elves, is all i'm saying.

the rest of the fiction is not bad. pretty engaging stuff when coupled with the pretty decent art and visuals. a little disappointed that love interests are limited and path dependant, as it forces all paths to be played. only tried two so far and events seem to be little in variation of each other. either a rinse and repeat read or a skip button leaner seems an odd design choice.

speaking of odd, at the start i am asked who was my love interest in the previous game, if i tried it. what if i didn't try it? not accounted for. why?

minor things like that to cause the odd frown but nothing bad enough to drop the rating. i cannot give it top marks though. i am just not drawn in as i have already paused play to rate. when will i return? tomorrow or the day after...maybe even next week. it just doesn't grip me.
yes it is enjoyable, just missing that something for me.

No. No. No. I waited on this one to get far enough along so there would be a lot of content. I could not make it through the 1st chapter. The animations are clunky, the dialogue is proper English but a real snooze fest. The story might get better but I got all the way to being incarcerated and it was putting me to sleep. Let me knock someone around or something. Every thing was being done to me and I had no station in this game. Insta delete.

First, shout out to the dev for consistent updates!
The game has a good story, and the nice part is that it's connected to the previous one. There's good branching in the story, and I really like the choices available.

Also, the quality of the scenes is great!

One delusional idea: Make a third game and fully connect parts 1 and 2 in a merged world, where the MC was the reason both worlds stopped functioning (due to world travel corruption) and merged into one world.

EDIT: I also like that the changelog has the update dates, every game should make the update changelogs that way.