VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Something to Write About: The Author [Ch. 7.1] [STWAdev]

This game is incredible! The plot may be summarized as a group of friends helping each other with their difficulties, therefore it's character-driven rather than plot-driven. All of the characters were unique, interesting, and lovable. The writing is excellent, and I had a great time getting to know all of the characters, especially the protagonist. Unfortunately, there is no harem ending, which is a bummer because I adored all of these characters and despised having to pick between them. I understand why the developer didn't add one because the game is rather realistic, but I usually enjoy harem endings in games like this, no matter how unrealistic they may be.

This is one of the best visual novels that I have played, the characters are amazing and lifelike, and multidimensional, and they all have great growth arcs, even the side characters... The sex scenes are good, though lack some money shots in some places, and are mostly vanilla, and finally the choices are semi-meaningful, in that you have to choose who you end up with. Great story, I would rate it a 9.5/10. One thing i LOVED was the naming, it was poetic, my favorite ending was "Ending 6: WE FELL" I won't spoil it, but it was one of my favorite pairings due to who it was with, and the double meaning of WE FELL, being both in love, and in another sense. I also think that she would be the real pairing if it were real life, even if she isn't my favorite girl/ending, it was by far the most poetic, and would be the true end in an older sense...

Probably would have rated it higher if I only did one playthrough but replaying makes the flaws noticeable.

I get (and love) slow burn romance and real consequences but this gets a bit excessive. Did the Aolfie and Lyndie route initially and was excited to try some of the other romances. Found out how easy to lock out of romances and I was getting railroaded back to the girls I had just romanced.

The other big thing is as difficult as it is to get to the sex, it's very basic there's not very much of it. And on the Kimberly route you have to skip almost all of it to romance (and it's some of the best sex in the game).

Story is still good on the whole but the sex is underwhelming and if you actually are taking the commitment aspect seriously you have to spend too much time with the girls you're not falling for offering sex you're not going to take because you're trying to get serious about girls it's not letting you spend time with.

Well written and heart tugging. I really wish there was a Harem route because choosing is so hard. I settled on the Throuple route with Lyndie and Aoife. I may explore the Aoife solo route as she is my favorite. Big heart, kind, sexy, and rich what's not to like about Aoife? Lyndie is an endearing character but her emo/goth look is distracting. The same goes with Kimberly and that side shave with spider web. Kim does have a sexy attitude though. I love a gal who is sexually wild and spontaneous. Anyway this one is a winner.

I wrote a review the morning I had finished playing the game, but I fell asleep before posting and thought I had done that when I closed the tab.

So here we go again! Story, just loved it, had everything I want, humor and sad parts. MC, likeable and not a weakling as some MCs. Girls, too many to like, so I wanted a harem but no such possibility (only bad with the game! ). Graphics, really good all I can say. Lewd scenes, some really good and some OK. As I bought PlayBoy for the short stories, I just played this for the story and not fapping so no problem with that. (What happened to my nose, It started growing!)

All in all, 5* out of 5, but not in my top 3. Still, I'm on to the next game of the makers of this.

Really great game from beginning to end. Great art, great girls and a wholesome story. I especially like the touching backstories of the girls. Especially since it doesn't shy away from some heavier subjects in the main storyline of the MC and likewise in the story of Kimberley.

Overall, very recommended.

Holly shit an actual black character, and an actual decent plot about mental health. I was just hoping for a good wank, but color me impressed.

Three chapters in with not a lot of action, but the plot, for a porn game , got me hooked, not gonna lie, would definitely recommend.

I dropped it pretty early due to the uncanny renders of the girls. While it's not SUPER horrendous, it's enough for me to stop playing. The plot is nothing special and everything else is pretty average.

This is complete?

There are a few bugs, lots of story flow problems, spelling mistakes and bad grammar. But the punctuation is absolutely horrendous.

At least the story and art are OK. But not enough hot scenes for my taste in an adult VN, and no 'real' animations.

The endings were well done, though they could still have provided more visual content.

This is one of the best VNs ever. The characters of this game are incredible and the endings are excellent. This is a must play for anyone looking for a great story with excellent characters. .

Well well well. It's good to have a chance to write a well deserved five star review.

Now, this game is not without sins. At moments the story gets kinda confusing, probably because it's a very forked and full of agency story, which is great, but some "middle" dialog might have gone astray. It often kept referring to MC as having fun with most of the girls, while a was playing a pretty monogamous route.

But it's a very small sin, for a game that plays with your feelings in the right way.

I personally would have preferred a more light hearted story. At moments it really gets grim and it makes you cope with a lot, since the immersion is pretty deep, but it's sure a rollercoaster worth riding.

I would say with no second thoughts that this one is one of the best titles published on this site.

Excellent work. I hope to play more from this Dev. Maybe next time on a more funny/commedy setting.

This game is fantastic! It's character-driven rather than plot-driven, as the plot can be summed up as a bunch of friends help each other with their problems. I found all of the characters to be unique, interesting, and lovable, with Lyndie being my favorite. The writing is top notch and I really enjoyed getting to know all of these characters, including the protagonist. Also, shoutout to the developer for including a non-white protagonist.

However, the sex scenes are hit or miss. On the one hand, there aren't that many, and most of them are found in the different endings. Also, some of the scenes end too quickly, there isn't a gallery (unless you install a mod), and I don't think any of the scenes have animations. On the other hand, all of the girls are gorgeous and lovable, so getting to bed them was very satisfying. Plus, all of the scenes make sense from a writing perspective, which is always great to see.

This game plays like a dating sim, where you have to make choices that determine which paths you will play through and what endings you will receive. Choices definitely matter and I really enjoyed seeing the different endings. I think you can see most of them during one playthrough, but I definitely recommend installing the cheat mod after you finish playing through this at least once in order to see everything else, because I'm pretty sure trying to find all of the endings without it would be very time consuming.

Unfortunately, there is no harem ending, which sucks for me because I loved every single one of these characters and I hated having to choose between them. This game is pretty realistic so I understand why the developer didn't include one, but I personally always prefer that games like this have a harem ending, however unrealistic it may be. I'm not trying to knock the game for not having one, but rather I'm just mentioning this for people like me who like harem endings; be warned that you won't find one here.

Anyway, even without the harem ending and the sex scenes being hit or miss, I greatly enjoyed my time with this game and I highly recommend playing it! Well done STWAdev!

Review based on the latest final version of the game Ch. 7.1

Great game, one of the best I've ever played, great story and great writing.

The plot presented in the game is original and interesting and for me it is the first big plus of this game because I have played a whole lot of games so far and many of them are unfortunately similar in terms of the plot and therefore much less interesting and original.

From the beginning, you can get involved in the story, because each character has his own interesting personality and thus you want to get to know each of them and get involved in their lives.

When it comes to the visual aspects of the game I have nothing to complain about, the renders in the game look quite nice, all the girls are very pretty, the animations are simplest possible without being crazy because it's just two round frames and of course I would probably find other games with much nicer looking renders and excellent animations, but the graphics in the game are always secondary to me and if the storyline in the game is great then it matters much more to me than the visuals themselves.

When it comes to sex scenes there are not too many of them and those that are could of course be longer and have more options such as more positions, much better animations, different viewing angles etc., but fortunately the game made up for it with a great plot and writing.

Summarizing the whole game:
Story: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Character models: 9/10
Renders: 9/10
Sex scenes: 9/10

I sincerely recommend everyone to play this game and I am waiting with great interest for the next game from this developer.

Great VN game with stunning girls. Felt to be the right length and didn't drag on to the point that you wanted it to over and done with.

More story driven than focusing on the sex scenes with good character development but still enough good sex scenes.

Definitely worth playing if you like a good character story driven game.
I'm very much looking forward to the devs next project.

This game blew my expectations away and they were pretty high to begin with.

The renders are a little rough early on, especially regarding facial expressions, but they do get better over time. As for the sex scenes, they're not great in terms of length, creativity or animations but they're passable.

The thing that really elevates this game to a high level is the writing. You can see the care and consideration that's gone into each character. They're properly fleshed out with distinctive personalities and their own worries and dreams. It's so refreshing and honestly quite rare in the adult VN genre.

There's also an interesting overarching plot running through the game, one I was genuinely excited to see unfold. At times it was dark (not a criticism) but there's also plenty of wholesome and funny moments too. The darker moments are handled really well and I personally feel they add to the overall game.

As I said, the visual side of things noticeably improves over time and judging from the devs new game that trend has continued. This leaves me incredibly excited as I feel their writing is already amongst the best from the hundred plus games I've played. The dev is going places and with the clear talent and hard work on display I wish them great success.

Overall, if you want a quick fap there's better games to try. However, if you value good writing in your adult games this will be a real treat!

An excellent game with good characters and enjoyable writing. Has its dark moments but isn't intentionally bleak. I was originally thinking I'd want to replay to try to get one of the many other endings, since there's 8 or more but I loved the ending I got and don't want to change it.

The game is more leaning into romance and drama than it is porn, but it's worth the time to play just for those elements alone.

Version: Ch. 7.1

This game will take you on a journey of friendship, struggles, trauma, love and mental health. If you are the type of player that values a game based on its story and characters then I assume you will enjoy the game.

I think the game is well crafted story based. It feels that it have a direction and something it tries to go towards which make it coherent, easy and fun to follow and go through. You can tell how each character has depth and personality and I could find myself in few of them and relate to those I didn't.

Two things I think were lacking are animations (the animations are 2 cycled frames), which could elevate the overall experience but I could manage without them because the characters were great and I found the interest in the story aspect.
But more importantly for a game like this, sound and music is a MUST!
The absence of them were felt, adding music in the right moments could make the game tremendously more impacting and make you really fall in love with the characters. Music is the language of the soul.

Overall I think the game was really good and big applause for the developer for first, finishing a game which shouldn't be taken for granted and second for creating a good one.

I would rate 4.5 but always good to round up to motivate indie devs to continue their hard work and exceptional job!

Great characters, story and visuals. Definitely worth a try. My only minor nitpicks:

* Wish the scenes were a little longer with more positions (and intimacy)
* A slower buildup to the scenes would help a ton too, add some foreplay before the character is spread out naked in front of you.
* Being asked to reiterate certain choices you already made at the beginning of a new chapter was a little jarring. Should have had a smoother transition.

I nevertheless enjoyed it a lot and wish the author the best for future titles. Definitely worth supporting.

[Ch. 7.1] Contains spoilers.
Very good game.

WRITING:
Living up to the game's title, the writing is really good.
Minor complaints: Sometimes maybe a bit too aloof, some cut scene texts sound a bit too profound / slightly pretentious, in some parts the MC seems a bit too wise, and there may be one or two dialogues with too much deep insights (which makes them sound a bit artificial).

CHARACTERS:
Most characters are relatable and interesting. Maybe a bit less so the MC, but he is still OK. Unfortunately (and as usual) male friends are mostly absent.

STORY:
The story was good, apart from a few personal pet peeves.
For example, why are there super-rich with yachts with helipads or private jets in every fifth or so AVN?
Some things seemed set up too conveniently (e.g. girl with horrible injuries due to a fall, who is left with loss of sight but without any disfigurement whatsoever, etc.)
The wrap-up left me a bit saddened, but this is a good sign: Obviously the story managed to to draw me in and to develop sympathy for the characters.

ARTS/RENDERINGS/FACES:
Arts good. No anatomical monstrosities (at least for AVN standards). I disliked the MC's look.

MUSIC / SOUNDS:
None

SEX:
I liked the Sex scenes. My path contained some (few) very soft and friendly SM aspects, which I found great.

GAMEPLAY:
Standard VN. Meaningful choices (or at least the illusion of it, did not try more than one path).

This game was a true pleasure to play!! The Girls are beautiful, the story is deep, and not a typical AVN story, with more darkness and realism than most, even if the MC does have 6 beautiful ladies trying to get with him. He didn't get there by magic, but by finding a way to get through his real life shit. I don't often replay to get all endings, but I enjoyed this soo much that I had to here. Looking forward to whatever STWA does next!