Ren'Py - Sovereign [v0.12.0] [Zinikis Production]

I waited until version 5.0 to try this. It's still pretty rough around the edges but I like sandboxes and the character models look hot.

Positives
- First time where the side characters aren't hotter than the main characters
- First time where the "landlady" isn't gross-looking but is actually pretty fucking hot. Good job.
- It reminds me of the classic old school, incest, sandbox games but with a modern update for the renders.

Negatives
- Not the worst grammar but it's still pretty bad. Maybe get a proofreader. If the game gets better, I'd probably just do it for free. Don't be afraid to start a sentence with "But" , "However", "Still", "or "Although" instead of saying "though" all the time. It just starts to sound like some sort of verbal tic.
- Some bugs were encountered. Seems like typos made while coding. (Mini-UP ends up costing the same as UP, Jeanne or whatever-her-name-is is called "Landlady" at some point, etc.)
- The game mechanics are there but just aren't that elaborate and feel kind of pointless. Feels like they're not quite there yet.
- Oh right. Also, gets kind of confusing when you can rename the "landlady" but not the "house mates". But honestly, any modder with spare time could just handle that. It's not really the dev's problem.

Some possible suggestions and other things I'm just neutral about
- A mini-hud or something that connects to the character hints so we don't have to go back and forth between the game and the character page.
- No animations. Not a big deal and I know how time-consuming/intensive it can be to render those so it is what it is.

Conclusion:
It's a basic plot line you've seen before. Nothing to write home about but nothing to complain about either. I kind of miss games like this that don't try to have such deep and "romantic" stories. Most devs can't write for shit so it ends up corny melodrama rather than deep and sometimes you really just want to see hot characters. This game delivers on that.

Honestly, terrible grammar and spelling usually turn me off immediately but I have a soft spot for these types of sandbox, corruption games because one of them being one of the first AVNs I ever played. Still, better proofreading would do wonders.

There's still not that much content but it's definitely getting there.

(Half-serious about proofreading it. We'll see what future updates look like.)

Great game. You can play it as fast or as slow as you want. If you want to speed run just enable console commands, give yourself 9999 money, and then load up on Great Gift, and UP, it takes three of each to increase a girl a level in control and corruption.

Game is a stat based sandbox so duh theres some grind, dev is consistently adding content, theres some engrish, but if dev sticks with it im sure this will turn out to be a fine game. The 0.5.0 update added lots of content.

Renders are good, story is decent, but gamplay is very grindy. Like for me it's not worth it at all. Maybe try to remove the repeatable events or at least try to minimize them so that it doesn't feel like a chore.
For now not recommended at all.

Way, way, too much grind in this game just to get to something, with vague goals for the mc. Played it for about 2 hours then deleted from my games. I try not to leave negative reviews without constructive criticism, but there is a first time for everything I guess. Do yourself a favor and give this one a pass.

Game in its current state just lacks content, grind not great not terrible but there is no content at the end of the rainbow, just wait for more updates.
Renders and character design are okay, everything is just okay. Giving it 2/5 due to not many spicy scenes.

Absolutely nothing to write home about.

The renders are subpar.
The characters are sub par.
The story is sub par.
The gameplay is atrocious and grindy in the worse possible way.
Last and not least, there is no content... just grind, pure simple grind with absolutely no depth or reason.

Absolute waste of time.

Wow, this has to be one of the worst games out there. As it is right now, this is not a game, it's an empty sandbox with outrageous grinding. And if that isn't already bad enough, you will also get NO REWARD for wasting your time. I'm speechless how somebody can release something like this.

For every character you have to do the same grind over and over and over again. And that is without any images, you just talk to them, that's it. On top of that, the game will even DECREASE your stats if you behave any different than the game intended, which will make the grind even longer.

I really regret wasting my time for more than 3 hours, just in hope to find any good in this, but no, nothing at all.
You will get like 5 images (clothed) and then the grind will start all over again for the next 5 images (no nudity at all).

The only nudity you will get is at the very beginning when the characters get introduced, stepping out of the shower.
That's about 1-2 minutes into the game, and that's exactly where you should close the game and delete it. At least, that's what I should have done.

Now I can only give you a warning, don't waste your time on this. It's not worth it. Really!

I will give 1 Star for the graphics. That's all there is right now!

Absolutely atrocious grind for no reward. I cannot understand how anyone would make this game and think people would genuinely want to play it without being annoyed. You have to grind for money, which you lose a large portion of every week, and you have to grind for content, which is extremely disappointing with very little to even look forward to. If there is even any content worth seeing, I don't have the patience to see the scenes by clicking through the same "catch up" and "touch" dialogue options for 30 days per character

This game is perfect for people who enjoy sandbox and corruption games, where each character has different stages of corruption, and change their customes and behaviour depending on each stage. The renders are also good.

There aren´t many games like this, so I appreciate it a lot.

I'm going to be more generous with the review here than I otherwise would be as I'll be honest, I have a bias for these corruption style games.

The groundwork is here for a really good corruption game and the first release has a good deal more content than would typically be expected. A bit slow burn and grindy to begin with but once you get an idea for what you really need to do to avoid the bad events, and raise you stats up to the current maximum, then the game becomes pretty easy if not still a bit grindy for my liking.

TLDR: Lots of potential, good amount of content for a first release, raise your stats and money first and the game becomes easy.

Because it's a first release I'm going to be generous and tack on a third star. There's potential here.

The renders are pretty good. The story remains to be seen, but so far it's got a place or two it can lead, and I don't mind sticking around a little longer to see where that might be.

BUT...

The pointless clicking has to stop. It's not a sandbox. It's a VN that makes you click to get to the next screen (one choice, such as "Go Out" to get from reading on your laptop to the next destination you just read out loud is where you have to go. Sometimes twice in a row, like when you're coming home from work and have to click once to get downtown and again to get home). Again, it's not the click itself, but the fact that there's a text box to click describing the one or two clicks you're forced to make. Just bring me there. I don't need a text box, and don't need to see downtown on my way home if I'm not doing anything there either.

And please, for the love of all that is holy find a proofreader. Statements such as have incorrect word choices and grammar that make following what story there is more difficult than necessary.

*EDIT* OK, I was a tiny bit hasty. There is actually a sandbox mode (the author calls it free-roam mode) after a quite lengthy VN-style prologue.