VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Sparkling Duplicity [Final] [Goosenards]

What to do when you have a game going good and halfway through your scriptwriter left or perhaps you simply lost interest in continuing? Logically one will either have to find a new writer or it will have to be abandoned, but hey that would look bad for subscribership, so why not try to finish with minimal effort to mark the game as officially "completed" instead?

Experience Sparkling Duplicity Completion - take whatever remaining sex animations you have leftover, string them together with no dialogue or story and then come up with a nonsensical ending under the guise of being "humorous".

Story
MC is a middle-aged guy on rocky terms with his rebellious teenage son. The story revolves around him having a relationship with three girls - Tina, his son's current girlfriend, Janette, his son's ex and Blair, a female friend of his son. It's a rather unique premise - a variant of netori , but a father targeting his son's harem instead.

At least that's what was being planned, but after around 2 hours of solid gameplay with a few teasing blowjobs cumulating in the first full sex scene with Tina, the game was effectively abandoned.

The developer then took the remaining half-done animations he had left and played them on auto mode with a girl saying a one-liner "let's have sex", then plays a sex animation. Another says "let's have sex" and plays another animation etc.

Once the animations ran out, players are treated with a black screen ending with words informing them that Tina has died of STDs and MC's dick is amputated due to catching STDs from Tina. I suppose this is the developer's way of packaging an abandonment with what he thinks is a "humorous" conclusion.

This is so haphazard that it doesn't even warrant a spoiler tag...

Game Mechanics
Kinetic novel with no choices.

Background / Character Renders
Very nice backgrounds and characters made with VAM. The three LIs are gorgeous and highly distinguishable, while MC is also attractive enough. Tina is really hot as a cheerleader and it's real pity that the game has crashed this way.

Character Development
The developer seems to have plans for developing a more complex in-depth character for Jeanette and Blair. The pre-crash interactions MC has with them are realistic and believable and hint at some backstory to be revealed in the future.

Tina while a slut, offers a constant teasing alternative which balances out the other two slow burn LIs. It's somewhat amusing also to see the son's ignorance and cuckholding playing as his MC dad especially with all the pranks and hanky panky with Tina behind his back.

Sex Scene
There are three pre-crash sex scenes with Tina (2 blow jobs and 1 full sex) and these are among the best I have seen. They are fantastic with a combination of high tempo music, cranky dialogue, sound effects, excellent camera movements and fluid VAM animations that are way better than most HS2 and Daz AVNs. The facial expressions and attention to detail are also top notch.

Those after the abandonment (2 with Tina, 1 with Blair and no Jeanette) are poor quality and obviously work in progress - no dialogue no touch ups before being stitched together for the ending. A lot of jarring, jagged edges and lack of attention to details.

BGM and Sound Effects
Decent complimentary BGMs that add to the netori aspects of the story. There are no sound effects other than those during sex scenes.

Conclusion
I am personally very disappointed to see the game crash after such a great start. The story while not fantastic, still beats most AVNs easily. The character renders are really good and I liked all three LIs as well, not to mention the high-quality sex scenes pre-crash.

It's also pretty unethical for the developer to try such a stunt on players and worse still, for paying subscribers. I went to his Subscribestar and Itch and there was no hint that the game was being abandoned, even the final announcement sounded like a lot of work was being done and finally the game has come to a conclusion. These misleading statements are bordering on fraud especially for paying customers.

So why still 2 stars? Because as much as I am disappointed, it is still undeniable that the two hours of pre-crash material is top notch and would easily be 5 stars material not withstanding the nonsense later.

Absolutely disastrous ending. I can only assume the dev got bored and decided to move on. Big red flag not to try their future games. Until then, I'd say it was a solid 3 stars, with points deducted for some of the renders, for the lack of any real segue between talking and sex, and for very limited choices.

Atrocious endings ruined what could've been a great little game. Before the last update It was one of my fav games but now I'd prolly stay away from this dev. That was very very disappointing.

Sad thing is that he had a gem in his hands and he just decided to throw it in the trash.

Before the final update, this would've genuinely gotten 5 stars out of me. Even with the kinda jagged hair and strange lighting, the premise was great, the sex scenes were dynamic and enjoyable, I was genuinely invested in seeing how well they used the simple but engaging premise. Before being """completed""", it was looking GREAT as an initial set-up.

Unfortunately, like many other projects (that will remain unnamed, but I'm sure you can think of at least one), the dev, Goosenards, ABANDONS this project by quickly wrapping up the ending in the most unsatisfying way possible. It's abundantly clear that the dev wanted to stop development, whether they wanted to just stop doing any developing all-together, or got bored and wanted to move onto a new project, I have no idea. All I know is that it is an intensely disappointing display, and means that I'd be cautious of any projects they do in the future.

All in all, I'd give it a 6/10 instead of the 9/10 I'd have given it previously, and it's all because a genuinely good product was simply dropped off a cliff instead of given the respsect it deserved.

Short VN with 3 LIs and only 2 endings. Feel a bit shortchanged because I played all the options twice trying to get an ending with IMO the "best" girl but no luck.

What's great though is the renders and animations, really hot without pornstar bodies. Oh well, at least it's a complete game which puts it in rarified status.

Very nice short game found 2 endings dunno if there is a 3rd lol.

Basically the MCs son is a right tool who needs a good slap around the head.

There are 3 women (techically 4 if you count the large girl in the pizza place)

1 girl basically a whore who seems to have had more sex than Bonnie Blue
1 girl is like innocent but well you know cums! round in the end
1 girl is like outgoing and just well to be frank well fuckable
the large girl in the pizza place well they deserve a bit of lovin' too

renders are good, models pretty good too, storyline is meh but the game overall is very enjoyable for its length.

If you are looking for a game to kill an hour or 2 max then download and enjoy.

I was going to give this game 3 stars because of Blaire's relationship developing similarly to a brick being thrown through a window—that is, without any warning. (She was slow burn until she very suddenly was not.) That said, it turns out there is a little bit more to this game than I thought at first.

There are actually at least two endings to this game. (Maybe even three, but I doubt that.) The first ending I received, for when you simply follow your penis, is a troll which got a good chuckle out of me. There is a second ending you can easily achieve by using your brain just a little bit and ignoring your penis just once. That path, while it doesn't solve the problem with Blaire's development, isn't bad.

All in all: 3 stars. It's not great, but it's offensively bad in any particular metric.

+1 bonus star because I noticed the dev used tools that I wrote, and that got a very significant laugh out of me.

Terrible game with a troll dev, who slapsticks random shit endings and calls game "finished". Be ware of this dev and his future projects. That ending has to be one of the worst I have seen in porn VNs.

Before I start with this review, it should be noted that I did not finish this visual novel, nor do I really prefer games which focus on pornographic content. That's kind of weird given where we are, but I usually stick to RPGs or other games that have some level of depth. Disclaimer over.

After reading some of these reviews, I decided I would have to download this game just to see how much of a scumbag the protagonists son was, and how a supposedly caring father could have raised such a churlish individual. Now, having played briefly, I am seriously hoping the people who wrote reviews proclaiming the protagonist to be cool never have children, or if they do, that they treat their children better than the protagonist does.

While having characters who always choose violence and never act in their best interest is not an inherent flaw, I believe it is something that has to be handled with care, which hasn't happened here. The protagonist is unreasonably rude, throwing in swears and emotional abuse for little reason or gain. The character comes across as extremely childish and impulsive, and there isn't a good justification for it. I can sympathise with not enjoying ones marriage, but abandoning your child and wife is probably the wrong way to go about it.

Funnily enough, I find myself sympathising far more with the son, as while he is a bit of a snotty punk, 1: There's at least a motive; his father abandoned him and his mother died in his absence. She was terminally ill, and from his perspective his father just up and left them to deal with that stress. 2: Where do you think he learns that behaviour? If his father is never going to show him love, then there is no love to be requited.

This constant sniping makes the characters extremely difficult to sympathise with, and given that the story appears to be going for a character focused narrative, I'd say that's a slight problem. The story itself is not particularly novel, and the central premise of being able to repair your relationship with your son feels hollow when outside of decision points, the protagonist is immediately back to being emotionally abusive. From what I've read about the endings as well... Yeah...

What's left are the renders. I said earlier I'm not qualified to comment on these things, but Virt-A-Mate renders always look terrible to me. They're so stiff and lifeless and robotic. The physics based movement always makes characters look like they're barely in control of their own bodies, and hair behaves as though it's made of feathers.

I don't really have a neat way to conclude this review, so instead I'll request that you try to go outside. Grass is pretty cool, and the sun can be nice too. I'm about to go touch some grass myself; this review is far too long for a game I don't care about.

This was surprisingly good.

Typically these VNs get stuck in the day to day of a life and forget there is supposed to be a plot.
Well, the plot isn't that heavy but the time skips really help lighten up the day to day feel.

No grind, just a two branch linear vn with some pretty good sex animations.
Loved the girls too. They had the questionable age look, of potentially older or younger, but either way petite.

Without having added more to it, I can't think of anything I particularly disliked with the way it was set up.
Just expect one or two branches based on one or two decisions, and enjoy it as a linear vn otherwise.

Concept is interesting. That where this game stops being good. LII's are all card carrying members of the itty bitty titty committee and not really that attractive. The son is a complete piece of shit and should have gotten some more punishment and MC seems like a decent guy overall but doesn't deserve to lose his dick from some whore. Game is also a bit short for my liking

Animations were great. Cut short and I'm sure there's probably a reason for that. I just didn't care enough to look into it.
So you are a middle aged successful writer who's taking care of his asshole son and you are introduced to hot young girls. There are only two paths.
Both endings made me laugh my ass off even though one is supposed to be "the bad ending" I suppose. Its worth a play even though it's a fairly short VN. Although I found the endings to be quite funny they were also complete bullshit.

Writing a shit ending on purpose, and then joking about it.
Yeah no, unsubbed from subscribestar and will no longer be recommending this dev toother people due to the track record of endings with their games.
Good VAM artist, terrible writer.

What in the unholy f*ck was this ending.

Aight so, it started actually promising, with depressing backstory and older man connecting with a younger teenager in an actually kinda beliavable way. Dialogue wasn't half bad, the conflict between the father and son was semi fine even if Billy was comically stupid, i was kinda in, mildly hooked i would say. Was interested if it will go into emotional territory, drama or something wholesome.

It chose to drop off a cliff and explode in a nucler blast-tier boom. Second part gets a ridiculous decrease in writing quality, gets completely stupid, then get pretty much cut off randomly and then get one of the worst endings you could ever find. I am half convinced this ending was made just to spite the players.

In game's defense, animations are incredibly impressive, with smooth movements, moving cloth and hair, very commendable work there, audio design also was good in certain parts.

It's pretty short too, couple hours at most if you want to see everything.

Started strong but quickly went downhill and ended with astonishingly awful ending that actually completely ruined the game.

Sparkling Duplicity...

Has to be pre-faced with the fact this VN has the best blow-job scene I've seen on this site. And, I'm pretty dismissive about blow-jobs. But, damn!

That aside, this is a pretty short (but worth a play) VN and seems to have two endings. So, easily dealt with - and I'm not one for playing multi-playthroughs.

The premise is decent enough, even though neither the dad nor the son are likeable characters (IMO), but the girls seem to find the dad irresistible - which is good for us!

I liked some of the animations, some are very good, but some will leave you wanting. Most do actually jump into things too quickly, IMO, but eh, if you like the character models, then I'm sure you'll enjoy them...

So yeah, if you're into 'banging' college-aged girls, like things uncomplicated, and wanna crack one off - then you'll enjoy the duplicity of this story.

It indeed has a little sparkle about it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the sly and witty writing, the juicy animation, and just Goosenards' anarchically erotic sensibility in general. And the date walk they have is a masterwork in erotic banter. Whether short form or long, gay, straight, loli or sideways, I'll go on any ride on offer. Bravo!!

Some of the best looking female models, animations created with physics simulations (cloth), exciting taboo aspects.
Writing style is not exactly grounded on reality, but characters are expressive enough that you're willing to buy their performance.
Would be even better without body hair, but hard to argue against it if the creator prefers it.
Edit: Had to drop my rating down to 3. I will keep following Goosenards' creations, however this did feel like a suddenly abandoned project. Also, I don't think people play adult games to for the "plot twists" or the "subverted expectations". We have enough tv/film makers peddling that crap.

Ch.2 review -
This is a (mostly) very well written story with adult themes and fully developed characters. The plot goes off the rails near the end of current content but I'm hopeful it manages to finish strong and would recommend it.

You play a middle-aged writer who abandoned his wife and son 10 years ago but have recently found yourself responsible for your son during his last year of high school.

The writing's a little iffy here. Your son has some really good reasons for hating you but he's also heavily infested with PUA brain worms (I guess to make him less sympathetic?). You hate your son because he's a shit and because you're only there out of obligation to your ex-wife but objectively the MC isn't as sympathetic as the game wants him to be.

Anyway, because your son is an MRA douchebag, women all hate him and find themselves attracted to a kinder older gentleman with a dead-end job (seriously, how is the MC supporting anyone?).

This is almost a kinetic novel: there are two choices in current content: the first determines which of two routes you're on and the second just changes a few lines of dialogue.

Despite that, the three LIs (one is on both routes) are much better written than the men and I really enjoyed reading this up until near the end of current content where everything goes completely off the rails and it suddenly swaps from an adult drama to a porno. At one point, a scene was so bizarre that I was sure it was a dream sequence. So I'm hoping things get back on track for the finale but up until that point it was a 5/5 game.

Version Played - Ch.2

While nothing revolutionary, the renders are solid, prose is decent, models are unique and the animations are fantastic, probably among the best I've ever seen (effort put in is apparent).

While it's still in it's early stages and doesn't take too long to play through it's worth it, in my opinion.

More like 4.5/5, but deserves the extra 0.5 just because.

Well, sometimes I love this game, sometimes hate. Why?
+ amazing animations
+ good girls
+ an interesting Blair character

- sometimes we don't have a choice, what MC doing - like fucking other Stehpanie - I didn't wanted this, but game don't care
- we don't have options to choose how to talk with "son". At the beginning I was mad on MC that he let be threatened by his son like this and don't react. Later, when we discover the story I would try to be MC father, who try make truce, but game choose for me to be a dick
- graphic sometimes is really good enough, but sometimes well.. we see lack of details around, or messy hair etc.
- sometimes game take shortcuts and is not consistent. Like with Blair, she's good, not easy girl to "come, and fuck". Later she just ask "do you want have sex?", and they just fucking. Like wtf? It's like she lost her memory or something

Overall good game but I need to wrote the points what almost make me turn off this