VN - Ren'Py - Stormside [v0.23.1.4] [Atemsiel]

Difficult to believe that this game has so few reviews. There's an incredible amount of passion and talent at work here. The sounds are great, the animations are great, the story is engaging and interesting, and the characters are immediately endearing. Play this if you haven't.

This game has a lot of love behind it. Also going with 3 routes (per girl iirc) is a hard task to say the least.

Also, nice models and all LI's have character. It has sounds added which is a big plus for me personally.

I liked the ghosthunt part of it even if I had to keep checking the notes and had some issues while doing that.

I've been pretty disillusioned with AVNs, lately. Particularly the ones with the "male domination" tag. It happens very often that the MC doesn't reflect what's in that tag. I don't know about you guys, but when I see the tag, I expect an assertive, dominant guy.

Luckily, this one started great. Admittedly, I started this game without zero expectations but I was pleasantly surprised. The first sex scene starts with the MC seizing the initiative. Yes, the girl teased the hell out of him previously, but it's good to finally see an MC take what he wants and not be a passive "lucky guy." He wasn't really dominant, I guess, but I'm fine with assertive at least. This game also makes assertive girls like Cassie a lot more likeable. Usually in these games, the assertive girls end up feeling like creepy perverts; either because the MC is too much of a pussy or because they never, EVER, hesitate. They are like the epitome of assertiveness. But in this game, you can read the character's thoughts and it shows their anxiousness, eagerness and more. Makes them feel more human and likeable.

The MC also has great reactions. He actually looks like he's enjoying himself. You'd think that'd be the norm, but no, it's the opposite. Normally, the MC would hesitate the whole scene being a stuttering mess, but this MC communicates how good he's feeling without looking like a fucking pervert or way too submissive. Overall, pretty content with that side.

Overall, a great game. Decent enough plot, kinky shit and likeable characters. That's usually all I want from AVNs but many miss the mark for some reason. The only complaint I have is that I have seen very little of what the game promised in the synopsis, i.e the actual punishments. But whatever, I guess we'll see more of that with new updates.

This game is really well written, the main LIs are interesting and sympathetic, sometimes it's very funny. The MC is pervy but not over the top cruel, so you don't hate yourself for playing him. Love that the author is leaning into the B/D kink and the girls are both suffering some pain and enduring sexual humiliation but also find themselves enjoying the hell out of the experience despite themselves. Rather than being miserable and broken they are excited and horny. That is a super hot approach.

Great job on facial expression within the limits of what Honey Select can do. The ghost hunt was not playable on my machine, but that's ok. Looking forward to much more.

Clearly based on other reviews there are elements of this game that some will like and others wont.

I enjoyed the use of other languages within the VN. However, I do wish that when Sasha speak in russian you would leave a tiny () translation above it.

However, in general I think it adds to the atmosphere. I doubt i've ever missed much due to my lack of russian understanding while playing the VN.

I really, really appreciate the use of sfx. Especially during H scenes, my favorite games on this entire platform my complaint is usually lack of good sfx during H scenes. The amount of games that do it well are so few, so I really appreciate that this game puts effort into it. The sfx even vary per character.

Furthermore, the graphics while not on the level of some of the games that really use the underlying engines to their limits, is very impressively done. And considering there was a scene the developer's graphic card just straight up wouldn't render. I'm going to assume it can get even better when his equipment improves.

The character designs are all really good. I enjoy all of their designs to some degree. Though, personally there are no character design im in love with, it's lacking my personal wow-effect character. Probably mainly due to the fact that I love dark red-haired characters in H games and this game doesn't have any. Cassie is probably my current favorite.

If you can't stand lesbian content, it does allow you to skip it, however in it's current state you are honestly missing out on a decent chunk of content if you do so. I personally enjoy it, especially when the girls both are dating you as well. Just a warning to people who can't stand it.

You have the choice of whether or not you want to see the girls sexual history or clear it. That does imply that even if you clear it they have one. (at least some of them do). Not something that bothers me, I chose to keep it, however again for certain people. Might not be for you.

Story is pretty good. It has a nice amount of intrigue without being overly complicated. Agree a little bit with another commenter about having to punish girls that haven't actually done anything being a bit messed up. In general you are kind of a more sympathetic version of the H master (u know which game I mean). As you aren't chosing to have them attend this program, you are simlply trying to diminish the damage it might do to the girls.

However, punishing girls who haven't done something is not something H master would do. Personally doesn't bother me that much as I hope eventually we will be able to find ways to apply the system more fairly and not get forced into bad situations as much. Also, at least it's not the characters fault. Though, the story might not end up going in that direction.

I don't love the fact that it seems like it's important to start using the system properly before you lose the role, however whenever I tried to do that I realized later I kind of missed all the best scenes by doing so. F.ex with Riley, punishing her just leads to non-penetrative, while not punishing leads to penetrative H scene. Maybe down the line, applying the system early will pay off. Currently though, your choices still feel a bit right vs wrong for max amount of content.

There is a hidden images system in form of onions, and they are hidden waaay too well in my opinion. I'd like to be able to look for the onion on every screen and unlock the little collectables. However, having to replay the game like 6 times scanning every scene and still not having found all of them isn't particularly fun.

I enjoy the sext images and wish there was more of that and less onions.

TLDR: quality wise really high. Overall a nice and enjoyable experience.
The game is still in it's early stages, and while there is plenty of content to enjoy, there is still a lot unknown that can change my opinion of the game drastically.

I wish it was a sandbox.

My brain really hurts reading this VN:
- sometimes text just skips forward by itself, because of some weird animation thing I cant control. And I have to roll back to read it.
- sometimes I wait for animation to continue, but its not there
- sometimes there are russian words among english text.
- sometimes it shows japaneese text, which seem like someting untranslated ( I have jpn-eng MTL games flashbacks), and the letters start animating into english text.

Update:

After complete playthrough(v0.21.01) - there is a problem. I'm forced to punish girls not for intentional misbehavior, but because of some stupid setups from others. Its depressing and I dont like it at all, I cant tolerate that.

I'm giving this one a full mark, despite it being still fairly early on.

There are a couple of issues, which are not critical, but can put off some of you.

First of all, the ghost hunt, is problematic to do. The dev seems quite aware of his mistakes there, and is planning on improving things eventually. For now, it can be skipped, without any penalties on the story, so, it's a minor issue.

Choices are not entirely clear as to what their consequences will be, but the dev has confirmed that route closing will be very obvious, and as such, I'm willing to go on a bit of faith there. You will however potentially, not necessarily have the scene you were hoping for due to that. But, once you're done with the update, you can unlock all scenes and watch them. While it's not ideal, you can still check out the scenes that way.

This game however, does show promises. While it's extremely similar on ideas and setting to "the headmaster", this one has higher quality graphic, story and setting, but a lot less women. It also has a lot less gameplay or things for now, but, it's not as grindy, as this one for now, seems to be entirely story and choice based.

As of now, V 021.01, the MC is nowhere near the perv we have the headmaster, and is generally speaking, just a bit pervy, but nothing out of the norm for someone of that age really. The player has some opportunities to go a bit too far (just my opinion there), but this is only down to the dev wanting to leave that choice and freedom to the player. It is however, hinted heavily that if the player chooses in the future, he'll be able to do a LOT more perverted things.
We only have to hope it does not go from 0 to 200 too quickly, and the MC's developed into it well, but not too slowly either. So far, the story's pacing seems ok to me.

*edit* I've also forgotten that unlike many ANVs these days, the girls are actually nice to look at. The boob sizes are mostly ok, without going full loli or boobs of mass destruction, which is fucking nice refreshing change!

A really nice blend of humor, sexiness and a MC who isn't a complete douchebag.
Even though the premise is a bit unbelievable, it fits in with the world they've created. Given the desperate straits a lot of the world seems to be in, you could believe that the girls might be willing to go through some dodgy things to be able to get an education leading to a well paying job.
Some of the girls come off as a little cliched, but it's early days yet.

The TLDR version for my review: it is a very pleasant experience with Stormside.

I particularly enjoy the sound effects in the game, which have been done beautifully - these little things make the game much more immersive. Of course, that is besides the diverse cast both in terms of looks and personalities and good elements of the story.

Really looking forward to see how this goes with Stormside in the future.

Nice game. Models are really nice. The characters are interesting. The story is simple (which I think is a good thing) and has a lot of potential to turn out really good. The renders and animations are stylish, and try to think out of the box often, this just goes to show that the dev is talented and has a creative approach to some scenes, which I like.

This game needs more attention. A lot of good things to point out.

The good
- Characters are good and the game has humor without overdoing it. No one is unbearably annoying, even Olivia will be fun to interact with once we get to "discipline" her.
-Animations and sounds are nice. Ambience and music always make games feel more fleshed out.
-Renders are good, nothing crazy
-The punishment aspect (especially the interactive ones) will be really fun. Being able to change the severity of punishments and having that change the story is something I am really looking forward to.
-I like the interactiveness with the phone. Being able to track the girls stats and change their outfits adds a layer to the game.

The mehh
-The introduction of the MC's ghost hands kind of just dies? Doesn't feel at all relevant to where the story is headed now.
-A few sentences throughout the game are missing words that lead to choppy grammar. It doesn't happen all that often, but it is a flaw.
-Game can be a little buggy at times. I was crashing at a few of the clock transitions and picking up onions makes the screen flash black and white sometimes.

Despite the flaws this game is a 5 for me, good work dev.

Stormside offers experienced AVN fans something that you don't necessarily find on every corner. This includes a technically flawless presentation, both in terms of sound design and visual presentation. The animations are really good, the facial expressions and body language of the protagonists convince me and the dialogues are entertaining and sometimes really funny.

The story contains superhero elements, tropes of a scientific social experiment and gradually develops into a corruption AVN. There seem to be two moral poles for the player to choose from. Either you live out your own perversion and corrupt your fellow students as much as possible, or you are the responsible, protective hero who stands up for your friends and puts the bad guys in their place.
At the same time, I can't yet say exactly how dark the narrative will become. At times I feel reminded of one of the most popular games on f95, which takes a really dark turn with a gaming show where the women are utterly corrupted, but at other times it leans towards lighter forms of entertainment.

The creativity and the technical quality is there and if you are patient enough to get through the slower early stages of the game, you'll find that Stormside doesn't have to hide from any AVN competition.

I rarely feel the need to leave a review, but this is a 10/10 experience. Diverse character designs, fun character interactions with distinct personalities, and the way foreign language is incorporated are all top notch.

The only real negative i had while reading was that some of the dialogue cut-offs were a tad frustrating, as it resulted in me having to roll-back to not miss a section of what was said, most notably during the phone conversation with Riley, early into it. I understand the intent, but having half the prompts needing to be clicked-through while the others automatically continued left me unsure of when i was meant to click to progress. Oh, and I wish we had at least one other positive male character to interact with.

Version played 0.1.1 (0.11)

Visuals:
It's definitely a honey select game but the renders are pretty decent and the girls themselves look decent, the MC does not. I do like that the breast sizes and body proportions remain in the realm of reason, with the exception of the mc's dick. Over sized penisses really don't make things any better imo, but that's just me.
Animations are reasonably good.I do however wish the video near the pool suffers from a case of heavy overcompression (video's with a lot of panning / movements require a higher bitrate).

Story,
Pretty good so far, can't say how things develop.

Choices and stuff.
Nothing to note really, doesn't seem like they matter much atm, which is for the best.

Very nice and promising game. Models looking great same for the animations. On top of that cool assets which i havent seen before. The Story so far looking intresting too.
I'am Looking forward for more.

Absolutely great production value. Models look great, animations and other stuff is great, transitions are great. Just great all around, can't wait for more.

Kinda a shame there's no NTR/sharing route planned, as the game is perfectly set up for such a thing, but I understand the dev doesn't want to overstretch/might not be into that.

Well, for a first-time solo developer this is beyond impressive.

Can't say much about the story or the characters, as this is just the prologue, but other than seeming a tad one-dimensional (probably due to how short our time with them is for now), I've no complaints. The writing is good, as is the pacing, the comedy sticks the landing and the worldbuilding happens organically, which I appreciate.

Renders are great, not my area of expertise but I didn't find any problems with them and I've always liked this aesthetic so I may be biased.

While the renders are great and the grammar errors are minimal (a feat that's much less common than one might presume in the visual novel medium), what really blew me away were the animations. Some of the best I've ever seen in any 3D VN, bar none.

All-in-all, truly a spectacular start.

I like the models--they're stylishly presented and very cute. The dev uses ambient animation that is well-enough executed that it doesn't seem artificial, and lends a degree of realism to the characters that might otherwise not be reached. The characters are sympathetic and identifiable, if not too bright. All in all, this seems like a game worth following to see how it develops.