Recommending Story-first games

5.00 star(s) 8 Votes

realjitter

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Jun 21, 2021
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Did read "Little Regina" (Spoilers ahead)

In my mind you can't really evaluate this AVN until you've seen the ending here. I basically have to trust the developer blindly that he turns this into a real story. It's not same as if you're watching a tv series/movie where you just can relax and follow along because you don't have to worry about anything since it's written by, at least every now and then, someone who's competent with the subject matter. In an AVN you, unfortunately, have to prepare for the worst often times because AVN's operate on their own rules and logic, but I digress.

So what's Little Regina all about?. It's a about an ex military guy who's served in Afghanistan. He got captured and brutally tortured until he eventually got rescued. Of course what he experienced left him deeply traumatized, he's plagued by what he went through back then and the way he's trying to cope with it is violence, extreme violence that is. Which is understandable from a psychological standpoint. He wants to get revenge on something he can't get revenge on. So basically what he does is, he vents off his dark urges on people who "deserve" it. I mean, they do deserve it, but that's obviously not the way to overcome your own problems, it's the opposite.

At first glance it reminds you of something like dexter, a serial killer who targets other serial killers to satisfy his needs. Here he doesn't necessarily targets serial killers, he just goes for all kinds of human scum. Rapists, murderers, super meanies who'll all conveniently show up in his every day life. All men, outside of his old military friends, are evil sumbags!. The game is borderline sexist in that regard, but whatever :p. We are better than this!! =). Anyhow, well, I for one would rather call this a twisted version of natural born killers and i'll explain why later.

Later in the game Jack (the MC) meets Jessie who's the "forced" main LI. A 18/19 yo girl who he rescues from some meanies. She pretty quickly falls for him and they eventually become a thing. This is where the game starts to become pretty complex and that's also where it will get decided if this turns into a real story or just an AVN version of it, aka a waste of time. I'm calling it a potential waste of time because of all the serious topics at hand here. If this game ends with some sort of a showdown where the MC and his mini harem just simply trail off into the sunset afterwards, that would be just so disappointing imo...

I'm sure that some of it's audience interprets their relationship as some form of healing or whatever. And why not, right?. He, after all he's been through, rediscovers his sexuality and eventually also love while making the world a better place alongside... Well, if it only would be so easy, if only whe could fuck away our problems. Wouldn't that be nice?. Depression?, just fuck the depression away.. PTSD?, just get yourself some lovin...

I think their relationship is more of a tragic one and I also think that they're pretty poisonous for each other with both of them being on a road to absolutely nowhere. Jessie may appear like she's reflecting on herself and the MC, but she does it pretty inconsequently imo. Might be due to her age or because of how smitten she is by him..., who knows. It's pretty twisted because on one hand you really want things to work out for the protagonists, but on the other hand this story is heading straight towards disaster, if it weren't for the fact that this is an AVN. :p

There's a scene in which Jessie lies to the MC about some guy in order to get him into trouble which is why I made the natural born killers comparison. It should be telling for what's to come going forward... I could come up with a lot of things who're going to happen later down the line, but this is also where i'm gonna stop talking about this AVN, because if this turns out to be just another big pile of nothingness at the end, shame on me...

Anyhow, potentially a great story, but there's also a lot of uncertainty regarding it's intentions. Will it be just some weird ass, violent, white knighting, sex fantasie by some developer or will it be an actual story?.

Well, you'll also have to be prepared to cope with some extreme violence before diving into this one, that's for sure.

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I chose the first option...
 
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bacienvu88

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Aug 3, 2021
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And Mad World got a new release as well!
Should note that the update is "just" a bonus update with a date with Chloe and some ... interesting ... aftermath of said date. No main story progression.

But I really like the update nevertheless. The chemistry between MC and Chloe is great.
 
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jufot

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May 15, 2021
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With Emma, I think bacienvu88 and my speculation about her from last episode has been all but confirmed. Edward was her 'favorite' and she covered for him during his fuckup years. The question now is why. Was it simply pity? Did she see a seed of potential?
It looks like it was pity, but was probably the potential. After all, Elsa must have seen something similar (that the audience hasn't) to arrange an interview with the other CEO.

Does Edward really not get what Elsa's telling him or is he just being snarky about it? He can put her advice into practice when the chips are down.
I think he massively resents the fact that he needs her and it manifests as juvenile snark. Like you say, though, he does get the point and can put her lessons into action when he's forced to.
 
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Arisushi

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Jul 9, 2020
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Did anyone play 2 Sides? I know it's unusual for me to recommend an incest game, but this one has a lot going for it in a way we don't really see in AVNs.
Will try it out today and share my thoughts
Managed to catch up to the newest update.

While I do have my fair share of nitpicking and dislikes about 2 Sides, I'd like to say - "It's really nice to see an AVN that is so empathetic about it's romance."

(More of this please.)

---

Coming to the smaller details, I have quite a lot to say. So instead of rambling for paragraphs, I'll try to list them out, one positive and one negative.

. Though I was skeptical about the first person narration, for the most parts it works well.

. However, it also doesn't take advantage of the visual aspect of the medium all that well. I could read the same story as a novel, and I don't think it'll change my experience all that much.

. The sense of intimacy showcased in it was top notch.

. But (some times) the narration of the sex itself felt a little mechanical (and maybe a little repetitive even?)


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---

In the end, despite it's shortcomings, I think 2 sides is well worth the time it asks you to invest in it.

And depending on how well Gwen and Mike's reunion (and beyond) is executed , it might turn out to be one of the stronger entries of its genre/tag.
 

jufot

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May 15, 2021
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Lastly, this is kind of an extension of an earlier point, but... this story doesn't really justify its need to be an incest themed one. The same would work just as fine (probably even better) as a "first love / childhood friend" story.
I couldn't agree more. Glad you liked it, despite shortcomings.
 
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Bombmaster

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May 8, 2022
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Managed to catch up to the newest update.

While I do have my fair share of nitpicking and dislikes about 2 Sides, I'd like to say - "It's really nice to see an AVN that is so empathetic about it's romance."

(More of this please.)

---

Coming to the smaller details, I have quite a lot to say. So instead of rambling for paragraphs, I'll try to list them out, one positive and one negative.

. Though I was skeptical about the first person narration, for the most parts it works well.

. However, it also doesn't take advantage of the visual aspect of the medium all that well. I could read the same story as a novel, and I don't think it'll change my experience all that much.

. The sense of intimacy showcased in it was top notch.

. But (some times) the narration of the sex itself felt a little mechanical (and maybe a little repetitive even?)


You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

---

In the end, despite it's shortcomings, I think 2 sides is well worth the time it asks you to invest in it.

And depending on how well Gwen and Mike's reunion (and beyond) is executed , it might turn out to be one of the stronger entries of its genre/tag.
The sad part is the bitterness of some reviews and discussion about it.

I know the people smirks dislike incest as a whole here but this is one of the most believable stories.
 
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MrPocketRocket

Pecker PI
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Apr 30, 2023
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Nevard Good start for a new dev and has me intrigued for more. Not sure why it hasn't more attention. A modern fantasy with interesting world building. I find the characters interesting as well.
I tried it last night and I really like the set up for the story (competent writing), world building and a possible LI, but that is really all it is at the moment, a set up. I'll keep my eyes peeled for updates for sure.
 

jufot

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May 15, 2021
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But I really like the update nevertheless. The chemistry between MC and Chloe is great.
I liked it too. Big fan of Chloe's parents, especially her mum. This episode was worth it for that kitchen scene alone. Coffee really does go well with a side of shotgun :)
 
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Slick Bean

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Sep 9, 2023
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For a bunch of gamers supposedly enjoying the story while playing games around here,
sure is a surprise you dislike MC - most proficient coder in the game,
while you enjoy and berate as being ”believable” him be the rag doll of all these made up ”strong women”:
- who are all the likes of Alice:
Elsa pouts and pity fishes Edward affection and condescending unconditional help as a total corpo desaster,
only to turn it into her weapon of max controlling him, just as Alice, poor filthy rich whore,
like Emma - idiot manager stealing the work of her underling and keeping her job over him.

Funny how the manager who steals Edwards work, the major plot advancement in this very game,
is all of a sudden turned on it”s head once she ”confesses” how she chould have fired Edward.

She should have, but then she would have to take the brunt of all her ineptitude, like Elsa,
like Alice, but alas, this game makes all these floozies break Edwards back to keep their positions.

My thoughts on Corporate Culture 0.6.

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It looks like it was pity, but was probably the potential. After all, Elsa must have seen something similar (that the audience hasn't) to arrange an interview with the other CEO.


I think he massively resents the fact that he needs her and it manifests as juvenile snark. Like you say, though, he does get the point and can put her lessons into action when he's forced to.
Having Edward, none of the three broads are needed in the company or the story, he makes them real,
without Edward, Elsa is a whoring money throwing flunk, Alice is a party animal and Emma is a corpo hollow.

Keeping the heartless Edward on her payrole speaks volumes about never going forward,
pretty much what Edward is doing with all these flunked inhuman plastic bimbos huddled on his back.
 

jufot

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May 15, 2021
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You know how when you click mute/ignore on some user and your forum experience is massively improved? Well, I was like that. Ah, those halcyon days! Then that person goes on to create another account and the horror show is back.

Unrelated to anything here, of course. Just felt like sharing.
 

jufot

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May 15, 2021
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Some thoughts on recent updates.

Artemis

I feel this game is slowly turning into another City of Broken Dreamers because there was barely any plot development. Looking at the whole episode:

- Artemis became a toddler, and most of the episode was dedicated to playing house with her.
- MC took a highly valuable, semi-functional prototype android to... clothes shopping because that's a totally normal thing to do, and not at all some flimsy pretext for the player to ogle her and Veronica's tits.
- MC bought a supercar for a guy he met for 10 minutes, using someone else's money. Said someone else was OK with it, for reasons.
- MC drove vampire lawyer girl to the airport.
- MC play-wrestled with gun nut cop girl.
- AI dog was missing magic juice, now he isn't.
- Kindra pre-announced the announcement of Artemis in the upcoming expo, which we already knew at the end of the previous episode.

And that's about it? The only plot relevant bit was Cassandra stealing the chip from AI dog's old body and that's hardly enough for an update six months in the making.

Price of Power

Since this episode isn't public yet, I'll put it in spoilers.
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Bombmaster

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May 8, 2022
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Some thoughts on recent updates.

Artemis

I feel this game is slowly turning into another City of Broken Dreamers because there was barely any plot development. Looking at the whole episode:

- Artemis became a toddler, and most of the episode was dedicated to playing house with her.
- MC took a highly valuable, semi-functional prototype android to... clothes shopping because that's a totally normal thing to do, and not at all some flimsy pretext for the player to ogle her and Veronica's tits.
- MC bought a supercar for a guy he met for 10 minutes, using someone else's money. Said someone else was OK with it, for reasons.
- MC drove vampire lawyer girl to the airport.
- MC play-wrestled with gun nut cop girl.
- AI dog was missing magic juice, now he isn't.
- Kindra pre-announced the announcement of Artemis in the upcoming expo, which we already knew at the end of the previous episode.

And that's about it? The only plot relevant bit was Cassandra stealing the chip from AI dog's old body and that's hardly enough for an update six months in the making.

Price of Power

Since this episode isn't public yet, I'll put it in spoilers.
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The multipass joke made me laugh. Call me simpleton but playing house with Artemis was the high point.
The rest was a bit filler, the update was about Artemis!

Against humanity interests gonna enforce terminator behavior, Fuck Empathy.
 
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bacienvu88

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Aug 3, 2021
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MC took a highly valuable, semi-functional prototype android to... clothes shopping because that's a totally normal thing to do, and not at all some flimsy pretext for the player to ogle her and Veronica's tits.
Considering the amount of clothes shopping scenes in AVNs I suspect that a lot of devs really enjoy playing dress up! :)
 

Éama

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Apr 17, 2022
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- Kindra pre-announced the announcement of Artemis in the upcoming expo, which we already knew at the end of the previous episode.
No, we didn't? In the previous update Kindra wanted to bring Koko. Plans changed after Artemis' awakening.
 

jufot

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May 15, 2021
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No, we didn't? In the previous update Kindra wanted to bring Koko. Plans changed after Artemis' awakening.
Ah, that's true. I was referring to Kandice McCreed's scene in the last chapter where she learns about Kindra's plan to announce AI tech at the expo, which remains the case.
 
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realjitter

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Jun 21, 2021
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That video descibes AVN's perfectly=), but I don't think it's a 100% applicable for Artemis as of yet. Sure, she's supposed to be a sex fantasie for guys like all the other women in that game, but this is also a porn game, so... Not the worst approach to do so :p

I mean, what do we know about Artemis?. She's like a super advanced android and the way she learns is by soaking up infortmation, reading/watching/whatever. The way the MC and Kindra teach her is pretty sloppy, but at the same time also pretty harmless. It's just not very professional :p. So her coming across like a toddler does make sense in my mind since she's basically nothing at this point. A machine fed with some random information that she processes. I don't think it was that bad, especially for some amateur writer who's making an adult visual novel.

Random note, I loved cloud atlas (the book that is)
 

Hildegardt

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Oct 18, 2017
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That video descibes AVN's perfectly=), but I don't think it's a 100% applicable for Artemis as of yet. Sure, she's supposed to be a sex fantasie for guys like all the other women in that game, but this is also a porn game, so... Not the worst approach to do so :p
I mean, you say yourself that she comes across like a toddler, so it might be difficult to find a worse approach. It just seems like she's got a bugged language module out of nowhere and for no other reason than to infantilize her and turn her into a tropey anime waifu.

- MC drove vampire lawyer girl to the airport.
So, I'm guessing she's the fan favourite? It was kinda weird how the PC was suddenly contemplating her opinion so much.
I think expanding the role of any of the sorority girls is a bad idea. The game has too many characters with too much overlap. Reina, Paige and June are basically the same character for example. As are Katy and Zoey (who already got culled afaik). The only more or less unique thing about them is their job titles, probably because they'll all end up working for Kindra happily ever after in the future.
June's role should be extended imo. She's obviously an MC, but her involvement in the story gets cut short, because it's split up into the sorority girls.
 
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5.00 star(s) 8 Votes