Recommending Story-first games

[jufot]

Just tried out Dancing Colors. It's about a nerdy stargazer guy doing... well, stargazing.

It seems chapter 2 is out already!

 

[camube]

Anyone here have try Little Regina?

That's definitely a story-first game. It's an Adult VN in the sense that it's violent, instead of the usual adult definition of sexual.
Also, there's very little intercourses in it

I don't really enjoy the premise of the game but the main story beat is good, and it is engaging.

I haven't finish reading it yet but in Episode 3, I was really impressed at what happen there, I just gotta share it here right away.

I like reading that stories that make sense. By makes sense I mean stories that are consistent in that world.
Which is also my big issue with Eternum's MC monologue about the women characters, it isn't consistent. Reading too much of that gets tiring. If Eternum doesn't have some nice action scenes, I would've drop it by now.

What was being told in Episode 3 was consistent with the thing we learned about that world and about this one character. I don't want to elaborate on it (the way I usually do with other games) cuz I was really impressed when it was told and if any of y'all ever play it, feel free to tag me so we can discuss.

I honestly think f95 synopsis of the game divulge too much, and i also do think just in general, AVN overview i read in f95 is too long.
I'd prefer these overviews to be like, 3 sentences at best. Not 3 paragraphs.

The thing you all need to know of the game overview is this,

Jack Jensen, an ex-military, drives his old car into the City of Little Regina, searching for clues to find his friend, Alexandra's missing sister, Lucy.

On controlling the MC, you can choose between 2 options, somewhat Nice or extreme Asshole.
If Friends in Need Asshole path is blackmail and coercion, Little Regina's Asshole path is eliminating people.

Friends in Need MC is just a Guy with money and then he decides to do things for his surroundings. We can choose for him to be Nice to his surroundings and help people. Or we can choose for him to be an Asshole and coerce instead. Both because he has money.

Little Regina MC is a Man with PTSD that is canonically cold. We can choose for him to be Nice by letting people get away, or we can choose for him to be a pragmatic Asshole by not having loose ends through eliminating some people. Both because this Man is damaged by the war.

Up until Episode 3, it's really hard for me to pick the Nice options, I do do it cuz I want to see where the Nice path lead and also I don't think I have time to play both paths.
But generally speaking, given what the readers are told of the MC and given the MCs canonical actions that happen in the game prior to our inputs, not being pragmatic is actually going against who the MC is as a person.

It's more me controlling him the way I want despite his character's setting and actions in game.

I'll draw a comparison to Our Red String a bit. The Female Main Character Lena's dialogues and monologues (and even background now in this latest chapter) changes depending on how we play them. If we play them as a nerd and a prude, she thinks like a prude. On the other hand if she is promiscuous, her background is also promiscuous.

So if I play a nerd Lena, the game's character setting of her is believable to me.
If I play a "chad" Ian, the monologue of Ian changes too by a bit. That makes me buy this idea that I can choose which version of Ian and Lena exist on that playthrough.
That those version of them can actually exist. It keeps me focused reading the story.

This game though the Asshole path is truer to his canonical actions displayed in-game prior to our input so, it breaks my believability and suspension of disbelief too when I choose Nice options. It makes me went "I'm the one that choose that action, this character is not gonna choose that option without my input".

Can you all guess when I wrote this post?
Right after I had to choose between picking Nice option or Asshole option to these 2 people in Episode 3
It took me out of the game, so I took a break and write this post

There's very few games in AVN that I know of so far where the "Adult" stands for things that aren't "sexual".
A big reason I still read this thread and not check out of it is to one day find games like Little Regina. Where the A on AVN stands for "adult" that isn't a euphemism for sex.

The sex part of AVN is the most boring part of AVN to me. I'd be 100% okay with 99.5% of game out there if the sex part is taken out or just have black screen placeholder on it and just have texts. And on this I'm specifically thinking of BaDIK in my head. BaDIK takes far too long to develop per update because there are so many paths. And with each paths, there needs to be sexual animations. Those animations does nothing for me.

This Little Regina game fulfill that "other Adults" aspect. The Adult part delves into something that isn't "sex". So, do try it out.

 

[Dessolos]

Anyone here have try Little Regina?

That's definitely a story-first game. It's an Adult VN in the sense that it's violent, instead of the usual adult definition of sexual.
Also, there's very little intercourses in it

I don't really enjoy the premise of the game but the main story beat is good, and it is engaging.

I haven't finish reading it yet but in Episode 3, I was really impressed at what happen there, I just gotta share it here right away.

I like reading that stories that make sense. By makes sense I mean stories that are consistent in that world.
Which is also my big issue with Eternum's MC monologue about the women characters, it isn't consistent. Reading too much of that gets tiring. If Eternum doesn't have some nice action scenes, I would've drop it by now.

What was being told in Episode 3 was consistent with the thing we learned about that world and about this one character. I don't want to elaborate on it (the way I usually do with other games) cuz I was really impressed when it was told and if any of y'all ever play it, feel free to tag me so we can discuss.

I honestly think f95 synopsis of the game divulge too much, and i also do think just in general, AVN overview i read in f95 is too long.
I'd prefer these overviews to be like, 3 sentences at best. Not 3 paragraphs.

The thing you all need to know of the game overview is this,



On controlling the MC, you can choose between 2 options, somewhat Nice or extreme Asshole.
If Friends in Need Asshole path is blackmail and coercion, Little Regina's Asshole path is eliminating people.

Friends in Need MC is just a Guy with money and then he decides to do things for his surroundings. We can choose for him to be Nice to his surroundings and help people. Or we can choose for him to be an Asshole and coerce instead. Both because he has money.

Little Regina MC is a Man with PTSD that is canonically cold. We can choose for him to be Nice by letting people get away, or we can choose for him to be a pragmatic Asshole by not having loose ends through eliminating some people. Both because this Man is damaged by the war.

Up until Episode 3, it's really hard for me to pick the Nice options, I do do it cuz I want to see where the Nice path lead and also I don't think I have time to play both paths.
But generally speaking, given what the readers are told of the MC and given the MCs canonical actions that happen in the game prior to our inputs, not being pragmatic is actually going against who the MC is as a person.

It's more me controlling him the way I want despite his character's setting and actions in game.

I'll draw a comparison to Our Red String a bit. The Female Main Character Lena's dialogues and monologues (and even background now in this latest chapter) changes depending on how we play them. If we play them as a nerd and a prude, she thinks like a prude. On the other hand if she is promiscuous, her background is also promiscuous.

So if I play a nerd Lena, the game's character setting of her is believable to me.
If I play a "chad" Ian, the monologue of Ian changes too by a bit. That makes me buy this idea that I can choose which version of Ian and Lena exist on that playthrough.
That those version of them can actually exist. It keeps me focused reading the story.

This game though the Asshole path is truer to his canonical actions displayed in-game prior to our input so, it breaks my believability and suspension of disbelief too when I choose Nice options. It makes me went "I'm the one that choose that action, this character is not gonna choose that option without my input".

Can you all guess when I wrote this post?
Right after I had to choose between picking Nice option or Asshole option to these 2 people in Episode 3
It took me out of the game, so I took a break and write this post

There's very few games in AVN that I know of so far where the "Adult" stands for things that aren't "sexual".
A big reason I still read this thread and not check out of it is to one day find games like Little Regina. Where the A on AVN stands for "adult" that isn't a euphemism for sex.

The sex part of AVN is the most boring part of AVN to me. I'd be 100% okay with 99.5% of game out there if the sex part is taken out or just have black screen placeholder on it and just have texts. And on this I'm specifically thinking of BaDIK in my head. BaDIK takes far too long to develop per update because there are so many paths. And with each paths, there needs to be sexual animations. Those animations does nothing for me.

This Little Regina game fulfill that "other dults" aspect. The adult part delves into something that isn't "sex". So, do try it out.

I tried Little Regina but ended up dropping it. I didn't like the forced romance with the MC and foxy think that's her name. Not sure if she counts as a loli but was borderline one at least. But the romance between them ultimately made me feel uncomfortable. If I would try it again id have to probably ctrl skip through the romance between them.

 

[365 others]

Anyone here have try Little Regina?

That's definitely a story-first game. It's an Adult VN in the sense that it's violent, instead of the usual adult definition of sexual.
Also, there's very little intercourses in it

I don't really enjoy the premise of the game but the main story beat is good, and it is engaging.

I haven't finish reading it yet but in Episode 3, I was really impressed at what happen there, I just gotta share it here right away.

I like reading that stories that make sense. By makes sense I mean stories that are consistent in that world.
Which is also my big issue with Eternum's MC monologue about the women characters, it isn't consistent. Reading too much of that gets tiring. If Eternum doesn't have some nice action scenes, I would've drop it by now.

What was being told in Episode 3 was consistent with the thing we learned about that world and about this one character. I don't want to elaborate on it (the way I usually do with other games) cuz I was really impressed when it was told and if any of y'all ever play it, feel free to tag me so we can discuss.

I honestly think f95 synopsis of the game divulge too much, and i also do think just in general, AVN overview i read in f95 is too long.
I'd prefer these overviews to be like, 3 sentences at best. Not 3 paragraphs.

The thing you all need to know of the game overview is this,

On controlling the MC, you can choose between 2 options, somewhat Nice or extreme Asshole.
If Friends in Need Asshole path is blackmail and coercion, Little Regina's Asshole path is eliminating people.

Friends in Need MC is just a Guy with money and then he decides to do things for his surroundings. We can choose for him to be Nice to his surroundings and help people. Or we can choose for him to be an Asshole and coerce instead. Both because he has money.

Little Regina MC is a Man with PTSD that is canonically cold. We can choose for him to be Nice by letting people get away, or we can choose for him to be a pragmatic Asshole by not having loose ends through eliminating some people. Both because this Man is damaged by the war.

Up until Episode 3, it's really hard for me to pick the Nice options, I do do it cuz I want to see where the Nice path lead and also I don't think I have time to play both paths.
But generally speaking, given what the readers are told of the MC and given the MCs canonical actions that happen in the game prior to our inputs, not being pragmatic is actually going against who the MC is as a person.

It's more me controlling him the way I want despite his character's setting and actions in game.

I'll draw a comparison to Our Red String a bit. The Female Main Character Lena's dialogues and monologues (and even background now in this latest chapter) changes depending on how we play them. If we play them as a nerd and a prude, she thinks like a prude. On the other hand if she is promiscuous, her background is also promiscuous.

So if I play a nerd Lena, the game's character setting of her is believable to me.
If I play a "chad" Ian, the monologue of Ian changes too by a bit. That makes me buy this idea that I can choose which version of Ian and Lena exist on that playthrough.
That those version of them can actually exist. It keeps me focused reading the story.

This game though the Asshole path is truer to his canonical actions displayed in-game prior to our input so, it breaks my believability and suspension of disbelief too when I choose Nice options. It makes me went "I'm the one that choose that action, this character is not gonna choose that option without my input".

Can you all guess when I wrote this post?
Right after I had to choose between picking Nice option or Asshole option to these 2 people in Episode 3
It took me out of the game, so I took a break and write this post

There's very few games in AVN that I know of so far where the "Adult" stands for things that aren't "sexual".
A big reason I still read this thread and not check out of it is to one day find games like Little Regina. Where the A on AVN stands for "adult" that isn't a euphemism for sex.

The sex part of AVN is the most boring part of AVN to me. I'd be 100% okay with 99.5% of game out there if the sex part is taken out or just have black screen placeholder on it and just have texts. And on this I'm specifically thinking of BaDIK in my head. BaDIK takes far too long to develop per update because there are so many paths. And with each paths, there needs to be sexual animations. Those animations does nothing for me.

This Little Regina game fulfill that "other dults" aspect. The adult part delves into something that isn't "sex". So, do try it out.

I have, and I also agree with you on most of your points.
However, I went for the "nice" path on Little Regina, and I have to say that the difference is not that much... it changes mostly how intense is the scene you are playing.

So, for example, instead of sodomizing to death a man with a baseball bat, you limit it to gut him out like a pig... but it still is not like you become Mother Theresa and start a forgiving journey by choosing not to let MC's inner monster out.

Earlier this week somebody posted something about a game needing awesome renders for having support, and I think this would be a good example of a game that does not have them, yet still has good support from the community.

The renders/art are average at best, but the story is so good (IMHO) that I oversee that detail because I enjoy the story very much.

One thing that I also love from that game is precisely what I criticized the most from FiN: The MC does evolve by interacting with the several women around him (note I don't say LIs as there are several that are not love interests yet they play an important role in the story). It has a main arc that evolves regardless of the sex scenes (which are very few).

The way the MC gets involved in the relationships with the women around him is also different. While having a common approach (being protective) each situation is different and he addresses each case differently.

I also appreciated that it is one of the few games where any other male than MC is not evil, stupid, gay, impotent, or a combination of the former. There is at least another male there that "gets some" without raping, blackmailing, or having to resort to any corrupt actions, and (to my disappointment) the girl he gets is not even a LI.

There are still a few elements from the story that could use some polishing, but they do not affect the overall direction or the storytelling.

Anyway, that's one of the games I do not wait for 2 or 3 releases to play again, and I keep up to date with its releases.

 

[FatGiant]

Hang in there in Little Regina.

The story is awesome. Foxxy may be young, but not childish, and she grows a LOT quite fast.

I may be recalling it wrong, but I think it has only 2 LI's and sincerely, none more are needed.

I do recommend that game on the Nice path. Can't speak for the other one, I didn't play it and don't think I will.

Peace

 

[365 others]

Hang in there in Little Regina.

The story is awesome. Foxxy may be young, but not childish, and she grows a LOT quite fast.

I may be recalling it wrong, but I think it has only 2 LI's and sincerely, none more are needed.

I do recommend that game on the Nice path. Can't speak for the other one, I didn't play it and don't think I will.

Peace

It has 2 confirmed (Foxy, Christa), and there are at least another 2 that are evolving in that direction, yet they are not exactly rushing to get there.

 

[bansdebar]

The last Sovereign should be there. It definitely outshines most games on the list if not all. Its a masterclass story.

 

[365 others]

The last Sovereign should be there. It definitely outshines most games on the list if not all. Its a masterclass story.

While I agree it is a masterpiece, I'm unsure it could be on the list.
The whole story is about a dude that needs to bang the women on his harem (like in power/physically needing) to gain power and save the world, so I could not remove the sex/lewd content without affecting very significatively the story.

Yet the whole background, the lore, the character development, and the gameplay are just amazing.

 

[FatGiant]

It has 2 confirmed (Foxy, Christa), and there are at least another 2 that are evolving in that direction, yet they are not exactly rushing to get there.

Ok. I'm going to be a bit weird here, but, the intention is good.

Foxy is a GREAT character. After I stopped being weirded out with her age and physical appearance, I found some depth and interest there. Now, both as a MC in these games, and in IRL, I've never been attracted by girls that age, not even when I was that age. I know, I know, I was weird and still am.

Christa is, was, and will be my target. I will NOT refuse Foxy, but what keeps me in the story is Christa (I think you can't have one without the other anyway). Speaking only of physical appearance, I find Christa WAY more interesting. Her story, her personality, is vastly superior to anyone else in the game.

This is, obviously, a very biased opinion, that by no means attempts to color yours. Just saying what my thoughts are.

I can't really enjoy games with loli. My whole being feels revolted by it. The fact that I didn't get those feelings in Little Regina, is a testament to how not childish Foxy acts. Young, yes, but child, no.

Peace

 

[Dessolos]

Ok. I'm going to be a bit weird here, but, the intention is good.

Foxy is a GREAT character. After I stopped being weirded out with her age and physical appearance, I found some depth and interest there. Now, both as a MC in these games, and in IRL, I've never been attracted by girls that age, not even when I was that age. I know, I know, I was weird and still am.

Christa is, was, and will be my target. I will NOT refuse Foxy, but what keeps me in the story is Christa (I think you can't have one without the other anyway). Speaking only of physical appearance, I find Christa WAY more interesting. Her story, her personality, is vastly superior to anyone else in the game.

This is, obviously, a very biased opinion, that by no means attempts to color yours. Just saying what my thoughts are.

I can't really enjoy games with loli. My whole being feels revolted by it. The fact that I didn't get those feelings in Little Regina, is a testament to how not childish Foxy acts. Young, yes, but child, no.

Peace

honestly this is kind of why I dropped the game. I was only interested in Christa but with how foxy acted even tho she is a good character made me feel uncomfortable when it came to the romance and the fact she is forced made it worst for me. That and well her loli appearance made it harder to accept and feel comfortable to me. I might try the game again much later when we got alot more Christa content and ctrl skip parts that are to much for me.

 

[FatGiant]

The last Sovereign should be there. It definitely outshines most games on the list if not all. Its a masterclass story.

I can't find that game, do you have a link?

I find a Sovereign, but it doesn't seem to be the same. Or is it?

Peace

 

[raynarnab]

The whole story is about a dude that needs to bang the women on his harem (like in power/physically needing) to gain power and save the world, so I could not remove the sex/lewd content without affecting very significatively the story.

I do think part of the storytelling that is enjoyable is that it takes this trope and really deconstructs it in the story. He isn't power hungry to have sex with others, infact it makes you feel for characters whose literal name is Qum. In fact that character is one of the sweetest characters in the story, to the point you will fight to protect her innocence. I think the Last sovereign does adult stories in a way that I enjoy, sex is considered a positive but not gratuitous way. I don't think there are many stories that have impacted me the same way as the world building in this story.

Ofcourse for people that want a story, this is not for them. There is heavy gameplay elements that is not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[365 others]

I can't find that game, do you have a link?

I find a Sovereign, but it doesn't seem to be the same. Or is it?

Peace

There you go: https://f95zone.to/threads/the-last-sovereign-v0-73-4-sierra-lee.616/

I do think part of the storytelling that is enjoyable is that it takes this trope and really deconstructs it in the story. He isn't power hungry to have sex with others, infact it makes you feel for characters whose literal name is Qum. In fact that character is one of the sweetest characters in the story, to the point you will fight to protect her innocence. I think the Last sovereign does adult stories in a way that I enjoy, sex is considered a positive but not gratuitous way. I don't think there are many stories that have impacted me the same way as the world building in this story.

Ofcourse for people that want a story, this is not for them. There is heavy gameplay elements that is not everyone's cup of tea.

I know. I'm conflicted because the story is focused on using sex to gain power to develop the MC's mission in the game, so as I said you can't remove the sex without affecting the story.

However, the way it is structured is logical and despite being an imposed condition (because of the premise) no love interest is forced into you (maybe except for the first one).

The MC does not look (actually is more reluctant, and even tries to avoid it) to have a harem, and getting one is the result of the whole context of the story. The LIs are not attracted to a magical penis, and they do not lose their personalities after finally giving in to being with him.

It has a fantastic story, very human (within the context of the game), and I loved how each character is developed.

If there were voting, I'd say The Last Sovereign deserves at least an honorific mention here, and I'd 100% agree on having it on the "official" list.

 

[Hildegardt]

Not sure if she counts as a loli but was borderline one at least.

So, for example, instead of sodomizing to death a man with a baseball bat, you limit it to gut him out like a pig...

I can't really enjoy games with loli. My whole being feels revolted by it. The fact that I didn't get those feelings in Little Regina, is a testament to how not childish Foxy acts. Young, yes, but child, no.

God damn it, camube. I can only echo realjitter. The fuck happened to this thread?

 

[FatGiant]

There you go: https://f95zone.to/threads/the-last-sovereign-v0-73-4-sierra-lee.616/


I know. I'm conflicted because the story is focused on using sex to gain power to develop the MC's mission in the game, so as I said you can't remove the sex without affecting the story.

However, the way it is structured is logical and despite being an imposed condition (because of the premise) no love interest is forced into you (maybe except for the first one).

The MC does not look (actually is more reluctant, and even tries to avoid it) to have a harem, and getting one is the result of the whole context of the story. The LIs are not attracted to a magical penis, and they do not lose their personalities after finally giving in to being with him.

It has a fantastic story, very human (within the context of the game), and I loved how each character is developed.

If there were voting, I'd say The Last Sovereign deserves at least an honorific mention here, and I'd 100% agree on having it on the "official" list.

Strictly going by the Tags, you wouldn't caught me playing that. So, even your glowing reviews, mean very little in the face of that.

Sorry, but several of those are on my "Not in a million years" list.

Peace

 

[365 others]

Strictly going by the Tags, you wouldn't caught me playing that. So, even your glowing reviews, mean very little in the face of that.

Sorry, but several of those are on my "Not in a million years" list.

Peace

Oh, I forgot about the tags. Yes, it has some of the forbidden ones.
I'm a bit more flexible, and usually, as long as I can avoid them in the cannon story I can overlook past them to enjoy the rest.

But given how strongly you feel about it, I don't think this one is for you.

There are at least 2 NTR scenes you cannot avoid by any means, and even if they are short and well-written, there is no way for the player to avoid them, so... yeah, I don't think it is for you.

 

[Dessolos]

lol I always forget about last Sovereign I see the name once in awhile. Still need to play it and try it. Boy it has alot of tags lol good thing tags mean nothing to me since i'll play anything until I see something I don't like. I don't even look at tags other than to see if it has a harem or not cause im not always in mood for a harem. i need to be in the mood to play a harem as find most harems are hit or miss more often miss if I enjoy them.

 

[raynarnab]

lol I always forget about last Sovereign I see the name once in awhile. Still need to play it and try it. Boy it has alot of tags lol good thing tags mean nothing to me since i'll play anything until I see something I don't like. I don't even look at tags other than to see if it has a harem or not cause im not always in mood for a harem. i need to be in the mood to play a harem as find most harems are hit or miss more often miss if I enjoy them.

I will warn you the prologue plays like a very typical terrible porn game. But then flips it around. It is a slight spoiler but a worthwhile one to mention because people get a very wrong idea about the game based on the prologue.

 

[Birdnman993]

I have, and I also agree with you on most of your points.
However, I went for the "nice" path on Little Regina, and I have to say that the difference is not that much... it changes mostly how intense is the scene you are playing.

So, for example, instead of sodomizing to death a man with a baseball bat, you limit it to gut him out like a pig... but it still is not like you become Mother Theresa and start a forgiving journey by choosing not to let MC's inner monster out.

Earlier this week somebody posted something about a game needing awesome renders for having support, and I think this would be a good example of a game that does not have them, yet still has good support from the community.

The renders/art are average at best, but the story is so good (IMHO) that I oversee that detail because I enjoy the story very much.

One thing that I also love from that game is precisely what I criticized the most from FiN: The MC does evolve by interacting with the several women around him (note I don't say LIs as there are several that are not love interests yet they play an important role in the story). It has a main arc that evolves regardless of the sex scenes (which are very few).

The way the MC gets involved in the relationships with the women around him is also different. While having a common approach (being protective) each situation is different and he addresses each case differently.

I also appreciated that it is one of the few games where any other male than MC is not evil, stupid, gay, impotent, or a combination of the former. There is at least another male there that "gets some" without raping, blackmailing, or having to resort to any corrupt actions, and (to my disappointment) the girl he gets is not even a LI.

There are still a few elements from the story that could use some polishing, but they do not affect the overall direction or the storytelling.

Anyway, that's one of the games I do not wait for 2 or 3 releases to play again, and I keep up to date with its releases.

I took a look at it and you made it look better than it is, the elections are a joke, there are only like 4 before chapter 4 and it boils down to not so bad or very bad, but what bothers me the most is that we have to have than having an affair with the girl in the story, what happens to sociopath murderers with minors? and the girl is also a potential psychopath, it's like in Blackheart Hotel but at least here we only kill bad people, which is the only redeeming point I give to the title.

 

[365 others]

I took a look at it and you made it look better than it is, the elections are a joke, there are only like 4 before chapter 4 and it boils down to not so bad or very bad, but what bothers me the most is that we have to have than having an affair with the girl in the story, what happens to sociopath murderers with minors? and the girl is also a potential psychopath, it's like in Blackheart Hotel but at least here we only kill bad people, which is the only redeeming point I give to the title.

I never said that you had a "good" choice to make there, nor that this was a choice-driven story. I even pointed out that the "good" choice was just a bit more tamed than the other, and the result of both is the same (killing the bad guy), just changing how sadistic the method is.

As per the LIs... I can understand why people don't buy Foxy's role in it. Honestly? I don't quite like her either, but the discomfort she brings is far outweighed by the rest of the cast in the story. She is also required to be able to get to Christa (my favorite one) and Amira.

I could also point out some other holes or points in the plot that could use some polishing/refining, but still, overall I like the story and how all the characters evolve from getting to know each other.