Recommending Story-first games

[Canto Forte]

Oh .. yes, honey ... this is where we talk about your dirty laundry:
Babe: (Giggling) You are funny, sweetie. These are from the sleep over. I wore them only last night, on my head, I might add, they still smell of conditioner.

Q:Will this Gemini game be a gender bender ”choose your orientation” social experiment?

A:There will be the story portion of the Michael path and story scenes for the Trisha path.

 

[Tlaero]

I'll have to replay it. I remember a very different ending, with the witch fleeing away.

There were around 10 different endings in Saving Chloe. In the Canon one, though, everyone worked together to defeat Morland and Crow, and Xara took them through the portal to their original universe. One of the text short stories in the Ominbus shows what happens after that.

There are a couple of places in the main games where we see Crow again in flashback.

Tlaero

 

[365 others]

There were around 10 different endings in Saving Chloe. In the Canon one, though, everyone worked together to defeat Morland and Crow, and Xara took them through the portal to their original universe. One of the text short stories in the Ominbus shows what happens after that.

There are a couple of places in the main games where we see Crow again in flashback.

Tlaero

Is there any guide or walkthrough for it? I remember playing by ear and it wasn't easy to get to an ending. Too many times I got one of the dead ends (bad ending, I guess?) because I had screwed with a previous choice.

 

[Beduin123]

Where?
Is that literal? If it is, can you link it here? I want to subscribe maybe.

Or are you saying that as a hypothetical? In the sense that it theoretically should exist somewhere and if not, hypothetically it would exist in the future.

The biggest direct advantage of this thread's discoverability to me, is the name. The name is so succinct, "story-first games". If I ever search for a thread title from f95 search bar, or straight from google, something along the line of this thread's title would be the keywords I use.
So I never try searching on google or on the search bar for an alternative place for this thread ever.

The biggest direct advantage of reading this thread to me is that game developers post here regularly. One of my big interest is reading the perspective of these game devs. Off the top of my head, i can name at least 6 devs and I don't read all the pages from 2022, I skip around a lot, so there has to be more than these 6 devs that I remember.

More place as a reference where people can discuss stories is great for me cuz then I can get more recommendations.
So if you find other places, let me know

That way I can check devs posts from here, and I can check recommendations from both places

Well, at least I know a similar thread exists on the other site. Also, lots of good recommendations can be found in Reddit forums. What for the game Devs, they can be even more often found in the threads dedicated to their respective games. All my favorite story-driven games I found elsewhere, not from this particular thread. Anyway, I'm going to unwatch this thread now, I don't like hypocrisy, self-righteousness and censorship

 

[moskyx]

Is there any guide or walkthrough for it? I remember playing by ear and it wasn't easy to get to an ending. Too many times I got one of the dead ends (bad ending, I guess?) because I had screwed with a previous choice.

There's a section in the wiki for walkthroughs

You must be registered to see the links

 

[EndlessNights]

EndlessNights, can i ask why Superhuman has it's own separate thread discussion?
What happen with just talking on the main thread?

Yeah, something similar to what happened with Our Red String happened to Superhuman too. There was a massive purge of posts in the main thread which many posters, including me, felt was unjustifiable. At the very least, a good number of on-topic and high quality posts definitely got swept up in it. A mod created Superhuman Off-Topic and some of the best posters largely migrated there. As a result, you'll find that a lot of the discussion there is actually about the game despite the "off-topic" part of the title though all kinds of other subjects are also discussed. In fact, it's a good place to discuss games in general whether they are adult or not. In particular, DrakoGhoul, ItzSyther, Gtdead, and Emmitudo all write some really good game analysis from time to time.

If you're looking for recs that might or might not be story-first, you could certainly find some there or on the Lesbian Protagonist Games List or on the Summer's Gone Off-Topic thread. All are good threads in my view.

Also, from your view, has Superhuman reach at least 50% completion?
I'm running out of renpy game to play and it's about time to dive into backlog

Yes, the game is actually not that far from being done according to the dev so it's well past the 50% mark. However, this announcement has been a source of some consternation to the fan base as we mostly feel there's much more story and lore left to explore. That said, it's already quite a long game by VN standards and there will likely be a few more updates before the end. WeirdWorld intends to do a sequel to the game eventually, but hopefully we'll get a satisfying conclusion to Superhuman with no cliffhangers or any glaring hanging threads.

 

[365 others]

There's a section in the wiki for walkthroughs

You must be registered to see the links

Very nice Wiki! I'll give it a run every game again now with the walkthrough to see what I missed from the other options and possible endings.

 

[jufot]

Gemini is out on

You must be registered to see the links

now! It should show up here in a few days.

 

[FatGiant]

I just finished playing ep.04 of New Antioch and wanted to read your views of it.

I liked the mix of cultures. The Codex is a great help. The story is quite good. Great characters all around. And even if it has a scene that I would truly prefer it wasn't there, I can see it's value and reason (that doesn't make me like it, but allows me to tolerate it).

Peace

 

[vneotpolemus]

Against my better judgment, I decided to check out Summer's Gone for the first time in years.

Never has an AVN left me with such mixed emotions.

SG is the very definition of a hot mess. The hottest, messiest mess you can imagine. Ocean is planning 30+ chapters and averaging one a year. He's simultaneously developing an entire other game that serves as a prequel. Every update introduces new characters and new sub plots. The list of 'planned' love interests is in constant flux. The models are in constant flux. The first two chapters have been entirely redone. The MC lives with a "landlady" and "roommate". Roughly 15% of the game is a pointless D&D sequence!

Then you get moments like

You must be registered to see the links

that are light years ahead of anything else in the AVN world. And it's not just the visuals. There's build up to those parts. There's emotion. There's characterization. Worse it's getting better despite the developmental chaos. The redone chapters actually make the game less porny, not more. Shit, the mere fact that it somehow manages to have an MC with erectile dysfunction without making the whole thing a bad joke is a sign that something unusual is going on.

If Ocean could just tame his ambition a little he could make something brilliant. But if he was the kind of person to do that he wouldn't be working on a crazy passion project like this.

 

[365 others]

I just finished playing ep.04 of New Antioch and wanted to read your views of it.

I liked the mix of cultures. The Codex is a great help. The story is quite good. Great characters all around. And even if it has a scene that I would truly prefer it wasn't there, I can see it's value and reason (that doesn't make me like it, but allows me to tolerate it).

Peace

I've been on the edge of playing it or not. On one side, I see it has only 4 versions and barely 1 year since its first release (at least here), but on the other side, I see many good opinions and reviews of it.

How much content would you say it has, in read/game play time?

 

[FatGiant]

I've been on the edge of playing it or not. On one side, I see it has only 4 versions and barely 1 year since its first release (at least here), but on the other side, I see many good opinions and reviews of it.

How much content would you say it has, in read/game play time?

I played it quite slowly, but it took several hours. If you read the Codex thoroughly, think about the options (as you should) it is long enough to be satisfying, not long enough to be tiring. IMO.

Peace

 

[FatGiant]

Against my better judgment, I decided to check out Summer's Gone for the first time in years.

Never has an AVN left me with such mixed emotions.

SG is the very definition of a hot mess. The hottest, messiest mess you can imagine. Ocean is planning 30+ chapters and averaging one a year. He's simultaneously developing an entire other game that serves as a prequel. Every update introduces new characters and new sub plots. The list of 'planned' love interests is in constant flux. The models are in constant flux. The first two chapters have been entirely redone. The MC lives with a "landlady" and "roommate". Roughly 15% of the game is a pointless D&D sequence!

Then you get moments like

You must be registered to see the links

that are light years ahead of anything else in the AVN world. And it's not just the visuals. There's build up to those parts. There's emotion. There's characterization. Worse it's getting better despite the developmental chaos. The redone chapters actually make the game less porny, not more. Shit, the mere fact that it somehow manages to have an MC with erectile dysfunction without making the whole thing a bad joke is a sign that something unusual is going on.

If Ocean could just tame his ambition a little he could make something brilliant. But if he was the kind of person to do that he wouldn't be working on a crazy passion project like this.

I've played and replayed SG so many times that sometimes I doubt reality. While I prefer straight up Harem games. Something in SG pulls me in, and in, and in... I'm a 60 year old retired man, but, when I play SG, I go back to my teens, I remember feeling things like that. I remember loving like that. It resonates inside me.

I've had to remove SG from my PC. Because I was bordering on obsessing about it. It is, along with LoF, one of the few games that made me cry real tears.

Yeah, I get you.

Peace

 

[Dessolos]

Against my better judgment, I decided to check out Summer's Gone for the first time in years.

Never has an AVN left me with such mixed emotions.

SG is the very definition of a hot mess. The hottest, messiest mess you can imagine. Ocean is planning 30+ chapters and averaging one a year. He's simultaneously developing an entire other game that serves as a prequel. Every update introduces new characters and new sub plots. The list of 'planned' love interests is in constant flux. The models are in constant flux. The first two chapters have been entirely redone. The MC lives with a "landlady" and "roommate". Roughly 15% of the game is a pointless D&D sequence!

Then you get moments like

You must be registered to see the links

that are light years ahead of anything else in the AVN world. And it's not just the visuals. There's build up to those parts. There's emotion. There's characterization. Worse it's getting better despite the developmental chaos. The redone chapters actually make the game less porny, not more. Shit, the mere fact that it somehow manages to have an MC with erectile dysfunction without making the whole thing a bad joke is a sign that something unusual is going on.

If Ocean could just tame his ambition a little he could make something brilliant. But if he was the kind of person to do that he wouldn't be working on a crazy passion project like this.

Yeah for me Summers Gone is a game I play for the characters not the story

 

[MalkavianVamp]

Played https://f95zone.to/threads/dungeon-days-v0-065-buba.135334/
Cliched but enjoyable due to characters and cliffhanger was.........

 

[Hildegardt]

Then you get moments like

You must be registered to see the links

that are light years ahead of anything else in the AVN world. And it's not just the visuals.

TBH about the visuals, though: Never played the game, so the only thing I know about it is that it's apparently "not a porn game", as the fans very passionately claim. But when I look at the preview pics, I can't help thinking that there are unapologetic porn games out there with less porn-brained visuals than SG.

 

[jufot]

But when I look at the preview pics, I can't help thinking that there are unapologetic porn games out there with less porn-brained visuals than SG.

SG is definitely designed to get you ogling as many girls as possible, as frequently as possible. It wants to be perceived as higher-minded, but it isn't.

As I understand it, the recent removal of NSFW scenes was less about authorial intent, and more about making sure the Steam release could proceed without an adult-only restriction.

 

[yossa999]

TBH about the visuals, though: Never played the game, so the only thing I know about it is that it's apparently "not a porn game", as the fans very passionately claim. But when I look at the preview pics, I can't help thinking that there are unapologetic porn games out there with less porn-brained visuals than SG.

I know, right? Even with the complete lack of sex scenes, it still looks more erotic than most of the intercourse simulators called AVN on this site. When people say it's not a porn game, they only mean that it's not a porn game, not that it will never have any lewd scenes. The essence of the game is different from porn, it is not about how the MC copulated with different girls with a detailed demonstration of each sexual act. At the same time, I think neither the author nor the fans of the game ever denied that the main characters are young people, so love, flirt, relationships and sex are very important parts of their lives and the author in no way leaves these topics aside.

And as Jufot fairly noted, the decision to make the first season completely nsfw is more of a trade-off decision by the author than the logic of the plot. I won't go into detail about this decision; they were discussed many times in the game thread and explained by the author. But before the release of the last, fifth chapter of the first season, the author steadily increased the tension between the MC and some of the main girls, so most of the audience expected a culmination in the last chapter of the season, perhaps not a sex scene, but something close to it. But with the release of the beta version of the last chapter of the season 1, released with the parital reworks of the first two chapters, he significantly softened the erotic side of the story and removed the most explicit scene.

This infuriated part of the audience and resulted in a bunch of one-star reviews. And some even started shouting that this is a scam, this is not a porn game as it should be, it doesn't belong to this site and it should be removed. And I completely agree with the last part.

The only problem is that with the next season the author will not have such nsfw restrictions and I hope he will not rush into lewds right off the bat.

 

[365 others]

SG is definitely designed to get you ogling as many girls as possible, as frequently as possible. It wants to be perceived as higher-minded, but it isn't.

As I understand it, the recent removal of NSFW scenes was less about authorial intent, and more about making sure the Steam release could proceed without an adult-only restriction.

I've seen it as highly recommended. What is keeping me from trying is the length of the VN. As FatGiant's said, Ocean seems to be quite ambitious, but he seems to be aiming rather too high.
I hate getting invested in an excellent story just to be left hanging, and since it would take him easily a decade to complete it, I'm quite hesitant to start reading something that might be extremely good but that is also very likely to get abandoned.

 

[jamdan]

I played SG when it first came out, when Ocean was having his friend make the renders for it.

But I eventually dropped it, and Ocean's other game too, Where it All Began, for the same reasons.

Ocean is his own worst enemy. He's reworked things so many times and both games have a huge scope. And those things combined means there is basically a 0% chance he'll actually finish either one of them. I doubt he'll even get halfway. You can search for my posts in the WIAB thread, things I said years ago are still true the last time I checked. He's a pretty hardcore perfectionist.

As for the writing/story. For me, both games try to be "story first". But I feel his interpretation of story first basically boils down to not having NSFW content. Because to me, his actual writing is too melodramatic and he reworks things so much you can pretty easily get things confused.