VN - Ren'Py - Straight!? [Revamp v0.10.1] [Aaryn]

Easily the best adult gay vn. A must for anyone interested in these types of games. This visual novel has a very meaningful story that touches upon a variety of interesting topics; self-acceptance/discovery/hatred, sexuality and so much more. Although the pacing of this visual novel is slower compared to many others. It allows the viewer to gain a deeper sense of immersion and understanding of the story's complex characters and themes.

Minimum vulgarity. Just a beautiful story about two people who were supposed to meet.
I received a lot of emotions and thoughts. ..
I played the original version, the revamp became even more enjoyable, a lot of details appeared and, finally, the soundtrack))
Where's my "roommate"?

I love this game so much and was so sad to be abruptly stopped by a screen that read "to be continued..." after the 3rd chapter. I cannot WAIT until more chapters are out, I love the storyline and graphics and am so excited to see where it goes. Thank you so much for your content!!

The best VN and one of the best games overall I've ever seen. Excelent story, deep characters with many layers, good healthy humor in right places. And originally good visual became even better in revamp.

Revamp v0.04.2 + Original through Epilogue

The best VN that I have played.

Pros

• Not a Harem VN

A school setting is a trope for the MC to fuck everything in sight, with a regular stream of new targets added to keep the audience coming back for more. This side steps the trope and sticks telling a story rather than a fuckathon.

• Two Lead Characters

Zack is the MC who the player sees and experiences things through. It would be insulting to call Braden a LI. The story doesn't pack the punches if Braden isn't developed in parallel to Zack. The best example probably is The Pool Scene. The scene doesn't have the impact if Braden's issues with water weren't slowly peeled back, or the recent beach scene prior to it. The shower part of The Pool Scene doesn't have the impact if Braden along with Zack had not been developed in certain ways prior to it.

By avoiding the Harem trope, Aaryn tightly focused on two characters which allowed the LI to be developed into a co-lead character as right as the MC. The story would not have worked as well without that.

• Two Main Supporting Characters

It goes deeper than the focus on two leads. There are two supporting characters that chew up more than 95% of the time spent on or with supporting characters. The focus allows them to develop as characters, for their relationships with the leads to grow, and for them to have more impact.

In the Discussion thread, Aaryn metioned that people didn't initially like Mikhail as they saw him as a threat to Zackden. That got a laugh out of me as it is exactly what I felt. Then Mikhail became a mentor and rock for Zack, or perhaps better put, we all began to see that is what Mikhail was intended to be. Over time when Mikhail had a talk with Zack, offered some advice, or was there to listen, it had more impact that there was one rock for him rather than spilling his guts about different items to different characters that happened to be at hand.

Mom Fucker / Max started as a joke that was so annoying that you wanted him to Get The Fuck out of the game. Over time he developed into a complex, strange, funny, fucked up and impactful character. Who would have thought.

Mikhail and Max don't have the impact they do if Aaryn had a half dozen supporting characters to split that time with. Each with being a favorite with different elements of the fanbase that needs to be serviced with each supporting character needing their hero/impact moments. The collection of characters would either have been half baked, or extra time spent developing a half dozen supporting characters at the expense of the primary Zackden story.

Two decisions to tightly focus on a pair of leads and a pair of supporting characters greatly improve the story. It is almost a form of self editing by a writer, which not many do and few pull it off as well.

• Ash

A sign of how great is Ash as a character: reading the Discussion thread backwards, at a certain point it is just Ash. Whatever came before is simply subsumed into Ash and that's what we know him as. We just go with it as more is peeled back.

His impact is so strong, his development so deftly handled, that there is no moment in the VN that choked me as much as the Bus Stop Moment. A lot of other moments choked me up, but that one did the most.

• Avoids the Break Up Trope

When Zack & Braden have their first rough spot, 99 out of 100 would have Zack go hook up with Mikhail or someone else. It would be an excuse to transition into a Harem VN. Braden would accepting it once they got back together and Zack got around to telling Braden that he was fucking other people. 98 out of 100 would eventually have a threesome with Braden and the new LI.

This didn't for a moment head in that direction. Thank god.

• Artwork

It felt like effort was put into the variety of facial expressions, especially when Zach and Braden were talking and interacting. It is impossible for a game as long as this with as much dialogue as it has not to recycle a lot of basic facial art. This felt like attention was given to facial changes at different beats in conversations to a degree that it regularly felt fresh. As so much was story and conversation driven, that was a big positive.

Could Be Improved

• Clunky Early Game Play

Aaryn has often acknowledged this. It is greatly improved in the Revamp. Really this could be improved is one he is dealing with/dealt with. A backdoor positive.

• Jock Strap 1 & Jock Strap 2

Jock Strap 1 has a place as athletic underwear under the singlet, and as a tease towards Zack. It gets overplayed as Braden's regular underwear under everything.

Jock Strap 2 is horrible. I don't feel the tease element improves on Jock Strap 1, which already lost its impact by that point. It is worse as it becomes Braden's underwear for the rest of the story. It looks bad, no one would wear it under regular clothes or even the singlet, and the jock aspect is already played out. Just awful, and often distracting in a not-good way because it's so unrealistic.

Braden's boxers and briefs were fine. I thought he looked the best/hottest in the boxers, but the briefs had a purpose as a change in wear and there probably are people who think he looks hotter in those.

It would have been much better to get through Jock Strap 1, skip Jock Strap 2 entirely, and get back to boxers and briefs. I wouldn't want a thong in the place of JS2 given Braden's body issues. Keep the initial JS1 scenes to get the tease aspect, and get back to normal everyday underwear.

Sorry if I ran that one into the ground. I don't have any real negatives about the VN, so picked the one thing that annoyed me the most.


Sequel / Spinoff

Please no sequel or spinoff.

This tells the story that needs to be told. The endings are perfect, whether one picks Chapter 10 as the real end, or views the Epilogue as the real end.

I am an Epilogue person as the two have laid their souls bare to one another so much in the story that they warrant being together at the end.

What happens after the end of the VN? Who knows. They are college freshmen, soon-to-be college sophmores, who are in love for their first times. Straight, gay or bi, how many of us are still with our first love, or who we were with our freshman year in college? That is one of the beauties of the VN: it leaves the future open to the reader.

A sequel removes that beauty.

None of that isn't something Aaryn hasn't already written. Just want to encourage him to stick to his initially guns on there - the story is inspired and excellent, landing well in its close.

Some people suggest a sequel, such as Ash in the setting he is off too. Ash is perfect as he is with a finish that one never would have expected when first meeting him. His future lives on far better in our own minds to navigate.

A lot of us impulsively would like to see more of the hotty Cody. There is something wonderful about a minor character that floats through the story as minor, has limited impact, never is pulled into a harem, yet sticks with us because visually he is cute as hell while not doing anything sexy or sexual. That wonderful aspect would be lessened if we had a spinoff that invest as much time in Cody as we saw with Zach and Braden.

Rather than a spinoff or sequel, I am happy to wait for a new story by Aaryn that comes from the heart to the degree that this one did. This is a very personal story. To mix two metaphors, I would rather see him push himself to mine a new vein when inspired than going back to the same well.

Highly recommended.

Although I occasionally find Zack's overthinking habit annoying, I must admit some of the things he said are relatable, profound, and thought provoking. Would make some nice quotes

I just completed the original, took Pervy Route, and it's been a hell of emotional rollercoaster. All of the characters are so well written and I can't help but start caring for them. The lack of music doesn't really help and I just felt so lonely when everybody left Zack near the end of the game

The beginning is a little tedious to read, likely due to how repetitive the days are. But at the same time, I find it nice to pick up conversation topics to explore during dinner in cafetaria to find out more Braden. I hope you will still incorporate that bit in the revamp at least

I have only finished the Pervy Route, so I'm not sure how different things would be in Respect Route near the end of the game, but I'm a little bit sad that Cody doesn't appear as much. I thought because he's advertised quite some, he would have more significance at the end. He practically disappears after confronting Ernie. I really like Cody and I wish he could be the final official member of the gang though, even if he is the only straight guy in the group

And everybody could really also use a Mikhail and Ash in our lives

I've commented a few times on this game, over on Itch.IO but I wanted to comment on here as well. The first time I played this was probably close to two years ago, and I couldn't stop until I hit the end of the game at the time. The writing was told so well, the characters so fleshed out, the renders done well.

The way you weave the story, hitting every emotion is done in a masterful way. I felt the turmoil and lust and happiness the characters went through in this game. I felt the passion you have to tell this story in every chapter of this game. Very few games in general, let alone a VN, tells a story and makes me feel as much as this game did.

I feel like for any young person out there, this can serve as a reference that you are perfect the way you are and to not judge things before you experience them. It also serves as a guide to love yourself the way you are and to be forgiving with yourself when things don't go your way. This really captures a lot of the struggles of real life, coming to terms with your insecurities, trying to find out who you are, and deal with the social anxieties we all have.

As a bisexual man this speaks a lot to me and I felt myself sympathizing a lot with Zack and understanding a lot of his struggles. When I first started playing every chapter kept ramping up and I was dreading the time that I would hit the point of "To Be Continued"...I just couldn't stop playing because I was encapsulated by the story more and more. The ending definitely didn't disappoint either. I really wish for this story to continue at some point, but understand if you wanted to move on to another project.

I haven't played the revamp version yet, but I am excited to play this amazing story again. I don't know what you have planned in the future, but we definitely need to see more from storytellers such as yourself. The gay community especially needs more VN's and stories in general out there like this one.

The way you try and respond to most posts/comments on multiple different sites is again something that I must commend you on. I haven't seen a dev with half the amount of commitment you have to not only making your game the best it can be, but also giving back to the community by being active and responding to so many comments.

I can't wait to see what you have in store for the future.

Very impressive for all the reasons everyone has mentioned, but also.. not much of a game, right? All the choices you can make feel very irrelevant, so there is not much to do other than read. (for example, you can choose the order of questions but you still
Also the beginning kinda has a more pervy aproach to the story than the content that come after, which might give the wrong idea of the purpose of the game (like, breaking the wall in the showers).
But love the sex scenes, the characters, the visuals, even the background music!

Incredibly well-crafted VN - I laughed and got genuinely emotional at times, the characters feel lived-in, and the romance/sex scenes are amazing. This might be the best VN I've ever seen, no joke. Choices affect outcomes, the story is compelling, and the relationship is captivating. Honestly can't rate this highly enough.

This is basically one of the best visual novels I've ever played. The story is kind, heartwarming and cute without leaving to address the sad and hard part of self discovery and growing up. I loved every part of it and will probably play again after my heart recover from the emotional roller coaster that is the finale.

This visual novel is the STANDARD. Definitely a must read story. With great plot and descriptive writing, this is a nice way to kill time without any guilt of wasting a second in reading this. I find comfort in these relatable characters, knowing their experiences have some similarities to mine, i think that's why i become more attached to the story more than i realized.

Greatest Game ... Top writing! I fear when he finish the story ! The game starts slow with nudes, but you will read and read and you feel with the guys. Don´t know how to wait for the new chapter. I instant miss them after finish the game. Hope for the next chapter to come.

v0.20.5

Really nice to find some queer content on here. It's a college VN about the MC and his new roommate exploring college and their relationship. The writing can be uneven at times but I found the erotic parts well crafted, and overall it's a pretty solid VN.

Never thought I would be so emotional playing a VN like this. It's AMAZING. Everyone involved in this game needs to be congratulated. I see myself mostly in Zack and Mikhael, and both of them have really made me tear up sometimes. The writing is incredible and I can't wait for the next chapter!

One of the two best adult games I've ever played. The sexual scenes are relatively sparse, especially in earlier chapters, but its primary value lies in the beautifully written intelligent story, depicted via superb dialogue and wonderfully posed and rendered images (the latter increasing in quality throughout the game).

This is deep literature in VN porn form, recommended for anyone with experience of navigating the nature of their sexuality or otherwise open to the tragedies and ecstasies of love's roller coaster.

just started playing a few hours ago.
ngl i wasnt expecting much from a VN game and im not into twink bottom (or so i thought)
but after a few hours im very impressed, the writing is GREAT..
i wasnt expecting that i can relate so much to the main character... like this hits home so hard (was in a tennis club tho back in HS not swimming)
and i feel like branden is gettin hotter and hotter, need a better haircut too tho
im actually hooked now, so 5 stars for you. dont let this game die. ty ♥

Love this game, one of the best stories I have seen, and the images are really hot. The character development, and progression through the story are impressively written and really fun to go through. For sure one of my favorite adult games I have played. Really looking forward to the next update.

I went into this expecting a fairly standard porn game based on the college 'exploring your sexuality' trope that is relatable to so many of us. Since its difficult to find quality gay content I was excited by the screen shots. I didn't expect to get absolutely sucked into the story and emotionally invested in the character development. While it may be a slower burn than I originally expected, this turned out to completely blow away my expectations. Its exactly what I needed when I didn't know I needed it.

I just have no words enough for this game, I'm in love like with all my heart. (I'm finishin yet sooo, i'll do a better review latter) But for now, it just, touch my heart in so different ways that I'm afraid to get to the end. I could just play this game again and again. It is just sensitive, passionate, hot, beautiful.

I love this game. I didn’t appreciate the characters from the beginning but like every beautiful story I fell in love with their flaws until the end. The story is beautifully written, and it makes you live moment by moment leading to growing excitement, romance, intrigue and many other feelings. It’s just beautiful I cried several times like a little girl held in suspense like a violin string. Bravo bravo bravo