VN - Ren'Py - STWA: Unbroken [Book 1 Steam] [STWAdev]

I'll begin this review with a warning... I honestly think this AVN isn't for everyone, but maybe not for the reasons one may think.

I actually had completed a playthrough ages ago, and while I thought it's good even back then, it hadn't clicked for me, but after I completed one yesterday, it finally did.

The reason for that is this AVN takes some progressively deeper psychological dives as the story progresses, and if the reader is not in a state of mind to be truly receptive to them, it likely will not touch you and you might end up getting more annoyed at the game and unsatisfied than anything else. The state of mind that works best for this AVN is what I can describe as "ready to study".

You don't know everything the characters went through, including the protagonist. These characters need time to be able to face their pasts before they are ready for the future, and said past might not be done with them just yet.

This AVN is slow, it is complex, it has some repetition and takes its time before it starts revealing itself fully.

It definitely has flaws:
- Animations are definitely not the best.
- Music is damn near absent from the game, as well as sfx of any sort.
- I think the core themes of the game could probably be better presented; at times it almost feels as if the creator of this game is way over his head in what they are trying to accomplish with it to the point one think this might be indeed the case. It is not, but what is presented here could have been maybe a tad easier to digest.
- At points it almost feels like romance in the game tacked on post haste in the last moment because AVNs are expected to have it. Not quite the case, but can almost feel like that. Don't mistake me, it is still good, but at some points you may ask yourself about the MC "why is this mf tryna get laid, he has way bigger goddamn issues".

With all this out of the way, I'm giving it 5 stars regardless because it still does succeed in successfully presenting these psychological dives, and I do think that good writing in this space should be rewarded, and while it didn't click for me initially, when it absolutely did in this latest playthrough of mine, I was hooked.

I can definitely recommend to any AVN fan to at very least try it, or give it another go again at a later point in their lives, because if this AVN does click for you, it's incredible.

It's pretty good in all aspects but holy cow it takes ages to update, it takes so long I always forget it existed cause when the update arrives it takes less than a day to clear, also it's one of those games you can't date all the girls at the same time so on that aspect is a bit bothersome cause it takes multiple playthroughs to check all the content with all the girls.

This is a high quality VN with some minor, vanilla porn along the way.

PROS

• Very good story.
• Extremely good characters with different, deep backgrounds.
• The women are AAA+ quality hot, all of them.
• Only one woman has any hair at all.
• Top notch sensuality, which is super rare in AVNs.
• By the end of book one you cum in almost all of them, and there's no idiotic "oh no I'm pregnant!" or "wow it's unsafe!" As I said before, the sensuality here is outstanding.
• Adult cast acting like adults. No childish nonsense. At all.
• Incredible facial posing, expressions and particularly eyes are best in the business.
• Very good writing and only four or five typos that I noticed.
• Many hours of content, I didn't time it but probably something like ten.
• Feels.

CONS

• Zero effort and unless I missed something big I'm not sure how I couldn't not have had sex with everyone I wanted.
• The breasts are completely malfunctional. There's no gravity on anything, but it's even more odd than usual because of overall visual fidelity;
• In going with that, almost every woman has huge tits, unrealistically proportioned, and it's very weird with the lack of gravity. It's the same we're all used to, but because everything else is of such high quality it's incredibly jarring and unsexy. Even if the rendering software doesn't allow for sag/gravity this would be a very simple photoshop fix or even something to run through AI.
• Unclear narrative. I don't know if this is going to be an MMA story or spy drama with increasing flashbacks. I think it needs to pick one.
• Along with that, there are two antagonists introduced late on--one vague and one not. I dislike both of them because it's unneeded. I very much dislike AVNs or even VNs (or any media) that tack antagonist angles on late and then toneshifts. I dislike media that starts as one thing and takes a right turn. In case I wasn't clear, I dislike this part of the game a great deal. It concerns be about the future.
• No resolution on anything in over four years. I am not a dunce and I know this is book one, but every single one of us on this site has become invested in an AVN only to see the dev lose focus/interest or just ghost entirely. It's actually extremely common. So far all we have is buildup, with more and more plots added as time goes on.
• Ass stuff for literally no reason and with no warning.
• Feels.

Recommend with minor caveats.

This... was a great game for me. A 5 star game does not means it is a flawless game, it just means the game did certain things unexpectedly good despite its flaws.

The Goods:
- Good graphics not 5 star but still good.
- The overall story felt really good, I think the script is better than most AVN.
- Characters are developed well with really interesting back-stories
- Good variation in character design

The Bads:
- The girls are too easy, there does not seems to be a lot of work, I prefer requiring effort to pursue them
- Sex scenes do not have animations and are not that great
- Sex scenes are not too frequent either

Other points:
- This is a slow burn, really slow burn, but it did not felt bad because I feel the writing is good
- While all the girls just throw themselves to the MC, considering the MC is sort of a giant (the height itself makes could make a lot of girls go crazy), and a celebrity makes their behaviour somewhat believable.
- I think it is possible to improve on facial expressions of some characters.

PS: I will let Elspeth dominate my world. Another Red Head Queen for my list.

Story: 9/10
Renders: 10/10
Animation: 7/10
Sound: 1/10
Characters: 10/10

This was a good game. The visuals and character designs are amazing; the animation was average due to this being an old game, I think. Story is kind of a slow burn. I thought it would focus solely on MMA but it turned out to be quite different and likable. It is very hard to choose LI in this. I also liked the characters expression during various scenes
I just didn't understand why the dev didn't bother to put a single sound or music in this game; it would have made the whole game so much better and immersive.
Still, a must-play game; I hope the next part will be more polished.

I've rarely encountered the game that was such a miss with me.

It's got a very, very, very slow situational flow. The characters sit in empty rooms, wander empty halls, walk empty streets, and have long conversations which are presented in the most unappealing way possible.

An illustration is due. I'll make you a storyboard. It's a scene early in the game.

The main character learns that his friend/nemesis has died, and meets with another friend to discuss it.

1. [MC sits in a chair with his mouth open] What a fucking mess
2. [no changes] And poor Viridiana. First her parents, then her grandparents, and now her brother?
3. [no changes] Has anybody told her yet?
4. [MC closes his mouth, another character is speaking] Brent: We didn't have to. She learned the same time as us.
5. [MC opens his mouth] Fucking hell.
6. [MC closes his mouth, another character is speaking] Brent: I can't imagine seeing such fucked up stuff at nineteen.
7. [MC looks away from the camera, thoughtfully, still sitting, in a deep thought]
8. [he opens his mouth and raises his eyebrows a bit ] I can unfortunately...

Like what the actual fuck was that. I abhor every click of the mouse.

Did you notice the flow of information here? It's over-expository and cryptic at the same time. Hey, Viridiana is a sister of a dead man! She's nineteen! She lost: [1] her parents, first, [2] her grandparents, second, [3] her brother, now. What a tragedy. I'm sure the sequence of her losses plays the part in the narrative (really doubt it).

On the other hand, there is a hint of something hidden, something deep, something terrible in the main character's past. He can imagine such a loss, he can understand it. Believe me, it's not the first hint you'll encounter during the first hour of the game. Do you think it's the fourth one? Nah! And maybe in five thousands clicks and thirty hints later I'll learn more!

It simply doesn't work for me — on some visceral level.

But! If you, dear reader, look closely at the storyboard above you may see something interesting. It has three characters: two are present, one is offstage. They are different. One of them can't imagine such a loss. Another one can. There is a third one, and she has her own story-hooks that may be capitalized on later.

There are such hooks for everyone.

Let's take a look at another scene. The main character is in the club, he's having a brief discussion with a woman. She seems vaguely interested in him, they may even kiss to scare off the guy hitting on her.

The main character returns to his friend and they discuss this woman. The main character gives a long rant that this woman is too good for him — she is rich, educated, smart. He knows such women. He is not worthy of her. More than that, he feels intimidated.

The buddy replies: nah, you know shit, my kiddo. She just needs a good man.

Then you, choosing a reply, may tell him to court her himself if he thinks so.

Alright, what do we have her? We actually see a story-hook, the seeds of a character arc. Who is she really, deep down? We have two conflicting interpretations on top of our previous impression. More than that, this conversation isn't just about her. It's also about MC and his vulnerabilities. It's also about his friend, appreciating the beauty from the distance. Does he consider himself unworthy as well? This scene also hints at some branching routes.

Do you know a lot of AVNs which pay so much attention to the characters? I can hardly name five or six.

But I simply can't make myself follow through with this one.

Renders are very high quality and you can tell there was a lot of effort put into this game but, unfortunately, it's just not very interesting. It tries too hard. There is more drama in the first 30 minutes than some better VN put in the whole season. Here you get flashbacks, MMA, girls from the past, military background, tragic disaster, coaching another character etc.etc. It all mixes into some soap opera level bs.
I don't even remember the names of the characters yet, and there is constantly something after something, after something.
"perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove." - and there's plenty to remove from this one.

Absolutely fantastic, the detail of this game is incredible, from the models to the backgrounds, and the UFC references whether in the characters or the dialogues is astounding.
Combat sections feel good and decisions in them are grounded in reality.
Dialogue is fantastic and made me actually want to learn more about the characters pasts and about them.

It is a nice game. As a former amateur MMA fighter, i would like to see more competition, more ring drama, and all the cruel behind the scene details of the sport. And some betrayal too maybe. Former military angle is good to. Death of a close friend, ptsd etc. So when you put all of that together, i am waiting for some shit hits the fan kinda chaos. Some more action maybe. But thats just me... More blood please, it would be nice

Missed potential is my summary of this game. So many authors fall into the same traps that it becomes an Olympic event trying to find a well rounded game.

Yet another author who makes their game barely qualify as an adult title. The game is almost a blueball simulator. For example, one LI will give the MC a blowjob and then it's literal ages before you have any physical intimacy with that LI again. During this long break the LI mostly treats you the same way they did before, like a friend and not a lover. There's plenty of teasing in the game but little actual sex.

Novel - 99% of the game - 4.5 out of 5 stars
Lewd/Porn/Adult content - 0.5% of the game - 1.5 out of 5 stars
Combat sports - 0.5% of the game - 2.5 out of 5 stars

There isn't any music for 98% of the game.

The lewd/sex scenes are terrible, very short, lackluster, uninspiring, and boring.

Combat sports is talked about but in reality very little of the game ends up being about this. The MC trains for combat sports so little that in reality he should lose every fight!

99% of the game plays out like a soap opera. Conversation after conversation, dialog after dialog. All story is done through conversations. 99% of the writing is conversations/dialog. The game does a great job on the novel part but fails miserably on everything else (there are some good choices however that do affect later events).

The renders are above average but the animations are poor. The animations are choppy (low framerate) and overall are below average to poor in quality. Some breasts are oddly shaped and look like someone cut a melon in half and glued it on the girl's chest. Natural breasts aren't shaped this way and it damages immersion. The heads and faces of the character models are done well however.

The novel part of the game is where the game shines. Overall, the writing is good to excellent. The story would be good if more attention was given to the main theme of the game - combat sports. The author is also really good at scene posing, especially with all the different characters in the game.

The game has good characters with fun and playful banter.

If the author would have divided up their time (somewhat equally) between the story, lewd content, and combat sports it would have been a great game! The author seems to only want to write dialog and everything else is barely an afterthought.

I can only recommend the game to those who are just interested in reading a good dialog heavy novel and don't care about anything else. This is a terrible adult title / porn game. Combat sports gets referenced a lot but rarely implemented.

This is your average harem game with a touch of good dialogue and some fun fighting elements. The story is okay and becomes a little boring as it moves along. The renders are a tiny bit above average, but the animations are a tiny bit below average. As you get further along, the animations become better, but also become compressed (the blowjobs and sex scenes are one long scene sometimes showing an ass moving up and down for a few seconds). That aspect busted my nut busting.

Standing on the edge, one step to Mt. Perfection.

When I first started playing AVNs, I promised myself to write a review for every game I got around to playing. Needless to say, that plan didn't last long, what with me diving into more games than I can write a review for or some games being abandoned. But STWA: Unbroken is so good that I just had to come here to write a review about it.

The game has beautiful women. Seriously. The renders of characters have great variety to them, and the change of clothing, hairstyles, facial expressions, etc., adds to the characters' immersiveness. The world of the game feels alive. Different places you explore each intensify your connection with the game. Unbroken's strongest suit, undoubtedly, is its writing. The story, humor, and reality with which the characters and the places of the game are written are simply incredible. STWAdev manages to capture each character's unique traits through writing in dialect (and sometimes even foreign languages such as French and Spanish.) I like to think they took a page out of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in this regard. The pacing of Unbroken complements these aspects. The game and its potential deserve a 5 out of 5 rating, only...

It misses the mark on two critical aspects (at least one objective, and one subjective.) Those are sex scenes and music. The game, as far as I know, does not utilize any sort of music except in a scene or two. As someone who loves getting into different moods, music is a very overlooked and underrated area when it comes to AVNs. As for the sex scenes, it's not the lack thereof that's the problem; it's the quality in which they are presented. The scenes lack any sort of animation and end too quickly. (Seriously, they end REALLY quickly. I guess Valentine's a two-pump chump. /s) I had hoped going further into the game this would change, but it seems that it's a stylistic choice from STWAdev. I'm still holding out that hope even though it's unlikely.

These two drawbacks cannot hold the game back from holding a great place in my head, though. I believe every AVN enjoyer should give Unbroken a chance, as it is truly among the greats.

This review is for ver. 0.7 of the game. Fingers crossed, and I cannot wait to play the future updates!

Really good game with great writing. The animations also get much better over time. The only thing that is kind of weird, is that the "main" LI is kind of weird looking (facial expressions, the corners of the mouth are so unnaturraly far down) and also more uninteresting than most others.

This game actually made me smile. I really did not expect that. The characters are extremely unique but actually have personalities. The writing is articulate, witty and engaging. The renders are fantastic, there is also a lot of content. I would argue despite it not being completed, it's still better than most completed games.

amazing game, amazing build up, pretty good interaction between characters that made you feel the need to take care of the harem, lots of story, and not as punishing if you dont pick the right choices, just play and enjoy the game. The minus is, the music and sound isn't there

I can't rate this enough, just amazing. Fleshed out characters, amazing story, very interesting MC and side characters. 10/10. Wish the STWAdev dropped the second book though. I thought he couldn't make a better 2nd game but I was sorely mistaken. The quality of the models is good too. So far I haven't seen a bad quality at all.

STWA: Unbroken - A Fresh and New Experience for Me

STWA: Unbroken is one of the few visual novels that grabs you from the very start and never lets go. It's more than a game—it's an emotional journey. STWA: Broken left off, this sequel delves into the protagonist's life more deeply, exploring themes such as love, loss, and redemption. A Unique Avn More on the Emotional Side things recommending this if you play for the story not just the sex scenes.

I like a story that allows you to properly get to know the characters, and this does such a good job of that through either flashbacks or just conversation between two people. You can see a real dark side to some of their history as well, and the long-lasting effects things can have on a person’s life and mental health. Unbroken manages to convey all that without the game itself getting bogged down, and I think it’s a great bit of tightrope walking here to pull that off.

My one personal downer is that there’s something about most of the girls that doesn’t work for me. Whether it’s the hair (Amrit, Vi), the balloon tits (Elspeth, Vi), the weird eyes (Jennifer), or something else, I generally found myself loving the girls for who they are, but not liking their looks quite as much. The build-up of relationships is mostly good, and the mechanics are there in the background to show that choices will have consequences, be they good or bad.

Overall, it's a great game to play, and even on a single save (rather than a save for each LI), there’s a lot of content to get through. The graphics look great (with the exception of some of the animations, which I think are sometimes downright terrible), the girls are great (with the caveats in the above paragraph), and it’s definitely one that I’ll look forward to continuing.

- The story is actually pretty good, however, I feel this was not as engaging as the developer's previous job "The author", at least so far (Part 7).

- Overall the writing feels great.

- MC and LIs are great. very well written, well defined personalities.

- The fightings are not that great, you just pick the right choice and win. Feels like a missed opportunity.

- Renders are fantastic, girls look pretty hot (especially Elspeth, only bad thing about her is that she seems to like taking control but that's just my personal preference)

-Animations are not that great, but, they're not terrible either, I'd say the're average.

- 95% of the game has no sound/music, the other 5% being the main menu and when MC goes to nightclubs. And that's a shame because I think the right choice of music could enhance the experience a lot.

So, overall, I think this game is an 8/10, slightly better than "the author" for now. This AVN has a lot of potential to be better, I mean, the hard part (story and writing) is almost already done, there are just some details to improve, specially the music.