Version Reviewed - 0.71
Art - 3/5
But hold on! Remember that 3/5 is average. Technically it's slightly above average but I digress. The art quality varies quite a bit and generally improves as the game goes on. The character portraits and some action art look a bit rough on the edges, but it's already impressive that it even has illustrated action sequences. Really, it gets quite impressive as it goes on. The dev leans heavily into the goth aesthetic and big ol' head sized titties but if that's what floats your boat there's plenty of it. Sure, I'd love it if there were more images per sex scene, some animations, or even a second pass for character portraits, but those are all very expensive and what's already in the game is perfectly functional.
Gameplay - 2/5
At the end of the day, it is a VN and VNs fundamentally restrict gameplay. That being said, the bad ends are easy to rewind and move past. I cannot say for certain whether or not your choices really affect the story, but I know that there are some scenes that I missed on my first playthrough due to my decisions made early on. There are key decision points along the story that point to having significant impact on the story in the future, but time will tell if that pans out.
Characters - 5/5
A rare breed of game to have a compelling cast and a likable MC. Your choices absolutely matter to his characterization, and he acts rationally and is relatable throughout the events of the game. The female cast is obviously critical to a H visual novel, and I was pleasantly surprised that there were interesting male characters and non-romantic female characters available as well. While not all of the characters have had their time in the spotlight yet, most get some backstory and attention at one point or another. While I was ambivalent on a few, there were none that I found to be "objectively dislikable." I know that's an oxymoron, but I cannot think of a better phrase to describe some of the grating archetypes that too often pop up in games like this.
Story - 5/5
Surprisingly good? Not at all what I was expecting on the tin or even after the first fifteen minutes of playing. There's a few mysteries afoot, some relationship drama, superhero struggles, and even some good ol' fashion class struggle. It's great! Really - well done! My only complaints were two very minor ones - the ability to pursue multiple storylines simultaneously can be a little disjointing. Tiffany and Alice both seem like plotlines of the MC getting in over his head with the wrong crowd out of necessity, for example, but they start at relatively the same time and (so far) in complete isolation. There was a point where I had to decide whether or not to ally with one of them and there was no mention of the fact that, at the end of the day, I would probably be in a better situation if I chose the other girl. The other, minor gripe was that the Evolution during the big showdown was a bit of an ass-pull. Just personal taste, but it felt kinda... anime? Lol. I can excuse it since it was somewhat telegraphed, but still. Deus ex machina and all that.
Sex - 4/5
I need more. In all seriousness though, I hope there's plenty of opportunity for some hard dicking in the future, but I kinda wish there'd been more littered throughout the current content. For the dev's reference, I basically did nothing but train before the Frat Party event, then I did Emily's content + the Gym, then trained some more and then binged all of Alice's content. Only after that did I go back and do the cheer content etc. I was concerned I would lock myself out of certain opportunities if I didn't go all-in on power from the start, but it ended giving me a bit of whiplash between long periods of serious story stuff. Between the early conversations with Ella and the clashes with Jared, I did feel somewhat pressured to play this way.
I think either giving the player more time to explore the daily events or giving a specific, highlighted option to progress "main" storylines would alleviate the issue if it's deemed necessary to do so.
As far as what is there, it's good. Sometimes great! I like the vanilla content, but I'm fine to lean into the bizarre more too, in the future. As much as I dislike Ella, I cannot deny that the opportunity for kinky mischief is at an absolute maximum between two Superhumans.
All in all, it's great. Well worth your time. If you're really against goth stuff, I will give you fair warning that it's extremely prevalent (but then just look at the preview images...) If you're only interested because of the mind control or futa tags, maybe don't bother. It's only in a few scenes so far. Other than that, go at it. I'm crossing my finger that the story doesn't jump the shark as the stakes get ever-higher, but otherwise I'm confident in giving this Superhuman a 5/5 rating.