VN - Ren'Py - TableTop BornStar [v0.7] [Basilicata]

Amazing game. Wow. This is my first time rating in f95zone.
Fantastic art and animation. I didn't expect this good. game is not like in any other game. This is without a doubt one of the must fun experiences

A very solid game.

The biggest drawback for me personally is that I'm not sure the board game mechanic is a good mechanic, since it's such a core pillar of the experience that it's even mentioned in the title, that's a bit of an issue.

There's one other game with somewhat similar mechanics out there, with a girl wanting to get married, and I think it managed to incorporate this whole tabletop angle in a superior fashion. In TTBS, I went through tree phases. In the first phase, hardly anything happened on the board, and it was just a stats grind where I was at the mercy of where the dice took me. In the second phase, there were quite a few events on the board (not on the same day, mind you), but whether I could trigger them depended on the luck of the dice. In the final phase, hardly anything happened on the board, and I was back to grinding stats.
Speaking of stats, they're implemented in the worst kind of way, with open ceiling stats you grind without ever knowing how far you need to take the grinding. And apart from those singular events, nothing happens in the board game phase of each round/day, you just visit the same places and pick the same options. Only after the day concluded, sometimes there's a new mini story told in the day's synopsis phase, sometimes there is not.
The point being, the board game phase is mostly boring and feels a tad superficial.

Now, on to the story itself, it's decent enough in my opinion (everything is far from finished, of course, this being a wip), varied characters which come across as reasonably believable in the scenarios featuring them.
It's still a game of it's genre, mind you, but does a very good job not being too "out there". Definitely a plus in my book.
With the caveat that the boardgame phases make everything feel a little bit disjointed.

The art is probably not everyone's cup of tea, but a tremendous upgrade to the authors last game (and I didn't think it was terrible there either, it's just much improved now - hats off to you Basilicata.
I, for one, quite like the style, another plus for me. Animations are limited, but well realized as far as the engine allows, and there's many little details that improve the overall feel of the game. Good stuff.

The AI voicovers are a big of a mixed bag, as is the music, but I felt it fit the mood of the game well, no complaints there.

Final verdict, a good game with the potential to become a great one.
And a definitive improvement to the already solid previous title.
Hope this one reaches the finish line and we'll see further games by this author down the line.

Very fun game!! Its pretty lite-hearted, optimistic, and a generally 'happy story' with a fairly unique concept (managing one or more rising stars). The MC doesn't feel like a goody-goody, a total tool, a chad, or anything else that would get in the way of emphasizing with him. There is a romantic thread that feels pretty sweet and actually kinda pulls you in.

So, pros:

* The graphics are good (you can see them) and show a lot of consistency of that quality level. They're not 'I'm gonna print them out and post them to a wall behind a frame' but just about everything gets a graphic and they're nice

* Engaging - I actually played all the way through tot he end of the version (0.6) and it sucked me in with the 'one-more-turn' syndrome

* Fun characters - each feels fairly unique (at least the main-ish ones) and you kinda wanna see how all of them play out

* Good story - you really feel like you're watching the rise of a career - between the early points (just side-jobs) to casting calls, to a red-carpet party and a stage debut. There's an 'evil antagonist' that you wanna stick it to and some side-romance characters for both the MC and the Rising Star, all the while not really feeling like NTR (though some cheating on the MC's part is available)

The meh..

* The board-game style really encourages save-scumming. You have an incentive to hit every landmark at least once per go-around (its what 'maybe' triggers something to happen), there are minimum values for some options (and its very hard to 'go back and redo' if you're under them so you kinda wanna just maximize them on every go-around to get the 'hot / good scenes', with no real incentive to be under those values / no alternate 'hot scenes because your numbers were low'), the possible rolls vary greatly, and there is little control beyond 1-2 re-rolls allowed per go-around. Something like 'fate-dice' or earning skills to manipulate the rolls more specifically would've really helped

* There are finite save-slots... 4 instead of the normal 6 renpy per page, and 25 pages max instead of the renpy 'infinite'. Just... kind of a strange choice, not really sure why a limit was fixed. Especially as the game doesn't seem to have a gallery-unlock mode to go back to your fave unlocked scenes and re-watch them, and the afore-mentioned issue of scenes being hidden behind 'minimum values' that you may need to go back and try to re-do (tedious, but more tedious then restarting - the game is too long to play more then once-through per version)

* Hot stuff.. there's totally some, its hot, but its kinda brief and intermittent, to the point where it almost surprises you when it happens. Feels like the game could really benefit from more 'sexy random events', especially early on, especially as some rounds nothing-happens (even if you hit every key spot) which feels like a let-down

* Summary-only events.. I kinda get it but it leaves you with a bit of unnecessary trepidation of waiting to get to the end to see if 'anything fun happened'. It might be nicer to just have events happen as you hit them on the board instead of breaking up the experience

* Dance animation... ok, its pretty funny, I'll give it that, especially the Star's initial dancing moves. Not 'hot' funny, just.. oh renpy animation... oh my... The effort is cute

* The 'spoiled' mechanic, and some others (like 'luck') are fairly poorly explained (what gets it, what risks it, what loses it, how to improve things). The 'spoiled' part especially stands out because plots can strongly hinge on Star's state there, but she'll just suddenly jump to spoiled from a single seemingly innocuous choice, and it becomes really hard (and confusing) to change it back

* The 'jealousy' flag is also a bit weird... I get it.. but also slightly weird given the Star plays around with various girls and no one bats an eye over it. And especially at high corruption it feels like open-relationships / poly would become a possible path where she wouldn't be 'jealous' anymore..

* Hard to tell when some stories drop off or what retriggers them. Some things happen and then just... stop. Eg. the fight ring plot, the porn store plot. Others change suddenly and end plots - like the job at the bistro when the character takes the stripper job (feels like she could work both). Feels like the game might benefit for a button that will let you know which stories are still playing out in [this version] and what the triggers might be for those plots to continue (is it on specific turns, do you need to reach certain values, is there a randomness component and what impacts it...).

Anyway. Overall yea, totaly try it out, support it, its one of the more unique games on here, and I'm curious to see more!

Holy shit this game is amazing.

Would appreciate the ability to see the hidden stats; the pathways are too obscured and not easily re-approached if you've made an unknowing misstep but man, what a fantastic game in every other way.

Fantastic art and animation, wonderfully period correct world design, rewarding and dramatic gameplay loop, perfectly curt and meaningful dialogue, GREAT characters, believable corruption of a well thought out and properly explored subject and just a fun idea all around.

Begging for a slutty path that includes implants/extreme bimbofication in future updates. If she can become a porn star, let's make her the most porn-stariest porn star ever.

I love the implant details in the art BTW, you can clearly see the (admittedly small) implants in some of these worn out sluts and it's awesome. So many little details like that.

tl;dr: fresh formula and setting, quite unique art style and well written, slow corruption - absolutely worth a try.

Whenever I come across a game with good writing and a sensible and coherent plot, I almost feel obliged to leave a review. This is such a case.

I was somewhat surprised to be honest, the concept seems odd at first glance and the art style is not like in any other game. However, you get used to both the unusual gameplay, as well as the way characters are portrayed quickly.
It is an immersive game, the dialogue usually does not overstay its welcome and the gameplay is quite fast paced all things considered. This cannot be said about the corruption of the main LI, which I welcome. It is a slow burn, realistic (for a porn game) and feels natural and authentic with the gameplay loop.
Sure, ideally you want to save scum to not end up bankrupt by round 5 like probably most players that try a run for the first time. But I think in this case it's fine, I feel like the game allows for the player to choose their "difficulty" by allowing to save and load whenever (great renpy integration) so I would say it's by concept.
Sex scenes are thrown in here and there, at the current build (0.57) there is some hot and wet action with MJ included as well, which is satisfying.

The only thing I wish would be improved is transparency. I am not sure what exactly influences whether MJ is becoming spoiled, friendly etc. (how many routes/personalities are there?) There are pop ups that tell me that I am on a certain route, but at no point is there an explanation or hint what routes there are or what influences them. At some point I have been told that I am now on the MJ Reserved route. I don't really know what that means, as on the board it still says Spoiled. Is her demeanor going to be more reserved now, as apposed to open and adventurous? Have I "reserved" her for myself, as in a monogamy route? What does the star mean next to their Spoiled/Friendly status? Can there be more stars? What exact influence does the raise in expenses have after a shopping tour? Is she going to be more spoiled and bratty? Will the (hidden) love stat decrease when I object?
I'm not asking to have everything explained by the dev beforehand, I just feel like there are too many unknowns and at least some aspects of the background mechanics should be mentioned and hinted at before they suddenly appear. I like for example that after some time there is an overview of some stats on the PC monitor.
After finishing the current build the dev actually explains a very important point on how we can influence MJ by our decisions, I feel like this could have been hinted at a little earlier, since it would have obviously made me rethink certain decisions.

In summary, this was an enjoyable game with a surprisingly catchy soundtrack and likeable characters and an engaging story. Even the AI voices that seemed cringe in the beginning grew on me, I feel like it's a smart idea to have included those. They are actually less cringe than most amateur VAs but still give life to the characters.
I wish the dev all the best and hope he keeps updating this game, I will follow the process closely.

Well written, interesting mechanics. I'm a bit disappointed on replay though, because a lot of the choices and stats seemed shallower than I'd expected. Still, that happens in much bigger budget games as well, so it's hard to hold that against it.

The idea is original: a board game and a dice.
Resources and abilities are also required to progress in the story and to unlock scenes.
The graphic style is interesting, it reminds me some comics.
BGM are good too.
Nice nods to the 90's !

Man! Really unique concept and artwork! The randomness in each round can be quite fun provided there is steady pace of events. Also, if there can be an autosave before each round (or a quicksave option), that will be really helpful!

I really feel like I want to rate this game higher because the story is interesting enough and the characters look good.
But the gameplay is just so horrible.
It's a porn game within a board game. You have to roll the dice to move around the board and perform various activities to increase MJ's stats.
It becomes a HUGE grind.
I honestly got to the point where I just no longer cared about the story.
Additionally - I can almost guarantee that nobody plays this game without cheating - by saving constantly and then just re-rolling the dice over and over until you get the nu ber you want. This game is an insane grind even with cheating. If someone were to play this and not cheat and just go with whatever the dice come up as - this game then becomes the grindiest of all grinding games that have ever existed.

Version 0.5
This game really got me hooked. The slow corruption is perfectly done and the quit unsual gameplay really turns out to be a great asset. I can only speak for my run (several hours in and currently at round 60 - inlcuding a little bit of save scumming) but the built up works out just fine and since a lot of the scenes you get to see are tied to the places you visited I never got the feeling that I was just a passenger.
The art style is also great and I really like the way it gets lewder at just the right pace.
Overall a really pleasant surprise and I hope for a lot of updates and additions like longer animations in the future.

Also I really like all the references to 1999 culture. Made me laugh a couple times and the overall writing and story are really top notch compared to many of the other games here.

Gotta say I really love this title. There's humor, interesting stories, erotic situations, and comic-quality original art to be had while rolling a virtual die to advance Mary Jane, our female talent and primary love interest, across the game board. It may not work for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoy it and expect this to be a very satisfying experience once completed. Hats off to @Basilicata for a really innovative, original game!

Unique tabletop game with an authentic 90s vibe.

The dicerolling mechanic is an interesting idea, although I'm not sure overall it works entirely. At first I mostly accepted the rolls I got (although I did go bankrupt right at the start because I missed the job a few times). Later I started savescumming when I realized I might not have enough stats to hit certain events. So the game's tabletop design clashes a bit with stat requirements for limited events. After I had a ton of money, I really wanted to increase stats more than go to the job again. Still it's a not that difficult to get stats, and it's fun to see something different.

There's a fair amount of content here, with most of it lesbian/corruption for when MJ is on her own and straight that involves MC and other characters. The game also is a bit literary, like literally has scenes with classic texts. So that's unusual too. So maybe you'll learn something! Ha.

I liked the variety of characters and personalities. The MC can be a sleaze but doesn't have to be. And MJ looks so excited when she's happy.

The art seemed a bit weird and the tabletop concept seemed a bit weird so I didn't try this for a long time. However it's excellent and worth a look!

A really great one. It's funny, really - at the first glance this game didn't seem to be my thing. Didn't like the screenshots, but started to dig the artstyle after the first few minutes of playing. The tabletop mechanics seemed odd from the description, but then I loved even the savescumming. The "corruption" tag has never been my thing, but the way it is implemented in this game is simply great - it is not some dirty perverted guy corrupting a dumb chaste hottie, but real believable people.
The main charachters are nice people for a change. Decent, even. The atmosphere is great, the end of 90-ies setting feels really nostalgic.
Thank you for this, looking forward for more.

This is without a doubt one of the must fun experiences I've had playing an adult game. The Tabletop mechanic makes the otherwise repetitive parts of these kinds of games far more fun. I feel like it's always exciting to see what awaits the female protagonist depending on where she lands on the tabletop.

The atmosphere in the game world with the late 90s aesthetics also works perfectly with the overall presentation. Far more unique from what I've played so far.

The graphics are amazing. I love this style since it looks realistic even if it's "hand-drawn".

Last but not least, the humour fits me well and I had a lot of fun with some of the jokes and situations that happens.

One of the most unique job in this cheap porn game industry. Art style, gameplay, storytelling. All of them are good. I really liked this game. And why the fuck i've to write two fucking hundreds characters in my review. That's pointless. I can review a fucking porn game without use that much letter.

I remember playing this game a year ago and revisited it again and still enjoy it greatly.
It is really brave to decide making a adult tabletop game and try something different than the rest and it worked out tremendously.

The Artwork is great and the girls look beautiful and some of them are Born Actresses.

The Tabletop implementation works great and makes sense.
For those who think it´s too grindy just try pressing ctrl and fast forward.

I really like the story. It´s well written and I can´t wait to see how the story continues.
There are probably paths I haven´t discovered yet.


The only negative I see is that I have to wait for the next update to see how the Story unfolds but I can live with that and wish the Dev all the best in the future development and can´t praise them enough.
Edit: Story is a bit too slow burn imo

There are a lot of games of F95 and most of them can be generally categorized into genres and well established tropes. Some do it well, others not so well, but so very few ever break out of the established formulas to try something NEW; to boldy try something different. This is where Tabletop truly excells and charms.

The game is based on Renpy but utilizes it in some novel ways that I have not often seen. The art has a hand drawn comic aesthetic that is reminiscent of Good Girl Gone Bad, with which is also shares a choice/consequence dynamic that determines the corruption level of the female protaganist. Though in this case you play as the male MC, a talent agent who is currently under house arrest after getting too involved with a previous client. This predicament serves as the basis for much of the plot as you guide and interact with the female protaganist, MJ, as she seeks to establish a new life and a career for herself.

The character devlopment is a cut above in this game, with complex dynamics and a good understanding of human pyschology being employeed while also allowing for a wide range of choices. In other words the people actually act like people instead of one dimensional caricatures. I didn't feel like I am constantly stuck on rails; the choices do matter and they add up. This is a slow burn game with the female protagonist being slowly shaped by the MC, by her choices and circumstances, and by a cast of characters that you both interact with.

So far I have established that this game is well written and implied it is a story driven corruption game. But that is not correct really, as those elements exist but are in the background. The primary game, and the way that MJ interacts with the world and her career is through...well, its kind of like playing Monopoly and a tabletop RPG (i.e. DnD) with stats and dice roll choices, at the same time. MJ has point values assigned to about a dozen different areas from fame and looks, to perversion and acting ability. While the dice roll is random, there is some strategy involved in choosing to conduct a skill event or to ignore it so that she gains points in the areas you want to develope. You also have the option to re-roll, which can be later upgraded. There are wild cards that can reward or punish to add another element of chance to the game, which I found to be a nice touch, and random interactions with other people if you land on the right squares and choose to engage.

Overall this was just a fun an enjoyable game that, though it technically has a loop, doesn't feel like one since they are turns in a game that contribute to linear progression of the plot. I also have to give a shout out to Basilicata's choice to incorporate a radio station into the board play that has some very good musical choices. The game is still very much in development so it ends maybe halfway through currently, but it still provided me about 6-8 hours worth of gameplay with a definite replayability. The constant 90's references were also nicely nostalgic and pretty funny. Give it a try, you might just love it.


tl;dr - This a fun game that breaks the mold of the usual tropes, has excellent writing and fun, engaging characters. If you liked the character driven story and unique game sequences of Love of Magic, then you will like this.

I'm not really sure why, since I love tabletop games, but this one didn't work out for me. First is the fact that this is a very luck-driven tabletop, which certainly matters since I like better tabletop games where strategy matters more than luck. But I also think an important part of it was the fact that the story was bland and uninteresting, and also the art style didn't work for me. I find it very original, don't get me wrong, but also not too compelling or interesting.

So all in all, this one is a skip for me, but maybe it'll work for you.

Beautiful hand-drawn art with some creatively sensual shots and angles , meaningful choices, a bit of resource management and a minigame that is properly written into the story . What more do you want?
The board basically represents passage of a day or two in the starlet's life, and what she manages to do with her time - this feels like a creative way to step away from the boring menus of usual "trainer" VN(because this is "essentially", a trainer VN, and not a bad one at that)

Also props about fun pop culture and show business tidbits from the 90s , you can feel the love in such detail.

If what you read on the box and see in screenshots don't turn you off - I highly recommend a try .

Best of luck to the dev

v0.41
I've been following Basilicata since Goss_IP. At first I admit I was sceptical about the tabletop idea. Before the autorounds, the game was slow. But, now I really can't complain.
The art that I loved since Goss_IP, got even better. The animations, although, kinda rough, are very impressive considering they are traced on by hand, frame by frame.
The music/sounds/voice are excellent.
The story is a slow burner, as every corruption themed story should be.
The plot and the dialogues are smart, funny at times and the MC is portrayed nicely as a cunning,manipulative player but not a scumbag.
MJ is lovely. I trully like her and the rest of the characters are very hot.
The choices really seem to matter so far and MJ is slowly changing in character and career.
In conclusion, great game. Looking forward 4 more.