VN - Ren'Py - Tales Of Sanctaris Arcane [v0.1.2] [Gladerine]

I'm not one to give a public review but I think this game need more "nuanced" opinion

We have a first release who, while not perfect is very generous. We have hour(s) of gameplay, musics and animations.

But all those things are forgotten because of the "The Main LI is BAD and the MC is a SIMP with no backbone". Well, to be honest I found Aria annoying too, at the beginning. She's a very possessive princess who seems to like to bully the MC and the MC doesn't react to this toxic relationship. I found that annoying too! I just wanted the MC to run from this toxic person. But as the game goes we can see she's insecure, really self-centered (can't only be qualities) and caring too. And the same goes on for the MC. At first he looks passive but he's who act to save his friends, he's patient with Aria and he's "weirdly" friendly with anyone. While it's not "award worthy" characters with incredible depth (for now, or not) we have nuanced characters and that's cool!

Another point is the kissing scene removed. while I was questionning the timing too I think this scene is a good thing because we have LI whose love life aren't only centered around the MC. I'm not saying that being centered around the MC is a bad thing, but after thousands of thousands of characters like that in a lot of VN that scene was a breath of fresh air. And for that I liked it.

So I wil not say this VN is perfect but that's a good and generous start which was fun and in a world who is interesting ( while I didn't the different rank, for now). And we have a dev who's listening the criticism and is trying to adapt, so even if you will not like as it's said "les goûts et les couleurs" at least give it a chance! In spite of the low kinda ratings the game is good and interesting

Cya!

I know this has already been said, but it's impossible to get past the problems with the characters. The MC is a pathetic simp, and the love interests are horrible, with an unnecessary relationship that just makes them look worse.

The developers seem to forget that the main appeal of a visual novel is choices.

Why can’t we just send Aria and Bella to hell? That would at least show that the MC has some guts, and we wouldn’t have to see things we don’t like.

This game isn't nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. It's kind of weird, sometimes there are far worse games here that are 5 starred. I saw the dev quickly took out the offending scene but personally I think the dev should go along with his vision than try to bend backwards for people who are almost guaranteed to not be his supporters at any time.

It is true that the relationship map is the weakest part of this game, but to me its clear that the story is going to resolve it over time. For a first update, it's not really a concern to me. The problem is that AVN players want a romance fantasy, but if the girls are too easy then they say its "unrealistic". If you introduce any other male character that has any action with LI it's a recipe for disaster, even though he clearly already has plenty of other girls waiting for him. And I mean, if people are upset about the main LI kissing the friend, they should also be upset about the MC doing hanky panky with random women as well. People really want a vanilla harem, but they don't want to admit that's what they want. lol

The graphics are not bad. I do not understand why that's a negative for a lot of people. Just look at the screenshots. The humor is pretty good. The clothing choice is a little off to me at times, but I guess that has more to do with the setting with their powers. Like going into combat in a t shirt and jeans is wild. Or that guy with DUAL gpnvgs. Bro has a down payment on a house sitting on his head. lol Although I think I've seen that asset in Companion of Darkness, so it's probably a free item the devs used and didn't make for themselves.

I'd say it's worth giving it a try or at least waiting for more updates.

This will be shorter and different than my usual reviews. Normally I wait for VNs to mature a bit before reviewing but I think the game is significantly better than it's current rating so I want to set a few records straight.

Let's start with the bad and the common criticisms:

1. A lot of the drama is driven by the interactions between MC and Aria, which seems to be the "main" LI in a sense. She can be obnoxious and borderline toxic (mostly because she is emotionally insecure) and the MC accepts it, making him look like a weak simp. Their interactions get better and more balanced the longer the game goes on and there are heavy hints that Aria role will be service to MC, though in the first release of the game there existed a very questionable scene that made the audience rabid, which is a big part of the game's current abysmal rating. Since then this scene has been removed.

2. The story is a "rags to riches" type of power fantasy, with the MC seemingly being the weakest of his group of friends and acquaintances. Additionally he seems to be holding himself back for some reason that I still haven't grasped. It's a common trope in these types of power fantasies so nothing new here.

3. MC has a very kind demeanor and he wants to be of help to people. Quick to join the action and protect. Though his circumstances and his relationship with Aria make him look like a tryhard. In my view, this image changes quite abruptly by the end of 1.2 where it's revealed that he is some kind of a "chosen one".

4. I'm not familiar with developing in HS2 so I don't know what the bottleneck is, but while I generally like the models, the lighting needs a lot of work. It's not uncommon for HS2 VNs, even those with very high ratings, to have this issue in the first releases, so I believe it's something that comes with experience and it will get better.

5. Dialogues are generally fine, not too verbose, not too juvenile (though that scene where something bad happens to MC was very questionable). English need a lot of work though. Not terrible, at least compared to some relatively new releases I'm following, but barely passable.

Now for the good:

1. The setting is quite good.
It's a modern fantasy setting with heavy religious elements. MC and his peers are magical soldiers attending a military academy.

The magic seems to be quite detailed though we still don't know much about it. Some of the terminology reminded me of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. The magicians have a capacity for "calculations" that determine their output, and there are those things called "Ark" and "Echo". Ark seems to determine the type of magic one is capable of, while Echo seems to be some kind of manifestation that is more personal to the user, but I don't have enough information to give a more precise explanation.

Soldiers are divided into ranks depending on their performance/ability. Additionally once they graduate they join factions with specific goals like policing, investigating, researching etc.

Lastly the religious element is very prominent. For one MC meets a goddess and he is something to her. Additionally there was a divine war which may be relevant to the current arising conflict.

2. MC has potential
Despite the generally weak first impressions, MC is far more capable than he looks even before awakening any type of special power. He managed to hold his own against threats that his more powerful friends failed to contain.

Additionally, aside from his interactions with Aria, he is actually quite balanced and isn't afraid to speak his mind. He is more on the "caring" and "patient" side and also quite critical of himself, which opens up some interesting paths for character development.

As a closing comment, I've played a ton of harem powerfantasy VNs in the modern fantasy genre and I think that this game's first release holds up quite well in comparison to the early releases of the more popular/high rated ones. I won't name them here because it's against the rules. It's certainly unpolished and the dev knows his shortcomings as evidenced by trying to make the most out of the very negative and (in my opinion) mostly unreasonable and offensive feedback. But it has potential and I hope to see it get some more positive attention.

V 0.1

Graphic is just basic HS2, so it's bad.

MC is a weak guy without powers, without wits and without a spine. Also he's a cuck through and through. But for some reason the main goddess choses him as her champion. And a sect wants to kill him. Nice.

The first LI you meet sleeps around, treats MC as a rebound after the last boyfriend and restart her relationship with her lesbo ex as MC's laying dead at her feet. And of course you can't reject her. Lovely.

Couldn't miss the childhood friend. Disappears for a year without a word, comes back, kills MC (accidentally ofc) and cucks MC's corpse with the aforementioned LI.

The plot has many inconsistencies, too many to list here.

There is also a comedic element: making fun every couple renders of how weak MC is, and then a not so subtle Weekend at Bernie's reference (your team goes on a mission with your corpse instead of looking for help or a healer). How funny.

TL;DR: standard HS2, LIs that sleep around, MC weak and a cuck at heart, plot without huge chunks of info. The Ignore List grows once again.

v0.1

• Good renders and animations
• Nice character designs

• Idiot and cuck MC, disgusting LIs .. choices ? haha,

Please give me the choice to kill Bella and Aria and I'll forgive you this pathetic story .

V01

What a shitty story, you die the person who kills you doesn't feel remorse, Aria who is supposed to love you, kisses the one who killed you since she is her ex and still hasn't forgotten her, all this while you are watching it... Then they go on a mission while you are still dead as if to say that the MC has no value. Finally the MC revives and saves them WTF! Why save people like that, Aria and Bella can go to hell, but not the MC forgives them as if it were nothing. Finally it lets the player decide whether to help them or not, or tell them that they are shit and that they are not worth being in the MC's life. In what world do you want to surround yourself with people like that... the MC is shit and the game too. It could have been a good game but the story 0/100 with that MC and the characters.. At least it lets you choose a path of revenge or bad where you send people like that to hell..

V0.1.2

With the new version 0.1.2, the creator of the game has removed the pointless kiss scene between Aria and Bella while the protagonist (MC) was dead. It now shows Aria caring more about the MC's health, which makes the MC not feel like a total loser and gives more coherence to the plot and makes sense of the events that follow in the story. I appreciate that the creator took the criticism into account and made these changes. Because of this, I have raised my rating from 1 to 3 stars, although I feel that there is still room for improvement, especially in the details of the story and the development of the secondary characters. So far, the only well-developed character is Nath, while the love interests like Aria and Bella are still shallow, and their development feels poor since their personalities are shit. I hope that the new characters surrounding the MC in the future will be more interesting.

too much of useless thing like half the girl clearly more into each other than with the mc but your are able to leave a girl path maybe it will be possible for these ininterresting girls at some point as well that the only good thing in that game

story and characters are complete trash, if you have a good narrative it can carry a weak cast quite far, but we have an abysmal cast, i hate the MC and i hate the LIs even more, the story is nothing new and the magic power path is a complete clusterfuck where nothing gets explained at all.

Me get an absolut retard who's only character trait is to be a total Simp and loser

the LIs are bitchy sluts. the Main LI uses the MC at any turn she can which goes so far that she uses him as a rebound after a bad break up and get back with her ex as soon as her ex kills mc. Yes she gets back together with her ex after she kills the MC. yes you read that right.

graphic is stock HS2, and grammar and translation aren't devs forte so all around nothing here to save the awful plot or characters.

pro tip for writers if your reader hopes that the whole main cast dies you did something wrong.

Review of Tales Of Sanctaris Arcane 0.1 aka first release

Graphics 3/5
Honey Select 2 standard graphics. Decent, but there is no post-processing or light/lighting work, which sometimes causes ambient occlusion/shadows to cause strange effects, unlit areas, characters to look or look like strange shadows, etc.

Music and sound 2/5
There is. Nothing special, but it deserves some points for having them.

Animations 2/5
Abundant in the sex scenes. Half custom half standard. They serve their purpose and you see the sex acts aka penetrations.

Gameplay 2/5
The menus and UI are customized. There is a gallery of characters and scenes, well done and although sometimes it gave me some errors I'm not sure if it's because of the programming or because I used a mod to unlock the gallery. Menus, galleries and UI are clean with its elements ordered and you can move from one to another without problems. There are no bugs and you can read the text without problems, except when the color of the text interferes with the color of the image on screen (there is no text box). At the beginning it starts as a visual novel, with some choices that give some points on some character. You can even close the path of one of the girls. But the choices are very scarce and in the middle of the game they practically disappear, so it seems more like another kinetic novel with slight elements of visual novel. There is supposed to be humor, but it's more the typical stupid humor than humor. The scenes are too long, I've spent almost a whole morning reading text, and I've skipped quite a lot. If you remove about ¾ of the text, it would have been better. Leaving aside this detail, the gameplay in general was passable, with some ups and downs, until the childhood friend appears, which I'll talk about in the next point.

Plot 1/5
Typical plot half slice of life half school setting with elements of adventure and combat. The MC is the typical semi-useless guy in a kind of military or militarized police school. One of the worst students in the school, not because he's lazy or an idiot, but simply because he has no capacity for magic, combat, etc. There is a girl who is in love with the MC (or maybe not), and at the beginning it starts well, with the typical stupidity of the idiot boy who doesn't know that the girl is in love with him, etc. But when they start having sex the girl behaves more like a dominant bitch than a maiden in love. Before a goddess chooses the MC as the champion of her cause, so to speak, without knowing why, just as it is not known why they are predestined. Suddenly, the typical childhood friend appears, and the plot, which was already in trouble with the characters and the scenes, goes completely to shit. After a year of total disappearance, she suddenly appears, and in a confusion, unintentionally, kills the MC. While the MC is dead, the friend who is in love with the MC (supposedly) appears, they are now half engaged and have just had sex recently. Seeing the dead MC, she first attacks a friend who tries to revive the MC, then the killer. But it turns out that the killer, besides being the MC's childhood friend is also... the ex of the MC's half girlfriend. A former lesbian couple. They start fighting, the ex-girlfriend of the MC's half-girlfriend reduces her former partner, and while the friend tries to resurrect the MC... they say to each other “I love you”. I repeat: the childhood friend and the MC's half girlfriend. As some say, NTR and lesbianism. Among other worse things. On top of that they start talking to other people as if they were in the middle of a party, with the dead MC and no one is even sad. Meanwhile, the dead MC is with the goddess who has chosen him while she undresses in front of him, takes a shower while the MC is sitting on the toilet (shitting dead?), both in the same bathroom, seeing and hearing what is going on around the dead MC. After much stupidity and supposed humor, the MC finally resuscitates, saving the day. And to top it all off, despite the endless scenes and tons of text we don't know some critical plot points. Why has the goddess chosen a useless person? Why is there a group or sect that wants to kidnap the MC and take him alive but almost killed him? Among other things. I could go on, but I'm getting long.

Characters 1/5
With the exception of Nathaniel and some male members of the MC squad, they're all shit. Worst of all, the 3 worst characters are the 3 most important. The MC, useless and the perfect definition of the word “simp”. He is so simp to the friend that he literally spends half the game giving her a piggyback ride. The friend is a bitch to the MC who takes advantage of the fact that he is her simp to help her mend her broken heart when she gets dumped by a girlfriend... or boyfriend? Because it's not clear if she's bi or lesbian. It is also unclear how many boyfriends she has had, at least two, although it seems that there have been more. Come on, she gives the impression that she is half slut. In any case, she tries to dominate the MC in sex, so there is some femdom in the game. The childhood friend, another trash. She disappears for a year without saying anything to anyone, kills the MC hours after reappearing, and while he's dead says “I love you” to the girlfriend of the man she just killed. And this one tells her that she loves her too... The rest are either buffoons, or are not important to the plot, or have appeared too soon. But there are very few really to be spared.

Final thoughts
It started well, or at least I liked it. But as the hours passed, the endless scenes full of superfluous text and garbage characters, in the end I dislike it more than I like it. What is clear to me is that there are much better games with much better characters.

The game has really good graphics and the story has great potential, but unfortunately as you continue to read at one point you have me lost. I know that the story is inside the dev. head, but thats not the case for us. What is echo, what is arcane, whats the power systeme, what are they fighting, why are they fighting, why did the bad witch attack you for only than to save you, nothing, absolutely no clue what so ever?
At one point I started to skip the story, to see only the scenes, because you made me with your narative confused and got one big headache to figure things out.
When you want the reader to be engaged you have to make things fun to read not confusing. Example take from Eternum, we have mystery there too, but we dont go in circles trying to figure out whos who and what is going on.
If in the next version that continues, sorry but I will have to give it a 2, only for the graphics