The Cabin has the potential to be great, but it could also turn into yet another tropefest, it's a bit too early to tell, since there's not all that much content yet.
The Cabin is your typical ultra slow burn game about the MC, his mother, his sister and his aunt. I will spoil it right out the gate, because I feel it's important to know that: so far there is zero action between the main characters. The mother has accidentally kissed her son once so far, because she was drunk and believed him to be her husband... and the MC liked it of course and is a bit confused after that, since he can't get that kiss out of his head anymore. The MC can tell the mom that he likes it when she becomes more confident, so it's the very early stages of her route.
And both the sister and MC have walked in on each other masturbating very late into episode 4. The MC also went skinny dipping with his aunt in episode 4. And at the very end of the episode the sister climbs into the MCs bed because she feels a bit scared after seeing some mysterious figure at the window... the temperature is rising here.
So by episode 4 (the most current episode as of early August 2022) we have very first tender signs of romantic attraction between the MC and all main characters, only the mom gets her scene a bit sooner.
About the characters... your usual archetypes:
- troubled (very troubled) mom caught up in a bad marriage, there may be a chance you won't like her backstory. It's not your usual stuff you get in most other VNs, her backstory is "complicated". She may have done a not so moral thing (no cheating! no adultery!) you may not be ok with. I don't think any less of the mother though, I like the character, I can understand her reasoning for the thing she did... but you may not. So be warned that the mother has a secret you may not like
- nerdy, smart and very cute and sexy sister, she's a virgin, she's just adorable through and through, you will like her a lot
- extremely attractive and somewhat more adventurous redhead aunt who is a romance novel writer, single, divorced, also very easy to like
And like so many other (ultra) slow burners The Cabin throws a few bones at you here and there, as some sort of consolation prize. Which means: you can have easy casual sex with inconsequential side characters that don't matter in the grand scheme of things.
The first one is some lady in a clothing shop... for a quick second the MC imagines what she might look like without her clothes, I was not a fan of that at all, I would like to have control over who the MC fantasizes about especially since his sister is giving her brother a little fashion show, trying on various extremely sexy bikinis. Why fantasize about some at best average looking adult clothing store lady here when the prettiest sister in the history of mankind is showing off her body in a quasi micro bikini?????
And shortly after that the MC can get on the route of the shop owner... and I shut off that route immediately. No thanks.
And then The Cabin commits a cardinal sin so many other VNs also commit... there is dream sex featuring some random highschool teacher you know nothing about. And this scene isn't even skippable or avoidable. If you are so concerned people may get bored because all three main characters are ultra slow burners and yet you want the MC to get some action... maybe just make one of the main characters less of a slow burn? Two slow burners are more than enough maybe?
I am generally no fan of the ultra slow burn main characters mixed with super easy casual side characters approach. In my opinion it would always be better to have at least one somewhat more approachable character in the main cast, i.e. either the aunt, mother or sister here. I would say the aunt makes the most sense in this game. And the mother and sister should be the (ultra) slow burners, it makes a lot of sense with them.
But the exact same thing happens again in episode 3... you meet some girl out of nowhere (the sister of a new female friend you found in town), you go to a lake with her 5 seconds later... and you have the option for instant sex. Why? I mean, I know why.... And fortunately you can reject that girl as well, but that whole thing just doesn't feel right, since it cheapens the interactions with the actual love interests.
But it's optional, you can play the game as you like it. With zero sex. Or with random sex. It's ok. I just feel the resources and render time could be spent on more important things like interactions with the main characters.
I absolutely understand why people usually want some fast(er) action as well... but I'd rather have that with an actual love interest, not some inconsequential side girl I have zero attachment to and met 1 second earlier. Again, I feel the aunt would have been a good candiate for someone who is a bit more adventurous. She's writer of steamy romance novels. She's single. Other games solve this by giving the MC a starter girlfriend. But of course not all people love built-in relationships... it's impossible to make everyone happy.
A few words about the story: The Cabin is about a family of four, the mother has severe issues, she's been drinking a lot lately, she's depressed and sad, her husband cannot put up with it anymore, and after yet another argument the mother, the MC and the sister go to the aunt's cabin in the woods for the whole summer.
And as it turns out the woods harbor a dark secret about a cannibal family (there are horror elements in the story! be warned!).
Other than that there are plenty of scenes with the mother, aunt and sister, mostly just talking, you get to know the characters, you have some innocent fun with them. There is no pre-existing attraction in this game. No secret crushes. And that in turn justitfies the ultra slow burn. It makes sense here.
And I don't mind ultra slow burn, that's the reason I checked out this game to begin with. I think slow burners are usually a lot more rewarding when things finally evolve.
But if you need to have more steamy scenes in a slow burn game... just make one of the three main characters a bit more teasing and more open, again, the aunt is the prime candidate for that and you kind of get that with her in episode 4 finally. Maybe this is the plan with her in upcoming episodes. She's certainly the most forward of the three main love interests. I hope the devs will not let all main characters have the same progression speed.
And of course it's ok-ish to have the optional flings in this game. If that's your thing. I just would invest resources into the main characters instead.
Anyway, by episode 4 it gets a bit more steamy and also a lot more tropey, skinny dipping with aunt in the pool... sister walking in on the MC masturbating in the shower... MC walking in on his sister masturbating in the bed, because seeing the MC masturbate in the shower turned her on....
One thing in the story absolutely makes no sense at all. One of the potential flings (April) gets snatched and dragged into a cabin by what is supposedly the son of the cannibal family that used to live in the woods. The MC saves her fortunately, April comes to no harm... but then he never even mentions the fact that crazy murderers may still be living in the woods to his OWN FAMILY. Who does that? It makes no sense. The women need to know this! This is a major plot hole and should be fixed asap, in my opinion.
It would be infuriating if the mother, sister or aunt get intro trouble in future episodes only because the MC failed to mention to them that a madman is roaming the woods, snatching women, maybe trying to literally murder and eat them. No one would fail to mention the creepy encounter to his loved ones.
Some words about the technical aspects... the renders are great, the characters, well the main characters at least, are extremely attractive. The mother and aunt are the usual super busty characters, but it's still within the realm of reason and overall body shape is natural, so they are not caricatures. The sister has normal sized breasts and is extremely cute.
The MC also looks alright, you have seen him in other games maybe... so there's no POV here, it's third person view throughout. I prefer this, but if you don't like third person games you need to be aware that you will see the MC all the time.
I used a mod that added music. I would recommend you give that a try, music was great! It also offers a walkthrough, but you can play this game without a walkthrough as well, most choices are pretty obvious.
I did not care at all for the looks of the two potential flings. It was easy for me to reject them, especially since the game is about the main characters.
I cannot say too much about animations. I did check out the scene with April in the lake, just to see what the animations are like, then I reloaded. The scene with April was ok-ish, it's your standard animation more or less. I hope eventual scenes with the actual love interests will be somewhat more elaborate.
And the unskippable dream sex scene with the random highschool teacher also had ok animations. Everything looks good, but it's what you have seen many times before.
To wrap things up... The Cabin is promising. I just hope it won't be an ultra slow burn for the sake of being an ultra slow burn. I do think it makes absolute sense for the mother and sister in this game, but the aunt (depending on what your wager is in an arcade scene) is not only willing to kiss the MC, she also goes skinny dipping with him in the pool and rubs her breasts against him. So let things escalate with her a bit more rapidly maybe?
So in my opinion, if the devs want the MC to have some action... have the aunt be the one who comes around first instead of dedicating precious render time to April or the clothing store lady. But that's of course just my own preference, I am just no fan of flings and inconsequential side characters. Maybe you are, then everything is fine and you will probably have no complaints at all!
If you like slow burn games that throw one or two bones at you to distract you a bit... if you like a VN with some horror elements (cannibals! mysterious ancient books!)... if you like the typical mother, sister, aunt dynamic... then The Cabin is certainly something you will enjoy a lot. The slice of life elements mixed with the mystery/horror is mostly well written, dialogues are ok, English is fine, I feel a few times the characters talk about nothing of importance though, let's hope there will be some more teasing in upcoming episodes, especially since episode 4 paves the way for that.
If you are a bit more impatient and/or would like the game to have scenes with the actual love interests, instead of random women that throw yourselves at you at the first opportunity... I would recommend you wait maybe 6-12 months and then come back to see if any meaningful progress has been made.
For now The Cabin has everything it takes to become a really good, maybe even excellent game. I recommend you play it if you like slow burners. But a lot will depend on the future direction of the game. I hope the game will focus on the three main love interests and not introduce ever more flings or have the flings become recurring characters you can meet all the time. You don't play this game to romance April or the clothing store owner, you play this game to romance the mother, the sister and the aunt.
