The Daddy Plan v0.04 Review
I begin by stating that I almost entirely concur with
MikesDK review of Aug 17, 2023. There are a few additions to his very appropriate review of, I assume, v0.02.
1) Given that Shaddy is a very experienced Ren'Py modder, it is understandable that he has included a veritable cornucopia of options for the display, etc. of this game. Included is a walkthrough, the ability to choose among four different fonts, dialogue text size, Text Box darkness, MC and Daughters' names, Daughters' "Pet Names", and Daughters' ages, even the name of the school can be customized by the Player!. While changing the name of the MC is quite common, the use of the other listed options is quite rare.
I can understand that a game developer has to present characters' ages as being 18+, but in most games of this type there are serious discrepancies between the stated ages and the actual depiction of university/college life. In my playthrough, I opted for a Private High School setting with the Daughters' ages ranging from 14 to 16 - In the US, virtually all High School Students are 18 upon graduation. I, myself, turned 18 just two days after my commencement ceremony as I was one of the youngest members of my class. I felt the reduced ages were consistent with the Daughters' models and yet still provided for each Daughter to attend the same school and rationalize the use of a school uniform. American (as in the US) colleges and universities only require uniforms for students if they are Military Academies, otherwise students wear whatever clothes they prefer - mostly involving blue jeans. If only other game developers would offer the same options to the players! A big Plus to Shaddy for making these options available to us.
2) The models used for the characters are based upon some DAZ models that have been available for a few years. However, I do believe Shaddy has managed to perform some morphing/tweaking of the characters to the point where they are no longer identical to the models we've seen being used in other games. I was especially pleased to see that he managed to give the Daughters a family resemblance that give no doubt they are all sisters, yet distinct from one another. The use of additional hair assets (including appropriate "wet" hair assets) helped distinguish his characters from the stock DAZ models.
The game includes a lot of redheads! For some reason, the games on F95 seems to include a disproportionate serving of redheads (they represent about 5% of the population, IRL) yet are probably three quarters or more of the characters in this game! I'm not opposed to having redheads in a game, but I do object to the liberal use of freckles which are appropriately included in the redheaded characters. Equally a matter of taste is the use of small breasted, slim-built models even for the 24 year-old Rose. I realize there exists a common expectation by consumers of VN's that there needs to be Big Breasted, Big Assed female characters. I believe Shaddy deserves credit and a loud "Thank You" for bucking this trend and avoiding the grotesque models that seem to populate almost all VN's. Generally, I give the models a plus for the effort to distinguish the characters from the stock models. As a matter of taste, I think the abundance of redheads is something of a slight minus. Perhaps, a slight net plus to the models.
Note: A few of the renders have the skin tone of some of the characters shift from a consistent pale complexion (less melanin in general for redheads and blondes) to a nut-brown skin tone. In fact, it sometimes seems the skin tone has been replaced by the freckle skin tone. I point to the scenes in v0.03 with four characters in the pool while the MC and eldest daughter are standing at the grill, and the v0.04 "Daddy/Daughter Date" with Chloe, the blonde twin. I have to give a bit of a minus to the game's renders for the shifted skin tones.
3) huge43 stated, in his review of Oct 28, 2023 (v0.30), that the story is basically a "Single Again" clone/copy. I can understand his reaction, as this is pretty much a matter of the Daughters pressing/manipulating the MC to become "corrupted" and have sexual relationships with them. The similarity between the two games is obvious. There are a limited number of plotlines available to VN developers, especially if incest is a major theme. The "Single Again" theme is one of the less frequently used and I don't fault Shaddy for using it for this game. There are, of course, differences between the two stories, especially the presence of the MC's relationship with his colleague and former baby-sitting victim Rose.
Some complain about the relationship with Rose, a 24 year-old face from the MC's past, as the Player has no choice but to accept her involvement with the MC. I suppose, in the best of all possible worlds, the player should be able to veto any possible relationship between a character and the MC. I find however, that even in sand-box games, the MC is hard-wired to have relationships with certain characters on an almost universal basis. How many times have I tried to avoid having an 18 year-old MC getting it on with their middle-aged Mothers? At least Shaddy tried to explain Rose's obsession with the MC in providing her background information relayed to the Player in v0.04. More surprising is the implication that the MC has been celibate for the past several years since the death of his (redheaded, big surprise!) spouse. In v.0.04, the player begins to grasp the need for the Rose character. Described as being in love with the MC since puberty, she understandably becomes a co-conspirator and mentor to the MC's conniving Daughters. Additionally, it is Rose who provides the impetus for the MC and family road trip "out to Colorado" to visit Rose's parents. It seemed to me that some real effort was made to make the Boulder location believeable. The use and representation Denver's Pearl Street Mall and likely side trips to rock climbing and hot springs destinations were realistic and helped impart some immersion to the VN. Perhaps Shaddy is familiar with the Boulder/Denver area, or perhaps he just managed to perform some research on the area.
Was it just me, or did others feel the fire that consumed the characters' school seemed likely to be arson? Perhaps this will feature in further releases of the VN. This would add a bit of drama to what is otherwise a fairly bland plot, full of characterization and background but destitute of any conflict. I don't expect our MC to wind up destroying or co-opting the Mafia in this VN, but we will need some sort of story beyond just the MC being manipulated by his Daughters into incestuous relations. I hope the upcoming release of v0.05 (expected in Mid-January) will introduce some sort of improvement on the plot or, at least, bring the heavy characterization/backstory focus to a conclusion.
4) Shaddy is almost undoubtedly a native speaker of American English. This is a real relief from the "Engrish" or poor English translations found in many VN's. While some grammatical errors and word usage errors (such as the confusion of "too" and "to") exist in the dialogue, it is not too bad were it not for the fact that the Daughters have been raised by a schoolteacher. It would be a nifty little bit of business to have a Daughter say, "It's going good," only to have her MC father correct her to, "It's going well." "That too, Da-ad." (flounce!)
Overall Grade: 4.5*