On my infinite hunger for new stories to assimilate consume, I found myself in front of this one "The DeLuca Family" which seems to be one of the top best reviewed...And I can't stop asking myself the same question one and once again: why...
Story: 3 Almost-Hard Bananas out of 5
While it does a great work introducing us to its world and to our MC on the first minutes, this first impression fades away fairly quickly when you get introduced to a lot of characters that wont matter at all for the rest of the story. Perfect example is this blonde guy (I dont even remember his name) that seems to have some type of grudge against the MC and is presented on a way that seems like he will be a very present arch-nemesis on our story, but after his second appearence on scene, we wont see him again.
Appart from how ridiculous is to have your mob army training in the front gardens of your mansion, the premise is good and very exploitable, but that's it sadly.
Overall, the story seems like its too ambitious for its own good.
Characters: 2 Resting Bananas out of 5
The femchars look good overall but like I said, things go south quickly...
Important and big characters are introduced quickly like powerful figures on the game, but we actually never see them be actually powerful and dangerous, this is evident with Wilfred all along the story, he's respected by other characters for things he did in the past shown to us in flashbacks, but in the present, he seems to be outdone by the protagonist on some occasions, a veteran on the mafia outdone by a complete rookie on the scene...Makes me wonder how did he managed to stay alive that long on his work enviroment.
And speaking of the MC: he's your usual Gary Stu: A highly intelligent and talented individual that will thrive on any situation and save the world all because the writter wanted to directly participate somehow on his own story.
The girls...Isabel and Gracie look like sisters even when they are not, Luna is the embodied "dont stick it in crazy" meme but once you get to know her better you may want to get her on a psychiatric hospital but at least she gets some character development, so there is that.
Eiza is introduced too late and is a carbon copy of Cordia, at least personality wise. But she's a redhead so everything's fine, best femchar ever (Non biased opinion btw)
And finally Cordia, the Ice queen tea connoisseur...And that's it...
Umm? What did you say?, that I'm forgetting about Antonio?...No my dear reader, Antonio is like a lamp on your living room, he's a piece of furniture only used sometimes, like when you want to read or you want to chat with your friends while looking at each other, you turn it on and you forget its existence until you need to turn it off.
Mechanics: 1 Sleeping Banana out of 5
Grind Fest alert *Not gucci*
There's a VN mode (which I ended up using for the remainder of the run after trying the full experience) and for me at least, its the way to go...Even when its rough on the edges: You have no notion of how much time passed betweeen transitions, some transitions can be too abrupt, like the MC going to sleep and pum, next scene you have Luna, on a completely different location, asking you if you are ready to go.
Options are good when they are well implemented, but I dont get why some scenes are just adventure-text like...Considering this VN is developed on ren'py, this decision seems like a step backwards.
To anyone willing to experience The Deluca Family, I highly suggest choosing VN Mode, otherwise, you wont feel rewarded enough for all the grind.
Content: 1 Sleeping Banana out of 5
Considering we are speaking of a complete season here, there's simply NOT ENOUGH scenes.
Your decisions won't matter in the end of the season.
At first you may think this a slowburn, but in reality the whole season feels like a big tease of something bigger to come...
This VN has been in development since 2018 at least, and all you have managed to deliver us is "a promise of something bigger" on all this time?
Ending: *404*
After all the grind (or not) all you'll get is an incongruous cliffhanger ending.
More than the end of a season, it feels like the end of a friday's evening chapter which will continue on monday with a Deus Ex Machina on which they all are saved by a miracle.
...Why so much people recommends The DeLuca Family is beyond me: It has not enough Adult Content, if you play the Full Experience it becomes a Grind Fest with little reward, if you play the VN mode the read is not engaging, and any future season (a big "If there's any" goes here) will be sold separatedly as a DLC on steam.
BUT, the premise is good and very exploitable, given the proper RPG elements are included on the narrative, the characters get Revisited and the unnecessary gameplay elements are eliminated, then we could get something really good here, but that would certainly require a complete Rework, which in this case could be something very good.
But on this current state, The DeLuca Family is not recommended.
Story: 3 Almost-Hard Bananas out of 5
While it does a great work introducing us to its world and to our MC on the first minutes, this first impression fades away fairly quickly when you get introduced to a lot of characters that wont matter at all for the rest of the story. Perfect example is this blonde guy (I dont even remember his name) that seems to have some type of grudge against the MC and is presented on a way that seems like he will be a very present arch-nemesis on our story, but after his second appearence on scene, we wont see him again.
Appart from how ridiculous is to have your mob army training in the front gardens of your mansion, the premise is good and very exploitable, but that's it sadly.
Overall, the story seems like its too ambitious for its own good.
Characters: 2 Resting Bananas out of 5
The femchars look good overall but like I said, things go south quickly...
Important and big characters are introduced quickly like powerful figures on the game, but we actually never see them be actually powerful and dangerous, this is evident with Wilfred all along the story, he's respected by other characters for things he did in the past shown to us in flashbacks, but in the present, he seems to be outdone by the protagonist on some occasions, a veteran on the mafia outdone by a complete rookie on the scene...Makes me wonder how did he managed to stay alive that long on his work enviroment.
And speaking of the MC: he's your usual Gary Stu: A highly intelligent and talented individual that will thrive on any situation and save the world all because the writter wanted to directly participate somehow on his own story.
The girls...Isabel and Gracie look like sisters even when they are not, Luna is the embodied "dont stick it in crazy" meme but once you get to know her better you may want to get her on a psychiatric hospital but at least she gets some character development, so there is that.
Eiza is introduced too late and is a carbon copy of Cordia, at least personality wise. But she's a redhead so everything's fine, best femchar ever (Non biased opinion btw)
And finally Cordia, the Ice queen tea connoisseur...And that's it...
Umm? What did you say?, that I'm forgetting about Antonio?...No my dear reader, Antonio is like a lamp on your living room, he's a piece of furniture only used sometimes, like when you want to read or you want to chat with your friends while looking at each other, you turn it on and you forget its existence until you need to turn it off.
Mechanics: 1 Sleeping Banana out of 5
Grind Fest alert *Not gucci*
There's a VN mode (which I ended up using for the remainder of the run after trying the full experience) and for me at least, its the way to go...Even when its rough on the edges: You have no notion of how much time passed betweeen transitions, some transitions can be too abrupt, like the MC going to sleep and pum, next scene you have Luna, on a completely different location, asking you if you are ready to go.
Options are good when they are well implemented, but I dont get why some scenes are just adventure-text like...Considering this VN is developed on ren'py, this decision seems like a step backwards.
To anyone willing to experience The Deluca Family, I highly suggest choosing VN Mode, otherwise, you wont feel rewarded enough for all the grind.
Content: 1 Sleeping Banana out of 5
Considering we are speaking of a complete season here, there's simply NOT ENOUGH scenes.
Your decisions won't matter in the end of the season.
At first you may think this a slowburn, but in reality the whole season feels like a big tease of something bigger to come...
This VN has been in development since 2018 at least, and all you have managed to deliver us is "a promise of something bigger" on all this time?
Ending: *404*
After all the grind (or not) all you'll get is an incongruous cliffhanger ending.
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...Why so much people recommends The DeLuca Family is beyond me: It has not enough Adult Content, if you play the Full Experience it becomes a Grind Fest with little reward, if you play the VN mode the read is not engaging, and any future season (a big "If there's any" goes here) will be sold separatedly as a DLC on steam.
BUT, the premise is good and very exploitable, given the proper RPG elements are included on the narrative, the characters get Revisited and the unnecessary gameplay elements are eliminated, then we could get something really good here, but that would certainly require a complete Rework, which in this case could be something very good.
But on this current state, The DeLuca Family is not recommended.