Ok since I've seem to have struck a nerve so I will elaborate a bit. The bit about review length was another "gut feel" reaction and I will gladly accept I'm wrong. I even disqualified my own argument in my last point so is there really any point to keep arguing about it? Does it affect the rating I've given and what I feel the game deserves? No.
I'll try to better explain my rating:
Disjointed to me means all over the place with no clear direction in mind. Random snippets which do not seem to tie in together. I feel this is definitely the case with the mob missions mini game and player stats - they add nothing for me and just seems out of place. The story does not need a mini game to be there. It also isn't particularly fun, it just feels like work and is honestly quite shit coded, forcing me to click a million times all over the screen for only a text response and some more money. It's a grind simply put. And not the good kind. The free roaming dating sim thing seems out of place too. It has some function in progressing the story forward but is it really necessary? I don't think so, at least not in the game's current state. I could maybe see it becoming decent when we've gotten to know the girls better and there are multiple levels to progress through with rewards. Though honestly I'd actually just rather see all of that cut. I feel this game tries to be too many things instead of focusing on the strengths (which I feel are: main story, dialogues and art). If your game was a pure VN (with or without branching story) I would have given it a 4. If it also had hot lewd bits in it, it's a 5. I'm not saying "MC needs to fuck everyone" mind you, there are other ways of delivering sexiness than having MC plow every other main character right off the bat. Some classic ideas here are having the MC stumble upon scenes between other characters, or having a minor character that's not involved in the story deliver it. Fuck, if these are mafiosos there should be hookers around right? I could even see that working. Where's the mafioso-meeting-at-strip-club-scene? Ever seen Sopranos? Truly a missed opportunity! The last point (lack of lewds) I feel can't be argued with. This is an adult games site and there are adult expectations. If you want your game to be judged purely on it's non-adult content then there are other places for that. I will dock a point in any review on this site if I feel it's not an "adult" game, no matter how good it othewise is. -Unless you just created the new Deus Ex. You may be good, but nobody is that good.
Can these things be fixed/improved? Absolutely. Can I see myself giving this game a 5 in the future? Sure!
As of now however, I feel 3 is appropriate.
Btw if you'd like this text to be in the review so it's no longer just 270 words I'll happily oblige. Just say the word.
Well, that went south real fast. I thought I made it clear I didn't see it as an attack nor was my reply and attack (on you nor your review). So no struck nerves.
But alas it's on the text so it not always that easy to see the intentions. So I will make it clear again- my reply was simply my view on some of your points. Doesn't mean you're wrong or right nor does it mean I am wrong or right. Simply my point of view.
First thing first
"Btw if you'd like this text to be in the review so it's no longer just 270 words I'll happily oblige. Just say the word."
Absolutely not, nothing wrong with your review nor should you change the star rating. It's biased free and reflects your opinion on the game.
Now, I cannot disagree with the shit coding part. I am still learning to code and it's always changing.
But I do disagree with it being unnecessary. For me, it is part of the immersive elements on how he is progressing throughout the Family and the ranks. Could be done with events and such but that is a huge undertaking. Same with stats, they play a role for both immersions but also for future parts. (love stats give extra scenes and MC stats will affect the future) This game is in development so the framework of that part is in constant change. That does not mean I believe it should be removed. But improved? Yes of course.
Free-roaming and story sections are separated for a reason. It's for the players to control the pace. They do the more *serious* story by clicking the continue button (vn style) and they play around the free-roaming when they want to relax and develop relationships with the girls. This system has worked really well so far and the majority of the feedback on that playstyle has been positive. It can feel disjointed if you see the system as something that is supposed to be *combined* in the sense that both sections should give the same outcomes and results. They do affect each other but in the end, are separated for a reason and the game do tell that (even with an in-game help section to explain it)
"Fuck, if these are mafiosos there should be hookers around right?"
I have heard those kinds of stuff a couple of times now too. 'This is a mafia game so there should be A or B' but I am creating my own universe with my own ruleset. I don't do anything that is supposed to be (hence the weirdness of the game).
There will be strippers, hookers, minor characters, and so on. But I will not add it simply for the sake of 'game must have sexual stuff'. That feels artificial to me.
"The last point (lack of lewds) I feel can't be argued with"
This I heavily disagree with. First of all yes, in an adult game, there should be adult stuff in. But I think where I disagree is your view on what is adult and what is not. In this game there is groping, nudity, grinding, kissing, fingering, pussy play and so on. Yet for you, this game is considered non-adult. You're saying there are other sites that take non-adult game but which sites accept a game with the tags mentioned above? Hence it has to go on the more physical side before you will label it as an acceptable adult game but this creates a limbo for the fans of the genre as games such as these will always be labeled adult (hard to create a family-friendly game with fingering of the female genitalia). Of course in the future, it will be way more physical, but rushing it (and adding side characters/events solely to force the game to have sex) is imo not necessary and a 'trap' many new devs fall into (I must add sex or my game will fail!).
And by the playerbase, this has received so far, and the people that like it means there is a market for games such as these. Games that can thrive without using the usual tropes such as early side characters to simply have sex with or events for the sole purpose of getting sexual stuff out there as fast as possible. (In fact, many people tend to skip start sex scenes as they have yet to develop any relationship with early side characters)
So about your last part about fixing/improved. No, I do not think it needs fixing as all of these elements were meant to be as such. Improved however is something that is always a priority.
But does all of these things mean you are wrong and I am right? Absolutely not. It simply shows that you have some preferences and views that are yours. And hence I don't want you to change your review or anything like that as it is a perfect reflection of what you think this game is and same-minded people like you will read it and can have a better understand or in other cases save some time altogether.
The main thing to take is that we should be careful to confuse preference as fact. Or preferences as 'this is how it is supposed to be'. Everyone is different and everyone have different needs. There are genres and style for everyone. The slow build-up to instant gratifications. Both are adult games. Just with different approaches.
Hope I explained myself better this time around, heh.
TD:LR nothing is wrong with your view nor your review. And a game is still an adult game even if it's only a bit of groping, nudity and finger play at the start.
