Ren'Py - The DeLuca Family [Season 1] [HopesGaming]

Played this waaay back before the latest update and loved it. The update revamped some stuff but unfortunately didn`t progress the story or char relationships.

The story is crazy and engrossing as our MC adapts to life in a top Mafia family. I like how we can choose our MC`s path via cold ruthless type or pacifist nice guy, although I don`t think the choices matter as yet.

The characters in this game are bonkers, almost like cartoon types. Luna is my absolute favorite, her personality and renders are amazing. Her backstory hit like a truck...hits you in the feels. Isabelle is so hot as well..

The renders are great and the story is cool but the sandbox parts can get monotonous a bit.

I am dying for the story progression update and to advance my MC further.

Great game that hopefully the dev can now concentrate on the story updates.

I don’t think I fully understand the love for this game. It’s not bad, but it is certainly not amazing. It has good renders but no lewd scenes after years of development. It has an overly-complex plot that is really disjointed and full of MMORPG characters who are all “really cool and totally badass! Like seriously!”. The whole game is this very odd mixture of serious mafioso plot with ridiculous over-the-top happenings that never make sense if you try and think them through. I know stories don’t have to be water-tight with their logic, and I’m okay with a little hand-waving, but it feels as if the dev has not sat down and plotted out his whole story to make sure that it makes sense

The further I get in the game the more I feel like it is the VN version of an RPG with the Dev’s friends. All the main characters are awesome, people have “levels”, and everyone is wearing whatever cool custom kit/skins they can find. “Wouldn’t it be cool if my seriously bad-ass capo wore short shorts and rolled around on roller skates?” “Oh yeah, well my dude wears a fur coat and carries a big-ass flail!” The game is filled with weird in-jokes that remind me of the type I used to have with my gaming friends. It just breaks the immersion.

I thought the dev was going for Tarantino vibes, but now it just feels like a bad anime/MMROPRG.

• How is it that a crime family openly employs like 500 people? Crime Syndicates are actually very compact because the more people involved, the more liabilities you have.
• Why are “training bullets” a thing? Seriously, these are fucking stupid. Especially sniper training bullets.

TL;DR – This is an interesting game with almost no payout (yet) for sex. It has a storyline that can’t keep track of itself and delves deep into “juvenile” too often. Finally the main character is all-over the place: Simultaneously a “regular joe”, “bad-ass who can get the jump on trained-assassins”, “terrified of killing anyone”, and “willing to get killed in a very slow and painful way just to get to second base”.

TL;DR: An overrated slog.

I originally played this when it was on patch 0.2 and kept up to date until about 0.5. The story was long and slow with the promise of wanting to deliver a satisfying story along with sexual elements. Unfortunately that just wasn't the case since about 1% of this game is compelling sexual exploits and the rest is not what I would call an interesting narrative.

The worst part is that I can see what the author is trying to sell as a narrative, but it's just so ham-fisted and tries to take itself so seriously that it's impossible not to cringe at many elements of what is, supposedly, a deep and well-rounded plot.

Contracts are a dull affair that very, very few people here will be interested in. Let's all be honest - would you prefer dev time be spent making mini-games to increase arbitrary stats or developing sexual content/improving the story? I think almost everyone can give the same answer here.

This latest update took 9 months to release and (as has been mentioned in other reviews) contains no sexual content whatsoever with the main characters. Even the story received next to nothing. It appeared to be nothing more than a revamp of the system - without actually revamping nor fixing the system.

With how seriously the game tries to take itself, it just simply fails massively.

Rating only renders and sex scenes, using as a paradigm other adult games I like and follow, this game merits a 2.5. I'd happily round that up to 3 but the writing/story and sandbox aspects are too unnecessarily annoying and inordinate not to factor into the calculation.

The only good thing I can say about the writing is it evinces the fluency of a native english speaker. As for the bad things, I don't want to spend 40 minutes detailing them but the most obvious problem is the idiot plot.

'Idiot plot' isn't a description of the game's actual plot (though it might as well be) but a narrative trope defined by Roger Ebert as 'a story that would resolve itself in 5 minutes were it not for the fact that the protagonists are or pretend to be idiots'. Idiot plots are not necessarily evidence of bad writing, since they are usually the best medium for meta-narratives, eg modernist/post-modernist/experimental fiction (especially comedy). Unfortunately, this game isn't any of those things. It's an adult game that doesn't seem to know what its point is and doesn't seem to care either...

Player character gets kidnapped by and then inducted into a mafia clan under pain of torture and/or death because of *checks notes* something to do with his dead parents' mysterious past, yet does not seriously attempt discover anything more about said past. Even after developing close friendships or romances with his new masters/wardens, he continues to lack any apparent interest in settling let alone discussing his predicament with them. Instead, he feels proud of risking his life doing missions for them, despite the fact his reward for doing so is... getting teased and very occasionally blown by the sexy mafia sisters... whom he is explicitly forbidden at the outset to lust after, under pain of torture and/or death. But he does it anyway. I guess because the mafia thing is an ironic larp? Then again they're literally shooting and torturing people...? Uhhh it's about family, that must be it.

The actual narrative - in this case, ordinary bored peasant youth suddenly finds himself in a castle full of intrigues, luxury and edgy princesses who want him to prove his inner worth so they can fall in love with him - exhausts itself very early and the rest of the story is just a series of loosely connected teasing and anime-type "romance" scenes derived out of that premise.

There's nothing wrong with any of that per se since that's what porn stories/narratives usually are - vehicles for showcasing porn and not literary creations in their own right. So why not put some porn in it instead of dragging out this sophomoric mafia story?

Some might object that the crazy mafia waifu romance+teasing is itself the object of fapping/edging, and of all the rave reviews. That may well be the case but the main criticism still applies: even if teasing/denial is the point of the story and characters, they do a bad job of it.

That was considerably more words than I wanted to write about this game so I'll wrap up by saying that the competently designed sandbox gameplay makes up for in monotony what the writing lacks in sense or substance.

Great in almost every way!
The story progression is well paced, the characters are very much likeable.
There really isn't that much sexual content implemented yet, however the amount of sexual tension is driving me crazy! It's like a never ending tease of what to come and I feel almost like a Simp.
However! Even if there would be no additional sexual content, I would still play the coming updates just for the story itself.

The story is largely disjointed. The game utilizes a multitude of hooks and never touches upon them until applying some other situation and disregards any previous hook that was present until it is convenient to bring up for whatever reason is selected. In many of these instances, some utilization or play upon it could have easily been inserted but they are instead ignored in some rush to get some really great idea out. Which lessons their entire presence when they reappear. There isn’t any real foundation and instead merely jumps around.

Even characteristics are ignored simply for the sake of a great idea. A primary indicator would be the concept of an uncanny cunning applied to the MC. Yet this only appears when it is convenient and other instances it is completely ignored. The most prominent is the application of this particular way of thinking since youth and what could easily be explained as a particular nasty habit of being anti-social unless it comes to the opposite sex. The MC is denoted as constantly utilizing this… and yet on many occasions it is not utilized or utilized poorly. One infamous situation is, without any denotation of anything occurring, the player ‘easily’ outwits an assassin… that you were never given any indication of nor and real display of this ‘cunning’ used prior to that event. The characters, themselves, become little more than props.

The largest thing is the story elements most likely require a re-work to be more consistent. This wouldn’t be an issue if it was an occasional or minor situation. Unfortunately the inconsistency piles up quite quickly.

The difference in the contract system is vastly notable, and considered a welcome expansion. The utilization of unlocks and rewards do bring a unique feeling to the game and do bring up a lively feel. Some are displeased by it, though the game has been provided multiple types of play that allow for ignoring of such an aspect should it be disliked. Though I will denote this can also be seen as ‘cheapening’ other experiences given the render unlocks from playing a certain way, thus skewing everything toward a particular experience over that of others.

I enjoyed a lot the new gameplay. It makes the contracts way more interesting, instead of the old simple system of success or failure. The text based fits well and the addition of renders in some contracts was a great idea (I just would like to happen more often). Also enjoyed the fact that in some contracts, it introduces some new characters and then further, we get to see them how they look in the main story.

Renders are pretty good, detailed and show the mafia atmosphere well. To highlight the face expressions, that show perfectly the emotions of the characters (happiness, anger, thoughtful, etc)

The downside of the update in my opinion were the new lewd scenes. I didn't enjoy because it felt a bit rush and out nowhere, but not much of the deal since it was with side characters. I’m more of guy that appreciates a great story and the lewd scenes I don’t give much value, so it can be because of that I didn’t enjoy.

To sum up, it’s one of the best VN and I highly recommend to play.

amazing and nice story,pace,characters. entertaining and funny. looking forward to more content of the game. visuals and art are breathtaking and beautiful. worth every single second to spend. thank you for the masterpiece

The BEST part of TDF is the story, so if you don't like grind element of the game or not a fan of RPG gameplay just choose Story+freeroam mode at the beginning of the game.

Don't get discourage if you don't like the gameplay part of the game, just skip it, you may lose a few renders and minor plot but nothing major, and dev said in the future update he plan to add those missed in the story mode, so no loss there.

* Story 10/10, the story or plot of this VN is AMAZING, the best of all AVN I play right now, and I'm no a fan of mafia genre. The dialog and writing is very well done, hilarious, romantic, immersive, and memorable. Beware though, there is one event that have very dark story tone, and maybe to much for some people, but you get warning before hand, and you can choose mild version of it, if you don't like tragic and depressing story.

* Renders and models 8/10, Renders are great, beautiful, and detailed, the girls all beautiful, hot, and diverse. Little downside is, large part of dialogs is just using static background, maybe this is to save development time.

* Character 10/10, all main character have great writing, lovable, and memorable, even side character is good. There is a lot of side character in the game, and all of them have meaningful part for the story, and I like the factions, ranks, and lore of the game.

* Lewd scene 7/10, It's promising, as for now, main LI's just have mild lewd scene (that is very hot btw) because of slow burn, and it's great as lewd is not the main focus of this game, I have read dev said he's done with the romance build up of all LI's, so we'll get to the "main course" on next updates. There is lewd and sex scene in ver 0.07, but it's average quality, because of little build up with the character, but that is fine because those are just side characters. So far the LI's romance and build up pace is good and believable.

* Gameplay 5/10, I don't play the new overhaul gameplay, because I don't like grind in a VN. I have tried the old version gameplay, and it's quite grindy. In new gameplay dev decided to have more detailed and long gameplay in a contract, and I can imagine it will be more tedious from before. Luckily dev give the option to skip gameplay mode in the beginning of game, it's a very good decision, so I can skip headache and frustration and get to the gem of this VN which is the story.

A few cons, there still some bugs with gallery, and UI is not to good. A little critic, there is a few scene contain a bit jokes about church or religion, I hope dev don't go to far with that.

Overall TDF is Highly Recommended to play, I hope dev deliver his promise that he's done with the gameplay part of this VN, and get faster updates for amazing plot and story of this game.

Review after restructuring the story:
Still amazing and set apart from your classic VNs. Treat it differently and it will reward you with anticipation.

Delete old saves and save regularly during the play-through as gallery is broken and needs a better approach.

It is a really good game.
And it is wonderful to have opportunity to disable all minigames and grinding.

But the main plus of the game are characters.
I hope that dev will find enough resources and inspiration to finish this project on the same high level.

First of all, they pushed the game too hard. We used to be able to do tasks more comfortably. Now they've gone into too much detail. The old menu style was easier, clearer and more fluid. I didn't expect the producer to push so hard. I'm sorry if my comment is wrong...

By far the best writing I've seen in a VN, bar none. It's a bit lightweight on the H-scenes, but I can see why the author didn't want to throw them in right away. Would be nice if they included a way to repeat H-scenes as well.

The revamp is definitively an improvement over the standard VN trope.

It is a little wordy and there is no option to scroll back in the new contract system. Which makes it difficult for the reading impaired.

Lot of pretty visuals, but not enough sex scenes. We finally get one and it's not with the main 3. I'm hoping there will be a Harem ending or some more smut.

Wouldn't mind seeing more stills/renders with the Protagonist and the girls. Him sitting boss like, while girls drape on him like Conan girls, etc.

Thats how sandbox should be made!
Gameplay - 5/5
You have all the "features" sandbox offers - money, various locations, time of day and events BUT you have complete understanding what to do. Game offers a built-in walkthrough so you always know what to do. Grindy part made as "Contracts" which are text made in D&D style. You don't grind same and same events but you enjoying story inside this contracts
Story and writing - 5/5
Story is well written and very enjoyable. It offers to player plenty of humorous moments but also a lot of dark and heavy ones. You WILL empathize to every character in that VN
Music - 5/5
Very immersive and fitting that setting perfectly


TLDR If you are NOT AFRAID OF ALMOST 0 H CONTENT you definetely should try this out

v0.07.1 was disappointing and I don't like where the game is heading.

I absolutely don't understand why Hopes is trying so hard to keep and add more sandbox and RPG-elements. The vast majority of players here fell in love with this game because of the plot and characters, the VN part of the game.

Ok, simple contracts from Wilfred were not that bad. But they were grindy. Maybe it would be better to make them disposable. One success -> no more available, go to another contract.

It was very disappointing that the mission to save Eiza's sister turned out to be mostly text-based. I expected to see something similar to the mission with the attack on Straffan's base. So many characters, so much potential!

But I guess, your expectations are your problems.

The only question is, will all side missions with action be like this from now on? Text + renders? Pity if yes.

About sex scenes.
I guess Hopes decided to add them just to stop fappers from constant whining.
Sister Amita (or Amata?) sucked MC off just because he's cute? Eiza scene?
I think both scenes were too rushed with no build up.

Even tho I disliked new update I can't give this game 3 star or less.
The whole game doesn't deserve to suffer for the sins of the new version.

At first I was skeptical playing this game after seeing lots of complaining about the lack of sex scenes. Even so, the few pictures I have seen has convinced me to give it a try. Oh man, what a ride. I didn't even care about sex anymore, just wanted to play and never stop.

This game is simply amazing! One of the best AVN I've ever played. I love everything about The DeLuca Family. Characters with unique personalities, emotions, good animations and pure art like reflections, shadows and light.

If you are looking for something different this game is for you.

Yes, the game went through some major changes recently and it took a long time for the update (at the time of writing this), but I have the following to say.

The art in this game is amazing. I've rarely seen a higher quality. And the story is just superb. Combines drama, romance, action, and other genres into a great story. The characters seem as if they could be real people. I could just keep going on and on about the positives of this game.

However, there will be negatives. I much preferred the older system of dealing with contracts and all that. That's to say the many clicks to resolve what used to be a couple clicks and holding ctrl. Also, some of the stat checks seem a bit rough. For example, the only way I could peek in the bathroom was having exactly 6 sneak.

Overall, I'd definitely say it's worth a play. Even if you're not into the whole quest and grinding thing, there will be other options. I play the Full Experience, but there are also two other modes, one of which lets you basically skip the gameplay but get all the story and many lewd scenes.

Ok, so I just played the update (v.0.7.1) and don't have pretty much anything good to say. I really enjoyed the game at first, good renders, somewhat good animations, and a good story and I was even a supporter for some time. But the months passed, 9 to be exact, and I saw that an update was coming to the game so I just waited. It turns out that the new content with characters is pretty much 0. So what's new? Contracts. Yea, that's the only new thing. And what are contracts? A boring mess. I don't get how after 9 months we get such a bad update with not even a single new event with Luna or Gracie or Cordia. Luna hasn't gotten a new event since 0.05 and Gracie since 0.04 so over a year without them getting a single event. I don't know what the developer was thinking but that was not the right decision chief.

A decently made game in the mafia theme that through its good characterization has garnered a (maybe too) passionate fandom.

MC is a dude who suddenly finds himself employed by a Mafia family. We are witnessing his journey up the ranks while meeting the members.

The characters are its strong point with a distinct cast. Although I admit I don't see it as the pinnacle of character writing on here like many do. It has a weird mix of anime-type tropes and a mafia story and sometimes the two don't mess well. And while this is not the first game that does it, it always creeps me out when a character looks like a fully grown female supermodel and yet is written like a very inexperienced virgin who acts nothing like her supposed age. Especially in what looks like a modern setting and not the puritan era. Still the game avoids the trope of having a bunch of personality clones and the family members are different enough to have their own character.

The renders are decent and the models nice to look at. The gameplay on the other hand, is its weakest point. Tedious stat/money grinding that pads the game. When you take all that out of each release, the amount of actual story progression in each update is laughably little.

Even with that it would probably get a 3 star overall for me. But dev decided to take almost a year to update and when they did, it turned out a mechanical rework nobody really asked for (game was fine on the user end with its previous systems). A rework that added even more tedious padding in a game with story that was already moving at a glacial pace. I won't share my thoughts about the reasons but for that fact alone it gets a poor rating.

I will try to revisit it in the future, because the initial concept is good. As long as it makes it to a final product that is. Because at current pace, that's a task for the future generations.