Ren'Py - The DeLuca Family [v0.09.6] [HopesGaming]

I really enjoyed this game, it is an interesting story about the disputes between mafia families. I had a great time playing, although the plot moves at a slow pace, so patience is key. The characters are adorable with awesome designs. The romantic love story between the MC and the sisters Gracie and Luna has a slow progression but I don't mind; it's fascinating to see how their relationship evolves. The erotic scenes are tastefully done, with plenty of foreplay, caressing, kissing, and oral activities that add heat to the story. However, it's worth noting that the scenes don't go beyond vanilla content (unfortunately, there's no penetration with the main characters yet).

The visuals in this game are excellent, truly impressive work! Some scenes are so beautifully crafted that I even saved a few as wallpapers. The music is nice and fits each scene well. However, I wasn't a fan of the text-based minigames with the black background; it felt like a weak spot in an otherwise great game. To progress in the story, you need to meet certain requirements like money or a set number of days, but it's not overly grindy. Still, the repetitive daily scenes can get a bit dull. Adding more variety to events could have spiced things up. Despite that, the story is captivating from start to finish and very well told. Luna's backstory is quite shocking, so it may not be suitable for sensitive individuals.

Overall, "The DeLuca Family" is a well-crafted game with a captivating narrative, a diverse cast of characters, impressive graphics, and appealing character designs, especially the main ones in this story: Gracie, Luna, Isabel and Cordia. The cliffhanger at the end of the current version sets the stage for an eagerly anticipated season 2. Congratulations to the developer for creating such an engaging experience.

The story itself is decent, but there's alot of bugs that the developers don't even care to fix, and those bugs are game-breaking bugs that prevent you from progressing.

I have lost hope of even playing this any more, there's many more other games out there that will actually fix bugs if they exist.

I finally decided to try this after season 1 was completed. The game is well done overall however I find it lacking in certain areas.

What this game is

It is a story driven novel with verbose writing. The vast majority of the game is linear with some free roam elements such as missions. The sandbox areas can be a bit annoying at times but thankfully there is a journal that helps you with the next step in the story.

98% of the game is equivalent to a R rated movie with a few sex scenes thrown in. It is not a porn game. It is an adult title but the sex is an afterthought. I believe I counted two vaginal sex scenes (not with main characters), four blowjobs, 2 handjobs, 1 69, 2 dick grinding scenes (without penetration), 3 breast massages, kissing, and touching. That may sound like a lot but with the long length of the story, it is a very small part of the game.

The story is a very slow burn. It is well written so it doesn't become a slog fest very often. I did find myself fast clicking through the dialog a few times because I grew tired of the dialog (I don't wish to read a Harry Potter novel). The author loves to write and this is clearly evident!

The author doesn't do himself any favors with the low version number. Players like myself avoid games until they have at least 3 hours of content to play through. The version number doesn't reflect the high amount of content!

I loved the banter between the MC, Luna, and Gracie during the first half of the game and then it got to be annoying during the second half (especially during the Fawkes mission).

There are a few pacing problems with the game. Mission points get maxed roughly 15% of the way through the game. Experience points get maxed roughly 50% of the way through the game. At the end of season 1, the player is still doing D rank missions (aside from a surprise mission towards the end of the story).

Choices are adequate but minimal overall. It is obvious in most cases what the correct choice is.

I do like the realistic character models in the game. Character development is good but it is a very slow burn.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a porn game, this isn't it. If you're looking for a verbose story driven novel with a slow evolving story then you'll love this. The story is engaging and well done overall.

I enjoyed the game and recommend that players give it a try!

Story is epic. Heartbreaking. Great work Developer.
Came for porn but totally forgot that, story was so good For me, its ART.
A real gem, one from a few here. Thanks. I dont write reviews but the Dev deserve it. Better then most AAA games. With Being A Dik and The Headmaster maybe top 3 adult games.

This is fucking awesome game for me , good storyline ,badass action sequences ,MC constantly getting stronger, Cool moments and many more things . There can be work done towards lewd scences to engage more players who like these things more it is always a plus point but for me i don't even need lewd scenes there are many games and porn to see that stuff , as long as you keep storyline good DEV. have my full support . I will support him on patreon ASAP after getting job(sadly It will take two years to complete my masters) and thanku dev. for this awesome game

Kind of a snoozefest and another grindy game (but I think you can turn that stuff off if you want, definitely a plus) if you're into it, but the premise is promising, well executed, and unique.

Give it a try if you're willing to go through a very slow burn, but highly recommend turning those minigames off otherwise the game will become tedious quickly.

This visual novel game is an absolute masterpiece in every aspect. From the captivating storytelling and well-developed characters to the stunning artwork and immersive soundtrack, it surpasses all expectations. Every decision feels meaningful, leading to multiple riveting endings. A true gem in the world of interactive storytelling. 5/5 stars without a doubt!

A pure masterclass as far as the story which brought tears to my eyes. I love it even more because it has added a different flavour on the conventional VNs. I am not going to complain about the scarcity of erotic contents or fap contents. For me a great story and quality renders can make up for any sorts of lackings.

Actions scences sometimes seems unreal but enjoyable and the occasional touch of humour is also very good. So, if you are a fan of a great story it is your holy grail; drink from it.

No idea how to fairly rate this game.
On the one hand, writing and characters are very solid. Story is intriguing, a lot of interesting concepts and secrets. On the other hand, sex aspect is minimal - there are hardly any sex scenes, and those present are hardly exciting. Updates are long, art is decent. Try it out if you want to spend an evening or two reading a good story, but don't expect anything but an erotic adventure at best.

There might be reasons to rate it 4 stars but the story is too amazing and i played it many months ago so i dont remember any bad thing rn. also the only game that brought tears in my eyes... thanks for making this game... waiting for s2

This game has a really interesting premise, and for the most part the renders are ok. The girls seem attractive, but there always seems to be just something missing. Some little bit that keeps them from being really hot.

The game is also weirdly violent when it doesn't really seem like it needs to be. There is also no option to skip the gore, which most games that include this offer.

The real drawback of this game is the "free roam" "mission" aspect. The travel aspect is both clunky and stupid. It turns the game into a fully text based RPG, and it does so really poorly. Its both boring and pointless. Its not fun at all, and is just tedious.

The lewd stuff takes a long time to get to, and I don't really feel like it makes sense. The story didn't really, in my opinion, justify the way the relationships developed. The possibilities were there, but the choices that were made didn't really make sense.

I had high hopes based on the other reviews, but I just can't in good conscience rate this game higher. If you're bored and out of other options its worth a playthrough, but their are better choices otherwise.

I love this game.. like freaking love this! That said, updates are VERY infrequent, which is a fucking bummer; but I suppose it's worth it. Story-telling, character writing, world building and humor quality is top notch, and the visuals are excellent. Am very interested in mc's background story like how is he that intelligent in terms of understanding the situations and coming up with best possible outcomes...also luna's past story really hit the spot , I really never cried playing a porn game before.......its all good but yeah when it comes to lewd content, it's a bit of a slow burn, but I don't care cause this is much more than a porn game, so that's fine. All in all, one of the best games available on this forum. Desperately waiting for the next update.......

Extra points for creative gameplay even if the UI is clunky. The grind isn't too bad...

Passable story (good for AVN standards).

MC is a bit of a cringelord at some points. I thought the whole bit about saying you're offended when a woman says she's offended was eyeroll material, but then he legit hit us with "guys don't like to go down on pussy" and I was like LMAO WHAT? Is this bro DJ Khaled or something? I'd eat pussy every single day of my life if given the choice.

Girls are beautiful. Luna and Isabel's terrible clothing and unreal hair color are weird / distracting. Why not pick a style based on someone IRL so that these things don't feel like LIs dress like they were invented by a boy in his basement?

And then the elephant in the room: you will play for HOURS and get basically 2 lewd scenes. It's downright disappointing. I'm not saying games have to be 100% sex, but at least aim for 50-50% my bro. This is more like 5% sex and 95% story/grind... and you're not James Joyce, so we ain't here for the story...

As of 0.09.6:

There have been very few games that have surprised me. I am not usually a fan of "uber free roam" games. I like a good story, some critical choices, and a handful of minor choices. I tried this out thinking "oh boy, another "let's bang them all" type game. I was pleasantly surprised.

One of the most hyped AVN's in the business... is it that good?

Well, personally I have a feeling of 'what could have been'. The story is great, some of the characters incredible (MC and Luna the clear highlights) and the setting has loads of potential. However, there are plenty of setbacks.
The fact that there has hardly been any sex is pretty odd, and it could work if it was managed in some other way. For instance, perhaps an acknowledgement that the LI's hesitate because they are afraid someone might find out and kill the MC.

The square map and grinding are pretty annoying, but I kept on awaiting for a big reward... that wasn't ever there. I can tell the devs did a hard job, and that this game could have been a masterpiece, but it's far from that.

The setting was ideal for more choices, to have moral paths and choose what sort of character MC wanted to become, and such a thing having an impact on the realtionship with the family.

Hopefully, HopesGaming will improve upon these things and create a much better work in the near future. Or perhaps keep updating this one and take it to the level it deserves.

Aside from all those things, that I actually consider very important and should make it a 3/5, I feel that it deserves a 4, because there's something special there.

Before the remake the game story was already slow with long updates and no sex but i felt like it was close with you and gracie getting really close
But with remaking the game it's gonna take a long time before the game even reach the story before it was
Renders are really good
Story is good but it's missing sex scenes
No bugs
Maybe a unpopular opinion
But the game didn't need a remake It already had good renders It only problem was slow updates and lack of sex scenes with the girls

Didn't knew what to really expect from this AVN but i really enjoyed it tremendously, a bunch of characters that start as just simple stereotypes you already saw in thousands of AVN "the crazy woman", the "social clueless woman" but progressively gain much more depth as you interact with them with good dialogues.

The story is interesting with its mystery and a well made atmosphere, all mixed with some good "minigame" concepts like the missions exploration , the equipment customisation influencing the mission interactions.

All in all "The DeLuca Family" is truly an excellent AVN, featuring what is the most important to me : good and interesting characters, well written dialogues and good story, and that i put easily in my top10, heavily recommended.

Only cons that make it lose 1 star for me is that some characters that seem to be important (several of the key character of the family found in the city, the guy that is set as the classic MC "rival" type of character) are shown in the beginning and are completely forgotten quickly never to be seen again.

Short and Simple

Pro:
-Nice renders
-The story is "okay"
-Decent main LI´s

Negative:
-After 5 years there is barely any porn in this >porn game<
-Updates are rare

Conclusion:
Would i recommend to play the game? No, coz you are not getting old enough to see the end.

I was undecided on giving the game 3 stars or 5, I ended up giving it 2 stars because of the pacing. The quality of the game in terms of writing, plot and art is easily worth 5 stars. There is also a good amount of content, but that is to be expected for a game that has been in development this amount of time. What dings the rating IMO is the pacing. I stopped supporting on patreon a bit over a year ago due to the pacing, and it still hasn't really picked up unfortunately.

Over the past couple years of development, there has been minimal to no advancement in the MC's relationship with the three main LIs. The game has been in development for over 5 years now and the MC still cannot enter into a relationship with any of the main love interests (outside of an affair), and there are only two (non oral) sex scenes, both of which are with side characters. At this point in the plot (multi-months in game time) & game development (headed into chapter 13), the MC should not still be limited to kissing and hugging characters that the MC was kissing and hugging in the early chapters.

I love this game! That said, updates are VERY infrequent, which is a bummer; but I suppose it's worth it. Story-telling quality is top notch, and the graphics are excellent. In terms of lewd content, it's a bit of a slow burn, but this is much more than a porn game, so that's fine. All in all, one of the best games on this forum.