VN - Ren'Py - The Family Sin [v0.4] [Dr Games]

Probably a 1.5 star....
Boring
Poor Graphics
Needs to be proofread
Probably needs the kinetic novel tag...

There aren't really any choices. If there happens to be a list of, say, 3 things to click on, you have to click on all of them. You don't really get any choice.

The writing doesn't flow so there's never any immersion.
Not sexy.

Wouldn't recommend.

VERSION: 0.4
SUMMARY: OK, but not great

PROS:

1. Decent enough looking models
2. Love, Lust, Corruption system
3. Seems to have a few decent TAGS (kinks)
4. Customization of character relationships is good
5. Writing is decent and structured well enough.

CONS:

1. Render quality are grainy and not very good, this is something that should be addressed especially considering the quality of games we have come to expect.
2. As per above, animation quality is also lack, sure at least there is some animation, but its not good and needs work. Things like having the MC's hand clip through NPC hair etc. are silly things also that need to be checked.
3. Some proof reading is required, among other, I did notice also a line in Spanish I believe it was? (not English)
4. Same ol cliche about MC screwing the "housemates"

FINAL THOUGHTS:

• As with many of these types of games, the MC's infatuation, lust, need, call it what you like to screw his "housemates" just off the bat, or with really little reason simply because he wants to does get old, especially when there is not much reason for it to happen. Realistically, people tend to default into the norms of society. If you going to go against it, providing decent background, motive and character development would go a long way, even if its just a game.
• I believe the best story or kink is the one that is as close to believable as possible.
• This game has potential, but would probably require a rework at least wrt the renders and animations to warrant an extra star.

Let's be realistic. A VN can only ever achieve 5 stars when it is perfect. Nothing a dev could do could make it better. It's a trend-setter, it's a frame of reference to which all others will be compared. So, in reality, most VNs are going to be 1-4 stars, max.

I grant 1 star for each aspect of a VN that is well-executed. For me, they are: Visuals, Characters, Story/Dialog, Other/Mechanics.

For visuals, this game is a giant disappointment. The models aren't bad, but the renders are atrocious. Grainy as hell. Lighting is terrible. Poses could do with improvement as well. The "animations" are not animations; they're a slow, stuttered pan of the camera from toe to face of whichever woman you're meant to be in awe of. But you can't be, because the renders and the animation stutter completely distract from it. For my taste, the models themselves leave a lot to be desired. They're very vanilla, nothing at all interesting about them. MC's eldest "roommate" is the clear winner in the looks department. I'll just stop there, you get the point. 0 stars.

For the characters, we again have a completely predictable lineup of the same tired "landlady", "rommate(s)" living scenario in which you find yourself as the MC. The oldest roommate is the edgy, sassy, bitchy, angsty, feisty etc type, while the younger roommate is the naive, curious, surprisingly open, vulnerable type. The landlady is unstable, but wants to present the illusion of a central figure that's in control. Yawn. 0 stars.

For the story and dialog, this is where I generously grant a star. Despite the tired context, the pace is alright. It's not slow, it's not straight to sex; there is some modicum of development between the characters as the story unfolds. The dialog is OK, but not compelling or great. The English is pretty solid, and considering how often a clearly-translated game is churned out it's nice to see one where terrible English isn't a glaring issue.

For the "other" section, I give 1 star as well. The game provides a choice system, and isn't kinetic, which I prefer. The choices do seem to have consequences, if only that you would miss lewd content by choosing the obviously undesirable option. The textbox can be transparent, which I also prefer. The stat tracking black heart feels pretty useless to me; unless you have modded the game, you don't know how many points you'd need to pass checks for certain options, so showing the love/lust count feels useless. It would be more useful if it were love (or lust) vs hate.

Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this one. It has potential if the dev remakes it and puts considerable effort into the visuals since that's at the forefront of visual novels as a concept. Granted, this is pretty early-on, we may yet see quite a lot develop in terms of the story and the characters may begin to feel more real or relatable. They just...don't yet.

Visual quality is good, I like the model that the developer used to make MC's younger sister, I think it's very beautiful, and that's what led me to test the game.

but I must say that the game has some script problems, some lines in Spanish... duplicate lines, characters saying something with another's name on top, and some texts go beyond the dialog box.

The story is pretty basic and nothing extraordinary or unusual, nothing different from what we are not used to finding around here,
mind control through a book.

The problem with these mind control games is that often the power to "control minds" is almost never needed.
I've often seen MCs controlling the minds of girls who already liked him, but just hadn't admitted it yet, or who just needed the MC to have more attitude and win the girl over naturally, since the girl usually already felt something for the MC.

and in this game I feel the same way, the MC starts controlling the younger sister to "help her with her fear of performing on stage".

It was said in the story that the MC and the younger sister used to get along well, and that the MC started to like and fall in love with the older sister, and paid little attention to the younger sister, and as MCs are normally blind to seeing LIS's feelings, he just found it strange that the younger sister started to treat the MC in a colder and more distant way, he didn't even think that it could be jealousy.
until one day the younger sister was about to fall off a chair and he held her sister, grabbing her ass, and the sister, instead of getting angry with the MC, just got shy with a red face and thanked him, that's when the MC started to see things.

And one day when he comes back from work, he starts to take an interest in his younger sister's daily life and asks questions about how she is, and if she needs help, and the younger sister comments about the MC never having been interested in her life and that she is happy about the MC being interested and starts to open up more to him with the same reaction of a shy and in love girl.

That's why I think mind control wouldn't be necessary, even the MC comments that he's in doubt as to whether the girls' reaction is really because of the book or not.
when he messes with the sleeping girls and they say his name, it's almost as if they're pretending to be asleep just to let him touch them.

I think all of this could have been done naturally, but then there would be no story of mind control…

that's why the developer put during one of the sessions with the younger sister, the MC asking who she liked, and she said the name of a boy in her class, just to have a real reason to use the "power",

I think MC is a bit selfish in his way of thinking, and in how he interferes with the girls in the family, like that boyfriend who doesn't want the girl to have friends, or to not talk to anyone, I don't know how to explain it. I found it strange.

The older sister's face makeup is a bit forced at times.
The MC thinks about his male friend even while he's taking a shower. I would have preferred the camera to have been in first person and not have seen the MC's dick in the shower, and that he hadn't thrown the younger sister out of the bathroom.

mc isn't annoying, the game isn't bad but it doesn't seem to have a climax, it doesn't seem to be below average but it doesn't seem to have anything surprising, and I don't know if it would be worth following the game out of interest in just one character's art.

Overall it's a good game, with very messed up pacing.

First the MC, he's ok but immature. He has a childrens bedroom and is impulsive and also stupid enough to share all his secrets with a friend.

The writing is ok, some effort is made to explain decisions but there is some bad english and there are places with menus that have only one choice.

Renders are mixed, decent quality but loads of mistakes. At the beginning you have gross pregnancy bodies shoved in your face for a long time. There are scenes where the clothing random changes - one is in bed in a nightie without underwear. when suddenly the nightie is gone and underwear appears.

The camera is almost always too close in nude scenes to appreciate anything.

The best part of the game is the corruption but its overly easy since massage has the same effect as hypnosis and there's no build up with the sister... it's not gradual touching but rather from standoff directly to full penetration.

Overall it was a fun experience but it definitely has some issues.
The pacing is a little weird some times. It feels like the MC is just teleporting from one place to another, it gets a little better as the game progresses but it is still noticeable. The renders and animations are fine, but the animations right now are the weakest of the two.
You can clearly tell that the dev is not a native english speaker, it's not super bad enrish but there are some grammatical errors, there are also a few lines in the game that are in spanish.

Short: Not a bad game but there's nothing remarkable about it either.

Long:
Another average AVN, with suggestive pictures at times but also sketchy renders. Characters almost never look at you in the eye when they talk to you and sometimes a long dialogue plays out with a single static render, or the characters look in random directions. In other words, a significant number of renders are messed up.

I like the fact that it fits my kinks and that the faces are realistic, but the whole thing feels a bit cheap, including the UI. For instance, there's an icon on the top right to check the LI's progress (corruption, love, etc.) but it will only show one LI, hardcoded by the game itself. You can't check the attributes for any character.

Speaking of attributes, the MC may be trained to gain strength. If you engage a bully without enough of it it's game over. A better design would let you combat in a mini game and take your chances instead of deciding that the player had too much fun instead of training, forcing him to either avoid combat (and face possible consequences) or backtrack to a previous gamesave. For me, getting a "You should have trained more" warning in the Game Over screen is a good reason to uninstall the game and forget about it. On a better game I might endure this, but here? Hell no.

I really liked the game. Renders: 8/10 (I think the animations could improve a bit more). I really enjoy the story, but since the game is still in its early versions, we still have to see how the developer will develop it. I just hope they improve the MC's thoughts because sometimes some dialogues are unnecessary.

The game's timeline has improved a lot, so I will keep an eye out for new versions. Good luck, Dev.

EDIT: REVIEW FOR V0.1

Not bad but not great. An average AVN at this point.

Scene transitions are harsh and jarring, breaking the flow of the narrative. This just shows the developer's inexperience, so can improve.

The story itself is leaning to cliche, but is decent enough. I can't really comment on the models as I have difficulty telling any differences in renders over 480p on my phone or 720p on a PC (bad eyes).

The text could use a proof reader, but at least it isn't unreadable English.

Time, experience, and hard work will improve this or future work of this developer.

Best wishes and good luck.

I would say this first release is fairly mid. I wouldn't say bad, but it's obvious this is another ESL dev who learned the basics of using Daz and decided to make a VN.

First off, I like the use of hypnosis in the story. It's not outright mind control, but I was given at least something of an induction and the vague hint of actual hypnosis rather than just using special mind control powers, so I appreciate that. That this dev isn't actually a great writer is where that part falls short.

So far, the story is similar to many other incest games. The art is ok, although there's often an issue where the girls look completely expressionless. The younger sister looks too young for my taste. I'm really not into loli, so I would advise the dev to make her look a bit older in the future. The older sister and the mom are fine. The MC looks like every other generic 18 year old MC. As an aside, and this doesn't really impact my rating of the game, but it's increasingly hard for me to identify with these young MCs who really are exactly half my age. Maybe that's why I'm crankier and less easy to please, I dunno.

Overall, this is a very average game that's at least comprehensible, but it's not going to blow anyone away. I'll keep playing it for now, but there definitely need to be some improvements.

Well I guess I will be the first to review this. The store is not original much and kind of follows as you would expect. Below is my pros and cons

Pros:
- Models are original and not bad
- Renders are fair but nothing great

Cons:
- The story is all over the place. First Lily and Katie are out at the store next seen she is at home. The time line is not good. Makes it hard to follow anything as It jumps around so much.
- The dialog verses what the MC thinks sometimes does not go hand in hand.
- Weak MC although he does not pout.
- (personal preference) Do not like the mother model as the breasts are way to big and so are the older sisters.