Ren'Py - The Headmaster [v0.16.3] [Altos and Herdone]

Review made at the 0.1 Version of the game (Released Demo), will edit it as more content is introduced.

Another interesting release worth stepping away from the lurk to comment. As far as game demos come this one certainly meets the definition of the better ones: it introduces the story and fundamental elements of the game, it is well written in proper English, has a diverse and interesting pool of characters and I for one found the pacing to be good for a first release. You get a glimpse of what is to come in the game with that first spanking in my opinion, in the sense that while your goal will ultimately be to corrupt the girls it will be something you have to work towards, going as far as doing side-quests to gain influence to change the rules as to not have your game be too easy or boring too quickly.

My suspension of disbelief was not entirely broken by the opening of the game because while the MC thinks what he is doing is nothing wrong the "realistic" (in the sense he was not immediately arrested lol) crowd reaction and subsequent development of the story made it acceptable enough that is not game-breaking unrealistic to me personally. Everyone seems to understand that while the rules of society have been changed something like this is not yet widely accepted and has to be done in seclusion, gets positive points from me there.

I also like how I can already see what kind of work I might have ahead of me in order to achieve the desired ultimate harem scenario, with the teachers side-quests, student interactions, limited action turns in the punishment as to figure out the best possible way to unlock the next level with the girls. It has overall good gameplay mechanics and while it is too early to judge if they seem like more boring grind like many other games I feel like they are well balanced enough as of right now (I do realize this is 0.1 the demo). It tickled my planning ahead/roadmap the shit out of stuff enjoyment I often get playing strategy games.

The Character pool and models are quite honestly very good indeed. I feel like there is something for everyone in here, from my personal favorites the little petites to more voluptuous girls that again, are not unrealistically balloon big (I get that some of you here like that and that's fine, it's just not my cup of tea). And even though my laser focus has already targeted Charlotte, Rachel and Maxine as primary targets the redhead twins are way too fucking hot to not fantasize about! As a side note is there any content involving Samantha, your PA? Her very friendly nature was very appealing to me. Chang also tickled my she's a little freaky but might be worth it tingle.

So overall i would say you have yourself quite a good opportunity in your hands to develop something good and concrete worthy of a Patreon campaign.

The positives for me are:
- Believable story, well within the limits of an erotic fantasy.
- Proper English, always gets good points from me when i can actually understand wtf is going on.
- Good Character Pool, with enough variety that should have something for everyone.
- Good Pacing, as of 0.1 in the sense that the candy isn't immediately handed out to you.
- Interesting Mechanics, the punishments, side quests, student interactions and opportunities to change your core values all play well with each other.

The only pet peeve I have is that I agree with another user that said that the MC looks too much like a soy boy imo. Could have gone with a more manly model but oh well.

- Writing.
The writing I found very good in terms of executing the individual dialogues and ideas. Unfortunately, two issues: one of the ideas that were executed were pretty bad (see story section), and there is just not enough of it. There are so many NPCs in this game and to even properly introduce all of them we would need a lot more writing. It's not really a negative, how the writing is executed is really a strong point in this game. The problem is, of course, you have to execute the right ideas. See next section

- Story / ideas: as others have noted in the thread, the first introduction when we meet the MC is just horrible. He is in a huge auditorium and this braindead MC shoves a dildo into a girl in front of everyone. With the girl trying to say no several times previously to various other actions. Sorry just no. This is seriously annoying, as it depicts the MC as both a creep and a low-iq individual. When the brain dead MC by some miracle avoids jail and only gets fired from his job, he seems surprised. As if he was incapable of seeing the consequences of his actions. (Something he loves to talk about later in the game) . To make matters worse the player is forced into the scene with no option to slow down/stop at any point. Even if the scene is unavoidable for plot reason it would have been easy to give the player the option to stop after say 2-3 actions. (After which he can be fired just the same or his presentation interrupted by the Education Secretary). A dumb storyline is usually fine, but not a needlessly forced one, which is also braindead at the same time. However, after this intro, I have to say things get much better, and other ideas and scenes seem very serviceable.
The problem is the game is currently so short, there is just not enough content and with that, the first scene really sticks out.

- Renders are not good. Not sure how to put this exactly. But something feels off, especially with the hair and the characters somehow look odd. I didn't like the graphics personally, it's the main thing that pulls down the score for me. Everyone just looks too similar. Similarly odd I mean, I can't explain it better but I think it has something to do with the engine and if the game used renders created in DAZ it would look a LOT better. Even if the creator is just a beginner using DAZ the end result would still be much better. (Maybe this is just a personal taste thing, but I really did find the renders were so much better in many other games, some of which I only rated 4 stars. )

- the amount of content:
is extremely minimal, as the game only allows 1 (one) playable day currently. For a 0.1 (as opposed to a 0.01 or a demo) version, I would like to see a lot more than just a single day. This was a big disappointment after seeing the extremely high rating of this game, I expected a LOT more from it. Maybe I just came in with too high expectations, but I really thought I will get a lot a lot more based on the rating. Will probably update my review after a couple of updates to see how things changed.

Been looking for a high quality Hentai High School spin-off for ages so this game looks like a dream come true. Looks absolutely fantastic for now!
5/5 hands down and I'm totally hyped up!

My only concern is it seems to have heavy emphasis on punishments; really hope it's not going to turn into some sort of hardcore BDSM/torture simulator

Edit(v.0.6.2): Scratch the last one, looks like the devs are really nice ppl, so i dont expect any permanent damage to the cuties

Seems to have tons of potential. I like the different stats and interactions you can have with the different characters, of which there are plenty of. Also has a quest log, which is always a plus. Seems to have a bit of a dark undertone too, hinting that your predecessor was murdered for doing a bad job. Maybe thats what happens when your stats hit zero.

A fantastic 0.1 and I can't wait for the next update. It has an great starting point, with an easy to use interface and plenty of room for expanding. The only thing I'm hoping for in the future is a gallery option.

This is the most promising 0.1 I've ever played. It takes the ideas of Hentai High School and puts a much better implementation on them- at least so far. The initial punishment in the first school day is excellent, and does a great job of teasing what more you'll be able to do as you unlock less restrictive rules. I can't wait to see where this goes.

I Really enjoyed this game. The developers have put together a great story with a platform that is smooth running and easy to operate. the characters are hot and the dialogue is well written . The Headmaster has lots of potential. I can't wait for the next update.

Everything I've been hoping to find in an adult game.

Wish fulfillment, fantasy, power, sexuality, with a fun and challenging game mechanic, and a kinky setting designed to allow for the exploration of erotic fantasies. I hope the main character gets to start punishing the girls himself very soon, as well as enter into sexual relationships with some of the teachers/nurse/security guard soon as well. It'd be great if, in between quests, he can have sexual encounters on demand with some of the gorgeous women in the game.

Looks really promising! Well-written (aside from very few typos here and there), pretty-looking, interesting characters, fresh take on the school scenario, AND actual gameplay mechanics to play with. If the coming updates live up to the demo, this will surely be a keeper. I'm sold!

--EDIT v0.9.1 re-review--
(original review below)

Well, I gave this game 5 stars out of 5 back when it was a v0.1 version, and somehow I wish I could give it a HIGHER score now. What's come along has been fantastic. The buildup is slow, but the payoff is so worth it. The story of corruption makes sense and is logical and almost believable, which is insane for a lewd game on it's own.

There are so many different characters and while some are a little tropey, each of them feels very unique and different (maybe with the exception of the identical twins who share the exact same look and personality for all but one scene) . This on it's own is fantastic, but is made even more impressive with the absolutely massive cast of characters. By the time you've finished with 0.9.1 you'll KNOW that there's a huge difference between sweet (and sweet loving) Pitri and similar looking but not acticting Harriet. Faye, Emily, and Charlotte may all be blondes but they have vastly different personalities that isn't easily summed up. You actually start to feel sorry for shy computer nerd Rachel, and begin to get genuinely annoyed with the haughty Donna.

By the time you delve into the second chapter of the story the lewdness is there, and you start getting some pretty hot scenes, though the focus is firmly still on the spankings. But this isn't bad, not at all. What you've got is a game that's focused, intriguing, and genuinely fun and challenging to play.

I legit can't wait to check this game out again in another year or two and see how it's come along. If this much has changed in 2 years, I can't imagine what it will be like in another 2 years!

Check it out.


--ORIGINAL REVIEW--
(original review posted jan 5, 2019

Take Hentai High School, give it a (admittedly bit of a stretch) plot, and use excellently made honey select graphics that include animations and various camera angles and you get The Headmaster.

While it's only a v. 0.1 There's obviously a great amount here that shows a demo of what the game is going to be. It isn't just a click through to establish plot, but an actual demo of what this game is going to be about.

It's fantastic for a 0.1 version and I look forwards to seeing more as soon as possible.

5 stars.

Pretty good start for this type of game.

The intro wasn't bad, but I can see how the transition into this all girls school could have been better. This is a porn game though, so its excusable. The pacing of the days aren't too bad, and the available interaction actually makes it pretty interesting what could potentially happen.

I'm assuming the flowchart will be pretty massive, if the people playing the game won't be restricted in needing to talk to everybody they can before time progresses. Writing definitely isn't bad. If there are actually more than 7 days with its current pacing, then it could easily be on the level of devs like Irphaeus and Blue Cat. Game should easily get more attention when more content comes, considering how many bad games on this site gets praised and attention they really shouldn't have.

The best game here! Even in a current state! I hope that there will be a harem option, so I can do whatever I want with them. The same thing with the staff. Graphics is nice, it could be improved, but currently it's enough, everything working fine!

Great Start!! Keep em coming and please keep developing caracters and don´t fall in senseless harem fuckfest...
This is a great concept.. Well done

Love the diferent views and the renders are great.. reallly nice looking,
I have a real gem here