Ren'Py - The Higher Society, Text Based [v0.64] [xxerikxx]

I think the art is great. I much prefer it over the illustrated version. The storyline is definitely in the top 10 of any on this website. The scenes are of variable length, but the great majority of them are engaging, written well, and a good length.

While I think it's a great game, there are still some mechanics that I think can still be improved. The first is sharing your 10%. I'm not sure if it makes any difference to give everybody the max since the game doesn't have a way to track money. Second is the lack of a real gallery. I think a scene gallery would be so much better than a picture gallery. Lastly, the number of choices that can be made. without a clear distinction of those choices' consequences, I think takes away from the replayability. Not much, but still. Choosing to spend time with one character over another obviously takes the story down a specific route. But also, the dev/game gives the impression that a random yes/no answer will determine a major route.

When it was strictly text based, I really was not interested, having played TXT based games since the times of the early Erins.
This new version though I enjoyed. It took me almost a week to play though and I enjoyed it.

I highly discourage attempting this "game", if you could even call it that. It's got none of the charm of a text-based game. You might excuse its basic stock 3D model pictures, I emphasize that they're just pictures slapped on a black background, that the dev probably got from somewhere on the internet IF the game even had a semblance of good writing.

That is the main strength of text based games, the writing. It doesn't have to be bestseller worthy but this, here, feels like a teenager's attempt at an erotic game. The premise is interesting but there's no proper execution. The erotic scenes barely get a few lines whatsoever and they're so bland and uninteresting, it's like I'm tasting sand. As others have mentioned, the most notable one among others is the peeping on your stepdaughter of which there is no description and no image. It just happens, that's all.

The characters are extremely unrealistic and it's not intended that way, they're caricatures of what real people might be like. It's not even satire. It's just sad. This whole thing is sad.

TDLR:

Cons:
-Stock pictures of 3D characters on a black background.
-Bad writing
-Extremely uninteresting characters
-Erotic scenes are bland one or two lines at the best of times.

Pros:
-The premise & plot hook is actually pretty good.

Based on v0.51

The story is intriguing enough that i feel invested to know what happens next. The storytelling/writing is engaging as in prev games an has a nice pace, charactes are believable have distinct personalities. Dev has a storyline in mind and is determined to write his/her way so it may not be for everyone but personally i love that, dont like it when devs keep changing things to try and please everyone and make the characters deviate from their personalities.

Only perhaps narration of scenes could be improved upon as there are no pictures in this text version so scenes should be a little more descriptive.
Other than that for sex scenes, xxerikkx has mentioned he/she would like to improve upon the way the sex sounds are written.

Storytelling/Writing 4 stars
Story/Plot 4 1/2 stars

Ive liked the previous games from xxerikxx, although they can feel somewhat linear as decisions dont really have too much impact to the overal narrative except you get to skip characters which you dont fancy and few variations to who are the main characters as well as the ending. This game however has a bit more variations compared to previous games so i would say dev has improved his/her game development.

In this latest version however, there seems to be a potential branching in the way the main female protagonist's path is heading so it remains to be seen if choices are going to have bigger implications moving forward.

But as far as it being a game, for now, because of the impact of choices i would give it 3 stars

Overall though as of v0.51, its a solid 4 stars for me and definitely worth a shot.

Played the visual first, found this version. A nice read
Most games is just porn pixels and Skip text. and this developer is getting better, read his first game second chance and clearly this is more focused /sharp to..read(the last one was all over the place). A novel about corruption and maybe even love, characters having some autonomy.
(Ths) IS a prostitution ring for the Rich and powerful that has reach far and wide. It's rough in the edges but it's only of the few games where you have options and consequences. Please keep evolving and writing.

The title is pretty misleading, this is not a text based game. If you are expecting descriptive scenes and detailed character descriptions, you know like in normal text based games, you'll be pretty disappointed. If anything happens, a very basic one-liner and some stock images is all you'll get.
This is your typical Ren'Py VN, but without the images. And simply removing the visuals from a game won't magically turn it into a text game.

Excellent game so far - I found the plot completely captivating and there is real weight to the choices you make as you progress. There is a wonderful undercurrent of highly charged sexuality throughout the game

It's supposed to be Text based only, but it's written like there should be images. The options pop up to peek on your daughter but no discription of what your seeing. Same for having sex with your wife.

Time and again it's obvious that the choices for sexual content are opened up for something to be seen rather than something that would be read. since it lacks these important visuals to the story, this causes it to fall way short here.

For stories there are definately better ones on Literotica.

I am not bothered at all by the only images being "profile pics" for each girl. The writing is easily good enough so that my imagination can handle that itself. Some of the best character development I have seen on this site. The characters, and their motivations, are well articulated and feel believable. All aspects of the story are compelling feel weighted.
I have tried the fully rendered version as well and the renders are more impressive than I would have expected. I am sure a large portion of the audience here find full rendered to be essential to their enjoyment, but personally I am fine with this approach if it means I get to progress into this story more quickly.
My only hope is that nothing significant will change as it gets further adapted into the final fully rendered edition, because this is truly some great work. Keep it up.

Not great. Using stock images from another site instead of learning how to pose and make renders for your self or securing an artist to do it for you. Might as well save your story for when you do have that artist or just write short stories for one of those sites.

The story itself is not bad, but for a visual novel style game it was poorly executed and you have shot yourself in the foot by pulling the trigger and releasing early before you have the art assets to support the story.

Sadly this makes it fall flat as there is no connection to the Visual and the Novel sides of the game.

I hate to sound like I am busting your balls about this. For once i am actually trying to be helpful with my review and I really don't want to bash you down. But you really need to stop, Find an artist or learn to do it yourself.

Daz3D is actually not as hard as one might think it is to use, however it take a fairly powerful computer rig to leverage it's potential. Buy a couple models, and asset kits and see where it goes from there.

Until you do, your story will be okay but won't cross over to being a VN Game territory that will bring fans and the funds needed to expand and improve.

Sorry to say it like that, but it kind of the truth.

Listen, best of luck to you in your project. But I will not be playing any more of this in the near future and wont be watching it very closely for a good long while knowing that there is not art to go with the story. what art is there is stock art you can get off a site that you can buy the assets from meaning you likely don't even have the assets.

HINT: that means you are ripping someone off, but that not an issue here it would seem. LOL...

Uh... wow! I never thought I'd be giving a text-based game a glowing review.

There is lots going on in this story, a sexy new recruit who is eager to be trained, a wife who enjoys being treated roughly by her man, a daughter who is still unaware of her own emerging desires.
There's also the young actress, under threat from a creepy director, finding herself looking to you for shelter.

Apart from characters with stories, the D/s relationships are depicted beautifully, and the sex scenes enjoyable.

I can't help subtract a star for the lack of graphics, although I do have to say that even just the vignettes that are used to depict the characters in the scene are helpful. If only there could be a bit more to them. Some facial expressions, some outfits.

There are choices to be made during the story, but it's not clear to me whether those choices have any real effect on the story's flow or just on the immediate scene.

I'm eager to see more of this game.

Update for v0.6: There's sadly not much more content in v0.6, compared to v0.1.
It is becoming clearer that the girls are younger than I'd previously understood, and I don't like the game as much as a result.
After v0.1 I went off and played some more of the author's games, and found that I enjoy the overt D/s in this game, compared to them.