VN - Ren'Py - The Interim Domain [v0.26.0] [ILSProductions]

Man... I know it's been said before, but what a disappointing follow up to one of my favorite AVNs.

It feels like the dev was actively trying to drive away previous fans by switching to a dumb sandbox while also taking away the great relationship building that made us actually care about the LIs, now it's like what's the point if we just never see them again? The game just gives me no reason to care enough to bother with a bunch of useless clicks to pursue a bunch of dead end relationships.

I guess I'll come back if/when the dev makes a new game and hopefully learns from all the mistakes this game makes and hopefully goes back to the formula that Now and Then has. Bring back a reason to give a shit about the world and the characters and for fucks sake drop the pointless sandbox.

I played through the beginning which is available rn, protagonist reminds me of a previous game the same dev made a lot but he is still different, the atmosphere is really interesting and feels a little bit sad and empty, the way I like it, so far nothing major happens but this game is not about something meaningful I guess. At least it feels that way, but even tho I really like reading it more than other VNs, it has that "booky" feeling about it with long descriptions and detailed thoughts. Hope the dev finishes it.

The developer is just really consistent with updates, game itself is pretty good, girls are definitely interesting. Despite it being different in terms of settings, I like it, the concept is handled really well and keeps me interested.

Also I'm a sucker for well made honey select models. I'm not sure what to say but it's definitely one of the VNs on the site that doesn't feel like a waste of time, truly a gem. 10/10 from me.

A very interesting premise and reasonably well-executed storyline so far with good mystery and characters. For people that are more into the actual sex part of adult visual novels, I could see the dilemma between a good ending for the characters and actually having sex with them at some points be a bit off-putting but thankfully saves & mods exist. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

initially i get a strong 'the Sixth Sense' feel... "...I see dead people". and i kinda wonder if this is the case or is the MC just a little 'slow'. he can make what he wants of the world and simply doesn't get it. as i read comments of those farther in, the MC is gaining quite a few girls, so of course it will take time to fulfill their desires (i mean get them to move on). So, is this like 'Touched by an Angel' spot light the target so the can see the light at the end of the tunnel, or 'the Sixth Sense' the girls are there to get HIM to move on????
the pacing is a bit stilted but not awkward and the mystery of each subject is nicely intriguing. all in all a nice read.
at least that is my impression so far

I believe that the current mediocre rating for Interim Domain is undeserved although I understand where people are coming from. It's basically the result of expectations people have when it comes to relationships in adult visual novels. They revolve a lot around physical connections and sex for obvious reasons. That worked well in Now & Then, especially with its coming of age vibe.

The Interim Domain is different in that regard and that is both why its so unique but also a curse as far as AVNs go. It deals with a subject matter that is much more difficult to grasp, the metaphysical connection between humans and the question of loss, how we build relationships with humans knowing that everything must ultimately die and also knowing that many of us carry unresolved conflicts that haunt us until the very end (and beyond, in this case).

I rate Interim Domain highly especially because it breaks with some genre conventions and asks some difficult questions about trauma, loss and the nature of our existence.
Sex and intimacy have their place in the Interim, but they have a different quality and we as players have to adjust our expectations in that regard. Don't expect this to be a story about sex.

Once you see Interim Domain for what it is,you can appreciate it for what it does really well. Building a unique fantasy world with interesting protagonists who struggle and who need a spiritual guide to deal with their demons.

Is Interim Domain flatulent? Possibly. But so is every arthouse movie ever made. And I like to watch those. Experimental storytelling should be encouraged in my opinion.

So, coming into this game I had very high hopes. Their last game is still damn near my favorite game on this site. And a LOT of the qualities of their storytelling comes through in this as well. The dialogue isn't phoned in google translate garbage. The story is leagues more than "MC returns home after X time to sleep with family." And it's actually interesting, which is something that is so rare. Especially on this site. The UI is all custom, there's no bugs that I've come across, and the only real issue I see is there are a lot of general spelling errors, which i'm sure (hoping) will be fixed over time. And the ONLY reason I even bring up the spelling mistakes is I think I could count on one hand the spelling mistakes in the last game and in this one there's a lot. It's not distracting just noticeable.

The thing is I really like this so I don't want to spoil stuff like I usually do. But a quick synopsis would be: The universe ended and MC is stuck in the afterlife. Sort of? It's like the space between life and death. The MC is tasked with helping restless souls move on and all the characters are stuck with their own troubles that won't let them pass on. And all the characters have their own shit going on, making everything feel like a real conversation. It's great. I think stylistically, the bloom is a bit much but I can see it being intentional, emphasizing the surreal nature of what's going on. And this does a better job than Death Stranding lol. A story about people isolated in their own stories, all connected by MC. And there's no boring QWOP, walking simulator gameplay that doesn't matter.

And now you're wondering "Why isn't it 5 stars if it's this amazing?" To be frank, until the content in this latest update, the story does that thing where they gloss over things that try to keep you interested to learn more. But I just don't see why the character can't explain what the hell is going on. Or at least more than "In time you will learn." More than one person says "Time is just a construct" So they use that as an excuse to do it later, but those same characters bitch about waiting. You gotta lean one way or the other. But I will 100% come back to this later on. Once the story is more fleshed out and mature, I can see this being just as good as their last story.

A game with potential, but it is hard to get into to.

Pros:
Graphics are fine
The overall story and plot is interesting and more unique than most.

Cons:
While the story is good, it hampers the relationship between the MC and the LIs. Since the LIs will move on after we solve their problem, what is the point of romancing or getting a connection to them.
The subplots of each LI is too disconnected. Jumping from story to story is not a good way to do it.
The LI are bland at best and annoying/uninteresting at worst.
You cannot see all the character scenes per update unless using the mod.

A visual novel with a rare concept of helping spirits move on and competing to create a new world.

At the time of review (chapter 5), this is a slow build with only a couple adult scenes. There is progress in world building and getting to know the girls, but there's a long way to go to understand what's happening and where it's going. (I don't think there's any way to earn Love points yet with the women, only Like points, so relationships are still in the introductory phase.)

Structurally there is a main story that advances in parallel with side quests for the women. The order doesn't seem to matter, but I didn't test this much. It seems possible to ignore women entirely, and the stories are standalone; the women do not interact with each other.

The game doesn't seem to allow players to fully explore the side stories with each release. Players get caught up to the main story before they can see everything, so a replay is needed to view the other side stories. This design is a bit awkward. It would be nice to see all the side stories on one save.

Graphics are nothing special but I like how the lighting and partial renders portray a surreal spirit world.

This game is fairly niche. It doesn't provide much action and is text heavy but is great for what it is.

This is a good game. It does have a decent story, excellent renders and animations. But the sandbox feature kills it for me. When I play this game, I feel I'm missing choices. I feel the dev would be much better off with a VN, like Now and Then.

My review of The Interim Domain [v0.05.0]

Story
The story basically is the following:
Everyone in the world dies and their souls move to a realm inbetween worlds - ready to move on to the next life in a new world.
However, many of them feel unable to let go of their old lives, so now they are stuck inbetween, living in illusions of the old world (created just for them personally).
You are one of these people, but of course you are picked as a chosen one, that has to help everyone stuck to move on, so they can have sex with other men in the next world.
Sounds like a fun concept? Not to me.

Gameplay
The game has a main story and 7 or 8 substories where you help cute girls move on and have fun in the next world without you! Very nice!
These substories are all about as long as the main story, so the main story of course moves along at a snail's pace...
Every day you choose which girl's substory you want to progress and get a bit a main story before or after the event.
You better choose wisely though, because you can't continue playing the girls' substories after the current main story content has been completed!

Graphics
Absolute bog-standard unmodded Honey Select graphics again.
Default models, default shaders, 1 directional light, the backside of characters/objects is 100% black.
But now you get some extra atrocious-looking bloom effect in some scenes and an attempt of sunlight reflections that look like someone put LEDs in MC's mouth.
Animations (only 1 sex scene so far, if I remember correctly) appear to just be default Honey Select.

Audio
The game has a decent, but short, soundtrack that fits the game's setting.
The problem is that volume between tracks is very inconsistent again, the annoying door/bed squeaking sound from the first game is back, and default Honey Select fake moans are back as well.
Can you mute them? Of course not.

Writing
The writing is fantastic again and the only reason to even touch this game.
However it is much more difficult to get immersed in the story when you are basically drip-fed ~8 different mini stories and constantly jump from one unrelated character to another.
As of now barely anything has happened in the main story as well.

Conclusion
A very disappointing game from the creator of a masterpiece like Now & Then.
I have no desire to play the next update and will wait until the game is completed to MAYBE give it another chance, but I don't think the author's writing can save the game this time.

Totally different from the author's other game, I feel bored, it's like a dream, and I don't buy the philosophical nonsense that he tries to teach us, the truth was, I wanted to see what I could expect from the creator of the tremendous game of Now & Then, but in the end with this new game I feel nothing or desire to continue playing.

ILS doesn't dissapoint, a new game with a new story that's as good as the last one. the music is great, the plot is crazy and the writing is phenomenal. not much to say except that it's another ISL banger.

I do not really need to elaborate on a lot;
The concept is fairly amazing and interesting. VERY intriguing. Makes me want to play more and explore the stories of each character. A lot of question marks for what else will happen.
Characters are believably unique with their own quirks.

Sounddesign is very nice - fine tunes. Visuals are simple but clean. Saw no clipping or broken necks. I liked the seemless flashbacks, very nice input.

I am excited to see how this proceeds.

I don't know how to review games so I'll follow the reviewing suggestions from the rules.
Game version: v0.04.0
Story, Originality : so far 10/10, its very unique
Renders : I like it, there is some brightness issues but its not a big deal
Amout of content: When I was playing I kept thinking when is it going to end because I was not expecting this much playtime, so its very good.

Looks to be another intriguing game by ILSProductions the guy who brought us the amazing Now & Then VN. The characters are great, the plot is engaging and certainly not something you have seen before. Its definitely going to have a healthy amount of lewd content between well a written story. The best kind of experience in my opinion.

Now the game is very new, literally released not too long ago so the gallery is still missing but its there and will added soon. Sounds are present and work well to give a nice ambiance to the scenes. There are several unique girls so far and more to come.

Very promising game from a great dev.

0.5: This just feels like a real snooze-fest. Characters aren't really interesting and the philosophical stuff feels really amateurish. All the girls also are kinda ugly looking, making the lack of sex scenes feel even more slow and boring. Will probably check back in a year or so because the animations are at least pretty good.

Lovely start to a new adventure. Usually I would wait till the game is a little more along before giving it a spin, but with how much I loved Now & Then I just had to get a taste of what was coming next. This seems promising, will return to update my review as the updates roll in. Cheers!