VN - Ren'Py - The Interim Domain [v0.30.0] [ILSProductions]

If Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was a visual novel. A masterclass in storytelling and world building featuring an artfully crafted atmosphere with distinct and realistic characters, The Interim Domain is easily the most intriguing project on this website.

The writing is honestly really well done and the characters, while a few have some boring little story scenes, are fleshed out wonderfully by the time you get even half way through. The sex scenes are a bit of a hit or miss, such is the way with Honey Select, but ILS refuses to miss. Was a long time fan of Now and Then so this one is also a real treat. Can't wait to see this one finished.

I hate to leave a poor review because I loved Now & Then but it is what it is.
The game is beyond a slow burn. The story moves at a snails pace. It's really disappointing because the world is interesting. The premise is unique but nothing happens. It's just a boring slog of mostly uninteresting dialogue. Everything is "mysterious" or "your mind can't handle it" It's a lazy excuse for not wanting to fully flesh things out or for stalling the plot.

Incredible Worldbuilding offset by a lonely MC with a lonely mission
This game’s setting is awesome. Our MC is working in some sort of purgatory where he needs to help people get over their last regrets and/or final struggles, and over the course of helping these people get over their last regrets, we get to see how he might been made for this of job.

You see, the people he’s helping are in this sort of a purgatory, a place where the only people its residents are able to interact with Shades, ghosts of the imagination, or Remnants, vestiges of the people who failed to overcome the grievances of their past life, and as consequence, became featureless husks of a human being not unlike how you might imagine an autonomous mannequin might look. Cool.

I really enjoyed this initial premise. Seeing the MC interact with the female leads while learning about the rules of this weird, in-between purgatory world was cool and exciting. I really liked how the interactions between and the girls and the MC just “made sense” to me.

For example, often when the MC approaches one of the girls, they might give him shit for a bit before almost immediately opening up to him. In most games, this would come off as tacky and poorly written. In a game about a purgatory world where lost souls are held victim by their grievances and/or regrets, a game where these girls are constantly starved for any sort of actual human contact? Then yes, I would believe the last man on Earth might be desirable at this moment. These girls don’t need a handsome man, they need a friend, and this MC can deliver.

Unfortunately, my praises for this game stop with the worldbuilding and logic behind these interactions. As the game continued, I found myself more and more unsatisfied with each girl’s story and less and less enraptured with this fascinating new setting. Why you might might because? Because I found it such a terribly lonely journey.

All these characters are disconnected and unrelated in such terribly superficial ways that the whole story starts to feel empty at some point. Each girl has her own life and own separate problems all taking place in her own separate delusion. These delusions can’t and don’t really interact with each other in such a way that the MC practically has to be invited into this delusion — consciously or otherwise — to even enter them. No one knows what life this girl is leading within her delusions apart from the girl herself, and even when they do talk with the MC about what’s going on in their delusions, does she really give him any way in which he can participate in them with her? Nope, not really, only in ways where he can pretend to be.

And all that just sucks. It’s incredibly lonely.

So again, from a world-building perspective, it’s very cool to see how these girls come up with these entire worlds to support their fragile psyches relating to their past and how they wrestle with their grievances in real-time. There were some genuinely interesting scenarios going on with these girls.

On the other hand of things, the character side of the whole affair positively sucks. I’m constantly yearning for some meaningful connection and/or developments between the MC and the girls, but that’s almost impossible in a story chronically focused on only being between two people. Girl is having trouble with her peers? Her coworkers? Work? Parents? Doesn’t matter that you know, you can’t even interact or relate to her about these people because they don’t even exist! Awesome, you’re effectively being asked to sympathize with a psych ward patient who’s created their entire own alternate reality, and then you’re asked to pretend like hearing about it is all really cool and exciting to you. Wonderful from a world-building perspective, terrible from a “WHO WOULD WANT TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?????” Angle.

But yeah, how can you have a world that doesn’t have actual people in it? That just doesn’t make sense to me. It just doesn’t work.

What I think would’ve actually saved this story for me would’ve been to strike some sort of balance between this theme of a ghost-filled purgatory world and what we would expect from a non-make-believe, populated one. Give the MC the power to actually see what these girls are seeing, make their delusions a reality, at least for the player, and then suddenly, we’re not just playing as a character tending to his latest batch of psych ward patients — psych ward patients he secretly hopes to fuck — and instead get to follow the tale of a magical doctor that can enter a patient’s world holistically, giving them the closure and self-satisfaction they deserve with the focus on how their lives had been and not how they are now(purgatory).

I’d much rather see glimpses of what worlds these girls had actually been seeing in this ghost-filled purgatory world rather than suffering entirely through the depression that is these make-believe ones. Could we not at least give the MC the power to actually see what they’re seeing? Actually interact with the people from the girl’s past that might have initially caused these grievances? Because without actually being able to do these sort of things, I, the reader, struggle heavily to relate to these characters trapped entirely in the make-believe. I want to be a part of their world, I want to see exactly what kind of people they’re interacting with within these interactions.

I’m harping on this a lot, but I truly believe getting to interact with the actual people from these girls’ pasts is the difference between sympathizing with these characters and getting tired of them. Like I am now.

Regardless, even this game’s one last hope for a saving grace falls to mediocrity as it’s pioneered by the most annoying, unsympathetic, most unhelpful, aggravating, most flippantly dismissive, inhuman, piece of unadulterated alien waste product that is Mira.

I hate Mira, all my homies hate Mira.

Mira is supposed to be your partner, your helper, the person that helps guide you in this absolutely fucked up world of purgatory. She’s supposed to explains things. She’s supposed to keep to you from getting too lonely and upset with yourself.
But what does she do? SHE DRUGS YOU WITH MAGIC! YOU TRY TO QUESTION HER ABOUT IT? SHE BLOWS YOU OFF! THEN SHE DISAPPEARS! HOW AGGRAVATING AND AWFUL A CHARACTER CAN SHE BE?? SHE’S THIS WAY INTENTIONALLY, BUT GOD! AH! MAN DO I HATE MIRA!

Continuing on with the psych ward patient analogy, our MC is the nice doctor: he gets to know his patients and truly cares. Mira though? She blows her patients off, drugs them to oblivion, ignores their concerns, and tells them to do better. God, she is the worst alien lifeform I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading about.

There is so much miss potential with Mira. She could have solved all my concerns about loneliness and being forced to deal with psych patients by being the MC’s one true friend and coworker. Don’t you think the story would’ve been 10x better if it was about you and a girl born long-long before you working to help lost souls pass on together? And eventually finding peace within yourselves as well? I think that would’ve of been greaat!

But no, Mira is not a human. She’s an Entende(?), a non-human entity that exists in the purgatory to do… things. I’m not sure what exactly she does because part of her schtick is being as entirely unhelpful and unforthcoming as possible with the MC about what she actually does. Super fun character, am I right? She’s an alien, alright! One written entirely too well. I hate her; she’s not relatable at all.

Anyways, there are other characters and entities like Mira, but they aren’t so friendly, so don’t expect any allies in this game. It’s just you and your mental health patients of purgatory! For eternity! Fun, fun.

God, and it makes this game so lonely. 4/5.

TLDR. World and concept is amazing, characters and execution fell flat for me. It’s so close to good though that I’d still recommend it anyways and still found it enjoyable. Your mileage may vary.

God, do I love this game. In the sea of college-harem-incest-porn drivel, there's VN's that actually remind me why I came here in the first place.

This is not a porn game. Yes, there is some, but (and this is vital) the story isn't a vehicle to string escalating sex scenes on some dubious thread of a story, but rather it is an original (ambitious) story that does have adult moments when they make sense.

It is also wildly original. The world building is great and immersive, I love it. The characterization is as good as you would expect from the maker of 'Now and Then'. There is very little that is not to like about this if you actually like to follow a story. The build-up is on the slow side, but steady. Over time, the mystery escalates by just the right amount to keep you reading and wondering.

TLDR: If you like story over porn, don't miss this!

P.S. Dark Souls Desert Sorceress Hood? Really?

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.