Create your AI Cum Slut -70% for Mother's Day
x

VN - Ren'Py - Completed - The Interim Domain [v0.31.0] [ILSProductions]

  1. 2.00 star(s)

    vnqats

    I enjoyed Now & Then for what it was. It wasn't the best VN ever, but it was pretty decent. So I figured this one would be the same.

    It isn't. The Interim Domain tries to strike out a little farther from the beaten path and do something original, which is admirable to a point. However, it just ends up being vague and abstract and confusing and dull. Nothing feels like it matters because nothing is at all grounded. It's hard to say what exactly makes a good story grab your attention, but this ain't it.
  2. 2.00 star(s)

    BigBlob69

    Review of v0.16.0

    I tried. I really tried. But The Interim Domain broke me.

    Let me explain.

    The Interim Domain will be familiar to fans of Kinderfeld's previous game. Low quality graphics, smoothed over with filter and model choices to give a pleasant enough visual experience. A tall mc with face obscured by a truly awful hairstyle. Cute girls with well developed stories and personalities. But Kinderfeld has made a few changes.

    First, the game's plot is, as far as I know, truly original. The game takes place in something roughly resembling limbo or purgatory, where the mc's goal is to help spirits move on. The lore attempts to be deep, but once you learn the meaning of the many made up words, it's pretty straightforward. In any case, it's intriguing enough to serve as a setting for an interesting story. Secondly, the number of girls has been cranked up. In the previous game we had 2 primary + 2 secondary + 2 with very few scenes. Now we've got 11, all of which are posed to be roughly equal in importance. Thirdly, partly as a result of the increased number of girls, the game is so, so, so long. I wish I had kept track of how many hours I've sunk into it; as a proxy, I kept a notes document on what happened each "day", which is now 7,000 words long, and I'm only somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters through.

    Now, normally I can cope with a long game, especially with a good plot. But The Interim Domain wore me down to the bone. Kinderfeld's dialogue writing is mediocre at best and painful at worst. The girls are mostly fine, but the mc's jokes are never funny, and during the sex scenes he seems determined to kill your boner. When he's not cracking jokes, he sounds like he's trying too hard and never living in the moment; while you could point to the lore to justify this, the effect on the player is still painful. I often had to stop playing because it took me right out of the narrative. The low quality graphics really stick out in the sex scenes; in his previous game, my emotional connection to the love interests overcame this, but this time round all I can do is grit my teeth. Oh and the sex sounds are still as silly as ever.

    Most of all, there just isn't enough happening to justify the runtime. The story progresses very slowly, as does your relationship with each girl. There are so many nothing-burger scenes. And the game can't even lean on its emotional connections; despite romancing and fucking the girls, the mc remains very aloof, seeming to care very little about them. When they're clearly love with you, the mc is still thinking "maybe I like them". The mc's attitude naturally shapes your own, as in any work of fiction, so this design decision was highly counterproductive. This is part and parcel of the game feeling profoundly lonely; even as you get to know the girls and they start to love you, the lore dictates that they can never truly connect with the mc. He is alone and none of his relationships can ever be really real.

    Let's be real: AVNs often have cringe moments you have to push through to get to the good bits. But The Interim Domain is such a slog, and the good bits are so few, that only the most dedicated of fans will ever finish it. Peace out motherfuckers :cool:

    TL;DR: Too long, not enough good stuff.
  3. 5.00 star(s)

    CereBros

    Very long AVN with very interesting story, that is ominous, enigmatic and dark.

    The world and character building is phenomenal.
    The music is so well-fitting in to the atmosphere.
    The LIs are very likeable, authentic and have their own life and stories to experience.

    The premise is interesting, at first I did not know what to expect, but I like it a lot. But to compare Now & Then (which was 5/5), this, but just in comparison, would be 4,5/5 for me.

    And it is super lengthy (which is compliment and great), as of 0.17.0, so that is a plus in this kind of remarkable story. I like it and thanks ILSProductions for another gripping story and idea.
  4. 4.00 star(s)

    -Yor-0728

    I like most games based on "honey select" or similar. This one particularly caught my attention and I saw the synopsis and gave it a try...

    THE GOOD
    The plot seems unique and original to me, really that is something to be applauded for since if you look at most games they are all "an MC going to school and having relationships with everyone", this gives it many points in its favor. I like that each character has a past and a context of why they are like that, I love this because I like to read books and visual novels are one of my favorites and this story really catches my attention, the person who created it really took his time. time to build a world where you get the +18 scenes with a correct context and not simply because yes, because you have to keep in mind that despite being a visual novel, it is a game for adults so everything should revolve around it from this. The Waifus are well made in terms of their design, each one different and as I mentioned before with a good context.

    THE BAD... or not?
    Even though I mentioned that I like to read, especially this type of fantasy story, mysticism, etc. The game gets boring in certain parts... You have to keep in mind that this is a game for adults and you have to have a balance between the erotic and the plot, but I feel that the balance in this game is more inclined towards the argumentative (Which is not bad, but I mainly look for both +18 scenes and a plot for them). It feels a bit slow and in parts it sometimes got to a point where I was stressed because there were no scenes for adults, that is, there is a lot of content, context of the world and its stories, but I feel that those scenes are few for each of the waifus that there are available. It is certainly a great story but let's be frank... those of us who are here are here to see a good story with good adult scenes.

    The story is very good and interesting, basically how you as the protagonist find stories and try to empathize with each of them, the scenes mostly have a context of why they happen and that is something I appreciate, since I don't just want to see sex And now, for that I better look for more specific pages for that.

    I want to make it clear that this is just my opinion of the game, up to this point of the update (v0.17.0). "It is advisable?" You could say yes, but if you are one of those who look for quick scenes without context, you better not even try it. If you are interested in a good story and spicy content, I invite you to play it.

    Summary (SCORE: 8)
    o Character Design/Visual: 9/10
    o Background music/sound: 8/10
    o Plot: 9/10
    o Animation: 10/10
    o +18 Scenes: 6/10
    o Gameplay: 6/10
    o Interface: 8/10

  5. 3.00 star(s)

    vehemental

    Great, unique, awesome premise ruined by like 75% of the text in the game being a constant flow of every single inane thought the MC has that adds nothing to the plot, relationship/character development, lore, atmosphere, anything. Just a slog to read. Given so little of the remaining text is actual dialogue or plot it's like if the "help me budget this, my family is dying" meme was made into a VN.

    Graphics are also desperately outdated. Could have really used the switch to HS2 and/or the mods that a lot of other HS creators use.
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    Green Isosceles

    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.
  7. 4.00 star(s)

    ChaoticGonke

    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.
  8. 2.00 star(s)

    Silmerano

    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.
  9. 4.00 star(s)

    dotawolfbrother

    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.
  10. 5.00 star(s)

    InstaPrincess

    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? ;)
  11. 1.00 star(s)

    TheSmoothCriminal

    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.
  12. 5.00 star(s)

    evildirex

    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.
  13. 5.00 star(s)

    Amanwithculture

    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.
  14. 5.00 star(s)

    Witocaj

    Edit now that it's completed: One of the few VNs on the site that actually follows through on the novel aspect, with absolutely great character development for the LIs which results in actual emotion when it comes time to see them off. Yes, the graphics aren't the best but the scenes are at least well set and thought through. Really my only gripe is the Anya ending,
    You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.
    In the end though, this game is far better than the average 4-star rating suggests if you actually value an original premise with actual story and follow-through. Also, Polly is best girl.

    Original review: 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.
  15. 4.00 star(s)

    VN..reader

    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
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    Éama

    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.
  17. 4.00 star(s)

    Jnx

    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.
  18. 2.00 star(s)

    Deleted member 2553135

    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.
  19. 5.00 star(s)

    IndigoHawk

    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.
  20. 2.00 star(s)

    GrammerCop

    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.