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

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.

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!