VN - Ren'Py - The Intoxicating Flavor [v0.11.7] [PixelsLab]

great game so far, and I'm only on chapter 5. the characters are detailed, the world is fleshed out, and the story is both complex and compelling. My only critique that I have, and it is one that I have for most games that apply this mechanic, is where something is very clearly going on, but the main character always gets the answer of "I will tell you later" or some variation to string them along.

I understand leaving the mc in the dark, but as the reader it can be frustrating. A simple solution would be a cut scene where two characters are having a conversation about what is happening, don't go into the full plot obviously, but kind of give broader strokes as to what is happening to clue the reader in, without giving too much away. I can understand why it is done, we are playing from the perspective of the main character, so if they don't know something, then we don't know it either. It is really my only complaint.

I will say though that there is a reverse of that coin that I much appreciate, and that the dev uses in here as well, and that comes to questions about an individual. "What's going on with this character?" "Why is that character doing that?" and the ever popular "Will these two characters ever get together?" Those questions are the ones that really keep me pushing forward with the story as they are questions I want to learn through the natural progression of the story, and the dev is good at giving just enough away each time to want me to keep going to find out more.

Overall, the game is really good, and would recommend anyone to play if they like great stories with a fantasy element.

I've never written a review for a game before and I don't really think this is a game. I'm trying to remember if there are any choices at all... From what I understood, the dev has had some problems that's why the developpement of this story takes so long. 7 years is long, really long and I don't believe we're close to a finished product yet. However - and this is probably the most important word in my text - it is so f...king fascinating that I can't wait for the next update. I don't know where the dev got his inspiration from but artistically he's a genius. I love the story, the writing, the renders, the x scenes... I'm not a young lad anymore but I do hope I get to see the entire story because it 's just brilliant.

The visuals and animations are great, but I did not enjoy the story. It's ambitious, I'll give them that. I'm at ch. 6 now and think I will just skip through the rest. The MC is written to be this edgy cool teen, but comes of as an unlikeable asshole. Asshole chatacters is fine, but IMO, he has no real redeeming qualities.

Review for version v0.11.7
(It gets better after chapter 9)

Intriguing story, leaves you curious to know what will happen next, that's what made me continue reading. However, before chapter 9 I skipped a lot when there were large chunks of text from just one character, I just understood the content of the conversation and moved on.
Dev has to understand that this is not a book, it is a visual novel in which there are images and the text has to be just right, human beings have a small attention deficit and if the text is long and boring and does not add to the story, the person loses interest.

The images make up for the text but it's always good to have a balance of both.

After chapter 9, you see a slightly different dynamic in the text, and the intrigue of the story improves.
And for those who want to see the hot scenes, the last chapters have a decent amount of animation content.

I'm giving it a 3 star rate because of the slow start.
I understand that the dev wanted to develop the relationship between characters, but he could have cut down on a lot of conversations.

Good luck to Dev and I hope to see improvements, or for him to continue the pace that these last few chapters have.

TL;DR
Interesting game with good animations and renders, but meh H-scenes.


Pros:

• Story
  One of the few AVNs that actually hooked me with the plot. I find 99% of games that focus on story but not romance unbearably cringy or boring. Maybe I’m just a sucker for mythology and cosmology, but this one has a cool and unique setting — not the usual angel/demon crap. No evil corps, no crime-solving nonsense.
• Visuals
  Despite the long dev time (since 2018), the game has great renders and top-tier animations. Almost no overused assets.
• Characters
  Every character has some backstory and a distinct personality. It’s not one of those boring harems with 20 LIs ticking off every fetish.

Neutral:

• MC
  Not a fan of “Chad” type MCs or the “chosen one” trope, but he’s tolerable here.
• Lack of narration
  All the descriptions, movements, and sounds are shown either through characters’ thoughts or short lines like “door opens”, “she stands up”.

Cons:

• H-scenes
  If for you, good animation = good H-scene, you'll probably be satisfied. For me, the sex scenes are really weak. They're short, with just a few lines of dirty talk. I barely noticed the lack of narration in the main plot, but in the H-scenes, it really hurts them. In VNs, I value the novel part more than the visual. You can find "show, don’t tell" in any porn, but “show AND tell” — that’s what makes AVNs special.

This AVN was good in like 2020, but it's been going for nearly 7 years and should've been finished years ago.

Most people will click on the game for the visuals, because the visuals are still pretty good. You might get hooked in by the writing being pretty good in the beginning, maybe you're interested in some of the story beats. But ultimately, you will slog through hours and hours of the most meaningless, repetitive, meandering dialogue you will ever see. Because of this, the writing doesn't even feel like it justifies the VERY SPARCE sexual scenes, especially since many of them are already several years old and the once great visuals are now dated.

The big thing that a lot of dev's don't seem to comprehend is that more writing does not equate to GOOD writing. In fact, many bad writers fill their stories with pages and pages of worthless text. What's funny as well is that despite all the text, all of the characters are boring. None of htem are fun or interesting, they're all bland. Another thing is that AVN devs seem to compare themselves to novels, which is both silly and egotistical. AVNs are closer to comics, or even movies. If you have a visual element to show us something, DO NOT TELL IT TO US. Dumping exposition and monologues is not only unnecessary, but actively detract from the project.

I hope at this point that the dev just dumps this project and starts a new one, perhaps a new AVN with allow them to introduce some fresh writing and ideas, and use the skills they've learnt more effectively.

All in all, 2/10 experience, so 1/5 on here.

Whenever I come across these type of VNs I always wonder why the hell F95 don't introduce the MILKING TAG !!!
This game has been out for so long but the progress is really slow,(4-5 chapters for 2 days only and almost no real sex scene within it).
Well there are some other milking devs out there too but many of them have something to boost about. Some have great models, some have excellent plot but this guy here sucks at almost everything. The models shape is really great animations are nice too but the rendering is bad.
The most irritating fact is, there is no depth of plot and no character development. Then WTF he had been doing for last 7 years !!!! Then there is the problem with non native speakers. The issue here is so obvious that it feels like the dev simply doesn't care.
.
I humbly request the F95 team to introduce a MILKING TAG.

Love this game. It's one of the first VNs I've ever played, and yet is still at the top of my list.
Great characters, good plot, nice animations.
Good enough english for a non-native speaker.
Just waiting to see how the story unfolds.

V 0.11.0

I've stopped playing at chapter 5 because it's unbearable.

The pace of the story it's boringly long, taking "milking" to a whole new level.
5 chapters to cover 2 in-game days and in all that you have only one sex scene (I know many of you will be angry with me, but dreaming of sex doesn't count).
The story isn't convoluted, it's just not existing: you barely know something of MC and his family, you know nothing of the other people on the island, nothing of the redhead you keep dreaming of and absolutely nothing of the plot. It's just a jumping around between a tsundere, a loli and a milf and sometime you get a vivid hallucination about a supposed ex-girlfriend and a homeless redhead kid.

And if this wasn't enough it's all put together by the best engrish possible:
View attachment 4024587

The good thing first: I think the chars are pretty good, but that's about it ...
I find the story confusing, sometimes incoherent with unnecessary flashbacks. The story would have been best started on day 1 instead of sometime in the future, with constant jumps into the past. The whole thing is made worse by the rather poor English. I would strongly recommend DEV to look for a good proofreader.

Fun, intrigue and splattering of fantasy weaves this story which is very well written! Love it. Renders and animations are good to boot! Developer is active and polite and transparent, that's a rare combination if I do say so myself. Get on patreon and support it!

This visual novel game is an absolute masterpiece in every aspect. From the captivating storytelling and well-developed characters to the stunning artwork and immersive soundtrack, it surpasses all expectations. Every decision feels meaningful, leading to multiple riveting endings. A true gem in the world of interactive storytelling. 5/5 stars without a doubt!

When you are trying to make an in-depth complicated story full of weird shit, make sure English is your first language or you have a mastery of it because if you don't the end result is this. There is a story here, but the way it's told is broken, fragmented, and certain elements are introduced seemingly randomly. I have no idea WTF is going on, and the sentences are full of grammatical errors, sentence structure errors and spelling errors. Now combine that with an insane story that is introduced poorly and the end result is a mind fuck that you cannot recover from. Even skipping past all of the dialogue and skipping as much of the story as you can, what's left is not that impressive. The girls are not anything you haven't seen before in other games, and there are no unique or impressive elements that make the game worth playing despite the mind shattering story. Ultimately, this leaves you with an indecipherable story with average renders and an MC who looks like he drinks soylent with a straw and crosses his legs while he does so.

One of the better vn's out there.
The story is definitely unique, I saw some glimpses of inspiration but this is as original as it gets.
Characters are likeable, it's easy to get excited about the mundane things in game.
Which comes to the point of why I cut one star, the pacing.
It's not so slow you want to uninstall, but I found myself skipping through the fillers to get to the main story developments about 70% into the game.
This is still pretty good, you don't get bored easily or too much.
There were no big plot holes, it's clear the story is written by someone clever.
One maybe personal note is, the game introduces a lot of mystery and ends before most are answered.
I'd have prefered if they evenly spaced out the reveals so we wouldn't be left wondering till the very end.

Overall, definitely recommend playing, if you don't rush through like I did there's a lot of enjoyment to be had.

One of the best story games out there. I would actually say it is among my personal top 3. All the way up there with City of Broken dreamers, BaDIK and Summers Gone.

The Design speaks for itself and the plot is far from the usual stuff. Actually very creative. Characters are well written, believable and interesting, with quite a few plot twists sprinkled into the storyline.

The animations are good as well. Mid-tier I would say. Sound design, moaning etc. could use a bit more work. @Dev: There area lot of professional sound... designers that are doing their work for free on rule34.xxx
Maybe you could askthem tohelp you with your production.

I rarely find a game to enjoy the storyline, and this game blew me away, I found myself more interested in the story development rather than the H-scenes. Fantastic job, PixelsLab! One thing I wish I had in the game is a little more freedom of choice in the dialogs, alas, I know how much would that increase the development workload, so - I'm fine with what I got. Looking forward to the next update.

At The Intoxicating Flavor [v0.10.3] [PixelsLab]

Spoilers throughout ...

There is plenty of sex in this one, and much of it is quite sexy.

Where this VN shines is the characterization, character depth (slow burn reveals), and dialogue.

It's one of my favorites, and the pace of development doesn't bother me. I happily wait for something this good. When the development of this story ends, I will be sad, like losing a friend.

The relationship with Eve and an opportunity to converse with her shadow allow the MC to start becoming his true self in a believable way.

The unnamed one, Olivia, Officer Green, even Skipper. All great characters, and easy to identify with. Teagan's story parallels MC's, without the super-powered abilities, and the softening of MC's heart to help her beat her issues is profound.

I can't assign a numerical rating. This isn't just another VN. This is something special. One of the few VNs I could see being spun into other media like a book, TV show, and movie.

Writing, theme and setting are all very interesting. My sole gripe is that the English translation at the start really grinds but thankfully the quality improves over time. Interested to see how the story plays out.
Edit: Also wanted to say its visually gorgeous

Very good VN with a lot of potential

Story: 5/5 very unique and interesting

Wording/
Dialogue: 3.5/5 For all the characters exept the MC the dialogue is really well written and doesnt feel off. Biggest problem is there are quite alot spelling and grammar mistakes which leave some dialogue with no logic to them which kinda pulls you out of the experience.

Characters: 4.5/5 The sisters are exceptionally interesting and very likeable although beeing polar opposites. For the other characters there is still not enough know to judge but seem to have also a lot to them.

Renders: 4.5/5 Renders are nice and all the girls look gorgeous. Animations are nice but nothing out of the ordinairy.

MC: 2.5/5 This is for me the biggest flaw. He is supposed to have a dark and twisted personality, but there is so much story going on and for a most of it he seems to be stuck in his character development. Even tho I like slow burns it feels like eternity since he made some progress in either direction (love, darkness, etc.) By now we made a lot of big descisions that should shape his character in a certain direction but it still feels like he is an unpredictable machine which is not so pleasent this far into the story.

OK, this one is loooong overdue.

I have been playing this game for a long time and have found it enjoyable, but confusing when I started it.

Then I gave it a bit of a break, played it again from the start a few months (year?) after. This time it made a bit more sense.

Gave it a break again for a long time and now replayed it again from the beginning. Now, everything is becoming crystal clear up to where the game is at this point, but with plenty of mystery remaining.

Unlike other stories, where there are lots of females, in this one, every girl seems to fit a specific purpose. Every one of them is a piece of the puzzle.
You might not know at this stage where exactly they fit in, but you can clearly see a well-defined plan with every single character in the game.

Technically, especially looking at the start time of the game, it still holds up well:
The girls are very pretty. 9/10
There is animation. 7/10 (Not it's string point, but enjoyable and not off-putting)
There is music: 7/10 Music is not it's strong point, but once again not off putting.
Sounds during sex: 5/10 Not to my liking, feels like a porno vibe.
Characters: 10/10 As per my game description, no character is wasted.
Story: 10/10 Not the typical story I would go for, but so well executed. The game could have no sex scenes, and the game and story would still be 10/10.
Sex scenes are sexy and frequent enough.

Can not wait to see where the story goes!