English:..........9/10
User Interface:...3/10
User Experience:..7/10
Art:..............6/10
Dialogue:.........3/10
Story:............7/10
Opinion:..........2/10................
Avg:...........5.29/10 [2.65/5]
Every time I open a game and am greeted by characters introducing the story and "mechanics," as if it's difficult to hit left click, I want to bash my head against my desk. A simple thank you and if you have something that is more than "Click to Continue" is all you ever need to tell the player. As well as "Skip this dumb intro" as a choice. And the reviews of this were negative for very oddly specific reasons, so I wanted to give it a chance. However, so far, this intro is just kinda boring. It's different, a back alley poker game, but doesn't do anything for me. And the line "I'm not old enough to gamble" Took me by surprise. He looks 35, the gambling age must be 50. And once MC eats with Diamonds, they blurt out their darkest personal traumas. Who does that? All they've done is play poker and eat a burger. What prompted such a heavy conversation? Either way, first impressions on this are odd. Is it a little different? Yeah. Is it a rollercoaster of information? My god, yeah.
So you play as Rob, I'll continue to use MC, though. He shows up to a poker game. I guess it's to finish an online poker tournament, but it's immediately cut short by police. MC hides with Diamonds, I think she said her name was Ellie, but either way, they kiss to make cops think they're not involved and end up a a fast food place. Then, her first thought is "Let me flash this idiot." Why? Love at first sight is easier to write. Then she goes off on a tangent about how she's been raped and sexually assaulted multiple times. Now, I don't know about you, but why would a victim of that EVER decide to do that with some rando she met in a shady gambling ring. Then goes off about their past lives and destiny, feelings that can't be conveyed to the player, and wild cult shit. To which MC just says "Yeah, my buddy was a cult leader, good guy." Excuse me, what?! Then she says "You're the first guy that didn't want...that" She initiated interaction by flashing, I don't understand her actions at all. Leading to sex after knowing each other for 10 minutes. She's already lost any decent characterization. Then MC is at home, with a dream sequence sex scene, followed by his whole family being murdered. To which, he has NO urgency. He paces around his room, literally twiddling his thumbs. Only to be cut off BY THE STUPID 4TH WALL BREAKING. And they use it to talk about most of the issues I have. You know, instead of writing better they just say "Haha oh well." That doesn't excuse or shield you from criticism of these terrible choices. And they bring up this stupid red head fetishism everyone is on as well. My god, it's like there's some awful checklist everyone uses to make these crap games to try to milk patreon. "DON'T WORRY READER, THERE'S MORE RED HEADS FOR YOU HAHA." How about not including a dumb recap, followed by ANOTHER recap if the player is still playing? I know that takes actual effort, but that narrator 4th wall crap tanks any investment I have in the story to zero.
The second chapter opens to MC having amnesia. So if amnesia is on your bingo card, please, mark it now. With the fabled "redhead" with disturbingly long eyelashes. Look like venus fly traps. She owes MC's dad, and will take in MC out of the kindness of her heart. At this point it feels like whiplash. "Let's hard reset the story because people bitched about the color of the girls' hair and the writer doesn't know what to do." I'm not saying that's what happened, I'm saying that's what it feels like. And if I have to deal with the shitty recap/narration every chapter, full warning, I'm going to quit. The chapters aren't long enough and I'm still playing so I don't have a goldfish brain that needs a recap. Then it calls out three of the worst games on this site by name. Wow. At this point it's adding up to be the absolute worst experience for me specifically. So I guess what I CAN say is for the loud majority that loves playing the same games over and over, they'll love this. And the audacity to say this isn't just about sex when there's a giant "View Harem" button on screen at all times, along with LIs that try to start relationships based on nothing. Why a "harem tracker" is even needed is beyond me. "Did you say yes to this girl?" is not a thing I can forget. Then MC is asked if he's a virgin, but he has no memories? How would he know? So many poor writing decisions. He also has to eavesdrop on every conversation, and somehow ALL of them are about him and his penis. He started out a semi-decent guy, now it just feels like those peeping games where the women fall in love with the troglodyte MC because he spies on them in the shower.
Chapter 3 is nothing. MC trains and has sex with Madison. Then he has this giddy pre-teen fit when Alexis kisses him. There's no consistency. I'm GLAD you can skip the back to back recaps, but the fact they're there like I'm some idiot that can't follow the plot "Guy's family killed, loses memory, vampire landlady falls in love with him for no reason." Chapter 4 is baby's first mission, security gone wrong. Chapter 5 seals this game's fate for me. EVERY CHARACTER shows up, looks at MC, suddenly everyone shares their innermost thoughts and desires down to the last detail, then are the very best friends/fuck buddies. Alexis is this adamant subservient vampire cuckquean that demands MC sleeps with other women because this game is nothing more than everything it says it's not. I love vampire stories, but everyone in this acts like a kids show character. They meet, have no problems, solve the nonexistent problem, then stare into each other's eyes knowing they're always in a safe space together. Then MC has a sudden vampire fetish, and any time he talks to anyone it's about how many VNs he plays. Really? He also confuses love with dependency, the issue isn't she made him fall in love with her, he is just completely dependent on her for everything. Don't forget the only thing you, the player, have seen between them is that they watched tv together a couple times. Why she likes him or he has feelings for her is never touched upon. Sure, it's going to be some big dumb reveal in like 2 years, but having everyone love him for some ethereal reason means none of them actually love him, and the "wholesome" vibes this tries to give off are null and void. (Which we all know for a fact they'll say something stupid like "His aura only enhances what someone would feel for him.")
This was made for the crowd that HAS to have a harem of women that ONLY have sex with MC. And they also make sure to say it out loud and as verbosely as possible, so the verbal contract is known. I'm honestly surprised all of the women aren't virgins that have never heard the word penis before. For once, the English is pretty good, I only noticed some minor spelling/grammar issues over the whole project. The UI/UX is pure default renpy outside the typewriter font. The art is okay, the animations are all heavily reused and the models are very stiff. There's also quite a few floating objects and stuff in the stills. The dialogue is not good. There's no defending that. Everyone says everything they're thinking at all times and it feels so stiff on top of it, NO ONE talks like this. The story itself COULD be pretty good, I like vamps and I would be interested in this if it were written well. But it's not. Realistically, this is only for the people that like all of the VN's it directly references, constantly. Of which I like exactly one. So far the only "conflict" has been Sylvia running away from MC. And I say that knowing full well that fighting and action has happened. Ultimately, I just find it kinda boring, bur if you just need shallow women to fawn over you, only your name is now Bobert, this is the game for you.