VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - The Manifest: Shadows Over Manston [v2.2] [White Phantom Games]

The renders are not the best. Lightning is all over the place, ranging from okay to bad. The expressions are at times silly. There are to many character introduced without making them stand out. Consequently it is hard to remember which character is which or who is talking at times. The story jumps from one narrative strand to another very abruptly and with out a good transition, exspecially since most are quite short. All in all the pacing feels quite off.

Well, this is one hell of a game. The author was not kidding about game based on making choices. This game is a bit violent but nonetheless has good scenes of matrimonial and extra-matrimonial sex involved. The writing and the rendering of the scenes is also not bad so when it comes to the story and sex I do not think most people will have a problem with it. It is good and something people here should give a try.

On a side note:
Another thing I was interested in was the newspaper you will get to read later on. It is interesting how he imagined about the crisis he wrote and the author of this game definitely does not lack political imagination. However, it should not be called as something which could start WW3, that would be too much.

The game has a great beginning starting up with a nice plot, but it just does straight downhill from there.

Messy and confusing storyline, where you get pushed into talking to various characters you don't really know.
The dialogue is weird, and sometimes it really doesn't make sense.

The game really has potential, but the game dev has to work on the dialogue then, because I think there is a plot in the game, it just gets jumbled around a lot, because there a lot of sudden minor plots inbetween, which really just makes the game hard to follow.

I give that game 5 Stars because, it has good dilogue´s and I must so damn laughing about the wife and Penelope, when she came in and see us.

It is so cool to see the char Liam (now he is undercover) as a cop named Damien, I hope he is a good char like in Acting Lessions.

But one thing is very worse why look your wife on the screenshot while she blow you one really really great, and in the game before and after these scene looks so ugly. Like as she is a bodybuilder, I really hope that will be fixed. Otherwise it´s clear why he will the divorce?!

This game looks really promesing and can´t wait to see the next update.

The game is really not bad! The graphics are very good, but not a 5-star. But therefore the story is very varied, with many surprising twists and, above all, a lot of options! Unlike many other games you have to make clear decisions here and should play the game several times with different paths. Looking forward to a sequel! And some sound would be nice!

Just love the possibilities. It will be a major effort to get this to hang together but there are a lot of paths to go down. Always love the school setting but this has a hard cop story going on underneath. The drug scenes happening at night are a little confusing. They push the narrative of that part along but have not yet really impacted on the main character since the start. Looking forward to the rest.

I really care about the characters in this game
The pacing of this game is truly exceptional - neither eternal grind nor tons of sex from the start
I was very excited about even a simple kiss with Hannah, or Samantha
I love that the choices REALLY matter down the line
I can't wait to see more of this

<Edit> I have changed my rating from 5 to 2 stars. It has been at least a year and a half (maybe longer) since I've last played it. It started off so well. This game had such a great theme and models. You were working at a school and having fun with lots of young women. Making progress with Penelope, Hanna, the mom and her 3 daughters and some of the other school girls was the highlight of the game.

For some reason, the developer decided it was more important to spend all their time and resources in content that focused on a bitchy wife and a bunch of rainbow fucking six pointless cut scenes. It felt as if they decided they weren't interested in making an adult game anymore.

So much wasted potential. Why tease your wife's pregnant sister and her desire to get busy with you when you pick her up to stay at your house for a while, then not have any interaction with her and follow it up with 'oh by the way she went home'? Huh?!?!?

At this point it would be better if the dev just shut this game down and worked on something else because this game is a lost cause. First decide if you want to make some sci fi delta force game or an adult game. Don't waste your time and resources on something like this game. I still give it 2 stars because the beginning was so damn good.

This game is by far the most underated in this site. It has a decent stoy, with a lot of girls and A LOT of branching paths a replayability. definetly deserves more more people playing it and the creator a lot more patreons.

One of my Favorite Games..

Pros:
-Nice action
-No boring moments
-no hard game Play
-Fantastic Graphics
-Real life Gameplay

Cons:
-Gives you errors with old saves
-waiting for the next release.
-Sometimes Confusing Gameplay.

Still needs a lot of work, has the occasional bug but nothing to serious. The renders are a bit mediocre in their lighting. Story is not really clear if this is a 'serious cop drama' or a 'sexy high school girls' game. Feels a bit mushed together.
But hey, it has plenty of pretty girls and women in it at least, so many in fact I doubt this game will ever get finished if there have to be sex scenes for all of them. But if they do: how about threesomes? The mom and daughter. Then there is the daughter and friend, also the waitress. Lets not forget the Teacher with those daughters of her...It is to much and I think the dev is overreaching but it looks okay for now.

This is based on .014

Very good first game from this Dev considering he says that he didn't have any experience with scripting, programming, Daz or Ren'py prior to creating The Manifest. The plot is original (for these types of games at least), the characters are a decent start and should get rounded out with some time. Compared to other VNs the choices you make really matter for developing relationships and what scenes are available. There doesn't seem to be a "harem path" which may irritate someone who wants to see all the content in one go. I don't mind this with Ren'py because of the speed I can get through a second/third pass if I want to look at other timelines.

Solid outing and I'd recommend popping some cash in the Patreon jar. As he keeps learning and applying it to this game it may get to be in the same conversation with VNs that pull in lots of cash (though with a far more bizarre/weird and yet conventional plot which could hinder his potential for monthly income).

The Dev also frequents these boards and is responsive and open to questions and suggestions. The finished product on this is going to be one of the best VNs so far I'll bet.

Five stars on a curve considering games I've seen from other hobbyists with full time jobs and the potential this VN has.

Strengths: Complex branching plot system with meaningful choices. Great models (wife up to .013 aside) that are unique and not off the shelf. He sunk some cash into this project and you can tell. A creator who hasn't reached their ceiling or is milking the genre - Some quasi-incest content without yet another clone of X,Y,Z boy/man with giant magical penis corruption game.

Weaknesses: Some of the plot is downright weird and I'm not sure if it was worth the time to render lots of strange dream content, but we'll see as it progresses. The characters are pretty one-dimensional early on as you can see the Dev work though narrative kinks and logic/motivation flaws in the story. They are starting to develop a bit now and it seems somewhat better. Perhaps too much work for some VN/Ren'Py fans to get to all the sex.

Excellent game if the story and models are your cup of tea.

As far as Visual Novels go, this one surprised me with how good it was. First of all there's a few times where you make a 'choice' that doesn't matter, ie you choose A and you get a result or you choose B and you get "no I'd better do A instead." and then do A. But despite these few times, there's actually a LOT of choices to be made that actually DO effect your outcome later on and interactions with certain characters.

It's actually REALLY impressive.

The renders are mostly great, with only one or two exceptions. I highly suggest that the creator go back and re-render the wife for the first section, because it's hard to choose anything but to ignore her based on how busted she looks compared to the other characters. The re-imagining of her in later parts of the story still looks appropriately aged but much more attractive and might lead people to a more loving relationship with her.

Some of the dialogue and spelling are a tiny bit off, but really good for the most part. Also I surprisingly DIDNT mind the way the game jumps around. Even though it's not said specifically I sort of imagine the head cannon is that the MC has a bit of TBI (traumatic Brain Injury) and therefore the bit of disassociation makes sense.

I think you should check this game out, and I'll be trying later versions in the future. Here's hoping this one doesn't vanish into vaporware like so many others.

At the moment story pacing is terrible and the plot is written like something out of my fantasies with toy soldiers when I was 7 yrs old.
There's a point in the story where you basicly decide which school girl you will romance and there are no options to date multiple girls from the school.
Renders themselves are decent enough, but when the cop story is so cliche and just skippable with having to restart the whole game if you chose the wrong girl to romance in the pool lessons just made me delete it for now.

PS: Can't really believe people are giving 5 stars unironically when there are actually decent 0.1 0.2 etc games out there.

I think a lot more thought has gone into the plot (rather than 'plot') of this game.

As of 0.131 I have this to say:

90% of the renders are top-notch. The models selected (*) are cute, and the poses are natural but cute.

The branching needs to be mentioned; it's (so far) not simply a case of [Love+1] [Say different sentence], but, depending on which choices you make, you'll miss half the game.

*A mention needs to be made about the Wife. She's not the best looker, but the developer is aware of Opinion, and has mentioned her getting a (from what I've seen) much hotter appearance. This would remove my only niggling doubt (except the lack of an Official/Unofficial Incest patch) over this otherwise brilliant and interesting VN.

I hope this was of interest to you.

Fresh and well made, with an interesting story, multiple branches and choices. Renders are well made and Renpy engine lets you play through different options at your own pace and try different things. Awesome potential in this one, hope author keeps it up. Extra plus for author being active on forum and seems to take on feedback, while still staying true to his own idea.

The following review is based off my personal experience with playing this Game/Visual Novel... I try to be as brutally honest and detailed as I can, and these are my own opinions and thoughts, from one or more play throughs...

(Review Update - 09 May 2019 - v0.18)

It's been slightly over a year since I first tried out this VN/Game... And I thought I'ld check back to see how it was doing... In some ways it's slightly improved and in others it's either stayed the same or got just slightly worse in some ways...

First we have the visuals... And even though some models I recognize from other VN/Games, as well as some of the backdrops... Overall, the way scenes are mostly setup, seems decent... I can see there is some real effort put into the visual dynamics of many scenes and/or events... Definitely plenty of effort put into a years worth of content development... Is it top of the line, no, but it is still decent...

During the introduction, you can tell the story is being setup as a two corrupt police officers, at a bust gone bad... But there are several story aspects that hurt the immersion due to unrealistic story telling... Such as the police officer saying that the downed protagonist needs a blood transfusion... He's just a cop, so how does he know what the victim needs medically? That was a bit of a stretch, as cops don't even talk like that (I know because I was one), not even in the movies... Some of the other things being said by the responding police officers, are also a real stretch, but are a bit more forgiving... Such as the mention of riffle casings by one officer, followed by an irrelevant question regarding their caliber... The caliber is really not relevant to the situation, and is usually something the crime scene investigators concern themselves with, after the immediate safety/medical needs of the downed officers are taken care of... Knowing it's rifle rounds, of some sort, is usually good enough at that point, if they even bother to take the time, from the immediate needs of the 2 downed officers, to worry about the details of the shells at all... And how does the cop know that the protagonist is going into cardiac arrest? Cardiac arrest is associated to irregular heart functionality and/or irregular heart beat due to some form of heart disease... Not blood loss or trauma from being shot... And a cop can't tell it's cardiac arrest from checking the victim for a pulse... So because of the overshare of information and exaggeration of the event, and sometimes the inaccurate use of terminology, it hurts the immersion somewhat, right off the bat...

There are also story inconsistencies... Such as the protagonist was described in the beginning as having been shot in the neck... But later in the hospital, the doctor only mentions some broken ribs and a collapsed lung, nothing about the neck injury...

I did notice that some positive changes were added with regards to the wife not being at the hospital when he was released, even though it's still a stretch... The choice to have her come there is offered, but the fact she was not notified, before his release by the hospital, prior to asking the protagonist, is not really how hospitals usually operate... So even though it's still a stretch, at least some changes were made...

Most characters are just not that believable, some of the time... Because of how some of the characters talk and act, they do not sound or act like real people talk in the given situation... Again, the immersion takes a hit... Such as how the doctor keeps giving her patient ,a hard time about the car left for him to drive, when he is released... No doctor talks like that to their patients, but it is what it is...

Later on in the story, there is a Police Intern, who is dressed like a normal police officer and is carrying a gun... Interns are not allowed to carry weapons or even hand cuffs in most states... So again, another case of immersion loss...

It's all these subtle things that add up, over time, that point towards signs of bad story telling... And the story telling is sometimes fast paced, jumps around a bit, and in many cases is really over the top... Which basically is pushing this VN/Game more into the Porn Fest arena then a story of any real substance... The fast pace, and rather unrealistic dialogue and monologue, along with over the top character actions and reactions just screams poor writing... So do not go into this VN/Game looking for top end story telling... It is sometimes just exaggerated text filler, that leads into the sexual bits...

There are also some choices that lead to some very confusing side stories... As well as some choices that lead directly to game over, which I'm not a real fan of, but at least it only happens on a few occasions and not with every extreme choice...

There are also an insane number of female characters that you have an opportunity to try and engage with... Some don't go far, some feel a bit out of place and just tossed in for no good reason, and some are alright... But in the end, it is a lot of juggling that both the player gets bombarded by, and that the developer now has to keep together, in some kind of way, so the story doesn't suffer due to inconsistencies and feelings of confusion... Some of that confusion and some inconsistencies are already present... And as development continues on it's current trajectory, it doesn't look like it will get better... Will it get worse? Who's to say for the moment...

Now, regardless of all that, you can at least tell that the developers are trying to tell this deep and meaningful story, in their own way, with a ton of intrigue and so on, along with giving opportunities for all the sexual stuff... It's just how it's sometimes told, and what happens sometimes, that is really over the top, and at times can feel a bit jumbled... I do applaud them for putting some focus on the story aspect, though... I can see the potential, but is it a top of the line visual novel/game? For now, not really... But because there appears to be some effort, regardless of the developers lower writing skills and occasional odd story telling, I can't call it terrible... The ups and downs sort of put it into the slightly low to moderate rating for the product overall...

I'm sure some people will love it and some will hate it... I for one feel a bit conflicted... Hence why I'm keeping my original score at 3 stars, on the lower end of 3... It has quite a lot of current content, which is really good for over a years worth of development, since the last time I tried it... I can see some effort has been put towards improving some things, but perhaps this is just the limits of what the developer is capable of, for the time being? Maybe as the development continues, it will improve more then it has, and maybe even go back through prior content and fix up the other issues... Only time will tell... But in the mean time, I wish the best of luck to the developers...



(Original Review - 09 April 2018 - v0.011)

The story telling reads a little dry, but the premise is new and interesting...

The visuals of the characters are alright, but some of their facial poses look a bit exaggerated sometimes... The backdrops appear to be unique and creative...

The script is decent as I only ran into a small amount of spelling/grammar errors and the occasional missing word... The plot revolves around a state trooper who apparently was about to divorce his wife to be with a DEA agent, but during a drug bust gone wrong they both get shot... The DEA agent is left in a coma, and the protagonist recovers 6 months later... Several more characters get introduced once the base introduction is over with... With choices to be made with each character, that point down a more sexual route or just a basic friendly route, depending on choice... He eventually returns home and his wife is excited to have him home, where as his step-daughter (with her bizarre facial expressions) doesn't seem too thrilled, along with being bothered by the affection her mother and the protagonist are showing towards one another... I'm actually surprised the wife didn't meet him at the hospital when he was released, but I'll chop that up to creative license...

The current content is rather short for the moment, being a newly developed VN/Game... Based on the description and what you see in this content, it appears lots of various women characters will be presented to the protagonist, and it will be up to him as to how to handle each one... The story sounds interesting, but the story telling technique felt slightly dry, maybe even a tiny bit fast moving sometimes... There is a basic setup for possible twists later on during the initial introduction, but now sure if that will play any role in future content or not, based on the overview of the VN/Game...

Overall, I think the premise of the story sounds interesting, and is an alright setup, for what the developers plan for the main story and game play... It shows a tiny bit of promise, but it does feel a bit fast moving at times... We'll have to wait and see how future content develops... There is at least a small amount of meaning and depth added to the story, which is a plus... Will I revisit this one? Probably...