VN - Ren'Py - The Nature of Magic [Part 3] [Slate Interactive]

Review for Part 3
After being really impressed by Part 1, I find myself kind of disappointed with what this game is turning into in Parts 2 and 3.

The core idea of the story is actually pretty great and very promising. The MC is a destined hero with special abilities, but he’s not yet where he needs to be to face the looming threat. As the danger grows more apparent, the MC has to develop and become stronger to confront it. Along the way, he meets interesting people and love interests. This is maybe not an extremely unique idea, but I've found that this idea always works incredibly well in AVN's.

Unfortunately, the story hasn’t really progressed in any meaningful or interesting way. You barely notice it’s there. There’s a lot of pointless filler dialogue and very few actual events that move the plot forward or hint at real progression. It feels like the game is stalling instead of building toward something.

I also think the concept that the MC is “special” simply because he’s a male with magical powers is not very strong. The love interests are basically pressured by their families into mating with him because of this trait, which makes the relationships feel superficial and desperate at their core. The game tries to present these romances as genuine and meaningful, but they don’t always feel that way to me.

The characters are probably the weakest part of the game. They are extremely one-dimensional. They technically have personalities, but each one is defined by a single exaggerated trait. Cerys, for example, constantly makes sexual innuendos in front of strangers, her sister, her aunt, even her own father. It doesn’t matter who’s present, and it quickly becomes repetitive and simply too much. The same applies to the other characters: Aine is sweet, Anwen is competitive, and that’s basically all there is to them. There’s no depth beyond that surface layer.

The MC himself doesn’t really have much of a personality either. Things just happen to him, and the girls are immediately interested in him without any real buildup or reason. There’s not much to say about him because there’s not much there.

To be fair, the girls do look nice, and some of the scenes are quite decent. The animations aren’t the best you can find, but they’re average to slightly above average. Still, that’s not enough for me to rate this game higher than 2 stars at this point, which is unfortunate, considering how strong the beginning was.

Some might consider the writing 'cringe' or 'sappy. But I think the relationship writing is fantastic. You slowly delve into each of the characters(some more than others) and uncover how and why they tick. Its definitely a slow burn but not in an agonizing way that makes you feel like your time is wasted. I expect the payoff when this story ends to be quite satisfying.

This is a good one. Solid writing, fun characters and fantastic visuals. The only thing im not sold on is how many different hidden stats the wards have. Makes everything a bit more convoluted to track if you care about a perfect playthrough. Its a minor gripe tho and I can’t wait for more

You know, I thought this was gonna be the first game I rated less than 5 stars. I got half way into it and realized I actually kinda loved it and then that sentiment held till I got to the end of part 3. Also there's elves so 6 stars / 5!

Buddy! Talk about packing up the taste buds for a weekend trip to smut-town.....cuz nice story telling and red-heads make my pp go brrrrr........

Disclaimer: This game is very heavy on lore dump in first chapter will easily take hours before you actually see some sexy action. Be warned for gooners out there, but it's so worth it, trust me!!!!

Pros:

- I loved the story telling despite being so much in first chapter. I never felt like skipping!
- Very immersive like the small sounds, or eye blinking or facial expressions.
- Amazing humor
- MC is actually likeable given your choices. LIs are top notch, not just looks but also personalities!
- Music is decent.
- Action scenes are badass.

Cons
- the only thing I can say is that chapter 1 has no sex iirc but ch 2 you slam ass like everyday so I feel like maybe pacing wise you could do something, I say that but at the same time I feel like that's what the game is going for....the world that the game describes is sort of different in terms of how they view sex and shit so it's not like they need to be seduced or whatever, people are open about how they feel and things naturally turn that way. I personally didn't find it problematic but thought to mention it as some might find it off putting.
- I just find that most HS games make black chicks into body builders and giants and this game is the same. I just wish people would make more games where they can looks like average humans too. Otherwise the LI is phenomenal in terms of personality and presence. Just food for thought.


Verdict: I'm a proud handholding, pat-giving, hug seeking, kiss-loving fucko. this shit right here is what I dream of encountering on this site. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but you know what it has, it's got heart. Not just random fckins, things actually progress well. I'm more invested in lore than fucking, that's how much I enjoyed it.

I cannot express to you how happy this makes me. Hope you give this a go (play it when you are not horny, otherwise you will get bored early, trust me).

i would say its a solid 4.5 at the very least with the animation and character design. In the start it kinda looked boring or overwhelming with too much info but as you go on, you see its uniqueness, its subtle yet gives gives a vibe of something new. The interaction between characters is one of the best. Romance done is truly beautiful and the dialogs and witty remarks just right . It also takes harem tag seriously not not just the mc fooling around and everyone accepting it in the end, like the girls know about each other which is pretty rare but truly good. Magic is also unique rather than some other magic based I played. So yeah highly recommended.

pros
-Probably one of the more likable MCs I've seen around here
-Writing is fantastic across the board
-Dialog is witty and not over the top or cringe
-Every character is unique and well developed
-sexuality has build up and tension for a much better pay off
-Harem is set in a great way and fits the world built
-Hscenes are well produced

could be better
-The "Weave" concept is great but I wish it was used more for teasing and fun
-the models while good looking could be newer tech
-I feel this will be fixed soon but the environment feels small
-progress with the wards seems like it is going to be slow for some time to come. like Aers date shouldve ended with at least a kiss

Overall this is one of my favorite HS games on here and has earned my sub

Excellent game,currently on chapter 2/3 and already the game became one of my favorites.Dev really capture true essence of love between characters especially Cer and MC,music that was chosen was perfectly matched with their moments,plus its a harem game so a huge plus there,and comedy it truly great,had a good laugh many time,WIll keep on following and waiting for new updates.Truly a great game.

This game is about as good as it gets if you are into harems. Good story, good characters, and hot scenes + good renders (expressions especially).

As mentioned, the first chapter has a lot of world building. I actually like reading the little excerpts the game gives you, but I understand why some people would not.

The biggest weakness of this game is that it has only just started. Especially for the characters. My first impression of Ceryes was rather negative, but she quickly became my favorite love interest. Because she is the main love interest, she has been given the most characterization + scenes atm. As such, while the other characters seem less interesting (comparatively, they are still interesting), the game hasn't had the opportunity to explore them more.

It may be better to wait to play when the game is further along. I am probably gonna wait a few years idk.

A game that has moved straight into my 'upcoming game to watch this year.' (I know it released in December of last year, but I'm still counting it anyway.)

Very fun and interesting story with a cool world to back it up, that I am looking forward to finding out more about. And of course, what looks to be like some wonderful LIs lined up for the player to get to know and enjoy.

I'm very happy with it so far and I think if the Dev can keep it up. This will end up in a lot of peoples top 10s. At least, it will most probably end up in mine.

This game is excellent if you manage to get through the first chapter.
The dev tried to go through the lore as much as possible in ch1, and it's really overwhelming. I almost fell asleep whilst trying to read all of it and taking it all in. It feels better as the game continues though. Story itself is good as far as the end of ch3 (current version). Lots of drama, humor and good character development. I expect so much more to come in the future updates.

The game has a lot of cliches as many other harem games such as big, mighty, strong MC and powers who make him really special and make other people depend on him but, this doesn't make the game worse, because the characters are believable and written very well. All of them feel different than one another and good dialogues support that.

I love the attention to detail on this game. Expressions on girls' faces are natural and their mouths open/close when they're talking or not. Maybe a minor detail to most players but I love these details myself. It shows the passion and hard work the dev brings to the game.

There are total of 6 major sex scenes as of ch3 and none felt lacking too much to me. There are also a few minor scenes without animations and they're great as well. Renders are high quality and detailed.
Although I liked the scenes, I expect more positions with animations and less vanilla scenes to be honest. Not too hardcore, just some more maledom or something. People doesn't like so much fetish stuff in these type of harem games and I respect that. Not much of those on the site anyways.

Some devs who develop good games on this site these days take at least a year to release a single update. If I'm correct, this dev dropped two updates in less than a year and both were amazing. So I expect this development cycle to continue like this if possible. Not much branching helps with it I suspect because the choices you make in the game has minor consequences except a few, which the game dramatically warns you about.

Overall I'd give this game a 4.5/5. Recommended to play. Lotsa content and scenes with good looking girls. And a potential to be one of the best games on this site.

Had great potential but let down by several issues.


The good

Interesting characters like the mentor who's taken you in and lots of the LI's

Lots of good banter, pranks etc. and fun moments

Interesting idea for the world, magic system and tons of lore, even if that's all just in text form, not really seeing it.

Reheads

Great names


The bad

The writers golden rule of show, don't tell, is completely ignored.

All stays in one place, which gets a little boring.

Plays out like an Isekei, it's straight to living in a mansion with superpowers and immediately engaged to lots of women. No build up or plot.


A lot is said in relationships which just doesn't land from a storytelling perspective, it's stated in words but the actual story shows something quite different. This is the show don't tell issue. It's told to you in dialogue but you don't see it, or evidence of it throughout. So there's a dissonance, I have attempted to feed this back to the dev but it's been shot down vehemently. Perhaps I chose the wrong words to convey my meaning, easily done... like I was trying to get across to them, sometimes our words don't match what we're intending to put out there.

Unfortunately this project is part of the agree or fuck off crew.
A shame because some of the major issues, which are to do with how the relationships are told, rather than shown, I did have a useful suggestion for, not that it has to be used but it could be useful. And there are plenty of other ways to improve it which I haven't thought of I'm sure.

The main LICerys is very playful and full of banter, and during sex scenes she doesn't lose this at all, but does state that she was a virgin. This just doesn't land at all as she comes across as having no apprehension at all, not even a hint of fear that things could go wrong, she's super cocky and acts like it's just a normal tuesday, it's a bit too pornstar like, totally in control, as if it's her job, and so the writing which is saying, oo look you just popped my cherry just feels disingenuous. Again I've fed that back to the dev but I just got their back up rather than anything else. Upset that I used the word slut when describing it which I'm not really using to denigrate anyone, it just has a meaning which is someone who has loads of sex with lots of different people, I don't use it to insult anyone even if others do and I wasn't using it to insult in this case but again like I say, I just got their back up. We all have triggers, that's obviously one for them.

Another way of looking at the Cerys issue is to take a look at her statements, vs how she acts outside of sex, she says she's been waiting, celibate for 7 years for Rane, that's a massive deal right there. Anyone who'd done that would be under a huge amount of internal emotional pressure, that's a lot of hope you have to keep stoking, without any signs of life whatsoever, no indication that what you're waiting for is ever going to work out. It's just huge, and if done properly would make this into a really touching story, it could be really romantic and I presume was intended as such. But because not one thing she does, acts out in her behaviour or conveys in any other way shows this to be true, it just comes across as a really weird thing to say and false.

In writing having high stakes is really important, there has to be an emotional consequence to things not working out, it's why having characters lose their nerve is such a good tool in writing. That shows you the stakes are high and they're afraid of losing something. It doesn't have to be that they get nervous but there does have to be something to show the stakes or it's just dead and flat, and this is the case here.

There should be some serious emotional turmoil going on if her reunion was written well, there should be a massive reaction to Rane showing up after a 7 year wait believing him to be dead but also holding onto hope that he's not and they'll get married and have babies and live happily ever after and so on. So where is all of that reaction? Because I didn't see any of it. It could go many different ways, she could be furious at him, raging for a while, she could retreat into herself and just blank him because it's too much, she could be nervous as hell. But basically anything other than the way in which she does act, which is completely unaffected and comfortable during the whole thing, including the sex, would make this at least somewhat believeable.

If people aren't affected, they're just confident and together, everythings fine, then there's no story. It's just flat instead. When nothing goes wrong, there's nothing to write about.


And my personal dislike, which really is personal, and therefore not the reason for my rating which is based on the other points.
I'm not saying everyone should dislike it, it's fine if you like it... but the cuck talk ruins it for me. It's minor granted and some people insist that it's not about anyone else, even though the writing leaves no room for it to be about the MC. But it's there and ruins it for me rather thoroughly.
Stuff like that is fine, really it is, just put it in the tags, make it clear in the presentation, or early enough in the story, instead it comes outta nowhere. Something somewhere saying btw this character is going to paint a graphic image with how much she loves licking balls and having previous lovers cum drip out of her would be nice. Cos that was gross, again SUBJECTIVELY, I found it gross. I'm not saying it's objectively, factually, unequivocally gross, I'm saying I personally was turned off by it. If someone started telling me about how much they enjoyed ball play, cock worship and having cum drip out of them as soon as they get their kit of and I've never touched them, I'm gonna be pretty repulsed by that as it's obviously not me they're talking about and I have a very visual imagination, if someone describes a scene, I will see it. So I would then see that happening.

Part of the devs response was, it's a different world, not planet earth and so women in this world are always confident about sex, even if they're virgins. Which is an issue in that it means you've dug yourself a hole there, now it's all flat, there's no gradual learning process, everyone starts out a pro so there's no sense of progression it's just a plateau.
But the issue with this as an explanation again breaks the Show it ffs, don't just tell me it rule.
You have chatting about Football... of all things
Drinking Coffee
Chilling in front of the TV
Driving in shiny black cars
Normal looking woods at the start
Normal planet earth modern western style mansion where they're all living
Normal western style clothes
A normal swimming pool
Tactical vests
Standard issue guns...
All of which tells me this is planet earth, not a different world. Not one thing about the world itself, and I mean outside of the characters like there's an elf, shows me that this even could be another world, let alone definitively is another world.
The dev might have added magic people and different names to it, but it's planet earth. The most problematic of these examples being Football, as it's such a specific and wildly popular sport known across the world. You can't include that and then say it's a different planet so that's why people act differently. This contradicts itself too badly for it to work.

Again this has a solution much like the previous issues would with some stakes added in, a sense of the writing being true. This world issue could be fixed by either, not saying it's a different world, just agreeing it is Earth if you wanna keep all the same stuff in there. But then you can't have everyone acting quite so casually about sex.
Or if you wanna actually do it properly. Find a different, out of the way culture and use that as inspiration. Turkmenistan for example, I haven't ever been there, it's not only out of the way, it's pretty different so taking from that would feel different for most people. Or go even more remote, but use something that isn't well known to almost everyone on the planet and create a different feeling world all round, i.e. not football... Use ancient culture or whatever the hell you want but if it's an Alien planet, which is the statement, do that, don't just say it is but fail to back it up.

What is shown says one thing, what is told says something completely contradictory to that and this is throughout the whole project. This just happens to be F95 and we care about the LI's here so that was the bit I pointed out first but really the whole thing contradicts itself at every turn.


There's a lot of touchiness about what you are and aren't allowed to like it seems, and stating a personal dislike, despite clearly stating it's personal and even taking the piss out of myself for reacting to it, gets some people really upset.

Visuals are great, the story, lore & world building are wonderous to be a part of by playing this top-notch AVN. So far no sex scenes.. (wait Update near the end of chapter 1 there is a naughty scene) but I am so engrossed in the story that I'm ok with that as long as it does have them soon plus I hope they are good with sound effects. long chapters took me 3 days playing a few hours each day to get to the end of chapter 1, which I am loving that I have so much more content to enjoy

Story and narrative: 5/5. A coherent plot, which develops at the right sort of pace in a disciplined fashion. Characters are different from each other and interesting in their own right. You definitely want to find out what happens next, and are engaged with the characters' personal stories.

Writing and grammar: 4/5. A few problems with subject pronouns where object pronouns would be correct, but spelling is all correct and there are very few misused words.

Graphics: 3/5. Cartoony and anatomically implausible (I'm not talking about breasts and genitalia, the basic body models don't seem to work very well).

But a good story makes up for much else, so in summary, one of the better VNs around. Congratulations to the author(s).

First things first: this is a slow-burn and text heavy game. It takes a good while to get to the sexual content but I consider it well worth the wait.

The game has splendid dialogues filled with wit, humor and intelligence. It understands relationships and emotions very well. The characters are nuanced and FEEL like actual characters with their own thoughts and desires, they're not just propped up, they all serve a purpose in telling the story.

The MC is interesting, insightful and at the center of it all - just like a harem game should be. A lot of games fail to make an interesting MC but this game does not have that problem. As for the sex, the renders are well made and I love how the dialogues and thoughts are weaved into it, they succeed in conveing raw emotions which is honestly a job well done.

I could see this game becoming one of my favorite on this site, so far it's well deserving of a top spot. I'm eagerly looking forward to how it develops.

High level Renders

Cast of Goddess

Mc in shorts(-rizz)

Glasses Girl Fi (already loved her) using her power like dat (Badass)

Sexy Lip bites vs Cute Puppy eyes

Fi running away from cleaning lmao (can we get much higher?)

GRANT

Red Head Supremacy (why is there shield on my head?)

The first blowjob was one of the best in gaming also I have played a lot with amazing bj's (can't beathe)

Fi best girl (phew)

Were to even start, i would love to say that this is great game but so many things are just bad. Game feels like one of those over the top manuals that go on and on about something that could be put in few pages instead of hundreds. Visually its horrible and blurry, part from characters everything seams out of focus and its painfully draining for more then ten minutes at time!

Great game so far with a great story. I have seen some people say the lore drop is a lot but I think its good world building and helped my immersion. Anwen is the best long live the piercings may they live long and never leave. The brute scene was great and the animations have been very good with nice physics to them.

Absolutely excellent so far. Great writing, great characters, incredible worldbuilding, and an excellent plot hook. Just absolutely a 10/10 as it stands.
More like a visual novel with nsfw scenes, rather than a nsfw game.

Great story and writing. Although a bit too much magic infodumping.
Cute girls, nice visuals. At the moment all h-scenes too vanilla for my taste, but thats tolerable.
Future pregnancies - always good.

Fuck I didn't even knew that Irish names are sooo sexy... I want a gf with a name Áine.