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

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, 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 world, magic system and tons of lore

Reheads

Great names


The bad

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. 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.

And my personal dislike, which really is personal, 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.

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 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.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to when I first saw the game. The story is quite compelling, the characters are unique and very appealing for different reasons. I am excited to see where the game goes over time.

Pretty engaging story so far and the renders/animations are right up my alley. Only a few characters with animated scenes so far but the existing animations are great. Hoping for Fiadh or more of Anwen soon but all the LI's look great so far.

overall 10/10
new and engaging storyline, renders are superb, and so are the animations. Especially of the redhead trinity and more so of Cerys.
The characters are well thought out, with each one bringing something new and distinct, as well as an interesting backstory.
Sex scenes are just out of this world. Though it is a slow grind to get to them, but totally worth it.
This vn is slowly becoming one of my favourites.
cant wait to play the next update

Sexy, intriguing, and awesome character and world building. The basis in Celtic (I believe?) folklore and myth is sweet too. Still early in the development journey, but everything so far is high quality. Definitely worth checking out and keeping an eye on.

I loved the world building and the unique approach to magic and the weave. But most of all, the characters, especially the 3 redheads. I always like the type but these 3 are something else. Each with their unique flavors.

I can't stress this enough, redheads, each with their separate charms and personalities. And I really like how their personalities also connect back to the weave.

Ten out of ten looking forward for more.

REDHEADS. REDHEADS. REDHEADS.
Other than that a pretty good AVN, I love the lore and the fact that it draws from D&D and their Weave. TNoM manages to strike a good balance between humour and seriousness, I caught myself having a chuckle quite a bit.
As of the current update Ch2Up1 there is about 6-7hours to enjoy, and they are very enjoyable - especially if you love READHEADS. Totally not me though.

This MC is just disappointing. I stopped playing after chapter 1 because I became too annoyed with the MC and disinterested in the non-existent story. And no, worldbuilding does not equate storytelling, just as troubled characters can still be one-note and don't create a character-driven story.

I liked the start of the game, seeing the MC take out a group of mercenaries. He's shown to have skill and determination. However, as the story progresses, these qualities don't get to shine. He finds himself engaged to the granddaughter of what could be called a magical mafia boss and soon realizes that he's weaker than everyone there.
To make matters worse, this same guy will explain how he orchestrated events so the MC would end up in his family eventually and that he specifically put Cerys in his path to lure him in. The MC thanked him for this.

Our MC is also a constant target of "ribbing" and "pranks". While the game tries to present it as good-natured and funny, it's mostly one-sided, certainly where his fiancée is concerned.
Of course, the women will gang up on him and are extremely competitive toward him as well. This gives the impression that the MC is just a whiny bitch, a punching bag, or a masochist, even if he says he'd hate to be one.

For instance, on a certain morning, the MC wakes up next to a demon's head (decoration). He's startled and lightheartedly confronts his fiancée at the breakfast table about it. She acts as if she didn't do it, and other women take her side.
Does the MC do anything to get even? Does he play his own pranks? Of course not, he's not powerful enough. The only thing he can do is take the abuse, complain tepidly, or say that he likes the treatment.

Another reviewer said it already, and I agree; this story is Cerys' story, not the MC's. He has no say and no real value now that he taught others his way of doing magic. This story is about a man who's a glorified breeding bull in a gilded cage, encouraged to create magically adept offspring.
Before playing this AVN, first decide if the characters' physical properties are enough to get you invested. The game itself will do little to endear them, so their bodies are all you have to go on.

The main reason for this disconnect between me and this narrative is, I think, that characters are introduced badly. There's more concern with worldbuilding and extensive exposition than actually introducing characters. Despite not having seen Cerys for 5 years because he ghosted her, the MC manages to pick things up right where they left things off. Except the part where Cerys will get even with him using pranks and humiliation, of course.
Instead, the writer could've let them reconnect for a while first, so the audience gets to know the characters. We don't have the MC's experience or history with them, after all. An important aspect of this is the exploration of boundaries. Why not have Cerys go too far with a prank? Why not let him get angry or disappointed to show the audience that he has limits to what he'll endure?

Another thing I've noticed is that the point system is very one-sided. It will only check if the score is above a certain value, not below. This means that renders and general dialogue will always increase in casual intimacy even if you have 0/50 points with a character. There won't be a remark that this MC isn't the person they knew because of a low score or that he doesn't seem very invested in the family's mission.

On the positive side, I really like this game's UI design. I like how choices are handled and how visuals and UI elements are used for effect. It's clear a lot of effort went into this.
One nitpick is that the dark red font on top of the dark background is difficult to read in the preferences screen. The lack of a scrollbar also obfuscates the audio options at the bottom of that page.

Objectively, the renders of this AVN are nicely done as well. They're pretty, with good lighting/shadows and environments that fit the locations and themes nicely.

In terms of quality of writing, it's in my top 5 best VNs on this website, and it's not even close. It just feels very organic and coherent with the world and the characters.

Story wise, it's great. The pacing takes its time to establish the world and the stakes, without being sluggish. If you're only here for the porn though, this might be a pass. The scenes are frankly really good and well written, but they aren't the main focus of the game.

Then again, when the dialog, story, pacing and everything is in place, what more could you ask for ?
Don't sleep on this, it's too good to not have more exposition, and even now early in the development you still have quite a few hours of content to go through.