VN - Ren'Py - The Neverwhere Tales [v0.5.0.4p] [Ceolag]

Story 3/5
Hate to rate this as low as i have since i did love the story, but the LI selection is simply just to poor and its not fun playing an AVN if there are no LIs to after.

There are only 4 main LIs in total and 3 out of 4 is bimbos and i just dont like big tits dident like their faces or personalities either and the 4th one which has a nice build in my taste is a whore, why dev dident make it atleast even aka 2 smaller builds 2 bigger builds i dont know but its annoying.
Sure there is side-girls like Kate which i would have gone for but shes not a main LI....2 of the main LIs are also normal world LIs meaning if you arent on any of their paths theres pretty much nothing to do there which makes for a boring AVN, also why the 2 normal world girls are LIs i have no clue.

The reason i dident go for Kaija the girlfriend that was perfect in build and face is due to her being a prostitute/whore and you have no clue how much of a whore she truely is but the potential is there if you think about it.

Shes been working for the templars from back when she was very young and her bosses gave her the main goal of getting close to MC and she surely did just that, she went into a relationship with him while only thinking of him as a friend, she fucked him while having 0 love for other then as a friend and that would in by far most eyes make her a whore being paid to fuck MC.

The next problem is at one point she will tell ya how shes been in brothels to collect information, ofc this is not an NTR game so it wont tell you how she got information but its not far fetched that she sleept her way to atleast some just like shes sleeping with MC, she would apprently do anything for the templars which is shown clearly from her lieing to MC for 15+ years

Even if you do get enough points with Kaija in first chapter and goes love route not much will really change, she would still have lied for 15+ years and she could still be a whore doing anything the templars tells her to do, theres just to many questions that are left out about her and what shes been doing to make her a valid love interrest, maybe if she didnet enter a relationship with MC before he knows about the templar world it might have worked since she would then live her own life and not hiding shit while in a relationship with MC.

Funny enough i kinda liked the hole Kaija issue from a story perspective, so i wouldent mind dumping her ass and the idiotic templars first chance i got, but then games becomes bland and boring when no other main LIs are in my taste and thats really one of the main problems, i did go with Kate but since shes a side thing she rarely gets any screen time.

Also they put in a pretty hot redhead aka MCs sister but theres no incest so she not an option either which is something i will never understand when it is a AVN, i dont care if games has incest or not but dont put in hot girls if they have no real point being there, it would have been better for her to have been a brother and no one would complain about lack of incest and so on or atleast i think so and why would dev show the sister nude to the player? isent that to idiotic? "here you go look at this hot girl that you can never be with" ? really?

Also story dosent make sense at times, like if you play like i did and hate Kaija, MC acts way to nice around her laughting and shit when he really should be pissed like no other, he shouldent be nice as he is but treat her as someone hes forced to work with, it almost feel like your supposed to be on her love path which isent good for those playing hate, they wouldent want to see her constantly or ever, so on hate route game and story lose alot or value, also choices like "breakfest in paris" or MC lusting for her when she puts on sexy clothes you get the choice "you should wear that more often" it should not even be an option when you broke up with her and hate her, it just dosent fit the choices made.

And the hole base setting makes no sense of hiding everything from MC, the templars gain new people from recruiting family members and not just that MCs father being the leader makes it make even less sense since they cant be so brainless that wouldent expect their ennemies to target the leaders son, so hiding everything can only result in putting him in alot more danger which makes the hole setting weird and stupid.

The story and choices are proberly some of the best made ones ive seen where you can be pissed in most cases, even though doing story MC acts way to nice at times compared to choices made if you got "hate" route towards Kaija and the templars and it rarely if ever forgets about things when those conversations goes on where you have choice options, like talking to the parrents he does bring everything up, including the hole Kaija issue and even better is that you can tell the parrents to fuck off, i truely loved that freedom, its rarely made this good in games.

Girls 2/5
Even though i love Kaija there wasent enough main LIs and really poor diversity in builds for main LIs and sister not being a LI i found idiotic after dev shows her nude in a shower scene, did like Kate but side-LIs dosent to much for the story.

Animations 3/5
They are pretty decent but they are most very short and no talking while animation goes on which makes em feel a bit meh and make them a single click to stop which isent optimal.

Choices 5/5
Cant complain about choices, you can pick who to be with and there are a few side-LIs you can play with if you want as well.

On a side-note i would proberly have loved this game if Kaija was written better in chapter 1/2 where she would have been in a relationship with MC BEFORE ever joining the templars, that hole thing about her lieing, backstabing, being a puppet, being paid to fuck MC just killed it to much, even on love path you just cant trust her and a relationship without trust just wont work, maybe game could have been saved if the LI selection had more diversity then 3 bimbos or sister being a LI at the very least.
And i hated to hate Kaija she reminds me of Cece from my favorite game... proberly same character design if i remember right, so yeah.

For new players i would give one advice, make up your mind if you want Kaija love route or hate route right from the very start and use walkthrough to make sure you dont even see the part you dont want, that would make for alot better game then getting her whore/hate route like i did when loving her as a character, it made me so pissed that quit after the very start of chapter 2, it wasent untill i saw that there was a love route possible in the forums that i gave it a second go, still think her story could have been so much better without her hiding so much from MC then i could even see it as a 5 star story truely.

I could have gone 2 stars just as easy as 4 stars on this one, it has a great story that i love, but fails by alot in the adult part of a AVN due to the lack of main LIs and diversity in builds, so i had to place it in average aka 3 stars.
I would recommend this game but read my advice above so it dosent fuck up your experince on the first playthough like i did for me.

Pretty much everything is above average but not quite 5*

Writing is good, models are solid, plot is interesting (starts off cheesy but gets better). Solid amount of content for how long its been in development

Player does not have much choice, i.e. the best LI (IMO) gets killed off regardless of choice in the latest chapter. Dev is upfront that choices dont matter much outside of flavor which I can respect, avoids branching becoming too much of a impediment on progression, but is something to bare in mind

Overall a good game and would suggest

Let me ask you, what do you need from a porn game?
Stories?
Visuals?
Plot?

Well, I can find everything in this.

It's very good that we get to see a unique storyline, well written, but a bit fast paced, could have been a bit slower with more sex scenes in it, as the art is really fabulous.

I like this art a lot, graphics is really crisp and talks about quality, update speed might be a bit slower but, that's fine, just that the story seems 80% at present, it would have been better if it lasted longer, but whatever.

Keep it up, Dev

Very well done for a fantasy tropey game, with the 'secrecy' very believable that those with power and money would want to keep their connections a secret at all costs. Well storied LIs and a compelled story about a neutral party that is just trying to navigate a clusterfuck

I really enjoyed playing through the first 5 chapters of this game. All the models are good looking. The lighting is top notch, which isn't something I know a lot about but I feel like a lot of games don't use it well and end up looking really gloomy and lifeless. Not the case in this game. Outdoor scenes feel bright and vibrant, indoors are well-lit and don't drain color from the models like in some games. The story is a pretty standard "PC discovers he's the only one who can save the world with his newfound powers" but the worldbuilding and writing are good enough that I don't mind it being a bit predictable. Sex scenes are pretty few and far between currently, especially if you close off certain relationship paths, but I much prefer that to having too many sex scenes that all feel the same and/or are with girls that there's no underlying relationship with.

My first play was with the release of Chapter 5. I completely enjoyed the experience. The story is very compelling especially if you are a fan of fantasy power trips, like I am. There are 4 main LIs and each one is interesting to the point where I made separate play throughs to focus on each one as this is a romance game. You do start with a girlfriend which I tend not to like but it is handled well, where the story gives you an out if you want it. There is a modest amount of adult content. In my opinion it is a good pace. I was completely pulled in by the story. The renders are also very nice. The girls are actually well proportioned, no massive tits and asses. Very athletic well proportioned women. Harder to find than I would like. Cannot wait for more of the story to be released!

I stumbled over this one via a signature in another game I liked. Being currious I game it a try even if the "overview" was a bit cryptic and didnt tell much. Well, in order not to spoil some of the plot the "overview" is as it is to avoid spoilers.
Anyhow, I really liked the different chars and LI the MC meets and that they are written and designed in a more "realistic" way (as realistic a adult VN can be of course). So in case you like unrealistic big boobs and rediciulous looking females the game wont be something for you but in case you like a well written and acting char then you can definetly go for it. Also the plot and its unfolding is very nice, even if the disclaimer at the beginning tells you about magic and stuff, it is really really well implemented into the game without loosing it or becoming extremly unrealistic. Nice story telling. Something I also like is that it unfolds slwoely and you dont get from one sex scene to the other.....ok some may like this.....but I think its also well placed in the story. So not too much unreal how the girls react (as far as its posisble in a visual noval like this).
All in all Im looking forward to the next updates which hopefully come soon.

version Chapter 5

Story 3/5
Graphics 5/5
Writing 2/5
Characters 2/5
Audio 3/5
UI 4/5

The Neverwhere Tales is a story about what happens when you go to the mythology section of the library, take all the books, throw them all in the cauldron, add a few James Bond novels and the Venus Delta, and set it to boil for an hour.
The story follows young MCallister, a young customer insurance call center employee that counterintuitively gets all the ladies. He expertly uses his call center skills to doink and bamboozle the sexiest women on the planet.
Eventually he finds out that he is the son of the Templar Grand Pumpkin or some such, that his sexier-than-Jesus girlfriend is a templar ninja samurai MMA shaolin monk assassin, and that his sister is an annoying cunt. Then he goes back to work as an insurance cuck.
If you find it difficult to imagine the thought process here, you are not alone. I'm not sure what drives a man to prefer office work in the insurance business over a saucy adventure with bouncing tiddies in every direction, but I suspect the thought process would make Cthulhu recoil in horror. MC does not have his priorities straight, and jumps with equal enthusiasm between saving the world, cheating on his girlfriend, lecturing others on morality, handling customer support for insurance claims, and throwing angsty tween tantrums. As you can imagine, MC is a complicated individual with a faceted personality.

Story
The story is standard in creativity and application. Granted, standard on F95 is not great, but around half the VNs here are carried by character development between MC and LIs rather than high quality storyline arcs, and as such only one of those aspects need to be great to make a great VN.
The story is founded on throwing all the myths and legends together in a modern setting making something elegant and new out of it: templars, elves, the usual elemental magic schools, celtic stuff (presumably), demons/devils, magical realms, magical swords, and pocket dimensions; combined with normal every day stuff like trains, ballet practice, ice cream, insurance claims, and a day at the beach. This works decently as a backdrop but it's not quite sufficient as a main story arc. No aspect of the mythical is prominent enough to ground the world created in rules or expectations, and as a result it doesn't feel immersive. This could be a result of the writing, or it could be because it feels too generic to enthuse interest in the world. When everything can be solved with a deus ex machina, there is no reason to invest in the drama. If the story had more humor, perhaps the journey alone would be enough to enjoy it all, but the story is quite serious in tone. The main story arc does move forward at a nice pace most of the time, and the introduction of two main LIs at odds with each other does set up for a fun and explosive finale (unless MC uses his insurance call center skills for a diplomatic MFF tiddy party at the end).

Graphics
The visuals are top notch, and the animations are excellent. While some people do look like they are using a tiktok beautify filter, it's hard to find any real flaws. The animations with Finnabrae, or whatever the blond elf maiden was called, are amazing, and even better than the rest.

Writing
This part is the most important aspect of a VN, and it is unfortunately not as good as one might wish. Conversations will either run long with exposition, or feel wooden to the point of reading a mathematical theorem, or both. It's a shame that with the wonderful graphics this VN sports, they aren't used to show the reader what's going on instead of telling the reader what's going on. The audience does not need an instruction manual on how to interpret scenes (and this is actually provided in a few places).
Every character talks in a similar way - unfortunately it's not like Captain Kirk or Morgan Freeman. The points of interest for every character also converge, which in some areas feel a little silly (the mommy conversation with the sister about swords feels almost disturbing in surreality). The revelations and conclusions drawn from various events are flabbergasting, which while not unique to this VN still comes off weird, and MC jumping all over the place in personality does not help either. All in all, the writing is the weakest point of this VN, and I hope it can improve.

Characters
The characters are a bit too similar in personality and presentation for my taste. They will all explain topics in an attempted logical flow of detail, frequently focusing on things that serve little purpose to drive the story forward or develop characters/connections. The sister is probably the most distinct of the bunch, though she is also the most annoying one, and the one designated as the joker. Unfortunately she's too silly for the role. This is a standard flaw of trying to fit a joker into a serious setting but not tempering the character to fit. A silly story needs an absurd joker, a serious story needs a serious/realistic joker. Putting a silly Jessica into a serious setting (the daddy hand off) takes away from immersion and gives the reader the sensation that nothing matters.
MC is the by now classical schizophrenic, as should be expected of an insurance call center psychopath. He's the horny teenager, the lifelong experience logical teacher, the devoted boyfriend, the oblivious cheater, the experienced Casanova, the moral idealist, the apathic pragmatist, and the oblivious entitled brat. He is enraged that his everything-in-one girlfriend potentially lied (she didn't) to him, but it's fine that he cheats on her. He is outraged at his parents for not telling him certain things yet it's fine when he does the same. On one hand he will get his girlfriend to interject herself into a fight between unknown people because it's the right thing to do, on the other he will magically turn into a confident casanova and blammo into her colleague without even asking if she's on the pill. He spends time watching the sunset with his girlfriend (with lewd handholding), and the next moment he bing bing wahoos in a stranger. He's complicated to say the least.
If the choices open to the player weren't so discordant with MCs personality it would have worked, but as it is MC behaves like he's taking crazy pills off camera. He turns into a completely different person with none of the moral concerns that would come from such a change. I thought it would help that he for most of the time talks like he's narrating his own life (the autism might explain some things), but unfortunately that part is just as discordant when his entitlement comes out. He is basically Gary Busey on a good day.

Audio
The audio is so and so. Several scenes mesh poorly with the music, but most of them give a general sense of what the author wants to convey.

UI
Works fine most of the time, and the end of chapter summary is great, but it would be enormously handy if the points gained / lost with the main LIs could be shown whenever choices are made. At the very least I would like to be able to see where I stand with the main LIs whenever I wanted (such as a main LI tab in the options) so I could follow a certain path. This would come in handy during replays.

Summary
While graphics are majestic, they are insufficient to remedy the poor writing of this VN. I hope it improves, because graphics this lovely deserve to have an equal match in writing and I wish the devs the best of luck in achieving that.

The Neverwhere Tales is urban fantasy. Dev has their own world, you are getting to know slice by slice. Although 3th chapter is when you start to learn more of it.
When Dev had to create own world and decide way for you to learn about it, you can be sure that they is giving a lot of love and hard work to make this experience special. So same love and hard work go into characters building and other things like picture quality or story narrating.

We all start like Mr. Callister insurance company employee, but your choice will determine what he become in this new world.
There are several beautiful ladies, four of them LI. You can spend some intimate moments with some of them (it is EA yet), but this game isn't fuckfest, it is storybuilded. If you prefer your time with girls or with your chosen one to have more meanings, than this game build for it and you can jump in and took your own path.

At first, this game was around 4 stars. It lost track of a character I was interested in pursuing in Helena, to focus more on the mythological themes of the game, and your old boss in the real world took a back seat to that. Chapter 5 almost makes me want to rate this game 6 stars if I could. Finnabair is the perfect girl, the whole romance arc you have in one chapter is better than anything I experienced in the game before it, so if the author did what I think he did, I would be furious. Having that sort of visceral reaction to a game in this genre is rare, and I hope it's a bluff for the next episode, as much as I like Medh, Finnabair is the end game for me and I hope the author hears that.

3.5-3.75/5 - Rounded up to 4/5

Ok, my rating here is down to a few of my personal preferences within games.

The game itself (story) is very good, i like the real world/fantasy blend and its done well in this game from what i have played so far.

POSITIVES

* Story - as mentioned above in my summary, the blend of "real world" and fantasy is done well here and it isnt too wordy, i read most of the dialog without feeling i needed to skip

* Renders - Renders are classy and original. Lots of unique renders that i havent seen in other games

* Models - All similar body shaes, however all got different faces and personalites

NEGATIVES

* Too many split paths. I dont like having to replay the entire game to get 90% the same story with just different dialogs and i assume animations when they come with different LIs. It just gets boring and if i do want to play to see what another LI's "arc" looks like i will find myself holding the skip button a lot and getting bored.

* No Harem - Echoing on from the point about split paths. With the amount of different characters , this game would benefit from a "harem path" option or at the very least allow multiple partners to prevent the amount of playthroughs required

* No Incest - Not a deal breaker this one, however the sister is a very good character in this game so its an oppourtunity lost not having her as a LI

OVERALL

An enjoyable game which i will continue with the main LI (as its obvious that going through the story with Katjia looks like will give you the most logical scenes), and i will probably enjoy it.

However i probably wont go back and play with the other LIs as it will be the same story with slight variations on Lewd scenes so weill be very Dejavu which i dont like. And that is a shame as there are a lot of likeable characters in this game... why no harem path

Version Reviewed:
0.5

I am not normally into games set in a fantasy setting, but I am definitely into this game. In fairness, this is a urban fantasy where it takes place in the modern day but magic is real, a supernatural realm is real, and those worlds collide with each other. One thing I really like is the skeptical outlook the MC has once he finds out about the supernatural world. He doesn't just become "the chosen one" instantly and immediately insert himself into the supernatural world and act like he's a god amongst men. He is very much an outsider and that is part of his story.

It's a fantastic game worthy of your time. Ever had your friends tell you about a TV show "if you can make it past the first episode, you'll love it"? Similar thing here. The first chapter isn't bad at all, it's just not that different than any other VN where we meet the MC, see his boring work life, and his day to day. You also start with a forced girlfiend but you can choose to stay/friendzone/leave her shortly after. The first chapter's visuals are a bit rough at times and I was a bit turned off by the some of the character's faces. But by Chapter 2 there is a noticeable leap in visuals and lighting. By chapter 3 the game really picks up and we're deep into the main story and that's where I fell in love with it.

The game has music, especially in the later chapters. There's a few lewd scenes although mostly with side characters. The main romances are definitely leaning towards the "slow burn" style, but it works well given the scale of the game's story that takes time to develop.

All I have to say is wow. I never thought much of this novel due to a slow start and mostly of what I thought was a mediocre storyline but things have really picked up and it has managed to hold my attention and keep me interested and invested in the story going forward. I'm glad I gave it another try and am excited for future updates.

one of the best games out there, was going to give it 5 stars except the ending of chapter 5 made me subtract 1.

I have enjoyed the story line and all the characters. Each LI have their uniqueness. And the side characters are hot too. The MC has multiple paths. But was tempted to give it a 1 star because how chapter 5 ended. Was just wrong to introduce a new and exciting character and the kill them off.
Hopefully next update doesn’t have any bad surprises.

When this was first released, I was worried this is a ripoff of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (one of my favorite books), and in some ways, the basic concept of Neverwhere is... and that is a city beneath a city. That, however, is where the similarity ends. This is truly a unique fantasy/sci-fi story and it's wonderful.

If any of you have read any of my other reviews, I am often pretty harsh and rarely give out 5 stars, and to be fair, there are some parts of this AVN I could pick on. Some of the LIs for example, are pretty standard AVN fair. You have to tough LI who can kick anyone's ass and has been keeping secrets from you, the nerdy LI, and the mysterious and foreign LI who is your token AVN ginger. Oh, and let's not forget the perky sister... who at the very least is NOT a LI. Despite that and a number of lighting issues, none of it takes away from this AVN.

I will admit, if you are just here for the fapping, while the scenes are good, this is a story driven AVN. In fantasy/sci-fi the stories are filled with unfamiliar things, so there is a lot of exposition so the reader can know what is going on. This AVN is pretty heavy on the story, but it is really well written and all the characters have depth and I found myself fully invested.

I am reviewing this as of the 5.0 update and this last one was just amazing and I can't beleive I am going to have to wait months before the next release. Additionally, it looks like they are prepping this for Steam so it is possible it will be a long while until there is new content. So that sucks. Regardless, this AVN has rocketed up to my #1 spot. Normally, I have a pretty fluid top 10 but this one is so clearly better then most of the AVN crap out there it is going to be hard to knock it off.

Admittedly, this is an AVN for those folks who want a good story with some hot characters. If you are just here for the fapping and are not into reading a lot of detail, then this one is probably not for you. If you love fantasy/sci-fi and you love and AVN with a good story, come on in... the water is perfect.

Best of luck to the developer.

What can I say I've been amazed so far. Story is well written ,graphics,renders,animations have are excellent you can tell this dev takes time and pride in his work. He communicates well keeps everyone in the loop of where the game is at even on here if your not a patreon. But on another note the work he produces doesn't get the reward it deserves so I would suggest if you don't want it to vanish just donate what you can now and again or when the update is released. It would be sad to lose another great game again

Pretty awesome game. Came for the hot girls and stayed for the story.

We have a pretty good plot, the depth of the LIs is well made and renders are really good, we can see many emotions.

There is a lot of work on this game, many different paths that have real impact on the discutions and the characters reactions.

Only dark point, is the MC have a dick face but I can live with it.

Keep the good work!

I recommand this AVN to people who like story driven AVN. But if you are only looking for sex and FAP material this it not for you.

An interesting game which seems to struggle with some hangups.

One of the biggest issues in my mind is the MC, who is a complete melt. His face is a bit rough but really I found how he's written to be a bit wooden. Like at times you're not 100% sure if he knows what's going on. Now... some of that can be explained by the plot of the game. He's having a lot thrown at him and he's having to learn quick but it seems like he's processing it badly. I think there was a scene where some lassie says magic exists and he reacts like a dog being shown a card trick. Like... I can understand him being amazed by it but it seems every time he's told something new his first response is to think they're playing a joke on him. As if everything he's been told before never registered. Thinking magic is made up just after you're told the Templars exist and Elves and Succubus are a thing... dude have you been listening?

Another issue I have is .... it's hard to know what story the game is trying to convey. Like there's a big deal spent on talking up this world of fantasy that exists which the MC never knew of, while at the same time there are scenes where he goes to bars with co-workers. Genuinely after being attacked, nearly killed, finding out his dad has been abducted, his dad is the big lad in the Templars and his girlfriend is a plant to protect him his next thought is "ho boy better get ready for work" and we then get a few scenes around that. Does the dev really think the player cares about office work when the whole premise of the game has just been introduced? Even with some of the characters introduced you're left wondering what's the point of them. The game would certainly benefit from taking the time to breathe and pad out some of the characters, and sort out the MC especially because I get the impression that the dev is trying to suggest there's more to him than meet the eye, but he comes off as a proper plum.

It's a mixed bag with this game.

The pros:

It's an engaging overall story. Even if it's the damn Templars again (doesn't anyone know of any other church sects?) it's still presented well and has space to develop.

The so-so's

The English is good and the dialogue makes sense, but it's frequently wooden and stilted. The art is great for the scenes and meh for the girls. The story renders can seem static as the dialogue unfolds at times, making it seem clunkier than it needs to

The bad

The MC is an ugly doofus. He's whiny and has a slight sense of entitlement. The girls have identifiable individual personalities because we're told that they do, but they all sound the same and rather than have organic differences in personality are given different roles so that we'll know they're different, rather than being different people. I'm not expressing this well, but there's an undercurrent of sameness and honestly the women are boring. Most importanly, the dev tells you in the introduction that no matter what path you decide to take you're going to end up in the same place, and that it affects how the story unfolds rather than how it ends. He proves this by offering up largely meaningless choices with largely overlapping storylines, so essentially you can pick a girl to cozy up to but for all intents and purposes the other choices are meaningless, and that's how it feels. That's also a lead up into one of the most annoying things about this game. All you're doing is clicking along, following the story, and "achievements" pop up, for literally doing nothing and for making no decisions. The "achievements" seem utterly meaningless and there only because they're expected to be there, rather than for any actions or decisions from the player. It feels patronizing and silly.

Overall, this is a timekiller. It's not stupid or irritating as some VNs are, and the writing isn't bad, but nothing about the game excels, not the dialogue, the writing, the humor or the art. I'm less about the sex than the story and personalities but there's not much there either. There's a lot of room for growth and improvement, and the game is ok, but it's not going to be one of the ones that you're jonesing for an update to either.