[Version reviewed: v0.5b]
“What's the point? We already have Oni’s Rogue-Like Evolution and it’s great: looks like the show, lots of content, good waifus, acceptably grindy, etc. so why this uninspired copy?” That’s what I thought when I first saw this game. Needless to say, I didn’t bother checking it out any further. I would prove to be short-sighted.
As RLE’s progress became more tedious, with the constant adding of unfinished characters culminating into Squirrel Girl nightmarish face, I somehow drifted back to The Null Hypothesis, and seeing the abundance of praises convinced me to finally give it a chance… And here we are.
Visuals are fine: characters designs and expressions look pretty nice (X-23 with ABS) and environments are well-made. Overall gives a cohesive feel to the whole, and while it’s not my favorite art style it would be dishonest not to praise the quality of work. The sex scenes are modulable, and the possibilities are very varied.
Gameplay is simple, it’s an open-world VN stat grind. Nothing much to say here, you’ve seen this formula in dozens of other games. I do really, really hope we’ll get abilities or maybe even missions to spice things up a bit. No need for a complex fighting system, some (time limited?) decision-based events would be a welcomed addition.
But what I liked most were the Characters. RLE is a sandbox with no proper plot and the girls, save for their intro dialogue and backstories, are identical in their behaviors once tamed. TNH builds on this, reducing their number to better flesh them out, their wants and needs, their relation to you and the feel of an actual universe around. The Quirk system, where you encourage/discourage certain behaviors, gives each girl her little touch of uniqueness.
So I’d suggest giving this game a shot, even if you played RLE as despite the similar synopsis they are fundamentally different experiences.