VN - Ren'Py - Completed - The Ritual [v1.0] [Mr.Axxx]

  1. 3.00 star(s)

    Teyrna

    To begin, there's not really a story here. There is a cultist and a victim (his handle in game is "Prey" lol).

    The premise is that he is under lock and key until he agrees to participate in a ritual. She (the cultist) provides him minimal food to sustain him, he eventually stops eating. He remains silent through pretty much the entire "prologue" (the starvation, locked up period). Then he succumbs and agrees.

    The meat of this "story" is them participating in some sort of ritual for her goddess. Her name is never said, only that it's for her. Outside of that, there is little dialogue except the occasional enticement. It's basically a short porn plot, but instead of "fuck me in the copy room" it's "fuck me in the magical circle."

    The graphics are great.

    The animation loops are of a bidirectional linear variety (meaning reversal at the beginning of the animation; not a true loop). Normally that wouldn't bother me, but the magical circle rotates and the camera zooms in and out as a result. The whole thing is dizzying to see.

    The music is a single track playing on infinite repeat, but it's a fitting track. Kind of mellow, earthy, and a bit dark... it's something I can appreciate during a dark mystery at night themed event.

    I don't appreciate the UI. There are times when it feels like it progresses scene and other times it doesn't. Seems to be a few "image is missing" errors occurring during transitions, not in love with that.

    Once you get past the "prologue" stage (again, that bit where "Prey" is locked up), pretty much every scene becomes an animation with angle/speed buttons and a final "oomph" shot before moving on. The multiple angles and speed options are nice, but they feel unnecessary (I guess this counts for content when there isn't a story to be had). Speed 1 is almost always choppy, I assume the animations were designed with speeds 2 and 3 in mind: Sometimes speed 2 is appropriate (speed 3 is too fast), other times speed 3 is appropriate (speed 2 is too slow). The "Angle-1" button is unnecessary during animations where there is only the one angle.

    All told, the game feels kind of average. The music and the graphics are really doing the heavy lift. Music isn't that important in a game, but graphics are. Had the developer traded music for a story to provide a little bit more depth and length, this would've easily gotten the fourth star. Three star performance, in my opinion.
  2. 4.00 star(s)

    Holdos

    Very good quality, and the ritualistic is simply beautiful, but apart from the aesthetic value, the plot and depth of the novel is null, it is a short story for those who want to delight in sex. Congratulations to Mr.Axxx for his graphic quality.