VN - Ren'Py - The Roommate [v0.12.14] [togs]

Honestly at the start i didn't think much of the game, there are too many stats that have no clearly defined path so you have no idea what to focus on to get what result, entire days with nothing of note happening, Kari(the roommate) comes off as an alien pretending to be human, art is at best ok with the characters in the default pose most of the time and a story based around the MC becoming a business man did not sound interesting, but damn i was wrong, this is one of the best games out there.

The story turned out to be amazing, the creator put in so much extra effort to explain things properly so it all makes complete logical sense(something 99% of games don't do), because of this fetishes that would normally put this game into the "fantasy" category can be added while still keeping it a "realistic" type game(as much as you can for an adult game), its super easy to get absorbed into the story as even when it gets more complicated it's still easy to understand.

It's surprising how much the girls personalities evolves as the game goes on and you get invested in each of there own personal story lines, there is also a great verity of girls of all shapes and sizes.

Choices are complicated and at first like the rest of the game seem badly done but given how complicated the game is with so many options and girls to keep track of, it has to be done that way, also while the choices don't impact the story as much as they should, they do give the illusion of it so well that it doesn't matter.

Sex scenes are good but a little short and they end pretty abruptly, kinks are plentiful and well done and of all the breast expansion/hucow games i have played(and that's a lot) this one is by far the most believable and well thought out.

On the downside the complicatedness of the story makes some events happen out of order, others are duplicated or don't match the choices(Bree showing up even if you didn't hire her, Kari wont move out, etc...)art could be better but you can already clearly see improvement from the start of the game, the stats that you have to keep up are just annoying and don't help the game in anyway(use a mod to get around it) and finally enough with the coffee!!!!

Story 4/5 (lots of effort went into it)
Sex 3/5 (average)
Characters 4/5 (grow as the game does)
Art 3/5 (good)
Choices 4/5 (lots but complicated)
Kinks 5/5 (realistically well done and plenty of them)

The game is a good average. The storyline is nice to follow, not just a combination of lewd scenes. The animation and the way the novel is set-up is on the other side not state of the art. I totally appreciate all the hard work put into, overall I enjoy following it, but it will not be in my personal top 10

This game should serve as a model for other devs - tell a story that is fucking ORIGINAL, even if it is batshit crazy, and you'll get a good response. Take some risks, do something different. Give the player meaningful options.
The Roommate starts with a pretty 'normal' premise; you play as MC, who inherited a corporation from [some relative] and happen to share an apartment with an attractive intern at that same company. It's both of your first day, and chemistry results.
Pretty normal so far, right?
Well, it's around this point that the dev's LSD trip must have begun, because the game goes in absolutely wild directions from there on. And you know what? IT FUCKING WORKS!!!! Yes, it is bizarre. Yes, it is unrealistic. And yes, it is 100% entertaining!
You've got to play this one. And to all the devs currently making the 20,000th "phone texting" / "son and single mom" AVNs, take notes and try something new for fuck's sake.

This is a very difficult game to review, but I'm giving it a try, going through gameplay, story, and characters.

A sandbox VN

What I find laudable is the effort to blend sandbox elements into the visual novel without turning it into a sandbox altogether. I like this idea of an alinear VN that never plays out quite the same.

That being said, all the baggage that sandbox games have is evident in here: "Groundhog Day" level of repetition, especially in the beginning, grinding through the same scenes only to add minor flavour each time - progression in the shape of a hamster wheel. Leading to you, the player, at some point inevitably starting to skip and therefore miss some information.

Like, why does the MC have to greet his receptionists and say goodbye to them every single day? Why is he given the option to go out for a coffee every evening when you really only need to do it once to start that "sidequest".

Another sandbox sickness is the ugly UI that frames every shot in the game. If you implement all these things, then at least do something with them. At no point during play did I ever look at these stats and they were totally inconsequential. You're given money and it mounts up so fast, that the "you spend 30 dollars today" message at the end of the day really becomes comical when you're worth millions.

I don't mind having these systems, but they should be meaningful and lead to informed decisions. What I get is that whether you have your lust meter filled to a certain degree will enable some scenes or barr you from them. In theory, that's alright, but the way the game handles this lust meter is so arbitrary, I can't use it tactically and without the knowledge of hindsight.

Genetically convoluted story

All of the skipping in the earlier chapters made it difficult for me to make some sense of the story. But trying it again and reading more closely made it even worse for me. I'm no biologist, but I'm very sure the author isn't either, because none of it makes any sense.

I praise AVNs that just give me a "slice of life" story and focus on human interaction and drama, rather than dumping wonky story constructs onto me that add nothing to the characters and their relationships.

And again, if you introduce all of these narrative extras, then do something with them. Half-way through you encounter some kind of sex cult in the basement only for it to serve as a lore dump without any means of interaction. Imagine that you can't do the one thing you think a sex cult would be good for. Yeah. So why not leave it out?

This is also a VN where I had difficulty in figuring out what some of the choices meant and led to, even when they seemed blatantly obvious on first glance. I apparently missed a lot of content just by being indecisive once in the earlier chapters.

This is a harem game, alright, but it doesn't present itself as such in the earlier chapters. The dissonance between the earlier and later chapters is blatant. In the beginning, you feel like you have to earn your partners. Later in the game, there's no such thing anymore, all the dozens of interchangeable 3D models will just throw themselves at your feet.

It's okay if you like power fantasies. It's just incredibly boring to me.

The game currently gets some shit for its story transformation in the later chapters and the introduction of sharing (don't call it NTR when you don't know what that means) through the introduction of an ethically questionable sex club (judging by the fact that they drug the sex workers, "rape club" would be more appropriate).

I don't mind the sharing aspect and as far as I see it, you can decide whether to participate in any of it, but I get why players that liked the earler content are now baffled when they see what it has become.

Couples and coupling

The biggest let-down for me are the sex scenes. They are that much of a let-down because the build-up is usually good. The game frames its kinky scenarios well, the dirty language and banter is a bit on the nose, but it works for me. The sex scenes however, are monotonous and boring. In 9 out of 10 times, the MC will take the LI from behind, rut about for about 10 clicks and then inseminate. That's it. I don't remember any meaningful ways of interaction (I think that in some cases you can pull out or whatever) or making the experience yours instead of watching two 3D models coupling.

By the way, it would help if the MC didn't look like a complete muppet, with his cartoonishly big eyes and lips, his lanky and wispy physique... I know it's a matter of preference, but this is not what I want my alter ego to look like in a VN (and no, I don't prefer grotesque-looking Chads either). Now the game has to come up with all the nonsense "defective x-chromosome" background story (why x, by the way, isn't the y-chromosome the male one?) to justify why every female on earth wants to drop on their knees for this guy.

And the LIs... well, I do like the secretary, Lois, though naming her after an existing character from another franchise is just stupid and unnecessariy in my opinion. She's the only one with some kind of personality and character progression, though, whereas the other LIs are more or less wind-up sex dolls, especially Kari (and she practically is it turns out later in the story).

I might have been into some of the other characters if they were there for more than a minute. With most of its content, the game teases but doesn't deliver.

...

In the end, it's two stars from me, when it could easily be more. This game doesn't need any more embellishment, it needs substance.

I really like this VN but it does have a few problems. The good: It's a nice simple, fun story, about a CEO running a business with lots of pace, so the VN flies along. It caters for a large range of fetishes, so there's probably something here for everyone. It looks great and there are a huge number of characters. The MC, Kari and Lois are well rounded and very likeable, if you choose to go down the good path. There are many beautiful LI's and side girls to choose from, so you have a huge amount of choice.

On the downside: the move from a sandbox to a novel mid game is strange. What seemed so important just simply doesn't matter anymore and no explanation is given. It's not a problem, it just leaves lots of questions in the storylines for the reader. On the upside the story flows better. I love Kari but she changes a lot as the VN goes on and is in it less, as the story is poorer for it. The cult in the basement doesn't make sense. It's shoe horned in the story, then isn't developed and is ignored. The same happens with the barista. I really enjoyed the business storyline but we seem to be moving the focus away from the business to personal relationships, from the office to the residences and the story is losing focus, to being just a series of scenes, loosely linked together. A real downside is Kiki. She's too extreme as a character to be your P.A. but you have to choose her for some reason. This could easily be solved by giving the reader the choice not to select her as your P.A. so there are less scenes with her. Her extreme character doesn't suit the good path at all and she really spoils the later part of the story. There are quite a lot of errors and characters who appear and disappear both in the narrative; sometimes visually from one render to the next. I fear what will happen to Lois and the lacto-max storyline, in how crazy it will be and it will ruin her character. In general terms the further you go in the story the lower the quality and more rushed it seems.

Overall it still works as a satisfying read but I'm beginning to worry about where the story is going. It could really do with a good edit by a third party to sort everything out without changing the look. Keep the good and get rid of the bad and refocus the story back to where it began. It started out fun but is now going a bit weird and extreme storylines never work out well. Ideally the sandbox start should be chapter 1, a good edit to create chapter 2 out of the current remainder and then a fresh start for chapter 3 from now on, so that the errors are not carried forward, so we can get back to a fantastic VN. Can the dev keep it together and bring this one home? I really hope so.

Im piling on here, because sometimes devs just need a wakeup call.

This one started out great. Great story, even if the writing was a little.. cringe but it was good. Iliked the girls, and the characters, buuuuuuut then it all went sideways off a shit cliff. They turned the innocent roommate into a literal prostitute (optional, but still extreme), they tried to make a clone something story that sucked ass, and a sex club??? I mean.. the dev been smoking a little too much ganja if you askin me. Honestly though, the new content is all disgusting pig slop and im out.

I think the other reviews have nailed it but I am going to hammer this point home, I think the author had a promising idea and was executing it, then he didn't know how to wrap the game up or end it coherently, and now we have a fuckfest instead of a game worth playing, which is a shame because the first parts of this game were great! I think the author could make a new game and I'd probably be a fan if it stuck to the established plot, I think creators are afraid of wrapping a game up too early so they extend games too long, it's time to move on.

review on 0.5:
I agree with people before - it turned 180 degrees into worse.
What started to be a potential 5 star game with promising plot, ended to be turned into a storyless, senseless, boring fuckfeast which hasnt even the existing sex scenes well done and bare. They just feel rushed and unfinished somehow.
Previous decisions barely matter anymore and it's simply "fuck all women", and even that is made blunt, repetitive and boring.
Also there's nothing about being a CEO anymore.
Still giving 2 stars because of the very apealing women, but that's really all.
Sadly that game is a downfall from top to the worst aside that.
EDIT:
Also i wonder what's all about that forced ass-fucking nowadays? Not only in this game's newest update, but in general. Why doing choices at all, if you force player to do anal without having any choice to avoid that shit (pun intended). Disgusting - and for me at least a HUGE turn off.

This game isn’t “abandoned” but it is not the game I started playing. It seemed ok originally and I really liked Kari (“the Roomate”) and after experimenting a little I decided to stay on the Kari solo path, but then the game turned into something else. First all the CEO stuff kinda went away. You still were a CEO but there were no more business decisions to make and the whole thing became about turning down other women so you could stay on the Kari solo path, and then she went to visit a friend in England and since then the solo path is no longer an option. MC is having sex with other people and it’s not optional. The story of this game doesn’t really make sense anymore and both the job and the Roomate are gone. Now it’s just a harem game with zero real plot, no interesting characters and fairly boring lewd scenes. Maybe if the Dev ever decides to fix it I’ll try again but probably not.

This one seems to have gotten away from the developer. The original description reads

"The Roommate is meant to be less "linear" than many other games and there are factors outside a player's control that may affect the path the story takes. And you don't get to shag your mom (or your sisters), but there are plenty of other fish in the sea..."

Click to expand...

But at this point it's pretty linear. I think the only real choices are who you want to screw and, occasionally, how you want to define the relationship and even that is going away. Even if you're on a Kari solo path (Kari is "the Roommate") there are three non optional lewd scenes in recent updates with women other than Kari (one is a threesome with Kari and her friend.)

Any other decisions such as business and financial decisions are largely made for you. You are supposed to be a CEO but the only business decisions are things relating to staffing and raises that would really be handled by human resources, not the CEO. The last few updates have also been slow in coming, small and buggy.

I may give this another try when/if it's ever done but for now I'm going to stop following.

Well, what slick97 already wrote I can only ad to it that it started of good with an interessting storyline but soon becomes so utterly boring as you cant realy build the connections to the charakters thrown at you ...

The dev should have made it a plane VN and put more time in the "lewd" scenes as they are all so disappointing, like there was no passion while creating/scripting them.
I wish I would have dropt out sooner as it realy was a waste of my time just teased by the good start and good visuals/models.

Make it a VN, straighten out your story and get the people that are in for a somewhat mediocre detective story and ramp up the lewd scenes -by a lot-

Before getting into the reasoning behind such a low rating I want to preface that the first 50 or so days of the game are genuinely enjoyable to an extent. However, I'll end up shattering even that bit of goodwill in a moment...

Where to start...
The story starts off relatively strong with variations from the get-go depending on your desired personality for the protagonist. The key issue though is that certain decisions are locked out, forced, or impossible to achieve without modifying values as the dev implemented:

• 6 variables for tracking traits (intimacy, submissive, etc.)
• 3 variables tracking sex related events
• 2 variables for tracking a relationship (relationship/status)
• and various superfluous variables to slot into the broken calendar/phone "features"

This issue is worsened by the dev "updating" / "fixing" variables every couple of in-game days, so half of your decisions are nullified.

Additionally, the dev even implemented a phone and calendar system, but you'd never know that they're functional since they're not used until much later (day 50+ IIRC). Instead you have a cluttered UI in which the phone and IRIS icons don't function, and the calendar is arbitrary due to the lack of sandbox elements - which is why half the garbage exists detailing dates, days, time of day, etc..


From "Sandbox" to Kinetic...
As mentioned earlier, the dev spent time building up an intricate system for dates, times, and various other sandbox style elements, only for them to be abandoned after day 60 when you have a rapid decrease in player agency. Actually, for this part, I'll just give a bullet list of examples!:

• Kiki - the girl from London - can be hired on as a receptionist or your personal maid. This is false, she's brute forced into your Personal Assistant role regardless of whether you wanted her at all.
  • Additionally, Kiki is forced into a "submissive" role despite variable checks for a "Mistress" title. This is never an option, and Kiki is forced into a submissive/slave role.
• You're given the option on whether you want to go along with the whole "cow" dynamic with Mallory. This decision is arbitrary, you will always treat Mallory as a cow.
• The choice of monogamy is ignored from day 41 onwards. The only consequence is locking you out of Lois content temporarily.
• You cannot prevent Lois from undergoing surgery.
  • This decision makes less sense if you did not choose for her to go on LactoMax since she just lies to you without a valid reason.

There are a few other examples, but the list above is the more frustrating examples.

The slow transition from player agency to kinetic is the primary reason for the rating. It's frustrating spending the early parts of the story meticulously building your character and his personality/relationships only for it to not matter after a certain point. It leads to the Frankentstein's monster we have now in which the story suffers as the dev tries to narrow the path.

Final Thoughts
The combination of broken systems, cluttered UI, and meaningless decisions culminate into an infuriating experience. The issue is worsened by the uncanny models, reused sex scenes, and brief animations with few positions.

I cannot recommend this game to anyone, even those who have specific fetishes. Genuinely a disappointing experience.

DISCLAIMER: I am a hard scoring when I review, so don't be afraid of 3 stars. This is a good game, but...

In most areas this is a really good game for anyone who has particular fetishes, namely heroic MC, big bewbs, milking, sluts, and baby making. The biggest lack is if you do not have these fetishes. This would normally allow for a fourth star even though I'm not into any of these, except you are given options out of these paths and that seems to lead nowhere. In many areas it even feels as if those cancelling choices are ignored or forgotten.

Simply put, this story is meant to go in one or two particular directions even though the choices appear to allow for more. If you are a fan of the above fetishes, then this story is perfectly fine. If not, then just don't bother. You will have a harem of big bewbed women who will dress inappropriately* for a tech company.

*You use that literal word to describe the dress code, and it doesn't change at all.

If I were to make a suggestion to the writer; do an overhaul to remove the verbage that seems to cancel these fetishes and do a better lean in on why the MC is expected to take the route you are employing. You DO have a good in-story reason, but those of us who like the itty-bitty-non-slutty titties are just being led on

Pro: Aside from the eyes (more on that later), the character renders are fantastic. The game features some of the most beautiful female characters I've seen in a game.

Pro: there are some very erotic scenarios presented.

Pro: Plenty of "be the guy that fixes everything for the women in need" opportunities.

Cons: the sex scenes are way too short. Actual sex takes quite a while to arrive fora game like this, and when it does, it's typically an image or two and then it's over with very little description. At one point, your girlfriend tell your submissive to kiss her...and then it just says "twenty minutes later." COMPLETELY SKIPS WHAT HAPPENED. WTF is that? Very disappointing.

Con: the game reaches a point where half the content revolves around pregnancy. It's technically optional, but if you opt to go the non-pregnancy route, you get far fewer sex scenes, characters disappear, certain lines of dialogune make no sense...it's very clear that stuff is being skipped.

Con: I touched on this above, but the character renders - at least the females anyway - are absolutely fantastic...except for the eyes. The eyes on everyone are just wide-open, soulless and unnerving. The MC's are PARTICULARLY unnerving and distracting.

The game provides an enjoyable experience overall, with good graphics and a story that starts off with a promising complexity. But as the plot progresses, it begins to lose its unpredictability, becoming more...well... predictable (See other reviews regarding sudden shift in domination dynamics). This shift, while somewhat disappointing, doesn’t completely detract from the experience. I personally care more about the *eh herm* graphic content. But still, the inconsistency in pacing and development feels slightly frustrating.

The scene involving the dog and the cop stands out, but it fails to fully deliver on the anticipation created by the tag. The lack of deeper "interaction" in this moment makes it less satisfying than expected. On that note, the barn scenes hint at potential that could justify the special tag, and it would be worth exploring these further in future updates.

The game also introduces several characters who could benefit from more screen time, particularly the sisters of the main female character. Their relationship dynamics offer fertile ground for further development. Similarly, the connection between the main female character and the secretary has potential for growth, adding depth to the story. I'd love to see more \happen following .

Despite these "shortcomings" (if you can even call them that), the game kept my interest throughout, and I look forward to seeing how it evolves in future updates. It definitely didn't feel like a waste of time playing this.

So, I have a lot of similar issues to what everyone in previous reviews have. A lot of story telling devices that come out of left field and a game that largely goes kinetic somewhere between Days 50-60. Normally, I like KNs, but the story has to have some consistency. Giving a player choice, letting them choose a path and then transitioning into a kinetic story that is largely incongruent with the path they've set is pretty much a no-no in storytelling.

My example is that I'm playing a relatively normal MC. He's not into particularly wild stuff, he's generally looking for longer-term relationships but he's not the definition of monogamy, however he can be a bit of a hothead at times. That's the sort of character I've "designed" based on questions the game itself asks of you; to help develop your character at the very beginning, before the very first image is thrown on screen, to determine your "hound" and "macho" variables (effectively, womanizer and hothead, respectively).

The first sign, to me, that the developer was going to start tossing spanners into the works was my MC suddenly putting Kiki into a dom/sub relationship in the office where my character had never incited such a relationship. Now, unlike other players, I suspected this wasn't malicious because of some coding reasons (I was going to bore you with a long spiel in a spoiler tag, but I won't do that now, reasons incoming, first spoiler section). I figured on fixing the developer's code, suddenly the game making a lot of relationship checks make more sense.


Outside of stupid developer things, I really do like the game.

Graphics are fantastic. Some of the animations are a little janky early on (3-5 FPS animations? oof). Zero audio, not really a negative, just a mention (put on some easy listening Spotify playlist, you'll be fine).

Almost entirely because a developer couldn't help themselves--throwing player choice out the door--I'll stick this game at 3 stars.

This game started out strong. Like, really strong. Then the Dev veered off the path and listened to only his high paying Patreons, and they both screwed it up. The Love/romance path has been dead for 7-8 updates and now all we get is NTR, sharing, whores, BDSM and now beastiality. Good luck on the slow death of your game, Dev.

Well, this one is turning into a complete cluster fuck and I've now lost complete interest. A bestiality tag now, really?? What next, futa/trans, scat, gay, necrophilia, sissification and maybe furry while your at it? I used to enjoy it when the story actually made some sense but for whatever reason the dev is making weird and dumb decisions every updates and turning it into a huge turd and a complete waste of time. So I'm adding this one to my ignore shit list and moving on. Not gonna stick around for the sinking.

This game is so bizarre, and I'm abandoning it. It's on the verge of being great, but the dev keeps making bizarre decisions. For instance, the MC discovers a sex cult that sees him as his master. In addition to being an odd curveball, I'm many hours past that and I haven't had a chance to fuck any of them.

The various girls also don't have much of a distinct personality, making them all melt together. This seems partially due to your actions determining if they're your employee, girlfriend, mistress, whore, etc. As a result, the dev doesn't give any personality traits that could make any path not make sense. This is another example in a long line of cast explosion with too many LIs. In the end, the women are all boring and all throwing themselves at you for no reason.

Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way... this game is extremely NTR-coded. While you can disable NTR in the options (and I did), every other scene still has men walking in on your LIs changing clothes, LIs wearing see-through clothing in front of other men, LIs saying they're excited by the idea of many men fucking them at the same time, or exposing themselves to other men. I probably would have finished the game, as I have with other mediocre games, but I hated this aspect so much.

VERSION: 0.11.05
SUMMARY: Not bad but not great either

PROS:

1. Models are decent looking and plenty to choose from.
2. Dialogue is decent and written, structured well. Pacing is also not too bad.

CONS:

1. Pretty dull story for more, not much intrigue going on that keeps me the player engaged, its very drawn out.
2. Too many faces, too many characters which gets confusing as fuck. Rather than adding so many characters, focus on half as much but make then twice as fleshed out. Spend more time on dialogue, story, character development and renders.
3. Game is very drawn out, impregnating is an option that you never see has any effect on the love interest. Same with some of the crazy medical changes, its there but just takes ages to actually go anywhere, which looses the player interest IMO.

TLDR: Decent, but drawn out too long, doesn't go anywhere and looses the player attention with basic and vanilla lewds. The concept of less is more is lost on the developer IMO where more attention to fewer characters would make for a better game.