VN - Ren'Py - The Roommate [v0.12.02 + Special] [togs]

Reviewing: ver 0.7.1

You are the great grandson of the last CEO and you were transferred to Seattle after having success at leading one of the branch offices, where you then meet and live with an intern at the company Kari. After the first few days or weeks you learn that you will be appointed CEO and you take charge of the company gaining a new secretary and the power to change the company which you do as you go about learning more about the secret deeds of your predecessor and what he left behind for you.

The game starts off as a pretty grounded story of a guy becoming a CEO and handling the business however more out there elements are being added to the game's plot which might be a deal breaker for some. Whenever stuff like this happens I feel like a player's experience is heavily affected by the expectations they made about the game when they started getting into it since at the end of the day more often than not no matter how we may feel or how much people complain the devs will make the story they want which they should as they know the full story and they have a story they want to tell and we will all be doing ourselves a favor from trying to influence them to make their story into the one we specifically want. And I'd like to spoil the plot in order to let players set their expectations better so they can decide whether to jump ship or go for the distance. The most out there so far are

For me personally I went into this blind and was really getting hooked and enjoying myself see the mc be a grounded person and making decisions and acting as the CEO. Especially as you got to know and interact with your new secretary who the MC has great chemistry with. But when the more weird things popped up I was originally surprised and disappointed to suddenly find out things were going this way but then decided to keep on playing out of respect for the enjoyment I had so far and readjusted my expectations to account for all the crazy and silly things and in the end... I have to say I rather enjoyed the game and find myself looking forward to what comes next! Still would like someone to make a grounded and thoughtful CEO/Workplace Management game/story though

Gonna give it 5 stars just to encourage the dev not to abandon the project and have more people try the game out.

Rating v0.7.1:

If you're into easter eggs and subtle nods to pop-culture of the last 4 decades or so, you're in for a treat. Yes, this has all the typical things you'd find in any (in-)decent adult game but added are humorous nods to classic tropes, music, and TV shows. This was a blast to read and I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

The Roommate (0.6.6 version) is a decent game with very good points but also some serious flaws. Let's start with the story: it starts as corporative issues, then evolves strangely into corporate secrets, then halfway through decides to add a narrator... it's a bit all over the place, with non-clear goals as to where it is going, and it also has a very strange tempo in the relationships with other characters. On the other side, it has few choices but those are really impactful, and a lot of the conversations are funny and are well written, while others aren't so good.

Character models are quite well done and not all of them are hot models, which adds to the immersion and believability of the story. But facial expressions are a bit missing in many images, sex scenes are done poorly in general, and animations are lackluster. Sound is almost inexistant. And so are bugs, in my playtime I found none.

So, all in all, the game caught me strong at first but, as it advanced, it just lost me. It's not a bad game, that's true, but I don't think it's worth the time considering other available options.

I was going to give this game a three since it didn't stand out at first, ok but generic renders with only one or two standing out, solid sex scenes you can fap to but not top tier, decent plot but nothing haven't read before...
... and then I met Mallory and Mallory introduced me to what she wanted me to do to her.

If you're a lactation fan, you will like this game.

I don't know what it is about this game but it lacks just that little extra to make it a real success.

If we look at the positive things, there is really a lot in the game. The main love interest (the roommate) is a nice and beautiful lady which is very important since she is pretty much the only option in the game. Also, the graphics are quite good.

But there is room for improvement in the dialogues. English is not the strongest point of the dev but despite that I did read most of it. What's not so good about the game is the lack of thoughts and the fact that the girl likes the MC very much but literally does absolutely nothing about it. Even the MC when he hears that she likes him does literally nothing about it. That is a bit of a disappointment. In regards to thoughts, especially since there is one dominant love interest, the thoughts are very important. You could make her much more complex and exciting than she is now, now it comes across as a bit superficial sometimes.

Unfortunately there is also a lack of music, it would add a lot of ambiance and another dimension to the game if music and sound effects were added.

So all in all, there is a lot of upside to the game and a lot of potential. But because of the negative points mentioned earlier, three stars is currently the maximum I can give. However, the improvements are primarily in the text, which should be fairly easy to work on. I am curious how the story will evolve.

v0.6.1

Excellent game, 5/5.

You clearly define your relationships in this game and as long as you're honest, you can't screw up, which is how it should be. The female characters are all attractive in their own way and you genuinely feel the need to help them, or at least if you're a good person, that's the kind of story that I like. Not overly pretentious, (if you're making a realistic game) then keep the characters aspirations relatable and interesting rather than focusing on boring stuff like lore, background of the world...etc. I don't find that kind of info interesting in general video games, let alone adult games which should spend less time on character development and story than a Naughty Dog production.

However, and I find this a very good quality, you complete story arcs or problems fast so you don't dwell on one issue for too long so that it can bother you in the back of the head, yes there is an overarching story direction, but it's not putting pressure on you like a certain somebody that gets fired for being creepy, I'm glad that story arc was wrapped up soon.

Some of the scenes are really hot, although it's a bit of a slow grind, but once the ball gets rolling it gets pretty good, the game is not advertised as animated, so I won't deduct points, in fact I was pleasantly surprised that whilst it's not properly animated, at least the game tries to give you the illusion of animation, if it was advertised as "animated", I'd deduct a star for sure, but I tend to like people a lot more when they're honest with themselves, because that's the kind of person I aspire to be and in this case opposites don't attract each other, I don't appreciate liars. Hypocrites and liars are dead in my eyes and I don't wish to associate with them, thankfully I haven't met a lot irl.

The game has a fair bit of content and over the course of me playing 0.6.1 they already made 2 updates, if I'm not mistaken, it went from 0.6.1 to 0.6.2 to 0.6.3., so the development cycle is not a big wait.

I have to talk about the minor stat management part of this game, it's not that obtrusive, I don't think you can even run out of money if you're trying too, but you can run out of energy, so sometimes take a break, especially if you can't do anything in the cafe. The last stat is lust and at worst my lust has reached the first circle on the right side of the lust meter, I'd recommend masturbating twice (spread out when you reach the red part of the meter) before you get to your first sex scene, if you do that, you won't have to worry about releasing lust.

Keep up the God's work, devs.

I
First and must important. If anyone is deciding not to play this game solely because of the title then you are going to be missing out on a hidden gem.

must say I thought this was going to be a simply game. At the beginning it felt slow. But I want to say during the middle things started to pick up. And to my surprise also. The writing got better. There were maybe 2 sentence structure errors that I found. But that it's well written and it has unexpected humor. If anyone was on looking for someone to support. This would be the person to do so. The story continues to one up itself and the pacing is fast enough to keep your interest and I didn't time how long it actually took me to finish the game. But I want to say it has a good few hours atleast of Content so then plenty to keep anyone entertained.
I myself I signed up for their highest teir.

This is a brilliant harem VN. The writing is top notch and the small details make this shine. The story starts off rather predictably but then opens up into so much more. This VN is really a hidden gem, and I can't wait for updates.

I really love this game. The writing is so brilliant and amazing. This game developer could definitely be a novelist, and a really good one at that. I've played games with good writing before that had some funny, witty lines. But this is definitely the best written game in all the 500 games that I've played, and it is way more hilariously funny (but not in a cheap, trashy way like some games are). The spelling and grammar are good too, which I can't say for about 98% of other games. The game progresses in a way that is really good. Some mysteries here and there. Some small, some large. A feel of realism. Good solid events with a good chronological flow. A bunch of different type of characters. You can even choose between eight or so females that you've interviewed for a job. That's some amazing customization! The game is the complete opposite of boring. The MC is also a strong character in every way, and I think that a lot of people will enjoy that. Version 0.6.1 has a lot of content, which is nice because I'm so sick of games that have very little of it. And besides the quantity, it has great quality. The game HUD feels very original, like one made by a passionate developer who just imagined what they wanted and went for it instead of some bored developer who just mimicked what someone else created. I'm glad that nothing in the game is a grind or a chore. Lust and Energy are almost just for show. Just wank if your Lust gets to maximum, until you can start having sex with someone. Energy is usually replenished and in normal levels, but you might need to go to bed early on rare occasions. Money might not be an issue, but I gave myself an extra $10,000 using a save editor online just in case. I think that it's only smart to spend as much money as possible on the targets of your affection. The pregnancy kind of scares me because there are choices to creampie and sometimes you creampie without a choice, so I'm wondering if I will end up a father. In some games, it's a kink for me and I definitely want to see all the females knocked up. But this game is a bit different. I see the female characters as real women and not just as some easy lust objects. The only weak thing that I can think about the game is that some of these females will definitely give you boners but I'm not sure if the sex scenes and/or dialogue will be enough for those wanting a quick fap. I'm not playing the game for the quick fap. I'm just enjoying the immersion of it. That's all the stuff I can think of right now, but this is definitely one of the best games that I have ever played and I totally recommend it. I'll edit this review some more later.

Without any shadow of a doubt the most underrated game on this site. Amazing renders (Kari is a top 5 best looking girl in any game imho), very sexy scenarios and a surprising depth of content for a more obscure game.

This VN was a much better experience than I thought it would be.

Initially I was worried there would be grinding and pointless stat checks, but this was not the case at all. The stats are only there to give you a better idea of your means without having to insert contrivances into the story. Your choices matter, the renders are good, and the animations are decent.

The sex scenes could use some more work in the sense that they don't exactly capture the essence of sexiness: the characters have their general needs, wants, and preferences, but it's generally communicated like they're reading an encyclopedia entry.
There are many writing techniques that can help with this issue, such as having a more ordinary person react to the extraordinary things happening, even a throwaway "Holy shit, I can't believe this" would help.

That being said, I can't speak for the romance path's writing, as I was kind of playing like Tony Stark: fuck everything, but never fuck someone over. Maybe the romance path is better written, and character arcs/changes are better laid out.
The game is a solid 4/5, definitely good, and if this issue is fixed, it will be great!

This review is for version 0.6.1..... a very good story so far. Not the same old tired cliche' stuff really. the renders are great... the women are varied in looks and personalities. That's a great thing in games like this. I look forward to future updates.

Played through the game for the first time and I am really enjoying the story. Often times during games I have to use the skip unread text feature because some authors drone. But this one kept the wording at an appropriate pace for the story. The renders are great however the animation is choppy, but you get the gist. Storylines and arcs are fantastic. It's a lot of fun and hooks you in.

Played through it, for me its a like, but overall the game cant compete with the best around here. For several reasons.

The Models are really nice, especially Kari and Lois are really nice and hot, like them very much, and cant recall to have ever seen models in other games like those two... love them.

But for the "looks" of the game thats kind of the only good thing... The expressions are really bad, especially considering the body, most of the times they are standing like dolls in a shopping center round. Especially Kari before going to work... really strange. The animations are between bad and "ok" overall... maybe you should stop doing them, OR improve them very much, i think youre capable of doing good animations, there are some scenes where you show that you can do better, like kari is riding the MC, the bouncing boobs are nice and such, but these are short loops aswell, best animation and maybe the only good is the one where louis is going to the plane over the vent... thats really nice, if you could keep up THAT qualitiy the whole game the animations would really be a plus, otherwise, the really short loops are more annoying than a plus to the game.

Now the writing, its ok, nothing special, but there is nothing to complain either i would say.

Lets talk about the characters. Another reason why this game cant compete with top games. They are all very boring... with one exception, Louis is the only girl thats at least a little bit interesting, the dialogues with her are the only entertaining so far. And overall she is the one that stood out of every other girl in the game... all the others, including the maingirl Kari are really boring, with no exclusive attributes whatssoever. she is nice... like nearly every girl in the game... and yeah, thats about it. At the start she should act like a naive girl i think, but its coming over like the dumbest girl i have seen in a long time... This is getting better after a while, but other than that, she still is boring in the end... even the sex with her is boring.

But i cant tell exactly why, iam a little bit fond of her regardless what i said of being boring... she is kinda "sweet", looks incedible good. And of course... to be there for the naive innocent girl is always something that works for me. Especially if the girl is a red head too...

So yeah, Kari (despite the fact that she is overall boring so far) and Louis make it worth to play. But thats it...

The story started fine and gets very ridiculous (come on, milk-farms for drugged woman, really?) should have stayed the way it started... become unexptected CEO of a company (with some shady business too of course, but why not staying half-way relasitc in that department?) and now has to run it and search for new employees and maybe get "company-affair" problems that are kinda realistic, not this strange milking thing... i dont judge the "milking" fetish here... iam not into that, but i know others are, so i dont have a problem with that (and you can avoid the scene, so no problem) but the whole story is just so ridiculous... there are other ways to implement that kind of fetish without destroying every seriousness in the whole game.

No Sound or music either, not a big issue for me, i disable the ingame music of the most VNs anyway and play my own. But the good games has good sound and background music thats worth it to listen too.

The game mechanics are pointless too, i figured you decided to implement them and get a real meaning to them later on, but for know, the lust, energy and money meters are complete useless.

You have some good things in this games... the models of Kari and Louis, the dialogues between MC and louis, some animationsa re good too, overall i think they were improving throughout the game... but overall its not enough to get above average i think.

The whole game is not that good, but not bad either. Yeah 3 stars for me. Will watch it, and come back another time, but it wont be a favorite in my book.

The story starts somewhat semi-believable but then drifts off completely into pure ridiculousness.

In the beginning you are a very young exec at a company and living with an intern of the same company. You strut around doing basically nothing all day and then become CEO. It then devolves into random spy cybertech and completely unbelievable goofy tit milking experiments on a corporal level... the story is just so unfathomably bad.

Choices seem to have an immediate effect, but are not remembered or reused within the game. Example: You sleep with office slut. Later when you call her in as CEO everything plays out identically whether you fucked her earlier or not, very disappointing. Another example is making a deal with a sugarbaby that the game then completely forgets about it and never mentions again. Just makes choices seem kinda pointless and the entire experience is rather kinetic.

Gameplay is simply reading and occasionally clicking on choices. No mini games or anything else. There is a money counter displayed but since MC literally becomes CEO of a multi billion dollar company within a few minutes I found there to be no need to pay attention to it ever. I always choose the biggest money spending options and never ran out. Energy and Lust meter are completely pointless too. For Lust simply jerk off when game offers it, otherwise you get to hospital with a game over screen.. The Energy bar changes nothing from what I could tell in 2 playthroughs.

There is no sound in the game at all. No background music, no sound effects, no moans or any other sound.
Scenes are mediocre, pretty vanilla with slight animations, nothing to write home about but I've seen worse.
Models are pretty good. Writing is average. Story becomes ridiculous.

Overall:
+ models
Ø scenes
Ø writing
- gameplay
- choices/consequences
-- no sound
-- story

There's unfortunately not a lot going on in this one, unless you like scenes of the mc reading paperwork on their sofa and rote mystery box style writing. A conspiracy involving breastmilk and super-advanced magical AI is doled out in tiny teasers, and the romances with vulnerable, big-breasted orphans move at an even slower pace.

Choices don't seem to have much impact. Early on it seems like you might be able to mould your character a little with how you act (stern vs kind) but in the end you're just the same helpful niceguy regardless, and the choices turn out to be pass/fail for more exposition/mystery box clues.

Crude animations. Limited sexual content. Story that isn't half as clever or original as it thinks it is. Disappointing as early updates showed promise.

It's strange why i like this game. Compared to many other games with really great renders and young girls, harems, incest and so on this is just a straight forward love story with an interesting main story line.

The renders aren't the best let's be honest, but you can see time and thought were put into setting them up. Lighting can use work, so camera angles but still things are clear and the women are beautiful. Nothing over the top just straight forward sexiness.

Why do I like it so much? The feel good factor and a MC that is a straight up good guy yet doesn't allow people to walk over him. Out of the box good MC. Kari of course and Lois are just super hot and deserves the play time. Also Mallory... just yummy.

So if you after as i said feel good, good story and some love options then definitely give this game a go.

Reviewing v0.4.7
This is one of perhaps half a dozen adult VNs that I would rate as elite. Some have complex game mechanics, others stunning graphics and animation, others glorious word-smithing.

While The Roommate is no slouch in any of these areas, it is the story that sets it apart from the pack. There are so many elements to it, and the plot is revealed in such a masterful way that I actually gasped "Aha!" out loud more than once.

A good story needs great characters, and the interview scene shows off this facet, both in terms of model design and character. Just as I was beginning to think a character was a bit of a stereotype, she would make it clear that there was a lot more depth to her. More generally, I continually found myself on edge about who to trust - I would not be surprised if any of the characters is involved in the conspiracy.

Ratings at a glance:
Graphics: **** (vary from passable to brilliant)
Models: ***** (something for just about any taste)
Animations: **** (decent but rare)
Mechanics: ***** (always tricky for a largely linear story, but it is possible to make meaningful changes)
Story: *********** (like Nigel's amp - this one goes up to 11)

Congratulations and thanks to the dev(s??) for this.

Great start to the game. It looks good and has a cool story with some customization of the MC's personality which I really like. I can't wait to see where it goes in the future. I strongly recommend it as it is a game that definitely deserves some more publicity.

This story is a great one...and thankfully, the babes are hot as well. The mystery surrounding the MC's inherited company are playing out nice and slowly, as is his conquest of some of the hot babes. For me, if a VN has not got an interesting story, I am not that inclined to keep following it. So for me, this is worth following.
The Dev's pace of showing us both mystery and hot babes is just about perfect. That is why I rated this five stars.