VN - Ren'Py - The Roommate [v0.12.05] [togs]

[0.9.7]

This is a game that is unlikely to leave one indifferent.

Summary: As an AVN it is very strong on N part, good on V, but lukewarm on much of AV (H scenes).

I am torn between giving it 2 stars and 5 stars, so decided on 4.

Note for those who only just started -- just survive the first N days, the lewd parts unfold at some point. For additional explanation see below.

The good:

- excellent writing. really superb, mature, realistic dialogues. 6/5

- good plot, very good story progression (with eyebrow raised for the scifi elements);

- good attention to rendering background/item detail -- eg. floor plans, etc.

- the characters and interactions with them are also very well written and reasonably believable (at least at start).

- the MC is not a kid! And not a wet blanket! -- honestly, as of late, it seems a rarity and deserves a special mention in the games supposedly tagged maledom.


The bad:

- a ton of girls added, as story progresses, yet there really is not very much lewd content for most of them, despite it being hinted all the time.

- fully fledged H content with only one - Lois. Others, including supposedly MC's main LI Kari, appear mostly as story elements or plot drivers. Yes, you can build some involvement and supposed relationship with her, but the A part of AVN is kinda 10% of what Lois has. And for the first 2/3ds of current game, Kari's content is basically one scene repeated several times.

- the H scenes are short and with maybe 1 short animation, especially at start. Lois gets a lot of attention later on, and her scenes are markedly better. There is some decent writing on top of most of scenes though, so together it sort of works OK.

- the game has sandbox elements like phone and calendar, but is really so story driven, that you can almost never use them. It feels like sandbox elements merged into a kinetic novel actually.

The phone is the weird thing. There is a quick menu entry for phone, which you have to watch like a hawk, to get clickable, but there is no need really, as at most times you'll just call somebody's voicemail. Even in voicemail you can "leave a message" or just "hang up". I have no idea whether at one point, leaving a message maybe will be needed, so it's very frustrating -- a thing which you think you don't need, but are not sure. At the only couple of places the phone calls are required, you get direct information from dialogues about that.

The calendar is also a mixed bag. It supposedly lists events you'll have, BUT you can't be sure the events *you* add, will happen. Point in case: Ashley. You can become her sugardaddy, and you can schedule to meet her via phone, BUT 70% of time, the meets don't happen because story events ignore them. And sometimes not even any significant events. For example, I've tested it so that I have one of those evenings at home where there is option to go get coffee (at Ashley's who is a barista) or just go to sleep to recover energy. Even if I've scheduled a meet with her, it doesn't happen, if I go to coffee shop, and it doesn't happen, if I stay at home.

Also, you had the option of being pretty dominant at one of the employees once, and you can sorta force her to "be available when you want". But there's no content for her at all, even on phone, you can't even call her, just leave the same unknown message. A bit annoying.

The I.R.I.S. AI quick menu button is discussed a number of times, but dangles always unclickable. Probably one of the @TODO@s.

The other

- there is a long sort of intro/prologue for the first N days, where you get into real corporate routine, and there are only hints of any possibilities of H content. It's not that bad, and there is good writing so you get filled in on details of the world, but I did get a feeling of... hmm.. should I even try to continue? If you survive that, there is some point after which you start getting some of the A part of AVN.

- there is a curious mix of good storytelling with some characters, and other (later) characters who are still pretty decently written with good bg -- but unlike the first characters they just appear to beg to worship MC for no reasons. I approve, as too much storytelling/char development would move this from AVN to simple VN, and make a convoluted mess, but ofc it feels somewhat weird.

- This is a very story driven AVN. Actually I would call it almost a kinetic novel in disguise, because the only *decisions* you get to make, is how and which girls to get. You do take some major steps as CEO, but those are preset for you, and you can't avoid them. So 90% of your time in office (and you spend much of time there), is spent taking care of personnel details that in usual corporate practice wouldn't be particularly care of CEO. That's OK, this is a supposedly lewd AVN where you are actually forming your harem.

- you're the guy the dev envisioned to be, regardless of your own preferences. I understand there is only so much one can do for story paths, just be aware. You watch as MC's fate unfolds, and you can only enjoy the ride. Are you good? Are you bad? Well, even if you try to be more of a jerk, it turns out you're sort of vanilla considerate caring dom guy, who can't be actually evil, just maybe a bit egoistic as we all.

- The sci-fi elements that start to unfold, can raise a lot of eyebrows. Personally didn't bother me -- it is no worse than generic conspiracy theories floating around. In fact, due to the good writing, even those are not as unbeliavable as I'd think. The basement really picked my interest, it hints to more dom/sub setting, which is one of my kinks.

At the end, I somehow feel it a very controversial game for me. I love some parts of it, and hate others, therefore I can't make up my mind on the rating. But I know I want "mooooar content!" for most of the characters, since they are starved of it -- that surely means something.

Despite the list for bad being twice the size of good, the good things are very important and the bad things, while annoying, are livable with.

I don' really know how to convey how positively surprised I am with this game. The title does not do this game justice. I don't want to spoil anything but damn. Just play the game if you like well-written dialogues that are semi-realistic (at least in its own unrealistic porn setting), a great variety in girls, a likeable MC (or maybe I just share the exact same sense of humor?) and a much deeper plot than you first realize!

If the game continues in this direction and quality... expect a five star from me.

may not be top from technical point of view but i enjoyed playing it a lot
strong point are characters (secretary and girlfriend) and relationship dynamics
lots of side girls but did not care for them
dev is improving and game gets better further in you go
fortunately stat and wallet doesn't matter - money is endless and you can always pick whatever

The positive is that the 'story' is entertaining, but the sex scenes bring this game's score way down.

The animations are not only the default animations everyone has seen a thousand times, but they're also reused over and over. For that matter, there's a ton of material that is re-used constantly throughout the game, and that's a big negative.

There's a ton of inconsistency in the sex scenes as well. A few have animations, even more do not and are just a one or two-render affair. Due to that, the sex scenes do absolutely nothing for me.

The phone is pointless. It's ridiculous going through every name each time the phone is available when most of the time there's nothing there, and it rarely works properly. The dev insists on keeping it in the game for some weird reason when it would be better if it was just removed from the game.

It's not terrible, but it definitely is a poor quality game that is sitting at too high of a rating.

I enjoyed playing the game and did get invested in the story. The renders are not amazing and there is a little re-use of images here and there but it is not detrimental to the game in any way. Whatever the dev needs to do to get the story out.

I am a little worried about the future though as there is a lot going on. Dozens of characters with multiple story lines that centred around you taking over the family company and discovering the dark secrets. With a lot of player choice seemingly. There is a chance this will become to hard to manage eventually.

I think a little more focus could be given to the relationship with the roommate herself. The protagonist cares about her but it doesn't really show.

Minor gripe: The name choices of Kara Kari Kiri and Kiki is annoying as the names are so similar I usually forget who's who. For any other dev's reading this or for the dev's next project I would suggest not doing this.

For once, the pattern of a day-to-day management game works. However, the further along I go in the game, the less control I have over what is happening. This is made up for by the fact that everything on offer is of top quality.

I have very mixed feelings about this.
On one side, it has really good looking LI's. Kari, lois, the other sisters are all 10/10 and get extra points from me as i like boob heavy models

But other than that it falls flat on almost everything else. My biggest complaint is about content with Kari. For most part of the game her content is limited to coming and going from office, having dinner and then good night. Even after you get into a relationship with her, other than a few sex scenes, there is hardly any content with her.
Like she is the only LI in game, to whom you can confess your love to. Considering that her content in the story is even less than side girls in other games.

Lois just dominates the content once MC becomes CEO. I understand she is his PA, but then there should be a balance. Then you get an option to have Lois as your girlfriend as well, but whats the point of having one more girlfriend, if you dont even give time to your main Girlfriend.
Then the story just goes into spiral with making babies stuff and then the cult stuff which just got introduced.
I want to give this game a chance, but the treatment Kari has received, i am really miffed. Such a darling girl is just ignored for some side sluts

I intitally didnt have high expectations of this game. The title has never called to me. I was happily surprised that I was wrong. This game is absolutely fantastic. I'm very much looking forward to your future updates. The harem elements make you feel powerful and seductive. The gameplay doesnt feel tedious and it flows at a good pace. You actually feel like you're important.

First two times I tried this I found it a bit stiff and evolving very slowly. Third time was my luck. What a gem this is. The level of perversion, choices and beautiful babes under command is just wonderful.

Renders - 5/10 Not the best but still is better than a lot of other projects. A revamp would be a good option.

Story - 6/10 Although rather strange as it progresses, there is some originality to it, not a lot but it is interesting.

Amount of content - 8/10 There is quite a bit of content compared to many other projects.

Animations - 1/10 This is the big failure, really poor animations, I can't overstate the word poor in describing it. The sex scenes are all looped two second sex junk absolutely no attempt to try for a bit of realism. Come on you can do better than that, really cheap scenes are not going draw in patrons. Animations are hugely important, this one fails miserably.

Grammar - 9/10 From what i saw there was few mistakes.

Overall not the worst story/game i have gone through, there is a draw to the story although it could be improved. Some of it is just way to outlandish, and goes to fast.
As stated the animations are what needs improving, the sex is just lightning fast and really boring.
Was not a waste of time downloading though, strange story lines can be intriguing.

The Roommate [v0.8.7] review

I've seen this game pop up when searching Latest Updates several times. The tags match my tastes pretty closely, but I think the overview in the OP may have been different previously and something about it caused me to put The Roommate on the "Maybe when I have nothing better to do" list. That was a mistake. It's a great game, and pretty long for two years in development. I'm wondering how this doesn't have the harem tag, because this is one of the most realistic harem VNs that I've ever played. It's not a nineteen year old virgin, nor a alpha-chad-asshole, amassing a harem by either being nice or being mean but really mostly because of magical dick. He's a man in the prime of life winning hearts by being useful to the LIs in important ways and by being rich, powerful, confident, smart, and successful.

Writing and Story
It's very well written. I noticed no typos or incorrect word choices. Dialogue is natural, easy to read, understand, and enjoy. It is so refreshing to read an English VN written by someone who knows how it is spoken and has a healthy vocabulary. I can't say for certain that Togs is British, but if he's not he's trying to sneak British aphorisms into American characters' mouths. The American characters usually sound American, but occasionally they use British expressions that an American wouldn't. Though the MC has the excuse of having spent years at an English boarding school, the others don't. Sometimes it's done intentionally, addressed, and played for laughs, other times not. The main characters are well fleshed out and show development through the plot, and though some of the supporting characters and minor ones aren't much more than tropes, the writer has put some effort to break or defy those tropes a bit, which is nice. On the topic of side characters, I'm most impressed with the writing for the (rather few) people of color. None of them fall into the irritating, boring racial tropes that are too commonplace in AVNs. They're written like regular people, not caricatures.
The story is interesting and engaging, and the plot keeps moving at a proper pace. You never feel like you're grinding or repeating days with only minor variations like I've found in other games with a "get up, go to work, eat dinner, go to bed" loop, and it's really only ever rushed toward the end of current development (v0.8.7). The plot does seem to drift a bit. Though the titular Roommate is never forgotten and she's still a part of the ongoing drama and mystery, not long after we are able to solidify the relationship status, the focus shifts from Kari to almost everyone else. In fact, Lois essentially starts taking over as the main LI once the MC becomes CEO, with Kari getting progressively less screen time. I feel like it would be a mistake to keep her on the back burner, because she's such a sweet, sexy, and loveable character that should play a role in keeping her man grounded and compassionate. The plot also contains sudden revelations and major developments that inject excitement and drama at a reasonable clip, and later in the game some of them feel a bit like we're jumping the shark, with the cult being the biggest culprit to this point. My suspension of disbelief has been tested on a couple occasions, but I've been able to soldier on, barely. There are a few minor gaps that I think are due to the dev making the game so dynamic. They are inconsequential details here and there that are inconsistent. Sometimes girls that either don't or shouldn't be expected to know each other, suddenly do, with no explanation or surprised reaction by the MC or others.
While Brasidas' review below contains spoilers that aren't correct, the core complaint is still valid. MC isn't the science experiment, but Kari and her similarly named sisters are. They're built (or bred or grown or engineered) to be suitable mates that can be impregnated by MC as their genetics are supposed to be able to negate his genetic disorder in his children. Due to the genetic disease, it would be highly inadvisable for MC to impregnate other women, even though MC does get the chance to pretty casually creampie a wide variety of girls. I have no idea how Brasidas could have misunderstood that, but the point that women do seem to be throwing themselves at MC (several rather aggressively and a bit unrealistically) more and more as the game progresses has some merit. Most of the relationships progress believably, but others break that consistency. However, if I remind myself that MC is a young, rich, handsome, newly famous CEO, I'm able settle my incredulity.
Most of the sex scenes themselves are a little short, simple, and often kind of bland, but that's made up for somewhat by the frequency and variety of encounters and the fiery white-hot sex appeal of so many of the LIs. I think Lois has some of the better sex scenes in the game, as well as most of the better dialogue. Frankly, the game should probably be renamed "The Executive PA".

Mechanics and Gameplay
I like the MC's lust mechanic, but it's never really a problem, then kind of becomes a non-issue to manage as the game moves on. I let the MC take advantage of so much of the freely available pussy, his lust meter never gets very high. Actually, later having low lust almost becomes a problem. There was a scene with Lois in the office apartment that I almost didn't see because it's only triggered if MC's lust is high enough, but I cheated a little extra lust to the MC. I like the fact that you can take relationships with the LIs in different directions without major consequences. Lois again being the winner with the most variety of relationship options.
It's a visual novel with a reasonable amount of choices, and choices have a somewhat substantial effect on the how the plot unfolds but not what unfolds. The major story points are fixed, but how characters act and react during the events, and which side characters are around, are dependent on player choices. Unless you choose to block MC off of a route, you're not really in danger of losing a girl or her content, but it might be delayed. A light sandbox element (the phone) is added later on in the game, and it adds a minor amount of "gameplay" to the VN, letting you have some control over the MC's schedule. I couldn't get to the Lois Lactomax content without removing some of the "dummy" event delays that are put into the event handling system. I think that was done because it superceded one or two of her Sub/Slut events, but I was eager to see it, so I cheated. There's a lot more game mechanics happening under the hood than I'd guess before I unren'ned it to take a look. It's really quite impressive. I've seldom seen more intricately coded adult games/VNs, and of them, this one by far has the best result, better combining storyy, gameplay, and aesthetics.

Visuals
The game looks great overall. The backgrounds and environments appear unique and not reused. There are so many attractive LIs, and likewise most of them didn't spring to mind as familiar models I've seen in other games. A few of the side girls are a little meh, but they give both variety and contrast for the real smokeshows like Kari and Lois. I'd like to see a few girls with a little more booty, but there are healthy curves on most of the female models, even if those curves are generally north of the waistline. The clothes look great, with lots of sexy and appropriate outfits for the girls. I didn't notice any boobsocks, which should be a low bar, but one that I'd estimate more than 30% of Daz devs can't be bothered to clear. Early in the game, the posing is a little awkward at times, and eyelines weren't always given adequate consideration, but as the game has progressed, so has the dev's posing skills.

Rating
4 out of 5. A little more foreshadowing in regard to the cult surprise and the receptiveness of some of the unexpectedly keen side girls would go a long way toward alleviating the strain on my suspension of disbelief. As it is, it's great enough to detract from my overall stellar opinion of the game.

The Roommate started out as close to a 5 star experience as it could be.

Corporate climbing the ladder power crazy hire endless secretaries! OMG I'm gonna cum!

Lovely love interest back home, romance the other love interest in the office!
Etching closer to the power-crazy dream of a harem. Good stuff

A bit of weird stuff along the way - milking some lady - ok, I can dig it...

SPOILER ALERT!!!




But then within the last couple of updates the game just veers straight off the rails and into you're really a freak science experiment, built to impregnate all - and I mean all women everywhere. They in turn become mindless love hungry cockfiends, lining up to get impregnated.

So I may be out... But will keep an eye on the game, because it should honestly score much higher. I just don't enjoy games that go out of it's way to swamp you in woman after woman that just want you for no reason whatsoever.

UPDATED RATING

My first impression must be revised.

I made it to the end of the current version (day 63) and the original 3 stars are 4 now. This game is certainly above "average".

The dev put a lot of work into this and you can see he cares about the project. He reads the feedback and gives his thoughts, which feels rare ( I don't rate that many games tho.)

The characters have a growing varity and the interactions are well written. The story is somewhat unique and the h-scenes nicely integrated.

My original thoughts about the decisions for MC haven't changed tho. Sometimes they feel meaningless, sometimes its hard to understand what they even do.
On the other hand, you get those rare moments you are offered more freedom than you'd expect ( like picking your own staff after job interview with several girls), which is very nice.


Animations are simple but totally do the job. Not everyone can make a blockbuster movie out of nowhere.

Not sure how to rate the kinky stuff. In the beginning, you get the option whether or not you like it kinky. But the only fetish I found so far is lactation(in connection with light pet play).
More stuff probably/hopefully something for the future.

And with more stuff I mean footjobs. Gimme feet ( ' -')

To end on a high note, there is a huge varity in clothes.
Everyone (but MC) changes them on a daily base so it feels pretty natural.
When someone wears a different outfit it doesn't feel like cosplay (In other games the girls often have 1standard outfit and suddenly after 100days that one red/black dress for the *special* date night and thats it)

I don't care about fashion but I care about the immersion and its helping. Good job dev.

final rating 4/5stars
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Disclaimer (for both original and updated rating):
If you use the walkthrough mod to give hints about answers, you can add 0,5stars to my rating. It compensates the missing informations in some way.
_______________________________________

While the game could have some choices matter more or give more in choice of the main girl, it seems like a perfect corporate world game and probably the best one here.

Not much in the way of sex scenes, a few here and there but its the story that this game excels at (if you are willing to suspend disbelief for a while).

Game gives a lot of control and power in the game world so in that sense its a very good blend between the corporate political world and a sex game.

Wow, wow wow!

I loved the story. I like the way the dev implemented relationships and I love the actual plotline.

The game was truly enjoyable and I loved every minute playing it.

Girls are obviously very pretty, graphics are nothing flashy, but nice.

Sex scenes are a bit hard in the beginning, but once it picks up steam, they are fast and furious.

Can not put my finger on precisly why, but I just enjoyed playing this game (all aspects).

[Reviewed v0.8.4 Public]

I've been playing this VN from the start. It absolutely has some unique charm and the story is interesting, but the visuals are a bit dated. That said, I keep wanting to come back to this and see where the story goes next.

The Good

• Good diversity of attractive love interests (LIs)
• Story and characters are charming
• Lots of H-scene content

The Not-So-Good

• Some of the "side" characters are more interesting than the main LI (the "roommate" from the title)
• Visuals / graphics are dated / grainy
• Animations are nothing special
• Scenery / locations are nothing special
• The further you get into the story, the more ridiculous the plot becomes

Will continue to follow this game and looking to see how the story wraps up.

A lot of grainy/pixelated renders early on, but the quality does get better later on.

Story is bit of a mixed bag. It starts of itself rather simple. MC becomes a leading figure in a big corporation and lives with a cute girl whilst romancing some of the office girls. Why I liked a lot! Down to earth and simple.

Buuuut then it starts to get crazy with the story getting a bit more 'fictional' or 'unrealistic' or 'borderline ridiculous' (depends on your interpretation).
>The MC apparently has access to a Matrix world
>genetically modified humans designed to satisfy MC
>some sort of secret order/sisterhood hiding in your office
>apparently the roommate has been artificially created to be your ideal partner
>something about an evil uncle making a drug that makes women get big tits and lactate like cows
>MC has some sort of rare disease so he has to impregnate a bunch of sisters or he dies (I'm not joking lol, I really need what the dev is smoking).

Idk I guess I just found the sci-fi direction a bit too abrupt. Sometimes writers do too much or overthink certain scenarios when a basic premise would've been more suitable. YMMV, I just think the early game plot was much better with the focus more on the girls.

Why piqued my interest was that the overview noted that this is "less linear" than other games and the gameplay section seemed to indicate the inclusion of important choices. You are even giving warnings that choices matter.

I've gone through multiple playthroughs and different dialogue options but I don't see any evidence of this. You are presented with a lot of choices but these choices don't really lead to significantly different outcomes. For example picking monogamous relationship is the most worthless thing in this game. Quite frankly, every girl you pursue an exclusive relationship with (just Kari & Lois atm) is completely fine if you bang other woman (so why give us that monogamous option? seems like an illusion of choice).
Even if you try to break things off with Kari, she till hangs around the apartment and you get a lot of dialogues as if you're in a relationship with her.
There is no difference in terms of scenes or plot if you pick "Mistress" or "non-exclusive gf" or "exclusive gf", these are all the same with the same exact scenes although there is just a slight difference in dialogue but about 95-98% of the writing is the same.
For example, there is a scene where """monogamous""" Kari finds MC cheating on her with Lois so she starts tearing and angrily stated that she wont let Lois steal him... but this goes nowhere. Next scene they meet, she is perfectly happy with Lois, pretends nothing happened, and there is another scene in the hospital where """monogamous""" Kari was about to have a threeway with Lois/MC.
The only thing that made a difference was picking which secretary you want to hire but they don't play a huge part in the game atm.

I'm confused about this as the game seems to be marketing itself as a VN where choices matter. But as you can tell from this review and multiple other reviews below this, it definitely isn't that sort of game. I guess he found out how complex it is to code all the variables with the multiple relationship routes or maybe just thought a linear harem direction would be more easier/popular. I think its the standard "initially overpromising a bunch of features, finds out its actually hard to achieve, begins simplifying/dumbifying the game to a much less ambitious standard".

*****
TLDR; renders grainy in the beginning but better later on, story is satisfactory but gets more unrealistic/sci-fi later on, illusion of choice to an extreme degree (presenting a lot of choices but most of these choices dont really change the outcome of anything nor does it have plot-related or relationship-related consequences).
*****

It's worth a play through for sure. Has some unique concepts. My only real glaring issue with this game is the sarcastic humor but that is more so a personal preference. I could stand one character being like that but it seams that as soon as initial personas are introduced they end up being swept up in the devs form of sarcasm. I will very likely play it again once more additions have been made.

Interesting game.

Girls are too numerous but you only have real relationships with 2 (at least in my save game) so it's okay.

Lois is a very interesting character (I hope there will be a way to make her the wife, because she is no trophy but damn, that brain and hopefully the breast treatment mk 2 thing is not just a dialogue because i would be interested to see how it would impact her).

I find that the pacing is good.

The bothering thing is the vanilla sex scenes with Kari and the feeling I had that the game had a repetitive morning (jerk of or not) which was boring, and repetitive.

I hope the game gets polished as it continues.

I also hope that not every man encountered in travel will become a random joke (like the clerk in London, a pervert fired due to our MC being the saint for Kiki, Marcus being fire due to our MC being the saint for Shae, etc.).

Edit: removing a star because the game is falling a bit more in the "adding lots of girls for free sex with mc" kind and that's not good.

This game pretty much feels like it was made for me but that's not to say that the rating is pure personal preference. There's a nice variety among the girls, excellent felxibility in how you engage with them and the writing is good with a nice rythm between plot and plot. If I have any concerns I guess it'd be that all these options will make the game sprawling and difficult for the developer but for now it's amazing.