VN - Ren'Py - The Survival of Sarah Rose [v0.9.9.9] [HappyDaedalus]

A unique type of story with many branching paths and emphasis on text, lot of text to the point there is only few images in each scene, that have slight variations just to give context.
At the start you get choices which branches to follow and then you get railroaded on those paths unless they have another branch themselves.
However the main weaknesses of this game are the main protagonist and art inconsistency.
This game made me dislike female protagonists despite adoring said protagonists. The MC is very inconsistent to the point that she breaks any kind of immersion. l would rather have her be silent and only speak when the player speaks (choice). Her alone makes me dislike female protagonists when l think about this game
The art inconsistency is another immersion breaking part, while newer versions get better, there is one huge problem. The main protagonist is shown a lack of consistency especially her breasts. At one scene she has large breasts and at another she has medium or even small not to mention her face as well. l can't tell if the original vision is to make her cute or something else
For me, the MC and her visual styles break any kind of immersion to the point l just skip everything uninteresting.
Only the mage path is what caught my attention a bit solely because your choice can save one character and have her as a lover and together you can have sex with a tentacle like entity But even that moment was my favorite, the protagonist is there to break everything .
With so much text, you would think you have choices on how to express your feelings and be one with the protagonist but no. This is the story of Sarah Rose and despite the many branching paths, all of the sum of its parts makes Sarah very inconsistent throughout the story.

l would rather avoid this game, despite me loving that aforementioned scene

If you have time to read, give it a try. It certainly tries well but for me, l rather not have my immersion break every 5 seconds or any sentence the protagonist speaks.

Extremely lazy work. 20+ sentences for 1 render/slide. Even when the scene changes, the same character is just copy pasted to the next scene. You are better off reading a book than this lazy piece of work.

The story, while not necessarily particularly unique in terms of historical fiction, is well written and engaging. The characters are visually interesting though do suffer a bit from a lack of development, but considering the scope of the VN I suppose it's expected.

I think that's the key point, it's more a novel with a visual component rather than achieving a balance, but without the ability to flesh out its world and people that a traditional full-length novel might be able to provide. The visuals while nice are too static and inconsistent.

The game does make good use of the choice mechanic of VNs. There's a good few paths available from my cursory exploration, though I seem to have stumbled upon what I assume is the "good" path naturally. There seems to be at least some form of payoff to most choices that need to be made with nothing too trivial, so that's appreciated and why I'm giving the game a 4 star rating rather than 3.

This game is in an incredibly unique place on this website. The amount of branching paths is ridiculous, and most of them serve a level of world-building and character development not seen in many other games here. There's a few really minor typos but nothing crazy, the music is always on point, and this game can be really emotional at times(not just for a porn game.) I really like how much time we get with some characters in some routes, sometimes it could be more in others, but overal the game is of a very high quality. I will say the art and cg stuff is middle of the road at best, but if that doesn't bother you, this is a great game.

When this game is finished is going to be a classic but right now is almost unplayable. The sense of choice is inmense. The graphics are barely decent. It's full of plot-holes too everywhere, plus bad writing but again, this is in a very early stage so... I have hopes.

Easily my favorite game on the site. Love Sarah and the seemingly infinite possibilities of her role. Whether it be slave or Archmage it has never disappointed. Always looking forward to each release

Despite relatively common typos, the writing here is excellent and does a fantastic job of making me care a great deal about the world and characters. TSoSR offers many wildly divergent paths. Some I enjoyed more than others, but it's always interesting seeing how they intersect and enhance each other.

Slave Path: I started here since hey, it's a porn game. Standard practice is to make terrible decisions for scenes, yeah? And it was...pretty sad and upsetting to be honest, although surprisingly heartwarming on occasion. You don't often tear up playing something on f95. The bad end on the crown scene hit pretty hard. There's a fair bit of content here, though it's split between ~4 very different subpaths so each one is currently fairly short, but the main ones have promise. Some routes don't feature much dialogue and Sarah doesn't have any real agency which can harm the storytelling, but I suppose it's expected given the scenario.

I'm glad I went down this route first. Becoming so directly familiar with the fate of the people of Rosanna does a lot to trigger an emotional reaction over anything slavery-related in the other paths, especially on the...

Mercenary Captain Path: Truly fantastic. I'll play just about every normal narrative-driven RPG out there, but extraordinarily few of them offer as compelling of a tale as this erotic VN. It plays off the dark fantasy setting perfectly. I really enjoy Sarah's internal conflict over the things she's been complicit in, and the attempts she can make to claw back a part of her humanity. The last time I've felt as invested in a storyline was FFXIV. Funnily enough, the most beloved writer for that used to make porn games too.

As a side note, I appreciate that this, the Mage, and the Ruler paths all easily allowed for a 100% lesbian route which did not feel any lesser for making such a choice. Contrary to another review here, Sarah was also never forced into any non-con situations with men which would have been a bummer.

Mage Path: Mage sits up with Merc as being by far the most fleshed out of the paths currently. Unfortunately, Mage Sarah is quite aimless. Where Merc Sarah overcomes great hardships in a focused pursuit of a goal that the game makes you care about, Mage Sarah just kind of exists from moment to moment, bereft of the struggle and tragedy that makes the other content-rich path so engaging. Major story revelations are offered too freely, without the buildup that exists in Merc. That being said, I did still quite like it. You get a very different perspective on many events/characters, and you have the opportunity to spend a lot of time with Samayra and Razaphel who are both a joy.

Ruler Path: Despite taking the center of the splash screen and being the most natural route to take by making sensible decisions, Ruler is still in the somewhat early stages. What does currently exist here is quite good! Very much looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Sailor Path: Absolutely hated it. Other routes tell an interesting story that fleshes out the world, largely using sex scenes to draw emotional connections between characters which compels you to root for them. Sailor is just porn. Which I might be alright with if it wasn't 100% laser-focused on things that I hate (comically over-the-top corruption, sex with revolting men, NTR). Just doesn't feel like Sarah Rose, be it the game or the character. I'll consider this a quarantine zone and hope that it doesn't consume too many development resources.

Overall, I adored my time with TSoSR. It's not just a good porn game. It's a good game and it will make you feel things. First time I've bothered writing a review or paying for something I picked up on this site.

The amount of branching paths and choices are ridiculous (in a good way) with an absurd number of high quality pictures to go along with the abundance of scenes. Also, I really appreciate a sex-positive character, as there are quite a few endearing scenes with the MC.

Few smut games go to the level of detail and effort as this one. The intricate and branching story lines and the incredible world building on top of the text and picture of the sex makes this truly one of a kind

Heavily branching game that does some things really well. The Varga Modernized Queen route is really good, gives the player agency and has challenges and triumphs. It mostly makes sense too. Highly educated royalty leads her country to success, as many women such as Queen Elizabeth, Cleopatra, Catherine and others have done.

The problem is the other routes. Every route is hur dur dum wymynz so weke get rap3d bitchez. It's really cringe incel rape fantasy. You can be a supremely powerful mage able to destroy entire battalions, a warrior that can fight off monsters the size of a house, but if a MAN wants to sexually assault and rape the MC, she is powerless. She is just going to get completely dominated and abused. Like come on wtf.

Why give me a female MC and all these choices to just really showcase a rape fantasy? Take out all the routes and leave two, the Queen and the Slave routes. No need to make a mage or warrior or any of that other stuff, that's just some girl playing pretend and having fantasy delusions apparently. In a world of magic and warriors and all that, it's just lame.

Excellent game, with a great story and scenes.
The paths are mind-blowing, with how much things change based on your choices.
The world building is super cool too.
MC art in the scenes are top-notch, and a lot of the interactions are quite-heart warming.

I like the many and varied branching paths .

Going straight from ruler to even merc or pirate , is simply unheard off in most adventures . I can't give it a better score , because still incomplete , in progress , and lacking more art .

But it's already rather good and promising

I usually don't rate unfinished games but The Survival of Sarah Rose is exceptional. I don't remember playing (erotic) visual novels with the same level of quality regarding art, story and the amount of branching routes that will bring Sarah to an entirely different setting. Every decision counts.

The game doesn't shy away from mature and controversial theme's to establish authenticity: what happens to a defenceless girl in an alley, happens. What happens after an invasion, happens. Rape, coercion, extortion, exploration of carnal desires, you got it all. Different routes offer different cast that Sarah will interact and the player has a great deal of agency deciding what would happen to her.

The story also explores themes like women's role in a society, forbidden and taboo acts, the moral ambiguity in medieval societies and tribal nations and so on.

And on top of that, you can play The Survival of Sarah Rose just for the story, where sex could be entirely optional and/or be a reward and a portrayal of how it happens naturally in relationships. You can get closer to the "canon event lines" (different routes seem to approach the same overarching plot) from a different perspective and the story is really, really good. Sometimes you might cry. Sometimes you do hard decisions. You might even feel anger, pity or disappointment.

Truly a steadily growing masterpiece and I recommend it to anyone who not only interested in erotic games but a good visual novel in general.

Very impressive game + story.

Pros:
- Good story
- I like the setting. I also like many of the ideas - People often have their own motivations that aren't strictly "I'm a villain" or "I'm a good guy."
- Branching paths have different stories for you to see
- Art is overall good
- Good female protagonist.
- You can do lewd things, or you can remain more proper.
- And unlike some dark games, there are often ways to avoid darker scenes
- Main Character feels like they have their own internal spark to do things. Which is lacking in even good fiction.

Cons:
- Branching story does mean that some paths feel less full than others. I can kinda see that they're probably going to link back up to the main overarching story eventually, but there's an interesting amount of variety in the paths.
- Art is inconsistent in style. I don't actually mind this as all the art is good, but some people might.
- There's not more
- There is a good amount to play through with a surprising amount of scenes!

As of version v0.4.9

A story driven, choice based game with multiple branches and good art. Though animations can enhance the experience, I didn't feel a need. The story is the core selling point of this game and it hits. I like most branches of the story and especially the sibling bonding between Sarah and Thomas. I am up for incest but this time I was like "nope". The wholesome bonding really melted my heart.
However, I didn't like the story much on the lost branch. It felt lacking from other branches but maybe will improve with further updates.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a branching story and isn't here to just fap.

5/5 on story
5/5 on presenting that story for us players
4/5 on grammar (incorrect grammar here and there but acceptable)
5/5 on artworks

I like how the game carries out its story telling and pacing. The game gradually tells you about the plot, the characters. Unlike most games (below)
Lots of games here (on this site) just SHOVE you with all the unnecessary narrative, lore when you just start the game, and that is very overwhelming when starting a new game

You play as princess Sarah, living in the kingdom ruled by your father. It is a peaceful time when starting out the game, until your father being murdered
The game main focus is not about blackmailing, corruption. Just what you do in the world, what Sarah will become
There are many routes. I personally, have only tried 2 routes (mage & princess)

100% recommend trying out the game : )

Best erotic VN with large amount of routes that player can choose. Excelent hand-draw CG with good music. Also Dev very friendly with community and keep the game at the top notch. There is also an update with old arts replasement somethimes. Soo quality of the CG getting better every time. I recommend play this game, rarely see something like this.

One of the best games here, no joke. I would even give it 6 starts if it were possible bc it really leaves a strong impression - u won't forget this game like most others.

Story and writing are truly awesome, u will really feel everything that is happening to characters – this game can stir a lot of emotions when u read it. I also really like the battles, how logical they are. As a fellow total war fan, I was really ecstatic reading them: they are really thought through and those strategies will really work (I used them a lot in total war). I can see how much effort were put into almost every line of the story and this is truly amazing.

There only a few things are lacking to make this a truly perfect game:

• Art is really outdated and should be redone (should be pretty ez with new AI generators).
• Spellchecking is a must, sometimes it’s even hard to understand what is written.
• Expand BGM to add more immersion: current music is really good and doesn’t annoy u, but it doesn’t really change during the scenes (when I played the game it felt like there is only 1 track in BGM, I had to check game files to convince myself otherwise).

Overall, I’m truly impressed with this game, can’t wait for the continuation of the routes.

A game than for once has an actually interesting and engaging story. There are dozens of paths and choices, and the characterization of different actors feels realistic throughout them. Lewd content isn't the hottest out there, but what is there fits into the story, something that many porn games fail at. Overall, a breath of fresh air.

Easily the best writing I've seen on an adult game. Made me feel like I was reading a top tier fantasy novel for a while. The worldbuilding/lore/characters are just THAT good. The game is missing renders in a lot of scenes and has some art style discrepancies but I'm still giving it 5 stars for the writing and story alone. If the author ever published a fantasy novel I'd buy it in an instant.