VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - The Way [v0.37 Bugfix 2] [Zee95]

A very interesting game with sometimes thrilling moments.
The render quality is good and getting even better and better.
The character models (and there are many of them!) are unique.
Characters with mostly natural behaviour

Tested: v0.22a

Pros:
interesting, sometimes thrilling story
three completely different pathlines
long gameplay
good renders quality
animations
sound and music

cons:
few typos
some background graphics in the menu
(the bottom numbers in load/save are mostly unreadable because of the b/w background)

This game is disappointing. [Review based on 0.20 and comparing things to 0.06]

So I first tried this game at 0.06 and I am not impressed with the difference between 0.06 and 14 plus releases later with 0.20.

The story hasn't progressed much at all, as of 0.06 your sister was attacked and you three option of how that would go down. The solutions changed and the story was tweaked by the premise stayed the same. I also don't see the value in adding such a long back story that wasn't in the game before. It slowed things down and did nothing to progress things.

You would think after 14 releases more than a single day would be added to the story. Think on this, after 14 updates and over a year since i last played the game the story has progressed a mere one day after the MC's sister was attacked. I am pretty sure that is an unacceptable rate of content progression.

The character progression for your two sisters, Aunt and mother haven't changed at all from what happen in release in 0.06 and 0.20. yes more things happend the following day but you haven't progressed in any relationship. Your sister still idolizes you for saving her, your mother still got drunk and feels proud of you, your aunt still is he same girl who gave you a BJ in 0.06 still the same flirt willing to enter a sexual relationship with you.

A good story has good character development and this game just isn't moving at a pace that allows for any character development. This game suffers from too much effort being spent in areas that do nothing to enhance and progress the game. Doing two sets of renders to have two art styles means you get almost no content as time is limited and having to render things for two versions is hurting things which is far easier to see with a 14 plus release gap to compare the two game states. The wasted effort on the backstory, so much effort was made on the backstory that is pointless. Having invested so much into 4 characters (the three girls and the MCs best friend) that leave right away in the story ruins the introduction of Estelle where you actually call her your best friend and how important she was to you in school. WTF? then why wasn't she part of the story last summer? The whole pointless first year added after the fact as it wasn't part of the 0.06 release, ruins the whole back story of Estelle you next door neighbour and the choice to become friends or more than friends. Which after 14+ release hasn't progressed at all and has since been undermined.

The dialogue is TERRIBLE for the MC he is presented as such a douche for so long that when the story tries to turn him into a hero it fails because he is already totally unlikeable. There are a lot of games that have unlikeable MC that isn't the issue the issue is trying to take a character who's dialogue makes them a totally unlikeable into a hero, that conflict ruins the story.

The stills are high quality but unlike a few years back high quality stills don't stand out much anymore, too many games are being produce with high quality stills to make this a plus now it is just a bare minimum starting point. Animations are poor so many games have great animations now that the jerky few frames animations are a real eye sore.

This game is poor at worse and average at best. Much of this is because its strengths have become common place and its weaknesses have been magnified over its lifetime, compounded by very poor administration choices like the dual style release which has ground the story progression to a near halt. I don't see how another year will make any significant changes to the story. And a story that doesn't progress with characters that don't change seems pointless to me.

My Rating of this Game (v0.20s) is:

Pros:
+ Fantastic Renders
+ Nice Story
+ lots of different scenes
+ Long Game Play
+ Lots of Characters
+ Easy Playing

Cons:
- Updates are very short

Conclusion:
Just love the story and the setting of the game,also the Sex scenes don't take forever to show up.
This game has very good potential for the future.
But it would also be alot better, if the Dev would only release it, if its more than just 5 minutes of game play,because its a pain in the ass downloading all these megabytes, only to see a couple of scenes.

I am writing this for the 0.20a version. Honestly, that in and by itself should give you an idea that this author has put in a lot of time and effort.

So the game as stated is about a guy who is from a poor family managing whatever life throws at him. In the beginning I did not like the models for the guy in the game and was worried about how it is going to turn out as most protagonists in these games are usually assholes but honestly the guy grew on me as he is a nice and shy dude in the game. I like that in a protagonist. Plus all the other love interests are quite busty and later on turn nice. This is due to how realistically somewhat they have been portrayed as they open up once you open up to them. However, their hair models are not that good. That should be improved.

The story is nice and if you choose there is a moment where you have to go through pretty thrilling moments. Honestly, the story is probably the best part as it is decently written however it is not necessarily as sex focused as other games where you get to such parts at every few moments. However, such scenes are there at decent intervals which lets me be interested on what is going to happen next. Also the atmosphere and the songs played in this game is very unique and really sets up a unique environment at different scenes something I should give props for.

Lastly, that game is very large and I am sure if the dev put in some effort he can compress the game while still have good quality scenes.

Here is a short version of the positives and the negatives:
Positive
-Nice protagonist.
-Busty ladies who are portrayed somewhat realistically and are not cunts all the time.
-Good story with sex at decent intervals.
-Unique atmosphere at every turn with unique songs.

Negatives
-The protagonist in the beginning may look and feel a bit derby but grows on you later.
-The hair models are not the best.
-Hidden choices at a major point.
-REALLY LARGE GAME FILE

So yeah, best of luck to the developer. Hope you continue on with this project. Please reduce the size of the game when you can.

I couldn't get into this game at all even after over an hour of playing. The MC's dialogue is atrocious. Just atrocious. I get that he's a virgin at first but no virgin acts so annoyingly perverted like that in real life. Having super detailed pervy thoughts about every single girl that walks by is unbelievable and does nothing but make me roll my eyes and take me out of the game. And why does he keep talking and thinking that way after losing his virginity? Another problem is that there's pretty much no choice. You have to be an annoying horny virgin. You have to eat some girl's pussy juice even though you claim that eating a girl out is disgusting (which it isn't, but the game forces your character to think that way). Everything is linear. The art and music are both good, and the female characters seem interesting, but the gameplay (or lackthereof), main character, and story so far, are all just so frustrating to experience. Based on the other reviews here, it sounds like the game gets much better halfway through, but why should I have to suffer through the beginning to get to where it gets good? That's poor design. The whole beginning and the MC's dialogue should be rewritten in my opinion.

If you are looking for a fap & go, there is little chance you will like this game.
For the others, really, try it. The characters are well constructed, the story holds up, there are feelings, emotions, sometimes lightness, sometimes a dark side. After a rather light start, one could say classic, we suddenly get into some heavy stuff. History takes you, you want more.
The game is still young, but 3 distinct roads have appeared. And unlike many other games, we really want to try them all, to see where they lead us.
And, for once, the incest patch is very well made.

I have to admit that I first came across the game because of the incest tag but the game captivated me so much with the story that I forgot what I was looking at.the game really tells a good story.The game has 3 routes which changes the story a bit.Who is looking for a game with story should try this one.

Now what can i say about the game.Now this is the most underrated game on this website.Who wants to play a game where it's about story and not that you can fuck practically from the beginning then you are absolutely right here.The game offers 3 routes where each is a little bit different.The pictures have also improved over the updates.Now more there is nothing more to say except try the game out and give it a chance

WOW... I must admit that after this really unnecessarily long introduction (just my opinion, cause is to linear) i didn't expect much from this game, I thought it will be just another generic incest game, but HOLY SHAT!

With just a few choices (in the farewell party) the game just split in three completely different storylines (maybe more, if i missed something), and here is where this game shines, this "paths" are really DIFFERENT, this makes you feel like your choice matters, not like a date sim where your only choice is "what girl should I fuck", this paths affect the MC's life in general, his feelings, how he acts and if someone is alive or not. I'm surprised at how this game knew how to harness the potential of our choices!

This game is quite good, BUT...

There a lot of big flaws, one of the biggest is how the development was conducted, with the "prequel" being incorporated to the game after some updates, this only left the public lost (people don't tend to understand things, judging by how many clueless comments are in this thread), I know that many things are improved along the way, (just look at the screenshots) that was more confusing to the public.

Other thing is the tags, "graphical violence and rape", this really scary people off, and putting it right in the firsts updates was not a good decision, I know the importance of this scenes for the plot and i like the way it happens, but like i said people are sensitive about this kind off theme, the dev should have prepared the ground first.

That why he should have started another game (not exactly), like "The Way Remastered" or a new name with the same plot, so people get used to the characters first.

But again, this is just my opinion!

---Game is ridiculous. I didn't care anything that I had to care in dev's mind. MC is stupidly loser and boring as hell. Inner thoughts of him are make you say ''Jeez! Shut up already!''. I like slow pace but not turtle pace. Also font and renders are poor.---

The negative part was written yesterday when I was at near the middle of the current content. But after the middle, game became better and it slowly grown on me and now I am really curious about where it will go from here.

Mom and sister are really fine, especially for me moms are very important in these games and I can say that dev nailed it.

Try this one with low expectations because until the middle it won't be good and you have to force yourself in some way. When you start to continue from the middle, game will find it's own path and everything will be start to become better and better.


-------------------------------

I am taking my one star from the review. Because, game relies too much on dialogues that you will forget if you are playing an porn game or RPG. Also lack of NSFW scenes doesn't much good either.

Really enjoyed this game so far. The story turned out to be beautiful. It's a nice change from the "just have sex with every girl " games.
These are the kind of games I personally love. It's kinda like games like DMD where you develop a connection with the characters. I really like seeing how these emotional connections develop. And I'm going to say it again the story is great! And usually I turn the music in these kind of games off, but it really added the emotional feelings to appreciate the story better.

Great job! And I'm looking forward to the finished game!

This is the most underrated game on this website, is not to be compared with any other game, you will not find nothing similar ...
As soon as you get in the story you will be captivated by a beautiful story with superb soundtrack, you will be carried away from this world, you will be hit by nostalgia , and if you are a sensitive person maybe you even drop a tear.
The mc has deep moral values, the fiscal aspect of all protagonist over time is very wheel done, this is not a porn game, is a deep emotional tale... masterpiece.
Congrats ZEE !!!

What can I say about this game? The story progresses slowly but not toooo much and in my opinion this is a good thing. Makes the story have some sense rather than jumping straight into sex without any 'meaningful' relationship building. At first, the game also seemed short. But the again, if you look into it deeper, with all he different routes you can take, it's actually a big game and pending on the choices you make, it goes to a hell of a different direction. I really lack the words to describe this game to the fullest. Great job Zee! One of the best games of this kind that I have played so far. Maybe even the best!

i just thought, hey, what would happen if i choose that option instead of this, it turns out there is a completly different story for both options, i who knows how many branches and sub branches is there. this game sure has so many paths. disadvantage of this situation is, every path has only so much content in them. it makes the development process take a lot in these type of games. i hope it turns out well

Just played this.

Very good and interesting story. I like that isn't the typical "bang anything you see" game and the MC is a mostly good guy, just a little pervy lol . Just 1 sex scene so far (that the MC takes part in, and i didn't try different paths), but that is fine with me. I prefer the slower paced games that focus on the story.

One of the best stories.
If you like games based on storyline you will definitely love this game.
Graphics are improved too much compared to older.
Beautiful characters, nice and romantic storyline.
Different paths to select.
Every path is worth to play.
Always looking forward for next update.
Overall a great game.
Feel free to talk to developer zee on discord he is really a cool dude.

a friend asked me to play this game and give an honest review.
* warning * could contain spoilers.
seeing as this is a work in progress i cant give a full assesment of the game.
however !

i find the art style refreshing.its a nice change compared to other games.
some scenes are worked out well, and others a bit too hasty ( my opinion ) and a few small plotholes that could easily be changed,but as i said its a work in progress
the dialogue could be spread out more, or a small polishing up.
and please ,stop over using he-he & hee-hee .
it kinda gets annoying
there are multiple routes which i personally can appreciate in a game,but it does mean its a lot of extra work for you .
anyway.
thank you for the upload,keep up the good work ,and good luck with your game !

So I am giving this a 2/5, reason being that for the current state of the game, that is one year in development, there is still very little content and quality. It wouldn't be so bad if the small amount of content was super polished, but it is not.

Maybe this title will get better, but in its current state, I would wait another year to try this game.

I was going to give it 4/5 but decided against it.
I was going to say the renders can improve with less grain etc... but no.

I give this game a full 5 because it's really good. It's has a nice emotional feel. The MC is young and still discovering himself and he has good values just obscured by his libido sometimes.

The Monique scene was something special, happy and sad but reflects what life is all about.

Well done to the dev and I for one can't wait to play some more.

This game has potential to become something really good.

It has the ambition to be more than just the regular "I wanna fuck my family" spiel.
Yes, it's awkward at times and the dev NEEDS an editor/proofreader who is really fit in English, but it tries and what you really have to acknowledge is the effort and will put into it.
And the interaction with people on this forum here.

This new version hasn't quite reached the previous level of content, though it has a lot more leading into the story than it had , but the updates come along at a good pace so far.

For now this gets 3-Stars , but if the English gets better and the dev continues to improve, I will have to adjust my review accordingly.