I first played this 3-1/2 to 4 years ago, really enjoyed it. It's one of a handful of games that sits neatly in the back of my mind and I wax nostalgic about the story. So when I found it on a list here on the forum, I decided to load it up from my archives and give it a playthrough. It's short, relatively speaking, compared to some of the other adult games out there. You can breeze through the story in a few hours if you're dedicated, which I did today.
I don't love the sandbox elements of it. Honestly, I don't love the sandbox elements of any adult game. I understand there are some games that benefit from the UX that comes with sandbox elements, but a game like with its singular story and one path to the best ending--the ending the developer wants you to see--isn't one of them. Fortunately this game was short enough that I wasn't put off by that design.
The graphics are pretty good. I love all of the character designs, I especially love Joanna. Not enough 40 year olds in games like this look like they're in their 40s, and she looks absolutely gorgeous in the role. In fact, I'd dare to say she looks better as a 40 year old than she did in the various glamour shots presented in the game.
Animations could be better. Most of them are quite choppy, and there's quite a bit of clipping. Pretty much any post-story, the MC's fingers will clip in and out of Joanna's waist and Joanna's hands (yes, damn near everything up her wrists!) will clip into the MC's chest. It's weird to watch her wedding ring fall into and rise out of the MC's right pectoral... or watching Joanna's breasts clipping damn near to her elbow with up-and-down motion.
No music, but plenty of sound effects. I don't recall having to adjust the SFX volume, but I'll assume I didn't here: Both the SFX and music volumes are set to 50%, but I wouldn't have had to touch the music volume without music in the game. I'll give the developer credit for this one.
Could this have been a little better as a longer, slow burn? Have the deus ex machina--fairy ex cockina? what a silly story driver--give the player a month instead of a week? Maybe. Hard to say, because that's not what we got here and I like the story as is. I will say that had that happened--had it been longer and more fleshed out (the story, not the cock; stupid fairy)--it probably would have needed a more linear game design devoid of sandbox elements or risk hurting its ratings. It wouldn't be the first time I've done reviews on two very similar games with the same minor flaw, but because one game was longer I gave it a lower rating as a result.
So yeah. Five stars for the short, nostalgic story with the minor flaws, both in the game and in our characters... but those I guess some of those flaws are what make it special.