VN - Ren'Py - Thief of Hearts [P2 Ep.5 v0.0.5a] [MrDots Games]

I won't review the game in terms of story, writing, or characters, as many people already do that very well.

I will be reviewing it in detail in terms of its visuals.

Pros:
-Considering the game's size, it has a lot of images (+10,000).
-The models are above average. I liked most of them.
-The colors, background textures, and models are sufficient.
-The background environment is well-filled, not empty.

Cons:
-Images are heavily compressed, causing a loss of detail, though they aren’t distorted.
-Due to compression, most images lack model details, revealing a flat, featureless skin texture.
-While the overall look (models, scenes, etc.) is good from a distance, most images lack fine detail. (In my opinion, that's what makes it truly good).

Beyond the images, the game is average at best.

MrDots is (or was) a talented developer. "Melody" was my favorite of his games, both for its story and characters. While "Sunshine Love" was a visual improvement, its story was average at best.

It feels like this new game was assigned to an intern and MrDots went on vacation. This feeling is compounded by the snarky intro, which already attacks the players—as if whoever developed it knew it was subpar work.

The models are not that great. Maybe in 2019 this would have been a hit, but for 2025, they are lacking. Going from "Sunshine Love" to this is a clear downgrade, which is why I suspect an intern is working on it.

Story-wise, it is bland. I understand the need for censorship in the relationship; that's not the developer's fault and it's fine. However, the writing itself is abysmal. It relies on the same tropes you've seen in a hundred other visual novels, but with a far worse execution. The premise of a "group" of thieves reminded me of the movie "We're the Millers." While that movie was funny, this game is not. Even in the film, the "son" had more chemistry with the female cast than the MC has with anyone in this game.

For me, it was a miss. I expected more after "Sunshine Love" and "Melody." However, you might still like it if you play. Don't base your opinion solely on reviews; it may fit your taste. Unfortunately, it didn't fit mine.

Pretty plain is the best way I could describe this game. Nothing stands out at all.

Pros :
Renders - I'd say above Average.

Cons:
Story - Really like the concept but the exclusion lets it down.

Writing - Not the worst but at times you wonder if the dev even tried or just wrote whatever first came to mind.


If all you want is a basic porn game then I'd recommend, if you want anything more than that just skip.

I tried playing the game but after episode 1 i dropped it the main reason it was boring as hell

Pros
-Good Models

Cons
-The game mimics other games making it even worse...we have the tsundere big sister, the adorable litle sister ,the reluctant mom add a scumbag dad and you have a doomed game as 90% of the games is like this

-Bad plot...The plot could not get worst than that is...MC is a thief as his family then he gets robbed twice making this whole story nothing but trash since all they are thieves stealing one another

-Models...While the models are good they are unattractive to me in comparison to that of DMD (Dee, Elena, Jennifer, Georgina) and Melody(Melody, Sofia, Rebeca) none of the girls are appealing either as models or characters

-Sea of texts...there are non sex scene only endless text and the scenes are fantastic...fantastic scens i personaly hate this staff

-A Rank missions...i am playing a boring game no sex scenes and i have to watch my rating...hahaha go to hell...



Edit i added one star for 2 reasons
-Mr Dots has always finished his works all 3 of them
-Updates...his updates are frequent and big
For the above reasons i added a star

Thief of Hearts, Part 1

I played through part 1 and have no interest in playing Part 2 or any other future updates. The only reason I played that far was out of respect for the time and effort the dev did put into this game. But unfortunately this is another game with amazing models, ruined by awkward writing and terrible game play. Originally, I wanted to give this game 3-Stars as average, but when I thought about my overall experience, I hardly enjoyed the game at all. Most of the time? I was just frustrated.


The MC and overall story isn't so bad. Though I prefer more silent protagonists or games that give me control over how my MC acts or speaks. MC comes off as the usual irresponsible and generic college kid who gets by on luck and nice women, like we usually get. I didn't mind the MC, but I can see how that frustrates other players.

Because of the Task System, I was sick of this game half-way into Chapter 1. How I made so far? I couldn't tell you. The characters, I guess.

Despite being a VN, it almost comes with all the frustrations of a sandbox game. I've played simpler games that were a lot better. Sometimes less is more.

Your time and money would be better spent supporting other games.

Was already not a big fan of the slogfest Mr.Dots writes but still decided to give his latest project "thief of hearts" a try and gotta say, this is arguably his worst work yet. He tried to create something like oceans 11, a family of thieves pulling off a high risk heist sort of thing but for that to work you gotta have an MC who has an iq greater than 75. The game starts off with MC being introduced as someone who is highly fit, works at a gym, knows all sorts of martial arts, is extremely charming with the ladies but when it comes to showing his skills, he can't outrun his own sister, gets his ass beaten by some random thug and proceeds to get robbed by girls on 2 different occasions within the first 2 episodes itself. Not to mention this is no exception to the usual slog fest writing style of Mr.Dots where you gotta go through 12 hours of gameplay and random sex scenes from side characters to even get as much as a kiss from one of the main LIs.

I'm gonna be honest... this is a tough 3 stars to give... Honestly it should probably be like 3.5 .. It's not a bad game, it's frustrating, and there's some confusing things that hold it back, and keep it from being solidly good verging on great.

So we all know Mr. Dots usually goes for a different kind of dynamic in these games with the characters and the type of relationships he likes to set. This is a breath of fresh air for me but still there's some elements of those other dynamics in this game a bit as well if you're looking for them. I have to give him kudos for trying something new. This is an ambitious story, and the changeup is also nice.

Now for the things that aren't so great. We get the feeling of a stall where Mr.Dots knows EXACTLY who the people want to see the MC get close with, and unlike the other games, he's drawing them getting close out VERY slow... It's part 2 and MC hasn't penetrated ANYONE that he lives with.... Matter fact most of the lewd scenes are these "fantasy non cannon" scenes that are in there just to justify this being an "adult game" and to probably keep people from complaining...

But it's frustrating and immersion breaking for it to just all be happening in a fantasy scene or a dream scene... I honestly feel if you're gonna do it like that, just have the balls to not put any in the game until it's time for them to REALLY happen anyway...

Another frustrating bit is that, if you're up to knowledge on how crime and law stuff works here, then some of the things they get wrong can be annoying. Now I give leeway and credit to trying it out and getting some things right and being mindful to some things but some of these things kinda throw out immersion. There's also the fact that they break the 4th wall quite a bit but it doesn't really strike you as that kind of outrageous kind of game...

The characters are pretty decent if not a cliche.. They're fine, nothing super memorable here... The dialogue is pretty much the same.. The story is different for this dev but it's nothing world changing or genre defining..

All in all it's a decent game, reaching for something new and great, it misses what it's reaching for but it's a decent attempt. Not his best work, it's a nice change but many things done here that hold it back. Worth a shot, don't know if it's worth a finish... Comes down to the person. It's sad, because this was his chance to show he's not really one note, but this one doesn't quite hit the mark as a hit game.

I have to say, Mr. Dots knows how to keep you watching. And watching. Hoping that MAYBE you'll get more than a kiss and a feel from any of your prime LI's. ...Nahh.
I'm into part 2 now and have yet to see more than a breast and a butt cheek from any of his ostensible "roomies" or "landlady". There's a grope here and a kiss here, ooh, a Tongue, where might this lead? Nowhere, as usual. Such an intriguing algorithm here -- I truly think that once the dev finds out who you're REALLY interested in, they make sure she's out-of-bounds for as loooong as possible. Here's an NPC MILF or fattie to keep you in porn land, but otherwise nope. PG-13 all the way...
Well. Cute renders, cute characters, cute situations, cute, cute, cute. Bye.

You gotta hand it to MrDots, he's become really good at making visually captivating porn games. His recent games, including this one, have a lot of things in common:

• More than decent visuals. All the scenes are well-rendered and focus on the right things, the angles, brightness and so on, it's really good. Hands down. MrDots games visually are like CS2 and most others are like GO.
• Breathtaking and rather unique leading female character models. Even though it feels like the core models sometimes migrate from previous games, the dev gives them an overhaul substantial enough to make them different. More often than not the basic Daz models appear from game to game like it's some travelling circus. Definitely not the case here...
• Decent plot. That's it. It's just there. It does well enough to explain what is going on around here and why all the women are jumping on MC's skin-coloured single-seated cabriolet as the game progresses, not more, not less. And you know what? Sometimes it's just the right thing. No excess drama.

Overall, an exciting new entry for this dev, the only reason I'm giving a 4 so far is lack of animations, but I'm certain it'll be fixed in a future update.
Sunshine Love had a relatively short production cycle of FOUR years. I hope this gets finished even quicker and even more titles follow.

Review of [v0.0.3]

Very GOOD GAME!

Unlike Sunshine Love, I love this one. The DEV has improved a lot, good spy story with dramatic twists.

Very good renders and good lighting with good atmosphere and audio.

The game is still in an early phase of development but has a lot of promise. The animations and sex scenes improve over time.

In this game I have seen the most erotic THREESOME.

PROS

• Very Good Renders
• Nice Animations with Audio an Moans
• Interesting Story
• Attractive girls
• Good MC

CONS

• Few sex scenes
• Too many scenes that are dreamed up by the MC

RATING :

Content: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sound: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Renders: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Animations: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Final conclusion: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ NICE GAME RECOMMENDED

Bah! I finally dragged myself to the end of Ch 1 and boy was this last scene unbelievable dumb. Didn't expect the game-script could drop the story any lower. Only light so far are the style of the char models and overall the optical quali. Otherwise this would so far be a zero-star if i could.

For comparison how i received this(last scene expecially): They(devs) present us basically a scene, where someone sticks his bleeding arm in a pool of starved piranhas and expect nothing will happen. Cuddling Predators... This in-game situation is like watching some kiddo who acts as if he runs around in Teletubby-land instead on a dangerous spy mission against some underground group.

Whats is the team thinking writing such nonsense? Over the years I have played many stupid stuff of the usual genres like this. Some of me supported, others not, but this is one of the deep blows in terms of intelligence and plausibility. Nobody expects Einstein level logic from a porn game. But really! I am not sure if I will give this more chances, but not in the near future.

Good luck improving this. Or circle squaring.

Everything about this game just feels like a downgrade from this devs previous games.
-Some how, despite being his 4th game, the render quality and overall look of this game is worse then all of his old games.
-Sex scenes just aren't hot and come across rushed, they feel more like they are thrown in places because they're expected not because it makes the game better.
-Girls less attractive and written in a cliche boring way.
-Overall plot is boring and doesn't give you a reason to care.
-The devs usual amazing interpersonal and relationship building has devolved into a generic marvel comedy film.
IDK maybe it's just me, but I couldn't find a reason to give a fuck about any of the characters they are all so bland and vanilla after his previous work. For the first time ever in one of his games I found myself skipping to sex scenes and even then they are a downgrade from before. Well I guess I'll just hope this one ends soon and he returns back to form because this is a snoozefest.

It's not an amazing game, but it still has a lot going for it.

1. Well made. Good features & design. Nothing overly complex or pointless.
2. regular updates
3. , good renders, animations
4. Unique story

The story isn't going to blow your mind or anything and the writing isn't anything special, but I can't fault the dev for putting out consistent content

Weak game with no interesting plot. Nothing in this game will surprise you if you have played other games from this DEV. As for version 0.3 there is nothing interesting there. The choices are not as significant as it was said. And MC himself is someone no one would go for.
Renders 2/5
Animations 1/5
Plot 1/5
Characters 1/5 ( None of them encouraged me to give a higher rating )
Overall rating 1/5

my subjective opinion, this game's lewd scene animations are one of the best. character designs are good but a little too usual. I didn't see any important bug or anything to let down gaming experience. I am waiting for new updates. thanks for both dev and uploader.

Review for v0.0.2a
I really expected a lot more with the amount of experience the dev has. Really, the landlady/roommate (meant for incest) cliche game is the best you could come up with after 3 games. I facepalmed so hard when I saw it, its just not authentic/original at all. And of course there is a landlord (who is an absolute *sshole) and a landlady who does not believe she is beautiful anymore because of her age. We have seen this all before.

Well, okay so the setting and charachters are really cliché. What about the romances/events u might wonder. U guessed right, more cliches... u of course walk into your landlady/roommate while they are showering or whily they are m*st*rbating themselves.

Based on the above, u actually already know exactly whats gonna happen romantically in this game, its just a question of when.

The MC is also this typical carefree, lucky, clumsy kinda guy, (again cliche) which I guess is supposed to be funny or something. But it just doesnt work in the setting of the game. They are supposed to be on some top secret mission, and then you have this childish incompetent dude performing maybe the most risky task of the mission where the most amount of care and delicacy is needed. Its actually more irritating then funny.

If you ignore all of the above, you could say that the graphics are nice. The girls look nice. But its worth nothing withouth any depth. I wanted to give 2 stars because of the graphics, but the sheer dissappointment pushed me to give it 1 star.

I'm really enjoying Thief of Hearts ! The story has me hooked, especially because the characters are so interesting. All the girls are definitely standouts; they are gorgeous.

The visuals are also impressive. The character models are beautiful. The environments are well-designed. The animation is smooth and adds to the overall experience.

Renders 5/5
Characters 5/5
Story 5/5
Gameplay 5/5
Animations 5/5

Overall, this is a fantastic game! It easily gets 10 out of 10 from me. The story is interesting Definitely worth checking out!

Unsurprisingly excellent so far.

The models used are good, especially the red head. There some familiar ancilliary characters models and unfamiliar main ones who vary quite a bit.

The writing is pretty good, you have a 'main story' to complete along side romance choices there are also secrets to find, which i consider a little annoying and too distracting, but the bonus scenes are good.

There's a far bit of content already though not too much progress can be made with the ladies yet, at least not the two younger ones

Awesome game, good updates! The Story is pretty funny and enjoyable. The Scenes are beautiful like all the girls. I really like this game so far, its a nice mix of everything and i really hope he keeps continuining like this

"An enjoyable Ren'Py game with great character design and a unique style. The humor adds charm, and it's a pleasure to watch the story unfold. I appreciate that they consistently deliver completed games!"