Ren'Py - Those Golden Days [v7] [My Big Little Brother]

This is my first review and wow, while this game has potential, the execution is slacking. The code is all over the place, you can soft-lock yourself from the opening screen. The models are good but can't carry the game with all the bugs and barely coherent story. I really tried but had to start over twice before I had to look at the scripts.Unitl these issues are fixed I would suggest you skipped if not ignore.

A got mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, I love the characters and the progression of the story. On the other hand, man do you have to just spend 30 minutes to grind up your stats so a scene can play.

Reviewing as of v5

Pros:

• There's a good amount of scenes to collect with a variety of girls
• Some scenes require you to progress with others which I like. I like it because it doesn't break the immersion of the story like some other games do.
• Gallery is built in game but you need in-game points to unlock them which is a neat feature
• Day and night cycle is pretty good
• The overall map is good
• 1-2 hours of gameplay.

Cons:

• Navigating an area with the arrows needs improvement
• Wish there was a way to permanently have your stats showing, I hate always going to my phone to see it
• An immense grind to get stats

Conclusion:

A lot of girls need work as they don't have enough content to be memorable or worth grinding for. I hope the devs work on the characters in the game more rather than adding more and getting muddled up. I also hope they lessen the grind, doesn't need to be this much as of v5, maybe down the road I can see it with a lot more content in the game.

Yet another Dev working on multiple projects at once while prioritizing Patreon above all else. Expect long development cycles here as most of the 1st page of updates on Patreon are for other games and not this one, along with multiple posts about struggling to meet Dev goals.

This game itself isn't bad. It's got cute and sexy characters, open-ish world functions and stats, tho I see alot of complaints about it being too grindy. So far, I haven't had issue with this, but I am still fairly early game. I think so long as you don't get this game hoping to bang girls as soon as you meet them and understand that you'll have to do a bit of work for them, then you'll have proper expectation set.

Game story and premise isn't anything new: Renamable MC lost his cherished mother to what seems to be a traumatic accident a few years prior and now has to go live with mom's sexy milf "Friend" and her daughters as a foster child at the age of 18. One sister is a Tsundere and the other is open and welcoming. The town is full of sexy girls that the MC can M'n'F if he has the right stats and is good at being in the right place at the right time. To facilitate this, you are conveniently provided with a way to see where you need to be and when as well as the stats needed for these.

Stats so far have been trivial to gain: Go to the vending machine in town in the morning, drop muns for a stat gain booster, go back home and jog and/or grind that stat from your bed for a day, jog at night and you'll gain 16 points in that stat. The same grind without boosters gives 8. I can see that the grind might be harder the further you get into the game as stat caps are 250, but the game also has so many events sprinkled throughout to break the monotany of the grind if you wish.

My complaints come from performance, continuity errors and strange design choices.
-The game starts with dialogue that auto-progresses, goes faster if you click and does not allow you to back track to see the test you missed.
-The MC's default name is 'Raiya', and tho the game allows you to rename, the MC is still introduced as Raiya for a few lines of dialogue and name changes do not update the profile of the character.
-A stat labeled as "Modesty" in the spa doesn't exist on the stats page. It is instead "perversion".
-Tutorials for mechanics are not introduced until AFTER you attempt to perform the action, so there may be mechanics that some players may not find.
-The writing of the game feels natural, but the characters refer to other characters that haven't been introduced and the MC acts like "Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about" meanwhile the player is left feeling like "Who the frick is this?"
-On the topic of things not shown or mentioned... relationship also have alot of progress off-screen it seems. With both Rena and Reena, events come up in the story where the characters are talking about things that have happened, and would have been awesome to see, but we as the player do not get to see them. It's even worse when this sort of revelation comes during a cutscene that shows very little.
-Day 1, the MC notices that the PC in his room is broken. Night 1, he thanks the milf for sending a named character to fix it... a named character we never met and never witnessed fixing the PC... and the PC still doesn't work.
-I have to disagree with the decision to lock the gallery behind a currency (Nostalgia points) you have to grind in the game. If we have viewed the scene in game, we should have the luxury of viewing it again if you're going to offer a gallery.

Overall, I'll play the game for now, maybe hit the end of current 4.0 content (or not) and then move on. Because the Dev obviously has way too much on their plate at this time, I'm not hopeful for too much development progress for months and I'm not wanting to get attached to a game or even invest in it if I have to wait on the dev to eventually swing their attention back to this game.

The visuals immediately caught my attention, offering a visually pleasing environment that sets the stage for an immersive journey.

The characters in Those Golden Days are truly unique, each with its own distinctive traits and personalities. This adds a layer of depth to the game, making it more engaging and enjoyable. The potential for storytelling is evident, and I'm excited to see how the narrative unfolds in future updates.

However, one aspect that could use some refinement is the frequency of notifications for experience points and buffs. While these achievements are important, the constant interruption can be distracting and disrupt the flow. A more streamlined approach to notifications would greatly enhance the overall experience.

In conclusion, Those Golden Days is off to a promising start, showcasing impressive visuals and intriguing characters. With some adjustments to the notification system, it has the potential to become an even more captivating and seamless experience. I look forward to witnessing the evolution of this game in future updates.
Ps: more GILF's!!!!