Shared Desires by CasaliusAfterDark
There's not much to this game yet, but it's been a while since I played a new game that I felt I could say enough about to constitute a short review, so here we are. We're being set up for the classic "husband and wife having a rocky patch decide to explore sharing and/or swinging" story, but it feels like it will be at least slightly different to the majority of similar games. For one, this one is slated to be a kinetic novel, so there won't be the separate paths for loyal/cheating/sharing, or whatever, and I appreciate the dev being honest about that up front, saying it was originally his intention to have choices and paths, but that he felt it would take too much time and work.
The other main difference so far is that it's the wife who is looking to be the one making the suggestion to explore new ground. The first release sets that up, with just a few scenes, but a decent amount of dialogue as two friends chat while sunbathing. One is already living the lifestyle, and she's gradually persuading her friend to try it out as well. Usually, this tends to form a bit of a tired trope where the friend is ultimately corrupting the wife into cheating on her husband, but it doesn't feel that way to me here, not so far, at least.
We have a few men mentioned who might be candidates for trying something with, including the friend's college-age son, and although we haven't met the husbands yet, there is mention of work at a gym potentially introducing new women to the dynamic as well. The two best friends also look set to potentially explore each other, with glances and thoughts suggesting some lesbian content can be expected (which the future tags also point towards). So although not a lot happens in the initial release, the setup is there for plenty to happen later, and I like how it doesn't dawdle in that respect - it just remains to be seen whether it will end up rushing it once we continue with the next couple of updates.
Visually, the game looks pretty good, although we spend most of the opening release outside, in great lighting, so that helps. The two main women also look good, even if they don't perfectly align with my tastes. I'll give this one an update or two to see how it goes, but it's off to a decent (if not specifically impressive) start.
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