Simulation 69 by HotVenusStudios
This game is a bit of a weird one, but if you go into it expecting that, it’s not too bad – but if you’re looking for something realistic and believable (as far as these games go), you’re probably going to be disappointed. It’s a bit of a fan-service game I think, with various references to F95 and Patrineon, and talk of “what people want to see”, and that’s the main part of the weirdness. As the title suggests, this is a simulation, and there are “overlords” basically running the game. This does allow various changes to take place, and inconsistencies to occur, with a handy excuse once the initial explanation has been given.
I did find this a bit odd in terms of the frequency of changes. I was never quite sure whether it was just the devs making changes because a skin was easier to work with, or files were lost or something, or whether changes were always planned in order to give more instances for that element of the story. Fortunately, the character changes were not very drastic, so there was no danger of not being able to recognise someone, and
those changes also didn’t happen
too often, or to everyone.
The gameplay is pretty straightforward, although that does mean that there’s no real pathing – it appears that all LIs are forced. Using URM as usual, I noticed no variables being set for choices, although digging through the script, some choices did have “+love” and “+lust” triggers commented out. There are no checks for these, or any other variables, although that might of course change later down the line – I wouldn’t expect it though, given what I’ve seen of the game so far. This, and the visual changes, does make me wonder whether the devs were originally planning a more complex game and then changed tack – which isn’t a bad thing if it’s seamlessly done, which I can just about say applies here, with the plot device of the simulation being the “get out of jail free” card.
The visuals themselves look fine, and some of the girls are quite nice, although my usual complaint is definitely present, with two of the main girls in particular being too booby for my tastes. I do like how there is good variety though, given the overall size of the cast. The sex scenes are not too bad either, and even if I felt that some were a bit quick to happen, I do appreciate how reasons are given not only for the “overlords” pushing for sex scenes, but for them wanting some chemistry first. This does lead to some amusing moments that in other games would probably be quite frustrating – the typical “porn logic” scenarios, etc.
Overall, this is a game that doesn’t take anything too seriously, and it definitely helps the story. That one part of the story that the game revolves around allows for a lot of conveniences, such as fast travel and memory wipes (at least early in the game) that might take an extra scene or two to get you to the same place otherwise. It also allows some retconning of information (“How would I know they were there?” “Oh, we’ll have this person say they saw them, and texted you to let you know, we’ll put a message on your phone!”), although again I’m unsure whether this is deliberately planned, or actually retconned to cover up minor plot holes!
Some of that does sound bad, but I promise you it’s all to do with the story, and the MC being in a simulation. It’s all explained early on in the game, and that gives the devs a lot of leeway to do things that wouldn’t normally work in a game, or to fix things without either looking bad or having to go back and redo earlier scenes. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and you’re not bothered by realism, you could do worse.
View attachment 5092035
