Recommending TonyMurray's Favourite Games and Favourite Girls

[TonyMurray]

Forbidden Fantasy by Oppai-Man

This wasn’t a bad game – the looks are really solid, and the animations pretty good. I would say it was a bit short though. I think the story was pretty decent for a fantasy game, but it probably would have benefitted from a bit more depth. I think that’s the trade-off these days, where you have people railing against development times of the big and beautiful games. You can have a beautiful game, a fulfilling story, or a fast development time, but you can only generally have a maximum of two of those for any one title. Here, we got fast development and good-looking game.

There aren’t many girls or scenes here, but both are generally good, although I would say there isn’t really the romance leading up to the scenes. In total there are six lewd scenes and you have one with each of the two LIs, one with both of the LIs, and another with both but it’s only an illusion. The other two scenes are also illusory, so I guess there’s no need for any romantic build-up for those. (I’ll note that by “illusory” I mean in story terms – there’s no visual indication that these scenes are anything but normal, like a dream haze or similar).

It appears that there is a sequel in the works, and it might be worth checking that out based on the quality of this title, but if you’re looking for a deep story or a strong connection to the LIs, maybe not.

 

[ImperialD]

In my quest for the perfect game, I’ve played a bunch that sound right up my alley. Some have been hits, but most have been misses, and I wanted to share my recommendations of the ones I’ve enjoyed. If you have similar tastes to mine, you’ll hopefully therefore find something good here.

It’s not just the games, but the girls as well. I create character cards for the games I’ve enjoyed, where I rank the girls based on my own “gut feeling” tier system. This started out as a simple visual guide for myself, as I would often forget a minor character, but it’s grown quite a bit from there.

So here, as well as listing and reviewing the games, I’ll show off the girls you can interact with, too (for the most part, these will all be love interests (LIs), either “main girls” or “side girls”). If you’re like me and the visual element plays a big part in making your decision on what game to try next, this can be another helpful indicator for you!

The Games:

The two key technical things I go for in my games are Ren’Py and 3DCG – for the other stuff, I’m pretty much open to checking most things out, but I don’t personally enjoy gay, futa, bestiality, or loli content, and I mostly tend to skip female protagonist games unless the content is mostly lesbian, as I’m into women myself and generally want the dick in the game to be “mine”.

I want a game to hit me in the feels now and then. I don’t want a game that I just play to get off, I need a connection to the story and/or the characters first. So slow burn is absolutely fine if the story works for it, and sandbox and minigames are both things I’m comfortable with so long as I don’t feel they grind too much.

My current top ten game recommendations (in alphabetical order):

• Bare Witness (“Completed”) (My review) – Fantastic scenes, visuals, and replayability through the variety of paths.
• Being a DIK (My review) – Has some great characters and moments, but manages to still feel tender despite the size, setting, and reputation.
• Chasing Sunsets (Marked as “Completed”, but still awaiting the epilogue) (My review) – A story that really hit my feelings at various points, visually fantastic too.
• Hillside (My review) – A great slow-burn game with a good story and great characters.
• Intertwined (My review) – A great-looking game with lots of simple twists. One for the multiple-path afficionados.
• My Dorm (My review) – A wholesome-feeling harem game with great diversity in characters.
• No More Money (My review) – Good playability with two job paths, and has some incredibly attractive LIs.
• Race of Life (My review) – Love the premise (after the heartache) and looks visually fab.
• Unbroken (My review) – Excellent writing and a great-looking game.
• University of Problems (My review) – Great variety of scenes, but is it running out of problems?

Some games I’ve played with the potential to make my top ten:

• Campus Bonds (My Review) – A good-looking college game with some nice LIs
• Elmwood University (My review) – Love the ambition, has a fun “not taking itself too seriously” vibe.
• Law School (My review pending) – A slightly different setting/theme, and some great visuals.
• Thirty Days (My review) – Has good customisation options and the beginnings of an interesting story.

I’ve also got a list of over 250 games to try, so as I go through those, I’ll leave some notes (and images) here if I find any recommendations to share. I do welcome recommendations that you think would fit in with my tastes as well though!

Spoiler: Other Game Reviews (oldest first)

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The Girls:

I have a type, most definitely, so I’m often amazed at which LI ends up being my favourite, as a couple of my real standouts in the games I’ve played would not be my usual visual pick at all. Here is a selection of my top-ranked LIs though, to give an idea of the visuals I like in a game, and the looks I like in a woman:
View attachment 3975829

The tier system I use is based purely on my own opinion of the looks of the characters – so personality, or being my favourite LI to chase doesn’t come into it. All LIs are generally going to be hot to at least some degree, even if they are not necessarily to my own taste. It’s just the way these games go – after all, the devs want you to lust after the girls in their games.

My tiers, then, go something along the lines of:

1. “Stunning”
2. “Beautiful”
3. “Gorgeous”
4. “Hot”
5. “Hot… but” (there’s just something that doesn’t quite work for me)
6. “Okay” to “Not for Me”

In this thread, I'll continue to post reviews and character cards from the games I've played and enjoyed, and also from new games as I try them out...

i agree with your list and want them all in these games

 

[TonyMurray]

Hot Sand of Antarctica by Grinvald

This is a game that (for me) took a little while to get going, and sadly, it was abandoned not long after we got to that point. The setting is a bit weird, but it’s post-apocalyptic, and you just have to go with it, so it’s not a problem. The premise is pretty straight forward in terms of the girls – it’s a harem builder, and through story events, you end up on the run with your small harem and a handful of other women who become unofficial parts of it (and presumably full members of the harem, had the game continued).

There are some really hot scenes that you can get to here, providing you don’t lock yourself out of them. If I’m not mistaken, with all of these you get an explicit choice before you get to the scene, so it’s a case of switching off (or keeping on) particular fetishes. The girls in those scenes are a bit of a mixed bag for me. Most are good-looking without being anything too special, but there are a couple of stand outs as well.

The red-headed twins here probably take the game up a level in my estimation. They are gorgeous and their characters are cute too – a few of those really hot scenes involve their mother teaching them the arts of sex, and then them practicing what they have learnt. It should be noted that the mother is the MC’s first wife, the leader of the harem girls, and her twin daughters may or may not be MC’s daughters as well, depending on whether or not a patch is used. So if that’s your thing, it’s one of the fetishes that is “switched on” through other means (as opposed to a direct choice in the game).

I found the other parts of the game to be a little sub-standard if I’m honest. It seemed a bit jumpy, at least in the initial stages, and the graphics are just so-so, but it’s a good overall premise that could have given us a really decent game when combined with those LIs and their scenes.

 

[TonyMurray]

Dual Desires by AfterLust

I tried this one quickly after seeing it in the "latest replies" section of the forum and because I have the dev's other game already in my "to try" list. Sadly, both of the games have been abandoned, so that doesn't give much hope. This one seems to have been abandoned earlier in its development, as there's not really much to it, but what was there looked good – visually at least.

There are only two girls, and one is only really featured in a side story, as opposed to the main game. Presumably we would have seen her integrated into the main game with time, since her presence was noted in the game summary. The story, and progression with the character we do see (Claire), seemed pretty basic, but it's difficult to properly judge that, since there wasn't enough of it. As well as the general graphics, I thought the animations looked decent enough, and it makes for a game that could have had promise, if the dev had been able to stick with it, and the story got fleshed out a bit more.

 

[Zorro#34]

Perfect timing as I've just stopped another game. I'm looking forward to getting back to this one and seeing how it's improved and how it's moved on.

So, did you have an opportunity to play it ?

 

[TonyMurray]

So, did you have an opportunity to play it ?

Not yet, I distracted myself with a couple of quick looks instead. I have it all loaded and ready to go though, will start later today.

 

[Zorro#34]

Not yet, I distracted myself with a couple of quick looks instead. I have it all loaded and ready to go though, will start later today.

It's just that I've already dropped it. Really curious how it fares with you.

 

[TonyMurray]

It's just that I've already dropped it. Really curious how it fares with you.

I thought it was okay but with some issues when I played it previously, so I'm going to start from scratch and see how it's changed.

 

[TonyMurray]

The Scheme of Betrayal by Fronz

I played this game a little while back and thought it looked fantastic, but it had some language issues, with Russian dialogue left in the game on a few occasions. Now the new update (0.3) has been released, I gave it another go from the start and I’m pleased to say those issues have been resolved (except for one that the dev is going to sort out).

This is definitely a slow burn game. It’s not one to go for (at the moment at least) if you’re looking for lots of nudes and sex scenes. So far, there are two sex scenes and a small number of additional nudes, but those are mostly nip slips rather than anything more intentional. I didn’t actually like the sex scenes that much – the animation looked a little weird on the blowjob in the second of these, and neither scene was that long.

That aside though, the girls are great – or at least, they look great. A couple of them are definitely of questionable character, but I guess that’s in the name of the game. The story is a bit slow in places, and I would say too slow sometimes. Dealing with an MC with amnesia can be a bit problematic, but here I don’t think it was handled brilliantly, with some odd dialogue and choices made by all.

So far, it’s not my favourite story, but depending on how the next couple of updates go, it could turn out to be a good one. There’s definitely potential there, if the dev can reach it. At the moment though, it’s definitely the girls who carry this game, and so long as we see more of them (a lot more, in some cases), I’m okay with that for the time being.

 

[Zorro#34]

The Scheme of Betrayal by Fronz

While this game has a good premise and nice visuals, I still dropped it because:
a) I don't like the MC's new personality, he's a bit... shy, I guess? I'd prefer the pre-amnesia version of him.
b) The main trio are supposedly high-profile professional mercenaries, but they don't behave like ones. The girls go on the missions wearing sexy suits and distinctive masks. I know it's an AVN, but c'mon. The MC goes down on a simplest booby trap, which is an easy mistake to make for a civilian, but he's supposedly a pro merc. In their free time, they don't do anything except hang out and do things completely ordinary for any young people sharing a flat. Also, Ashley bitches on the boss with little provocation, which isn't something you expect from people in that line of work if they want to stay alive and/or free.

All in all, I just think the writing can't keep up with the story and the visuals. Damn, I'm picky like a grumpy old man now…

 

[Dessolos]

man if it wasn't for the nose boops that one user complaining over such a minor non issue in the The Scheme of Betrayal would of gotten me also want to play the game sooner as well. He usually is somewhat reasonable in others but man that user seems really unhinged with all his complaints over nothing and apparently it's a story reason to boot lol.

 

[TonyMurray]

While this game has a good premise and nice visuals, I still dropped it because:
a) I don't like the MC's new personality, he's a bit... shy, I guess? I'd prefer the pre-amnesia version of him.
b) The main trio are supposedly high-profile professional mercenaries, but they don't behave like ones. The girls go on the missions wearing sexy suits and distinctive masks. I know it's an AVN, but c'mon. The MC goes down on a simplest booby trap, which is an easy mistake to make for a civilian, but he's supposedly a pro merc. In their free time, they don't do anything except hang out and do things completely ordinary for any young people sharing a flat. Also, Ashley bitches on the boss with little provocation, which isn't something you expect from people in that line of work if they want to stay alive and/or free.

All in all, I just think the writing can't keep up with the story and the visuals. Damn, I'm picky like a grumpy old man now…

100% agree on the merc bit, they don't act like mercs at all (and any time these games have mercs and assassins and the girls are in skimpy leathers, it always makes me laugh). I also agree on the new personality, he just seems a bit too fragile. I'm hoping he can toughen up a bit though...

man if it wasn't for the nose boops that one user complaining over such a minor non issue in the The Scheme of Betrayal would of gotten me also want to play the game sooner as well. He usually is somewhat reasonable in others but man that user seems really unhinged with all his complaints over nothing and apparently it's a story reason to boot lol.

Oh man, he's a blast! I can't believe how hung up he is on that. I got a 10-day thread ban on another game for way less not too long ago!

 

[Dessolos]

Oh man, he's a blast! I can't believe how hung up he is on that. I got a 10-day thread ban on another game for way less not too long ago!

o yeah ive gotten infractions or thread ban just for a meme or joke.

 

[TonyMurray]

o yeah ive gotten infractions or thread ban just for a meme or joke.

Oh yeah, I got an infraction for a single post in Hillside too, just after the last update

 

[Fapparition]

Same tier, huh

 

[TonyMurray]

Same tier, huh

View attachment 4296991

View attachment 4297003

Yeah, that's my bottom tier, for girls who are just "okay" or are simply "not for me". It means that I'm not much of a fan of any of those visually.

 

[Fapparition]

Yeah, that's my bottom tier, for girls who are just "okay" or are simply "not for me". It means that I'm not much of a fan of any of those visually.

What? Are you saying those beauties from "My Dorm" couldn't even make to “Hot… but” tier?!

 

[TonyMurray]

Alive by CSkin Games

This is one of those nice little completed games that don’t take too long to finish, offer nothing too controversial, and have a good selection of scenes to them. I played through to the end in just a few hours, and there was enough to keep me interested in the writing, with a nice selection of LIs.

I think the overall story was a little basic for one that has multiple paths – everything is quite linear, with the majority of the LIs ending up in the same place, and although I didn’t play every available path, I didn’t see that there was much conflict between potential LIs, with one notable exception. This is something that would undoubtedly make it easier for the dev, but for me it makes the game a one-and-done – I don’t see the value in multiple playthroughs for the different paths unless there is a good degree of difference between them. Here, the replay gallery comes in useful to show you what you might otherwise miss, although it does of course exclude the story elements.

Although the graphics and animations were a little towards the lower end for this style, I don’t mind that, and some of my favourite games share this styling. The LIs did generally look great though, even if I sometimes struggled to find the best image for my cards as angles often made boobs (e.g., Stacey) or faces (e.g., Mary) look just a little off here and there.

I have another game from the dev in my list to try, and playing this one has done nothing to put me off that. This is definitely one to try if you’re looking for a relatively quick fix.

 

[Zorro#34]

Alive by CSkin Games

The most memorable thing about this game is how even subpar visuals can be completely salvaged by good writing. Stacy's path is fairly different from the others story-wise, and I genuinely liked how Mary was written, she's one of my fav AVN blondes. Also, like I already mentioned in Milton's thread, I ended up on her path by accident; I took Nikki's path first, but the MC got cockblocked so many times that I thought it was fate and switched to Mary who didn't disappoint.

So, I can definitely recommend this game to everyone who wants to play a completed game.

 

[Dessolos]

looks your are popular enough to get hit with shady bot spam lol