Recommending TonyMurray's Favourite Games and Favourite Girls

[TonyMurray]

I think I'll just leave it on the don't bother list. I hate forced scenes/LIs and I couldn't even remember the name of the girl I preferred, so she didn't make that much of an impression.

Yeah, none of them really made much of an impression on me either, tbf.

 

[AlexMpog]

Life in Santa County by Bold Bash Studios

This is a game that I started out quite enjoying. There were some decent story elements to start off with, and some early scenes promised plenty of sexual hijinks to come. Sadly for me, it then turned out that a drugs and corruption storyline was going to be one of the main ongoing elements, and I’m just so bored of that trope. There’s more than enough going on with all the family stuff, and carrying on with your best mate’s mom (in front of his dad, and later in front of the mate himself) that there’s just no need for the drama of a drugs storyline. It does start out as a means to have your mom framed and fired from her job, and that’s fine and a bit different, but why did it have to be drugs related and then expand into crime syndicate shenanigans?

Ignoring that though, the rest of the game was hit and miss for me. The graphics are… odd in places – most of the time everything looked pretty good, although I was disappointed with most of the LIs on offer, with many of them being far too booby for me (comically so, in some cases – and I thought BaDIK Bella was bad…). Then we come to Charlotte, who somehow seems to be a bit cartoonish in design – not in proportions this time, but in the actual way she looks. I don’t know how it’s possible to have a character in the game who looks like she’s designed in a completely different bit of software to the others…

The choices are mostly okay, but from what I gather they have the remnants of an old system in them, with “rise and fall” mechanisms that apparently don’t really count for anything anymore. At various points, you also get a choice screen after a key event (that often doesn’t feel like a key event) and you can choose “intimidation” or “charisma”, after which I believe you get an additional point in your chosen stat. These don’t seem to play a big part in the game either, with only a few instances that called for a check on either of those two stats, that I noticed. I would much rather have your choices lead to an increase in these stats, rather than just choosing which you’d like to add to, which feels like a bit of a cop out, and takes away some of the immersion at the same time.

Some of the sex scenes are pretty decent, and some outright hot, although several of them did feel a bit too easy – for instance, there’s one scene with your mom and aunt and the mom is resisting the pressure from her sister to have a threesome (at this point, you’ve already had sex with both of them independently). It felt like she was saying, “No… No… No… Okay, your aunt and I will go up to my bedroom and start things off, you follow us in a minute if you want to join us.” It was just a bit weird.

When you get to a certain point in the game, it does that thing many other games do once they’ve lulled you into a false sense of security – it introduces free roams. These are pretty harmless at least, and easy to navigate. One item that you can pick up during these free roams is underwear from the various women in the game. Rather than unlocking special renders, as I’d normally expect (there are other collectible items for that), I think the underwear that goes into your inventory unlocks the specific character so you can fantasise about them while masturbating, which is at least something a little different. There are also some minigames, which I didn’t like much, although it did at least feel like there was an attempt to make them fit the context of the scene in the game itself.
View attachment 5082440

BTW, I liked the previous Charlotte model much more (he changed her before steam release):

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I think I'll just leave it on the don't bother list. I hate forced scenes/LIs and I couldn't even remember the name of the girl I preferred, so she didn't make that much of an impression.

Yeah, same here. There are games I play for the story and characters - usually in those kinds of games, forced LIs are a no-go for me, with a few exceptions.
And then there're games where you just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride, like this one. It's kind of similar to Guilty Pleasure in a way. I'm glad I listened to your recommendation and played GP, by the way

 

[TonyMurray]

BTW, I liked the previous Charlotte model much more (he changed her before steam release):

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Yeah, same here. There are games I play for the story and characters - usually in those kinds of games, forced LIs are a no-go for me, with a few exceptions.
And then there're games where you just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride, like this one. It's kind of similar to Guilty Pleasure in a way. I'm glad I listened to your recommendation and played GP, by the way

Hmm, even with the purple hair, I think I prefer her here. She at least looks like she's in the same game as the others...

 

[Eleanorduval]

Yeah, I didn't like the story at all.

Oh yes, I forgot that I got Karen pregnant. But I definitely did have sex with her first

Well a least u did things in rule not like milton lol

 

[Eleanorduval]

Hmm, even with the purple hair, I think I prefer her here. She at least looks like she's in the same game as the others...

camelia?i don't like her tits.Tbh only karen,sophie and charlotte have normal tits.

 

[Zorro#34]

Life in Santa County by Bold Bash Studios

This is a game that I started out quite enjoying. There were some decent story elements to start off with, and some early scenes promised plenty of sexual hijinks to come. Sadly for me, it then turned out that a drugs and corruption storyline was going to be one of the main ongoing elements, and I’m just so bored of that trope. There’s more than enough going on with all the family stuff, and carrying on with your best mate’s mom (in front of his dad, and later in front of the mate himself) that there’s just no need for the drama of a drugs storyline. It does start out as a means to have your mom framed and fired from her job, and that’s fine and a bit different, but why did it have to be drugs related and then expand into crime syndicate shenanigans?

Ignoring that though, the rest of the game was hit and miss for me. The graphics are… odd in places – most of the time everything looked pretty good, although I was disappointed with most of the LIs on offer, with many of them being far too booby for me (comically so, in some cases – and I thought BaDIK Bella was bad…). Then we come to Charlotte, who somehow seems to be a bit cartoonish in design – not in proportions this time, but in the actual way she looks. I don’t know how it’s possible to have a character in the game who looks like she’s designed in a completely different bit of software to the others…

The choices are mostly okay, but from what I gather they have the remnants of an old system in them, with “rise and fall” mechanisms that apparently don’t really count for anything anymore. At various points, you also get a choice screen after a key event (that often doesn’t feel like a key event) and you can choose “intimidation” or “charisma”, after which I believe you get an additional point in your chosen stat. These don’t seem to play a big part in the game either, with only a few instances that called for a check on either of those two stats, that I noticed. I would much rather have your choices lead to an increase in these stats, rather than just choosing which you’d like to add to, which feels like a bit of a cop out, and takes away some of the immersion at the same time.

Some of the sex scenes are pretty decent, and some outright hot, although several of them did feel a bit too easy – for instance, there’s one scene with your mom and aunt and the mom is resisting the pressure from her sister to have a threesome (at this point, you’ve already had sex with both of them independently). It felt like she was saying, “No… No… No… Okay, your aunt and I will go up to my bedroom and start things off, you follow us in a minute if you want to join us.” It was just a bit weird.

When you get to a certain point in the game, it does that thing many other games do once they’ve lulled you into a false sense of security – it introduces free roams. These are pretty harmless at least, and easy to navigate. One item that you can pick up during these free roams is underwear from the various women in the game. Rather than unlocking special renders, as I’d normally expect (there are other collectible items for that), I think the underwear that goes into your inventory unlocks the specific character so you can fantasise about them while masturbating, which is at least something a little different. There are also some minigames, which I didn’t like much, although it did at least feel like there was an attempt to make them fit the context of the scene in the game itself.
View attachment 5082440

The third lowest-rated game on my list, right after WVM and Twists of my Life. Between the exaggerated LI models, the friend complaining about his "landlady" having a fight with his "landlord", and the very obvious focus on lusting after the milfs I quickly understood this game wasn't for me and dropped it before even finishing the prologue. I've heard it gets better after the prologue, but alas, I didn't make it.

 

[TonyMurray]

camelia?i don't like her tits.Tbh only karen,sophie and charlotte have normal tits.

Charlotte - she used to have purple hair, by the looks of it. Camelia's tits aren't so bad, compared to most in the game, it's just that her card isn't at a great angle. Agreed on the other part though, most were too overlarge.

The third lowest-rated game on my list, right after WVM and Twists of my Life. Between the exaggerated LI models, the friend complaining about his "landlady" having a fight with his "landlord", and the very obvious focus on lusting after the milfs I quickly understood this game wasn't for me and dropped it before even finishing the prologue. I've heard it gets better after the prologue, but alas, I didn't make it.

I'm not sure about the getting better part...

 

[Semak34]

Hmm, even with the purple hair, I think I prefer her here. She at least looks like she's in the same game as the others...

They also changed Jasmine (H̶i̶g̶h̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ College classmate or something) I don't like the new design at all, she’s like a HS character in a Daz game. The whole story is a mess so I bailed.
View attachment image_2024-04-30_044445577.png.avif
View attachment screenshot0007.png.avif

 

[TonyMurray]

Gunpowder Cocktail by ByteHog Prime

I kind of want to say this is another game ruined by a crime syndicate storyline, but that would be inaccurate on two counts. One, it’s pretty much the basis of the game, as opposed to the usual “college or family story” or similar where the crime storyline just gets shoehorned in for drama. And two, it’s not actually the crime story that ruins the game (for me at least, although I’ll stress that “ruins” is maybe too harsh a word in this instance).

For the story side of things, it is pretty clearly suggested in the game summary that a crime/drugs story will play a big part, so you do have a decent idea of what you’re getting yourself into there. It did seem a bit silly to me though because it came out of nowhere – you take an opportunity (without choice) to steal a suitcase full of money, the owner catches you and looks like he’s going to kill you, but the plot contrives to show him your “mom” and “sisters” on your phone and he lets you go on the proviso that you facilitate introductions, which you also have no choice about.

There’s then no build-up to most of the sex scenes (or at least the first times, which is when you need the build-up), so they just feel rushed and out of place. There is fully avoidable NTR in the game (and a toggle in preferences for you to turn on or off hints for that) but apart from some sharing scenes (also clearly highlighted as such when the choices come up) the NTR always felt cheap to me. It was never about corruption and taking away an LI, it was more a case of one-off scenarios where a random nobody got to have a quick look, feel, or proper sexy time with one of the LIs, which was then forgotten about by everyone.

Back to my opening statement though, and the issue I have with crime storylines in these games is that it often feels like two completely different stories trying to compete against each other. So even though the crime is a big part of the story here, it still feels like it should be either a crime story, or a family seduction (and possible NTR) story, but not both.

The other thing that spoils this one for me is the sandbox. Now the dev does say in the game thread that it’s not a sandbox to complain about because there is a handy hints system to make it easy and painless. That’s true, however, it’s still badly implemented, IMO. You have five characters in the hint system, and at any given time you might have three of those saying “progress with X character first” and on that “X” character, it might say “talk to her in her bedroom on Friday evening” and you’re on Monday morning (and she’s also in her bedroom every evening anyway…). So there’s still a lot of time skipping or aimlessly exploring because the entire story, once the sandbox starts, is tied up in the sandbox. I didn’t see a single event that wasn’t triggered by following the sandbox hints to be in a certain place at a certain time, so it becomes a clicking exercise as you navigate to the correct time of the correct day (and none of the other locations have anything you can do in them).

There are some repeatable events as part of the sandbox as well, mostly coming under the “sleep sex” category. Once you’ve seen these though, there’s no progression, so they are pretty worthless. This also means that they are another area that feels rushed, as even on the first night of the sandbox, you can go to each of the three bedrooms and get a titjob (with facial) from the sleeping “mom”, a blowjob (with facial) or footjob from one sleeping “sister”, and a thighjob from the other “sister” or you can lick and finger her ass.

So it’s another one that’s not worked overall for me, which is a shame. I’ve not mentioned the graphics, but they are perfectly fine, and were probably the main attraction for me when I initially put this one on my list to try. The girls however, aren’t the greatest, with odd facial expressions often spoiling their look. The MC sometimes has odd expressions as well, that look like they are intentionally done to add humour, although that often misses the mark.

 

[Eleanorduval]

Gunpowder Cocktail by ByteHog Prime

I kind of want to say this is another game ruined by a crime syndicate storyline, but that would be inaccurate on two counts. One, it’s pretty much the basis of the game, as opposed to the usual “college or family story” or similar where the crime storyline just gets shoehorned in for drama. And two, it’s not actually the crime story that ruins the game (for me at least, although I’ll stress that “ruins” is maybe too harsh a word in this instance).

For the story side of things, it is pretty clearly suggested in the game summary that a crime/drugs story will play a big part, so you do have a decent idea of what you’re getting yourself into there. It did seem a bit silly to me though because it came out of nowhere – you take an opportunity (without choice) to steal a suitcase full of money, the owner catches you and looks like he’s going to kill you, but the plot contrives to show him your “mom” and “sisters” on your phone and he lets you go on the proviso that you facilitate introductions, which you also have no choice about.

There’s then no build-up to most of the sex scenes (or at least the first times, which is when you need the build-up), so they just feel rushed and out of place. There is fully avoidable NTR in the game (and a toggle in preferences for you to turn on or off hints for that) but apart from some sharing scenes (also clearly highlighted as such when the choices come up) the NTR always felt cheap to me. It was never about corruption and taking away an LI, it was more a case of one-off scenarios where a random nobody got to have a quick look, feel, or proper sexy time with one of the LIs, which was then forgotten about by everyone.

Back to my opening statement though, and the issue I have with crime storylines in these games is that it often feels like two completely different stories trying to compete against each other. So even though the crime is a big part of the story here, it still feels like it should be either a crime story, or a family seduction (and possible NTR) story, but not both.

The other thing that spoils this one for me is the sandbox. Now the dev does say in the game thread that it’s not a sandbox to complain about because there is a handy hints system to make it easy and painless. That’s true, however, it’s still badly implemented, IMO. You have five characters in the hint system, and at any given time you might have three of those saying “progress with X character first” and on that “X” character, it might say “talk to her in her bedroom on Friday evening” and you’re on Monday morning (and she’s also in her bedroom every evening anyway…). So there’s still a lot of time skipping or aimlessly exploring because the entire story, once the sandbox starts, is tied up in the sandbox. I didn’t see a single event that wasn’t triggered by following the sandbox hints to be in a certain place at a certain time, so it becomes a clicking exercise as you navigate to the correct time of the correct day (and none of the other locations have anything you can do in them).

There are some repeatable events as part of the sandbox as well, mostly coming under the “sleep sex” category. Once you’ve seen these though, there’s no progression, so they are pretty worthless. This also means that they are another area that feels rushed, as even on the first night of the sandbox, you can go to each of the three bedrooms and get a titjob (with facial) from the sleeping “mom”, a blowjob (with facial) or footjob from one sleeping “sister”, and a thighjob from the other “sister” or you can lick and finger her ass.

So it’s another one that’s not worked overall for me, which is a shame. I’ve not mentioned the graphics, but they are perfectly fine, and were probably the main attraction for me when I initially put this one on my list to try. The girls however, aren’t the greatest, with odd facial expressions often spoiling their look. The MC sometimes has odd expressions as well, that look like they are intentionally done to add humour, although that often misses the mark.
View attachment 5088573

yeah the start of game was weird,people don't introduce mafia to their family.I hate the sandboxe when u need to find a character depending of day/time.The postive side some humor,i liked the crime part.There some sharing choice too,but i haven't check them.Character are more or less hot,but i depend on people taste.

 

[TonyMurray]

yeah the start of game was weird,people don't introduce mafia to their family.I hate the sandboxe when u need to find a character depending of day/time.The postive side some humor,i liked the crime part.There some sharing choice too,but i haven't check them.Character are more or less hot,but i depend on people taste.

I didn't think much of the sharing choices. I think there were maybe three? One was basically allowing an idiot to touch up your sister, then the other two were teasing a friend with the same sister, once of which included allowing him to put his face between her buttcheeks in a sauna while she sucked you off, and the friend's girlfriend was wanking him - all because he hadn't been able to get it up for his girlfriend and needed some more stimulation...

But the whole introducing the mob boss to your family (as your school principal, no less), and then going to work as pretty much his right hand man just after meeting him (and stealing from him) was too much.

 

[Zorro#34]

Gunpowder Cocktail by ByteHog Prime

I kind of want to say this is another game ruined by a crime syndicate storyline, but that would be inaccurate on two counts. One, it’s pretty much the basis of the game, as opposed to the usual “college or family story” or similar where the crime storyline just gets shoehorned in for drama. And two, it’s not actually the crime story that ruins the game (for me at least, although I’ll stress that “ruins” is maybe too harsh a word in this instance).

For the story side of things, it is pretty clearly suggested in the game summary that a crime/drugs story will play a big part, so you do have a decent idea of what you’re getting yourself into there. It did seem a bit silly to me though because it came out of nowhere – you take an opportunity (without choice) to steal a suitcase full of money, the owner catches you and looks like he’s going to kill you, but the plot contrives to show him your “mom” and “sisters” on your phone and he lets you go on the proviso that you facilitate introductions, which you also have no choice about.

There’s then no build-up to most of the sex scenes (or at least the first times, which is when you need the build-up), so they just feel rushed and out of place. There is fully avoidable NTR in the game (and a toggle in preferences for you to turn on or off hints for that) but apart from some sharing scenes (also clearly highlighted as such when the choices come up) the NTR always felt cheap to me. It was never about corruption and taking away an LI, it was more a case of one-off scenarios where a random nobody got to have a quick look, feel, or proper sexy time with one of the LIs, which was then forgotten about by everyone.

Back to my opening statement though, and the issue I have with crime storylines in these games is that it often feels like two completely different stories trying to compete against each other. So even though the crime is a big part of the story here, it still feels like it should be either a crime story, or a family seduction (and possible NTR) story, but not both.

The other thing that spoils this one for me is the sandbox. Now the dev does say in the game thread that it’s not a sandbox to complain about because there is a handy hints system to make it easy and painless. That’s true, however, it’s still badly implemented, IMO. You have five characters in the hint system, and at any given time you might have three of those saying “progress with X character first” and on that “X” character, it might say “talk to her in her bedroom on Friday evening” and you’re on Monday morning (and she’s also in her bedroom every evening anyway…). So there’s still a lot of time skipping or aimlessly exploring because the entire story, once the sandbox starts, is tied up in the sandbox. I didn’t see a single event that wasn’t triggered by following the sandbox hints to be in a certain place at a certain time, so it becomes a clicking exercise as you navigate to the correct time of the correct day (and none of the other locations have anything you can do in them).

There are some repeatable events as part of the sandbox as well, mostly coming under the “sleep sex” category. Once you’ve seen these though, there’s no progression, so they are pretty worthless. This also means that they are another area that feels rushed, as even on the first night of the sandbox, you can go to each of the three bedrooms and get a titjob (with facial) from the sleeping “mom”, a blowjob (with facial) or footjob from one sleeping “sister”, and a thighjob from the other “sister” or you can lick and finger her ass.

So it’s another one that’s not worked overall for me, which is a shame. I’ve not mentioned the graphics, but they are perfectly fine, and were probably the main attraction for me when I initially put this one on my list to try. The girls however, aren’t the greatest, with odd facial expressions often spoiling their look. The MC sometimes has odd expressions as well, that look like they are intentionally done to add humour, although that often misses the mark.
View attachment 5088573

OMFG those tiny waists.
Looks like you're facing the same problem as me, finding less and less good games to play.
Also, this reminded me of Sickimtrack, which you also dropped iirc:

you take an opportunity (without choice) to steal a suitcase full of money, the owner catches you and looks like he’s going to kill you, but the plot contrives to show him your “mom” and “sisters” on your phone and he lets you go on the proviso that you facilitate introductions, which you also have no choice about.

 

[Sparta VI]

Beyond Tomorrow by Dream Games

When people talk about games that have beautiful renders, the ones I tend to hear about are Summer’s Gone, Summer Heat, and Dreamland. There are others that occasionally come up too, but those are probably the ones I hear of the most. I’m here to tell you that I think Beyond Tomorrow should be spoken about in that same conversation. Seriously, it looks fucking beautiful, and all of the women in it so far can also be described that same way.

I cannot think of a game I’ve played where the women look consistently so good. I have no idea who will be LIs, although I’ve pretty much eliminated two (unless some things change), but I’d go for every last one of them here. Taking the women out of it, the other renders look great too, from nighttime city views, to little bird close-ups, it just looks fantastic.

I’ve only played Chapter One, but looking at the game thread, I’m hopeful that Chapter Two will be along soon – and in there, hopefully some progression. The story we have so far is a bit slow, but it’s engaging enough, and I like some of the setup we have, especially with some family trauma that threatens to hit me in the feels when it gets resolved, one way or the other. There is plenty of intrigue as well, though most of it is kind of under the radar. It’s not in your face, but there are little hints here and there – a facial expression in one render, some dialogue in another scene, a single image showing a gun lying on a coffee table…

The GUI looks really nice too, and although there isn’t much to say about it, the gameplay seems tidy enough. There are a few choices to make, but nothing that feels big or consequential so far – although I guess one or two of them could go that way. Either way, I’m excited to see more of everything on show here, from the visuals to the story, and also to check out what the lewd scenes will be like (and who with). So far, there are two scenes that include topless girls, but no sex. Hopefully Chapter Two will add some of that as well.
View attachment 4615925

For some reason, I overlooked this VN. I stumbled across your and Lagunavii review by chance and decided to give it a try. What can I say, I'm absolutely impressed. This VN has the potential to be something big. Thank you both so much. Otherwise, I would have missed it.

 

[Eleanorduval]

For some reason, I overlooked this VN. I stumbled across your and Lagunavii review by chance and decided to give it a try. What can I say, I'm absolutely impressed. This VN has the potential to be something big. Thank you both so much. Otherwise, I would have missed it.

this game is toooo sad

 

[TonyMurray]

OMFG those tiny waists.
Looks like you're facing the same problem as me, finding less and less good games to play.
Also, this reminded me of Sickimtrack, which you also dropped iirc:

I absolutely thought for a moment you were referring to Life in Santa County with the comment on the waists, as there were some ridiculous ones I remember in there (Lauren definitely being the worst offender). But you're right, a couple of them here are a bit ridiculous too.

I don't remember anything similar in Sickimtrack, but maybe that came after I dropped it. I just remember that the visuals (and some LIs) were really good, and nothing else was memorable...

Finding good games to play isn't necessarily an issue, but getting to those when there are so many lesser games is harder. I was saying to Lagunavii earlier that I might have to start curating my "next up" list based on genre, to try mixing it up a bit.

 

[Lagunavii]

Finding good games to play isn't necessarily an issue, but getting to those when there are so many lesser games is harder. I was saying to Lagunavii earlier that I might have to start curating my "next up" list based on genre, to try mixing it up a bit.

Well I have just had a look at what has been brought to the table this month, and the sheer amount of Hotwife games and School games in there is unreal. Sprinkle in a little family Harem, and then a poor crime fiction and curating that list will prove difficult - Still we must have hope, there is a Gem for us to find Tony

 

[Eleanorduval]

Well I have just had a look at what has been brought to the table this month, and the sheer amount of Hotwife games and School games in there is unreal. Sprinkle in a little family Harem, and then a poor crime fiction and curating that list will prove difficult - Still we must have hope, there is a Gem for us to find Tony

Personally i have my Gem

 

[Zorro#34]

I don't remember anything similar in Sickimtrack, but maybe that came after I dropped it. I just remember that the visuals (and some LIs) were really good, and nothing else was memorable…

Spoiler: Sickimtrack spoilers

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Finding good games to play isn't necessarily an issue, but getting to those when there are so many lesser games is harder. I was saying to Lagunavii earlier that I might have to start curating my "next up" list based on genre, to try mixing it up a bit.

I think this is pretty reasonable, I've avoided tons of AVNs based on genre alone.

 

[TonyMurray]

Well I have just had a look at what has been brought to the table this month, and the sheer amount of Hotwife games and School games in there is unreal. Sprinkle in a little family Harem, and then a poor crime fiction and curating that list will prove difficult - Still we must have hope, there is a Gem for us to find Tony

Admittedly, especially as we near the end of the month, I get more prone to leaving new ones and checking out your monthly review, then seeing which ones take my fancy from there! The thing with those genres is, I quite like a good hotwife game. Finding a good one, though, that's the issue.

 

[TonyMurray]

Spoiler: Sickimtrack spoilers

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Oh, the lass in the pub toilets with a slightly distinctive name... (I wanted to say Bailey, but I looked at my cards and it's Palmer). I think I'd checked out at that point, so I saw the scene, and skimmed through some of the stuff after it. So I think I missed the details of the job offer, though I do seem to remember some sort of follow up scene - is he the guy who runs the coffee shop maybe? I think that whole pub scene was also in the middle of a free roam, which was not the best of times...