VN - Ren'Py - Trouble at Home [Ep.3 v1.0] [CoolKittyRhymes]

When I downloaded this a few days ago, I saw some awful ratings and assumed they were unfair.
I can't compare them, as the ones I recall seem to have been removed, but what I can say is that this game doesn't deserve the criticism I recall them throwing at it.

so, let's get to a pros and cons:
pros
1) The girls are pretty and the renders are good. Further, I don't recognize elements that I tend to see reused in a lot of games. That makes it feel more unique and it's own thing.
2) It is either written by a native english speaker, or is well translated. In either case, narrative and dialog all make sense, and allow for the story and characters to be followed.
3) I rate this a pro, others might a con, but I like that the MC isn't typecast in a group, and has a loser-ish element to him. He goes to a gym, he plays sports, he likes video games, he has some level of social anxiety, and he's dealing with some bully issues.
He isn't shoehorned into any trope, and he isn't some thundercock alpha, nor is he a complete loser. It makes him more relatable. Something of a blank slate, but that makes it easier to impose yourself on, for the purpose of these games.
4) a few transitions of time and place could be better, but otherwise nothing feels out of place or disjointed.

cons?
1) I get that he means well, but I'm not a fan of Mark, the best friend.
2) bitchy sister. I get it, but it gets old. Why is she like that, why does MC tolerate it, did they ever have a better relationship, and is she worth redeeming as a character or is she a shitty person?
3) No incest tag. Not a problem, not all games are incest games. But your sister actually is pretty hot, so if she isn't a total slut and the story worked in a way to build a better relationship with her, it would be worth it. As stands, no reason to think she'll ever be an LI. Also, Stacy and her family... any group activities would also fall under incest, technically, so without that tag, i'm assuming that can't happen.
4) Here's the big one that cost it stars: locked side content. I don't know what it is that I can't access and am not seeing. And while I totally understand that these games take time and effort, and both are money, so getting patreons is a big deal, locking that content behind a pay wall doesn't incentivize me to give money.

Either way, i haven't played the entire release through yet, but considering the bad reviews I saw before, I figured worthwhile to pop in and say, hey, not a bad game, so far.

My Rating i based upon the titles Future Potential..
While im not a great fan of the mc's hair colour and it could be a shade darker to not look so over the top bleach dyed..
The rest of the visual novel has some great foundations.. Hopefully the creators can realise that and keep the updates coming in such a steady quality..
The writing is good and there is room to have some interesting stories as well as this game being a potential BA Dik success if done right..
The characters are ok but with every launch title there is room for improvement and im looking forward to seeing what future updates can bring.. Just dont unload too many characters and like aforementioned title really build the core characters to be memorable and make us care about their visual novel existences
Nice music choices in keeping with similar genre efforts and again keep up the good work

I have a soft spot for stories where the not-so-lucky protagonist rises from the bottom and achieves his goal.

I liked the prologue. The author was faced with the task of showing the most terrible day in the life of the protagonist, and in my opinion, he succeeded.
Together with good renders, characters (except Mark as I hate him) and dialogues, it's a great start and I'm looking forward to more.

I will add that I do not understand the complaints about NTR, "beta male" and so on. This is not a harem game.

we were warned... a LOT of Shit would happen. Seriously, and i understand with the way the world is today. this is a gen-z high school life nightmare. where the average person is Stupid and useless and everybody is Sure their life is the worst. and then there is the MC trying to be the 'good guy' and being mature about it.
I was frankly surprised at how good this game turned out to be, i mean Very surprised.
i realize most people either don't remember HS or simply don't want to face the real shit going on in HS and the world in general. 40 yrs ago we thought the same thing. most people 14-26 think they know all there is or at least all they need to know. it is a FACT of life.
now this game... starts very Fucking annoying. and Mark needs a serious punch in the face. but give it time and it read quite well. the characters are real and most real annoying, they look good and i dare say this could be a good game. look , i almost rage quit on this thing, but i am patient and willing to give most games a chance. i say this game is worth the time but definitely needs a huge chill pill to get thru.

Firstly i would say it is demo so there is not exactly much to review.

The renders looks ok,not good stuff (cant rid of impression that characters are "plastic") but not completly amateurish. There is definitely a lot space for improvement.

Story is not exactly much original, as u play as beta male colledge boy whose GF broke with him ...(yep not much original plot, but it must working when we see it so much in games right?). What will became in future only dev know right now and probably could improve in something original.

English is probably not bad.minimaly i understand it, but what i know. I am not native English user.

summary:

Renders: 2/5
Story: 2/5
English: 3/5
Patreon voting power 1/999 (just joking but it could be problem in future)

overall: 1,4 (but it is demo and there is place for improvement so worse 2)

more than a decent start of a solid-to-be vn.
unlike most of so-called "demos" this one actually has a fair amount of content to be judged.
sadly, anyone can "judge" in open net/forum space, hence shitloads of very helpful "reviews" and very appropriate "ratings" everywhere, yet back on the topic:
the story isnt unique yet good enough, the writing so far is solid (unless you are a fan of shakespeare or 23 sisters, in which case you could end being disappointed here).
characters are diverse, both supposedly (future) LIs and only side characters.
there is a saying "per astera ad astra", and it seems as our mc will have something similar journey here .
the starting point isnt that favorable, gf has broke with him, and he is still reluctant to left it behind and explore other options out there.
once he starts doing it, no doubt, it will become better and better journey for him, and those playing it in future.
five stars, hopefully the dev/s will keep the quality and fulfill the game promise.

This game is a cringefest. Decent renders i can give them that but the writing is god awful. Lots of attempts at making jokes but most of them didn't land, maybe because of the translation? Regardless, the MC is as bland as a wet paper.