VN - Ren'Py - Tune in to the Show [Ep. 8 BUGFIX] [RobertDeadth]

Review of Episode 2 Part 1

This AVN is off to a good start. There will be minor spoilers in this review, so skip to the end if you want a spoiler-free synopsis.

The premise for this game is at least somewhat novel. I've played a lot of AVN's, but none with this sort of focus, which now that I think of it, I find a bit surprising, as it seems like fertile ground for an adult game.

Characters: Each of the characters feels real, each with their own quirks with feeling like an obvious stereotype. The only thing that bothers me a bit is Richard. There's no way someone like him would make it onto a reality TV show, especially when the producers are clearly hoping for lots of sexy time to develop. I appreciate that Richard seems to be a nice guy, but in reality the producers would likely have chosen someone cocky and sex-obsessed to balance out the MC's pleasant guy-next-door vibes. If nothing else, the conflict such a narcissist would bring into the group dynamics would be great for ratings. The first part of episode 2 suggests that Richard may have been chosen for reasons that might be part of the mystery in the story itself. If that is so, then my objections about him aren't relevant.

We don't get as deep a dive into all of the character's motivations in the first part of the second day, but there aren't any red flags so far. I hope there are more interesting backstories ahead.

Story and Sex: I am one of those people who really likes an AVN with a focus on rich storytelling. It's a visual novel, after all. If you're looking for a fap-fest, this AVN probably isn't for you. I appreciate the way the final sex scene plays out, as it feels like a totally "in the moment" sort of decision two real people might make in this situation. The only scene I felt was a bit forced was the blowjob from the B- or C-list actress near the start of the game. Now, it is possible she was just playing the MC to get him to cooperate, but I feel that it is more likely in a case like that, that she would hint at future rewards without actually blowing him the moment they meet. Of course it is possible that Katherine isn't normally like that and she might apologize for coming on so strong later. Episode 2 part 1 suggests that her actions might also be part of the mystery of this story. Time will tell.

Character Models and Rendering: The models are quite good, but not the best you'll find anywhere. They look realistic, and I appreciate that so far all of them have decent human proportions. There's no "mega-sized" penises and breast and hip ratios seem believable for the body types chosen. If you're the sort who loves crazy-sized breasts and asses, all the more power to you, but I really appreciate showing real human proportions in stories that are meant to be realistic. These are beautiful people, just as you'd expect when it's supposed to be a reality TV show, but they don't look fake.

Posing for the scenes is a bit of a mixed bag, though. Some are fine, but look at the fingers during hugs and the fingers every time anyone is trying to think. Maybe Maya might point at herself when she thinks, but Richard does it as well, and the fingers don't even touch the chin in most cases. Even so, I don't find the poses to be overly distracting.

One other thing I think could help is the occasional animation during the sex scenes. I don't personally see this as a big deal, but I did notice its lack.

Music: Speaking in general, music can really be a mixed bag in an AVN. Understandably, these small (or one-person) team labors of love don't have the money for lots of custom-made music tracks, but if there isn't any effort put into matching the music to the action, you can tell and the music can be more annoying than helpful. Also, not every moment in a game or movie needs music, knowing when to be silent is also an art. Thankfully, the dev for this AVN has clearly tried to match the music with the scenes and so it doesn't get repetitive or distracting. That sort of thing can be harder to pull off than you might imagine, so good on RobertDeadth, I hope this keeps up. I would love to see a few atmospheric sound effects added, too.

Spoiler-free Summation:

This AVN is off to a good start, and I look forward to seeing more of the story.

Pros

• Story
• Models
• Character development
• Music choice

Needs Work

• Posing

Missing

• Animations

I support the dev. Good job so far!

Put your reading glasses on, because Tune in to the show puts the “novel” in visual novel. This is a script heavy experience and the writing takes center stage. You’ll start the VN going into a meeting with Katherine, a celebrity who’s hosting the reality show you’re going to be on. She has some very interesting requests (maybe demands haha) of you while you’re living at the house. She’s fairly straightforward here with what she wants you to, fuck every girl as many times as possible and make a harem. She’ll need to test you to make sure you’re up to the task first though. You can tell from the writing that there’s more to Katherine than what’s on the surface. Paying attention to the writing is going to be your best friend here, and throughout the rest of the game.

One week later, it’s time to move into the house and meet the people you’ll be living with for the next 30 days. I’m going to try and keep this short because I could write a novel of my own here haha. But the rest of Episode 1 covers your first day at the house. You’ll get to meet all of your housemates and dive into who they are and what drives them. The basic structure of the show is that the contestants get paired up and need to accomplish the tasks given to them, so you’ll be interacting with a character more when you get paired up with them. For example, MC and Maya are partners for day 1, and their mission is to clean up the kitchen after dinner. So you spend a large chunk of your first day exploring the house with Maya, but you’ll get to know the rest of the characters pretty well too.

As you interact with the characters you’ll be happy to discover they all come off as real people, they’ve all got their quirks, their likes and dislikes, their hopes and dreams. No one is unlikeable and no one is causing any problems (although it’s only day 1 so who knows what can happen.) Every conversation really shows off RobertDeadth’s ability to write.

At this point I’d like to point out how good this VN looks, especially considering the hardware that dev is working with. Every render is beautiful and nothing looks cheap. It’s really up there in terms of render quality. I can only imagine what the dev will be able to accomplish with a proper set up.

Tune in to the show is a character focused story that’s not too dramatic or dour, and instead focuses on some good ol’ light hearted and heartwarming moments with engaging characters. It’s only the first day these people have met so while it is a harem game, don’t go into it expecting to fuck all the girls right away. This is the kind of story where the connection/ romance between MC and the girls will be established first and foremost before the “fuckfest” begins.

TLDR:
Well written story with engaging characters.
Renders are beautiful and you’ll see some unique environments.
Very story heavy, be prepared to read and not skip the dialogue.
Limited choices, feels like a kinetic novel
Two lewd scenes in this first release.