Ren'Py - University of Choices [v0.4.3] [French Pie]

This is certainly worth a try if you're into the college genre, but I was a bit disappointed with the relatively limited amount of progression with the LIs so far, considering we're four chapters in. The pacing seems off somehow, and it felt closer to 1.5 episodes of one of the bigger games in the field in terms of content. Some characters are still barely introduced and there are very few lewd scenes (and short ones at that).

It could also use a better developed player hint/task system to track progress in free roams.

One to check back with in a few more episodes, I think.

Review for the version : v0.4.3
The name of the Dev, the color choices, the environments used, the music choices and all the tropes... At first, University of Choices seems like a clone of a certain Δeeply Ιconic worK of the genre and I suspect it was initially meant to be as such. But through the progression of the story, it seems to have shifted to become it's own thing, with it's own personality and goals, which is great, because who wants a clone when the OG is right there for everyone to play?

Graphics : 7.5/10
The graphics are okay, and their quality seems to be slightly improving over the episodes. Bonus points for quite a few animations, but these points are immediately lost for using some facial expression packs that are unrealistic in some instances / too cartoony. To summarize, the graphics are decent enough for you to enjoy the game without noticing them too much.

Sound & Music : 8.5/10
French Pie (the dev) tries really hard on the matter of not only music but sounds, and it shows. While I haven't added any title to my playlists, the soundtrack of the game is pretty good, and the music sets the mood quite well. There's also a surprisingly big amount of decent sound effects, which is quite a feat to pull off.

Story : 7/10
Possibly the hardest category to rate. The base story is pretty basic stuff recycled a hundred times over, but as is evolves and shifts to become it's own thing that stands out from all the other clones of the genre, it becomes really enticing, mainly because every character seems to have it's own backstory, problems and quirks. You end up wanting to know each character's story of how did they end up the person that they are. It's very immersive stuff hidden between all the recycled tropes. A less than stellar point I have to mention is that, the dialogs sometimes feel like they were written by a non-native English speaker (which is likely the case, but really shouldn't; there should be a native speaker doing the translations); It's a problem that seemed worse at the beginning of the game; but is present enough that I think a rewriting of the early dialogs would be in order so as to improve player retention.

Gameplay : 8/10
There's quite a lot of interactivity in the game : choices, minigames and free roams ABOUND. It's actually very impressive for such a new project. My main gripes with the gameplay are 1) Brick Breaker as a minigame for the phone is an atrocious choice, and it's implementation isn't immersive at all, it looks too basic graphically. And 2) Too many instances where you can't roll back just made me save all the time like a madman; don't try to force me to play multiple times; I'll play multiple times if the game is good enough (I have, it's good enough).

In conclusion, to quote a well-known chancellor : "We will watch your career with great interest" Mr French Pie ! I very much like the game, and really want to see it succeed, which is why I invite everyone that liked it as much as I did to join the dev's Patreon. This game definitely has the potential to be in the same league as the greats !

I really like this one so far. As far as college games go, this has the right vibe going for it, and the party was really well done.

Slight knock for the MC being a little bit nervous/anxious when interacting with the girls? Hopefully he grows in confidence as the game goes on and he adapts to college life.

Look forward to more in the future.

Without name dropping 'other' games of a similar genre I'm just going to jump in by saying if you like 'them' then you will LOVE this..
University of Choices manages to do what others have done only far better and cohesive and add plenty of its own fun to the fan fav genre..
Some amazing characters that you actually want to interact with, a story beneath the sexual progress that is both funny and interesting, the free roam doesn't feel like a chore and with some patience are easily navigated (minus a few bits during the sorority mansions raid) the girls are fairly varied and as of 4.0 or 0.4 there is already a great deal of content ready for new readers that is both well written as well as funny..
Visuals are good enough that it wont take over a year to get an update out and the lewd scenes are enough to progress the scene needed although a bit of variety and less 'already?' reactions from the girl might be less humiliating lol
Overall a title to enjoy for the future with some great prospects that set it asie from the others in the genre and give it room to grow without an abundace of comparisons to past titles
Patreoned after Playing here

Nice addition to the college-based games. There can never be enough of those if they are well made.

There are a lot of LIs. Most importantly for me there are also MILFs and a few girls with tats and piercings.

The freeroams are nice, though they could be optimised a bit with a To-do-list. A walkthrough for the hidden rewards would also be nice.

I only did one playthrough as of now, but I will make at least one additional as the title is already justified, because you can make different choices that lead to different scenes and scenarios.

I hope the dev will be quick with updates as I can't wait to continue with this.

College life: classes, tests, girls, parties, drinking games etc., a frat, sororities, an extremely goofy friend-roommate-pledge partner... Sound familiar?

Yes, it's not original, but pretty well crafted. Quite a treat for those who love to feel being in college with tons of sexy females around!

As of v0.4, there were only 3 girls having sex with MC, but a whole lot more of potential partners. I only hope the cutest of them will get enough "screen time".

Some of the models are very hot. I'm in love with the shy redhead Zoe, the perfect beauty Brook... And there are Stacy (only just met, no substantial content yet) and Leah (not really there yet, but some game files suggest she will be one of the sexiest).

Not mentioning some slutty girls (Molly & Sarah), some bitches like Grace (likes to be dominant, but shifting her into submission might not be too hard), and nice and caring Avril & Hailey (probably bisexual).

The story has some nice dramatic potential, so it's not just a fuck fest. I don't like how hard some mini-games are, but you can pass them automatically or using RENPY_TIMEWARP hack to make them easier.

Renders are good, animations are not outstanding, but good enough, often with selection between 2 angles.

Music is shit IMO, I prefer something nice and quiet, rather than making my ears bleed. WTF Zoe likes punk rock, has she never heard yé-yé or musette?

Anyway, this game is a pearl of the genre. Perhaps a bit clichée, but well executed.

The game overall is good with a fairly decent story and lots of potential LI's. The concept of hidden sororities is pretty original in this genre, although everything else is pretty much college box ticking; that's ok, if it's done well. The MC's background is a bit strange, especially for an AVN, as he seems pretty innocent and a loner. He hasn't hugged or kissed a girl so far, struggles with girls being naked in front of him but he's had sex a few of times??? It's almost like they force him into it and he's too polite to say no! There's no real interest or happiness shown from the MC. I guess it gives plenty of scope to find out more about him as we go on and it looks like he will learn on the job. The sex scenes themselves are forced content (but fit with the narrative) and are poor. They are very short, with no foreplay, one or two positions then done and lack variety. Is this all deliberate to reflect the MC's background and will get longer as we go on? Hopefully and soon, or this is a massive negative if not. We need some explanation about the MC's character to understand what's going on, possibly through meeting his sister with her upcoming birthday or a chat with Jake, Zoe, Avril or a teacher (MILF, yes please).

Major downside: the minigames are really annoying. A 20 question general knowledge test when 10 would do, plus loads of boring drinking games. The pyramid card one went on forever and then there's lots of annoying spacebar timing to control drunkenness at the party. There's so many, I had to restart after chapter 2, as I was so sick of them. I wanted to make sure that too much wasn't lost by skipping them but everything holds up much better without them, however be warned you still have to do the stupid spacebar clicking (save before clicking). It's probably more 3 1/2 than 4 but it has potential, so I rounded up.

More story, kiss a girl on both lips FFS, less minigames, less freeroams and much less spacebar please.

I found it a very entertaining game with many characters and situations that lend a lot of realism and interest to the novel, and it makes you think about the enormous amount of work done by the developer. The protagonist's backstory isn't very clear, although if he's a virgin at 20 and has no friends other than his little sister, everything points to him being a nerd, dedicated solely to being on his PC and playing sports. I like it because it doesn't fall into NTR, but there are other male characters with their own interests and romances. I don't know if all the girls are potential love interests, and I'd be worried because that would require a lot more work, and in the end, when that happens, the developer usually abandons the project. For now, what I can say is that the novel has me hooked, and I'm eager to see more. My congratulations to the artist.

A decent amount of content for the game. The store is just another college-themed game with drama, featuring college fraternity and sorority parties. Girls/ guys keep talking about these invite-only parties, and girls talk about being horny.
Probably some sexually over horny girls and guys do stuff challenges.

Plus, there is drama with both sororities' presidents fighting over a fraternity president because one had sex with him, and the other is jealous but doesn't know the truth.

About the ntr: i didn't see main li's doing anything lesbian or with a guy scenes yet I didn't see any indicator, but I saw
1. 2 different sets of girls and guys having random sex, but I dont think they are anyone we meet.
2. In sandbox mode, I could have heard a guy and a girl laughing behind a door, but that could be anything.
3. There was an encounter with a girl we met, and at the first party, she gets horny with someone and wants to finish what they started before, and acts cuddly (not sure if they are in a relationship or just want sex).
(random encounter)

Pros: renders and girls are pretty.
1. decent amount of content
2. Story seems fine
3. minigames, but an option to skip them and win, so it doesn't bother them.

Cons:
1. The sandbox needs to be reworked because it's confusing to know where to go and what to complete.
I hope Dev will add an objective list and better navigation in the future, making it easier to know where to go and what needs to be completed. At last, the sandbox and trying to go through the house and finding the objectives was insane.

The good news is it's not a grind sandbox{I hate those types of games and won't play them.} It's just free roaming and mini games and you can turn
the mini games off. You make money by getting good scores on test you
take. Lewd scenes could be better but I've seen worse lol! Does have a lot
choices for you to make so that's good. Not a bad game so far in my humble
opinion.