VN - Ren'Py - Valenza Family [Ch.2 v0.4] [Arcane Ink Productions]

Review for Ch.2 v0.4

Average is not the word I'd use to describe this, but the rating comes more from having heavily mixed opinions. I was really not feeling this during the prologue and first chapter, but I kept pushing and I'd say chapter two brought me back on board a bit.

The overview puts it well enough. You have some disagreements with your crime lord father, but with his blessing you set off to a new city already full of some big players determined to carve out a spot of your own, and that's only the first step. You're put into the role of a flawed MC. At least at first, he comes off often as arrogant more than anything. Thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, always has some wise words, speaks with metaphors, analyzing everyone and everything "always five steps ahead." Which frankly was a bit exhausting to read after awhile. I kept noting how it seems like he didn't leave room for many feelings outside of business. No romance, moments of real weakness, time to breathe, etc etc. Almost like he's viewing everyone as tools or means to an end, as he doesn't let anyone in.

Chapter two is when it's really revealed that all of that is a sort of mask, one of many, that the MC wears to further his goals. He has a more... traumatic past that gets better explained that makes you go "Ok, I get it now" essentially. I appreciated the writing more for this, but I do kinda think this could have been showcased earlier and I would have enjoyed the game more for it. It seems like this might take a more self discovery type of approach as the MC furthers his goals.

I also feel like this game lacks excitement in certain senses. I'm all for a good slow burn, and this definitely feels like one, but in the few hours of content for a game about building a crime empire like 90% of this is characters sitting around just talking about plans, crime, and making deals where the most that has gone "wrong" are a few veiled threats to be careful where you step. Especially with the month time skip, it almost feels like the MC is a mafia gary stu. Because even though he comes across as arrogant, he IS accomplishing all of what he's trying to do. Now yeah it makes sense the game talks a lot about all those things considering the theme, but for example there's a scene where the MC just walks up and shoots some thugs and you're like "oh shit he means business" but that's like the only bit of action you get so far. You don't actually see the street races, you don't the people you partner with working on your turf, no problem thugs popping up, etc etc. Maybe small in the grand scheme of the MCs plan, but even a little transition scene of that stuff could be nice.

This extends to the love interests too, because as I mentioned there is very little romance. The first sex scene is just at throwaway with a stripper, and the second a very causal hookup with one of the love interests. There aren't really any moments where the MC is spending time with them for the sake of being with them. I actually do like the girls a lot and there's some potential brewing with their stories, but very little of it has been explored.

As for more technical aspects: the renders start rather average but improve over time, I do like the character models, and the animations, which are a series of images rather than full fluid animations, do leave a bit to be desired. Lewd scenes felt there to just be there truthfully, but I think that's a consequence of the lack of intimacy. I didn't vibe with the music much either, but I understand good music is hard to come by for projects like this.

I can see there's a vision for this for sure, and possibly a pretty good one depending on how this develops. But while chapter two felt like a good step in the right direction, it's just not quite there yet for me personally. I do value writing a lot and the dev seems to have a large focus on that, so I'm keeping an eye on this at the least.

To begin with, I'd like to say that I really like the overall story of the game, or at least the little we've been able to see, because technically we still know very little.
We're in a universe that features the various mafias that control the city the Mc arrives in, and we learn who's out there and doing what, but apart from that we don't learn much more.
What bothers me the most here is the MC in general, already his appearance, in the intro and episode 1, I find him really awful, that improves in episode 2.
But where it bothers me the most, is in the dialogues and general thinking for the MC, that is to say that he wants to give the perception that he is very strong and intelligent, but the dialogues that are supposed to demonstrate it are extremely clumsy and too weak and sometimes repetitive, to really give us this feeling.
As for the MC's strength, unfortunately we haven't seen it yet, so we'll have to wait and see.
On the other hand I loved the female protagonists and their designs, I can't wait to see the MC's sister in action and action in general, because it's too quiet at the moment ^^

Despite everything I've said, I think it clearly deserves a good 4.

Protagonist - ✭✭✭✭✭ - The main character is someone who has very deep wounds and uses his brain very well, a character that most people will like, mastermind style.
his appearance matches his personality, projecting a dangerous and intelligent aura
he talks a little too much, but he never talks idly, he has a lot of problems he needs to solve about himself, but he doesn't let them become a big problem for his work his conversations with women
it makes him mysterious and attractive, so almost every woman he talks to starts to wonder about the character at the first meeting.

Story - ✭✭✭✭✭ - I'm leaving this place empty for now, I'll write after I play the game a little more.

Character Models - ✭✭✭✭ - All the female characters in the game have unique hairstyles, makeup and faces, but their body types are almost the same, but fortunately I have seen new characters for a few chapters and seeing their bodies differently has made me a little more relaxed, but I hope Dev doesn't make the mistake that most Devs make and make all the main characters one type of body, for example, thin, medium breasts, normal ass, please pay attention to this, for example, some characters are very good for us. You can give an ass and give some characters nice breasts, some characters can have neither and some characters can have both, but please don't make every character the same body type, it would be much better if the mc's height was a little taller than the girls, in the renders I have seen so far, the mc looks almost the same height as all the girls, of course, there are heels worn by the girls, but even so, it would not be so bad if he stayed a little taller next to them.

Love this game as it is a mafia based AVN where the MC is High headed (love these kind of macho charecters)
Valenza Family is a gripping mafia-themed adult visual novel that immerses players in a dark, narrative-driven experience. Developed by Arcane Ink Productions, the game casts you as Michael Valenza, a cunning and ruthless made man navigating a treacherous underworld of betrayal, alliances, and violence. The story shines with its focus on loyalty, survival, and the heavy burdens of a conflicted protagonist, blending intense drama with moments of introspection.
The game’s strength lies in its storytelling, offering a linear yet choice-driven plot with alternative scene outcomes, keeping players engaged without derailing the core narrative. The "fade to black" option for adult scenes adds a thoughtful touch, catering to varied preferences while maintaining emotional depth. Visually, the 3DCG art is striking, complementing the gritty tone, though some may find the pacing deliberate due to its story-first approach.

Overall 1.5/5:

Ideally where do I start? Oh boy...I know the Daz models in this game are a bit dated but at least a little bit of effort to enhance them somehow will make this game a least visually appealing. The lewd scenes are mediocre and lacking. It is literally "skip scene" or "watch scene." There are no animations... just still images with basic transitions.

Next, the game design and writing are where the game falls flat. It doesn't have a kinetic tag which misled me thinking that there were going to be choices in this game. The game is just mountains of dialogue piled on top of one another that have no flow or cohesion with the rest of the narrative. I see some inspirations of The Soprano's, which was pretty apparent in the opening, and it got me interested because not many "VN" games are thematically like that. However, that is as far as my interest for the narrative and characters of this "game" goes. MC is a jackass.... literally. He has no redeeming qualities to keep me as a player invested in his growth. Why did the dev make me create my name in the first place when I am not even playing a part of the game's narrative. Absurd!

The lack of choices and interactions really ruined my immersion and attention span to where I eventually had enough of Ch.2 and skipped "unread text."

This is not a game nor interesting narrative. Just a wall of text with basic Daz models accompanying the background.

At the intro there is like 7 layers of "Hey i'm gonna tell you something but dont judge or dont get mad at me, alright?" dialogue back to back, It almost made me quit. It makes one say "cut to the case" ffs. Then he says the most inoffensive shit ever, like a male feminist to top it.

But surviving the intro there is actualy good story in the baking. All the dev has to do is cut this word salad to half. And we are golden.

I have been craving for a mafia story for years, last couple ones were either abandoned or they should have been abandoned because they were that bad. I hope this one can scratch that itch.

I wont go too deep on the grading for a demo. But if i were to i can say;
*Aside from what i mentioned in the beginning solid story telling. 5/5
*Good renders decent visuals. 4/5
*Pretty much one dimentional characters, but i am foggy on this one since this is just the start.Things might change as the story folds. ?/5
*There is "a-okay" audio. 4/5
*Spellcheck/proofreading is on point. 5/5
*Things MUST HAVE in a Renpy game, but things devs keep forgetting are there in this game. Like; toggling Quickmenu, Dialogue box opacity settings etc. which was the actual reason why i didn't quit the game at the intro. I said "Hey at least the dev isn't that lazy. Lets give it a chance." so thats a +1.

There are things i can't rate but overall score would be 4.3/5 for this game.
Would recommend, go try it. And support the dev if you like it.
Cheers.

VERSION: Into + Prologue
SUMMARY: Good start, interesting story and lots of potential, but not much here right now.
RATINGS: (out of 5):

1. Models: 4
2. Animations: X
3. General Visuals: 4
4. Characters: 4
5. Story: 4
6. Writing: 5
7. UI & Gameplay: X
8. Content (amount): 2
9. Sound & Music: 4
10. Fetish & kinks: X

Average: X of 50 possible points giving a X% rating i.e. X stars.

PROS:

1. Models are not bad looking, the MC looks good and has a ruggedness about him I find more appealing (for an MC)
2. Visually the game looks good, the world and general renders are on par.
3. Music is good, got a vintage vibe to it, but not bad at all.
4. Writing is good, not 100% but good, I enjoy how its written and it reads well. Conversations are interesting, often funny and the unique personalities are refreshing.
5. Characters, they seem to be complex enough, the MC seems to have his own past but he seems intriguing.
6. Story is interesting, the way the MC talks is typical of the mafia gang style we have seen in games and on TV. With his family connections clearly it has some mafia influences.

CONS:

1. So far there are not any cons really, this is probably due to the only real con and that is that here is very little content to evaluate.

FINAL THOUGHTS & SUGGESTIONS:

• Initially when you check this games name, style, poster it screams mafia, the setting even suggests that era of 1950s or such, but when you start the game, not long into it you realize its set in the modern era of today. This is a tad disappointing, because the entire vibe and idea that the player is given is as I mentioned above.
• Per the game description, there is indeed a dark sinister undertone to the game, the story and its characters, particularly our MC. Intriguing nonetheless, especially when we see the MC use his "lessons" to turn things to his advantage.
• The MC does talk a bit much, which is in a way strange, often those who are dangerous and serious have very little to say and when they do then you kinda know they mean business. While the MC may have gone through some shit, he clearly still is young and kind of immature, at least thats the impression he gives with his long winded dialogue/monologues

Seems decent and could have some good content, but if you into looking for kinky, spankbank kinda stuff, I doubt this game will ever be that. The MC is too controlled and does not strike me as someone who would subscribe to any kinks and sex is also not a driving factor for him. He clearly comes across as a business first and last person who simply does not take shit. So having sex and knocking chicks up and all the kinky shit...yeah I doubt this game will have much, but could and I really hope im wrong on that front, as for the rest, this game could be great, I will keep an eye on this one.

Great proof of concept. 5 stars, people should play this.
Hook is good, art is good, dialogue is good.

I'm a skip merchant but I read every line.
Incidentally, skip doesn't work and the text box is a censorship bar.

It is not elite in any one area but delivers in ways most VNs, particularly in the mobster genre do not.

Kudos to the dev, this is good work and I look forward to the first chapter.

pls improve transitions and text box.

So far, I give this game top marks for what it has presented and for its potential. The graphics are stellar and the story line is both intriguing and compelling. I mean, who doesn't love a good mobster theme? Especially one done well and so far this one is performing on point. I look forward to seeing if the Dev keeps it up with nice timely updates. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.