Ren'Py - Completed - Void's Calling [Ep. 2 v1.1044 + DLC] [Novel]

  1. 3.00 star(s)

    shucia

    The game have potential if not for the silly battle and sandbox, the renders are very good and the animation also great, but again the sandbox and the battle at season 1 kinda ruined the fun not to mention the quest log kinda useless as it doesnt give much information what you needs to do, but i give the devs appreciation for completing the game despite it has abandon due to various reason he cant monetized the game anymore.
  2. 2.00 star(s)

    Daskar69

    I had high hopes at the start of the game. Unfortunately, the game has multiple issues that hamper its playability. First, rollback is disabled, not only at initialization, but through several scripts that run periodically if you do turn it on. If you click through too quickly, you can't easily go back and see what you missed. Secondly, it calls you a cheater if you have more than 1000 coins, which is a ridiculously easy number to reach if you're halfway competent at combat. Then it sets your hard-earned gold to 200. Thirdly, the quest journal is practically useless. It has almost no useful information. I was only able to complete one quest by day 35, and that's where I gave up. Nothing I did would advance any of the active quests.
    The renders are fantastic. They're well lit, and the models are top notch. The story, from what I was able to play, is good.
  3. 4.00 star(s)

    orttro

    Episode 1: 4.5/5
    Writing
    Episode 1 has a simple plot. Most of the writing is devoted to characters and world building. The setting and the main character is clearly inspired by the Witcher. Towards the end of episode 1, there is the beginnings of a few plot lines, otherwise the game mostly follows standard dating sim/corruption style plot.​
    There is a big cast of romance-able characters. Some of the characters are well fleshed out, and some are tropes. Their personality feel distinct and their motivations are realistic. None of the characters come off as idiots.​
    You can find and complete most of the quests organically. However, many of the quests have non-obvious failure conditions. The choices do actually change the dispositions of characters, the outcomes of the quests and the availability of scenes. Many of the quests have multiple solutions, and some of the side quests interact with the main quest. You can finish all quests in Episode 1 without one quest locking out another. Half of the cast do not get full content in episode 1.​
    Gameplay
    The gameplay feels cohesive. The combat mechanic exists, but can be skipped reliably after you improve your character's stats and gear. At the beginning, there is a slight resource management needed as you need to earn money for rent.​
    The NPCs follow daily and weekly schedules including unique interactions during a weekend festival; this makes the town feel more alive. Each day is separated periods where you can perform free actions such as buying or selling or actions that take up time, such as exploration.​
    There are 2 annoyances the developers have left in for whatever reason. Rollback is disabled, and if you enable it via renpy console, the developer saw fit to re-disable it periodically. The developer assumes if you have more than 1000 currency, you're cheating and penalizes you by deleting all but 200 of it. These can easily be fixed if you know a bit of renpy, but it feels very anti-player in a singleplayer game.​
    Overall, aside from the annoyances, episode 1 is an enjoyable stress free sandbox game.​

    Epsisode 2 with DLC: 2.5/5
    Writing
    The plot become more complex and stakes are higher than in episode 2. It also becomes much more linear. Although the writing is engaging, several plots left unresolved by episode 1 are simply forgotten about, including your choice in the episode 1 main quest. At many points of the story, plot points and characters are simply introduced with almost no setup, such as several reveals during the DLC ending. The investigation arc also leaves several lingering questions without satisfactory explanation. The ending came out of almost nowhere.​
    Character actions are also a bit less believable. The inciting incident for episode 2 feels very urgent, but the main character ends up working on several seemingly unrelated plot arcs. At some point, the main character receives the name of the captor, but fails to investigate at all.​
    Most of the side character arcs left unresolved in episode 1 are not resolved in episode 2. You can still mostly 100% the game content in a single playthough, but the ending you get will depend on if you decide to abandon certain quest lines.​
    Gameplay
    gameplay is noticeably downgraded from episode 1. Most of the mechanics. The open world barely matters now, and the associated gameplay mechanics changes several times during the game.​
    The only mechanic that has been expanded upon is combat. However, combat is worse. The enemies now level with your character, and their stats actually increase faster than the player character, so as you level up, enemies actually become noticeably harder. Equipment now also barely have an effect on combat outcomes unlike episode 1. The auto combat now also doesn't skip the combat, but rather force you to watch the combat play out turn by turn.​
    At the beginning of episode 2, you have a semblance of an open world, except time barely matters now. Rather than being able to complete one action during a single period of the day, you are now given a generous progress bar for that period. Within that progress bar, you can now do ridiculous things like hunt for monsters and bath to heal several times within a single morning. Main quest events are now also mandatory and must be completed in the allotted day and time period; you cannot advance time otherwise. This means while you can spend hundreds of days living town in episode 1, barely 2 weeks pass during the entirety of episode 2.​
    Then in the middle of episode 2, the open world is replaced by a castle where you ask NPCs questions during different times of the day. Your only options are to skip certain NPCs or skip certain questions. I haven't tried it, but this section feels very linear.​
    Then towards the end of episode 2, the semblance of open world is back, except the progress bar for time is also gone. You can now perform unlimited number of actions within a single period of the day. Like before, the only way to advance time is through mandatory scripted events.​
    The rollback and money restrictions are also back in episode 2, except now the developer has put in even more ways to prevent people from adding rollback. Rollback disabling and choice lock in is now done all over the code. The money limit is also back. Again, very anti-player for a singleplayer game.​
    Overall, episode 2 feels much less cohesive as a game than episode 1. It is basically a VN with a skeleton of a sandbox that should've probably been deleted. The early end to development means the story feels very unfinished and the gameplay very unpolished.​
  4. 4.00 star(s)

    SomeoneX22

    Just finished the game. Endings felt rushed and also cut from Episode 2, without dlc Episode 2 dosen't have ending at all.
    Story is kinda complete, but every ending is just an open finale with sequel hooks.
    Most of main female cast hasn't recieved enough scenes for them, it's ridiculous that we have so many scenes with whores and Mrisya, but just 2-3 with Sarah and Ilga.

    Also friendly warning: this is not a harem game and it punushes you for cheating, so prepare for disappointment or replaying endless boring autobattles and lazy designed investigation sandbox.
  5. 3.00 star(s)

    GayLord Jesus

    This "game" could've become a superhit "VN", instead it became the most wasted talent and renders. I tried playing this game initially however it was like playing a different game each time. Sometime there're orcs band attacking right from the start - with no skip button and a confusing battle mechanics with several grey out boxes. Sometime a story scene plays out with random options to choose from. Sometime you get dragged into an argument. But it's never same thing happening that's for sure. Story scenes are very sexy and sex scenes are steamy without showing any goodies. However, reaching proper plot sequence and landing on hot scenes in time is another hectic task.

    Too much of randomness and open world killed the game's consistency also it's charm to narrate a proper story. So much hard work and wasted potential here. Insane. Still it could be saved if an "VN only" mode is added alongside the open world gameplay.

    Several veteran devs have already adopted this trick to save their game and also keep it profitable, may it be wizard based or mafia based . So this "witcher based" Visual Novel with options wouldn't go unnoticed. Please try doing this and don't just abandon ship. Thanks dev and his team.
  6. 5.00 star(s)

    Bob Stratsburg

    Wonderful update and wrap up to part 2. Thoroughly enjoyed part 1, and was not let down with the sequel. Nice variety of characters of all stripes, and glad to see continuity with most of them here. As the updates came along, the story seemed disjointed but really came together with this latest update. The fantasy elements are well done and much appreciated as they make the game refreshing. There are plenty of leads to follow up on in the next installment. Scenes and transitions are good too - definitely saw an improvement from part 1. Keep up the great work!
    Likes: Rolo
  7. 3.00 star(s)

    WuzzyFuzzy

    (Spoilers below)

    A game with notable positives, but also with a couple of glaring weaknesses.

    The most recent release wrapped up Episode 2 (maybe), which is what this review is based upon. Episode 1 is still around somewhere, but as it's been a while since I played most of it, I went with a new game starting at episode 2 (couldn't get the new release to accept the previous save files). Regardless, the new episode offers many improvements, so that's where I will focus.

    As is readily apparent in most of the AVN's, a well-constructed story is the exception rather than the rule. So in this regard I commend the developer(s) for crafting and executing a premise that is well above average. It's refreshing to not have to deal with all the juvenile, over-used, predictable tropes that plague adult games. Most of this story is written in such a way to engage an older audience, which I find gratifying.

    Also of note is the improvement in the CG from Episode 1 to 2. The skin tones look good with nice detail and are free of the doll-like, plastic look seen elsewhere. So, too, are the improvements in animations. A couple of scenes even have the mattress realistically animated, which goes above the average level of detail.

    But for all the positives, there are a few negatives which need to be addressed:

    1. The pre-combat twitch game. There are a few scenes where the MC will attempt to sneak or approach an enemy. Somewhere on the screen will appear a circle with the outline of a boot/shoe inside. The player has one second to place the mouse pointer inside the circle and hit the left-mouse button or it's a fail (some fails will be game over, some will reboot the mission). There is no warning before these occur, so you have about a 100% chance of failing the first try. Even then, as the scene progresses, it is very difficult to hit all the circles in the allotted time. Very frustrating! I got 'over it' after a while and changed the game code to allow for three seconds between flashes. I think the devs should at the very least give the first couple of flashes a longer delay and gradually decrease time.

    2. The castle story. Specifically, the fight with the harpy. This entire scene/quest is ill-timed and doesn't follow a natural progression. The MC is almost killed, as in seriously injured, then appears before the baron as if nothing happened. Plus, the presence of Sarah in the tower acting like a 10-year old brat is beyond silly.

    3. Far and away my biggest complaint of the game is the few times when we're given a choice that's not a choice. I've ran into this scenario occasionally in other games and I promised myself I would always call it out. It plays something like this: Choice A = Give in. Choice B = refuse. I play both choices to see how the story is written. But there is no difference in outcome. I think, 'maybe I hit the wrong button', but no. I've never understood this logic. The player is invited into the story, so there's immersion and continuity, but then the dev says something to the effect of, 'yes, I gave you the illusion of choice just now, but I don't care how you want to play it'. So why do it? Take the choice out and let the story progress. There is no way many players are going to like what just happened. In one case the choice might have lead to what could possibly be defined as NTR-like results. I could see how some may argue that's the case, but if a woman is bargaining for her life and she has to make a tough decision, coercion does not equal a willingness to degrade the MC. Plus, the MC already has a ton of women he can seduce (and does). So was the dev afraid of NTR repercussions? Maybe, if that's so it's a cowardly approach to explain how the choice is implemented. Best to have never offered the choices at all. These occurrences really diminish the game, in my opinion.

    Pros:
    - an engaging premise and technically well-written;
    - above average CG with attractive models and good skin detail;
    - animations steadily improving;
    - reasonably good use of audio and music tracks;
    - well-constructed UI.

    Cons:
    - twitch mini-games are distracting and frustrating;
    - a couple of the side quests break continuity with the main quest and should be placed elsewhere;
    - very irritating false choices presented.
  8. 2.00 star(s)

    Sngo

    Good looking girls, some good sex scenes, story seems decent, bad quest tracker, repetitive grind in some points, decent sandbox, some questionable "plots" in story, in fact one of that "plots" was the reason i dropped this game, "RIP" Kagera.

    Decent enough to play just be wary of the "way" the game mighty turn
  9. 3.00 star(s)

    ShepardRahl

    This will be a review of episode 1 only as that is where I stopped.

    This game really has me torn. It's clearly Witcher inspired. I really like the character models and the writing is good. BUT....

    The quest progression is terrible. This game really needs a walkthrough. Some of the side quests give no indication of when they become simply repeatable scenes. So you'll keep grinding away on a character thinking you might make some kind of progression with their story, but you never will. Others, instead of simply letting you know you've reached the end of their content for the episode, will just update in the quest log to say something like "You've been chasing women too much. Maybe you should focus more on the main quests."

    There are three main quests listed. I hate when games do this and what happened with me here is exactly why. None of them have any indication as to their level of importance. So I was working on the main quest that sounded the most "side-questy" when I suddenly got a screen saying I've reached the end of episode 1. It was like slamming into a brick wall. At this point I still had two main quests and hadn't even found half of the side quests yet.

    If it wasn't for the horrendous nature of the quest progression and the quest log I would have easily given this game 4 stars.
  10. 2.00 star(s)

    bella7

    I'm a big of TomL. I also like the first part of CotV.

    As of this second part of Void's Calling version 0.283, the models are still great and the added animations are great but the combat really sucks. The hit rate is atrocious. Prepare to miss over and over again while the enemy slowly chip away your health. There's even a chance that you won't do any damage. There's also some quick time events and they also suck.

    It's really a letdown. This game had the potential to be good.
  11. 5.00 star(s)

    Emielregisrohellec

    Someone give this man a medal! Seriously if you are a fan of Geralt and netori give this games a try. I promise that you shall not be dissappointed. You see that sweet sexy redhead in the banner? No I do not mean Triss Merigold, but lovely Sarah participates in one of the greatest scenes I have ever seen/played on this site it really is a must see/play! Of course there are some small cons like probably to much grind and unfortunatelly EP2 is still not finished but in general Void´s Calling is great experience. Only thing I really miss is collecting cards of the girls :) Oh and final advice do not kill every monster you meet!
  12. 4.00 star(s)

    Rambling

    [ep2 0.283]
    This is heavily inspired by the Witcher stories. I really like the story and characters. Lots of choice. The red head is on fire. Damn... I think the visuals speak for themselves, they're very good. There is also animated scenes! They aren't smoothest, but still fantastic.

    I enjoyed this more then most games I've rated 5/5 but felt like I had to doc a star for the combat. It's very random and I heavily advise if not importing a save to pick easy. There are way too many useless turns with no damage, tons of missing on both sides that just lengthens combat. Then there's the random stun locking until your character dies and other stuff like that. The quick time events are quite fast and difficult if using a trackpad. Some bugs at times.

    The first chapter is very good but grindy. It's worth playing first. 2nd Chapter is much better paced but is still unfinished. Currently a lot of loose ends, there's still a lot of content here. Recommended
  13. 3.00 star(s)

    Arigon

    Likes-
    The girls are attractive.
    The MC is not a punk kid.
    Renders are pretty darn good
    Dislikes-
    Whether it is bad translation or outright misogyny the game text is not well written in English. Maybe in the native language it is better. Had the same issue with Twists of My Life. Really made it hard to like the game. Overall this is an improvement, but it could be improved more still by better translations or writing.
    Peace
  14. 5.00 star(s)

    Ceesko

    You can really feel the effort, dedication and love put into this VN. The Renders are gorgeous, the dialogue is intriguing and interesting (no cheesy, or edglord stuff) and the licensed soundtrack is phenomenal. Honestly in my opinion a hidden gem. The gameplay has hard and easy mode, and the rpg mechanics and combat is well integrated into the story. Really well done. Chapeau dev.
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    reh123

    Underrated game. Great dialogue and beautiful renders. Definitely deserves more love. The only flaw I see is that it can be too grindy at times (I played the game a year ago so I don't know if that aspect has changed). However, overall, the developers pull off the fantasy genre quite well and I'll recommend anyone to check it out if they can tolerate a little bit of grind and are willing to explore the game without relying on walkthroughs.
  16. 3.00 star(s)

    morago

    The 1st Episode:

    Great story and characters, plus the game's action and main menu is novel. The only downside was that I waited so long to do sth with the innkeeper's wife but found out nothing serious happens in this episode.

    The 2nd Episode:

    Just a visual novel with no real action like the first part. Actually I was disappointed after finishing the latest episode. The 1st part had great promise, but turning that game into a visual novel??!! Not a good idea at all.

    Overall:

    If the game could have continued and then somehow ended like the first episode, I would have given it 5 stars, but the 2nd episode messed it up badly.
  17. 4.00 star(s)

    Greybourn

    This is a game I do enjoy, enough so I do support it on Patreon. Sadly updates are pretty slow but since I have found this site it makes the wait pretty bearable since there are more than enough games to play when I want to add some smut to my gameplay..

    I know some folks will be turned off by some of the grind, but being an old time MMORPG gamer grind does not phase me. I like the story, and enjoy the gameplay itself. I would like to see more adventure games. like this one to be honest.

    I mean how many "college kid comes home has sex with family" games can they make? Apparently quite a few.

    So I like games with a bit more depth to them. This one delivers.

    I give the game 4* it could be better but for what it is, an adventure game with some RPG elements and some occasional sex scenes. This is the best one I have played. I have searched the site form more and haven't found one I like as much as this one.
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    LordUmbra

    Excellent game with astounding artwork and incredible story. I really hope to see this gain more momentum in the future. The developer is indeed doing a great work and supporting them will be well-deserved.
  19. 3.00 star(s)

    Lj625

    [Finished EP1 & EP2 v0.01]

    The Good:
    1- Girls are nice
    2- Interesting background, medieval time , quite unique
    3- Lewd scenes are very good.
    4- Story is OK.


    The Bad:
    1- Too much grinding and farming if u don't play with mods.
    2- Turn base battle system, not every1 is into that.
    3- Lack of indicator for quests. I legit don't know what to do at some point.
    4- Side Quests do not matter, they are for earning gold I guess.
    5- For some reason, I can't scroll back in EP1, is it a bug? I gotta save everytime whenever i encounter choices.

    Conclusion:
    EP 1: 4/5.
    I believe EP2 ain't done yet? Coz I legit did nothing in EP2.
  20. 2.00 star(s)

    PhoenixRage23

    I usually don't give most games on here a low star rating unless it's deserved. After 5 months since the end of Episode 1 barely any work has been done on this game. The models are great but the grind of this game makes me want to pull my hair out. It's one of the worst game mechanics of the entire game. The only way to really get through is to use the Renpy Console with cheat codes. You can't really call the "animations" animations. They are a 1 to 2 second loop of static images to simulate movement. Most of the storylines / quests need a major upgrade. At the rate this game is being developed you probably won't see any more NSFW or h-scenes for another 2 or more years. This game had great potential when it came out, but the dev really dropped the ball using too much rpg /battle elements in the game.