VN - Ren'Py - Where the Heart Is [S1 Rev1] [CheekyGimp]

Really good game with some fun dialog and some nice renders and some choices that matters and can make you fail.
Love the whole settings.
Hope the game gets more sandbox later one could really help the game to be better.

I'm with the majority of the other reviewers;

OK, so it's not 'incest', but I think it is. At one point, one of the girls, currently sitting on your crotch, refers to you as "my long lost bro... friend", so yeah.

Each of the 'target' females feel real, with differing personalities, and differing intents, which is refreshing.

I'm not 100% with the character models, but they do grow upon you. After an hour, if nothing else, the eyes and mouths are delicious, and I'd like to suck on them.

Plot... the usual. However, I find it homely and pleasant. Sometimes a well trodden path is well trodden for a reason. There's nothing I would change.

Overall, 5/5. Want/need more please!

Where The Heart is, is an Enjoyable Creation, the visuals are well done, the chars are witty and heartwarming, the level of content is good and well worth trying for yourself.
At the time of writing this I can only get to day 2 but even so wishing for more.

Great models, writing, story pace, etc. Godmother figure and her two daughters gives taboo feel without the in----. Each personality diverse. Plot doesn't strain the imagination too much either. Definitely one to play and one to watch.

so its my first real Rating so do be so harsch with me

For first i need to say that this game have a good look. the art is in some peaces nothing new. but it have some other collors what make it refreshing. The gameplay its typical VN. until now i played to the middle of day 2. so much to say that i dont know what the different answers bring so far. i can say that u can become 1 bad end.

i think that the Game have a loot of potential and im looking forward to it.

Hope this Rating gives a little impression of this game. i recomend to play it by your self.

One of the best!
This is one of the best games i have played in a long time. Just the right amount of tease, realistic models, nice characters and well written funny dialog.

The premise is that you go to live with your mother's best friend and her two daughters. There's obviously a lot of sexual tension and I'm sure this will progress. The latest version I played is a single day of gameplay. Most of the game is just around introducing the characters and setting the scene but it looks like there will be some mysterious plot development which I'm curious to see where it progresses - along with the sex of course. I'm exciting & optimistic about this one. Let's hope the dev keeps up the quality. Next update please !!

ep. 6
Did I say anything that I lied about? Dave made sure that my words are a damn truth. Dev cept his plot stable, did not make mistakes and kept original concept of romancing a family.. at least now it seems that we have actual chance with all of them. Flirting and touching does not count. So sexual stuff(with friends family) migh appear already in eight or even seventh episode. Great plot, interesting characters. Not an emotional roller coaster it might be, so far its a nice ride with characters which have each their very own personality. Some devs fail to show depth to their characters, this one did not make that mistake. So far there were only two characters I did not like character wise, but even that opinion changes with time. So what can I say?

Play IT, ENJOY IT, SPREAD THE WORD

ep 1-2
Great start of even better future game! So far we have interesting introduction into the game. Friends family.. almost adoptive family which is very close to Us from way back when Mc was still a little kid. Now ripped and strong he comes back to his friends/neighbours family which treat Us like family member.

It is incest game without incest so to speak. Boyish doughter, nerdy hot doughter and their mother welcome you to their home. At first pervy stuff is forbidden but like in any game out there with time comes affection and trust so you will have your chance to do something noughty with them in time to come (next updates). Mom looks like milf, nerd is nerdy, boyish girl is boyish. So far all things come together in almost perfect order.

As long as dev will not go far away from original plot then this game have potential to be something damn good.

Review for 0.2

Graphics/Scenes:
Everything looks really nice so far. Some facial expressions are A BIT off nothing that bad. Very promising and enticing scenes so far (like the stair case incident) that make we eager to see the next updates. Looking forward to it!

Story:
I like the incest factor in games just as much as the next guy in this forum (I just boldy assume that^^) but other games already showed off successfully to me that it is not always needed. This one is no exception in that matter. It is a nice start to the story. I mean the mother and father just died so not 'nice nice' but a nice setup for what's to come. Getting back to the loving surrogate family. And from what is shown so far you could actually drop the surrogate. They are a loving family.

The long and short of it:
The story is set up nicely so far and the graphics are very enjoyable. I really enjoy it so far and eagerly await the next update.

UPDATE AS OF EP.7: This game is head and shoulders above the rest in pure storytelling. The visuals are still not epic, nor is the actual situation realistic in the way it develops. But here's the thing: You DO NOT want it to be realistic. If porn games were realistic, we'd never get anywhere. It's realistic enough. It's believable enough.

It still deserves the five stars. The sexual tension in the story is not matched by any other porn VN I've played so far. There's a few that I've enjoyed quite a bit, but usually the story falls flat in one way or another sooner or later. And while there's been some sex to please the little boys who are impatient and stupid, at least the main girls have been developing fairly sedate pace. At least in porn game terms. In no way does this reflect reality.

But despite the whiners, this is definitely among the best games on here. It might not deserve 5 stars out of context of the genre, but within porn games this is clearly 5 star worthy game, despite the lack of graphical wow factor.

I'm giving this five stars, partly for what it already has but also for the potential it is showing.

The most important parts of this VN are that:

1) Choices are meaningful but nuanced, and there isn't any really unrealistic choices to be made.

2) The characters are realistic, but most importantly are not as boring as real life; so you'll eventually actually get do the naughty with them. Which would be in this situation rather unlikely.

3) Dialogue is natural and didn't come across as something stupidly unrealistic -- at least so far.

The game isn't terribly long, nor especially pretty.

In fact I'd call the art mostly functional rather than great. However, this is fine with me, and as long as sex scenes show proper penetration. That is, instead of just ugly clipping through 3d models as often happens.

The only truly negative things I can come up with are that the male character's penis is typically ginormous and that the new black female character is much more typical of the porn game archetype that throws herself on the player.

That said, I assume the woman was added to appease those two want to see sexytimes asap instead of waiting for a natural progression.

There is also an excellent sense of sexual tension in the story so far, which I hope will be built up further as time passes.

OH MY GOD !!!
This game is one of the best that I have played ! I like so much Monica, her face, her big fat lips, her attitude and the fact that she is confused and more horny by the alcohol. She could have just a little bit more bigger saggy tits, like the mother in Dual Family, but we dont have seen her nude yet.
I will follow this game absolutely. I am already addicted.

really enjoyed the game so far, I liked most of the dialogues in the game, I like the characters and even tempo of the game. As the other mentioned already, you should work bit more on renders and lighting. But keep up with good work

Pros:
+Good models.
+You can tell just by looking at the code the sheer variations of events.
+Not another incest story
+Characters seem to have their own personalities and quirks

Cons
-Story gets stretched to seem reasonable. MILF is a little bipolar played via the code to max points and decisions didn't flow naturally. By that I mean when you should push and not to push doesn't always make sense.
-Game over in some situations instead of negative points
-No sexy time or sucky sucky as of yet

Updated: Just needed to point out that we are now up to Episode 8 and if anything the game has become only better since I first reviewed.
Cheeky has practically improved in every single aspect. Renders, writing, porn scenes.
Every new girl he adds, I like in their own way and especially Monica is a pure dream of a milf, now that she finally accepts her feelings, even without being drunk.

That was impressive for a game right at the start. I've played games several more versions in with less content.

I also liked the relatively nuanced decision making, especially with the milf, I got the feeling I could decide how forward I was.

I have absolutely nothing against an incest patch in the end, but it's refreshing to be able to go after a hot milf and her daughters WHO are NOT blood related to you.

I mean, seducing/being seduced by your mom's sexy friend is a trope all it's own.

UPDATE: After playing ep 5 v. 007 I had to go and change the rating. The game has constantly improved and deserves the full five stars.

It's definitely one of my top five games to look forward to each update, with every girl (apart from the model bitch) being hot and with the actual writing being erotic as fuck, even though we haven't had actual intercourse yet.

The following review is based off my personal experience with playing this Game/Visual Novel... I try to be as brutally honest and detailed as I can, and these are my own opinions and thoughts, from one or more play throughs... The version this review is based on is Episode 1 through 11...

(14 April 2018 - Episode 1 through 11)

I have to say that I absolutely love this Visual Novel/Game... The romance stories for the primary love interests may be a bit slow, but they are so story rich and well developed...

I can tell there has been some very good improvements over the last year of development... The characters are for the most part completely believable with their own unique personalities, quirks, and check all the right boxes (just like mentioned in the story)… I can definitely now say that this is a relationship building story/game with just the right amount of sexiness, lots of romance, some teasing, the right amount of cheeky humor, and it all had me so entranced with the different love interest story lines, allowing you to make your own choices as to whom to ignore and/or seek out a relationship with... Many various women with different personality and wit and so on, that it allows for so much depth to the choices and story you want to experience...

It uses a mostly hidden point system for opening up story as well as events... That can be viewed at the end of each chapter... But because of how the story plays out, it actually offers some re-playability... There is some intrigue, and different things going on that make it a deep and rich story to read and play...

The visuals of the characters are unique and varied and perfect... Body proportions are realistic, with so many adorable women, that fit into all the various body types... There were a few model faces I've seen before, but not many... There are a few backdrops I've seen before, but most of the time you don't really notice, because the scenes are set up so well, and I was so entrenched in the story and well being of the love interest I chose to go for... There is not a huge amount of animations, and the ones there are tend to be short... But they were fine... It did sometimes feel like the love/sex sequence might have been a bit short sometimes (animated or not), but they were fine... They got the major points across...

There were moments when I laughed so hard, and others where I was getting misty eyed, and other times I just caught myself smiling (this actually happened a lot)... It's these kinds of stories, where you feel emotionally invested in the story and characters (to include the protagonist), that really makes visual novels like these shine the brightest for me... I'm so emotionally invested in this one now, that my heart is pumping for more... But, the way I operate, is by experiencing content in large chunks... So, even though I know another chapter will be coming out sometimes before the summer, I will just have to force myself to wait for several more content releases before revisiting... When I love something this much, I can't experience it piece mail... It's too disheartening and nerve wracking to see it in small installments...

If you don't like story rich visual novels and are expecting lots of back to back erotic sex scenes in this one, don't read or play it... But if you are like me, and love story rich erotic visual novels, told well, and romance is your schtick (like for me) then man, you have got to try this one... Lots of choice, with various love interests along with a few lust interests...

I think these developers already deserve a standing ovation... And this puppy isn't even done being developed... Bravo... Bravo...


(Original Review - 18 March 2018 - Episode 1 v0.2)

There are some aspects to the initial beginning of this visual novel/game that are very similar to the story setups of several other VN/Games I've played/read, which kind of hurts the originality scales...

The visuals of characters are decent, but the model of the mother looks very familiar, almost like it's just a slight alteration to some other characters in other VN/Games I've seen... The younger sister's breasts are also a bit bigger then her body frame would suggest, but not outrageously bigger... The backdrops are pretty normal looking... During the initial hugs with the mother character, it looked almost as if the protagonist is towering over the mother, but then when the POV pulled back it looked more like they were similar in height, seeing more eye to eye... May want to rethink the camera positions in a few pictures, as the views are supposed to be from the protagonists POV...

The script is pretty good, as I rarely saw any spelling/grammar errors... But there were several moments when the mother would be speaking, but it would show Katie as the name (which needs some fixing)... The plot revolves around a male protagonist who's mother died when he was a pre-teen, and his father died recently... He is visiting the family he lived with after his parents divorced, and grew up with them and his mother till she died... He hasn't seen or communicated with them in 8 years...

There is something mysterious that is also going on with how the communication was re-kindled after his fathers death, but not much else is mentioned in the current content... There are 3 women characters living in the home he's visiting... The mother, who seems a bit of a drinker, the older daughter who is very outspoken and athletic, and the younger daughter to is very shy and a bit of a recluse...

The whole premise of the story so far is becoming re-acquainted with the family he lived with so long ago... It offers lots and lots of options with regards to rebuilding his relationship with them... And there are many traps placed within those choices... And I mean a lot of temptation type choices attempting to trap you into taking things too far and reaching a game over... I am never a fan of Player Punishment Dead Ends, and this VN/game seems to be purposefully trying to tempt the reader/player into taking things too far, a lot... Normally if it was just a few moments in the beginning to teach you to be careful, then I wouldn't be overly bothered... But this game is constantly laying down choice traps... So be prepared to save game, a LOT...

The story telling itself seems rather straight forward... And the personalities of each character feel a slight bit stereotypical of a mother and 2 daughters setup... The struggling mother who just wants someone to care for her and love her, the daughter who is mouthy and very outgoing, and the daughter who is sweet, shy, and perhaps a bit naïve... It's a formula I wish I didn't see so much in the adult/erotic genre of VN/Games... Even so, at least neither of the sisters hates the protagonist or treats him like trash, because that is also an over used personality you see in some of these things...

Overall, I can sort of tell this is going to be a Relationship building game with the possibility of a Corruption motif as well... It was a nice read, but I was hoping there would be a bit more of a creative and unique backstory to this one... There is some story depth and meaningful story telling, so that is a plus... It's very early into production, so we should be seeing lots more content in the future... Will I revisit this one? Sure will, even with it's flaws and quirks, I still enjoyed the play through...