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

Still one of the very best VN's out there, definitely one of the best written, and the characters are memorable, which is very rare around these parts. It's worrying though how the updates seem to be getting shorter.

Interesting game but suffers in my opinion from big downsides to be considered as a good or great game.

The good traits are :
- A simple and consistent story.
- Some hot female characters. (Mainly Monica, AAA milf).
- A good amount of teasing.
- MC is some kind of alpha male (important in my opinion as it adds for the consistency of harem like porn game where Female characters are lusting after the MC).
- Late game updates which greatly improve the graphism of the game.

But those very few good points are shadowed by annoying traits :
-Up to episode 15/16, rendering is very poor. Some characters look weird (Katie has dead fish eyes, and Jenna is literally grey). Only Monica looks OK. And MC penis looks like something a 6 years old would draw. After episode 18 only, graphism starts to be good.
-Sex scenes are kind of underwhelming and animation is extremely bad.
-Dialogue, probably the biggest problem of this game. What's wrong is not the content (as I said, the scenario is consistent), but the form. There are so much dialogues for a very few progression in the game, I started skipping dialogues at episode 14-15 as it started to become really boring. It can be so much optimized.
But another huge problem with the dialogue is the amount of dialogue interaction required from the player... You have more than 1800 choices to make up to episode 18 (counted it from the available walkthrough), so to episode 21 (current update when I made this rating) must be around 2000. It is just extremely annoying and almost game breaking. AND note those are only the choices which are giving you the most points or the best options, sometimes you have between 3, 4, 5 or even more choices with of course proper dialogue lines and reaction from the characters. In my opinion, the time wasted here is tremendously gargantuan. I mean the amount of work done on that case is amazing, props to the developer but if only more time was spent from the beginning on rendering/graphism and animation, the game could have been a masterpiece !!!

Rate : 3/5.

There is no such thing as a perfect game, and WTHI is no exception. It's a game I should not like; there are a lot of LI, the MC can be kind of an ass and there are parts of the story I just want to get through as fast as I can. Some of the early renders sucked and OMG clingy Monica scared me away from the game the first time I played it. I could not get rid of that clingy, ugly, desperate MINLF not matter how much of an ass the MC was. Despite all the flaws, I have spent WAAAYYYY to many hours playing the different paths, and each time I was pleasantly surprised. It was like a different game each time.

This really is a wonderful little gem of a game/story. There are parts I didn't like, but you are never going to find a game, with this many paths, that you are going to like from beginning to end. But let’s start by talking about the bad things.

While I liked a lot of the dialogue, the banter between Katie and the MC got a bit old after a while. It was fun and playful, but it also seemed to drag on way too long. Then you have the LIs that just won’t go away. You reject them, and they come back. You reject them again, and they come back. At one point in the game, the dev asks if you want to end the romance and you click yes and then the dev asks you the question again “Are you sure?”. Yes… ffs I am sure. Then a day or two later, the MC gets another option to fire up the romance again. There are other aspects to the dialogue that were frustrating; for example, the girls are really forgiving. The MC can be a total ass hole but the girls, while they acknowledge he is an ass at the time, they seem to have a short memory.

There were also some scenes I didn’t like. The party scene was one. It was just too cruel for me, although the MC does have a way out of doing all the bad stuff. Also, the interaction with Dogboys mom was just… idk… uncomfortable. The whole thing.

Now let’s talk about the good stuff. The renders. As the game has progressed, the dev has worked hard to improve the renders and the animation. So while some of the early scenes are meh, it is nice to see the dev wants to improve and is doing so.

The content. Dudes and dudettes… there are hours of content and a lot of good content. As I mentioned, the early stuff was meh but the later scenes are really well done. Lots of options and each LI brings something different to each encounter. I was really pleased with the Elaine content and it was a nice buildup.

The story. Okay, so the story is nothing earth shattering, but there is a compelling story running throughout the game and it keeps you guessing about the motivation of all the characters. There are also individual stories running for each of the LIs so no matter what path you have the MC take, it feels like an entirely new game. Like Jenna… OMG the way that story progressed was really interesting and fun to discover. Her character is like the Jam of the Month Club… it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

I could go on, but you really need to play it. If Monica weirds you out like it did me, just stick with it. It will be worth it. The game is getting close to wrapping up, which is sad, but I am hopeful the dev moves on to a new project as I am looking forward to seeing what they can do in the future.

Fap-able game.

The characters look rough in the first chapters but it gets better.

It has some really hot scenes and you have the option to avoid girls you dislike.

If you stop to read everything, the game will become slow.

There is replay-ability value so you can spend many nights in it.

Ep.21 The graphics are bad. The girls are sluts ALL OF THEM. The MC is a weak beta cuck who lets himself be treated like shit, can't stand up for himself, and starts drooling if he sees a bit of girl body and the Story is mega weird. The developer tries to push his political agenda never a good thing if the agenda is shit! And the choices don't influence anything in this game except reject don't reject. Pathetic!

Love the dialogue - MC vs Katie especially. Laughed out loud many times so far. A good source for gratuitous friendly insults. Great work overall - best overall dialogue of the 90+ AVN I've read so far. Minor non-sequiturs based on expectation from previous choices but overall an interesting story sufficiently convoluted to remain interesting even with the non-sequiturs. And noting permanent versus flexible choices on key dialogue was helpful, although I won't know until I get to the end (only up to Ep 18) if I'm going to get the result I want. But I'm hooked for now - looking forward to future updates.

Love this game!

Games like this are proof that you don't need flashy renders and lots of animations to make it good. You can tell the writer is a native english speaker and it shows because the story flows really well!

Love the models, especially Monica! The story is everything you want in a lewd fantasy and I really like the way you can reject girls or go with them. And there is no grind or insane gateways where if you make one bad choice you don't get to successfuly court them. Dev manages to create all these exciting moments with the girls where they bounce off one another depending what you choose. The Natasha 'party' scenario is one of the best moments I've experienced in a Lewd game. I wish though it could have taken further i.e make it all more fucked up where you're a real nasty guy with more consequences like getting chucked out of the house by Monica or something. I understand why though, and the way it was resolved with Katie was very clever and creates cohesion to the story. Although I should probably mention I'm playing this game with 'cheat mod' so I don't have to worry so much about making right or wrong choice.

That's probably my only criticism. The dev could have really branched out with choices but I know that may get messy. Perhaps there next game they might experiment with that. But the fact it doens't get bogged down in all this 'branching story line' stuff maybe is it's strong point. Because it still makes you feel like you are making meaningfull choices when you decide to court a certain character.

Some people don't like the POV kisses and stuff, but I really like it. There is a sense of intimacy. The game works because the scenarios and characters feel believable and that is vital for good game.

Just a dam good VN.

Good game and nice characters. Did not go the corruption way. Have to replay more to get different outcomes. But one of my favorite game so far.

Personally i like the angle to get engaged with Monica. I think in theory you can possible be engaged with everyone. All character look great and have their own story as far as i can tell.

It is really well made and i love that it is long. You will have fun time playing it. Just have time available.

This is a good game with some things i don't like.
-from episode 22 there seems the dev just decided to just change any characterisation. For example, the sub woman who enjoyed being a sub decided to blackmail because plot reason... and ruin her situation.
Also the "no harem" thing becomes a so big issue for the dev that he decides to break the flow of the story and you are quite forced to do choices you weren't forced to do for 21 previous episodes. Speak about a total crash of the pacing of the game.

- no music is a big negative point, but it is so usual in adult games i don't even feel like explaining why music and sound design are important in a game.
- the girls are quite good. Monica would be the one with whom i have the most troubles because she has a "squary" face, but other than that, she's beautiful. I don't very much like the "ponytail" version of Katie but it's changed midgame so it's okay. Zarah is the girl i like the least and I think i can't be the only one when i see the fact that her looks changed quick in the game, and she has not a big role around middle, which is very well.

- there are many many many choices. But most choices are just "this" or "that" in conversation, with one giving point on this and the other on that. It's not bad, but it makes for...

- a very talkative game but often the talks are the "many words to explain one thing which could have been shown". So it's a failure in the "show, don't tell" department, helas, which goes along the lines of...

- most of the images are static. A same image can remain for like 15 slides of text, and it makes the game feel like "boring". The same game with more changes of images/scenes would feel less boring.

- the animation are not good.

- i'm personaly not fond at all of first person POV; this one is mostly focused on first person POV; happily are the girls beautiful so it does compensate.

For the rest: girls, relationships, the game feels good.

Frankly after episode 22 it seems the game will not become what it could have really be and just be average. Too bad.

Review [Ep.21]

Where the heart Is, it’s the most normal but nice game I have played on this site, I can’t really find some heavy negatives or great praises to give.
Still it was always on my mind, for how ok it was, but let’s delve into it.

Plot, characters and choices
The plot is existent, even if it starts slow and the mystery is hidden between events with the girls, but don’t expect anything breathtaking, it’s a common story (That sounds like a corny tv fiction) and it’s kinda predictable as most of the characters and events, but not in a bad way, you just see where everything is going, and the game doesn’t pretend to be a serious mastermind of narrating device, it knows his flow.
The three main characters will never surprise you, they act as the first impression; the lovable caring milf, the gymnastic one and the nerd one, they only get more involved into romance and sex but that’s it.
Choices are weird, they are so verbose, mostly every single one don’t matter much for the story, they only serve for obtain points for the character you wanna bang. (Also it’s kinda of an Harem but not really)
The side characters are the same as the 3 main girls, you’ll never go “WOW I DIDN‘T EXPECT THAT”.
We have the bitchy actress, the teasing friend of the milf, the bitchy rival, the sexy bartender…
They have some traits and personalities, but some get more screen time of others so Don’t get too attached to some cameos.
I would say some are better than the main cast but that’s my persomal bias.
The MC is okay, enough pervert and enough nice guy.

Sex and other stuff
The sex scenes are ok, you see 4 or 5 and you basically saw all of them, they are not bad but they are not really sexy either, they feel plain.
Renders and graphics I’m the first episodes are bad, not awful, but fortunately it gets better slower and slower so don’t worry much about.

Final thoughts
I don’t think I like this game, but I don’t hate it either, would I give it another chance? Probably one day, it’s perfect to lose time if you don‘t want heavy stuff and just a nice little story without any amazing plot twists or dramas.
I recommend it if you are searching something like this, a simple nice story

Very erotic and excellent adult game, one of the best. Sometimes they could have bit better animation the erotic scenes but the characters, usage of camera and scenarios etc is excellently erotic and only around episode 10.

I have a love/hate relationship with this beautiful disaster of a game. It starts slow, and as the developers acknowledge the visuals get strikingly better in later chapters. The story is on the upper side of average; it tries to be realistic and sincere but suffers from a bit of "porn game syndrome." They mystery elements, the romances, and the humor all come behind the main idea: the player is a sex god in a predominantly female world who is going to fuck every last one of them.

The game design is where WTHI struggles, and if I'm being honest it is just about the worst I've ever seen. This game is not a harem game, it doesn't have the harem tag, but boy does that backfire. Of the 10+ (I think it's actually 15, including those that are teased but not yet actually incorporated) girls in the game, there is not enough content for any single one of them to justify choosing only one. A number of the girls aren't even added until later episodes, and some girls only make appearances every five episodes or so. Despite having so many characters, there are in-game days where it basically says "you do nothing today, go to sleep, and wake up the next day." It's also obvious that some girls just aren't supposed to be real relationship choices in this game, and it's befuddling as to why the game would attempt to offer them as such when they have very little going for them. They game also teases polygamy with certain characters at various points but it's largely left unclear as to whether or not those are valid decisions that won't blow up in the player's face down the road.

On the other side of the coin, you can't really pursue multiple girls either, at least not in the long run. I understand wanting to preserve some sense of realism, but the first exclusive choices don't start showing up until very late in the game. You are all but encouraged to mess around with as many girls as possible for the longest time, and then suddenly you find yourself in predicaments if you play the game as it was seemingly intended. There's no warning that it's going to happen; you just get thrown into situations where you have to make abrupt choices due to the main character's initial lack of agency, allowing the girls to control his life and his schedule for the sake of forcing conflict.

There are ways to have a game with multiple romance options and monogamy. I personally like how Offcuts does it: you pick a girl after the game's introductory period and then play out her specific story, ignoring the others. Or you can do something like Depraved Awakening, Acting Lessons, etc. where you're allowed to fuck around all game and then make a final choice at the very end. But a seemingly perpetual love-decagon is not the way.

The multitude of choices the game offers are largely useless as well. Episode one features several of my least favorite type: instant bad-ends. This is a Ren'Py game. The player can roll back the game. Don't waste development resources adding in pointless choices that are nothing more than illusions of choice. The entire game is full of choices that effectively amount to Stat+1 or Stat-1 and in most cases it is easy to immediately discern which is which without looking at the code or using a walkthrough mod. You are also prompted a number of times to "continue relationship with girl" or "break-up with girl" where the former choice is the only one that makes sense unless you just want to skip content, as described in my paragraphs above.

If I were to summarize what I wrote above, I would say this: the game should have focused on the three main girls (Monica, Katie, and Jenna) and provided compelling, thorough stories for them. They are the girls introduced in episode one, and they feature in pretty much all of the episodes. Late appearances by the other girls are ultimately nothing but red herrings to distract the player, and they drained precious resources (time, writing effort, art effort) that could have been spent further fleshing out the main girls.

Easily in my top 10. Most harem games are copy paste and boring or have locked out routes, but this is definitely one of the few I'm eager for updates every time they come out. I highly recommend playing this if you like games like like Power Vacuum or Mid Life Crisis.

More than just fun and alluring models and scenes, this game has genuinely interesting paths and tensions. Plenty of sexy situations will still have you feverishly trying to maintain a delicate balance between the different characters. Definitely a fave.

I am playing v21 and currently e14 but I can tell I like this kind of a games. Perhaps basics of the story is a bit worn, but this has quite a lot variation with it's subplots.

Pros:
- Render quality is good.
- Characters are all likeable
- Story was nothing amazing but it got the job done and is pretty enjoyable.
- Quite a lot sex scenes
- No grinding
- No bugs

Cons:
- Some of the milf faces were a bit weary
- Some revenge scenes were too harsh

Me like!

I donot have words to describe this game. My rating says it all. There are some games in this site or in this genre which cannot be described with mere superlatives. I feel this game will easily be in top 5 of that list if not top it....

The plot, renders, models, everything is top notch. Keep it up dev, you rock I know you will revive and come back like never before..... Oh this rating may be a carbon copy of my other rating as I cannot make up my mind which one is better.

Aight so BOOM!

It's rare for me to actually take my time and read the plot to a game because;
1. Probably because of the broken English
2. Bad writing
3. I'm just horny af and trynna BUSS A NUT!
However, with this game, not only is the writing good, but you have to pay attention to the scenario, because EACH CHOICE MATTERS!

*i complain about bad writing, but make a run on sentence... I bet my English teachers and tutors would flip if they saw this*

Each storyline for the characters in this game is pretty good. Each character seems like they come off with some certain stereotypical architype. However, the further the story progresses, you see there are more layers within them, causing me (personally) to be more emotionally invested in them. I also feel like the emotional investment added on top of the sex scenes make each nut AMAZING!

AS FAR AS RENDERS AND MODELS GO, I feel like we've all scene better renders in other games compared to this one. One thing that sets itself apart from your run of the mill VN are how unique each model seems. I have not seen the same old hair cut with the side cut even shorter with a 3cm guard (yes that haircut is hot, but it definitely is getting over used at this point).

There is animation in this game. For some odd reason, however, it feels like you get a fully animated render sex scene, then a couple of frames for another. Both types of animations are scattered though out the entire game. It does seem a bit odd that there is THAT, but it's not a deal breaker.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FAP WORTHY MOMENTS?! I feel like every nut that I busted to this game felt amazing to the scenarios on top of the emotional investment included in this game. Every scene is worth a fap. It took about 20 days for me to get up to 21, and I'm hesitant on finishing this current version of the game. The renders may not be on par with the likes of a Philly D or Dr. Pink Cake game, but everything else makes up for it.

So yeah, not only is it a faptastic game, but it's also an emotional roller coaster worrth riding. Check out the game.

I stopped playing this game a while ago, but decided to give it a go given its popularity and genre; '3DCG'. Unfortunately, I am quite disappointed with the game.

The characters look like crap. Some faces are just ugly, some are very weird (for example, the redheaded girl with those weird colored lips) and some are very masculine.

Surely there must be more people who thought the neighbor looked masculine. I've never rejected a character in a game so hard, haha.

The total state of the game wasnt terrible therefore i thought 2 stars was the right amount.

PROS:

- The game never forgets it's an adult VN and creates sexually charged scenes often
- Plenty of characters and they're varied

CONS:

- Everything is shallow and banal. People don't talk or act like anyone in this game.
- In the first chapters there are some FUGLY characters.
- Same tropes as in all other games. One character is too shy while another is too forward. They're stereortypes of themselves which leaves no room for real character growth.

In short: If you like your VN's with a little depth and characters that seem at least a little realistic, this game is not for you. Other than that, everything is decent. It's not a bad game.

Very reluctant reviewer here, but this gem forced me to write one and I'm honoured to be honest. It felt really great after playing this. I loved the personalities of each girls, bubbly, energetic, mood lifters, some gorgeous milfs. Liked the mystery premise, it'll not give you any clue on who's is the one "among us". Animations 5/5; renders 5/5; romance 5/5. And well come back cheekyGimp