VN - Ren'Py - Wild Cats [v0.2 Public] [LopaPhi]

Got so invested in the story and characters I started playing with two hands instead of one.
The LI designs are amazing too, really elevated the HS models. The animations are also surprisingly good.
Currently, its lacking sex scenes (I think there are 3 as of 0.2) but I'm too interested in the story to care.
The amount of time between 0.1 and 0.2 release does make me nervous though, 5 months? I'm not sure I could wait that long again.

Review as of 0.2

Storyline and LIs are great, looking forward to future versions.

Visuals are good, 0.1 felt a bit lacking in some areas (stuff like a lot of clipping), but that was minor and 0.2 seems to have improved a lot.

Great promising game with a lot of heart put into it. The setting is interesting and the LIs are all very charming, unique and really hot. Clearly the dev had put significant effort into his work and it shows. If I were to pick something to nitpick it would be that some dialogue in episode 1 seems rather stiff, that and it would be amazing to have a high resolution, say 4k rendered version of the game.

It's very good thus far and has a decent amount of content for how early into development it is. I was already hooked from chapter one and have been checking in every so often to see if a new update had come out. All of the LIs are unique and come with their own challenges and quirks to navigate through in building both personal and coach-athlete relationships. I really look forward to how the story pans out the developer is absolutely killing it.

First impressions:

It's a good game that could easily be a great game.
The models are fantastic. The MC and the team, purposely made to be dicks, are a bit annoying but I can see why it's been done.

The story so far is at least a bit different from 90% of the other games out there so that is refreshing.

It's the technical side of things where most of my problems with the game are found. Some may be just the dev getting used to the mechanics of a new game but some seem to be purposely included.

Here they are:

The dev's decision to wash out all scenes with a sepia filter to remove colour is just baffling. Why decide to degrade the 'visual' from a visual novel?

The time delays in reading some lines is irritating. I'm no speed reader but this pause is ridiculous (yes, I have time delay set to minimum), especially when some lines are on for a micro second before zapping to the next line, and don't get me started on ....... 'click' ..... 'click' .... 'click' ... between scenes

Never been a fan of "game overs" but that is not really an issue with a walkthrough

As I said earlier, this is an good game spoiled a bit by some baffling technicial decisions that, to me, only detract from a potentially excellent game.

I highly recommend the game, but you will be irritated with it at times.

Incredible game. For being on version 0.2 the quantity of content is very good, I got through it in about 4 hours or so and I generally find I get through VNs faster. The renders do have a lot of sharpness which comes off as a stylistic choice, I personally love it but it might not be everyone's thing. Aside from that, the only real complaint I could think of is every now and then a letter won't be capitalized, or there will be missing punctuation. This is a game I will happily support until it's completed.

It's a really hard game to get invested in. From reading some reviews it seems this is the best thing since animations were added to AVNs but really it's so difficult to feel anything in the beginning.

The game starts with a dude who can't do the thing anymore and must now teach the thing to get into a school. As a hook it's good and all but the issue is the characters are just unpleasant. So you're playing a game as a character who's unlikeable talking to people who have the charisma and appeal or a half brick and you're clicking along going.... why am I bothering?

The game starts with a disclaimer that the MC's attitude sucks and you should stick it out but the fact you're even being warned of this suggests there's something wrong story wise. You wouldn't have Steven Spielberg coming on before a film saying "I know Indiana Jones sleeps with a kid who's still in school when he's a teacher but he's nice, honest". It's so jarring to just be playing a game who's angry all the time. Don't get me wrong, he might have reason to be angry, he's been dealt a bad hand in life but as it's only touched upon you are left thinking he's the issue.

Another silly issue is the needless choices. There are.... 4? I think. Maybe 5 instances where the MC is getting nowhere and he goes "should I just give up" and saying yes ends the game. What's even the point of these choices? These type of choices are worse than those that just go down the same route anyway. At least with those you're making progress. Basically the game stops and goes "do you want to keep playing" and if you go "na I'm good" then it just ends. Pointless.

The supporting characters are ok but again the first three you meet are all inherently dislikeable so there's no hook to draw you in, two of the three straight up insult you. So you're questioning whether to keep going or to just cash out. There's no warmth, there's no chemistry. There's just an angry dude speaking to angry women and that's it? Like maybe later it'll get good but will anyone keep at it to get there

Give up?
Yeah sure, why not.

Its Very good VN so far and its quite promising to be one of the best stories .
Moreover the title is very fitting indeed, visuals are very good (though they need some polishing especially near the hair) and the story is quite interesting and nice.
MC is quite good and i can see the character development and the inner struggle even in 1 chapter.
The LI are beautiful ,unique and yea wild cats ..... (Mc gonna have a hard time)
Thankfully is Harem because the choices are many and diffucult... though personally im gonna go for Eve and Zoe for sure and perhaps Lexi and Saki.
Moreover i don't see any lesbian tag and i personally liked this (i hope though if there is any change in the future to be optional)
Nonetheless i believe if it continue like this it would become a great VN and personally i enjoyed it a lot.
Highly recommended and i cant wait for the next chapter.

The game looks great. The developer clearly is pushing the Honey Select 2 engine to its fullest capacity and the results are very nice. The writing is good and all the characters are likeable.

0.2 took a leap that was I was very glad to see and it looks like the story is progressing along nicely. Can't wait for the next update!

A really well-written story, great renders, hot scenes, and no grinding. Everything you want from a great AVN. It's rare you see this good writing in actual sports movies or anime. Really looking forward to next updates!

Sports based AVN and it's executed well. Good looking renders and girls. All got their own personalities. Story moving in good pace too. On the lewd part it's slowburn another plus for me. I'm a huge haikyuu fan so I'm glad volleyball is getting attention here. Hoping to see intense matches later in the game.

+ Story
+ Visuals
+ Girls with unique personalities
+ Mc ( he ain't a creep )
+ Sports based

Keep up the good work dev looking forward to next updates

Review for v0.1.1

Sports-based AVNs are a genre I'd like to see more of, and it seems like Wild Cats might fill that particular craving I've been having for one. The previews and concept of being a coach for a volleyball team are what drew me in, but what I didn't quite expect is just how deep the writing gets in regards to the characters.

That's not to necessarily say this is a literary masterpiece, but it would have been easier to throw together a basic underdog story with some quirky girls and call it there. The game takes that deeper though, and lets the characters have real flaws and conflicts with the MC, the MC being a very flawed individual himself. And while I do think some of the dialogue and story beats are perhaps a bit on the unrealistic/played up side, there's still a lot personality shining through that's essentially capturing me into wanting to play more of this.

The overview gives you a decent idea of what to expect, but this really is a rising from the ashes story more than anything. The volleyball team your future now resides on coaching isn't just some group of diamond in the rough players you have to train up, it practically doesn't even exist. As the game puts it, you're starting from rock bottom. Your first task is getting the few players on the roster to actually train, which becomes rather monumental task itself.

What makes that task harder is the MC shooting himself in the foot left and right, which clues you into his character flaw. Truthfully this is an aspect I'm pretty mixed on. While it is nice to see a character have flaws and have to deal with real conflict, I've never been a huge fan of making MCs purposely unlikable. That's kind of what this game does, and I mean it's working, but not necessarily in a way where it's making me want to see him fix himself and succeed if that makes any sense. Rather, it's just a bit annoying? After the MC has a career ending injury and seemingly spends a year of his life crashing out, we learn the main consequence of that is he now doesn't have much of a filter and is kind of an asshole. He actively makes his own life harder by being a dick, which to be fair he recognizes and attempts to fix.

I think my problem is stemming from the fact that we don't really see any of his struggles portrayed to justify the way he is now. We kinda get a time skip where the games tells you "yeah the MC went through some shit" but we don't actually see that, which makes him hard to empathize with for me. That being said, when he's not an asshole, I'm liking his character and how he's trying to dedicate himself to this coaching thing (mostly for his benefit right now, but I'm sure it will grow). There's a couple cheesy/cringe lines here and there too but that's just being nitpicky.

I like the girls a lot too actually, partly for the fact that they don't let the MC walk all over them when he's being a dick and actively oppose him at points because of it. Which again he deserves and even gets a punch in the mouth for. It's surprisingly realistic in that way. It's not just the common AVN trope of the girls immediately falling for him and doing what he says because he has "something special." We get focus on some more than others, but they're all endearing in their own ways. Enough for me to want to see more of them anyway.

It's got a lot of other solid AVN staples like music and sound, plus the renders and character designs have a pretty unique feel to them. Some of the renders are pretty grainy or low quality maybe is the word, but the core part of them is good if that makes sense. Like they look good but need touch ups. There's also some very good animations not just for sex scenes but for moments like volleyball stuff as well. All great things to have. I have some smaller complaints, like the choices and bad ends being kinda pointless, but nothing so bad as to really go into a rant about.

All in all it's still early but this is a very good start. I'm pretty eager to get to the point where they actually start practicing and playing volleyball, but this is almost a slow burn in that it's taking time to really detail the girls before getting there. We're in the problem solving stage where we gotta deal with outside factors to get the team together in the first place. I do hope this doesn't forget it's a volleyball AVN down the line though, because as much as I'm here for the sex, I'm also equally here for a good volleyball story. I want to see them succeed man.

To be honest, despite the moderate amount of content it has which is understandable since it is the initial release, my experience was quite good. Each characters felt so real and distinctive from each other. Even MC got a troublesome past and it is refreshing to see how he is struggling with his personality and trying to overcome it. A must try AVN if you play for the story.

After scrolling through dozen of games and becoming an Idol Manager to being teleported to a house in the rift and another realm with baddies that has qi, enrolling to a new school abroad just to become an op newbie in a vr, to surviving an apocalypse with two sisters and now becoming a women's volleyball coach but with a bad temper seems great.

Quite ballsy to make the main character with such a severe flaw in a genre filled with wish fulfilment fantasies and perfect protagonists.

There is only one time where I found him too whiny, the scene where Desirée tries to help him, where it just went for a bit too long. I am otherwise okay with it. It gives room for him to improve as a character and makes the story have a bit more depth. It's great.

Off to a good start, keep up with it.

This is an all-around well-made game, but the only reason this isn't a lower-reviewed game is because the author does have a warning before you start the game that the MC is insufferable but my god, I can't play the game anymore.

Yes, I know he has trauma. Yes, I know his dreams were crushed. Yes, I get that it could have an extreme effect on his emotions. I think it's overdone to the point of complete annoyance. The weird part is the MC diagnoses himself pretty well, he knows he's pushing people away because of his anger at himself and the world, but he continuously acts like a toddler and an edgelord. Yes, I know the author wants to build the MC up from being a piece of shit, but there is no reason for the audience to attach themselves to this character, he doesn't have a redeeming quality, his whole personality is his trauma. In future chapters, I'm sure he gets better, but there needs to be something there for me personally to want to play as a character, and the constant self-sabotaging is too much for me to enjoy.

That being said, the quality of the renders, the models, and a fairly unique idea definitely has potential, and my review could change, my constructive criticism is the author started the MC too low. All of the bad things that happened to him are his fault, besides the freak injury. Having a main character who is flawed is good, but not this flawed. To use a very famous example of a protagonist, Luke Skywalker is a whiny teenager, but he has a heart of gold who along with the audience, wants to explore the galaxy. I want to explore this game, but the MC is whiny, aggressive, and a bad person. The worst thing is that he doesn't want to engage in the wider world.

Calling this game average would be unfair, but it balances out. Great models, great renders, good technical skill. Absolutely insufferable MC that makes me want to scratch my eyes out. 3 stars. If you care less about story and plot development and you want to see hot volleyball girls, 5 stars.

Great characters. I liked everyone except for Fiona so far; I'm honestly not really a fan of tattooed and/or pierced girls (the face tattoo might have been a bit much imo, but the worst part about her was her attitude by straight up punching the guy). Eve on the other hand is my favorite so far as she's quite adorable.

The renders do need some work, especially the hairs, but it does get a bit better as the game goes on even on this first chapter.

Speaking of first chapters, I was pleasantly surprised by its length. A lot of content and we can clearly see the MC struggling with himself and trying to do better. I do think a lot of what he does is pretty human and doesn't come out as not genuine considering where he's coming from, so all in all, I think he's also part of a great cast.

The story is pretty good too. I'm a fan of sports anime, even sports I know nothing about and end up learning while watching, so I'm curious to see where this game takes it.

Characters: The LIs as of the first chapter are insufferable and unlikable. They treat MC like trash and MC is forced to grovel to them in response. Just a gross situation to open with.

Renders: Not great as of the first chapter, but an admirable effort from a dev who clearly is trying to get started.

Story: Intriguing, but honestly completely derailed by the horrid characters and constant groveling the MC has to do to them. Every time I started to get pulled in to the story, I got pulled out by one of the gratuitous amounts of game-over screens or the complete abrasiveness of a potential LI's personality.

Overall, I will probably wait for significant development to attempt to play again because the potential is there. The characters are just so insufferable and the way the story is presented is clunky. I understand the attempt of the constant "give up?" screens is to convey a feeling of overcoming the MC's nature and become better, but it instead just presents a frustrating mechanic that pulls me out of the story every time I start to get past how actually awful the characters are. Maybe the characters will improve with time and the first chapter is just showing them in the worst light, but it doesn't help the overall narrative forces you to grovel to them no matter how bad they treat you.

Great start, way longer than I expected as well for a first release. Love the characters, the writing's nice, so are the LIs and I like the way the MC is written too, it's kind of unconventional for an adult visual novel but it's interesting. The renders and the overall art style is enjoable as well. Definitely recommend this one.

This is really good, maybe it's a bit early to say something like this, but with ch1 alone it reminds me more of normal jap VN than the typical porn plot fuckfest AVN you see. Honestly, if it was already completed and it kept the level of quality that CH1 had, I'd be willing to buy it.

The plot is pretty good. The subject matter itself (volleyball) doesn't appeal to me, but it seems the focus is a lot more on the characters and creating a compelling narrative surrounding the subject matter rather than the sport itself, and it does a good job at it. I was very much invested.

The characters take the spotlight here, they are definitely interesting and likeable, the one I liked the most was definitely Lexi, but I still want to see more of the others. They follow some typical tropes (delinquent rebel, the wild dangerous girl, rich ojousama type and such), but I don't see a problem with that, I'm more interested in how the Dev will develop them, tropes are tropes for a reason, they work.

Gameplay is typical VN gameplay, you have choices you pick on certain occasions and seems like it will have a hidden point based/flag based system, I haven't tried every option, but It didn't feel like anything was forced on me, I don't know if the dev will keep up multiple routes based on choices (it can be a bother to code) but for now it's satisfying.

The character models are good, I don't think they are the absolute best I've seen for HS2, but this game is definitely up there in terms of quality, the girls are very attractive. We are told multiple times the MC is handsome and it actually feels justified here, he also looks good. I do like when the MC is attractive as well if I'm forced to stare at his face for several hours (no i'm not gay).


Criticisms have already been made by a few other reviewers and I've noticed these flaws as well, lighting on the scenes is quite weird and everything looks really bright, quality of the renders is definitely lacking, but this could definitely improve over time. I'm also hoping the quality of the animations and sex scenes improves, but I believe there is only one for now, so there isn't much to judge.

Overall, very promising, but I will keep my expectations reasonable, I've seen other promising games here eventually getting abandoned on going into development hell for years, so we'll have to see if the Dev's update schedule and ETA's are reasonable. If they are, this a very good start for him and I do hope this blows up and gets more attention, it's already better than a lot of stuff here.