VN - Ren'Py - Wild Cats [v0.3] [LopaPhi]

A good writing goes a long way... You can have amazing renders or great animations, but if you don't know how to tell a story, you're screwed...
This is a great example of how storytelling can be effective; it's immersive and compelling, hooking you instantly.
In terms of graphics, it's Honey Select - not mind-blowing, but serviceable.
Don't expect a lewd fest; it's a slow burn. You'll have to get to know the girls first, and trust me, it's really enjoyable.
If you like story-driven AVNs, give it a try and enjoy the ride. I think it's worth it.

10/10 Perfect score from me.
I didn't expect this to be THAT good. The story is fresh, well written, and interesting. For 2 episodes there are quite a lot of contents already.
The girls are unique, each of them actually has their own charm and personality. I like how the dev write the characters, especially the MC. He actually got some character development instead of being the perfect guy from the start.

Can't wait to see more.

It's an excellent game.
The beginning is a bit rough - it's supposed to be. The protagonist, and several of the girls, have problems that they're compensating for with aggressive defense mechanisms to drive people away. It's part of the story, and it's executed well, so push through it. It doesn't take too long before the protagonist is an acceptable character.
The girls are great. Diverse, hot, fleshed-out. They're well developed characters.
The sexy scenes are solid, with the potential to be excellent once things go all the way.
The story is solid. I enjoyed it (once the protagonist grew up a bit), and I'm looking forward to more.

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 than the average. 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

Updated Review for v0.3

The initial chapter of this game had gotten the job done in getting me interested in seeing more of this game. Now playing though chapters two and three, I'd say I'm invested now. This is one of the best sports-themed AVNs I've played.

Playing as a truly flawed MC has always been a hit or miss thing for me, as often I end up just disliking the MC to a point of not wanting to play the game. Originally it was one of my criticisms of this game, but I do have to give credit that this is a rare case of it being handled well. Wild Cats is very much a sort of phoenix rising from the ashes story, for both the MC, the girls, and the volleyball team as a whole.

Long story short, after a career ending injury and a year of spiraling down, we get one last chance to correct our life. We get a full scholarship, provided we become the coach for the women's volleyball team and win qualifiers in three months. The biggest catch being that the volleyball team is essentially defunct. We spend these first three chapters trying to get it back together.

Honestly instead of really breaking down the game piece by piece, I feel it really is sufficient to say pretty much everything about this is great. From the writing, the pacing, the renders, all the animations, the sex scenes, the love interests, even the story. I have praise for all of it.

Instead let me put it like this: there's two scenes towards the end of chapter three that maybe feel like some of the biggest sense of payoff I've gotten in awhile reading/playing visual novels. Spending all this time getting to know the girls, adamantly trying to get this team together, and the MC growing as a person with all of them to then end with having the scene of them all finally playing volleyball together and recognizing the MC as their coach simply put a big stupid smile on my face. When a visual novel can do that for me, there's not much higher praise I can give it. Provided the game keeps going as it has, I'd call it a favorite of mine.

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.

Chapter 2 Update:

See this is the update I wanted. Much more choices from the main character, he isn't insufferable and the game is immediately better for it. I know the author wanted the MC to hit a low point in front of the audience, but I think it did a disservice to his first chapter, at least for the players.

The game is 5 stars now, if you can power through the MC being insufferable in the first chapter, the girls are all distinct, all of them are compelling, even my least favorite of the girls we've had a chance for something romantic with is great.

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.