Recommending Story-first games

[FatGiant]

I remember having played until Chapter 14 and found it quite bland. Not a bad game per sé, but I recall it being about a dude with unlimited wealth and nothing else to do other than get his harem built up, with barely any effort rather than compliment the girls and stunning them with his inherited wealth.

I could not play further than Chapter 14 as I got exasperated with how repetitive I found the situation was with all the LIs. There wasn't even any antagonist, nor anything that could enter some real drama or something to "justify" the harem build-up.

Did the dev change the story direction? I recall the models being ok but rather than that there was nothing significant.

Things are moving. I don't think it will ever have a full-on Drama, but, it is in it's simplicity a game that makes me feel good, relaxed and calm. Granted, it isn't for people that are into heavy and pungent stories, but, well, keeping it simple and easy, also has it's charms, IMO.

The genre appeals to me a lot more than the heavy on decisions or with the "Choose Only One" trope. I abhor cheating. If a Dev is going to put me in a story with multiple LI's, and doesn't force a choice before we "Tried before we Buy" I feel like I am cheating, on everyone, myself included. Oh I can refuse them (sometimes)... the problem is that that is always a anxiety and stress filled decision. Since I am already anxious, stress avert, PTSD and Depressive, it is something I avoid like the plague.

If it is OK, for everyone else, I don't get to complain, right? But, would it be that much more work to create an extra route where you get all the girls, no anxiety, no stress, no cheating? Apparently it is.

It is also apparent that the objective is to incentivize replaying... Well, in my place, would you force yourself to replay a game the number of times needed to experience the anxiety, stress and cheating as many times as there are LI's? Would you really? So, I play it once, with a random LI, it really doesn't matter, all of them will be written to be in love with you, to give you a good time and so on... so choice is an illusion. Irrelevant. Spurious. Wasteful.

So, at least in an Harem game with low levels of Drama, no anxiety, no stress, no cheating, I am quite comfortable and can enjoy what there is of story.

It is quite OK that that doesn't appeal to everyone, your journey through life is yours alone.

Peace

 

[365 others]

Things are moving. I don't think it will ever have a full-on Drama, but, it is in it's simplicity a game that makes me feel good, relaxed and calm. Granted, it isn't for people that are into heavy and pungent stories, but, well, keeping it simple and easy, also has it's charms, IMO.

The genre appeals to me a lot more than the heavy on decisions or with the "Choose Only One" trope. I abhor cheating. If a Dev is going to put me in a story with multiple LI's, and doesn't force a choice before we "Tried before we Buy" I feel like I am cheating, on everyone, myself included. Oh I can refuse them (sometimes)... the problem is that that is always a anxiety and stress filled decision. Since I am already anxious, stress avert, PTSD and Depressive, it is something I avoid like the plague.

If it is OK, for everyone else, I don't get to complain, right? But, would it be that much more work to create an extra route where you get all the girls, no anxiety, no stress, no cheating? Apparently it is.

It is also apparent that the objective is to incentivize replaying... Well, in my place, would you force yourself to replay a game the number of times needed to experience the anxiety, stress and cheating as many times as there are LI's? Would you really? So, I play it once, with a random LI, it really doesn't matter, all of them will be written to be in love with you, to give you a good time and so on... so choice is an illusion. Irrelevant. Spurious. Wasteful.

So, at least in an Harem game with low levels of Drama, no anxiety, no stress, no cheating, I am quite comfortable and can enjoy what there is of story.

It is quite OK that that doesn't appeal to everyone, your journey through life is yours alone.

Peace

I agree with your POV. In my case, many games I enjoy have the harem tag (or throuples at least). I didn't mean it as criticizing games with that tag, but rather expressing disappointment with the way the story has been going for that specific VN.

I loved playing "A house in the rift", for example. It is also a harem-oriented game, with the theme "got to get them all" but has the addition of what imho is a good base and storytelling. It's not overcomplicated, even with the various themes blended in the main arc (from fantasy to modern age, pirates, a bit of steampunk, etc.) the story is still quite light and I find it very enjoyable.

Stray Incubus would be another example of that type of story, and there are several others, I think some of them were even discussed in this thread.

What I didn't like from Almost Dead was precisely (up to Chapter 14 at least) that it lacked any motivation for building up the harem, it was everything very coincidental, and the MC had no merit other than being filthy rich and oversized. He faced no challenge in making the LIs fall in love with him, and after the brief introduction of the background of the LIs (some of them didn't even have one, if I remember it right) there was no substance nor anything that made their story different from the next LI to join the harem.

 

[FatGiant]

I agree with your POV. In my case, many games I enjoy have the harem tag (or throuples at least). I didn't mean it as criticizing games with that tag, but rather expressing disappointment with the way the story has been going for that specific VN.

I loved playing "A house in the rift", for example. It is also a harem-oriented game, with the theme "got to get them all" but has the addition of what imho is a good base and storytelling. It's not overcomplicated, even with the various themes blended in the main arc (from fantasy to modern age, pirates, a bit of steampunk, etc.) the story is still quite light and I find it very enjoyable.

Stray Incubus would be another example of that type of story, and there are several others, I think some of them were even discussed in this thread.

What I didn't like from Almost Dead was precisely (up to Chapter 14 at least) that it lacked any motivation for building up the harem, it was everything very coincidental, and the MC had no merit other than being filthy rich and oversized. He faced no challenge in making the LIs fall in love with him, and after the brief introduction of the background of the LIs (some of them didn't even have one, if I remember it right) there was no substance nor anything that made their story different from the next LI to join the harem.

I will not even try to defend it. You are correct.

I think that BM took a while to understand and adapt to a story based VN, if it is in time to save this one, I don't know. But, I am quite OK with seeing him try. Even if it becomes too hard, I still have the simpler and still (for me) enjoyable initial version.

He seems to have a few new ideas for the VN, I am quite excited to see them.

Peace

 

[365 others]

I will not even try to defend it. You are correct.

I think that BM took a while to understand and adapt to a story based VN, if it is in time to save this one, I don't know. But, I am quite OK with seeing him try. Even if it becomes too hard, I still have the simpler and still (for me) enjoyable initial version.

He seems to have a few new ideas for the VN, I am quite excited to see them.

Peace

I've seen some reviews (one of them is yours) for his new VN. I'm quite intrigued by it, but I'm a bit hesitant to try it due to the "not NTR" content in it. Could you share an opinion on it?

I don't criticize people enjoying NTR, but for me, it has to be very well developed and justified in the story to be able to enjoy elements of it, and honestly, there haven't been too many games out there that have the perfect balance for me. It's kinda like what you just shared about having enough issues IRL to add the stress of the drama on a VN.

A good example of games with NTR content that I kind of liked (even if they have been criticized for other aspects) would be "Babysitter", "Power Vacuum", and "Big city pleasures".

 

[FatGiant]

I've seen some reviews (one of them is yours) for his new VN. I'm quite intrigued by it, but I'm a bit hesitant to try it due to the "not NTR" content in it. Could you share an opinion on it?

I don't criticize people enjoying NTR, but for me, it has to be very well developed and justified in the story to be able to enjoy elements of it, and honestly, there haven't been too many games out there that have the perfect balance for me. It's kinda like what you just shared about having enough issues IRL to add the stress of the drama on a VN.

A good example of games with NTR content that I kind of liked (even if they have been criticized for other aspects) would be "Babysitter", "Power Vacuum", and "Big city pleasures".

I refer you to my above statement, "I abhor cheating".

I said above also, that this Story needs maturity to be enjoyed. The main reason is that nonsense about the story having NTR.
I don't know if you have an ex significant other, do you think that if they ever find a new love, that that is NTR? Apparently very absurd people here think that that is not allowed, any woman that the MC touches is doomed to be forever alone if they break up.

I will not say more, that bit is already too much.

Peace

 

[Birdnman993]

A good example of games with NTR content that I kind of liked (even if they have been criticized for other aspects) would be "Babysitter", "Power Vacuum", and "Big city pleasures".

"Power Vacuum" Is it good? At first glance I just thought we would be in the shoes of a brainless muscular fool.

I've never played it so that's why I'm asking.

 

[365 others]

I refer you to my above statement, "I abhor cheating".

I said above also, that this Story needs maturity to be enjoyed. The main reason is that nonsense about the story having NTR.
I don't know if you have an ex significant other, do you think that if they ever find a new love, that that is NTR? Apparently very absurd people here think that that is not allowed, any woman that the MC touches is doomed to be forever alone if they break up.

I will not say more, that bit is already too much.

Peace

I see.

I don't think an individual loses any value if they move on after the breakup to another relationship having also intimacy with the new partner. What could (at least in my current state of mind) kinda make it unpleasant is the way the relationship is pictured between the co-protagonists. If at least one of them is still invested in the other, even if the mature way to go is to just let things go, I'd lie if I said it wouldn't bother me. But that's just because of my current state of mind.

Kinda like reading classic Russian novels when being sad/depressed. They are beautiful masterpieces, but it would be (at least for me) a bad idea to get invested in a tragic novel.

Thank you for the insights. I find your review very helpful.

 

[365 others]

"Power Vacuum" Is it good? At first glance I just thought we would be in the shoes of a brainless muscular fool.

I've never played it so that's why I'm asking.

There are mixed reviews about that game, so I'll enumerate the main points I like and dislike about it:

Pros:

• It is conveniently divided into well-defined chapters (clear beginning, development, and end). It might sound ridiculous, but it helps me to "cut" clean a reading without leaving a too annoying hang cliff. You can stop at the end of the chapter and won't have the strong feeling something's missing.
• Every LI is well written (character traits, motives, likes, and dislikes), and their relationship with the MC is unique.
• MC evolves from a "brainless muscular fool" to a somewhat less brainless (still quite dumb, IMHO) during the story.
• The NTR is the consequence of bad decisions made by the MC. If you choose the right options, you don't get to see them. If you choose the bad ones, the game takes you to the decision-making point, so you can rectify, making the NTR "endings" not the canon ending.
• Good art (renders, animations).
• The stories (both the main arc and side stories) are interesting, and related to each other with enough order not to lose sense or cohesion as they go.

Cons:

• It seems the dev is rather absent. Not too many updates, not constant and the story seems to be being updated with drop counts.
• MC is quite dumb, it's hard to relate to him. Makes poor decisions based on nearly no rationalizing.
• While I like several traits of their characters, LI's are barely above stupid regarding the antagonist. I mean, it's crystal clear, and pretty much any woman I know would figure out something's wrong with the antagonist's antics, but for some reason, they are rather confident in him. It feels weird considering how they actively distrust the MC even tho they had no contact with him for years, while the antagonist is very clearly perving them.

Overall I liked it enough to keep playing it, but not to sub to it.

 

[Birdnman993]

There are mixed reviews about that game, so I'll enumerate the main points I like and dislike about it:

Overall I liked it enough to keep playing it, but not to sub to it.

Thanks for the response, it's basically everything I thought it would be with the images I saw, the MC model is almost always used when I see it to make a pathetic character in several titles, although I'll take a look at it.

The LIs might be entertaining enough to keep going.

 

[365 others]

Out of all the vns/games mentioned in this thread, which ones would you guys say have a smart MC?
I just started a couple of new VNs (well, new meaning I haven't played those before) and realized that so far I can't recall one where the MC isn't at least somewhat dumb.

I get that for the story's sake, MCs need to evolve as well as the other characters, but even for those I played in this list, I find many of the MCs slow in the best cases.

 

[Blizzard99]

Out of all the vns/games mentioned in this thread, which ones would you guys say have a smart MC?

In the OP post: Ashes of War, Leaving DNA, Nothing is Forever and Sorcerer.

Edit: I haven't played all the games mentioned in the OP post.

 

[Kavin123]

Can anyone suggest some great story games like chasing sunsets, leap of faith, intertwined and summer's gone????

 

[365 others]

Can anyone suggest some great story games like chasing sunsets, leap of faith, intertwined and summer's gone????

I asked something very similar, pretty much any of the games/vns in this thread have a good story. Check out Jaike's response to my question a few days ago:

Here's an edited list where I took out the definitely abandoned games and marked all the completed ones with C. I could tell there were way more completed games than abandoned games. I marked Elvensang as "abandoned?" because it was abandoned not long ago and then restarted.

Spoiler: edited list

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And here's a link to kotte's list.