VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Depraved Awakening [v1.0] [PhillyGames]

It's nice to have a game with a solid plot line that can be played without feeling like you need to gather a harem. I don't think it would have a huge impact on the end game, but I actually was considering how sleeping with one character would affect another. That tells me character development was a priority of the author\developer.

i thought i reviewed this ages ago but apparently i didnt
it was a nice game many beautiful women, loved the japanese girl which was married to a rich guy that got killed or something
will be looking forward to other phillygames

It has really nice graphics and renders. The story in my opinion too much complicated and does not catch that much so skip function is quite usefull. Overall I would say it is average game...not awasome not bad...

Still one of the greatest AVNs already made. A well-made noir/mystery thriller, likeable MC and a cast of interesting and very beautifull female characters. Meaningful choices that branch the story and lead to differents scenes, outcomes and endings. Well crafted sex scenes . Years after be finished, Depraved Awakening still stands as a gold standard of quality AVN.

Excellent is the very enemy of just "good". I checked out Philly Game's truly excellent "City of Broken Dreamer's" first (one of the very best VNs ever, in my opinion) and only after that decided to check out "Depraved Awakening", which was the first project by the dev.

It is maybe a bit unfair to compare these two games, but nonetheless playing "Broken Dreamers" first did have an impact on how much I was able to enjoy "Depraved Awakening", so keep that in mind.

"Depraved Awakening" is a hard boiled detective story about a private eye who gets involved with some really depraved and shady sex cult that develops a drug that lowers inhibitions and raises the sex drive and then abuses women in quite nasty ways.

The story is pretty average, it's certainly not bad at all, but you get typical evil men doing evil things, there's not much subtlety here. But still, there are some good (and bad) surprises here. Characters you think are more or less friends turn out to be antagonists, assholes turn out to be pretty decent in the end (based on player action!), characters who you may grow attached to die (you may not like that at all, so be warned!), so the story has a few twists and turns that elevate it.

But where "Depraved Awakening" stumbles, in my opinion, is with the love interests. There is not all that much depth or character development here. You have your typical sex crazy nymphos (some of them are under the influence of the drug though!), you have a damsel in distress with an asshole husband and you have your (not-)daughter Judy.

I tried to focus on Judy in my playthrough since I never really connected to any of the other female characters.

Character design is also not the best in this game, Judy is pretty, Christina the redhead is attractive (but her character did nothing for me) and Mi-do the Korean damsel in distress is kind of cute (but her face is not the best looking)... all other characters have weird lips and/or weird looking faces. Of course this is higly subjective since beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

On the plus side you don't get any silly body proportions here and everyone looks normal and more or less realistic.

But even though I focused on Judy I cannot really say that she is a well developed character. She mostly exists for the MC to romance. Other characters like Mi-do or even Christina have some more depth to them, but I didn't like Christina's character all that much and I found Mi-do a bit boring. Carli, the call girl / hooker, you meet very early in the game is ok as an character, but her looks did nothing for me. And Stella is the sex crazy nympho (under the influence of a drug) that just rang all my alarm bells.

You never really see the MC's face in this game, some like that approach, I usually prefer it if the MC is visible, because it gives you more options for camera angles, but for the most part it works here. But kissing scenes (the few there are, not that many really) are the usual awkward affair all POV games suffer from, or you get cropped faces with only the chin and mouth in the frame. But it mostly works here.

"Depraved Awakening" has a rather dark story, as you can guess by the title. But you can, more or less, opt to play a somewhat less creepy version of the MC. But even if you avoid corruption / depravity as much as you can the MC will still have some thoughts and inner monologue you may not like. He is a little bit of a creep no matter what choices you make.

There are also a few scenes that are unavoidable (at least they were in my playthrough, I did not explore each and every option) and that make no sense really if you want to focus on just one character.

For example in my playthrough there was an unskippable threesome with Christina and another female side character. Didn't want that, would have liked to avoid that entirely. It is avoidable but I tried to play blind and apparently made a wrong choice or so that railroaded me into a threesome and as soon as I realized what was happening the game offered no way out.

Later in the game there is yet another unavoidable sex scene with a side character. You have sex with someone's wife in front of his eyes. As some kind of punishment (he's one of the men behind the secret sex club). Did not like that at all. But there was no option to say "no" and to walk away or to get the necessary evidence in some other way. It's a story requirement since you need to secure the wife's cooperation in finding evidence against the cult/club. And her requirement is that the MC has his way with her and gives her a good time.

The game also tries to push threesome scenes with Judy and Christina, pretty hard too... I tried to avoid that as much as possible... still got an unskippable threesome with them close to the end which again, I did not like at all.

Apparently you have to make sure to have a very low score with Christina, but I had accumulated some points with her early in the game, my fault maybe, but then again, nothing indicated this would have results so much later in the game. So if you want to have a solo route without any sharing/threesomes and if you focus on Judy it's probably best to keep your score with Christina as low as possible, Lust should absolutely be close to 0 and below 2. The game keeps track of the score, so you can reload if you see that a dialogue choice gives you positive points with a character.

That being said, even if the lust score is 2 or more with Christina... the game should have given an option not to have a threesome with Judy and her. I'd rather not get any scenes than scenes I don't like. So a "no" option that just skips everything (so it never happens) should be the way to go, in my opinion.

In the final stretches of the game I avoided Christina as best as possible, yet there is one more potential threesome scene at the end. I think games in general should not be minefields where certain (not obvious) dialogue choices railroad you into unskippable scenes.

But in theory you can avoid Christina if you don't want Judy and her to share scenes with the MC. But of course without spoling yourself with a walkthrough and reading up ahead you don't know that. And you have to make certain choices pretty early in the game before you even know what is really going on.

You will also get several (more or less unpleasant) sex scenes between a female side character and NPCs, so the MC is not involved, but the game will still show you certain scenes where the villain(s) discuss things and have sex. It fits the narrative, since depravity is a major theme, but you may not entirely like those scenes. If you don't like sex scenes between other female characters (non LIs!) and other males you may want to avoid "Depraved Awakening" perhaps.

On the positive side you can avoid certain kinks like anal sex, there are options for those who love it, but you can just as easily ignore it. That's always a huge plus. It's more puzzling then why there are mandatory and unavoidable sex scenes with characters like Mrs Turner (the punishment for the husband scene). Especially if you play a very low depravity route, which I did. The scene, in my opinion, only makes sense for an MC with a high depravity score - which is hidden btw. Just pick the less creepy option when there are choices like peeping or groping someone in their sleep etc. And if you generally try to be "nice" it's easy to have a low depravity score even if you never know about it.

So my overall enjoyment of the game was lowered by several unavoidable scenes or scenes that are difficult to avoid unless you read a walkthrough all the way to the end. Or else before you know it you will have several threesomes with characters. Stella and Carli, Christina and Lynn, Judy and Christina several times... not a fan of this.

Also, the story is not too original, but still, there are several very intense moments, gun fights, chases and a few actual surprises. So even if the story is not very original, it's still quite intense and it will keep you engaged. You will not skip anything here.

Finally, the animations in this game are not all that great but improve in later chapters. It's not a dealbreaker. But don't expect too much here.

So who will enjoy this game?

If you like dark(er) stories with the option to become a bit depraved yourself then the game is absolutely worth your time. It looks a bit dated here and there, but this is to be expected. Character design is also mediocre.

If you would like to play a less depraved MC and maybe even have something of a wholesome romance then "Depraved Awakening" is a very mixed bag. Depending on whom you choose as your main love interest (you have to choose!) it can be pretty wholesome or it turns out to be a minefield of potential threesomes you may not want, if you want them, great, since it's very difficult to avoid them entirely. But if you don't want them... I would advise you to consult a walkthrough and to plan ahead, but this kind of defeats the purpose of playing a game.

So my advice: just try to avoid Christina as best as possible if Judy is your choice... and if you do not want a Carli and Stella threesome make sure to lie to Carli about the MC's encounter with Stella. And make sure not to tell Mo-di that you REALLY like Carli later in the game (which puts you on her path). Again, you will not know about the consequences of these choices while you play the game, there is no foreshadowing, no hints, you need to know this by reading a walkthrough. Likewise, if you DO want threesomes galore just do the opposite of course and you will have plenty of fun!

Where does this leave things?

"Depraved Awakening" is an ok game for me. Some lack of choices, some forced scenes and some unwanted scenes that are too easy to get diminish my enjoyment.

The themes in this game are of a darker variety but well executed for the most part. I just wish a low depravity route would have also resulted in a less creepy MC at times, did not like several of his inner monologues and I was also not a fan of how some of the scenes with Judy played out (not a fan of spanking, but that's just me), but overall it was ok.

The big negative here is that the attraction between Judy and her (not-)father is never really truly explained. Stella is into the MC because she's a nympho and under the influence of a drug, Carli is a sex worker, Christina receives orders to get close to the MC, Mo-di is grateful the MC rescued her... but Judy just wants to jump on the MC... it is kind of explained by Christina spiking the drinks of both the MC and Judy with the sex drug, but even when the effects wear off there is never really any deep soul searching here, they just have the hots for each other. It's ok, it's your typical VN logic, I just wished it would have been somewhat more 3-dimensional, especially when you come from the follow-up game that has all that. It's apparent Philly Games learned a lot while developing this game.

All in all "Depraved Awakening" can still be an enjoyable experience, but it's far from perfect or even great in my opinion. For that it lacks better character design, the story, while having some unforeseen twists and turns, is still pretty clichéd at times and the game lacks more choices when it comes to the various sex scenes. I really would have liked to avoid that scene with Mrs Turner for example and making threesomes with Judy and Christina so very easy to get without any warning or foreshadowing is unfortunate. This is made worse by the fact that the game tracks certain variables, like Judy's corruption, which are never displayed, so you don't really know if your choices decrease or increase her corruption, unless you once again consult a walkthrough.

But overall "Depraved Awakening" is one of the better VNs, it's also completed. Chances are very high you will enjoy this game if you like the somewhat darker subject.

V1.0 - Possible spoilers ahead...

TL;DR: Came for the story, stayed for Carli, Christina and Mi-Do... and the story. 10 out of 10, would get shot with a bolt again! Loses a star for a few missteps and missed opportunities, but gets it back because of the little flashes of humour in an otherwise pretty dark and gritty game, plus that shop scene!

Long version: I found the story and noiresque atmosphere intriguing, and the majority of the female characters well written, with their own motivations and back stories, even a few of the male characters were not entirely unlikeable. The renders are also top notch and hold up incredibly well today, despite this game being completed almost 4 years ago.

There were a couple of missteps though. Kira served as nothing more than a fairly bland antagonist, and Lynn felt like she overstayed her welcome, her sex scene just felt like filler. It's possible that I'm being too harsh and both characters are more fleshed out in certain playthroughs, but there were no changes in either of the 2 I did.

Anyway, if you like story-led games/VN's that would be compelling even without the sex scenes, this gets a whole-hearted recommendation. My only regret is that I didn't download and play it sooner!

An enjoyable noir-themed visual novel that is fun to play although despite the couple of branching stories I find little replay value except to unlock all scenes (something which a walthrough is very helpful for). Lots of references and tropes for fans of the noir genre.

Could be improved by providing better feedback about the immediate consequences of dialogue choices. I understand not wanting to reveal long term consequences, but since this game has mechanics which it tracks for the player, such as lust, score, and depravity (hidden stat), it would be helpful if the dialogue options specifically mentioned the immediate stat effects of each choice.

Also suffers from a problem a lot of RPGs have where the summary text for a dialogue option doesn't always match what your character actually says.

But overall I enjoyed it.

One of the best games I ever played for top to bottom. It's also one of the first games I ever played.

If you are even on the fence about this game just get it, you won't be disappoint. The story telling and different twist on the ending alone are worth your time.

I know everyone likes the dev's next game better, but this is the one that started it all for me in this genre.

Only thing negative I can say about it, is the animations are a little bit dated, but I don't really care about that much anyway.

Average is the best I can say. Tempted to give 2/5 but might as well make it a 3.
Characters are fairly boring. Models are good but there are problems (those smiles damn).
Protagonist is a creep. Not very smart either. And definitely doesn't seem like a proper detective.
Most women in here seem to want to be fucked as soon and as often as possible.
Story is......hard to rate. Ultimately, I don't really understand why the MC even got involved, but he did. This extend to other character's motivation which is most of the time all over the place. Story does have its twist and turns sometimes (not necessarily good ones though) but overall I would sum it up with one word: boring.
Sex scenes are here. 80% of them are forced and/or unnecessary. Kinda reminds me of japaneses VN where they insert some sex scenes as fan-service in hope of making the game more popular.
If you want a good story, this is not for you. Especially not for you if you want a good detective story.
If you want good characters, this is not for you.
If you want to fap, this is not for you (too much text)
If you want a basic wish fulfillment story where (almost) every random woman is a slut whose only dream is to jump on the MC cock as soon as possible, this might be for you.
Okay jokes aside I don't see for who this game is for, but clearly it's popular so I guess it manages to reach some kind of balance that unfortunately fail to impress me.

Phenomenal story, action-packed pacing, gorgeous girls with actual personalities (not the usual airhead fare that is so common in AVNs), choices that are actually hard to make, and quite a few very satisfying endings.

There's very little that is not too like about this game. Definitely a classic, and one I will remember for a long, long time.

You will NOT regret playing this game.

It's a fantastic game with a titillating, action-packed, and sex-filled tale, as well as fantastic graphics and animations. The sex and ladies scenes are steamy. Each character is well-developed and presented to fulfil their respective roles in the plot. The way the player's decisions affect the tale is also fantastic. This is without a doubt one of my favourite games, as well as one of the greatest available.

AVN Fantasy wins out against film noir convention

Up front, this game is right up my alley. The porn is to my taste, but even more than that, I love film noir. And from the first punch the MC takes to the face, you can tell it's written by someone who also loves it, and more than that, someone who understands the genre. It's campy in the right places, it's brutal in the right places, it's stylish everywhere.

Especially early on, that style does so much work. The atmosphere, the rhythm of the narration, the dialogue, it's all perfect. And then....

Well, the game really wants to deliver, and it does. It delivers a ton of raunchy sex, a ton of blockbuster action, and a ton of girls falling in love with the MC. I have no doubt that the developer loves these things too, as they're all executed beautifully.

But these things also replace the noir atmosphere that the game builds so well early on. Maybe they have to. Maybe no one wants to feel disempowered by a game, or betrayed by an ending. Just like noir, visual novels have their conventions, and one of the conventions seems to be that in a visual novel, women genuinely like you. And so the game moves from neo-noir to 80s action movie to, ultimately, what it is. A pornographic visual novel.

But man it's a good one.

I played this game a number of years ago and enjoyed it then. I played it again over the christmas break and find it still holds up. The story is so well written and has depth without being overly complex.

Good game, nice plot.
Ending feels a bit weird, but it's nice that there is a bad ending as well.
Definitely has some plot holes, but in his next game Philly has gotten much better.
Why do I even have to have 200 characters here?

Absolutely top tier VN with great girls, an actually good story and well written all around. Also the sex scenes have many great options and are pretty well animated. This is one of the best tbh, lots of scenes and routes to unlock and go down. Too bad I've heard less great things about Philly's newer work. City of Broken Dreamers, but at least we always have this gem to come back to, honestly wouldn't mind a sequel/expansion to this at all.

A genuinely powerful emotional experience; that is the best way I would summarize my playthrough of this game.

In terms of its parts, it may seem like a standard noir story with some adult game themes thrown in, but as I played through this game, the presentation started to draw me in, and I started to get emotionally invested in the plot and characters, and I genuinely was trying to see if I could save the various women the MC needs to help, and wanting to see the villains punished.

I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, because the game unfolds beautifully into moments of visceral tension, tragedy, and hard-won victories. Some of the action sequences are vividly thrilling, and there are various scenes which are truly pieces of art, including several sex scenes I could name.

If you are looking for a beautiful erotic game that can also give you the feels that stay with you after the story is done, I cannot recommend any other game higher than this one.

v1.0

Depraved Awakening is truly a classic that needs no introduction from what I've seen on here, and that's absolutely correct.
The noir/ hard-boiled detective plot, the cast of unique characters, and the tongue-in-cheek humour all make it a timeless classic

H-scenes
Overall the animations and statics are simple but hold up well thanks to exactly that. It was released several years ago after all.

The "worst" complaint you will find is that it visually can feel somewhat dated due to the models being commonplace now.

Mostly vanilla in terms of kink variety; though plenty of anal, lesbian, and threesome content.
You'll especially love it if you enjoy dirty talk or being called "Daddy" (though there's the option to change it to whatever honorific/title you prefer)

In conclusion: If you want to enjoy a compelling noir/detective story, with a great plot and fun "plot"-- all while being called "Daddy" like your life depends on it. Absolutely play this classic

Good renders, but some forced sex scenes are annoying, and omg why I can't get rid of Christina.
Christina and Judy sex relationship is so forced and come of nowhere, apparently I cannot get Judy without Christina meddling in my bussiness.

One of the all-time classic adult VNs that I'd played through many times, but never really played through thoroughly until today.

So, here's my review;

It's really, really good. Especially for its time, in a quickly evolving genre.

The Good;

The renders and character models. Though the renders aren't A+ elite, they are certainly very good. I enjoyed the looks and body proportions of almost every character in the game. Especially Christina. Kira is super hot as well, though some of the faces she makes are a bit jarring at times.

The lewd scenes are super spicy and still hold up today. A lot of kinky shit in them which is always a mega plus for me. Take notes, other Devs, vanilla is (almost always*) boring.

The writing and overall plot are very good. I really enjoyed being a detective in a seedy town, and the Dev does a good job of having that part of the city shine through. I also enjoyed the small immersive stuff like reading through case files such as police and toxicology reports. Makes the VN feel like LA Noire with steamy sex.

Random notes:

NTR warning with Christina. The game gives you an on/off option, however, and she isn't a love interest at the time anyway, so it's not truly NTR, but I can see some people getting salty about it anyway. So, warning.

Also wanted to note that I wasn't sure if I liked the MC or not. He's a sleaze with a clear impulse issue, but that's clearly what the Dev is going for, so counting it as a "bad" thing wouldn't be fair. However... (see my small complaints section)

Small complaints;

The MC is way too creepy with Judy. I'm personally not into the sleep kink stuff at all, so I skipped past that shit every time. And there is a lot of it early on, sadly.

Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about this VN. It's a highly-rated classic for a reason. Check it out, asap.

5* (Realistically 4.5, but, ya know)

Good:
Cool story (detective settings, dramatic, and intense), renders are great, unique faces, beautiful girls, proportional body, score points mechanism, different option leads to different sex scenes, no need incest patch the dialogues itself already good and fitted the situation/relationship.

Bad:
Few typos

Big thanks to and modder Maim Lain