Ren'Py - Forbidden Memories [Ch.2 v2.0.1] [SGDP]

Review as of version 2.1
Summary:
I really like this game, and am excited for what's more to come in the future. The renders are great, animations are great, there are funny moments, the dialogues aren't overly long in between actions. The music is nice. I played the chapter 1 release (initial release) a couple of months ago. Just finished chapter 2. I must say: the quality improvement over one release, in that short period of time is really something else. If you don't pay attention to it you won't even notice it, but there are so many things that improved. The dev gives me the confidence that he/she loves this project. Would highly recommend.

Renders: 5/5
At the beginning of the game I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The scenes in the therapy session aren't extremely good, but aren't extremely bad either. Good thing the story is interesting enough to pull me through that. When you get into the actual game the renders are very very good. The consistency and attention to details keeps being there throughout the entire game. The renders in chapter 2 are maybe even a bit better than the ones in chapter 1.

Animations: 4/5
The animations look great. They are not the loop 10 frames kind of animations you see in a lot of other games. They feel realistic, and the quality of them is on par with the quality of the renders. The only reason I'm saying 4/5 instead of 5/5 is because there are not that many animations yet. The game is very new so I guess it makes sense, but the quality of the renders in general just leaves me longing for more.

Story: 5/5
The story is great. It captured my attention almost from the start. I like the fact that everything feels quite realistic. You go through your workday and stuff happens during it, as it would be able to in real life. You don't have these fake porn type of scenario's in there, it's quite a slow burn, but the gameplay keeps it entertaining enough to not get boring. The girls look very beautiful and I keep being interested in what's happening next. The choices often make me think twice about what I should do. I like the idea of the roms, I just hope it doesn't get old soon, and that it won't take too much dev time away from the actual story. Sometimes the story feels a little bit all over the place. What I mean by that is that lots of storylines are happening at the same time. For me this is a positive, as it feels highly realistic, and it requires you to be attentive to things happening, and the story doesn't get boring too soon, however I can imagine that some of the audience for a game could find it a bit too chaotic.

Characters: 5/5
Almost all the women in the game look absolutely stunning. I wasn't so sure about a couple of the girls, but spoiler alert - those worries get taken away.
The renders look great, the girls look beautiful yet somehow realistic. The expressions, especially in chapter 2 , are very nice. I like the personalities.
If I must give one point I still worry about: There are a lot of girls. At the pace the game is currently progressing I feel like you won't be able to be intimate with all the girls, or it will get rushed, or it will take 20 chapters without introducing new ones to complete all of them.

Music: 4/5
I really like the music. I found that a lot of songs stuck in my head even when I was done playing the game. The quality of them is good, they mostly fit the atmosphere the story is in, or they actually make the atmosphere more clear.

Gameplay: 5/5
I've seen many comments hating the sandbox element of the game, and while I do agree sometimes sandbox games suck, this one doesn't. I like having the map, which gives me a sense of actually directing the MC on where to go and what to do next. I try to remember as much as I can and make the best choices, but when I didn't know what to do next, I just opened the reminders and I could continue. It also made me realize I missed some opportunities so I made sure to pay extra attention on my 2nd playthrough.

Minigames 3/5:
There are some minigames in the game. Some are hosted on your phone and their main purpose is to make you money, which you can use on wallpapers for the phone or purchasing items which you will need to complete some opportunities. The minigames aren't super special, but I mean, you're probably not playing the game for the minigames. I like the Tetris game although it takes much too long to complete the entire thing, and the reward for it is not that great. A little rework here could improve the game even further. I like that you can disable and skip the minigames if you don't like them, because that does make things easier for a 2nd playthrough - for me mainly for missed opportunities, or to find missing collectibles.

All in all I hope this game is continued as it has great potential. I'm confused as to why not more people have played the game. I hope the dev will get enough support from the community to make the game even better.

Off to a promising beginning! There are decisions that prompt me to pause and consider rather than merely skimming over the NSFW scenes. The plot has captivated my interest. I trust that this game will see its development through to completion, rather than simply fading away after a few updates.

Story dident really do anything for me, its pretty boring and cringy sometimes, dident really enjoy the mini games either and not just the phone ones, you can get unlimited money doing the rolette by reloading so the money wont matter at all in the game and story mini games is also just boring.

It dident help that its purely made for people with big tits fetish which i dont have in any way so close to all girls was just a turn-off to me personaly.

The diversity in builds are just awfull, theres 1 granny with B cups, then 2 girls with C cups and the other i dunno 17+ girls is D and above, so you most defently have to have that fetish to play this one.

Music is pretty standard stuff nothing special.

This game is a prime example of minigames in games not being conducive for the gameplay and a showstopper.
Most often there is 1 route through a series of questions which lead to a positive outcome, and not only do you need to understand the internal logic of every character, you also need to master a range of subjects from basic IT-troubleshooting from fixed categories, to cardgames - all which have impact on the game itself.
This is just my personal review, and there may be a deeper meaning to intertwining your game with mandatory minigames, but it doesn't tickle my fancy.

Writing is good, and visuals are also good, the structure of the game itself is why I'm only giving it 3 stars as of v. 2.0.1.

Decent renders. But it doesnt matter because the gameplay is so goofy, directionless. The U.I is convoluted, unintuitive. The writing is very cringy and awkward at times. It's like stealing someone's homework and still getting an F. The dev should consider reading a proper book and play some more games here on F95 to improve this game.

Great game overall, i hope its continued. The render are great, the story is also interesting, maybe there are to many stories or branches but they are not overly complex. And the gameplay is very variated and not at all repetitive so far. I would say that the only thing that worries me is that the game is trying to do a lot at once, many girls, stories and mechanics and its not unusual for projects like this be abandoned or stuck in development hell for years. But its a great game, it a nice change to finally get an adult mc that doesn't look like a 13 year old kid or is absolute inept at everything. The girls are all pretty hot and i like that the game doesn't just go directly to full nudity as i like to see some lingerie.
Overall I'd say its a normal game that does what it does a great way, never felling lazy.

I think this game doesn't have a clear focus. It has a somehow plausible plot that seems to indicate that the dev intends to tell a serious, interesting story and not only an excuse to show tits and asses, but at the same time introduce absurd elements like the simulation that allows the MC to live again moments of his life to adopt different decisions that make plot an "everything goes" story and put the game in the zone of "the plot is a excuse to show tits and asses".

At the same time, the MC is a handsome and somehow attractive and kind of successful guy with a decent job and a pretty house, but the starting point of the game is that he's a lame loser that can't get laid in spite of having a lot of gorgeous girls around him, and cries and complains all the time. It makes no sense and it's not attractive to play as such a loser.

The renders are OK and he girls are pretty, although some of them has unrealistic too big tits for their frames. The free roams are sometimes annoying, and it's difficult to navigate with the arrows. The dev should improve that. Writing is not specially witty or fun, but it's not terrible either. Minigames are an annoyance, as 99% of minigames in this kind of games. I don't get why devs insist in introducing them in their games.

A very good start imho.(this review is for ver. 0.3) There are choices that makes me think a little not just skipping for the nsfw scenes. There is a little mismatch name in the chapter 1 but it is minor. I like the plot, we are not a horny dog that just wanna eff every single thing that moves. I hope this game will be complete not just "gone with the wind" after some update.