So let me start off praising the game for what it excels in, which is mostly season 1.
I recently ran through a new play through due to voicing being added to season 1 and I will say that for the most part, it is done very well. The actresses fit their models, and lean in to the roll pretty nicely. Sometimes there are differences in the tone used to voice a line and the actual context and scenario presented, but it isn't too jarring, mostly something to point out
Renders I believe are also very well. Designs of the characters in an H game is what makes people play it or not, and all the characters so far are very great design wise, even better than most other games I would say. It also feels that episodic focus on each girl lines up well and fits within the narrative and pace it moves at, as there has never really been a moment where I thought, "Why is there so much of this chick when there is none of this one". Only case I found that in was Susan, which before, wasn't a big issue as it made sense narrative wise, but as of recent is much more disappointing.
Story is going to be the second most important thing as that is what keeps players around waiting for new content and willing to get to the juicy stuff. Which is why I am happy to say season 1 storytelling was done pretty well. Nothing revolutionary, just the main plot of the father mystery and sub plot of day to day college endeavors and pleasures. There are certain times where plot points can appear and not be mentioned when should and vice versa, but it isn't to an amount that is detrimental.
Overall, I would say season 1 was an 8.7/10
Now here is where the rating drops
First off, the voicing itself I feel is the main thing that keeps this season up to now on it's legs. It doesn't bring anything supreme to the table, but it does continue to be as good as the first season. Same faults, but flaws will appear.
When it comes to rendering, specifically character design however, it seems to have all went downhill. There are many people saying it is great, and many others saying it's horrendous. I believe I sit right in the middle with my opinion being it feels uncanny or awkward in certain scenes. Facial expressions have gotten extremely exaggerated in certain scenes in episode 2 where they feel unnatural.
My main problem with this however, and probably the issues most people have with the change in rendering to characters, is why? In season 1, it was already very good, and I do understand the goal to achieve more realistic visuals, but if you have very positive feedback on 1 of the 2 main things people play the game for, changing that is something that needs to be done carefully. I have seen the polls of voting for the changes, but most of the renders didn't need change in the first place. Now it compromises a major part of consumers decision to play the product, and the worst part of it is that the old renders are through most of the game, so if a player looks at this from a face value, and never played this before, they will see the the first, older promotional material and if they enjoy it, once they do go through the game, they will end up with having to make that choice again, and unfortunately I have seen many comments on players dropping the game because they dislike the newer style, and I don't blame them. I do think Freshwomen should have it's own style, and I strongly believe it achieved that with what it had in season 1. There is a chance for revisions to be made and it's good this shift was made earlier as opposed to deeper in plot, as it can always be changed or potentially reversed. Unfortunately, I doubt episode 2 will get a revision on it's rendering to match season 1, but it is still a possibility I do think should be considered if the game wants to have long term success.
Unfortunately, there is another issue in the writing. Now with season 2, the story seems very packed with content and not in a good way. It isn't filled with time to play, but more it tries to cram as much plot and writing as it can, which makes it feel very rushed and also non consequential, or straight up stupid. The father of the MC being introduced this early [assuming the game plans for minimum 3 seasons with 5 episodes] was concerning, but it could've been a larger plot device, with the father being much more of and antagonist than I thought. That notion was quickly destroyed. Season 2 went in depth with the father but felt liked it glossed over the motive. Major discoveries were made in quick succession that changed perspective on the father, and before I knew it, the episode ended with the father gone, the conflict seemingly resolved, and even reinforced this idea at the start of episode 2 with Sam. That's it. That was what the main motive of season 1 led up to. With the main plot point being wrapped, only one remained. It might not really be the end of the father, but so many truths were revealed that at this point, opening up that plot thread again would be a mess, or at least, very empty and would need to force bullshit and spontaneous writing. Regardeless, that means the college plot point is left. And I thought that spending time with the main 4 girls, which 3 go to the college at this point, with most side girls joining aswell, you would THINK that the story would focus on the girls. Nothing with Chloe, as she had the spotlight in episode 1 and I think was honestly the ONLY good thing done. Maybe some time with Sue or Alyssa as we saw. But nope, instead it was centered around working at a night club, while also pimping girls out. Then throughout the whole episode, we did see Alyssa, but with the combination of rendering and writing, it just felt lackluster compared to pimping girls and fucking Gabby. There wasn't even small talk with Julia, or Chloe which back in season 1, there would be focus on 1 character and a side girl, with small convos with the rest, but it seems it lost that element which makes the story feel more narrow and not as enticing. Even now, the other major plot point of going to college, which is IMPLIED IN THE NAME of the game "FRESHWOMAN", seems to be in jeopardy aswell. Now it seems like the focus is turning from mystery with a fun college life to "Living In A Brothel", which isn't a bad game or story, but to make a shift that drastic and sudden? It feels like lazy writing, it feels like the narrative team wanted and had sooo much to work with, that they wanted to put in as much as they could while still maintaining integrity and a story easy to follow. Instead, the crammed in as much as they could and realized, they had TOO much to go off on, and minimized it to a point where all those things that could've been much bigger and more impactful, just got introduced and brushed off due to desire to wanting to work on the next thing. I get it that the devs would want us to recieve as much content possible, especially if high amounts of passion and excitement are behind it, but compromising 80% or more of your game, split in two subjects by these poor decisions is very dissapointing and hurts both player, and creator as we don't recieve a product we enjoy, and you don't produce a product that sells.
Overall, season 2 was a 3.1/10
Of course there always will be fans for any product, including me. While I have my gripes, I do really enjoy the game, and replaying it made me reignite the flame I had when I first played, but if this is what's to come in future, I'm not sure if I will be able to continue. Of course, it's still early, so change is best made now, but also remember that if something is done well, change isn't always neccessary. Afterall, this is still at it's core, an H game, so it doesn't take much to grow a fanbase, but this is probably one of the harder hitters in terms of popular H games, and it would be a real shame to see it fall before it even reaches it's peak, if it hasn't already reached it in season 1.
