VN - Others - Completed - GRAY [Final] [NOTvil]

this game has a great start but a poor ending. I have tried this game when it was still not yet complete. it was quite fun to be honest. but as it progress, it felt pretty rushed and content seems to be getting worst (art work and amount of content). a pretty disappointing end.

This game had an amazing story (that leads to the developer's other game) and beautiful renders, but its gameplay is insanely frustrating and the sex scenes are criminally short and lacking.

First off, the platforming, it's all controlled as a little robot, and with a "blue bar" as the game describe, to propel you to bounce against the walls, with no jump. At the first glance the idea seems fresh, but the levels allow very little mistake, and there's absolutely no check point throughout the entire game. Which likes Lisa says, "you just keep dying over and over again...", which makes the game totally fun by extending a game I could potentially clear in 2 hours to about 8 because I just keep on dying on one level.

And there's even a fucking system where the game gives you more "plasmo" (the game's basic currency) if you clear the stages fast enough which might have contributed to the "no check point problem", but you could potentially just save the time when you got to the check point and save player's troubles...

Yes, there's a skip button, but that just proves the gameplay isn't that fun in the first place. It reminds me of Nitro Rad's Sonic '06 (sarcastic) review, "the game straight up let skip over these pesky puzzles that you just don't wanna do", well the skip is present here because it's even the developer know it's dang frustrating but don't bother to fix the issues that make them frustrating.

But the Astroid space ship stage late in Lost Memories is somehow even worse, you fly around under a fuel meter with your guide Liu tell you where the fuel power-ups are and by-extent the goal, but the Astroid style control is not fit for a stage where there's laser all around trying to kill you, and did I mentioned about no check points yet? Many players have reported how terrible the space ship levels are, and I just fucking skipped them whenever they comes up because I ain't fucking wasting my fucking time on these meaningless shit.
The Galaga/Space Invader shoot-em-up is pretty fun though, but the meteor dodging pissed me off a little because of cough check points cough, but you can cheese it by flying on the right side of the screen where they'll never hit you.

Now on to the sex scenes, they're animated and look very good, but they barely a part of the storytelling and most of them end in just one animation, and some of them are even optional! And you can't revisiting these sex scenes in the game's build-in gallery, they're mostly still pin-ups that has no relation to the story at all, some of them are unlocked through progressing, but most of them of are unlocked through getting 3 plastmos on levels... Fuck that.

There's also the ability to look around stages, and occasionally get some blue dots when you touch them with this ability, with enough of the them you can unlock two likely un-canon animated sex scenes. Yeah...

Overall, the gameplay experience I had is very bad, it ended up being a case of Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game.
You could argue that I should judge the game by its story alone, but if you just want to tell a story then just make a goddamn visual novel then, I'm here to critique it by all of its aspect, and the story just isn't enough to justify its poor gameplay design, especially when the "puzzle-platformer" is it's main selling point.

Amazing renders, lighting, story. Never expected an nsfw game to be this well put together. The gameplay is also new to me, haven't seen this kind of navigation before so it's pretty interesting. Definitely a dev to follow, seriously blown my expectations away.

My judgment of a porno game's quality is usually based almost entirely on its sexual content, not it's story or even gameplay. This is partly because I download these games for their sexual content. But partly also due to the fact that in my experience the writing aspect of these games is almost always mediocre at best. I'm not even talking about being 'cliched' or repeating 'tropes' from somewhere else. The conventionality of a narrative has nothing to do with its quality. The only thing that matters is whether it can make someone other than its producer identify with it. A good story doesn't make the reader feel like they're experiencing new things in the writer's shoes. It shows the reader how their own experiences intersect with everyone else's, including those of the writer.

This is definitely one of the handful of games on this site which are genuinely well written. And I say this having played all the top trending ones (none of which can be put in that category, btw). That said, syntax is an issue. The author/dev is clearly not very well acquainted with English. Not a major one however because it's all intelligible and one can reasonably ask no more of non-native English speaking indie porn game devs.

Anyway, it's about a man coping with loss, or rather coping with the fact that the loss has driven him mad with grief. His memories and personality have splintered along with his grip on reality because putting them together is too painful for him. He is a schizo, and most of the game's 'story' is essentially a reproduction of a schizophrenic episode. If you're here for what seems to pass on this site as 'good' stories you'll be disappointed. If like me, you have read actual good stories and appreciate them, you should definitely play this game.

The graphics are technically nothing special but very well conceived aesthetically. They convey a sense of simultaneous confusion and recognition, of seesawing between relief and anxiety, which is the essence of psychosis.

I didn't download this game for the story though, but the fap content. So a few words on that: above average in most scenes and mediocre in the rest; good enough for a couple wanks but you likely won't find yourself coming back for more than that. Mostly featuring vanilla sex with iirc one femdom scene and another where you want to stop a girl getting fucked by another man but can't. Idk what fetish the latter is but I imagine it's a variant of cucking.

The game also features minigames that you are 'supposed' to play to advance the story, but you can just skip them all if you want. I enjoyed some of the minigames and found the others annoying or too difficult.

I'm rating this game primarily based on the story. A solid 4 stars for that, plus one more for the porn + occasionally enjoyable but always skippable minigames.

The lack of a scene replay gallery and a dialogue skip button are objective flaws, but I won't penalise the dev for that. The 5/5 is essentially my commendation to the dev for an excellent and very rare (on this site) creative effort that I enjoyed a lot.

Bought it on Steam.

I've truly tried to like it but ...3/5 it is.

What has torn my eye is resolution and absence of any options except windowed/fullscreen (stretched, i.e. native resolution smth like 1280x720, not sure).

You should play Lost memories, then Revelations.

First part has more funny story with lots of references to different video games, while the second part is much more dark and dramatic. Overall plot is a bit crazy, but fine.

Didn't like the scenes. You won't get that feeling that you've became to know character "X" and you finally can have sex with it. There's 1-2(at max) animations per scene and on one hand it's fine, while on the other hand too much left for imagination.

Mini games can be skipped. That's a good one.

Skipped mini games, readed all dialogues - 4 hours at max. 3+ most likely.

At Areas of Gray topic Notvil said Renpy limited engine. I dont know about that (I'm not a dev), but the most hot, interesting and heartwarming games written on it. Maybe simplicity isnt bad at all ? At least it has normal resolution.

Good luck with the future projects !

Reviews & News That I Wish I Had Seen for
GRAY, version 1 by NOTvil,
2020 Sept 16.

* There is only one ending.

* Many of the graphics are worthwhile.

* Player's plot choices are virtually meaningless. In places the game deliberately changes the choices you made while you watch ! If you exclude the platform game and minigames, it is *almost* a kinetic visual novel.

* You don't even get to choose to save your place in the game!

* To find the "SKIP" buttons for the various games, try these steps until you return to a world with walls, people, and furnishings:
~ the minigames start without your choice.
~ click the 'Esc' key on your keyboard and a menu appears in the centre of the screen.
~ if a large, brightly coloured, "Skip" choice is *not* attached to the bottom of this menu, then return to the game and press 'A' and 'D' on your keyboard to move your robot to collect a fuel module (if necessary) and also move to the screen exit (usually to the far-right side of the screen).
~ click the 'Esc' key on your keyboard *again* and click the "Skip" menu button and/or keep moving your robot until there are no more exits.
~ when there are no exits, find a large circle on the floor of your path and centre your robot on it to end that game. (You may need to left-click a large "ENTER" disk above your circle-centred robot.)

* The game provides almost *NO* directions or user interface for basic play and movement . Most of the time you are not even given hints about possible choices.

* The surreal, mysterious, flow of consciousness plot elements are a refreshing break from regular visual novels --but the minigames and Skinner Box-like UI brutally destroys any joy or intrigue you might feel from this.

* The characters, ideas, plot, and setting provide awesome potential for thought and exploration ... all wasted with pointless, unnecessary minigames.

*sigh*,
e-d

worst game of the whole site !!! most awful mini game every 2 seconds!
don't play this shit ever ! no fun and a story that makes no sense just give up on this not worth the frustration ! terrible gameplay no save system. if you missed something you must replay the whole game... nothing to keep only trash

This is a great game! It's a story driven 2 part platformer with the first part taking place in "Lost Memories" and the second part taking place in "Revelations." The platforming is more puzzle solving than skill based and you're goal is to get to the end of the level as fast as possible. Some of these levels are pretty hard too, but thankfully there's a level skip button for every one of them. After every set of levels, you get to see the story play out, and man is it a good one! This is a mystery and lots of stuff doesn't make sense at first, but the more you keep playing, the more you unravel. There are also sex scenes that take place, most of which are animated, really hot, and with some gorgeous characters, though there is no scene gallery, which sucks. Also, one of the girls is East Asian and she's thicc <3 but unfortunately, she only got one scene. We definitely need more Asian girls in adult games, and hell, more diversity in terms of women in general. There are also horror elements in this game, like jumpscares, but nothing was too bad. My main complaint about this game is that most of the truth is revealed in one segment in the second part of the game, which made it feel a bit rushed. But I liked seeing the result of the big reveal, as I felt that the main character deserved his ending. Well done NOTvil!

Absolutely Marvelous this game.

The story is good

The visuals/art is awesome

The mini-games can sometimes be a bit frustrating but hey atleast there's an option to skip

Overall I really love this and follow the story

I usually don't play porn games for stories but this seems really interesting.

Hope they continue the sequel of this.

There is a lot of games on this site that are porn with game mechanic (not complaining), but this is a game with porn in it!

The gameplay is fun even thought sometimes difficult and the story is very well written and really enticing throughout the game.
The erotic scene are still aplenty but you really feel like you deserve them without having to farm points or relationship.

Overall I enjoyed my 6h playthrough and would advise to anyone looking for a good game accompanied by a good porn to try this one.

Seriously talented graphic artist and i appreciate the amount of depth in the story. You should be working for HBO my friend with your skills. I could see an anime erotic thriller with a whole team working under you!

My rating would be 4 stars, but that would do injustice to the uniqueness and quality of the game. The story is a mystery right until the last chapters. CGs are great and the details and environment design are the best I've seen on this site. The gameplay gets a little annoying at times and the controls could be better. The actual game contains a good amount of CG, but the unlockables/gallery is what you would play for.

Story (4/5).
Literally insane, nonetheless a game worth playing for its plot. There's a lot of platforming "mini"-game (which is skippable and kinda enjoyable btw).
Characters (4/5).
Atypical respect to classic porn games, they are pretty interesting but not that deepened; besides GRAY introduces Lucius, Albert and Mary which are relevant characters for Areas of GRAY (reccomended playing). Models are awesome.
Art (5/5).
Renders are beautiful and animations pretty nice.
Soundtrack (5/5).
Extremely well fitting and not annoying.
Sex scenes (3/5).
Not a sex-centric game, but quality is just good.

I played this after trying out Areas of Gray(amazing start btw!) and I must say that this(GRAY) is nothing short of a masterpiece! I admit the mini games were irritating but the developer fixed that by making them skippable. Although the mini games actually added to immersion into the game. The H-scenes were quite hot. But the main feature which makes this game truly shine is the story. The storytelling was beautiful and the story itself was very very interesting. I loved it! I would not be surprised if a movie was made with this story.

For those of you who want a game not just for the faps but a great story, you should definitely try this out. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
I can't wait for AOG now!

maybe a 4/5 would be more accurate rating but im always enthusiastic about something fresh and original. writing and story are good, renders are awesome, the sex scenes are kiiinda meh but definitely not bad. i enjoyed a lot of the mini games but some made me quit. luckily now they are skip-able

Finally, new idea without roommates/relatives/neighbors who have already become enough. Awesome storyline, graphics and animations are also good. Minigames a little bit annoying but is still be a good game.

This game more like an indie game rather than adult. Has awesome renders, i have to admit and have unique concept but from my view this game only good for pelvic exercise -you should lift for that in my opinion though-. i had fun but not that much; well if you want to try unique game there it is.

tip: mini games can be able to skip; when started mini game get through get, press ESC, hit skip.

this is my opinion

5 stars.5 points (story-render-animation-gameplay-choices)

-the story :first part(lost memories wasn't good but then second part changed my mind fantastic
-the render:not : that quality we see that day's but not bad else
-the animation : the animations are very good (not just 2 images it's more )
-the gameplay :some mini games are bad and some was good
-choices :there are no choices just some things that dont influence the story at all

quick review :

good animation
very good story
good rendering
no choices
funny game play+ applicability to skip minigames

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i gave it 3 stars because
no choices and control over the story
sex scenes were just boring not in time
i played the game because of the story

Game is excellent in visuals, content and storyline without the annoyance of never ending grinding. It deserves to be higher on the list for top games. I would certainly rate this in the top 5 that I’ve ever played on this site. Keep up the good work Notvil and we’re excited for your next game release!