VN - Others - Hardcoded [v0.7 Patreon] [Fortunae Virgo]

-The art is just amazing
-The gameplay it's a lenghty text scroller with not bad minigames
-Characters are nice, sex scenes okay, but for getting them you have to read tons of dialogue that sometime lose sense into pseudo philosophy.
-It's a trans game made for trans people or the ones who are deep into gender politics, so you will love it or hate it.

It's not bad but it's a literally a woke lecture.
While i like dickgirls or gay stuff the author push queer issues into a context where they don't make a lot of sense and somewhat vilifying everything that was born with a penis without any reason at all. So you have the classic hypocrite message of be yourself, you are valid, but if you are a man born with a penis you are wrong, evil and bad.

While the game dont deserve 1 star since it's really well made, it doesnt deserve 5 stars either since the author forcefully pushed into the game way too many personal bias against men and political ideologies in a cringe and twitter way.

It's actually the first time i stopped wanking and closed the game for how much hate it shows against me, maybe that was intentional, maybe that was a clear message of "this game is NOT for you", all i can say is congrat you did it, this game is clearly not for me like my support it's clearly not for your game.

Gender people will love how they are empowered, cis men will hate how they are dehumanized. This is not how inclusion works but whatever, i wish the dev success inside the echo chamber [insert pronouns] lives, and i apologize if i exist

As I've come to realise over the past several minutes, it's VERY difficult to talk about the politics of a porn game without comming off as cringe. Maybe straight up not possible for a writer as poor as myself, but here's the attempt. Important disclosure, I am not trans myself, and do not speak for anyone trans at all, I can only write about my own experience with queer people from an outsiders perspective:

Hardcoded is a game about transexuality set in a post apocalyptic, neo-punk alternate-capitalist society. From the word go the game wears it's politics on it's sleeve, and all but punches you in the face with it. It's a narrative about identity and self discovery, society and community. A transexual story inside a transexual alegory and frankly...kind of a mess. But also completely by design

The game begins with Hardcoded or HC escaping the walled community of their previous rich overlords and escaping to safe haven, a punk anarchic society close to "THE ABYSS". From here the game is a relatively normal comming of age story about the trans robot. And right off the bat, the game is not subtle.

It's easy to understand why so many people felt this game was an insult to them specifically. Derision for groups consisting of individuals that immediately come to mind when you think of the word "person" is a normal coping mechanism that anyone with any experience engaging with politicized minority groups will imediately identify in ample measure in this game. I am not here to argue the validity of this as an approach, but do keep in mind it is one of the aproaches employed.

If you can understand that, what comes after is just about the most passionately queer game one can make. It's a game that represents that safe space that every person going through an experience as isolating as believing oneself to be physically wrong in every expect of the word seems to need. To crave. The doubly wrong nature of being both not human and not male bringing home just how out of the ordinary being isolated in safe haven feels.

The opression of the outside word is never shown, only talked about, because what it is is less important than what its mere existence represents, and by not showing you, it tells you not "A" story of opression, but allows itself to be mapped into whatever your own story is. It is written like a fanfic because...it is. It's a fictionalized space where the world is overcorrected in the desired direction. The group that you get to know during the game is made of exagerated archetypes of queerness and they symbolize important aspects of the trans experience specifically. They talk like their OC's because it's a safe place to do so, they joke around their insecurities and difficulties whilst still providing each other will all the support they need. The group is simultaneously charged with sexual tension and completely at ease with themselves Those naked contradictions aren't a mistake in the writing. They're half the point.

Now, I won't sit here and tell you it's the best written game ever, not by a long shot. It is rambly on times it doesn't need to be, it is too in your face on times it should let itself be subdued and it's just generally more interested in the message it's conveying than in the textual way it's doing that in. And these are bad things, sure. At the same time, that is in itself an encapsulation of the trans experience. It's not about bearing the onus of proof, it's not about being clear and concise for the benefit of other people. It's about expression and self actualization. And that's the game in a nutshell.

Expressive, messy, fun, cute and wholesome. And cringe. Let's be honest. The game is kind of cringe. But that's ok. If you are at all interested in queer culture, consider checking this one out. And be prepared for bluntness, cuz it comes at you quick

I will say that the porn content is good, although one scene really made me wish it was true. When one character gets cumflated and begs to be bred, god i wish you could do that since pregnancy is my perferred fetish. The rest of the content is good if you like futa.

A big issue I had was I didn't know how to advance the storyline for around 17 in game days. I just didn't notice the tab in the map menu, so that just might me being retarded.

Overall good, but a little lacking in animations, since many times you will just read what is happening instead of watching it.

Sadly, I'll have to reiterate what others have said already: it's wokeness for wokeness's sake; the story makes no sense, and while the GFX itself is top-tier, 5+/5, as a game it's just 1/5, because it's not really a game at all, it's just a boring text-scroller, with walls of nonsense pseudophilosophical ramblings, slapping a dick on everything, and at the same time vilifying everything that was born with a penis without any rationale at all. It explores a couple of fun kinks, but generally "playing" it is just as fun as cleaning septic tanks.

Creating a truly wholesome porn game is a delicate balance, and this particular title excels in seamlessly blending sensuality with genuine connection. The tasteful art and narrative celebrate intimacy, fostering a positive and respectful atmosphere. The characters are thoughtfully developed, their interactions emphasizing consent and communication. The game prioritizes emotional connection over explicit content, delivering a refreshing experience that appeals to a broad audience. With its inclusive approach and emphasis on mutual enjoyment, Hardcoded challenges traditional stereotypes, offering a welcome alternative in the adult gaming landscape.

I like the story. porn games dont have to all have goofy af stories and settings.
I particularly lie how unique charcters are, from the nerdy black girl to the pink haired extrovert and the depressed shopkeeper. This world is just too good.
if the character being a futa is such a big turn off to u go read another story.

Excellent game with a slow burn. The pixel art is great!! Love how raunchy everything is. Admittedly I don't really care about the main story but the character interactions are great, love the dialogue. And at least this game will actually be finished,

Imagine if the androids in Detroit: Become Human believed the epitome of human existance was being trans and having sex. This game works really hard to put trans and queer issues into a context where they don't make sense. The premise of the game is that a slave robot becomes trans (because for some reason someone wanted a roomba that could feel pain and decided to gender it.) and runs away from its masters to live on the streets with its new identity. The title "Hardcoded" refers to the fact that the robot's name and sex are hardcoded into it and it is up to the queer cast of characters to recognize the queer robot and teach it the ways of queerness. (which involves a lot of sex)

This game might not be for everyone, its REALLY queer, but if it you think you will enjoy it, you most likely will love it (as I did).

The overarching plot is kinda secondary i feel like, but the characters more than make up for it. Each and every one of them are very precious!
And the art... it's just gorgeous. look at the screenshots, and then times it three.

Not having a gendered character, being able to engage only with what you like, and the amazing customization makes me feel right at home here.

The art and animation are great but as a game it's amazingly bad.

It's a visual novel and an endless clickfest, made even worse by the fact that you have to exit your apartment and bring up a menu to go to the next story or side-story scene, the game is also quite buggy at times.
Apart from that you can click around the city to explore, this is the only good part, as you get some random encounters and have the opportunity to interact with your surroundings a bit.

Now the meat and potatoes of this game is supposed to be its writing and characters, it being a visual novel and all. Well the writing is absolutely insufferable, it's hard to even describe it but you'll know what I'm talking about after the first scene.
It's endless walls of meandering text that doesn't actually say anything, with an extremely annoying and pointless narration element that breaks up the dialogue to tell you, in a lot more words than is necessary, what you could already figure out from context and dialogue.
The cast also doesn't make a believable group of friends, mostly because they don't talk like people talk, they talk like a chronically online fic writer imagines people talk to their friends.
In short it's fanfic writing, BAD fanfic writing, like some of the worst I've seen and I read trash-tier romance manwas for fun.

I would reccomend anyone willing to give this game a try to do so, and then get an unpacker to rip the cg out, since that's the only saving grace of this crignefest.

There are a LOT of indie vn-style games on this site alone that are worth your time and/or money, don't waste either on this one.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Twitter wrote a videogame? And what if that was a porn game?

Hardcoded is the answear to the second question.

The main character is a droid, and has issues with their body and programming that serve as metaphors to the same issues trans people suffer. The first character you meet is human and trans, so I actually don't know what's the point of the metaphors.

About everything after that introduction seems like an attempt to make a game that discusses subjects dear to trans people in a sex-positive and safe way. And I feel this is the issue. It feels like it has a lot of things it wants to show or do, but wants to be so safe and respecting about it that it feels bland. Or maybe I'm just sour because the text really reads like Twitter threads.

Anyway, even if the themes appeal to you, I feel like the sex scenes are kind of bland.

Unlogic puzzles, lame sex scenes, weak cyberpunk atmosphere, only thing for this game going is interesting art style. Maybe it will get better when it is finished, but scenario progression is not promising much.

Straight to the stuff:
*Graphics is ok. You can see how artist is grown, witch is good and bad in this case.
*It is a VN with stuff sparkled around. So if you want to READ about sex, it is up to your alley.
*Graphic content is dripping very slowly. Current scenes that deserve at least 1 picture is just a heavy reading.
*Writing itself is, well not fucking good half of the time:
1. It is one of those VN's that just using an author voice to describe what everyone is feeling. Game has occasional dialogue choces but still you can have a scene where you have a choice, and scene where you don't have any.
2. A lot of hamfisted "yas queen slay" and "no bully my fifis". My problem is not that it's exists. My problem that its just bad. Its like you have this wreck of personalities acting in inconsequentional world and interacting with cheesiest clishes. I guess that parteon is the reason for that. But its still not good.
*UI is bad.

In the end you have mixed bag of things that overall decline in content and entertaining value. Its not bad when you first launch it but takes a dive later on.

A potentially pretty neat & intricate game ruined by questionable design choices and an even more questionable attitude.

As people in the discussion and (more down-to-earth) reviews have pointed out this game comes with a lot of drama and negativity for the sake of it.

A majority of the things the protagonist bitches about are solely existent in her head, while at the same time she refuses to tackle the problems that could be dealt with. The most notable being the option to just freely modify her body in case there's something she dislikes about it.

This game does the exact opposite of what anyone should do when feeling depressed or disjointed from their situation, instead of overcoming the hardships it promotes an attitude of constant whining and victimization that I rarely ever saw in people that truly have to deal with the things this game brings up. In fact if anything I've been told time & time again that feeling like a victim is shitty and that it makes you weak.
This game though borderline celebrates falling to the floor and throwing a temper tantrum.

Kinda absurdly, the cast of characters around the protag, while to varying degrees likeable, also are massive jerks in others, sexually taking advantage of the protagonist constantly, treating her like an object and not displaying much of an actual emotional interest in HC.
Aside from that they force their fetishes onto the protagonist more often than not and that creates, in my personal opinion, a really awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere.
Add to that the fact that the game just assumes the player does all scenes anyway and refers to them in others, even if 1 purposely avoided for example pee stuff, poly shenanigans or just generally sleeping around with everyone and you have a game with basically 0 replay value on top of just being not very good.

What this game has going for it is the setting (there's SO much that could have been done with it), the art, which I personally like, some of the sex scenes have great animations, most of the characters are pretty nice until you get intimate with them and there is 1 character that doesn't fall under the aforementioned behavior patters and who's interest and affection for the protag come across as genuine and natural.

I have no idea what makes people write nonsense like this game being a positive representation of the minorities it's all about. In fact it's the exact opposite, queer people are presented as immoral, immature, thoughtless, tasteless and pushy in regards to sexuality. It's actually insulting to any decent person that doesn't define their entire being by their sexual orientation or their gender, but that just happens to be an everyday person that is also queer.

This game is a prime example of being infuriatingly overrated in the reviews. Yes, sure, tastes are different and everyone has their own, but I think it's highly misleading towards people who try to get an idea what this game is actually like.

Extremely creative, amazing art, and probably the best queer game out there. If you like cyberpunk settings, a sandbox, customization, and wide cast of characters, settings, and scenarios, you should try this game.

Just a great project, made in the genre of pixel art and sci-fi. One of the few quality projects with futa content. An interesting story, sometimes funny, sometimes touching. Lovely, memorable characters. Ability to customize the main character and housing. As you progress through the main story and exploration of the city, additional chapters open up.
voice 5/5
acting 5/5
picture 5/5
plot 5/5
everything pleases. I put 5/5 looking forward to the release of new patches. Played version 0.0.64

the quality of some porn games amazes me this is one of them,
the world art is amazing while some of the scenes are unfinished its amazing to see such quality
5/5 for art.
the story is amazing and really comfy never thought I would stop jerking off just to read which happens way too much with some porn games,
5/5 for story.
please try and update ( •̀ ω •́ )y

10/10 Game. Ignore the haters

This game is simply put, fantastic. The pixel art is fantastic, with a lot of attention to detail. You get short animations for sex scenes and sometimes a picture after the event. But this is only the cherry on top of the cake, which is the writing. This shit could be a book, all on it's own. This game is like VA11-HALL-A but with porno.

Unfortunately some dumbasses think the LGBTQ+ themes are way too heavy. Ignore them. It is nowhere near invasive, and skipping through dialogue is easy.

I cannot put into words how much I am enamored with this game. The art is beautifully rendered, the music is sublime and the whole atmosphere is something out of this world. The worldbuilding and lore, the characters, it really is something too special to put in characters.

So much content for such a small file game, so many animations, art and text for something that's still in such early format, it's quite incredible!

ALTHOUGH - Even though I would give this a five stars on a pure technical and artistical level, personally, I don't think I would be playing it through it all or following up on this game. If you're part of the LGBTQA+ community or even simply an ally, a lot of this games content can hit kind of close to home a bit too much. I was constantly at odds between enjoying myself or thinking about the text, the story, the characters and what it meant, and it felt a bit like a whiplash in terms of how the game is laid out, personally. It's like, you got your hands down your pants, ready for some adult fun with a girl and we are treated to a dialogue about how the character utterly and truly feels out of place and perhaps at times as a fraud because they're not even sure if they themselves are doing this for attention, for love or for lust only. Of course, the game takes mostly a wholesome route, with said girl acknowledging your fears and trying to dissuade them, but after something like that... it's hard to not feel, not very lustful. Full disclosure, even if this game is centered mostly around trans women using trans humanism as a lens for that, as a cis lesbian, a lot of the dialogue, story and characters still resonated very very much to me.

So in reality, I'm torn. It feels like it would be an amazing LGBTQA+ VN without the porn in it, and it would feel better as a pure porn debauchery mini-game game without the heavy emphasis on realistic, relatable characters and storylines - but it's not like either is bad! They're both really good. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're an emotional sap like me who just wants to masturbate, this is perhaps not the best game for that - but if you do enjoy great stories and are less emotional, this game will be a masterpiece for you, for me, it's still a masterpiece, just not for me.

everything about this game is great, i really can't find anything to complain about. the art's great. the animations are amazing. the story is wholesome and interesting, dealing with some genuine gender identity issues. A+