Whoo boy.. So I gave this one a shot, idk why I had the urge and desire to continue but I made it through all the way to the end which is a credit to the dev or a problem with me... I'm gonna try to break my review down into 3 sections. Graphics which cover renders, animations, etc. Story/dialogue, and general gameplay which will be choices and UI and such.
Graphics:
So first, the thing that grabs EVERYBODY'S attention are the renders. They're good, that much is obvious. I think we're at the point now where good graphics are expected if your novel is to be taken serious. If they're not good or unique in some way it will get passed over. The dev(s) doesn't disappoint here. Renders are crisp and look good, as well as settings and environment. Everything has been attended too and is probably this game's strongest point. That being said, the models are questionable. Firstly let me say this to all devs, future and current. ALL mothers do not have G cup (or bigger) boobs and thick bodies, nor do all older women for that matter.
I get that MILF's are supposed to be or seen as these thicker bigger women but thinking back I think only one woman that falls into that category isn't given back breaking tits. If every older woman has a thick body, then they're not gonna be as special, and worse than that, even the younger women or the women that are the same age as the MC have thick bodies. Don't get me wrong, it's my type of preferred look and body type, but still when it's everywhere it's less special. Variety is nice to have and makes it all the more special when there's not thickness all around. And I'm not kidding either these women's breast are the size that they'd need back braces to get through the day.
Then there's the MC. Some have problems with his look. I think it's fine, not the first game I've seen the model in. Is he a bit older looking than a person his age should be? Sure but that's nothing new here.
Animations are a mixed bag however. Some work pretty good, and some are really slow and choppy. Some scenes have animations that work well and others that are choppy all in the same scene. This is post prologue because like I'll get to later prologue and post prologue are almost like two different experiences.
Anyway TLDR on Graphics: They are good and up to (if not exceeding) the modern expectation. There's not a lot of variety in body type between the female models. Either younger big boobed big ass women or older BIGGER boobed and big ass women except for a few. If you're looking for skinny, or average models women this isn't really the game for you. Graphics EASILY best point of the game.
Story/Dialogue:
If the graphics are the strongest part of the game, then this is the weakest part of the game. I will save the language and grammar for the gameplay section, but just keeping to the story and the dialogue.... Its' weakness is in it its ability to suspend disbelief on most. This is not realisitc at all and if you expect a modicum of realism going in then you will be SORELY disappointed. Best to go in expecting a dumb comedy, harem, hijinx kinda game mixed with some elements of a crime drama.
MC is living in the suburbs with his mother, older sister, and new husband (the old one was originally divorced but later is dead). He goes to school with his annoying best friend, has a seeming crush on a girl who doesn't know of his existence really, and has a girl interested in him who is the school weirdo. Then, when his best friend gets into some trouble with the local delinquent and enlist the MC's aide, he ends up roping the MC into doing favors for said delinquent that will show the MC the true underside of the town he thought was supposed to be "good" and safe".
That's my spoiler free version of it anyway, and there's more to it but I'm trying not to spoil in this one. The twists and turns are pretty predictable, which isn't that bad of a problem. It's more about you making relations with people than it is a crime drama. The drama, and the crime elements are more side dressing or the mode of transport used to get you on your way, but they're not the real part of the journey, at least not completely. Bonding with the LI's is. Which leads me to a VERY glaring issue.
Again to future devs and current ones. PLEASE learn what the difference is between a SLOW BURN, and DRAGGING. This is version 0.8.0 that I played, so Idk what it was like for people who came in at the beginning and had to wait this long or those who came in at half of this version's updates. But some of these Love Interests are built to drag. This is primarily the mother/landlady/Lauren. Added to that problem is this game displays the inner monologues of other characters. The MC and Lauren will progress and she'll actually be the initiatior in things, then she'll pull back, then it begins to depend on your "character build" and choices you made (more on that later), and then she'll let you push a bit and then halt things cold.
At some points it feels like a build and we've seen it before in other games. She's the prize character, the one the dev really wants the player to feel when you finally break her walls down, both physically and figuratively. But at some point I found myself getting annoyed with her hot and cold attitude. You can't have someone shown to CLEARLY be lusting over a person and then get put in MULTIPLE MULTIPLE opportunities but then shut them down for no/foolish reasons. Not saying you CAN'T slow burn it, but this one was just not done well. If you're gonna do teasing it has to be done proper, not give so much, to just ass pull a reason to stop it, and keep doing that until you're FINALLY ready to reward the player. Realistically either MC would lose interest (given that he has other options already) or Lauren wouldn't have held out so long. There's reasons why she DID but still...After awhile it got to be tiresome.
Lastly on the dialogue. It's childish for the most part. These are young adults so it's fine, but then there's sometimes that the adults talk like the kids too so there's no real difference. This game can also be a "don't finish your thought" simulator. There's COUNTLESS times someone will say something in a conversation to the tune of: "Ohh I was just thinking about.... You know what? Nevermind" or the MC will be asking a LI or someone about something and they'll start talking about it only to go "I don't want to talk about this right now." or "Let's talk about this later" in the middle of a relevant conversation.
That's vexing in real life. If you're NOT gonna talk about something, either don't bring it up or don't talk about it at all. Don't START talking about it only to STOP talking about it because you need it to come out later for a story reason. It's immersion breaking and frustrating. But it happens AT LEAST once EVERY conversation in this game. I may be exaggerating but it DOES happen VERY frequently. To the point I started to see conversations as topics in this game as teasers. First you have the teaser convo then you have the REAL convo later as the drama develops... It's not how people actually talk.
TLDR: Story and dialogue weakest parts. Story is ok but could use a bit more focus. Dialogue is not good. Passable at some points, frustrating at others. If you can't immerse yourself or rely on that to pull you into the game, you'll probably be disappointed. Convos aren't real at all. (Sidenote: Dev DOES do dialogue well during sex scenes. Will give them that)
Gameplay:
So, this could even be broken into two parts Prologue and Post Prologue, but I'll keep it to one. Prologue is a straight VN. And ALMOST is like a different game or dev worked on it. It's polished. The dialogue, the grammar, the experience all solid. There may have been a mistake or two, but it wasn't that noticeable. Then you get PAST the prologue, and that's where the crack IMMEDIATELY start to show. The game opens up into a sandbox with free roam moments. They're not bad and not even that complain worthy BUT you will miss scenes if you don't do everything and there's no list really pointing to everything. Luckily there is a side menu to go automatically to different rooms. That HELPS but there's only certain rooms that can ONLY be accessed by that menu (Like the garage in the house).
Again I just got into the game now, so idk how much this was implemented to be a time filler in content per update like other games use it to be, but it wasn't that bad to me. You also get paths after the prologue. Rise and Fall. I'm not sure what they mean but the "Rise" seems to be your more bold, roguish, forceful like choices. Wheras "Fall" seems to be your more sensitive, polite, empathetic choices. Then you also get to add points toward "Intimidation" or "Charisma"
Your last choice in the prologue will open up a path to you to possibly be a criminal, or work with criminals, wheras if you choose another option you will NOT be able to be a criminal, well not entirely and as directly as the former choice. The character build elements are actually a nice touch and characters respond to your build which makes it worthwhile. Idk why people are saying choices are simplified or don't really matter, as yeah there's points where they don't and there are UNAVOIDABLE events and situations with characters but there are some characters that you can ignore and change relations with completely.
All in all I think Gameplay is a nice touch and helps this game along. The sandbox isn't as tiresome as it is in other games and I don't feel like it isn't pointless. And thank the lord above there's no grind otherwise I'd have not finished this game. The UI isn't too bad. There's collectibles, and such in it during the free roams as well. Weirdly though it's in the free roam conversations that some of the dialogue is untranslated. Idk what that's about. Oh, and this game NEEDS an editor. Post prologue is LITTERED with grammar mistakes and poor language in the dialogue. There's a good amount of characters saying "WTF" and "OMG" and that's just lazy and not really gonna cut it if you wanna be taken serious.
TLDR: Gameplay is pretty solid. No grind, nice touch with the character build options, choices DO matter but not ALL and only to a certain extent. There's a story to be told here but your choices can influence on HOW it's delivered instead of a WILD branching, narrative changing experience based on what you chose.
Final Remarks:
All in all, I can't lie I enjoyed this game. Maybe I was mostly critical but I did like this game and I don't regret playing it. I don't know if I'll continue to follow it though. I surprised even myself by seeing it through as I thought eventually I'd check out, but no. The characters models, and the crime elements were enough to keep me around. Also I went in expecting it to be pretty bad and my brain was pretty much turned off from the start. It surprised me in some areas but not too much.
The writing errors weren't enough to turn me off completely as I just corrected them in my head. This game did get a chuckle out of me like twice so it's got some good lighthearted moments in it as well. Most of it in general is just goofy, even the serious stuff is mostly too goofy to be taken too serious. I was never really on the edge of my seat but I was interested in getting through the problems and getting closer with the characters nonetheless. It's a solid ride. Those looking for lewd scenes there's a good amount in here. Not all of it is full on intercourse and sometimes the MC is just doing the favor and other times it's all about the MC's pleasure. It's a mixed bag really.
If you can turn your mind off to play as a dumb, horny, young adult, interested in the women around him and pulled into nonsensical situations by some ridiculous people, you'll find some enjoyment here. This game is "dumb fun" personified, which is needed once in awhile. It's sprinkled with just enough "drama" to keep you interested and on your toes though if the goofiness gets to be too unbearable. If you're looking for a strong narrative that makes you think, challenges you, draws you in with its uniqueness, then look elsewhere. This game is no strong story. It's a porn game with a pretty decent ATTEMPT at a plot.
3/5 but a Good 3/5. It's alright. Not as bad as the people who hate it say it is, but not as good as the people who love it say it is either. Somewhere right in the middle. Depending on your mindset and expectations will decide if this game was worth it or not for you.
