So here I am again after trying this game out and writing a short comment a year ago. First off I will admit I did not give the game a proper chance the last time due to the infamous English translations, so dropped the game after the intro. But this time, I have completed everything on sandbox mode (I think). So here we go, a full review of the current game state (as of v0.2.2)
First off, I'll talk about the stuff users would be more interested in:
1. Plot is really good actually. One thing that I believe put off a lot of players is the confusing story at the start. For those of you who gave the game a go and are absolutely baffled, know that figuring out what the fuck happened at the beginning is a main plot point of the game. It is gradually revealed to us in breadcrumbs, and I think the author is doing a great job with this, the downside is it requires the players to be patient enough to get through quite a few quests to see this (which let's face it, most players aren't, including me a year ago xD )
2. Music is still fire. None of the usual copy-paste music we hear on many AVNs. I like that.
3. Characters. Well designed, good amount of intrigue, and not falling for the protagonist in a stupidly short amount of time (bar two exceptions).
4. Morgane.
5. Morgane, again.
6. Bugs, there are quite a few of them crawling around, but fortunately nothing that will ruin your day. But the author is fairly on top of any bug reports, especially on discord, so look to join it if you have feedback or bugs.
Now to address the cons/suggestions (may contain mild spoilers):
1. UI. Still as amazing as ever. It is clear a fair bit of effort has been put in here. Though I will recommend a few changes/additions.
> 1a. Cost of apps. Buying apps are understandable, but £50 for a map? Lol. I understand from a gameplay perspective, but it felt weird paying that much for a simple utility that admittedly, we won't be using a whole lot since the manual navigation is pretty easy if not faster than opening the map. I would say maybe make the map accessible via the main UI rather than through opening the phone? Like how the inventory is. If the convenience is really worth it then it could justify the funny price tag.
> 1b. Buying an app to access Skyrim inventory? Might make more sense to have an app for something like an online shop like Amazon or something to buy directly from. Otherwise, make some way for the inventory to be able to access the fridge and/or transfer between the two containers, because ultimately all I find myself using is the fridge at home, or the coffee machine at school, or just waiting the next day.
> 1c. The map. Its not a problem after playing the game and using the map for a while, but I think it could be worth putting a silhouette over accessible areas. Even without hovering the mouse over them. As we do not directly receive a notification what becomes accessible and when.
2. Although the music is good, transition at times can be too rapid. What I mean by this is, going from a sex scene to post-sex the music can change rather quickly. For example, in Nora's scene during the BJ the music was loud, and after ejaculation it just went quiet all of a sudden. If you wanted to transition to the next song, rather than just cutting it off, might be worth lowering the volume of the first song instead. Silence can be pretty loud after all, with or without sex.
3. The colouring has improved, as I nitpicked in my comment the last time, bright bits aren't too bright now. Only time I will say is a bit difficult to view, is the flashbacks. Having dark backdrops and the clouded effect makes sense, but visually it can be tricky to see what exactly the protagonist is seeing.
4. Animations. Its great that we have them but they do look a little bit clunky. Textures, characters and positions are good, just the actual moving aspect. But not too big a concern, this improvement should come as you work on the game further. One of my favourite AVNs (my very first too!) from the author of the AVN giant Eternum, Once in a Lifetime, also started with clunky animations. They also improved drastically over time. Not nitpicking seeing as this is your first AVN (I think?), but just pointing this out to remind you there's always room for improvement :)
5. Suggestion: Character list? Might be worth for returning players after new updates to see who's who. For those with the memory capacity of a goldfish like mine. Could either create it as a new app or integrate it into the quest list, just that this means instead of closing quests the way you currently do, you now have to add "there are no more quests left for this character this update" to every quest tab to keep them open.
6. Not very important atm, but down the lane, make use of call/message function? Or at least keep the message log/history to make it feel more like an actual messaging app. Not a big priority but oh well, why not?
7. I assume there is more to come down the lane in future updates, but currently there is a lot of explorable areas in commercial district for example, with nothing to do in them. Maybe have repeatable actions in some of them for sandbox mode. Or get us to that clothes shop :)
8. Finally, the big one. I know this has been a source of headache for awhile now but I think it will continue to be the biggest thorn on your side until remedied. English proofreading. There has been significant improvement since the early days of machine translating, but playing through v0.2.2 there still is quite a few awkward grammatical/spelling mistakes. I read from your discord that you have hired someone to cover this. Which is good. And I hope that as of the 0.2.2 release they are still in the process of fixing errors in the previous updates. Because some bits are written pretty well, others not so much. Remember, you're paying them, whip them if you have to if they're not already working on it. I can try to point out stuff on discord when I can, but I'll wait for the next few updates to see how that goes.
9. Morgane. Nothing wrong with her, the only con is that she's not yet wife.
And there we have it. Great game overall @VitaYok, definitely looking forward to what's to come. And just maaaybe, you might have tempted this AVN veteran to finally create a patreon account to support the hard work going on out there, when I get my paycheck end of the month
