sweet pool
It hurts to say that but I’m gonna change review into negative one. That flow of emotions I had after I had finished the game I’ll keep unchanged but the situation with the devs/moderators is so ridiculously insane, I don’t want to keep silent. That’s not how you treat your players. At first after months of uploading screenshots I got the steam ban, there was nothing inappropriate there. Believe me, I have children under 18 among my steam friends, so I pay thorough attention that all mature content must be uploaded with private settings. At that moment I “worked” as the curator in the largest steam group devoted to visual novels and that was it. I couldn’t upload ANY screenshots, for ANY games. That froze my work and entertainment but why… no explanation. The dev just commented that their stuff must have been “overzealous”.
– Real player with 54.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Visual Novel Games.
The ultimate female horror
Sweet pool is an unforgettable, gut twisting and tragic yaoi body horror visual novel from Nitro+(Chiral), creators of many esteemed BL (and other) vns. Body horror and erotica seem like a match made in hell, first explored in movies (Cronenberg being the most obvious example) and this game is a worthy addition to that tradition. What sets it apart is that it’s yaoi, gay erotica. But make no mistake, this is a female horror through and through.
Anyone familiar enough with yaoi knows it’s primarily written for women and it rarely deals with actual gay issues. It’s an interesting, and very Japanese, phenomenon that provides a safe distance for exploring some more uncomfortable and darker female issues and fantasies. And that’s never been more clear than in this vn. Yaoi goes where otome dares not. To top it all off it has strong omegaverse vibes and that’s another interesting phenomenon originating from Western slash fandom and serving the same purpose. I was actually very surprised to learn that sweet pool precedes the oldest omegaverse fanfic, so it’s clear there’s some fascinating two-way street influencing going on, from Japan to West and vice versa.
– Real player with 28.5 hrs in game
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice
Having played LSL7 and LSL1 Reloaded, I really liked Wet Dreams Don’t Dry, I thought it was a good reboot and the developers really managed to get that LSL touch and feeling. Unfortunatelly, this sequel is not as good as the first one in my opinion. The developers incorporated some new things compared to the first one, like a quest log or a blueprints crafting thing…that’s great, but there are some flaws in this game. Some riddles are just too complicated to figure out, or not really fun to play and probably out of place (the maze is not TOO horrible, but still, it’s….a maze, you know). You will tell me that it’s like this in every adventure game, and yes, you’re right, but even for a point’n’click, sometimes it’s just too much. Also, I should say that if you don’t like under-the-belt jokes and stuff, you’ll probably not like this game, but then again, it’s like this since the very first episode of the series so I’m not sure why people are complaining about this. Some songs have been recycled from the first game, same for the characters and voice actors. But the worst thing in this game is the bugs and glitchs, there is a stupid amount of them in the game, even more than the first one at it’s launch. Translation glitchs, display glitchs, characters that goes through the scenery, etc…there are not game-breaking and permastuck (from my experience) but it’s really not great in term of game experience. It took me 20 hours to finish the game for the first time, so yeah, the content and lenght is not the problem. It’s not a bad game, it’s actually pretty good, but something is missing, not sure what exactly it is. I would still recommend it BUT not in it’s current state. Devs, you have a lot of work to do in patching and correcting the freaking bugs and glitchs. And if there was to be any third CrazyBunch LSL game one day, maybe you should change the formula…the playings mecanics, the graphics, the universe, the look of the hero. But it’s already great to have two more LSL games, thanks for that !
– Real player with 28.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Point & Click Games.
I’ve just finished the game (which took me two days) and I must say, overall, I was blown away. It made the first game (WDDD, I mean) look like a tech demo.
There was so much in the way of traditional adventuring to do, an engaging storyline, beautiful artwork and solid authentic dialogue delivery (top notch from the main two as well).
Forewarning us to say no nudity was a bit of a misnomer, from what I could see. A trend that was started in WDDD, there was plenty of comic boobage (things that weren’t boobs but sure as hell looked like them) and even puss. There was also plenty of clothed animation. The guard on the (almost) all-female island certainly springs to mind (and not the only thing that springs at the thought). Then there was the subtle suggestion of triangle trim on the secret agent, the areola exposure and pokies on some of the women.
– Real player with 26.4 hrs in game
Leisure Suit Larry 1 - In the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Rating: 8.3/10 This is a classic point and click (well type and arrows, lol) adventure game. It’s refreshing to be able to lay back, stroke a few keys and look for love in one of the few games directed solely towards an adult audience. Al Lowe, the creator of the Leisure Suit Larry series is a juggernaut in the gaming industry. He had wet dreams of creating classic games and worked very, very hard to do just that by creating many of the classic games we still enjoy to this day. He helped shape Sierra Games into one of the biggest gaming companies at the time. Sierra was known for many types of games of course. However it can be argued that without their point and click adventure games they most likely would not have grown to be such a dominating gaming company. Leisure Suit Larry 1: In The Land Of The Lounge Lizards is a prime example of why Sierra and Al Lowe became so successful. The game play is addictive. The humorous writing is literal laugh out loud content. And the game is great for a first time player or someone looking for that nostalgic hit. There is a reason this game went on to spawn a continually growing series; still making new titles to this day. If you have a passion for point and click adventure games then Leisure Suit Larry 1: In The Land Of The Lounge Lizards is one not to be missed. If you have played any of the other Leisure Suit Larry or Larry Laffer (Larry’s spitting image nephew) games then going back to the start where Larry first lost his virginity will not leave you with blue balls!
– Real player with 89.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Adventure Classic Games.
In Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards you play as Larry Laffer, a nearly forty-year-old virgin who has lived with his mother for his entire life. However, he suddenly realizes that this is no longer the life for him and sets out to meet women in the city of Lost Wages.
For the purpose of this review, I played the original EGA version. This Steam release also includes the 1991 remake.
This game, originally released in 1987, is a classic of the adventure game genre that spawned an entire series of Leisure Suit Larry games that continues to this day. Due to the age of the game, it may be a little difficult to review. It is an adventure game that primarily uses a text parser for the player to interact with the game. While this may be an unusual way to play a game by today’s standards, it was fairly common in adventure and text games decades ago.
– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game
Leisure Suit Larry - Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored
Just for clarity sakes I haven’t played this game in atleast 10 years and a lot of the silly references and sex jokes make a lot more sense now than they did back then. As for the resolution I had no problems after messing around with the “ConfigUtil.exe”
After putting the resolution to “1920 x 1080” there were a couple of textures that were out of place from time to time but it wasn’t exactly game breaking just visual glitches and it happened very rarely. It was nice to see the game without all the jaggy-ness of the PS2 and Xbox counterparts. It’s looks so clean and so nice.
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
The game’s minigames are ridiculously hard. You buy items with money that you make from taking pictures to make the games easier, but they still kick your butt every time. Thing is, if you want to get nudity in the game, you need to do well in the minigames. I got to the final part of the game in 15 hours, but i couldn’t go on because the minigames just became impossible on pc controls. you need a steam controller to finish the late game minigames. Even then, some minigames can’t be completed because the mechanics don’t work. There are minigames where you need to take perfect photos, but there are just no perfect poses to work with. I only managed a “perfect” photo twice, and both times were a glitch. It’s just plain frustrating. The minigames are interesting in theory, and they get more difficult the drunker you are, but the fact that they are just plain impossible at base level is ridiculous.
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
Akash: Path of the Five
Summary: Solid but imperfect otome game with some unique ideas.
The premise of the game (which is revealed in the initial text box of the game, so I don’t think it’s that spoilery) is that the protagonist is one of the last few females of a magical species, and the only reason this species is surviving is because they have made arrangements with nearby human settlements for limited access to human women for reproductive purposes. On one hand, the premise is interesting and unique; I haven’t seen anything like it, and you do see some of the effects such a different family structure would have on culture. On the other hand, there are some giant elephants in the room
! such as, what EXACTLY has compelled human women in this world to voluntarily get pregnant with an essential stranger with the understanding that she’d risk her life to give birth and would never get to see her child again under any circumstancesthat the story doesn’t go anywhere near. Avoiding these issues keeps the story from getting deeply troubling, but if you’re really into worldbuilding in otome games, you will either be profoundly bothered or get the urge to write fanfiction about it.
– Real player with 195.9 hrs in game
My playtime is because I played it through twice (does have replay value) and did a significant amount of rewinding the first time.
CONS:
(1) In 4/5 routes there is extra dialogue and CGs that are only unlockable if you have sex with the guy you’re pursuing… Characters are fully covered in these scenes and could just be making out, and the intimacy is super vague to the point that I’m not sure why I need to sleep with them to get a relatively tame CG and a description like “he took me right there”? I’m not saying that it should be more explicit. I’m saying that I wish we could choose to have sex or just have a more serious makeout session with them and get the same CG. This is also a fairly big issue, I think, because 3/4 guys (possibly all 4 of them) you sleep with have never been with another person before or even dated/touched a woman and the MC has no experience either. We’re going from completely sheltered virgins who have never touched a woman/man before, to having multiple rounds of loud hot sex after kissing once and dating for 2 days???? It feels wrong and super unrealistic. This paired with each guy getting 2 naked CGs gives me kinda creepy vibes like these dudes are just objects. It takes me out of the game and makes me feel like a perv in real life I guess.
– Real player with 47.7 hrs in game
Amber’s Magic Shop
Amber’s Magic Shop is an interesting story about dark elf girl becoming master alchemist and finding her love. Game has visual novel mode with crafting being fully cut out and plot feels to remain relatively solid in it (game will politely ask if player wants heroine to succeed or fail at creating story related potions).
Timewise the game is divided into two parts:
1. Teenager stage when Amber is learning the craft - this part is more concentrated on visual novel component of the game since there are a lot of characters to meet and get to know;
– Real player with 41.5 hrs in game
I’ve had this game for a while and I keep coming back to it, so I finally decided to leave a review! I want to preface this by saying that I do play this game on ‘Visual Novel mode’ as crafting isn’t really my thing, so my experience of it is really only the story rather than the other gameplay elements. However, I find the story really engaging, I enjoy learning more about the world of Aravorn through the eyes of so many diverse and different characters and I LOVE how your decisions shape the story.
– Real player with 35.5 hrs in game
Companion
this is one of the better kinetic vn’s i have encounterd .
i hope to see more from the makers .
– Real player with 137.2 hrs in game
我将这部作品定义为 富有独创性 可圈可点 但仍有待提高的视觉小说
In general, Companion’s storyline is not bad, but still need polish.
It is exactly a VN, without any selection you could make in its plots. And it was like a fiction, but the author emphatically described the events which usually happen in daily life and revealed things you may not notice at all.
I really want to complain that why the the text is Eng version, but it was dubbed in Chinese… It is so weird when a person whose major language is english, but need listen to a bunch of voices he can’t understand even a little at all. As for the Chinese readers including me, there are some English skills you should have for reading that story. The experience was not good.
– Real player with 15.0 hrs in game
Eczema Angel Orifice
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
– Real player with 38.7 hrs in game
A personal review; great works affect one too deeply to offer anything else. And this, Reader – this, I think, is a great work.
I always appreciated literature; perhaps it was a way of finding representation that for me was not available in most instances of mainstream culture. Sometimes, I would find a fragment so relatable, so viscerally true, that I had to read it out loud.
With most of Porpentine’s games, I found myself reading aloud more often than not. ‘The parasite has spun a palace of my stolen years.’ ‘But it hurts, being faceless.’ ‘I returned, woefully, to myself’. ‘Branded heretic accross the forehead’. I found the games seven years ago: a meaningful, hopeful melody in a terrible place. In spite of offering this hope, Porpentine never offers the platitudes that so often go with it. It’s the experience of someone who has really been there, converted into hypertext, the collective voice of a non-normative experience lived at the fringes of society; of how perilous this experience is not only emotionally, but also socially or economically. The pain is acknowledged. The fall is acknowledged. The ability to stand up and go on after that fall is acknowledged; so is the fact that often, to stand up will be impossible – and because of that, her message is empowering.
– Real player with 10.6 hrs in game
ef - the first tale. (All Ages)
A truly timeless Fairy Tale - if you’re looking for a strong storyline, beautiful CGs (even considering the age of the game), and real character development this is the visual novel for you.
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
The first of the Fairy Tale was really well-written, the drama was simple and characters had decent IQ unlike some dumb VN with forced drama out of nowhere. Being a bit too simple 2 stories didn’t impact me a lot still it set up a lot of foreshadowing for the Latter which I really eager to dig in right now
– Real player with 20.2 hrs in game
ef - the latter tale. (All Ages)
Horrifyingly depressing and filled with mental and physical abuse of almost all of the characters. The game client is also buggy and completely ruins the final animated scene in the game by not showing the actual video and just showing a black screen. In fact both the first and 2nd game had this bug but while I didn’t care about missing the opening movie, it completely ruined the ending movie that I ended up watching on youtube later. Disappointing overall, rather than crying I was angry and disgusted most of my playthrough.
– Real player with 34.9 hrs in game
I’m leaving the same review for both ef - the first and the latter tale as they are one story which should be experienced all at once, and in my opinion it made no sense to release it in two separate parts originally (though I’m sure the devs had their reasons).
If you enjoy slice-of-life drama you really can’t go wrong with ef and should give it a try, as it’s probably one of the best VNs in the genre, despite being kind of overlooked. Also the VN is miles better than Shaft’s so called anime “adaptation”, especially the later parts, so you should definitely read this instead of getting spoiled by the inferior version of the story. There’s really not much else to say, since if you’re already a fan of stories like Clannad and such you kind of already know what to expect here and will most likely love this story too, and if you don’t know this genre then well…it’s a coin flip cause it’s not for everyone, but I’d say this is a good entry point to try it out as it’s one of the best SoL drama VNs out there.
– Real player with 34.4 hrs in game