https://www.backloggd.com/u/HuFe/list/gay-visual-novels-ranked-bara/
I just finished this, and I have a lot of opinions, including that I really have to stop playing dating simulators, I'm so behind on my studies.
I felt like this was heavily inspired by Dream Daddy. The title alone is a giveaway, but also the whole structure and story (Moving into a new town, an intro where you meet everybody, and then choosing dates with each guy), the wholesomeness, and the minigames. But it also includes the +18 scenes that we all want, like Coming Out On Top.
There's definetly a ton to praise. The amount of content it has for a dating sim is huge, so many drawings, so much dialogue. There's 12 guys to choose from, with 10 dates each, which is a ton for the genre. There's also a ton of lore and interpersonal relationships between the boys, which sparked the interest of fans. I went on at least 1 date with each guy but I always wanted Albert to be my endgame and that's what happened, and his story is actually really well written. Out of all the guys, I feel like his personality is the most distinct.
But there's also some bad things about it:
- There's a huge lack of player choice in the story, you might as well watch the whole thing on Youtube.
- This also includes the character creation, like they let you create a character, and then they're like "whatever the default guy is the canon one" so half the time they show you the default guy instead of your character. What's the point of having the option, then?
- The minigames are one of the few things that offer gameplay but most of them suck.
- The English translation is bad but that can easily be fixed.
- Alex has way too much screentime even if you don't choose him, and he's particularly annoying and rapey.
Most of the bad things have to to with writing and social issues:
- It's clear to see that all the love interests have the exact same body type preferred by the creator, even though drawing other bodies wouldn't be that hard. I guess it makes it a more personal experience to not force diversity, but it also feels fatphobic in other ways, like the characters treating Quinn as fat. In his storyline your character says things like "oh I thought he was fat but he's actually muscly and sexy."
- The way the game treats Giles also feels like racial fetishism.
- Other fetishes pushed down your throat are underwear sniffing (This one is rampant), foot fetish, and incest.
- The stories are very repetitive and the characters usually act like toddlers to keep the sexual tension going until the end of their 3rd chapter (When you finally make love). The amount of times the situation "let's sleep in the same bed, but not in a gay way" happens is, well, too many times.
- Finally, there's a ton of sexual assault and other forms of harming behaviour going on, perpetrated by many of the main characters. The developers seem oblivious to this aspect of the game and you just have to less it slide to be able to enjoy it.
I just finished this, and I have a lot of opinions, including that I really have to stop playing dating simulators, I'm so behind on my studies.
I felt like this was heavily inspired by Dream Daddy. The title alone is a giveaway, but also the whole structure and story (Moving into a new town, an intro where you meet everybody, and then choosing dates with each guy), the wholesomeness, and the minigames. But it also includes the +18 scenes that we all want, like Coming Out On Top.
There's definetly a ton to praise. The amount of content it has for a dating sim is huge, so many drawings, so much dialogue. There's 12 guys to choose from, with 10 dates each, which is a ton for the genre. There's also a ton of lore and interpersonal relationships between the boys, which sparked the interest of fans. I went on at least 1 date with each guy but I always wanted Albert to be my endgame and that's what happened, and his story is actually really well written. Out of all the guys, I feel like his personality is the most distinct.
But there's also some bad things about it:
- There's a huge lack of player choice in the story, you might as well watch the whole thing on Youtube.
- This also includes the character creation, like they let you create a character, and then they're like "whatever the default guy is the canon one" so half the time they show you the default guy instead of your character. What's the point of having the option, then?
- The minigames are one of the few things that offer gameplay but most of them suck.
- The English translation is bad but that can easily be fixed.
- Alex has way too much screentime even if you don't choose him, and he's particularly annoying and rapey.
Most of the bad things have to to with writing and social issues:
- It's clear to see that all the love interests have the exact same body type preferred by the creator, even though drawing other bodies wouldn't be that hard. I guess it makes it a more personal experience to not force diversity, but it also feels fatphobic in other ways, like the characters treating Quinn as fat. In his storyline your character says things like "oh I thought he was fat but he's actually muscly and sexy."
- The way the game treats Giles also feels like racial fetishism.
- Other fetishes pushed down your throat are underwear sniffing (This one is rampant), foot fetish, and incest.
- The stories are very repetitive and the characters usually act like toddlers to keep the sexual tension going until the end of their 3rd chapter (When you finally make love). The amount of times the situation "let's sleep in the same bed, but not in a gay way" happens is, well, too many times.
- Finally, there's a ton of sexual assault and other forms of harming behaviour going on, perpetrated by many of the main characters. The developers seem oblivious to this aspect of the game and you just have to less it slide to be able to enjoy it.