Crowhaven

Review for Episode 1 I wouldn't normally review such early and small preview release, but: 1. The dev is super consistent and has yet to abandon any of their releases 2. The episode ends with already rendered previews of ep.2 Having said the above, and regarding what we saw in ep1: - Hot LIs. Not super bimbo hot, or anything extraordinary but they do their job playfully and tastefully which is more than enough for me - Some story and mystery exists, it is enough to set a stage and kinda seems to work, but it remains to be seen - decent animations, obviously AI enhanced, some twerking is needed - in the single adult scene which is offered (two are offered, but the first is very short and it's just basic foreplay), the lowered body part, especially the legs are very long in comparison with the rest of the body. However some nice details are added, especially the p***y, which was a nice plus. - Said scene is broken in two halves, which might sound like a clever director 's choice, but it breaks the lewd part very abruptly and it then continues in an unrelated point in time, which at the end didn't work well, at least for me. Such director 's devices should be used for story/plot reasons, bit for lewd scenes, imho. Still +1 for the effort, the style and the innovation, -1 for the failed lewd result - dialogues are not so bad as some say, there is some specific prose, and I mostly enjoyed the MCs POV comments in his head. But, some dialogues are ended abruptly with scenes changing without a steady flow and this throws me off balance, making me skip some parts. - the talking animations are a nice touch, but not synced (I have seen one game in F95 where they were done masterfully), but they help accentuate the LIs facial characteristics and make them feel more alive. I dig them All in all, there is some decent effort, the plan seems concrete, the visuals and LIs work just fine (not cream of the crop, but nothing to scoff at either), the dev has a very good history, so everything seems to be set so that we can enjoy an above average (Def above 3,5 rated) AVN.

3.5*, will round up Decent amount of content for a initial release, gets to the inciting incident by the end of it which is always nice to see. AI art but it works, it doesnt look super cheap. Writing is alright overall, unfortunately the MC is the weakest written character. i.e. it does not make any sense that a doctor who is written to only care about his work would be so lax on DUIs and general road exhaustion driving, and also showing up to his first day at the office hungover in sunglasses. Would suggest

Crowhaven is an incredible first chapter, and wastes no time throwing you into an interesting story filled with intrigue, mystery, "murder" (maybe), and a great sex scene. Let's get the bad out of the way first, since it isn't too terrible, but the AI gloss over some of the characters is distracting, and very inconsistent. Characters like Sarah and Zoe don't really suffer, but there are other NPC models that just look uncanny. However, your story is interesting, and I know I am heavily invested when I don't skip any dialog. So far, Sarah and Zoe are standout possible LIs, and they both have great personalities associated to their characters. I wish you the best on your game.

VERSION: Ep.1 SUMMARY: Good visuals and audio, ruined by poor dialogue. RATINGS: (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ NOTE: The following categories and scoring method are my own criteria and may require more context. Additionally , scoring is based on the state, and what is in the current version and not what may or may not be introduced at a later point. Character (Model) Visuals......... : ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ General (World) Visuals........... : ⭐⭐ Animation Quality................. : ⭐⭐⭐ Character Personality(Persona).... : ⭐⭐⭐ Story & Dialogue .................. : ⭐⭐ Writing & Grammar................. : ⭐⭐⭐ UX/UI, Game Type & Mechanics.......: ⭐⭐⭐ Playtime & Pacing ..................: ⭐⭐⭐ Music & Sounds .....................: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ Adult Content & Fetishes.......... : ⭐⭐⭐ Average: X of 50 possible points giving a X% rating i.e. X stars. PROS: - See my opinions section for details. Writing isn't horrible but there are fundamental issues with some logic that is not thought through clearly. See Comments Writing is structured and reads well enough. Visuals are decent the MC looks good and the world has decent quality renders. Decent audio, music is fine and the ambient and lewd sounds are good too. CONS: - See my opinions section for details. UX/UI was the first issue I picked up on, basics are missing, such a stupid thing to mess up really... Writing is often a mixed bag and can get tiresome with filler text and pointless, illogical "speak" Flaws with how dialogue unfolds, its unnatural and poorly structured, giving the player a jarring experience. This often happens with the dialogue doesn't fit or feel natural. Use of idiomatic terminology to try and sound clever or classy falls flat, again AI use here I'm sure. While the visuals are decent, the logic and design cause me to drop the rating. e.g. the clinic looks like a rehab center more than anything, the passage/hallway is narrow, how will a bed get by in case of medical emergency? How do people walk between beds and chairs in that narrow hallway? Why so many doors, look more like cell in an asylum...The doctors office looks like the break room with coffee and water dispenser in it? WTF. The clinic looks new, but the apartment looks like a motel from the 50s, the bathroom...WTF is with that? Animations are AI, and inconsistent as often is the case, colours, lighting, texture, jagged movements, not smooth at all are mostly the case in this AVN, but some are better than other... OPINIONS, SUGGESTIONS & FINAL REMARKS : NOTE: The following remarks are my personal opinions and thoughts, which may provide more context and could be useful to the developer. (Read them or don't) The moment the UX/UI is screwed up or lacks the most basic functions I tend to drop an AVN to 3 stars, because lets be honest, its really a fundamental basic to get the UI at least mostly right. e.g. dialogue box opacity, must have, text colour good extra. Then you check your product before putting it out for public scrutiny. Clearly it wasn't checked here because these items and more are missing or poorly slapped together... Logic flaws in dialogue, e.g. while standing at the garage the MC says "still a fair distance to go", then two lines later still standing there says "Crowhaven isn't far now" So which is it, far to go or not. These kinds of script feel like shit said simply for the sake of saying something. Honestly, I think people would agree that the dialogue feels written or proof read by AI, its pedantic way of narrating is frustrating and obvious and it can waffle on and say nothing at the same time... The dream scene with the swamp and trees, this was done before or used before in at least one game I know of before this, which was Dracula, I am not liking the use of the exact same dream sequence animations... TLDR: Visually not bad at all, animations are done fairly well, audio is also pretty decent. The killer for this AVN is its poor dialogue, its unnaturally flow and driving of conversations its just not structured well at all. There are also other disconnects in visuals, style and it even feels like timeline, walking from one room into another is like a twilight zone, going from one era to another. Don't get me wrong its not horrible, and can be good, but the dialogue needs serious work.