Life's Gate

It's obviously in the early stages, but the story is captivating so far, and well written. If you are looking for a story with an actual plot, characters with depth, and a light, but somewhat somber introspective vibe that doesn't drip with cynacism, this is it. If you're looking for a game where the MC and his magic dong seduces every female within a 10 mile radius and proceeds to go from one to the next banging them like bongo drums, look elsewhere.

Review for episode 1 (first release) Slice of life HS game that turns into a superpower-style mystery that unfortunately starts so poorly, it's unlikely to draw many people in. The drawn out dialogue, boring conversation topics and lack of anything really interesting happening combine to form a brutal first impression. Good - The dialogue is fluent, and easily readable other than the odd time the dev uses latin for dramatic effect (no translation given, it's meant to be a mystery) - builds up the family relationships well I suppose? You really feel that the father and son have a good bond. (more on that in the bad section..) - decent amount of content for a first release. Neutral - Hard to tell who is an LI. You meet a few rando girls on a shopping trip with your dad, the women are named, so I assume that's a sign they'll be LIs. None of them are particularly attractive or interesting, but we don't know enough to say for sure. - main mystery: MC has a power that has awakened more strongly recently. I won't spoil it here, but it has to do with people dying supposedly. It's..there I guess, not super intriguing to be honest. - absolutely no sexiness in the slightest. Nothing. a very light amount of flirting from the shopping girls and that's it. for some, a killer, for others, a nothingburger. - models/LIs are....average quality, but definitely not the best I've seen in HS, not even close. Bad - the conversations are extended past any semblance of what should be in a adult visual novel. SOME conversations should be long for sure, I get that, but we're not just talking about the important conversations. We're talking about mundane things like the family sitting around the dining room table just chatting and normal everyday things. It gets extreme. there are even examples where the dev KNEW the conversation was gong to be insanely long because he threw in a "skip" option for one of them in particular. - While most conversations are fluent and realistic, suddenly the dev pulls a bizarre situation with an obvious LI. Spoiler MC is heading home , and going to the elevator. He sees a girl standing there checking her phone. Her dog is going to get hurt by the elevator doors. MC starts freaking out and having a long internal monologue about this. Eventually he stops thinking, and moves the dog. He tells the girl she needs to be careful and she's like "huh? what?" This is where it turns into a forced situation. Instead of a normal "your dog almost got caught in the elevator, please be careful" response, MC says "let's go sit down there for a bit and I'll explain the situation." What? That's not what any human would ever do. That's a "wtf was up with her" moment, not a "let's have a serious discussion over ther on the couches" situation. For a dev that prides himself on realistic conversations, suddenly we're forced into an extremely contrived meeting with this odd girl. She of course invites you to coffee, and then you can learn more about her (the intended path). What's even worse is if you say no to the coffee, the dev has to somehow force her into your life, so the super shy MC, who needed advice from his dad how to behave around girls before asks for her number so..he can help her if she needs anything I guess? even though she's leaving the country, idfk. The girl who he's said like 4 sentences to. During a 6 month time skip, you find out that they text a bunch and have become closer. It makes zero sense and is a bad introduction to her as an LI. best option I can see is to remove the MC saying "let's go sit over there", have him say the basics there, then she asks him out for coffee. removes the weirdness entirely. - MC is shy/awkward and has trouble talking to girls/etc. What's worse, you go shopping with your father and he consistently has to make little comments about the girls you're meeting "they're beautiful haha" etc, and MC says "I wish I knew girls like you do dad." it's fucking bizarre and very off putting. There's no 'dad gets the girls' vibe in the slightest, but it's just weird. MC of course will turn into a complete chad in the sack I'm sure, but still, first impressions and all that. Part of me didn't even want to write this review because I feel bad but from the devs responses, he has no intention of changing the intro or his writing style, and is convinced this is how the intro has to be, so I feel like I need to warn others who might have similar tastes as I do. I will say, if the first 10 minutes doesn't bore you to death, it's likely you could really enjoy this game. For me, it was a really bad experience. At least one person who normally likes similar games as I do seems to really enjoy it, so you might have a different experience. I had to force myself to come back another day (today) and finish after first meeting the elevator LI (Lucy).