Ren'Py - Dissonance [v0.12 Part 1] [L_Elyot]

v0.5
Visuals
I was first drawn in by the character designs, and they are a big plus in this game.

Writing
The writing is okay for the most part, but be warned this is almost a kinetic novel so far. In multiple hours of reading there's only been 1 real choice so far.
It is described as a "slow burn" but that is putting it lightly, the prologue is very slow, although things seem to be picking up now. And I don't mean only in regards to H content as this isn't that kind of VN, but in terms of plot advancement or character development. Felt like there were long bouts of time where little to nothing happened.
The mystery is done well and keeps you interested.

Mechanics and UI
The UI and mechanical system could be much improved, but the game is trying too hard to be similar to a certain other game. Inspiration ought to be used to improve on what is good rather than simply mimic.

MC is likable without being a power fantasy and flawed without being a selfish monster. Love interests are adorable and varied. The mystery and romance are given time to properly develop.
If you just want to skip straight to sexy times, this isn't the game for you. But if you want a well-told story, you're gonna have a good time.

Also I appreciate that the developer has added a non-sandbox mode, I think it fits this kind of story much better.

Dissonance is shaping up to be one of the best KK games on this site. While it does take very clear inspiration from existing KK denpa games taking place as a high school teacher, Elyot has managed to carve out an interesting story that is interesting in its own right. As of 0.5 this is especially true, with both lewd and denpa aspects becoming prominent. Elyot has committed to and maintained a monthly schedule for releases, which has yielded a fairly steady stream of content. Dissonance is worth your time.

Praise Yoshie. Praise Nurse.

[Review from 0.2]

I feel it's best to be transparent first and say that for those who are expecting sexual content, understand that even as of 0.2, there's nothing. This is going to be a slow burn.

That aside, the setup/situation seems to be inspired from a certain few games on this site. The MC is a character that's a bit of a tabula rasa thrust into a situation where he's able to get to know cute school girls. While it's not wholly original, the dialogue and story structure really set this apart from many other games I've played, as it felt pretty natural and was an interesting game to get invested in. As the story has been pretty introductory thus far, so I look forward to seeing how the author will handle all the characters in a more "full fledged" event, like the upcoming school festival.

Pro
* A fun, albeit small, cast of characters. It'll take some time to get to know their nuances, but I love that there is nuance
* Natural dialogue and good grammar, which goes a long way to keep me invested.
* Slow build up to sexual content. Yes this is a positive for me; a more believable build up to hand holding will do more for me than a meaningless scene of hardcore sex
* Good cute models. Not the best I've seen, but all very attractive in their own right, and it supplements their character as a whole
* Game is already prepped with main events and character events, as well as replay

Neutral
* Sandbox mode might be at odds with how the story is toldt. Currently everything is 95% linear, so it feels a little like bloat, but it might pan out in the end. Still too early to tell if it's necessary or not, because as I said, the game feels like it just finished it's introductions.

Con
* Once I reached the sandbox phase, the character events that were available didn't trigger until a certain main event took place, and it wasn't immediately clear that would be the case. It made the time between the main events feel a little empty, since there are 4-5 days of nothing but repeat events to gain bond, which doesn't do anything yet. Could be resolved once the game is content rich
* Even though I don't expect nor want full on sexual content right out of the gate, I sure do enjoy some sexually charged scenes, which is currently lacking. Things like teasing of sorts, or accidents. It's still early though, this is a nitpick tbh

I wanted to like this game, but I just can't. Summarized from my thread post:

The MC isn't particularly likable due to his not taking his own advice about his problems. There's no feeling of connection to any of the girls. Suzu is one of the worst VN love interests I've ever seen, and the game is worse for her being in it and being a love interest, with multiple other characters being actively worse for her inclusion and their lack of response to her hostility. The conflict is all contrived and driven by characters being intentionally non-communicative.

Lastly, the sandbox mechanic is 100% unnecessary and actively detracts from the game's pacing and story just by existing, and even with the sandbox 'choices' existing, the player has no choices that mean anything yet. I don't usually mind kinetic novels if the story is good, but this manages to somehow be a kinetic sandbox, with the worst aspects of both of those.

This some gourmet shit.

For real though cute girls, in a school setting, good story so far, very few spelling errors, characters without massive tits. These are all good things and i cannot wait to see where it's headed.

Pleasantly surprised with how long this initial release was. It was easily more than a few hours and definitely has me invested in seeing where the story goes. There is a distinct lack of any erotic content thus far besides a few suggestive phrases and implications, but that's perfectly fine. All of the characters are well developed and have agency, and the dialogue is solid.

It would have been nice to change the MC's name, and that would usually be a bit of a deal breaker for me, but not being able to wasn't as annoying as I expected it to be.

The visuals so far are pleasant enough and I enjoyed the look of all the LI's.

I guess my only real complaints so far is that the monologuing of the MC is a tad much at times, but it's definitely understandable given his circumstances and not too egregious.

All in all, 5/5 stars because there is clearly a lot of thought and care being put into this game and it has a ton of potential to be great.

Well done folks. I really enjoyed the innitial set up of the characters each with a defined personality. 4 stars for the renders and script. Im excited to see where it goes and definitly hope to see regular updates.

Edit from .4

This visual novel cotinues to draw me in with it's well witten characters. Keep it up.