VN - Ren'Py - Abandoned - Hot Sand of Antarctica [v0.09] [Grinvald]

  1. 4.00 star(s)

    hairy_trump

    This game have an insane ambition, as evident from the world building and changes in location and competent writing not expected from these types of Games. But that is also its achilies heel, in the pursuit of trying to achieve many things, itrs meandering focus to past, side quest and abandonment of many storyline feels that author switched tracks because he suddenly thought this new track was more interesting. Moreover the moral actoons that was one of its great feature stop appearing after a time.

    It have no thematic undeline, moreover there is a lot of plot armor involved. On Li, red hair duaghter models and brown girl models were okay, but rest were unacanny valley, may be they are just remanents of previous models. Overall if yhou are here for action adventure this game might be for you ? I don't know because it plays like a VN, but if yhou are here to have a good time, with a sprionkle of story and post apocalyptic world and tons of fucking w/o seducing then this is the game for you, There is no hardly element of engagement with Li that goes beyond idle banter that blossoms their character , as most of the conversation is either undelined with plot or sex and since most of fli wants to simple fuck mc, the later is not intersting as there is almost no sexual tension. May be that is also why I liked red heads daughter and brown dictor as their character at least have some meat to them, even if it was minial.

    Finally , Don't compare it to desert sstalker, because this is not that game, Deert stalker's main USP is character tghat is built by sexual tension in a post apocalytipc worldd,it is have very little and mostly unintresting world (at least till I last played). this game on the other hand flips the script, its world is more intresting than the fli, bbut unlike desert stalker, it doesn't even do that aspect subtly because the world is presented to you in VN formast, and your choices havbe little to no consequences on final outcome, in how the world shapes .

    Overall rating 3.5/5
  2. 5.00 star(s)

    datarelay

    Hot Sand of Antarctica is a visual novel made by Grinvald with plenty of content despite its early development. You play as the right hand man of one of the bosses in a devastated land. With experience you have to navigate the dangers of the wasteland and fight against men and beast alike, coming back alive to your family that eagerly awaits you and depends on you for protection. It is an impressively well designed story in a world of desolation and violence. The characters are very well flushed out with unique characteristics and, more importantly, have their own reasons to be part of the story. Not only do the usual dangers of a wasteland movie exist in this game, but also an unseen danger roams around, causing havoc and terrifying the drained populace. I’m truly impressed by this visual novel. Not only is the quality of the models far superior than the usual novels, the writing also had a lot of effort and care put in. If that wasn’t enough, it also has plans for branching paths for romance and story related decisions. The scenes are very well paced and shown in opportune situations befitting the story. Slowly the narrative gives you more information about the characters and you actually feel closer to them, the most important element of visual novels. Grinvald went above and beyond when making his game, and it is easy to perceive that. I only have high praises for this novel, and it saddens me greatly that the developer abandoned this fantastic project, claiming the usual burnout and time constraints. The visual novel genre will miss a significant entry with the abandonment of Hot Sand of Antarctica.
  3. 4.00 star(s)

    TheSkeptic1

    Really sad to see this is abandoned. The story setting is interesting and unique. The renders, models, and dialog all great work.

    If you're the kind of person who begins to scrape the bottom of the barrels for the tags you prefer, this one is among them, and you haven't played it, you should. I used to avoid abandoned games, but I have also seen them get picked back up by either the original dev or another in the future. This is one such VN I'd hope for completion of.
  4. 4.00 star(s)

    adanu

    Good idea, interesting execution. It's a post apoc world that is very plausible as a setting. People underestimate how much ruthlessness actually goes into leadership, especially in a world where the basics are something you have to go to war over.

    Will be five stars if we ever see where this is going if the dev comes back.
  5. 2.00 star(s)

    colobancuz

    Don't be fooled by the poster!
    The game's got a cool post-apocalyptic vibe going on, with its unusual location and all. It's pretty intriguing, actually: what went down in Antarctica, how will people survive in these new and weird conditions, what challenges are they going to have to deal with, and how will the characters change under the pressure of it all?

    Sadly, there's nothing like that in this game. Even Antarctica itself is only mentioned in the name. It does come up every now and then, but everything around it just screams, 'THIS IS NOT ANTARCTICA!' Things like changing day and night (yeah, along with warming Antarctica moving to the equator), wild animals (it seems they came from other continents), and cities and buildings that are either destroyed or abandoned (and how only managed to get set up and abandoned for 20-30 years - it seems people had a very tight schedule), sand and peat bogs (!), and lots of other things that shouldn't be there. And there's no explanation of any of this.

    In general, carelessness is everywhere. For example, scenes in the main character's house - a perfectly normal apartment, modern, with new furniture and even statuettes! Or the doctor has ultra-modern equipment, straight off the assembly line! Hey, it's kind of post-apocalyptic, where does all this come from?! No immersion, no atmosphere.

    The plot is also sloppy, lacking in detail, a jumble of cloning experiments, dead sisters, shady scientists and bandits. Especially the last one - it feels like there are only robber gangs left in the world (whose leaders keep harems, yes, we know where that comes from). The plot is full of absurdities and inconsistencies, some lines appear out of nowhere, others are cut off halfway through.

    The characters are also shown in outline, without details, just soulless cardboard scenery that the protagonist either beats or fucks, depending on the situation. The protagonist is completely devoid of emotion and empathy, overly rational. The developer seems to think this is cool, and maybe in extreme situations it's a plus, but in romantic relationships it's nonsense! As a result, the sex scenes are bland and boring, just a series of standard animations.
    I'm not saying it's a terrible game, no. An average VN with normal renders, some good animations and an inexplicable plot. No post-apocalypse, no Antarctica.
  6. 1.00 star(s)

    MaxRichard

    One of the worst AVNs I've had the displeasure of playing through. Actually, that's a lie, as I didn't play through it. I gave up after about 30 mins.

    The models are good. Everything else is terrible.

    The writing is basically a masterclass on how NOT to write a story, dialogue, interesting characters, romance or sex. Aspiring devs, study this and do your best to never repeat it.

    It's like it was written by a 14 year old who was raised by wolves in Antarctica and therefore has no idea how humans normally interact or how to speak in English, but as young boys do, he imagines himself a super chad so when he was brought to the civilized world and given a computer, he thought he'd pen down his delusional dreams down in the form of this AVN.

    Stay away.
  7. 5.00 star(s)

    james4141

    Story is excellent. It contains just the right amount of gore and violence. Girls are beautiful and with good personality. Animation is also great. World building is nice and consistent. Got hooked onto plot. So far, I am loving this game so much.
  8. 3.00 star(s)

    taler

    Sad to see this abandoned as I was enjoying it.

    Fairly straight forward male power fantasy that hits in all the right places.

    Great job on:

    • Having a diverse cast with characters that I had no problems seeing as individuals.
    • Multiple plotlines that kept things interesting.
    • Steady and consistent world-building that's delivered at just the right pace.
    • Great maledom content that gets you to empathize with the male lead, neither a nice guy nor an asshole, great balanced character who's realistically selfish but still tries his best for others.
    • Overall fetishes appeal to me.

    Weak points:
    • Pacing is a bit quick, don't really get to enjoy our status as this awesome warlord, just keeps on being thrown into life-threatening situations, which while good, has too high of a ratio. Please give us more content that is just "basking in our power."
    • Sex is too consistent and regular, makes the whole thing feel forced or gamey. Even in scenarios where you're really busy with other things, there's always some weird and unnecessary sex thing. Frequently it doesn't make sense and takes you out of it.
    • Pretty dated graphics, uncompetitive with other games, can be downright ugly in many scenes.
    • The action is pretty lame, the author seems torn between the MC being a superhero that can 1v5 versus a regular person. It's just inconsistent and takes a lot of the tension out of it, you just expect whatever needs to happen to happen, things like preparation / chances of victory are useless to think about.
    • The cast while sexy, isn't that enjoyable. The girls feel useless despite some skills and male characters are disposable. It just feels like you have no friends and no society to venerate you. Can feel unexpectedly lonely. It's just you and a bunch of sniveling dependents.
  9. 5.00 star(s)

    Golden.Nyks

    I think this is the game it should be, in short, it is LEGEND,
    I think the game is one of the rare games that manages to be good in everything in general; models, animations, sounds, characters, world, story..., In addition, the rendering quality is high, each image looks clear and satisfactory.
  10. 3.00 star(s)

    Jaga Telesin

    For what it contains, the game isn't half bad. Unfortunately, it's less than a quarter of a game, and the developer has not only slowed their development in the last ~2 years, but has recently put it on indefinite hold.

    It has a good story and world, some interesting characters, decent renders, okay animations, some scene-specific music, and an MC who isn't a total wimp or dolt.

    But the pacing was also a bit off with the sex - it's something like 98% story, 2% sex. Character progression wasn't really going quickly at all, and the story went "off-the-rails" constantly with the MC getting himself captured time after time (due to some rather unbelievable timing and circumstances).

    It might be worth a play just to see a different world, but it's not even a quarter complete, and utterly leaves the reader hanging without really having been satisfying.

    If the developer ever manages to get back to working on it (unlikely for now due to RL work demands), it might go somewhere. I expect however to see the "Abandoned" tag on it in the next ~6 months instead, which is unfortunate. Had the dev managed to devote enough time, it could have gone somewhere and been a nice piece of entertainment. Provided of course, he got back to AVN roots and realized the story wasn't strong enough to hold up the general lack of LI and sex progression.
  11. 2.00 star(s)

    Wicks99

    Nice story world, but ultimately let down by slow updates, uninspiring sex scenes and a lack of narrative focus. Due to real life challenges, the developer has only been able to develop 2 - 3 hours of content after 3 years.

    Story
    The world is inhospitable due to global warming and antarctic is now a livable desert. MC will be building his harem while solving mysteries along the way.

    It’s an interesting premise, but a lack of story direction and the writing on the go style can be disruptive. It moves from post apocalyptic mad max to paranormal ghost and spirits to sci-fi cloning and then to roman gladiatorial combat all within a short duration of game play.

    The end result is a hastily clobbered up multi-genre story that players are not able to immerse in before moving to something else.

    Game Mechanics
    It started off as a points driven AVN with choices that affect variables such as relationship and karma, but this was abandoned after 30 minutes with arbitrary choices that don’t make much difference after that.

    Background / Character Renders
    Nicely done character models with plenty of unique background. There’s a lot of blood and gore which you are given the option to turn off if it’s not your cup of tea.

    Art style is on the side of realism and model and background renders are detailed enough without obvious pixelation.

    Character Development
    Hard to say as 8 LIs are introduced despite the story barely starting, so there hasn’t been much of an opportunity to develop them.

    Sex Scenes
    Renders are ok, but the scenes aren’t very engaging as most of them have no dialogue and simply consist of a slideshow of pics punctuated with short 1-2 second animations before ending with a cum shot.

    For a porn game this aspect needs serious rework.

    BGM and Sound Effects
    Generic though acceptable.

    Conclusion
    The premise is interesting and unique, but with the story going all over the place and LIs being introduced in rapid succession with no opportunity for players to get vested in combined with a semi hiatus status, the chances of the game being able to fulfil its potential is very slim.
  12. 5.00 star(s)

    Arryth

    I wasn't sure what to expect from this game, a lot of the time post-apocalyptic games are just overdone and can get boring and tedious. I did enjoy the look of the models, so decided to give this game a chance and... WOW!

    I thoroughly enjoyed this game, so much that I just couldn't put it down, (RIP my sleep schedule.) The game got me invested at first right away with the doctor your second wife, and the twins primarily. Though I came to appreciate all the characters, but those four specifically drew me in. The setting is actually very interested, the twist on the post-apocalyptic vibes were immaculate, the world becoming inhabitable andthe only place to live is the now desert antactica. LOVED it, I appreciate that enough time had past that the world was fleshed out, it wasn't as if this just happened yesterday, there was already a history to this new world, though not too far past the initial apocalypse, meaning the characters -CAN- remember life before the world went to shit.

    The characters felt unique and different, they all felt fleshed out from the shy twin yearning for love, to the more bold and adventurous twin. (I thoroughly enjoyed there little tension between the two of them as they both try to get your attention.) Your first wife tryingher best to be a mother and wife, the doctor trying to save lives despite the difficulties with little medicine and medical equipment. The MC who is desperately trying to protect the women he cares for in an unforgiving world, your mysterious "prisoner" who needs your help, your second wife who seems head over heels for the MC, but is also still seemingly trying to find her place. The "Secret Agent" girl... I mean everything in this just fit so perfectly, each character both unique, but adding to the overall story, and complimenting the other characters well.

    Pulling out some ghosts, invisible people, clones? Not what I was expecting but it was done really well and left me intrigued as to what was happening. Kept me clicking on through the story to see what was going to happen.

    The sex scenes are well done, it would be nice to see a bit more variety by throwing in some different kinks, though I appreciate some of the stuff that's already their. I mean, the scenes with the twins? Damn, very good stuff. Their playful and competitive nature was really brought out in those scenes thanks to skillful writing from the creator. The animations are fluid, and while the sound effects (Moaning and what not.) are quite repetitive, it was still a welcome addition that added to the intensity of the sex scenes.

    The character models are quite well done as well, I love the way the eyes seem to pop on all the characters, and their is a variety of body types (though clearly leaning towards busty, but still.)

    Genuinely, this game has potential to be one of the greats! With so much shitty games going about, this game is a hidden gem, how it dosen't have more love is BEYOND me. It is worthy of a hell of a lot more attention and praise, I'm honestly sad it took me so long to find this game.

    Models: 8/10
    Characters" 9/10
    Story 9/10
    World/Environment 7/10
    (Rated 5 stars because the game genuinely suprised me, and I think it truly has potential to be one of the best games out there.)


    Great work! quality game that I enjoyed from start to finish, and left me craving more! can't wait to see what the dev comes up with next!
  13. 4.00 star(s)

    vaelenor

    Animation: good quality animation, really great shots.
    story: seems like there’s a pretty intriguing backstory there that I want to see.
    writing: not bad, characters are more or less well written but a little two dimensional at times.

    this game is good, not the most amazing games but there is quality scenes and animation that keep it fun. There is an error when the two girls have fun there are no images. But I couldn’t determine if that was me or something else
  14. 5.00 star(s)

    Oussama/incest

    best games ever made
    As a result of the rapid melting of glaciers and permafrost in Siberia, a giant release of methane occurred into the atmosphere, which led to an explosive increase in temperature throughout the Earth. A few years later, the only place where people could survive was Antarctica. There were no more countries and economies; human civilization was on the edge of extinction. In the chaos that reigned, the heads of criminal groups, who are called "bosses", came to power with the help of cruelty and violence. Each of them has established its own laws on their territory, which have nothing to do with the concepts of humanity, compassion and justice.
    Your main character is an experienced warrior, the right hand of the most powerful boss, nicknamed Mongol. His tasks include protecting the borders of Mongol's territory, eliminating enemy scouts and saboteurs, as well as directing various combat operations. As a sign of special favor, Mongol allowed the main character to have two wives, from one of whom he has two twin daughters.
    The game contains FullHD renders, animations, sounds and music.
  15. 5.00 star(s)

    Alex zone

    Wow, I'm really enjoying Hot Sand of Antarctica ! The story has me hooked, especially because the characters are so interesting. Twins are definitely a standout – she's gorgeous.

    The visuals are also impressive. The character models are beautiful, and the environments are well-designed. The animation is smooth and adds to the overall experience.

    Overall, this is a fantastic game! It easily gets a 10 out of 10 from me. The characters are engaging, the story is interesting, and the visuals are top-notch. Definitely worth checking out!
  16. 5.00 star(s)

    Bryannoneil

    Elite game. One of my personal favourites. 5/5 story. game has some of the best looking characters I've ever seen and with the dystopian setting plot, it makes them even hotter. One of the rare games that I look for updates on religiously. Would recommend.
  17. 5.00 star(s)

    astabro

    This one you need to try. It has great premise, chad MC not gigachad tho, haha. Beautiful renders and animations. The quality of renders have been greatly improved since it's early versions without any rework, you know what I mean. Pretty good story not the top tier.
    Only con is that the dev is slow in updates all because of his life problems and it's genuine.
  18. 5.00 star(s)

    RobertRick

    Very entertaining. Delicate sex and hardcore violence. Story telling is fast forward and okay. Essentially, it is just one calamity after the other and a lot of intrigues. Heads either roll or swallow huge dick to the root. But it works, because... it is a porn game, ,right. Nothing deep needed here unless in the abdomen or the throat a girl. Lots of steaming action.
  19. 5.00 star(s)

    gruntcy

    This is one of my favourite games of the site. The anal scenes with the MC's daughters are some of the best I've ever seen. The game has so much potential, hope the developers release content when they can (I've read about the current situation of the dev, but this game is so great....)
  20. 2.00 star(s)

    MikesDK

    Im just to tierd of foced shit, here we have a game with choices but stright from the start you have 2 LIs forced on you as your wives, i mean why not let the player deside who he wants or not....it only gets annoying playing a MC who loves someone that the player hates....im not into milfs or big tits and both wives are just that, dev dident even care about making any kind of diversity and just give you 2 bimbo wives that i couldent care less about, so i lost alot of interrest in the game very fast, hell you even have a bimbo daughter and a smol but 3 out of 4 bimbos i just hate it.

    Also you cant pick freely who to fuck or not, some like the daughters are tied together so you only do stuff with both or none and your forced to have your wives join in as well if you ever want to fuck them so its just one weird game, where to much is forced.

    Funny enough i did enjoy the main story and if this had been a choice driven game where you could pick who to have relationships with and so on it would have been a 5 star game...but to bad its simply just not.

    Dialogs with the family is pretty cringy and if you want to do stuff like sex ed with the daughters then it has to be anal?...
    MC can also get raped at one point when taken hostage.

    So alot of the game just feels and reads like a b-porn movie where alot just dosent make sense and the writting it self really needs word as well.

    Girls 2/5
    Way to little diversity in builds, for every smol theres 50 bimbos, so big tit fetish is a must for this one.

    Animations 2/5
    They are pretty short and loops are short as well

    Music and effects 3/5
    Some what decent effects but music is pretty average and nothing with lyrics.

    Choices 2/5
    Just to much is forced on you like LIs, sex scenes, rape, fetishes and so on.