VN - Ren'Py - Nephilim [v0.5.3] [BuuPlays]

This one is the best AVNs ever IMO
+++
*medieval story with elements of magic
*moral system: evil / dark path / revenge / recklessness
vs light path/ kindness / forgiveness / composure
*best solo romance all time in any AVN - Eliza
*balanced mc
*really nice renders
*very hardworking dev - update times are very decent
*this avn is only 1 year old and already has 6-8 hours content

---
*no objections- ver 0.4

Take care, Yo.

Good graphics with nice models, pretty average power fantasy story and very slow buildup.
The feeling of the story is great but the dialog brings it down over and over again.

Many times i think the dialog is too long and filler like. The characters are very naive, chatty, predictable and pretty boring to be honest. Very much random talk and thoughts that doesn't really bring anything new to the story, the characters doesn't really develop. It doesn't really help with the character building as they go on in the same style and in the same topics over and over again.

The romance dialog is banal and it seems like it's made by someone with no actual romantic experience. It's like if a love smitten teen wrote it and it's overly repetitive.

The characters are very immature for their age.
The MC trained and traveled the world for 10 years, still he's oblivious to most things and has the social capability of a trout. It's like he learned nothing but fighting from his mentor and his surrounding while he traveled.
The first LI, Eliza, had a rough upbringing and is portrayed like a survivor but she is also oblivious about everything. She should be a street smart girl with a little panache but she's mentally like a toddler with a crush. It feels like she brainwashed her own personality away when she met the MC.
The childhood LI, Alice, behaves pretty much the same as Eliza. She looks like an ogre though, I can't really stand her.
It seems like all the characters mental development stopped when the MC got taken away in his youth, while their physical skills did continue to develop.
The characters would make more sense if they were in the beginning of their teens.

There's still a measure of quality in the game but prepare for long boring periods between the highlights. I wish the story and dialog was much more focused, tighter and realistic.

As of 0.4.0

Not great, not terrible.

The good:
A lot of story. There is hours upon hours of VN. Great for a 0.4 release.
Good renders and ok animations.
If you are in to it, it's an interesting blend of western fantasy setting meeting anime style story and characters.

The bad:
Extreme inconsistencies in the story and setting: Traveling at the speed of Plot. MC being just as strong as Plot demands. Pointless choices (Save the girl or not? Yes - save the girl, not - save the girl anyway, but here are some red points).
Horrible prologue. My god, the "childhood" scenes almost made me drop the game. Almost reads as if it was written by another person.
Every chick wants to suck the MC off at the moment they see him. Just boring.
The Dark path is what 12 year olds think being Evil is and as stated - the choices don't matter (gets a bit better later in the game, where it's more about the MCs internal state and not about his actions). No "neutral path, as far as I can tell.

The Waste
Honestly, I would be ok, with the bad sides of the game, if there wasn't a ton of waste in it.
Wanna hear how the MC gushes over the girl next to him? Oh, you will. Regularly. Again and again. I am not one to complain about internal monologue but in this case, my patience was not enough. Something like 1/3 of the text in the game can be cut out and you won't miss anything. Worse, the game essentially has "romance" and "friendship" mode (ok, fine, cool) but the different romance modes don't acknowledge each-other. In all fairness it gets better over time, but the dev directly comes out and tells you "yes, there is a harem path" and then the MC doesn't ever mention he is involved with two girls at the time... but he will comment on how cute they are 5 472 966 times.
Similar stuff for renders, to be honest. Lots and lots of waste.
At the beginning lewd scenes are very rare. At the end, they are used to just extend the run time with at least on scene just copy pasted in the span of 5 minutes.

All that said, the dev seems to be improving and what i call waste (especially in the visual department) others might call attention to detail. Game has the potential to get much better as time goes on.

In the end, I think the best way to describe the game would be: How do you feel about Naruto?
You like Naruto? Download this game immedietely!
You can tolerate Naruto? Game is a fun time-waster while waiting for others to get an update.
You hate Naruto? Don't touch this game.

I want to rate this higher but...

Good stuff
- Main story is interesting.
- There are some hot af women.
- Protag's powers and how they improve.
- Legit good/evil choices with consequences.

Neutral stuff
- You can decline women that you ain't interested. Great! Problem is; the game keeps the women you decline in the game and repeatedly asks you if you're interested in em. Like dude... I turned this bitch down 5 times. Why you keep askin?

Bad stuff
- Romance writing. It drags on and gets very repetitive. Reading similar compliments and banter each time you interact with girl a, b, c, d, e, f... etc gets tiring.
- Lewds. I couldn't get off to em.

Really enjoyed this game more than I thought I would and am excited for future updates. The premise isn't exactly unique and includes lots of fantasy tropes, but I haven't seen that taken to the AVN medium and appreciate the dev for trying something like this and succeeding in making it an enjoyable experience.

The LIs are some of the most compelling, interesting, and convincingly written characters I've seen and you become emotionally attached so quickly that it genuinely surprises me. Highly recommend giving this a run for your money if you're a fan of the fantasy genre and appreciate a good romance story alongside it.

tldr; Solid 2nd page AVN for me, lots of content already and likeable characters. (Eliza is amazing)

First off, i was amazed by the amount of content this creator has managed to crank out in a year. I always make my own gallery by making saves at scenes I want to remember, this way I do not need to replay the game after each update. I am on save page 203....

The rating might be a bit biast, as I like these kind of high fantasy AVN's.
The renders are decent and the share amount of content makes more that up for i will not deduct a point for that

I agree with some of the continuitie problems, however within the realm of AVN's its okay, I like the main story and premise more than to deduct a point for that.

You should give this game a try

An average but enjoyable game. Nothing sticks out as particularly fantastic, but there are no major flaws either.

The renders are average. Characters are decent but the environments are poor.

The writing is serviceable. Nothing special and I skip a decent amount of it, but there aren't any major issues. Some characters are better than others. Overall it feels like the author is inexperienced but putting some effort in which I can appreciate.

The biggest flaw would be the continuity issues, which are relatively minor.

If I was to give some feedback, I think the plotting/story structure needs a ton of work. This isn't really something you can just fix, but instead improve upon going forward. Having the first half of the game be entirely focused on one characters romance, and then having the MC go off and potentially cheat/fall in love with a different character with 0 thoughts about the first feels bizarre.

If you are going for harem, it makes more sense to either introduce a few of the main LI's at the same time, or at the very least have the MC think/explain/rationalize why he is pursuing multiple women. It really cheapens the scenes where the MC expresses his undying love for a girl, and then does the same thing to someone else like a week later and doesn't think twice about it.

Great game with a nice high-fantasy story and likeable characters.
Graphics are fine, story unfolds nicely in an exciting manner and the medieval-esque fantasy game world makes the playthrough a pleasant experience.
The gameplay is composed of rather good storytelling and decision making.
Apart from being a fantasy story in the apropriate setting, the games story comes in a believeable fashion and the erotic parts are integrated really well, giving the feel of being part of the setting, just happenening and not the usual, ok here are a bunch of xxx-scenes - let's come up with a bit of texting glue, doesn't matter what, noone cares.

Imho a great addition to the games immersion would be interactive turn based combat, maybe skipable, instead of just having the action as text and image sequences, which would turn a great game into a sort of full fledged, engaging RPG. I think that would fit quite well into the MCs efforts to become stronger and his depiction as a powerful "combat machine".

Nephilim is more than just a coming-of-age story; it's a tapestry woven with threads of destiny, power, and the ever-present tug-of-war between light and darkness. Stepping into the shoes of a young Nephilim, poised at the precipice of adulthood, is an invitation to explore the depths of self and the weight of untapped potential.

The storyline shimmers with an alluring ambiguity. From the outset, the enigmatic wanderer who shapes your youth casts a long shadow, leaving behind both a legacy of rigorous training and an open path for you to forge your own destiny. This open-endedness feels less like uncertainty and more like a canvas awaiting your unique brushstrokes. Will you embrace the darkness that whispers within, or will you strive to be a beacon of hope in a world desperately in need of one? The choice, thrillingly, is yours.

This is the best Avn I've ever played and believe me I know what I'm writing because I've played most of the gems available (leap of faith, becomearockstar, , eternum, melody, the entrepreneur, a.o.a-academy, nursingbacktopleasure, onceinalifetime, long live the princess, price of power, project-passion, summer heat, halfway house, intertwined, ripples, bare witness - these are just from memory). Man, you are creating a legend before our eyes, you fuc*ed up the system with this game, in a positive sense. Eliza in my opinion is the best girl who will become a bigger cult than Cece in community, definitely the best romantic character for me. The plot is very interesting, you can feel it is slightly based on great games and films such as The Witcher, The Lord of the Rings, and even Harry Potter. I really didn't feel that good and had fun reading a book or playing a game or watching a series or a movie for a long time.
One request from the heart, please give players the opportunity not to kill Eliza's charm. I genuinely love this fictional literary character, I think players would pay only to maintain this one character purity and grace. Anyway, the best avn available today from me. 5/5 . Keep it up! Regards

I want to start by saying this is the first review i've ever left despite completing probably 75-100 VN's by now. I also want to say that I really want to give this one 5 stars but there are just a few things that drive me crazy.

Lets start with the good-
Firstly, i love the story. Well written and proofreading was clearly done. I'm no english major but nothing once stood out to me as bad. The story is great and even if similar to some others in ways, I really truely enjoy it.
The girls are all pretty great both personality and looks wise. Yeah the troupe is in full force and everyone will pretty much instantly want you dick but I kind of give that a pass as you are half Angel and that seems kind of believable.
I am honestly excited for more content and if I could base the game on 95% of its content and the story only I wouldn't hesitate to give 5 stars.

Yea I agree with some of the others and I really don't like how Eliza has changed. I do think the premise is cool and could make the two of them an pretty badass force but on a morally good path at least she needs to be able to better handle her urges to where we shouldn't feel that she is now a liability. Being able to quickly get what is likely the most powerful entity in the universe to control himself, she is absolutely no match for this new thirst...I get it but just wish it wasn't as extreme that she goes from a favorite character to one that i'd rather not be in the game anymore.

But thats not the most aggravating part...
And I can't believe I would ever say this but at this point I nearly wish the Lewd scenes were not in the game. I haven't played previous versions of this game and apparently judging by the opening dialouge maybe it lacked some lewd scenes previously, but now its just too much. HEAR ME OUT!! lol I like them just as much as the next person but 2 things bother me. First, to much! It seriously detracts from the story and second they are scripted so long that I nearly rage quit the game on multiple occasions...DURING A LEWD SCENE.

There is one scene that I went back so I could count how many mouse clicks it took to get thru the lewd scene....243! That is insane. Well over half of those are lines of text, no one needs nearly 200 lines of how much someone enjoys what the other is doing etc. Even kissing scenes that do not turn lewd at all can sometimes be in excess of 45 mouse clicks and lines of text explaining how their lips taste or how they enjoy.... OMG come on already. There is never once a time when MC is leaving and gives a simple kiss and says ok be back in tonight, nope have fun reading for 10 mins about the softness of their lips again.

The Lewd scenes themselves are even ok. Animations are pretty good, not stellar or anything but the scenes are good, but they just carry on and on and on and then once they are done 3 mins later here we are again its painful. The writing is super well done during those parts too, but its way not needed. Maybe its ok to drag along a first time, first kiss, first encounter whatever, a little bit, but every future encounter afterwards doesn't have to be an entire sub story that takes 10 mins to read thru.

I wouldn't spend so long on a review if i wasn't passionate about the game to begin with. It has the potential to be excellent but as it is I really feel like i'm being very generous with 3 stars.

Edit: Very grateful to BuuPlays for being open to feedback regarding Eliza. While my preference would still have been to avoid vampirism entirely, I am grateful that changes have been made to avoid some of the worst outcomes of the at choice. For that reason I'm rating this five stars for having a conscientious developer even though its probably more like a 4.5. Some of the dialogue and prose can be overly dramatic or long winded at times, and theres also some occasionally cheesy stuff like the scar scene early on. But a responsive dev and great characters mostly make up for the occasional shortcomings.

I'm enjoying every minute of this masterpiece and interestingly the enjoyment increases with every update.

That's why it's high time for a feedback.

About the story: It is an exciting, emotional and mesmerizing story. It's fun to immerse yourself in this fantasy world and take part in the adventures of the MC.

About the MC: A cool and trustworthy MC with whom you can identify without having to struggle with embarrassment. This proves once again that it can be done and raises the question of why so many games still fail to do it.

About the Girls: Beautiful, sexy and interesting females with character and their own peculiarities. Beautifully rendered and perfectly staged. The fact that some of them are borderline crazy is exactly what makes them so special and loveable. Never stick your dick in crazy? Nonsense, do it and enjoy the extra fun.

@BuuPlays: Superb job! Keep up the good work! I am looking forward to the next update!

There is a large amount of content relative to how long its been in development. Not too many player choices, most of the choices are whether you want to see content with a girl or not. Writing can be a bit cheesy at times, and unfortunately its one of those where every girl in the game instantly wants the MC. There are some wrong character identifiers in parts, but spelling/grammar mistakes are minimal/non-existent.


The story line is progressing at a good pace, it would take most developers 3+ years to get to the same point in the story as this one has in one year. Overall a 4*game, could see it going up to 4.5* in future

A story with such promise. Beautifully rendered with an intriguing story line. I found this to be an engrossing story at first. Eliza and the MC's love story was beautifully told and explored. It really surprised how much of the romantic it brought out in me.

Then you are forced in to a romance with a pirate who I had no interest in at all. I found her obnoxious. The other LIs are okay but there is little content to get to know them and become attached like there is with Eliza. Then finally united again with our total sweetheart Eliza and she is turned in to a murderous monster. No thanks.

Some will see her as redeemable, but for me the horse has bolted. I would have been more interested in overcoming her bloodlust, not her giving in to it so easily and then trying to redeem herself. Then the murder gets covered up by those around Eliza. Now our growing group of allies are no better than the "bad guy" they are trying to stop. A shame, I had high expectations for this one.

Good story, good renders, and lovely ladies all over the place.

The only serious issue I had with this VN is that it needs a stats screen. There is a ton of points flowing around, but no way to actually see/track them at all.

The story is good. There is a good ebb and flow with the drama and humor. Keeps things interesting and on track.
The MC can either be light or dark. Which makes for a good revenge story.

Tons of women around as well. Each is different and unique. Character development and depth to their personal story makes them interesting.
Don't expect to jump straight into sex scenes. There is a build up of trust between characters and the MC. ( Hence the need for a stats tracker)

Overall
I feel that BuuPlays has a solid plan for this VN and I look forward to where the adventure takes us. Slow sexual buildup is a bit tedious, but doesn't hinder the story at all.
I recommend giving this one a shot. It's well thought out, and has a purpose driven story.

Man, this game is a great surprise for me. I did not expect to get so much invested in the characters, which I feel are its strongest suit in how they are written, portrayed and don't behave like your standard one dimensional caricatures.

Even though the story so far is nothing that you've not seen before but its the characters and their interactions that hold it tight together. I don't even care if the story stays on the rails throughout but what keeps me interested is the all the thoughts and reactions of the cast.

MC and Eliza romance gave me diabetes.

Overall i think there is still a lot of room for improvement to flesh out characters more with their background, motives, flaws etc.

This is a solid 4/5 for me right now upto ver3.5.

I just played this for the first time and wow I love this game. It' easily in my top 15-20 for sure. I do however have a few things I worry about for the future of this game. Would of given this 4/ 5 but I enjoyed this one to damn much so it gets 5/5 for me

Story - I Really liked how story focused this game is . The entire time playing I just keept thinking this game really feels like a fun adventure like when I play one of my favorite Fantasy RPG's just with the added adult content.
Renders - The renders are never bad they are either really good at times or decent never bad for me.

MC - Normally I don't judge a MC in these game as I play very discconected from them so a MC don't matter a whole alot to me compared to other people as long as I enjoy the character or story. However I will say I felt more immersed into the MC in this game for once maybe because of how much I was into the story and how it felt like a adventure to me / it's one of my favorite settings. There was a few times at in the beggining of the game where the MC did feel somewhat weak at times for being overpowered or just overly cocky that made him feel weak. But he never puts up with any shit.

Romance / characters - The romance between the MC and Eliza is probably one of the cutest and most wholesome romance ive seen in an AVN yet. Even his childhood friend is decent but needs more deveolopment there. Even the progression of the romance with Kira feels really well done even tho im not into her as I felt like she likes the MC to fast and too easily for my personal taste. But at least it does feel a little bit natural for it moving so fast.

But there is also some issues in the character / romance department as well for me. Other than Alice and Eliza I feel like the romance options currently in the game get attached to easily to the MC or like him for no real reason. But at least there still seems to be a sense of some romance progression / developments with Kira who falls into this category.

Also playing a solo path feels weird because the pirate chick ( Kira) forces kisses on the MC and really forward alot and the MC is never given the option to tell her you are taken / in a relationship despite always turning her down. At least you are givien a choice to break off of the kiss so it never leads to more than that with her/

Concerns : It's about the "change" Eliza is going to go through. One one hand I dont mind it because it means she can keep up with the MC now once she gets in control of her "change". However said change does feel like it came out of nowhere for me and I do worry about her personality and the way she acts might get changed to much. That is the one thing I dont want as she is perfect as she is in my eyes.

I also worry a bit on how choices are going to be handled in the future. In one of the earlier chapters we got to kill Selena's sister for betraying us it was great. But then when Pearl betrayed us is nearly as bad as way, granted she has some fear for the why she did it. Still there seemed to be a lack of choice with Peral instead we forgave her almost instantly. Where Selena' sister we got to kill betrayed us out of fear as well. So because of that it makes no sense to me why we shouldn't be given a choice to be hostile at least towards Pearl and not forgive her right away. Hell she even says she doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

this just keeps getting better with each release

renders are great

story is good, keeps me involved

the writing makes me feel for all involved, each has their own personality, which makes it seem realish(as real as a fantasy story might be)

hope to see this develop into a complete game/vn

UPD.
Apparently the dev decided to stall, and i'm talking about seemingly getting to the point of having sex with Eliza, but then turning 180, and it's not even the first time iirc. I've seen too much of that in some of AVNs to recognize it unmistakably, and i'm this close to abandoning it if it continues. Don't get me wrong, i'm not even playing those games for the porn, i look for the decent enough plot but the amount of beating around the bush is unbelievably frustrating. Either do it or fucking don't. Changed my mind, it's not a bit of an overkill with the sweet-talk, it's a damn nuke. I don't mind it, but there should be balance... -1* for stalling, if this continues with future updates i'll drop the rating down to 2* and stop playing. Would be a shame ofc, it was good until travelling point (looking for the cure).
One thing that also is a mystery to me is what the game wants to be. The main LI is Eliza, obviously, but it's possible to fuck around anyways while being on her route. Is it a harem game? Is it not? What is it? Harem tag is missing but why does it feel like a harem game? Why can i be a cheating piece of shit and not face any consequences? This doesn't make any sense, and it's annoying. Well, there it is, the tag that should have been added long ago, harem.

Oh and another tsundere chick incoming, apparently. Yeah, the princess, entitled spoiled little bitch that is overly hostile for some reason. Such a joy, like redhead pirate wasn't enough...

UPD 2. Well, the game is complete fuckfest now, but we get some action with Eliza (finally). Briefly addressed cheating, altho "let's not talk about this" is lame af. Ig the dev subtly hints that fucking around is okay with no consequences. I leave 3* 'cause it's fair imo.

UPD 3. Cringefest. No more, no less, it's just that bad i can't take it anymore. Everyone's fucking stupid cringebags *chuckle* hii *soft moan*. Ugh, i've not met a single adult talking like characters in this pathetic excuse of a novel. Bro. Like literally bro. This is so bad that i don't think human came up with those dialogues, more like cringified AI. Dark or Light paths? Thrown out of the window. Bipolar pirate twins are back, bipolar princess is still there, oh and guess what. There's another bipolar "admiral" of the royal fleet, or whoever the fuck she is. One second she fights MC to the death, next thing you know, they end up in the same bed together. Huh? How'd that happen? The crew of the royal fleet clearly saw that their commander was fighting MC, so they didn't think of anything better than put them together in the same bed. Lol ok, makes sense. And then the booby trap commander falls for MC, like almost instantly. But not really, 'cause she's bipolar. Come to think about it, it's actually funny. First, there were only unreasonably lovestruck bunch of groupies out for MCs dick, now they're polar opposite. Or should i say bipolar? One second they're spewing cringe cheesy bullshit, then something snaps inside of them and they're pretending to be offended/angry/uninterested. Fucking. Dumb. MC is spineless and pathetic, with no self-respect, apparently. Some skank violates his personal space like they were fucking for years but in fact, they've just met. Yet MC doesn't seem to mind it and acts like they're the best friends since before they both were born. The good question is why the fuck MC is so kind if i chose nothing but dark path choices in my entire playthrough? Should this affect MCs behavior? Guess not, huh.