It wasn't bad, I definitely liked what lore I saw, and including the Backrooms is always worthy of a chuckle.

But it could have more (or better) choices, especially in route progression. Turning down Klaudia should have either opened up a Lesbian path with one of the other girls in Melanie's life, or allowed you to choose it once you saw Klaudia changing for the better. The M2F route just went straight for "become this old shitstain's personal slut to learn about your sister's death" with no option to say "no I'm not into that and would very much like to do something else" and either of those was Not Fun™ for me.

I'm willing to wait the extra time it might take if Virginia decides to implement what I've asked for, but oof, sucker punches in both ways. Endure a redeemable character's pre-redemption jerkishness to be a lesbian, and to watch a man become a woman, watch said new woman become an elderly asshole's new cock sleeve.

And then there was the Bad Ending if you demand Mister Bumblebee tell you everything. Came out of nowhere after I figured that maybe, if I wanted to know more, I'd have to be a bit assertive and make it clear I wasn't enjoying being given the runaround like that.

Nope. Melanie commits suicide and you have to figure out which choice was the bad one (don't be assertive) in order to avoid it.

So yeah, please make sure future Bad-Ending-causing choices are a bit more clear.

That said, again, I enjoyed what unaffected story there was, so NOT a deal-breaker.

I'm about to DL this version (played in-browser elsewhere last time) and see if I can remember every important choice.

This game is actually increadibly brilliant. I have always disliked the immediate gratification games in favor of more slow burn, story driven narratives and this one ticks all the buttons. I especially enjoy the lovecraftian vibes of story. I honestly wish DiscipleofVirginia would stop wasting their time on coom games, and instead focus on their true passion. Cosmic Horror. The genre is sadly lacking in authors and creatives. Its without a doubt the most complicated genre of fantasy there is, with precious few able to truly grapple with it and not be nutjobs. 

As a game, there really isn't one. There are "branching paths", but as its a beta the spoilers are fully revealed by fourth wall breaking so players can navigate all the content. And the content is VERY good. Some expert use of 3D imagery generation here. 

But I don't mind because I find the story engaging, and the use of Audio effects is brilliant. This is the kind of visual novel you want to read with the lights off and the headphones on. You get hooked in for the porn, but you stay for the story. I for one want to know where this is going. 

I am of two minds with this visual novel.

There's a lot of positives to this one; the production values and graphical fedelity are honestly very high and appealing. Everybody looks good and the use of lighting to set a mood is done very well. This is some top notch CGI work, and the right shots are bound to make one attracted to woman (particularly if you like asses) pop some endorphins off. And to top it off, this update now has well-done CG video to go alongside the images, and it all blends together pretty seemlessly. Not saying that the animation is super well done, but it's done well enough to convey what it wants to convey.

The horror aspects are honestly a good way to make this stand out from a lot of other games on this site and gives the whole story a new dimension. There's a lot of decent and creative jump scares, and to be fair, they're at least of some pretty shocking sights, so it's not quite just "BOO!" There's also some slightly unnerving moments in the game that are competently executed, and this game definitely pulls off atmosphere with choice sound effects and images. I would not say however, that it's a fantastically scary game. It's definitely spooky, definitely interesting, but if you're a more harden horror fan this might not get you.

I will be honest, when I first played v0.3, this aspect of the game had more impact on me, but replaying it after experiencing more of Pact with a Witch definitely made me less impressed with Of Birds and Bees. Though, that's not exactly fair, that is a rather high bar it would have to clear. I think the horror is above-average and can certiantly give some good heebie-jeebies, and I'm not sure being a super scary game was exactly the intent regardless. Just know you aren't playing something from Team Silent or something, if that's a deal breaker.

As for the characters and writing however... okay, yeah, they're not bad. They don't hit my "bad" or "dislike" radar. They feel somewhat realistic and human, and aren't extremely cartoonish, in either action or dialogue. They can be quite relatable and a little interesting, especially in their backgrounds and motives. I definitely wouldn't go so far as to say I don't care about them at all, that's not my stance. 

But they definitely feel like they lack some personality. They do have some, but it doesn't feel as well-defined as it could be. I feel like the tell-tale sign of this is that their character bios in the in-game glossary don't really go into that much detail about who they are and their likes and dislikes; it's mostly talking about their relationships and past exploits. Of course, another issue is that there's just so many characters in this VN that giving equal development of all of them it a nearly impossible task. It's just an aspect that I feel could have been done a little better.

And concerning the sexy stuff... I'll say this now: playing for sex scenes with this is a little complicated. There's lots of really good images to wank to, but full on sex scenes are rarer. Of course, that's depending on how you play. If you are into NTR (or at least can tolerate it), and specifically NTR where the dudes the wife is cheating with are (to be frank) ugly old men, then you are in luck! That's where the vast majority of the sex scenes are so far. You just have to specifically choose to go along the non-transformation NTR routes, which I didn't, so I can't really comment on what goes on during them. Other than that, there's only two or so blowjob scenes (which are dependent on choices made as well), two or so full-on sex scenes with the potentially NTR'd guy (who should probably look into a strapon tbh), and that's about it. And yeah, that also means there's zero action with the guy who gets a gender bender as of this version. And this is a decently long game to play, even as of the halfway point.

To be fair, this is obviously what the creator likes. It's obviously what gets them excited, and it's obviously just what the game is, so criticising the game just for being what it is is very pointless. You just have to know that this is what it is going in, and set expectations accordingly.

So, would I recommend this game? Well, it's one part Lovecraftian horror, one part decently entertaining soap opera, and one part NTR fetish porn. It bounces around a lot, and definitely has a "everything that the author thinks is cool crammed into it" feel to it. I won't deny I have a certain fondness for stuff like that, and I actually think they kinda pull off being a little cool. It's just that you have to be sold on what it's offering to some extent otherwise you could find yourself being a little bored. It didn't bore me, but if you really don't care for all the characters and the horror, then I could see one just turning it off.

So, I'll just say it's worth a shot. It's worth at least trying. It's just neat and intriguing enough to be worth you playing for a decent amount of time to determine if you'll like where it's going.

v0.3:

Graphics used in the game are great and mostly fit the scene well. Sounds for the game are alright with an appropriately creepy horror tune on repeat. Transformation in this current release is slim; you see some dream sequences but the real world hasn't hit much of it yet. Interactivity in the game is almost zero: this is a purest visual novel and the interactive decision points are a LONG way between each other (I actually checked on my second playthrough by using the Skip button with Ren'Py to see how much was burned through before getting to a choice). Writing for the game is mixed: you get drawn into the story with a very slow horror burn, but as you learn more about the main character, supporting characters and tertiary characters you might find yourself struggling to invest in what you are experiencing.

And that hits on the core of what I experienced with this game's current release: I did not care what happened to these people. And for a pure visual novel with so few interactive decision points in the game so far, that's almost fatal for audience appreciation. I was honestly bored by the point that the game hit its release end point and took me back to the title screen.

This was a tough one for me to review because my bias as a horror fan was on my mind the entire time. If you play this you may find yourself enjoying the laid back way the visual novel leads you through the tale, but you equally may also find yourself despising the characters and wishing the horror to begin so they can all be put to the sword.

Worth checking out at least once.

***** Five out of Five stars from the Amercan Tobacco Industry!!!

The game is very much like Autumn Boulevard by the same creater, but with 10 times the smoking. Even personal fitness trainers light up with the smallest temptation. At one point Amy, the MC's sister, is in the park with friends and she has a drink in one hand, a cigarette between her teeth, and another lit cigarette in the other hand. Certainly, people can have discussions and conversations without smoking. People in RL, where non-smokers are the vast majority, talk without lighting up all the time.

Still a lot of spelling and grammar issues. It's early, I am sure those will get cleaned up. I am wondering why the one military officer is in uniform and the characters whom she calls, "Private" are in civilian clothes....always in civvies despite the research taking place on a military base. This is odd. Are Trey and Leon private, civilian contractors? If so, their title is Mister, not Private. If they are military, at least put them in lab coats. Also it is extremely doubtful anyone would be court-martialed for following government hiring policy, or was that just another excuse for someone to start smoking?

I do like the slow build in suspense. The MC, Melanie, is a lot more attractive than Sylvessa from Autumn Boulevard. Randy old fat men are fatter and uglier. Randy old men are older and stringier, and the regular guys are hunkier. Nice graphics and the mood is well-maintained, but that could be the result of so much haze from the cigarette smoke.