I'm reviewing another real-time 3D stealth exhib game! I can't help playing these when I see them, so now I'm making it your problem, too. I promise these aren't the only games I'll play/review; I've been playing other games too, so please look forward to that.
For me, while Secret Flasher Seleka remains the gold standard for one of these types of games, I think this one is really close to being really good. For one, I think the animations and stuff are great and pretty hot. I also think the zones and the progression through them is just perfect. The environments aren't great but they work fine and the character models are what you probably expect from a Japanese Unity eroge: they're either from KK or they might as well be. So the overall look of the game is totally fine, maybe even a little better than fine.
Where I think the game starts having issues is in mission design and the actual stealth gameplay. While I'm not expecting Splintercell here, there's a few things that really hurt this game's stealth; for one, it's just kind of hard to tell when you're being seen by someone. Unlike Seleka, there are no audio or visual cues for what's happening offscreen, so you constantly need to be flicking the mouse back and forth (which also prevents you from flicking other things you'd rather be flicking). Any kind of notification--the sound of an NPC gasping, an alert sound, or some sort of on-screen indicator, could easily have helped this. And since getting seen ends a run, it can be annoying.
And the reason it's as annoying as it is is because of the mission design. Oh boy, the mission design. So many of the missions are "do X in view of others for Y minute(s)." Fortunately, you don't need to do any of this consecutively, but two minutes of being naked while in view of NPCs without being caught is an eternity because of the way this actually ends up working, and it sort of stops being fun at some point. What you actually do is gently edge your way into and out of NPCs' views over and over again, 5-6 seconds at a time, until you reach the arbitrary time requirement to complete a level. On top of that, missions like cumming or pissing while in the light or near NPCs are also really just dice rolls; it doesn't feel like you can do these things in a smart way, you just need to take care of these missions first in case you fail, then spend a long time on the "in view of NPCs" missions. By the time you're done with all this tedious stuff, it's kinda not sexy anymore.
If I was tasked with "fixing" this game, assuming I had the skill and knowledge necessary to do so, I'd do the following things:
Add on-screen and audio indicators of NPCs noticing you. In an ideal world, you'd get something like directional arrows around the edges of the screen with some sort of audio cue like gasping or curious sounds.
Rewrite missions that hinge on being seen for a certain amount of time to either be based on a being seen by a certain number of people, or make it so you have to do something equally challenging and time-consuming, but less tedious. For example, maybe a mission that involves leaving your coat/clothing in a certain pre-defined place, then making you move a certain distance away and then back. Like if you had to drop your coat in the middle of a busy intersection and move a long distance away, you'd end up with something that took time, took some planning and a little luck, still feels on-brand for the exhib genre, but doesn't boil down to tediously and repeatedly creeping in and out of the view of NPCs over and over and over again.
I think you should be able to interrupt certain long animations like urinating in case you need to, but just make it not count for a mission or for points if you don't finish the entire animation. This will make it so you still have to essentially repeat the attempt when you fail to do these missions, but without having to start the whole level over every time, and because they'd theoretically let a skilled player fail the luck part while still having a chance to salvage the run with their "skill," I think it'll make these missions feel less like they're just blind stupid luck.
I think the game could be perfect with refinements to the missions and by fixing the issue of not knowing when you're being seen; just fixing those two problems would probably make this game as good as Seleka on a basic level--maybe even better in some ways. Of course, comparing it to Seleka, items you buy and equip don't have any effect; like using a vibrator doesn't make your pleasure meter go up faster or make you easier to detect from what I can tell, and I also think the NPC AI is simultaneously way too good at noticing you--like the "detection" meter can fill almost instantly in certain scenarios--while also being very predictable, with most NPCs taking the exact same two or three paths through each level like lemmings. But these are tiny complaints, and may even be more subjective than anything else.
The later missions are also insanely difficult, and I only beat them because I found a buggy place in the level where the game considered me to be in-view of and "near" NPCs while also completely invisible to them. These later missions also don't really unlock anything, not that you'd know that, so that's a bit of a bummer. I expected to get something like a unique cosmetic or a free mode modifier for my trouble, but there really isn't anything like that. Maybe it's good that there isn't given how tedious and annoying the last two missions in particular are, since it means you, dear reader, can take advantage of my knowledge and not worry about doing them.
So the takeaway is, if you're looking for another real-time 3D stealth exhibitionism game, this could be your huckleberry! It's good, and even great in some areas! I don't think it will unseat Seleka as my favorite in the genre. (I have Roxanne on my docket and I've heard good things, and Seleka is also getting a sequel, so maybe one of those will!) I think it's frustrating that Rena is so close to being so much better with just some tweaks and fixes, but it is by no means a bad time. As I said, I also thought the character was sexy and the animations were hot, so it's certainly fine for fap material if that's what you're after! Overall, I recommend it if you've already played Seleka and want something else in the same genre!
As always, while I admit trying before you buy is a reasonable thing to want to do, please please please support the devs that make things you like with a purchase! I know it's a little hard on DLsite nowadays, though, but please make the attempt. We're getting so many games in this genre because of the support this style of game is getting from people like us, after all!
If I review enough of these stealth exhib games I'll do a tier list someday.
Outsider Artisan
2025-05-07 15:28:03 +0000 UTCOhenry78
2025-05-07 15:27:01 +0000 UTC