Bruh my android 9 beaten my new android 11, my android 9 phone runs the game like no problem and then android 11 just runs the game and instantly closes xD
Sharing a list of other games here would be disrespectful to Jestur. It would basically be promoting his competitors content on his page. Would you want your competition getting free advertising on your page?
Great, awesome, interesting and very exciting game! II can't wait to continue!! There are so many questions, the answers to which I want to know so bad! :) Besides: 1. Tell me, what's the joke with Darci about holding hands being very depraved? In my country, it seems to be legal, at least I think so :) 2. When I saw a small poster "Once in a lifetime" in a frame in one of the houses, I smiled. But when I saw Judie in the mobile store... it was a nice surprise! :) Thank you so much for the hard, but such a great job!
If I'm up to date on internet humor, the joke about holding hands being depraved/inappropriate (particularly when compared to actual sex) is that it is too intimate. Like, 'hand holding comes after marriage' or 'don't hold hands without protection, wear gloves' kinds of jokes.
sorry if this doesn't make sense, it's late and I'm tired :3
it's one of those jokes i believe came from anime(?) where in hand holding is considered "ecchi" at some point. the guy above already explained it but i wanna add something i know. :3
"Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" maybe? I wasn't really paying attention, but there's a lot of stuff for that anime in the game and I thought I remembered seeing one of the main characters on the TV in the background. I might be wrong.
So, is Jessica and Tiffany supposed to be related to the MC or something? I mean why would Jessica be worried about feelings for her roommate and why would Tiffany be mad about it?
The way I understand it is that MC's dad was either dating or married to Tiffany when he died. She's not his bio mom because she died when he was young. Regardless, since they're his step family they all see it as wrong even though technically they're not step family anymore since the dad died. But Tiffany took MC in because he had nowhere else to go. My guess is Jestur just didn't want to use the cliche of step mom/sister.
this VN is heavily inspired on the TV show dark i had a suspicion but during one of the scenes where MC has to lie he's from Winden i knew for certain its the town the series dark is set in (because of this i already have a good idea where this story is going to go and i hope it will go that way cause it'll blow a lot of people their mind haha)
Not as of yet. Just finished all content that's out and the closest to anal is a couple analingus scenes, but it seems like there's still a lot of story left to tell at this point, so who knows what will be in future episodes?
There is a problem on andriod to where I can't get past the name screen i put my name in and it keeps my keyboard up and I press the enter and it only adds a space and i click but my keyboard pops back up
I love the comedy of this game. Also the girls are hot af. The story is really great, I'm into physics and I actually learned more here specially the theory of time travel. Waiting for Episode 5.❤️
update is fucking awesome. this game is definitely approaching the Masterpiece category .. can see an amazing boost in animation and cutscene quality in this update, which was excellent quality to start with. i dont usually pay for incomplete games, but its already worth naming a price for this game :)
This have to be the absolute best virtual story I've ever experienced. I'm in awe with too few words. I'm almost finished with chapter 4 and it leaves me crestfallen as I know I'll have to wait for an update, but this is a game I'm willing to wait for. Absolute masterpiece.
Just started Episode 4. I don't know how I haven't played this till now. Ripples is an instant favorite. Story, beautiful animation, comedy, this has it all. You've definitely secured a new supporter!
His time travel window goes too far on the past though, as it is now he could be Skylar’s dad (and that would explain Luna), but everyone else including himself is a few years too young.
That said, Hoodie said he’d destroy the machine this time, so it’s possible that the next trip goes to a few years later and ties everything up.
Sure it would be a paradox for him to be his own father, but depending on the time travel theory the author subscribes to, that may not make it necessarily impossible. There is a great classic time travel novel with this twist (not going to mention the title as it would be a spoiler).
Can't be Skylar's dad. She states clearly that he's in prison for selling weed. I was thinking the same thing until I remembered that she tells MC that in the park. I think the Luna thing is just that Luna remembers him from the diner and she's scared of him because while people can look very similar, it's impossible for people to look exactly alike (excepting twins) without very extensive plastic surgery. Also, she says she never forgets a face, implying that she might have a photographic memory.
That's a fair point. I had thought of that. It just seems to me that Skylar and MC are close enough that she would have told him that the man in prison isn't her bio dad, and Luna is close enough to Skylar who is an adult and probably would have told her that her "dad" isn't her biological father. Speculating way too much. lol *shrug*
SPOILER TO ANYONE WHO HASN'T FINISHED EPISODE FOUR YET!
I was thinking that he might be the twins father because Scarlett's sister says to stay away from Scarlett and Alyssa tells MC that their dad disappeared shortly after Scarlett got pregnant.
The Itch app can’t update it automatically, and yes that’s unfortunate, but you can still download it from the webpage and install it by hand (I have). It’s totally worth it.
hey Jestur, love the game so far, just wondering if you could compile a soundtrack list here, in the game description, since the music in the game is fire. thanks man.
I imagined Luna didn't want MC to see Skyllar any more because she was the girl fired when MC used coins from the future, but it doesn't looks like it.
The hooded guy may be MC from the future trying to change his past ;)
Just a thought, but it would be quite a shock to MC if he had sex with the daughters in the present, then have sex with the mothers in the past, finally to learn he is the father.
My guess is two of your comments answer each other 😉 the other girls are too young to be his daughters (except for Jessica who’s apparently a few weeks too old), but Skylar would be just on spot. (Unless in a future chapter he goes back to a later year, that’s of course possible with the current story flow.)
He MIGHT be Alyssa and Alice's dad. Would explain April telling him to stay away from Scarlett and the fact that their dad disappeared shortly after knocking Scarlett up. Can't be Skylar's dad though. He's in prison.
I recommend using the itch.io app, it allows you to update games without having to re-download the entire thing and usually only takes a minute or two. This only works for games that are hosted on compatible sites (mainly games uploaded here.)
Thank you for the new ep, it was lovely, just wish it was little longer, but oh well... keep up a great work! Can't wait to see how will everything turn out. :)
But I must say I'm little worried if there be enough content for girls I like :P, I mean with all this girls + past/present time some of them may never get chance/scene or it will be only one scene at best (hopefully Scarlett, Luna and some others from 1999 get some love in present time).
Also, no (normal) face slap for Cindy in the last scene was wasted opportunity, I'm sure she would love that. :P Will me meet her in present time? I wonder... :) (honestly, don't remember if she was caught in accident or not)
(This review is based on Ripples 0.4.1 public release)
STORY & CHARACTERS ★★★★☆
Jack Wilson is entering his final year of high school and rejoicing the return of his childhood friend Darci, back from a year away at another school. It feels good for things to get back to normal — until questions start to arise about the power plant accident that killed Jack's father almost 20 years ago. Convinced that there is more to the story than what he's always been told, Jack embarks on an investigative quest that will bring him face-to-face with the events of the past. Choices matter, and for Jack, his choices may even rewrite history.
Ripples presents an engaging time travel story with plenty of mystery and intrigue serving as counterpoint to the everyday adventures of a high school senior, his friends, and his romantic interests. The novel offers a fairly well-balanced mix of slice-of-life, sci-fi mystery & adventure, and intimate encounters. Every scene is interesting and advances the story well, either in terms of core plot or character development.
The story has an interesting and varied range of heroines and supporting cast. Most characters are well developed to some degree or other, ensuring that almost nobody feels like a cardboard standup. There is only one heroine that I feel I don't have an appreciable degree of investment in yet, while at the same time feeling that the author expects I should be invested. This is mostly due to limited scene exposure thus far, and may be rectified with later chapters.
Indeed, with this being a time travel story, Ripples has unique opportunities for backstory development. It has thus far availed itself of these opportunities judiciously, focusing the lens of the past on characters who are (thus far) ancillary presences in the present. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead, Ripples seems intent to capitalize on the opportunity to present two generations of characters at roughly the same age — which of course presents interesting prospects for a story that features sexual encounters prominently.
Ripples wastes no time with such encounters, which is always appreciated in an AVN. But it does so using its main cast of heroines (rather than leveraging side characters for early "quick wins"), and consequently introduces intimate encounters with limited opportunity for the reader to have become fully emotionally invested in the characters. The novel depends on some hastily described history between the main character and these heroines, and in so doing, threatens to undermine the reader's early development of empathy for the characters. (In one of the more egregious examples, a classmate flirts with the main character by flashing her uncovered nether regions in class — and in full view of several other students — in a move so ridiculously unlikely that it taxed my suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point.)
Fortunately, the game finds its footing later on and manages to avoid developing a terminal case of Pornomancer Syndrome. As the reader directly experiences the interactions between the main character and the heroines, the game starts to patch some backstory gaps, and the characters take on sufficient depth to make later intimate encounters more meaningful and rewarding.
GRAPHICS & ANIMATIONS ★★★★☆
Ripples uses the HS1 rendering engine for its characters and scenes, and I must say, it looks like the author has tried to squeeze every last bit of capability out of the engine. Scene composition is consistently good, and many shots are downright gorgeous for the tech being used. Lighting and DOF are extremely well utilized and give each shot a sense of depth, while also focusing the reader's attention on the main subject matter. Every scene has enough detail that it doesn't feel empty or underdeveloped. Very few scenes look overly flat. The most egregious exception, perhaps, is the ground cover in the forest scenes from Episode 1; and the game manages to redeem itself in Episode 4 with improved forest ground cover, as well as some absolutely stunning flora at the lake.
Characters are what one would expect from the HS toolset, but the author has tried to achieve as much diversity in looks as possible, and mostly succeeded. There are a few cases where facial expressions from one character to the next start to evoke a sense of déjà vu — the dreaded DreamWorks Face — but for the most part each character manages to distinguish itself from other others. Because of its time travel theme, Ripples has additional challenges. Several characters appear in the both the present and the past, and have to look roughly 20 years older/younger while still projecting a sense of continuity in their identity. Mothers have to look the same age as their daughters in the past, but still come across as sufficiently distinct. And as if that wasn't challenge enough, the story includes quite a few sister and twin-sister characters who have to look similar but still distinguish themselves visually. So far, Ripples has done an excellent job on all counts.
As for animations — there are a lot of them. And not just for the intimate encounters. Many characters introductions are handled with toe-to-head camera pans; animations are often devoted to subtle motions like character breathing or other minor acts; and various mundane shots like a car pulling up to the curb at night are fully animated. These all bring a great deal of life to the world, and they also aid in delivering added emotional impact for even non-sexual encounters with some of the heroines.
When it comes to the sexual encounters, I don't think I've seen HS-powered animations done as well as what Ripples achieves. The scene lighting and DOF plays a large part in this. Beyond that, the scene blocking, camera angles, and camera motion loops are all very well thought out and brilliantly executed. Tactical use of camera wobble — not too much and not overdone — marvelously augments the energy of sexual encounters. These elements are what separate "okay" H-scenes from spectacular scenes, and Ripples manages to elevate itself well above most of its peers.
Close contact between characters during intimate scenes is another area that seems to present a lot of challenges for HS-powered scenes. Here too, I was blown away by what the author has achieved. Ripples exhibits a level of detail in contact scenarios — especially labia-phallus interactions — that is absolutely stunning, and there were very few instances where I noticed unsightly polygon clipping that tend to plague games with more hastily designed interactions.
All of these strengths are on display during the sexual encounter with Krystal toward the end of Episode 3 Part 2 — a moment I consider to be the high point of the game. The scene has it all: great scene composition, great lighting and DOF, a wonderfully expressive heroine, near-flawless physical interplay between the main character and heroine, the most detailed and impressive clitoris-phallus interaction I've ever seen in an H-scene, camera work that makes the escalation of the encounter incredibly energetic and satisfying, and full animations for both the female orgasm and the male orgasm (a rare and delightful treat in an AVN). Combined with the sound palette and music selection (more on that later), the scene comes as close to achieving H-scene nirvana as one could hope for.
SOUND & MUSIC ★★★★★
Ripples doesn't skimp in the sound and music department, either. The game boasts an extensive soundtrack, and while it's not original, all of the tracks are very well selected to fit the scene. This is particularly true of the sexual encounters, all of which seem to be paired with musical tracks that are very well matched to the tone and emotion of the encounter. This has a significant bearing on the impact of sexual encounters, so I'm pleased at the thought and planning that the author has committed to this aspect of the storytelling. The looping on some tracks is a little dodgy, but overall not distracting.
(Only one recommendation would I offer: DON'T leverage musical tracks that the Internet psyche has indelibly associated with Kerbal Space Program. I know Kevin MacLeod's music is non-proprietary, but KSP has a de facto monopoly on many of those tracks now — if only because the mood of a scene is severely compromised when the music evokes visions of little green men running around in a launch vehicle assembly hangar.)
Sound effects are well done throughout. In particular, the sounds of physical contact during sexual encounters are good quality, which is important as these sounds are highly repetitive in looped animations. While some refinements could be made, there were no sounds that were so out of place as to be the least bit distracting.
Heroines utter generic moans during sexual encounters, and these are extremely very well done. There seems to be a varied set of "voice packs" leveraged for this purpose, such that many character's moans sound distinctly different from others. There are variations that follow the escalation of the encounter, and the sound loops are very well put together. The result is a powerful synergy with the animations that makes the H-scenes supremely satisfying. (Again, the Krystal encounter toward the end of Episode 3 Part 2 features some fantastic voice work, especially at the height of the copulation. There is even voice work for the animated moments of orgasm. Top notch!)
GAMEPLAY ★★★★☆
In its currently form, Ripples is what I would describe as a "kinetic visual novel with an illusion of choice" — insomuch as the choices that are offered seem to mostly govern whether or not the main character will have an opportunity for future sexual encounters with specific characters. The main plot seems to be essentially on the rails, though I could be failing to discern some longer-term plot deviations that my choices may be affecting. A common ailment of AVNs is that choices tend to accomplish nothing more than selectively limiting opportunities for sexual encounters, rather than guiding truly interesting branches in storyline. It's a malady I've come to grudgingly accept about AVNs, and Ripples walkthroughs are available in the community for those who want to make sure their choices don't irrevocably close the door on future intimate moments. Various response options are even more trivial and simply exist to help vary the dialogue on subsequent replays.
A gallery exists to allow convenient replay of lewd scenes once they have been encountered at least once — a near-mandatory staple feature of AVNs. My main gripe is that the gallery thumbnails are not blurred prior to being unlocked, potentially resulting in some spoilers for the unsuspecting. This may very well be addressed in a future update.
OVERALL ★★★★★
Ripples is shaping up to be my favorite HS-based AVN yet! The story is superb, with an intriguing plot, interesting cast of characters, and range of situational scenes. The novel falters a bit out of the gate trying to balance character development with early H-scenes, but manages to find its stride and deliver a well balanced cocktail of erotic storytelling. The graphics and sound design are top notch, and I still marvel at what the author has accomplished with the HS1 rendering toolset. (I can only imagine what the newer HS2 Studio would be capable of in the hands of such an artist.) Episode 4, recently released at the time of this review, further expands the intrigue of the main plot, and I eagerly look forward to seeing where the author takes the story!
The quality of this game is unmatched and I love it but I did feel like this update was kinda underwhelming as it was so short. I understand if you had other things going on but I am still thankful for what you have given us.
if you are on pc, it should be on the downloads folder, if you are on mobile, it depends on your system, but it should also appear in your downloads or document folder
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Game crashes at the start of the game.
you need a really good phone for android version, if youre on pc make sure you dont have anything else running and you use winzip to extract it
Bruh my android 9 beaten my new android 11, my android 9 phone runs the game like no problem and then android 11 just runs the game and instantly closes xD
Is that Cindy Option "take control" is bugs ? or coming soon content. cuz i cant pick that option
(sry if my english suck)
No, you have to pick that you don't like mint to unlock it.
When will episode 5 be released?
And can somebody suggest me games like this with many hot girls
Ik a lot of similar ones, its a lot tho, you can add me on discord, Sorata#8070 and I can send a screenshot of my folder if you want
Can u share some of it here?
Sharing a list of other games here would be disrespectful to Jestur. It would basically be promoting his competitors content on his page. Would you want your competition getting free advertising on your page?
Hi I friend requested you on discord. My username is TOTALLYNOTSUSSY :p
Great, awesome, interesting and very exciting game! II can't wait to continue!! There are so many questions, the answers to which I want to know so bad! :)
Besides:
1. Tell me, what's the joke with Darci about holding hands being very depraved? In my country, it seems to be legal, at least I think so :)
2. When I saw a small poster "Once in a lifetime" in a frame in one of the houses, I smiled. But when I saw Judie in the mobile store... it was a nice surprise! :)
Thank you so much for the hard, but such a great job!
If I'm up to date on internet humor, the joke about holding hands being depraved/inappropriate (particularly when compared to actual sex) is that it is too intimate. Like, 'hand holding comes after marriage' or 'don't hold hands without protection, wear gloves' kinds of jokes.
sorry if this doesn't make sense, it's late and I'm tired :3
it's one of those jokes i believe came from anime(?) where in hand holding is considered "ecchi" at some point. the guy above already explained it but i wanna add something i know. :3
Does anyone know the name of the anime the MC watched with Jessica? Looking for something new, and that sounded good.
"Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" maybe? I wasn't really paying attention, but there's a lot of stuff for that anime in the game and I thought I remembered seeing one of the main characters on the TV in the background. I might be wrong.
Thanks
It's "The Fruit of Grisaia", if im not wrong.
Thanks, I'll check both.
Am I the only one that can't wait for MC to fuck Darci's grandma?
So, is Jessica and Tiffany supposed to be related to the MC or something? I mean why would Jessica be worried about feelings for her roommate and why would Tiffany be mad about it?
The way I understand it is that MC's dad was either dating or married to Tiffany when he died. She's not his bio mom because she died when he was young. Regardless, since they're his step family they all see it as wrong even though technically they're not step family anymore since the dad died. But Tiffany took MC in because he had nowhere else to go. My guess is Jestur just didn't want to use the cliche of step mom/sister.
GOWDDAMM THIS GAMES IS AWESOME!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE OF IT
I can't install this on Android even the version before the current it always says "application not installed"
Not enough Space
this VN is heavily inspired on the TV show dark i had a suspicion but during one of the scenes where MC has to lie he's from Winden i knew for certain its the town the series dark is set in (because of this i already have a good idea where this story is going to go and i hope it will go that way cause it'll blow a lot of people their mind haha)
I need this game to update fast to play remaining story of scenes in the game.
When will going to update this game.
Is there a way to update via itch, or only by downloading online? I used that as a workaround, but was curious.
Definitely enjoying it, great work. Hate to say it but Scarlets swimming animation is my favorite so far
any way to start from ep 4?
Not as of yet. Just finished all content that's out and the closest to anal is a couple analingus scenes, but it seems like there's still a lot of story left to tell at this point, so who knows what will be in future episodes?
Is there anyway to start at Episode 4? I lost my progress
The saves folder is in the "Game" folder, just copy and paste it into the newer version i believe is what you need to do.
There is a problem on andriod to where I can't get past the name screen i put my name in and it keeps my keyboard up and I press the enter and it only adds a space and i click but my keyboard pops back up
I love the comedy of this game. Also the girls are hot af. The story is really great, I'm into physics and I actually learned more here specially the theory of time travel. Waiting for Episode 5.❤️
I'm guessing there's no dickgirl content, eh?
dick girls are disgusting
To each their own. (shrug)
i respect that but bro 乁( ⁰͡ Ĺ̯ ⁰͡ ) ㄏ
Man this is awesome, I love it!
I just finished when Bob fell down and when that shit got bent I suddenly lost all the strength in my body lmao.
bro last update was so good
update is fucking awesome. this game is definitely approaching the Masterpiece category .. can see an amazing boost in animation and cutscene quality in this update, which was excellent quality to start with. i dont usually pay for incomplete games, but its already worth naming a price for this game :)
This have to be the absolute best virtual story I've ever experienced. I'm in awe with too few words. I'm almost finished with chapter 4 and it leaves me crestfallen as I know I'll have to wait for an update, but this is a game I'm willing to wait for. Absolute masterpiece.
Just started Episode 4. I don't know how I haven't played this till now. Ripples is an instant favorite. Story, beautiful animation, comedy, this has it all. You've definitely secured a new supporter!
I might be crazy for thinking this, but could the MC be his father?
That is actually possible 😂🤔
No.
That is would be the very definition of a paradox.
He COULD be the father of some of his female friends though.
We'll see what happens as the story unfolds.
His time travel window goes too far on the past though, as it is now he could be Skylar’s dad (and that would explain Luna), but everyone else including himself is a few years too young.
That said, Hoodie said he’d destroy the machine this time, so it’s possible that the next trip goes to a few years later and ties everything up.
Sure it would be a paradox for him to be his own father, but depending on the time travel theory the author subscribes to, that may not make it necessarily impossible. There is a great classic time travel novel with this twist (not going to mention the title as it would be a spoiler).
Can't be Skylar's dad. She states clearly that he's in prison for selling weed. I was thinking the same thing until I remembered that she tells MC that in the park. I think the Luna thing is just that Luna remembers him from the diner and she's scared of him because while people can look very similar, it's impossible for people to look exactly alike (excepting twins) without very extensive plastic surgery. Also, she says she never forgets a face, implying that she might have a photographic memory.
The weed guy could be the dad who raised her, though, and he’d be the biological. I mean, you’re right, but it’s not out of the question.
That's a fair point. I had thought of that. It just seems to me that Skylar and MC are close enough that she would have told him that the man in prison isn't her bio dad, and Luna is close enough to Skylar who is an adult and probably would have told her that her "dad" isn't her biological father. Speculating way too much. lol *shrug*
Interesting，but I don't think so.if MC is his father, he should not coexist with his father . I do know a game that MC is his father,<Timestamps>
plot twist:
he is everyone's father, including his own
I think the MC is Tiffany's sister Jennifer. She had the knowledge to develop the time machine as well as knowing about the report.
SPOILER TO ANYONE WHO HASN'T FINISHED EPISODE FOUR YET!
I was thinking that he might be the twins father because Scarlett's sister says to stay away from Scarlett and Alyssa tells MC that their dad disappeared shortly after Scarlett got pregnant.
Support Android 11?
WAS a nice game, now it goes into a memory hole where i hope i remember to check when it's complete, it since it cant be updated.
guess the dev had enough testers.
The Itch app can’t update it automatically, and yes that’s unfortunate, but you can still download it from the webpage and install it by hand (I have). It’s totally worth it.
hey Jestur, love the game so far, just wondering if you could compile a soundtrack list here, in the game description, since the music in the game is fire. thanks man.
One of my fav VN's so far. Great animations! Looking forward to more!
Nice story, I've been hooked :)
I imagined Luna didn't want MC to see Skyllar any more because she was the girl fired when MC used coins from the future, but it doesn't looks like it.
The hooded guy may be MC from the future trying to change his past ;)
Just a thought, but it would be quite a shock to MC if he had sex with the daughters in the present, then have sex with the mothers in the past, finally to learn he is the father.
My guess is two of your comments answer each other 😉 the other girls are too young to be his daughters (except for Jessica who’s apparently a few weeks too old), but Skylar would be just on spot. (Unless in a future chapter he goes back to a later year, that’s of course possible with the current story flow.)
He MIGHT be Alyssa and Alice's dad. Would explain April telling him to stay away from Scarlett and the fact that their dad disappeared shortly after knocking Scarlett up. Can't be Skylar's dad though. He's in prison.
Loved the Diner scene. Laughed my arse off. Little gems like that really add to the experience. Well done.
Is there a way to download just the new version? Or do I have to download the whole 2 Gb game again?
I recommend using the itch.io app, it allows you to update games without having to re-download the entire thing and usually only takes a minute or two. This only works for games that are hosted on compatible sites (mainly games uploaded here.)
Can you please give me the link to the itch.io app, for Android
That unfortunately doesn’t include this game 😅 at least the most recent release was uploaded to Mega, which is not supported by the Itch client.
Thank you for the new ep, it was lovely, just wish it was little longer, but oh well... keep up a great work! Can't wait to see how will everything turn out. :)
But I must say I'm little worried if there be enough content for girls I like :P, I mean with all this girls + past/present time some of them may never get chance/scene or it will be only one scene at best (hopefully Scarlett, Luna and some others from 1999 get some love in present time).
Also, no (normal) face slap for Cindy in the last scene was wasted opportunity, I'm sure she would love that. :P Will me meet her in present time? I wonder... :) (honestly, don't remember if she was caught in accident or not)
I absolutely loved this game, but episode 4 ending got me wondering if there will be an episode 5?
(This review is based on Ripples 0.4.1 public release)
STORY & CHARACTERS ★★★★☆
Jack Wilson is entering his final year of high school and rejoicing the return of his childhood friend Darci, back from a year away at another school. It feels good for things to get back to normal — until questions start to arise about the power plant accident that killed Jack's father almost 20 years ago. Convinced that there is more to the story than what he's always been told, Jack embarks on an investigative quest that will bring him face-to-face with the events of the past. Choices matter, and for Jack, his choices may even rewrite history.
Ripples presents an engaging time travel story with plenty of mystery and intrigue serving as counterpoint to the everyday adventures of a high school senior, his friends, and his romantic interests. The novel offers a fairly well-balanced mix of slice-of-life, sci-fi mystery & adventure, and intimate encounters. Every scene is interesting and advances the story well, either in terms of core plot or character development.
The story has an interesting and varied range of heroines and supporting cast. Most characters are well developed to some degree or other, ensuring that almost nobody feels like a cardboard standup. There is only one heroine that I feel I don't have an appreciable degree of investment in yet, while at the same time feeling that the author expects I should be invested. This is mostly due to limited scene exposure thus far, and may be rectified with later chapters.
Indeed, with this being a time travel story, Ripples has unique opportunities for backstory development. It has thus far availed itself of these opportunities judiciously, focusing the lens of the past on characters who are (thus far) ancillary presences in the present. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead, Ripples seems intent to capitalize on the opportunity to present two generations of characters at roughly the same age — which of course presents interesting prospects for a story that features sexual encounters prominently.
Ripples wastes no time with such encounters, which is always appreciated in an AVN. But it does so using its main cast of heroines (rather than leveraging side characters for early "quick wins"), and consequently introduces intimate encounters with limited opportunity for the reader to have become fully emotionally invested in the characters. The novel depends on some hastily described history between the main character and these heroines, and in so doing, threatens to undermine the reader's early development of empathy for the characters. (In one of the more egregious examples, a classmate flirts with the main character by flashing her uncovered nether regions in class — and in full view of several other students — in a move so ridiculously unlikely that it taxed my suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point.)
Fortunately, the game finds its footing later on and manages to avoid developing a terminal case of Pornomancer Syndrome. As the reader directly experiences the interactions between the main character and the heroines, the game starts to patch some backstory gaps, and the characters take on sufficient depth to make later intimate encounters more meaningful and rewarding.
GRAPHICS & ANIMATIONS ★★★★☆
Ripples uses the HS1 rendering engine for its characters and scenes, and I must say, it looks like the author has tried to squeeze every last bit of capability out of the engine. Scene composition is consistently good, and many shots are downright gorgeous for the tech being used. Lighting and DOF are extremely well utilized and give each shot a sense of depth, while also focusing the reader's attention on the main subject matter. Every scene has enough detail that it doesn't feel empty or underdeveloped. Very few scenes look overly flat. The most egregious exception, perhaps, is the ground cover in the forest scenes from Episode 1; and the game manages to redeem itself in Episode 4 with improved forest ground cover, as well as some absolutely stunning flora at the lake.
Characters are what one would expect from the HS toolset, but the author has tried to achieve as much diversity in looks as possible, and mostly succeeded. There are a few cases where facial expressions from one character to the next start to evoke a sense of déjà vu — the dreaded DreamWorks Face — but for the most part each character manages to distinguish itself from other others. Because of its time travel theme, Ripples has additional challenges. Several characters appear in the both the present and the past, and have to look roughly 20 years older/younger while still projecting a sense of continuity in their identity. Mothers have to look the same age as their daughters in the past, but still come across as sufficiently distinct. And as if that wasn't challenge enough, the story includes quite a few sister and twin-sister characters who have to look similar but still distinguish themselves visually. So far, Ripples has done an excellent job on all counts.
As for animations — there are a lot of them. And not just for the intimate encounters. Many characters introductions are handled with toe-to-head camera pans; animations are often devoted to subtle motions like character breathing or other minor acts; and various mundane shots like a car pulling up to the curb at night are fully animated. These all bring a great deal of life to the world, and they also aid in delivering added emotional impact for even non-sexual encounters with some of the heroines.
When it comes to the sexual encounters, I don't think I've seen HS-powered animations done as well as what Ripples achieves. The scene lighting and DOF plays a large part in this. Beyond that, the scene blocking, camera angles, and camera motion loops are all very well thought out and brilliantly executed. Tactical use of camera wobble — not too much and not overdone — marvelously augments the energy of sexual encounters. These elements are what separate "okay" H-scenes from spectacular scenes, and Ripples manages to elevate itself well above most of its peers.
Close contact between characters during intimate scenes is another area that seems to present a lot of challenges for HS-powered scenes. Here too, I was blown away by what the author has achieved. Ripples exhibits a level of detail in contact scenarios — especially labia-phallus interactions — that is absolutely stunning, and there were very few instances where I noticed unsightly polygon clipping that tend to plague games with more hastily designed interactions.
All of these strengths are on display during the sexual encounter with Krystal toward the end of Episode 3 Part 2 — a moment I consider to be the high point of the game. The scene has it all: great scene composition, great lighting and DOF, a wonderfully expressive heroine, near-flawless physical interplay between the main character and heroine, the most detailed and impressive clitoris-phallus interaction I've ever seen in an H-scene, camera work that makes the escalation of the encounter incredibly energetic and satisfying, and full animations for both the female orgasm and the male orgasm (a rare and delightful treat in an AVN). Combined with the sound palette and music selection (more on that later), the scene comes as close to achieving H-scene nirvana as one could hope for.
SOUND & MUSIC ★★★★★
Ripples doesn't skimp in the sound and music department, either. The game boasts an extensive soundtrack, and while it's not original, all of the tracks are very well selected to fit the scene. This is particularly true of the sexual encounters, all of which seem to be paired with musical tracks that are very well matched to the tone and emotion of the encounter. This has a significant bearing on the impact of sexual encounters, so I'm pleased at the thought and planning that the author has committed to this aspect of the storytelling. The looping on some tracks is a little dodgy, but overall not distracting.
(Only one recommendation would I offer: DON'T leverage musical tracks that the Internet psyche has indelibly associated with Kerbal Space Program. I know Kevin MacLeod's music is non-proprietary, but KSP has a de facto monopoly on many of those tracks now — if only because the mood of a scene is severely compromised when the music evokes visions of little green men running around in a launch vehicle assembly hangar.)
Sound effects are well done throughout. In particular, the sounds of physical contact during sexual encounters are good quality, which is important as these sounds are highly repetitive in looped animations. While some refinements could be made, there were no sounds that were so out of place as to be the least bit distracting.
Heroines utter generic moans during sexual encounters, and these are extremely very well done. There seems to be a varied set of "voice packs" leveraged for this purpose, such that many character's moans sound distinctly different from others. There are variations that follow the escalation of the encounter, and the sound loops are very well put together. The result is a powerful synergy with the animations that makes the H-scenes supremely satisfying. (Again, the Krystal encounter toward the end of Episode 3 Part 2 features some fantastic voice work, especially at the height of the copulation. There is even voice work for the animated moments of orgasm. Top notch!)
GAMEPLAY ★★★★☆
In its currently form, Ripples is what I would describe as a "kinetic visual novel with an illusion of choice" — insomuch as the choices that are offered seem to mostly govern whether or not the main character will have an opportunity for future sexual encounters with specific characters. The main plot seems to be essentially on the rails, though I could be failing to discern some longer-term plot deviations that my choices may be affecting. A common ailment of AVNs is that choices tend to accomplish nothing more than selectively limiting opportunities for sexual encounters, rather than guiding truly interesting branches in storyline. It's a malady I've come to grudgingly accept about AVNs, and Ripples walkthroughs are available in the community for those who want to make sure their choices don't irrevocably close the door on future intimate moments. Various response options are even more trivial and simply exist to help vary the dialogue on subsequent replays.
A gallery exists to allow convenient replay of lewd scenes once they have been encountered at least once — a near-mandatory staple feature of AVNs. My main gripe is that the gallery thumbnails are not blurred prior to being unlocked, potentially resulting in some spoilers for the unsuspecting. This may very well be addressed in a future update.
OVERALL ★★★★★
Ripples is shaping up to be my favorite HS-based AVN yet! The story is superb, with an intriguing plot, interesting cast of characters, and range of situational scenes. The novel falters a bit out of the gate trying to balance character development with early H-scenes, but manages to find its stride and deliver a well balanced cocktail of erotic storytelling. The graphics and sound design are top notch, and I still marvel at what the author has accomplished with the HS1 rendering toolset. (I can only imagine what the newer HS2 Studio would be capable of in the hands of such an artist.) Episode 4, recently released at the time of this review, further expands the intrigue of the main plot, and I eagerly look forward to seeing where the author takes the story!
The quality of this game is unmatched and I love it but I did feel like this update was kinda underwhelming as it was so short. I understand if you had other things going on but I am still thankful for what you have given us.
this game has been amazing just wish there were more of it out..
Hi :) how do you access the episode 4 walkthrough?
PDF file, if the file doesn't download here try their patreon
How do you find that in the files? and thanks :)
if you are on pc, it should be on the downloads folder, if you are on mobile, it depends on your system, but it should also appear in your downloads or document folder
I know I'm late but thanks :)