VN - Ren'Py - Thief of Hearts [v0.0.1b] [MrDots Games]

Thief of Hearts 0.0.1A

This is the first MrDots game that I've even tried. I've heard good things about earlier titles but every time I looked at their renders I found that too many of the girls looked either outright too young for my tastes or like an uncanny doll assembled in a Frankenstein manner from some strange mix of adult and child-like features. They'd just look too off-putting for me.

So I'm happy to see with this game that there's good variety in the ages and the older people actually look older. Ariel and possibly future characters should hopefully still satisfy fans of previous work (though not my thing personally). Bella's the most my style personally but Vivian grew on me and Megan was great as well (plus Mikayla and Tasha were awesome for their part).

The TLDR pros/neutral/cons list:

Pros: Character models, Animations, Options/Settings, Sound (including in lewd scenes), and amount of content for first chapter/release

Neutral: Fantasy Scenes are hot but have obnoxious overlays, Lewd Scenes are over-reliant on animations (lack good static renders or writing), and In Game WT options are nice but not very helpful thus far

Negative: Writing is disappointing, MC is stupid and rarely acts as a trained thief, Renders lack visual fidelity, game mechanics/point systems are poorly implemented (task points in particular make it so you have to make choices that often don't make sense and limit options), characters are shallow/tropey, and a handful of other smaller elements

Read the full but lengthy version detailing these things:


Conclusion: This game could still be something special if some combination of the writing, renders, game mechanics, and UI improve but right now the best part of the game is likely the lewd/fantasy content and it's not quite good enough to be worth playing the game for on it's own. The relationships with the girls itself is the second strongest draw the game has going for it but after the first chapter I came away not feeling particularly invested in any of the girls and not at all invested in the story despite really initially really loving the premise. It's extremely early yet so there's plenty of time for things to improve but lack of an early hook is never good. At present I think this is overall a disappointing start and only fairly average in the AVN landscape. I do recommend giving it a try once it's further along. I myself will likely return to it much later and hopefully have a better experience. Just bear in mind this game is aiming for a Steam release eventually so there are bound to need to be some changes between the game you play prior to the Steam release and when changes need to be made - luckily it seems like the devs are trying to keep this in mind (be careful with the schoolgirl outfit though guys, lol).

Thief of Hearts [v0.0.1b]

The women are all pretty as usual on this developer's games, and i'm no expert on this but the backgrounds seemed like a downgrade from his most recent games, but could be my impression...but for me it seems quite basic .
The MC is okay, at least he's not like Sunshine Love MC.
What i didnt like: (spoilers ahead)
- MC and Bella (blonde) with the tattoo guy, if you let her handle the situation trying to know more about a tattoo she will throw herself (and her tits) on the guy in a insinuating manner to gain information, if you dont want that, you handle it... this already made not like her that much... that is her first choice? Use her body? She should try using her brain first.... every guy she crosses path with she will jump on the guy when wanting to know something then?...and knowing that shes the kind of character that will resort to this kind of method makes me doubt on her as a love interest.
- Later on a restaurant, you go to visit Vivian ("landlady"), then theres a old mofo already sexually harassing her, touching her butt (he does it twice), the revenge? Yeah, MC takes some money from his wallet, flush the wallet on the toilet and the guy is escorted out...wow...yeah, lame as fuck...and honestly, why all that? Just to show MC as a savior? The White Knight? After so many games is this dev come up with? In this way? I expected more.
- Later, MC goes to a club, there he meets with two girls and one male friend.
If you pick one girl, he takes the other. If you pick both theres unavoidable lesbian content...You want both, but with no lesbian? Out of luck buddy! You want to pick just one to avoid lesbian content without the other guy having the other girl? Out of luck buddy! Or you let the guy having one or you watch the lesbian sex shit show.
- In some other scene Vivian pulls the same bs of using her body to get her way on a situation involving a security guard, she uses her tits....really? That much out of ideas?
This is what the game will deliver? Female needs information or acess? Seduce some random dude. MC needs information or acess? Fuck some random women! And after we start a relationship? How cool is to see our partner seducing some other guy? See her touching our being touched? Is this what we have to expect? And how attractive is a L.I that resorts to this kind of behavior? I know im stretching here but this is what the game is already showing players.
Now think about his previous game "S.L" and what he did with the twins (and later was changed i think), think about what MC's sister did with the latin chick (dont know if it was changed), about what he did with a blonde milf and the driver as additional content on this new game (dont know if he removed) and now take the things i listed above, see the recent tendency? This dev takes some weird decisions, have some questionable choices on content and its hard to play thinking about the next one he will put on the game and which character he will ruin for you (me). I honestly was expecting more from a seasoned dev like him, all this seems like "design" choices from a new developer wanting to have as many tags as possible on the game release, and lets remember this is only the first update.
I can get past some things, but this much in so little time? Just on the first update? I cant.

Very interesting beginning and unusual plot in the robber genre, from experienced game creators.

Overall, I liked how the story started so far!
The idea itself is really rare in AVN's, where the main character is a thief, especially when now the whole family is involved in the robbery! Very interesting idea.

The plot itself is quite good, and despite the fact that the first issue is already quite long and the girls are each beautiful in their own way.

MC himself is also a completely normal guy with a sporty character and good humor.

The animations are surprisingly very good and beautifully done! It is worth trying this unusual story about a robbery.

Dont get the average 3.5 rating. I think this game is fantastic. Those who like IC will love this. The renders are great, and the fact that all the characters work together is also great. MrDot keeps the standard high. Cant wait for each update@

[0.0.1a] - 3.5/10

As flavorful as a bowl of porridge.

THE GOOD

The 'family of thieves' is a cool concept and should be explored more.

The GUI is pretty good.

The animations are surprisingly solid.

THE NEUTRAL

Locking sexual content behind a paywall code is understandable, but also pretty shitty.

THE BAD

The renders are simply terrible.

Reading up on other reviews and some comments, I was confused whether we were playing the same game. This is MrDots' fourth major title and the render quality somehow regressed compared to their last two games - Sunshine Love (2020) and Melody (2018). The framing is super basic, the lighting is pretty much non-existent, the character models look dated, and the compression level is so high, I can easily count the pixels in every shot. If I was to judge the game solely on the visuals, it would be the easiest 2/10 of my life.

The pacing makes no sense.

Whoever thought putting no transitions between shots is a good idea should be flogged and thrown overboard. Every click makes me feel I'm being teleported rather than smoothly transitioned to a new action/location. The same goes for the animations - every click feel like I'm hastily opening a new video file rather than having a curated experience. Ugh.

The writing has an identity crisis.

I did not have high expectations given MrDots' previous works, and maybe that is why I am not completely disappointed. The dialogue and storytelling are in this odd superposition where they are both pretty good and utterly dumb. In the span of a single scene we can go from a logical conversation between the 'family members' to straight-up oversexualization of every female character by the MC for no apparent reason.

I believe the problem lies in that the writer is mixing up the words 'implicit' and 'explicit.' Instead of the story being told in an organic way, we are presented with the same old 'Here is X. Their were my Y, and did Z." It assumes the 'main cast' has had no interactions and lives prior to the game's start. I like to call it the 'spawn problem' where the characters are spawned/forced to appear in a specific point of the story rather than being "born" gathering experience along the way.

Conclusion: Avoid if you value your time.

Review as of Version 0.01

The comedy parts in this game are going to be hit and miss. As I find the comedy the more stupid / cringe kind of comedy which doesn’t really work well for me. There are even some cringe worthy scenes but not alot of them. The story in this game reminds me of some heist comedy movies I saw in the past. Where they aren’t good but enjoyable for what it is.

I’m not a fan of incest games all that much and this very much a incest game 3 of the main LI are your family. But for someone that doesnt like incest I don’t mind it here because all the characters are very likable to me and I just love them so far. So I can get past any gripes I typically have where I think most games fall short when it comes to taboo topics incest . But it’s worth mentioning all the same.

The animations in this game are probably some of the best ive seen in an AVN. Which does make the extra unlocked non scenes a bit of a disappointment after seeing how good they could have been. However it’s understandable why extra scenes wouldn’t get the same amount of effort and time spent on time compared to something that is part of the main storyline.

I typically dislike using walkthroughs but I activated the walkthrough since it was part of the game and I noticed it was very much needed in this game. As to get a perfect A+ score some the choices aren’t all the obvious to which one you have to pick.

One final thing to mention as this could be a big deal to some people. One part in the story there is a lewd scene with I assume 2 side girls one we might see again unsure about that. But it’s forced on the player for plot reasons as I honestly would of turned both of them down if I could ( you get to pick which one based on your choices)

Overall a very strong first episode with alot of playtime, for once I actually look forward to the next episode in a Mr. Dots game. As it’s very enjoyable for what it is but if you take it seriously, something not just to have fun with it’s not that great.

great renders, great story and more content that i expected for the initail instalment. the models look amazing just lilke thier other games and i really lokk forward to seeing where this is going. not much spicy content yet but its setting up way better than some other games do and its a massive credit to the writer

Story 4/5: good and relatively unique premise
Writing 3/5: lacking, but not terrible. main problem is the terrible humor
Renders 4/5: good, but not exceptionel
MC 2/5: he is a coward, overly perverted and lack self-control
Girls 3/5: decent variety, but a lot of them are dislikable
Choices 2/5: quite a severe lack of choices. MC is often very interested in a girl/woman, without giving the player a choice, and with a lo of the girls being dislikeable, that makes it a severe problem.

It's a mrdots game so you already know what to expect.

The renders are good but they feel like a downgrade from the previous game, which is surprising because one of the things they were talking about during the development was improving the quality and the expressions (which to be fair they did improve).

The models and characters are fine, unfortunately they had to go with the bitchy older sister trope.

The writing has been improved from the previous games but it's a bit jarring because one scene feels reasonably grounded in reality and the next scene is pure porn logic that looks like it was written by a horny teenager.

Having the players input the relationships instead of using a proper incest patch is also a downgrade, on top of that it's also not very polished, there are multiple instances of you calling your dad by name.

Still, an impressive first release just for the size alone and despite these flaws a solid game

Well, I tried this one despite my better judgement, just to have a discussion with someone. And it went as expected. Just the usual formula from this team, great renders and weak everything else, from characters to writing to the conversations, etc. I see many reviews saying it got much better, but I honestly dont see that much of a change, maybe compared to the mess that was sunshine, it does fare a bit better, but overall, mediocre.
Then we have some "extra, non canon scenes" that at this point it is a staple of Mr dots, I would complain about the lack of a notice or warning for this kinds of "controversial" scenes but honestly, it was to be expected so cant complain.
Not a game I would enjoy or plan to keep playing, but I am sure Mrdots fan would love, since it keeps mostly the same formula they have been using since DMD chapter 3. So if you liked his previous games, you'll probably like this one as well. But for me, personally, it is a 2/5. Pass.

A big improvement over the previous games.

-Better dialogues, intriguing characters and interesting story.
-Good looking females.
-Really long Episode 1. A lot more content for a first release than any of the other devs.
-Not a tedious gameplay. It has some really light minigames, nothing fancy.

Overall, for a first release, this is as good as it gets. The dev offers something unique within the usual family incest genre. I just hope they can finish the game as strong as it started.

Professional grade entertainment! First rate artwork, very likable characters, and a captivating story. The right balance between lighthearted comedy and thriller. Lots of content for a 0.01 release.

As far as opening releases go for a new game, this could well be up there with the very best.

Not only is it a HUGE update, the writing is great (as others have said) and there's a clear progression with the standard compared to their first three games (DMD, Melody and Sunshine Love). Love the MC's sense of humour which makes him quite likeable ( a rarity with MC's).

There's a big improvement in the quality of the animations.
There were glimpses in SL that they were getting better with them and you can see the full extent of that in this new game.

The approach to how they've crafted each scene is more focused: you can tell that more time and care has been taken in the detail shown for each scene.

This dev team gives you more than enough details about all the main characters in the game while also leaving some mystery and intrigue with others. Basing the story around a group of thieves definitely helps in this regard.

There's a decent mix in terms of the age of the love interests - two of which are only a couple of years in difference, either side of the MC's age (21).
It could do with another younger character but it's still only the first update, so plenty of room and time to add more.

Some of the MrDot formula still remains, but it works for Thief of Hearts and most mistakes of previous games haven't shown up in my playthrough so far.
Look out for the odd references to well-known films and TV shows - something I've noticed with their previous works.


There are a few inconsistencies with rendering details/errors but that would be purely nitpicking.

As for extras in the game, there's a stack of bonus images and quite a number of hidden and bonus scenes which gives players a reason to go through the game again. It's not for everyone, but it's a nice inclusion nonetheless.

Anyway, try it for yourself and come up with your own opinion.
Forget about their previous work or what the negative Nancy's are saying -
if they had anything resembling actual talent they'd make their own game.
They wouldn't know what hard work and putting in plenty of effort looks like, which is clearly evident in the creation of this first update.

Thief of Hearts is something fresh from this team, and there's a clear progression in quality here.

Looking forward to the next update already!

Excellent renders, great writing, fresh story that hasn't been done much in the past. This seems like it has the potential to be this devs best game. The character models are all amazing, with Ariel as my favorite. The thing I would say that stuck out to me the most was the writing. Dev has improved since the last few games and there were some funny and some touching moments. There was a good amount of content for a first release, and judging by the devs track record we can expect consistent quality. Definitely recommend!

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I thought there will be more loli(semi-loli) characters. So far you have only 1, - Ariel. (in SunLove there were 4) Maybe they will fill up empty spots in menu LI-relations with this type. ONLY. since there already, besides nice mom, a plenty 30-ish old girls.
btw, graphics looks worse that on 2020-23 Sunshine Love, wtf
+:
dialogues are better, even it was interesting to read encyclopedia dialogues from SunLove.
good chunk of plot for 1st update.

Great start to this game. The writing seems to have improved compared to the last games. Plot of the story is very interesting and the group dynamic is intriguing. Animations also seemed to have improved and the renders are great as always. Looking forward to the story unfolding.

Nice renders, bad writing and bellow average story. For better or worse MrDots team has a formula and they stick to it. This can be good if you want to play the same game over and over, not so good if you're looking for something interesting or exciting.
Landlady, roommates, magic dick, you know the drill.

The dev returns with a bang. The setting is pretty intriguing. Renders are great but is expected. The writing is stepping above compared to the previous game, quite entertaining in fact. Still early, but all main characters seem to have a great introduction so far. Looking forward to more.