Ren'Py - Shattered Minds [v0.17] [eXtasy Games]

I should open by saying I really dislike harem games. 95% of the time, they are trash, just a thin veneer of poorly written 'story' to excuse a bunch of 3D Daz models banging. Yaaawwwnnn.
But then, every once in awhile, there is a harem game that actually tries. Shattered Minds is one such game. Some highlights:
- Pretty interesting story. Standard issue mind control powers, but executed well.
- Great visual renders, with a diverse cast of body types. Kudos for the chubby computer girl (my fav)
- A sidekick who is fun and adds a lot of humor to the game
- A sandbox that doesn't make me want to gouge out my eyes
- Enough build-up to keep you wanting more
- Semi-realistic storytelling (specifically thinking of the whole mess you get into with the football player and the cheerleader)

All in all, an outstanding VN. I always say, if someone can write a story I enjoy that utilizes a trope I hate, they're a fantastic writer. Cheers, dev.

This review is for v0.12, after completing all of its current content.

Renders 5/5 - Honestly some of the best renders I have seen in a VN. Well-animated and incredible detail.

Story 5/5 - Ignoring a few typos here and there, the writing is superb. I fully read most of the scenes, rather than skimming ahead to get to the "good stuff". It also has a great groundwork laid out for it already, and I very much look forward to the final release's story.

Characters 5/5 - Similar to the story, the characters are very well-written. I'm not a total fan of some of their personalities, but the fact that they are all UNIQUE personalities is a huge plus for me. None of the characters feel like carbon copies of each other, and none of them feel lazily made. Sarah and Luna were my personal favorites.

Gameplay 4/5 - It is straightforward and easy to follow, thanks to the Quest menu. I really appreciate the fact that the un-finished content is CLEARLY defined, unlike some other games. In this game, you will know when there's nothing left to do for the current update.
--My one issue with the gameplay is that there's a lot of quests that require you to wait until the weekend. This wouldn't be a problem if it was a very small number, but it felt like roughly 20-30% of the quests required this. It became tedious near the end, but thankfully you can skip days quickly. As long as you focus on one objective at a time, this isn't a huge issue.

Sound 3/5 - The music is alright. Some of it's funny, some of it's fun to listen to. Nothing particularly stood out to me, including a scene with one of the girls playing a guitar.
--My biggest peeve about this game was the girl's moans during the scenes. Every single girl seemed to use the same moaning sound effect, which didn't seem to fit ANY of their appearances. Could definitely use some polish via expanding the vocal library.

Overall 4.4/5 - This is a REALLY good corruption VN with a lot of potential. I look forward to the day I can return to it.

The game has a lot to like, for a pseudo-mind-control style AVN. It hits a lot of the right spots for being harem and incest (if you rename chars). Giving it a 4.0 based on the following:

++ Great models with likable personalities and diverse body types
+ A main character who isn't evil, but who does take advantage of what he has. Makes him likable enough.
+ A good game loop for progressing with all of the love interests
+++ A novel way to submit the LIs into your harem (girlfriend/servant/drone). Takes care of good/neutral/evil styles of corruption.
+ Decent enough animations, and while some are good, others are short. Typically just a "choose your camera angle" and then finish, as opposed to multi-stage sex scenes.
+ A pretty fun story, especially with the twist it tosses in.
++ A good number of locations, and theoretically enough LIs, but most are underused (placeholder) at this point.
+ Music used throughout, and some sounds here and there.

-- Sex scenes aren't quite involved enough to truly satisfy. Speed of sex is sometimes too slow with no option to speed up motions (i.e. 2x video speed)
-- No option with Ava for anything except a hand-job, even at extreme levels of skills or overall mastery.
-- Far too many "Not Yet Included" tags on missions and love interests who don't appear to have content yet. Game is early in development, but it appears all over the place.
---- Not enough kinks. Most sex is handjob, blowjob, or vaginal. There's only one LI who engages in anal with the MC. No watersports, or exhibitionism, or BDSM, or other mid-range kinks.
-- Style of submission doesn't change available sex types or positions. Turning a LI into a servant or drone should enable ANY kind of sex with them (anal, watersports, exhibitionism, etc).
-- Not quite enough choices to keep side LIs (like Kobe's girlfriend who I REALLY wanted to stick around).
- A bit too much emphasis on "huge tits". Mother, sister, and several LIs are stacked with DDD or larger.
--- Climax sequences are all but non-existent. One line of text for one char, and done.
- Font used for corrupting a LI is a little difficult to read.

+/- No group scenes (with a couple of exceptions). Supposedly this is coming in the next update (0.13).

Despite having a good amount of playtime (~12 hours), the game still manages to somehow feel short. It's hard to explain, but the experience left me wanting more, and feeling like it was only 1/4 of the total game. This is probably due to the slight grind the game gives you to do in order to progress.

The entertainment value of the game is there, even if the story isn't that deep. But the 'fapability' factor still seems low due to how sex scenes are animated (short), and how their writing doesn't really pull off things like panting, groaning, etc. (there's almost none of that in the text) Add to that the climaxes are not really even present for both characters, and it's not really satisfying.

I'd still highly recommend the game, and very much look forward to where it's going. The developer appears to have a solid subscriber base and good support, so hopefully they can keep it rolling to the end.

I'd recommend working most on the sex sequences to flesh them out (longer, better writing), and on including far more sex types per submission. Other than that, the non-existent LIs really need to be brought into the game with content.

I haven't even played through the entire release and I can already safely say it's one of the best adult games I've played. It could just be that it ticks all my boxes completely and is practically my dream game, in that it has:

- Male Dom themes
- Pretty decent renders and animation
- Very minimal grind (seriously, save scum blackjack and spam xp training for a bit and you're good for the rest of the game)
- Doesn't make you feel like crap (like many other heavy male dom or mind control games do)
- Decent enough storyline for suspension of disbelief
- Great amount of content for game only development for a year and a half

All in all, just amazing. If you're interested in those themes, you won't be disappointed. I'm already looking forward to more releases and am in for the long run. The ratings don't do this one justice.

One of the best erotic games I've ever played. Very well written. I'm surprised Shattered Minds isn't even more popular. I'm invested in the story and am interested in how it turns out. Would love if we could get real pregnancies with children.

Version Played: 0.12
Time Played: 7+ hours
Gallery Mode: Yes
Walkthrough: Robust in-game hint system -- you won't get stuck

While I've played my fair share of them, mind-control games either via supernatural means or drugs has never really been my thing. At best, it's a cheap contrivance and at worst it feels icky and like I'm playing a creep. Sociopath Simulator, excuse me, Shattered Minds falls squarely in the "at worst" category, but in the best possible way. Allow me to elaborate.

In this game, you are given the power to alter people's minds to the level of eventually "subduing" them where they then become, in essence, your slave. While you can choose to what degree you then use them including options for loving relationships, you still end up with something more akin to a thrall than a girlfriend. The key is that the game revels in this and wants you to do it. While it doesn't really have a didactic angle, it still offers enough in the way of food for thought as you have a white-eyed LI in front of you waiting to meet her fate. Again, not my cup of tea, but if that's your fantasy you are going to love the hell out of the game -- especially since each of the LIs have interesting stories and the overarching tale is also intriguing.

Positives
+ Smoking hot LIs (great renders with some beautiful, large cans. Alice is what got me to DL the game in the first place since I love me some udders)
+ Interesting stories
+ Overall good English usage with only a few odd turns of phrase of typos here or there

Neutral
= Theme isn't for everyone and things can sometimes take a turn for the dark

Negatives
- Needs more bush!
- The game can really make you feel gross since the mind control is, frankly, brutal. I really didn't like the manipulation of the sister roommate as she struck me as autistic coded so it felt extra icky. (She's sooo hot tho.)

All in all, I really enjoyed my time with the game. I think it's a testament to its quality in that, aside from hot LIs and fat tiddies, it basically features NONE of my kinks and still managed to get me crankin'.
Fans of mind control can add an extra star to my review.

Note to devs: Not much to say here; you're doing your thing and you're doing it well. Please consider a more bushed out LI in the future.

Another game that really really good and simple but still get the bad vibes of interest and attract most review from people that got no life at all.
- It's a simple sandbox game with simple choices, nothing complicated of what so ever.
- Grind ? Take you few minues to have more than you need if you weren't so dumb
- Quest have no time pressure. And the story isn't bad at all.
A simple story with short sandbox contents for each quest. But the H-scenes are well done, repeatable.

One of the best out there. Then again, this feels like a game made for me - sandbox, corruption, pregnancy...

Positives:
- sandbox (I might be one of the rare people that actually like to play their games, not just click pictures away VN style)
- good fetishes
- lovely models
- frequent updates

Negatives:
- the sex animations are a bit stale
- the "management" mechanics are really barebones

Still, would highly recommend.

Best game ever, rarely seen games with mind control as the central theme. Nice story, corruption, scenes, excellent models . Waiting for a game like this from a long time . Excellent in every way highly recommend it to all of you try it you will not regret it.

This game is simply amazing. It oozes high quality all around. Great character models, decent story and drama, great character plotlines, great UI and thematic sound effects, this game basically has it all.

I small personal gripe is how weak the sex animations are. They're all definitely high quality like everything else about the game, but I prefer rougher sex, and it doesn't do the job for me. Another thing seems to be when you finish a character's route and have them fully under your powers, there isn't much of anything else you can do with them, just repeat the same old scenes you got when you were doing their story.

But that's not why this game doesn't have a perfect score. It's because of a single character. Now, that's kind of extreme, and seems pretty petty, I know, but I can't go in to detail without some spoilers (TD;DR at the bottom if you don't want the spoilers):
5/5 game if you can deal with an annoying bitch that has a snarky remark for every single decision you make, rather slow sex-scenes, and femdom.

a golden gem, one of the best games ive played recently,
be aware ur dick might get sore for extended gaming sesions,
always wanted a mind control game, i think its a super power many men would love to posses and u get to experience that in this game, dev has realy put this story wel togheter a true masterpiece

v0.11

Story is great
renders are great
not a fan of how usless pregnacy is
You make a woman pregnant and later she's normal again and you can make her pregnant again
Love how you can make alot of woman pregnant
The corruption is ok
Wish some characters had more story
No bugs
Sister render is really good she's thick instead of the usually skinny blond sister you see in most game
Lot of sex scenes

Blatant bait-and-switch storyline. It looks like you are developing mind control superpowers to create your own harem, but you are really being possessed by a supernatural force that is controlling you as well, including erasing your memory, until it eventually erases your mind entirely and takes over your body permanently.

If this were labeled a "female domination game", then this twist might be more honest. As it is though, it seems more like false advertising.

Love this game can't wait to see how it goes hopefully it doesn't end up abandoned like every other good mind control game looking forward to v.011 and Lunas content great job dev it doesn't feel super grinding either which is a bonus for sure

Initially i thought this game had some potential, But the more you play the more stupid everything gets.

MC gets a superpower, He uses it, Then finds out that the power has limits which should put him on the right path to become more cautious and use it more wisely. But nooo, MC makes mistakes, that in itself is not an issue in fact that is great! He can learn from his mistakes and become smarter for it.... Except he doesnt, hes too retarded to learn from anything. If not for Ava MC would've gotten fucked long ago.

The renders are amazing and the grammar is ok.

the girls are well designed.

The sandbox is a pain in the ass.

The biggest problem i had is the MC and his retardation.

MC is retarded and say and do things without any input for the player.
Seriously, what is the point of even having choices?

What is sad is that it does look like it has potential.
Renders are ok/good.
UI is fine.
Game design is lacking, but is not the worst. It's one of those that needs a bit of work and would be good.
But man, the writing as in the personality of the MC is disgusting.
Why can't you make a functional persona be the protagonist?
And always the creep friend you can't choose not to have.
Seriously dude.
Also, too many choices being made for you, like in how to treat a person, who to approach, etc.

Maybe I'll try again later, just skipping to see if the scenes are worth it,
but to play looking for immersion, story, etc... is just annoying and pointless.

It is salvageable but would require a lot of effort into rewriting, giving more input where it defines your character and stop making so many choices for you.
Sadly, this overshadows the rest of the game, which may be decent.

One of the better mind control games out there. Plot and writing is engaging, but doesn't linger like in so many other VNs. Renders are great, pregnancy content is top-tier. I haven't encountered any issues with the sandbox nature of the game like a few others reported -- for the most part it's pretty clear where, when, and how to advance quest lines. Definitely worth keeping tabs on.

Like most games with a free-roam systems this falls prey to "what the f*ck do I do next." It becomes annoying that there's no point in continuing to play so I'm calling it quits. I realize that for the most part it's a pretty linear story, but I still felt like no progress was being made and the mind control powers felt ... pointless. Eventually I just got tired of doing the same things over and over with no results. I didn't even get far enough to experience anything in the latest update. Which is truly a shame because the premise is actually quite good. The writing is ridiculous and funny. The models are fantastic, with many clearly inspired by "Summertime Saga." I was actually looking forward to seeing where this VN was headed but eventually I just got tired of trying. Even with the hint system it's not always clear how the next event will trigger or in some cases it feels like the "open-world" is just there to be there. It's kind of all over the place. I just couldn't stick with it because it started to feel like I was wasting my own time expecting to be able to use the MCs abilities to manipulate or corrupt characters. In the end it's a VN that's not for me. 3 stars for the model work and no errors while playing. Hope the Dev gets the support they need and everyone else enjoys it.

Overall, it's well done. It's a pretty typical mind control/harem type story with the expected amusingly ridiculous writing, and the gameplay is nothing special, but it has good character models with good animations, and a good number of the kinks I like. Plus, the dev actually releases updates (and at least somewhat substantial ones) pretty regularly, unlike so, so many others on here, so big props for that.

v0.09
It's... okay, I guess? It's clearly not 5 star game though. I wanted to give it 3 stars, but then realized during writing this, that it doesn't deserve them.

It is linear game in the sandbox where your decisions don't really matter (like grabbing breasts or not).
Corruption meter is aesthetic only, it doesn't matter how much you fill it to dominate girl. I had it at 77/100 for Sarah and it lets you progress anyway because there is no way to raise it.
MC is a retard that acts way too cocky, there is no other way to put this. Making stupid choices (you don't get any input), blaming his better half all the time (imagine that he has guts to tell Ava that her hints are at most "unhelpful", while he would be either dead or being experimented upon without her because of his own decisions and the way he acts). Drooling retard or third rate villain are best ways to describe him.
Sandbox... Skills only use is to act as content lock. As far as story is concerned it doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 in any skill. It won't be reflected anywhere. NPCs have their own schedule, which makes it annoying when quests require them at specific locations, it's simply to waste your time.
After you dominate NPC then she just fades into background, it might change in the future, but it is what it is right now.


I think it would be better as trainer type game where you grow your power and influence over others, which could make skills relevant, but it would require putting some thought into how to make that process fun.
It's way easier to make linear game and put it into sandbox to make you waste time by having to navigate locations and grind skills for content locks.