Beauties and the Stranded

I feel like game has lots of drawbacks but I had a good time playing so it’s a thumbs up from me. What I liked: quirky girls with charming personalities - I had one clear favourite from the start but can easily see why others would be attractive to someone else; post apocalyptic setting, fantasy element, animal ears looked cute regardless of whether you are into furies or not. Sexiness felt authentic rather than sexualising or degrading which as a woman I always appreciate. What I disliked: no controller support, terrible chapter navigation where I was unable to select parts I needed and was forced to replay more than it was necessary. In some places acting felt off. The male protagonist is stupid, cowardly and weak which was making story feel unrealistic. How can someone like that be a beastskin hunter? P.S. people complaining about suspicion mechanic making no difference - it does. It unlocks secret endings if done right. I mean it’s not a detective game, it’s the dynamic between you and the girls.

Beauties and the Stranded is an absolute gem of an FMV game! The storyline, production quality, and character chemistry are fantastic. Soseo completely steals the show—her charisma, expressive acting, and screen presence make every scene with her a delight to watch. Her route is easily the best part of the whole experience. Having unlocked all 71 achievements over 22 hours, I can say it is 100% worth every second. Soseo alone makes this game a must-play!

This game is hard to take seriously. Story You play as a low-ranking intern or junior assistant blindly tagging along with his boss to hunt beastkin — presumably just to pay the bills (Or just follow along for justify your uselessness...), with zero deeper motivation. From the start, the narrative tropes are painfully obvious: -You play as a largely passive, clueless protagonist. -Every girl around you is secretly a beastkin (the exact creatures you are supposed to be hunting). -The in-game "suspicion" mechanic is entirely pointless, characters make their true identities painfully obvious. The plot completely derails around Chapter 5 when your boss makes an appearance. Events in Chapters 5 and 6 simply stop making sense. Spoilers: [spoiler]For instance, your boss—a dedicated beastkin hunter—suddenly takes a mid-chapter break to let the targets say goodbye to you. The core premise completely falls apart here, forcing characters to inexplicably abandon their homes just to advance a nonsensical narrative. You understand that they would want to leave their bunker since they been found by your boss the hunter. But that your boss, let's them run away is not my definition of a hunter...…

Genuinely will have nightmares after ts, the only normal looking or acting girls were Soseo and Joy 💔

Storytaco games can generally hold their own, but this one borders on being a fluke. While still an enjoyable ride, it's certainly no Five Hearts level heavy hitter. In other words, it's arguably their worst release to date. On the dating sim plot believability scale, ranging from highly unlikely to utterly ridiculous, it lands far too close to the latter. That wouldn't necessarily be an issue in an FMV game, provided it fully embraces the silliness. Unfortunately, when it comes to the cast, only one ot them seems to put real effort into her performance, the others mostly just stand there looking cute. I expected a bit more in terms of acting. The game falls short on other fronts as well. Based on my playthrough, it's roughly half the length of typical Storytaco titles, and the narrative flow isn't nearly as smart or complex as usual. As a result, you don't spend enough time bonding with the girls, which leaves the endings feeling weightless. Speaking of which, there are very few bad endings (which are often the highlight), and most are pretty lackluster. The good endings also suffer from a lack of ideas and poor execution, Soseo's hidden ending being perhaps the sole exception. …

Well, I like the attempt at something different with the Beastkin. Great cast, but I was not able to raise affection high enough with anyone...