Who We Are Now

Wes returns to a settlement after wandering the wastelands of a post-apocalyptic world. He finds himself talking to various different people, including four attractive, coincidentally queer men. [u]Info[/u] • 4 different men to romance. • There are sex scenes with full nudity, but the player can opt out of that at the beginning of the game. [u]Praises[/u] • Great racial diversity. Even side characters are diverse in this. That’s definitely something horribly lacking in most romance visual novels. • One of the romanceable characters is thicc. • One side character is non-binary. • Decent art for the CGs, characters, and backgrounds. • Romantic scenes can be a little sweet/cute and the sex scenes are, uh, [i]thrilling[/i]. [u]Complaints[/u] • Everything is rushed. Very abrupt start. It kind of just jumps right into things. Lack of description for environments. Once the player picks a guy to go after, it doesn’t take long for the first move to be made, so there’s a lack of relationship development as well. • Routes are uneven. Some have more scenes and development than others. • Dialogue can be a bit dull at times. • No CG/art galler…

[h1]Minor spoilers ahead(?)[/h1] I have a lot of feelings around this visual novel, a lot of which aren’t good. On the one hand the characters are sweet and I like the character designs. Everyone is very different physically and mentally. On the other hand, the story feels a bit rushed (like people like Wes to fast) and some of the characters open up to Wes far too soon into the story. Sometimes the writing is not so great and a bit cringe but it’s readable and mostly I really like the story. The art style is not consistent; If you look at Ray’s pants and face in comparison to Wes, you’ll notice how different the line art is. There are multiple artist’s (as seen in the end credits) drawing the CG’s. Not that I usually mind, but it’s a bit odd to use multiple artists whose art styles that are very different in line art and eye size. Although that might just be me nitpicking the finer details. Another con is that the sex happens to soon in my opinion and I did get bored of the repetitive placement of the sex scenes. Basically, each route had the same blueprints and it got old fast. (There isn’t a CG gallery! That’s a crime in of itself ☹) Edit: I should also mention how short …

[h3] Route List: Jesse > Xander > Ray > Nathan[/h3] 10 years have passed after the bombing of the whole world [b]#kind of see it c*ming[/b]. And set in a post-apocalypstic world, Wes, a former guard, has returned to Home; and assigned [b]#even knowing where his bed is, poor guy[/b] to take care of 4 guys [b]#always hot ones... remember, this is a game[/b]. Will you be able to listen, to share their pain, to... make them feel loved? [b]#if that includes... something else... seems exciting?[/b] [olist][b]PROS:[/b] [*] 4 Routes, and they are independent stories [b]#feel like you know someone, and you forgot that you STILL have to take care of the other ones? [/b] Seems like a tough job, then... [*] Choose whether +18 is present or not [b]#seriously, what kind of question is that...?[/b], and whether you top or bottom [b]#again, what kind of... maybe I like this one [/b]. 'Cause of course, they are always down to being versatile... It's up to your shipping skills. [*] Emotive stories [b]#a weird feeling of fragility, sadness, and innocence after watching them... bonding[/b], with a well-writen script. [/olist] [olist][b]CONS:[/b] [*] Short stories [b]#expected 40-60 mins per route[/…

I'm a little conflicted, but I decided to make this positive because of how wholesome and sweet it is. The protagonist is tasked with helping others in a post-apocalyptic community, and I appreciate that this kind of caring & support is a side of masculinity that we don't see often enough in entertainment media. The characters are fairly diverse, and each of the romance interests have different traumas to overcome. The character interactions are generally supportive and wholesome. I think there is a bit of untapped potential. The character routes all follow a similar pattern: meet, learn about character's problems, sexy stuff, conclusion. The post-apocalyptic setting isn't given very much development. The story paths are all fairly short since they focus nearly exclusively on one character at a time. The romance characters are all pretty quick to get involved with sexy stuff and it feels a bit abrupt as a result. It could have been better if the world were fleshed out a bit more, or if there were other characters for the romance interests to interact with. The character interactions and development that are present are fantastic, there just isn't enough of it. It is a bit short fo…

The major choices you will be making in Who We Are Now are 1. which guy to pursue and 2. whether to top or bottom. There is not much sim in this dating sim, no chance to say the wrong thing and end your route, and certainly no need for a guide. Even more than other VNs, it is a cozy experience without too much to think about. Routes are short, conflicts are generally light, even the sex is pretty polite. It's all about the positive vibes. For the characters, it's all about healing. The end of the world may have been tough on them, but it's all okay now. The game lacks some polish and is a bit pricey for its length, but if you can get it on sale and want a post-apocalyptic title that's a little less gruesome, Who We Are Now isn't a bad pick.

Who We Are Now is not great, but I still think it's got enough to recommend it on a sale if you think the premise and cast look interesting to you. The art is a mixed bag of styles, some better than others, the writing is somewhat amateurish, and the sex scenes (as is sadly typical of the genre) made me clench my legs and pretend that there was a lot more lube and preparation than the game provides. All that said, I did enjoy a number of things about this game. It's deeply sincere and rather ambitious, and I found that charming. The love interests are diverse and the post-apocalyptic setting is, if not fully fleshed out, interesting as an example of a hopeful one, where people are trying to rebuild and imagine a future beyond the devastation of the present. Of course, this also extends to the characters' stories. Each of the love interests has some personal problem that you try to help them with as you grow closer (and the main character has his own). Some of these routes are handled more clumsily than others, but the game surprised me at times by being much more insightful than I was expecting. Probably the biggest reason this ultimately earns my thumbs-up is that shockingly, th…