Ren'Py - The Null Hypothesis [v0.5b] [Ron Chon]

this shit is so fun luv the story really makes u feel like ur a part of the X-Men
im really excited for the next update so far my favorite is x-23 and jean
they have the best stories cant wait to see what new powers my character gets

This was one of the best Ren´Py 2D games I have played, at least to a point. The game kinda pushes you towards Rogue (you get a lot of points upfront), and I really liked the progression with her, despite the bit of grind (but nothing terrible with skipping the repeating dialogue). Especially the lewd progression was great until you get to have actual sex with her ... than it kinda escalates too quickly imo, and before you know it she is calling you daddy. Sadly not many options beyond that, and that´s where the game hits a downward spiral for me tho.

The other two girls have a different (faster) rate of progression, tied to their personality, which I didn´t find as satysfing. Besides, you accumulate a lot of points with them without even trying, just by progressing the story. My personal preferences also didn´t help to stay really motivated to progress with them all the way.

Also at that point you kinda seen everything, now you do the same thing with a different girl. Sure, they have different quirks (that system is great), but it´s all just a variation of what you have already seen.

The clothing system needs a rework as well - no matter how I tried, I couldn´t make them to stay in a set of clothes I chose (within the shame limit). Want to change casual clothes 1? Can´t do - or if you somehow can, it sure as hell isn´t intuitive. Shame, since I love clothing choices for female characters, and the clothes (as well as hairstyles) look great as well.

Overall, some serious flaws, still a great game that I recommend trying, even if you decide at some point you aren´t having fun anymore. The "before the endgame" phase is worth it. I am not sure a development focused on advancing the story lenght would help tho, I think it would be much better to focus on the existing characters (more scenarios - public sex, threesome; ability to equip clothing in the sex simulator; proper clothing system with higher shame ceiling and other characters reacting to those clothes etc.).

More realistic and great writing than similar stuff. Comic book-like style and general art direction is awesome. Can feel that it's not just another game of the genre. Really like it so far. Hope the development won't be stalled.

Great story. Wish there was a little more variety, but the art is amazing and it's a fun way to spend a few hours! There is quite a bit of grind, especially if you want to reach the polyamory routes. Excited for the next chapter!

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. But sometimes it's just showing the original how to do it better.

In a completely unrelated note, this game is good.

I really like the writing for the characters. It's well done. I could critque the fact that there is only really one route for each character, and a lot of the choices seem to be 'Let my fetish part grow or just lose relationship points with me.' And given that two out of the three chars thing is femdom, it's a bit meh. Especially as our character is clearly being built up to be some sort of supermutant.

There are some things that this game has carried from other things that was not needed. It's still grindy in annoying ways. Like just having to repeat days to get points up due to already doing all the content at that level.

And at the moment the sex minigame is....eh? I dunno, I don't find it hot. Which is a bit of a problem when the entire game is based around getting them to undress for you. I'm hoping that later updates will polish this more because at the moment it still feels very unfinished and janky in this area.

Still looking forward to future updates and a bit more polish and bug fixing (and maybe some other certain characters *coughcough*)

This is the VN I'm currently most excited about and can't wait to see the next update.

The story is quite interesting, but to me the characters will always be more important. And they're the biggest strength of this game: they're very pretty and some of their facial expressions are really the best I've ever seen. And we get to actually care about them, which is something not many VNs can accomplish.

You need to work a bit and make a connection with the girls to become intimate, hence the date-sim tag (ofc, there's quite a bit of corruption in the process).
And there's this interesting (and optional) quirk system where you can encourage a girl to become submissive, another to act like an older sister, etc.

There's a bit more grind required than I would've liked, and that's why this is actually more of a 4.5 stars to me. The grind applies to both acquiring mutant abilities and unlocking new sexual activities with the girls.
E.g. you need to put in the effort to even make your own character cum. To be fair, this becomes much easier after unlocking actual intercourse.
(I also read in the comments that the sex interaction system will be improved so I'm really looking forward to that.)

One thing I wish I'd known is that you can click a girl and interact with her to talk, give gifts, change wardrobe, etc. And there are repeatable sex scenes, which should be mandatory for all sandboxes.
You can customize a girl's appearance in different situations (e.g. public, private, etc) which includes clothes, hairstyle (not just on the head), piercings, etc.

I think this game is a must try for those with a bit of patience, the good stuff is a lot stronger than the bad. Thankfully, you don't need to be a superhero/comic-book fan to enjoy it (I'm just a casual in this regard).
Can't wait for the next update!

This game is awesome - if you like trainer games this one will definitely hit the spot. The art is very good and a unique art style. The sex scenes are dynamic and fun as well as very hot. The game balances story and sexy content perfectly well. The first start of the game can be a little slow (maybe first 10 mins) but afterwards you get straight into the sexiness! Highly recommended and excited to see more. One of the best trainer games i've played!

[Version reviewed: v0.5b]

“What's the point? We already have Oni’s Rogue-Like Evolution and it’s great: looks like the show, lots of content, good waifus, acceptably grindy, etc. so why this uninspired copy?” That’s what I thought when I first saw this game. Needless to say, I didn’t bother checking it out any further. I would prove to be short-sighted.

As RLE’s progress became more tedious, with the constant adding of unfinished characters culminating into Squirrel Girl nightmarish face, I somehow drifted back to The Null Hypothesis, and seeing the abundance of praises convinced me to finally give it a chance… And here we are.

Visuals are fine: characters designs and expressions look pretty nice (X-23 with ABS) and environments are well-made. Overall gives a cohesive feel to the whole, and while it’s not my favorite art style it would be dishonest not to praise the quality of work. The sex scenes are modulable, and the possibilities are very varied.

Gameplay is simple, it’s an open-world VN stat grind. Nothing much to say here, you’ve seen this formula in dozens of other games. I do really, really hope we’ll get abilities or maybe even missions to spice things up a bit. No need for a complex fighting system, some (time limited?) decision-based events would be a welcomed addition.

But what I liked most were the Characters. RLE is a sandbox with no proper plot and the girls, save for their intro dialogue and backstories, are identical in their behaviors once tamed. TNH builds on this, reducing their number to better flesh them out, their wants and needs, their relation to you and the feel of an actual universe around. The Quirk system, where you encourage/discourage certain behaviors, gives each girl her little touch of uniqueness.

So I’d suggest giving this game a shot, even if you played RLE as despite the similar synopsis they are fundamentally different experiences.

The first time I played this game, it was a fucking nightmare—so many bugs, and the fact that there's only one romance route kinda sucked. You can't even romance multiple girls without pissing everyone off.

But, honestly, despite that rough start, the game is awesome overall. The characters are really cool, and the graphics are great. The grind can get a bit tiring, but it’s worth it. I’d love to see more tasks and more chances to interact with Nightcrawler and the others.

I’m super excited for the next updates and new content. The way the chapters and story progress is really well done, and I hope they add more options and make the choices in the story and combat feel more meaningful. There are a few things that could use some polish, but it’s already great, and I have high hopes for future updates!

Holy shit is this game good. Art is great (laura has abs! rogue looks like a proper cute goth girl!), character creation has meaningful options, character writing is individualized for each character. So. Damn. Good.

Production value is insane. It feels like a professional studio steam release (and it is made by a studio, 6 people are involved).

v0.5b
I went in with low expecations, "just a knockoff copy of a famous game" I scoffed to mysellf...
Well, I was proven wrong and was instead very pleasantly surprised.

Fantastic writing. Genuinely good story, characters, and pacing.
Sandbox does not feel onerous nor grindy. sure there is some stuff to rise but overall you are playing and interacting with characters.
Very sexy.

The interactive sex scenes are well executed FOR interactive sex scenes. but are still somewhat tedious. in fact they are the most tedious part of the game. I much prefer the scripted non interactive sex scenes.

High polish. This game looks professional.

A very promising and intriguing fan project.
Honestly can't rate the H action coz I just played it for a story and characters interaction (yes, i know, a weird flex).

1. Visuals 7 - some AI is/was used at some point BUT the team clearly has actual artists who maybe use it to draft and storyboard). Everything looks clear, the arts style is pretty consistent, nice backgrounds with variable lighting, even cute weather effects. Dont know the limitations of RENPy, but maybe some particle effects would look very cool (e.g. some dust specs in the light rays in the hall)
2. Sound/Music 8 - (some truly bopin tracks done clearly by a person who cares. Seriously, I sometimes use them as background during work, study. The game clearly lacks some special effects sounds and ambient sound, but I'm pretty sure it's because of the early stages of development
3. Writing 8 - comparing to other fan projects of 18+ is pretty nice. The characters are believable and not just cardboard cutouts of their original counterparts. The story is pretty intriguing and clearly follows comics-like beats so here's hoping for more cool twists

Going into this project I did not expect anything special and was very pleasantly surprised. Now I'm something of a fan of the game myself. Here's hoping for more cool quests, interesting interactions and bopin tracks.
Thank you and good luck!

At the time of writing, there are 149 reviews, with an average of 4.5 stars.
While another review is clearly not needed, i am still so in awe of this VN that i want to praise it regardless.

The production value here is so damn high. The art is unbelievably good, with an amount of portrait diversity i have not seen before. The amount of clothes, hair styles, facial expressions and how they are integrated in the story is phenomenal. Why, of course the appearance changes depending on season, activities like training, showering and so on, or if they went sunbathing lately. And of course you can buy new clothes and change their clothes setup. Oh, and the lewd scenes are animated too.
And all this is just the art and the relevant background systems alone.

Coupled with well written characters you feel for and can influence with certain behaviors, and a generally light main story, i would have given 6 stars if possible.

Really looking forward to new updates.

Art is excellent, and I do mean excellent, the girls look top tier. Animations are good in some parts, basic in others.

Only things that let it down really are the triggers for quests and the serious grind time.

I am a completionist, so games that give you side quests that fail to trigger when you meet all the criteria for ages, like over an hour at one point, really grind my gears so star lost for that.

Then there is the story, pretty well written, but the writer is obviously trying for the porn game award oscars and it keeps telling you the same basic information but in different ways, over and over at some points.

After approx 8 hours gameplay total, it actually just got boring so stopped playing.

Some tweaks here and there, it might be a 4 to 5 star game for me.

The girls are amazing, each one of them has a unique and well-written personality.
The intimacy progression is great too, nothing too quick to feel 'unrealistic' (not earn) but not too grindy either. The game has a good flow. The sandbox is the icing on the cake. For example, is such a small nice touch. In summary, a perfectly executed sandbox game, rich in interactions and surprises.

This is exactly what Rogue-Like should have been. There are less characters but an actual story that's well-written and interesting. Characters who are fleshed out and interesting. I wasn't just skipping through the same dialogue pop-ups to get to the sexy times over and over, I was engaged in their story and their development.

Helping Laura out of her shell and helping her make friends was honestly the best part for me. This game is only on 0.5a as of writing this so there's still a long road ahead, however, if the story and any potential new characters are as this rich and fleshed out, it will be 100% worth the wait. Unlike the near 10 year development of Rogue-Like.

Less is definitely more in this case. If you're looking for a good story and some well-earned sexy times, this is it right here chief.

For the a porn game the characters seem really fleshed out, if you're here for a nice experience and not for just beating your dick then you'll enjoy it i guess.

If you're here for the sole purpose to beat it or whatever then you can find better material elsewhere, it takes some time to get any meaningful action, but, I don't believe that that's the point of the game.

Rarely do I actually give a shit about the characters in a game like this, but god damn, it seems that I kind of do. Probably helps that the art is super well done. Super interested to see where this one goes in the future.

A real good time. love the art and characters, Laura's my favorite out of the girls. hoping we get more fight scenes with the MC, he's got a couple loss's he needs to make up for. All in all love the game

(0.4.B)

Good:
Relationship-driven game with fleshed out character fitting goals of chapter based structure & erotic payoffs.

Bad:
Art ambushes. Coherent art, then BAM you've unlocked a disjointed police-Photofit-feel sex pose.