Through the Lens

Roger
3 days ago
4 min read

Paris – The Land of Photographs & Cigarettes

Follow the journey of an American photographer who goes to Paris for work at a company called Mirage Corp.

But the longer he works for them, and the longer he reads the mysterious cursed book given by someone anonymous. Secrets start to unravel - past and present start to collide.

Story - Content

Through the Lens is an early access visual novel that takes around 1.30H to complete. The game features our main protagonist moving to Paris for work, and the longer he works, the odder the whole place feels. The game got 4 days, which are played throughout two chapters, being around 1.30H.

Storywise, there isn’t really any kind of deep or interesting story. The cursed book that the protagonist finds is just a story from the developer's earlier game (4 Kingdoms Supremacy). Then the rest is simply answering/questioning characters that our protagonist talks to, which, if he chooses the correct answer/question, there is a chance you’ll see a special or secret scene.

Later in the game, closer to the end of it, the protagonist is informed about their next photo shoot with the models and that they are going to dress up for NSFW titles and will have to show a bit more nudity than told.

And of course, those NSFW titles are then the developer's two other games (Brooks in Wild West and 4 Kingdoms Supremacy), giving the feeling they just made a game to promote their other two games instead, due to the lack of quality and story in this game.

And the game itself contains so many odd things and errors; for example, after finishing the game and pressing on to start a whole new session, the protagonist's name is (Balls) which I did not choose. I state DID NOT CHOOSE. I can’t remember if I was able to name the protagonist during my first playthrough, but I do not recall his name being (Balls) back then either.

Also, every word that contains the ( ‘ ), like doesn’t, didn’t, haven’t, can’t, I'm, you’re - skips three spaces behind the ( ‘ ), making it look like; doesn’ t, didn’ t, haven’ t, can’ t, I' m, you’ re. Which is, overall, just odd - why it is like that and how it was not fixed before the game release.

I would recommend playing the developer’s other games like (Brooks in Wild West) or (4 Kingdoms Supremacy) since both of those have a lot more content, are cheaper, or are at least worth their price for the amount of content and story and action/intimacy happening and the quality of such as well.

And from what I've experienced with these Developer's newest game, I simply cannot recommend it.

Visual & Audio

Visuals

Graphics/Environment

The game added a lot of detailing for rooms and parts within the building/apartment. Making it more than just a room with people in it. But a home, an office, a village, all the small details give the game more life and a better feeling while playing.

But GOD DAMN the mugs are overly huge. And I do mean HUUUUUGE.

Also, one cool but also a bit creepy thing is that the characters blink during normal convo scenes. And not like small animation -> freeze -> conversation; no, they keep blinking during your convo. So if you're stuck reading one of the texts that are a bit longer, you will see them blink without going to the next scene.

The only issue (besides being creepy) is that they blink a bit too often; maybe slow it down a little, and it should seem more normal.

Intimate Scenes

The intimate scenes, which are said to be “improved” since their other games, aren’t that true. Rather, it looks worse than their earlier games, one of which I've reviewed and the other my colleague, which both had better animations than this game.

The intimate scenes look like the game itself is lagging or like watching porn with a very bad connection.

Audio

Music

The background music is a chill jazz and goes from guitar to bass to piano. Sounds similar to other games that use the same music, but it fits well in the game and for the selective scenes.

Sound Effects

The intimate sound effects don’t match up with the animations whatsoever and only make the whole thing odder than attractive.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Visuals/Graphics
Music
Character Looks

Cons

Price
Story
The Words Containing ( ‘ )
Sound Effects
Animations
Intimate Animations
Cannot Change Name (Unsure If The Possibility Is There or Not, But The Protagonist's Name Is Balls...)

My final little thoughts

From what I have seen during my time playing and replaying the game, I do not find it recommended at its current state and would rather even recommend their earlier games instead.

There are too many cons and errors to the game, which, for its price and content-wise length, just isn’t worth it at this current moment. But who knows if they’ll fix what I mention here later or if it’s to be forgotten and left behind?

Rating: 4.5/10

LARGE Tea Cups