Inner Self aims to be a semi-open world sim-like game, where you are a freshman at university, having to share an apartment with your friend who will also start studying at the same campus, in which you are surprised with a new interpersonal development program.
This is a pre-alpha version, in the current situation the game is playable but with little content.
If you are having trouble not knowing what to do in the conditioning minigame, sorry for not putting a hint or guide, to complete the task you need to pop the resistance bubbles with the left mouse button, you must click on them until the resistance reaches zero.
Version pre-alpha 0.7.4
Version pre-alpha 0.7.3
Version pre-alpha 0.7.2
Version pre-alpha 0.7.1
New features:
Modified features:
Version pre-alpha 0.7
Content Update:
In this patch I finished Nathan's animation at the end of the game, and also started to implement Karina's classes, I've made a total of 4 classes for now, but soon this number will go up, now the conditioning is available in automatic mode, improving accessibility. This patch is the first step in a sequence of patches for the university, I hope you enjoy it!
Version pre-alpha 0.6
Content Update:
In this patch I reworked the entire smartphone system to greatly reduce the bugs that have been occurring, I also worked on the save system so you can leave the game and come back without worrying about bugs appearing. I am bringing a new character, this time a friend on equal ground with Alex to make the story more dynamic and so that he can have a more open dialogue about more intimate subjects. I hope you like it.
Version pre-alpha 0.5a
Content Update:
I have created a system for the progression of the character's transformation in which there will be four distinct paths: Male+Dom, Male+Sub, Female+Dom and Female+Sub. The paths with dominance will be later in the game development, I will primarily focus on the path of feminization and submission (Fem+Sub), for this I developed a skill tree, where the player can spend the exp points in nodes they think are worth. In this patch only the shaving and trimming features are available. There are now six types of body hair that grow independently of each other: face, chest, armpits, forearms, crotch and legs. You can access the shaving and trimming interface in the bathroom, but first you need to unlock the functionality in the skill tree by spending experience points of the right type. The bathroom mirror is now with all the artwork done, I hope you like it.
Version pre-alpha 0.4a
Content Update:
New audio control option, now the player can set the overall volume, tracks, and SFX.
The speech balloons can be zoomed in with a mouse hover and can be hidden from the screen.
The smartphone now automatically zooms in for better viewing of messages.
Conditioning update, new trigger feature added, score rework and remake of conditioning 4.
Faster navigation between rooms and less fade to black.
New character, Alex now has a girlfriend which brings more depth into the protagonist's life and opens up new options for different types of content in the game.
A new "minigame" that involves Alex's girlfriend.
Version pre-alpha 0.3c
Content Update:
In this version the mall is available with several items to be purchased, below is everything that was included in this version.
Currently the game has:
267 drawings and variations (82 new)
606 Monoscripts in C#. (196 new)
15 Scenes. (4 new)
301 Pictures.
35 Soundtracks and sound effects. (4 new)
17 Videos. (4 new)
775 Animations and UI animations. (178 new)
6589 Words. (1460 new)
Hotfix Update:
- Alpha version 0.2a, the game has been updated to fix some bugs that were found.
Version 0.2
Content Update:
Currently the game has:
185 drawings and adaptations of the drawings.
410 Monoscripts in C#.
11 Scenes.
301 Pictures.
31 Soundtracks and sound effects.
13 Videos.
597 Animations (including UI animations).
5129 Words.
- Alpha version 0.3(Content Update) is available for Patrons.
Version 0.1c
System Update:
- Several changes in the game systems to make it more smooth, especially the interface animations. In this version, the save system and the clothing presets are available.
- Alpha version 0.2(Content Update) is available for Patrons.
Version 0.1b
Conditioning Maintenance:
- For accessibility reasons the conditioning minigame was made easier, bubble resistance has a max of 03 clicks and the exitation bar increment was decreased with each beat.
Version 0.1a
Some system updates:
- The game is now in windowed mode.
- Menu option is available to change the resolution.
- Missing translation of the character view interface.
- Halved the time to advance the dialogue.
- Player can now advance dialog with the space key.
- MAC version available for download.
I really enjoyed this game in the beginning, but meanwhile the dev focusses more on polishing what is already there instead of bringing content which actually moves the story further, which is pretty sad to see.
So I really hope that soon there will be something new to the story, else it's just a waste of time starting all over every time as the saves are not compatible just to discover you end up again where it ends months ago.
Every update I get really excited because it's a good looking game with a proper engine and I'm always very excited to read the changelog to see which and if the soft-locks and bugs got fixed but... It's all new content. Everytime, just new content. Unfortunately, the game doesn't work properly and it never gets fixed. I don't get it.
Anyway, this is a good proof of concept and I can definitely see the potential and the vision. Gameplay wise, it lacks some weight, things happen quite fast but also quite slow at the same time. And by that I mean the story moves at an ok pace but the flow of the actual gameplay is really quite slow.
In the end it's definitely worth a try if you like the tags and you like to test inovations in lewd games but as of this version, it's still a bit rough around the edges.
I usually start a review with the positive but I have to make an exception this time:
And now for the positive:
My advice:
As others have said, the game looks good and what content there is it's okay and somewhat arousing.
My biggest problem with the UI is that it doesn't scale. The options give full screen and two windowed resolutions... but the actual interface of the game doesn't scale to the size of the window (or your screen resolution). I had to alt+f4 out of the game at the gym because I couldn't find the button to leave. And the same for normal game. Before hitting the end of content, I tried a windowed resolution and the icon for the dorm was barely visible and the one for the gym was outside of the window's area.
I'll pretty much just echo what everyone else has said about this game, though I'm much more positive on it. As far as actual content goes, there isn't much here yet. You can reach the end of content in about an hour of playing, and what is here are a lot of repetitive minigames. This repetition doesn't bother me all that much, even on repeat playthroughs, but some of them can be rather time consuming and I understand why that would frustrate people.
Probably the biggest problem with the lack of content is the fact that it's compounded by being very slow to update, though that has changed recently. There was a period in the middle of this year where the game received no updates for like 6 months, but recently it seems to have received an update on Patreon roughly every 2 weeks or so. They're small updates, but they add other things to do, if nothing else. The first of these mini updates just hit TF site the day I'm writing this, and it adds a gym to the university where you can do a minigame to workout. As far as I can tell, this doesn't do anything yet, but comes with the promise of allowing the player to improve their character's body as the game progresses.
The promise of content is kind of the name of the game with Inner Self Development Program. Any time you look at a new menu in the game, there's a bunch of stuff that's locked for now and will be added later. The skill tree, half the apps on your computer, the entire workout minigame, most of the shops and items in the clothing store at the mall... There's placeholders for stuff to do, but you can't interact with most of them. This is the sort of game that I would usually write off, but I think the reason I end up actually really liking ISDP is because I think it's clear that the author actually gives a shit. The UI and art are genuinely so good that even if the game is incredibly barebones, I don't mind because I just like looking at it. The art is of such a level of quality that I can't imagine this is a half-assed attempt at a game because if it was, there would be no reason for the creator to try this hard. There's tons of Twine/HTML games on this site that have a similar amount of content as this one, but Inner Self Development Program clearly has sigificantly more effort put towards making it a good game. It's obviously a product made by a single developer who is an artist first and foremost, and a game designer second.
If all of what I've said discourages you from giving the game a try, at least in its current state, then I don't blame you. Maybe give it another few months to a year to cook and check back then. But personally, this is one where I always look forward to updates from because even if what is added is small, I still enjoy what is added. (Like Nathan. Seriously, he's been the best addition to this game by far. Giving the MC a femboy best friend to hang out with is great and I will always be happy to see more content with the two of them).
