Areas of GRAY

When it comes to erotic games, most of them offer the most barebones experience possible just to get to the naughty bits that much quicker. Fortunately, the same can’t be said about Areas of GRAY: a title that promises AAA production values and an engrossing story — two things that hardly can be found in even the best h-games out there.

Sure, some common elements of any smut game are here to be found, but the presentation alone might be more than enough to place Areas of GRAY a notch above the rest of the games in its genre.

Future Proof

The story of Areas of GRAY takes a middle-aged writer to a new life in a futuristic skyscraper. Of course, that doesn’t sound all too interesting for a game like this — but, trust me, it gets weird pretty soon.

Turns out that androids made almost exclusively for sex aren’t all that hard to find in this world. Soon, the protagonist of the story finds himself living the dream with some super sexy robots that are ready to service him — but the story doesn’t end there.

Formally speaking, the game is presented in a sort of visual novel style, akin to what we saw in other erotic games like Summertime Saga. However, unlike most visual novels — erotic or not — Areas of GRAY goes for a 3D presentation. However, don’t expect the game to look like your usual Honey Select or Artificial Academy 2: it still uses still images to represent the bulk of the action.

The scenes are presented in a slow-paced fashion that can get to be frustratingly sluggish for players that are here just to see the naughty bits the game has to offer. Fortunately, the tamer scenes in the game are also filled with interestingly written dialogue.

Granted, the plot of the game never crosses into “masterpiece” territory, but it’s serviceable enough for players to at least get invested in the game and its characters.

Models and Animations

Contrary to what most screenshots of Areas of GRAY might make you think, the game is actually a collection of pre-rendered scenes that have only the most basic interactivity.

Fortunately, character models all look pretty neat for a game like this. Though it’s understandable that body proportions — more frequently those of female characters — go to completely disproportionate extremes, it’s all part of the hypersexualized world that Areas of GRAY is seeking to achieve.

In a world where most h-games aim to deliver a quick, albeit forgettable experience, Areas of GRAY manages to avoid most of the cliches of its genre with a clever storyline and actual characters that are there more than simply to justify the existence of the sex scenes.

Despite the shallow presentation, it’s impressive what the developer — yes, this is the passion project of just one developer — managed to accomplish here.

Granted, a full 3D experience would have been preferable to the static images that come with these kinds of visual novels, but the free price tag along with the compelling story justify most of the game’s shortcomings, as prominent as they might be.

Pros

• Interesting story
• Great character models
• Interactive mini-games keep you immersed in the narrative

Cons

• The plot can feel too extense for its own good
• Pre-rendered scenes limit player’s interactions
• Sluggish presentation and awkward menus