Blood is the spice of life. No idea who actually said that, but it's definitely what deliverance is all about. This game is long - too long - but it makes for an epic supernatural experience. Or an abysmal detective experience. It all depends on how you look at things. There's a great game hidden underneath a pile of blood.

STORY 
Let me be clear - THIS IS NOT A DETECTIVE GAME. Baited into playing this and about 3 hours in, the whole detective angle is completed. This game is long, too long. I quit playing and came back at least 4 times. Took 23h for a playthrough and that could easily have been reduced to 10 - 12 hours if the game’s quality had been increased. That said, if you're into story you'll get more than enough of it.

The overall story has potential and you feel the developer took time out to research cults, symbolism and supernatural powers. Not exactly my preference when it comes to subjects, but at times the level of detail is commendable. Sadly, writing is at times flat and uninspiring. Has high moments, but also tonedeaf ones that make your guts turn around. It's precisely a mixed bag.

Characters help sell a couple dozen moments, most notably MC’s wife. But even waifu is subject to occasional weird poses, incorrect facial expressions and behavior devoid of reasoning. It all stems from the amount of content - with thousands of renders, I feel quality often sacrificed quantity. The second half of the game especially feels too cluttered with filler content, for the dev to ultimately speedread explanations in the final chapter. Pacing is off.

Although I like the game’s idea of blurring the line between bad and good, it’s often hard to tell due to stereotypical responses. Wifey is a exhibitionist showgirl, your partner-in-crime is focused on anal fantasies because she’s got a large ass and men lust over her, dinner girl has nice feet and is into her leg fetish. The main sidekicks have a few plot points that arcs their character appropriately, but the moment sex kicks in, all development is halted. The main threat isn’t explained until the final, final moments which doesn’t allow you to build a feeling around it. Saving grace ia a bit of the dark roleplay the MC can play with Andrea.

PRESENTATION
It truly feels like two different games - a VN about supernatural powers and one about sex-crazed friends - forcefully combined. One moment you’re grieving about a senseless death and the immediate next your wife asks you to pull your dick out for kicks. When taken as two separate games, they work better - but together it’s a chaos that lessens the experience.

If you’re here for sex encounters and funsies however, there are a lot of sex scenes in this game. From random quickies to fetishes and even sharing and swapping - I’ve had at least 30 scenes in my playthrough and I took the ‘wifey first’ route. Imagine what the other routes are like. It’s a sex circus, but somehow they refrained from ‘supernatural’ sex scenes.

GAMEPLAY
There are a lot of choices to make in this game and while not all impactful, it mainly breaks down into a ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ tree. Other reviews reveal that the villain path would actually be more fun, but I think the hero arc is the original story. I had Ending 6 of 8, so that tells you how much of a paragon I was. A perfect life.

OVERALL
This game could really benefit from a remaster. There’s diamond level material in there if you look for it, but it’s hidden under piles and piles of monotonous cycles. Glad I experienced it, but if you’re looking for a killer story - please look elsewhere or find some let’s plays.

Rating: 7/10
Developer: 1Thousand