Karm Reviews: Leap of Faith
By: DriftyGames
Release Date: Feb 11, 2022
Development Status: Complete!
Description from Dev: Having spent 2 years wondering why your girlfriend left your seemingly perfect relationship out of the blue, you finally decide to move forward. And while you're opening your eyes to the world, it seems to be opening its eyes to you as well. Before long you've connected with 6 different girls, all with their own stories to tell. From that girl you save from a horrible fate to the superstar pop singer - even the returning ex. girlfriend. This is the story of your journey together. Which, through choices and opportunities, will lead you down a path you never could have imagined.
Tags: Visual Novel/Eroge, Nakige, Vanilla, Public, Romance, Story Telling, Deep Meaning, Dark Themes, Excellent Story, Great Soundtrack
Karm Reviews
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Karm Reviews |
Leap of Faith is one of the most emotionally engaging AVNs I’ve ever played. What starts as a story about a man trying to pull himself out of a two-year funk and finally start dating again slowly evolves into something much deeper. A character study about friendship, found family, acceptance, redemption, healing, and learning how to truly move forward with your life.
What makes the story land so well is that every character feels like they’re carrying something. Everyone has their own baggage, their own battles, and their own emotional scars. As the MC gets closer to the people around him, he realizes he’s not alone in his struggles, and that emotional honesty gives the entire game a ton of weight. The game explores some genuinely dark themes, but it never feels cheap, edgy, or reckless. Everything is handled with care.
The writing is one of the game’s strongest qualities. The pacing is excellent, nothing drags, but the game still manages to naturally feed you information without feeling rushed. The dialogue can be funny, heartfelt, sexy, or genuinely heartbreaking depending on the moment, and it consistently feels authentic throughout. There are scenes in this game that are genuinely touching, not just romantic scenes, but the quieter moments too, the backstory reveals, the group bonding moments like the game of “Truth or Dare”, the little conversations that slowly build these relationships over time.
I also love that the MC is actually likable and has a strong sense of morality. He’s easily one of my favorite AVN protagonists because he feels like a good person without coming across as bland or unrealistically perfect. The game also makes his loyalty a defining trait. Once he falls for someone, he fully commits to them, even outright saying he’d never cheat on the woman he loves. Weirdly enough, that feels refreshing in this genre. Because of that, every romance route feels more meaningful, and the game naturally encourages multiple playthroughs if you want to fully explore every relationship.
And honestly, the women in this game are fantastic. Every woman feels important to the story in her own way, which is surprisingly rare in games with casts this large. They all have distinct personalities, different histories, and believable reasons for connecting with the MC, whether it’s a lifelong friendship or an immediate spark. The game genuinely makes it difficult to choose who you want to pursue, which massively adds to the replay value.
Speaking of replay value, Leap of Faith absolutely nails meaningful choice design. Choices don’t just alter the story, they influence how the MC speaks, how he interacts with people, and even how he emotionally processes certain scenes. Attributes actually matter, impact choices feel impactful, and the game constantly adapts itself around your decisions in subtle ways that make each route feel personal. There are so many different scenes and scenarios to discover that replaying never feels repetitive.
I also really liked the smaller gameplay systems. The phone integration is done well, and the texting system feels natural instead of gimmicky. The Nüke app and photo integration are also cool additions that make the world feel more immersive. My biggest issue there, though, is that some events are way too easy to miss without the DLC guide enabled. I always play with guides first because I’m lazy, (sue me) and then replay without them to see if the game still communicates things clearly. Here, the MC’s inner thoughts aren’t always enough to tell you when you should mute your phone, change a ringtone, or go digging through the Nüke app for specific interactions. Some important moments can slip by pretty easily if you’re playing blind.
One thing I think deserves more praise is how AUTO mode works. A lot of games interrupt or skip animations when AUTO is enabled, forcing you to constantly turn it off if you actually want to watch scenes play out. Here, many of the animations continue uninterrupted, which sounds small but genuinely improves the experience.
Presentation-wise, the game definitely shows its age in some areas, but it still holds up surprisingly well. Some renders are noticeably stronger than others, and occasionally characters don’t quite look like themselves from scene to scene. Sometimes skin tones change in awkward ways like some women will be orange or greyish. The MC in particular sometimes looks permanently dazed or confused, even in normal conversations. Early animations can also feel stiff and short-looped, especially in the first couple chapters.
But what’s fascinating is watching the developer improve over time. As the story progresses, the visuals, animations, lighting, and overall presentation become dramatically better. By the final few chapters, the sex scenes honestly look like they belong in a completely different game. They’re better animated, more romantic, better lit, more cinematic, and the character models look stunning. You can visibly see the evolution of Drifty’s skillset, resources, or both as the game goes on. Part of me genuinely wishes the earlier chapters could be remastered to match the quality of the later ones.
The music is also incredibly memorable. The loops can get repetitive at times, but the soundtrack is so catchy that I honestly didn’t mind too much. I’ve become a huge Faith Richards fan because of this game alone. There aren’t really any moaning SFX during scenes, which is fine, but I’ll admit I always appreciate good sound design in AVNs.
The game is definitely a slow burn, but that slow pacing works in its favor because everything feels earned. When romantic or sexual moments finally happen, they feel satisfying instead of rushed. The scenes themselves are sexy, emotional, and usually tied closely to character progression instead of existing purely for fanservice.
I also loved the little Easter eggs and cameos scattered throughout the game. The Chasing Sunset cameo absolutely made me smile, that’s one of my favorite AVNs ever, and the woman that appeared is easily top five character for me. The Artemis cameo was another great surprise too!
At its core, Leap of Faith is a story about accepting that you can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to it. That message is delivered beautifully throughout the game, and it’s a huge part of why the story sticks with you long after you finish it.
This game clearly inspired a lot of modern AVNs, and it’s easy to see why. It has a fantastic cast, meaningful choices, strong emotional writing, high replay value, and a level of polish that still stands out years later. Even with a few rough edges and aging visuals in the early chapters, Leap of Faith remains one of the best and most emotionally rewarding AVNs I’ve ever experienced.
Karm's Score
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Karm's Score |
The Storyline: 10/10
The Gameplay: 9/10
The Uniqueness: 9/10
The Visuals: 9/10
The Characters: 10/10
The Choices: 10/10
The Sounds: 9/10
The Writing: 10/10
The Quality: 9/10
The Steaminess: 9/10
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TOTAL: 94/100
TIER: S-Tier
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