Photo-Life – Rina’s Journey

These are the perks of being a photographer!
This is a very unusual game, in a bad way. After a short dialogue, we will have to set up the filters so that the photo becomes clear. And if clicking checkboxes isn't a problem, the sliders need to be moved perfectly straight to the millimeter. Sometimes this makes completing a level really long.
And that's not all. Every 5 levels, we face a "Boss" in the form of 5 filters at once, which will take a really long time to solve. So here's a lifehack for you - Complete 2 easy levels and skip the remaining 3 for $100 (Only do this in the level, not in the menu, otherwise it won't count). Sometimes you might get lucky and the level will be completed from the beginning, which is very nice.
Well, the gallery. All the artworks are drawn by hand, however half of them will be fan-made, with a different art style, and overall it doesn't blend very well. Otherwise, Rina is very beautiful, even though there is no 18+ content here, there is THINGS to look at.
I really love this publisher, but I got bored playing this game((( So I recommend buying it on sale or with the intension of supporting the author.
If you read the review and liked it, don't forget to give it a thumbsup;)The further - The better♥️

Rina's journey is an SFW version of Ringsel in trouble with a different puzzle. Do you like playing with photos?

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a photographer? Well, this game won't help you with such desires, as you won't be taking any photos here. Your task is to adjust variables to make the photo look presentable. You're playing with aberration, glow, color blend, etc. Sounds like fun, right? Right?
Well, I enjoyed the task initially, but after fifty photos or so, it gets tedious. There is no change to gameplay as you progress whatsoever. The task overstays its welcome by a long shot. Sure, you can spend some bucks to auto-complete stages, but the pool of money is too limited to skip all stages. You'll just have to grit your teeth and endure if you feel like unlocking all pics.
I compared this title to Ringsel in trouble since there are a lot of similarities. The photo unlocking is one of them. Another is that the stages are split into twelve months (+ bonus pics), each with five pics to unlock. Every group of five contains two easy, two medium, and one hard level of difficulty. Difficulty is diversified by the number of presets to play with: two, three, or four, respectively. It shouldn't take more than a minute to solve most of the stages. Unlocking everything might take an hour or two, but that's it.
After each month is completed, you'll be graced with a short dialogue between you and Rina. You'll typically encounter one choice per conversation. The choices you make will lead to one of two outcomes: Rina becomes a model, or Rina becomes a teacher. Unfortunately, you can't check other answers unless you delete your save and start over. Fortunately, you don't have to do it to unlock all photos. You'll gain automatic access to both outcomes once you complete any path. One playthrough is enough, unless you really want to see all answers, as I did. I'm a completionist; you don't have to be one. It is a painful affliction.
That's about it. I liked the jigsaw puzzles better than this photo manipulation bs served here. Still, for the price asked, it is a reasonable purchase, just don't expect much.

As for the photos and the design choices, it's good enough. I like the art of the main heroine. She has two big arguments and general likability that easily generate a sympathetic response from the players. I sure wouldn't mind having a teacher like her at school :). Despite the adult-only classification on Steam, there is only ecchi here. You won't see Rina naked; it is a completely SFW title. Still, for fans of ecchi art, there is little to complain about here.

Music-wise, there is not much to talk about. Some tracks sound jazzy, some fantasy-inspired, and none of them memorable. Music here serves the role of a filler, but that is fine; it's not the sound that should attract your attention here.

I had some strange issues with stage selection. While the main 'month' stages, and some of the bonus ones, are easy to find, the final stages of each path, teacher, or model, can be inaccessible from the main screen. A similar situation happens with some of the bonus pictures as well. Also, there is an issue with the order of stages when you follow the teacher route. You will be forced to do model stages first, despite reaching the teacher's ending.

In conclusion, if you feel like you might enjoy a tedious photo-editing puzzle game with a copious amount of ecchi pictures, then maybe this game is for you. I only found a few initial stages mildly amusing, not the rest. I'm very ambivalent about my judgment of this title. I'm not going to discourage anyone from trying, but maybe Ringsel in trouble would be a better option: 4.5/10