RPGM - A Struggle with Sin [v0.5.9.6] [Chyos]

Randomly felt guilty for never reviewing this game. TLDR: Absolutely try it out.

I know the graphics might turn people away at first, has that older feel, but you absolutely get used to it.

This is a massive game with a ton of content, yet not overwhelming. The story and exposition are at a great sweet spot. There is not long-winded dialogue or irrelevant world-building, yet stilly plenty of character development and personality to each LI. This is not a game where you're just hopping sex to sex scene with the flimsiest possible porn justification for each. It's obviously 'silly' if you zoom out too much, but it all makes perfect sense at the time. The girls all have a reason to like the MC, you'll be earning their devotion through gameplay. It makes total sense that your wife's mom wants to fuck you too, trust me

As far as gameplay, a while back there was an effective 'save wipe', the dev provided some saves but I played again from the start, and it was just as enjoyable the second time around. There is no real grinding, just steady progression. It will take some time to slowly build up your gear and levels, but you're doing tons of other stuff in this time.

More importantly, while this is subjective, lots of the situations are just really hot. It's not all just "hey there's a another girl you can fuck".

NTR is completely avoidable, and while it's not really my thing I've still tried all those paths, and they are totally palatable to the average non-NTR person imo. It's not humiliation focused, the MC just likes to see the girls being slutty.

My one complaint however is linked to this. In a game this big, having so many divergent paths is kind of a nightmare. I've basically run out of save slots for key choices, and just had to make a backup folder for old saves. When the dev makes content for a choice you didn't take, if you want to see it you've got to load up an old save and potentially play through several things again. So far it's not been too bad, most quests are independent enough that you can just quickly progress the new content.

Almost all sex scenes are fully replayable, with some requiring going through some hoops. A gallery/replay system would be a great way to more easily access past scenes and alternate path content. Unfortunately in a game like this I can see that being an absolute nightmare to implement, so it may never come.

Anyways, this the main game that I constantly look forward to updates for, and they come at a decent pace.

The best Fantasy Harem NTR game I've ever played. The RPGM and models at first put me off but the animations, relationship building, and story dragged me in. For ONE guy to make this during his spare time, I can not be more amazed. Best game I've played on here and it basically defines what I'm looking for in other games.

Solid game. 30+ hours of content. In depth story, 15+ women to interact with. Visuals are ok but the effort is real. Every single animation in this game is basically stop motion, every single sex scene is made up of individual shots looped. I ended up supporting this dev, and gave them an annual sub on Patreon.

AMAZING GAME!

Here are the pros and cons:

pros:
- IMMERSIVENESS
I didn't expect to get so fully immersed when I first downloaded the game. Frankly, most of the content in it wasn't something I'm usually on the lookout for, but I enjoyed every moment of my first 12 hr binge (and the subsequent few) thanks to the simple fact that I WAS THAT IMMERSED in the world. The hunger/fatigue system is well balanced and well incorporated into the whole experience. Almost nothing broke the immersion, the only exception being how sometimes the game (or the MC) makes decisions for you, without prompt or warning (check cons)

- VISUAL APPEAL / ATTENTION TO DETAIL
It's obvious a lot of time and attention went into the project, both the 3D models and the in-game areas look great.

As for the models and animations - theres a huge number and variety, with genuinely no dropoff in quality for that large a number of characters and different scenes with them.

As for the in-game areas - this is what really brings immersion to a high level, everything looks more than decent and you're rewarded for exploring and paying attention to whats on the screen. This can sometimes be a little tedious when you're looking for something pretty well hidden, though for me it just made it feel more rewarding when I eventually found what I was looking for.

- WRITING/STORYTELLING
The base story is compelling enough, it's actually surprising to find storytelling with reasonable progression in a porn game. Nothing too amazing, but definitely a cut above the rest.

- LARGE NUMBER OF WOMEN TO ROMANCE
Really, there's almost too many. You're bound to find at least one you like, even if you're a player who isn't after the MC getting the girl or doing much fucking at all, you'll probably find a lady you like, and grind out to unlock scenes with her. There's so many to choose from, it's hard to not find one you like.

OTHER:
- Day/Night cycles that heavily impact what you can do, where and with whom.
- Crafting/Cooking system


cons:

-FUCKING PEOPLE BY MISTAKE HAPPENS OFTEN
While exploring in this game can feel rewarding the game also punishes you in that you will sometimes accidentally make the MC do something you really didn't want him to do, just by having him interact with somebody. There really aren't enough "do you want to do this?" prompts, I keep accidentally start fucking somebody I just wanted to interact with.
Alt+f4 and load old save, had to do this a few too many times. Which brings me to my second point ...

- THE MC IS A "CHAD"l
there is no 'true' sub route

You might wonder why I'm giving a game I'm giving such a rough time 5 stars, but I think any game that makes me sink in 12 hours on my first run and then the few next deserves the rating. I'm only pointing out the flaws as constructive criticism - because I like Like the game so much and I'd like to see it get better. At the least, the option to NOT fuck someone you're about to fuck should always be given before it happens.

with that said, I will probably be supporting on patreon with a 10$ pledge, if only for a month. Feels like cheating to play a game this good for free! Keep up the good work!

2024 [v0.5.8.0b] Review Update!
Decided to pick this up again after about 2 years and my old review still pretty relevant. The combat feels better and now you don't have to bang your dead dad's lover to date your childhood friend and/or upgrade your house! (Although the game later still assumes you have.)

Overall this game is really good, it will not be for everyone due to graphical style, very reminiscent of older CRPGs.

The main problem I have with the game is MANY of the relationships are required to advance other story lines or functions like better weapons or upgrading your house. So even if you don't want to, you will end up cheating on a village full of ladies while either claiming you love each and every one of them OR using your cursed jizz to drug them.

Another thing that is a 90s/early 2000s through-back other then the graphics is the tribal village of half-orcs, which are basically just black people, so MC is sitting in the chieftain chair ordering the men around while banging all the women is kinda suspect. Hopefully the half-orcs get a more 'orcy' rework instead of just African tribals.
(Tia, the main girl attached to this faction/quest, also starts off as a dark-bronzed skinned woman who seems to acquires melanin in equal measure to her affection for you.)

Having tried almost all the RPGM adventure-esque games on here, like ´Peasant's Quest´ and ´Farmer's Dreams´ (which are good in their own right), this game really is the crème de la crème in terms of corruption and overall story. So many characters are fleshed out and have multiple paths you lead them on. If NTR is your cup of tea, this will probably be your favorite game. If not, the love routes are really well-made aswell.

Personally the RPGM battles are not particularly fun or engaging for me, so one recommendation is to use the ingame cheats that gives you levels, items and equipment. This also cuts down on a lot of running around if you don't feel like putting time into grinding.

Overall, a perfect game in the genre.

I really do enjoy playing this game. There are very few rpgm games that I like playing. There are 2 reasons that it's not a five-star game. And it can be fixed. The first is the pregnancy system. Don't get me wrong it's not bad or anything, but you have introduced 29-ish characters. All of them want to have your babies, and you have only progressed with 1 character for pregnancy. 29-ish characters tell you oh you could have gotten me pregnant and only 1 actually does... really? The second reason is something I really hate. That is the walkthrough. The walkthrough is hot garbage. Oh, you are on a time limit, but you should have done this step which is 8 pages down from where you are reading and you are going to fail because of it. Load old save and redo everything all over again. There are many things to keep track of and not all of them have a quest. You really have to use a walkthrough. Here's how you do the walkthrough: step 1 do these things with these characters and here is what each character's love and corruption should be at. Repeat this process so you do not have 83 pages of jumbled information. Did I mention it's hot garbage? I mean it, HOT GARBAGE WALKTHROUGH.

All and all it's still a fun game. Not amazing graphics or anything, but then it has its charm. The story is fun and well-written. It's a bit grindy, but cheats help a bit and there is a lot of sex, so it doesn't seem as bad. You can turn on and off NTR (although you do bang Claire in front of kate while she is sleeping and Frisha watches you have sex with her mom and then comes in and bangs you next to her while her mom sleeps. Still kinda NTR, but nobody really minds and you can avoid it if it's not your thing.) Mainly if there is something you don't like it is avoidable. Many devs try to shove their own kinks down your throat and tell you to like it. So, I am happy with Chyos.

Fix the walkthrough and add more pregnancies and I give this game a 5. I mean it, fix the walkthrough. It will help pull in more players to make this complex game more playable for them. you have women, quests, crafting, combat, levels, skills, talent points, pregnancies (when there is more than one.), and equipment. RPGM can't really help your player and a clear walkthrough can. Otherwise, some people may get frustrated and quit as they play the game.

Despite the RPGM limitations giving the chosen art style an odd look at first, the game's aesthetics quickly grow on you. The locations have all been given life through using several types of trees and many other different background elements. A far cry from the classic RPGM maps where all trees look the same. Not to mention an attention to details, such as clay being only found near water. This all combines to make it quite an immersive experience.

And it's not just the sights that make this immersive. All characters have their own schedule, their own life. There are also long-lasting effects to some decisions which are reflected upon their schedule or upon whether some of them live or die. That makes the game very organic.

The character models may look a bit iffy at first due to the choice of the engine, but they're quite serviceable. What's most appreciated is that they don't look like every other daz3d character that you've seen over and over again. Again, a lot of effort has been put into making sure this game has an identity of its own. And you quickly get used to them anyway.

The sex scenes are all animated. Most have more than 1 position too, and dialogues are changed depending on various progress with the current girl or sometimes others. Fucked Frisha's mom? She'll let you know that she knows. and start comparing herself to her.

Music-wise, there has also been quite a great deal of care too. This is all royalty-free however so it doesn't fit 100% but it serves its purpose and one can't expect more from a game here without a higher budget.

On the gameplay, you've mainly got 3 parts: building relationships, harvesting and fighting. The variety means you won't get bored fast. What makes the combat trickier than in most games is there you do not have access to healing spells. You do have access to potions but they are quite hard to procure. That means you'll have to manage your characters health--by defending or taunting--and not just mindlessly attack. Each encounter thus becomes an actual danger. Speaking of encounters, they're not random. You have to walk into the enemy, which makes traveling through the woods that much less of a pain. And since harvesting is a thing, you actually have a reason not to fast travel from one place to the next other than fighting.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned the story. That's because it's not complete yet. The ending is always very important (think Mass Effect 3 for what not to do...). At the moment, it's nothing complex at all. Definitely believable: two princes fighting one another to become king, the commonfolk caught in between be damned. Alliances outside the territory as their neighbours eagerly await to seize part of the realm, be it through alliances or possibly force? Add to this a forgotten goddess out for revenge and a demonic cult in the shadows and you've got plenty enough of interlacing intrigue. It's certainly enjoyable but again, how it all unfolds will partly dictate how good it is at the end of the day.

So far, the game certainly warrants attention and a good score. The dev is attentive to constructive criticism and suggestions. There are minor gripes here and there but as it's just a one-man team, there's only so much the dev can do alone. I'd give it 4.5 but since that's not possible, I'll give it a 5 instead as it's been the first (and so far only) game I've actually supported. Wish I earned more money to support other devs who need it but beggars can't be choosers. Keep up the good job!

Nice game.
+Many female characters(girls, milfs, the daughters of milfs, the whole wild tribe, orks, dwarfs...et cetera) sex scenes animations, ntr avoidable( also netori content)
-JRPG battle system, a large ammount of grind in late part of the game

Janky ass unproportional models, porn level plot, grindy and netorare(bad ntr) elements that I hate.

Wait, so why 5 stars?

The gameplay is fun enough with clear goals, stop the netorare.
Think of it like pokemon with a triggered timer, miss it and your pikachu gets fucked by Gary.

The animation and models eventually grew on me, just like Stockholm syndrome, stay with it long enough and you'll grow to like it.

Cheats are recommended, because it can be a grind even if you have resources and it still takes chunks of time. I'll just spawn in some and give myself levels if I find the mobs too hard.
Being able to bang various women of interesting personalities is pretty nice, some are fleshed out more than others tho.

Decent replay value too, since the game is pretty extensive.
Overall, definitely worth a shot, or many.

The game could have more stars. It has tons of material.
Sadly it is hard to manage all the different paths in it. Even with Walkthrough I find the different options hard to handle.
The game need in the game a better quest/path handling for the different girls.
What I do not like at all are the mini games.
There are not many enemy variations, same with weapons and armor.
Without cheat (Energy and Healing potions) I would have played the game not very long.

From a game and content standpoint, this is loaded and has a lot of things to work on. It's also re-playable, which is rare in a ton of games these days. The generated cgi is pretty good and fits nicely with the story too. Comparable to Claire's quest but imo well outshines that, in terms of sheer playable and image content (as I guess the cgi is easier to generate for this, vs that game's art style probably)

Love the quests and the story. Hard to find a game like this with good quest line and gameplay. The animations are good and the main character isn't a pussy. I will like more games to be like this one.

A Struggle With Sin

Pros:

- Fantastic sex scenes.
- Great and thorough walkthrough both in game and out.
- Great blending of sex and combat/questing.
- Women are differentiated well; Black, White, Green (hehe), busty, petite...
- Easy to follow plot and narrative.
- Appeals to a wide array and kinks from NTR to Non-NTR fans.
- The developer is actually active and has a good work ethic.
- The game is doing successfully on Patreon so no chance of it being abandoned anytime soon.

Cons:

- Generic Fantasy setting may not appeal to those burnt out on said setting.
- Main Character responses are a but douchebag-like in certain scenario's.
- Development cycle is based on Patron choice so some plotlines go unfinished for months until voted on.
- Some plotlines get revisited and changed so if you completed them beforehand you may miss out on potential content unless you start over.

Review for v0.5.1.0

The game is literally top tier of RPGM: unique mature sprite, actually have good and bad path unlike 1D white knight like most RPGM, no redundant UI system.

The game has a story setting, but it is mostly sandbox at the time of this review. Meaning that you can complete multiple characters quest without missing any content. The characters and world change as consequence of your action.

If you do not like NTR aspect, be a white knight like you think you are and if you want to see the world burn, gives a little nudge to let dominos fall into place.

There is questlog help you remember what you did or where you are in story aspect. The UI super basic that does not give you hard time and it really plays into the strength of RPGM.

I have play both deprave and hero aspect of the game and I must say it is almost bug free.

The only 1 problem with the game at the moment is that if you have not decided whether you like NTR between Thomas and Kate (dealing with Thomas at the bar), the game will lock your progress with Ophilia during the part where Ophilia stays at the inn. You cannot get your room unless you decide whether you want NTR or not with Kate at the bar.

I must clarify that this is not a bug; it is just me being indecisive about it. Since if I decline the offer there is not much bad things can happen to Kate and the game become too plain for my taste. If I accept the offer, I have to constantly taking care of Kate which become too much of a chore.

Tsk Tsk... What to choose... Oh yea, Kate is also the only character in the game atm who has pregnancy content which make this option even more heavy to decide.

Beside that everything else are independent as I said previously it is mostly sandbox.

this is my personal perspective to this game

A Struggle With Sins
a game that have a golden chance to become a very big, interesting, rpg type game.


when first playing this game i am playing it non stop for a day, with NTR On and cheat off. ( yeah this two things can be enable and disable to your preference) to exploring the world and making a closer relationship to know better the story in this game. many wrong choices and stuck in a route that i kinda dislike. but this is just a preview for just knowing better the game.

The NTR in this game for me is just like a "test". Like "i wonder what the outcome if i do this" me myself is not a guy that really like NTR. if i can take care all of them why not. but being a jerk sometime is "interesting"

next day i re playing it from beginning to make my choices more the way i like about it. after sometime playing it. the result rating this game is out. for now...

ASWS Ver 5.0.5

Gameplay (pretty solid) 6/10 Higher is better
NTR stuff (optional) 5/10 Higher is better
Grinding (sorry mate the grinding is hard af) 2/10 Higher is better
CG (Pretty "hot") 7/10 Higher is better
Character (some good but some is like HOLY FU- THAT UNNATURAL) 7/10 Higher is better
Bug (just minor sound bug *moaning bug*) 3/10 Lower is better
Story (I leik it) 9/10 Higher is better

Recomended ? yeah sure. give it a try.

this is personal review. no hard feeling.

It's fappable. The women are hot despite the chunky models and there's some damn nice context here and there.
Can't give it more than 3 stars. The writing is stiff, with little personality. Suffers the common problem of too much spread out content leading to unsatisfying individual characters.

Then there's the important warning:
The grind is real. It's not fucking worth it. Cheat as you wish, but always beware RPGM's clunkiness. There is no worthwhile gameplay here outside your choices and they take long enough to make without the added grind.

this game is a one of a kind. The story is well done ( I think by far this is one of the best ), the characters is great. Its really grindy but I enjoyed it as long as it lasts. The thing thats is lacking is the optimization. I hope the devs could do something about it ( I know its hard to optimized RPGM'S games ).

The best RPGM project I've ever seen. I've never seen such interactivity in games.
Game Benefits:

1. As I said, this is interactivity. You can go hunting, you can chop wood, you can kill robbers, ogres or anyone else, you can cook, build a house and so on (the list is long) And it will really pay off, for every action you take there is a quest in the game.
2. Ladies. There are sooo many of them. You can have relationships with the whole family (if you make the right choices)The list is huge Milfs, Gilfs, Nuns, half-orcs and so on.
3. Someone may not like the way the game is drawn, but I like it.
4. A fascinating plot,you start the game as a lazy guy, because of which his father dies during his Alcohol intoxication and other circumstances. After you are kicked out of the house and you have to get out of this situation, become stronger and help people.
5. The game is huge (Although it's not even finished yet)
   If you do not use cheats, I think you will play it 100+ hours
   But I will not say that there is a lot of grind, in any case, you can always use cheats.
6. A lot of skills available for pumping, which really affect your actions, hunting, lockpicking, combat, etc.
   Game disadvantages
   Problem optimization
   I don't think you want to lose all your saves. If suddenly your computer shuts down, your main save will simply be deleted, as it happened to me, so save every time, in 2 different places. I think this is an engine problem, although I have not seen this in other projects.

Lots of planning went into this game. I'm still enjoying it. Can be replayed from various save points. Really good guide included. I have no more characters to add, so I'll continue a run sentence until it lets me complete my review about a game I liked.