As of v0.25f, I think this game has the potential to become one of the best H platformers along with Holy Knight Ricca. In summary, this is a (currently 4 hours long) metroidvania which follows a mage girl called Noelle. The story, characters and music are phenomenal and I'm excited to see how these progress further into development. There are two main downsides currently: The H content is very limited with only 2 "real" scenes, and the development of the game is still in its early stages despite starting a few years ago. Here are my thoughts on some facets of the game:
Gameplay:
There were some complaints about the main character feeling unresponsive in earlier versions of the game. Thankfully, this is not the case in the latest version with a controller and the base character movement almost feels as polished as a game like Hollow Knight.
Unlike that game, however, Noelle is a mage who really struggles with melee combat. Your basic melee is like slapping an enemy with wet noodles. Therefore, you must rely on your spells to keep distance and exploit the enemies' attack patterns. The spells right now are limited but each of them satisfy a different niche.
Also the game has a dodge mechanic but this is primarily used in the plentiful parkour and puzzle sections of the game. Your main means of defense in combat will instead be simply moving around and jumping. Speaking of the puzzles, I found all of them interesting as they may sometimes require you to use your spells in way that you would have not thought off earlier. The rewards for these are also great as they give new abilities to Noelle in addition to simple upgrades like increasing HP.
H Content:
If you were to give me this game without any context (before I played it), I would assume that this is just a normal and cute video game. This highlights the seriousness of the developers and their focus on creating a game with porn elements rather than porn with gameplay elements. As a result, there are very limited porn elements in the game so far. Regardless, here is a summary of the different types of scenarios I encountered:
- Brothel (1 animated scene):
Noelle's sister is an alchemist who needs sexual fluids for her work. You can help her out at work and there are two paths for each scene (only one for now) depending on the materials used to create an aroma. If you succeed in creating the aroma, Noelle becomes really horny and assertive. Conversely, Noelle feels afraid of the process and tries to get it done as soon as possible. In both cases, the scenarios are consensual.
- In Battle (? animated CGs)
When fighting against the ink coloured monsters, they will violate Noelle if she takes too much damage. These animated CGs are really weird with the animation times but I found them enjoyable regardless.
- Boss Scenes (1 animated scene)
There is only 1 boss scene if you lose to the worm when saving Noelle's friend. This is a proper animated scene where both of them get pumped with aphrodisiacs and violated with tentacles. Noelle enjoys the process yet you still feel bad for her as she laments being powerless.
Some thoughts:
I played the game on normal difficulty and it was generally smooth sailing. The only times I lost were on purpose or when encountering an enemy for the first time. Still, I can see why those inexperienced with platformers might struggle. The characters and the story also start off with a lot of novelty and personality and it will be interesting to see how the devs develop these over time. While Noelle might be a magical girl, there are hints of a deeper lore in the story like her abilities being the result of advanced technologies, an ancient structure that blocks the night sky high above the clouds, and how all monsters originated from the sea.
The biggest red flag, I have about this game are the incredibly long wait times between versions. I originally played the game 2 years ago but I have seen little progress since then (brothel scene introduced, main hub with moving NPCs created, and game length increased by maybe 10%). Based on the scope of the lore, I expect that the game is far away from being finished and I'm concerned about how long we would need to wait for before the release of version 1.0. Nonetheless, I am still hopeful as the Dev's Ci-en seems to be more active lately. As a programmer, I understand that creating all the mechanics of the game can take a seriously long time. Now I hope that all of these mechanics are complete so the devs can focus on properly creating the scenarios in their work.
In conclusion, I would recommend giving the current version a try since it is not too long. The genres of the game might be daunting to some but fellow degenerates might find them exciting. If you do enjoy the game, be warned that you are going to be spending a long time before more content is released.
Current Verdict: 4.5/5
Estimated Release Date: Hopefully before Half life 3