VERSION: 0.7.3
Amity Park aspires to satirize the early 2000's Nickelodeon show Danny Phantom, achieving this goal courtesy of fantastic art that closely mimics its source material with a playful rendition of its cast. Among the most notable aspects of Amity Park is its faithful recreation of the aesthetic, that "Western anime" style used so liberally throughout the era in shows such as Invader Zim, Teen Titans and The Fairly Odd Parents; here, the artist has adapted it with only minor alterations to enhance the erotica.
Split across several episodes, the first of which deal primarily with establishing the setting and character interactions, the genuinely adult-oriented content is few and far between. Some mature humour exists in dialogue, allusions to masturbation and such, but Amity Park establishes itself first and foremost as a game rather than a mere outlet for smut.
Indeed, unlike the majority of its competitors, even in this niche, Amity Park retains some genuine "gamey" mechanics, including a turn-based combat system. Although a tad rudimentary when compared against mainstream RPGs, combat serves as an enjoyable distraction from the visual novel aspects of progression and allows the player to customize Danny with a simple attribute-allocation system. Sadly, the player appears to be limited to pre-scripted encounters alone and, thus, cannot engage in any voluntary grind, although each encounter is fairly pivotal to the narrative progression.
Roughly an hour into play Amity Park begins unveiling its more erotic content, as the protagonist peeps on their sister, engages the school nurse in some amorous play and experiments with their childhood friend, Sam. These sequences overwhelming include animated content, nicely looped to allow for unlimited playback. Here, the restricted palette does somewhat impair the art, as fine details are lost to the cell-shading. Furthermore, early-game animations are prone to odd anatomical choices, given that the artist lacked reference material for these characters in such poses; Nurse Kate, for instance, has shockingly well-developed shoulders in her first nude scene, despite the otherwise slim profile on display.
Dialogue is also prone to a few oddities: the author was inordinately fond of employing typographical emphasis, with several sentences featuring bold, italic and underlined words simultaneously. Fortunately, this zeal was amended in latter episodes and its frequency is dramatically reduced, however, the early appearances can contribute a somewhat amateur feel to the entire affair. It is worth noting, nonetheless, that the dialogue as a whole is wonderfully scripted. The cast converse naturally and with personalities that accurately reflect their televised personas, while genuine errors are few and far between. Indeed, having poured through the script only one line immediately springs to mind: Danny remarks he'll have a "peek" in the bathroom and, within the same sentence, notes that it wouldn't be "bad if I just peaked."
Having concluded the majority of the content currently available, Amity Park seems more like an adults-only homage to the franchise rather than a genuine satire. If you can excuse a few fourth-wall breaking moments, including outright remarks by the developer regarding the reduced complexity of quests in the final episodes (which, at best, are jarringly unnecessary), I firmly believe you'll find something to enjoy whether you're a diehard fan or, like myself, relatively new to the world of Danny Phantom.
GRAPHICS ------------------------------------------------ 7 / 10
+ Stylized, in keeping with the cartoon, albeit with some clear artistic license to enhance the erotica.
+ Animations are fairly smooth and relatively diverse in nature.
- Some anatomical issues, such as overly muscled shoulders and unnaturally shifting proportions between clothed/naked bodies.
+/- Art style is somewhat divisive, with clear fans and detractors alike; personally, I don't find it offputting, but neither would I opt for this in lieu of more detailed alternatives.
DIALOGUE ------------------------------------------------ 7 / 10
+ Strong characterization and adherence to the personalities established in its source material.
+ Few, and minor, typographical errors of any sort; good editorial oversight process.
- Overreliance on typographical emphasis, such as italics and underlining, throughout the initial episodes.
GAMEPLAY ------------------------------------------------ 6 / 10
+ Turn-based battle system offers a genuine "gamey" reprieve from the visual novel elements.
+ Attribute levelling and experience system provide a degree of freedom in determining future combat encounters.
- No ability to level or otherwise "XP grind" outside of pre-ordained encounters.
- Several fights are intended to be lost and will dramatically decrease your health even if you avoid being struck.
INNOVATION ---------------------------------------------- 8 / 10
+ Addition of RPG-lite mechanics is a novel touch that simultaneously provides an in-universe explanation for some of the adult content and contributes variation to the gameplay.
SCORE ======================================= 28 / 40
RECOMMENDED FOR FANS, ENJOYABLE FOR NEWCOMERS
Amity Park is clearly aimed at established fans of the franchise, to whom the nostalgic element undoubtedly contributes a little more taboo titillation, yet even new players will discover an enjoyable, somewhat silly experience with decent erotic content.
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE: Alter the shoulders on Nurse Kate during the animated sequences, they are far too heavily muscled and squared-off for a woman of her stature, appearing unnatural given the slim profile of her normal conversant image. Expand the UI in the scene selector, on Danny's computer, such that the player is no longer required to click multiple times to browse; a single row of three icons could easily have been changed to a three-by-three grid or greater. Consider allowing players to engage in (limited, perhaps) battles outside of those dictated by the storyline; say, by roaming the city after dark.
