Based on the (as yet) unfinished v0.2
My usual disclaimers when writing reviews on here are that A. I am here for the "plot" not the plot and B. I am very picky with visual novels and think broadly they can be very subpar. So, take both of those into consideration for my review when thinking about this game.
Pros
- Exceptionally high graphical fidelity – This is normally not something I really look for in my H-games. Given that some of my favourites on F95 are made with Honey Select, that much should be obvious. However, it really needs to be said about Artemis: WOW some fucking work went into the renders and design here. All the characters look incredible and the girls are both stunning and memorable.
- Writing is amazing – Very clearly one of the big draws for Artemis is that Digi.B clearly knows how to WRITE. Dialogue is amazing, the overall premise is actually very cool and Digi.B seems to be considering some of the deeper implications of it. But on top of that it still remains fun, often is sexy and funny, and not really in danger of disappearing up its own arse.
- Exceptional characters – To reiterate about the writing, the most outstanding thing here might actually be the main character in fact. I’m usually a proponent of having an MC that people can self-insert onto, which can often mean making them quite bland. Here, the protag is very defined and not only that is obviously very damaged. He cries, he struggles with the smallest of social interactions, basically all things which would normally have me bored to death and rolling my eyes because of how “edgy” and melodramatic it is. Except, here, it’s not only believable but also surprisingly compelling and handled with no small amount of grace. Essentially, the protagonist subverts expectations and it’s done well. The rest of the cast is also pretty compelling and interesting in their own way.
- Sexy scenes and interactions – Despite the surprisingly heavy subject nature of the game, which hasn’t really reared its head TOO much at this point, there is also a lot of room for very sexy stuff going on. It’s early days yet so the MC hasn’t yet had a chance to bang every character, and most of the sexual stuff has been fairly tame so far. But, like I say, it’s early days, and it seems pretty clear that Digi.B has no intention of skimping on the good stuff.
- Sense of humour - I'm editing this in after-the-fact, because I can't believe I forgot about it at the time: honestly Artemis is fucking hilarious. There are several genuine laugh-out-loud moments which fucking nailed me, and I think that in itself is a very rare achievement.
Mehs
- Extreme genius characters – This isn’t exactly a negative because none of the characters are exactly Mary Sues/Gary Stus. Everyone has personal flaws and failings and behave like real, emotional human beings. However, they also all, almost to a one, are extremely outrageously good at their chosen subject. From the best friend who not only can build the mechanics of a robot but is also a super low-key very famous DJ (which she isn’t interested in because she’s too modest for fame). To then the love interest who literally has developed a new version of the pill which is safer, makes women hornier and also makes their pussies taste like cinnamon and sugar (and this is someone who somehow isn’t world-famous and an overnight billionaire). Both of whom are presented as being undergraduate students or even younger. Now, to be honest, I can suspend my disbelief here because it’s fun for the fantasy (I mean, as an example, I don’t really think there are any sororities filled with Grade-A waifu material who want you to be their live-in male sex toy), but even though I can, the game is somewhat treading the line here…
- No branching decisions – As far as I can make out, thus far with almost every decision except one, there has always been a “right” choice which will get you closer to the girl of the moment. This is not a problem for me, it still has enough interaction and I enjoy harem games where you get to bang every girl. The main thing is to not go in expecting it to be like Being A DIK where every major choice leads to two quite different situations. Of course, it’s possible that down the line I may eat my own words here and that choices made early will come back to haunt you, but we’ll have to see.
- Kinks – So far, and with each increasing update this hasn't changed much, the H-scenes of the game have been very vanilla (with the exception of one big exhibitionism scene). They're still pretty hot and enjoyable, but as always I'd prefer to see more genuinely kinky content.
Cons
- Decisions made after the fact – I said that thus far the game has only been treading the line with the “extreme genius character” stuff, but this isn’t entirely true. Some off-shoots of it have come in and are very much in danger of ruining the suspension of disbelief. It’s stuff where clearly Digi.B needs a particular event to happen, and so to make it happen he’ll add in an afterthought to what has already been going on. “Undergraduate has invented a new/better birth control pill”? That’s not exciting enough. Let’s add in that it makes them taste like rainbows! “Best friend character has a robot?” That’s boring now, let’s make her actually have a BACK UP and EVEN BETTER version of the robot just waiting for the MC to make the upgrade. The whole thing smacks of one-upmanship where Digi.B seems to constantly need to “improve” what is already there and it consistently throws off the immersion when it happens. Edit: This is particularly prevalent in Chapter 3 as well.
There are a couple of really major selling points to Artemis in my mind. First-off is that very obviously Digi.B has demonstrated that they are extremely competent at writing and character design. The character writing alone probably ought to make the more serious players searching for good stories pay attention.
There’s plenty of drama and angst on display, but it’s handled in such an interesting way that even I enjoyed it. This is coming from someone where one of my biggest pet-peeves in VNs is the constant melodrama for the sake of drama, making up problems where none should really exist. Meanwhile in
Artemis there is some serious personal “stakes” at play.
As an aside here as well I'd like to mention that I'm also a fan of the way the game treats the protagonist's relationship with alcohol. I've played too many games on here which treat getting drunk as something done ONLY by scumbag guys trying to hook-up with girls or by tiny girls who are incapable of knowing their limits and making a mess. It's often sort of holier-than-thou and just fucking irritates me. In
Artemis, the protagonist doesn't drink but just because he doesn't drink doesn't mean he gets in the way of other characters having a nice time, which I just whole-heartedly approve of.
On the other hand though, the game still makes plenty of time for sexy times and it’s pretty clear that it will continue to do so. Like I said in my “mehs”, you actually get basically taken in by a sorority of super-hot babes, all of whom want your dick to varying degrees. So there’s that sensation of having the best of both worlds: an interesting story and then also plenty of fucking to keep Neanderthals like me happy.
It's also worth noting that the issue I had with the "extreme-genius" characters may vary from person to person. I have to admit that coming from a biological field myself that the whole "magical pill" thing really just makes me roll my eyes, but I think that in general there will need to be a moderate amount of suspension of disbelief here.
It’s only in chapter 2 at the moment, but there is also already a fairly decent amount of content, even if it is still early days in the development, both in terms of plot and the relationships.
My one real concern about the game is that it obviously intends to deal with some fairly heavy subject matter. The protagonist spent many years prior to the game seriously depressed, so there is a constant lurking threat of “mental health issues”. Also the game very clearly will be delving into AI and that might encourage some deeper ruminations on the very philosophical nature of AI (when does it count as “alive”, what if it becomes smarter than us, etc etc). All of this is something that has already been touched on and handled well-enough so far. However, I worry that with serious subject like matter like that the game might be in danger of taking itself too seriously, at which point I practically guarantee it will start grating.
At the moment I won’t rate Artemis higher than a 4/5 simply because it’s still too early to tell the sorts of directions it might go. However, I want to make it clear that I whole-heartedly recommend playing it because it has the promise to be one of the absolute all-time greats.
