(Posting at the time of v.0.1.1-- Review may change as updates release.)
The first thing you'll notice about Becoming a King is that the artwork is noticeably AI-assisted. This isn't a major problem in my eyes since the characters look very nice and don't look too different from games with beautiful art like Love Esquire, and the one H scene animation looks surprisingly good, but I worry that the range of expressions and poses the characters can make will be limited as a result.
I think H-scenes with, say, Estelle should involve some seriously exotic posing and I'll be disappointed if the animations remain standard so the AI can handle it and characters faces are always "Mildly happy" or "Mildly angry" or "Mildly stern."
The dialogue is serviceable and gets the point across clearly. I think it's originally in Russian and if so the translation is pretty good (Outside the brothel sex scene, where it feels pretty stilted).
I've basically only just met most of the characters by the end of the current content so I won't go too into them, but I will say I hope more of a voice emerges for each the LIs as we progress and get a better read on their personalities.
The stat-building management gameplay is what drew me more than anything and for right now it's a bit barebones.
You have three stats; Stamina, Intellect and Charisma, and ten points of Energy to use when you venture outside your castle.
You use four points of energy each time you speak to somebody to get some lore or develop your relationship with them, and some of them also act as trainers in the prior three skills for two points of energy a visit.
When you use all your energy you go back to the castle, rest, and plan out a week of activities à la Princess Maker.
For Stamina, independent sword practice gives you a +1, Horse Riding gives you a +2. and Sparring gives you a +3.
I think there's likely going to be a stress/fatigue system later on because the bigger reward activities have no adverse effect on the player compared to the lower reward activities, and characters make reference to the protagonist needing to make sure not to overwork himself or head to the brothel to blow off steam in exchange for a hefty 8 Energy points.
There's also a slight balance issue with leveling, I think. To get a +6 in a given stat you need to occupy three slots of your week, while the trainers give you a +5 basically as a freebie. You can get a weekly +5 in every stat and still have enough energy left over to go on a date with your favorite waifu.
For now, your levels don't do much of anything. I think there was a stat-check for when I spoke to Estelle asking for a job, but there wasn't anything to let me know if I was being checked or how high I needed to clear to meet it if I was.
A simple "I'm well-read and can assist your bookkeeping! [Lvl 5 INT Required]" would be helpful.
Small additions I think would also be nice:
- An option to change the protagonist's name -- I always like to see this when it comes up but it's obviously not totally necessary.
- More artwork during weekly training- For now Stamina, Intellect and Charisma training is all represented by the protagonist reading a book in an armchair. Seeing him racing on a horse or socializing at taverns to match the day's activity would be fun and show the devs care about details.
- Some kind of feedback animation or sound when you click a dialogue option to let the player know whether they made a good or bad choice.
The potential of this game is actually really good and I'll follow it's development. The demo is something like an hour long so it's worth giving it a try to see for yourself despite any criticisms in this review.
