RPGM - Caliross, the Shapeshifter's Legacy [v0.9.20] [mdqp]

Hello, my name is Siderophilia and I have played Caliross, The Shapeshifter's Legacy v0.95a by mdqp.

I've played my share of RPGM games, but none of them have resonated with me in quite the same way as Caliross. I saw this game a few times before but skipped out on it because I thought it had a dumb name, which was admittedly a mistake on my part. Taking place in a fantasy setting, Caliross is a game featuring a female protagonist and lots of non-consensual themes and mind control. With that introduction I'll rescind my usual paragraph breakdown in favor of listing strengths and weaknesses, the former of which I believe massively outweigh the latter.

+

• A RPG maker game which does most things right, albeit the combat is just the run of the mill RPG stuff it isn't a major presence and what you get is decently balanced, there is no grind, very little running around useless empty maps, and most fights can be skipped with a bit of critical thinking.
• The game features heavily in puzzle gameplay, mostly in the main storyline, which is actually surprisingly good. A lot of puzzles are on the easy side for sure, but they don't take up time as to be annoying, and a few actually feel a little satisfying to solve.
• While the game is complex and can sometimes be confusing, there are some massive quality of life improvements such as the personal info and quest screens, which are great aids in keeping track of your current situation.
• Actual decent writing with a main storyline which stays interesting despite keeping the sexual stuff to a minimum. It didn't get me extremely engaged in the lore of Caliross, but just opening up a game like this to discover that the protagonist left home because she wanted to become a historian and learn of the origins of her people is amazing when you consider the standard for these games. Somebody tried. Can we have a small applause?
• Lots of side content which caters to a pretty wide (but not too deviating) set of fetishes.
• Highly customizable female protagonist who may undergo both psychological and physiological changes over the course of the game. 3 main stats (inhibitions, willpower and intelligence) plus a set of acquirable traits, bust and ass size, tattoos, piercings and more. The stats and trait system open up for a lot more than the typical corruption game advancing, and things such as your intelligence cap being massively lowered because your character is now a bimbo actually have you questioning your choices once in a while.
• The art is good. Not the greatest and it sometimes feels inconsistent between drawings, but still, good.
• Even when art isn't present (might be unfinished scenes), the writing actually works good enough to carry the experience on its own.
• There's a lesbian vampire lady named Beatrix who is all around just the greatest. She shows up for a glass of wine, calls you her flower, and when it's over she'll always carry you to your bed. Someone tell this girl she didn't have to hypnotize me.

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• The game is often ambiguous, there is an inconsistency in the display of eventual stat changes and sometimes even things like controls. While I can forgive minor stat changes going unannounced, things such as receiving a new trait really ought to be announced more clearly.
• The complex nature of the game and branching paths can make it hard to navigate and find content which interests you the most. Some content being hidden behind things such as losing a battle in an early quest really doesn't help. There's a link to a walkthrough included with the game which is quite frankly a necessity just to find the things you are looking for, but even that isn't all encompassing.
• Like a lot of games with non-linear storytelling, Caliross often feels inconsistent, and it doesn't do as much as it could with its impressive character customization. While NPC's will sometimes react to your looks and traits will sometimes have effects in new places you didn't expect them to, it is the exception rather than the rule. I also fear that a lot of the inconsistencies relate to things so integral to the game design that they can't be fixed without massively limiting player freedom, but things like the MC being a noblewoman who regularly works at the brothel without any reactions or a bimbo who complains that thinking makes her head hurt one moment only to the next decipher ancient runes and note them in her journal really bring down the overall immersion.
• As this is a game in development, a few pointers of where the dynamic content ends and where additional content is planned but not yet implemented could be really useful.
• Repeated usage of the phrase "meat toilet".

So yeah, that should give you an idea of what to expect from Caliross. In short, if you care for writing, mind control, or the female protag corruption stuff, this is definitely worth checking out, even if you've tried and disliked other RPGM titles. If you hate games asking you to expend any kind of mental energy skip it.

This game is a wonderful example of a good RPGM game, this game would never work in Renpy. Its main story has not a lot of Lewd things in it, the lewd things are the sidejobs and exploration. So you can get to filthy stuff quite quick and you really can pick and choose which way to go. Nicely done.

The storytelling is excellent. The MC has a goal that's clearly stated in the beginning and that she's always working toward, even alongside her many dalliances. The pacing is divided into "chapters" that each have their own dungeons and resolutions. At the same time, the smut is just as well written with a variety of kinks and waifus fulfilled.

There is combat, but it's over pretty quick and rare enough to be almost enjoyable. Once again, MDQP shows attention to pacing.

The extra content in this game is also awesome. You can join factions that will affect the world and your future choices in the main story. You can take up jobs, do a little worldbuilding, and form relationships. There's a night life and a day life. There's so much to explore.

I could nitpick about wanting more CG or wishing I had more scenes of certain kinks, but there's no doubt this game deserves my 5 stars and my $2. The production and creative quality of this project is on another level.

Surprisingly good game with well-developed game mechanics, good story and writing. The main character is likeable, the erotic scenes are hot, and the humor works. Sure, it's far from finished, but already really good as it is, and my only reason not to give it 5 stars is the lack of finished romantic stoylines, and the lack of the art during the adult scenes. The majority of scenes doesn't have any art, but the few ones that have, is really good. I can only recommend this game to anybody who is in search for a good adult game with engaging story.

I give five stars in advance, hoping the game receives CGs for every naughty scene. Otherwise, it's 4 stars .
CONS:
1) Unfortunately, the game lacks proper images for numerous erotic events. In other words, the majority of events is text-based with black screen.
2) You can make mistakes in story development for your character, and such mistakes lead to minor corruption (decrease of "Inhibition" as per game mechanics). However, there is no way to restore your corruption meter (Inhibition)--or at least I have not found any (except cheating).
3) In most cases, you can avoid major character-changing events (sorry, no spoilers) only by ignoring them, but not by making choices or smart thinking.
4) The game implements "love" with some NPCs, but lacks relationship development after falling in love.
5) Minor bugs (which are constantly corrected, though)

PROS:
0) One of the rarest things nowadays in RPG Maker games: you don't need to run through million miles of empty space or thoroughly painted but dead landscape. Everything is compact, nice and in its place.
1) Many-many sexy women (I would give 6 stars for the whole idea of bringing them all).
2) The text itself is very good, even for my taste (as I really don't like text-based only games and almost never play them).
3) Corruption is (almost) optional.
4) Game mechanics with spell interactions is fine.
5) The game is being actively developed, new content is added, old content is expanded, so hopefully many things will change to good.

I kinda enjoy this game, it really good & so far there is no bug in it. However, playing it blindly might be difficult & challenging due to the amount of content in it.

It have ample of content for those who enjoy mind control, mind break, piercing, & tattoo genre. However, despite those amount of content in the game, I still feel it is relatively empty in certain aspect such as CG. The amount of CG feel insufficient for me despite the huge volume, which can be seen at the gallery.

You see, in 1 of the bad route ending. There is only 2 CG involves with ample of text describe the situation including the intercourse, but none of the CG shown the sex scene. Or in another case, there is an exhibition scene that shown only text alone.

There is also 1 content that seriously missing, which is the features to dress your character however you want. The developer do mention the reason, but I do believe if he is willing to add it, it would be a huge leap in the game quality itself.

To be honest, I cannot wait to see a possible feature that allowed customization of the protagonist clothes such as collar, skirt, dress & etc. I know is a lot of effort, but 1 can definitely wish so.

It would be such a shame for not adding it, when it is rare to see a game with a specific dark genre missing such a features yet it was well done. Or maybe because I am too accustomed to another game with this genre such as Prison Battleship & expect a game of this genre to have a higher quality/standard.

You can give this game a try, so far the developer is friendly & being quite responsive to suggestion. Who know what marvelous features would be add in the future.

Right now the game is good, but it still have a long way to go to keep us entertain & scream "Whoa!!!".

I was really sceptical to try this game. And OMG I was so wrong. This game is fantastic. Everybody is trying to screw with you mind and body, but what I really like is - you can successfully resist to all of that (or let it happen and become slut\bimbo or slave) . So if you play smart you can avoid all the humiliation and still enjoy the game.
+ beautiful art
+ good writing style
+ story is important, it's more than a simple porn game.
+ choices matters - you have a lot of control over MC, you can even choose her background (personality - but I wish it could matter a little more for the story)
+ a lot of lesbian content (and straight as well)
+ tattoos and piercing

You won't regret trying it! I think this is one of the best games on f95. And now, one of my favourite as well. You can easily compare it to "A dance with the rogues" or "Coceter Chronicles ".

Well it's a good game, i like the slave part in wich one can have a Man or a Woman, of course the 2 of them are VERY, different personalities as well, different BONUS to take who will help you in: Man = Money (100G if.. you don't do it with him) or the Woman (+2 WIL & INT per day)

Also the art, looks pretty good. I really wish to see this game finished already, still so far (V0.8).