As of build 2, it's not that good.
I'll preface my former review rather than modify it as it all still applies to what I'll call act 1.
Art and CG design:
Insert "Fuck you I was right" here. The solution to the fake outfit button is to make a second act locking off all the first builds content. In build2 you get one variant (maid) outfit that appears in 2/4 new CGs. The blowjob CG starting the second part does not have a nudebase or outfit selection. At some point they did it right for the titjob and milking CG ; you can choose underwear, nude or the maid outfit. Sex though is naked and the build kicks you to the desktop afterwards. No postbuild sandbox.
You also lose her actual clothing, her swimsuits, and all other build 1 outfits for build 2.
This build is only 8 scenes, made out of ~11 individual CGs, but in actuality it's only 6. All 3 Asami scenes are pinup variants being treated in the gallery as their own scene. Art production has dropped significantly from build 1.
Game design:
The slavetrainer elements are broken now. Build2 has zero polish or playtesting. You just do the two "job" activities, look at the same CG, and read the same dialogue over 40(or more) times between the only two things to do in the arc that forward game progression. There is progressive dialogue, but only 2-3 alts; you will read ctrl skip the same variant scene a dozen times in a row trying to get korra corrupted enough to agree to the next sex thing. This simply needs more content and more variants. Korra needs more expressions and reactions. Game doesn't carry itself this content devoid and it comes back to gating off the previous builds content. There was a feeling of forward progression to build 1 that while not perfect was promising. It's not longer promising.
Writing:
Also no longer good. Asami is a congenial, charming business mogul who takes nude pictures for no reason. No story there, writing is hard.
Korra is reduced to being addicted to cactus juice.. She is no longer a character. If you wanted to play a korra game where you get her addicted to heroin and use her fear of withdrawal to rape and sexually exploit her.... the game isn't that fun, but thats what is happening. It's just boring. Doesn't acknowledge the gravity of your actions, it's just a cheap "give her [thing] so I don't have to write a comprehensive corruption matrix" gimmick to make the game happen.
Same game, coercing... gaslighting.. convincing Korra to do progressively riskier things to stick it to Varrick and ruin his smut empire. Difference? Competent and tonally consistent.
Build 1 cactus juice was WT butterbeer, Build 2 it's getting a prostitute addicted to opioids.
And all her sex scenes are drugged. Lazy.
And lets not forget the worst part. A cringe last minute metaplot to rip off 4elements, replete with shadowy spirit voices. The game was already justified. You take pictures of korra for money to pay off her debt. Genius? no. Simple? Yes. Passed the elevator pitch test. Disbelief suspended. Well now you're a goddamn chosen one who will teach the avatar the element of coom. If it sounds retarded thats because it is.
Below my thoughts on the first build which still apply to it due to the build gating of content/progression into acts.
It’s Ok.
This statement isn’t saying much, but it may be the most competently designed and paced trainer game made about Legend of Korra yet. Considering that graveyard includes pitiful embarrassments like Gunsmoke Game’s Bend or Break 2 and titans like Mity’s Four Elements who all equally died under the Korra curse, if that holds only time will tell.
Art
Stylized but solid. Problem comes not from the art itself but how it is implemented. Every CG in this game is hardbaked. Backgrounds, clothing, hair, accessories, expressions. That means the game will not scale. The outfit button is fake as the CG architecture is not designed around there ever being an outfit system. Implementing it requires replacing every art asset in the game. Including Sprites. Yes there is a sprite nudebase (it is not used in game) but her hair accessories, arm sleeves, and expression are hard baked into it.
Problem 2, it’s low tech high volume. There are 16 independent drawings making up this builds 9 scenes. And this build only goes through graveur up through masturbation. That kind of raw output is up there with the best, but not with the amount of forward progress. And will probably not be maintained.
Better technically designed games manage far more variability of scenes with far less art far better paced. The entirety of the First build can be played in ~45 minutes and burns through more drawings than are in many finished, well regarded games.
Expect a glacial pace or massive push to complete the ~100 total pieces of art to accommodate handjob, blowjob, titjob, sex, anal, and anything else you’d expect out of this class of game to get to the point you’re living up to the MCs edgelord talk about making korra his sexslave.
This studio’s track record on finishing projects, make of this what you will.
Writing
Decent. Typos and etc but grammar is fine. Diction of characters is good enough.
Varrik is characterized well as your lancer-boss.
Korra is one dimensional and that is in part to the simplistic take on the stat based dialogue.
The protagonist is a typical edgelord. And here is where things break down.
>The MC has no reason to slavetrain korra
Until varrik makes some very leading requests that should logically send you down that route. Problem is that the MC started the game serendipitously wanting to lewd her. Not sure if it’s dialogue triggering in the wrong order or just bad writing design, but they forgot to give him a reason (or gate off lewd until the day ~5 varrik conversation) in the first ~10 minutes of play to specifically “get back” at Korra for calling him a bellhop by making her prostitute herself. Simple fix, look over your own writing guys.
His Akabur hood is also pointless. As is having a sprite at all. You drew all sprites looking towards the 4th wall, not across at the other side of the screen. Book 5 untold where you pulled him from had a narrative reason for his white lotus akabur hood. Your plucky young anime protagonist kid character doesn’t and it doesn’t align with his dialogue or show art design for what a teen would be wearing. Redesign it or like I suggest, just Nix it. First playthrough I thought unironically you were homaging book 5 untold’s protagonist, visiting varrik, until I realized 20 lines into the intro he was supposed to be the player.
Mechanics
The game's core slavetrainer elements are stripped down to the absolute bare limit. It works, but you couldn’t cut any deeper.
2 stats, anger and corruption.
Anger works as you’d think, but corruption extends 25-50% past the end of it’s bar to finish the current game. And we’re only at watching her masturbate
Buy plushies (where is this from hm) and it instantly increases her from pissed to happy-extatic and willing to do ~2 actions that make her angry. 15 coin plushy makes 200-1000 coins of profit from the early game through the late game. Could be expanded on, but it does exactly what it has to for this balance.
Buy cactus juice and it megadumps 20 days of suggestion on her corruption instantly for 30 coins. Corruption gated actions quicky going from earning 10 coins a day to hundreds.
You stay in one location all game effectively. Korra and you never leave. Makes things faster paced, but the tradeoff is you see the same scene with the same writing 3-5 times in a row until getting a buffer of corruption to risk the next.
Korra reacts to requests to perform scenes differently at different stat levels to different interactions. There are 2-3 alts and an anger alt for each action coming out to a few dozen lines of alt dialogue. It isn’t enough to cut up the tedium of watching the repeated scenes. It could, along with other visual novel elements, but would require much more alt writing. There is a purpose to the full loop they cut down and it’s taking the scenes out of your immediate memory.
All player dialogue is illusion of choice. Nothing you choose to say to korra matters. It’s also broken currently and the menus for early game “talk” options loop back on themselves forcing you to play all options as you establish your relationship, immediately breaking the illusion in their no rollback game you chose the only right answer.
The game is a linear sandbox. You choose how quickly you get to the end, but because all dialogue is illusion of choice no lose how you get there comes down the the playloop of the trainer game, not the dialogue or narrative. Not a bad thing on it’s face, it just could be executed better.
Conclusion
The massive grind, death of the writing/narrative quality, low polish, and declining content it's probably not worth the download as of Build 2. It's rough on a technical level (costume system, CG access, progressive scenes, balance) and going in a bad direction narratively.
Worth a play currently, but not potentially getting your hopes up about. It’s ~45 minutes long and has a lot of decent quality art but no animation.
Under the hood this game will never have an outfit system in its current construction and it will require significant continued art output to keep up the pace of even an additional 15 minutes of content per update, much less a similar sized build2.
I hope they live up to the relatively strong start, maybe rework some things, and escape the curse of trying to make a korra game. Despite the middling rating it is the strongest showing yet. 3.5 with the chance to be much better if they take it.
. Honestly my expectetions weren't high but now i can wait for another update