RPGM - Dearth S [v0.0.5a.u1.f2] [periodBracket]

The menu system is very rudimentary even for RPGM. The gameplay lags - there are no options to set the speed of messages or skip text at all so it feels like a slog to get through boring dialog that seems poorly-written. The combat is strange, especially initially. The art is cute. Maybe I'm not edgy enough to appreciate it.

Review of version 0.0.4c.f2

I really want to like this game for having things that make me excited for it;

• A dark, dystopian future setting that still has splashes of color to it.
• Style in spades.
• Gacha, because I'm a hopeless gambling addict.
• Waifus, because I'm a gooner.

But there's an unpolished roughness to everything that leaves the overall experience akin to having your crotch fondled by a silken glove before it suddenly punches you where the sun don't shine.

The lore...exists, I guess? The dev seems to be going for the Soulsborne lore trickle format, the kind where you have a massive setting with little in the way of upfront explanation. Normally, this would be rectified by a steady stream of lore provided by item flavor texts or collectibles or whatever, but whether owing to the in-development nature of the game or something else, I have yet to find anything that explains to me exactly what all this "Alpha, Sigma, End Trucks, Corpuscle Amelioration" whatever means beyond the prologue text crawl.

The gameplay...also exists, I guess? Aside from a basic control tutorial at the very start, little is actually explained and this is mostly my inferrals and discoveries.

• Materials is basically a time limit. It ticks down over time and if you run out, you die. Materials are earned from clearing out enemy bases or opening caches. Materials are also spent to trigger certain mechanisms like switches.
  • Materials CONSTANTLY ticks down, even if you're not moving because you're navigating a text prompt for a switch or battle.
• Abandoning a mission is completely useless since it boots you back to the title screen.
• Malware's shop lets you buy access rights to resource caches in the maps. It's some extra materials and minerals for gacha rolls, but other than that it's not anything special.
  • Asking to see Malware's other stock in the post-tutorial shop is a trap. You get locked into a bomb defusal minigame where you have to cut 3 of 5 wires without triggering the bomb by cutting the wrong wire. Triggering the bomb is an instant game over. Oh, and did I mention this can be triggered as soon as you're mandated by the tutorial to enter the shop? Right BEFORE the save point?
• Each time you loop back to the hub, you can visit the HQ to get a budget of extra materials and Bars. Right now, the only use of Bars is to buy access to Malware's caches and Minerals in her secret shop if you win the RNG minigame.
• Like other gacha games, duplicates of Synonyms (the units you use to fight) are spent with other materials to upgrade them. "Combat" in this game is largely RNG-focused but with inevitable victory. You WILL eventually wear down enemy outposts by sheer attrition, it's just a matter of how many times you have to infiltrate because RNG didn't let one unit's attacks pop off as much as they could.

In its current state, the game isn't irredeemably awful. It's got some ups...and a lot of downs.

Tl;dr,
The Good

• The monochrome aesthetic makes each splash of color pop out even more. The flash of red as an enemy robot's face gets a new breathing hole popped in it in the victory screen is always viscerally satisfying.
• Even if it can get repetitive, hot damn the game's visuals are stylish.

The Bad

• I don't care what your justification is, who puts a luck-based minigame that potentially causes instant game over near the end of an unskippable tutorial BEFORE the save point?
  • Also for that matter, the tutorial barely explains anything.
• Redundant prompts that force you to stop in a game where you are strongly encouraged to keep moving thanks to the material timer. Why yes, I would like to infiltrate this outpost that's blocking my path and literally preventing me from moving forward, why do you ask? Why yes, I want to activate this switch and open the bridge, now can you please hurry up there's an enemy RIGHT THERE getting into a turret to blast my face off!
  • Also, the material timer ticks down regardless of whether or not you're moving or even trapped in a text prompt. The only difference is whether or not you're in a safe zone, in which case it ticks down somewhat slower.
  • Speaking of materials, the Miner I THINK(?) is supposed to produce materials over time to slow down the timer, but if it does, I didn't notice.
• Due to the current in-development nature of the game, right now after the initial parts, the game just cycles through the same few maps to let you farm materials for characters. Current available plot was finished in 30-40 minutes, and that was with some sidetracking to attack out of the way outposts and farm items.
  • Also some technical jank. You can brick the game by accidentally opening the item menu (X key) in the middle of a text prompt, causing an error screen about "undefined bitmap" to pop up.
• Maybe this is just my gacha luck being complete ass as ever, but even after ~15-20 loops through the maps, I've only unlocked two characters total, one of which being the starter whose full abilities aren't even in the game yet. Compound that with a lack of a pity system or alternative means to acquire characters, and an arbitrary 5 draw limit per loop, and the whole thing becomes an RNG-filled slog of a grind to rival [Game I am not allowed to mention under Rule 2]

The Debatable

• Gallery of scenes is a bit sparse, which I chalk to the incomplete nature of the game.
• Some girls are looking real "cute and funny" in here, and that looks to be kind of unavoidable since upgrading girls speeds up the grind, and also causes said girls to lose clothes in the upgrade screen.

Review [v0.0.4c.f2]

The rating I have to give this game pains me greatly. The art style and animations are top notch, bar-none, full top. I love the overall drab colors that represent the dystopian setting, which makes the girls pop out more with how colorful and vibrant they are. The gameplay itself is interesting and seems like it could be a great puzzle game/resource management game one day. Finally, the lore seems to be building up to be something that at very least is interesting.

Sadly, the amount of content in the game is pathetic right now, even after 2 and a half years. There was about maybe 20 minutes of story before I got the message saying that was the end of it for now. The story itself is filled with heavy use of arbitrary nomenclature of commonly used words. Alpha, Sigma, Synonym, Rectangle, Angel Synonym, Alpha Killer, all generic words with different meanings that'll be shoved in to your face in a very short amount of time, and only half of them are explained. I've seen this done before, novels or games like to throw in unexplained terms to convey the vastness of their setting, or explain it later in piecemeal as to not flood in too much information to the reader/player. Here, it's just a stupid word-salad. Only minutes in entered a, "bro, what the fuck are you even talking about?" state and decided to just roll with it and accept things a surface value, which isn't great when you're trying to tell a story. I read shit like Fate and Chaos;Head, so I'm familiar with this high-concept mumbo-jumbo, but it's done so poorly here. The writing here is also very poor and stilted. I can only assume English isn't the developers first language, but even then, what little characterizations we've had are inconsistent. The gameplay loop consists of you watching the same combat animations over and over and over again until you get instantly killed by something with no warning or explanation for and have to load back and do it all over again, or you complete your task and go on to the next screen with more of the same animations to watch. You can die while trying to shop in this game. Why?

Slow dev time is the norm around these parts, but 2.5 years for what amounts to a tutorial and a little extra is just sad. I would usually meme and say see you in 5 years, but at this rate, I don't think this game will ever be complete, period. The game also doesn't respect your time in the least, and if you care about the story, it cares less about your sanity.

The game is clearly lacking a lot, but there's something about the unique visuals and playstyle that keeps me hoping for more.
Gameplay can be polished, but I hope the devs don't abandon this game, it has a lot of potential !!

Version 0.0.3c

I will be talking about version 0.0.3c which is not the full game.
This is an early version so it may change in the future.
So I'll talk about it topic by topic.

Overview
I think it's a great game, engaging, interesting, and constantly evolving game. The version of 0.0.3c [ which i heard that 0.0.3b is buggy] i dont encounter bug or something that really bad that make the game unplayble.
So I give 4.5/5, deducting points from the main story and lack of content. it is good but not excellent for now.
But the rating system only has 4 and 5, so I give it 5 because the developers of this game has potential, effort and responsibility for this game and i like it.
For now
cons
- lack of content
- H Scene Stiff, lifeless
pros
- Unique visual style
- Unique story
- Good animation

BUT REMEMBER IT ONLY EARLY VERSION SO IT MAY CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.

Story - Interesting but not worth following. I mean, it's a unique story. But there are a few things that make the game exploration uninteresting and unconnected from the story. It might be result lack of gameplay or content that make it not fun, or the game is still only in development at 0.0.3, which isn't much of story.
But there have be a lot of story. As revealed by the developers, which is quite interesting. But I admit the first time I played I was quite interested/enjoyed at sometimes.
4/5
P.S. As for the side story with the girl 5/5, it's kinda funny and worth reading.

Gameplay/Content - It's a little difficult to say because it's still an early version. So speak shorty It's quite boring. I mean we just run around, attack enemies, get resources, that's it, nothing special for now.
and the Tutorial is kinda bad. first time play it i dunno what i am need to do and end up by cross the bridge and end game.
3/5

Animation - I'm going to talk about 2 things.
first is the battle animation. To be honest, the first time I saw it surprised me. It was smooth, Enegytic and I enjoyed it every time I saw it. For now, there are only 2 scenes, but they are enough to keep players excited and following the game. [At least for me] But there will definitely be more in the future, I believe.
5/5
Second, the H-scenes are pretty good, but not that great. If you understand the what i meaning. it looks strangely hard and dull it shoud be more lively, so in my opinion I give it medium-good. Not excellent
4/5

Graphics/Images - Unique character portraits drawn by the developers themselves. Why wouldn't it be good? I like this kind of style painting.
5/5