Review of completed version
I've given out several 5 star reviews to a handful of really excellent games recently. They were not, however, in the same league as this one. Depraved Awakening is, I think, the best porn game I've ever played and I've played a great many over many years.
I'll begin by praising the story. It's interesting, tense, and filled with drama. It's a little hard to imagine enjoying a great sex scene one moment and then suddenly having an icy feeling a dread overcome you because you realize certain nefarious and dangerous actors in the story were working against you at that very moment and that people you care about are in danger. Despite plenty of slightly outlandish scenarios, they all fit together to feel quite real. I cared about the characters and feared for their safety.
The porn is, well, quite excellent. There is some romance but it really does provide you with good sex scenes from start to finish. Usually I prefer what I call a slow burn, with a lot of anticipation and romance/seduction. But DA successfully does the opposite far better than any other game I've played. The sense of passion is produced not through a great deal of dialogue, but by the situation into which these characters are thrust.
The protagonist is an experienced adult male, which is by far my strongest preference. The female NPCs are mostly gorgeous with a nice variety of model designs (though generally busty, which is fine with me) and excellent renders. The personalities are just as varied and well fleshed out. I cared deeply for several of them despite some not being archetypes I'd usually be that attracted to. (I didn't think I was going to like Christina at all at first, but I really, really did by the end.) This is definitely a feat of quality writing. I also very, very much liked being able to choose how my three favorites referred to me during dialogues (usually but not exclusively during sex) and my choice actually had some dialogue written specifically for it. So excellent! Furthermore there was a very strong sense of agency. Not only is there a vast number of choices to make in the game but they cause significantly different outcomes.
The sheer amount of sexual content is mind boggling. I kept thinking the story was going to completely take over, but the sex just never stops. It was wonderful. As much as I was in love with the game, when I got to the end I confess I was slightly disappointed I didn't get exactly what I wanted
I will note just a couple negatives. It is a visual novel through and through. This is a plus for many, but I like getting as much content as is possible in a single playthrough because I do not at all enjoy playing games over and over again making small changes to hopefully get a different outcome that the author may or may not have even created. I would not have enjoyed this game as much had I not made some use of both a walkthrough and the console. I'd prefer that weren't necessary.
The only other con is that the animations were a little clunky. Note that this is compared to an ideal rather than the game's contemporaries. In comparison to them, it was better than most.
While not necessarily a con, I should note that there is some dark material in the game, although you can avoid some of it through your decisions.
I want to genuinely thank PhillyGames for such a refreshing and wonderful experience. I so very much hope to see more content from you (hopefully also with male protagonists
).