Detective Necro [v0.1.1]
TL;DR: The biggest hurdle I see this game facing so far is the name. Too many people (myself included, initially) are put off by it thinking it’s pointing to necrophilia, instead of it being a Detective who becomes a Necromancer. I suggest changing this for now in order to attract the “correct” audience to a better-suiting name. Once established, it could be changed back or act as an alternative title. Which is a shame because I personally feel this is a story with amazing potential with a developer who clearly put a lot of love into this project, and it shows.
Gameplay - Story-driven but choice on LIs
The developer has a story they want to tell, but the player is given some agency in what the MC should do which primarily concerns how involved they should become with another character. So far there are plans of the MC being either lawful or chaotic (good or bad, as it’s put) in the future but the story hasn’t been given enough time for this to be revealed yet. Which, you know, is a good thing, you don’t want things happening too fast. Thankfully these choices (should you wish to pursue everyone or no one) doesn’t make the MC feel schizophrenic, they remain sensible and in-character rather than having to change personality/masks depending on whomever is part of the conversation.
Story - Intriguing and Mysterious
Let’s start with the bad, namely the kind-of forcing the MC to immediately be in a relationship with two people that the player doesn’t know or might not even end up caring for. This is unavoidable in some stories but a lot of devs get this part wrong. Namely, the player is usually forced to accept that the MC is in love with the primary LI and then they can decide to either remain faithful or cheat on someone they don’t know or care for (not naming those AVNs, I’ve played enough of them that it’s a consistent problem to do with the devs knowing the character but not the player). Thankfully, this isn’t the case as while the MC knows these “primary LIs”, the player can simply decide not to interact with them romantically but more as a friend or roommate (plus it’s been confirmed the MC can later on break up with them and so far this is necessary for the story).
Now that that’s out of the way, the story proper. There’s a murder mystery taking place in a “high fantasy world that has undergone a technological revolution” with magic seemingly being extremely rare and almost considered illegal by the government due to… story reasons that may or may not involve the MC, which we will be able to confirm later on in the story. There is a series of events that we follow as the MC tries to make sense of a fantastical situation, grasping at strings in the dark that are flailing wildly which could lead to salvation or damnation. Sure, he’s led by the nose sometimes by people who know more than him and don’t want to divulge the entire story in order to not influence his behaviour (and also keep the player guessing), however the MC doesn’t simply accept these out of stupidity but instead out of realisation that he is in way over his head and that it’s okay to ask for help.
This first draft has a full four days of story, which is incredible considering how little content usually is in a first release, and there’s enough there to keep you guessing and drawing your own conclusions. There is a story happening around the MC rather than simply at him or driven by him, and we will see in the future (hopefully) what his place will be amongst his friends and as part of his old and new life.
Characters - Unique Individuals
Holy shit, the number and variety of characters in this story is incredible. Each character is different, with their own wants, needs and personalities, none of them have felt flat/two-dimensional. So far the only person I feel could use some work is the MC, as he does not look like how he feels he should. But even he has his own personality, while the player provides nudges in certain directions like the voice of reason. I loved meeting every character and wondering what their particular moral compass would be and how they will behave in the future. They act in their own interests rather than serving as a ploy for the MC to look better than he actually is, who in turn acts like a regular person would act if they were pushed into an unbelievable situation.
Lewdness - Uncommon, no animations (so far)
Now, I’m going to put forward that I’m one of those weirdos who reads AVNs for the plot unironically, and only really enjoy lewd scenes if they serve the story. And good god, this one delivers. There’s only two lewd scenes so far and both serve as a natural progression in the story. The participants have feelings for each other, there’s consent, there’s variety in positions and sex acts. The scenes are stills, going from one scene to the next, which might put people off. However, I’d argue that this game is not porn with a story bolted on, but rather it’s a story with sex scenes in key moments. Of course this could change later, but remember this is a first draft and they’re still quite tastefully done.
Artstyle - 3DCG DAZ renders
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. There are some scenes which have the usual issues of trying certain poses using pre-made clothing, such as feet sticking out of someone’s shoes when they’ve got their legs crossed and the issue with the orc LI’s piercings which the dev has noticed yet I didn’t (which says a lot about attention to detail, imo). Then there’s the MC’s detective partner who seems to go from bland face to extreme reactions in certain scenes which… you know, could just be that character’s personality. Same goes for the vampire partner which can be explained by their unique condition.
Which leads us onto the good, and boy there is a lot to love here. The characters are all interesting, they have subtle facial expressions, each character feels unique and different like they actually have their own lives and personalities instead of being generic good-looking cookie cutter. For a first timer, there are a lot of set pieces and unique items which absolutely goes to show just how much passion there is in this. There are some scenes that include real-life images as a background which are absolutely fine. They do pop out a bit more but they’re not in scenes that are vital in terms of needing custom work. All in all, it’s very well done and keeps you integrated in the story, with no continuity errors (that I could spot).
Sounds - Main menu only
This is incredibly early in development and to expect proper sound and music in - what is effectively - a proof of concept is a little much. Perhaps in the event the game proves successful and more time and resources could be divided, with fitting background music to fit the scene and sound effects. But for now it should be considered very low on the list of priorities.
