Divine Heel (v0.2.5) (8/10)
How bad do you want to live in paradise? Get ready for a wild ride as you impact the lives of three curvy women and a man who can't stand the sight of your wimpy ass. You'll have to work your way into their hearts and potentially much more, if you play the sandbox right.
STORY
Divine Heel is a soft universe continuation of Confined With Goddesses, a previous game by developer Eroniverse. In that game, Eros was locked up to prevent exposure to the Crownvirus. In this game, we learn the Crownvirus has additional damaging effects to men. Vlad was exposed to it and since, suffers from dysfunction. The game starts with him trying to get his life back together after the Heralesian government reopens society.
Vlad applies for a job at the 'Divine Heel' building after being reunited with Jasmina, who's apparently a childhood friend. After both applying for the same job, Jasmina is hired because she is hot. Luckily, it turns out Vlad's former caretaker Rosa is the manager, who overrides her husband's decisions and takes the young man in as well. Why is something you will find out during the game.
Writing on Divine Heel is a mixed bag. While the world building is great and adds to the idea of a universe, easy porn tropes and shoehorned elements keep the game from being truly special. The game often hands out unnecessary details in text that don’t bear significance for later events. At the same time, it rushes over events that should feel big.
The game’s story primarily revolves around three women. Jasmina, a superfit childhood friend with attachment issues. Rosa, your former nanny who remembers you like her tits. And Miji, a successful business woman who enjoys control. Note there’s also Naj, a confronting character that actually helps bring more out of all three women.
Two of these women might seem similar to CwG characters. Miji, on the other hand, is the unique star of this game. Her exploration arc fits the world well and shows what the other characters could become if Divine Heel dares to go bolder. The women are more than fine for porn logic, but Jasmine really needs Naj to shine and Rosa doesn’t hold any surprises currently.
The latter part of the game is fairly better written, although Divine Heel does wrap up Vlad’s Crownvirus story too hastily. For having such a good crutch in the universe, I’d really like to see the effects of the reveal work into the universe. There’s a bit of that through a TV sequence, but the game would benefit from more world building, so the characters can latch on to it.
While there is solid story content in Divine Heel, it’s not strong enough to warrant a play just for story. The humor does work wonders, with Miji’s dog Riley even playing wingman to our main character or Naj sending Jasmina up the wall. Overall, it's a fun experience. I can’t help shake the feeling that this storyline had stronger potential, though.
PRESENTATION
Looks are this game’s bread and butter. While I will say environments and background can feel rushed at times, the cartoony anime art style is gorgeous. It works wonders and all the women look great. Protagonist Vlad looks less generic and there’s real visual consistency in the world of Heralesia.
Developer Eroniverse upgraded his art style with anime-style animations, enticing camera work and women that are just as enchanting as in the first game. ‘Divine Heel' must also be a play on footwear, because he’s taken special care to have the women wear heels often. Without offering foot fetish content, which you might expect from a game named this way.
At first glance, the art style may seem simple. But play this game and you will understand its charm. Miji loves her sexy leather and lace, Jasmina likes showing her fit skin and Rosa tries to take your mommy fantasy to new heights. Like in CwG, the women are color coded and it just works. The game looks like a moving comic book and that’s great.
Intimate scenes look great, but do feel a bit vanilla at times. Vlad is often just a tool to be fucked with or preyed on, rather than him actually figuring out kinks or desires. His eventual horsecock syndrome and cumbucket production are actually explained through story, and work in the universe of the game.
As a sandbox, this game has various beautiful locations which are seldom used. But when they do, they look good. Eroniverse has a knack for creating these worlds and if anything about these women or the art style attracts you, give this a chance.
GAMEPLAY
Being a sandbox game, Divine Heel gives you two moments per day: mid-day and evening. After a short introduction into the story, you are introduced to the rooms of the house and get to pick where you will go next. This actually helps the world building of Divine Heel, because it shows where the women are and where Vlad can visit them.
Aside from the house map, there’s a bigger Heralesia map that shows various locations around the area. You will visit these locations for story bits with your female friends, so the whole thing does feel like an interconnected world. While the house seems far more self-contained than outside the house, it’s nice to see the house exist in a world.
Story choice isn’t much of a thing in this game yet. You currently have no agency over the direction of the story, just which part of the story you want to unlock. You will want to fuck all these women, you will figure out the Crownvirus backstory and you will build up sex skill to resist their temptation. The game hints at ‘picking your lover' soon, which might hint at a major upcoming gameplay choice.
Eroniverse mostly did away with the grind, as you can easily rank up points if you just click events on the map. You either build up enough sex skill or desire until the next story bit unlocks. It’s simple and effective. Although I'm not sure this game had to be a full sandbox, I appreciate the worldbuilding of it. A recent gameplay rework made things even smoother, and I had no issue getting through this game in a few hours.
The gameplay doesn't do much for the story, but the novelty of actually having a city actually helps build the world. There's a scene selector after you unlock scenes and progress screen to track how much of the total content you have unlocked. All welcome additions that make this game a far better experience to play.
OVERALL
Divine Heel is loaded with sexual energy and story, but eventually ditches the story effort in favor for steamy scenes. While the material does lend itself for a deeper, stronger connection, Eroniverse kept the game light and easy to access. For people who are looking for story, that feel like a cop out. For people who are looking for cartoon smut with humor sprinkled on top, it's a blast to play.
Rating: 8 / 10
Developer: Eroniverse
