I soooo wanted to love this game, because:
- It gets off to such an intriguing start with many interesting possibilities; and
- The early text / dialogue suggests that the developer understood how the main character's interests, fetishes, prior life experiences, and current situation could all come together to define how she might be corrupted and by whom
But.....it doesn't take long for the developer to abandon that more realistic approach to Jane's downfall, and this turns into just another game where the main character is eventually willing to do anything with anyone at any time.
The good news is that there is still a lot to like about this game:
- The main character (Jane) is very attractive, and the developer does a great job of making her beautiful without adding exaggerated features
- Jane is also fairly intelligent, and the text does a far better job of exploring her thought processes (the ones that lead to her ultimate downfall) than most other games of the genre
- This is actually so well done that Jane becomes exceedingly likable, so much so that I found myself rooting for her, hoping she could find ways to rebuild her life without having to completely debase herself (partially debasing herself is fine, even fun
)
- The overall story is interesting, and the cast of characters that she meets along her journey are as well, some of them at least
But despite all of the above, the game never does live up to its potential, mostly because it forces her downfall to be both steep and broad. Jane never encounters a situation, fetish, taboo, partner, or preference that is out of bounds; worse, it seems that everything and everyone is an instant and uncontrollable turn-on for her.
Speaking as someone who has actually been "corruptible" at various points IRL, I can tell you that it just doesn't work that way. And it wouldn't work that way for Jane either.
The game makes clear that she was sexually active and even adventurous in the past, and that she wasn't above using her sexuality to her advantage. So why now would even the simplest stimuli send her into a lustful frenzy? Answer: It wouldn't.
And it's not just her behavior that isn't believable. The developer surrounds her with older dominant men, yet many of them yield to other men. Anyone who's ever been around a perverted older boss knows that they don't often yield, and "sharing" generally isn't on their minds when it comes to women.
I know this is a sexual fantasy game, but even sexual fantasy games have to be somewhat grounded in reality to be truly erotic.
It's especially disappointing because the premise of the game was so promising. And in the initial setup, the developer created so many opportunities for things to play out in ways that were realistic, erotic, and additive to the story.
Truly hoping the developer's next game does all that and more.