P.S. I hope this won't come across as sh*tting on someone's favorite game (I seem to have a talent for riling people up with reviews). After you guys strongly recommending the game I'm just disappointed. I can see the appeal to people that can get something out of the femdom kink through story and words alone and that's indeed the biggest strength of the game IMO. But even then I think the stroy would've worked a lot better as a VN or even a story with illustrations.
Personally I can't unsee how this is basically someone who's new to the RPGMaker publishing their hobby project. And when judged to the same standard as all other, professionally made games on this site, this just doesn't hold up as a game.
Don't worry about it - it's been a very long time since I played this game (DISCLAIMER so I don't get crucified for witholding information like you did - the name of the game in question is Mistresses of the Forest, right everyone?), but reading through your review I agree with a lot of the points you brought up! (especially that it would've been better-served by a ren'py/VN format, that the towns were quite barren and the gameplay was clunky/didn't make the best use of RPGM at times) I will say only this as there is no need to start long-winded debates about a long-finished game: (I can be very political and opinionated, but I'm not
quite Aseratrix or anything - sorry everyone!
)
1. I tend to be a very story-focused person to the detriment of all else, to the point that several of my favourite femdom games are VNs and I have many erotica stories I enjoyed way more than a lot of "professional games". I'm content if a game is functional and doesn't require you to grind for huge amounts of time to unlock content, (and MotF was functional and very non-grindy compared to a lot of other contemporary RPGM games like Domina) and
2. I will not pretend my opinion of it is not positively biased because of nostalgia, because of having had a really great personal experience playing the game, because of having clocked some of its sources of inspiration etc. Your review, while it focuses heavily on criticisms of the lacklustre aspects of the game, is probably more objective than what I would write. That said, at the end of the day what makes a game "great" is pretty subjective - some people care about fancy art or graphics even in porn games, others do without. Some hate RPGM, others Daz studio. Some want 3D games where you move and interact with the world, others prefer visual novels with very little interaction and so on and so forth. I still believe storywise MotF was above a lot of far more polished and professional femdom games that I also enjoy (like ToT, Dominant Witches, Town of Femdom and many others), so it stays a favourite, but I understand why it doesn't appeal to people with different criteria.
Btw, one of the only points you brought up that I do pretty strongly disagree with is the one that the game "pretended to be something grander than it was" or something along those lines, as if porn games taking themselves seriously and trying to weave a more literary narrative is a bad thing. I agree MotF had several inpromptu lore dumps, but I dislike games that limit themselves to very casual or basic writing, and I'd much rather porn games "have too grand of a vision for what they are" (sorry - these were the words you used) than being solely sex-scene marathons with a very limited narrative scope.
Well dang - I said I won't start a long-winded debate and I still ranted for about 20 rows!
Take care and thanks for the honest and I can tell objective review on your part, and sorry you couldn't enjoy the game as much as I did!
