MandyF

Newbie
Mar 12, 2022
45
98
Hey thank you for writing the review. Despite it being very negative, I actually thought it was insightful and so I decided to try to answer, explain my design philosophy and also maybe some solutions to make it better. Since it is clear you tried the game out in good spirit, I am responding not to discredit your review, after all, your lack of enjoyment is completely my problem to solve as a developer.
Okay, first problem, this thoughtful and articulate response is extremely out of character for Aerisetta who would most likely just beat me up.

MandyF
I'll start off by admitting a problem which a lot of negative reviews stem from, the character called HERO is the only male character, most players are male and so they naturally gravitate towards using this player, but HERO is unfortunately the hardest character to use in the entire roster. There is a reason for this, this was originally a Femdom game where the males get dominated, and I intentionally made HERO be very slow, and have very long recovery from attacks. This made is highly likely for him to mess up and get dominated by the female characters. Perhaps I should make an easy to control male character to counter this problem or just label him as hard/advanced to use.

However, at the end of the day, this is a team game, not a 1 character game. Please see the movement options available in the video. As many other people pointed out, the controls and combat in this game is top notch for the beat em up genre, and i've had it reviewed by many long time beat em up players, and I've played and studied dozens of games in this genre before making mine. It's unfortunate, HERO's movement is actually considered very hard and innovative by experienced beat em up players but off set by huge 1 hit kills, but because of the nature of the adult game lens, people often only look at him as the baseline character and think this is how the game controls period.
The thing here is that the game seems like it's meant to be played as HERO, as he's pretty much the default and it seems like the entire game is centered around playing as him and getting dominated- I say this as a cis female that doesn't gravitate towards playing as male characters but is generally forced to in the overwhelming majority of erogames. The fact that the model of the guy getting dominated in every femtality is clearly supposed to be the hero (same hair, same build and so on) plays a role in it too, but ultimately the biggest part is that his name is literally "HERO". Being the hero is basically shorthand for being the protagonist, so regardless of what he looks like or what his gender is, he's going to be the one people go with. Also, of course, the game automatically starts you off as him, and when you face off against the bosses (other than the boss of the first level), their scenes can only be activated on the hero- when you're playing as a female character, their femtality move just sort of awkwardly knocks them down and deals one point of damage. It's clear the game expects you to play as the hero in instances like those.

That plays into a bigger point with the way erotic stuff is handled in general- when you're playing as a female character and initiate dominating a fallen enemy, the perspective suddenly flips to that of the fallen enemy. You don't really experience the humiliation and sweet sting of defeat, because you didn't actually lose, but you also don't really experience the rush of dominance, because now you're suddenly seeing things through the perspective of some lackey and it's specifically put in the second person, telling you that you're that lackey.

As far as the character switching, the game never really tells the player that at any point- it doesn't even tell them how to do it or let them access the controls that show them. For that reason, I didn't play as any other character for ages- only when the hero died did I finally experience one of the others. There are problems with the character switching combo thing as well, mostly that it's pretty pointless in-game. Really, this applies to a lot of the crazy combos and stuff that the player is able to do if they spend enough time button mashing and learning what does what; it's ultimately less effective than just herding the enemies together and pressing the hit button over and over again until they die. There are a lot of neat tricks one can do but they're pretty redundant, and without access to a menu or controls, actually finding them would take a substantial amount of time and trial and error.

I think you're right in that the healing enemy is introduced way too early. I'll think about moving such enemies to later in the game or nerfing.
To me, it's less a matter of difficulty (I got through that area on my first try without any real trouble aside from the frustration) and more a matter of the player being given a directive they can't realistically accomplish with the information they've been given. The player is told to perform an ultimate but there isn't any way for them to find out how to do it aside from button mashing and hoping you find it before the enemies kill you. You mention the need for a tutorial, but honestly I don't even feel like you need a tutorial- just the ability to access the controls during the game would immediately make the game far more playable.

This is pretty standard though, it came standard with the engine which was designed to make beat em ups. What did you expect it to be?
The escape key. Is that really the standard? I've never played another game where the pause button was "enter".

Oh yeah, and as far as the hitboxes go the problem I was having was not due to the width of them but their depth- that is to say, they were huge, but only on a very thin plane. You could be standing right next to them and not hit them at all, at least with the sword.

Also, while you're fielding pedantic complaints from random perverts, the fact that there are two different narrators bothers me, as does the completely nonlinear world map where you can just walk over the oceans and through mountains... and at the end of the first level, it starts playing one of the narrator's voice lines before the previous one stops, so both are playing at once and it's incomprehensible... I'll stop now.
 

Reaper69X

New Member
Jan 9, 2018
2
1
Mmm if I had to suggest something maybe instead of that “Escape” option, have the meter start in the center with you two dueling if you lose a bad scene appears with MC getting dominated sexually. (With you losing HP) If you win one of the dominate scenes appear just any of the ones you have where the mc is dominate. (With the enemy dying instantly). Sadly this isn’t a very original idea since I’ve seen it in like 4 other games. Though it would be the first victory and defeat scenes I think that’ll be done that way since most of the time its 3-5 sex positions with the enemy cumming to the victor.
For whatever it's worth Aerisetta, I absolutely want to second Vinya86's idea. Presently the actual sex in the game has no stakes: if you bother escaping, there's no benefit, and if you fail to escape, there's no penalty. In a game about domination, any act of this kind deserves a dom-sub/winner-loser outcome. (Also not having it makes much of the game far too easy, as you can just use specials to turn most enemies into harmless sex-maniacs, then combo them all into oblivion.)

Going a step further, while the whole "mash to escape" method is fine in my book (just because a system is common doesn't make it bad, especially in a game with so many other unique aspects), I feel like there does need to be some sort of fatigue limitation. Perhaps the amount of mashing needed can increase each time a grapple occurs within a given stage, or perhaps it could require maybe 50% of your Special bar filled to even compete in the grapple, and exhaust that portion win or lose. You rebuild that bar naturally, so it's no big deal, but it would give motivation to avoid repeated grapples. After all, it should be a last resort, not the way you take down the majority of the enemies.

Finally, in the spirit of total domination, I think when your team is wiped there should be some display (either just some splash screens, or maybe a scene or two if you want to make it a bit more narrative) of Aerisetta and/or pals getting dominated themselves. I know that's not the point of the game, and you're not a fan of the "sex on loss" mechanic. Totally understand. But it just feels thematically correct that if victory is domination OF the enemy, then defeat should be domination BY the enemy. Heck, if you wanna take it a step further, Aerisetta is a succubus: the defeat screen sex could literally power her up to take another crack at the level. Any sequence of that kind would be less jarring than simply being thrown back to the start of the level or main menu with no context.

Anyway, sorry for the essay. I realize the game has plenty of development left to go, and this business likely isn't super high on your priorities list, but hopefully at least something in here resonates with you. I really think these changes would enhance the overall experience. But in the end, it's your game to make, and I'm just a guy excited to see what you put out next :) thanks for your time and all your hard work!
 
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Nov 13, 2017
163
221
The escape key. Is that really the standard? I've never played another game where the pause button was "enter".
I agree that escape key is a much more common standard, but enter is where I tried next. I do think being able to see and even set controls from the pause screen would be helpful though. Beat-em-up games are a little awkward on keyboard, so letting people fiddle with it to find out what's natural to them makes sense.

Oh yeah, and as far as the hitboxes go the problem I was having was not due to the width of them but their depth- that is to say, they were huge, but only on a very thin plane. You could be standing right next to them and not hit them at all, at least with the sword.
I do remember them feeling a little too tight on the y-axis too when I played.
 

Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
I agree that escape key is a much more common standard, but enter is where I tried next. I do think being able to see and even set controls from the pause screen would be helpful though. Beat-em-up games are a little awkward on keyboard, so letting people fiddle with it to find out what's natural to them makes sense.

Working with the engine devs to add this feature now actually.
 
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Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
Check out the new Lust Rush system overhaul happening this month!



 
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Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
I do remember them feeling a little too tight on the y-axis too when I played.
I dunno, the Z axis (the depth of the field) of a stage is about 350-400 pixels. the attack depth is 80, thats a huge number compared to most beat em ups. If you look at the video it almost feels nonsensically large already, so this feeling might be something else.

 
Nov 13, 2017
163
221
I dunno, the Z axis (the depth of the field) of a stage is about 350-400 pixels. the attack depth is 80, thats a huge number compared to most beat em ups. If you look at the video it almost feels nonsensically large already, so this feeling might be something else.

Yeah that does look pretty wide tbf, idk.


Check out the new Lust Rush system overhaul happening this month!



That system looks really good! Is there any more information about how exactly that will play out?
 

Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
Yeah that does look pretty wide tbf, idk.




That system looks really good! Is there any more information about how exactly that will play out?
I'm thinking of a level drain style system, but details are still being tested

Regarding hit box, I think a potential frustration people are having is because
1. Only the blade of hero's blade hits. Not the hilt
2. Hero steps forward when he swings
3. So, if the enemy is close to you, your swing will miss. I think graphically and thematically it makes sense. But it doesn't feel good or right to the player, especially mixed with the long recovery time. Will consider altering
 

retardo

Member
Sep 17, 2017
390
1,130
Why are you implementing a system where the men can mating press the woman in a game called Femtality that you advertise as a Femdom BeatEmUp? Also please stop reporting every negative review of your game.
 

Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
Okay, first problem, this thoughtful and articulate response is extremely out of character for Aerisetta who would most likely just beat me up.



The thing here is that the game seems like it's meant to be played as HERO, as he's pretty much the default and it seems like the entire game is centered around playing as him and getting dominated- I say this as a cis female that doesn't gravitate towards playing as male characters but is generally forced to in the overwhelming majority of erogames. The fact that the model of the guy getting dominated in every femtality is clearly supposed to be the hero (same hair, same build and so on) plays a role in it too, but ultimately the biggest part is that his name is literally "HERO". Being the hero is basically shorthand for being the protagonist, so regardless of what he looks like or what his gender is, he's going to be the one people go with. Also, of course, the game automatically starts you off as him, and when you face off against the bosses (other than the boss of the first level), their scenes can only be activated on the hero- when you're playing as a female character, their femtality move just sort of awkwardly knocks them down and deals one point of damage. It's clear the game expects you to play as the hero in instances like those.

That plays into a bigger point with the way erotic stuff is handled in general- when you're playing as a female character and initiate dominating a fallen enemy, the perspective suddenly flips to that of the fallen enemy. You don't really experience the humiliation and sweet sting of defeat, because you didn't actually lose, but you also don't really experience the rush of dominance, because now you're suddenly seeing things through the perspective of some lackey and it's specifically put in the second person, telling you that you're that lackey.

As far as the character switching, the game never really tells the player that at any point- it doesn't even tell them how to do it or let them access the controls that show them. For that reason, I didn't play as any other character for ages- only when the hero died did I finally experience one of the others. There are problems with the character switching combo thing as well, mostly that it's pretty pointless in-game. Really, this applies to a lot of the crazy combos and stuff that the player is able to do if they spend enough time button mashing and learning what does what; it's ultimately less effective than just herding the enemies together and pressing the hit button over and over again until they die. There are a lot of neat tricks one can do but they're pretty redundant, and without access to a menu or controls, actually finding them would take a substantial amount of time and trial and error.



To me, it's less a matter of difficulty (I got through that area on my first try without any real trouble aside from the frustration) and more a matter of the player being given a directive they can't realistically accomplish with the information they've been given. The player is told to perform an ultimate but there isn't any way for them to find out how to do it aside from button mashing and hoping you find it before the enemies kill you. You mention the need for a tutorial, but honestly I don't even feel like you need a tutorial- just the ability to access the controls during the game would immediately make the game far more playable.



The escape key. Is that really the standard? I've never played another game where the pause button was "enter".

Oh yeah, and as far as the hitboxes go the problem I was having was not due to the width of them but their depth- that is to say, they were huge, but only on a very thin plane. You could be standing right next to them and not hit them at all, at least with the sword.

Also, while you're fielding pedantic complaints from random perverts, the fact that there are two different narrators bothers me, as does the completely nonlinear world map where you can just walk over the oceans and through mountains... and at the end of the first level, it starts playing one of the narrator's voice lines before the previous one stops, so both are playing at once and it's incomprehensible... I'll stop now.
I talked with the engine developer and we made some changes to entire game engine

In the next patch, Added ESC key to pause and open menu, enter still works. Added access to options for key rebinds as well as a few simple tutorials accessible from pause menu. Thanks for the feedback.

The reason why there's 2 different narrators is simply because there's an old one and a new one. The old female one will eventually be eliminated
 

ten10dies

Member
Jan 17, 2020
166
152
Why are you implementing a system where the men can mating press the woman in a game called Femtality that you advertise as a Femdom BeatEmUp? Also please stop reporting every negative review of your game.
it make sense for the enemies to uno reverse you if they beat you/grab you
 
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Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
Thank you for your support! Download the latest version of FEMTALITY at




NEW IN 0.10.0
- TRAINING MODE has been added, go in and beat up the naughty priest or enjoy some alone time him
- Varina and Yukari are now avaialble to FREE players in TRAINING MODE
- New Lust Rush animations for AERISETTA (6) and VARINA (6) against male enemy. 3 old lust rushes temporarily disabled - Virgin Priestess' FEMTALITY has a face stepping sequence before it happens now. Mash to escape.
- Lisina, Yukari each have 3 old lust rushes temporarily disabled
- Hero's sword can now be thrown against the wall and it will bounce back!
- Pause menu overhauled, you can now access Options and How to Play in game. Press ENTER or ESC to pause.
- How to Play added in both main menu and pause menu, movelist available.
- Harp Priests can no longer heal enemies who are stunned and about to die.

NOTE: The game does not have malware or a virus, I have checked it extensively
Please read this post about FALSE virus detections in indie games.
https://f95zone.to/threads/recent-influx-of-virus-detections.153322/
 

TokyoD

Newbie
Apr 7, 2020
40
15
Can someone explane about female and male protoganist, are you a male in sex scenes or female too, or female in comabat only
 

Aerisetta

Femdom BeatEmUp Game Succubus
Game Developer
Mar 11, 2021
622
1,119
Can someone explane about female and male protoganist, are you a male in sex scenes or female too, or female in comabat only
You pick different characters to form a team, some are male and some are female, it depends who you're using

In femdom mode, you are only male and get femdom'd by women

In Aerisetta story mode, you play as the female protag only
 
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4.00 star(s) 28 Votes