Game of Hearts [Ch.4 R1] review
What is it?
This one is hard to define, but my best attempt would probably be something along the lines of "Corruption/seduction simulator crossed with a fairly standard modern fantasy VN."
It's weird, in a good way, and dont get fooled by me using the term "standard" above. It's only refering to the VN structure, not the game itself. There's nothing standard about this project as a whole at all.
The game is centered around sex scenes and seduction and the mechanics of this is very well thought out. You need to be able to "read the room" to get optimal outcomes. Is she looking nervous? Then maybe you need to comfort her a little. Is she too full of herself? Maybe it's time to bring her down a peg or two. The execution is brilliant! And there's even a skill tree of sorts, where you can choose which aspects of your seduction/sex game you want to improve. It's unique, it's fun and it's damn sexy!
The artwork is superb, with extra points for lighting and facial expressions. Dev is supremely skilled in subtle little expressions which reveal the characters' inner emotions. It's above and beyond anything I've ever seen, and believe me I've seen a lot by now.
The eroticism this game delivers is absolutely fantastic. The women aren't just sex dolls there for your pleasure. They feel human and they all have their own thoughts and emotions and sometimes also mysterious hidden agendas.
With that said I also have some nitpicks to comment on. Listed below in no particular order:
* The text descriptions are sometimes a little too on-the-nose. I don't need text to tell me that she bites her lips and looks away when that's exactly what's being shown on screen. It almost feels a little patronizing at times, like the dev is worried people won't "get it" if he didn't add a text description of someone's reaction. I have eyes. I can see the reaction. Don't spell it out for me like I'm an autistic child please, it ruins the magic.
* The plot is weak and contains a little too much "porn logic". Yeah I get it, they need a reason to bang, but the reasons provided feel paper thin.
* There is an attempt at providing a sense of urgency in the story but it's weak and not explained. We just get hints that "bad things will happen" when the time limit expires. There's got to be a better way to introduce suspense than this. Please tell us, or at least hint at what these "bad things" are.
* I would have loved some more world building & background lore. How does the demon world work? What's the war about? I would have liked the option to explore these things a little more. It doesn't have to be force-fed to the player, but at least provide some options to seek more information for the really curious players.
* The English isn't perfect. It's not a big deal, but some more proof reading could improve this project.
* The title is dumb. It makes me think of Game of Thrones, which has absolutely nothing to do with this project, with zero crossover what so ever. Call it Demon Dreams or whatever. At least give a hint of what the game is actually about.
This project isn't perfect, but my God is it boner-inducing! I'm not normally into the chunky mommy body type but here it works perfectly and it really sells the realism. The characters feel like real people and that's hot as hell to me.
And don't take my critizisms here for anything other than nitpicks. The game is super good and well worth a try - especially if you value masterfully created interactive sex scenes and eroticism pouring out of every pore.
Super recommended!