If you're going to do it, you need the ability to quickly load the game again once you're "finished" with viewing the scene at any point.
In my two cents, it is not a must, but it goes a looooong way of giving the player more than just a simple loop. An actual story happening, characters interacting with each other, smexy times, etc. Also goes to show how much the dev cares for their craft/fetish/characters/whatever by having that extra that isn't asked of the player to do, unlike meeting specific criteria or grinding for content. It is highly praised because it goes above and beyond for the average side-scrolling lewd game. For example, most go the route of showing a full image of the defeat scene, while others loop the same animation, only with cum in some scenarios. Both are fine, but there's a clear difference, you catch?
Also never try to make more of a zone at the time, look a this games 5 zones and none of them are finished after years, also try to have many checkpoints mainly in points were you gonna put new enemies, and maybe fast travel.
To offset current opinions, I'll mention that from a gameplay standpoint it's a terrible mechanic, so are grabs. For a h-game, the goal and reward is the sex, and with defeat-h and grabs, the reward is given for being defeated and playing badly, and is withheld for playing well while playing well is also required for progressing. Purposefully dying to check out new animations extends the game time artificially.
I personally hate that shit because it's a terrible mechanic. You're literally asking the player to lose in order to be "rewarded", or put another way, you're PUNISHING the player with sex. What the fuck??? "Help me, Mario! I'll give you a kiss if you rescue me, but if you die, Bowser will ravage my peachy ass lol!" - HHPanic lacks a working gallery, which is the only thing that makes this mechanic slightly tolerable. Emphasis on slightly, because when you make sex a punishment, any player that wants to WIN the game will avoid it and the "sex reward" is watching the credits. In game terms, it adds nothing.
I mean, that's literally the point. The characters are getting raped, and reward of that is a game over and seeing the aftermath of the rape. The player may be 'rewarded' by it, but ultimately you're watching a character suffer or forcibly enjoying the aftermath. There are plenty of games out there that either let you play the rapist or offer consensual sex.
The contextual theming doesn't change the fact that it's a contradictory gameplay mechanic. If your game incentivises losing and punishes winning, you fucked up game dev bad.
I disagree in paticular case of hentai games, like i enjoy some connection to the characters, like noncon animation that you get buy unlocking or progressing hits differently than noncon animation that you get specificaly for playing bad-like you feel that character lost, because he indeed lost and that adds some extra spice to the scene that you wont get for just classic "you progress-you unlock scene".
I respect your opinion, but why not see it from others' perspectives? I and many others actually like the defeat aspect of H-games like this. Because the sense of defeat and, by extension, degradation of losing and being essentially "bad ended" is very hot.
The problem isn't "some people like being bad ended", the problem is that, as a mechanic, it's at odds with the game itself and fucks the game flow. The game is presented as something you should play to win, but the most desired content is only available if you lose. That's a literal contradiction.
That's why I said as one way to unlock could be a stage clear or kill count to unlock instead of losing. Though you could have losing as an alternate method to the former two.
Answer? People who set it and forget it, those that straight up just want to support, and/or those who want to cast votes or something.
To my mind, Forest of the Blue Skin (I think?) by Zell23 is a great example of how to do this kind of stuff right. Yeah, it has that standard "when you lose, the MC gets 'raped' to offset the frustration of losing" thing, but at the same time it allows you to essentially "collect" the sex scenes from the various monster girls scattered 'round the game's world by defeating them in specific ways.
Okay, but these are H-games. The mechanics aren't the end-all-be-all. And no, bad ends shouldn't let you "continue" or advance, that would defeat the whole purpose of a bad end.
