Wolf RPG - Completed - Holy Paladin Cynthia [Final] [Acerola]

Summary

If you've played any other Acerola RPG, you know what to expect; it's more of the same, but simpler, as this is one of the earlier entries.

Solid, but has a critical bug due to the translation that impacts the content.

Notes

Text translation is decent. All critical text for scenes, etc. is translated well (you will need to use Jap. Locale for text to fit better though); general gameplay text has a bunch of garbled symbols but this doesn't have much impact.

However the translation appears to have broken one of the critical game mechanics (Raunchy Refusal); it straight up doesn't work, meaning a massive chunk of the game simply isn't accessible.
You can still play the game through to completion, but several of the endings plus a significant amount of h-content is locked out.

Acerola is a good developer. It really is. They always provide high quality art, and their systems are often straight-forward and to the point. The translations we get are also often very high-quality, and the games are of a nice enough size with decent amount of CGs.

Unfortunately, Acerola is heavily lacking in one thing - Innovation. Some Acerola games feel almost entirely interchangeable. Do you really feel a big difference between Treasure Hunter Claire and Colette the Alchemist, other than the MC? Even the poses in CG are the same, and the story is by no means that different. So is Tia and the labyrinth of libraries or whatever. Is there a big difference between Liana, President Yukino, and Kanade and the Ecchi Worklife? Again, no, not really. The games are all mostly the same, with the main difference being the main gal and the circumstances of the CG, but not their poses or the overarching storyline.

But nonetheless, as Acerola grows older, their games do undeniably get a bit better. They have a better corruption or lust or submission system (such as in treasure hunter claire), or they get a more varied clothing system (such as in Yukino), or a nicer Quest system (such as in Tear and the Labyrinth), which makes newer games nicer to play. What this also means however is that other games are now just a bit worse. Why play it if you can just... go play the one that's more polished and is basically the same?

That is the issue with this game. It's good! But it's also old. It's a 2015 acerola game. Treasure Hunter Claire is 2017 and it's already better. Then, Tear is 2020, and Colette is 2019... If you've played a different Acerola game, then this just becomes lackluster.

With all of that said, if you REALLY, REALLY like the design of the MC, then hey, go for it. But otherwise, just play any other Acerola game.

The game is well-crafted and has good art (it's Acerola after all), but it's not spectacular or innovative on any fronts, so I can't give it 5 stars. I did enjoy playing it, but feel no particular desire to replay it any time soon, despite the fact that it has a New Game+ option. It did keep me engaged for the evening, so I can't give it 3 stars either. Now, let's look at it in more detail:

• Translation: good translation, I didn't notice anything particularly weird. However, some menus and in-battle lines are not translated for some reason, and the text wrapping isn't working properly unless you use japanese locale and install a specific font that comes with the game.
• Gameplay: linear jrpg, nothing innovative on this front. You've already played several of these. It's not grindy as it is easy to level up and cheese your way through the battles, but those do get repetitive after a short while.
• Story: generic. Once again, you've seen exactly the same storylines at least a dozen times. But it does exist and lets you go through with the game, as the plot is completely lineal.
• Lewd stuff: good quality CGs from Acerola, can't complain here. As always, there is a good amount of scenes. The game also features basic battlefuck, alas you get many skills but only a handful have proper animations. Animation is good as well. It has a lust/corruption system, but it is very rudimentary. Raunchiness (lust) goes from 0 to 100, some events are locked until it reaches a certain point, and you unlock the slut mode at 100 raunchiness. If you're here for corruption, this game won't satisfy your needs, as it is very basic.
• Stability: runs well, no major bugs and I didn't experience a single crash. I did find two minor bugs, namely you get an error message when masturbating sometimes, and trying to buy the lewd swimsuit at the perv village without having the required amount of money displays an error and it won't let you buy it later on.