To be fair the game came out in 2020, it was a different time, when the market, the need and all was new. Karryn's Prison wouldnt even hold a candle if it was released last year.
The game really just has nothing special to it, I played it in 2020 because there was nothing else to do and I keep playing it now because this is what I has been doing and I wonder why do I keep playing it.
post nut clarification is real.
I have to disagree here, the market wasn't "new" back in 2020.
I mean, yes, in 2020, hgames in general became more popular, both due to Covid, and Steam starting since around 2017 to accept Hgames...
However, the Hgame market itself already existed for a long time. If we're not including Japan's Hgame market (which existed since even before the 90's), Hgames started getting popular globally around 2012, mostly due to the fantranslation of japanese Hgames, then even more in 2015 with the birth of Nutaku.
Karryn's Prison worked because it has a more interesting way to corrupt the protagonist, while most corruption games, even now, still do the usual "trigger some events in town and lose fights".
It also has a very unique feel compared to most RPG Maker games, and a lot of stuff that can make your experience feel unique (multiple ways to make your protagonist stronger, multiple endings, a lot of title with actual effects, minigames, NG+...)
The devs also weren't at their first game, so they were already a bit known in the market, and people had a point of reference (Meltys Quest).
Karryn's Prison have some problems, but even if it released today, I think it would still sell well enough.
Most of the unhappy people aren't unhappy because of how Karryn's Prison released (even if they did cut some content), they're unhappy because the devs didn't do much with it afterwards by releasing very niche DLCs (like the P-cup one) instead of more actual content like new floors for example, or working on their next big game.